Disease in The News

â€Å"Understand Your Global Crisis: What the AIDS industry might learn from the population story† (Foley, E. E. Hendrixson, A., 2009) Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Disease in The News specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Ellen E. Foley, originally from Fenton in Michigan is a renowned medical anthropologist in America. She got her undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology and Women’s Studies at Kalamazoo College. It is here that she graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Foley went ahead to do her doctoral work in Anthropology at Michigan State University. Since 1992, Ellen has traveled quite often to Senegal where she initiated research on health reform as well as women’s health. Her major interest was to establish how social differentiation may affect people’s patterns of seeking health through behavioral methods. In 2006, Foley was offered a job at Clark Unive rsity where she has worked up to date in the International Development, Community, and Environment Department. Her topics of interest for research include; sexual health, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS. Anne Hendrixson, on the other hand, works with William Fisher on dams and displacement research. She has had an opportunity to be the moderator of a panel on the â€Å"Politics of population control† at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program. Anne published an article with the Population and Development at Hampshire College which was entitled â€Å"What’s Wrong with the Demographic Dividend Concept?† Both Prof. Foley and Anne are affiliated to the International Center for Research on Women of Clark University and they do write articles for publications. In 2009, they co-authored a journal for the aids2031 Organization, which they are part of, entitled â€Å"Know Your Global Crisis: What the AIDS industry might learn from the population story†. In deed, the title reflects two distinct fields which they each represent! Their article was reviewed by the aids2031 Social Drivers Working Group. This essay seeks to critically present the content of the article written by Ellen Foley and Anne Hendrixson. This article centers on AIDS, the infamous disease of the 20th and 21st centuries that has kept all parts of world on their toes. The writing will then offer a conclusion regarding the article in general. The paper by Foley and Hendrixson mainly focuses on the need to place AIDS on a historical perspective just the same way as population is analyzed by the basis of periodic trends. It emphasizes the concept of addressing and responding to the AIDS pandemic on account of historic pandemics. This idea, according to the article, is informed by the way the world responded to the global crisis experienced just before AIDS, the population problem.Advertising Looking for critical writing on social sciences? Let's see if we can help y ou! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The paper juxtaposes the relationship between the two problems. They; have a global scope, pose threats to global stability, are influenced by crisis intervention and short-term emergency solutions, are both countered by a unified, global solution, can be addressed through collective expertise of a high-profile group of specialists from all over the globe, and can be overcome with international consensus and global resolution for action. This indicates that AIDS and population share a global crisis problematization despite their uniqueness. The article asserts that the implications of the two problems could be complete opposites. The demographic assumptions made concerning overpopulation might turn out to be false depending on the rate at which the population stabilizes. However, regardless of how one may view the AIDS pandemic, it remains a problem. Proving the epidemiological and demographic consequences of AIDS false is un heard of even if its cure is found or on the prospect of historical perception. The article seeks to achieve two major objectives. First, it aims to put AIDS within the post-WWII international development industry in order to anticipate its probable trajectory. The second goal is to speculate on future patterns for responding to the AIDS pandemic with reference to insights obtained from historical narratives. Generally, it examines how AIDS fits within the context of 20th century global crises management, the construction of global consensus in addressing global problems, and how the response to AIDS pandemic depends largely on international development norms and conventions. With an aim of offering precautionary suggestions for future responses to AIDS, the paper analyzes the loss of momentum of the population movement post-Cairo. The article starts by analyzing the genesis of overpopulation which was immediately after WWII. Experts of the time are quoted to have termed the crisis a population explosion and were regarded by First World as a threat to world democracy and cause a litany of other problems. The population was then subsequently problematized along gender and racial lines. It was concluded, according to the article, that the fertility rates of the brown women from Third World were directly responsible for the population crisis. It goes ahead to illustrate how policy measures were proposed to combat the crisis, first by activists and later by the U. S. federal government through overwhelming spending of responsible agencies of the U. N. and private sectors. Subsequent steps introduced new ways of population reduction to even targeting women’s fertility despite the side effects. Since 1954, the discussions of population crisis during UN meetings are said to have taken center-stage up until 1994. The International Conference on Population and Development of 1994 which was dabbed â€Å"Cairo conference† was seen as the culmination of the preceding meetings. This is because, according to the article, there was a paradigm shift in the approach to the population crisis although the objective remained the same-to reduce population. A Program of Action was rolled out during the conference.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Disease in The News specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the optimistic Cairo Consensus did not achieve what was expected and the advocates have cited many loopholes in the implementation process which include lack of funding, emerging crises like HIV/AIDS, and diminished rationale to fight the crisis. The article provides an evaluation of the Cairo Consensus to find out if there was more than is obvious that impeded its implementation. Various views reveal that the problematization of population was false and hence the proposed solutions were equally false. The article then focuses on the relationship between the exp eriences of the Cairo consensus and the population narrative and the response to AIDS. The article notes that the response accorded a global crisis relies on the constant sense of crisis in order to sustain programmatic infrastructure and dedication of resources. Therefore, the authors observe, the earlier pointed out differences between problematization of AIDS and population does not alter the fact that response to AIDS would encounter similar infrastructural challenges as population crisis did. This is the central objective of the article. The historical perspective of AIDS and when it became a problem is considered in the second part of the article. It traces the detection of HIV viruses detected in blood samples collected from Equatorial Africa to the 1950s. The symptoms were later to be referred to as AIDS in the early 1980s. This revelation especially in the United States of America was met with a sense of urgency and resources were mobilized to counter the pandemic after it was acknowledged that it would not be a one man’s disease. Activism from all quarters made the crisis to take on a global dimension and soon global response was looming. In 1999, AIDS was declared a threat to national security in the US. A year later, the article points out that the then Vice President Al Gore convinced the UN Security Council to declare AIDS a threat to the global security. This marked the beginning of global problematization of AIDS, which is just the same trend that population was problematized. The article critically analyzes the tactic used to galvanize global response through the emphasis given to the pandemic as affecting populations in general. This, according to the article, is misguided since some populations are more vulnerable than others and hence no validity for generalization. From the above broad analyses, we realize that the article has given a very wide perspective of AIDS as a pandemic. It has juxtaposed it with the global population crisis on an historical account. It is evident from the article that the authors have provided a global, national, as well as regional perspective of the infectious disease.Advertising Looking for critical writing on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The article has succeeded in drawing a clear relationship between the responses that were given the population crisis and that which AIDS received. Therefore, the authors of this article achieved there objectives which they had set out to explore. The article does point to future trends of AIDS response. By then, the article notes that AIDS activists were restless due to the lack of effective vaccine for AIDS, a cure, or even adequate treatment for the disease. The authors points out the reluctance that has cropped in due to the availability of ARVs which seems to reduce the initial response given to AIDS as a global crisis. They predict that, just like population crisis, soon the enthusiasm will cool down. The article uses a historical perspective to predict the future trends but not treatment. The article hints slightly on the future of AIDS treatment through the purported push by activists for scientific research, prevention, and treatment. The first major body that was put in pl ace to tackle AIDS was the Global Program on AIDS which was instituted by the WHO in 1987. It was given the mandate to coordinate all activities to fight the pandemic. The essay has provided a critical review of the article by Prof. Foley and Anne in which they discussed the historical perspective of the response to AIDS pandemic as paralleled with the response to global population crisis. We can conclude that the authors have given new insight into the ways of responding to AIDS and other pandemics and how historical consideration plays a greater role in ensuring a fruitful response to disaster. Reference Foley, E. E. Hendrixson, A., (2009). Understand Your Global Crisis: What the AIDS industry might learn from the population story. Journal of Aids2031 Group [Peer Reviewed] 22 (1), 1-21 This critical writing on Disease in The News was written and submitted by user April West to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

5 Ways to Reach the Level of Ronald Reagan Speech Writers

5 Ways to Reach the Level of Ronald Reagan Speech Writers 5 Ways to Reach the Level of Ronald Reagan Speech Writers A speech is a kind of presentation that is essential to prepare correctly. Your speech has to captivate the audience and move them in a way that other presentations do not. Ronald Reagan’s performances were always superb, and following his masterful example can give us inspiration to write better. Of course, if we want to reach the highest level of speech writing, we have to practice a lot and sharpen our skills. Here are 5 tips on how to create a perfect speech in the same vein as the famous Ronald Reagan speech writers do this. 1. Profound Research Really do your research – not surface skimming of a few short pieces, but profound research. If you always mull over what you want to talk about for a while before you have to do it, your ideas will not be such a thing that you read off a paper and forget instantly. Instead, they will be a part of you, and your preparation will show in your confidence. A speech is a kind of presentation that you can’t just do off the cuff if you don’t know what you really feel about the particular topic. It should take you some research. 2. Target Audience Try to understand the audience. It is quite important to know whom you will be speaking to. If you’re addressing students, they won’t be interested in knowing how to withdraw an annuity, and if your audience is nothing but pensioners, they won’t be interested in risky investments that take about 30 years to be worthwhile. If there are special interest groups, think about their particular concerns and find a way to involve them in the body of your speech. Don’t think they won’t notice if you leave them out. Seeing things from your audience’s point of view is essential to connect with them while speaking. 3. Personal Experience Tell authentic stories from your own life or the lives of other people whom you know. Nothing gets an audience interested in, like a story where they want to keep listening so they can find out what will happen at the end. It doesn’t have to be a sensational story, and you definitely shouldn’t exaggerate what really happened. Even a short anecdote can help your main points sink in and make them more relatable to your audience – in other words, they bring the speech down from an abstract level to real life. 4. Created List Make a list of points to cover before you begin. In order not to miss anything, you have to make some notes. The order is essential here. You can still look up into the faces of the audience and speak extemporaneously on the same level, but you have to make sure that you are not missing an essential building block. 5. Expressed Emotions Use the emotion of beautiful, poetic language. In no speech of Reagan’s was this more true than in the difficult address he gave following the Challenger’s explosion and the deaths of six crewman and a schoolteacher. Peggy Noonan, a little-known speech writer, has created the perfect words for the occasion by remembering a poem from her childhood and including phrases from it in the speech. Who can forget Reagan saying, â€Å"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.† It is never too late, or too early to practice your writing as well as to sharpen your writing skills. Follow these tips to make your speeches catchy and memorable for the audience.

Terrorism and Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Terrorism and Policy - Essay Example The congress and public alike supported the Bush administrations efforts to stop another incident, one of the first of which was establishing the Office of Homeland Security less than a month after 9-11. This newly formed department’s mission was â€Å"to develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks† (David, 2002). The actions taken by the federal government have been as extensive as they are controversial. Some submit that the government has overstepped its Constitutional authority enacting policies and laws which intrude on the privacy of American citizens while others believe these steps are necessary to protect lives and property. An overview of the strategy implemented by the government to prevent and respond to a terrorist attack will be presented along with both sides of the constitutional controversy emanating from the implementation of the PATRIOT Act. The National Strategy for Homeland Security formulates delegate’s homeland security operations in six crucial groups, intelligence and forewarning, transportation and border security, national counterterrorism coordination, defending vital infrastructures, guard against a catastrophic terrorist attack, preparedness and emergency response techniques. â€Å"The strategic objectives of homeland security in order of priority are to: Prevent terrorist attacks within the United States; Reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism; and Minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur† The Department of Homeland Security has been instrumental in assisting, providing instruction and funding first respond teams in cities across the country. These programs are designed to ensure â€Å"emergency response professionals are prepared, equipped and trained for any situation and by bringing together information and resources to prepare for and respond to a terrorist at tack, natural disaster or

White paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

White paper - Essay Example Software development projects may on some occasion require accomplishing certain tasks such as making workflow changes, retrieving user’s lists, adding new data to issues. In this cases, JIRA can be can be called upon to help accomplish the above stated tasks. The use of JIRA is advantageous since its features are easily accessible. The top web browsers (Opera, Safari, Chrome, internet Explorer and Firefox) can access the JIRA’s user interface making it easily accessible. JIRA supports integration with integrated environments such as Eclipse, visual studio and Netbeans. And lastly but not least, JIRA has been optimized to be used on mobile devices and supports variety of mobile platforms such as blackberry, android, iPhone and windows. Atlassian, an enterprise company situated in Australia, focuses on developing software specifically for project managers and software developers. Some of the known software product produced by Atlassian company are JIRA, for tracking issues during software development and confluence, specifically designed to facilitate team collaboration. There are many users of the software produced by the company around the world. Some of the companies using the software include twitter, Audi, NASA, Cisco and infor. There are various software products that are JIRA’s competitors. Podio is one of them. Podio is preferred by most people as an alternative to JIRA since it is free, and open source. Most of users who can’t afford JIRA due to its high costs opt for Podio. Podio provides a web-based environment that is utilized buy software developers to facilitate team collaboration, communication, business process project management, data management, and content managements. The software is cloud based. The software package is suited to be used with business apps that can be selected by the users from the stores, or alternatively, users can create there on apps. A review by Daniel Johansen, an employee at Digicert, Inc.

Integrated Marketing Communications (Marketing Communications Essay

Integrated Marketing Communications (Marketing Communications Management, Copley) - Essay Example This is more like an effective communication with the target market. Sales promotion is a marketing communication tool specifically designed to provide consumers with some incentive inducing immediate response, possibly in the form of purchase. Sales promotion tools and techniques may include coupons, sampling, refunds and rebate, bonus packs, price off deals. For example Kellogg's may come up with a new brand of cereals. To encourage product trial, Kellogg may place a coupon in Kellogg's Corn Flakes. The crossruff coupon may encourage those who purchase and use Kellogg's Corn Flakes to try the new Kellogg brand. When we talk of sampling, Proctor and Gamble has always used sampling to get homemakers to try a new brand of detergent. They mail a sample to adult females in households across US. Sampling is very common with food items. A decade ago the advertising to sales promotion ratio was around 60:40, but today in many consumer packaged companies sales promotion accounts for 65 to 75 percent of the combined budget. Haagen Dazs ran a cents off sales promotion called Sweet Charity where the price savings would be contributed to support public television. This offer enhanced the Haagen Dazs image by making it "a patron of the art". Public relation is an important tool to maintain a positive image of the firm in the minds of the customers to enhance repeat patronage. The most common use of public relations tools to achieve goals of the habit formation strategy is publicity. Microsoft's campaign launching Windows 95 was an MPR success story. No paid ads for Windows 95 had appeared by August 24, 1995, the launch day. Yet everyone knew about it. The Wall Street Journal estimated about that 3000 headlines, 6852 stories, and over 300 million words were dedicated to Windows 95 from July 1st to August 24th. Microsoft team around the world executed attention-grabbing publicity. Another example of Wine Growers of California who had hired public relations firm of Daniel J. Edelman, Inc, to develop a publicity campaign to convince Americans that wine drinking is a pleasurable part of good living and to improve the image and market share of California wines. Direct Marketing Direct Marketing will be addressed as a marketing communication tool used in the form of direct forms of distribution. Direct mail, catalogs, telemarketing, direct response advertising, new electronic media and direct selling are one of the few examples. Citicorp, AT&T, IBM, Ford and American Airlines have used integrated direct marketing to build profitable relations with customers over the years. Retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales and Fredrick's of Hollywood regularly send out catalogs to supplement in store sales. Personal Selling Personal selling which is the face-to-face interaction with one ore more prospective purchasers for the purpose of making presentations, answering questions and procuring orders. Looking at this example we learn how John Deere used personal selling as means of selling its products. In 1993 when the dwindling demand for farm equipment and the aggressive actions of competitors pushed Deere's managers to create a strategy that involved its hourly assembly workers in finding and approaching prospects. Deere sent some of its experienced and knowledgeable workers to regional trade exhibits across North America to pitch the company's equipment to dealers and farmers. Once the new reps had wooed potential customers with

Titration of Amino Acids and Peptides

Titration of Amino Acids and Peptides Titration is the process used to analyze the acid-base behaviour of amino acids and peptides. A 0.25 g sample of unknown amino acid and aspartame were transferred quantitatively to separate 250-ml Erlenmeyer flask. 20.0 ml of distilled water was added to each flask using a volumetric pipette then the flask was swirled to dissolve the samples. Small increments of 0.200 M HCl were added to both samples to produce an acidic solution and then each sample was titrated by adding 0.200 ml of 0.200 M NaOH. The pH of the acidic solutions was measured from 1.5 until it reaches pH 11 and it was recorded in every addition of the base. On the Aspartame, the total volume of the base added was 8.0 ml and 29.6 ml on the unknown amino acid. Titration curves were constructed based on the pH values and volume added. The identity of the unknown amino acid was revealed to be Aspartic acid. A titrimetric profile of the amino acid and aspartame were drawn. INTRODUCTION Proteins are the most important class of biochemical molecules, next are carbohydrates and lipids. Proteins are the basis for the major structural components of animal and human tissue. Proteins are also the indispensable agents of biological function and amino acids are the building block of proteins. Amino acid is an organic compound containing an amino group (-NH2) and a carboxyl group (-COOH). Since amino acids contain both an acidic and a basic group, they undergo an intra molecular acid-base reaction and exist primarily in the form of a dipolar ion, or zwitterions. Amino acids are also amphoteric, meaning, they can react either as acid or base depending on the circumstances. There are basically 20 primary amino acids that serve as the backbone of most proteins. Peptide is a molecule that consists of two or more amino acid linked together by bonds between the amino group and the carboxyl group. Although their structures are less complex than the larger protein molecules, peptides have significant biological activities. Titration is a useful tool in determining the reactivity of amino acid side chains. Since amino acids contain an ionisable group, the predominant ionic form of these molecules in solution depends on pH. Titration of amino acid shows the effect of pH on amino acid structure. Titration is also useful in determining the isoelectric pH of the sample. MATERIAL AND METHODS A 0.250 g sample of unknown amino acid powder was placed on a 250 ml beaker using an analytical balance. 20.0 ml of distilled water was added to each flask using volumetric pipette and then the flask was swirled to dissolve the sample. Small increments of 0.200 M HCl were added to the dissolved sample using a syringe until the pH value is 1.50. Both acidified solutions were titrated by adding 0.20 ml of 0.200 M NaOH. The pH was measured and recorded at each amount of base that was added. The procedure was repeated until the pH of the solution reached 11.0. Same process was done using commercial aspartame. Titration curves of the unknown sample and that of aspartame were constructed using MS Excel. The unknown sample of amino acid was identified based on the pKa values and pI that were seen in the constructed titration curves. Titrimetric profiles of aspartame and the identified amino acid were drawn. Then the total percentage errors of the pKa and pI were calculated. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The unknown amino acid was recognized by comparing its experimental value to 20 amino acids. In able to do that, a titration curve must be drawn. The unknown amino acid was recognized as glutamic acid and it was determined based on its pKa and pI value from the graph. In the titration curve of the unknown amino acid, it can be observed that at the pH reading of 2.16, 10.3 and 4.4 the graph shows an inflection curve making it the pKa values of the unknown sample. These reading were compared with the pKa values the 20 amino acids and it was observed that the experimental pKa values were close to the pKa values of glutamic acid. Identity of Unknown Amino Acid: Glutamic Acid Percentage errors between the experimental and theoretical pKa values of the Unknown amino acid were computed and the results were 4.11 %, 6.51 % and 3.53 % and the percentage error between the pI values of experimental and theoretical is 6.32%. The possible sources of errors were probably the inaccurate weighing of the sample and the measurement in adding HCl/NaOH. During titration, the prototrophic groups lose H+ successively as the pH reach their respective pKa values. The net charge of glutamic acid at the start of the titration is +1 and as each group loses H+ the net charge will decrease by one unit. The acidified Aspartame solution was titrated using 0.200 M of NaOH. The titration curve above shows the inflection points. These points are 2.5, 10.5 and 3.4. The possible sources of errors were the inaccurate weighing of the sample and the measurement in adding HCl/NaOH is not precise. During titration, the prototrophic groups lose H+ successively as the pH reach their respective pKa values. The net charge of aspartame at the start of the titration is +1 and as each group loses H+ the net charge will decrease by one unit. Other possible source of errors on the experiment was the inaccurate plotting of pKa values on the titration curve. Wrong pKa will cause the identity of the unknown sample to be incorrect. The buffering zones of glutamic acid are at 2.16 and at 10.3. In aspartame, the buffering zones are at 10.5 and at 3.4. Both are suitable as buffers on acidic pH. Aspartame has a taste that is close to sugar. It enhances the flavour and does not cause the teeth to decay. There is a scientific study that shows that aspartame is beneficial in weight control and it is helpful for individuals with diabetes because it allows them to please their taste for sweets without affecting their blood sugar level. Aspartame can also result in fewer calories, which helps people with diabetes, manage their weight. Aspartame hydrolyzes into its respective amino acid when heated. There are also unpleasant side effects of aspartame utilization which includes loss of memory, seizures, headache, blindness, protruding eyes, palpitation, depression, insomnia, diarrhea and skin rashes. Aspartame blocks and lowers the levels of serotonin, tyrosine, dopamine, nor epinephrine and adrenaline. As a result, it is typical that aspartame symptoms cannot be detected in laboratory tests and on x-rays.

the bell jar :: essays research papers

The book â€Å"The Bell Jar† by Silvia Plath was different from other books assigned through-out my time at high school. Most of the other books, including for example â€Å"Of Mice and Men†, Lord of the Flies†, and â€Å"The Heart of darkness† were stories about mostly men and how they all turned against each other in some way and acted like animals instead of humans, and in the end of all of them someone dies. The book â€Å"The Bell Jar† though is without a doubt my favorite so far because it is about a female and about all the pressures of everyday life that run through her head. This is something that I can relate to because I too think about some of these same worries such a as virginity, looks, and morals to name a few. I am claiming that the theme or the meaning of this book is that in order to stay sane in this world, you can’t let the pressures and worries run your actions and decisions and your life or else you will not be able to function. I feel that this is what happened to Esther. I think that these pressures to Esther are what set her over the edge and made her think the way that she did and made her think that something was wrong with her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sylvia Plath portrayed a lot of meaning in this book. The main idea and meaning that she, as a writer, was trying to portray to the reader, is to understand how the worries, burdens, and pressures of being a young, mature adult are enough to put someone, like Esther in a depression so deep that it gives the illusion to the reader that she is insane and not in touch with reality. I believe that it is a matter of her being depressed and not of her being insane because of all that is on her mind she cant think clearly which makes her seem insane because if the strange things that she talks of such as not being able to sleep or eat, or even write. I think that the author did a very good job of making her seem depressed to the point of â€Å"insanity† because of how she Esther feel like she wasn’t sleeping when really she was sleeping for hours upon hours when she was put into the institutions. At an earlier

Historical inaccuracies in Ridley Scott’s film `Gladiator Essay

In recent years the emergence of filmmakers who expressed interest in adapting historical events as wide-screen presentations has revitalized public interest on historical events. But the usual problem is that the general public’s view usually gets distorted due to contemporary filmmakers’ nasty habit of utilizing their artistic license to its full extent More often than not, adaptations of historical events like Ridley Scott’s Gladiator offers a glimpse of early civilizations but neglects the aspect of historical accuracy which in turn cannibalizes scholarly efforts to reconcile public interest in the actual historical events. The glitz and glamour of commercial cinema is in large part responsible for the historical inaccuracies of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. Martin Winkler (17) suggests that the reason behind a historical film’s departure from its origins is that the fiction which causes the inaccuracy is what sparks viewer interest in the first place. In accordance to Winkler’s theory, the elements incorporated in Gladiator contributes to the film’s historical infidelity; its principal characters, chronology, production design, and supposed intent of exhibiting the authentic life and culture of Imperial Rome, has been diluted by the filmmakers’ aesthetics. As per what the film entails, the structure of the Gladiator’s narrative appears to be drastically shortened. Commodus’ reign was marked by numerous assassination plots, including a scheme that involved her own sister Lucilla, all accounts of murdering the treacherous emperor have neither been established nor even mentioned in the film. Historical accounts further suggest that Commodus’ reign ended 13 years later upon his assassination (Boatwright, Gargola, & Talbert 405-406), the film, on the other hand, although the time frame of events were never actually mentioned or given much attention, it illustrated that Commodus reigned no more than two years (Ward 33). The film also depicts that Emperor Commodus died in a gladiatorial duel with Maximus, obviously in a coliseum, with the intent of bringing back democracy to Rome and re-establishing the country as a republic. While the 73rd book of Cassius Dio’s eye-witness account of Roman History imparts that a wrestler who popularly went by the name Narcissus choked the life out of Commodus, and the incident happened in the emperor’s bath. The film’s characters also share an extent of inaccuracy with the actual historical personalities from which they are derived from. Evidently, from appearance to characteristics, the film’s Commodus did not reflect the Roman Emperor whom history recognized. Primarily, Commodus’, in the film, is bequeathed as a dark hared man in his mid 20s who fights with his right hand and has an underdeveloped physique (Ward 33). While the historical Emperor Commodus was and 18-year old blonde with a well developed physique and fought with his left hand (Kyle 224-227). Likewise, the actual description of Commodus’ personal traits was inconsistent with the film as the historical Commodus was notorious for his corruption, violence, and lust for blood. The film shows the aforementioned characteristics through Commodus’ fixations on sports such as beast-hunting, chariot-racing, and gladiator combat as well as his claims to have won over 1,000 battles (Ward 32). However, Scott’s incarnation contradicts the true nature of the roman emperor as he is characterized by his guiltless lack of emotion and compassion, ruthlessness, cowardice, and mental instability (Hekster 53-56). Contrary to the film’s illustration that Lucilla had an 8-year old son named Lucius Verus, Allan M. Ward’s Gladiator in Historical Perspective entails that, historically, the son who went by the name Lucius Verus died during infancy. Also, Lucilla gave birth to three children during her marriage with Lucius Verus Marcus and only one of the three children survived and grew up, an unidentified daughter who became part of the assassination scheme against Commodus. Lucilla, however, bore a son but she did so in her marriage, with Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus, and the boy’s name was Aurelius Commodus Pompeianus who was 6-years old during the time of the film’s events. Similarly, the reason behind the strained father-daughter relationship between Lucilla and Marcus was the latter’s arrangements of a second marriage for his widowed daughter. Apart from the disrespecting reality that the second marriage occurred only 9 or ten moths after Verus’ demisae as well as the tremendous gap between the couple’s ages (Lucilla was 19 while Claudius Pompeianus was approximately in his 50s), Lucilla also felt undignified by the fact that her new spouse came from a family of provincial equestrians in Antioch, Syria (Ward 33-34). However, the film did not took such event into account leaving the reason behind the cold relationships between the former emperor and former Augusta vague (Ward 33-34). The film’s central character Maximus Decimus Meridius, is a fictional character based on the archetypes of able-bodied men from the far reaches of the empire’s jurisdiction who served as the materialization of Marcus Aurelius’ persisting idea of using men beneficial to the imperial cause (Ward 38). To a similar extent, Maximus’s character is attributed to two recognizable Roman political and military personalities, Marcus Nonius Macrinus who was one of Marcus Aurelius’ closest friends and Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus who was partly responsible for the Roman triumph over Marcomannic War in the film’s beginning (Popham). George Depue Hadzsits (70) suggests that a film such as Gladiator is more likely to revive interest in the subject of history considering that scholarly efforts simply produce fragments of history which does not fulfil the human yearning for knowledge. Hadzsits furthers that despite such visual spectacles’ temporal didactic value and lack of attention on the angle of accuracy, at least the interest for the subject matter is roused (Hadzsits 71). The problem with Gladiator, conversely, is that its revival of interest in Roman History, or ancient world history for that matter, seems to delineate the supposed dissemination of ancient Roman culture and alters it with norms that the filmmaker deems right. In terms of production design, the armour and weaponry worn and yielded by the gladiators appear to have a medieval design rather than Roman. Allan Ward (39) writes that gladiators had already been placed under categories like eques or horseman, provocator which is believed to be the term for challenger, murmillo or what is considered as water combatants, hoplomachus or gladiators who wield heavy weaponry, retiarius the net fighters, and secutors or contraretriarius otherwise characterized as the light armed fighters. However, Ward (39) argues that the film does not seem to highlight the distinctions between gladiators as all of the competitors generally wore the same armour with little differences in weapons of choice. Ward furthers that each fighter category comes with a different set of weapons and armour as well as a different style in combat. The matches between two gladiators are dependent of their category and fighting abilities, a secutor, for instance was often matched with a retriarius, perhaps due to the resemblance in the nature of their weapons and battle skills. Moreover, gladiators within a similar category were not paired to pit against each other, with the exception of the horsemen and the challengers. As mentioned earlier, one of the premises tied with Gladiator is the tendency to rouse interest on the life and culture of ancient Rome, but in this context the film is also inaccurate. James R. Keller (88) implicates that Gladiator imposes the American devotion to the principles of democracy. Initially, the final confrontation between Maximus and Commodus should incite the cultural importance of gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome, however, the re-arranged plot of the film that caused the conflict between the former general and the treacherous emperor to fail in its attempt to do so. The conflict then suggests that Maximus represents every working class, freedom loving American while Commodus serves as the embodiment of the corrupt, insensitive, and inconsiderate aristocrat (Keller 88). In its inaccurate entirety, Gladiator has proven itself to be more of a costume drama adaptation rather than a re-telling of an antiquated historical tale. Despite the filmmakers’ efforts to conduct research and seek consultation for relevant information about the film’s source, the direction remained in the production people’s perspective and not with the scholarly one as the motion picture continued with the re-arranged biographical information of the characters and the reformatted events in the lives of the characters. In addition, the film simply delivered a visual spectacle rather than a knowledgeable historical fact. Martin M. Winkler (204-205) writes that film producers and other individuals concerned with marketing cultural products habitually call on scholars to guide them in marketing historical films. This is, in large part, brought about by producers’ beliefs that scholar credibility is enough to amplify the promised prestige and revenue of their product. Scholarly prestige according to Winkler is mainly vital as a marketing strategy, but a more appropriate term seems to be deceptive advertising as investing parties and supposed artists convince the public of the accuracy of their distorted historical documentation with the aid of renowned experts

morality essays

morality essays The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. -Theodore Hesburgh. This necessary essence of leadership is a vision, not a mirage, but a realistic goal of gaining a successful Foreign policy. Economic sanctions are effective and necessary. They are a moral and accepted method of achieving Foreign Policy goals. Now to define some of the words of the resolution: Economic sanctions: Penalty relating to commercial prosperity for non-compliance Achieve: to get or attain by effort Foreign policy: the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states Goals: result or achievement toward which effort is directed Economic sanctions have been and are accepted as a legitimate method of foreign policy. According to Jonathan Eaton, sanctions have long been important in international relations and us law prescribes the use of sanctions in circumstances related to, for example, national security, human rights, intellectual property, and international trade. Ec4enomic sanctions are currently a reality of international relations; getting rid of them would be as ineffective as outlawing war. Economic sanctions have always been an American Foreign Policy weapon. Even the American colonies imposed sanctions on Britain in response to the stamp and townsend acts. Sanctions have been vital weapons for Foreign policy for more than 200 years. I must agree with U.S. representative Ros Lehtinen when he says, sanctions made sense form a moral, ethical, political and commercial sense. Sanctions are a step taken to avoid war, and this I believe can be a given that sanctions are much less severe than war. With this in mind the price per American for U.S. sanctions is $3.77- a little more that the cost of a Big Mac and Fies. For a moral effective method of achieving Foreign Policy goals it is also very cost effective. According to the Journal ...

Comparison between the two movies of essays

Comparison between the two movies of essays Comparison between the two movies of The author of the written version of The most dangerous game was Richard Connell and that story is interested and very exacting. This story occur one of series of details which give a little of suspense but in fact that is not enough. During the story in every part present a little kind of suspense but the suspense is manipulated at the price of consistency. Actually exist many movies which are related with these story and maybe our life also will be outline as a very dangerous game. Both movies which I see, old version and other most recent movie, present some different between, but in both we can see the important action which I call, the real life-and-death struggle, thats the mean of the title, The most dangerous game. In the old version movie start when the yacht is destroy and the passenger treat to reach a desolate island but only one reach them. These man calls Rainsford see some light in looks like a castle. When he arrive to a castle the action start and also the different between both movies star here. In the castle had four addition people and one of them was dump and he was the first person which Rainsford see. The actions are increasing up to Rainsford, with the help of the women; see which he is in the wrong place. He and the women find the place which the General Zaroff commits the murder. The other movie which I see, the actions occur in the forest. In these part had more people than the other movie. During this movie Rainsford had to run to keep alive, that because General Zaroff and their group will be hunt with rifle, arc and arrow, and this group own four tracks, one of the disadvantages of Rainsford has in the second movies which not present in the first. The Rainsford run he decide to turn again to the house and break the padlock of one of the door and then he see human part in small bottle and ther ...

SPECIAL SEGREGATED SCHOOLING CONTINUES TO ISOLATE PEOPLE WITH Essay

SPECIAL SEGREGATED SCHOOLING CONTINUES TO ISOLATE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FROM MAINSTREAM OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE. CRITICALLY DISCUSS - Essay Example With Porter (2001) appreciating the diversity in definition of children with disabilities, the definition by National Council of Education Research and Training, NCERT (2006, p.2), includes those with physical challenges in intellect, hearing, vision and locomotion together with victims of social conflicts and natural catastrophes, street children and those that would be extremely deprived socially and economically. Scholars have linked their lower participation in the national workforce largely to exclusion from educational systems which yields poverty and dependence among these persons, causing them to live in isolation, despair and neglect. This paper looks at the effect of segregated schooling in isolating people living with disabilities from the economic and social opportunities in the society. Indeed, specialised segregated schooling isolates people living with disabilities from tapping into the mainstream of economic and social life. Taking the Irish context as an example, its schooling system was segregated and separated for pupils considered as handicapped as early as in the 1950s with pupils being excluded from regular school setting to specialised schools (Winter & O’Raw 2010, p.6). But due to international influence, this system was slowly scrapped off with an inclusive education system being adopted albeit some portions of the specialised schools were maintained. The World Health Organisation, WHO (2011) notes that even in countries where enrolment to primary schools are high like in Eastern Europe, a large portion of children living with disabilities fail to attend schools. As of 2002, the rates of their enrolment stood at 59%, 58% and 81% as compared to 93%, 97% and 96% among the normal children in Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria respectively. According to the National Disability Authority (2011), in Ireland, 64% of

Cause and Effect On Honolulu Rail Transit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cause and Effect On Honolulu Rail Transit - Essay Example Thus, many pros and cons have been raised about the proposed construction of the rail transit. Although, the Honolulu rail transit will ease movement of commodities and people from urban areas to outlying areas, it will lead to budget cuts on the capital projects and contribute to environmental, health as well as aesthetic issues. The Honolulu Rail Transit project is costly; thus, it will cause the budget cuts. The rail debt will rise contributing to the reduction of spending on other capital projects. The construction of the rail transit will enable the government to incur additional debt for other projects such as flood control programs, police equipment and road repairs. This is because the financial resources of the city will be directed to the rail construction, as the city will be forced to alter al the city expenses to the rail construction. For instance, the report from the financial director of Honolulu, Toy Arre, revealed that  the fiscal budget proposal of 2013 on health and safety alone is $ 17 million dollars  (Levine pr 3).  The public health and safety is on the front line, but this will be impacted by the proposed rail construction because the government will not manage to meet all other proposal fiscal budget. Hence, this will contribute to the government relying on foreign aid and borr owing money from other developed states with an aim of meeting other capital projects; thus increasing the national balance deficit. The Honolulu project may pose environmental, health and aesthetic issues. This is because the construction activities will contribute to varied consequences on the environment and the health of human being; thus, the project poses legal issues. The plaintiffs included in the environmental and legal issues indicated that the construction of the rail will lead to environmental pollution. For instance, the electric train will be powered by fossil fuel because this comes from burning of petroleum products. This