Author: chris

            Advertising targets the consumer and ensures that the customers consume their products and services (Chetan 613).  Therefore, these advertising agencies use different media to advertise these products and services to their audiences. This media includes television, radio, magazine, billboards and many others. Therefore, these adverts have aroused public interests on whether some of these adverts are good for children putting in mind that the cognitive of children is not able to perceive some of the ads in the right way. This, therefore, comes to a question of moral ethics in the advertisements.

Alcohol ads portrayal and exposure through television affects children in a negative way. These children are not able to distinguish between the realities in these ads hence distorting their worldviews. Many children actually may be pushed towards testing alcohol after they have seen these ads. For instance, in the circumstances that the ads portray certain brand of alcohol as energetic and refreshing, children may be tempted to try them out and see whether actually it is true. Children often like trying out by experimenting and when they hear that these drinks have some positive attributes as communicated in the ads, they develop anxiety to find out these allegations. Hence, it is true that these ads may influence behaviors among children.

As a matter of fact that these ads may influence negative behavior among children is the exposure of children of violent media contents. This triggered violent behaviour among children, as they wanted to experiment. According to Chetan, approximately 70% of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco ads are advertised on the television. These ads are used in music and movies and the fact that children like music and movies, they face a big challenge as they hear and imitate what they observe and catch. This affects them afterwards in their lives to come.

According to Russell, Dale, and Grube television programming are notorious in portraying alcohol products.  A study on the prime time in television found out that approximately 71% of all the adverts depicted alcohol use, while almost 80% have mentioned on its consumption. This is an alarming statistics, putting in mind that children are watching television at this particular time. The television ads are marred with many ads on alcohol without thinking about the effects such ads do to them. This elicits mixed reactions to whether media owners, manufacturers, and the advertisers consider the repercussion they cause to the cognitive of children in their quest to get high profits. For example, a series known as Two and a Half Men was confirmed to carry contents, which was of concern to young audiences (Russell, Dale, and Grube 93) (as cited in Posnenr 2009).

According to Russell, Dale, Grube media, and especially television sometimes complicates issues in alcohol advertising; sometimes they portray consumption of alcohol as positive while on other occasions as negative. Furthermore, most ads that run ads on alcohol normally treat drinking as humorous effect and associate it with outcomes like camaraderie (93). These kinds of portrays confuse the minds of children who make decision to drink in the pursuit of emulating and feeling the way media portrays.

According to Melissa, an average child watches and approximate of 40,000 television commercials in every day in reference to the statistics from the American Association Report (2). These ads are many and are not sifted to suit a given category of children hence posing a threat to these children.  Therefore, children getting access to these ads and their thrilling messages motivate them towards drinking hence impacting on their psychology. These children, grow knowing that taking alcohol is not a bad thing.

As a measure to control these ads by television, several countries have set laws that govern advertisements of alcoholic beverages on the media more so on television. Some of these laws require advertisement of alcoholic related products in specific times that children are not watching television or by giving warnings on the limits of age and the effects of drinking among many other laws. However, many countries have not yet adapted to these laws and others flout the same laws. Yes, indeed these ads are good as they help in reducing child exposure to alcoholic ads, but they orient children to be future drunker. Some children may develop an affinity of drinking in future hence leading to increase in rates of drinkers in a country.

Government, media owners, and advertising agents should put their efforts together on the best approaches in advertising their products to safeguard the young generation from alcohol ads. The effects of children succumbing to drunkenness are high if appropriate measures are not put in place to regulate television ads. The morals of our children are in danger especially at this 21th century where technology is in every village across the world. Remember that prevention is better than cure. All that is required is ethical broadcasting aimed at fostering moral standards of the society through good child nurturing and orientations.

Does The Communist Manifesto address a universal audience? Is it relevant to the history of world civilizations? Or is it only relevant to European history?

The Communist Manifesto addresses the existence of class struggles in the society. It discusses the crisis that would result from capitalism and therefore, its historical importance cannot be ignored. It foreshadows the overthrowing of capitalism by socialism and ultimately by communism. Communist Manifesto is not only relevant to the European history but also addresses a universal audience.

The document can be referred to assess the historical viewpoint concerning the capitalist system and relate its impact on different civilizations. Marx not only criticizes but also portrays the strengths of socialism. This has influenced a number of historians and other scholars to form their own opinions regarding the system. Karl Marx gave birth to communism, which is an ideal society where resources are distributed evenly such that no classes could exist, a society where the rich and poor are equal. He addresses its ideologies and less on its implementation. It portrays the revolutionary history where the class system, is overthrown and a global market is created where people can socially interact. However, in my opinion, this global market or what is referred as free trade has facilitated globalized capitalism, which is marked by transfer of production, financial/economic crisis, technological shifts, food insecurity and job crisis. The document therefore, offers insight to the crisis facing a society. In the twenty first century, overproduction as a result of globalization has led many nations into deep economic crisis.

Historical experiences such as Black Death which hit medieval England in the 14th century chiefly portray the significance of the Communist Manifesto. The plague made a distinction between the central & late middle ages. The plague killed millions of peasant workers in Europe and many of then demarcated creating shortage of labor force. Therefore production such that it could not sustain the rich since the profits were minimal hence the society fell into deeper economic, political and social crisis shortly after the Black Death. The few peasants that were left could demand higher wages and therefore, the Feudal System was introduced to keep them in their lands and to restrict their movement. This angered the peasants and eventually led to the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Moreover, decolonization, which involved gain of independence by African nations from the colonists, was also an indication of revolt since the colonists subjugated the natives for years. The imperial governments during the post war era faced economic constrains since its production was minimal and therefore, could not sustain their political command in these nations.

The Communist Manifesto is a guidebook for any society that wants to do away with capitalism where the majorities, who are poor, are subjugated by the few rich whose aim is to maximize profits. Currently, this has taken various forms such as internationalization of trade where there have emerged multinational corporations that are owned by the rich. These invade the developing countries and overtake the means of production to maximize profits. The multinationals suppress the small upcoming industries in the nation in which they operate, utilize cheap labor from these nations, and even influence the policy making of the nation to favor their operations and to secure their existence and that of their property. Moreover, with globalization, many developed nations import cheap labor from the developing nations for low wages and poor working conditions. Therefore, the capitalist society that is criticized by Karl Marx in the communist manifesto is still relevance today now that capitalism has taken different forms. In conclusion, the document not only address Europe but also other parts of the world, with current examples of communist societies like Vietnam and more so, china, which is currently rising as a leading economic power.

The Children of Men: Hope lies in doom

Based on the novel The Children of Men by PD James, the film Children of Men (2006) directed by Alfonso Cuaron basically follows the main story in the novel while creating some significant changes in the characters. The most important adaption in the film is the change of Jasper and his wife who represent the older people in the world during the infertility. In his film, they are the key characters that Cuaron uses to reflect theme of the film: the question of faith and chance and the irony of the cruel reality of the world they live in. Cuaron bases on the fundamental aspects depicted on the novel and expand these concepts in order to develop the theme of the movie. It is arguably evident that the movie serves to comment the dominant problems that are facing the world in the modern times including racism, infrastructure destruction, an increase in terrorist activities, environmental problems and government oppression. Such a situation is characterized by hopelessness in the future. The bleak future is noted infertility of men, resulting to the end of civilization due to cruelty and despair; a situation whereby there is no child born. The movie leaves out the suicides, the carrying out of fake dolls to represent babies, baptizing of kittens and the treatment issued to the immigrants. Another notable deviation from the novel is that the movie highlights the increasing cases of miscarriages, resulting to a situation whereby infertility is being directed to the males and more equilateral. The ultimate difference between the novel and the movie rests on the role assigned to Theo, who is not a hero in the novel. The movie depicts Theo as a reluctant hero. For instance, this is evident by the manner in which the movie depicted the death of Theo’s daughter as an accident, while in the Novel Theo is depicted as killing his daughter.

In the novel, Jasper is just a very ordinary old man who kills himself after losing his hopes for life; his death also coincidentally offers Theo and the Fishes with the care and necessities they need to get Julian to safety. In the film, however, Cuaron makes a new definition of Jasper. His true value is not only reflected as a plot device, but also as the key to the meaning of film. In Cuarón’s film, Jasper is essential to understanding ideas about humanity, which mainly centers on the existence of human kind in the future. When Theo, Mariam and Kee are at the Jasper’s house, the conversation between Jasper and Mariam is the most meaningful part in the film where we begin to think about the contradiction between faith and the reality that challenges your faith. In order for the following dialog to mean something to your reader we need to know a bit more about Miriam and Kee. Who are they? Why are they at Jasper’s house?

– Jasper (continuing): So, you’ve got faith over here, right, and chance over there.

– Mariam: Like yin and yang.

– Jasper: Sort of.

– Mariam: Or Shiva and Shakti.

– Jasper: Lennon and McCartney.

(Laughing)

The conversation is valuable because Theo is actually listening at the other side of the room. The death of Julian, who was the subject of the conversation affected Theo’s character at that moment, which influences his behavior later on, his dedication to protect Kee even he needs to sacrifice himself. From Theo’s perspective, he may not think about why and the question of faith so much. He may even not try to struggle but just let himself be lost in the world where everyone seems to have given up his or her hopes or interests in the beautiful life. He drinks and gambles, becoming the typical person that lost himself in the deteriorating world. We can see that Jasper’s emotional support for Theo far outweighs the material support. We first meet Jasper when Theo goes to visit him after the explosion in the café and Jasper is his mentor. Usually the insider would get confused and it is the outsider could see clearly and give advice to the insider. The insider is usually caught up in the problem and does not have an overview of the problem, while the outsider is the person who is not necessarily part of the problem and can offer a comprehensive overview of the problem. Theo is the insider who is confined in the negative environment around him and Jasper is the outsider that enlightens him. As Theo stands in the scene where Theo is looking at the picture of Julian and Dylan:

– Jasper: You see, Theo’s faith lost out to chance. So, why bother if life’s going to make its own choices?

– Mariam (still looking at the photo): Watcha! Baby’s got Theo’s eyes.

– Jasper: Yeah.

– Mariam: Oh, boy. That’s terrible. But, you know, everything happens for a reason.

The dialogue helps in bringing forth the main theme in the movie. Is it the faith that determines our lives, or the chance? What Jasper infers is true. If we let the chance dominate our lives, why we bother struggle to hold on our faith. We can see from the film that Jasper has his strong faith; his faith to his love Janis; his faith to the free country life; his faith to scarify himself to save Theo and his faith to humor even in the last few minutes in his life. Jasper based on his faith to accept the state of affairs. But Theo is different. He is defeated by the chance because of the death of his child Dylan whom he used to put his belief on. At the first, he has no other choices but agree to get a passport for Kee, partly because he wants the money or he wants to rebuild the relationship with Julian. However, when we see his tears at the simple burial rite for Julian later on, we believe that his decision to help Kee is redemptive. It is redemption for his faith he holds before, the faith he used to put in Dylan. Besides, the firing and the explosions are the straightforward representation of the susceptibility of faith to chance. Julian used to hold a faith that they can solve the problem with the government in peace. But the faith is again defeated by the crucial reality when the government takes away their dignity.

Together with the problem of faith and chance held by Jasper in Cuarón’s film, is the irony to the complex world that we can see from Jasper’s wife Janis. The close-up of her photos and posters reveals her past of protesting the Iraq War and being tortured by the government. And at the place where Mariam is pulled out of the bus in the refugee camp, the dolly shot captures the scene of people being tortured outside the bus. Their heads are wrapped by black bags and they all face to one direction and are on their knee. It reminds us of the picture of American soldiers torturing the Iraqi. The small details Cuaron adds to the film may not be so apparent but definitely make the film more significant in questioning the public on drawbacks of human nature. Under the long shot of the refugee camp, even Baghdad is like a paradise. The only thing that is considered good out of a world characterized by poverty, insanity and violence is the birth of a baby. Everyone tries to touch the baby and every soldier stops to look at the baby. But it is only a second. The most moving moment in the film ends up with the most heartbreaking scene when they start firing again when the baby is away. For most of them, we do believe, have lost their faith and have surrendered to the harsh truth that human civilization is dying.

In the end of the film, Theo and Kee finally escape from the refugee camp and get to the place they could meet the Human Project. But Theo dies because he gets shot when he wants to protect Kee from Luke. But his death is worthy, not for the safety of children of men, but for the redemption of his belief that died with

Dylan. Kee is safe and we still keep the hope for the survival of humanity. This poses significant concerns as to whether humanity can continue trusting on the faith or that their survival is solely determined by chance. The future of humanity as depicted in the not clear at the end of the film owing to the fact that it does not base on either faith or chance. As it is said in the film, “The future is a thing of the past”. But what we do gain is a more hopeful final scene than we have in the novel because Cuaron uses Jasper as a model to tell us to keep our faith even if we are doomed.

Introduction of the Judaism

Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism is a one-God religion. It is a clan religion for the Jews and its sacred text consist of the Hebrew Bible, especially books of Torah. It’s an ethical religion founded on laws. They do not have common dogma that individual should practice in order to be a Jew. However, at the center of this faith is the belief that Israelites are God’s chosen people and are the mentors of other nations. They also believe that God made an agreement with Abraham, and reiterated the same with Isaac, Jacob, and finally Moses during the Ten Commandments, that bided their manner of worship and the way they handle each other.

To them Jerusalem, is an important city since David’s rein. In 586 BC, the destruction of the temple in took place, but Jews hope that messiah will help to restore their nation (De Lange, N. 2000). During the fight against Roman Empire, destruction of a second temple occurred and as a result, Jews were scattered all over the world and today they live in many countries. With this scattering Rabbinic Judaism evolved in the place of the Jerusalem temple cult.

Judaism continued to follow strict laws and ethical standards and knowledge about their faith recorded in the Mishna and Talmud. Judaism then evolved to two kinds of Judaism in the middle ages. Those of Sephardic and Ashkenazi both practiced in different nations. They also started to practice mysticism such as Kabbala esoteric writings, of 18^th century and Hasidism or Chassidism movement. In the 19^th century, another split in the form of Reform and Conservative Judaism came into view. Other branches of Judaism include, orthodox, Reconstructionism and secular. This religion has many symbols attributed to it, but the Shield of David is very common. In this paper, I will describe what I learnt about Judaism following the visit of Congregation Ohabai Sholom Synagogue of Nashville, and contrast it with Islam.

Review of the Worship site

Ohabai Sholom Synagogue of Nashville temple, begun in 1851 as a congregation meeting point for Reform Judaism and comprise of Jewish community living in Nashville. It is located in Harding Road in Nashville. Inside the synagogue, a congregation that comprise of males and females of different ages interact freely. There are no benches reserved for any gender, rather people sit together regardless of sex. There is a belief that the synagogue is a place to meet with God, regardless of the type of Judaism an individual subscribe. In addition the Congregation coming to this place comprise of faithful of all ages and origins.

Interview with Joel Steffel

Joel was born in Nashville in a family of five and they live close to the Ohabai Sholom Synagogue. He works as a businessperson in Nashville selling fresh produce from the farm. Majority of his friends are women and they work very well with him. In this interview, he described to me the development of his understanding and practice of Judaism.

“My Judaism faith is something that I learnt through the ways I was born and raised. My parents were great believers of Judaism and I followed them like a duck in water. I learnt as I grew up to accommodate each other regardless of age or gender. I was also taught to continue the teaching to others including my children so that they can also pass the same message to their children and their grandchildren. We were taught to be kind and considerate through simple activities that helped us to develop these virtues. We were also taught that it is wrong to discriminate each other and to be unfair. The book of Torah provides us with inspiration information from our ancestors that can help us to model our morality and ethics. However, life is a continuous process and we must apply our fair judgment in its application on our daily lives. Education is a very important tool for making men better and that is why it is good to pass our knowledge to the next generation as well as apply the contextual understanding in a meaningful way.

About sins, each society is responsible for the evil things that its people perpetuate and past sins cannot be used to justify wrong doings in the present. Therefore we were taught that we shall get salvation if we continually improve our self as well as make the society a better place to live in. laws to us are evolving codes that keeps on changing with each generation. Therefore, religious practices that are not in harmony with the reasonable demands of a civilized community must not be adapted. For instance, we do not belief in rituals like circumcision. To us ethics are of great value as opposed to believe in ritual hood. Actually, even in the modern world the types of ritual that people follows are not the same as those followed by our ancestors in the Bible. In addition, sexual affiliations have also changed and men and men are getting married. This therefore calls for critical analysis of the Talmud literatures as opposed to following it directly. So generally, for us we believe that humanity is progressing from a particular moment and every day is an opportunity for each person to better his or her morality and ethics. Therefore, somebody will be remembered because of his deed that will continue into the future of generations to come.

Concerning women participation in religious function, we strongly advocate for democratic involvement. This is because to us equality between men and women is of great importance in ensuring that there is social justice in the world. Therefore, you will note when you visit our synagogues that unlike other branches of Judaism, both males and female intermingle freely in the various benches. More to that, we belief the word of God should be shared in the different languages in the world and not to be restricted to just one of them. Therefore, in our synagogue you will find us using English language together with Hebrew. To me Judaism is the light of the world. I was born in a community full of all forms of discrimination. People hated each other because of the color of their skins, religious beliefs and other social stratifications. Consequently, Judaism with its promise for equality, fairness, and concern for other is the light that this world needed to be the better place for thriving of humanity. I looked up to my ancestors and such as Samuel Holdheim and others who have shown us that this world can go beyond the racial discriminations by marrying people from  different races. These people to me emphatically argued that ethics as opposed to the laws of the Bible are the most valuable teachings that we can derive from it.

My father as I told you was an ardent believer in Judaism. As a result, for me the learning process was not so difficult because the old man gave me many teachings about the faith. From his teaching that we should learn to coexist peacefully with our neighbors, I thought about the various injustices that are taking place around us. However, sometimes this commitment has not been a smooth ride. Often I have found myself questioning the principle of being fair to others. This is especially because people in this world are so much concerned about survival for the fittest as opposed to the well-being of humanity. This world is full of injustices and nobody seems to care. For instance, our brothers living in some parts of this nation are languishing in poverty and yet there many others who have more than they need. When I reflect at some of the ways this world treat some people, I cannot help it but feel that there is no need for fairness. However, every time I visit the synagogue, the Rabbi tells us of how our ancestors suffered, and discriminations they passed through, my faith is strengthened.

In terms of my work, I am a businessperson dealing with household foodstuffs. This makes it easy for me to interact with the most socially discriminated upon human beings. That is women, in almost every moment of my life. I find a lot of pride in this job because it offers me an opportunity to further my belief and to learn more about women and those socially discriminated upon.”

Is drug testing good or no good in high school?

Why do students in high school indulge themselves in using drugs? Students in high school experience peer pressure, and that is when they get involved to peer groups and share a common figurative image.  They consider taking drugs as an influential characteristic from their peers. Some of them purchase certain norm from their friends and parents should consider being reliable for guidance and concealing to their children. Drug issues have been a worldwide debate that most countries involve to save their children from the calamity of drugs, but the question still remains unanswered on whether drug testing is good or not good in high schools. Look at a country where drug testing is not done, putting in mind, drug peddlers are seen anywhere in the world, they distribute drugs to everybody in need of them and do not consider whether the buyers are at a young age or an old age, what they need is to sell the drugs and get money. In such a country, drug risks lie on the young people who have a great influence from other parties on the consequences of taking drugs.  According to this, drug testing in high school has a great advantage since children have graduated from their childhood and are meeting adolescent partners who have both positive and negative influences. Peer group start in high school where children encourage each other to perform activities that generate attraction from other friends. They try to involve in drugs like marijuana, nicotine, cocaine and heroin (Louria para 3).  Parents and guardians should not assume that their children are safe enough from other peer groups. They should indulge and encourage the government and other any supportive drug companies that are against drug taking in high schools. A high percentage of deaths caused by drug taking are commonly found in high school.

Probably, drug testing is the only way a parent can be able to know whether the child is involved in drugs. But the outcomes of the process of testing drugs in a child can be negative to the relationship between the child and the parent. Look at a process whereby the child discovers that the parent stole her hair to be analyzed for drug testing; the relationship between the parent and the child becomes ruined. This means that it is not an easy process to put a student on drug testing process; it is a process which needs a lot of counseling.

Drug testing in high school creates awareness between the child and the parents. In the process of taking drug testing, the drug testing doctors provide counseling periods where the child is involved in a counseling talk with the doctors. Specific advice is given to the student and encouragements on taking the drug testing process are also provided. This gives a chance to the student to negotiate the importance of drug testing hence awareness is created when the child knows the consequences of drug taking. It gives the student a way out of drugs.  It is an advantage process to the parents of the drug victim to establish on how to help their children out of drugs and the influencing peer pressure (Dupont & Lisa 13). The parent creates a position of knowing what is going on with his/ her child. Most of the students get involved in drugs when they join high school therefore , It is more significant and encouraging when the student and parents know the consequences of drug taking when the process of taking drugs is detected at an early stage.  The parent will be in a position to understand, seek advice and be able to control the student’s life before it is too late on drug taking.

When the process of taking drug testing is introduced in high schools, many drug officials relate and conduct searches on the type of a particular drug that is highly used in the community. To obtain a positive result, the research to be conducted is very important for the officials to be able to test a particular type of drug. The major purpose of drug testing is not to violate students and make them seen as drug users. The major fact of testing students is to keep them off from using drugs and assist the students who may be drug dependents.  In the process of drug testing, the confidentiality of a student is well taken care of and privacy of the student is not deterred (Yamaguchi & Patrick15). Once the student is approved positive on drugs, a lot of concerned is created on how well the student should be kept away from drug. This is whereby the students’ parents are involved and a lot of counseling is required.

Some experts oppose drug testing in high school, for instance the American Academy of Pediatrics introduced a policy statement that opposed drug testing in high school, and they argued main concepts on safety, privacy effectiveness and accuracy on drug testing. They explained that to rehabilitate high school students from drug taking would need more research and issued recommendations to parents who are concerned about their children getting involved in drugs. They explained that the parent should consult the child’s primary care physician or a health instructor rather than being reliable on drug testing (Taylor Para 16).

However, many experts have argued that drug testing should not be encouraged in high schools.  Research has been conducted on marijuana taking and almost 40% of the students take marijuana in high school and a large percentage of about 75% take alcohol within duration of one month (kern et al. 5). The experts argue on the dimension of how the drug testing will deter such students from taking drugs.   Another research back in 2003 was conducted in Michigan University and the results showed that drug testing had no impact on drug use in high school.  Students tested in a particular school and students who were not tested in another school had almost the same use of drugs. In fact, high school students were found to be highly in use of marijuana drug. Such results appeared to be negative on drug testing due to a number of reasons. Drug testing is not reliable, for instance testing urine for drugs gives 47% accuracy (Kern et al. 3). Drugs being tested include even the common cold medicine which shows up amphetamines which is a false positive.  The results prove that students involved in drugs due to the traces of amphetamine seen in drug testing process but they come from the drugs provided for the common colds.  Drug testing can also have impacts on constitutional rights and principles such as innocent until proven guilty. The process of drug testing requires a person to be proven innocent and interfering with the principle of innocent and guilty has an impact. The fourth amendment of the American constitution states that people have the rights against searches and seizures. Drug testing is an unreasonable concept according to the constitutional rights because there is no need of suspecting a student is using drugs and if there was suspicion then a drug test would be introduced (Thomas 10). This means that drug testing in high school is testing student without any suspicion. Then this lies to a common question, what if the government decided to take a search of drugs in the house of citizens? It is unconstitutional idea without a possibility action.

Drug testing in high school is a major process that should be defined by the government and accepted by the society. Parents and the government are supposed to know that students in high school have peer pressure. Drug peddlers are able to sell drugs to students, and students are capable of taking drugs due to their peer influence. Students in high school tend to meet different type of students from all types of life living either from a poor background to a rich background, but the status of the child coming from either poor or rich background does not deter them from using drugs. A student can be introduced to drugs and get addicted to drugs like the fellow friends. Drug testing in high schools gives a wider opportunity of the government to relate the security of the young people and the risks that should be avoided at an early stage. Therefore regulation of drug taking is made easy and creation of awareness is introduced to the student and the parent through drug testing in high school.

God is Brazilian (2003)

The movie, God is Brazilian is a religious comedy directed by Carlos Diegues addressing the story of a saint, who disregard the existence of God. The cast includes among others, Antonio Fagundes who acts as God, Wagner Moura as Taoca, Paloma Duarte as Mada, Stepan Nercessian as Baudele and Hugo Carvana as Quincas Batalha. The so called God goes to northeastern Brazil in search of a saint who would substitute him.

The story discusses the encounters of the protagonist, Taoca who is a fisherman and deceptive man whose ambitions are minimal. As he drifts in his boat to conceal himself from a loan shark that he is indebted to, he meets a strange person straddling on a buoy in the deep ocean, one who regards himself as God.  As Taoca introduces himself, the stranger declares that he is God. In the beginning, Taoca ignores the claims of the man but later witnesses his heavenly  powers as he perform miracles since he is neither wet nor is there any boat nearby, which surprises Taoca on how the man got to the mast of the ship.

From the movie, the God is on vacation as the creator of the universe and as a ruler of mankind, whom he bestowed with free will but has destroyed his creation. The god therefore, has to look for a person who could take his place of ruling the universe temporarily as he takes a rest. Together with Taoca, the two friends actively move to the countryside in search of a new and only saint, Quinca who could suitably take over his role. Sooner than later, they encounter Mada, an attractive woman, whom they help to reach to Sao Paulo to mourn her mother’s death and escape from her cruel father. The three goes ahead to search for Quinca with no money or food, but chatting amusing stories along the way. Irrespective of his disbelief in a supernatural being, Quinca meets all the other aspects to take over the role of the God. Quinca devotes his life for the sake of the poor, selling his mules for people who later misuse the money he donates through partying and drinking. Ironically, he pioneers the building of an irrigation dam in the drought stricken region, only for the wealthy land owners to chase all the peasants away for selfish gains.

The movie is not only entertaining but also contains great characters. It is full of empathy for the impoverished Brazilians in the countryside. The movie addresses development of relationships, ethical and values that should be upheld in the society. It depicts the pursuit of exploring nature undertaken by both mankind and God. The beautiful scenery in the movie is both captivating and amusing. The exquisite cinematography depict the natural environmental beauty of the Brazilian landscape, green forests, waterfalls, blue sky, and the blue ocean with sandy beaches, which triggers a feeling of adventure. The God avoids performing miracles in order to obey the laws of physics without which would cost him a lot of efforts to keep the natural balance. The god is neither conversant with modernity and material gains as well as other aspects of nature, as they proactively track down Quinca. This demonstrates god’s naivety and his being detached from human condition.  The plot asserts to the man’s free will and how he could use it to make life better or abuse it to hurt nature.

Declaration of Independence vs. The Gettysburg Address

            In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas organized his thoughts in a coherent manner. In the first paragraphs, he opens his statement to draw the attention of the audience on the main topic. He however, does this indirectly by referring to the Great British nature of colonizing nations and impeding them their freedoms.  He therefore moves to substantiate his claims by arguing that all human beings are entitled to their rights as they are created in the image of God. This statement triggers emotions of the audience to rise up to the occasion and demand for their freedom.  He also uses facts in his speech; he lists the forms in which the Great British Prince has impeded the achievement of freedom in various colonies that they have established their presence. This listing helps to enhance understandability and present the effects and the sufferings that the Great British has caused to other people. He also uses “We” to demonstrate teamwork and unity of the Americans. This style helps in building cohesion and unity. For instance, he refers to all the representatives of the united colonies as a team, to appeal to the supreme courts on their intentions. This style helps in creating harmony, spirit of togetherness because of its inclusivity.

On the other hand, the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln is organized in terms of time. In his introduction, he introduces his speech by drawing back to the past on how the American fore fathers struggled for t their independence.  After reflecting on the past, he tailors his message to the current situations that America is witnessing-civil war –and therefore reminds the people of the importance of devoting their efforts on ensuring that they live and respect the sacrifice that the fore fathers went through by living in harmony. He finishes his speech by delving on the future since the present actions were important to the future. He uses pronoun “we” to demonstrate that the initiative to ensure that everyone is free rests solely in every American

In the independence of declaration, Thomas Jefferson, is appealing to the Great British prince, to end his tyrannical system of government, which is advanced to its colonies. The author points out that the treatment and denial of liberty and freedom of happiness should be reinstated in the British colonies. The colonies need to oppose such tyrannical form of government, which deter their enjoyment of rights and freedoms.  The Prince of Great British has contravened the enjoyment of these rights in many countries through his bad and oppressive legislations and leadership. Therefore, the independence declaration was aimed at  giving the British colonies power to retaliate the British administration in whatever means possible including  wars, formation of alliances to attain peace , engage in trade and  enjoy the rights and freedom of humanity like any other people do.

In the Gettysburg address, Abraham is concerned about the future of the America nation as a country.  The civil wars that faces America seems to distract the dreams and the devotions the fore fathers struggled causing many of them to die. They fought for the liberty and freedom for every person and therefore small differences should not cause any major problem but rather people should dedicate their lives to the nation.  Therefore, he urges all people to unite and endeavor to fulfill or complete the journey that the ancestors began by securing them independence.  Living and forging to fulfill the dreams and wishes of the fathers who struggled will be the only way of acknowledging the good work and initiatives of these fore fathers. He wishes to see a future America that shall promote freedom and have a government that will respect its people what he calls the government of the people, by the people, for the people.

It is apparent that both the speeches have similar intentions focusing on good governance and equality. For instance, in the independence declaration, the need to end tyranny is highlighted most while in the Gettysburg address, the need to uphold to good governance where the rights and freedoms of all citizens are emphasized. They are also organized in a way to touch the emotions of its audience for example through employment of pronouns like,”we” to promote unity and togetherness. Therefore, the speeches form a good basis for good leadership and the need to respect humanity freedoms and rights.

Rock ‘n Roll in the Year of 1963

Rock and Roll is an historic art scene that is not only defined by music, but also a good performance that correlates its language to a meaningful aspect. Rock ‘n Roll is defined as an association of the society according to their culture and lifestyle.  It is a tradition formulation and a belief system that is used even up to date.  In the modern world, Rock ‘n Roll is seen more as a window of history and a major component of American culture that was totally discarded and collected again, and a new form of its beginning began.

“Rock ‘n Roll evolved as a significance of the World War II, which had ended” (Madani 1). Back in history, by 1946 the American servicemen went back to their families to settle after being held for almost 5 years. The population of the Americans increased tremendously after many babies were born after duration of five years. This meant that the American society would experience a large population of young generation in the next twenty years, from 1953.  In the early sixties, rock was established but its roots evolved in different places within the country. It first started as a big band of the war era and many people in the society listened to the innovative youngsters.  Most famous stars included Count Basie and Glen Miller had the greatest hits in America. Even up to today, these famous rock hits are played in the society meaning that the society recognizes their importance.  “In 1963, Rock ‘n Roll came to an end and rock music was born. This happened after the assassination of Kennedy John and Lyndon Johnson became the president. In Vietnam, the government declared poverty reduction after increasing taxes, and the government defining its powers in a new dimension. Many youths took the opportunity and created their own groups where they could write and perform their own music” (Madani 2). This is when the evolution of rock music came into recognition in the society.

Rock ‘n Roll is more of an art in different ways, for instance, in instruments, performance and the code of dressing by the artist. It is a musical style that is encompassed with different guitar instruments.  The electric guitars are designed in a way that they can play a combination of blue and pop music creating a harmonious performance.  The uses of the swing have contributed to a steady beat that is performed together with the guitars.  A piano of boogie woogie releases a drubbing sound. “Rock ‘n Roll comes in many dimensions, including gospel, romantic harmony of the pop music, country songs with the viewpoints of focusing on interests of the audiences and the society’s moral value. Rock ‘n Roll has evolved from its traditional roots, and the mode of dressing by the artist performing stipulates more on the kind of music they perform. Culturally, dressing by the rock stars was according to the cultural basement of the society, and its moral integral values” (lee 106).

“Rock ‘n Roll was seen as a significance that talked more of sexuality, but had its market based on the true performance of the happenings in the society, and how the society lived and viewed its culture” (Townsend 6). Rock ‘n Roll defined the American literature in ways. Its language defined the American language that was based in the World War II era, and how Americans were liberated from its roots to a new era free of war crimes. “Rock ‘n Roll represents the American literature as as significance of the society where by people are able to know and learn from the roots of their own culture. It is true to say Rock ‘n Roll has stood for its culture” (Lee 107).

“Back in 1963, science and technology was being invented especially in the era where by cars were highly recognized and individuals preferred owning a car more than a television set, because the cars were affordable” (Madani 3). Technologically, innovation laid a meaningful basement to the popular Rock’ n Roll. The famous rock star known as Gibson defined an electric guitar, which was characterized by a solid body in 1952, and later the guitar was designed by Les Paul. In 1953, Leo Founder introduced a more modern type of a guitar that was known as the modern Stratocaster guitar. Later in the early 1950s, the first juke box was introduced, which played 45 rpm records. The invention of the juke box took place early increasing the number of RPM played and by 1963; the juke box was more modernized to play at around 78 RPM. In 1963, the Japanese company was in a position to introduce a more modernized version of a music play known as the Sony. Sony was the world’s famous transistor radio that turned popular music to universal language. “The introduction of Sony by the Japanese electrical company defined a new dimension of music for the world to view it not as popular but as a component that is enjoyed worldwide.  The Japanese company introduced the Sony radio at an affordable price that introduced universal music at every corner of the world” (Madani 4).

COMPUTERS

1. (20%) Design a wireless home network. First, describe the type of usage you and your family members would require. Then include at least 4 components that would be connected to the network. Then provide a list of the required hardware (assume you now have nothing), the types of software, connectivity components, etc. required to fully implement the home network. Don’t forget to address security issues – what are the risks and how would you minimize those risks.

Network requirements

The fundamental requirements for the home network include access to the internet, file and device sharing. The availability of the network should be 100 percent because some of the family members undertake their work remotely. The bandwidth should also be reliable because the data transfer will be a mix of video, audio and data.

Components connected to the network

a)      Five PC workstations

b)      Printer and scanner

Required hardware, software and connectivity components

a)      Five PC hardware units

b)      Wireless router

c)      Printer and scanner

d)     Five wireless receivers for the PC units

e)      An operating system and associated user licenses

f)       Network management software

g)      Firewall application software for network security purposes.

h)      ADSL cable modem for internet connectivity

i)        Wireless network security application software application.

One strategy to ensure wireless network security is the issuance of static IP addresses to users so that their activities on the network are traceable. Security applications such as proxy firewalls need to be implemented to the wireless network to enhance security (Earle, 2005).
2. (15%) Name and describe three specific ways that people’s privacy is being threatened. Explain what measures can be taken to guard privacy in the situations you’ve described.      People’s privacy is threatened mainly through a breach of the aspects of confidentiality, identity theft and information collection. Confidentiality breaches usually involve an unauthorized disclosure of information to unauthorized people. Confidentiality is needed although it is not enough to guarantee people’s privacy (Anupam & Lauren, 2008). It can be eliminated through encryption of information and restriction of access to systems that hold personal information of individuals. Identity theft involves a scenario whereby a person usually uses the identity/ credentials of another person for ill intentions such as gaining access to information and data theft. Identity theft can be avoided by making use of double authentication and verification in order to ensure that a person is who he/she claims to be. Information collection serves to violate people’s privacy even in cases whereby the information is not used. In addition, information can be collected using methods that respect privacy, but they can be processed in a way that it interferes with privacy. This can be reinforced by ensuring information security and that information gathered is used for its intended purpose without making the information available to secondary users. This helps in eliminating potential cases associated with information disclosure (Anupam & Lauren, 2008).
3. (15%) Explain what computer-based information systems are; describe three types of information systems, the audience or level of management served by each, and how the systems provide benefit to the organization.

A computer based information system can be defined as type of an information system whereby the computer is solely responsible for handling and disseminating organizational information in order to enhance organizational efficiency (Effy, 2008). The three types of computer based information systems include transaction processing system, management information system and decision support system. Transaction Processing Systems are mainly serve to replace manual data processing systems and are used for data processing during the daily organizational activities that can range from the corporate to business level transactions such as customer payments, orders, corporate funds payments and other business activities. Management Information Systems are used to offer input to facilitate the process of managerial decision making in situations that are well structured. Decision Support Systems on the other hand offers input to facilitate decision making process in ill structured decision situations (Effy, 2008).
4. (15%) What are the differences and similarities between the four types of memory chips described in your textbook? Describe in your own words to demonstrate your understanding. If you were upgrading your home computer for Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010, what type of memory might you want to increase and what is the recommended amount?
There are different types of memory chips that can be used in enhancing computer memory; they include the Synchronous DRAM, Double Data Rate SDRAM, Rambus DRAM and DRAM. A notable similarity across all the types of the memory chips is their volatility, while they differ significantly on the data transfer rates and ultimately performance requirements. When upgrading to Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010, an upgrade on the RAM is required with at least 1 GB so as to meet the minimum system requirements.
5. When is it best to use a pie chart? Give two business examples in support of your answer.

A pie chart is best when making statistical data comparisons and making visual representations of the data. Business examples that require the use of pie chart includes data representation of the volume of sales of the various products and representation of the percentage profit margins.
6. What is conditional formatting with Highlight Cells Rules? Give one example of how this feature can be useful in business.

Conditional formatting with High Light Cells Rules is mainly used in the highlighting and finding information according to the established cell rules. The Cell Rules can be based on certain established values for the cells, color, and data type and so on. This feature is important in the context of business applications because it can be applied to highlight sales of products that have not reached a certain threshold value.
7. What is the difference between a relative cell reference and an absolute cell reference? When would you make a reference absolute? Provide an example of when you would use an absolutely cell reference.

Referencing in excel helps in the identification of cells or a range on an excel worksheet and serves to tell excel where to search for the values to be used in a formula. A relative cell reference implies that excel will adjust the formulas depending on where they have been copied. Absolute cell reference on the other hand does not serve to adjust the formula when they are copied to other cells. The F4 button can be used to switch between the absolute and relative cell reference. Absolute cell references are used in cases whereby one does not want excel to adjust the formulas. For instance, the formula (=A5+B8) can be converted to an absolute reference when copied to another cell by use of the dollar sign in the sections of the formula that do not need adjustments. This results to = (A5*$B$8).
8. What are the four ways to add a function to a formula?
The four ways of adding a function to a formula in Excel include using the use of the Insert Function tool, using the Auto sum function, typing the formula and the function in the status bar and typing the formula and the function in the cell. It is important to note that using the cell and the status bar requires the use of “=” prior to insertion of the formula and function. For instance C5= (B4+B5).
9. Provide an example demonstrating the benefit of a relational database.

Using a relational database helps in the avoidance of errors owing to the fact that data types in the data base are related, any cases of inconsistencies in the database and redundancy are likely to be indicated. This helps in facilitating data analysis and visualization, and manipulation of the data.
10. Why is it important to back up your database? What are two specific methods to perform this backup?

Backing up the database plays an integral role in recovering the data in the event of natural disaster, damaged or hardware failure and theft of hardware.
11. What are the benefits of using Slide Master View in PowerPoint?

The Slide Master views makes navigation in the slide presentation easy, facilitating the location of contents. The Master Slide View also facilitates the organization of the content in the slides by facilitating the insertion of footers, dates and slide numbers. The significant advantage of using a master slide is that it easy to modify the slides because a universal slide can be created to make adjustments to the rest of the slides, this helps in saving time in cases involving long presentations.
12. Describe how you would apply slide transitions to your PowerPoint presentation. Discuss what you should consider when using transitions timing options for your animated objects.

Slide transitions can be applied by going to the Animations Tab and selecting the type of transition applied to the presentation slides. The transition styles include fades and dissolves, wipes, push and cover, stripes and bars, and random transition style. When using transition timing options for animated objects, it is important to consider the
13. Name the five views available in Word, and identify which of those five is the default view.
The views available in Word include print layout, Full Screen Reading, Web Layout, Outline and Draft views. The default view is the Print Layout view.
14. Why is it important to select the appropriate Reference style for your paper? What does Word require you to do before it can create a bibliography? What are the two choices for titling your references section?

Selecting the appropriate reference style is important in order to match the bibliography with the format requirements of the paper. Creating a bibliography in Word requires the use of additional bibliography add-ins apart from the default reference tools available in Word. The options available for titling the references section in Word include the use of Built-In reference titling that includes the use of Bibliography and Works Cited tools. Bibliography includes all the sources associated with the document.

 

 

 

 

Interview with a gay person

Nowadays, the number of gays has dramatically increased particularly among the young people. The gay community comprises of people from all parts of the world, who have come together to seek public acceptance and probably find consolation, with regard to their sexual orientation. Alf, who is gay, was interviewed for one hour regarding his sexual orientation and experiences. He is only twenty six and his first gay sexual encounter was when he was in college. All the same, he admits that his first feelings of attraction to men started when he was a teenager in high school and that was the time he realized he was gay. The term ‘gay’ is hereby applied to mean a person who is identified as a homosexual or one who prefers/attracted to the members of the same sex for sexual experiences. Alf’s personality and the way he talked about his gay experiences intrigued me such that I had to question my stance on the issue of whether there is a gay gene or the behavior is simply learnt.

Alf admits that homosexuality is still highly stigmatized and as a result, he lost most of his close friends in college when he became public about his sexual orientation. For him, the most thrilling experience of being gay in New York was when his Muslim parents discovered his preference and threatened to excommunicate him from his family. Now that it is more frequent to find gay couples, there is less stigma and more public acceptance than ever before. Alf maintains that he prefers to socially interact with men since he feels more comfortable with them as compared to when he is with women.

From the interview, the big challenge that people like Alf are facing in the society is opposition by religious organizations and lack of legal rights to safeguard their interests, which are different from the general public. Religion still classifies gays with sinners while the legal systems sometimes mistake them with criminals. This prejudice and stereotypes against gays is attributed to psychological distress, which is not unique to Alf. Alf disclosed that he has faced job discrimination since he became public about his sexual orientation. Alf, who is currently unemployed, asserts that “being gay is sometimes grieving. Imagine missing a job interview because you are gay?” The hiring prejudice due to sexual orientation cannot be justified since the stereotypes making gays to be disqualified from the hiring process, irrespective of their skills or abilities are irrelevant.

From this interview, it was notable that sexual orientation results from intricate interaction of genes and the environment.  From several studies however, being gay is typical and constitutes a variation of human sexuality. The fact that the gay gene has been suggested is still debatable, on whether homosexuality is genetic or environmental. If it is genetic, at least all cultures should have it but it is still absent in some. Moreover, it has been referred as a social/historical creation since the identity was inexistent in the eighteenth century. Interestingly, from the interview, it was clear that human sexuality, whether dependent on nature or nurture, is a right for every individual. What can still be questioned is whether Darwinian’s concept of natural selection still holds for gay couples. This is because although there is mating, reproduction is absent in these people.

However, gay couples like any other enjoy their sex life and that seems to just work fine. Although gay people have continued to face stigma, they have sought public acceptance through creation of advocacy groups such as the Gay Community and Gay Rights Movement. Value for diversity with regard to gay persons is essential since they provide multiple experiences and a proactive stance that could pave way for more innovations in future. For instance, this has prompted several scholars to focus their attention on isolation of the gay gene since such behavior is also exhibited by other animals. Seeing the world from a different perspective makes life more interesting. This perspective could help to integrate the gay community into the rest of the society.