Human Rights Violations :: Human Rights Essays

Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan Since the departure of the Soviets from Afghanistan basic human rights of the Afghanistanis have not just been trampled on but summarily done away with. After the widespread destruction of the power struggle, the ruling party, the Taliban, have committed atrocities against the people of Afghanistan that few would believe still exist in the world today. Especially targeted are the Shiite minority and the women of Afghanistan. Despite every effort of the Taliban to limit reporters and documentation of the crimes being committed, there is tremendous information being made public worldwide. The violations present a unique situation in the world and command reaction from the world at large. http://www.tabloid.net/1999/01/21/taliban_990121.html : Tabloid news services - Kabul, Afghanistan What has become norm these to Afghanis are straight out of a horror movie for most of the civilized world. The Taliban regime has enacted their own form of justice under the banner of Islam. This news piece from the capital tells of a typical day of sentencing, severed hands and feet of thieves hanging in the busiest part of the town to serve as a warning to others. One of the most unique punishments is for the sodomists. The presumed guilty stands in front of a wall, which is bulldozed on him while a crowd watches. **http://my.rawa.org/rawa.html Rawa, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, was started under the Soviet rule. These women campaigned against the atrocities of the Soviets and brought to public view their heinous crimes. Since their departure this group has enlarged its scope to include resistance to the fundamentalists as well as the mistreatment of the women and girls of Afghanistan. The Taliban have been especially cruel towards women since they believe women should not be allowed to work or go to school. Women and girl who still pursue these goals are frequently stopped by the morality police and beaten or worse. The Rawa org. is doing an incredible job exposing these violation under their harsh circumstances. http://www.rawa.org/herat-p.htm In May of 1999, the Taliban suppressed a coup by the Iran backed Hezb-e-Wahdat(shiite group). After the confrontation, they thought it would be prudent to seek out all of the Hazaras Shiite minority living in Herat. The Taliban went on an armed house-to-house search of the entire town.

lord of the flies :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How a person changes when he or she is confronted by danger or tremendous stress can reveal alot abou thier character. Do they spring into action or do they bow thier head in defeat? In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding contains a character named Jack that under goes a drastic change because of the danger and stress that is around him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Lord of the Flies a plane evacuating a group of English boys from Britain is shot down over a deserted tropical island. Marooned the boys choose leaders. Jack is chosen to lead the hunters while another boy named Ralph ios named the groups supreme leader. This is where Jack’s change begins. The fact that he is not elected the leader of the whole group angers him due to the fact that he is older than Ralph. When Ralph, Simon, and Jack go out to explore the island they stumble upon a wild pig. Jack, being the leader of the hunters, tries to kill it but is unsucessful. This furthers Jack change as his anger rises closer to the surface. Later open hostility shows up between Ralph and Jack because Ralph blaims Jack of avoiding work. The same night Jack loses his temper with Piggy and strikes him across the face. At this point his change reaches its half way point. After this the degree of Jack’s change is displayed througth the amount of teasing that he directs towards Piggy. Jack shows signs of reverting back to his original state when him and Ralph begin to reastablish thier bond while searching for a monster that two of the boys claimed to have seen. This does not last long however. Jack begins to question Ralph’s leadership and bravery and calls him a coward. When the other boys stick with Ralph, Jack becomes enraged. This begins Jack’s final change. The peak of this final change comes when Jack begins to address a dead sow’s head as The Lord of the Flies. From this point on Jack as lost all of his humanity and become no more than an animal. In his new animal state Jack is responsible for the deaths of Piggy, Simon, and

Racism as defined by mass media Essay

Oscar H. Gandy Jr. defines racism as, â€Å"the process of exercising power or seeking to exercise power with regard to people defined by identifying them as a member of a particular race.†1 Racism and race stem from the identity one puts onto certain groups of individuals based on their colour. The identity that one forms is acquired from a number of places including parents, religion, school, government and, on today’s youth, mainly mass media such as television and music. In this essay one will focus on the influence that mass media has on our identity position of race. It is obvious that all forms of print and electronic media, from news media to books, films, television, radio, and all other forms of media collectively represent our image of ourselves. 2 The focus for the purpose of this essay will be on news media, television and music, being the most influential forms of media, while focusing on the youth of today, being the easiest to influence. News media has great power in influencing how people identify themselves by how they are represented on the. The stereotypes that television has shown, are viewed by many young individuals of colour, and are portraying how their race is viewed upon among society. Music has the greatest influence on young African-Americans, which view their idols as those shown in music videos. Mass media in a collective form, although may represent individuals of colour, influence the viewers of colour, how they should distinguish themselves.3 Mass media reflects what we think we are and influences what we think we should be. Beginning with the news from a nation wide news station to a local newspaper or news program. News media has the ability to stereotype and categorize people of colour, by using words such as minority. Never are minorities not called minorities even when they take up one third of Canada’s population. Along with categorizing people of colour with the use of minority, they include words like crime, poverty and others that stereotype people of colour.4 This is viewed by young non-whites, which make them believe that this how things are and how they should be. The media now have the capability to alter our perceptions of ourselves, and change the way we live our lives. Young African-Americans, who view the news and see how their race is being represented, may possibly alter their perceptions of their lives and view themselves as criminals, when the news relates their race to criminal acts. The rarity of recognition a person of colour receives in the scholastic proceedings, is viewed among the youth of today. Of course there must be someone, somewhere of colour, â€Å"writing or saying something that should be listened to, or producing art that should be seen, heard, approached with intellectual seriousness.†5 This failure to recognize individuals of colour will influence youth not to pursue intellectual readings and to learn educational subjects, which are not represented by their race. In â€Å"Postmodern Blackness† by Bell Hooks, its states, â€Å"This discourse created the idea of the ‘primitive’ and promoted the notion of an ‘authentic’ experience, seeing as ‘natural’ those expressions of black life, which conformed to a pre-existing pattern or stereotype.†6 In the news when we see a person of colour committing a crime of some sort, we look at it as being a normal act and this how things are in our society. Whites and non-whites alike look upon the news and make assumptions about how they should act, what their values should be, and how they live their daily lives. The youth of today will be the first generation to come of age in a North America where racial minorities are the numeric majority. The future of diversity will depend upon a child’s perception on the position of racial identities. The youth of all races will have to expand their conception of race and race relations in ways their parents never knew. Is it important for children to see people of their own race on television? Children of colour are most likely to think so. Caucasian and African-American children can say they see characters of their race on television while Latino and Asian children are much less likely to see their race represented.7 It is the way they are represented which will affect the influence television will have on children. While some television stations do show diversification in their programming such as OMNI, they are not providing a realistic viewpoint. When a Caucasian character on television is poor, lazy and unintelligent, the show is considered to be comical, such as ‘The Simpson’s’ or ‘Married with Children’, and not taken as realistic. Whereas, when they are successful, rich and intellectual, the show is considered to be dramatic and viewed as being realistic. African-American characters are rarely presented as being poor, lazy and unintelligent, but always rich and successful, such as ‘The Cosby Show’ and ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, and are always meant to be comical, but never taken seriously or realistically. Shows like these influence African-American children that their race is not taken seriously and are viewed as being humorous. This would affect a young African-American’s thinking is a sense that he is suppose to be a comedian. Many television shows give minority actors, minority roles. Taxi drives in most sitcoms are always non-white, grocery store workers and gas station attendants are always non-white, in shows such as ‘Seinfeld’. Although these sitcoms are not suppose to be taken realistic, young individuals of all races are more likely to associate positive characteristics with Caucasian characters and negative characteristics with minority characters. Sitcoms and other television shows have the ability to alter these perceptions, but continue to stereotype minorities. Still focusing upon the children of today, because they have great faith in the media’s power and it’s potential to influence them. Media can teach children that people of their race are important.8 If television had shows, which evenly distributed the role of characters to all races featuring equality and diversification, they can accomplish sending a message of the importance of all races. Children look to the media for role models and imitate their favourite character. From the way they dress, talk, style their hair to following the messages sent by their characters. From the haircuts of the women on ‘Friends’ to the baggy fashions of the hip-hop scene, the influence of media on today’s children can be seen everywhere. Beyond superficial messages about style and appearance, children are getting more formative messages from the media. The characters they admire and the news stories they watch send both subtle and explicit signals about their values, their families and their race.9 This shows the importance of the messages being sent out by mass media and the importance of different characters and the characteristics they portray. Many African-American children will look to African-American characters for idols and will portray them. In â€Å"The New Cultural Politics of Difference,† Cornel West states, The widespread modern European denial of the intelligence, ability, beauty, and character of people of colour puts a tremendous burden on critics and artists of colour to ‘prove’ themselves in light of norms and models set by White elites whose own heritage devalued and dehumanized them. In short, in the court of criticism and art – or any matters regarding the life of the mind – people of colour are guilty (i.e., not expected to meet standards of intellectual achievement) until ‘proven’ innocent (i.e., acceptable to ‘us’).10 The image that people of colour are guilty until proven innocent illustrates to young individuals of all colours that because of this, people of colour are not as intellectual as Caucasians. In â€Å"Postmodern Blackness,† Bell Hooks states, It is no accident that â€Å"rap† has usurped the primary position of rhythm and blues music among young black folks as the most desired sound or that it began as a form of â€Å"testimony† for the underclass. It has enabled underclass black youth to develop a critical voice as a group of young black men told me, a â€Å"common literacy.† Rap projects a critical voice, explaining, demanding, urging.11 To all young African-Americans, this message is saying that their only voice, their only outlet, is through entertainment in the way of music. They are not enough African-American writers to allow them to consider an outlet that is scholarly. They feel they have to portray the image that is being sent to them through rappers and musicians alike to dress, talk, walk and act the way these rappers ‘say they do,’ in drinking, smoking and heading for drugs. Young African-American men that watch rap videos, sports, movies and may see many men of their race in this forms of media, but the image they represent is that if you cannot make it as a rapper, actor or athlete, you’ll never become wealthy and successful. Rarely are there images on news media about wealthy African-American businessmen unless it’s criminal; rarely are business shows on television shown where black businessmen are the portrayal of the show. They may be a rarity, but should not be and ought to be discussed in business matters. Looking at music for influences, from Stanford, Kathleen O’Toole puts in best, Music alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes much of their slang, dominates their conversations and provides the ambiance at their social gatherings. Music styles define the crowds and cliques they run in. Music personalities provide models for how they act and dress.12 This states that music alters our perception of ourselves and what we should be and how we should act. Our identity is affected and changed according to music videos. Rap videos show African-American singers as doing drinking, smoking, having naked women around them and treating them inappropriately and this is how African-American youth thinks they should act, instead musicians need to send an suitable message out to the youth of today. Also, other races will feel that this is how African-Americans act and will treat them accordingly. Many African-American rappers have lyrics, which are against authority and this influences others alike to perceive the same thoughts. Everyone of every race has an identity they’d like to call their own. But this identity is usually not their own and influenced by many sources, especially mass media. From music to television to news media, the influence these have on the children of today is immense. Music, television and news media, collectively with other mass medium, have the ability to alter one’s perceptions of oneself and the characteristics of others. Race has always been a touchy subject because of its sensitivity and although I am a person of colour, I may have made some stereotypical comments of both whites and non-whites, but I did so only with the intent of making my point. Mass media reflects what we think we are and influences what we think we should be.    Bibliography Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. â€Å"I’m Looking for Me: Children’s Perception of Race and Class in the Media.† Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. (20 Nov. 2003). Gandy, Jr., Oscar H. â€Å"On Race and the Political Economy of Communication.† Art & Survival: An Internet Review. Issue 2, Volume 1. (23 Nov. 2003). Hall, Stuart. â€Å"Cultural Identity and Diaspora.† Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory. Patrick William & Laura Chrisman, eds., Pp. 392-403, (c) Columbia University, 1994. Hooks, Bell. â€Å"Postmodern Blackness.† Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, Pp. 23-31, (c) Between the Lines, 1990. Lauder, Matthew. â€Å"News Media Perpetuation of Racism in a Democratic Society.† Cancon: Articles. (21 Nov. 2003). O’Toole, Kathleen. â€Å"Rock & Roll: Does it Influence Teens’ Behavior?† Stanford Report [Online]. 1997. (20 Nov. 2003). Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. â€Å"Children and Race in the Media.† Racism: The Public Face. Beyond the News. (21 Nov. 2003). West, Cornel. â€Å"The New Cultural Politics of Difference.† The Cultural Reader. 2nded. Simon during, ed., Pp. 256-267, (c) Routledge, 1999. 1 Gandy, Jr., Oscar H. â€Å"On Race and the Political Economy of Communication.† Art & Survival: An Internet Review. Issue 2, Volume 1. (23 Nov. 2003). 2 Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. â€Å"Children and Race in the Media.† Racism: The Public Face. Beyond the News. (21 Nov. 2003). 3 Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. â€Å"I’m Looking for Me: Children’s Perception of Race and Class in the Media.† Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. (20 Nov. 2003). 4 Lauder, Matthew. â€Å"News Media Perpetuation of Racism in a Democratic Society.† Cancon: Articles. (21 Nov. 2003). 5 Hooks, Bell. â€Å"Postmodern Blackness.† Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, Pp. 24, (c) Between the Lines, 1990. 6 Ibid. 26. 7 Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. â€Å"I’m Looking for Me: Children’s Perception of Race and Class in the Media.† Family Matters Newsletter. October 2002. (20 Nov. 2003). 8 Third Way Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. 9 Ibid 10 West, Cornel. â€Å"The New Cultural Politics of Difference.† The Cultural Reader. 2nded. Simon during, ed., Pp. 256-267, (c) Routledge, 1999. 11 Hooks, Bell. 27. 12 O’Toole, Kathleen. â€Å"Rock & Roll: Does it Influence Teens’ Behavior?† Stanford Report [Online]. 1997. (20 Nov. 2003).

Response to “Two Ways of Seeing a River” Essay

In â€Å"Two Ways of Seeing a River,† author Mark Twain uses a blocked structured comparative analysis of the river to describe how he feels about the river, or â€Å"sees† it now that he has â€Å"learned† it and there is less beautiful mystery associated with it. Twain develops each paragraph to using metaphor, â€Å"A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood† (par. 1), simile, â€Å" a long , ruffled trail that shone like silver† (par. 1) , and personification, â€Å"There were graceful curves† (par. 1) to describe vividly how he sees the river before and after his mastering of the water. After Twain masters the river, he follows his previously established pattern in paragraph one to develop in order the contrasts of the river now that it is no longer a mystery. He describes the same river with more somber, less colorful language, â€Å"This sun means we that we are going to have wind tomorrow† (par. 2). What Twain is really comparing is his romantic, uneducated view of the river to his more rational, understood knowledge on how to navigate and survive on the water. Work Cited Twain, Mark. â€Å"Two Ways of Seeing a River†

Company Law 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Company Law 2 - Essay Example 5. Regulation 66 of Table A is amended by replacing 'but shall not be entitled to receive any remuneration from the company for his services as an alternate director' with the following sentence: 'An alternate director shall not be entitled to remuneration from the company for his services as an alternate director except that he may be paid by the company such part of the remuneration otherwise payable to his appointor as the appointor specifies by notice to the company'. 6. Regulation 72 of Table A is amended by replacing the first sentence with the following: 'The directors may delegate any of their powers to a committee consisting of such persons as they think fit provided that a majority of the members of the committee are directors'. 7. Regulation 81 of Table A is amended by replacing paragraph (e) with: 'he fails to attend three successive board meetings despite a notice being given to him prior to the third meeting that the provisions of this paragraph might apply and all the other directors (excluding the director concerned and, in his capacity as such, any alternate director appointed by the director) resolve that his office should be vacated'. (b) The 2006 annual general meeting of Vunce Ltd... s despite a notice being given to him prior to the third meeting that the provisions of this paragraph might apply and all the other directors (excluding the director concerned and, in his capacity as such, any alternate director appointed by the director) resolve that his office should be vacated'. PROCEEDINGS OF DIRECTORS 8. Regulation 89 of Table A is amended by adding after 'unless so fixed at any other number shall be two' the words 'except when there is a sole director in which event he shall constitute a quorum'. Please answer the following questions on the meaning and effect of the articles of association. (a) The directors wish to sign a unanimous written resolution instead of holding a board meeting. Which resolution, if any, allows them to do this This can be done via an ordinary resolution of a simple majority, which is fine because it is unanimous. (b) The 2006 annual general meeting of Vunce Ltd is due to start in the Islington Business Design Centre at 9.00 am, Monday 15 May 2006. After 33 minutes there is still no quorum. The directors are prepared to follow the articles for arranging the adjourned meeting except that they have decided that the meeting shall start at 10.30 am to allow for possible transport delays in the morning. State the actual time, date and place of the adjourned meeting: Islington Business Design Centre at 10:30am Monday 15th May 2006 (c) What is the quorum for general meetings according to the articles of association Three persons entitled to vote on the business to be transacted, being a member or a proxy for a member or a duly authorized representative of a corporation, shall be a quorum'. (d) Apart from members, who may attend and speak at separate class meetings The persons entitled to attend and speak at general meetings

Business Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Business Plan - Assignment Example It is projected that the company can be able to fulfil its predetermined business targets by following the aforementioned aspects at large. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction and Background of the Venture and Management Team 4 Background of the Venture 5 Management Team 5 Main Objective of the Proposed Business Plan 6 Marketing Section – Including Market Research & the Marketing Mix 7 Market Research 7 Marketing Mix 9 Competition 13 Operations Section - Including Manufacturing & Physical Distribution 15 Manufacturing 15 Physical Distribution 19 Financial Section 22 Source of Finance 22 Financial Goals 22 Income Statement 23 24 Projected Profit & Loss 25 Break-Even Analysis 25 Implementation Time Table 26 Conclusion 27 References 29 Introduction and Background of the Venture and Management Team A business plan is often regarded as a crucial step for an entrepreneur intending to inaugurate a new business venture or expand the existing business unit at a newly loc ated marketplace. It essentially plays the role of a guide to the various operations of the organisation within the marketplace (Tiffany & Peterson, 2011). In order to demonstrate a viable business structure, the business plan reflects a clear depiction of the business including its offerings, sales and marketing strategies, information of management groups and their roles along with making a prediction of the financial forecast for succeeding few years that the organisation will take into concern (Analoui & Karami, 2003). Moreover, in order to demonstrate the viability of the overall business design, it is also important for the organisation to identify the specific market for the products and services, find out the competitive advantages as well as to evaluate the cost and profit margins of the business (GRANT finder Ltd., n.d.). With regard to the notion of business plan, the primary objective of this study is to prepare an effective business plan for XYZ Company concerning the p ractice of manufacturing and marketing of electronic dash duster product especially for the car care and aftermarket accessories segment in Australia. Background of the Venture XYZ Company intends to commence its business operations as a small competitive car care product manufacturer in Australia. The company would aim to perform a competitive role in the Australian car care product market through rendering a range of innovative and creative products to the customers. Moreover, the company would also like to build a respected position through its exceptional marketing and promotional campaigns which further would enable the company to execute its activities efficiently in the respective industry. The business processes of the company will be highly focused on manufacturing innovative car care products which would offer substantial benefits for the customers. Moreover, the manufacturing process of XYZ would be focused on providing adequate facilities to its ultimate customers in ter ms of maintaining their cars in an efficient manner. Management Team XYZ aims to establish itself as a pioneer in the field of innovative product offerings in the Australian car care aftermarket industry. The company will be incorporated with the aid of a well-built management team with a feasible number of staff in its different

Personl conception of the mening of helth nd heling Essay

Personl conception of the mening of helth nd heling - Essay Example Descriptions of helth bsed on physiologicl mesurements ignore the ide of helth s vlue. Wht they offer in precision, they lck in depth; for, surely, being helthy is much more thn hving n your orgns quietly functioning within plus or minus two stndrd devitions of norml. Vlue-free descriptivist definitions of helth cnnot be more thn component of comprehensive concept of helth, for helth is vlued. Helth is vlue beyond formlizble knowledge. However, vlue-bsed definitions of helth lck universlity; they depend on the individul's (or culture's) determintion of wht is to be vlued. Descriptivist definitions ignore the subjective dimension, wheres normtivist definitions exlt it. The World Helth Orgniztion defined helth s " stte of complete physicl, mentl nd socil well-being nd not merely the bsence of disese or infirmity." (Genev: World Helth Orgniztion, 1958). This definition, if tken literlly, is meningless. However, we believe tht ll normtivist definitions of helth, including this hopelessly utopin WHO vision, derive from common ground, core mening or experience of helth tht requires interprettion. (Mordcci, 1995) ny experienced clinicin cn recll terminlly ill ptient who objectively seemed the sme the dy he died s the dy before except for hving (often quite explicitly) lost his will to live. Implicit in this will to live, nd of specil importnce to the seculr individul, is sense of life being worth living despite ll the suffering one my encounter in life nd despite the wreness of the certinty of deth nd nothingness. The helthy individul is well-functioning s whole, in hrmony physiclly nd mentlly with himself nd with his surroundings. lthough we tend to spek of helth s though it were commodity--something to be lost or regined--it is not detched from the person it belongs to. It is prt of the person's life story. Helth is dynmic; it hs pst, nd present, nd it is precondition for future. Desire, without which there is no story, belongs to the future--there lies the hoped for full blossoming of life. Thus there seems to be sort of inevitble metphysics embedded in the experience nd lnguge of helth nd illness, which clls for wreness nd for creful nlysis in the light of n dequte chrcteriztion of the concepts we use. It Is extremely importnt for medicine to be conscious of the depth of our desire for helth nd our fer of illness: they re not only physicl or biopsychologicl conditions tht cn be fced in reductionistic pproch. The existentil, morl, nd symbolic dimensions of the experience of illness must be ddressed s chllenges the ptient is required to fce with his culturl, personl, nd religious resources, nd in which the physicin is sked to help him not only s physicin but s person. No technicl nswer cn help the ptient to understnd nd fce the existentil dimensions of helth nd illness: in this respect, the eduction physicins now receive in mny countries round the world (nd especilly in the West) seriously limits their bility to cre for their ptients. Helth s wholeness, hrmony, nd well-functioning, nd s slvtion from deth is desirble end in itself However, the crux of concept of helth, nd its greter mening or vlue, is helth s mens. Helth is viewed s the experience of life s Promise of good; the ultimte good tht is hoped for is the full life--this we refer to s plenitude. lthough this is similr to Seedhouse's concept of helth s foundtion for chievement, the ide of plenitude