Leslie Marmon Silko, “Lullaby” Essay Example

Leslie Marmon Silko, â€Å"Lullaby† Paper American Mosaic, July 2011 FOCUS: Leslie Marmon Silko, â€Å"Lullaby† â€Å"Lullaby† is a short story that first appeared in a book entitled Storyteller in 1981. This was a book written by Leslie M. Silko that uses short stories, memories, poetry, family pictures, and songs to present her message. The book is concerned, in general, with the tradition of story-telling as it pertains to the Native American culture. Lullaby seems to be a story of tradition, change, death, loss and the tensions fostered as a result of them between the old couple in the story and the Anglo-American authorities of the time. Throughout the story there are quite a few conflicts. Some are internal between Ayah and herself and others are external ones through Ayah, the white man, and Chato, her husband. The story is told by the main character, Ayah. She’s an old woman retracing tragic memories of life occurrences like the death of her son, Jimmie, in a helicopter crash during a war. She was not sure about what happened to him until a man in khakis drove up in a blue sedan and told her that he was dead and how he died. Jimmie was the one that taught Ayah to sign her name. We will write a custom essay sample on Leslie Marmon Silko, â€Å"Lullaby† specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Leslie Marmon Silko, â€Å"Lullaby† specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Leslie Marmon Silko, â€Å"Lullaby† specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer She regrets this greatly as she relays the loss of her other two children who were taken by white doctors because they were thought to have a disease, allegedly given to them by their grandmother. They were taken because, in fear of the white men who were yelling and pointing for her signature, she â€Å"signed† the children away. Later on, when they were brought to visit, it was apparent the children were forgetting their customs and language; further evidence of the completeness of her loss. These events seem to have severely alienated Ayah towards Chato as well. Especially those specifically related to the children as indicated by, â€Å"She slept alone on the hill until the middle of November until the first snows came. Then she made a bed for herself where the children slept. She did not lie down next to Chato again until many years later when he was sick and shivering and only her body could keep him warm. † Ayah also speaks of her husband’s work (Chato) as a fence mender for a nearby rancher. She took offense at the exploitation Chato endured at the hands of the rancher that employed im, and let him go without hesitation when Chato gets too old to work. As a result they lost their home when the rancher told Chato he [and â€Å"his old woman†] had to be out of the shack [they lived in] by the next afternoon. Despite Ayah’s immense sense of devotion to Chato it seems apparent that she sees him as a weak husband and resents him deeply for it. Though much of the story is of Ayah’s reminiscences, its present tense has Ayah searching for Chato. She finds him walking along the road late on a very cold night [seemingly] in a daze brought on by illness [and wine]. While resting together beside the road she wraps Chato in the army blanket Jimmie sent her thereby eliciting comfort from a symbol of one of her greatest losses. The lullaby she sings to him at the end of the story, as they lie together in the snow, is one that her grand-mother and mother sang to her as a child and seems to provide a sense of closure for her as she sings it. It is one of the last pieces of tradition she can cling to from her own culture as she waits for death to take her and her husband from under the cold, clear winter sky.

The Role of Oversight in Strategic Intelligence

The Role of Oversight in Strategic Intelligence Introduction People from various countries have mandated their governments all over the world to run the affairs of their specific countries or kingdoms on their behalf. Such governments have the authority to enforce laws and policies that would protect the wellbeing of the nation. Almost all governments in the present-day world comprise three arms namely the legislature, executive, and judiciary.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Oversight in Strategic Intelligence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The three arms of government are expected to work in collaboration and in accordance with the law while at the same time acting independently as stated by the law. Traditionally, the three arms of government were supposed to provide checks and balances to each other on behalf of the citizens. Congressional oversight role, which forms the basis of discussion in this study, falls within the described relationship. Congress Role in Strategic Intelligence The congress has a major role in strategic intelligence due to its position as one of the three arms of government. The intelligence community can be described as a department in the executive arm of government. When this community is being supervised by the congress, Erwin reveals that the intelligence community â€Å"describes the trend in intelligence spending from 1980 to the mid-1990s and the projected spending trend from the mid-1990s to 2001† (2013: 2). The congress derives its mandate from the citizens to be their representative in governance. Therefore, its main role is to â€Å"establish priorities and to align relevant budgets accordingly† (Erwin 2013:6) to secure the interests of citizens that it represents who also pay taxes to the government. Lenart et al. confirm that intelligence services have their role in the provision of security to citizens as a role of the national government otherwise known as the executive arm of the government. As security matters, intelligence services are supposed to be conducted in utmost secrecy with most of information about their operations being classified and only available to authorized persons. The congress has a role in controlling and allocation of resources to different government agencies through the passing of the budget (2010: 4). This allocation comes together with accountability on how the money allocated has been used. Therefore, intelligence community is obligated to account for all finances that it has received or requested. It â€Å"gathers, analyzes, and shares potential threat information with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies† (2013: 3).Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Accountability requires a breakdown of all vote elements that make up the budget, which in this case will allow the congress an insight into the intelligence community’s work. The second role that allows the congress to have an oversight duty over the intelligence community is the legislative role bestowed on it, which comes with the watchdog duty. When the congress makes laws, it also follows up the same as a way of ensuring that the laws are followed to the latter and that they include those that create the intelligence community. In fact, intelligence community is not above the law. It has to adhere to all laws that have been passed by congress. The congress therefore ensures that all government agencies operate within the laws that have been made. According to Rosenbach and Peritz, its oversight role is mandated on a few members who make up the â€Å"House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence† (2003:18). This committee is a 16-member board that deals with all matters to do with intelligence queries. It reports to the full house on its findings. The third role that bestows the congr ess with an oversight role is the power given to it by law to put any information to the public domain. Armed with this authority, the congress can make public any information that is deemed confidential by simply declassifying it. The basic need that gives the congress all these powers is because it is the people’s representative elected through a popular vote. Therefore, its being in existence is to secure the interests of citizens. The need for the congress to provide an oversight role to the intelligence community started back in the 1970s after Church and Pike committee findings that called for the regulation of the operations of the CIA. It was becoming a rogue agency that did not â€Å"focus on threats relating to border security, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) issues† (2003: 2). The failures of the intelligence community in Somalia, on their reporting falsely of the chemical weapons in Iraq and its failures leading to the 9/11 attacks ha ve heightened the need for oversight of these agencies. The intelligence community has been accused of infringing on the rights of citizens by illegally carrying out monitoring activities that violate the laws that protect them (the citizens). Intelligence as part of security receives a lot of money for its operations. This money has to be accounted for because it belongs to taxpayers who would wish to understand where all taxes they pay go.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Oversight in Strategic Intelligence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, members of the congress have a duty in ensuring that all the monies allocated to all government agencies including the congress are accounted for and that they are proved to have been used for the purpose they were meant for in the budget. Conclusion The need for congress to provide an oversight role has always come out as controversial due to the sensitive matters that come from the intelligence information desk. The congress is made up of politicians who are deemed too unqualified to provide such an oversight role. Such politicians are seen as interference to intelligence communities’ work discussed above. Reference List Erwin, Marshall. Intelligence Spending and Appropriations: Issues for Congress. London: Congressional Research Service, 2013. Web. Lenart, Brienne, Joseph Albanese, William Halstead, Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, and James Paturas, Integrating public health and medical intelligence gathering into homeland security fusion centers. Web. Rosenbach, Eric, and Aki Peritz. Confrontation or Collaboration? Congress and the Intelligence Community. Harvard Kennedy School and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 2003.

DiaoYu Islands Problems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DiaoYu Islands Problems - Research Paper Example Japanese regime despite numerous negotiations, which China has initiated to resolve the wrangle amicably and effectively, it has disregarded these efforts (Xinhua, 2012a). Hence, resulting in other ways meant to trigger more conflicts by being uncooperative and not adhering to the already established treaties. Primarily, this is evident from the Japanese regime deploying patrol boats in the waters close to the islands and interfering with fishing activities in the area (Hui & Dan, 2010). This is regardless of the clear prove evident from the numerous regions having Chinese names both near and in the Islands; hence implying the islands did not belong to them as they are currently claiming. Japan’s interfering has somehow affected economic activities that ought to have started in the area beside fishing (Lee, 2011). For instance, petroleum exploits, which according to some studies the area seems to have underground reserves lying idle. In addition, this unjustified wrangle fuele d by Japan with the aid of US behind the scenes has interfered with the necessary cohesion amid the two states (Xinhua, 2012b). Chinese after realizing Japan is not ready for peaceful negotiations; recently has started declining to import merchandise from them, hence weakening the then strong trade ties (Hui & Dan, 2010). Judging from my opinion, the inception of DiaoYu Islands has led to the weakening of Japan-China trade ties (Xinhua, 2012). Mainly, this is evident from the recent Chinese’ demonstrations where they boycotted using Japanese products citing their trading partner’s malicious decision to purchase DiaoYu Islands (Zhongqi, 2007). Consequently, yielding to the decline of exports to China, this acts as the Japanese greatest exporting destinations besides EU, US and the ASEAN (Xinhua, 2012).