Baroque Art Essay

This paper will start with an explanation of what Baroque art is. Baroque art is art that utilizes the effects between lightness and darkness. We will begin by looking at three paintings from the Baroque period. The first painting we will be discussing from the Baroque period is Annibale Carracci’s Pieta. A pieta is a sculpture or painting of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. This particular pieta was done by the artist Annibale Carracci from Bologna, Italy. Annibale’s Pieta depicts the Virgin Mary holding her son Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Annibale used his lighting very well in this painting. Because of the way he used the lighting in his painting it made Jesus Christ the main figure, but still managed to have the Virgin Mary in the center along with Jesus. Annibale painted Mary in a soft blue, which contrasted well with the paleness of Jesus Christ. Annibale painted the look of sorrow onto Mary’s face and out stretched her left hand as if she was questioning how this could happen to her. This painting has so much detailed to it, along with Mary and Jesus there are also two angels in the painting: one angel scrutinizes the crown of thorns, while the other mourns while holding Jesus’ hand. Annibale Carracci was a well-known and admired painter that helped create the Baroque style. Annibale Carracci, along with his brother and cousin founded the Accademia degli Incamminati, which translates to the Academy of progressives. Later in the 15th century the Carracci family was painting some of the most advanced paintings throughout Europe. Annibale created a new broken brushwork style to capture movement and the effects of light on form (Christiansen, Keith. 2003). This new style resulted in paintings being put inside churches. The fresco painting on the ceiling of Pope Farnese’s Palace was Annibale’s greatest masterpiece. The second painting from the Baroque Period is The Entombment by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The symmetry of the group of people in this painting is miraculous . This painting shows everyone bowing down or bending towards Jesus, showing that his death has an impact not only emotionally but physically on them. The look of terror and shock is remarkably captured in this painting. The group of people look traumatized at the death of their beloved Savior Jesus Christ, however at the same time they look relieved. I love how Caravaggio illustrates these people. He doesn’t make the people beautiful or extravagant looking, he makes them look like ordinary people. Just as Annibale used the lightness and darkness as did Caravaggio, bringing out the drama and suspense of the moment. Caravaggio was a wild and carefree person. He believed in truth, that not everyone was beautiful or heroic as they are made to seem. He refused to portray the human individual as sublime, beautiful and heroic (Christiansen, Keith 2003). During Caravaggio’s time the Catholic Church had complete control of what was considered to be acceptable art if it wasn’t deemed acceptable by the church then it wasn’t art. Caravaggio disdained the masters of the Renaissance and the mannerist style (Sayre 2010). In the Baroque Period, religion was the best thing you could paint about, this is the only topic that would be profitable. The third painting from the Baroque Period is Belshazzar’s feast by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. The painting displays King Belshazzar and his visitants feasting while using the holy items from the Jewish temple. Rembrandt depicts a moment when a glorious hand appears in right to the inscription on the wall when transliterated the inscription reads: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN; meaning ‘God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; your kingdom is given to the Medes and Persians. ‘. â€Å"Rembrandt | Belshazzar’s Feast | NG6350 | The National Gallery, London†, 2004) . After that night, King Belshazzar was killed. Rembrandt utilizes the light in this painting to give light more effect the hand. The main figure is King Belshazzar who is struck with fear as the hand continues to write on the wall. Not only is the King and shock but so are all his adversaries. Rembrandt uses chiaroscuro in his painting by outlining the outside of the painting in a dark color. Chiaroscuro is the contrast of light and dark to create atmosphere, drama, and emotion (Sayre, 2010). Rembrandt was asked what he truly wanted to achieve through his art, he stated â€Å"the greatest and most natural movement† translated from die meeste ende di naetuereelste beweechgelickheijt (encyclopedia. stateuniversity, 2010. He didn’t want the subjects of his paintings in poses contrived as was the case in Mannerist style. (Sayre, 2010). His main goal was to portray the naturalness of the human body. In Holland, during the 16th-century at the Utrecht school Italianate architecture continued because of most of its attendance, especially the notable Gerard van Honthorst. He later traveled to Italy where he met Caravaggio and was inspired by his work. The Utrecht school artists ended up influencing Pieter Lastman with their styles of using lightness and darkness. Pieter ended up becoming Rembrandts, therefore providing a monolithic background for what would become known as Dutch Art. All three of examples I chose are religious; depicting an important scene from the bible. The first two paintings show Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. The third painting is from the Old Testament from the prophet Daniel. All three paintings used lightness and darkness to add drama to their paintings as well as chiaroscuro. These paintings show characters are very lifelike as well as the difference of chiaroscuro from its very beginning to it being perfected by Rembrandt. There are differences within these paintings. The way emotion is depicted upon each of the characters faces in every painting is different. What shocked me the most was that the The Pieta depicting the crucifixion showed the least detailed emotion. You see that Mary is grieving and is in sorrow but in the entombment the emotion is really detailed upon the faces of everyone. However, I believe Rembrandts Belshazzar’s feast has most emotional of all three paintings. You can actually see the fear and terror upon their faces. Also, the use lighting is more evident in Rembrandt paintings and his characters look more realistic; whereas in the Pieta the characters are perfect and beautiful when they’re supposed to be mourning the death of their loved one. In comparison to the Entombment the Pieta was the least dramatic and emotional of the two. Through these paintings you can see how the church has influence over the art and how it changes throughout the centuries. You can also see how each painter understands chiaroscuro. For instance, Rembrandt perfected it whereas Annibale merely understood it. While studying this I learned that art styles progress throughout the years, sometimes getting better and sometimes becoming worse.

Personal and Professional Moral Compass Essay

There are many influences that can affect how individuals think, behave, and react when confronted with an ethical dilemma. People make decisions throughout their life that are guided by what they have encountered through personal experiences, as well as cultural and spiritual influences. With the cultural diverseness of our Western society, there is more of an â€Å"emphasis on self-reliance and individualism† when it comes to nursing (Ludwick, 2000). Respect for human dignity and the importance for an individual to have an active role in making their own health care decisions is an important factor in nursing practice. In our society, it is important to have control over one’s emotions and desires in relation to personal decisions involving health care. Nurses have an important role in advocating for those that wish to be heard as well as ensuring that the desired care is delivered. At times there is conflict between what a patient wishes and what is considered as ethically correct. As a nurse in the mental health field, it is difficult to be able to classify what the diagnosis of a patient is just as much as identifying the medication for that diagnosis. Serving alongside some of the veterans that are seen in the mental health clinic sometimes brings about the question if they are receiving the right type of care. There is much stigma placed upon mental health care and when identifying the individual as a veteran, many times their feelings and troubles are generalized. By recognizing this, many veterans within the clinic are followed more closely by outreach calls that ensure patient safety in addition to tracking their overall mental health status. Perhaps there is a personal level of commitment attached to these veterans due to a connection involving combat and its repercussions. Personal feelings can also hinder a nurse in providing the ‘desired care’  that a patient requests. Because society is so diverse there are many beliefs, either spiritual or cultural, that can conflict with a nurse’s values and morals. For example; it had been identified that a psychotic patient was in dire need for intervention through medication. With this patient’s cultural beliefs, he was unable to follow through with the care suggested. The result of this situation ended with the patient being arrested, placed on hospital hold, and eventually being forced to take these medications. The ethical dilemma entailed nurses and doctors to identify that their obligation was to not only keep the public safe, but to ensure that the patient was safe, thus overriding his personal desires. Although many medical professionals feel that they know the right or wrong answer based on what they have learned in textbooks, it may not always be the best answer for the patient. There are many events that can affect diverse ways of thinking, which shapes each individual nurse’s practice. After exposure to different cultures, a nurse is able to recognize and begin to appreciate beliefs that are unlike his or her own. Some cultures do not allow an individual to make decisions of their own, sometimes impeding necessary care that can sustain their life. This idea of holding back care is all that the medical professional identifies when confronted with these dilemmas. They are unable to appreciate or fully understand why this individual is being ‘forced’ to refuse care. This is difficult to comprehend when it is so evident about what should be done. Patients understand and respect the opinion of the health care providers; otherwise they would not be seeking care. It is the nurse’s responsibility to keep each patient from harm in addition to sustaining their dignity and respect. When seeking care, one is identifying that they are unable to tackle the problem alone and is in need of assistance from another. This vulnerability should be respected and the health care provider should include them and all of their values within the plan of care. There will always be an event or situation that entails a nurse to set aside their personal beliefs and do what is right for the patient in a given situation. Even though some issues can be affected by a nurses own values,  the benefits and the consequences should be individually considered. If the patient is of sound mind and is doing no harm to themselves or others, perhaps it is best to allow them to identify what is best for them. It is an obligation to ensure that a patient receives the best care that they deserve. References Burkhardt, M. &. (2008). Ethics & Issues in Contemporary Nursing. Clifton Park: Delmar. Ludwick, R. &. (2000). Ethics: Nursing Around the World: Cultural Values and Ethical Conflicts. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 5 (3), 1-4. Appendix A Resource 1: My Nursing Ethic PASSION: Why am I here? I have always felt that I am here to help others, regardless of the profession I chose. I had started off as an elementary education major and ended up graduating with my psychology degree. From there I had joined the Army to become a medic to provide care to those who I had fought next to during war time. I found myself wanting to learn more and became a nurse to advocate for patients as well as care for them medically. I lost many friends through deployments and many of them are lost within themselves. I want to be the nurse that not only understands, but listens to what they have to say. I feel very strongly about establishing a rapport with my patients, even if I only speak to them once. I want them to know that there is someone there that they can talk to when the time comes. MOTIVATION: What moves me to act? Someone who genuinely needs assistance with a situation, despite how great or how diminutive it may seem. When I hear about how something that has been resolved or attended to because of what I had done, it motivates me even more to continue with my persistence in difficult situations. I find that  when there is respect for my profession from providers and others, this also increases my motivation. I find it motivating when I finally am able to assist a patient with positive changes that has been difficult for others to do so in the past. It is always motivating to be successful with a challenging and ‘hard to work with’ patient; all it takes is time, caring and listening. Working alongside others that are motivated also will have an effect on my motivational level. INSPIRATION: What keeps me in motion? I am most inspired by my patients. I feel that those that served before, with and after me deserve my undivided attention. Those that are truly searching for help and are motivated to do everything they can to get better, inspire me. I also find that colleges who depend on my knowledge and experience inspire me to become a better and more understanding nurse. I realize that many times, the VA is the only place many veterans can receive care (or even a hot meal); this reminds me that I may be the only one left who will listen. LOYALTY: Whom do I serve? Although I am here to assist the providers, I am here to serve the patients that are our country’s veterans. I make myself available and would go the extra mile to ensure they receive the best care and treatment that they deserve. I served alongside many of them during deployments and feel that I can continue to do this by being the best advocate they can have at

Law on Torts in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Law on Torts in Australia - Essay Example The law is clear on the fact that the defendant had no right to touch the person of the plaintiff as the defendant did not have any arrest warrant authorizing him to take Tom into custody.3 Upon refusal by the plaintiff to accompany the defendant to the police station, the defendant should have left the premises and proceeded to go and obtain a court order or a warrant of arrest that would have allowed him to take the plaintiff into custody for questioning4. The plaintiff could argue that the actions of the two defendants caused economic injury to his business as a result of their insisting on questioning him within the premises of Tom’s business property at the reception area in full view of his waiting customers. Hargrave v Goldman (1936) 110 CLR 40, 495 (Windeyer J). Tom can argue that the actions of the two officers had adversely affected his business by portraying him negatively in full view of the customers. Tom can also claim that his business suffered extensive loss as a result of the Defendant officer Derk detaining him for longer than was actually necessary at the police station even after he had questioned him for a reasonable duration of time without a warrant or court order authorizing him to do so.6 Causes of Court Action Available to the Plaintiff The Plaintiff can take several legal recourses against the defendants. In the case of Tom, the plaintiff versus Officers Derk and Falcon, the defendants, he can be able to sue the two for trespassing onto his property as was seen in the case of Adams v. State of New South Wales & ors (2001) New South Wales District Court.7 The law defines trespass as â€Å"Trespass is a tortious cause of action dealing with direct and intentional interferences to either the person, land or to goods.† Reynolds v Clarke (1725) 1 Str 634. They can be sued as a result of their refusal to leave the plaintiff’s property even after he had asked them to do so. The two defendants also went on to search the p laintiffs workshop without a warrant and are liable to be sued for conducting an illegal search as was in the case of Curran & ors v. Walsh & ors (1998) unreported, New South Wales District Court.8 In the case of The Plaintiff Tom Versus the defendant Officer Falcon, the plaintiff can sue the defendant for trespass on his person. By placing his hand on the plaintiff’s shoulder, the defendant had directly and deliberately caused there to be physical contact between his person and the plaintiff’s person without the consent or the legal justification to do so and hence was liable to be sued.9 In the case of the plaintiff, Tom versus the defendant, officer Derk, the plaintiff could sue for economic damages sustained as a result of the officer retaining him for questioning at the police station for too long. In the case of â€Å"Caltex Oil (Australia) Pty Ltd v The Dredge â€Å"Willemstad† [1976] HCA 6510† Caltex were able to recover damages for the economic l osses they suffered without having suffered any actual physical damage.11 Tom was unnecessarily detained for questioning irrespective of the fact that the plaintiff had come to the station on his

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Literature review - Essay Example of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 2006 reported that nursing colleges and universities turned away more than 32,000 qualified applicants due to a shortage of nurse educators† (Ciraola, 2008). Shortage of experienced nurses directly affects the quality of service at the healthcare organizations for the worse. â€Å"More and more nurses are approaching retirement age. We are losing a very large cohort of our most experienced nurses† (Link cited in Ciraola, 2008). Despite the fact that many students opt for nursing in the present age, it is not helping much as the population is growing at a much faster pace to belittle the effect produced by increased nursing students. Risks created by the shortage of nurses for healthcare organizations include problems of retention and recruitment of nurses, decline in the quality of service, and work-overload on individual nurses. Cultural diversity has necessitated the acquisition of new types of skills by the nursing leaders in the US that include but are not limited to knowledge of and competence in speaking multiple languages, knowledge of the norms and values of different cultures, and training and education of the nurses to customize their skills and talents to the needs of the American healthcare

Macro Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Macro Economics - Essay Example 2011, p.204. The central bank of England has a duty to regulate the amount of money in the economy through various instruments at its disposal hence stabilizing economic inflation. These strategies are used by the central bank of England to control the rate of inflation, either by encouraging the public to spend more, or lowering their spending rate depending on the prevailing economic conditions (Joyce, et.al. 2010, p. 176). Central bank applies both conventional and unconventional strategies to regulate the rate of inflation in United Kingdom. In order for the central bank to plan the means they will use to manipulate the rate of inflation in the economy effectively, they should be able to predict the trend of economic advancement at least two years in advance. When the central bank of England increases the amount of money in circulation, they encourage public to spend more, thus pushing the rate of inflation high (Benford.et.al, 2009, p.48). If the central bank decreases the amoun t of money in circulation, they will discourage people to spend more hence reduce the rate of inflation. Asset Purchases financed by Central Bank Money: Quantitative Easing High inflation results to overspending by both individuals and business. This results to decline in saving power of the consumers (Benford.et.al, 2009, p.47). It also affects the lending power of the financial institutions. The central bank of England has mandate to regulate the rate of inflation of the country by playing around with the interests which they charge the financial institutions. During the time of high inflation, the central bank of England will increase the interest rates of the lenders. This high interest rate has an effect of reducing the lending rate so as to lower the rate of spending. The central aims to achieve this by discouraging borrowers from acquiring expensive loans. As the individuals and businesses borrow fewer funds from the financial institutions, the money in circulation

Social Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Social Issues - Essay Example This was however refuted by the campaign group Crisis, which warns that people are merely moving from the streets into temporary shelters and then moving back onto the streets again (www.bbc.co.uk, 2001). Recent statistics reveal that there may be still be vast numbers of homeless people still populating UK’s streets. In evaluating the trends over time, about two thirds of homeless people in general were single persons over the age of 25 rather than members with families. In England, the number of people recognized officially as being homeless in the year 2007 was 99,500, and this revealed a decreasing trend. The current figure was half of what the figures were in the year 2004 and well below the high numbers that existed a decade ago(www.crisis.org.uk). Similar trends were not however, reported in Wales and Scotland. In the case of the fomer, the number of households recognized as officially newly homeless were 9300, which is an increase from the values of 2004. The homelessness trend has been fluctuating in Wales, it rose sharply from 2001 to 2004, then dropped sharply up to 2007 when it registered another increase. An increasing trend was also displayed in Scotland; the num ber of households which were categorized as newly homeless were 41,00 which are actually a third higher than they were a decade ago. Most people have little sympathy for homeless people, because they believe that these individuals deliberately choose to adopt this option so that they can scrounge off the sympathy and assistance of kindly folk. But as was pointed out in the BBC news item cited above, homelessness is like a vicious cycle because it creates its own set of problems. The failure to be able to demonstrate the existence of a permanent address means that such individuals are also not able to get jobs to earn money for themselves, which in turn, only leads to a higher incidence of homelessness.

Introducing a Product to the Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Introducing a Product to the Market - Essay Example In an argument by Kerin (2012) market segmentation is an effective way of introducing a product in the market since the entrepreneur is provided with an accurate way of analyzing the consumer behavior. The author further asserts that the entrepreneur is also able to understand the general behavior of the market and trends that may affect the performance of is product (Kerin, 2012). The argument is supported by Kotler & Keller (2012) who is of the assumption that a thorough market analysis through segmentation enables the ability of the entrepreneur to find the most strategic marketing strategies. For instance, the authors cite that the entrepreneur may understand the best way the market prefers to access marketing information (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The information acquired may be more effective if the entrepreneur realizes a specific target market. From these provision, identifying the target market through market segmentation is an effective overall strategy. Depending on the nature of the product, the most accurate target market would be a population between the ages of 16 to 30. The product is aimed to attract the preference of a market that has the largest conception of mobile phones. Dacko (2008) is of the assumption that the entrepreneur must select a target market based on the impact expected from their product. For instance, the young generation is mostly attracted to technological trends and social innovations. The major characteristics of this target market is their ability to recognize trendy product from a large market. In addition, their market selection is based on uniqueness and time relevance. Kotler & Keller (2012) assert that a young target market has massive preference on luxury goods. The authors further point out that their consumption of luxury goods is not majorly limited by pricing levels (Kotler & Keller, 2012). The target market is also very swift in shifting preference from one product based on a new entrant

Mergers, Acquisitions, and International Strategies Research Paper

Mergers, Acquisitions, and International Strategies - Research Paper Example The second company is selected on the merit that it is a public corporation with no history of mergers and acquisition and it operates solely within the United States market; the company that was selected under this merit is the Buffalo Wild Wings. The researcher paper will evaluate the strategy that led to the mergers and acquisitions undertaken by McDonald’s Corporation and it will stipulate whether the mergers and acquisitions were wise choices. In addition, the research paper will evaluate McDonald Corporation’s international business-level strategy and corporate-level strategy and then provide recommendations for improvements. Secondly, the research paper will identify one company that would be a profitable candidate for Buffalo Wild Wings to merge with or acquire. Lastly, the paper will propose one business-level strategy and one corporate-level strategy that can be effective and profitable for Buffalo Wild Wings. McDonald’s Corporation According to Warwick (2013), McDonald Corporation is the largest publicly traded hamburger fast food restaurant chain in the world, which serves averagely 60 million customers in over 115 countries across the world on a daily basis. The McDonald brothers originally started the company in 1940 but it was fully acquired by Ray Kroc who joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955, and this marked the first experience of the company with mergers and acquisitions. Among the companies that the McDonald Corporation has acquired or merged within its years of operations, including the Piles Cafe, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Donatos Pizza but it has sold off the two latter subsidiaries (Warwick, 2013). The McDonald’s restaurants offer a wide menu to their customers, which consist of French fries, hamburgers, chicken, cheeseburgers, soft drinks, breakfast items, desserts, milkshakes, fruits, smoothies, wraps, salads, and fish. Presently, the company boasts of total assets worth over $32 billion and tot al revenue of over $27 billion and a net income of over $ 5 billion in the past financial year. Buffalo Wild Wings Warwick (2013) wrote that Scott Lowery and James Disbrow opened up the first Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in 1982 at Columbus, Ohio. As of 2013, the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain, which trades at the NASDAQ, had established its operations in approximately 910 locations mostly in North America and currently, there are ongoing talks about the expansion of the restaurant chain. The menu of Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants mainly consists of Buffalo wings and sauces. In the last financial year, the company generated $748 million in revenues from across its entire business operations. Strategy for McDonald’s mergers and acquisitions According to Warwick (2013), McDonald’s boosts of more than 34,000 locations worldwide and this has been facilitated by the franchising strategy that has so far enabled the corporation to have representation in many countries a nd further enabling it to become among the most popular brands in the world. Besides the franchising strategy, McDonald’s has been able to have a wide market presence because of acquisitions and mergers with other restaurant chains. Concerning this Warwick (2013) stated that McDonald’s undertook various mergers and acquisitions deals during the 1990’s which enabled it to significantly increase its market share, revenue level, and the net income.

International accounting group Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International accounting group - Coursework Example One of the benefits also include the access to the wide market when Toyota manufactures and assembles in these countries and the access to the market is cheaper as compared to the situation where Toyota manufacture in Japan and export it. The cost effectiveness for Toyota by manufacturing and assembling outside Japan is one of the major reason as the manufacturing cost in Japan is much higher than other countries and especially from developing countries. Toyota is considering to setup the manufacturing and assembly operations in under developed countries where the costs are cheap and is much beneficial for the company. Competing against General Motors in North America and with high financial stability along with the target of covering most of the markets it is beneficial for Toyota to get advantage from every opportunity that seams feasible and cut down costs and cover most of the markets. Solution 2 Toyota has been known for its quality control that it has thrived to provide keeping low costs for its products and its target customers. Like every large company it has made efforts to expand its operations and shown the great presence in markets like US. The basic purpose of expansion is to capture the market and increase its share it has always been strategic decision for the corporates as they ample opportunities for growth. However along with the opportunities management also has to focus on the risks that they might face that would have the potential to undermine their current status. Toyota has focused on TQM (total quality management) and along with processes have been sharp that enable just in time inventory. At overseas the quality of production facility might not be as that Toyota requires along with that it is would be burden and challenge for management while in headquarters in Japan to ensure the standards of facility and production raw material that they receive. Toyota’s policy of learn local might not prevail in every region that they plan t o operate as initial access would be to local markets that might not provide quality material. It’s design and technology that really matters in the automobile industry and in overseas it becomes even harder for company to ensure secrecy of its designs. Every region has different culture, requirements and most important of all government regulations that create a huge risk. Being a multinational Toyota always faces a threat regarding the foreign exchange. Solution 3 The recommended plant citation within North America is in the United States because as per the clause when 62% of the cost is covered in United States then the company shall be allowed to the free movement of its products within United States, Canada and Mexico. Toyota should consider the market conditions as to what type of facility should be considered best whether manufacturing or assembly and the demand of its products that is within the United States, Canada and Mexico as this will give Toyota the access to t he markets of these three countries as they are the members of North American Free Trade Agreement. The environmental and legal laws should be considered as Toyota has to comply with the legislations of United States in order to be operative. The cost that Toyota will bear should be less than the other

Evaluate the roles of named players Essay Example for Free

Evaluate the roles of named players Essay Managing future energy needs is certainly a global challenge that requires the cooperation of many named players both on a small and large scale. It has been estimated that global demand for primary energy is set to grow 55% by 2030 and that $22 trillion of new investment is need to meet future energy forecasts. The main player in providing future energy security can be argued to be OPEC as they control the production of over 2/3s of the worlds supply of oil, therefore leading them be price makers in the industry. OPEC is considered to be the most important player in global energy provision, it currently consists of 12 members and was created in 1960 mainly to protect the interests of member countries and to stabilise oil prices for a regular supply to oil consuming countries. However, OPECs obligations have been controversial as they have been accused of holding back on production of oil and gas in order to drive up prices, therefore using the market mechanism of demand and supply to increase profits for member states. Currently it has been proven that collectively, OPEC has stored 900,000 million barrels of crude oil, they own 78% of global resources and have a combined market share of 45% for oil and 18% for gas. This inherently makes them the largest producer of fossil fuels in the world meaning they will have a large if not absolute say in future energy provision and energy security. The responsibility of oil distribution will then fall on OPEC when supply of oil runs low leading to a bidding system for allocation of oil to where demand and price is highest. Another large player involved in providing energy security for the future is multinational oil companies; they are involved in the exploration and extraction of oil as well as transporting and refining the oil to consumers meaning they, as well as OPEC control the prices directly to consumers. Most of the top 20 oil companies in 2005 were state owned with companies such as Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia and PDV in Venezuela, this could be beneficial for domestic industry as they may charge less, stimulating the economy with lower production costs. However, many of the largest oil companies are relatively free of direct political influence and are therefore driven by the market mechanism leading to higher prices, above production costs. An example of a petro chemical company that has a direct impact on us in the UK is Gazprom in Russia. It solely controls one third of the worlds gas reserves and accounts for more than 92% of Russias gas production, but more importantly it provides 25% of the EUs natural gas as we are consistently becoming net importers. The security of the energy provision is open to risk as Europes fear is that Russia will be able to name its price for gas because Europe is predominately dependent on its supply. In addition, the reliability is further doubted since Russia temporarily shut off gas supply to Ukraine in 2006 and therefore the whole of Europe. Fossil fuels are of course a finite resource meaning they will one day deplete to such an extent that it will not be cost effective to extract and refine to sell. This insinuates that it is the combined role of governments and oil producing companies to innovate and invest in new technology to sustain increasing energy demands. International Governments is the last and one of the main players in providing future energy security. Governments have the option of allowing oil companies to further exploit their own environment in order to increase oil production such as the case with the province of Alberto. It is estimated up to 2. 5 trillion barrels of are held within the sedimentary oil-shale more so than in Saudi Arabia. This may relieve pressure for rising energy demand in the US as Canada does in fact have a surplus of primary energy. It will also relieve the US from its dominant reliance on the unreliable Saudi Arabian oil reserves with growing political challenges and the threat of terrorism and piracy. However, environmentalists see the exploitation of oil-shale are sands as a disaster in the making, not only does it already have detrimental environmental scars but with current technology, huge amounts of energy are needed in heating the sands to extract the oil (every 3 barrels of oil produced requires 1 barrel to be burnt). Conversely, Governments may opt to incentives conservation of energy through fuel duties or green taxes and emission trading as it leads to industries investing in cleaner technology. In addition, investment in greener fuels such as renewable and nuclear energy is a way for governments to secure energy provision in the future as it can be sustainable and everlasting. In conclusion, each player has a unique role in providing future energy security either with price stability with OPEC, investment into greener technology with oil companies and correct management and legislation from governments to both the exploitation of their environment and their fiscal system in incentive taxation. All in all it depends on the magnitude of integration of all these ideas brought forward that will secure actual energy provision in the future and allow for a sustained and secure increase in consumption of energy.

Motivations for Reading Online Blogs

Motivations for Reading Online Blogs 1. Introduction Computer mediated communication (CMC) has brought about a great shift in the way we interact and look for information (Papacharissi and Rubin, 2000). Using the internet, today, users have access to thousands of sources, get information that is presented in a wide range of formats, and can also interact with people anywhere in the world. With the turn of the new millennium there has been a fundamental shift in the way people all over the world communicate even using the internet. This phenomenal change has occurred with the arrival of the Web 2.0 technology which has enabled increased amount of interaction and community formation. Of all the Web 2.0 applications, one of the most interesting and rising Web 2.0 innovations is weblogs, popularly referred to as blogs. Blogs are frequently-updated websites by the owner of the site, where multimedia content can be posted. Blogs form a new genre of computer-mediated communication (Blood, 2002). Blog posts are generally in the reverse chronological order and the older posts can be archived. Readers of blogs can comment, rate, bookmark or link to the blog. Such linking forms an entire network of highly connected people (Wilde, 2007). This clustered network of interconnected texts form what is called the â‚ ¬Ã…“blogosphereâ‚ ¬?. Simply put, the blogosphere comprises of groups of authors of content and their readers/ users. Blogs are rising in popularity. The total number of blogs in Technorati, a popular blog indexing site had reached a 133 million mark by 2008, with 900,000 blog posts in 24 hours (Sifry, 2008). With such exponential growth, in recent times the academia and industry has taken good notice of the medium. Research has been conducted on blog writer and reader motivations and final behaviour (Huang, Chou Lin, 2008). Studies say that motivation is a function of intrinsic and extrinsic factors (Guay, Vallerand Blanchard, 2000). Hence one can infer that motivation to use a blog will change with the type of blog. However, studies have not considered blog user motivations in the context of the blog types. Not much academic research has been done in studying blog readers (Huang, Chou Lin, 2008).   This research is an attempt at developing an understanding of the motivations behind reading of blogs, in relation to different types of blogs. The present study aims at understanding the key drivers that motivate blog reading among Indians and hence develop a model which clearly brings out the association of these motivating factors with various types of blogs. The classification of blogs will be on the basis of reader perception. Hence, it is expected that the study will help developing a consumer-centric classification schema for blogs. Existing literature in the area of blogs indicates that little research has happened in this field. However, of whatever work has been done, most of the research focuses on the blog itself or on the blogger, and very rarely on the blog reader (Huang et al., 2008). This section talks about the existing body of knowledge on blogs. Huang et al., (2008), have suggested a good way of classifying the existing academic research on blogs. They say that â‚ ¬Ã…“previous research of blogs has investigated blog categories, motives for use, or motives for writing. Scholars also consider readers responses after reading blogs, such as trust and interactionâ‚ ¬? (p. 351). There are even studies done on the structural and systems aspects of blogs (Wilde, 2008; Herring, Scheidt, Wright Bonus, 2005; Schmidt, 2007) and blogging benefits (Baker and Moore, 2008). Looking at studies that have gone into the details of blog categories, a lot of work has been done by blog authors themselves (Herring, Scheidt, Wright Bonus, 2005). Some of the most important ones which are oft-quoted in literature are those of Blood (2002), Krishnamurthy (2002) and Herring et al. (2005), who have all significantly contributed to the field of classification of blogs. Blood (2002) classified blogs into three types on the basis of their functions as filters, personal journals and notebooks. Krishnamurthy (2002) went on to classify blogs into four types using two dimensions of a blogs orientation: personal versus topical and community versus individual. Herring, Scheidt, Wright, and Bonus (2005) used Krishnamurthys categorization and further developed a five-category scheme for classification of blogs on the basis of frequency of updating. Dearstyne (2005) suggests five types of blogs based on their uses. Corry and Mundell (2006) have arrived at a certain blog classification scheme on the basis of the purpose of existence of the blogs. However, all these classifications have either come from content analysis of blogs and do not take the readers view into consideration for classifying. There has been a lot of research done on specific genres of blogs. Apart from analyses of personal blogs, extensive research has been done on journalist blogs (Haas, 2005; Lasica, 2002; Matheson, 2004; Tremayne, 2006). Political blogs form another interesting topic of reserahc (Bahnisch, 2006; Bruns, 2007; Singer, 2005). A growing area of research is the role of blogs as organizational communication vehicle through corporate blogs (Charman, 2006; Efimova Grudin, 2007; Kaiser, MÃÆ' ¼ller-Seitz, Pereira, Pina, 2007; Kelleher Miller, 2006). Yet another practical use of blogs that is being studied is its use for expert communication and personal knowledge management (Ewins, 2005; Halavais, 2006; Walker, 2006) or professionals from other disciplines (Bar-Ilan, 2005). A second set of research work has been done on the blog users in general and their behavioural patterns. Numerous researchers have tried to look into what are the various factors that go into what users of blog do. Bloggers use blogs for several reasons including using it as a personal journal, as a discussion space, as a collection of links, as an opinion center among many others (Figueredo, 2005). It may be inferred that, due to its multifarious uses, there may be numerous motivations, both intrinsic and extrinsic, that lead to blog usage (Huang, Shen, Lin Chang, 2007). Baker and Moore (2008) have studied the perception of social well-being, social support and social satisfaction of bloggers as against those of non-bloggers. They found that bloggers social integration, reliable alliance and friendship satisfaction increased significantly compared to non-bloggers, suggesting that blogging has beneficial effects on social well-being, especially with respect to perceived social support. Trevino (2005) has tried to study the reasons why people are in the blogosphere concluded that the most important factor motivating peoples presence in the blogosphere is that self-expression. Shen and Chiou (2009) study the aspects that go into blog community formation and the factors which cause an individual to be a part of the blog community. They say that community identification increases willingness to be a part of the community thereby positively influencing an individuals attitude towards the community to remain a member of the community. There is another body of knowledge which discusses the issue of trust and self-disclosure on blogs (e.g., Qian and Scott, 2007; Ko and Kuo, 2009). Qian and Scott (2007) explore the issues of anonymity and self-disclosure on blogs. This study concludes that bloggers whose target audience does not include people they know offline report a higher degree of anonymity than those whose audience does. Ko and Kuo (2009) reveal that â‚ ¬Ã…“self-disclosure of bloggers significantly and directly affects a bloggers perception of social integration, bonding social capital, and bridge social capital, which in turn promote bloggers subjective well-being.â‚ ¬? A subset of research on blog users is those on blog writers or bloggers. Some researchers have tried to understand bloggers motivations in great depth (e.g.. Blood, 2002; Blumenthal, 2005; Herring, Scheidt, Wright Bonus, 2005; Lenhart and Fox, 2006; Huang, Shen, Lin Chang, 2007). However, Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht and Swartz (2004) analysed this issue in detail. They conducted ethnographic interviews and concluded that bloggers have five fundamental motivations that drive them to blog: â‚ ¬Ã…“to document their life experiences, to provide commentary and opinions, to express deeply felt emotions, to articulate ideas through writing, and to form and maintain community forums. Huang, Shen, Lin Chang (2007) conducted an empirical study which concluded that interaction by blogging is driven by the motivations of self-expression, life documenting, and commenting while on the other hand, content gathering by blogging is found to be driven by the motivations of commenting, forum participation, and information seeking. They also went on to say that these motivations drive two types of behaviour: interaction-oriented behaviour and information-oriented behaviour. There is also an attempt at understanding self-presentation strategies that blog writers adopt (Jung, Youn McClung, 2007). This study shows that the reasons for hosting personal mini-homepages are entertainment and self-expression followed by the professional advancement and passing time. According to the uses and gratification theory, users are seen as active gratification seekers interacting with the media as opposed to passive recipients of media content (Goffman, 1959). Having said this, blog readers are consuming content, and have the choice to read content that they want to at any given point of time. While all the above mentioned areas of research lay huge emphasis on the blogger, the blog reader, who forms an important component of the blogosphere, has been sparsely researched on (Huang, Chou Lin, 2008). Huang, Chou Lin (2008) tried to study the fundamental motivators behind reading blogs. This research work has arrived at a causal relationship of motives with blog reader responses. After secondary research and exploratory research, the authors have used five distinct motives in their study: affective exchange, information search, entertainment, and getting on the bandwagon. The behaviours that the paper proposes are opinion acceptance, interaction intentions, and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions. While looking at the existing literature on blog user behaviour (both blogger and blog readers), it has been found that most of the blogs are of the personal blogs type. However, researchers have not tried to explore behaviour on the basis of blog type. From the above literature review, it is evident that there is a void in the area of research that concerns blog readers as a category of individuals on the blogosphere. Also, there is no work that has tried to bring a readers dimension to classification of blogs. Hence, this study will aim at bringing about a relationship between the motivating factors for reading blogs and the various types of blogs that may eventually emerge from the blog-consumers perspective. 3. Problem Definition This research aims to study the various factors that motivate reading of blogs corresponding to the various types of blogs that exist. This is a study that will be conducted among Indian blog readers. 3.1. Research objectives The key objective of the study is to identify factors affecting blog-reading and try mapping them to the various types of blogs in order to better understand motivators that drive reading through this new medium. This main objective can be achieved through the following objectives. * To identify the various drivers that motivate blog-reading among Indian * To develop a customer-centric blog classification schema on the basis of these drivers 4. Proposed Research Methodology 4.1. Research Design The research design will largely be a combination of exploratory and descriptive methods. Since the model cannot be built without further exploratory research, the study will have a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study will be conducted in two stages. The first stage will involve exploratory research which will help arrive at the factors that motivate reading of blogs. The output of this stage of the research, i.e., the list of motivators would be the input for the next stage which would involve quantitative validation of the factors using a semi-structured questionnaire. Stage 1: This involves understanding the motivating factors for blog reading in order to make a comprehensive list. This list of factors would be obtained from  · Analysis of secondary data This involves collecting the list of motivating factors in existing literature in the area of blog reading and general online reading.  · Primary research: In-depth interviews To determine the various factors that influence blog reading among online users in a manner that facilitates respondents to interact freely while giving the interviewer also the scope to probe deeply. Stage 2: This is the point where descriptive research is carried out. This is done to understand the most important motivating factors associated with different classes of blogs.  · Primary research: Semi-Structured Questionnaire The questionnaire would carry the factors determined at stage 1 which would be rated by the respondents. Administration of the questionnaire to the respondents would be done online. 4.2. Proposed Method of Analysis After the questionnaire is administered and the responses, collected, data analysis has to be done in order to arrive at the final model that the research proposes to develop. The following analytical tools will be used in order to arrive at the motivational model.  · Factor Analysis: Factor analysis has been proposed in order to arrive at the most important set of motives for reading blogs after the exploratory research.  · Regression: The factors and their relationship with different blog types can be determined through regression. 4.3. Universe Definition The following are the specifications of the target group. SEC: A, B Age: 15 30 Element: Indian male or female individual having access to internet at home,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   college or workplace who are readers of blogs. Place: India 4.4. Sampling Structure The sampling unit in this case is individuals. The sample design is described separately for the two stages as follows. Stage 1: Qualitative Study  · Sampling Technique Purposive sampling would be used for conducting the depth interview.  · Sample Size This would be conducted among 9 individuals.  · Sampling Plan The respondents would be blog readers selected from the city of Ahmedabad. Recruiting will be done on the basis of respondents frequency of reading blogs. Hence there will be three categories of blog readers with 3 individuals in each category extremely regular, moderately regular and irregular readers of blogs. Stage 2: Quantitative Study  · Sampling Technique Snowball Sampling would be used for administering the questionnaire. Taking the route of references will ensure response.  · Sample Size The proposed sample size for the study will be approximately 200. Depending on the number of variables in the final model, the sample size will undergo change.  · Sampling Plan The geographic dispersion will be taken care of at the stage of online administration of the questionnaire to account for the four major zones (North, South, East West) of India. 5. Expected Contribution So far, research has seen blogs mainly from the blog writers perspective. There is almost a dearth of academic research in the about blog readers. This research will contribute to bridging this gap in knowledge. Existing research talks about blog reading motivations without taking blog types into consideration. By taking blog types also into account, this research adds a very important dimension to the existing knowledge. There has been no published, academic research done on blogging behaviour in India. Being specific to Indian blog-readers, the will add to the Indian academic body of knowledge. Last but not the least, understanding the key factors that influence blog reading specific genres of blogs can help content producers tailor their blogs in a manner which appeals most to their readers. This finding will go a long way in helping brand managers in tailoring blog-based communication for their brands to engage their audiences. References Baker, J. R., Moore, S. M. (2008). Bloggingas a Social Tool: A Psychosocial Examination   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of the Effects ofBlogging. CyberPsychology Behavior, Volume 11, Issue 6, 747-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   749. Bar-Ilan, J. (2005). Information hub blogs. Journal of Information Science, 31, 297-307. Blood, R. (2002). The weblog handbook: Practical advice on creating and maintaining your   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   blog. Cambridge, MA: Perseus. Blumenthal, M. M. (2005). Toward an Open-Source Methodology: What Can We Learn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from the Blogsphere. Public Opinion Quarterly, Volumer 69, Issue 5, 655-68. Bruns, A. (2007). Methodologies for mapping the political blogosphere: An exploration   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   using the IssueCrawler research tool. First Monday, 12 (5). Retrieved September   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   21, 2007 from http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_5/bruns/index.html Charman, S. (2006). Blogs in business: Using blogs behind the firewall. In A. Bruns J.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jacobs (Eds.), Uses of Blogs (pp. 57-68). New York: Peter Lang. Corry, W. and Mundell, J. (2006). Demystifying blogs Embracing objective   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   communication. Paper presented at the Marketing Research Society Annual   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conference, n.p. Dearstyne, B. W. (2005). Blogs: The new information revolution? Information   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   journal, Volume 39, 3, 38-44. Efimova, L., Grudin, J. (2007). Crossing boundaries: A case study of employee blogging.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Proceedings of the Fortieth Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (HICSS-40). Los Alamitos: IEEE Press. Ewins, R. (2005). Who are you? Weblogs and academic identity. E-Learning, 2, 368-377. Figueredo, P. (2005). Blogs and Blog Advertising: Smart Online Marketing, or a Waste   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of Money? Target Marketing, Volume 28, 37. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Guay, F., Vallerand, R. J. Blanchard, C. (2000). On the assessment of situational intrinsic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and extrinsic motivation: The situational motivation scale (SIMS). Motivation and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Emotion, Vol. 24, No. 3, 175-213. Haas, T. (2005). From Public Journalism to the Publics Journalism? Rhetoric and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reality in the discourse on weblogs. Journalism Studies, 6(3), 387-396. Halavais, A. (2006). Scholarly blogging: Moving towards the visible college. In A. Bruns   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses of Blogs (pp. 117-126). New York: Peter Lang. Herring, S.C., Scheidt, L.A., Wright, E. Bonus, S. (2005). Weblogs as a bridging genre.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Information Technology People, 18, 2, 142-171. Huang, L., Chou, Y. Lin, C. (2008). The influence of reading motives in the responses   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   after   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reading blogs. CyberPsychology Behaviour, Volume 11, 351 355. Huang, L., Shen, Y., Lin, C Chang, S. (2007). Bloggers Motivations and Behaviors: A   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Model. Journal of Advertising Research, Volume 47, 472 484. Jung, T., Youn, M. A., and McClung, S. (2007). Motivations and self-presentation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   strategies on Korean-based â‚ ¬Ã…“Cyworldâ‚ ¬? weblog format personal homepages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CyberPsychology Behavior, Volume 10, Number 1, 24-31. Kaiser, S., MÃÆ' ¼ller-Seitz, G., Pereira Lopes, M., Pina e Cunha, M. (2007). Weblog-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   technology as a trigger to elicit passion for knowledge. Organization, 14, 391-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   412. Kaye, B. K. (2005). Its a blog, blog, blog, blog world. School of Journalism Electronic   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Media, Volume 13, 73-95. Kelleher, T., Miller, B. M. (2006). Organizational blogs and the human voice: Relational   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   strategies and relational outcomes. Journal of Computer-Mediated   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communication, 11 (2), article 1. Retrieved September 13, 2009 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue2/kelleher.html Ko, H., Kuo, F. (2009). CanBloggingEnhance Subjective Well-Being Through Self-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Disclosure? CyberPsychology Behavior, Volume 12, Number 1, 75-79. Krishnamurthy, S. (2002). The multidimensionality of blog conversations: The virtual   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   enactment of September 11. Internet Research 3.0, n.p. Lasica, J. D. (2002). Blogging as a form of journalism. In R. Blood (ed.), Weve Got Blog.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How Weblogsare Changing Our Culture (pp. 163-170). Cambridge: Perseus. Lenhart, A. and Fox, S. (2006, July). Bloggers: A Portrait of the Internets New   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Storytellers. Pew Internet American Life Report, [URL:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Bloggers%20Report%20July%2019  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   %202006.pdf]. Li, D. (2007).Why Do You Blog: A Uses-and-Gratifications Inquiry Into Bloggers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Motivations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communication Association, TBA, San Francisco,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p171490_index.html. Matheson, D. (2004). Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: Some trends in online   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   journalism.New Media Society, 6, 443-468. Miller, C. R., Shepherd, D. (2004). Blogging as social action: a genre analysis of the weblog.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Into the blogosphere. http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/ (accessed Nov 18, 2009). Nardi, B. A., Schiano, D. J,, Gumbrecht M., and Swart L. (2004). Why we blog.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communications of the ACM, Volume 47, 41-46. Papacharissi, Z., Rubin, A.M. (2000). Predictors of Internet use. Journal of Broadcasting   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Electronic Media Volume 44, 175-196. Qian, H., Scott, C. R. (2007). Anonymity and self-disclosure on weblogs. Journal of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 12, Issue 4, Article 14.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/qian.html. Schmidt, J. (2007). Blogging practices: An analytical framework. Journal of Computer-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   MediatedCommunication, Volume 12, Issue 4, Article 13.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   [URL:http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/schmidt.html] Shen, C., Chiou, I. (2009). The effect of community identification on attitude and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   intention toward a blogging community. Internet Research, Volume 19Issue 4. Sifry, D. (2008). State of the Blogosphere. Retrieved on November 15, 2009 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.sifry.com/alerts/ Singer, J. (2005). The political j-blogger. Normalizing a new media form to fit old norms   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and practices. Journalism, 6, 173-198. Tremayne, M. (Ed.) (2006). Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future of Media. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Routledge.Bahnisch, M. (2006). The political uses of blogs. In A. Bruns J. Jacobs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (Eds.), Uses of Blogs, 139-149. New York: Peter Lang. Trevino, E. M. (2005). Blogger motivations: Power, pull, and positive feedback. Internet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Research, www.blog.erickamenchen.net. Walker, J. (2006). Blogging from inside the ivory tower. In A. Bruns J. Jacobs (Eds.),   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Uses of Blogs. 127-138. New York: Peter Lang. Wilde, E. (2008). Deconstructing blogs. Online Information Review, Volume: 32,Issue: 3,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   401 414.

Scottich Witch Trials of 1590 :: essays research papers fc

The European witch-hunts that took place from 1400 to 1800 were complete monstrosities of justice, but the brutality seemed to have been concentrated more in certain parts of Europe than other parts. This is especially true in the British Isles during the witch trials of 1590-1593, where Scotland, a country with a fourth of the population of England, experienced three times as many executions as them. Before these particular trials, England and Scotland were both only mildly involved in the hunts, but a Scottish witch’s confession in late 1590 unveiled a plot to kill King James VI by creating a storm to sink his ship. This confession led to the implementation of others and quickly festered into the widely publicized hunts throughout Scotland in the late 16th century. The Scottish witch-hunts of 1590 began in Tranent, a city just outside of Edinburgh, with the accusation of a maidservant named Geillis Duncane. Duncane was a kind hearted woman who used her vast knowledge of medicinal herbs and healing techniques to â€Å"[take] in hand all such as were troubled or grieved with anie kinde of sickness or infirmitie: and in short space did perfourme many matters most miraculous (sic).† Her ability to cure illness caused her master David Seaton, a deputy bailiff, to become suspicious of her. He was a callous and unsympathetic man who could not comprehend why someone would continuously go out of their way to help others. He was also wary of how a woman in such a humble position had acquired such an extensive knowledge of medicines and healing. Seaton’s suspicions seemed to be confirmed when he found Duncane sneaking out of the house late at night. When she was unable to answer where she was at night and how she gained her power to heal, sh e was immediately accused of consorting with the Devil. When she refused to confess to the crime of witchcraft, Seaton had her tortured. There was a plethora of torture devices used on those accused of witchcraft in the 1500’s, Duncane was fortunate to only have experienced a few. The first device used on Duncane was a vice called the pillwinkles, also known as thumbscrews, which crushed the bones in her fingers. When that did not work, her head was â€Å"thrawed†, which consisted of it being bound with rope or cord, then twisted and wrenched savagely. When she still would not confess, a diligent search of her body was conducted where the Devil’s mark was found on her throat.

A Comparison of Love in Beloved and Secrets and Lies Essay -- Movie Fi

The Absence of Love in Beloved and Secrets and Lies  Ã‚   Love is arguably the most powerful emotion possessed by mankind; it is the impalpable bond that allows individuals to connect and understand one another. Pure love is directly related to divinity.   Without love, happiness and prosperity become unreachable goals.   An individual that possesses all the desired superficial objects in the world stands alone without the presence of love. For centuries love has been marveled by all that dare encounter it.   Countless books and poems have been transcribed to explain the phenomenon of love, but love surpasses all intellectual explanations and discussions.  Ã‚   Love is not a definition, but rather a thought, an idea.   This idea, the idea of love, burns inside us all.   Instinctually, every soul on Earth is addicted to love.   An addiction, that unless satisfied will contribute to the downfall of an individual in a society.   If one does not, or is not loved, one can not prosper among a society where love is an essential ing redient to joy and happiness. Love produces healthy relationships that in return produce healthy and secure environments for all its participants. Love allows the connection of two people; it is love that completes an individual.   In Toni Morrisons Beloved, and the motion picture Secrets and Lies, incomplete characters are illustrated and analyzed.   The incompleteness of these characters is a result of the absence of love.   In the text of Beloved and Secrets and Lies, Sethe and Cynthia are characters whose roles portray the rueful outcome of an individual that is incapable of possessing love in its purist form.   Sethe or Cynthia can not correctly express love because neither of them were loved as children. Only ... ...duce her own brother.  Ã‚   Cynthia is self-evidently terribly affected by the paucity of love in her life.   Morris later explains his sister as a victim of someone â€Å"who didn’t receive any love.†Ã‚   (Secrets and Lies) Love is the controlling factor in the lives of every individual, and as portrayed in the novel Beloved and the film Secrets and Lies love is not always pleasant. Characters from both texts find themselves incapable of expressing love, and therefore destroy several potential healthy relationships.   Overall love can be considered divine just as easily as it can be considered evil.   Sometimes the idea of love is lost somewhere, and those who can not manage to find an alternative source of emotion, must endure the pain and suffering of a loveless life.    Bibliography Morrison, Toni. Beloved.   New York:   Penguin Group, 1987. â€Å"Secrets and Lies†   

American Racial Discriminations against Middle Easterners and the effect it has on Middle Easterners since 911

â€Å"Middle Easterns† is not just a race residing in several countries around the world; it has evolved to depict different semantic meanings as to the term of people born in the Middle Eastern culture and way of life. (Wikipedia) The Middle East is composed of countries in the territory of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Palestine (now Israel), Jordan, Egypt, The Sudan, Libya, and several states belonging to the state of Arabia (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates).Geographically characterizing Middle Eastern communities, it has enlarged over the years to include three other countries in the North Africa region which is Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco with associated foreign policies. The Middle East is a territory that is surrounded by the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Wikipedia) Middle Eastern is a modern term coined by Americans for Arabs and for people who reside in the region of the Middle East.These are Semitic people speaking the Arabic language and are generally not specified to particular residency in the Middle East. The distinction of Arabs must be clearly defined as the common perception of Arabs is that they are Muslims. Not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. Arabs are considered by the short lived Arabian league to be those of Arabic descent and speaking the Arabic Language. They must have originated from an Arabic country and strictly follow the rules and tenets of Arabic culture. (â€Å"Poll: Majority of US Muslims suffered post September 11 bias†, 2002)The paper will discuss the implications of the perception on Middle Easterns and the changes after the September 11 attacks in the United States. In this exposition, discrimination against Middle eastern will be evaluated and the extent to which it happened after the 9/11 attacks. The study shows what life was for Middle Eastern s before the attacks, and what they had to experience after. The study will not only focus on discrimination against Middle Easterns but also to discrimination per se on people belonging to different races.Discrimination happens due to decisive factors which differentiates one person belonging to a race from another. It is a way to make clear distinctions and act towards another person based on prejudice. It can happen through in three different ways; either base on their appearance, language, and religion. MIDDLE EASTERN DISCRIMINATION The society will more likely discriminate an individual because of what he looks like. Visual discrimination is the easiest way to discriminate someone. This is because appearance is readily available for a person to judge on especially when people base their perception on skin pigmentation.Even on how a person dresses constitutes formation of prejudices against them. Difference in religion also contributes to discrimination, not just the religion Is lam, but also other religious orientations as well. Religious discrimination is a one rampant occurrence after the 9/11 attacks. This is acting of ones bigotry against persons’ beliefs, rituals and customs in the particular religion he holds. Finally, the distinction between the different languages people speaks also accounts for discrimination to happen. Differences in language or in accent can generate misunderstanding among people.Discrimination is carried through many ways an(â€Å"DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION FROM LITERATURE REVIEW†)d forms. Middle Easterns are not just the ones affected by this act of prejudice, but all those other nationalities perceived as different. The stereotypes that greatly motivate discrimination can be attributed to how the American media portrays people. The media has adverse perpetuations in people who are different from the Americans. The American media affects how the people perceive Middle Easterns, whether physically, by religion or with language.Discrimination takes on different forms and is carried out to unlimited extent, from hate crimes to employment discriminations. (â€Å"DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION FROM LITERATURE REVIEW†) DISCRIMINATION BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11 2001 Discrimination against people with Middle East cultures is known even before the 9/11 event. But this had escalated dramatically over the years, particularly after the 9/11 attacks. They have been the subject of hate crimes, assaults and harassments due to their difference in color, race and religion.The perception of Arabs as terrorist is believed to have started in 1973 with the Arab- Israeli war and oil-embargo. The Iran hostage crisis in 1979, the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985 and the beginning of the Persian Gulf crisis added to the hostility of the American society against the Middle East culture. Prior to 911, Middle eastern were already a subject of contempt and distrust. Their portrayal in mainstream media as either lying vi llains or evil warlords has vilified their image to the American public. Fictional books, particularly after 1973 exhort American and Israeli courage under the face of their Arab oppressors.Middle Easterns were tagged as terrorists due to the perception that they are oppressors in their war against Israel. The American interest over Israel had contributed to the terrorist perception it generated. Even cartoons, like Aladdin imprint in American children the image of those coming from the middle east as liars and villains. (EEC, 2002) Before, little was known about the world that middle Easterns came from. The only feedback that the general public had was when the media reports that another terrorist attack has been perpetrated by Arab terrorists, or another take on the deemed inequalities in their culture and religion.In particular, Anti Arab sentiments have already taken hold before 911, due to the perception that these middle easterns are the oppressors in their war against Israel. The American interests in Israel have led them to promote the state at the same time portraying Muslims and the Arab world as oppressors and terrorists. Each terrorist attack by the Muslim world was broadcasted with the effect of making them the new pariahs of the world. The media and the government were very instrumental in defacing the image of middle easterns. And these acts further intensified after the tragedy that occurred on September 11 2001.THE TRAGEDY ON SEPTEMBER 11 2001 The September 11, 2001 attacks often referred to as just 911 was composed of a series of terrorist suicide attacks against the United States of America. On the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists whose were purportedly with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization hijacked four commercial passenger airplanes. The hijackers took control of the aircraft using small knives to scare and immobilize the passenger and crew. Two of the planes (United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11) were crashed in the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.In Arlington County, Virginia a third airplane (American Airlines Flight 77) was crashed into the United States Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. The fourth airplane crashed into a field adjacent to the town of Shanksville in Pennsylvania. The plane did not reach its reported desired objective of crashing into the U. S. Capitol due to the attempt of some passengers and crew members to regain control of the plane. In addition to the19 hijackers, 2,973 people died; another 24 are missing and presumed dead. (Wikipedia) DISCRIMINATION AFTR SEPTEMBER 11Nine days after the terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush declared to the nation that â€Å"no one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith. † His words were a little too late and apparently ineffective. After 911, there have been a large number of r eported incidents of discrimination against Middle Eastern people in the United States. Security checks in airports were tightened and Middle Eastern personas well as persons perceived to be Middle Eastern were unjustly subject to more stringent security measures.(CNN, 2001) In the three days that succeeded the 911 terrorist attacks, CNN reported that at least 300 reports of Middle Eastern being harassed and abused were received by the Council on American-Islamic relations. This number tripled the amount of received reports in the year before September 11. The most common complaints were people yelling verbal abuse like â€Å"Get out of our country! Go back to your own†, as well as the calling of insulting names like Arab dogs, whores, and other vile monikers. (CNN, 2001)The FBI also reported an increase in Muslim crimes in the US in the year 2001. The US government is also said to have detained about 1200 Middle Eastern and South Asians with the assumptions that they are ass ociated with the terrorists. A report on the study by the Council on American- Islamic Relations (CAIR) released in September 18 2005, showed an increase of more than 30% of discrimination, harassment and violations complaints against Muslim. The CAIR, the country’s largest Muslim organization had evaluated the implications of the 9/11 attacks to the Muslim community.Such incidents of discrimination, harassments and violation complaints were reported to be 1, 972 in 2005, more than what is reported in the previous year. The organization concluded the report as the highest statistic since it started doing reports on anti-Muslim activities in 1995. The organization began its yearly reporting of crime incidents towards Muslim in the year 1995 after the Oklahoma bombing. The bombing of the federal government building in Oklahoma, pointed by the mass media to have done by Arab radicals, triggered the anti-Muslim perception of the people and as a result tagged the Muslim community as villains of peace.The year 2005 reported 153 cases of anti-Muslim hate crimes and marked a 10% increase of hate crimes over the year 2004, and a dramatic 50% increase from the year 2003. Hate crimes are acts of discrimination against persons belonging to a certain race, culture or religion. (cite source) These crimes involve murder, attacks on religious institutions, shootings, vehicular assaults and verbal threats against the person. This become evident after the 9/11 attacks as the whole Muslim community were scrutinized for their involvement with the attacks.(â€Å"Class action lawsuit filed against the US government†, 2002) There were several hate crimes reported after the 9/11 attacks. Balbir Singh Sodhi in Mesa Arizona, associated with a different religion from Islam, was killed with no reason at all. It has been reported that the reason for his death was just mere association with terrorist, particularly the assumption that he looks the same as the terrorist therefo re he too is a terrorist. There has been similar incidents like what happened to Sodhi after the 9/11 attacks. In Dallas Texas, Waqar Hassan was shot to death in his own convenience store.The 46 year old Pakistani was apparently mistaken for an Arab following the 911 tragedy. His murderer, Mark Stroman, was also found guilty of killing another man, Vasudev Patel, with the same motive. (BH. , 2002) Murders without regard to affiliation, actual race and citizenship were committed after the Sept 11 attack. The list includes Adel Caras a Coptic Christian who originated from Egypt, American citizens Amil Almansoop and Jawed Wassel and Abdo Ali Ahmed among others. It would seem that the pain of the tragedy of 911 was enough reason for the murderers to perform their act.The aftermath showed that some people felt it was ok to target Middle Easterners and even people who look like them either as revenge or just as an object to vent their rage. Most murderers did not even attempt to camouflag e their act. Marks Stroman was rumored to have bragged that he just that did what every American wanted to do but didn’t have the nerve. After 911, the amount of reports of employment discrimination against Middle Easterns showed an increase. In a report of the US Equal Employment Commission in May 2002, they showed that 488 complaints were received regarding post 911 employment discrimination.Additionally, 301 of those reports were about Middle Easterns being forced out of employment. Numerous reports also abound of people ostracizing Middle Eastern co workers in the office. The united states government also aided in portraying the Middle Easterns as having direct links to terrorists. After the September 11 tragedy, the United States detained 1200 people. These were of Middle East and South Asian descent, further fueling the perception that the Arabs and the Muslims had something to do with the September 11 attacks. What’s more troubling is that in Sept. 17, 2001, int erim regulation issued by the U. S.Department of Justice allowing detention without charge for at least 48 hours in emergency situations. This regulation was used in great effect in detaining those of Middle Eastern origin. The rule was invoked in the immigration of Middle Easterns following the attack. About 763 individuals were detained and about half of them were deported. Jorge Martinez of the United States Department of Justice explains that they did not single out Arabs, they were simply following up on leads and clues. However, the proceedings regarding these immigration cases are shrouded in a veil of secrecy. Identities and charges were not officially released.According to the Justice Department, this is simply to protect the privacy of the proceedings as well as the persons involved. Most of the information that were obtained showed that those detained were held on minor visa violations and on other terrorist unrelated criminal charges. The immigration judges presiding in the trials were allowed to hold their court proceedings in secret. The release of some detainees accompanied the news that rough treatment and solitary confinement were being used in these persons. (HRW, 2003) The effect of the attacks on Middle eastern communities across the country is even more troubling.Fear and paranoia has changed the way of life that these people were accustomed to. The numerous reports of physical injury and verbal abuse against Middle Easterns have induced some to refrain from showing signs of their ethnicity. The wearing of scarves and other telltale signs of their culture has made them visible targets to public contempt and most were not willing to undergo the risk that that entails. Withdrawal from civic life also came as a result of the 911 attacks. Middle Easterns stayed at their homes, and went out only when necessary due to fear of being a recipient of abuse.Muslim communities avoid congregating in order not to be subject to suspicion by others. Middl e eastern children were ostracized in their schools, most were bullied, called names and physically assaulted. (HRW, 2003) Prior to the 911 attacks, Muslim Middle Eastern families gave generously to charities and fundraisers. This is in accordance to the practice of zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam. However, the U. S government had a crack down on Muslim charities and charity benefactors, saying that they were a front for fundraising by terrorist organizations.In Chicago, two local Muslim charities, the Global Relief Foundation and Benevolence International Foundation, were investigated and shut down due to alleged terrorist links. A wave of paranoia has been sweeping Middle Eastern communities since the 911 attacks. Reports of the government’s methods in obtaining intelligence information from these communities have resulted in a feeling of fear and dread among individuals. Many has reported having been followed, eavesdropped upon, and watched. Federal agents have bee n known to search Middle Eastern residence without due notification or even the necessary warrants.Questioning by these agents without regards to the rights of the individual has made Middle Easterns wary and afraid. Reports of new faces in Mosques and in internal gatherings have made many wary. Islam is a religion based on tolerance and love. Because of this, Middle Easterns which have grown in this culture silently suffer the indignities and abuse being shown to them. However, a new generation of middle easterns, those who have grown in American soil, are rising up and asserting their rights as individuals and as Americans. Communities have begun to band together and combat the discrimination against them.Groups like The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Alliance of Iranian Americans (AIA), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the National Council of Pakistani Americans (NCPA) have provided a voice to those victim to racial discrimination. The y have acted by providing data, reports, denouncing claims and by filing suits against the perpetrators. But to some this is not enough. Many young middle easterns who have experienced this discrimination have talked about fighting back. CONCLUSION Discrimination against a particular people, religion or culture is a widespread occurrence even in these times.Discrimination comes in many forms. The Middle Eastern people have suffered discrimination on American soil before and after the September 11 attacks. Prior to 911 they have endured verbal abuse, harassment, racial profiling and even hate crimes. And after the tragedy, they suffered and are still suffering much more of these. They have been treated with distrust, unearned hate and contempt. Their rights have been trampled on and their liberties taken away from them. They have known fear and paranoia. And most have resolved to be victims no longer and fight back. The September 11 attacks struck a painful blow to the American natio n.The wounds of the victims and survivors are now healing. But the wound that its effects have wrought on the Middle Easterns in America still bleeds. References BH. (2002). 9/11 Fuels Anti-Arab Crime. Boston Herald. Class action lawsuit filed against the US government. ( 2002). Retrieved October 23, 2006, from http://www. adc. org/index. php? id=1540 CNN. (2001). Hate crime reports up in wake of terrorist attacks. Retrieved October 24, 2006, from http://www. cnn. com/2001/US/09/16/gen. hate. crimes DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION FROM LITERATURE REVIEW. from http://www. d. umn. edu/~lbelote/srseminar/mideast/PAPER4.HTM EEC. (2002). EEOC Provides Answers About the Workplace Rights of Muslims, Arabs, South Asians, and Sikhs. Retrieved October 24, 2006 from http://www. eeoc. gov/press/5-15-02. html HRW. (2003). We Are Not the Enemy. Human Rights Watch: A Journa, l(14(6)), 1-39. Poll: Majority of US Muslims suffered post September 11 bias. (2002). Retrieved October 24, 2006 from http://www. cairnet. org/asp/article. asp? articleid=895$articletype=3 Wikipedia. September 11, 2001 attacks. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/September_11,_2001_Terrorist_Attack#_note-CBS

Discuss Computers/ Telecom Convergence and Revolution

In a global study conducted by IBM and the Economics Intelligence Unit (IEU), around 80 percent of respondents (telecom executives) affirm the importance of convergence in raking in profits (IBM, 2005). Voice and data convergence is seen as the one that would have the biggest effect, with fixed/ mobile access technology, telecom and media convergence, and IP/IT network convergence lagging behind (2005). ‘Convergence’ has been a buzz word way back in the sixties, something that affects technology, economics, legal/regulatory, and human aspects of a society. In this Information Age, convergence allows us to do more things conveniently.But what but exactly is ‘convergence’? ‘Convergence’ is defined as â€Å"coming together or towards the same point† (Thompson, 1996). The term fits in the telecommunications world for it signifies movement using a single medium. It occurs in four categories- transport, switching, application, and telecommunica tions/information technology (Fowler, 2002, p. 12). See table below. Figure 1. The Four Levels of Convergence (Fowler, 2002, p. 13) The idea behind convergence is that it should not just improve productivity, but also provide a better Return on Investment (Fowler, 2002, p. 15).Convergence, by any means, is aimed to provide make life easier both for the manufacturer (lower cost, easier management, less maintenance) and at the consumer-end (easy to use, new or improved services) In the 1960s, convergence in the transport level began, with the conversion of the telephone system to digitalization, bringing us the first T-carrier services (p. 12). Since it was barely new at that time, the Bell System was able to monopolize these services (p. 12). On the other hand, convergence at the switching level initially went by the term integration (Fowler, 2002, p. 3). Every seven years, an integrated solution is presented. A rundown of these is presented below: 1975: Satellite Business Systemsâ⠂¬â„¢ The One- a digital controller with satellite access for integrated voice, data, and video 1982: Integrated Voice/ data private branch exchange or PBX 1988: Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) 1995: Broadband ISDN or BISDN (p. 13)Some of these so-called ‘integrations’ were huge hits but on the whole, they fizzled out. Sprint, for instance, lost around $ billion when its Integrated-On-Demand (ION) services panned out (Fowler, 2002, p. 4). ION was targeted as a solution to those numerous voice and data networks by allowing the users to do voice, data, video, Intranet/Internet and fax applications utilizing a single connection (p. 14). However, the company was able to sign up around 4000 customers only (p. 14). Even its VP of Design has admitted having problems brought on by ION (p. 14). Convergence at the application level pertains to information delivery from various sources, whether data, audio, video or graphics (Fowler, 2002, p. 24). The Internet and the i ntranet are examples of this.In this Information Age, the Internet has become the greatest source of information of practically anything. Users have infiltrated it so much that one click on the Internet could come up with millions of user-generated content. Time Magazine has seen this phenomenon, naming the people or â€Å"you† as its Person of the Year 2006 in its year-ender issue. Even video uploading has crept into the World Wide Web, with over 65,000 new videos uploaded every day (Cloud, 2006, p. 46). Convergence at the telecommunications/IT deals with accessing a single resource to do multiple chores (Fowler, 2003, p. 5).In a way, it is an integration of transport, switching and telecommunication and a wider scale. For example ASP or Application Service Providers are IT-based processing units that divest certain tasks from web sites. ASP is currently losing its own battle with companies taking of ASP-units. The IBM study indicates that the drive towards convergence is br ought on by four things- competition, demand for broadband access, technological innovation, and IP- networks- enabled income growth (IBM, 2005). These set the motion for telecom convergence.In a research conducted by the Deloitte Touche group, it found out that convergence may cause also problems for the industry. The group interviewed telecom executives to assess telecoms predictions. Among its findings is the continuous need to innovate and reinvent. The Internet, for instance, has reached its peak with its explosive growth (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 2007, p. 4). Demand is high which may lead to a growth in traffic. More so now with the demand of online videos, this may affect the transfer on the Internet’s backbone (p. 4).This very same influx may likewise clog the system, thereby slowing down its service. It is important to note that any Internet viewer wants high-speed access. Any service slowdown, even just in seconds, may case customer satisfaction. This should serve as a precaution to telecom businesses. It may also open a window to new technologies to address these problems. Broadband application is very much in demand now. Companies should take advantage of this. Either they are able to supply the demand or bold enough create other broadband appliances other than the Internet.Broadband appliances could usher in a new era in telecom convergence. Moving on. The mobile sector in the telecom industry has seen applications such as SMS, 3G and mobile television. The public is also starting to experience mobile Internet, with most units now equipped with Wireless LAN network technologies. SMS and mobile downloads make up a major chunk of mobile operators. It is therefore important to capitalize on this without sacrificing content and delivery. The government should work alongside operators to ensure that laws are implemented not just in the mobile sector but in the entire telecom industry.Connectivity plays a vital role in economic progress thus it is important to have policies that are appropriate. The telephone, facsimile, Intranet, and Intranet are involved in communication. It plays a big part in transmitting pertinent information, in spreading decision. Thus, is it is important to have sufficient quality support. To do this, it is imperative to involve all players- the users (buyers), operators and businesses (sellers) and the government (regulatory). The government should not just involve the telecomm operators in drafting laws but also the consumers in order to come up with appropriate and pertinent laws.It is a challenge for all concerned parties to come up with polices that benefit all. Speaking of the government, it should embrace convergence to improve its services. Government agencies web sites are sprouting already but the government needs to come up with additional services. For example, doing a government-related query via videoconferencing may save time and effort both for the citizen and the government employe e. One does not need to line up in an agency to ask something if he can do so in the comfort of his own home. Convergence impacts everybody.With the global market increasingly becoming competitive, it is important to know how to leverage convergence. Innovation and reinvention do not necessarily equate to satisfaction. There should be a strong commitment in the part of the government, telecomm industry and users to share technological benefits worldwide, to discern all realistic implications and come up with practical solutions, to create technological solutions that would be embraced as a way of life. If all can do that, it would be one step in making this world a better place to live in.

Economics and Globalization Essay

Everyday you hear it on the news, you read it in the papers, you overhear people talking about it†¦and in every single instance the world globalization seems to have a different meaning. So, what is globalization?, there were a lot of debate about this issue. At a top political and economic level, globalization is the process of denationalization of market, political and legal systems. The consequences of this political and economic restructuring on local economies, human welfare and environment are the subject of an open debate among international organizations, governmental institutions and the academic world. (7, www.globalization.com/intro.cfm) â€Å"What is globalization? Is it the integration of economic, political, and cultural systems across the globle? Or is it Americanization and United States dominance of world affairs? Is globalization a force of economic growth, prosperity, and democratic freedom? Or is it a force for environmental devastation, exploitation of the developing world, and suppression of human rights?†( www.globalization101.org) Globalization is not a phenomenon it is not just some passing trend. today it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and we need to understand it as such†. Globalization is much like fire. Fire itself is neither good or bad. Used properly, it can cook good, sterilize equipment, from iron, and heat our homes. Used carelessly , fire can destroy lives, towns and forests in an instant. As friedman says :†globalization can be incredibly empowering and incredibly coercive it can democratize opportunity and democratize panic. It makes the whales bigger and the minnows stronger. It leaves you behind faster and faster, and it catches up to you faster and faster. While it is homogenizing cultures, it is also enabling people to share their unique individuality farther and wider†.*+(web) But the question here what is driving globalization?, globalization â€Å"Is driven by the strategic responses of firms as they exploit market opprtunties and adapt to change in their technological and institutional environment, and attempt to steer these changes to their advantage. The O E C D groups the factors shaping globalization into four general categories, which are inter-linked: -firm behavior : Strategic , pre-emptive and imitative behavior. Exploitation of competitive advantages: use of superior technology , organization, production or marketing. Consolidation of competitive advantages: gain access to highly skilled people, advanced technological and commercial infrastructure, lower Labour costs, and raw material. Organizational changes; adoption of lean production methods and more horizontal internal and external organizational structure. -Technology Related factors† declining computing, communication, co-ordination and transport costs. Increasing importance of R &D , coupled with rising R & D costs. Shortening product lives. Shortening of limitation time lags. Rapid growth of knowledge -intensive industries. Increasing customization of both intermediate and finished goods. Increasing importance of customer oriented services. Economic factors Availability of key production factors Productivity differentials. Fluctuations in exchange rates. Differences in the business cycle. Catching up by lagging economies.† (changing paradigms , Thomas Claake and stewaat clegg, p90)). But according to Thomas Friedman in his book Lexus and the Olive tree he explains three major factoes for the spread of globalization: Which are -the democratization of tecngology. – the democratization of finance. -the democratization of information. International expansion has been driven by firm strategies based on their technologies and organizational advantages shaped by a number of factors of government policies,  technological factors driving expansion include the rapid growth of knowledge intensive industries which are foreign investment intensive industries which are foreign investment intensive use intra firm trade intensively and  collaborate externally in development the need to recop growing R & D costs find highly trained and skilled workers and organize production more efficiently underpinned by declining communication and transport costs. Increase importance of customer sevice. Macroeconomic factors include market development in different countries and region. Avalibility of key production factors, product differentials, fluctuation in exchange ates, differences in business cycle, catching up by lagging economies. Government policies , significant influence firm strategies by liberalizing capital investment and trade flows, promptly regional integration and promptly competitiveness. Trade policy of liberalization of trade and invested are enabling factors which have driven global expansion and increased the integration of production and markets.competiton policies(changing paradigms , Thomas Claake and stewaat clegg, p90)). Second, the techmolgy, people have been able to travel the world for the past 500 years, the difference now is that they are connected immediately.Th internet boom in 1990 made people relaise that business could operate more or less unconstrained by geography, 24 a day , 7 days a week , 365 day a year. This new faster moving changing business environment have driven companies of all sizes to organize themselves into smaller more responsive , focused unti. The faster that drives globalization is making behavior is more tribal. John Nasibih, author of global pardox argues that the more we become economically interdependent the more we hold on to what constitute our core basic identity. Implementing a homogenized western culture, such countries as indousia , Russia , france have passed laws to preserve their identity. Matters are further complicaty by the shift from trdational nation states to network. The role of diasporas in developing the economic and political fortunes of many counties is significant . See the role of the chiness  dispopora in driving the economic development of many asian states. Technology is driving a global changing in many other areas, affecting the context of strategic decisions.Laura D’Sndrea Tyson, dean of London Bsuiness School and a leading economic adviser to Bill Clinton from 1996 to 2000, highlighted the main forces driving globalization: The basic factor driving is technology .its trite to day but its true ./ the two major development taking place in the world are demographic and interconnectedness. Interconnectedness is about transportation and communication and that driven bytechnolgy. Demographic is actually about biotechnolgyical science. (Kourdi, BUSINESS STRATEGY) Tecnhlogy did not inevent a new business paradigm but it has transformed business opening up a multi trade of ways to add value, increase sale, reduce costs and manage more efficiently. Understanding the nature of this transformation is valuable for decision making. An information firestorm rages in most business and how it is manges is crucial to success. A consequenceas of the increase in line activity is that information can be leverages to create new sources of value . it is important to combine the power of information and technology qwith common sense approach to management. So tech. And infor, are very importat factor what also effect the economy which also cause globalization. (Kourdi, Business strategy).