Chapter 5&6 Kite Runner Essay Example for Free

Chapter 56 Kite Runner Essay 1. Describe what happened to Amir and Hassan on their way to go and play by the tree. Assef and his two friends, Wali and Kamal first threw a rock and hit Hassan in the back of the head. Amir was instantly scared since Assef and his two friends are the neighborhood bullies. Assef calls the boys fags and starts calling Hassan racial slurs and flat-nose. Amir is excluded from most of the abuse because Baba is his father. Hassan moves slightly behind Amir as if he was expecting Amir to protect him in some way, but Amir doesn’t. Assef tells the boys how the king is now gone and the president is now Daoud Khan, a friend of his father. He plans on telling the president â€Å"man to man† how he believes Hitler was a great leader, a man with a vision, and how if he had succeeded the world would be a better place. Assef tells the boys how people like Amir and Baba are a disgrace to Afghanistan by taking in people like Hassan and his father. He asks Amir how he could be friends with someone like Hassan. Amir doesn’t defend Hassan. Hassan ends up taking out his slingshot and aiming a rock at Assef’s face even though he is scared. He asks Assef to please leave them alone even referring to him as Agha, the way a servant refers to his betters. Assef attempts to further intimidate Hassan but it doesn’t work. Hassan asks again for him to please leave them alone with the same response from Assef. Hassan then threatens Assef that if he does not leave them alone his nick name could change from â€Å"the ear eater† to â€Å"one –eyed Assef†. It works and the boys are left alone after Assef lets the boys know that he will not forget what has happened and will make them face him face to face someday. 2. Describe Assef’s character and his beliefs. Assef is the son of one of Baba’s friends. He is from an affluent family. His mother is German and his father Afghan. Assef towered over the neighborhood kids and was blonde haired and blue eyed. He had earned a reputation for being savage. Assef was famous for using his stainless-steel brass knuckles. He walked the streets of the neighborhood with his two sidekicks as if he  owned them. All three were eager to find a victim for their savagery. He was called â€Å"the ear eater† behind his back; no one was brave enough to call him that to his face. A nickname he earned due to a fight over a kite. Assef is a sociopath. He talks about Hitler as a man of vision and if he had not been stopped the world would have been a better place. He believes that Afghanistan belongs to the Pashtuns and that the Hazaras are polluting his land, that they are dirtying their pure blood. He want’s Afghanistan to be cleansed of the Hazaras in the way Hitler attempted race purificatio n. 3. Explain what happened between Amir and Hassan one day while they were waiting to capture their falling kite. Both Amir and Hassan were running down their kite. Amir was following Hassan through the narrow streets. Hassan a natural athlete was a bit faster than Amir. Amir thinks they are losing the kite because they are going in the opposite direction of the kite but Hassan tells him to trust him and continues running. When Amir catches up with Hassan he is sitting under a tree eating a handful of dried berries and asks him to have a seat. Amir still is questioning what Amir is doing just sitting there in the opposite direction that the kite went. Hassan calmly tells him that the kite is coming, he just knows. When Amir continues to question Hassan he replies, â€Å"Would I ever lie to you?† Amir knows that Hassan wouldn’t but instead of appreciating that he decides to toy with him instead and asks him if he would. Hassan replies, â€Å"I’d sooner eat dirt.† Amir admits that he knows it’s cruel, I think he wants to prove to himself that his father was wrong when he says that Amir doesn’t have a mean streak. Amir questions Hassan by asking him again if he would eat dirt if he told him to. Hassan tells him yes if he asked he would eat dirt as he looked Amir right in the eye. It seems they are testing each other’s loyalty and in my opinion Hassan wins. He is always loyal to Amir regardless of the situation. 4. Describe the relationship between Amir and Hassan. Amir and Hassan are friends even though Amir will not admit it to himself or others. They have been raised together since birth and have a connection to  one another. Hassan loves Amir. He is protective and supportive of him. He encourages him in his interests in stories. Hassan seems content with his life and his place in the world. He has learned from his father to be a kind person. Amir seems to enjoy the attention Hassan pays him and even takes for granted their relationship. Amir seems to be jealous of Hassan and the type of person he is and will knowingly be cruel to him. He doesn’t like to share Baba’s attention with him nor does he like it when Hassan does things unknowingly to remind him of their differences. For example the incident while they were waiting for the kite, knowingly tests Hassan’s loyalty to him. I think Amir can tell Hassan is a better person despite being an uneducated servant who clearly has the approval and love of both Baba and Ali without having to earn it.

Resort World Sentosa And Marina Bay Sands Tourism Essay

Resort World Sentosa And Marina Bay Sands Tourism Essay Though casino was their major way to earn revenue because of high gamblers addict all over the world, both of these resorts also added wide varieties of attractions and amenities for tourist attraction such as skypark, universal studios Singapore, celebrity chefs restaurant, museums, convention and exhibition centre, floating pavilion, etc. to attract not only the gamers but also families and childrens. In total both the resorts offer 33,500sqm of MICE space and more than 4000 hotel rooms. Attractions helped in many ways such as: Universal Studios Singapore- welcomed 13.2 million visitor and 22.3 billion tourism receipts last year (STB 2012). Both resorts support more than 40,000 jobs throughout which includes wide number of sectors such as retail, FB and transportation. Approx. 22,000 employees have been hired by these integrated resorts (Michael 2012). Both the IR hope to achieve 17 million visitors a year and generate about US $21 billion by 2015 (Katie 2011). Singapores both integrated resorts have a total development investment of more than S$13 billion (Iswaran 2010). The IR helped to broaden the range of job and career opportunities for Singaporeans with the bulk of jobs in for them in areas such as theme park operation, retain and Food and Beverage, etc. Both the resorts plan to continue re-invest and enhance their attractions to appeal to visitors an visitorship trends, benchmarks with respect to similar international attractions, industry standards and so on (Israwan 2011). Since both these resorts have done wonder full things for the people as well as tourist such as giving jobs to locals or providing attractions to tourist it also have negative impact on society as gamble addicts are borrowing money from loan sharks and when they are unable to repay the loan money they abandon their wives and children so as to feed their gambling addiction that leads women into forced prostitution to feed their kids (Dinah Lee-Phua 2011). Gambling leads to bankruptcy, imprisonment, family violence/breakdown. Economic Impacts: Singapores decision to build casino-based destination resorts was in part based on that argument, that the country could not ignore the potential economic significance of the IRs as it will not only boost the tourism industry, increase jobs but also the investment of billions of dollars to the economy; in other words growth, as opposed to stagnation (Wong, 2005). Singapores economy is diversified and is not based solely on tourism or the IRs but the income certainly could be useful. Such revenue for the state or country could be used to develop infrastructure and superstructures; essentially an economic development tool for the state or country as a whole. One of the other reasons that states or territories decide to legalize gambling and thus build casinos is to attract tourists to the area. These tourism products can complement and enhance the other tourism products and thus motivate tourist to the state or territory. Tourism is one of the key sectors that contribute to the Singapore economy. The goal is to achieve SDG$30 billion in tourism receipts with 17 million visitors by 2015 (STB, 2010). Proponents of casinos or casino-based resorts argue that the gaming element will increase tourism numbers. When Singapore legalized gambling, it was to increase the demand for and motivate tourists to the island state (Remesh, 2010). Casinos had to be part of the tourism product to be of significant economic value (Eadington, 1999). Families could be attracted to such places and there will be reason for the adults to stay longer. Going by the revenues that Macau received, the argument might be valid. The demand for non-gaming products, services and amenities will subsequently go up; in essence, the casinos could be for the greater good because on the whole the economy will be better off and thus the majority of the people within the gaming jurisdiction will benefit. Social Impacts: When the decision is made to legalize gambling, a state or country will experience not just positive impacts but negative social impacts as well. Petty theft and fraud linking casino employees have arisen. Traffic jams have increased, and environmental conditions have deteriorated. Consumer spending is neither reduced nor substituted. Bankruptcy, suicides, depression, lowered productivity and crime like fraud, are most prevalent with gambling. As if costs to the community like suicides, bankruptcies and lowered productivity are not enough, 5 to 10 other people were affected for every single problem gambler, (Australian Commission, 2009). The carrying capacity of a region could affect how the locals perceive the tourists within the gaming jurisdiction. There was no conclusive evidence that crime increased as a result of the casinos. Crime rates were contained in the initial opening of the casinos due to the increase in staffing by the local law enforcement agencies. However this increase in staff could not be sustained and as a result crime rates increased over time due to the casinos. Increase of child abuse may also occur due tom negligence of guidance from the parents addicted to gambling. As parents who lose money on gambling table often end up taking their frustration out on their kids or abusing them physically. Problems of borrowing from loan sharks are seen in Singapore due to high addiction of gambling. This happens due to people losing everything on gambling table thus deterioting them financially and forcing them to borrow more from loan sharks. They were also concerned that casinos would escalate gambling addition of locals, which would create financial difficulties for families and hence effect the Singapore economy altogether. Family harmony would be affected, while the good Singapore work ethic would be compromised. Social ills would also resurface (Withiam 2011). Resort World Sentosa has led to damaging of environmental effects on the countrys physical resources, ecological resources and terrestrial ecosystem. It has also resulted in the habitat destruction, removal of airshed, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and water contamination (EIA Abhineet 2011). Bellagio is a luxury resort and casino in Las Vegas in Nevada. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and is famed for its elegance. It has total of 3,950 rooms with three different towers and is home to the most watched and famous Cirque du Soleil aquatic production commonly referred as O. It was opened on October 15 1988 and the total cost was approx US$88 million. It has number of attractions such as Gaming room, Fountains of Bellagio, Conservatory and Botanical gardens, Gallery of Fine Art, etc. with number of famous restaurants such as Le Cirque, Circo, Picasso, etc. Political Impacts: as we all know that Las Vegas is famous for casinos and has lot of casino at a stretch but for it to operate smoothly the casino are to updated with latest trends so as to keep up with the laws in a timely manner. Bellagio has a casino license and runs over more than 50 slot machines and more than 10 tables so as to pay a certain amount in tax per table in a month so as to not violate any laws. Economic Impacts: The casino creates jobs and reduces the level of unemployment. It contributes to improvement in community and infrastructure mainly in the transportation side as well as reducing public spending. The casino development has been targeted where economic development benefits the community and jobs scarcity has been reduced (J.P.Girard 2001). With Bellagio casino being so big it has helped the locals of Las Vegas and also the foreigners to earn their livelihood by working in the casino. Because of gambling, Las Vegas has shown impressive job growth, developed into a major city with a low tax burden that many state and local governments look at with envy, and has spawned significant private and public sector investment. However society would only support this if the benefits outweighs the costs. Social Impacts: But also it has affected the economy as local residents who used to travel outside of the region and gamble now stay within the region. Local residents who used to go to restaurants now spend their money in the casino. Then the casino has no net economic benefit. Tourists who used to spend money on other activities within the region now go to a gambling facility within the region. Still casino plays an important part on society as Bellagio Las Vegas is a testament of the powerful ability of gambling to foster economic development. But casinos leave a negative impact on society causing increase in traffic congestion, increased gambling addiction, drug use and prostitution. Tourists from abroad spend more time and money within the region. It was noted that alcohol and drug use increased between gamblers due to their loss in the casino or for people seeking treatment for gambling problems. Family breakdowns and mental health issues such as depression, psychiatric disorde rs, past histories of sexual or physical abuse and low self-esteem were found among the gamblers. Due to high addiction of gambling there has been an expenditure growth in casino industry than the growth in personal income (Ricardo 2008). It has been researched and proved that profound gamblers often suffer from profound marital difficulties. Gaming has jeopardized the quality of life of individuals and families in past (Burke 2003). A lot of financial difficulties involving money, laundering, paying high interest rates on debts and suicide have been seen so far. Technology: helps Bellagio to offer more luxury, better customer service and an overall increase in customer satisfaction. Fast and easy communication service provides Bellagio with a competitive advantage compared to other hotel. Bellagios website helps the customer to give information about the latest happenings anywhere anytime. Bellagio has full range of services on their website such as customers can take virtual tour, see the rooms and make the reservation online. Environmental Impacts: a casino usually generates about 20,000 to 30,000 customer vehicles and 6,000 or more employee vehicles each day leading to air pollution due to increased traffic. With a casino comes a heavy parking demand and more congestion. It draws down scarce groundwater and also threaten endangered species. Correcting all this cost between $5.5 to$7.7 million per year leading to waste of money and resources. Though Las Vegas is commonly known as Sin City so the crime rates are expected to be high. It was noted that last year fall the crime rates including shop lifting, stealing of casino chips, etc. increased a lot due to proper security management. It was reported that last year December 14, Anthony Michael Carleo stole $1,500,000 worth of Bellagio chips from Bellagio casino and was sentenced to 35 years of imprisonment last month (Pitt 2012). So Bellagio took this this really seriously and did a stringent screening and drug test on its employees to reduce internal threats. It was also noted that there were fake Bellagio chips being sold in the local market at a reasonable price that attracted lot of people and those people even had links with the security guards of the casino so as to take the chips inside (LAPD 2008). So as to avoid all this in future a proper security system was installed in Bellagio that had its eye everywhere. Systems such as 24 hours monitored security alarm, smok e alarms in all non-smoking rooms were installed to ensure the safety of the hotel as well as the customers. Every corner of the casino had a camera with 2 control rooms to look out for thief and to ensure safety of everyone there. There was 24 hours security and the security came from the best security department in USA. Bellagio used proper safety measures in case of emergency such as fire, accidents, deaths, etc. by keeping proper safety measures such as medical kit, qualified doctors in the house, etc. with all such steps/measures. Mixed use development simply involves the addition of residential units to a standard resort concept as a part of a sometimes rather dubious way to finance the whole development (Philip 2009). Bellagio has been using it for years now and everytime when possible tries to upgrade it. It provides customer with a variety of accommodation styles, sporting and leisure activities, security, a lifestyle living experience. Bellagio attracts lot of its customer via the casino as it is home to many professional poker players due to high table limit including high stakes and also because it holds world poker tournament as well. But it does not only attract the gamblers it also succeeds in attracting non-gamblers, family and children while using mixed use development concept as it has a very famous show O by Cirque du Soleil as it has international cast of world class acrobats, divers, swimmers performing on water to create a breath taking experience for its customers. Fountains of Bellagio that is set in 8 acre man-made lake with 4.500 lights and have lot of performance for the people to enjoy at night. The conservatory and botanical gardens is a must watch as it shows five seasonal themes such as Chinese new year from January to march displaying the bromeliads and orchids as well as animal of Chinese zodiac, spring displaying varieties of tropical flower, summer, fall and winter. Along with all this Bellagio has also focused on relaxation and fitness for its customer by providing variety of spa packages along with fitness centre. It is home to many golf lovers and those who wants to learn golf can learn at a reasonable rate at Bellagio with different courses available for different needs. Bellagio is famous in Las Vegas for its nightlife as it has many bar, lounge and clubs for party animals to enjoy the sin city and have a memorable time. Bellagio offers high range of exclusive shops for gifts, accessories, jewellery and fragrances and is a must shopping place for ladies . Though Bellagio use a mixed use development concept but it also takes care of the environment by using reclaimed water and on-site power generation plant and has also constructed a 5.300 space parking garage for the employees as well as customers so as to avoid traffic congestion. In todays date it is very important for any hotel to develop sustainability plan in order to survive in the market and stay ahead of its competitor. Bellagio is committed to conservation efforts that support living in the desert. These practices extend beyond Bellagio and reach the local community by educating employees about conserving natural resources at home as well as partnering with local, eco-minded organizations (Drew 2007). Bellagio is using $70 million alone to refurbish all the guest rooms so as to make it more attractive for the guest and they are changing everything in their restaurants to the exteriors of the hotel. Bellagio has achieved sustainable development and will keep on achieving it by following four most important steps towards sustainable development that is to guide and be guided by a clear vision of sustainable development and goals to achieve highest ranking among all hotels. It reviews the whole system as well as its parts considering the well-being of soc ial, ecological and economic systems, their state as well as the direction and rate of change of that state, their parts and use of these parts. It has adopted a time horizon long enough to capture human and ecosystem time scales to know what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve and also whats best for their customers in terms of needs, necessities, etc. they take in the advice of their customers very seriously to make themselves better and also to outbeat the rest of the hotels. The employees are well trained and educated and provide ongoing support in the decision making process. Bellagio has been home to many events in the casino as well as in the clubs or lounges and has also been shown in many movies. They have kept this tradition alive by calling someone or the other every year to perform in their hotel and this year also they are doing the same but on a large scale as they are inviting the Korean pop dancer/singer PSY to perform in their casino on February 23rd s tarting around 9 pm and there would be lot of songs sung by him and his world famous song Oppa Gangnam Style. Tickets are going at 100, $200 and $300 with lots of surprises for the guest and there would be lot of games as well and the winner will get an autograph t-shirt by PSY himself and an opportunity to dance with him on the stage created in casino. Thus all this helps and will keep on helping the Bellagio hotel to remain on track and be one of the top most preferred hotel of Las Vegas in near future also.

The Snow Leopard :: essays research papers

LSD Induced, Yeti, Euphoric Sojourn Drugs can clear away the past, enhance the present; toward the inner garden, they can only point the way. Lacking the temper of ascetic discipline, the drug vision remains a sort of dream that cannot be brought over into daily life. Old mists may be banished, that is true, but the alien chemical agent forms another mist maintaining the separation of the 'I' from the true experience of the One.1 This passage comes from The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen. In this passage Matthiessen describes what he has learned from the experiences he had with hallucinogenic drugs, such as ayahuasca, LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. He is concerned mostly with the spiritual nature of such drugs, and reveals that while drugs are always harmful, they can provide a starting point for spiritual growth. Hallucinogens clear 'old mists';(47); they let you perceive yourself without any armour. They force you to stand naked and alone, without any defense to your own emotional states. You become very close to the oneness Matthiessen describes, 'Then I breathe, and the mountain breathes, setting the world in motion once again.';(198) Nevertheless this oneness is very hard to achieve in practice and harder still to maintain. Drugs always leave you short of the goal of oneness because the drugs themselves are an obstacle, a mist that will always stop you short of total oneness. Drugs will always hold you back because they are harmful, and while you are experiencing a drug trip you are doing nothing but experiencing a drug trip; the drugs can do nothing but induce that hallucinogenic state. Also you are unable to do anything other then experience that state. This is also a reason why drugs are able to 'point the way';(47) to spiritual unity, oneness. Drugs force you to live in the present, in the sense that you are totally consumed by the drug and are doing nothing except being high. This is another draw back of the drugged experience you cannot escape you must wait until the drug wears off before you can concentrate on anything else. You are one with the drug and its affects. If you are going to try and concern yourself with something other than the drug experience that you are involved in, you will become very nervous. An anxiety attack will start to creep over you, reminding you to concern yourself with only what is happening now.

AI :: essays research papers

AI: Artificial Intelligence: The branch of computer science that deals with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively; AI is used so computers can solve problems, learn and gain knowledge. AI is an attempt for computers to simulate human qualities. Areas of AI research: Learning, game theoretic methods, Reasoning, speech Intelligent agents, physical modeling Knowledge representation  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  natural language Logic programming  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  planning AI: Classification: AI can be classified into three different areas: Natural Language Processing which involves computers that can read, speak and understand natural language. Robotics which involves the development of intelligent robots. Expert Systems which is the simulation of the knowledge of human experts. Intelligence: The ability to use knowledge for our own purposes is called thinking and is the basis of intelligence. Ability to think and reason, To learn, To acquire knowledge, To adapt to new situations A person is intelligent when they can solve difficult problems using logical reasoning. Interactionism: States the mind is non-material, the body is material, and each can act on each other. Parallelism: Mind is spirit, body is material, and neither can act on each other. Materialism: Mind is, or a state of, part of the material body. The relevant part of the physical body is usually considered to be the central nervous system that is the brain and spinal cord. Idealism: The body, along with everything else, is just an idea of the mind. Natural Language Processing: Computers are able to perform natural language processing at the syntax level. (syntax refers to the way in which words are put together to form phrases and sentences) Style checkers are able to detect punctuation errors, double word usage, typographical errors, sexist language and more. A Machine Intelligence Test: A simple test which determines whether or not a machine is behaving intelligently: Would this behaviour be considered intelligent if a human was observed behaving in the same way? The difficulty experience by artificial intelligence researchers is translating this massive amount of knowledge into a form that can be used by computers is called the Feigenbaum bottleneck: Identification and analysis of the chunks of knowledge. Chunk is used for an item of knowledge to indicate that knowledge does not appear in precisely defined units. The translation of that knowledge into a form that can be processed by a machine.

A Term Paper :: essays research papers

This short story term report is on the book The Best American Short Stories 1960, â€Å"The Day of the Bullet†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It first takes place in the sixties when Stanley’s wife is reading the newspaper and Stanley sees a picture of his old best friend, Iggy, on the front page. He grabs the paper and reads that Iggy has been shot. Then the story takes us back to the 1920s when Stanley saw Iggy last. Iggy loved golf, and he was always trying to save his money for a golf putter. Stanley and Iggy used to sneak off to a golf course to steal golf balls in the one of the course’s ponds. Then the author shaped a picture in my mind about the last time Iggy and Stanley were there. They saw the golf club owner, Mr. Rose, beat another man. The two boys decided that they should tell the police what had happened.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When they arrived at the police station and told the chief what had happened. He did not believe them, and he called Mr. Rose and Iggy’s father to question them. Iggy tried to get his father to back him up, but he wouldn’t. He agreed that Iggy is just trying to cause trouble.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mr. Rose (pretending to be a nice guy) gave Iggy a dollar bill saying that he paid well if he wanted to help him do house chores. Later, as Iggy and Stanley were walking home, Stanley tried to convince Iggy to give the money to his father for better use. Iggy refused to give the money to his father and commented that he wouldn’t because his father wouldn’t back him up in the first place. That night, Iggy moved away.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a way, the message is similar to the â€Å"don’t judge people by their looks† cliche, except in this case, the judgment is made by age instead of appearances. People come in all different personalities, and just because a child is younger than an adult doesn’t mean the child is mischievous or wrong. It may be more likely because people tend to mature as they age, but still you can’t judge someone by just their age. It sort of brings up the subject about people going through mental stages in their lives, and nobody is excactly the same place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the other hand though, I could be wrong because there is no proof in the story that Iggy has not caused trouble before.

Extracts from Piggy’s Diary Essay

The naval officer told the ‘small savages’ that he had to look around the island but he would not be finished until just before sundown. Therefore, at sundown all the children were to meet at the Castle Rock. One of the larger savages wandered off on his own. He felt a mixture of feelings on the one hand he had been saved both from death and the island. However, he was going to be taken into larger war that has the same attitudes about civilization and power as the war on the island. Ralph found that he was wandering past the remains of burnt trees to the shelters. Sitting down against a tree he put his hand on a rock. Trying not to think about the events on the island he threw it absentmindedly into the sea. He was about to get up when he felt something else. As he drew it out he found it was an old exercise book. Opening it up on the first page he read, â€Å"Thomas Martin’s Diary.† Intrigued and not remembering a ‘Thomas Martin’ he opened it and began to read: 26th June 1957 What a day! We were still in the plane. But suddenly it gave a huge jolt I had my seat belt on but a lot of the boys fell out their seats. The plane started to loose altitude very quickly. We had been attacked by the Reds. Luckily a man with a microphone kept everybody in order and told us all to get into the escape pod. I thought I was going to have an asthma attack when the escape pod was falling down and I had to take my glasses off in case they fell off if the pod hit the ground hard. Ralph realized who was writing the diary. A wave of grief hit him as he thought how he had never known the name of his true wise friend Piggy. He felt the prickles of tears behind his eyes and a single tear made a made a clean trail through his dirt stained face. Picking up the book he carried on reading. When the pod hit the ground all the boys got out and ran madly into the forest I tried to stop them because I thought that the grown-ups would want to have a meeting. However, they ran off shouting so quickly they did not hear me. Although I began to run after them I couldn’t because of my asthma. The first boy I met was a little older then I but I still went to talk to him. Immediately he started saying â€Å"Perhaps there aren’t any grown ups anywhere†. He seemed to be pleased when we decided that he was probably right. Personally I did not feel pleased about this because grown-ups are important because they would have tea and discuss what to do and make rules and put everybody in order. I then realized that we would have to do all these things ourselves. First we would need a leader I had a feeling this boy would be a good leader. I know that I could never be a leader because I do not look the part. Therefore if he could be the leader it would be useful for me to make friends with him so that I could help him. So I asked his name but he was not very responsive when I was talking to him and he did not even ask for my name in return. Unlike me Ralph seemed to accept his new surroundings quite easily. I know that it will be hard for me on this island because of my asthma and I can not move or see the branches well. As Ralph was not being very responsive I decided to tell him a secret to hopefully help with our friendship. But I had poorly judged Ralph’s character because as soon as I had told him my dreaded nickname he started to laugh and run about shouting â€Å"Piggy, Piggy† before I could tell him my real name. I had a combination of feelings because even though I was pleased that Ralph had started to recognise me, I was worried that he might tell everyone. So I made it very clear to him that I did not want anyone to know this name. Although I thought that Ralph would be a good leader he did not think much because he just believed that his father would come to rescue him. He did not think of how his father would find him. That is why it is important that he has help from me if he going to be leader. If we think that we may stay here till we die then we are prepared for the worst and anything else is better. When I realized that we could be on the island for a long time it was obvious that we needed organisation. So we were very lucky when Ralph saw the conch. The conch is going to be very important on the island because it will help us organise things. I was so excited when we found it and very pleased because I knew what it was and how it worked. It was very important that Ralph himself blew the conch because he would establish himself as leader straight away. When the boys started coming to the call of the conch I started asking them their names because in a civilised society everybody knows each others name and it is good for organisation. Then the choir arrived. They were marching like the army and were lead by a red headed boy, Jack Merridew. Immediately he seemed unsatisfied and angry because Ralph was not the â€Å"man with a trumpet†. As soon as I saw him I thought that he was a cruel savage boy because even though it was very hot he made the choir stand and he did not let them sit down until one of them fainted because of the heat. I felt that I could not ask any names from the choir because or the atmosphere created by Jack Merridew. My suspicions about Jack were confirmed when he said to me â€Å"Shut up, Fatty† when I was telling him about the names that we had found. This shocked me there are not many people who as soon as they meet somebody insult them. But once again in my life I heard everybody laughing at me. Ralph immediately defended me but instead of helping me he made it worst by telling them my dreaded nickname even though I had asked him not to tell anybody. All the boys laughed at me louder this time. Why does this always happen to me I am never nasty to any one but still children always seem to leave me out and think that it is ok to laugh at me. After what seemed like hours the laughter died down and Ralph suggested that â€Å"we ought to have a chief to decide things†. With simple arrogance Jack stated that he should be chief. This boy’s character was getting worst and worst with every word he said. For a horrible moment I thought that Jack would become chief but then we decided to have a vote. Although Ralph won the vote there was still the problem that Jack had had some supporters therefore Ralph’s position of chief was not totally confirmed. However, as soon as Ralph was chief he made what I think will be a huge mistake. By giving Jack the choir that gives Ralph’s biggest opponent for leader power which could prove dangerous. Then Ralph decided who would search the island with him. He did not pick me so I asked him if I could go and he said â€Å"Your no good on a job like this†. This along with telling everybody my horrible nickname really hurt me. So I tried to tell him how much he’d hurt me. He did not even understand what I was talking about at first but when he did realize he was a bit nicer. But this confirms what I thought about Ralph; he does not think before he does something. A harsh bird cry distracted Ralph’s reading. He went through in his mind what he had just read. He knew that it was all true. It was uncanny how many things that Piggy had hinted could happen had come into reality. Piggy who was almost blind to his immediate surroundings had special understanding of the future which no other boy could see. Ralph looked up. It was getting near to sun down. If he did not start walking back soon he would be late. So he got up and walked still reading. 21st July 1957 I still can not believe that some of the children believe in the beast. There is absolutely no prove also it is impossible. Today seemed at first quite normal I was trying to talk to Ralph about making sundials but he started being sarcastic and told me to â€Å"Shut up.† Throughout my entire life including on the island kids have been like that to me but still I can not get used to it. The only thing that has changed is I no longer fight back I just let kids be horrible to me and I hope that they will get bored. As every day goes past I feel that I am becoming detached from everybody and like normal I’m ending up all on my own. Ralph was still trying to ignore me but suddenly he jumped up shouting â€Å"Smoke! Smoke!† I had no idea what he was talking about because I could not see any smoke. Then I realized that Ralph had seen a ship, but because of my poor sight I could not see it. I had no idea what was going on. When I finally saw the ship I could not see any of our smoke. Ralph again was clinging onto a childish hope that â€Å"they’ll see our smoke†. But he was being too optimistic. Hopping was not good enough. What we had to do was check the fire because We weren’t helping anything by just standing watching the ship. It took a long time for Ralph to realize this but when he did he ran off like usual without thinking. He did not think how he was going to re-light the fire if it was out. He should have thought that he would need my specs and I could not run after him because of my asthma. Ralph had already run along was before he thought about this. I had tried to run after him but there was no chance of me keeping up with him. As I ran up the hill my breathing became more and more difficult and I my asthma nearly started. When I finally reached the top I hear Ralph say â€Å"They let the bloody fire out†. Grown ups would not have let the fire they would have kept it going. We had been so close to being rescued and getting off this island before things really started to get bad. Now the chance has gone and we may not get another one for years. I had a good idea why there was nobody watching the fire, it had to be something to with him, Jack Merridew. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a procession led by him coming up the hill. In the group I saw the twins who were supposed to be watching the fire. As the procession came closer I noticed how some of them looked almost inhuman with there painted faces and chanting â€Å"Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood.† They had a dead pig and they were looking so pleased with themselves. Suddenly the thought that even now I could be on my way home to my auntie came over me and I almost burst into tears. Jack and his hunters had betrayed Ralph by abandoning the fire. Even though Ralph had carefully explained how keeping the fire going was the most important job on the island. As Jack approached I wondered how Ralph was going to deal with this. Without a doubt there would be a confrontation between them. Jack was talking wildly about how he had killed the pig. He could not contain his joy at the power he felt â€Å"when they closed in on the struggling pig†. Jumping around, re-enacting the killing he was totally lost in his own morbid world. Ralph said â€Å"You let the fire out† twice before started to stop talking. But when Ralph said to Jack in a savage voice â€Å"They might have seen us. We might have gone home.† Ralph had made the possibilities of the ship real to me and my anger reached peak. I could not contain myself any longer and I shouted at Jack â€Å"You and your blood Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home† But before I could finish Ralph interrupted me. I did not mind this because Ralph’s grief was equal to mine. He started giving Jack exactly what he needed a talking down. Ralph needed to assert his power as leader. But he seemed a bit lost for words. Jack started trying to make poor excuses like â€Å"The job was too much. We needed everyone.† My anger got the better of me again. I started shouting at him saying â€Å"You didn’t ought to let the fire out. You said you’d keep the smoke going.† As soon as I said this I heard other hunters agreeing with me. For a moment I was pleased as now some of Jack’s own supporters were turning against him. For the first time on the island I felt that I could stand up to Jack. This did not last very long. Seeing some of his hunters agreeing with me, of all people, drove Jack to violence. He hit me as hard as he could in my stomach. Through a haze of pain I heard Jack shouting â€Å"You would, would you? Fatty!† Then I felt his fist hit my head. By this time the pain was not a problem I was already in tears. But I felt my specs being thrown from my head. Nobody else understands that on an island without my specs I probably would not survive. So I was desperate to find my specs. In the end Simon gave them back to me. I always think that there is something different about Simon but I can not quite put my finger on it. From the first time I had seen Jack I thought that he was a cruel savage boy and this was shown by his violent reaction. Jack was not annoyed because he had stopped us being rescued but because some of his own supporters agreed that he had made an awful error. This made him look bad. So he lashed out attacking me because I am weaker than him. The whole situation was worst when I saw that one of the lenses was cracked. Apart from the glasses being broken this was the next worst thing. Now I only have only one eye. I had never been so angry, I was not thinking straight I just said and did what ever came into my head. But ever bit of anger was directed at him. I thought Jack was going to hit me again so I hid behind a rock. I was barely aware of what Jack was doing but I could hear the other kids laughing, at me. Yet again it showed to me how immature all the kids on the island are, if we were like grown ups Jake would not get them laughing with him but he would get told off. Jack then proceeded to apologise. But he specifically said â€Å"I’m sorry. About the fire, I mean.† He made it perfectly clear that he was not sorry about hitting me and breaking my specs. But by apologising I could see that most of the boys thought that Jack had done a grown up thing and forgave him instantly. I could not believe that he had in fact gained respect by stopping us being rescued then apologising for it. I could see Ralph was thinking the same things as me. Also I noticed how Ralph was becoming a better leader because again he needed to show Jack that he was the chief. He did this by standing in the place where was easier to build the fire forcing Jack to build it in a less convenient spot. Then Ralph came to take my specs. Normally I am very protective of my specs but I felt that I could trust him. I had never felt trust towards anyone except my auntie and for the first time I realized that Ralph was my friend. Jack started to cook the meat. I could tell that he wanted to show the power he had by not giving me any of it. I suppose Ralph and I should not have eaten the meat but just the smell made my mouth water. Jack was not going to give me any but Simon shared some with me. I felt a wave of gratitude towards him. He was definitely different from the other boys; he seemed to try to do the right the thing what ever the consequence. Jack was just about to get angry with Simon when Rodger started telling the story of how they killed the pig. Jack could not bear his story to be told by anybody but himself. So he interrupted Rodger and started telling the story of how he outwitted and possessed the power over a living creature. The hunters started dancing shouting â€Å"Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in.† Ralph and I stood outside the circle. I felt detached from the group again but at least Ralph was with me. Watching them dancing around the fire made them look more like savages with no rules or discipline. If Ralph loses this power struggle against Jack I think that it is possible that we could all become savages. Ralph tripped over a tree root. This broke his concentration and he looked at his surroundings. Such was his attention to the diary he had been walking without thinking where he was going. To his right were some charred sticks and he realized that this was where Jack’s camp fire had been but the sand by the water was smooth again with no traces of violence. The thoughts of that terrible night, that appalling murder, came flooding back to him. Trying to suppress the memory he began to think about what he had just read in Piggy’s diary. There had been many things that he had never understood about Piggy. He had felt guiltier as he had read on because he had never really thought that Piggy’s feelings were seriously hurt when other kids, including him, were horrible to him. Like all the boys he had just got used to being horrible to Piggy. He made sure he was heading in the right direction and carried on walking with his nose in the diary. 14th September 1957 I am worried about Ralph. He has taken the accident with Simon very badly and if he carries on thinking about it he could go mad. He must forget his conscience that is troubling him. The best way to deal with these things is not to think or talk about them. It was an unfortunate accident, Simon was batty anyway and he should not have been crawling around in the dark. Ralph and I were on the outside so we did not so we did not do anything wrong. Also it was not our fault all this has all happened because of him. If he had not kept reminding everyone about the beast and making another tribe the accident would have never happened. Anyway we cannot change the past so there is pointless destroying ourselves by thinking about it. I have tried throughout my time on the island to think what the grown ups would have done. But if the grown ups were here none of this would have happened. When I said to Ralph â€Å"You’re still chief† he laughed. I see that having the conch has a lot less meaning now Jack Merridew is chief of his own tribe. There are hardly any biguns left now, only Sam and Eric. Ralph would not listen to my reasoning about the accident but at least he did agree to tell Sam and Eric we had left early. By saying this it would avoid us having to discuss the accident. When we went to see Sam and Eric I felt strangely embarrassed in front of them. When we told them that we had left early I could see that by the way we all spoke, moved and kept repeating â€Å"we left early† that we had all witness the accident. I gave Ralph my specs to re-light the fire before he even asked for them. Now I definitely felt that I could trust him more than anyone. Ralph was still very preoccupied with thoughts of Simon and he started saying how Simon â€Å"said something about a dead man.† So I tried to get Ralph’s thought away from the accident to the fire. I’m not sure whether Ralph was still preoccupied with the accident or that the island was getting to him but when Sam said â€Å"what is the good?† meaning the fire Ralph seemed like he could not remember. I had to remind him. But now with only four of us it is going to be impossible to keep the fire lit all the time. So I gave the idea that â€Å"We can light it every morning† because nobody will see the smoke in the dark. With only Ralph, Sam and Eric to speak to I felt more confident in making suggestions because I was less lightly to get laughed at. But yet again I got the impression that I was the only person who really gave thought to the situation. As I was going to sleep Ralph for no real reason asked me if I was â€Å"all right?† It did not take much for him to ask but it made me feel that I was wanted and that Ralph was glad that I was with him. I was very content. But this did not last. Some noise woke me form my sleep. At first I thought that it was nothing. I just thought that I must have woken because after being on the island for a length of time I had tended to start out of sleep for the tiniest noise, like a hunted pig. I had a sudden desperate desire stronger than ever before to get off the island. I hated living in fear like an animal. I said to Ralph â€Å"We got to get out of this.† But Ralph sniggered at the thought of being rescued; it sounded like he had almost given up hope and my idea was stupid. We talked for a bit and Ralph had just stopped laughing at me and was going back to sleep when I heard what was definitely a footstep snapping a stick. With out thinking I said to Ralph â€Å"It’s come. It’s real.† I believed it was the beast and I had never been so terrified in all my life. I started breathing hard and then my throat seemed to be growing thinner and it was becoming so hard to breathe. I realised that my asthma was starting. I was right. It was the beast, Jack Merridew had come. I thought he had come for the conch. I could not see anything in the dark but I only cared about being able to breathe again. Kids kept tripping over me and fists were flying everywhere but I barely noticed as I was slowly suffocating. The only thing that really bothered me was when I realized that I had put my specs on the floor before I went to bed and they could well get trodden on. Even with my asthma I started looking for them with my hand because if I did survive and my specs were broken my life would hardly be worth living anyway. When the fight had finished Ralph was the first person to ask â€Å"How’s Piggy?† I felt that Ralph was worried about my safety. As the other boys were talking about how the fight had gone I continued searching for my specs. But when Ralph said that â€Å"They didn’t take the conch† their whole plan dawned on me. The beast had not been after the conch but my specs. I felt just as bad when I had my asthma. The thieving beast, Jack Merridew, had blinded me. Now it would always be night for me on the island. The beast had done the worst thing to me, apart from killing me. It did not care that I was now blind and my life would be misery. In fact it had never cared how I felt from the first time I met him. I tried to calm myself down and think. Grown ups would not have let this happen now we have to put it right, and go and talk to the savages like grown ups. Tomorrow I am going to face Jack Merridew. Ralph sat down on the sand and put his head in his hands. He knew that before he had read the diary he hardly knew anything about Thomas Martin. He definitely agreed that Piggy and he had grown very close on the island and he was pleased that Piggy had also felt the same. He felt so guilty because of how he had told everybody Piggy’s deadly nickname. For some reason he felt that everything would have been different for Piggy if he had just thought before he had spoken. Piggy had been the only boy on the island who had sense, who knew what should have been done but he was ignored. Piggy had endured all the names he had been called and the disrespect he had got from everyone. Everybody had just got used to being nasty to him. He had been the bravest boy on the island. Piggy, who has been the brunt of ridicule, who was physically weak, had shown his real strength by defending what he believed in and facing the beast, Jack Merridew. Two questions came into Ralph’s mind. â€Å"What was he going to with diary?† and â€Å"What would Piggy have wanted him to do with the diary?† Ralph remembered how Piggy had reacted after Simon’s death. â€Å"Look, Ralph. We got to forget this. We can’t do no good thinking about it† he had said. At that time Ralph had not understood but now he felt sure what Piggy would have wanted him to do. Picking up the diary he threw it as far as he could into the sea. He watched it stay afloat for a moment. Then become waterlogged and sink. The memories of the island were already fading.

Rizal Retraction & Josephine Bracken and Rizal’s Marriage

Rizal was excommunicated by the Catholic Church when he joined the Masonry. Influenced by Miguel Morayta, a history professor at the Universidad de Madrid, Rizal joined Masonry, under the Gran Oriente de Espanol, adopting the Masonic name, Dimasalang. He was automatically excommunicated, expelled from the Catholic Church, a fate decreed for all Catholics becoming Masons since 1738 and reaffirmed by the CBCP in 1990. Some argued that Dr. Rizal wrote those anti-catholic passages on his letters, poems and novels during the times when he was still excommunicated from his Catholic faith.So, he was really an enemy of the Catholic Church of that time. But prior to his execution by firing squad, he wrote a retraction letter which in turn rejects all the things he wrote about the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic legend has it that as if fearing for his salvation, Rizal regained his faith on his last night thus leading to his retraction saying â€Å" I declare myself a Catholic; I wish to live and die as a Catholic; I retract with all my heart all that I have said, written and done against the Church and our Lord Jesus Christ. †Josephine BRACKEN Being a mason, Rizal and Josephine could not get married. Josephine and Rizal reunited for the last time at the latter’s cell in Fort Santiago on December 30, 1896. The couple were married in Catholic rites by Fr. Victor Balaguer two hours before Rizal’s execution at Bagumbayan. After his execution Josephine, accompanied by Paciano and Trinidad Rizal entered rebel territory in Cavite. They were received by Andres Bonifacio who received from the Rizals a copy of the hero’s last poem which would be known as the Mi Ultimo Adios.