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Numbness of the Mind Paradigm in Haruki Murakami’s After the Quake and Iraq’s After the Quake
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Haruki Murakami (1949-present) is a contemporary Japanese writer whose works have been translated into fifty languages and won him plenty of Japanese and international awards. His short stories are well constructed in a weird realistic manner and are mixed with elements of surrealism. His novels and short stories fall under the genre of magical realism. One of the major revolving themes that Murakami wrote about was the haunting feeling of emptiness and disconnectedness in a world which seems to care much for materialism and self-interests.

    The paper explores two of Murakami’s short stories in his book After the Quake (2000) and the relevance of their themes and characters to Iraq after the quake. Literally, Iraq may never have witnessed a real earthquake, but one can say its metaphorical meaning has a great implication upon the lives of its people. The reference to Iraq after the quake in this paper would focus on the aftermath of the 2003 War such as: the feeling of disconnection among people, disinclination in life, feelings of deprivation and depreciation, and the corruption of leaders and politicians. Likewise, though Murakami’s short stories chosen in this paper do not deal with the actual earthquake, its implications can be felt as we read the stories. His characters witness a sense of disconnectedness and the feeling of being unappreciated even when they do the hardest and most dangerous jobs.

    Two of Murakami’s short stories “UFO in Kushiro” and “Super Frog Saves Tokyo” are tackled to show the paradigm and comparison between the lives of these characters (that are actually a reflection of Japanese lives in mid 1990s) and the restricted depressing life of the Iraqis in the postwar era of the 2003 War. Both have experienced fragmentation, despair and lack of self-worth due to the reasons that are explained in this paper. The Iraqis however, may have experienced a deeper suffering where one can say they have reached a state of the numbness or enslavement of the mind and feelings. The paper also highlights that animosity should be dissipated from the hearts of people specifically in politicians and top leaders. Though it is a complicated world, man should conceive that the prosperity of mankind rests in his own hands. Cherishing the diversity of cultures and understanding each other’s moral principles are the means to diminish evil in order to reach the desired bliss.

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Publication Date
Fri Jul 25 2025
Journal Name
Modern Sport
The Impact of an AI-Supported Smart HIIT Program on Cardiovascular Fitness and Physical Performance
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Publication Date
Mon May 01 2023
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Evaluation the behavior of Ring Footing on Gypseous Soil Subjected to Eccentric and Inclined Loads
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An extensive program of laboratory testing was conducted on ring footing rested on gypseous soil brought from the north of Iraq (Salah El-Deen governorate) with a gypsum content of 59%. There are limited researches available, and even fewer have been done experimentally to understand how to ring footings behave; almost all the previous works only concern the behavior of ring footing under vertical loads, Moreover, relatively few studies have examined the impact of eccentric load and inclined load on such footing. In this study, a series of tests, including dry and wet tests, were carried out using a steel container (600×600×600) mm, metal ring footing (100 mm outer diameter and 40 mm inner diameter) was placed in the m

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Publication Date
Tue Aug 18 2020
Journal Name
Journal Of Petroleum Exploration And Production Technology
Integrated reservoir characterization and quality analysis of the carbonate rock types, case study, southern Iraq
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Abstract<p>The reservoir characterization and rock typing is a significant tool in performance and prediction of the reservoirs and understanding reservoir architecture, the present work is reservoir characterization and quality Analysis of Carbonate Rock-Types, Yamama carbonate reservoir within southern Iraq has been chosen. Yamama Formation has been affected by different digenesis processes, which impacted on the reservoir quality, where high positively affected were: dissolution and fractures have been improving porosity and permeability, and destructive affected were cementation and compaction, destroyed the porosity and permeability. Depositional reservoir rock types characterization has been identified de</p> ... Show More
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Publication Date
Fri Jul 04 2025
Journal Name
Computational And Theoretical Chemistry
Coronene and BN isosters of coronene: Revealing the electron density distribution using magnetic shielding maps
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Publication Date
Wed Dec 18 2019
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
Detecting Keratoconus by Using SVM and Decision Tree Classifiers with the Aid of Image Processing
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 Researchers used different methods such as image processing and machine learning techniques in addition to medical instruments such as Placido disc, Keratoscopy, Pentacam;to help diagnosing variety of diseases that affect the eye. Our paper aims to detect one of these diseases that affect the cornea, which is Keratoconus. This is done by using image processing techniques and pattern classification methods. Pentacam is the device that is used to detect the cornea’s health; it provides four maps that can distinguish the changes on the surface of the cornea which can be used for Keratoconus detection. In this study, sixteen features were extracted from the four refractive maps along with five readings from the Pentacam software. The

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Publication Date
Sat Oct 01 2022
Journal Name
Structures
Behaviour and design of the ‘lockbolt’ demountable shear connector for sustainable steel-concrete composite structures
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In order to promote sustainable steel-concrete composite structures, special shear connectors that can facilitate deconstruction are needed. A lockbolt demountable shear connector (LB-DSC), including a grout-filled steel tube embedded in the concrete slab and fastened to a geometrically compatible partial-thread bolt, which is bolted on the steel section's top flange of a composite beam, was proposed. The main drawback of previous similar demountable bolts is the sudden slip of the bolt inside its hole. This bolt has a locked conical seat lug that is secured inside a predrilled compatible counter-sunk hole in the steel section's flange to provide a non-slip bolt-flange connection. Deconstruction is achieved by demounting the tube from the t

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Publication Date
Sun Dec 20 2020
Journal Name
Journal Of Accounting And Financial Studies ( Jafs )
Proposition Framework to Application Kaizen Cost Technique of to realization Target Pricing: Practical Study in the Al-Muthanna Cement Company
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The study the problem emerged in the inability of local companies to enter the field of active competition with other companies operating in the same economic sector due to the high cost of their products, hence, the companies that want to apply this technique can effectively compete in order to achieve those objectives.

  So this study focused on the goal of reducing the cost of products by reducing the cost product to a minimum , as the study was based in its hypothesis on the ability of companies to application this technique which in turn leads to increased profits under conditions of normal working and the power available and their potential in improving the quality of its products, as well as the need for full coordina

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Publication Date
Sun Jan 10 2021
Journal Name
مجلة كلية التربية الاساسية
استخدامات الشباب العراقي لقنوات تلفزيون الانترنت شاهد بلس وحدود الاشباعات المتحققة
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Publication Date
Wed Apr 30 2025
Journal Name
مجلة جامعة الانبار للعلوم البدنیة والریاضیة
بناء وتقنين مقياس التهكم التنظيمي للمعنيين بالاتحاد العراقي المركزي بالكرة الطائرة
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تهدف الدراسة الى بناء مقياس التهكم التنظيمي للمعنيين بالاتحاد العراقي المركزي بالكرة الطائرة. تحديد الدرجات والمستويات المعيارية لمقياس التهكم التنظيمي للمعنيين بالاتحاد العراقي المركزي بالكرة الطائرة.وقد استخدم الباحثون المنهج المسحي على مجتمع البحث وعينته المتمثلة بالمعنيين من حكام واداريين ومدربون بالكرة الطائرة إذ بلغت العينة (185) فرداً، وبعد ذلك أجريت إجراءات البناء واختيار المجالات والعبارات ومن

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Publication Date
Thu Oct 29 2020
Journal Name
Toxicological Research
Liver functions in combined models of the gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity and metabolic syndrome induced by high fat or fructose diets: a comparative study
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