A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Research Paper

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings - Research Paper Example Although this novel and story are different in the content that they analyze and the overall message that is brought to bear upon the reader, the exemplification of the magical realism that typifies Marquez method of conveyance helps the reader to more completely and fully understand the term as a function of what it means to literature and the understanding thereof. As a means to understand the literary contrast and comparisons that exist between these two stories, this analysis will consider the mechanisms by which the author relates the subtext that each story necessarily engenders. The first of these works, Marquez’s Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of a local town leader who finds his life forever changed by the presence of traders who bring the marvels of modern science to his otherwise simple and somewhat backwards world. As a function of his fascination with these marvels, the protagonist immerses himself in pseudo-scientific study and alchemy in the hopes tha t he can use the marvels that these traders have brought to greatly enhance his own life, the life of his family and that of his people (Ahmad et al 47). However, the result of his experiments does not lead in the direction that he hoped as he merely becomes more and more ostracized from his own family and people; continuously seeking for borderline supernatural approaches to better himself and those around him. The story further evolves as a type of allegory with regards to how the protagonist represents the culture that comes into contact with the marvels of the Western world yet at the same time must suffer the destructive nature that such a contact necessarily brings with it. As a function of creating this comparison, the author invokes the magical understandings of what had previously defined the culture as compared to the rigid scientific methods that the protagonist attempts to force to coincide with a much simpler albeit more mysterious way of life that his people had experi enced prior to the arrival of the gypsy traders. However, what is unique in the mechanics of the story is the scope of action that it encompasses. As compared to the second story which will be considered, the subject matter is spread over a long time period that â€Å"magically† encompasses the life of a single individual (Mills 114). As a means to engage the reader on the range of intercultural issues that arise as a result of Europe meeting the Western Hemisphere, the author has a wealth of information and parallels that can be drawn that work to help the story to cover a much longer time span than would have been available had a different medium other than magical realism been utilized. With regards to the second story in question, â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings†, the author takes a different approach to imparting the magical realism that defines the story. Rather than analyzing the action that takes place over an indefinitely long period of time, the auth or instead chooses to focus on the juxtaposition of human emotion as a function of the way that the individuals within the story engage practical versus non-practical as well as the feeling of sympathy and selfishness. As the â€Å"fallen angel† of the story is uniquely different from human interpretations of what an angel should be, the villagers do not know what to make of it (Corso 44). In this way, the protagonist of the story feels compunction to care for the creature. However, rather than representing the action

Catholic Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Catholic Religion - Essay Example It should be noted that religion teaches people to unite for the greater good. Thus, if people are armed with the knowledge of the advantages of integration within the community they will become committed in pursuing a common goal. The internet is becoming very influential in creating a common culture in the global community. As people interact with each other online, they begin to develop common traits and share the same characteristics. It should be noted that the creation of online lingo is an example of how a language game is created through the interaction of people belonging in different nationalities online. What are the 3 most divisive issues in our world today I believe that the three most divisive issues in our world today are income inequality among nations, abortion, and family problems. The two last can be considered as really disastrous as these are destroying the family which is the foundation of society. Who does this willingly List the type of people, often associated with certain professions, who must reduce their own ego defenses for the good of another, or of an institution, even when the other does not do the same. The government has a huge role to play in these recurring issues. The problem of income inequality is not a direct effect of the decisions of ruling individuals yet their legislations often have implications in the lower income strata. The government officials have a lot to do in resolving this issue. Since abortion is legalized, it has become a resort to teenagers who are engaged in premarital sex. Teenage pregnancy is often the problem of juveniles from broken families who lack the guidance of parents. However, it can also be seen that these youth are those who don't care about the results of their actions. Family problems are very much prevalent in the American society. Usually, the issue here is the couple's unwillingness to compromise, sort out difference, and understand the concern of one another. Is it possible to have a common faith and not have a common understanding of the written presentation that gives faith a common level of meaning No, common faith cannot be achieve without a common understanding of the written presentation which is the foundation of that faith. Faith is something which is personal and can only be attained through an understanding of its foundation. We cannot say that the faith of two individuals is common when they do not have an agreement and common understanding of its foundation. The different interpretation of written presentations is often the reason why we have so many religions. Having interpreted the Bible from a different point of view, two persons might believe in different things and profess two different statements of faith according to their understanding. Thus, even the same written presentation can create two different faiths. What actions could you take, if you were so inclined, to communicate the notion that we all share in a super-natural relationship in and through Christ I believe that the most effective way of communicating to other people that there really exists a super-natural relationship with Christ is through showing them a life which is changed through this relationship. Of course, it is quite easy to declare that deep inside of us, there is a longing which only a personal relationship with God can fill. Yet, nothing can be more convincing by

Philip Pearlstein Two Models with Blow-Up Chair & Salvador Dali Essay Example for Free

Philip Pearlstein Two Models with Blow-Up Chair Salvador Dali Essay Through the development of art, the fascination of the female body has been a main motif. It is Venus, Roman Goddess of love who has intrigued the artist, and held their attention for well over a few centuries. She has been not only Venus, but also Aphrodite (the Greek Goddess of Love), she has been Mary, mother of Christ in Gothic tradition and she had been found in the countless faces of women depicted by Picasso, Monet, Degas, Warhol (for isn’t Monroe a goddess? ). The link in these references is that this goddess, whomever she is, is holding the fascination of male artist. This is not to say that female artists have not taken up the trend which she invokes, but the purpose here is to discover how differently she is seen through their eyes in comparison with male visions of ‘love’. Pearlstein’s innovation in completing this project is one of Modernism, mixed with Realism. Pearlstein paints an oil painting of two females. They appear plastic wrapped within the canvas due to the severe highlights Pearlstein applies to both of their bodies. They lay beside each other, one on the chair the other next to the chair, and they both appear to be asleep. These two models or Venus’ are full frontal nude. The viewer is unable to see if they are ashamed or not from their faces because one of them is hiding her face and the other one’s head extends beyond the canvas (this is a trademark of Pearlstein). Though both Venus’ are or appear asleep they are active with the coloring and highlights which Pearlstein has seen fit to attribute to them. The line of light glares down the frontal figures body, highlighting the left breast, the stomach wrinkles and over the curves of both of the legs. This mimics the curves and highlights given to the plastic chair which she ‘sleeps’ upon. The other model fades into the background, yet still has that tiny shot of highlight upon the same appendages and other body parts which the first Venus had on her. The interesting item in this painting is that there are two female figures being painted. This is coupled with the fact that here too, like all the ones before it, Venus is apathetic, or at best the viewer is unable to tell what she (they) are feeling. Never mind the composition, Venus is still without a ‘voice’ in this painting. Through the very brief glimpse of feminine fecundity, and pulchritude, Venus remains elusive, and stoic. It has taken the art movement of the 20th century to see the full force of Venus. She has, with the help of female artists, broken her silence. In Dali’s oil on canvas The Persistence of Memory (1913) the theme of paranoia is persistent in this dreamscape. The distortion of the piece exudes a frightening use of spatial mobility and form. Surrealism is a way in which the expression of fantasy can be forthcoming in the world of Art. Dali exemplifies this notion in his use of foreground and background shapes and the pure psychic automatism which is symbolized in the clocks. Dali’s focus in this work is mainly about freedom; although the context of this work is based on paranoia and the weightiness of time the work is also free from previous constraints of other artistic movements in that it is not a painting dedicated to reason or moral purpose. Dali’s painting is that of a dream and reason becomes a series of disjointed objects in space; there is no rhyme in his work unless it is free verse; that is to say that there is no structure as prior to surrealism the viewer is used to seeing structure. Dali’s work often reflect what Virginia Woolf was so diligently experimenting with, which is unconscious writing or free narrative. Dali painted as though the conscious mind was sleeping, and that is why his paintings are so often reminiscent of dreams as Janson states, â€Å"The notion that adream can be transposed by ‘automatiatic handwriting; directly from the unconscious mind to the canvas, bypassing the conscious awareness of the artist, did not work in practice. Some degree of control was unavoidable. Nevertheless, Surrealism stimulated several novel techniques for soliciting and exploiting chance effects† (Janson â€Å"The History of Art 807) . Even the central figure in The Persistence of Memory is portrayed as though it were sleeping. The unfinished background is almost anachronistic with the foreground as it exhibits a cliff sliding off into a body of water. It seems as though Dali made the background on purpose to confuse the viewer since dreams are intended to be symbolic of personal meaning. The sky in the background also seems incomplete with no visible clouds but merely a color palette that drifts off into a sfumato haze. The background however is not what Dali wanted the viewer to be stricken with as a first impression. The central figure of the painting is unfinished as well. Dali painted an eyeball, and a nose and made no more attention to the rest of the figure. This feeling of incompleteness is unnerving and truly embodies the emotional state and perception of dreaming. The painting is purely inspired by that part of Dali’s unconscious mind. Although the painting exhibits that Dali used controlled in certain aspects of the work such as the use of diagonals, and linear shapes, but the overall impression of the painting lies within the angles, the objects and the general ambience of the piece. The clocks themselves prove to be unnerving both their positions and their lack of solid form, as though they are oozing across the plane in the foreground and the limb near the horizon of the painting, as well as across the half finished face. Another artistic ploy that Dali uses in The Persistence of Memory is his use of shadow; not merely darkness but the chiaroscuro so prevalent in the piece. This furthers the theory of this paper that Dali uses surrealism to tap into the unconscious and the dream world. Dali does the opposite in this painting of previous artists; he places the darkness in the foreground of the painting and the brightness in the background. This is symbolic because Dali wants to evoke to the audience that in the dream world the objects that are in front of the dreamer’s face are not always tangible but looming and undefined. In the background the objects are illuminated but this illumination does not add in defining the object because Dali here uses space to further illustrate his unconscious perspective; the objects in the background are too far away and cannot be seen. Thus, each part of the painting is uncomfortably defined. It is almost nonsensical; these objects of Dali’s in space without a coherent theme except for these persistence clocks. The clocks are the main meaning and focus of the painting and it is through these objects that the theory of this paper rests. The clocks present the theme of paranoia (as mentioned prior). Not only are they draped over the main objects in the foreground but their rendering is disconcerting. Each clock offers a different time, and one clock is closed so that the viewer cannot decipher its time. It is interesting that Dali did not distort the closed clock; it signifies a secret and further exemplifies the state of the dream world present in this painting; that is, the one clock that could offer a valid time is closed and unable to be seen by the painter, or the audience. The contention in the painting is that the central figure of the face is sleeping and is thus oblivious to the clocks, to time, to the unfinished landscape. That is the quintessential meaning of a dream; the sleeping figure is unaware to symbolism, to action, to time, and that is how Dali exudes incoherence in the dream world.

The History Of Nike Inc Footwear Marketing Essay

The History Of Nike Inc Footwear Marketing Essay Nike Inc., develops and designs footwear, sportswear, apparels and equipment. They make the availability of goods in Nike stores, franchisee stores and online through the website www.nikestore.com . They organize, supports and sponsors main sports around the world as they think sports is the main key for being healthy and they also sponsors high profile athletes so that the people can follow their icons. Nike has a trademark logo Just Do It. Recently, many countries faced recession followed by sharp increase of inflation. Graph 1: Inflation Rate Graph (2002-2012). (Source www.usinflationcalculator.com) Inflation defined as a persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money. In other words, the inflation tells the effect on the people life financially. When they see prices in stores going up they call it inflation. Price inflation is a result of monetary inflation. http://thefaintofheart.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/metamorphosis_11.png Graph 2: Inflation rate graph for Nike. As per the data collected from Indonesian Plant, the Nike shoes Cost $20.00 to the company, $35.00 to retailer and $70.00 to the consumer. The breakdown can be found in the table below. Production labor Materials Rent, equipment Suppliers operating profit Duties Shipping Cost to Nike $2.75 $9.00 $3.00 $1.75 $3.00 $0.50 $20.00 Research and development Promotion and advertising Sales, distribution, admin. Nikes operating profit Cost to retailer $0.25 $4.00 $5.00 $6.23 $35.00 Retailers rent Personnel Other Retailers operating profit Cost to consumer $9.00 $9.50 $7.00 $9.00 $70.00 (Including VAT) Table 1: Nike shoes cost breakdown. (Source http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lormand/poli/nike/nike101-8.htm ) Nike spend approx 12% of revenue on marketing every year that includes advertisement, endorsement fee that it pays to sports league and Team. A) Due to inflation there is less demand of the Product and to overcome the company has different strategies to reduce the cost of the production. As the company has a full time employee so the company will have a fixed cost which they need to give to the employee. Instead of fixed employee they can shift to part time employee and thus reducing the cost. They can also outsource their production to a country with low labor cost. They can also lower their material cost by using cheap materials like polyurethane instead of rubber for the shoe sole. The Company also needs to look into the factors like Fixed and Variable Cost. Fixed Cost basically a minimum quantity of inputs required by the firm to be in a business at all whether or not output is produced and Variable Cost by (Begg, 9th Edition) The Cost of hiring Variables inputs, typically labor and raw materials. If the Fixed cost is more than the variable cost than there would be low level of production but if variable cost is higher than fixed cost than the production of the company increases. Q TFC TVC TC AFC AVC AC MC 0 60 0 60 1 60 10 70 60 10 70 10 2 60 20 80 30 10 40 10 3 60 30 90 20 10 30 10 4 60 40 100 15 10 25 10 5 60 50 110 12 10 22 10 6 60 60 120 10 10 20 10 Table 3: Table for Marginal Cost. By the above chart we can see that MC Graph 3: Graph for TFC and TVC. B) Nike is a globally recognized brand which produces accessories, apparels and shoes for majorly sports and fashion. Nike introduced customization of shoes and focused on each and every group age. The brand already attached to many renowned sports personality like Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods. The brand had focused on every sport around the world. Income elasticity of demand (IED) examines how the quantity demanded responds to a change in consumer incomes. IED can be calculated as, IED = (% Change in Quantity Demanded) / (% Change in Income), Consider that the original and new income of my product is $100, $200 and Original and new demand is 25, 50 units respectively. IED = ((50 25) / 25) * ((200 100) / 100), = 1 Here we can see that IED is equal to 1 thus it is a normal good and income inelastic. The price elasticity of demand (PED) measures the responsiveness of quantity demanded to changes in the price of the good or service. The PED can be calculated as PED = (% Change in Quantity Demanded) / (% Change in Price), For example we can assume the price of shoe rose from $100 to $200, resulting in demand rising from 50 to 55 units. PED = ((55 50) / 50) / ((200 100) / 100), = 0.1 Here PED The Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand (CPED) measures the rate of response of quantity demanded of one good, due to a price change of another good. The CPED can be calculated as CPED = (% Change in Quantity Demand for X) / (% Change in Price for Good Y), If CPED > 0 then they are substitute goods. If CPED =0 then they are independent goods. If CPED (http://economics.about.com/) Nike substitute good is Adidas and they are horizontally integrated. Nike decides to increase the price of Adidas shoes. If the cost of Adidas shoes increases then there would be decrease in the demand of the Adidas shoes and the demand of the Nike shoes will increase as it will cheaper then Adidas. C) Market structure of Nike is that it should be available for every age groups and it will maintain a leading position to its competitors. Nike will make it sure that the goods are available at all stores around the world and it will make sure that it will fulfill the change in demand of the customers. They will also make sure that the quality products are reached to the customers at cheap costs. The main competitors of Nike are Reebok, Adidas and Puma. Reebok http://www.buyerden.com/media/text_img/Reebok_Logo.gif: Reebok main strategy is that to change the peoples mindset about the word fitness and to bring fitness around the world and they want to declare themselves as the world fittest company. They target is to invest more in marketing strategy rather than the infrastructure. Adidas http://preview.thenewsmarket.com/Previews/ADID/StillAssets/197410.jpg: Adidas focuses on marketing its products as they think that products are a selling goods. They spent huge amount of its revenue on marketing their product. They hire famous designers for the designing of the shoes. Puma http://www.roanokestar.com/imgs/home/puma%20logo.gif: Puma targets female group and female dominant region. They fulfill the demand of the customers on the perception of customers image rather than their needs. They also target middle-upper class group through there advertisement and it reflect it on there marketing strategy. Nike has different strategies with respect to his competitors The mission is to provide availability of products at every marketable place and exceed from all leading athletic companies. The company targets to be in a lead by providing quality products and innovative designs for all age groups. The Company guarantees the availability of every kind of products at all leading market and stores. To meet the changing demands of customers. Value the stakeholders, laborers and other communities in the executing of every strategy and decision. The company focuses on providing quality products on low prices to have bigger share in the market. (http://marketingmixx.com/) Graph 5: Profit prediction after the strategy. D) Nike segments its market according to demographic location as they wants their products to be available at every corner of the world as they treat every customers as equal. Nike make sure that the availbility of products for every age groups. They focuses on the sports as they think that sports make the people live their life in the healthy manner. Nike main product is Footwear and they try to innovate and designs their footwear according to sports and age groups. Nike make it sure that the products are available at every market place so that the customer can go and a grasp on a quality Footwear. They also target to provide their footwear with low cost in the country were the economy is low. The company will focus on different pricing strategies to attract customers. Nike will target on marketing through advertisement like television featuring high profile athletes using our product etc. There will be offers for every customer like buying a product will get discount in their next purchase. There will be loyalty cards where the customers can convert their buy into redeemable points. Special offers will be available for students like they can get extra discount into the existing discount if they show there student Identity card. E) Nike focuses on vertical integration to produce their products. The main parts of Nike footwear are upper (top of the shoes), midsole (the cushion of the shoes) and the outsole (lower sole). Nike outsource to different company to build these segments which led to low build cost. The company focuses on both local and global markets. Nike has earned its maximum of its revenue from North America, followed by Europe and a small share from countries like China and Japan. They are now targeting markets like South America, Russia, India and Pakistan for more revenue as there is a gradual rise in the economy of these countries. Due to inflation, there are fewer sales of products and therefore there is low output. Nike has suffered a lot due to that. Due to inflation there is a increase in the cost of material and the transportation of Nike. To Overcome Nike has decided that they will try to increase their product price and decrease their marketing budget. If the company is new to a particular country there is a lot of help provided by the government of the country like the government may exempt the taxes until unless they start making the profits. F) To overcome the foreign exchange losses, the company will invest in a country where currency is cheap. To do so the company needs to look into the big picture of the world economy like investing in the countries like Qatar, China, Argentina, Srilanka, India, Iraq etc as their Gross Domestic Product(GDP) are growing gradually. The gradual growing GDP of these countries ensures that their economy is stable and there are opportunities for the company to invest in these countries. If companies invest in countries like India they will have cheap labor, cheap raw materials as maximum of raw materials are exported from Asian countries, cost of production will go down means increase in profits.

Essay --

This is the story of one company, but two businesses, trying to do business in China, a country which can be very difficult even in the best of times. It is even more difficult when those two businesses are in conflict with each other. Much has been made of Google’s entry to and exit from the China market because of Chinese hacking and censorship. Other media companies, such as the New York Times, have also had issues with Chinese censors. But few companies are facing the dilemma that is currently facing Bloomberg LP, which recently became the world’s largest distributor of financial news and data (Elkind, 2013). This dilemma is placing its large money-making business side against its smaller media side, forcing them in some ways to fight head-to-head. And while the winner of this fight may be determined by where the money is, how the company chooses to handle this sensitive situation will speak volumes about both its ethical and business priorities. The business side consists of Bloomberg’s financial data unit, which includes its famous data terminal. That terminal is a part of investment offices around the world and responsible for 85 percent of the company’s $8.3 billion in annual revenue (Elkind, 2013). The media side consists of Bloomberg News and its 2,400 journalists, which includes its worldwide cable television channel, web page and other outlets such as Bloomberg Business Week. This part of Bloomberg brings in just 4 percent of the company’s revenue (Jager, 2013). This push-and-pull between the news and business sides of Bloomberg’s China operations dates back to 2012, when Bloomberg News published a series of stories about the personal wealth of China’s new president Xi Jinping and his family (â€Å"Xi Jinping Millionaire... ...and not journalism. It can choose to change its journalism model in order to preserve its financial data business model. Evidence of this shift is already taking place. The company recently laid off about 40 news staffers, and executives say Bloomberg will shift its focus away from certain areas, including its investigative unit. â€Å"We must have the courage to say no to certain areas of coverage in order to have enough firepower in areas we want to own,† Winkler said in a memo to his staff (Chozick, 2013). It is also my opinion that this is a wise course of action. While political conditions in China are far from ideal, it is possible those conditions will change in China over the course of years. Bloomberg is not compromising the ethics of its core business, and will leave itself in a position to quickly take advantage of any loosening of China’s censorship policies.

Vietnam Veterans and the Bitter Harvest of Agent Orange Essay example -

Vietnam Veterans and the Bitter Harvest of Agent Orange Vietnam veteran Paul Reutershan said on the Today show, â€Å"I died in Vietnam, but I didn’t even know it† (Wilcox x). For the veterans that survived the Vietnam War without major physical injuries, there were still other problems to endure. After the war, many veterans faced disapproval for fighting, serious psychological problems, and for some, diseases believed to be caused by herbicides used in the war. Many veterans didn’t even think that Agent Orange could have been the cause for their diseases since the effects show themselves many years later. Reutershan was the first to publicly attribute his diseases to the herbicide Agent Orange he was exposed to during the Vietnam War. Many veterans, along with Reutershan, sought compensation from the government for diseases they knew were caused by Agent Orange. Agent Orange was an herbicide that was widely used between 1962 and 1971 in Vietnam. The use of Agent Orange and other defoliants was referred to as Operation Ranch Hand. The objective of this operation was to defoliate the lush vegetation of Vietnam and deny cover to the Viet Cong. Agent Orange was regularly sprayed along roads and canals to prevent ambush because trucks commonly used the roads to transport supplies. Operation Ranch Hand employed 1500 soldiers who regularly sprayed defoliants by plane, helicopter, truck, riverboat, and on foot with a backpack (Dunnigan and Nofi 136). The most heavily sprayed areas were the forests near DMZ (demilitarized zone), forests at borders of Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam, forests of north and northwest Saigon, mangrove forests on the southernmost peninsula of Vietnam, and mangrove forests along the major shipping channels ... ...i. Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War: Military Information You’re Not Supposed to Know. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999. Gibbs, Lois Marie and the Citizens Clearing House for Hazardous Waste. Dying from Dioxin: A Citizen’s Guide to Reclaiming Our Health and Rebuilding Democracy. Boston: South End Press, 1995. Gough, Michael. Dioxin, Agent Orange: The Facts. New York: Plenum Press, 1986. Morrison, William H. The Elephant and the Tiger: The Full Story of the Vietnam War. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1990. National Veterans Legal Services Program. Self help Guide On Agent Orange: Advice for Vietnam Veterans and Their Families. Washington, D.C.: NVLSP, 1997. Summers, Harry G. Jr. Vietnam War Almanac. New York: Fact on File Publications, 1985. Wilcox, Fred A. Waiting for an Army to Die: The Tragedy of Agent Orange. New York: Random House, 1983.

Gulliver’s Fifth Voyage

I had been immobile for much too long and I was yearning to begin another great voyage when I decided that I would go due west to investigate the civilisation that dwelled there. It was mid-summer and my ship was to set out from Dover. I boarded the ship and was greeted by an old man, with a potbelly and crooked nose, accompanied by a scar from left ear to left eye. This, I assumed was my captain. I had been totally worn out by my long journey and inquired where my quarters would be, and the captain offered to show me himself. As we went below decks, there was less light, but I could still see where I was going. The captain went to a door that opened into a quite spacious cabin, with a bunk on the far wall, and a mahogany desk beside the door. With that, the captain left saying, ‘I hope everything is to your satisfaction, sir, and that you have a pleasant rest. ‘ This was the last I saw of the man. When I awoke the next morning, as I was about to take a walk along the coastline, I could see a sheet of bags scattered for miles with the words ‘Walkers', ‘Tayto' printed on them and round cans with ‘Coca Cola' wrote on it. I had never seen anything like this before; it must have been a way for the people who lived here to make it more decorative looking. Although I could see people in the distance pointing and shaking their head, theses people must have thought different. All I could see around me was a mass of round towering buildings, with thick, black smoke belting out of them and people coughing vigorously. It must have been their way off appreciating these works of art. I was aroused from my gaze by a deep, commanding voice, which was barking at me, ‘Who the hell are you? And where the hell are you from? ‘ I turned and saw that I was surrounded by a group of men, dressed in green garments, each holding a form of musket in their arms. I told the man who had barked at me that I was travelling the world and making journals on my findings. I told him that I would like to explore his country further. He agreed to show me around parts of the country, as much as he could. He introduced himself to be Pat Kenwood. As we moved further into the city, I felt more and more alienated as everyone stopped and stared at me. I felt depressed, as there was not a single person there like me. But then we came to this dark, dull street, quite unlike the rest of the city. As we walked on all I could see were people covered in filth, with their hands out, begging for food or money. I was astonished as people were actually giving them it. It was so jealous as these people were getting food for nothing, such an ingenious idea. I asked Pat why these people were living like this, and was told that the government has not the money to do anything for these people but instead they needed the it for the war effort. This seemed an excellent way to spend the money. We walked on for another mile or so, when I was startled by Pat yelling and pointing at what seemed to me like a tent with huge poles pushing out from the top of it. I asked what this monstrosity was and was given the reply that it was the Millennium Dome. I could see there was another one off those homeless people being dragged away. You wouldn't think it, but it only cost i800million to build. It was a way for the people to celebrate the new Millennium. Firstly I was shocked too that it only cost i800million. He explained to me that its main function was only to bring in the New Year and that after that it is virtually useless. Wow, i800million on a building that is only designed for one nights entertainment, it must have been some night. Then it struck me. He said Millennium and when I asked about this he replied, ‘You know, the year 2000. ‘ I was greatly disturbed by this, as I still believed it to be the 18th Century. When I had overcome the slight illness I began to feel, Pat offered to take me to a place called a ‘Cafi' where we would get a drink of tea. Pat explained to me that this was no ordinary, but an Internet Cafi. I was interested by these new contraptions called ‘Computers' I think. According to Pat they where designed to make books a thing of the past. I asked him to show me how to operate one, he handed me a book saying ‘Here's the manual, read it, and you'll know what to do†¦ ‘ The book was quite heavy, yet colourful, but it was confusing to me as it mentioned things like ‘keyboards' and ‘modems' and I had no what these things where. What intelligence, designing some thing to do away with books, yet you need to read a book to know how to work the thing. These people were even more disturbing than those from the Land of Lilliput. As we left the Cafi we found it hard to cross as there were so many mechanical machines known as ‘cars' moving up and down at intense speeds. I thought it remarkable that these machines don't knock down people but Pat corrected me by stating that people do get knocked down by these all the time, but only twenty-four have died this year. This seemed a small price to pay for such marvellous invention but out off know where we heard a loud thud and people screaming. There was somebody lying on the ground face-up, all bloody and twisted. A car moved of very fast and it had loud music coming out of it with young people bouncing up and down with bottles in their hands. This looked like good fun and wished I could join in. At this point I told Pat farewell and thanked him for all he had done. As I walked further in to the city, I was confronted by another group of men, this time dressed in black. I also noticed that they carried similar muskets to Pat and his gang. One of them asked ‘Why were you talking to that traitor? I hen had to explain that I was an explorer investigating their country. This seemed to interest them and their leader spoke ‘You had better listen to our side of the story as well. ‘ I agreed to this, as I did not want to appear biased, but to be fair I no longer felt intimidated by this group of men and felt I could relax while I listened to their story. But, as I began to sit, they dragged me up and told me it w as not safe here and that we would have to go to their safe house, called Dubnil. He introduced himself as Peter. He told me how a foreign power had invaded his country and that their government discriminated against the natives in favour of colonists. The natives decided to start a rebellion in order to fight for the rights, and their freedom. This made the foreign government introduce a plot called ‘ethnic cleansing' to eliminate the natives. This disgusted me as I had always associated cleansing as something that was pure and glorious, yet this brutal government used it to describe the most evil thing that I had ever heard of. This foreign government shocked me more than the viciousness of the leader in Lilliput. They described murder as cleansing which disturbed me so much that I was glad I never lived here and that none of my country's great leaders never acted in any manner that could be compared to the oppressors of this God-forsaken country. From the distance I could see this mobile cannon I asked Pete what this was. He told me that it was a ‘weapon of mass destruction' called a ‘nuclear bomb'. I asked what this all meant and he replied, ‘death, mutation, the end, storms, blackouts, cancer, tidal waves, flooding, drowning. I was greatly impressed by this weapon, as the weapons of my time could only kill one at a time. Pete offered to give me a view of the city and helped me scramble up a mountain of rubble. He handed me a pair of strange spectacles that enabled me to see further. I could see the entire city, demolished to rubble, and I could see five tanks patrolling the city. Adam said, ‘We love our country so much, we started blowing up this city to fight for our freedom. ‘ This was the most intelligent and sophisticated scheme I ever came across. I had become so caught up in my thoughts that I lost my concentration and slipped and rolled down the side of the mountain of rubble, crashing to the ground, which knocked me out cold. When I awoke I was on a bed in a long white corridor, which had quite a compelling smell of some chemicals or something. I sat up in the bed and before me was a woman in white uniform with a white hat. She apologised to me because there was a shortage of staff due to lack of government funding. I asked her what affect does this have on them and she replied, ‘disease, sick, suffering, heartache, failure, frustration, misery, depressing. Still, it seemed to make more sense if it was spent on things that made you happy like the Millennium Dome. I found myself drifting off into a deep sleep as the nurse injected something into my arm, it felt relaxing and before you know it I was at the Dover coast with no suspicion of how I got there. I found my expedition to be the most exciting I've ever been on as there were some great inventions such as nuclear bombs and magnificent structures such as the Millennium Dome. I am definitely going to come back soon as there is so much more to learn about this wonderful place again.