Piper Alpha Disaster Essays

Piper Alpha Disaster Essays Piper Alpha Disaster Paper Piper Alpha Disaster Paper Abstract Piper Alpha was operated by Occidental Petroleum. The platform began its production in 1976, first as an oil production and then later converted to oil and gas production. In the night of July 6th 1988, the platform was engulfed in a catastrophic fire, which caused the death of 167 men and cost billions of dollars in property damage. There are only 61 survivors who saved their lives by jump off the platform in to the sea. At the time of the disaster, the Piper Alpha disaster was the worst offshore disaster in terms of live lost and industry impact. There are two main factors that lead to the disaster, which are human factor and the design and process factor. Lord Cullen has made some recommendations on improvements and preventions on the offshore installations. The improvements and preventions are the Permit to Work System should be taken seriously when there are any maintenance works on being carried out on the platform. The offshore platform management should provide good training and well prepared their workers in emergency procedures when emergency situations. Besides, the two improvements and preventions, the offshore platform management should upgraded their fire walls to blast walls, to prevent the fire walls from disintegrated on the gas explosion, penetrating oil and gas pipe lines that can lead to fire. 1. Introduction 2. 1 Background of Piper Alpha The Piper Alpha Oil Production platform was located about 120 miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland and built it for the Piper Field in the North Sea. The Piper Field was, discovered by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. in January 1973, with the Piper Alpha platform becoming operational in 1976. 2. 2 The purpose of Piper Alpha operation The Piper Alpha platform had been designed as an oil production platform at first, but then the Piper Alpha platform went through several modification and redesigns to accommodate increased gas and oil production for the fields nearby. This redesigning make the Piper Alpha platform changed from a pure oil production platform to an oil and gas production platform in late 1980. A sub-sea pipeline, shared with the Claymore platform, connected Piper Alpha to the Flotta oil terminal on the Orkney Islands. Piper Alpha also had gas pipelines connecting it to both the Tartan platform and to the separate MCP-01 gas-processing platform. In total, Piper Alpha had four main transport risers: An oil export risers, The Claymore risers, The Tartan gas riser and The MCP-01 gas riser. The image below shows the locations of the platforms in the North Sea with their associated oil and gas terminals. 2. 3 What had happen to Piper Alpha Piper Alpha platform was engulfed in a catastrophic fire on July 6th 1988. The disaster caused the death of 167 men out of 228 men, which are 165 men on board of the Piper Alpha platform, and other two men on board a rescue vessel. The Piper Alpha disaster all began with a routine maintenance procedure. The Piper Alpha platform consists of two groups of workers, which are morning shift workers and night shift workers. On the morning of the 6th of July 1988, the morning shift workers have removed a gas condensate pump from service for maintenance of its Pressure Safety Valve (PSV). The Piper Alpha platform had two such pumps (gas condensate pump), which has been indicated as Pump A and Pump B. When the routine maintenance work had being carried out, the Pump A had been isolated and shut down. The maintenance work could not be completed by the end of morning shift worker finish their work, so they have been given permission to leave the rest of the maintenance work to be continued on the next day. Temporarily the PSV had been installed with a plate; this was to ensure to keep debris out of the pipework while the PSV was maintained. But the plate was not been installed tightly. Unfortunately, the night shift workers do not aware of this. The night shift workers had not been informed by the morning shift worker, that the Pump A as been isolated and shut down for maintenance work and temporarily installed a plate at the PSV. After few hours, the night shift workers took over from the morning shift workers, the primary condensate pump failed. None of the night shift workers were aware that a crucial part of the pump had been removed and decided to start the backup pump. Gas escaped from the hole left by the valve which was not closed tightly. Gas audibly leaked out at high pre ssure, ignited and exploded and produces a catastrophic fire which blown through the fire walls. The fire from the explosion had destroyed some of the oil lines and soon larger quantities of stored oil were burning out of control. An automatic system, which has been designed to spray water on such fire, had been turned off. Moreover, the accommodations were design in such a way that not smoke-proofed. Some of the workers realized that the only way to survive would be by jumping in to the sea and hoping to be rescued by boat. Only 61 men were survived, but most of them died due to suffocated carbon monoxide and fumes in the accommodations area on the Piper Alpha platform. . 4 The purpose of this report The purpose of the report is to examine the objectives and structures of the management of Piper Alpha platform for the oil and gas production industry in the North Sea, United Kingdom. Other than to examine the objectives and structures of the management of Piper Alpha, this report also is written to examine the causes of the explosion and the subsequent inquiry into the incident that claimed 167 men lives, and also how to improve in the management systems so that to prevent the Piper Alpha accident from occurring. 2. Management and Operation of Piper Alpha 3. 5 The Management and the Objectives of Piper Alpha Piper Alpha started its operation as a pure oil production platform in the North Sea approximately 170 miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland in 144 meters of water and comprised four modules separated by firewalls. McDermott Engineering at Ardersier and UIE at Cherbourg constructed the Piper Alpha platform. For safety reasons, they had made sure the Piper Alpha modules were organized so that the most dangerous operations were distant from nearby platform. Few years later, when the platform being converted from pure oil production to oil and gas production, it broke this safety concept. By this conversion, the sensitive areas were brought together to each other. The Tartan and Claymore platforms were installed in the Piper Field nearby to the Piper Alpha platform after the Piper Alpha platform being installed in the Piper Field. These two newly installed platforms also producing crude oil and gas and their export oil lines joining Piper Alpha’s oil export line to the Flotta terminal. After several modifications, the Piper Alpha platform then became a hub, processing its own gas, collecting gas from the Tartan platform and pumping this gas on to the MCP-01 platform. A pipeline was installed linking Piper Alpha platform to Claymore platform, receiving and supplying gas to Claymore platform as required for gas lifting purposes. At the time of the disaster Piper Alpha was one of the heaviest platforms operating in the North Sea. 3. Causes of the Piper Alpha Disaster 4. 6 The Causes of the Piper Alpha Disaster Later that year, in November, Department of Energy from United Kingdom Government Body who responsible for the operation and safety of offshore oil and gas installation has appointed Lord Cullen, a very experienced Scottish Jurist, to conduct a Public Inquiry in to the cause of the Piper Alpha disaster. Later by the end of year 1990, Lord Cullen has concluded and published his inquiry on the Piper Alpha disaster. The causes of the Piper Alpha disaster based on the Lord Cullen Inquiry are as follows. There are two main factors that lead to the Piper Alpha disaster which are Human Factors and Design and Process Factors. 4. 7. 1 Human Factor Permit to Work (PTW) is a document that notes the identity and location of the component that the work is to be carried out. In any offshore platform installations the PTW must be raised before any work can be carried out. PTW is an extensive, normally foolproof safety document kept in the platform control room. Once the work completed, the PTW is signed off and filed for future reference. On the morning of the disaster, the morning shift workers have removed a gas condensate pump (Pump A) from service for maintenance of its PSV, so the PTW was still ‘live’ and in force. It appears the Permit to Work System had become too relaxed with no verbal confirmation taking place at shift handovers from the morning shift workers to the night shift workers. Later, it has been discovered that, this was one of the main factor that lead to the Piper Alpha disaster. 4. 7. 2 Design and Process Factor McDermott Engineering at Ardersier and UIE at Cherbourg had constructed the Piper Alpha platform. For safety reasons, they had made sure the Piper Alpha modules were organized so that the most dangerous operations were distant from nearby platforms. After the Piper Alpha platform being converted from pure oil production to oil and gas production, the sensitive areas were brought together to each other. Like the Tartan platform and the Claymore platform. By this major conversion, it has been broken the safety concept that had been introduce earlier upon the construction of Piper Alpha. When the explosion occurs, the Tartan platform and Claymore platform continued to supply their products to the Piper Alpha platform, despite the fire from the Piper Alpha platform visible to the workers on the Tartan and Claymore platforms. Although it had been said that the explosion caused by the escape of gas from the PSV of Piper Alpha platform was the initial cause of the disaster, the major failure and rupture of the gas risers were responsible for Piper Alpha’s destruction and preventing the Piper Alpha workers evacuation. Although the Piper Alpha platform does have fire walls, they were not upgraded to blast walls. The fire walls in the platform were disintegrated on the gas explosion, penetrating oil and gas pipe lines and machinery, adding to the fire. Moreover, the Piper Alpha accommodations for the workers were not smoke-proofed and the lack of training that caused the Piper Alpha platform workers to repeatedly open and close the accommodation doors only worsened the problem. Some of the platform workers realized that the only way to survive is to escape from the Piper Alpha platform. However, the workers found the routes to life boats were blocked by the flames and smoke. Only 61 men were survived by jumping in to the sea but the other 167 men died due to suffocated carbon monoxide and fumes in the accommodations area on the Piper Alpha platform. 4. The Improvement and Prevention on the Offshore Installations Based on the Lord Cullen inquiry on the Piper Alpha disaster, we have known that there are two main factors that lead to the Piper Alpha disaster. Besides the findings of the factors that lead to the Piper Alpha disaster, Lord Cullen also has made some recommendations on improvements and preventions on any next offshore installations. There are some key lessons we can learn from the Piper Alpha disaster and made some improvements and preventions on the next offshore platforms. The improvements and prevention as follows: 5. 7 Permit to Work System The Permit to Work System was a system of documents that had been designed to have communications between all the workers on the platform that had been involved in any maintenance work that being carried out on the platform. Based on the Lord Cullen Inquiry, the permit to work system on the Piper Alpha platform became too relaxed on this system. There were also no formal verbal communication or confirmation that been done on shift handovers. In the earlier place, if the Permit to Work system had been implemented properly, the initial gas leak would never had occurred and lead to the explosion. So, the managements of offshore platforms should take a look this system seriously because it would save lots of lives of the workers. 5. 8 Safety training to the workers As we know, the accommodations on the Piper Alpha platform were not smoke-proofed. The workers on the Piper Alpha platform were not well trained in the emergency situations, the workers frequently open and close the accommodation doors and this only worsened the problem. The Piper Alpha management also was not responsible and not well trained to make up the gap and provide good leadership during emergency situations. The offshore platforms management should provide good training to their workers and well prepared their workers in emergency procedures when emergency situations. The managements also should take the responsibility and make up the gap and provide good leadership during emergency situations. 5. 9 Fire walls upgrading Although the Piper Alpha platform do had fire walls, but the fire walls was useless due to the Piper Alpha platform productions. At the time of the disaster, Piper Alpha platform were producing oil and gas. The fire walls should have been upgraded or improved to the blast walls, after the conversion had been made to the Piper Alpha platform from pure oil production to oil and gas production. If the fire walls in the Piper Alpha platform had been upgraded to blast walls, it would have withstood the initial explosion containing the resultant fire to the accommodations in the Piper Alpha platform. Therefore, all the offshore platform management should upgrade or improved their fire walls to blast walls, to prevent the fire walls from disintegrated on the gas explosion, penetrating oil and gas pipe lines that can lead to fire. 5. 10 Temporary Refuge The workers, who died in the Piper Alpha disaster, due to suffocated carbon monoxide and fumes in the accommodations area on the Piper Alpha platform. Based on this situation, we can conclude that the management of Piper Alpha platform does not provide safe accommodations to its workers. The offshore platforms management should learn from this major error and prevent this error repeat again by introduce or improve their current workers accommodations to Temporary Safety Refuge. This Temporary Safety Refuge should be designed in such a way that, the refuge has a breathable atmosphere through prevention of smoke ingress and provision of fire protection. This temporary safety refuge is a temporary shelter to the workers until evacuation is arranged. . 11 Evacuation and Escape At the moment of the Piper Alpha disaster, some of the Piper Alpha platform workers realized the only way to survived is to escape from the Piper Alpha platform immediately. Unfortunately, the routes to the life boats were blocked by the smoke and flames. Only 61 men were lucky enough to survive, as they made a jump to the sea and hoping to be survived by the res cue boats. The management of offshore platforms should earlier designed more than one route to the lifeboats or helicopter to ensure evacuation of the platform in emergency situations. The offshore platforms management should provide the secondary escape routes such as ropes, nets and ladders as a backup for the more sophisticated methods. 5. Conclusion Piper Alpha Oil Production platform was located about 120 miles northeast of Aberdeen and built it for Piper Field in the North Sea. The Piper Alpha platform had been designed as an oil production platform at first, but then the Piper Alpha platform went through several modifications and been changed from pure oil production to oil and gas production. Piper Alpha platform was engulfed in a catastrophic fire on July 6th 1988. The disaster caused the death of 167 men and with only 61 men as survivors. The disaster also cost billions of dollars in property damage. At the time of the disaster, the Piper Alpha platform accounted approximately 10% of North Sea oil and gas production. Later, the disaster was known as the worst offshore disaster in terms of live lost and industry impact. On November 1988, Cullen Inquiry was set up to find out the cause of the Piper Alpha. Based on the Cullen Inquiry, we can learn some key lessons from the Piper Alpha disaster and we can improve and do some prevention on the other offshore platforms. The first lesson we can learn and improve is the Permit to Work System. Based on the Cullen Inquiry, the Permit to Work System on the Piper Alpha platform became too relaxed and there were no formal verbal confirmation that been done on shift handovers. The management offshore platforms should take a look this system seriously. The second lesson that we can learn from is to provide safety training to the workers. The offshore platforms management should provide good safety training and well prepared their workers in emergency situations. The fire walls should be upgraded to blast walls. This upgrading is to prevent the fire walls from disintegrated on the gas explosion, penetrating oil and gas pipe lines that lead to fire. The offshore platforms management should provide temporary safety refuge and provide more than one route to the lifeboats or helicopter to ensure evacuation of the platform in emergency situations. The management also should provide the secondary escape route such as ropes, nets and ladders as a backup for the more sophisticated methods.

Biography of Clementine Churchill

Biography of Clementine Churchill Born Clementine Ogilvy Hozier, Clementine Churchill (April 1, 1885 – December 12, 1977) was a British noblewoman and the wife of prime minister Winston Churchill. Although she lived a relatively quiet life, she was honored in later life with a Dame Grand Cross and a life peerage in her own right. Fast Facts: Clementine Churchill Full Name:  Clementine Ogilvy Spencer-Churchill, Baroness Spencer-ChurchillBorn: April 1, 1885 in London, EnglandDied: December 12, 1977 in London, EnglandKnown For: Born to a minor noble family, Clementine Churchill came to prominence as the wife of prime minister Winston Churchill, receiving several honors in her own right for her charity work.Spouse: Winston Churchill (m. 1908-1965)Children: Diana (1909-1963), Randolph (1911-1968), Sarah (1914-1982), Marigold (1918-1921), Mary (1922-2014) Early Life and Family Officially, Clementine Churchill was the daughter of Sir Henry Hozier and his wife, Lady Blanche Hozier, who was a daughter of David Ogilvy, 10th Earl of Airlie. However, Lady Blanche was infamous for her many affairs. She reportedly claimed that Churchill’s real father was Capt. William George Bay Middleton, a horseman and equerry to Earl Spencer, while others believe that Sir Henry was totally infertile and that all of her children were actually fathered by her brother-in-law Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, Baron Redesdale. Churchill’s parents divorced when she was six, in 1891, due in large part to both of their ongoing and numerous affairs. When she was fourteen, her mother moved the family to Dieppe, a town off the coast in northern France. Their idyllic time there was cut tragically short, though, within a year, when the eldest daughter, Kitty, fell ill with typhoid fever. Churchill and her sister Nellie were sent away to Scotland for their safety, and Kitty died in 1900. 1908: Clementine Ogilvy Hozier before her marriage to Sir Winston Churchill.   Hulton Archive / Getty Images As a girl, Churchill began her education at home under the care of a governess, as many girls of her social class did. Afterwards, she attended the Berkhamsted School for Girls  in Hertfordshire, England. She became secretly engaged- two separate times- to Sir Sidney Peel, a grandson of Queen Victoria’s famous prime minister Sir Robert Peel; Peel was fifteen years her senior and the relationship never worked out. Marriage to Winston Churchill In 1904, Clementine and Winston Churchill first met at a ball held by mutual acquaintances, the Earl and Countess of Crewe. It would be another four years before their paths crossed again, when they were seated next to each other at a dinner party held by a distant cousin of Clementine’s. They developed a rapport very quickly and continued seeing each other and corresponding over the next several months, and by August 1908, they were engaged. Only one month later, on September 12, 1908, the Churchills were married in St. Margarets, Westminster. They took their honeymoon in Baveno, Venice, and Moravia, then returned home to settle down in London. Within a year, they welcomed their first child, their daughter Diana. In total, the couple had five children: Diana, Randolph, Sarah, Marigold, and Mary; all but Marigold survived to adulthood. British statesman Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) his wife Clementine (1885 - 1977) and their daughter Sarah, leaving for an appointment at Buckingham Palace, 11th May 1933.   Keystone / Getty Images Wars and Between Wars During World War I, Clementine Churchill organized canteens for munitions workers, working with the Young Mens Christian Association of the North East Metropolitan Area of London. This assistance to the war effort earned her an appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1918. In the 1930s, Churchill spent some time traveling without her husband. She traveled on Baron Moyne’s yacht on an island cruise. There were rumors that she had an affair with a younger man, art dealer Terence Philip, but they were never confirmed; there were also rumors that Philip was gay. Her trip with the Moynes ended abruptly after an incident in which another guest insulted Winston and the Moynes failed to smooth things over. Winston Churchill became prime minister in 1940, as World War II was breaking out. During the war years, Clementine Churchill again took on roles in aid societies, now with a much higher profile as the wife of the prime minister. She was the chairman of the Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund, the president of the Young Womens Christian Association War Time Appeal, and the chairman of Maternity Hospital for the Wives of Officers. Clementine Churchill surveys a graph of her Aid to Russia Fund in 1944. J. Wilds / Getty Images She was honored again for her efforts, and this time, she was not only honored in her own country. During a tour of Russia at the end of the war, she was awarded a Soviet honor, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. Back home, in 1946, she was appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, and her formal title became Dame Clementine Churchill GBE. Over the years, she also received several honorary degrees from the University of Glasgow, the University of Bristol, and Oxford. Widowhood and Later Years In 1965, Winston Churchill died at the age of 90, leaving Clementine as a widow after 56 years of marriage. That year, she was created a life peer, with the title Baroness Spencer-Churchill, of Chartwell in the County of Kent. She remained independent from major party affiliations, but ultimately, her declining health (particularly hearing loss) prevented her from having much of a presence in Parliament. Her two oldest children both predeceased her: Diana in 1963, and Randolph in 1968. Churchill’s final years were marred by financial difficulties, and she had to sell some of her husband’s paintings. On December 12, 1977, Clementine Churchill died at age 92 after suffering a heart attack. She was buried alongside her husband and children at St. Martins Church, Bladon in Oxfordshire. Sources Blakemore, Erin. â€Å"Meet the Woman Behind Winston Churchill.† History, 5 December 2017, https://www.history.com/news/meet-the-woman-behind-winston-churchill.Purnell, Sonia. First Lady: The Private Wars of Clementine Churchill. Aurum Press Limited, 2015.Soames, Mary. Clementine Churchill. Doubleday, 2002.

Personal Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Personal Management - Case Study Example The word department designates a distinct area, division or branch of an organization over which a manager has authority for the performance of specific activities. Here a stricter departmental terminology indicates hierarchical relationships while the purpose of organization is to make human cooperation effectivethe reason for levels of organisation is the limitation of the span of management (Koontz and Weihrich, 2004). Tricky Ltd. have a narrow span of management with many levels. Though this type of structure facilitate close supervision & Control but some times superiors tend to get more involved in subordinate work. It has many levels of management therefore have high cost and create a wide gap between lowest and top level. So due to these shortcomings Tricky Ltd. will have to adopt a wider span of management structure, which emphasize on delegation of powers, have clearer role and policies and subordinates must be carefully selected so that they can perform their jobs to maxim um satisfaction. It has to assign sr. managers as well as departmental heads below Chief executive officers or General Manager who will be the incharge of overall operations. Below dept. managers/ Sr. Managers we place supervisors i.e. frontline and immediately below them is our workforce. The flatter the structure will be the more effective control. More flat/wide management structures reduce cost as overhead and are less expensive. It facilitates direct and effective Communication about objectives, aims, policies etc. Finally numerous levels create ambiguity in role and complicate planning and control. So Tricky Ltd. must adopt a wide span of Management structure. 2. The Management function of staffing is defined as filling and keeping filled position in the organization structure. This is done by identifying the workforce requirements inventorying the people available and recruiting selecting placing promoting appraising planning the carriers ofcompensating and training or there wise developing both candidates and current job holders to that they can accomplish their task effectively and efficiently Recruitment is and important part of staffing. Wagner and Linke (1996) discusses systems approach to staffing depends on various factors. External as well as internal factors affect recruitments in the organisation. The external factors like level of education, the prevailing attitude in society, laws & regulations, economic condition and supply-demand law affect directly the recruitment process. The internal factors like organizational goals, tasks, technology, organization structure the kinds of people employed by theorganisation plays crucial r ole in recruitment of employees. So when Tricky Ltd. recruit skilled work force it must develop a systems approach to recruit people. To recruit skilled worker Tricky Ltd. requires a clear understanding of the nature and role of the position. An objective analysis of position requirements must be made and finally job must be designed to fit into organisational needs. For skilled workers the basic skill requirements such as technical, human, conceptual and design. So during recruitment it must be considered. If any specific skill is required for the job it must be tested

Prosecute Billy for the Alleged Assaults Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Prosecute Billy for the Alleged Assaults - Essay Example Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have issued the guidelines in order to stipulate how to handle domestic violence complaints and make prosecution of the perpetrators. Domestic violence, also termed as domestic abuse, can attract action under both criminal law and civil law. In the present case, Hilda has been assaulted by her husband Billy resulting in her hospitalisation. In an inebriated condition, he has also assaulted the nurse at the hospital where he was refused permission to see his wife. Given this scenario, the prosecution and police authorities are required to ensure the following actions are adhered to. Protection to Victims First step in response to domestic abuse incident or report is to ensure protection to the victim, her children and police officers involved in the investigation and prosecution from likely harm by the perpetrator both while receiving calls and after the violence report has been registered. Though this may not apply to the present stage, it is worth mentioning that if the suspect/perpetrator has not left the scene while the call is being received, the caller should be kept on the line and have the background noise tape-recorded through a 999 call which could capture the victim’s and the suspect’s voice and be a crucial evidence for prosecution and helpful in monitoring the incident. If the suspect has left the scene of occurrence, the victim or caller should be asked to lock and secure the premises and comeback to the phone and then take full description of the suspect for being circulated to the area officers (CPS, 2009). Prosecution Now that Hilda’s husband Billy, the perpetrator has already been arrested, the following pages will discuss how the Crown Prosecution Service (CPC) will proceed with prosecution and help victims through prosecution. The guidance document of the CPS is of particular use for legal professionals supporting victims of domestic violence. The CPS has been entrusted with the prosecution of cases probed by the enforcement agency who are responsible for investigating the allegations of domestic violence and collection of evidence. Billy has been arrested as is necessary in a domestic violence case to safeguard the victims who may be vulnerable with children from any further injury. CPS has the mandate to decide on a suspect being charged with and the nature of charges. Police refers cases suspected of domestic violence to CPS for deciding on prosecution or otherwise. CPS is not the legal representative of victims and not authorised to act on their behalf but must be concerned with their safety and support besides considering their views. Thus, CPS initiates prosecutions for domestic violence on State’s behalf. In case of the CPS deciding against prosecution, it will inform victim of the decision based on evidence furnished by the police along with reasons (CPS, 2009). Victim’s Safety CPS will send letter t o vulnerable victim or intimidated witnesses informing the decision to prosecute or otherwise within 24 hours of taking a decision and five days in all others. This is with the view to ensure victim’s safety arising out of the decisions. And it is also to

U.S. Role in the Modern Middle East Essay Example for Free

U.S. Role in the Modern Middle East Essay For a period of more than sixty years, United States has been a prime player in politics of the Middle East. Since the 1991 Gulf War, Iran in the 50s and the time of contemporary Iraq devastation, the policy of United States has always created a big impact in the domestic affairs of the Middle East. For example, one of the current pervasive features is the Anti-Americanism in the present day public opinion of the Middle East. In this region, Israel is considered one of the best allies of the United States of America. Israel has been receiving aid from America since it was created in 1948. In fact, Israel receives a staggering amount of approximately $3 billion annually (Porter, 2010). This is a fact that foreign policy experts in the Middle East are supposed to be aware of. The Middle East is a hostile region and Israel requires guarantee from America on the security front. Moreover, the United States on the other hand relies on the Israel administration in several respects. For example, during the cold war, the Washington administration needed Israel so that it can counter communism. The United States needed Israel in formulation of a market economy approach in Middle East and again as a reliable ally in strategizing the Middle East policy projects. The foreign policy experts in Israel have several things they need to learn not only on what is happening today but also from history. According to Kaplan (1993), Arabist tradition dates back to the times of Eli Smith in 1827 who took to the Lebanese mountains to learn Arabic. The impact of Arabs however on the U. S. policy began in 1940s. This is the moment United States engaged itself actively in this region. Kaplan shows that the Arabs are just like â€Å"China hands† since they also had and still have skills Department of State needed such as reliable contacts, local culture knowledge and language. Arabs in State had that domination capacity in the Middle Eastern bureau and this enabled them to absorb several others to their viewpoint. Arabs are mostly bound in a small world of their own and thus during this time they lacked enough imagination on what were the interests of the United States in their region. Arabs want a pristine Middle East and for long they have been against its modernization. As Arabs strive to show the harmony between Arab- Islamic and Western culture, they loath the Greeks and Maronites. But of all, what they hate most is the Israelis. They blame them that they spoiled the century-old idyll. For the policy makers thus, there is needed for them to understand that America’s continued support for Israel angers Arabs and once made many of them to turn to anti-Semitism. Arabs carry old grudges which make them not to see the value Israel has on United States. Kaplan in general wants to show the policy makers that the issues concerning Israel are not just about Israel and oil but there is need for the country to devote to Arabs since they are part and parcel of the American history. In as much as America may decide to concentrate on what is happening within the boundaries of Israel, it should not be forgotten that the relations that Israel has with its neighbors determine the outcome. According to Bronson (2006), oil for example has always been a significant factor in Saudi-U. S. relationship as well as in all the rest of the Saudi dealings. This can hardly be otherwise for this country since it carries almost a quarter of the available oil resources in the globe and its oil exports carries between 90% and 95% of the overall export earnings. It is however important to state that even if oil offers a good explanation of what America wants in this region, it is not possible to explain the relationship strength. Thus, decision makers in the United States have to determine the relationships needed to be sustained and in what manner they should be maintained. The policy makers may be required to know that peace is the main solution to the major problems experienced in Lebanon and this will only be achieved if Lebanese are in a position to love their siblings more as it seems as if they hate them. According to Friedman (1989), he confesses that the internal divisions in Israel have to be papered afresh so that a new political life may take route. Even if Friedman looks like he has exaggerated on this point, U. S. decision makers in foreign countries like Israel need to see that there is a possibility of Israel going the Lebanon way. All in all, U. S. foreign policy experts need to understand in their endeavors that the hostility that Arab countries have towards Israel still acts as the heart of Israel-Arab problem. The missing debate in Washington is not between those few who want Israel to be destroyed and the majority who want it to survive. Irrespective of what, Washington must support the right for Israel to exist in recognized international borders and most of all defend its interests against nay threats. References Porter, K. (2010).The US-Israeli Relationship. Retrieved from http://usforeignpolicy. about. com/od/countryprofi3/p/usisraelprofile. htm Kaplan, R. D. (1993). The Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite. Retrieved from http://www. danielpipes. org/885/the-arabists-the-romance-of-an-american-elite Bronson, R. (2006). Thicker than oil: Americas uneasy partnership with Saudi Arabia, New York: Oxford University Press US. Friedman, T. L. (1989). From Beirut to Jerusalem. Retrieved from http://www. danielpipes. org/32/from-beirut-to-jerusalem

The Character of Hulga in Good Country People by Mary Flannery OConnor

The Character of Hulga in Good Country People by Mary Flannery O'Connor    By definition joy means a great feeling of pleasure and happiness. In Mary Flannery O'Connor's short story Good Country People, Joy Freeman was not at all joyful. Actually, she was the exact opposite. Joy's leg was shot off in a hunting accident when she was ten. Because of that incident, Joy was a stout girl in her thirties who had never danced a step or had any normal good times. (O'Connor 249). She had a wooden leg that only brought her teasing from others and problems in doing daily activities. Joy was very rude as well. In the story it speaks of her comments being so rude and ugly and her face so glum that her mother's boss, Mrs. Hopewell, would tell her if she could not come pleasantly than for her to not come at all. (O'Connor 249). In the story she is very rude to her mother. She would yell at her mother and tell her to look inside herself and see exactly what she was, which she believed was nothing. The story speaks of her entering rooms with her wooden leg making a hulking sound. In all she was miserable to be around and when she made an entrance it was one of the most disturbing ones of all. Joy also hated any living thing, which included animals, flowers, and especially young men. The only thing that ever made Joy happy in her life was when she went to school and acquired her Ph.D. in philosophy. Because she was older, she had no real reason to go back to school, so she was stuck with nothing to bring her pleasure or personal enrichment. When Joy was twenty-one and away from home she had her name legally changed. She tried to find the most horrible sounding syllables to put together and she thought of the name Hulga.... ...ated and had a Ph.D. in Philosophy. She could not call her daughter a schoolteacher, a nurse, or a chemical engineer and that bothered her. These people and episodes in Joy's life made her a very miserable person. They made her hate all that surrounded her, which included flowers, animals, and young men. This is why Joy changes her name to Hulga when she was twenty-one years old. She believed the name represented her as an individual. The name was fierce, strong, and determined just like her. The name reminded her of the broad, blank hull of a battleship. Joy felt the name reflected her inside and out. It separated her from the people who surrounded her that she hated the most.    Works Cited O'Connor, Flannery. Good Country People. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, And Drama. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Longman. 2002. (247-261)

Carrie Chapter Fifteen

Q. What is your address? A. I got a room over the pool hall. That's where I work. I mop the floors, vacuum the tables, work on the machines-pinball machines, you know. Q. Where were you on the night of May twenty-seventh at 10.30 P.M., Mr Quillan? A. Well . . . actually, I was in a detention cell at the police station. I get paid on Thursdays, see. And I always go out and get bombed. I go out to The Cavalier, drink some Schlitz, play a little poker out back. But I get mean when I drink. Feels Eke the Roller Derby's going on in my head. Bummer, hub? Once I conked a guy over the head with a chair and Q. Was it your habit to go to the police station when you felt these fits of temper coming on? A. Yeah. Big Otis, he's a friend of mine. Q. Are you referring to Sheriff Otis Doyle of this county? A. Yeah. He told me to pop in any time I started feeling mean. The night before the prom, a bunch of us guys were in the back room down at The Cavalier playing stud poker and I got to thinking Fast Marcel Dubay was cheating. I would have known better sober – a Frenchman's idea of pullin' a fast one is to look at his own cards – but that got me going. I'd had a couple of beers, you know, so I folded my hand and went on down to the station. Plessy was catching, and he locked me right up in Holding Cell number 1. Plessy's a good boy. I knew his mom, but that was many years ago. Q. Mr Quillan, do you suppose we could discuss the night of the twenty-seventh? 10:30 P.M.? A. Ain't we? Q. I devoutly hope so. Continue. A. Well, Plessy locked me up around quarter to two on Friday morning, and I popped right Off to sleep. Passed out, you might say. Woke up around four o'clock the next afternoon, took three Alka-Seltzers, and went back to sleep. I got a knack, that way. I can sleep until my hangover's all gone. Big Otis says I should find out how I do it and take out a patent. He says I could save the world a lot of pain. Q. I'm sure you could, Mr Quillan. Now when did you wake up again? A. Around ten o'clock on Friday night. I was pretty hungry, so I decided to go get some chow down at the diner. Q. They left you all alone in an open cell? A. Sure. I'm a fantastic guy when I'm sober. In fact, one time Q. Just tell the committee what happened when you left the cell. A. The fire whistle went of, that's what happened. Scared the beJesus out of me. I ain't heard that whistle at night since the Viet Nam war ended. So I ran upstairs and sonofabitch, there's no one in the office. I say to myself, hot damn, Plessy's gonna get it for this. There's always supposed to be somebody catching, in case there's a callin. So I went over to the window and looked out. Q. Could the school be seen from that window? A. Yeah. People were running around and yelling. And that's when I saw Carrie White. Q. Had you ever seen Carrie White before? A. Nope. Q. Then how did you know it was she? A. That's hard to explain. Q. Could you see her clearly? A. She was standing under a street light, by the fire hydrant on the corner of Main and Spring. Q. Did something happen? A. I guess to Christ. The whole top of the hydrant exploded of three different ways. Left, right, and straight up to heaven. Q. What time did this †¦ uh †¦ malfunction occur? A. Around twenty to eleven. Couldn't have been no later. Q. What happened then? A. She started downtown. Mister, she looked awful. She was wearing some kind of party dress, what was left of it, and she was all wet from that hydrant and covered with blood. She looked like she just crawled out of a car accident. But she was grinning. I never saw such a grin. It was like a death's head. And she kept looking at her hands and rubbing them on her dress, trying to get the blood off and thinking she'd never get it off and how she was going to pour blood on the whole town and make them pay. It was awful stuff Q. How would you have any idea what she was thinking? A. I don't know. I can't explain. Q. For the remainder of your testimony, I wish you would stick to what you saw, Mr Quillan. A. Okay. There was a hydrant on the corner of Grass Plaza, and that one went, too. I could see that one better. The big lug nuts on the sides were unscrewing themselves. I saw that happening. It blew, just like the other one. And she was happy. She was saying to herself, that'll give 'em a shower, that'll †¦ whoops, sorry. The fire trucks started to go by then, and I lost track of her. The new pumper pulled up to the school and they started on those hydrants and saw they wasn't going to get no water. Chief Burton was hollering at them, and that's when the school exploded. Je-sus. Q. Did you leave the police station? A. Yeah. I wanted to find Plessy and tell him about that crazy broad and the fire hydrants. I glanced over at Teddy's Amoco, and I seen something that made my blood run cold. All six gas pumps was off their hooks. Teddy Duchamp's been dead since 1968, God love him but his boy locked those pumps up every night just like Teddy himself used to do. Every one of them Yale padlocks was hanging busted by their hasps. The nozzles were laying on the tarmac, and the automatic feeds was set on every one. Gas was pouring out on to the sidewalk and into the street. Holy mother of God, when I seen that, my balls drew right up. Then I saw this gay running along with a lighted cigarette. Q. What did you do? A. Hollered at him. Something like Hey! Watch that cigarette! Hey, don't, that's gas! He never heard me. Fire wrens and the town whistle and cars rip-assing up and down the street, I don't wonder. I saw he was going to pitch it, so I started to duck back inside. Q. What happened next? A. Next? Why, next thing, the Devil came to Chamberlain †¦ When the buckets fell, she was at first only aware of a loud, metallic clang cutting through the music, and then she was deluged in warmth and wetness. She closed her eyes instinctively. There was a grunt from beside her, and in the part of her mind that had come so recently awake, she sensed brief pain. (tommy) The music came to a crashing, discordant halt, a few voices hanging on after it like broken strings, and in the sudden deadness of anticipation, filling the gap between event and realization, like doom, she beard someone say quite clearly: ‘My God, that's blood.' A moment later, as if to ram the truth of it home, to make it utterly and exactly clear, someone screamed. Carrie sat with her eyes closed and felt the black bulge of terror rising in her mind. Momma had been right, after all. They had taken her again gulled her again, made her the butt again. The horror of it should have been monotonous, but it was not; they had gotten her up here, up here in front of the whole school, and had repeated the shower-room scene †¦ only the voice had said (my god that's blood) something too awful to be contemplated. If she opened her eyes and it was true, oh, what then? What then? Someone began to laugh, a solitary, affrightened hyena sound, and she did open her eyes, opened them to see who it was and it was true, the final nightmare, she was red and dripping with it, they had drenched her in the very secretness of blood, in front of all of them and her thought (oh†¦i †¦ COVERED- with it) was coloured a ghastly purple with her revulsion and her shame. She could smell herself and it was the stink of blood. the awful wet, coppery smell. In a flickering kaleidoscope of images she saw the blood running thickly down her naked thighs, hear the constant beating of the shower on the tiles, felt the soft patter of tampons and napkins against her skin as voices exhorted her to plug it UP, tasted the plump, fulsome bitterness of horror. They had finally given her the shower they wanted. A second voice joined the first, and was followed by a third – girl's soprano giggle – a fourth, a fifth, six, a dozen, all of them, all laughing. Vic Mooney was laughing. She could see him. His face was utterly frozen, shocked, but that laughter issued forth just the same. She sat quite still, letting the noise wash over her like surf They were still all beautiful and there was still enchantment and wonder, but she had crossed a line and now the fairy tale was green with corruption and evil. In this one she would bite a poison apple, be attacked by trolls, be eaten by tigers. They were laughing at her again. And suddenly it broke. The horrible realization of how badly she had been cheated came over her, and a horrible, soundless cry (they're LOOKING at me) tried to come out of her. She put her hands over her face to hide it and staggered out of the chair. Her only thought was to run, to get out of the light, to let the darkness have her and hide her. But it was like trying to run through molasses. Her traitor mind had slowed time to a crawl; it was as if God had switched the whole scene from 78 rpm to 33 1/3. Even the laughter seemed to have deepened and slowed to a sinister bass rumble. Her feet tangled in each other, and she almost fell of the edge of the stage. She recovered herself, bent down, and hopped down to the floor. The grinding laughter swelled louder. It was like rocks rubbing together. She wanted not to see, but she did see; the lights were too bright and she could see all their faces. Their mouths, ,their teeth, their eyes. She could see her own gorestreaked hands in front of her face. Miss Desjardin was running toward her, and Miss Desjardin's face was filled with lying compassion. Carrie could we beneath the surface to where the real Miss Geer was giggling and chuckling with rancid old-maid ribaldry. Miss Desjardin's mouth opened and her voice issued forth, horrible and slow and deep: ‘Let me help you, dear. Oh I am so sor-‘ She struck out at her (flex) and Miss Desjardin went flying to rattle off the wall at the side of the stage and fall into a heap. Carrie ran. She ran through the middle of them. Her hands were to her face but she could see through the prison of her fingers, could see them, how they were, beautiful, wrapped in light, swathed in the bright, angelic robes of Acceptance. The shined shoes, the clear faces, the careful beauty-parlour hairdos, the glittery gowns. They stepped back from her as if she was plague, but they kept laughing, then, a foot was stuck slyly out (o yes that comes next o yes) and she fell over on her hands and knew and began to crawl, to crawl along the floor with her blood-clotted hair hanging in her face, crawling like St Paul on the Damascus Road, whose eyes had been blinded by the light. Next someone would kick her ass. But no one did and then she was scrabbling to her feet again. Things began to speed up. She was out through the door, out into the lobby, then flying down the stairs that she and Tommy had swept up so grandly two hours ago. (tommy's dead full price paid full price for bringing a plague into the place of light) She went down them in great, awkward leaps, with the sound of the laughter flapping around her like black birds. Then, darkness. She fled across the school's wide front lawn, losing both of her prom slippers and fleeing barefoot The closely cut school lawn was like velvet, lightly dusted with dewfall, and the laughter was behind her. She began to calm slightly. Then her feet did tangle and she fell at full length out by the flagpole. She lay quiescent, breathing raggedly, her hot face buried in the cool grass. The tears of shame began to flow, as hot and as heavy as that first flow of menstrual blood had been. They had beaten her, bested her, once and for all time. It was over. She would pick herself up very soon now, and sneak home by the back streets, keeping to the shadows in case someone came looking for her, find Momma, admit she had been wrong (! NO !) The steel in her- and there was a great deal of it suddenly rose up and cried the word out strongly. The closet? The endless, wandering prayers? The tracts and the cross and only the mechanical bird in the Black Forest cuckoo clock to mark off the rest of the hours and days and years and decades of her life? Suddenly, as if a videotape machine had been turned on in her mind, she saw Miss Desjardin running toward her, and saw her thrown out of her way like a rag doll as she used her mind on her, without even consciously thinking of it. She rolled over on her back, eyes staring wildly at the stars from her painted face. She was forgetting (! THE POWER !) It was time to teach them a lesson. Time to show them a thing or two. She giggled hysterically. It was one of Momma's pet phrases. (momma coming home putting her purse down eyeglasses flashing well i guess i showed that elt a thing or two at the shop today) There was the sprinkler system. She could turn it on, turn it on easily. She giggled again and got up, began to walk barefoot back toward the lobby doors. Turn on the sprinkler system and close all the doors. Look in and let them see her looking in, watching and laughing while the shower ruined their dresses and their hairdos and took the shine off their shoes. Her only regret was that it couldn't be blood. The lobby was empty. She paused halfway up the stairs and FLEX, the doors all slammed shut under the concentrated force she directed at them the pneumatic door-closers snapping of. She heard some of them scream and it was music, sweet soul music. For a moment nothing changed and then she could feel them pushing against the doors, wanting them to open. The pressure was negligible. They were trapped (trapped) and the word echoed intoxicatingly in her mind. They were under her thumb, in her power. Power! What a word that was! She went the rest of the way up and looked in and George Dawson was smashed up against the glass, struggling, pushing, his face distorted with effort. There were others behind him, and they all looked like fish in an aquarium. She glanced up and yes, there were the sprinkler pipes, with their tiny nozzles like metal daisies. The pipes went through small holes in the green cinderblock wall. There were a great many inside, she remembered. Fire laws, or something. Fire laws. In a flash her mind recalled (black thick cords like snakes) the power cords strung all over the stage. They were out of the audience's sight, hidden by the footlights, but she had had to step carefully over them to get to the throne. Tommy had been holding her arm. (fire and water) She reached up with her mind, felt the pipes, traced them Cold; full of water. She tasted iron in her mouth, cold wet metal, the taste of water drank from the nozzle of a garden hose. Flex For a moment nothing happened. Then they began to back away from the doors, looking around. She walked to the small oblong of glass in the middle door and looked inside. It was raining in the gym. Carrie began to smile. She hadn't gotten all of them, only some. But she found that by looking up at the sprinkler system with her eyes, she could trace its course more easily with her mind. She began to turn on more of the nozzles, and more. Yet it wasn't enough. They weren't crying yet, so it wasn't enough (hurt them then hurt them) There was a boy up on the stage by Tommy, gesturing wildly and shouting something. As she watched, he climbed down and ran toward the rock band's equipment. He caught hold one of the microphone stands and was transfixed. Carrie watched, amazed, as his body went through a nearly motionless dance of electricity. His feet shuffled in the water, his hair stood up in spikes, and his mouth jerked open, like the mouth of a fish. He looked funny. She began to laugh. (by christ then let them all look funny) And in a sudden, blind thrust, she yanked at all the power she could feel.