Hate Crimes Essay Essay Example

Hate Crimes Essay Essay Example Hate Crimes Essay Essay Hate Crimes Essay Essay Essay #2: What are the roots of the violence/hate crimes today in our contemporary society? What can we do to reduce them? Explain. The world is full of HATE. What is this word? What makes someone HATE someone else enough to kill or harm another human being? Hate crimes are criminal actions intended to harm or intimidate people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or other minority group status. They are also referred to as bias crimes. Hate crimes have been going on in the world for a long time. I view the crucifixion of Jesus as the first hate crime. Jesus was crucified by the Romans because of religious reasons they didn’t agree with. Did the Crucifixion of Jesus become the root of hate crimes going on in our society? No there is no way to say what became the actual root of hate crimes, but there are a lot of things that could have helped the increase of these crimes. The media, race, and sexuality are the things that have increased hate crime greatly. During the 1900’s the hate crime rate sky rocketed because of race. During this time period African Americans were being lynched because white people refused to see them as their equals. : The whites during this time period went through desperate measures to intimidate the blacks by starting the Klu Klux Klan. The murder of Emmet Till is an example. Emmet Till was a 14 year old boy that was beaten and killed because by two white men because of his race. What white people did to African Americans during that time have put a lot hatred in them, causing them to be angry towards the whites and themselves. In the United States there is a lot of black on black crimes going on. Every day on the news boys and men are getting killed for the dumbest things; such as money, drug, and even women. During the 1990’s, the media depicted a lot of this violence with the whole east coast west coast thing. The east coast versus west coast was a conflict between two very famous rappers: Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. This conflict caused a big issue between LA and New York causing young boys to kill others who was not from the same city as them. The result of the conflict between the rappers was they both got shot and killed within months of each other. There are many different targets of hate crimes and each perpetrator may have many different reasons which they feel justifies their commission of the crime. However in all honesty, there are not a million reasons why hate crimes are committed; there are neither thousands nor hundreds. In fact, there arent even three reasons. There are only two reasons. One is ignorance and the other is stupidity. Some people define those two terms as synonyms. However, I make clear distinctions between them. To me, an ignorant person is someone who makes a poor choice or wrong decision because he/she does not have the proper facts to make a good choice or decision. If that person were to be supplied with the facts of the situation before deciding, they could then make the correct and proper decision. A stupid person is someone who does have the facts regarding the situation, but still makes the wrong choice. Fortunately, there is a cure for ignorance. That cure is called education. Education allows us to make informed choices. That education can come from what we learn in school or what we learn by observing the experiences of others or what we learn from our own experiences. Unfortunately, there is no cure for stupidity. If you educate someone the proper information and facts and they still choose to make the wrong choices, there is nothing you can do. So we must strive to educate ourselves and be willing to educate others by sharing our knowledge and experience when the opportunity presents itself. People, who lack exposure to other people, cultures, and diversity, tend to be ignorant. They fear the unknown or what is foreign to them. So ignorance breeds fear. If that fear is not kept in check, the fear will breed hatred. People tend to hate those things that frighten them. If the hatred is not kept in check, it will breed destruction. People want to destroy what they hate, because it caused them to be afraid. Theres a good possibility that what they were afraid of, was harmless, but they were to ignorant to realize it. So with that being said all we can do is try to reduce it, because with all the stupid people in the world, hate crimes are never going to end. African American Lynching, the Ku Klux Klan, and Hate Crimes. African American Lynchings. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. hangmansknot. com/articles/african-american-lynching. htmam p;gt;. Day of Jesus Crucifixion Believed Determined. Discovery News. N. p. , n. d. Web. 1 Oct. 2012. http://news. discovery. com/history/jesus-crucifixion-120524. html. Ferber, Abby L. Getting to the Roots of Hate Crime. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 17 Apr. 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. huffingtonpost. com/abby-ferber/getting-to-the-roots-of-h_b_188193. html. National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere Hate Crimes. National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere Hate Crimes. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Oct. 20 12. nationalsave. org/main/hatecrime. php.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict essays

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict essays In the Middle East, disputes over territory are commonplace. One such dispute, the Israeli Palestinian conflict, is very controversial. In the 19th century, Israelis and Palestinians were able to coexist peacefully. The area now known as Israel was predominantly Muslim, but there were a significant amount of Jewish people. In the late 1800s a group in Europe decided to colonize this land. Known as Zionists, they were a minority of the Jewish population whose goal was to create a Jewish native land. They considered many locations, including areas in Africa and the Americas, before choosing Palestine. As Zionists settled in Palestine, many who intended to take over the land for a Jewish state, the indigenous Palestinian population became increasingly worried. Eventually, fighting broke out, with escalating waves of violence. Hitler's assent to power in Germany, along with Zionist happenings in western countries to disrupt efforts to place Jewish refugees in western countries, caused i ncreased Jewish immigration to Palestine. From there, conflict grew. There are two main problems in the middle of this conflict. First, there is the impact of the weak attempt to keep more ethnic states, especially since the area is very diverse. Second, the continued Israeli military occupation and confiscation of private land in the West Bank and control of Gaza, a highly repressive, with a minimum of Palestinians contributes to the conflict. Control over their lives and holds more than 10,000 Palestinian men, women and children in Israeli jails. Few of them have a legitimate trial and physical abuse and torture are common. The Palestinian border is controlled by the Israeli forces. This prevents women in labor from reaching hospitals, preventing food and medicine to Gaza, and the production of the growing humanitarian crisis larger. Israeli forces entered almost daily violated, kidnapping, and murder people. After the Oslo peace accords in 1993...

Governing Global Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Governing Global Business - Essay Example One of such trends is growing role of multinational companies not only in a business world, but in the whole society. Transnational companies have influence equal to influence of some countries. That is why it is important to study their role and predict possible future. It is going to be the main task of this research paper. Big attention is going to be paid to national economies and place of TNCs in the countries of North Africa. To begin with it would be reasonable to provide background information about the region under consideration. North Africa is the widest part of the mainland. This region of Africa includes the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara. Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Madeira are also sometimes referred to North Africa. North Africa is the most developed among African countries. The most developed are the following countries: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. This region has a favorable economic and geographical position, situated at the crossroads of three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa. Trade has always played an important role, especially after the construction of the Suez Canal. Then the region gained important military-strategic importance. Countries in the region are heterogeneous in terms of economic development. Basis countries are members of OPEC, where GDP per capita is 17-20 thousand dollars. The region is rich in minerals (phosphates, chromite, bauxite, zinc), but the main resource is energy - oil and natural gas. Profits from the sale of oil - "petrodollars" in recent decades have been invested in the economy. According to experts, this figure reaches more than a trillion dollars. Most of them went to the creation of new industries in these countries: automotive, petroleum, chemistry, organic synthesis, basic chemistry, light industry and others. Some countries in the region have invested heavily in the creation of

The Libor Scandal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Libor Scandal - Essay Example The agent then gets rid of the lowest and highest 25 percent of those submissions and the rest are averaged to determine how much the Libor will be. Libor can be said to be very critical as a global benchmark for the short-term interest rates as it is calculated for different maturities and different currencies (Hall 2013). Libor has an effect on global borrowing since here are so many banks worldwide that use it as a base rate to set interest rates towards their customers and the corporate loans. There are hundreds of dollars in trillions in form of loans and securities that have a link to labor. The securities and loans are inclusive of home loans and auto loans. If labor rises then the rates and payments made on loans also increase and when labor falls, they fall. In addition, labor is used for a range of retail products like mortgages and loans given in collages. Labor is also used as the means of settling interest rates contracts in the major world exchanges (Varriale 2012). There is a potentiality that traders manipulated Libor. Financial institutions including Barclays have been under investigations for being suspected of manipulating labor rate. The financial institutions being suspected are inclusive of those in the UK, United States, Japan, and Canada. The first time that Barclays was suspected for manipulating Libor was in 2005. The aim of manipulation of labor was to ensure that the traders of the bank make high profits that are boosted by the base rate, which is the labor rate. During that time, the traders were able to ask the Barclays employees to give figures that in turn would benefit traders and not the rates that bank would pay in order to borrow money. However, there were traders who were able to coordinate with other banks to change the rate too. In this period, Libor maneuvered downward and upward based on the position

Giant Panda and Wildlife Conservation Essay Example for Free

Giant Panda and Wildlife Conservation Essay Wildlife conservation is the most important things in the world. And people have made a lot of progress in this field. In wildlife conservation, people try their best to protect endangered plants and animals, as well as their habitats. The purpose is to make sure that future generations will have enough space to survive and develop well. Countries all over the world have different agencies for wildlife conservation and plenty of nonprofit organizations also take part in the process of this activity. Various kinds of subjects are involved in the process of wildlife conservation. For example, people must use the knowledge in the field of biology and other sciences to recognize the species that are in danger, and to study those species to learn more about their needs. Economics is also involved in wildlife conservation, because the conservationists are trying to find out the most efficient solutions. Apart from these, the protection of wildlife also depends on education very much, using different methods to teach people about the importance of animal habitat conservation. However, the Earth is warming, and humans are using more water than ever before. It is important to know how people save wildlife around the world especially conservation in China, the U. S . and then when happens after conservation especially the governments role in the process to protect wildlife, as well as the effects of these measures. Conservation in China China has a vast variety of species, with the number of mammal species ranking second all over the world. In terms of reptiles and amphibians, China’s ranks are the fourth and sixth respectively. Although China only ranks eighth when it comes to its bird species, there are still about 1,244 types of birds in this country. A lot of these bird species are native to China, and that is why China has the responsibility to protect their future existence. There are sixteen primate species living in China. However, in the northern part of the tropical area, China has precious species such as the Sichuan golden monkey, which can also be found in Hubei as well as Sichuan provinces, and the Yunnan golden monkey, which lives in high-latitude places covered by snow of about 4,270 m. (Harris, 2007).. Golden monkeys, tigers, and pandas are rare and protected animals in China. In China, however, the most famous endangered species of wild animal is definitely the panda The panda is an endangered species of wild animals, and it can only be found in China. So people can say that panda is Chinas unique wild animal, so the protection of this animal is essential. The habitat of pandas lies in the provinces within China’s â€Å"Great Opening of the West†. The place is so fragile and unique that people can only run tourism on a small scale as the only economic activity. Therefore, it is extremely essential to create more nature reserves for the protection of pandas, even though some of them are not working effectively. If we do not pay most of the attention to allocating these areas as habitat for pandas, these places will definitely be used for producing wood and or agricultural crops. Recent survey in 2004 found that many threats including deforestation and persistent poaching interfere with the long-term survival of this endangered species. (Harris, 2007). For instance, Western development for pandas makes Chinese poachers see business opportunities and their harmful behaviors have seriously affected the survival of this precious animal. Human development has affected wildlife survival environment. Because of the population explosion and unsustainable use of natural resources, the panda habitat is also rapidly losing. Pandas adhere to living in a large area of natural forests, which can also be used for agriculture, timber and firewood. Because of Chinas dense population, many of the giant panda population is isolated in no more than 1093-1312 yards wide narrow belt of bamboo. Because of immigration, the pandas habitats are continuing to disappear. In more than 20 pandas range, there are many habitats fragmentation into isolated areas. In these areas, a network of nature reserves exist to protect more than half of the panda population. Because of the requirement for habitat, the giant panda cannot migrate, so they have lost a lot of flexibility as they are not able to find new feeding areas. (Calhoun, 2005). In China, humans’ over-exploitation of trees and the destruction of environment have also caused a large number of pandas to disappear. Moreover, China has no ability to build adequate reserves to protect the panda. Conservation in the United States America is a country with a focus on animal protection and people there treat animals as their close friends. The country of United States has a broad geographical location and there are many kinds of views in the United States, from the polar ice to tropical rain forests, from moderate rain forests to prairies, from mountain summits to desert and coral reefs. There are some places to live, comprising the most richest land on the Earth, such as the lower Mississippi River and the western salt marshes which are some of the most barren areas. Wonderful and various kinds of animals live in many places of this country, such as elk, wolverine, bison, grizzly bear, bald eagle, musk ox, caribou, wolf ,mountain lion, polar bear, and moose, which are booming in these areas. It is also the habitat of thousands of amphibians, fish, bird and reptiles. (â€Å"Wildlife Conservation Society,†n. d. ). Americans attach great importance to the protection of animals and people in the United States to give animals a lot of living space and a good natural environment. In order to ensure the survival of wildlife in the United States, people have founded a vast area of nature reserves. In terms of conservation innovation, the U. S. has a rich history. The U. S. created Yellowstone, the crown jewel of parks in 1872, establishing the concept of national parks. And then in 1932, the first International Peace Park, Glacier-Waterton National Park along the border with Canada was created. Even with a vast system of public lands which provides protection for the wild places in the country, including national parks and wilderness areas for fishing and wildlife refuges and state lands, there are still some conservation challenges caused by management activities on the public lands. Usually, more efficient private lands are a vital component of long-term success in conservation. (â€Å"Wildlife Conservation Society,†n. d. ). The Yellowstone national park is one measure to guarantee the protection of their animals, since the place gives wildlife enough living space. Yellowstone national nature reserve gave wild animals more opportunities and space. People also try their best to protect wolves in the United States. In March 2003, the U. S. fish and wildlife service issued a rule, significantly reducing federal protection for wolves and set the stage to liminate them from the endangered species act (ESA) protection completely. Until now, in terms of the recovery in the number of wolves in the 20th century, the U. S. fish and wildlife service has done a great job. People take wolves into the Yellowstone national park and central Idaho. This protection is considered by many to be one of the great achievements. (Calhoun, 2005). The United States fish and animal protection administration also obtained remarkable achievements in protecting the wolf population. After Conservation After the management of protection on animals by volunteers, the joint efforts of the China panda protection finally result. Recently, the world natural foundation has helped the Chinese government in the field of national habitats of giant panda and its protection program. This program has made significant progress: China now has 33 of the giant panda reserves, and the giant panda habitat reaches around more than 6177 square miles of area. According to a survey in 2004, there were 1600 pandas in the wild. (Calhoun, 2005). With the help of the animal protection association of America and China, multiple reserves are established. China needs more reference to the United States in protecting wild animals. Wildlife protection is the responsibility of people around the world. Chinese and Americans need to learn from each other about how to protect endangered wildlife better in the future. China should, for example, learn from the United States some new ideas of animal protection and the responsibilities of ordinary people when it comes to animal protection in the wild. Through the study of wildlife conservation concept, people in China can improve their animal protection measures, reduce cutting down trees and causing environmental damage any longer. Strengthening the reserve management and reducing the poaching practice, these measures will better protect endangered wild animals. The United States in the field of conservation philosophy occupies a leading position in the whole world. For instance, American people created Yellowstone national park and the international peace park. These huge areas provide plenty of living space for wild animals. China also has an extensive area, so there are a lot of important lessons China can learn from the United States, such as creating national parks and nature reserves in the areas which are suitable for specific kinds of animals. In the meanwhile, if necessary, China may also seek some help as well as advice from the United States. Conservationists work all over the world. To determine the species need to aid and protect them. The subject usually include animals and raise them. Capture prisoner ensure still large and diverse population at the same time environmentalists work establish territorial animals, so they can have a safe place in the field. Wildlife conservation needs also need to be balanced with other desires, because many countries value forms of entertainment like hiking in the wilderness, camping, hunting and makes it impossible to set aside land makes wild animals live. In this respect, China only attaches great importance to the development and demand of human beings. Ignored, the environment and wild animals, and other important factors.

Atom And Qi :: essays research papers

Atom & Qi The atom is the smallest portion of a substance that is not perceivable by human senses. The notion of atoms was conceived by ancient Greeks and was developed over thousands of years of scientific inquiry. The concept of qi as the most basic substance of which the world (everything) is comprised, was understood by the ancient Chinese. Both  ¡Ã‚ ¥atom ¡Ã‚ ¦ and  ¡Ã‚ ¥qi ¡Ã‚ ¦ are believed to exist by human beings and both are considered to be unseen objects (until we could see atoms recently). However, they lead to different interpretations of natural phenomena: the concept of the atom was developed in relation to  ¡Ã‚ ¥materiality ¡Ã‚ ¦, whereas qi is relavant to  ¡Ã‚ ¥spirituality ¡Ã‚ ¦. The historical progression towards a belief in atoms promoted the deduction of atoms throughout centuries. Nowadays, the atom is universally believed by people to exist as the result of scientific evidence. In contrast,  ¡Ã‚ ¥qi ¡Ã‚ ¦ is not believed to be a scientific phenomena and is considered a religious or superstitious belief. As a result, in order to demonstrate the existence of  ¡Ã‚ ¥qi ¡Ã‚ ¦ and make it conceivable by modern physicists, the use of the scientific method becomes the qi researchers ¡Ã‚ ¦ best tool. In addition, while qi and the atom were both conceived by ancient philosophers, the notion of the atom was better developed by scientists than the idea of qi. Therefore, by looking back at the historical progression towards a belief in atoms and the deduction of their structure, we know how scientists built up the atomic theory. Consequently, the concept of historical progression will help us understand why the notion of qi is hard to define by physicists, and how it could be developed into a scientific theory. HISTORICAL PROGRESSION TOWARDS A BELIEF IN ATOMS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The concept of the atom originated in Greek philosophy around six hundred B.C. with the question:  ¡Ã‚ §What is the world made of ? ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Sachs, 9). Thales first suggested that  ¡Ã‚ §water [is] the basic building block of the world ¡Ã‚ ¨, and air, sand, and stone could be different forms of one fundamental substance (web page). Yet, Anoimenes believed  ¡Ã‚ §mist or air was the cornerstone of matter ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Clagett, 49). These ancient thinkers made simple and direct assertions about matter. Later, the idea of the atom was conceived and developed by Leucippus and Democritus in the fifth century B.C. and concluded that there must be  ¡Ã‚ §parts which are partless ¡Ã‚ ¨ such as sand, stone, water, or even a  ¡Ã‚ ¥void ¡Ã‚ ¦ which have the continuous and coherent appearance of a pure object though are not  ¡Ã‚ ¥true ¡Ã‚ ¦ structures (Young, 18).

Methods to Increase Learning and Success Among Students

The government is now looking into ways of increasing the learning experience of students they could use in the competetive reality of life. The C. S. Mott Foundation suggests that â€Å"the time is ripe to shatter the ‘chalk and talk', 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., September to June concept of school, and stretch and reshape learning time in order to improve student achievement† (Stedron 2007).In his article, â€Å"A new day for learning: its time to look at changing the length and scope of the school day to help kids succeed† Jennifer Stedron enumerated some ways to increase students' learning and explains the advantages of each. Three options were offered: to incorporate summer learning, out-of-school learning or increasing the length of time for a school day or school year.The advantage of including summer learning programs lies with the additional learning experience for students that can prepare them for the next stage of learning.Stedron (2007) held that â€Å"disadva ntaged students tend to fall behind during the summer because of a lack of learning opportunities in the home and community. By fifth grade, this summer slippage accounts for approximately two full years' deficit in reading comprehension levels.†The executive director of Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning held that the differences in summer learning â€Å"account in part for later educational outcomes† (Stedron 2007).New Mexico's Plus Pilot Project, which provides an optional program of at least 40 additional days of school during the summers before and after kindergarten, has resulted with students gaining early literacy skill and social maturity which can considerably prepare them better for the first grade.Out-of-school activities can also increase students learning experience. â€Å"Before- and afterschool programs reinforce the school curriculum and broaden student skills through enrichment activities that might be absent from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.â₠¬  according to Stedron (2007).She held that â€Å"extra† subjects such as art and music, which have been cut but many schools in favor of the more practical subjects, are â€Å"often what keep some children engaged in and attending school† (Stedron 2007).California Senator Tom Torlakson said that kids get excited about learning and their attachment to school increases since they have to attend school to attend these out-of-school programs.Aside from getting better results from students, investing on these programs will also generate budget savings for the government. Stedron (2007) used the California After School Education and Safety Initiative program as an example of the advantages of out-of-school programs: â€Å"evaluations show increase in student attendance, achievement and good behavior from kids in the programs.And a 50 percent decrease in students who must repeat grades is saving the state the massive expense of an extra year of education for many students .†Nothing can increase learning experience better than extending instructional time, which may be through, but not limited to, summer learning or after-school programs.Stedron, however, stresses that it is not just more school time that the students need. â€Å"They need to opportunities to develop creativity and be leaders† (Stedron 2007). For older students, this may include internship programs which give the students time to learn in the real world.Milt Godlberg, a member of the national Time, Learning, and Afterschool Task Force, believes that â€Å"young people are more engaged in learning and are more motivated when activities are not restricted by the traditional classroom structure† (Stedron 2007). Education should, after all, not be confined within the four corners of the classroom, but must also incorporate the realities of life.Stedron has given profound insights about the topic. Although the claims are not supported by statistical evidences, she has p rovided a convincing argument by providing student reactions and comparisons with the traditional way of learning.Increasing learning experience, not just academically but socially, will benefit the students by also increasing their knowledge, skill, and competetiveness, all of which will consequentially increase their chances of achievement and success.ReferencesStedron, J. (2007). A new day for learning: Its time to look at changing the length and scope of the school day to help kids succeed.

Budget Essay

Here you should describe how you arrived at your sales forecast in section 2. 1. You should also provide any detailed calculations that led you to the sales forecast values. You should also summarize any research or figures that led you to make this sales forecast. Note: your description of assumptions should also include a reference to an authoritative, outside (non-text, etc. ) resource cited in â€Å"Section 6. 0 Works Cited†. Here you should provide a screenshot of your capital expenditure budget, also listing the sources of data and assumptions that led to each line item in table format. Briefly describe the total investment and, if necessary, why major items are necessary to achieve the company’s strategy. Note: on the internet, you can research â€Å"capital expenditures† in the Internal Revenue Code – not on the IRS website – and that will help you identify the types of expenditures that should be distinguished from other expenses. From there, you can research the internet for examples of capital expenditure budgets to get an idea of the formatting or review the examples at http://office. microsoft. com/en-us/excel-help/ Briefly describe the NVP, IRR, accounting rate of return, and payback period for all 5 years of this analysis. Indicate the discount rate you used, and how you arrived at it. Note: your description of assumptions should also include a reference to an authoritative, outside (non-text, etc. ) resource cited in â€Å"Section 6. 0   provides examples of each of the Section items required below, so review those examples and tutorials very carefully to ensure maximum points.

seige of berlin essays

seige of berlin essays By Christmas 1944, Berlin was in ruins, and still being bombed around the clock. The Nazis still talked about wonder weapons and the Fhrers genius turning the tables, but in the city canny and cynical Berliners made grim jokes about giving each other coffins as Christmas presents. The idea was more practical than they realized. Every Russian soldier advancing westward had been an eyewitness to the destruction of his country. By the time the Soviets stormed the Vistula River, those sights had generated a consuming hatred for Germany and the Germans among many Russian soldiers. The Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, though still capable of dogged resistance, had been wrecked and bled white after 3 1/2 years of fighting the Soviet Union. Stopping the Red Armys advance was futile. The war was lost. But as long as Adolf Hitler was in charge, there was no chance of sensible surrender. Something horrible was building in the minds and hearts of Russian soldiers. Kill the German! was the motto and battle cry of the Red Army as it approached Berlin. Like their opponents, Josef Stalins men were subjected to an intense and unending barrage of indoctrination and hate propaganda. In the Red Army the Communist Party carried the ideological effort right to the front lines. Political officers agitated the front-line troops, with speeches, banners and propaganda leaflets whipping up their fury. Behind the lines, security and secret police formations viciously punished anyone deemed to be either militarily or politically unreliable. Tens of thousands perished at their hands. Soviet soldiers, under such brutally tight political and military control, were ready to explode. Germany, having sown the wind, was about to reap the whirlwind and provide an outlet for Russian soldiers to vent their rage and frustrations. The January 1945 Vistula attack quickly overran Poland and mostly isolated East Prussia. There was li...

Free Essays on Rashoman & Other Stories

â€Å"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality,† according to Dante Aleghieri, just how seared Ryunosuke Akutagawa is, however, is anyone’s guess. Rarely does it occur in the course of human events that an author of Akutagawa’s analytical genius is able to live without persecution from without, in Ryunosuke’s case, however, the distress came from within. Almost as an impartial umpire he seems to desire taking society over his shoulder and carrying it back, kicking and screaming, into its more moral past, yet at the same time realizes the selfish hypocrisy of his own aspirations and perhaps it is this own reality that drives him to his eventual end. He sees the best men of his generation mining coal and pulling rickshaws, he sees Western ‘civilization’ forcing them to work jobs they hate to buy stuff they don’t need, he sees, in short, the destruction of an idealized tr aditional Japanese culture by a very different west. Part of Akutagawa undoubtedly wants to view the Westerners influence upon Japan as immoral and corrupt, yet he sees the Janus-faced duplicity of his position, who is he to define morality? What right does he or any other member or group in society have to judge morality? Nevertheless one can’t help but apply one’s own values to any and all situations in some sort of self-absorbed ethnocentristic trial of values, something that, without fail, always makes us out in the wrong, and Ryunosuke is human, just like everyone else. No wonder he was so despondent as to take his own life, he was repulsed by what he saw and was, himself, what he was nauseated by such a deep-seated inconsistency is not one easily overwhelmed. Upheaval seems to be the late theme of Japan and its artistic community; the Meiji Restoration turned Japan every which way, just as Akutagawa and his contemporaries did to Japanese literature. As Ryunosuke demonstrates to h... Free Essays on Rashoman & Other Stories Free Essays on Rashoman & Other Stories â€Å"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality,† according to Dante Aleghieri, just how seared Ryunosuke Akutagawa is, however, is anyone’s guess. Rarely does it occur in the course of human events that an author of Akutagawa’s analytical genius is able to live without persecution from without, in Ryunosuke’s case, however, the distress came from within. Almost as an impartial umpire he seems to desire taking society over his shoulder and carrying it back, kicking and screaming, into its more moral past, yet at the same time realizes the selfish hypocrisy of his own aspirations and perhaps it is this own reality that drives him to his eventual end. He sees the best men of his generation mining coal and pulling rickshaws, he sees Western ‘civilization’ forcing them to work jobs they hate to buy stuff they don’t need, he sees, in short, the destruction of an idealized tr aditional Japanese culture by a very different west. Part of Akutagawa undoubtedly wants to view the Westerners influence upon Japan as immoral and corrupt, yet he sees the Janus-faced duplicity of his position, who is he to define morality? What right does he or any other member or group in society have to judge morality? Nevertheless one can’t help but apply one’s own values to any and all situations in some sort of self-absorbed ethnocentristic trial of values, something that, without fail, always makes us out in the wrong, and Ryunosuke is human, just like everyone else. No wonder he was so despondent as to take his own life, he was repulsed by what he saw and was, himself, what he was nauseated by such a deep-seated inconsistency is not one easily overwhelmed. Upheaval seems to be the late theme of Japan and its artistic community; the Meiji Restoration turned Japan every which way, just as Akutagawa and his contemporaries did to Japanese literature. As Ryunosuke demonstrates to h...

Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay - Essay Example Evidence abounds that while some journalists lapped up such handouts and other Government-supplied material inadvertently, some others did it in good faith, while yet others did that in return for consideration. Understandably, therefore, the message they convey to the American citizens is that the Government is in full control of every situation. However, not many Americans seem to believe such rosy reports; they read between the lines, especially as doubts have been cast on the credibility of such media outlets as work as unofficial spokespersons of the Government. Public opinion in the United States has crystallized against torture in these two detention camps, despite the administration using the media for its own ends.For media outlets like Al Jazeera and Al Arabia, onthe other hand, any stick is good enough to beat theUnited States with, and, as such, they brainwashtheir essentially Arab audiences against the UnitedStates. Their message is that the days of USsupremacy are stric tly numbered. As such, there isa basic similarity between the mainstream mediain the United States and such media outlets in theArab world, in that for neither are facts sacred. Within the United States, while the liberaltraditions of the Democratic Party militate against detention camps and deprivation of the due process of law even to suspected terrorists, the conservative baggage of the Republicans is comfortable with them. Finally, the basic connection between Abu Ghraib and the Guantanamo Bay is that both are detention camps that have hit the headlines for human rights abuses. _____ "Federal authorities are investigating dozens ofAmerican television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked of success in the war in Iraq." (Buncombe, Andrew; May 29, 2006) Investigators sought information about stations across the country after a report produced by a campaign group detailed the extraordinary extent of the use of such items. (Buncombe, Andrew, May 29, 2006) The report, by the non-profit Center for Media and Democracy, found that over a 10-month period at least 77 television stations were using the faux news broadcasts, known as Video News Releases (VNRs) (Buncombe, Andrew; May 29, 2006). "We know we only had partial access to these VNRs, and yet we found 77 stations using them," said Diana Farsetta, one of the researchers of the group. (Buncombe, Andrew; May 29, 2006) "I would say it's pretty extraordinary. The picture we found was much worse than we (had) expected going into the investigation in terms of just how widely these got played and how frequently these prepackaged segments were put on the air," she added. Public relations companies, commissioned to produce these segments by corporations had, according to her, become increasingly sophisticated in their techniques to get the VNRs broadcast. They were now very good at mimicking what a real, independently produced television report would look like. (Buncombe, Andrew; May 29, 2006). The range of VNRs is wide. Among items provided by the Bush administration to news stations was one in which an Iraqi-American in Kansas City was seen saying "Thank you, Bush; Thank you, USA" in response to the 2003 fall of Baghdad. The footage was actually produced by the State Department, one of 20 Federal agencies that have produced and

A Moment of Silence in Illinois Public Schools Essay

A Moment of Silence in Illinois Public Schools - Essay Example Firstly, from the legal point of view opponents claim that the mandatory school prayer introduced by the State is unconstitutional. In Illinois, as reported in the Chicago tribunal, Governor Red Blagojevich attempted to veto the bill on the grounds of separation of church and the state but was defeated. It is indeed true that public schools must remain neutral as far as religion is concerned, they may not endorse a particular religion at the demise of another one, may not endorse secularism over religion or endorse secularism over religion (Robinson 2000). The amends in the legislation to the Illinois act makes it flexible by accommodating diverse religious belief and introducing freedom and choice of observing ones belief according to many legal experts. Dave Smith a member of Illinois Family Institute [IFI] which has been lobbying for the bill in an interview said that it is good to see that the state is finally recognizing that citizens have freedom of religion and not freedom fro m religion. (Haynes, 2007) Even so, for the Act to be successful its implementation protocol is vital, according to Haynes and Thomas, parents, religious leaders and the community should be educated on three basic policies, one; The primary responsibility for the education of children still lie with the parents, secondly; schools must protect the religious freedom of students of all faiths and those of no faith and lastly; Public debate must be conducted with respect, civility and indifferent to the diverse religious beliefs of the society. (Loconte, 1996) Secondly, from the religious point of view, Christians believe that prayers should be subject-driven and not object-driven; thus an individual should instigate prayers from within for the prayers to have value otherwise the value of prayer diminishes if it is mandated hence defeats the purpose, a parent reacting to the act in the Christian website lamented that she wanted her children to want to pray not have to. But religious experts differ and hold the view that introduction of religious practices in schools in the long run help to nurture a moral society, on this grounds, religious lobbyists are in the view that it is possible to administer prayer and statement from variety of religion and secular philosophies without trivializing any religion or violating the constitution by concentrating on fundamental universal values taught by all the religious groups (Robinson, 2000). This can be done through signing up for the "Three R's Project" that is Rights, Responsibility and Respect. T his project has been introduced in many states successfully and it basically postulates that the Fist amendment provision was to maintain respect for individual conscience, and that it implies a set of civic principles for affirming religion in the public all its diversity. Thus multi ethnicity does not have to mute all religious influence. (Loconte, 1996) Another Christian classical notion is mandatory prayers in public schools will interfere with harmony between different religions