George Clooney - Oscar Award Acceptance Address for Best Supporting Actor free essay sample

when the legends die essays

when the legends die essays The book, When the Legends Die, was pretty good. Then some idiot had to go and make a movie out of it. In contrasting the two, I found alot more The first similarity came when Blue Elk came and took Thomas Black Bull to the reservation. Tom had trouble with the kids as in the book. Brother Bear was chained up and eventually Tom took him back to the woods and left him just as Tom did in part I of the book. Of course, Red Dillion was a jerk in both the movie and the book, although the book illustrated a better image in the readers mind. There were quite a few things the two had in common but the differences I am not going to attempt to represent every difference but I wil give a few examples. For instance, we first see Tom, or any characters for that matter, after George and his mom dies. The movie represents Tom as older, during his rodeo days. In the book, during Red and Toms 2 fight, he only knocks him down but in the movie he beats him up really bad. He goes home with the nurse but in the book he does nothing of that sort. So far he hasnt gone for the bear yet but were The book had alot going for it and I thought that it was much better than the movie. The movie was a horrible experience and is probably the only time I wished my teacher wouldnt have shown it. Usually, I like the movie better than the book but this was the exception. Whoever made this movie should be charged with murder (of the book). The movie missed alot of the key points. The movie was interesting and did illustrate some things better than the book. It did an excellent job of show Toms transitiion from rags to riches. In addition, the movie moved alittle faster which made it more exciting. I believ ...

Happiness and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Happiness and Religion - Essay Example This study discusses that the happiness of individuals can range from their religious background, activities, culture and aspects of life.   Religious groups have a belief that their happiness comes from the relationship between them and their God. The theory of happiness attempts to explain the ultimate reason for humankind existence is happiness. â€Å"happiness is this feeling of existence".This quote reveals how happiness is a major determinant of the future of human kind.From this paper it is clear that human kind happiness is affected by many other factors that revolve around him. Psychological happiness can be determined by three components. Happiness can be due to genetic factors, circumstances, and activities. A large percentage of the human beings happiness is due to genetic factors where some of the individuals are joyful than others. Some individuals are born as good comedians, which reveal their state of mind as positive or jovial. Demographic factors like age, gender , culture and geographic factors affect the happiness of individuals. Happiness can be affected by age where you find children are happy than their parents. Responsibilities as parents affect the happiness comparing to children who do not even realize the meaning of responsibilities. The activities that individuals involve themselves in also determine of their state of their minds. According to psychologists, individual careers can affect their happiness since some of the careers tend to be stressful.... Islam’s belief that as believers who love their God Allah and have faith in Him should be contented with his verdict (Gulla, 84). All Gods commandments according to Muslims focus on bringing happiness to believers. The Muslims belief that there is nothing too big or small that is not clearly covered in the Islam teachings. Islamic religion is said to be the complete way of life. The Quran teaches individuals to be optimists in life, always be at peace, rejoice and be joyful in all aspects of life (Chittister, 24). Religions have specific holy days, which are the most important days in their religious life. Christians have Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter Monday as their hold days. These specific days are happy moments for all Christians worldwide. Muslims also have their Eid ul fitr as their holy day. The religious groups use these special days to make peace with God and seek for spiritual guidance. They believe that making peace with God is a path to inner happiness, which in turn lead to success. According to the holy books teachings marriage is considered as holy union. The holy books are used to educate couples on their biblical roles of husband and wife. The Bible teaches us on the secrets of happy marriage. In addition, Christian’s couples who follow the holy book teachings and guidance are assured that they in the path of success. In real life, the non-religious are not welcome in religious countries and are believed to be perpetrators of evil deeds. On the other hand, in the non-religious countries all individuals regardless of their religious background they are welcome. Religious individuals are believed to have a happy life than the non-believers since they have no

The Osu Caste system amongst Igbos in Nigeria Essay

The Osu Caste system amongst Igbos in Nigeria - Essay Example Some attributions to clarify this point can be taken from the fact that under flimsy pretexts some people may even be declared Osus if they do not practice the conventional practices of the presumed superior class of society members. The Osu are considered as untouchable in Nigeria and unfairly portrayed as being lazy, dishonest and dirty with repulsive odour as an overall people of almost 2 million who despite legislative laws continue to suffer injustice and social disabilities in our modern times that still has primitive mentalities. (Untouchability in Nigeria & Victor Dike, Sacramento, California) The origins of the Osu caste system is a debatable issue as they are viewed with conflicting representations. According to some this system come into existence when people become slaves for rituals after being dedicated to Gods and thereafter it was considered taboo for other people to socialize with them. This system can also historically be dated thousands of years back when the rules of Osu must have been decided upon with the requirement factors of communities and villages to have dominance over the minorities. A source also claims that after a community, village or town lost a war; its inhabitants became Osu to placate their conquerors and would be obliged to give some of their kin for sacrificial purpose to the gods of their victors to appease them. These victims eventually became the slaves of the conquerors and lived in their temples and shrines dedicated to the gods of their victor's in their towns and were originally named as the Osu. It is incredible that the Osu caste system effects much of the population that stays on the eastern side of the River Niger in inflicts emotional and mental distress on being alienated with some villages continuing to discriminate even generation upon generation of the first Osu specifically when it comes to the issue of marriages. The terrible caste system nightmare continues to therefore haunt the 2 million Osu people absurdly even in the 21st century. (Osu caste system: 21st Century absurdity in Igboland) People termed as Osu and its Heredity Traditionally the Igbo society is split in the Diala (also known as the Nwadiala) as the freeborn people and the Osu as the untouchables and as culturally the Osu people are portrayed as being unclean, they are presumed to have the capacity to defile others and they are therefore isolated out of fear that they would contaminate society. However as the earlier Osu generations were allowed to be non-celibate even when they were slaves, their children continued to inherit their Osu status. As the Osu caste system is deeply rooted in the Southern Nigerian society, the Osu can not even farm next to the Diala; on dying the can be buried on designated days and they can not become rulers or representatives of communities and there is such deep revulsion of the Osu that in the Igbo society that marriages precede investigation by the Diala to verify that the bride or groom is not by any

Compare between criminal law and civil law Essay

Compare between criminal law and civil law - Essay Example All through history, all social orders have had criminal codes for managing behavior .Democracies have constantly tried to change their fundamental standards and goals into achievable objectives through an arrangement of laws that adjust the privileges of people with the convincing needs of society in general. These objectives incorporate open request, residential peacefulness, and security of the fundamental privileges of people (White and Edward 19). The justice system works effectively when majority of individuals accept that the laws are sensible and that the system can work productively and viably. The issue of what laws ought to be endorsed regularly causes a serious debate. Members elected to represent the people often participate in enacting the laws of their people. Branches of government that ensure criminal laws are formulated and implemented include the executive, the judicial, and the legislative branch. Bahrains lawful framework is taking into account a blend of British Common Law, Islamic law, tribal law, and other common codes, regulations, and traditions (Cotran and Eugene 56). The constitution accommodates a supposedly free legal that has the privilege of legal audit; in any case, courts are liable to government weight in regards to verdicts, sentencing, and bids. Individuals from the law making family are members of the legal system and they participate in making the laws. Previously, the king and other senior government authorities have lost common arguments brought against them by private residents; notwithstanding, the judgments were not generally actualized speedily, if whatsoever. The constitution points out that the lord designates all judges by imperial announcement. The constitution does not give an authoritative extension affirmation process for legal nominees nor does it create an arraignment process Cotran and Eugene 63). The Bahrain criminal law is a type of Islamic law (Cotran and

Assessment Of The Clash Of Civilizations Politics Essay

Assessment Of The Clash Of Civilizations Politics Essay Huntington (1993) argues in his well-known theory about the clash of civilizations that the future conflicts in the world will be between civilizations, most especially along the fault lines of these civilizations. He identifies seven or eight civilizations, namely the Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin-American and possibly the African civilization. This paper will first examine the arguments Huntington employs in favour of his thesis and the critique formulated on this. The second part will look deeper into the research on war causation to look if conflicts can indeed be explained by intercultural differences. 2. Huntington and his critics (300-500) The first argument in favour of the civilization thesis is that, according to Huntington (1993, p. 25), differences among civilizations are basic. The differences can be found in amongst others history, culture and religion. Many critics do not agree with this argument, arguing that the division of civilizations would be imprecise and that Huntington is generalizing too easily. Huntington neglects the diversity which exists the world nowadays (Perry, 2002; Veer, 1999; Esposito, 2003). Perry (2002, p. 3) gives an example that neither religion nor alphabet can justify the differences between the Western and Latin American civilization. Another argument is from van der Veer (p. 2), who acknowledges that religion is important when distinguishing civilizations, but that this also counts for nation-states. That Huntington chooses for civilizations and neglects the importance of nation-states is a short-coming according to van der Veer (1999, p. 2), especially because the two world wars wer e between nation-states within the same civilization. Furthermore, there have been many other conflicts within the same civilization (Iraq-Iran; Kuwait-Iraq). The second argument Huntington (1993, p. 25) gives is that world is becoming smaller, so that interactions between people of different civilizations are increasing. This creates consciousness and awareness of the differences between civilizations and can also lead to clashes. According to Perry (2002, p. 4) this argument is slippery, because Huntington is referring to one trend happening in many European countries today but which is not present everywhere in the world. He is referring to the tensions between immigrants and natives caused by immigration to western countries. Besides, according to van der Veer (1999, p. 8), this trend does not per se increase feelings of civilizations but can also increase feelings of nationalism or other forms of identity. Thirdly, the nation state as source of identity will weaken due to processes of economic modernization and social change. These processes throughout the world separate people from their local identities and instead increase religion as a source of identity. Religion unites people across borders and, as religion being an important characteristic of civilization, civilizations will become more important (Huntington, 1993, p. 26). However, critics argue that modernization could also lead to a decrease of religion instead of an increase (Veer, 1999, p. 2). This can be seen in the EU nowadays, in which less and less people go to the church. Besides, modernization led in the past to increased feelings of nationalism, and not to feelings of civilization (Muller, 2008). The fourth point Huntington (1993, p. 26/27) makes is the dual role of the West, which is at the moment at the peak of its power but at the same time the period is characterized by a return to the roots in Non-Western civilizations. According to critics, this assumption is also too oversimplified, as in each country there are pro-western and anti-western individuals. Besides, the last years have showed a growing interest in the West among the mass population. Immigration towards Western countries is because people hope to find better lives in there, and they wish that their countries become like Western countries (bron). Fifthly, cultural features are less mutable than political and economic ones. This means that they are also more difficult to overcome. It is hard to change someones ethnicity and religion (Huntington, 1993, p. 27). However, according to Muller (2008), this does not necessarily lead to a clash. As seen in the past, different ethnicities lived peaceful together in empires without conflicts between them. Furthermore, Huntingtons arguments imply that cultural features are primordial, which means that features are a cultural given and a natural affinity. Besides, he does not make a clear difference between civilizations and ethnicities. According to constructivist theories cultural features are not like kinship sentiments, they are constructed and it is thus possible to change them (Rubenstein Crocker, 1994, p. 118; Oberschall, 2000, p. 982/983). The last argument is that economic regionalism is increasing which will be most visible with economic blocs. According to Huntington, economic regionalism may succeed only when it is rooted in a common civilization, a good example of this would be the EU (Huntington, 1993, p. 27). However, nowadays it is not so obvious that the EU is regarded as a success, taking into account the financial problems in Greece and Ireland. 3. War causation (750-1500) Although Huntington is convinced that the future wars will be between civilizations, the research on war and conflict causation shows different findings. As already seen in the previous section of this paper, the two world wars of the last century were between countries within the same civilization (WW I and WW II). Also the majority of conflicts were within civilizations, which implies more inter-ethnic conflicts (Fox, 2005, p. 448) Also the Islamic civilization has seen many conflicts, for example the Iran-Iraq war and the war between Iraq and Kuwait. These conflicts show that it is not per se about cultural differences, but about national interests. But also conflicts between different religions can have a false image. An example is the conflict in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants, in which political and socio-economic issues and grievances are more important than religion itself. This also counts for Islamic-Christian conflicts in Sudan, Lebanon and Bosnia. From the top it looks like a conflict about religion, however at the ground other issues than religion are more important (Veer, 1999, p. 7; Esposito, 1999, p. 228/229). Furthermore, many of the terrorists attacks in the last decade have been against Muslims in Muslim states. Tensions between Shii and Sunni are still there, and also tensions around the Kurds and other ethnic Muslim groups (Fox, 2005, p. 447). Academics in the field of war causation have much critique on Huntingtons thesis, because there are other important causations for war which he ignores. In this part the following question will be answered: Are ethnic or cultural differences a driver of war, or are there others causations? First other theories of war causation will be discussed and at the end there will be reflection to Huntingtons theory. 3.1 Ethnic and cultural differences as a driver of war Explanations of conflict by ethnic differences is a popular topic in the war causation theories nowadays. However, it is not only popular but it also received much critique. Since the end of the Cold War the world has seen many ethnic conflicts. To name just a few: Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda, Abkhazians and South-Ossetians in Georgia, Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan and Kurds in Turkey. In the debate about the ethnic differences as a driver of war, there is one group of scholars that sees these differences as the main driver. These can be called the primordialists. The primordialists see ethnicity as a given: people are born with it. Different ethnicities can be seen everywhere in the world, the world exists of different traditions, cultures, religions, norms and values (Baumann, 1999, p. 59). Furthermore the world exists of inequalities. Mostly these inequalities run parallel with different ethnicities mentioned before. In other words, inequalities are caused by different ethnicities, because different ethnicities exist just because they are there. The inequalities cause conflicts between different ethnicities. Clashes and conflicts between ethnicities and cultures are thus unavoidable (Baumann, 1999, p. 61-62). Also Huntington can be regarded as a primordialist, because he sees no other option than a clash between civilizations. A clash will occur, just because different civilizations and cultures are there. The second group of scholars are the constructivists. They argue that ethnicity is being viewed as a cogent existential reality, which is a process of reification (Baumann, 1999, p. 61-62). Reification is when an abstract belief or idea is taken for granted as being real. Something which in fact is not real, is being treated and viewed as real, just like ethnicity (Baumann, 1999, p. 63). According to the constructivists ethnicity is made by mankind and it is socially constructed. Baumann (1999, p. 64) gives a clear example of how ethnicity should be regarded: it can be compared with wine, which is made of natural ingredients. But these natural ingredients do not make wine themselves. The ingredients need to be added to each other and they need to ripe. In the end, a wine will have different flavours depending on a certain context. Also ethnicity exists of different natural bonds which do not in themselves create ethnicity. It needs economic and political interests in order to work in everyday life. Furthermore it needs social conditions, because the ethnicity needs to make sense for the people. Furthermore, ethnicity has also different meanings related to various social settings (Baumann, 1999, p. 64). So in other words, ethnicity is a peoples creation based on natural products and not a natural product on its own (Eriksen, 1993, p. 16; Barth, 1998, p. 15). So although ethnicity is being viewed by many academics like Huntington as something absolute and a natural given, in fact it is not because it is socially constructed. People can change their identity (Eriksen, 1993). For the explanation of war this has consequences, because if ethnicities are constructed, clashes between ethnicities could be avoided. There should be some other forces which cause war and feelings of ethnicity. The next part will deal with some of these other theories. 3.2 Other explanations of war Greed: economic factors One group that does not agree with Huntingtons Clash of Civilizations is the group who argue that economic factors are the main drivers of conflict (Collier, 2000). They see greed as the important cause for war (Collier, 2000; Collier Hoeffler, 2004). Economic incentives make rebellion possible and there are groups with economic power who tend to gain from the continuation of the conflict. This has all to do with the rational choice paradigm, conflict gives rebels the opportunity to enrich themselves (i.e. rebels are rational) (Bulte, 2009, p. 2). When looking at the ongoing conflicts in the world nowadays, it becomes clear that in many cases economic aspects indeed play an important role: Colombia, Mexico, Congo, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, etc. All are cases in which drugs, oil or natural resources are (leading) factors in the war. This leads us to the resource curse, which implies that the availability of resources would increase the risk of conflict (Collier Hoeffler, 2004). Resources in a country are associated with 1) a slower economic growth; 2) violent civil conflict; and 3) undemocratic regimes types (Bulte, 2009, p. 2). An important aspect of the greed theory is Cramers (2002, p. 1857) point of view that capital and capitalism is an international phenomenon. He says that none of the contemporary civil wars can be explained without the magnitude of the interests and activities of international capital linkages. Economic powers intervene when they can get profit out of it. It is no surprise that the Middle East has seen so many conflicts in which the U.S. was involved. Oil and natural resources are main drivers to intervene and main drivers for conflict. Grievances: inequality Another group that does not agree with Huntingtons thesis is the group that focus on the explanation of conflict by grievance. Grievance is in contrast to greed rooted in a behavioural paradigm and emphasized by relative deprivation, inequality and social exclusion (Bulte, 2009, p. 2). The definition of relative deprivation is the perceived gap between peoples value expectations and their value capabilities that is, the discrepancy between what people think they ought to get from society and what they believe they will actually obtain (Schock, 1996, p. 101; Gurr, 1970). When people feel they cannot obtain what they want, people feel that they suffer from inequality. The feeling of inequality leads to frustration which may lead to aggression and violence. This happens mainly with people who suffer from social exclusion, for example an ethnic minority (Gurr, 1970). However, critique on the grievances theory is that it does not explain how the people get mobilized. Therefore, political factors should be taken into account. Political factors The last group of theories that will be discussed is the group that explains conflicts by state (trans)formations, weak states and democracies, i.e. the political context. They argue that there is more chance on violence during a period of democratisation than in a full authoritarian or a full democratic regime. This means that when a state is changing from an autocracy to a democracy, the state is in transition and this increases the chance on war. In a transition period a situation of social change, institutional weakness and threatened interests arises. This can produce a political impasse for getting to democracy: it becomes difficult to form stable political coalitions and to gain sufficient support for power (Mansfield Snyder, 1995, p .26). Some add to this that not only transition can explain the level of civil war, but also the degree of democracy (Hegre et al, 2001, p. 42/43). They state that semi-democracies are unstable, because they are partly open yet somewhat repressive: a combination that invites protest, rebellion and other forms of civil violence (Hegre et al, 2001, p. 33). Political participation is ineffective but mobilization is possible. Potentially effective violent protest is thus selected to oppose the government (Schock, 1996, p. 124/125). 4. Conclusion This paper discussed Huntingtons theory about the clash of civilizations and to what extent this theory find its support in research on war causation. Huntington is right to a certain extent, that future wars will be more and more between different cultures. However, the explanation of this statement and a great understanding of what is happening in the world is very important. Clashes between different cultures do not happen just because different cultures are there. Clashes between cultures happen because of a certain context in which they exists and because of certain forces which influence a conflict. These can be economic aspects, feelings of inequalities or the political context. All should be taken into account in order to understand future conflicts. Furthermore it is necessary to say that although Huntington can be right that clashes between different cultures will occur, this does not have to be per se between civilizations. It makes more sense that conflicts happen between ethnicities or nations, also within the same civilizations. The concept of civilizations is too generalized. Only time can learn us what will happen in the future. Literature Barth, F. (1998), Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: the social organisation of cultural difference. Long Grove: Waveland Press. Baumann, G. (1999), The Multicultural Riddle: Rethinking National, Ethnic and Religious Identities. London/New York: Routledge. Bulte, E. (2009) Natural resources and violent conflict: resource abundance; dependence and the onset of civil wars Oxford Economic Papers. Collier, P. Hoeffler, A. (2004) Greed and grievance in civil war, Oxford Economic Papers, 56:563-595. Collier, P. (2000) Doing well out of war: an economic perspective, in: M. Berdal D.M. Malone (eds) Greed and Grievance; Economic agendas in civil wars. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Colorado. Cramer, C. (2002) Homo economicus goes to war: methodological individualism, rational choice and the political economy of war, World Development, 30(11): 1845-1864. Eriksen, T. H. (1993), Ethnicity and Nationalism: Antropological Perspectives. London: Pluto Press. Esposito, J.L. (1999), The Islamic Threat. Myth or Reality?. Third Edition, New York/Oxford: Oxford U.P., 1999, 212-289. Fox, J. (2005) Paradigm Lost: Huntington ´s unfilled clash of civilizations prediction into the 21st century, International Politics, 42:428-457. Gurr, T.R. (1970) Chapter 2, Relative Deprivation and the impetus to violence, in T.R. Gurr, Why men rebel. Princeton: Princeton Universtiy Press. Hegre, H., T. Ellingsen, S. Gates N.P. Gleditsch (2001), Toward a democratic civil peace? Democracy, political change, and civil war 1816-1992, The American Political Science Review, 95 (1):33-48. Huntington, S. (1993), The Clash of Civilizations. In: Foreign Affairs (72,3) Summer 1993, 22-49. Institute of International Studies (IIS) (2003), Islam and the West Conversation with John L. Esposito. In: Conversations with History, Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley. [Accessed 6 January 2011]. Available at www: http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people3/Esposito/esposito-con0.html Mansfield, E.D. J. Snyder (1995), Democratization and the danger of war, International Security, 20(1):5-38. Muller, J.Z. (2008), Us and them. The enduring power of ethnic nationalism. In: Foreign Affairs, March/April 2008 Oberschall, A. (2000) The manipulation of ethnicity: from ethnic cooperation to violence and war in Yugoslavia, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23(6):982-1001. Perry, G. (2002), Huntington and his critics: the West and Islam. In: Arab Studies Quarterly 24 (2002) 1. Rubenstein, R.E. J. Crocker (1994) Challenging Huntington, Foreign Policy, 96:113-128. Schock, K. (1996) A conjuctural model of political conflict: the impact of political opportunities on the relationship between economic inequality and violent political conflict, Journal of Conflict resolution, 40(1):98-133. Veer, P. van der (1999), Political Religion in the twenty-first century. In: T.V. Paul and John A. Hall (eds.) International Order and the Future of World Politics (Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 311-327.

Get Informed! - Buying The Right Computer :: essays research papers

Get Informed! - Buying The Right Computer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Buying the right computer can be complicating. Because of this many people are detoured from using or purchasing a very beneficial machine. Some people have questions about memory, Windows95, and choosing the best system to purchase. Hopefully, I can clear up some of this terms and inform you on what hardware is available.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How much memory do you really need? As much as you can get. Due to todays sloppy programmers, you can't have too much memory. Today's software is about 50 percent wasted code. That means that there is a bunch of memory being used by your computer to do absolutely nothing. It's not like in the past when a programmer had to get a program to run under 512K. Programmers think you have unlimited memory. As a result, the programmers don't worry about how much memory they use. When writing a program, programmers use compilers like Visual C++. When they use prewritten routines from compilers, it adds a lot of useless data. Instead of removing this useless data, the lazy programmer leaves it. Not only does this effect you memory, it also effects how much hard drive space you need. The bigger the program, the more space it takes to save physically. I wouldn't suggest buying anything under a 2 geg hard drive. Why? Because by the time you load you system (Windows95, DOS) and other software; your hard drive is already filled up. How are you going to save your document you wrote in WordPerfect when your hard drive is full? It's usually cheaper in the long run to buy the biggest hard drive available. Plus, you always want to have room for your games. After all, who wants to spend their whole life working?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As far as processors, I suggest the Cryrix 6x686 166+. It's the best processor for the buck. It's one of the fastest. The processor costs about $300 cheaper then the Pentium version. Its got plenty of processing power to play those high graphic 3D games and make your Internet browser fly. It's also a necessity for programs like Auto Cad 3D and Adobe Photoshop.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For video, I suggest at least a 2 meg, Mpeg3 compatible video card. The best all around video card I think is the Maxtor Millennium 3D. It comes in 2meg, 4meg, and 8meg cards. The 4meg card runs around $230.00. You can't beat that. The reason you want the most memory on your video card that you can afford is the more memory you have, the faster the graphics and more colors you