Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 7

Chapter 7 And the angel said, â€Å"What prophet has this written? For in this book is foretold all the events which shall come to pass in the next week in the land of Days of Our Lives and All My Children.† And I said to the angel, â€Å"You fabulously feebleminded bundle of feathers, there's no prophet involved. They know what is going to happen because they write it all down in advance for the actors to perform.† â€Å"So it is written, so it shall be done,† said the angel. I crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed next to Raziel. His gaze never wavered from his Soap Opera Digest. I pushed the magazine down so the angel had to look me in the face. â€Å"Raziel, do you remember the time before mankind, the time when there were only the heavenly host and the Lord?† â€Å"Yes, those were the best of times. Except for the war, of course. But other than that, yes, wonderful times.† â€Å"And you angels were as strong and beautiful as divine imagination, your voices sang praise for the Lord and his glory to the ends of the universe, and yet the Lord saw fit to create us, mankind, weak, twisted, and profane, right?† â€Å"That's when it all started to go downhill, if you ask me,† Raziel said. â€Å"Well, do you know why the Lord decided to create us?† â€Å"No. Ours is not to question the Will.† â€Å"Because you are all dumbfucks, that's why. You're as mindless as the machinery of the stars. Angels are just pretty insects. Days of Our Lives is a show, Raziel, a play. It's not real, get it?† â€Å"No.† And he didn't. I've learned that there's a tradition in this time of telling funny stories about the stupidity of people with yellow hair. Guess where that started. I think that we all expected everything to go back to normal after the killer was found, but it seemed that the Romans were much more concerned with the extermination of the Sicarii then they were with a single resurrection. To be fair, I have to say that resurrections weren't that uncommon in those days. As I mentioned, we Jews were quick to get our dead into the ground, and with speed, there's bound to be errors. Occasionally some poor soul would fall unconscious during a fever and wake to find himself being wrapped in linen and prepared for the grave. But funerals were a nice way to get the family together, and there was always a fine meal afterward, so no one really complained, except perhaps those people who didn't wake before they were buried, and if they complained – well, I'm sure God heard them. (It paid to be a light sleeper, in my time.) So, impressed as they might have been with the walking dead, the next day the Romans began to round up suspected conspirators. The men in Maggie's family were hauled off to Sepphoris at dawn. No miracles would come to bring about the release of the prisoners, but neither were there any crucifixions announced in the days that followed. After two weeks had passed with no word of the fate or condition of the men, Maggie, her mother, her aunts, and her sisters went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and appealed to the Pharisees for help. The next day, the Pharisees from Nazareth, Japhia, and Sepphoris appeared at the Roman garrison to appeal to Justus for the release of the prisoners. I don't know what they said, or what sort of leverage they could possibly have used to move the Romans, but the following day, just after dawn, the men of Maggie's family staggered back into our village, beaten, starving, and covered with filth, but very much alive. There was no feast, no celebration for the return of the prisoners – we Jews walked softly for a few months to allow the Romans to settle down. Maggie seemed distant in the weeks that followed, and Josh and I never saw the smile that could make the breath catch in our throats. She seemed to be avoiding us, rushing out of the square whenever we saw her there, or on the Sabbath, staying so close to the women of her family that we couldn't talk to her. Finally, after a month had passed, with absolutely no regard for custom or common courtesy, Joshua insisted that we skip work and dragged me by the sleeve to Maggie's house. She was kneeling on the ground outside the door, grinding some barley with a millstone. We could see her mother moving around in the house and hear the sound of her father and older brother Simon (who was called Lazarus) working the forge next door. Maggie seemed to be lost in the rhythm of grinding the grain, so she didn't see us approach. Joshua put his hand on her shoulder, and without looking up, she smiled. â€Å"You are supposed to be building a house in Sepphoris,† she said. â€Å"We thought it more important to visit a sick friend.† â€Å"And who would that be?† â€Å"Who do you think?† â€Å"I'm not sick. In fact, I've been healed by the touch of the Messiah.† â€Å"I think not,† said Joshua. She finally looked up at him and her smile evaporated. â€Å"I can't be friends with you two anymore,† she said. â€Å"Things have changed.† â€Å"What, because your uncle was a Sicarii?† I said. â€Å"Don't be silly.† â€Å"No, because my mother made a bargain to get Iban to convince the other Pharisees to go to Sepphoris and plead for the men's lives.† â€Å"What kind of bargain?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I am betrothed.† She looked at the millstone again and a tear dripped into the powdered grain. We were both stunned. Josh took his hand from her shoulder and stepped back, then looked at me as if there was something I could do. I felt as if I would start crying at any second myself. I managed to choke out, â€Å"Who to?† â€Å"To Jakan,† Maggie said with a sob. â€Å"Iban's son? The creep? The bully?† Maggie nodded. Joshua covered his mouth and ran a few steps away, then threw up. I was tempted to join him, but instead I crouched in front of Maggie. â€Å"How long before you're married?† â€Å"I'm to be married a month after the Passover feast. Mother made him wait six months.† â€Å"Six months! Six months! That's forever, Maggie. Why, Jakan could be killed in a thousand heinous ways in six months, and that's just the ones I can think of right now. Why, someone could turn him in to the Romans for being a rebel. I'm not saying who, but someone might. It could happen.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Biff.† â€Å"Don't be sorry for me, why would you be sorry for me?† â€Å"I know how you feel, so I'm sorry.† I was thrown for a second. I glanced at Joshua to see if he could give me a clue, but he was still absorbed in splattering his breakfast in the dirt. â€Å"But it's Joshua who you love?† I finally said. â€Å"Does that make you feel any better?† â€Å"Well, no.† â€Å"Then I'm sorry.† She made as if to reach out to touch my cheek, but her mother called her before she made contact. â€Å"Right now, Mary, in this house!† Maggie nodded toward the barfing Messiah. â€Å"Take care of him.† â€Å"He'll be fine.† â€Å"And take care of yourself.† â€Å"I'll be fine too, Maggie. Don't forget I have an emergency backup wife. Besides, it's six months. A lot can happen in six months. It's not like we won't see you.† I was trying to sound more hopeful than I felt. â€Å"Take Joshua home,† she said. Then she quickly kissed me on the cheek and ran into the house. Joshua was completely against the idea of murdering Jakan, or even praying for harm to come to him. If anything, Joshua seemed more kindly disposed toward Jakan than he had been before, going as far as to seek him out and congratulate him on his betrothal to Maggie, an act that left me feeling angry and betrayed. I confronted Joshua in the olive grove, where he had gone to pray among the twisted tree trunks. â€Å"You coward,† I said, â€Å"you could strike him down if you wanted to.† â€Å"As could you,† he replied. â€Å"Yeah, but you can call the wrath of God down upon him. I'd have to sneak up behind him and brain him with a rock. There's a difference.† â€Å"And you would have me kill Jakan for what, your bad luck?† â€Å"Works for me.† â€Å"Is it so hard for you to give up what you never had?† â€Å"I had hope, Josh. You understand hope, don't you?† Sometimes he could be mightily dense, or so I thought. I didn't realize how much he was hurting inside, or how much he wanted to do something. â€Å"I think I understand hope, I'm just not sure that I am allowed to have any.† â€Å"Oh, don't start with that ‘Everyone gets something but me' speech. You've got plenty.† Josh wheeled on me, his eyes like fire, â€Å"Like what? What do I have?† â€Å"Uh†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I wanted to say something about a really sexy mother, but that didn't seem like the sort of thing he wanted to hear. â€Å"Uh, you have God.† â€Å"So do you. So does everyone.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Not the Romans.† â€Å"There are Roman Jews.† â€Å"Well, you've got, uh – that healing-raising-the-dead thing.† â€Å"Oh yeah, and that's working really well.† â€Å"Well, you're the Messiah, what's that? That's something. If you told people you were the Messiah they'd have to do what you say.† â€Å"I can't tell them.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"I don't know how to be the Messiah.† â€Å"Well, at least do something about Maggie.† â€Å"He can't,† came a voice from behind a tree. A golden glow emanated from either side of the trunk. â€Å"Who's there?† Joshua called. The angel Raziel stepped out from behind the tree. â€Å"Angel of the Lord,† I said under my breath to Josh. â€Å"I know,† he said, in a â€Å"you seen one, you seen 'em all† way. â€Å"He can't do anything,† the angel repeated. â€Å"Why not?† I asked. â€Å"Because he may not know any woman.† â€Å"I may not?† Joshua said, not sounding at all happy. â€Å"He may not in that he should not, or that he cannot?† I asked. The angel scratched his golden head, â€Å"I didn't think to ask.† â€Å"It's kind of important,† I said. â€Å"Well, he can't do anything about Mary Magdalene, I know that. They told me to come and tell him that. That and that it is time for him to go.† â€Å"Go where?† â€Å"I didn't think to ask.† I suppose I should have been frightened, but I seemed to have passed right through frightened to exasperated. I stepped up to the angel and poked him in the chest. â€Å"Are you the same angel that came to us before, to announce the coming of the Savior?† â€Å"It was the Lord's will that I bring that joyful news.† â€Å"I just wondered, in case all of you angels look alike or something. So, after you showed up ten years late, they sent you with another message?† â€Å"I am here to tell the Savior that it is time for him to go.† â€Å"But you don't know where?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"And this golden stuff around you, this light, what is this?† â€Å"The glory of the Lord.† â€Å"You're sure it's not stupidity leaking out of you?† â€Å"Biff, be nice, he is the messenger of the Lord.† â€Å"Well, hell, Josh, he's no help at all. If we're going to get angels from heaven they should at least know what they are doing. Blow down walls or something, destroy cities, oh, I don't know – get the whole message.† â€Å"I'm sorry,† the angel said. â€Å"Would you like me to destroy a city?† â€Å"Go find out where Josh is supposed to go. How 'bout that?† â€Å"I can do that.† â€Å"Then do that.† â€Å"I'll be right back.† â€Å"We'll wait.† â€Å"Godspeed,† Joshua said. In an instant the angel moved behind another tree trunk and the golden glow was gone from the olive grove with a warm breeze. â€Å"You were sort of hard on him,† Joshua said. â€Å"Josh, being nice isn't always going to get the job done.† â€Å"One can try.† â€Å"Was Moses nice to Pharaoh?† Before Joshua could answer me, the warm breeze blew into the olive grove again and the angel stepped out from behind a tree. â€Å"To find your destiny,† he said. â€Å"What?† I said. â€Å"What?† Joshua said. â€Å"You are supposed to go find your destiny.† â€Å"That's it?† Joshua said. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"What about the ‘knowing a woman' thing?† I asked. â€Å"I have to go now.† â€Å"Grab him, Josh. You hold him and I'll hit him.† But the angel was gone with the breeze. â€Å"My destiny?† Joshua looked at his open, empty palms. â€Å"We should have pounded the answer out of him,† I said. â€Å"I don't think that would have worked.† â€Å"Oh, back to the nice strategy. Did Moses – â€Å" â€Å"Moses should have said, ‘Let my people go, please.'† â€Å"That would have made the difference?† â€Å"It could have worked. You don't know.† â€Å"So what do you do about your destiny?† â€Å"I'm going to ask the Holy of Holies when we go to the Temple for the Passover.† And so it came to pass that in the spring all of the Jews from Galilee made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, and Joshua began the search for his destiny. The road was lined with families making their way to the holy city. Camels, carts, and donkeys were loaded high with provisions for the trip, and all along the column of pilgrims you could hear the bleating of the lambs that would be sacrificed for the feast. The road was dry that year, and a red-brown cloud of dust wound its way over the road as far as one could see in either direction. Since we were each the eldest in our families, it fell on Joshua and me to keep track of all our younger brothers and sisters. It seemed that the easiest way to accomplish this was to tie them together, so we strung together, by height, my two brothers and Josh's three brothers and two sisters. I tied the rope loosely around their necks so it would only choke them if they got out of line. â€Å"I can untie this,† said James. â€Å"Me too,† said my brother Shem. â€Å"But you won't. This is the part of the Passover where you reenact Moses leading you out of the Promised Land, you have to stay with the little ones.† â€Å"You're not Moses,† said Shem. â€Å"No – no, I'm not Moses. Smart of you to notice.† I tied the end of the rope to a nearby wagon that was loaded high with jars of wine. â€Å"This wagon is Moses,† I said. â€Å"Follow it.† â€Å"That wagon isn't – â€Å" â€Å"It's symbolic, shut the hell up and follow Moses.† Thus freed of our responsibilities, Joshua and I went looking for Maggie and her family. We knew that Maggie and her clan had left after us, so we fought backward through the pilgrims, braving donkey bites and camel spit until we spotted her royal blue shawl on the hill behind us, perhaps a half-mile back. We had resolved to just sit by the side of the road to wait until she reached us, rather than battle the crowd, when suddenly the column of pilgrims started to leave the road altogether, moving to the sides in a great wave. When we saw the red crest of a centurion's helmet come over the top of the hill we understood. Our people were making way for the Roman army. (There would be nearly a million Jews in Jerusalem for Passover – a million Jews celebrating their liberation from oppression, a very dangerous mix from the Roman point of view. The Roman governor would come from Caesarea with his full legion of six thousand men, and each of the other barracks in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee would send a century or two of soldiers to the holy city.) We used the opportunity to dash back to Maggie, arriving there at the same time as the Roman army. The centurion that led the cavalry kicked at me as he passed, his hobnail boot missing my head by a hair's breadth. I suppose I should be glad he wasn't a standard-bearer or I might have been conked with a Roman eagle. â€Å"How long do I have to wait before you drive them from the land and restore the kingdom to our people, Joshua?† Maggie stood there with her hands on her hips, trying to look stern, but her blue eyes betrayed that she was about to burst into laughter. â€Å"Uh, shalom to you too, Maggie,† Joshua said. â€Å"How about you, Biff, have you learned to be an idiot yet, or are you behind in your studies?† Those laughing eyes, even as the Romans passed by only an arm's length away. God, I miss her. â€Å"I'm learning,† I said. Maggie put down the jar she'd been carrying and threw her arms out to embrace us. It had been months since we'd seen her other than passing in the square. She smelled of lemons and cinnamon that day. We walked with Maggie and her family for a couple of hours, talking and joking and avoiding the subject that we were all thinking about until Maggie finally said, â€Å"Are you two coming to my wedding?† Joshua and I looked at each other as if our tongues had suddenly been struck from our mouths. I saw that Josh was having no luck finding words, and Maggie seemed to be getting angry. â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Uh, Maggie, it's not that we're not overjoyed with your good fortune, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She took the opportunity to backhand me across the mouth. The jar she carried on her head didn't even waver. Amazing grace that girl had. â€Å"Ouch.† â€Å"Good fortune? Are you mad? My husband's a toad. I'm sick at the thought of him. I was just hoping you two would come to help me through the ceremony.† â€Å"I think my lip is bleeding.† Joshua looked at me and his eyes went wide. â€Å"Uh-oh.† He cocked his head, as if listening to the wind. â€Å"What, uh-oh?† Then I heard the commotion coming from ahead. There was a crowd gathered at a small bridge – a lot of shouting and waving. Since the Romans had long since passed, I assumed someone had fallen in the river. â€Å"Uh-oh,† Josh said again, and he began running toward the bridge. â€Å"Sorry.† I shrugged at Maggie, then followed Josh. At the river's edge (no more than a creek, really) we saw a boy about our age, with wild hair and wilder eyes, standing waist-deep in the water. He was holding something under the water and shouting at the top of his lungs. â€Å"You must repent and atone, atone and repent! Your sins have made you unclean. I cleanse you of the evil that you carry like your wallet.† â€Å"That's my cousin, John,† Joshua said. Trailing out of the water on either side of John stood our brothers and sisters, still tied together, but the missing link in the string of siblings was my brother Shem, who had been replaced by a lot of thrashing and bubbling muddy water in front of John. Onlookers were cheering on the Baptist, who was having a little trouble keeping Shem under water. â€Å"I think he's drowning Shem.† â€Å"Baptizing,† Joshua said. â€Å"My mother will be happy that Shem's sins have been cleansed, but I have to think we're going to be in a lot of trouble if he drowns in the process.† â€Å"Good point,† Josh said. He stepped into the water. â€Å"John! Stop that!† John looked at him and seemed a little perplexed. â€Å"Cousin Joshua?† â€Å"Yes. John, let him up.† â€Å"He has sinned,† John said, as if that said it all. â€Å"I'll take care of his sins.† â€Å"You think you're the one, don't you? Well, you're not. My birth was announced by an angel as well. It was prophesied that I would lead. You're not the one.† â€Å"We should talk about this in another place. Let him up, John. He's cleansed.† John let my brother pop out of the water and I ran down and dragged him and all the other kids out of the river. â€Å"Wait, the others haven't been cleansed. They are filthy with sin.† Joshua stepped between his brother James, who would have been the next one dunked, and the Baptist. â€Å"You won't tell Mother about this, will you?† Halfway between terrified and furious, James was tearing at the knots, trying to untie the rope from around his neck. He clearly wanted revenge on his big brother, but at the same time he didn't want to give up his brother's protection from John. â€Å"If we let John baptize you long enough, you won't be able to tell your mother, will you, James?† Me, just trying to help out. â€Å"I won't tell,† James said. He looked back at John, who was still staring as if he'd dash out and grab someone to cleanse any second. â€Å"He's our cousin?† â€Å"Yes,† Joshua said. â€Å"The son of our mother's cousin Elizabeth.† â€Å"When did you meet him before?† â€Å"I haven't.† â€Å"Then how did you know him.† â€Å"I just did.† â€Å"He's a loony,† said James. â€Å"You're both loonies.† â€Å"Yes, a family trait. Maybe when you get older you can be a loony too. You won't tell Mother.† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Good,† Joshua said. â€Å"You and Biff get the kids moving, will you?† I nodded, shooting a glance back to John. â€Å"James is right, Josh. He is a loony.† â€Å"I heard that, sinner!† John shouted. â€Å"Perhaps you need to be cleansed.† John and his parents shared supper with us that evening. I was surprised that John's parents were older than Joseph – older than my grandparents even. Joshua told me that John's birth had been a miracle, announced by the angel. Elizabeth, John's mother, talked about it all through supper, as if it had happened yesterday instead of thirteen years ago. When the old woman paused to take a breath, Joshua's mother started in about the divine announcement of her own son's birth. Occasionally my mother, feeling the need to exhibit some maternal pride that she didn't really feel, would chime in as well. â€Å"You know, Biff wasn't announced by an angel, but locusts ate our garden and Alphaeus had gas for a month around the time he would have been conceived. I think it might have been a sign. That certainly didn't happen with my other boys.† Ah, Mother. Did I mention that she was besought with a demon? After supper, Joshua and I built our own fire, away from the others, hoping that Maggie would seek us out, but it turned out that only John joined us. â€Å"You are not the anointed one,† John said to Joshua. â€Å"Gabriel came to my father. Your angel didn't even have a name.† â€Å"We shouldn't be talking about these things,† Joshua said. â€Å"The angel told my father that his son would prepare the way for the Lord. That's me.† â€Å"Fine, I want nothing more than for you to be the Messiah, John.† â€Å"Really?† John asked. â€Å"But your mother seems so, so†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Josh can raise the dead,† I said. John shifted his insane gaze to me, and I scooted away from him in case he tried to hit me. â€Å"He cannot,† John said. â€Å"Yep, I've seen it twice.† â€Å"Don't, Biff,† Josh said. â€Å"You're lying. Bearing false witness is a sin,† John said. The Baptist started to look more panicked than angry. â€Å"I'm not very good at it,† Joshua said. John's eyes went wide, now with amazement instead of madness. â€Å"You have done this? You have raised the dead?† â€Å"And healed the sick,† I said. John grabbed me by the front of my tunic and pulled me close, staring into my eyes as if he was looking into my head. â€Å"You aren't lying, are you?† He looked at Joshua. â€Å"He's not lying, is he?† Joshua shook his head. â€Å"I don't think so.† John released me, let out a long sigh, then sat back in the dirt. The firelight caught tears sparkling in his eyes as he stared at nothing. â€Å"I am so relieved. I didn't know what I would do. I don't know how to be the Messiah.† â€Å"Neither do I,† said Joshua. â€Å"Well, I hope you really can raise the dead,† John said, â€Å"because this will kill my mother.† We walked with John for the next three days, through Samaria, into Judea, and finally into the holy city. Fortunately, there weren't many rivers or streams along the way, so we were able to keep his baptisms to a minimum. His heart was in the right place, he really did want to cleanse our people of their sins, it was just that no one would believe that God would give that responsibility to a thirteen-year-old. To keep John happy, Josh and I let him baptize our little brothers and sisters at every body of water we passed, at least until Josh's little sister Miriam developed the sniffles and Joshua had to perform an emergency healing on her. â€Å"You really can heal,† John exclaimed. â€Å"Well, the sniffles are easy,† Joshua said. â€Å"A little mucus is nothing against the power of the Lord.† â€Å"Would – would you mind?† John said, lifting up his tunic and showing his bare privates, which were covered with sores and greenish scales. â€Å"Cover, please cover!† I yelled. â€Å"Drop the shirt and step away!† â€Å"That's disgusting,† Joshua said. â€Å"Am I unclean? I've been afraid to ask my father, and I can't go to a Pharisee, not with my father being a priest. I think it's from standing in the water all of the time. Can you heal me?† (I have to say here that I believe that this was the first time Joshua's little sister Miriam ever saw a man's privates. She was only six at the time, but the experience so frightened her that she never married. The last time anyone heard from her, she had cut her hair short, put on men's clothes, and moved to the Greek island of Lesbos. But that was later.) â€Å"Have at it, Josh,† I said. â€Å"Lay your hands upon the affliction and heal it.† Joshua shot me a dirty look, then looked back to his cousin John, with nothing but compassion in his eyes. â€Å"My mother has some salve you can put on it,† he said. â€Å"Let's see if that works first.† â€Å"I've tried salve,† John said. â€Å"I was afraid you had,† said Joshua. â€Å"Have you tried rubbing it with olive oil?† I asked. â€Å"It probably won't cure you, but it might take your mind off of it.† â€Å"Biff, please. John is afflicted.† â€Å"Sorry.† Joshua said, â€Å"Come here, John.† â€Å"Oh, jeez, Joshua,† I said. â€Å"You're not going to touch it, are you? He's unclean. Let him live with the lepers.† Joshua put his hands on John's head and the Baptist's eyes rolled back in his head. I thought he would fall, and he did waver, but remained standing. â€Å"Father, you have sent this one to prepare the way. Let him go forth with his body as clean as his spirit.† Joshua released his cousin and stepped back. John opened his eyes and smiled. â€Å"I am healed!† he yelled. â€Å"I am healed.† John began to raise his shirt and I caught his arm. â€Å"We'll take your word for it.† The Baptist fell to his knees, then prostrated himself before Joshua, shoving his face against Josh's feet. â€Å"You are truly the Messiah. I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I shall declare your holiness throughout the land.† â€Å"Uh, maybe someday, but not now,† Joshua said. John looked up from where he had been grasping Josh's ankles. â€Å"Not now?† â€Å"We're trying to keep it a secret,† I said. Josh patted his cousin's head. â€Å"Yes, it would be best not to tell anyone about the healing, John.† â€Å"But why?† â€Å"We have to find out a couple of things before Joshua starts being the Messiah,† I said. â€Å"Like what?† John seemed as if he would start crying again. â€Å"Well, like where Joshua left his destiny and whether or not he's allowed to, uh, have an abomination with a woman.† â€Å"It's not an abomination if it's with a woman,† Josh added. â€Å"It's not?† â€Å"Nope. Sheep, goats, pretty much any animal – it's an abomination. But with a woman, it's something totally different.† â€Å"What about a woman and a goat, what's that?† asked John. â€Å"That's five shekels in Damascus,† I said. â€Å"Six if you want to help.† Joshua punched me in the shoulder. â€Å"Sorry, old joke.† I grinned. â€Å"Couldn't resist.† John closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, as if he might squeeze some understanding out of his mind if he applied enough pressure. â€Å"So you don't want anyone to know that you have the power to heal because you don't know if you can lie with a woman?† â€Å"Well, that and I have no idea how to go about being the Messiah,† Josh said. â€Å"Yeah, and that,† I said. â€Å"You should ask Hillel,† John said. â€Å"My father says he's the wisest of all of the priests.† â€Å"I'm going to ask the Holy of Holies,† Joshua said. (The Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant – the box containing the tablets handed down from God to Moses. No one I knew had ever seen it, as it was housed in the inner room at the Temple.) â€Å"But it's forbidden. Only a priest may enter the chamber of the Ark.† â€Å"Yes, that's going to be a problem,† I said. The city was like a huge cup that had been filled to its brim with pilgrims, then spilled into a seething pool of humanity around it. When we arrived men were already lined up as far as the Damascus gate, waiting with their lambs to get to the Temple. A greasy black smoke was on the wind, coming from the Temple, where as many as ten thousand priests would be slaughtering the lambs and burning the blood and fatty parts on the altar. Cooking fires were burning all around the city as women prepared the lambs. A haze hung in the air, the steam and funk of a million people and as many animals. Stale breath and sweat and the smell of piss rose in the heat of the day, mixing with the bleating of lambs, the bellowing of camels, the crying of children, the ululations of women, and the low buzz of too many voices, until the air was thick with sounds and smells and God and history. Here Abraham received the word of God that his people would be the Chosen, here were the Hebrews delivered out of Egypt, here Solomon built the first Temple, here walked the prophets and the kings of the Hebrews, and here resided the Ark of the Covenant. Jerusalem. Here did I, the Christ, and John the Baptist come to find out the will of God and, if we were lucky, spot some really delicious girls. (What, you thought it was all religion and philosophy?) Our families made camp outside the northern wall of the city, below the battlements of Antonia, the fortress Herod had built in tribute to his benefactor, Marc Antony. Two cohorts of Roman soldiers, some twelve hundred strong, watched the Temple courtyard from the fortress walls. The women fed and washed the children while Joshua and I carried lambs with our fathers to the Temple. There was something unsettling about carrying an animal to its death. It wasn't that I hadn't seen the sacrifices before, nor even eaten the Passover lamb, but this was the first time I'd actually participated. I could feel the animal's breathing on my neck as I carried it slung over my shoulders, and amid all the noise and the smells and the movement around the Temple, there was, for a moment, silence, just the breath and heartbeat of the lamb. I guess I fell behind the others, because my father turned and said something to me, but I couldn't hear the words. We went through the gates and into the outer courtyard of the Temple where merchants sold birds for the sacrifice and moneychangers traded shekels for a hundred different coins from around the world. As we passed through the enormous courtyard, where thousands of men stood with lambs on their shoulders waiting to get into the inner temple, to the altar, to the slaughter, I could see no man's face. I saw only the faces of the lambs, some calm and oblivious, others with their eyes rolled back, bleating in terror, still others seeming to be stunned. I swung the lamb from my own shoulders and cradled it in my arms like a child as I backed out toward the gate. I know my father and Joseph must have come after me, but I couldn't see their faces, just emptiness where their eyes should have been, just the eyes of the lambs they carried. I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't get out of the Temple fast enough. I didn't know where I was going, but I wasn't going inside to the altar. I turned to run , but a hand caught my shirt and pulled me back. I spun around and looked into Joshua's eyes. â€Å"It's God's will,† he said. He laid his hands on my head and I was able to breathe again. â€Å"It's all right, Biff. God's will.† He smiled. Joshua had put the lamb he'd been carrying on the ground, but it didn't run away. I suppose I should have known right then. I didn't eat any of the lamb for that Passover feast. In fact, I've never eaten lamb since that day.

Iphone Marketing Strategy Essay

Apple rank no. 1 as the most admired company by fortune. The actual I-phone was launched through Apple Company during 2006-2007 periods. It uses marketing mix & market segmentation strategies. It maintains high secrecy about its products from getting out in the market. It creates innovative products & services aligned with a digital hub strategy, whereby apple computer functions as the digital hub for digital devices. It fully understands that all aspects of customer experience are important & that all brand touch points must reinforce the Apple brand. There are various kinds of creative advertisements designed by Apple that reflect their products to creative individuals. Various other strategies adopted by apple I-phone are Brand awareness, ease of use, Compatibility with iTunes & Mac/apple products for upgradeability, secrecy is maintained before any high level product launch to increase the inquisitiveness about the particular product & generate keen interest from the market & consumers & it’s promoted as form of new generation hip phone which has bit of a professional touch to it. Due to their secrecy, innovation, branding & product to product connectivity & compatibility, i-Phone is the most sought after mobile device & is the current market leader in the mobile market. I-phone incorporates consumer behavior into their marketing strategies by maintaining a high level of secrecy about their product. They let the rumors fly left & right about their products that only a particular number product units are being produced & sold in the market, which is about to be launched by them, which in turn creates an awe-inspiring hype & buzz over the apple products, This scarcity of product in the market leads the consumer to put a lot more value to the product & push itself furthermore to purchase it. The coy approach has been the company’s mantra since the first I-Phone release, a strategy that has worked to drum up insatiable demand of the consumers. People actually camp out near the shops 24 hrs before the launch of a new I-phone, everyone wants to get their hands on the product before anyone else, it becomes a must have product for the consumers.

Australian Engineering Practice Free Samples

Engineering is the use or the application of knowledge which can either be scientifically acquired, socially acquired or even practically acquired purposefully to come up with new design or to an extension improve on the existing structures and design.it is a field that is broad and involves various engineering disciplines. Basically, as an engineer, the expectations that primarily come to mind is to be able to critically think of new design or improving on the existing ones so that the various problems within the society are solved. Hence, the knowledge learnt in the university is a reflection of the expected outcome of an engineer  (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2011, p. 643). The perspective of engineering remains the same both in the university and the real world since the expectation remains the same. However, there are new roles that one expects to play was an engineer in Australia which includes maintaining the technical competences, precisely solving the various challenges in the society and also enhancing great effectiveness at work. There are various competencies one needs to have to be an engineer including eligibility for membership and also immigration assessment .as an engineer, some of the values that I would add in the engineering field are professionalism, integrity, teamwork and also innovation  (Frankline, 2014, p. 975). An expert is someone that has a sustained experience in a particular field of practices or professionalism.   Generally, one is considered an expert when the person has a vast knowledge or skills pertaining to a particular matter of discussion.   It is derived from experience in that it is a direct function of time and also depends on the quickness of the person in question.   (Ronnie, 2011, p. 543). Reading through books and journals in various engineering helps one to acquire knowledge pertaining to engineering as a profession and also to develop some of the core values that are needed in life such as teamwork and integrity.   Innovation helps one to understand the importance of teamwork which helps one to take a short time to learn some particular concept rather than working on it alone which ends up consuming time and also one may not be able to completely perform a particular task within the stipulated specifications. This directly starts from the various group projects that are provided in class  (Ludden, 2008, p. 346). Listening, seeing and reading are very key in engineering. Listening helps one to understand various concepts.   Seeing helps one to be able to identify various problems within the society. It also helps one to be able to critically reason out on how solutions can be computed. On the other hand, reading is equally significant since it makes one be more knowledgeable and also gain new concepts that he or she was not aware of. The process used when carrying out a research is a qualitative and quantitative analysis that involves both collections of data and reading past articles on the subject under discussion.   This helps one to understand the concepts and be able to write them down or explain the various process in own words.   After doing a research, the noted down findings are electronically stored through computers in a paraphrased language. Paraphrased language involves first comprehending the concept and the various aspects involved and then noting them down in own understanding  (Pearson, 2007, p. 735). Collaboration is one of the key factors for success in every organization.   This is because all the members will be able to participate and share ideas on particular areas.   There are various skills that are gained as one grows particularly teamwork and commitment.   It becomes one of the major challenges more so with a teamwork whereby you will realize that some of the team members are not cooperative and also not committed in terms of handling certain things.   Thus it sometimes becomes a demoralizing factor Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies is based on three particular issues or competencies which defines its importance as described below. It helps to identify whether a person has the professional knowledge and the skills required for the engineering practices. Besides, stage one competency helps to determine whether a person possesses the professional and persona; attributes that are essential for engineering practice A situation that occurred once was when giving instructions to fellow teammates in a hockey sport. This came as a result of rules that had changed and were due to be effected on an upcoming tournament.   The situation was not difficult as the team members had learned to cope with new rules and were always flexible and dynamic.   The were no difficulties during issuing of the instructions Collaboration helps to achieve best results within a precise duration.   It makes work easier and also saves on time since the contrary which is a bit of resistance slows down a process.   Collaboration entails some behaviors which have been observed from great collaborators such as understanding, integrity and also patience  (Nottingham, 2009, p. 622). After the review of the various skills and attributes, I can comfortably award myself a 4 star in my various skills and attributes.   In particular, the skills that I feel competent in include listening, integrity, teamwork and also honesty. Conversely, there are some skills that I have not fully attained more so teamwork since I experience some challenges to do with handling my fellow team members there always arises issues relating to commitment Taking Thomas Edison as one of the engineers that greatly had a positive impact on the society by coming up with the first commercial light.   This was a light bulb that had many attributes including possessing a durable incandescent material and a highly resistant filament material. This he was to achieve after a series of tests without giving up. Presently, credits are still rewarded to Edison after successfully helping to bring a solution to the earlier situation of darkness.   Apart from the various technical skills, one factor that comes out in Thomas Edison is commitment and the urge to provide a solution. Besides, Edison was patient and ensures that quality time is applied on the project thereby coming up with a solution that is appreciated up to now  (Johnstone, 2009, p. 772). Projects vary in size but what matters is the success of any project. Thus there are some aspects that ensures that a project is properly managed. These include Strategic planning, Communication, Resources and the various personnel’s that will be involved in the success of the project –  (Brasier, 2008, p. 643). A project needs that quality time is dedicated towards it to ensure its success.   It involves the various stages of proper planning else it may not meet a certain deadline and end up being untrusted. Personally, I am good at managing my time since I always complete my tasks within the stipulated deadline. My best behaviors in terms of time management include completing my tasks on time and also always being updated  (Kazi & John , 2012, p. 352). However, I do find a challenge when managing my time due to a spirit of perfectionism whereby I would tend to ensure that all my answers and tasks are perfect hence this makes me spend much time on the tasks. This refers to the visual representations and techniques that are applied by both designers and engineers for the purposes of expressing and generating ideas. It generally deals with ensuring that all the ideas that an engineer has been placed down in a piece of paper to enable the person plan well before embarking on the engineering task  (Johnstone, 2009).   The tools that are required to perform an engineering mind mapping are very simple and easy to acquire. They include pen and a notebook. The process of engineering mind mapping entails placing the main idea or them in the middle part of a paper and then embarking on the generation of ideas .the ideas are placed just sketchily since there is no order and thus the persons doing the mind mapping just write down anything that comes up in his mind.   They may be informed of drawings, comments, questions, material listings a, statements among others as long as they are related to the central topic. Besides, there are no word limits hence the engineer should write everything that comes at the back of his mind. Thereafter the designer or the engineer should be able to link these thoughts together by interconnecting the graphics, pictures and the words  (Pearson, 2007).     This technique does not necessarily mean that it can only be written by the engineer or the designer starts to design. There are no limitations hence it can be written down at any stage of the process of design. One is able to do the kind mapping at the start in order to generate the problem that needs a solution and also at the middle of the task to generate other possible ways of providing the solution. It is most preferred to be done when one feels like emptying the thoughts that one has or when an engineer or a designer is stuck in the middle I the design process.   Below are examples of the mind map. It can also be applied in every aspect of life even in the day to day making of decision.it also helps in making one be more creative as it will give room for expression and expansion of the thoughts that a person has  (Johnstone, 2009). American Society of Civil Engineers, A. I. o. C. E., 2011. Engineering Solutions for Sustainability: Materials and Resources. 3rd ed. London: John Wiley & Sons. Edward F. Crawley, J. M. S. Ãâ€". D. R. B. K. E., 2014. Rethinking Engineering Education: The CDIO Approach. 1st ed. new york: Springer Science & Business Media. Harding, R., 2011. Environmental Decision-making: The Role of Scientists, Engineers, and the Public. 2nd ed. Chicago: Federation Press. Daniel A, 2017. Effective Communication at Work: Say what you mean and get what you want. 1st ed. Chicago: 50Minutes.com. Ludden, M., 2008. Effective Communication Skills: Essential Skills for Success in Work and Life. 2nd ed. Westminister: JIST Publishing, Nottingham, U. o., 2009. Sustainability & Engineering. 1st ed. Nottingham: University of Nottingham. Pearson, N., 2007. FCS Professional Engineering Practice L4. 2nd ed. Pretoria: Pearson South Africa. Stephen Johnston, J. P. G. W. J. K., 2009. Engineering and Society: Challenges of Professional Practice. 2nd ed. Carlisle: Prentice Hall,

Drugs and Substance Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Drugs and Substance Abuse - Essay Example This has affected, in an adverse way, the anticipated economic gains that would have been made in the area. For the past 5 years, this wave of destruction has swept through the county of Mobley in spite of the public protests and demonstrations her residents have conducted. MADAAT has recorded successful initiatives over the last three years with more than 2700 persons rehabilitated and the rate of drug and substance abuse decreased by 30%. This will be a great event and a lot of activities will take place. There will be football and volleyball tournaments, debates on how to curb alcohol and drug abuse, free counseling on alcohol and substance abuse and training on how to counsel and care for drug addicts to help them rehabilitate. Mobley has lost about 300 very young and energetic youths due to drug abuse annually, according to MADAAT Secretary General, Mr. Godwin Brooke. â€Å"We urge the Mobley’s vast society, whether affected or otherwise, to try and come for the organized event. We further encourage all the individuals that wish to participate in any of the activities of the big day, to apply and submit their applications on-line through our website,† MADAAT Organizing Secretary said on his speech while addressing the students at Mobley College for Business Studies. â€Å"This event will add a lot of force to the fight against drug and substance abuse in Mobley. We target to achieve a decrement in this disaster practice by 10-15% by the end of this year,† he added. The Mobley Alcohol and Drug Abuse Awareness team was found and initially made up of 28 members from The Ashleigh University Christian Union, Mobley. Today, it is a well organized fraternity of men and women across the Mobley County; persons with common interests and beliefs to curb this monster that threatens to tear Mobley apart.

The storage and transportation of spill cleanup waste under the Research Paper

The storage and transportation of spill cleanup waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) - Research Paper Example This act also helps in preserving energy through waste reprocessing and eliminating the hazardous waste as quickly as possible. The act ensures that the waste is properly managed to protect public health and the environment1. RCRA mainly edges on hazardous waste management with respect to storage and transportation. In RCRA the role of the industry is to obey Federal and State waste management rules so that the disposal of the waste does not harm the health and environment. Public participation in the awareness of the waste management program is very important. The main activity of public is to monitor and report the condition caused by waste management resulting in a threat to health and safety. The term ‘hazardous waste’ means ‘solid waste or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration or physical , chemical or infectious characteristics’ may increase the mortality rate and create both health and environmental hazard by transp orting, storing or disposing improperly. RCRA takes help of Environment Policy Act (EPA) to identify the hazardous waste2. This paper will discuss the origin, purpose, aims, and the works of RCRA act putting maximum emphasis on the storage and transportation of chemical spill and the clean up waste under the RCRA. ... The organization where the employees work can also be subject to civil penalty. The main aim of RCRA is to protect the people from hazards of waste disposal by cleaning up the waste that has been created by spill or any leakage. Under RCRA, hazardous waste program deals with the waste from its origin till its disposal. RCRA acts main focus is on recycling and safe disposal of the industrial waste. RCRA also regulates the treatment, storage, and removal of hazardous waste. RCRA disposes hazardous waste not only from industries but from hospitals, universities, and other entities3. Battery acids, pharmaceutical waste, and other chemical waste are examples of hazardous waste. EPA sanctioned states in United States to function their own hazardous programs including generators, transporters, and treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs)4. Storage Hazardous wastes are stored in a container. The storage of waste in these containers should be according to the regulations laid down by the RCRA. It deals with the storage and transportation of the hazardous waste. The container should be in good condition. Proper inspections of these containers have to be done. RCRA first identifies the materials that are used to make the container. Then it decides on the type and the quality of waste that would be stored in the container. Oil spill is a serious problem which causes great devastation to flora and fauna. Oil spill effects in many ways distort the ecological balance. Oil spill is assumed to be a hazardous waste. Mostly oil is stored in the underground storage tanks (USTs). Above ground oil is also stored in the tanks (AST) under the

Reflection on ERIE Step IV Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection on ERIE Step IV - Assignment Example nother one is influenced by numerous factors, such as personal mind and brain activity of a child, character of learner, educator’s teaching style, form of information’s representation, level of students’ involvement in the teaching process, variety of tasks and assignments, opportunities to implement children’s creativity and initiative, atmosphere in a classroom, psychological approach of the teacher and educator’s experience and emotional urge. Taking into account such a large number of internal and external variables that cause specific impact on the learning process, it is no wonder that frequently results of our educational system can be rather disappointing. This happens due to the fact that some teachers are prone to disregard any notion from the mentioned list and build a lesson according to a standard template; meanwhile, it is imperative to keep in mind that every student is individuality, who sometimes requires special approach. Knowledge can be considered as indispensable part of our not only professional, but also social and private life. According to the gist of studied theories, such as constructivism, objectivism, humanism and behaviorism, the same piece of information can be represented and taught differently thereby the results and return from each approach can vary drastically. With the help of carried out researches, it has been found out that human’s ability to forget some information and fail to apply the knowledge which he or she has gained previously in specific situations is affected by experience and emotional background. Secondly, it has been proved by many scientists that availability and abundance of information, such as personal incentive that encourages student to enroll in a course, the main goal of the lectures, student’s preferences regarding offered activities and learner’s psychological reactions along with age, sex and social background, play extremely urgent role in the character of the final results.

Human Resource Management Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resource Management Questions - Essay Example For example, if there is an employment contract in existence, the employer and employee are subjects to terms spelled therein. Such a contract will provide circumstances under which an employee will be entitled to a termination as well as what actions constitutes a breach of the contract. It is thus advisable that the employer informs themselves of proper steps for firing an employee. An employer’s ability to lay-off an employee greatly depends on the groundwork set forth since the day they admit an employee in their system. This as follows: †¢ Have fairly designed rules This is to imply that an organisation must embody properly drafted and defined rules made known to every employee. †¢ Enforce the said regulations fairly Apart from the rules being fair in nature, they should get fair application to each employee without any discrimination. †¢ Problem documentation Employee’s misconduct and warnings so issued to them need proper documentation, which serves as evidence in case of eminent lawsuit. †¢ Proper incidence investigation There should be proper investigation for the problem in order to establish reasons for the employee’s deteriorated behaviour. After taking into account the above three steps an employer will have navigated liability cast upon them by unsatisfied laid off employees. The reason is that the employer will have a strong base upon which they can anchor their defence.

Happiness 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Happiness 2 - Essay Example Scitovosky said that life is essentially a struggle for economic status and as such it is the goal of any given person to claim a steady income for at least a perception of happiness. The terms means something unique to every individual, and despite this flexible existence we all believe our struggles through life are merely to seek out some kind of natural balance that results in being happy; the elements of this state of mind are so varied that there is no way to physically quantify the measurement yet people continue to ask themselves what would or would not make them happy. Material possessions, family life, social status and free time all rank highly among people who are either looking for or say that they are truly happy; how much does money really have to do with it? â€Å"Why is that despite having achieved previously undreamed miracles of progress we seem more helpless in facing life than our less than privileged ancestors? The answer seems clear: while humankind collectively has increased its material powers a thousand fold, it has not advanced very far in terms of improving the content† (Csikszentmihalyi, 1992). Stace consents that this idea is rather elusive and even points out that other theologians categorise happiness as a purely negative experience in that it doesn’t seem to really exits; whereas physical realities can count as positive and basically influential on a person’s daily life, happiness is a vague and therefore inconceivable term (1937). Trolfand has tried to explain happiness as a certain biological quality of humans who find themselves experiencing an â€Å"inevitable consequence of congenital forces† (1928); it’s an unconventional take on what originally had more spiritual connotations however in the search to define the terms scientists have more to base their conclusions on that the rest of us. Instead of struggling to pin a true meaning to the word happiness,

Speculating about causes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Speculating about causes - Essay Example Employees may get retrenched for example when a firm no longer needs the services of the employees or if the company itself shuts down its operations. It is usually not easy to find to find an appropriate job immediately after being laid off. A company would not desire to appoint somebody recently laid off for bad reasons such as failure to do a good job, absence from work, theft or drunkenness in work. It makes someone sacked to find alternative employment immediately. In some cases, the economy of a country might be undergoing turmoil making job hunting difficult. Other individuals are unable to get employed because they lack the required level of qualification and experience for a particular job. Some organizations will not hire someone without getting a good reference and remark concerning the prospective employee. Employers all the time appoint the best-qualified individuals for its vacant positions available. Many individuals are in no position to come across jobs because they are disabled or have health issues. For example, if one gets injured in an accident or gets ill for a prolonged time the person may be unable to do work hence remain jobless (Greenhalgh 103) . Each act comes with an outcome. However, the effects and causes and of joblessness are very powerful the life of the affected individuals. For instance, an employee lacking the suitable and appropriate skills required for a task will get retrenched or fired from a company. An individual may be jobless or get sacked from their job when a company wishes to cut on its budget. Similarly, in a case where there are plenty of workforces but not enough work to match them, their number will be reduced to ensure the company does not waste resources. On the other hand, if there is an abundance of jobs, but the employees lack the correct experience or skills to work then the their replaced will occur. Job losses are beginning to rise steadily, and

Business Operations Strategies Essay Example for Free

Business Operations Strategies Essay Cost Leadership- Cost Leadership is a way of getting a competitive advantage by finding the most efficient way of manufacturing the good or delivering the service in the industry. A cost leadership strategy is where a business aims to be the lowest cost manufacturer within its industry. Low costs can be achieved through economies of scale in production and distribution, access to cheaper raw materials or inventing an innovative way of producing a product. Visibility- Operations can be influenced with something such as what they can see from the operations in action. Service based businesses will have a higher based level of visibility, while customers will rarely see the operations process of a manufacturing based business. The implications for operations of a highly visible operations process are that the quality of labour will be significant. Operations will generally need to have well trained, highly skilled, adaptable staff that are able and willing to deal with the individual needs of customers. A close relationship with human resource will be essential. Speed is also a crucial factor in operations as customers usually have a much lower tolerance for waiting. Short time lags are important in operations between the customer ordering and the delivery. Otherwise the customer may get sick of waiting and move onto a competitor. Overheard costs- This refers to the ongoing expenses of an operating business. Overhead expenses are all costs on the income statement except for direct labour, direct materials direct expenses. Overhead expenses include accounting fees, advertising, depreciation, insurance, interest, legal fees, rent, repairs, supplies, taxes, telephone bills, travel and utilities costs. Over-head costs can be classes under four titles such as Functional classification, Classification on the nature of expenditure Element-wise classification and Classification on behaviour of expenditure. Globalisation- Gives the consumer the opportunity to purchase products from the business will provide them with the best value for money. Globalisation is the integration of different national economies into a single market where goods and services can be traded easily. This can increase the flow of goods, services, people, finance, and information around the world. It refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people, and economic activity. Cost Based Competition- A business can keep it competitive edge by structuring a cost based competition with other businesses. A business can gain price advantage over its competitors by using operational strategies that lower costs. In this approach a business can reduce its prices lower than its rivals. This should increase the profit of sales and market share. Supply Chain Management The supply chain management includes all the businesses directly linked to one another to supply goods and services to one another. This is useful in way of a business being able to consume various resources necessary to produce a good or supply a service. Good suppliers are to be found that can provide good inputs with the best price and reliability. Technology Technology is the equipment and knowledge that are available to help businesses perform certain functions or make products. Technology is very important and very crucial in businesses. The most significant influence is on businesses that fail to keep up with the progress in technology by hanging onto equipment or operation methods where competitors have released new technology giving them an advantage. Adapting new technologies may make a business more competitive if the technology is widely adopted but it prevents the loss of competitiveness. Government based policies Government policies can be a very important influence on the operations functions of a business. They can impact on the operations function include regulation, subsidies and grants, and taxes and tariffs that encourage or discourage aspects of operations or ways the operations functions are conducted. Corporate and Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility refers to the relationship between business and the broad society and the way its relationship is perceived and managed. The focus of the responsibility is to ensure the business activities have a positive impact on society and the stakeholders in the business. These days the community have high expectations about the behaviour and the behaviour of a business. Volume Volume is that amount of a product that is produced. Sometimes a business will be better off producing more than what is needed to ensure they will have the products ready to be sold. This can work out to be cheaper in ways of getting the products made in bulk, this can be both convenient for the buyer and the seller. An example of this would be Dominos pizza. If they have their pizzas already made and cooked for people, it would be more convenient for them to just walk in and buy it straight out of the oven rather than ordering the pizza and having to wait for the usual waiting period. Quality expectations A business that is customer focussed will try to produce goods and services that will satisfy the desires of its customers. Customers always have their own idea of how a product should be and what quality it should be at. The business must keep their intentions in mind. An example of this would be at JB HIFI. A woman wants to buy a pair of ear phones. She enters the shop intending to buy a $20 headset but the shop does not have the product in her price range, the woman ends up disappointed and goes to another shop. Sequencing and Scheduling These are tools that are used to identify all steps in operations process and organise them into the most efficient way and order to complete. A key role of operations when scheduling and sequencing is to perform a detailed task analysis to determine the different parts of the entire process of making a good or providing a service. There are many factors come under scheduling and sequencing such as- What production and activities are used. When a particular activity will occur. How long an activity will take to finish. What activities are independent and can therefore occur at the same time. What activities are related so that one can occur before the other What resources will be used etc. Legal Regulations Legal regulations are a very important influence on any business. It impacts on the operations functions of a business. Legal regulations are laws that regulate the ways things can be done. They are also important because of the potentially dangerous aspects with the use of the equipment in the business. Each State Government Have legal regulations that govern the behaviour of the employer and the employee in the work place, it is a legal requirement to provide a safe working environment. Logistics Logistics are a massive part of the functions of a business. It is a crucial aspect of the supply chain management. Logistics is important because it can be part of a source of a competitive advantage if a business can do their logistics activities more cheaply than their competitors. An example of this would be when Woolworths spent billions of dollars on overhauling their entire distribution system. This is what gave them their competitive edge over Coles. E Commerce This is one of the fastest growing aspects of supply chain management. The term E-commerce refers to the use of the internet for all aspects of commercial transactions. An example of this would be EBay. This is a website where you can buy and sell your own personal items. Businesses also use this site to sell their products too. This gives them a wider range to sell their products to all over the world. Global Sourcing Global sourcing is important in the supply chain of management because businesses are increasingly seeking raw material and component parts wherever they are cheapest. Buying and selling raw materials around the world is very useful in ways of saving money and making money. Buying raw materials from other countries may work out to be cheaper than to buy the products from the country the business is based at. Outsourcing Outsourcing is a very significant in the development in current business practises. It is a supply chain of management strategy that can provide very significant value to a business. Outsourcing is the term used when goods and services that would normally be part of the business are obtained outside of the business. Inventory Inventory is an area of operations that is undergoing significant change. It is often called stock and refers to the store of transformed resources waiting to be processed. To have an inventory can be very useful in the case of having an impulse of buyers. Having the stock already produced and ready for sale will be convenient for both the buyer and the seller. Economies of Scale (EOS) This is when the managers of a business design a factory to conduct the transformation process. They have to make the decision as to the capacity volume. Economies of scale in other words mean the expansion of a business to minimise costs through the use of high volume and production. An example of this would be Wal-Mart, they are a massive franchise and are expanding all over the world. Product differentiation The Product differentiation strategy and is a very different way of developing a competitive advantage. A product differentiation is concerned with developing products that are different from their competitors because they have benefits or attributes a customer values. This means that customers will be willing to pay more for a differentiated product. Visibility Customers appreciate being able to see what they buy and try it out before they get the product. This is an approach of having good customer service from the staff showing off the product to the interested customer. An example of this is at Athletes foot. The customer enters the shop and immediately gets attended from staff. The staff will then assist the customer in trying and showing the customer what he/she is interested in. Customer Service Customer serive is a massive part of running a successful business. With helpful staff that is able to assist you, this makes things much easier for the customer and will make them more willing to buy the product. So either way with this approach everybody wins depending on how well the customer service. Flexibility When a business is manufacturing a product or delivering a service in a dynamic environment the ability to change is important. A business must have the ability to make changes to suit the changes to keep up its competitive edge and keep up with the game. Flexibility is important for every business because businesses can fall behind and lose track of what else is happening within other businesses. Warranties Warranties are very important to customers. Potential customers often find that a number of competing products will effectively meet their needs. This is to do with products such as cars and white goods such as refrigerators, televisions etc. Warranties become an important part of the consideration in the customers choice. Speed Speed is a major factor within running a successful business. Customers appreciate quick service and prefer to be in and out of the shop as quick as possible. Speed refers to the time difference between a customers request for a good or a service to when it is actually received. Control Dependability Dependability is an important performance objective for many businesses. It means that the business is consistently good in its quality and its performance. This is a key performance indicator for all businesses. Having a dependable business will keep customers coming back for more, and will keep people talking about the reliability of the business. Environmental Sustainability Environmental sustainability is a massive concern to both the wider world and the community and of what the business has of impact on the environment. It is the ability to maintain the qualities that are values in the physical environment. Climate chance, Water, Waste etc. Quality Assurance Quality assurance involves establishing and using a set of procedures and/or processes that will prevent product defects from occurring in delivering services. Global factors There are a number of global factors that influence operations strategies. They include global sourcing, economies of scale, scanning and learning and research and development. Global sourcing is where products are acquired outside the home country and are bought from overseas for cheaper sales. Scanning and Learning This is the competitive global environment within which many large businesses operate which is constantly changing. Technology as an example is changing at a very fast rate. Businesses need to scan and learn off other businesses what is going on in the market of other businesses.

Autistic Childs Failure False Belief Task

Autistic Childs Failure False Belief Task Autistic Childs Failure False Belief Task Is caused by an Executive Function Deficit Autism is a neurological disease which is occasionally called (Classical Autism) and belongs to a class of developmental disorders called the Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). It develops at an early age in life, before the age of 3 years and presents itself by through â€Å"impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests† (Autism Fact sheet, 2007). Diseases which are included in the Autism spectrum disorders include pervasive developmental disorder and child disintegrative disorder. Other diseases falling in the category include Rett syndrome and Asperger syndrome etc. autism is estimated to affect around 3 to 6 out 1000 children (Autism Fact sheet, 2007). According to the Autism and developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network (ADDMN), the disease affected 1 in every 150 8 year old children in different regions of United States. Furthermore it has been seen in males four tim es more than in females (Centre for disease control and prevention, 2007). Autism is a complex syndrome and its identification can be missed in case of a mild form of the disease. It is a debilitating disease in some cases and in order to identify patients suffering from ASDs, doctors study the patient’s different aspects of behaviour. These include: Difficulty in making friends with people. Difficulty in starting conversations with people Patient’s conducting repetitive routines. Lack of imagination and inability to be social. The atypical and stereotyped use of language skills sometimes repeating sentences. Limited interests in subjects with abnormally focused mind (Autism Fact sheet, 2007) Although the stated patterns of behaviour alert the physicians about suspicion towards Autism, the complete explanatory framework for understanding autism ultimately has to encompass multiple aspects of the condition: 1) Aetiology (2) Brain structures and processes (3) Neuro-psychology (4) Symptoms or behaviours At the most basic level, aetiology of the condition is thought to be genetic as well as environmental. Both factors are thought to play a role in the future abnormalities in the developmental process of the brain structures at an early age, and the behavioural pattern, the mind becomes able to illicit. Researchers have been attempting in the recent years to pinpoint the exact relationship between the anomalies in the brain structures and the effect they have on the behavioural patterns in autistic people. A person’s ability to â€Å"control and regulate† behaviour through cognitive abilities is called Executive function of the brain (Executive functions, 2007). They are complex behavioural abilities which simple mental abilities like focus, motor skills and memory etc (Executive functions, 2007). Researches note that the autistic children suffer from executive function deficit. Utah Fith in 1985 along with fellow psychologists’ put forward the idea that the main mental deficit in autism could be their inability to assess their own and other’s mental states. This is known as the â€Å"theory of mind† (Johnston, E, 1997). The theory that children with autism lack the theory of mind (ToM) is supported by multitude of experiments concerning the testing of presence of ToM via false belief task which show that the autistic children usually fail to pass the test (Johnston, E, 1997). Discussion Autisms come under the spectrum disorder, which means the characteristics of the disease, can appear in different combinations and different intensity levels. The aspects of individuality of human personality make it difficult to apply similar diagnostic techniques to different children. Some of the symptoms of Autism are resistance to change, lack of social interaction, lack of eye contact, inappropriate association of things and objects, lack of physical reaction to different stimuli and non- responsiveness to verbal instructions and many more. There are many misconceptions about the disease and lack of awareness among the family members and associated people, which makes it difficult to be accepted and to development of appropriate treatments and special behavioural attention that is to be given to these special children. Two major factors that affect the future behaviour and progress of these children are the teachers and the parents. As these children cannot in most cases develo p and react like normal children. So parents and teachers play and important role in making them normal people this also depends on the severity of the diseases (Baron-Cohen, 2004, p96). False Belief task Theory of mind is the ability of a person to predict or anticipate what the other person will think or do i.e. to read a person. Children at the age of 4years old should be able to illicit this capability. The litmus test to assess if children have developed the theory of mind capability is through the False-belief Task. Children suspected of having deficit of ToM are put through a False-belief task. This task is used in the ToM research and checks the children’s comprehension of other people’s false beliefs (Young, S., 2008). The term False belief can be defined as â€Å"individual’s wrong belief’s about other’s thoughts† (Young, S., 2008). The false belief task checks through a series of questions â€Å"whether child can distinguish between newfound knowledge of a stimulus and previous thoughts about the stimulus of interest† (Young, S., 2008). It has been seen that autistic children do not learn this capability and this is seen through the false belief tasks. These tasks require a person to anticipate or predict another person’s behaviour. It has been seen that a majority of the autistic children fail this task. The ToM theory was first tested by Uta Frith and Baron Cohen et. al using the modified â€Å"Wimmer and Perner’s False belief task† (Johnston, E, 1997). It was found that of the 20 autistic children tested, more than 80% failed to identify the False-Belief task. Whereas children with Down’s syndrome with a mental age lower than those of the autistic children passed the task. The authors attributed the failure of the autistic children in this particular task to their lack of capability to imagine or predict the mental states of others (Johnston, E, 1997). Since then, it has become a common practice to associate autism with failure lack of development of ToM and failure of completing the F alse-belief task. We present two rationales to discard this exercise. First, fleeting the false belief task requires capabilities other than theory of mind. Second, theory of mind need not involve the aptitude to basis about false beliefs. We conclude with an alternative conception of the role of the false belief task. (Obernman et al., 2005, p190) Studies have shown that even though autistic children perform worse than ordinary children on the false-belief tasks, they have success rates greater than those of other mentally retarded children. These results lead us to suspect that even though children suffering from Autism have a reduced comprehension of the false beliefs, when compared to children without the disease, they do not provide clear evidence to support the theory that their mental deficit is in comparable to children who suffer from mental retardation. Executive Functions in Autism Executive function is a general term used to describe large spectrum higher level cognitive processes. These are layered processes with can involve, a person’s ability to detach self from context, or plan for future actions. These actions also include inhibitions of actions deemed inappropriate or actions which relate to responding to and adjusting ones behaviour according to feedback from people other than self. A commonality noted between autistic children and those with frontal lobe injury is their restricted and limited â€Å"stereotyped behaviour† (Happe, F. and Frith U 1996). This similarity in the both cases has led to the formation of a cognitive theory about autism. Children with autism seem to fair worse, when subjected towards â€Å"Wisconsin card sorting task, tower of Hanoi, fluency test, working memory, extra dimensional shift† (Happe, F. and Frith U 1996) etc as compared to those children who are mentally challenged but of a similar mental age as t he autistic children (Happe, F. and Frith U 1996). These significant findings have researchers suspecting the involvement of frontal lobe in the disease of autism. More importantly the new cognitive theory links autism directly to the decrease in one’s executive function execution and comprehension theory. Discovery of Autism When a child is discovered to be suffering for Autism it comes as a real shock for the parents and the family to accept the situation and accommodate the impairments of the child. It is very stressful for the family to grow an autistic child, and a challenge to deal with all the possible outcomes and reactions that they might have to face. The initial reactions of the family are always denial and anger, which is usually, spread over a number of days. It is followed by various other emotional reactions and for a few days the families suffer from emotional turmoil. The next stage is of acceptance and steps, to come in terms with the disease and proper procedures, which have to be taken to deal with the situation at hand. (Bauman, 2004, p791) The issue of Pretence The triad of autistic impairments according to Wing and Gould (1979) are imagination, communication and Socialization. The mind blindness hypothesis can give reason for the loss of socialization with other people and communication (verbal as well as non verbal). It would be logical to state that children who have deficits in communication and with social relationships, would have a difficult time understanding the thinking of others i.e. deficit in the theory of mind. This leaves us with the third component of the triad of characteristics found in the autistic children, i.e. the imagination. The imagination component works in a young child in the form of pretend play. The mind blindness theory cannot explain the absence or the impaired capability of the mind of an autistic child when it comes to pretence. (Bauman, 2004, p 794) The Obsessive Side of Autism The simplest explanation for the sometimes aggressive, repetitive and obsessive behaviour of autistic children can only be explained as the result of social alienation. This has been the traditional belief. A normal healthy young child spends most of its time occupied and overloaded with interactions of the social nature. The mind tries to â€Å"take in† all it can and learn the rules and responses to normal behaviour and actions. The expressions representing anger, the tone of voice which is inviting and loving, are all the interactions learnt at a very young age. A normal child mingles with parents, plays with the toys, and has, person read him imaginative bedtime stories. Severely Autistic children being handicapped in the sense that they are mind blinded cannot understand or comprehend these expressions and social activities, which are continuously thrown at them. The world is frustrating for this child has he has no understanding of the actions expressions of the gestures thrown at him. Therefore it can be thought of, as a natural phenomenon that autistic children would try to withdraw themselves from social atmosphere and into loneliness avoid further confusion. It would also seem logical that their learning and curious mind causes them to preoccupy themselves with simplistic and repetitive tasks which their mind can easily comprehend and keeps their mind occupied. We can also attempt to explain the focused attention and interest of children with autistic child as a means to distract one self from â€Å"opacity† of the social nature of the world and their lack of understanding of it (Bauman, 2004, p795). When we attempt to figure out how many social influences normal healthy children and adolescents have from their social environment, e.g. fictional books, movies sex, sports etc, we realise that we have an innate need for social interactions and they make heavy heavily on our social awareness and our personality as a whole. Keeping this in mind, we can also reason that autistic children also have the innate urge or the need to satisfy their mind with activities which make sense to them. Since they are hypothesised to be devoid of executive function, they preoccupy themselves with activities that they can comprehend like calendar dates time tables’ or any other activities which the later on excel at. There is certain evidence from research which leads us to believe that there is lack of flexibility in the autistic mind and this cannot simply be explained through the theory of social isolation (Bauman, 2004). Rowe et al, (2001) demonstrated in a study conducted on 31 patients that patients with frontal lobe defects reduced capacity for the executive function executions. These shows that loss of executive function comes from pathological tissue damage in the frontal cortex of the brain. They also demonstrated that the results relative to the executive mind defects were â€Å"independent of the theory of mind impairments† (Rowe et al, 2001). Several studies have also shown that autistic children fare worse than normal ones int he tasks involving planning and problem solving (Bauman, 2004). Even though this is consensus amongst some researchers that â€Å"autistic children have damage to their frontal lobe and the surrounding areas leading them to suffer from executive function deficit as well as mind blindness. These regions appear in proximity to the ones involving the tasks related to theory of mind (Bauman, 2004).This alone cannot be the basis on which we refute our position as any reliable theory about the autism has to explain the syndrome itself as well as the signs and symptoms that present themselves along with the main features of the syndrome. Deficits in executive control in Autism There is general association of the deficit of Executive function (control) with the pathological anomalies or any other aetiologies leading to damage of prefrontal region of the brain and specifically the dorsal region. Researchers still are cautious about findings related to executive dysfunctions in developmental disorders. They caution that the behavioural or functional disability need not necessarily reflect pathology in the above mentioned region of the brain which is thought to be involved with the executive function control. Rowe et al (2001) also found inconclusive evidence to support the hypothesis that the prefrontal cortex damage was the sole cause of executive function deficit. It was deducted from the study that executive function could be a result of a collaboration of inputs from the amygdale (Shaw, 2004) along with other regions including thalamus, striatum, hippocampus etc along with temporal and parietal lobes (Rowe et al, 2001). This means that the executive funct ion deficit is the result of more diffuse damage than previously expected. â€Å"The theory of mind theory of autism was experimentally tested with the now famous Sally-Ann version of Wimmer and Perners false belief task. In this task the child is shown two dolls, Sally and Ann. Sally has a basket and Ann has a box. The child watches as Sally places a marble in her basket and goes out. While Sally is out Ann moves the marble into her box. Sally returns. The question posed to the child is, Where will Sally look for the marble? Baron-Cohen, Leslie Frith tested 20 autistic children with mental ages well over 4 years; 16 (80%) failed to appreciate Sallys false belief. In contrast, 12/14 children with Downs syndrome of lower mental age succeeded on the task. Baron-Cohen et al attributed the high rate of autistic childrens failure on this false belief task to an inability to mentalize, to consider the mental states of self and others† (Johnston, E, 1997). This hypothesis postulates that social interactive and communicative abnormalities in autism are derived from a inability to understand other peoples minds and to interpret behaviour in terms of their underlying mental states particularly the ability to anticipate or predict the contents of anothers mind. How to Deal With Autism After the initial emotional reaction and acceptance comes the stage of devising strategies to make the child comfortable and acceptable at home and surroundings. There are many matters of concern that would than come face to face with the family. A resistance towards the child is developed which poses a greater threat to the future progress. The gap that is developed between the family and the child is to be overcome by patience and techniques. There are several well-planned techniques that the parents can use to communicate properly with their child. First of all they have to collect comprehensive information about the disease, and try to understand all the causes and their remedies. Proper medical help should be sought to initiate a proper treatment. Education about the disease and its particularities can be sought from various sources. Associations of the parents of the already suffering children are good source of information. The associations provide better guidance, counselling between families, opportunities to share experiences, about the adopted behaviour towards the child (George, 2004, p418). It is the parents duty to educate the people around the suffering child to accept the disorder and being receptive to the childs needs. They also have to disseminate information that they have collected around; a standard pattern of behaviour is established that will make the child comfortable. Seeking more and more information and then generalizing it will make it easy to deal with the circumstances. Along with the school the parents have to be extra careful about overcoming the gap between the child and themselves. They have to take up the place of an instructor along with a caretaker to make learning the deficiencies be prevailed over. The parents on their own have to try to develop the skills of the child. They can either learn to use the medical treatment procedures or simple home made tricks to improve on the respective weaknesses of the child. Their abnor mal responses to stimuli can be made better by exercising different activities like self-handling skills, show of particular responses in front of the child will make him to imitate. Sensory integration techniques can also be used at home to make their senses perform better. Role modelling can be done to make the childs communication better with other people. This way they can know how to react and behave with different people and can improve their eye contact and can carry themselves better. Bedtime stories and special games can improve their responses. They can be taught at home that how to develop on their touching and squeezing by making small toys of different textures, so they have a general idea. (Grigerenko, 1995, p205) The home environment should be made conducive for the child in terms of its safety and ease of movement. All the safety aspects of the windows, doors, sharp things and flames etc should be kept in mind. The Executive-Function Deficits There have been attempts to elucidate and explain the executive function deficit in people with autism through the reasoning of mind blindness theory it is too early to equate autism directly with complete executive function failure. â€Å"Problems in executive functions cannot explain all aspects of the nonsocial impairments in autism and more importantly, cannot, on the face of it, explain the intact and superior skills sometimes exhibited by autistic children. The spiky IQ profile is a case in point; block design, which is so often a peak in autism, is considered a good test of fluid intelligence, which in turn relies on executive abilities.† Happe, F. (1996). Executive function deficits are not limited to the disorder of autism. These deficits can be seen in â€Å"attention deficit disorders, hyper activity disorders, Tourette syndrome and phenylketonuria etc† Happe, F. (1996). Since these diseases amongst others do not follow the theory o mind therefore the executive function deficit cannot be expected to present itself in accordance with ToM in all case scenarios. (McEvoy, 2004, p563) A study by Baron, Cohen (1985) forms the basis for deviation from the traditional view. It dissociates recurrent and stuck-in-set â€Å"preservations in the cognitive performance of autistic individuals, showing that the former was specifically associated with the presence of lower-level repetitive behaviours (e.g. stereotyped movements), whereas the latter was specifically associated with the presence of higher-level repetitive behaviours (e.g. circumscribed interests)† (Joseph R M, 1999). â€Å"Yet, if the executive dysfunction theory is to provide a convincing alternative to the theory of mind view of autism, it needs to demonstrate similar associations between executive deficits and the impairments in social and communicative functioning that are so centrally defining of the disorder. Thus far, attempts to make such connections have not been replicated, or have suggested that executive deficits, although present, do not have a causal role in the social and communicative impairments.† (Joseph R M, 1999). Personal Thoughts Mind blindness hypothesis concerning autism presents and can even explain the often overlooked fact that people suffering from autism suffer not only from the inability to assign states of the mental sort to other people , but they also fail to achieve or assign a second order mental awareness level about themselves. It can be argued that the theory of mind hypothesis can be used to explain the self attribution and acknowledgement as well as other’s attribution. The theory of mind can easily account for and provide an explanation for autistic patient’s lack of self and other’s mental awareness. Explain the reason why autistic people have narrow range of interests’ and have deficits in comprehending problems and finding their solutions. This can be explained as autistics do not have second order awareness about their own thought processes. Conclusion In conclusion autistic disorder remains an enigma whose research studies have not yet managed to decipher the different parts to elucidate both the causes and the resulting disruption of brain function. However, it is hoped that the preliminary data obtained in neuropsychology, genetics, biochemistry or brain imaging may help in the coming years to identify subgroups of study subjects more homogeneous autism, providing other dimensions to explanation of the condition that the only concept too broad for autistic disorder. Since autism is a developmental disorder of the neurological type, it presents a challenge of how so diverse anomalies in higher centres of the body can lead to characteristic patterns and behaviours. Autism as a condition requires a lot of patience on part of the care takers to bring out positive changes in the patient. These children need acceptance and patience to be dealt with. Their comfort with the society and their mates at school will only be possi ble if they have the acceptance and proper dealing at home. Parents have the utmost responsibility to make things comfortable for their child and be supportive towards them so they can be better people accustomed to deal with their deficiencies in future. References and bibliography: Autism Fact sheet, (2007). National institute of neurological disorders and stroke. Retrieved on 30th March.2008 from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm Baron-Cohen, (2004), the essential difference. London: Penguin, 2004 Baron-Cohen S, Leslie A.M, Frith U. Does the autistic child have a ‘theory of mind’? Cognition 1985; 21: 37–46 Baron-Cohen, S., Richler, J., Bisaraya, d., Gurunathan, N. wheelwright, S. (2002) The systemizing quotient: an investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism, and normal sex differences, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal society London B. 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Retrieved on 30th March.2008 fromhttp://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/127/7/1535?maxtoshow=HITS=10hits=10RESULTFORMAT=fulltext=autism+false+belief+tasksearchid=1FIRSTINDEX=0resourcetype=HWCIT Witkin, HÐ µrman A. (1981) cognitive styles: essence and origins: field dependence and field independence, New York: International Universities Press, p45