Essentialism: Gender Role

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Language Obervation Essay

Setting: The observation took place in the child’s home. The child’s home is a semi-detached house in a housing estate Immediate Context: This observation took place in the kitchen. TC is seated at the kitchen table finishing his homework. His father is nearby washing up at the sink. The observation took place at 2.30 in the afternoon. An hour after TC returned home from school. TC’s brother and sister are running around the kitchen while another brother is sitting at the table playing Lego. Name of Child: TC Brief description of the child: TC is a male aged 6 years and 5 months. He has been in school since September 12 months ago. He has one older brother (aged nine) three young brothers (twin 3 year olds and a 2 year old) he has  a younger sister also (aged 2 years). Because of the number in his family he is very active and talkative. Aim of observation: The aim of this observation is to observe TC for a period of time of 10 minutes in order to assess his language development. Observation: TC is sitting on a chair at the kitchen table finishing off his homework he is drawing objects that begin with â€Å"I†. He asks how to spell ice-cream, igloo and ice as these are the shapes he’s drawing. He takes out a sheet filled with words to learn. He is now looking at his words and pronouncing them. TC has finished his homework and packed away his bag. He takes out a sheet a paper. TC -> A â€Å"Daddy how do you spell IGLOO?† A -> TC â€Å" I-G-L-O-O† TC -> A â€Å"How do you spell ICE?† A -> TC â€Å"I-C-E† TC -> A â€Å"How do you spell ICE-CREAM† A -> TC â€Å"Well you already have ice on your page copy that first† TC -> A â€Å"but I need to spell ice-cream† A -> TC â€Å" Write down ICE then put a – then put C-R-E-AM† TC -> A â€Å"Okay† A -> TC â€Å"Are you finished now Ois?† TC -> A â€Å"Where’s Mammy Daddy?† A -> TC â€Å"Show me, what it is?† TC -> A â€Å"No it’s for Mammy, not you; you won’t know what to do with it!† A -> TC â€Å"ok she’ll be here in a minute she’s gone to the bathroom† A1 -> TC â€Å"what’s wrong Oision?† TC -> A1 â€Å"this is a letter for you from teacher† A1 -> TC â€Å"what’s it about?† TC -> A1 â€Å"The parent teacher meeting† A1 -> TC â€Å"ok what have I to do with it?† TC -> A1 â€Å"you have to read it and fill it out for teacher† A1 -> TC â€Å"oh right okay you go on and play so, good boy† Evaluation: The aim of this observation was to observe and record the language of TC, a six year old boy, for fifteen minutes as he finished his homework and engaged in conversation with his parents in order to gain a better understanding of his language development. I feel that I achieved this aim very well and that generally TC’s language development appears to be within the normal range for his age. Certainly, TC’s word pronunciation is accurate. He does make little errors tough e.g. he says â€Å"ate† for â€Å"eight†. This is usual for his stage of development. While children between four and five years pronounce most words correctly, they â€Å"may show some immature sound substitutions† (Flood 2010) One of the theorists I have studied is Skinner (1957), Skinner believed â€Å"that  learning, including language learning, occurs as a result of reinforcement.† Another theorist I have studied is Bruner(1915-). Bruner believed first-hand experience allows children to develop their ideas and thinking, he called this â€Å"enactive thinking†. Bruner stress the importance of the child’s environment in language development. He believes â€Å"The adults and more able peers in a child’s life provide what he calls a language acquisition support system (LASS).† Motherese, recasting, expanding and labelling all part of this system . Key stage of language development Gross Motor Skills †¢ Child tries to understand the meaning of words. The child uses adverbs and prepositions. The child talks confidently, and with more and more fluency. †¢ The child uses language creatively. The child adds vocabulary all the time. †¢ The child is an explorer and communicator; he or she begins to be able to define objects by their function – for example, â€Å"what is a bicycle† â€Å"you cycle a bicycle†. Fine Motor Skills †¢ A young child does not learn well in isolation from other children and adults. The child begins to share as he or she learns. Sharing sharpens and broadens the child’s thinking. This helps the child to learn better – for example, he begins to understand book language, and that stories have characters and a plot (the narrative). †¢ The child begins to realise that different situations require different ways of talking. The child establishes a sense of audience (who he or she is talking to). In summary, TC’s language development in terms of both fine and gross motor skills seems to be just on target and have reached the developmental milestones expected for his age. Personal Learning Gained †¢ I learned more about children’s language development. I know understand the terminology of â€Å"labelling†, â€Å"semantics†, â€Å"syntax†, â€Å"recasting† and â€Å" expanding†. †¢ I learned that in order to do so accurately, a tape recording with transcription is advisable. References †¢ Child Care & Education (5th Edition) (Bruce, Meggit, Grenier) Hodder Education †¢ Planning Play and the Early Years (2nd Edition) (Penny Tassoni, Karen Hucker) Heinemann †¢ Child Development for Students in Ireland (Eilis Flood) Gill&Macmillan †¢ Education & Care in the Early Years (4th Edition) (Josephine Donohue & Frances Gaynor) Gill&Macmillan

Observing Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is the process of communicating that is characterized by the absence of words but rather communicating, sending and receiving messages via bodily language, styles, and symbols. I tried to observe this type of communication in the park with a particular male and female as a target subjects. A young man, possibly 20 yrs of age and a woman, more or less of the same age group, were ‘conversing’ in the park at 5 PM in the afternoon. I use the term ‘conversation’ loosely here. Using the concept of proxemics, parks would be classified under the group, public territory, but I note that, generally speaking, such places would have no control on the behavior of the people; people there would exceed territorial rights with regards to their behavior. Without thoughtful analysis, the first idea that had entered my head was that the man and the woman were in a relation but apparently I cannot make a concluding statement about this. Physical appearances suggest informal relations as suggested by their casual appearances. Both were wearing pants with the female wearing a pink tank top and the male wearing a faded statement shirt. There is a high possibility that their meeting was not business or work associated. I disregarded Monochromatic time schedule in favor of Poly-chronic time schedule since the subjects conversation and appearances were evidently personal. Kinesic communication of the subjects— facial expressions, body movements, gestures, and posture ­Ã¢â‚¬â€reveal one important thing; the subject’s conversation was neither intimate but rather harried, constrained and angry. There was an obvious lack of touch between the two which would denote ‘friendship’ or ‘love’. The woman was gesticulating her hands wildly, and at some point in time, she was waving her right hand at the right empty space indicating that she was ‘emphasizing’ something to the man. Her shoulders were not slumped but rather posed upwards indicating a highly constrained emotion. Her feet was braced apart and she walking around wildly. Her face was clearly angry; her brows were drawn together in a frown and most probably her nostrils were growing bigger or flaring up, with her irises dilating indicating, a high emotional state. The sides of her mouth were slanted downwards as she was talking clearly indicating a negative emotion. Her curly hair was moving with the movement of her mouth. Blood was rushing to her face which makes her face really look red indeed. When the male was talking, she was ‘rolling her eyes’, indicating mockery and disbelief to what the person was saying. She was intentionally trying or trying to appear like she was not listening to the other person was saying when she was looking away at the other direction. The male subject was equally angry. His stance, shoulders upwards were poised for a fight but he was defensive as indicated by the arms that were crossed high on his chest. When he was not talking, his lips were drawn in tight line and he was highly attentive what the female was saying because ‘he did not remove his eyes from her’. His eyes were in slits, indicating anger and at some point, he was also gesticulating his hands indicating that he was forcefully explaining something to the female. I observed that proxemics for the park as a space was clearly loosely defined as to the public territorial usage; the subjects were clearly using the space for ‘personal’ purposes. Movement and body position of my subjects hinges towards negative emotional responses, ost specially that of charged anger. The subjects exhibited negative attitudes, and mostly involuntary non-verbal communication. All messages transmitted between the two were conscous and deliberate and not subliminal; their conversation was intended to say something and both were equally aware of it. Bibliography Argyle, M. (1988). Bodily Communication. Madison: International UP.

Sport should govern itself on the field of play. The criminal law has Essay

Sport should govern itself on the field of play. The criminal law has no role to play in the regulation of sports field violence - Essay Example The argument surrounds the presence of the defense of implied consent, whereby the victim, realizing the possibility of harm involved, has given his consent to the risk of its occurrence. This applies to all contact sports, be it football, basketball, or wrestling and works in favor of the athletes in so much as allowing them to play to their fullest in the knowledge that, if they were to correspond to the rules of the game, they would not be liable for any consequential bodily harm. It seems, however, that the injured victim has to bear the entire burden, as he may have to spend time in the hospital, away from his livelihood. It is suggested that the issue is one of appropriate balance, where the courts, in favor of upholding public policy, may find themselves awarding punishment for intentionally injurious acts in order to provide effective deterrence to careless athletes in the future. The courts normally only intervene to determine the presence or absence of consent, which is provided as a defense by case law as well as statutory law to both assault and battery as prescribed by s. 47, 20, 18, and 20 of the Offense Against the Person Act 1861. In R v Brown (Anthony Joseph)1 Lord Templeman and Lord Jauncey declared that consent is more aptly deemed a defense as opposed to an element of the offense, a view endorsed by the Law Commission2. The effect of this is in shifting the burden of proof towards the defendant. In sports law, it is the victim’s implied informed consent to partake in the nature of the sport that shows his awareness to the risk of bodily harm. The requirement of knowledge of the degree of harm can be explained by the case of Konzani (2005)3. In that case, it was accepted by the courts that consent to the exact nature of the harm (such as the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease) must be there before the defendant can use it as a defense. Consent given must

Report for Sustainable Global Enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Report for Sustainable Global Enterprise - Essay Example This is because it operates in an industry that is rapidly evolving and is therefore highly competitive. In such a field, it is a difficult task to maintain a sustainable global enterprise. It has therefore been essential for the company to review policies so that it can be able to cope with the changes in the industry and at the same time maintain its position in the competitive environment (Britishairways.com). The last quarter of the 20th century has seen a whole lot of changes being experienced in the transport sector. These changes have contributed to a number of issues that are being experienced in the aviation transport industry today (Kamarth & Tornquist, 2004, p23). The industry is having challenges from different fields such social, environmental and technological technicalities. The social issues that are facing the industry are many. One of the social issues is the financial crisis which caught the industry by its neck. The financial crisis makes prices to keep fluctuating and therefore players in the industry can never be sure of the outcome of a financial year. In 1997, there was the Asian financial crisis which affected the industry considering that Asia was an emerging market for companies in the industry. 2009 was one of the least profitable years because the economic crisis in the world had hit very hard (Belobaba, Odoni, & Barnhart, 2009, p41). The financial crisis is a macro-economic instability that is facing the industry. Another macro-economic instability that is facing the aviation transport industry is terrorism. This issue was a result of the 9/11 bombing in 2001. Ever since then, the industry has been under immense pressure from the public to tighten security and ensure

The Management of Global Trade Distribution - De Beers Essay

The Management of Global Trade Distribution - De Beers - Essay Example It was able to exert monopolistic influence among suppliers in the diamond industry to sell their rough diamonds to De Beers’ channel which was then the Central Selling Organisation or CSO which then enabled De Beers to control the global supply of diamonds even if the diamonds did not came from De Beer’s mines (Ziminisky2013). II. De Beers distribution system: Monopoly De Beers is one of the few companies that exerted monopoly in its supply and distribution that it creative a competitive advantage for the company. During its height in 1902, it was able to control an overwhelmingly 90 percent of the diamond industry that it can dictate the price and availability of diamonds (Sehgal 2011). Monopoly exists when a only a single company exists to dominate a certain industry in the provision of goods or services (Milton 2002). Its high price today and its perception of being a valued commodity can be attributed to De Beers’ strategy to justify the increase of the pric e of diamonds because diamonds perse have no practical use and its high price does not reflect its scarcity because its price remains high even if it is in abundance (Yu nd). III. Forms of distribution of De Beers: CSO and DTC De Beers is probably the most successful and biggest monopoly company in the world that virtually operated in almost absolute cartel from its beginning in 1800s until 2001. It was able to establish its cartel like monopoly in the diamond industry when Ernest Oppenheimer achieved a controlling stake in De Beers in the mid 1920s when it expanded into various operations of the diamond industry with the goal of monopolizing its distribution. It did so by influencing suppliers in a multitude of ways to sell its produce of rough diamonds to De Beers’ channel which was then the Central Selling Organisation or CSO which then enabled De Beers to control the global supply of diamonds even if the diamonds did not came from De Beer’s mines (Bergenstock et al 2006). De Beer’s cartel like distribution channel which is the Central Selling Organisation or CSO and later evolved to become Diamond Trading Centers or DTC is probably the most successful monopolistic distribution system in the world. It can basically dictate the entire diamond industry because it can determine what should be sold, when, where and how much. Since it controlled majority of the supply (85% to 90% of the market) through its CSO or DTC, buyers have no choice but to avail diamonds through De Beers’ distribution system of CSO or DTC. To be able to buy diamonds from De Beers’ distribution system, it has to become a member or â€Å"Sightholder† because De Beers only sell diamonds to qualified â€Å"Sightholders† until today. According to De Beer, this event of selling diamonds are known as â€Å"Sights† because, â€Å"during the sales period, [their] customers are able to physically inspect the stones we are offering them before deciding whether to purchase† (De Beer 2012). These customers are selected according the â€Å"Supplier of Choice contract  criteria† (De Beers 2012). In essence, however, these â€Å"Sightholders† are powerless during â€Å"sights† because they have to accept the terms set forth by De Beers where they are not allowed to negotiate and can only accept

Theories and thesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Theories and thesis - Essay Example All these different criminal patterns develop their own financial, social and political bases of strength and power (Varese, 2010). The problems presented by organized crimes The problems of examining organized crime start when the analysis of the threats, risks, sizes and impacts prevails. Also, determining the illegal markets and money laundering by the organized gang is difficult to estimate (Varese, 2010). These problems are difficult to handle because they involve measuring exceeding many different things and too many political issues engage in organized crime and gangs. There is also a remarkably thin line between the legitimate and illegitimate markets; thus, the size of one market overlaps partially with the other. The organized crimes are also grouping and fragmenting themselves; they are like a mutating gene and any estimate will not bring about the necessary results (Mallory, 2011). Organized criminal activities are also difficult to prosecute. This is because some of the crimes are expensive to investigate and involve even nations. Some crimes are also not prohibited in some nations that might be neighboring. These crimes can spill over if there is loose border protection. As a result of appreciation in the community where they operate, most of the organized crimes receive protection from the law enforcers (Varese, 2010). Most countries also have not developed strategic management and prosecution laws to stop the emergence, development and growth of organized crime. The Relationships between Organized Crimes Illegal crime groups usually join hands to ensure that they thrive. These relationships formed with each other can be dissolved any time, and new affiliations crafted. Each group can even break down to smaller operating units, totally independent from the previous ones. The organized gangs like Black Disciples adjust their operations to allow another gang smuggling guns to use their system. This arrangement allows the gun smugglers to sell the g uns at a discounted price to Black Disciples (Mallory, 2011). The mafia also provides sharp- shooters, hit men, and enforcers to other branches or other groups at a price. This covers-up the crime and makes it difficult to be traced to the offender. Organized crime also ensures enormous benefit to the community involved. They organize parties or charity work to show that they benefit and give back to the society in exchange for the crimes they commit. The Black Disciples used to keep black money to the black people in the black market (Varese, 2010). The leadership of the organized crime also ensured that the group activities involve politicians in the city involved. This is to keep the organized crime in a position where they can do their work. The organized criminal gangs provide money, and the willing officers agree to protect them by either allowing their operation or destroying the evidence. Legal Limitations associated with combating organized crimes Most governments have trie d to combat organized crime by enacting laws that prevent, prohibit and discourage organized crimes. Prosecution of organized crime has also posed a problem to law enforces. An example is the inability of the Federal Government to sentence Al Capone for selling alcohol during prohibition and instead jailing him for averting income tax (Albanese, 2010). The Federal Governm

Developing a better understanding of film-making and remakes Essay

Developing a better understanding of film-making and remakes - Essay Example It shall discuss the idea of remaking flexibly, choosing to deal with cross-cultural remaking, including substantial elements of film-making. Issues of production, text, reception, and cultural translations shall be considered in this paper. This paper is being undertaken in order to develop a better understanding of film-making and its processes, including its interpretations of materials into various genres, languages, cultures, and conceptualizations. This paper shall first provide a brief comparative summary of both films, and then provide a deeper assessment of the film-making remaking concepts seen and applied in the movies. It shall end its discussion by summarizing and concluding the relevant elements of this analysis. Body Ringu After teenagers watch a tape which is rumoured to be cursed, the teenagers soon die one after another through mysterious circumstances, most common of which is fright. One of these teenagers is the niece of Reiko, an investigative reporter who was th en prompted to investigate the story of a mysterious tape which is reportedly killing off anyone who watches it. During her investigation, she discovers that the face of teenagers who have watched the tape have been distorted somewhat. A cabin in the woods is also pictured in the pictures. Reiko proceeds to the cabin and ends up watching the tape herself. Soon after watching , she receives a phone call telling her that she would die in a week. She then seeks the help of her ex-husband Ryuji who also proceeds to watch the video. Her son finds the tape and watches it as well. A copy of the tape was made for them to study. They find a hidden message on the film which leads them to the Izu Oshima Island where they find out that Sadako, who is allegedly committing the murders, was killed by her father. Thinking of appeasing Sadako, they find her watery grave and try to free her vengeful spirit. However Sadako is still very much vengeful and, after tangling with Reiko, falls back into the well. When nothing happens to Reiko, they assume that the curse is broken. This proved to be wrong when the following day, Ryuji is killed by Sadako. Reiko soon finds out that since she made a copy of the film and let her ex-husband watch the movie, she broke the curse for herself. But the curse on her husband was not broken and caused his death. In order to prevent the death of her son, she makes a copy of the movie to pass on. The movie ends then, implying that the cycle, very much like a ring would never end. The Ring In the American version, the story more or less follows the Japanese plot. Minor differences are seen with the characters primarily being American, Rachel matching Reiko’s character; Aidan being Rachel’s son, and Noah, being Rachel’s ex-boyfriend as opposed to ex-husband. Understandably, since the movie is an American interpretation, the island where the images in the cursed film were seen is known as Moesko Island. Sadako’s American cou nterpart is known as Samara. Analysis In general, the remake primarily proceeded as an Americanization of the Japanese version, from the characters, names, settings, and naturally, the language. On a deeper context, there are other elements of the remaking process which impacted on the movie’s translation and interpretation. There are three important and applicable terms in assessing remakes, and these

The influence of classical and human relations Essay

The Influence of Classical and Human Relations Approaches In Management Today - Essay Example According to the research findings, the human resources approach, however, views workers as a source of competitive advantage which is achieved by focusing on the construction of motivational strategies, achieving commitment through mutual trust, and where managers take on the role of the leader rather than a stringent, efficiency-focused manager. With the HR approach, socio-psychological characteristics and needs of employees are considered as part of the managerial approach, whilst the classical approach does not recognize socio-psychological characteristics of workers to be relevant to achieving productivity and efficiency goals in an organizational context. In today’s organizations, both classical and human resources approach to management have some dimension of influence in how management tackles engagement with employees. Some contemporary organizations still prescribe the classical approach in order to provide outputs that are productive and aligned with strategic goals . In opposite accord, other organizations maintain a management ideology where employees are considered the most valuable assets to achieving competitive advantages and provide the capacity for the organization to accomplish long-run strategic goals. The classical approach is founded on the principles of scientific management, whereby the main managerial goal is to achieve economic efficiency and enhance employee productivity. Frederick Taylor is considered the father of scientific management who emphasized that achievement of productive outputs and internal economic efficiencies were best achieved through comprehensive training and development of workers to ensure that each employee is equipped with the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to produce high-class work outputs. The classical approach maintains very formalized processes and procedures and asserts that maintaining a centralized hierarchy of managerial control is critical to achieving productive and efficient outputs.

Week 6 Moral Distress and Moral Integrity Assignment

Week 6 Moral Distress and Moral Integrity - Assignment Example safe and poorer quality of the care being received by the patients, along with decreasing job satisfaction.(Pauly, Varcoe & Storch, 2012) One key that is very important is not to â€Å"bottle up† the moral distress that one is feeling; addressing the sources quickly will lead to better practices in dealing with the phenomena for the betterment of a strong healthcare workforce, of which nurses play a huge part.(Epstein & Delgado, 2010) Ethics and morality can be such difficult to issues to address, because we live in a diverse world, with varying ideologies of what â€Å"ethics and morality† are. In healthcare it can be even harder because it involves the lives of patients. The phenomenon of nurses leaving their positions is a serious one. According to one study 25% of nurses, as well as social workers, are experiencing â€Å"moral distress† badly enough to consider leaving their jobs, while 40% claim that given the option they would not choose the same profession.("Nurses want to," 2013) Many Researchers feel that much more in-depth research is called for and there is a necessity to redefine what the goal of healthcare is; the message, â€Å"†¦that doing the right thing is an organizational and a political as well as an individual responsibility, is one that needs to be emphasized.(Gallagher,

Target Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Target Market - Essay Example In order to respond to this issue, Mary Kay has representatives and consultants all around the world who are not only involved in research and development of new products but in the marketing and sales of the same. The brand identify of Mary Kay products has put it as a luxury brand that is known for standard and quality. The company’s own efforts are such that they try to brand each product as an individual brand that has to be taken care of with its own separate stream of marketing strategies. Like every cosmetic product, the motivation to use and buy is more psychological than material. People have the need to feel loved and appreciated and they like to adapt in a way that’s acceptable. The benefit of self-esteem with prestige is what Mary Kay sells. Of course, a brand will only sell on that basis when the message can be reflected in their product quality as well (Viverios & Negus, April 2009). Mary Kay enjoys exposure to a large customer base through its diversified brand and products range. It has a total of about 200 premium products that have been divided under 6 classes or categories, targets both men and women, is vertically well integrated and has a range of skin and hair care products sold as drugs and ailments too (Datamonitor, 2008). In 2008, Mary Kay was present in about 35 countries across the globe. Mary Kay exploits this advantage by having employed millions of independent beauty consultants around the world and having built a separate manufacturing plant in China to meet the needs of Asian customers (Bhattacharya & Prinyanka, 2008). As compared to its biggest competitor Avon and other competitors such as L’Oreal, companies that operate in a multinational and dynamic platform, Mary Kay lacks the ability to operate at such massive scales. While these companies have the ability to reach out customers in the farthest regions and

Case Toyota Prius Essay Example for Free

Case Toyota Prius Essay 2. Outline the major macroenvironmental factors – demographic, economic, natural, technological, political, and cultural – that have affected the introduction and sales of the Toyota Prius. How has Toyota dealt with each of these factors ? Demographic: The Toyota Prius can buy these consumers who can afford to buy expensive but save, comfortable and „green† car. Economic: The business has economic relation with the government, capital market, household sector and global sector. These sectors together influence the trends and structure of the economy. The price of the car is higher than Toyota Echo about 4000 euros. However, getting twice as many kilos per litre of petrol will help to reduce the price differential. It means that petrol is economic and owner of Prius will save on fuel. Natural: The growing desire to protect the environment is having an impact on many industries, in our case, the transportation industry. The Toyota company made right step to produce their first hybrid car. People are focused on environmental problems. Technological: Hoping that people are concerned about the environment, and trying to grab a technological advantage over the car manufacturers, the company decided in 2000 to introduce Toyota Prius, their first hybrid car. The company expected that the first buyers of hybrid car like to buy and test something new and they were right. Many Toyota Prius owners are fascinated by the technology, they flood internet with discussion of the car. Political: In order to attract more customers, car manufacturers have asked government for tax incentives to stimulate purchase of clean-fuel and high-mileage cars. Several governments, like US or UK, offered some solutions. 4. In your opinion, what are the advantages of Toyota’s early entry into the hybrid market? What are the disadvantages? Have Toyota jumped to early into an expensive technology that has had its day? The manufacturers of Toyota Prius risked by producing the hybrid car. However they hadn’t competitors in this market at the beginning, as it was quite new phenomenon in the world. Another advantage was clever marketing, which increased sales of Toyota Prius. The company used the internet source to distribute information and educate consumers about the Toyota Prius. Also sent e-brochures to 40,000 buyers before the introduction. I think, Toyota jumped on time into an expensive technology that has had its day. Nowadays, economic crisis maybe influence on the sales of Toyota Prius. However, in 2000, when company introduced the car, it was right step to do it. 1. What microenvironment factors affect the introduction and sales of the Toyota Prius? How well has Toyota dealt with these factors? Customers: The customers want to save money on their cost of cars, so the cost of gas is the main problem. Toyota captures this situation and promote Prius to the market. This kind of car can save consumption of gas. It can suit for customer’s need. Publics: The government wants to advocate the concept of environmental protection. So government regulations is the part of problem to influence Toyota company’s mind. And Toyota use this advantage to promote their hybrid car, the environmental protection is their main selling mind. Competitors: In hybrids car area, the Honda company is the mental competitor for Toyota. They invest a lot of money to promote the Prius via any kinds of media method. Following this, they also focus on reduce the cost of raw material. 3. Evaluate Toyota’s marketing strategy so far. What has Toyota done well? How might it improve its strategy? First of all, the Toyota focus on the change of customers and according to direction of government.. For their customers, they provide comprehensive services for them, for instant, they put some technology and digital equipment in the car, and according to customers need, they also provide internet service. Customers can following their want to pick a colour and decide whether they want a CD player etc. On the other hand, they always concentrate the promotion, for example, they spent 15million Europe dollars on promoting the Prius, and through different kinds of method to promote. At last, Toyota keep their awareness of selling concept to attract more customers, and these awareness very adapt to customers thinking.

Politics Essays Media Political Protest

Politics Essays Media Political Protest Media Political Protest Politics And The Media Critically consider mainstream New’s treatment of political protest and new social movements. The late 1950’s and early 1960’s brought about political protests and social movements like no other, with martin Luther kings American civil rights movement being remembered as on of the most famous and successful social movements in history. The American civil rights movement gained a considerable amount of coverage from mainstream media resulting in people being largely familiar with the movement and its success. It was then clear that there had always been a dynamic relation between mainstream media, political protests, and new social movements. From the 1960’s onwards sociologists had began to study the theory around social movements and had developed many ideas and research on the relationship between mass media, protests, and movements. When faced with a question such as one discussing mainstream news media, protests and new social movements one would have to define those concepts in order to take into consideration their significance of each other. Mainstream media has always been designed to reach to an extremely large audience across a limitless geographic, it is popularly circulated information distributed by newspapers, television, radio, and magazines. Political protest or protests in general are a form of activism that involves individuals marching, demonstrating, for or against a political policy, action, or legislation. In protesting it is seen as a way of voicing opinion to further change a concept whether to influence public opinion or government policy. And finally new social movements are usually made up of groups of individuals or organisations that focus on certain social or political issues in order to influence social change, weather to cause, prevent or reform social change. The notion (new) social movement was given as they have only been largely recognised since the 1960’s. Diana,(1992) cited in ‘culture and politics in the information age’ byFrank Webster states that a way in which we could see social movements is: ‘A network of informal relationships between a multiplicity of individuals and organisations, who share a distinctive collective identity, mobilise resources on capital issues’. Most critics would agree that the relationship between mainstream media, social movements, and political protests is vital; however their relationship has never been easy and is still considered as difficult by many critics. Social movements need mainstream media for exposure in order to expand and become recognised on behalf of their cause. In some respects the media also needs social movements as a vital news source and it is not surprising that both would exceed to reach their goals as it is apart of their nature and they must exceed to survive. However despite the fact that social movements seem to be useful for the media and are considered to be vital or important to the political landscape, with their ability to intercede with political elites and citizens, it seems that they have a disadvantage compared to mainstream media. As mainstream media have an advantage and the upper hand over social movements. This is elaborated upon by Gamson Wolsfeild, (1993) cited in ‘Media society’’. They state that social movements need the mass media more than the mass media needs them, in publicizing their activities, mainstream media needs to cover social movements so that; they could gain support, validation as a major/important political players, and maximise the attention of spotlight of conflict to attract mediators or potential allies. On the contrary the media have alternatives to having social movements or protestors as a news source. This does not seem to be the only disadvantage movements have with the media. It is argued that political protests and new social movements are covered in a negative light the majority of time. Gamson’s The strategy of social protests cited in ‘socail movements’ states his study that found that groups were more likely to be successful if they were: ‘based on one issue, used violence, disruptive tactics, selective incentrees, and came from a centralized, in factionalized and bureaucratized organisation.’ However this would lead one to think that the coverage of a violent or disruptive protest would be extremely negative as even a non-violent protest gains a negative and violent label under mainstream Media’s coverage the majority of the time critics would argue. This is proven with actual studies such as Halloran’s study. Halloran et al, (1970) studied protestor’s portrayal in the media with focus on the protest against the Vietnam War, he discovered that although it was a predominantly peaceful protest media portrayal of the protest was not positive and conveyed it as violent. This was only one of many studies that revealed similar finding. Another study by Chan Lee, (1984) on the protests had found that the protestor’s weather being violent or non violent, un-peaceful, or peaceful were represented as being ‘the other’ or in a ‘them vs. us’ notion. However in some cases when protestors are not seen as extremely deviant and questioning of the ‘status quo’ they are sometimes covered in a fair light one example of this could be the stop the war coalition in 2003 against the Iraq war, The media can use this frame however more then often chooses not to. There are two main attributes that influence a social movement or a protest being covered. these are the extent to which the movement is ‘extreme’ i.e. challenging in terms of questioning the status quo and how ‘militant’ they are in their tactics McLeod Hertog, (1999) cited in ‘Manufacturing policies: the media’s role in the policy making process’ state that the more militant a social movement is the more negative and ‘critical’ the media coverage. In talking of the word militant one means how much a socail movement is how radical and milantly tactical a movement is. In general the idea is that protestors are more likely to be portrayed as deviant members of society rather than individuals who have a right to voice their opinions The treatment of social movements has not been all that better either some have been covered in a positive light i.e. the civil rights movement, however most would argue that for that past few decades social movements have not been particularly prioritised or covered in a totally positive light either some sociologists such as Marxists would argue that social movements are not covered as it is another way for the ruling elites to keep in control of their social and economical status above the masses and that social movements should be able to vocalise their causes and be recognised. ‘The modern media have become central to the life and death of social movements’.There have been many sociological theories upon the treatment of new social movements by the media. Many critics reemphasise the fact that the media is important for social movements, in particular Kelbowiz and Scherer (1988:72) cited in ‘Frames of protest: social movements and framing perpective’ state that: In some instances, social movements have to compete to legitimize their status and be recognised in the media. Givevitch Lay, (1985) cited in ‘frames of protest’ states that in contemporary societies societal groups such as social movements and ideologies compete for the definition and construction of social reality within the media. It is evident that it is more of a struggle for social movements to gain coverage let alone positive coverage; it is also evident that governmental organisations are far more likely to gain coverage easier and faster. One reason for this is that they are seen as a vital and official news source and that they are very much legislatively based. This is something that the media look to cover as the general population are concerned with and have interest in this aspect this is summarised by the following quote from sociologists who studied movement struggles compared to political organisations ‘In terms of access struggle, institutional sources and political authorities have an ‘increased upper hand or advantage as they are considered as strong news sources’ (White 1950; Galtung and Ruge 1965: Shoemaker 1991). Social movements are coming against a hard opposition which includes collective actors such as counter movements, the state, and the media placing them in a ‘struggle for cultural supremacy’ Tarrow, (1998). social movements struggle includes not one but two battles, the first one being determining mainstream media coverage and the second being the way in which the social movement and the story is formed. This is called framing, Framing is the way in which a story is covered or the way in which it is portrayed in the media. It also means the extent the frame and the interpretation of the movement has been taken over by the media and how favourable the journalistic description bias is. (McCarthy et al 1998, smith et al (2001) cited in ‘frames of protest’ sate that it is regarded as difficult for movements to both gain coverage and do so under an ideal. One concept that is seen as important for mainstream media is news value, social movements and political protest must offer high news value to be covered or framed righteously. They must be able to attain public interest and attention in order for the story to sell. This is because some aspects of journalism mainstream media in particular has become increasingly commercialised today and is more dependant on sales. Herman Chomsky, (1988) carried out research and came up with the propaganda model which consists of five filters that social movements or protest must survive in order to be covered. These include 1) the size, ownership, and profit the media could make from the story 2) advertising 3) sourcing 4) criticism and 5) anti-communist ideology, i.e. keeping the power in the hands of elites and serving their interests. This is seen as a way of emphasising news value and reinforcing authority by some marxist critics. Consecutive to the propaganda model, a lot of research was done into news selection, and it is evident that there is a lot of research indicating that the main priority for media institutions is profit and audience interest. Meyer, (2002) states that there is another filter which is called the rules of stage-managing which (as mentioned before) he says is based on how much the news can attract audience attention. The fact that it is difficult for social movements or protests to obtain coverage means that they have to think of other ways of obtaining coverage one example is through emotion management which includes using concepts that would encourage sympathetic feelings for example sadness. An example of this would be using pictures of victims of hurricane Katrina in 2006 or pictures of children affected by the Iraq war. This is just one of the concepts social movements have to use to gain media interest. Movements and political protestors have to develop all kinds of media strategies such as adopt public relations techniques and strategies to bypass the medias selection bias (Olivier Maney 2000: McCarthy et al. 1998; smith et al.2001; Miphial Schiveingraber 1998) ‘An effective media strategy requires – at least to some extent –a willingness to cater to the often warped priorities and short attention span of the news media’Despite what critics say about social movements having to change their techniques and this being bad, Salzman, (1998:3) in the media handbook for activists cited in ‘Media Society’ says: It is not only Salzman who comments on this, others feel that if social movements adopt proactive planning despite the fact it may alter movement messages, it could lead to favourable media coverage. Therefore sacrifices to social movement messages suggest that all in all the media wins and gains more based on what it needs. It also suggests that general consensus is important when trying to obtain coverage. However one concept that has helped social movement organisations or political protestor activists is of course (the World Wide Web). With independent media sites such as ‘Indymedia’ and ‘Schnews’, it has given social movements and activists the chance to function through the web enabling them to write their own journalistic stories and publicize their movements, beliefs, and causes with the possibility of more visitors every day. These internet sites also most productively enable social movements to be Trans global news sites, as people around the world can have access to their information mediums at the click of a button. Earl Schussman, (2003) cited in ‘Social movements and internetdiscourse’ state that the internet is incredibly useful to movements or activists organisations who want to log on to the web and publicize things such as protest information, they say that in general the internet can be seen as an ‘organisational tool’ for individuals optimistic for social change. Some critics feel that the internet has the ability to excel past mainstream media outlets and centered hierarchical forms of organisations Castello, (2000) says: ‘the net gives networks the capacity to decentralise and adapt the execution of tasks while coordinating purpose and decision.’ The more movements and political protestors go online the more sociologists studying them follow them up and theorise their activities. Almeida and Lichbach, (2003) cited in ‘social movements and internet discourse’ did a study comparing four mainstream media sources with activist based internet data in both their coverage of the anti WTO protests in late 1999. They found that activist based websites had reported a higher number of international protests then mainstream media; they also found that they were less influenced by intense concepts such as large numbers of participants or violence etc then the main media outlets. However they also found some limitations into the activist based websites which includes the variability of content and the necessity to confirm and legitimize occurrences. Therefore there are issues that suggest that while the internet is extremely useful for new social movements and political protests it also has its negatives. Another issue would be that people tend to get enough information from mainstream media outlets and tend not to look to other places for more information. Conclusion In general despite some social and political protest success stories with the media it is evident that mainstream news of political protests and social movements have not been completely positive within the few decades. Parati, (1986) cited in ‘media society’ once said in summary: ‘ discrediting techniques used by the media include down playing content in favour of emphasising the spectacle of an event, painting demonstrators as deviant and portraying under representative balance to a tiny number of counter parts, and undercounting the attendance at demonstrations’ have all determined negative coverage. Because of this it would be impracticable to say that all new social movements and protests could be covered more, or that they could be portrayed in a positive light from today onwards, it is evident the more movements and activists in general questions the status quo the less likely it will gain coverage or positive portrayal (framing). Mainstream media and political protests/social movements have always had a less then easy relationship despite the notion of freedom of speech being denoted in the western world. Marxists socialists critics would argue that one way that movements and activists would be able to voice their opinion more within mainstream media would be that they could fight against it and insist on a media reform i.e. a reconsideration of the way the media is conducted and the stories it publishes resulting in it being mandatory that new social movements and protestors capitalist or communists, right wing or left wing (aimed at positive social change) be recognised. Although un-likely this would enable movements to avoid adopting other messages or techniques to fit media needs. Hackett Carroll, (2004) state that it is about: ‘time for social movements to take collective action. To start with democratic media reform needs to be recast as an end in itself a public good not simply a means by which each movement can get its message out. This suggests that while it seems that mainstream media treatment of social movements and protest is not very positive or accepting, many critics feel that social movements and protests should be made known in the interest of ‘public good’ in order for people to be able to voice more opinions freely and create better chance of realizing Habermas’ concept of the public sphere. In terms of the internet, for activists websites to be more successful as a major information source and to be looked upon as much as mainstream media outlets, more money would have to be invested in them to ensure information is official and promotion ca be maximised. Perhaps the result would be a more balances media of information or people could be aware of hidden causes such as discrimination like unfair trade that some social movements try to publicise as much as possible as these issues are still on going. Bibliography 1, Croteau, D Hoynes, W (2000) ‘Media society  : industries, images, and audiences’.  Second ed, London, sage publication 2, Webster, F (2001). ‘culture and politics in the information age a new politics  ?’. London, Routledge. 3, Anderson, R Gray, J (2008). ‘battleground the media’ United States Of America, Greenwood Press. 4, Branston, G Stafford, R (2006). ‘the media student’s book’.London, Routledge. 5, Brahim, E ‘socail movements’ http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/social_movements/?nid=6789 accessed  : 27/03/06 6, Petit, C Social Movement Networks in Internet Discourse http://www.irows.ucr.edu/papers/irows25/irows25.htm accessed:27/03/08 7, Aton, C News Cultures and New Social Movements: radical journalism and the mainstream media Napier University, UK http://joblog.ru.ac.za/News%20cultures%20and%20new%20social%20movements%20-%20radical%20journalism.pdf accessed  :26/03/08 8, Smith J, Johnston, H Globalization and resistance: Transnational Dimensions of Social http://books.google.com/books?id=9UGLVh4JifkC accessed  :26/03.08 9, R.A. Hackett, W.K. Carroll, (2004) ‘Critical Social Movements and Media Reform’ Media Development, 10, Meyer, T. (2002). Media democracy: how the media colonize politics. Cambridge, England: Polity Press. 11, Barker, M (2005) ‘Manufacturing policies: the media’s role in the policy making process’ Australian School of Environmental Studies. Griffith University http://live-wirez.gu.edu.au/jea.papers/Barker.doc accessed: 26/03/08 12, ‘socail movements’ www.wikipedia.com accessed 25/03/08 13, Chan, J. M., and Lee, C. C. (1984) The journalistic paradigm on civil protests: a case study of Hong Kong in A. Arno and W. Dissanayake (eds) The news media in national and international conflict, Boulder: Westview Press. 14, ‘mass media’ www.wikipedia.com accessed:25/03/08 15, (Kleahn. J), ‘A Critical Review and Assessment of Herman andChomsky’s ‘Propaganda Model’ Sage publications, London. 16, Halloran, J. D., Elliott, P. and Murdock, G. (1970) Demonstrations and communication: a case study, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Nations Destroyed by Allah

Nations Destroyed by Allah Comparing past and present PREFACE: Allah has mentioned the stories of perished nations in Holy Quran And at some places He has mentioned to learn lesson from them and try to gain knowlege about their sins. Muslims now a days hardly recite Quran daily. My research will help them know about the deeds pf perished natinos and to stay away from those deeds. I didnt find any article or book comparing the perished nations and todays nation. All of the books which i have read only have discussed the stories of demolished nations. This topic is very important for the people now a days, specialy Muslims. All the people should get aware of Allah power. They should know what will be their end if they get themselves involve in the same actions by which previous nations have faced a fierced end. Not only by the sins they did, but we should abide by all the actions Allah and His prophet (s.a.w) mentioned not to do. By this topic Muslims will know that if they will not stop doing the bad activities and will be involved in these deeds, then they will be punished harshly. Past nations were involved in many wronge activities which were prohibited by Allah. Some of the nations were Nuhs (as) nation (was involved in worshiping false gods), Luts (as) nation (was involved in sodomy), people of Ad (were arrogant and boastful), Thamud (rejected warnings of Allah), Pharaoh (was involved in shirk and was a cruel ruler), people pf Madyan (were dishonest in doing business). Todays nation is also involved in same avtivities where as Allah has clearly mentioned the stories of previous nations and told to learn a lesson from them. Today people are involved in such activities like, seeking help from the dead people, having a wronge concept that visiting a shrine of good people and seek help from them, involve in adultery (even with homosexual), involve in doing shirk. INTRODUCTION: Allah has always sent His prophets in every age since the creation of this world to give humans the knowledge about Allah (their creator). Some people followed those instructions told by prophets and majority of them didnt followed. Some of them even not only denied to follow the right path but they also harmed prophets and the people who followed them. The messengers were generally accused slanderously of falsehood, magic, insanity and conceit and leaders of many peoples even sought to have them murdered. Allah gave those nations many chances to belief in truth, but they never did.And then allah perished them.The Muslims are, therefore, given a constant reminder not to follow the path of these nations.because no one can hide from Allah when His chastisement occurs. Allah reveals in Holy Quran: But how many generations before them did We destroy (for their sins) stronger in power than they? Then did they wander through the land: was there any place of escape (for them)? (Surah Qaf: 36) It is noteworthy that these characteristics belong as well as to the current civilisation, which has established an elaborate world-culture through todays technology and science, and has founded centralised states, huge cities, yet denies Allah, forgetting that all is made possible by His power. Most of the people are involved in the false activities and at some sort denies Allah. PAST: Nation of prophet Nuh (a.s): Prophet Nuh (a.s) was sent to teach people the lesson of tauheed and to tell them to worship only Allah. Prophet Nuh (a.s) preached Islam over 950 years of time period but only few follwed his message. Nuhs people were engaged in worshiping false god in the form of statues. Then Allah sent his prophet to bring them to the right path. Allah says: Indeed, We sent Nuh (Noah) to his people and he said: O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other God but Him. Certainly, I fear for you the torment of a Great Day! [Al-Araf 7: 59] For many generations Nuhs people had been worshipping statues that they called gods. They believed that these gods would bring them good, protect them from evil and provide all their needs. They gave their idols names such as Waddan, Suwaan, Yaghutha, Yaauga, and Nasran, (These idols represented, respectively, manly power; mutability, beauty; brute strength, swiftness, sharp sight, insight) according to the power they thought these gods possessed. Originally these were the names of good people who had lived among them. After their deaths, statues of them were erected to keep their memories alive. After sometime, however, people began to worship these statues. Later generations did not even know why they had been erected; they only knew their parents had prayed to them. That is how idol worshipping developed. Since they had no understanding of Allah the Almighty Who would punish them for their evil deeds, they became cruel and immoral. Prophet Nuh (a.s) warned them and invite them to worship only Allah, but they denied. They firstly denied prophethood of Nuh. As they said that he is also a man like us, he just want superiority on us thats why, he is doing this. Allah says: The leaders of his people said: Ah! we see thee evidently wandering (in mind). (Surat al-A‘raf: 60) The chiefs of the disbeliveers among his people said: We see you but a man like ourselves. (11:27 Quran) Prophet Nuh (a.s) warned his people about the punishment of Allah. Allah says: We sent Nuh to his People (with the Command): Do thou warn thy People before there comes to them a grievous Penalty. (Surah Nuh: 1) Nuh continued appealing to his people to believe in Allah hour after hour, day after day year after year. He admonished his people and called them to Allah day and night, in secret and openly. HE gave them examples, explained Allahs signs and illustrated Allahs ability in the formation of His creatures. But whenever he called them to Allah, they ran away from him. Whenever he urged them to ask Allah to forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears. But they didnt listened and Allah told Nuh to prepare a large boat and collect pairs of every specie and every believer to make them safe from the disaster.Prophet Nuh (a.s) was grief about his people that they will be punished. It was revealed to Nuh: None of thy people will believe except those who have believed already! So grieve no longer over their (evil) deeds. (Surah Hud: 36) The ship was constructed, and Nuh sat waiting Allahs command. Allah revealed to him that when water miraculously gushed forth from the oven at Nuhs house, that would be the sign of the start of the flood, and the sign for Nuh to act. The terrible day arrived when the oven at Nuhs house overflowed. Nuh hurried to open the ark and summon the believers. He also took with him a pair, male and female, of every type of animal, bird and insect. Seeing him taking these creatures to the ark, the people laughed loudly: Nuh must have gone out of his head! What is he going to do with the animals? Slowly the level of water increased and every non-believer died in the flood. Nuhs wife and his son who were non-believers didnt join him and were faced to death. Not a single non-believer was left alive. Then the order to stop the rain and to retreat the water was given and once again dry land was shown but flood had cleaned the non-believers from the land. Nation of prophet Lut (a.s): Prophet Lut (as) was sent as a messenger to one of prophet Ibrahims (as) neighbouring communities. These people, as the Quran tells us, practiced a perversion unknown to the world up till then, namely sodomy. When Lut (as) told them to give up this perversion and brought them Allahs warning, they denied him, refused his prophethood, and carried on with their perversion. In the end, these people were destroyed by a dreadful disaster. This city was filled with evil. Its residents waylaid, robbed and killed travelers. Another common evil among them was that men had sex with men instead of with women. This unnatural act later became known as sodomy (after the city of Sodom). It was practiced openly and unashamedly. It was at the height of these crimes and sins that Allah revealed to Prophet Lut (alai salam) that he should summon the people to give up their indecent behavior, but they were so deeply sunk in their immoral habits that they were deaf to Luts preaching. Swamped in their unnatural desires, they refused to listen, even when Lut warned them of Allahs punishment. Instead, they threatened to drive him out of the city if he kept on preaching. Allah says: And his people gave no answer but this: they said, Drive them out of your city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure! (Surat al-A‘raf: 80-82) Lut (as) called his people to an obvious truth and warned them explicitly, but his people did not heed any warnings whatsoever and continued to reject him and to deny the penalty of which he told them. Receiving the above answer from his people, Lut asked for the help of Allah: He said: O my Lord! help Thou me against people who do mischief! (Surat al-Ankaboot: 30) Upon Luts (as) prayer, Allah sent two angels in the form of men. These angels visited Ibrahim (as)before coming to Lut (as). Giving Ibrahim (as) the good news that his wife would give birth to an infant, the messengers explained the reason for their being sent: the insolent people of Lut (as) were to be destroyed. Angels came to Lut (a.s) as guest and stayed at his house. This news was spread in town by his wife who was non-believer and in some time the whole town was standing outside his home. They broke the door and came in. Angels said to Lut (a.s) that dont fear as we are angels and they cannot harm you. After listening that non-believers got feared and ran outside.The angels warned Prophet Lut (pbuh) to leave his house before sunrise, taking with him all his family except his wife. Allah had decreed that the city of Sodom should perish. AN earthquake rocked the town. IT was as if a mighty power had lifted the entire city and flung it down in one jolt. A storm of stones rained on the city. Everyone and everything was destroyed, including Luts wife.In the morning, his people were destroyed by the disaster of which Lut (as) had informed them in advance. Allah says: But the (mighty) Blast overtook them before morning, And We turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay. Behold! in this are Signs for those who by tokens do understand. And the (cities were) right on the high-road. (Surat al-Hijr: 73-76) People of Ad: The people of Ad lived many years in the windswept hills of an area between Yemen and Oman. They were physically well built and renowned for their craftsmanship especially in the construction of tall buildings with lofty towers. They were outstanding among all the nations in power and wealth, which, unfortunately, made them arrogant and boastful. Their political power was held in the hand of unjust rulers, against whom no one dared to raise a voice. They were not ignorant of the existence of Allah, nor did they refuse to worship Him. What they did refuse was to worship Allah alone. They worshipped other gods, also, including idols. This is one sin Allah does not forgive. Allah wanted to guide and discipline these people so He sent a prophet from among them. This prophet was Hud (as), a noble man who handled this task with great resoluteness and tolerance. Hud (as) condemned idol worship and admonished his people. MY people, what is the benefit of these stones that you carve with your own hands and worship? In reality it is an insult to the intellect. There is only One Deity worthy of worship and that is Allah. Worship of Him and Him alone, is compulsory on you. In Quran: To the Ad People (We sent) Hud, one of their own brethren. He said: O my people! worship Allah! ye have no other god but Him. (Your other gods) ye do nothing but invent! Prophet Hud (as) told them He created you, He provides for you and He is the One Who will cause you to die. He gave you wonderful physiques and blessed you in many ways. So believe in Him and do not be blind to His favors, or the same fate that destroyed Noahs people will overtake you. Hud (as) warned them. With such reasoning Hud hoped to instill faith in them, but they refused to accept his message. His people asked him: Do you desire to be our master with your call? What payment do you want?.Hud (as) replied them that he did not want their money nor reward from them. Allah says: O my people! I ask of you no reward for this (Message). My reward is from none but Him Who created me: Will ye not then understand? Hud (as) tried to speak to them and to explain about Allahs blessings: how Allah the Almighty had made them Noahs successors, how He had given them strength and power, and how HE sent them rain to revive the soil.Huds (as) people looked about them and found they were the strongest on earth, so they become prouder and more obstinate. Thus they argued a lot with Hud (as). Hud (as) taught them everything a prophet teaches to his nation. But they used to ask silly questions. Hud (as) used to answer them gently but they never followed his message. Hud (as) warned them if they wont worship only Allah they will destroyed like Nuhs (as) nation. And they declared we will be safe by our gods. Hud (as) told them that these idols will be the reason of your destruction.There is no one who harms or benefits any one except Allah. The conflict between Hud (as) and his people continued. The years passed, and they became prouder and more obstinate, and more tyrannical and more defiant of their prophets message. Furthermore, they started to accuse Hud (as) of being a crazy lunatic. One day they told him: We now understand the secret of your madness you insulted our gods and they harmed you; that is why you have become insane. Almighty Allah repeated their words in the Quran: O my Hud! No evidence have you brought us, and we shall not leave our gods for your mere saying! And we are not believers in you. All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness). (11:53-54 Quran) A drought spread throughout the land, for the sky no longer sent its rain. the sun scorched the desert sands, looking like a disk of fire which settled on peoples heads. The drought increased, the trees turned yellow, and plants died. A day came when they found the sky full of clouds. Huds (as) people were glad as they came out of their tents crying: A cloud, which will give us rain!.But the weather changed suddenly from burning dry and hot to stinging cold with wind that shook everything; trees, plants, tents, men and women. The wind increased day after day and night after night. Huds (as) people started to flee. They ran to their tents to hide but the gale became stronger, ripping their tents from their stakes. They hid under cloth covers but the gale became stronger and still and tore away the covers. It slashed clothing and skin. It penetrated the apertures of the body and destroyed it. It hardly touched anything before it was destroyed or killed, its core sucked out to decompose and rot. The storm raged for 8 days and 7 nights. Almighty Allah recounts: Then when they saw it as a dense cloud coming towards their valleys, they said: This is a cloud bringing us rain! Nay but it is that torment which you were asking to be hastened! a wind wherein is a painful torment! Destroying everything by the command of its Lord! (46:24-25 Quran) That violent gale did not stop until the entire region was reduced to ruins and its wicked people destroyed, swallowed by the sands of the desert. Only Hud (as) and his followers remained unharmed. They migrated to Hadramaut and lived there in peace, worshipping Allah, their true Lord. Thamud (samood): Prophet salih (as) was sent on people of thamud. People of thamud were also engaged in the same sins in which people of Ad were involved. Thamud rejected the warnings of Allah just as ‘Ad did and perished in consequence.Thamuds denial of the warnings coming to them is an incident which is itself a warning to people of all ages. Prophet Salih (as) was sent to Thamud to warn them. Salih (as) was a recognised person within the Thamud society. His people, who did not expect him to proclaim the religion of truth, were surprised by his calling on them to abandon their deviation. A small part of the community complied with Salihs (as) call, but most of them did not accept what he told. The leaders of the community in particular denied Salih (as) and took an antagonistic stand towards him. They tried to impede those who believed Salih (as) and tried to oppress them. They were enraged at Salih (as), because he called them to worship Allah. This rage was not specific only to Thamud; Thamud were repeating the mistake made by the people of Nuh (as) and by Ad who had lived before them. This is why the Quran refers to these three communities as follows: Has not the story reached you, (O people!), of those who (went) before you? of the people of Prophet Nuh, and Ad, and Thamud? And of those who (came) after them? None knows them but Allah. To them came messengers with Clear (Signs); but they put their hands up to their mouths, and said: We do deny (the mission) on which ye have been sent, and we are really in suspicious (disquieting) doubt as to that to which ye invite us. (Surah Ibrahim: 9) Despite the Prophet Salihs (as) warnings, the people continued in their ways on overcome by doubts. But still, there was a group who believed in the prophethood of Salih (as) and those were the ones who were saved along with Salih (as) when the great catastrophe came. The leaders of the community tried to oppress the group believing in Salih (as). Moreover, a certain group openly denied Salih (as). A group among those who rejected faith supposedly in the name of Allah made plans to kill Salih (as). Salehs people disbelieved and thought he was bewitched. Then they asked him to show them a sign from Allah that he was indeed a prophet. They pointed at a huge rock that was standing by itself, and proposed to him that he ask his God to create a she-camel out of it. They of course thought that it was a good way to dumbfound him and silence him. But Saleh, in turn, took a strong oath from them that if Allah provided them with this sign they would believe in him and follow him. He then fervently prayed to Allah to answer their request. The huge rock moved and split and from it came a wonderful she-camel, which was pregnant and soon to give birth. Allah provided the Thamud people this miracle which was also a test for them, to see if they obey His orders. In Quran: Saleh told them: O my people! This she-camel of Allah is a sign to you. Leave her to feed on Allahs earth, and inflict no harm on her, or a swift punishment will seize you! (Hud, 11:64) The she-camel and her young offspring lived among the Thamud people, she would drink from the water of the well for one day, and leave it to them the second day as Allah ordered: She has a right to drink (water), and you have a right to drink water, each on a day appointed, (Al-Shuara, 26:155). Allah ordered Prophet Saleh to tell his people of the camels rights, saying: And tell them that the water is to be shared between her and them. Each ones right to drink being established by turns, (Al-Qamar, 54:28). On the day the she-camel was to drink from the well, she would have enough milk for all the people of Thamud who would milk her and fill all their containers. She would graze in the valley and she was so huge that when she came near their sheep, they would flee and leave the way for her, and the cattle would not come near the well on the day she would drink from it. The Thamud people were very amazed and some of them believed and followed Prophet Saleh. It was clear that she was not a normal camel but was a miracle from Allah and a blessed animal. The disbelievers, however, were very much bothered by her for she was always reminding them of that oath They plotted to kill her and get rid of her, so that way they would use the well every day. There were nine men in the city who were known for their mischief and crimes, and hence they were trusted with the mission of killing the camel. After making sure that all the disbelievers were in agreement to kill the she-camel, the men went out secretly by night to the well when she came to drink water. They hit her and killed her, then ran to kill the child but he ran away and vanish in the mountain from where she-camel came. When saleh (as) heard of their horrible crime, Prophet Saleh (as) warned them saying: Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. This is a promise that will not be belied! (Hud, 11:65). This warning was an occasion for them to repent to Allah, but to the contrary, they not only disbelieved in the threat but also decided to kill Saleh as well. After three days Angel Gabriel (as) shaked the walls of their homes and when they came out of their homes, he made a loud sound by which they were caused to death.Except saleh (as) and his believers. The Pharaoh: The pharaoh who ruled Egypt was a tyrant who oppressed the descendants of Musa (as). He used every means to demean and disgrace them. They were kept in bondage and forced to work for him for small wages or nothing. Under this system the people obeyed and worshipped the pharaoh, and the ruling class carried out his orders, thereby authorizing his tyranny and crazy whims.The pharaoh wanted the people to obey him only, and to believe in the gods of his invention. Perhaps, during that time, there were many classes of people who did not believe in or practice polytheism; however, they kept this to themselves and outwardly did as they were expected to do, without revolting or revealing themselves to anyone.Pharaoh came to know that a child will be born who will be cause of his destruction and death. He gave command to kill all the male children among the children of israel. Ibn Abbas narrated: Pharaoh saw in his vision a fire, which came from Jerusalem and burned the houses of the Egyptians, and all Copts, and did not do harm to the children of Israel. When he woke up, he was horrified. He then gathered his priests and magicians and asked them about this vision. They said: This means a boy will be born of them and the Egyptian people will perish at his hands. That is why Pharaoh commanded that all male children of the children of Israel be killed. But that child was born. He was prophet Musa (as). Even he was cherished by pharaoh in his palace. But after the prophethood Musa (as) conveyed the message of Allah. Musa (as) and Harun (as) went to pharaoh in obedience to Allahs command and conveyed to him the message of the religion of truth. They asked him to stop tormenting the Children of Israel and let them go with Musa (as) and Harun (as). It was unacceptable to pharaoh that Musa (as), whom he had kept near him for years and who most probably was to have been his successor on the throne, stood up to him and talked to him in this manner. For that reason, Firawn accused him of ingratitude. In Quran: (Firawn) said: Did we not cherish thee as a child among us, and didst thou not stay in our midst many years of thy life? And thou didst a deed of thine which (thou knowest) thou didst, and thou art an ungrateful (wretch)! (Surat ash-Shuara: 18-19 Out of pride and greed for power, pharaoh did not listen to what Musa (as) said. He tried to make fun of him, attempted to prove his power, and denied him. At the same time, he aimed to portray Musa (as) and Harun (as) as anarchists and accuse them of being politically motivated. Finally, neither Pharaoh nor the leaders of the people within his close circle, except for the magicians, obeyed Musa (as) and Harun (as). They did not follow the religion of truth shown to them. Therefore Allah first of all sent some disasters to them. pharaoh and his close circle were so deeply engaged in their polytheism and their idolatry, that is the religion of their ancestors, that they never considered leaving it. Even the miracles of Musa (as) were not enough to make them move away from their superstitions. Moreover, they expressed this openly. They said: Whatever be the Signs thou bringest, to work therewith thy sorcery on us, we shall never believe in thee. (Surat al-A‘raf: 132) Because of their conduct, Allah sent them a number of disasters as separate miracles to make them taste the torment in this world, before the eternal torment of the next world. The first of these was drought and scarcity of crops. In relation to the subject, it is written in the Quran: We punished the people of Firawn with years (of droughts) and shortness of crops; that they might receive admonition. (Surat al-A‘raf: 130). However, instead of taking heed as they should have, they held all that had happened was because of ill fortune brought by Musa and the Children of Israel. They were overcome by such conviction because of their superstitions, disobedience and devotion to the religion of their ancestors and, as a result, they suffered great distress for years. Allah sent to them a series of disasters, and warned them. These disasters are described as follows in the Quran: So we sent (plagues) on them: Wholesale death, Locusts, Lice, Frogs, and Blood: Signs openly self-explained: but they were steeped in arrogance a people given to sin. (Surat al-A‘raf: 133) In pharaohs time, this kind of chain of disasters appears to have occurred. According to this scenario, when the Nile was contaminated, fish also died, and the Egyptians were deprived of an important source of nutrition. Without predator fish, the frogs could initially breed freely in both ponds and the Nile and thus overpopulate the river, eventually escaping the anoxic, toxic, and putrefying environment by migrating to land, hence dying on land and decomposing along with the fish. The Nile and adjacent lands thus became fouled, and the waters became dangerous to drink or to bathe in. Moreover, the extinction of frog species causes bugs such as locusts and lice to reproduce excessively. Finally, no matter how the disasters took place, and what effect they left, neither pharaoh, nor his people turned to Allah by paying heed, but they continued in their arrogance. Musa (as) set out from Egypt with the Children of Israel who obeyed him. However, pharaoh could not accept their departure without his permission. He and his soldiers followed them . By the time Musa (as) and the Children of Israel reached the shore, pharaoh and his soldiers had caught up with them. Some of the Children of Israel, who saw this, began to complain to Musa (as). This weakness of the community is also described in the Quran in the following verse: And when the two bodies saw each other, the people of Musa said: We are sure to be overtaken.' (Surat ash-Shuara: 61) Allah revealed to Musa (as) that he should strike the sea with his rod. Upon this, it divided, and each separate part became like the huge, firm mass of a mountain. (Surat ash-Shuara: 63). In ordinary circumstances, at the moment when pharaoh saw such a miracle, he should have understood that there was something extraordinary about the situation that he was seeing Divine intervention. The sea opened for the people whom pharaoh wanted to destroy. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the sea would not close back after they passed across. Still, he and his army followed the Children of Israel into the sea. Most probably, Pharaoh and his soldiers had lost their ability to think reasonably because of their insolence and spite, and were unable comprehend the miraculous nature of the situation. The Quran describes the last moments of pharaoh as follows: We took the Children of Israel across the sea: Firawn and his hosts followed them in insolence and spite. At length, when overwhelmed with the flood, he said: I believe that there is no god except Him Whom the Children of Israel believe in: I am of those who submit (to Allah in Islam). (Surah Yunus: 90) The People of Madyan: The people of Madyan were Arabs who lived in the country of Maan, part of which today is greater Syria. They were a greedy people who did not believe that Allah existed and who led wicked lives. They gave short measure, praised their goods beyond their worth, and hid their defects. They lied to their customers, thereby cheating them.They led a very happy and a prosperous life. Due to Allahs grace and endowments, they were very wealthy. But instead of thanking Allah for His bounties, they turned greedy and started cheating and betraying people in business. They used to cheat in weighing goods i.e. when they sold goods they weighed less whereas while buying they asked for more. Fraud and deceit were commonplace and the one who was more expert in this field was considered more intelligent and wise. Allah sent His Prophet Shoaib (as) armed with many miracles. Shuaib preached to them, begging them to be mindful of Allahs favors and warning them of the consequences of their evil ways, but they only mocked him. Shuaib remained calm as he reminded them of his kinship to them and that what he was doing was not for his personal gain. In Quran: And to Madyan (We sent) their brother Shoaib. He said, O my people! Serve Allah, you have no god other than Him. Clear proof has indeed come to you from your Lord. Therefore give full measure and weight. And do not diminish to men their things and do not make mischief in the land after its reform. This is better for you if you are believers. (Araaf: 85) Shoaib (as) prohibited the people from committing such contemptible deeds, and also reminded them about Allahs chastisement. But people mocked at him and said, You want us to worship as you worship? You expect us to leave the religion of our forefathers? You expect us to employ some other method in our trade? You want us to deal honestly and suffer losses? Never! Certainly we will never heed you! Since you have become old and also have children, we pardon you. Else we would certainly have stoned you to death! They seized the belongings of Shoaib (as) and his followers, then drove them out of the city. The Messenger turned to his Lord for help, and his plea was answered. Allah sent down on them scorching heat and they suffered terribly. On seeing a cloud gathering in the sky, they thought it would bring cool, refreshing rain, and rushed outside in the hope of enjoying the rainfall. Instead the cloud burst, hurling thunderbolts and fire. They heard a thunderous sound from above which caused the earth under their feet to tremble. The evil doers perished in this state of horror. PRESENT: Todays Muslims are the followers of the last prophet of Allah, Muhammad (s.a.w). He was sent as a seal of prophets. As Allah also declared that Muhammad (s.a.w) is the seals of prophets and after him no prophet will come. He (s.a.w) was the noblest man on earth ever. And no one will come better than him. We are his nation known as Muslims. Todays Muslims are proud to be Muslims. But should they really get proud of it? Todays Muslims are also involved in the activities the previous nations used to be involved in and they cam to no good end. They were perished by Allah. Muslims are involved in different sins like; stealing, killing, greed, not to be thankful to Allah, arrogant, mean, boastful, diminish, and the worst sin shirk. As it

Roswell :: essays research papers fc

Science Fiction Final Project: Roswell On the night of July 4, 1947 a thunderstorm filled the sky with loud blasts of thunder and a distinct sound accompanied by a bright flash of light. Giving little thought to the strange occurrence, Mac Brazel went back to sleep and decided to inspect the damage in the morning. In the morning the farmer and his son were surprised to discover an area where pieces of metal were spread throughout the field. Mr. Brazel knew that the pieces appeared to be very strange so he loaded his truck with some of the debris and took them to the closest city, Roswell, which is some 75 miles from his farm. The Roswell sheriff looked at the debris and decided to call the Roswell Army Air Field. He thought that the pieces could be the wreckage of a top-secret project and that the army would be the best authority for the situation. The Army checked and found that, in fact, no secret projects had been performed in that location. Jesse Marcel and Captain Sheridan Cavitt decided to drive to the farm outside of Corona, New Mexico and look at the crash site for themselves. Upon seeing the crash site, they mutually decided that the wreckage was not from this world and that they must alert the Pentagon. The Pentagon already knew by this time what was happening in Roswell, and General Clemence McMullen told Roswell Army Air Field that they must cover up the whole story. Thus the government of the United States decided to lie to its citizens. Extraterrestrials exist and have visited our planet. The United States government as well as many other worldwide governments have proof of UFO existence but are afraid to release this information to the general public. It is up to the general public to examine the evidence and decide whether UFO’s exist. If the government is going to continue a policy of denial then the citizens must begin a policy of belief. Whether policy makers are afraid of UFO’s effect on national security or the potential mass hysteria that could follow such a release of information, the people must not sit back and let evidence of extraterrestrial contact slip through the cracks. A UFO crashed into the side of a mountain on the night of July 4, 1947. The alien craft had malfunctioned that may have been caused due to the thunderstorm.

Email Privacy Issues :: essays research papers

Email Privacy Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a result of recent lawsuits against many organizations, companies have developed a policy on proper email practices on company computers. No longer is your personal email regarded as private when accessed on a company’s computer. Companies, in order to decrease lawsuits and increase productivity, have purchased email monitoring software to track email usage during work hours. Therefore, with the onslaught of email monitoring, is a private email really private?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In NetworkWorld’s The Perils of Privacy, Sharon Gaudin discusses the benefits of a company having a well-defined email policy. She provides the pros and cons of whether a company should invest in an email monitoring system. According to Gaudin, companies are held liable for what their employees do when using company equipment. A joke between to college buddies can be deemed sexual harassment by the company and open up a lawsuit if it ends up in the wrong hands. Because of this, companies have begun monitoring not only emails that employees send, but the websites they visit. Is this ethical? Some would say yes. A company has to protect its name and assets. The business arena is just for that†¦business. Employees are not paid to do personal business on company time. Leisure activity on the internet slows productivity and costs money. On the other hand, if a â€Å"clerk uses her lunch break to scan the Web for information on abuse victims, [and] the info rmation she calls up also flashes onto a screen in her boss's office, and now he knows a secret she never told anyone,† isn’t that a violation of her privacy?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While this issue seems to be one of ongoing debate, I am one who does not take sides. On one hand I can see the need for corporations to monitor their employees. Information within an email can be deemed unimportant to the mission and goals of the company.

The Evolution of Lilith :: Lilith Essays

The Evolution of Lilith The first appearance of Lilith came in the form of a cameo in a story called the "Prologue of Gilgamesh". In it, a great tree is described, obviously the tree of life. On the top of a tree rests a bird, possibly an eagle, and in the center lives a "dragon[who] had build it's nest there...the demon Lilith..." This can be equated with the Midguard Serpent of Norse mythology and various other chaos creatures who lived and gnawed on the Tree of Life. The purpose these entities served was one of balancing the Yang with the Yin, tempering the force of Creation with the force of Destruction, order with chaos, as one cannot exist without the other. Thus Lilith, and other so-called "serpents" served an important purpose, that of keeping the Yang under control, and thus also serving a psychological purpose. When one rests too much in the light, one can develop a self-righteous attitude, and starts to think that they know everything. This was the true nature of the state Adam and Eve were in before the serpent in the garden, who was Lilith as we shall later see, were in....Adam and Eve had the false sense of security that they knew everything there was to know and carried within them the forces of creation (Yang). Lilith, on the other hand, who was the personification of Yin brought them down to earth when she got Eve to eat from the tree. Where Yang says "I know the right way, I know everything", Yin says "You don't know everything, you never will know everything, and there is no right way." Thus, Adam and Eve were brought down to earth, so to speak, when they partook of the fruit. The expulsion from paradise symbolized their acc eptance of reality, and Yahweh's displeasure symbolized humankind's need to control and escape reality. As one can see, each character in the story of the fall are archtypical symbols for forces within the human psyche... Going back to Lilith, after her appearence in the Prologue, she became described on tablets found in ancient Sumeria as "the hand of Inanna" who swept men into her temples for sacred sexual rights. Lilith became the symbolism of feminine allure, the dangerous seductive qualities of the dark moon.  Ã‚   Though she was never a Goddess in Sumerian lore, Lilith was nonetheless an important enough figure for later cultures to take note of her.

Overview of the Film Freedom Writers Essay

Based on a true story, Freedom Writers is an inspiring film about a young teacher named Erin Gruell (played by Hilary Swank) who chooses to work at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. It is a school that is torn by gang violence and racial tension due to the recent integration program in that district. The story begins in 1994, Erin is a newly hired teacher at the high school and is assigned to teach Freshman and Sophomore English. Teaching at the school is nothing like what she expected, as fights constantly break out both inside and outside of the classroom. Additionally, students come to school strapped with guns (if they come at all). The teachers have very little faith in the students and the students have very little faith in Erin Gruell, but as time goes by she develops their trust and respect. Erin throws out her more traditional lesson plans and instead appeals to the students by having them write daily journals about their personal stories. She teaches them about the Holocaust, Anne Frank, and takes them on field trips and to restaurants. At the same time that Erin tries to reach out and inspire these young people, Erin faces a divorce and protests from her fellow coworkers. However, Erin rises above these adversities to inspire her students to soar to new academic and personal heights, none of which they ever thought were imaginable. Erin displays unwavering faith in her students and in their capacity to learn. Likewise, these students find faith in themselves and each other and previous gang, racial, and territorial divides are broken down as students like Eva, Jamal, Marcus, and Brandi gain the courage to do what’s right and improve their lives. The ending is incredibly motivational as Erin gets 35 computers to be donated to her school so that her students can compile their stories from their journals into a book that would eventually be published in 1999. Most of her students went on to college and broke from their previous lives.