Uncle Bob

I am so excited to go on vacation in Miami, Florida! Best of all, my Uncle Bob is coming with me! Uncle Bob lives in California and is also excited to go on vacation because he has never been out of the state before. Uncle Bob and I were having a great time on our vacation visiting the beautiful beaches and area attractions. In the middle of our vacation, Uncle Bob and I were heading back to the condo we rented when we got pulled over by the Miami Police. Uncle Bob spoke with the officer for a while then was arrested! I couldn’t understand why he was arrested; he was just speeding! Uncle Bob and I had a drink when we at the beach, but that was two hours prior to us leaving so there was no way he was drunk! Uncle Bob had been in some trouble before, but that was in California. Was it possible that his license wasn’t valid? Maybe, but how did a Miami, Florida police officer know enough about Uncle Bob to arrest him? With Uncle Bob’s situation, I have started doing some research of my own; technology has dramatically changed how law enforcement collects, stores, and retrieves information. Law Enforcement personnel are able to easily find information about individuals nationwide. The Miami, Florida Police Department has a fully integrated police records management system which allows law enforcement officers to gather information on an individual’s criminal, probation, court, vehicle, and prison records, as well as local and other agency records. Therefore, the officer who stopped Uncle Bob for speeding was able to access his previous records from the state of California through the use of his mobile office; the mobile radio system, and mobile data computer in his patrol vehicle (Foster, 2005). A Law Enforcement Officer has the ability to access information about an individual by use of their driver’s license or state identification number, or even their name and date of birth. When Uncle Bob and I were pulled over, the officer ran his driver’s license number to check for validation and warrants. If Uncle Bob’s previous charges left him with a suspended license in California, then that would explain why he was arrested here in Florida. Likewise, if Uncle Bob didn’t take care of his responsibilities for the charges in California, he may have a warrant which would also explain his arrest in Florida. However, maybe Uncle Bob didn’t have a suspended license or any warrants issued from California; why did he get arrested then? I know we weren’t in a stolen car because we rented it from the airport when we arrived in Miami. Maybe there was a crime that took place in this area, and a witness gave Law Enforcement a description of the suspect that is similar to Uncle Bob or the rental car? If that’s the case, then the arresting officer must have questioned him of our activities that day to see if we were in the area of which the crime took place. Uncle Bob may have been suspected of being the perpetrator, and was taken to the police department for further questioning. It is also possible that Uncle Bob actually did commit a crime while here in Miami, and that was why he was speeding; to try and get away. However, Uncle Bob has been with me the whole time so I know he didn’t commit a crime here! Perhaps Uncle Bob is still on probation in California, and not allowed to leave the state; if that is so, then the arresting officer could have accessed Uncle Bob’s probation records, contacted his probation officer, and arrested him on a probation violation of leaving the state of California. Also, if he is on probation, the probation officer may have found out that he left California and put out a warrant for his arrest; explaining why he was arrested here in Miami. My last possible thought regarding Uncle Bob’s arrest would be a clerical data entry error. The last time Uncle Bob was arrested; he was incarcerated and served his time. However, the individual entering case information may have incorrectly input his data or input another person’s data with a similar name, under his name, causing Uncle Bob to be wanted in connection with another crime. References Foster, R. E. (2005). Police technology (1st ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/ Prentice Hall. Uncle Bob I am so excited to go on vacation in Miami, Florida! Best of all, my Uncle Bob is coming with me! Uncle Bob lives in California and is also excited to go on vacation because he has never been out of the state before. Uncle Bob and I were having a great time on our vacation visiting the beautiful beaches and area attractions. In the middle of our vacation, Uncle Bob and I were heading back to the condo we rented when we got pulled over by the Miami Police. Uncle Bob spoke with the officer for a while then was arrested! I couldn’t understand why he was arrested; he was just speeding! Uncle Bob and I had a drink when we at the beach, but that was two hours prior to us leaving so there was no way he was drunk! Uncle Bob had been in some trouble before, but that was in California. Was it possible that his license wasn’t valid? Maybe, but how did a Miami, Florida police officer know enough about Uncle Bob to arrest him? With Uncle Bob’s situation, I have started doing some research of my own; technology has dramatically changed how law enforcement collects, stores, and retrieves information. Law Enforcement personnel are able to easily find information about individuals nationwide. The Miami, Florida Police Department has a fully integrated police records management system which allows law enforcement officers to gather information on an individual’s criminal, probation, court, vehicle, and prison records, as well as local and other agency records. Therefore, the officer who stopped Uncle Bob for speeding was able to access his previous records from the state of California through the use of his mobile office; the mobile radio system, and mobile data computer in his patrol vehicle (Foster, 2005). A Law Enforcement Officer has the ability to access information about an individual by use of their driver’s license or state identification number, or even their name and date of birth. When Uncle Bob and I were pulled over, the officer ran his driver’s license number to check for validation and warrants. If Uncle Bob’s previous charges left him with a suspended license in California, then that would explain why he was arrested here in Florida. Likewise, if Uncle Bob didn’t take care of his responsibilities for the charges in California, he may have a warrant which would also explain his arrest in Florida. However, maybe Uncle Bob didn’t have a suspended license or any warrants issued from California; why did he get arrested then? I know we weren’t in a stolen car because we rented it from the airport when we arrived in Miami. Maybe there was a crime that took place in this area, and a witness gave Law Enforcement a description of the suspect that is similar to Uncle Bob or the rental car? If that’s the case, then the arresting officer must have questioned him of our activities that day to see if we were in the area of which the crime took place. Uncle Bob may have been suspected of being the perpetrator, and was taken to the police department for further questioning. It is also possible that Uncle Bob actually did commit a crime while here in Miami, and that was why he was speeding; to try and get away. However, Uncle Bob has been with me the whole time so I know he didn’t commit a crime here! Perhaps Uncle Bob is still on probation in California, and not allowed to leave the state; if that is so, then the arresting officer could have accessed Uncle Bob’s probation records, contacted his probation officer, and arrested him on a probation violation of leaving the state of California. Also, if he is on probation, the probation officer may have found out that he left California and put out a warrant for his arrest; explaining why he was arrested here in Miami. My last possible thought regarding Uncle Bob’s arrest would be a clerical data entry error. The last time Uncle Bob was arrested; he was incarcerated and served his time. However, the individual entering case information may have incorrectly input his data or input another person’s data with a similar name, under his name, causing Uncle Bob to be wanted in connection with another crime. References Foster, R. E. (2005). Police technology (1st ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/ Prentice Hall.

Consciousness mind Essay

The Psyche, is a culmination of how we interpret the world, all our psychological nature. It’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey. The psyches are different paths to knowledge but have the same ending, personal ideas, experiences, emotions, as well as the collective unconscious. Conscious is the only part to the mind that is known directly by the individual, thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting. This is how we grow our consciousness; the attitudes of extroversion and introversion determine how we orient our conscious mind. Individuation, or knowing oneself as completely as possible is how we produce and develop our ego. The Ego acts as the gatekeeper, it determines what perceptions thoughts feeling and memories will enter consciousness. Its what we select to make conscious. The organizational of how we operate. The personal unconscious is the idea of information that we file away in our mind. Its there, but we’re not focusing on it at the moment; it’s below the surface, the storehouse of repressed psychic material Complexes lie in our personal unconscious. They are groups of contents that clump together to form a cluster or constellation. They are separate little personalities within the total personality. They are autonomous, possessing their own driving force, and can be very powerful in controlling our thoughts and behaviors. The collective unconscious is the portion of the psyche, which can be differentiated from the personal unconscious by the fact that its existence is not dependent upon personal experience, composed of contents that were once conscious, but the contents of the collective unconscious have never been conscious within the life time of the individual. Ex: Mans fear of snakes or the dark. Does not learn these fears through experiences with snakes or the dark, although such experiences may reinforce or reaffirm his predispositions. We inherit predispositions to fear snakes and the dark because our primitive ancestors experienced these fears for countless generations. They become engraved upon the brain. Archetypes lie in the collective unconscious, models of our ancestry, it is the endless repetition that has engraved these experiences into our psychic constitution, not in the forms of images filled with content, but at first only as forms without content, representing merely the possibility of a certain type of perception and action. They are universal; everyone inherits the same basic archetypal images. The persona, to take a characteristic that isn’t your own. The persona is the mask or facade one exhibits publicly, with the intention of presenting a favorable impression so that society will accept him. It is necessary for survival, it enables us to get along with people, even those we dislike, in an amicable manner. The anima/animus is the â€Å"outward face† of the psyche because it is that face which the world sees. The â€Å"inward face† he called the anima in males and animus in females. The anima archetype is the feminine side of the male psyche; the animus archetype is the masculine side of the female psyche. Everyone has qualities of the opposite sex. The shadow, is primal and animalistic, it lives in the unconscious. It is projected on the opposite sex and is responsible for the quality of the relationships between the sexes. It is persistent and does not yield easily to suppression. Ex: farmer to poet, burying the idea of being a poet, but an even may trigger that desire. The bigger the personality the bigger the shadow. The self is the organizing principle of the personality. It is the central archetype in the collective unconscious. It harmonizes all the archetypes and their manifestations in complexes and consciousness. It unites the personality, giving it a sense of oneness and firmness. The psyche: a relatively closed system must be dealt with as a unitary system within itself, apart from any other energy system. It is derived from the things we touch, see, smell, taste, feel, or hear. These are the continuous source of stimulation by which the psyche is fed. The psychic energy is the energy by which the work of the personality is performed. Also called the libido, the natural state of appetite, manifested consciously as striving desiring, and willing. Its expresses itself through perceiving, remembering, thinking, feeling, wishing, willing, attending, and striving. It originates from the experiences that a person has. Psychic values, a value is a measure of the amount of energy that is committed to a particular psychic element. When placing a high value on an idea or feeling it can exert a considerable force in influencing one’s behavior. For instance, one who puts a high value on beauty will put forth large amounts of energy to surrounding oneself with beautiful things. This reminded me of my sister in law, whom is obsessed with very beautiful and very expensive things in life. She devotes her time and hard earned money to the material things in life. One might say she’s trying to keep up with the Jones’. She would say she like beautiful and expensive things. Direct observation and deduction, is a complex that does not always exhibit its characteristics in conscious behavior. Ex: The person who says, â€Å"I can’t stand gossips† may be the one who gossips most. Complex indicators are any disturbance of behavior may be indicative of a complex. Ex: when a man calls his wife by his mother’s name, it suggests that his mother complex has assimilated his wife to it. The repressed memory is assumed which has some connection with an unconscious complex so that the memory is swallowed up by it. Emotional Reactions, is the underlying complex. Intuition is the natural and spontaneous capacity every man has to perceive the slightest emotional fluctuation in others. The Principle of Equivalence if the amount of energy cosigned to a given psychic element decreases or disappears, that amount of energy is lost from the psyche; it is simply transferred from one position to another. The principle of Entropy is the direction in which energy flows is conceptualized in physics by the second law of thermodynamics. This principle states, in effect, that when two bodies of different temperatures are placed in contact, heat will pass from the hotter to the colder body until the temp of the two bodies is equalized. Progression and regression, Progression is defined as a person’s daily experiences, which advance his psychological adaptation. One’s progression is a continuous process since his environment and experiences change continuously, which then adaptation is never completely achieved. Regression is the backward movement of libido. Through the collision and interactions of the opposites, they steadily become deprived of their energy. It subtracts energy from psychic elements whereas progression adds energy to psychic elements. Individuation Jung understood individuation to be something that began in the second half of life, when individuals reach the zenith of their lives and suddenly find themselves facing an unknown vista or some unforeseen upheaval. Sometimes this turning point takes the form of a crisis: such as a financial failure, a health problem, a broken relationship, or a change of residence or profession – something which upsets the status quo. Sometimes this experience assumes the form of a profound self-doubt, a loss of meaning or religious conviction, a questioning of everything previously held so dear. Sometimes it presents itself as a deep yearning or a call to change direction. In essence, one could say that the unconscious, or more specifically, the Self (with a capital â€Å"S†), the central organizing archetype in the human psyche, which has seemingly hidden the greatest measure of its influence while the ego has been busy building a life for itself, suddenly the Self returns full force to claim a significant say, if not a central place, in the overall scheme of things. And for what purpose? To call a person to become â€Å"a psychological ‘in-dividual,’† â€Å"a separate, indivisible unity or whole. † Those personal aspects, which have heretofore been disregarded – be they interests, talents, characteristics, experiences, or issues – now come forth to be acknowledged. That which was fragmented now strives for unity. That which was broken now yearns for wholeness. That which was neglected now seeks expression. That which was previously formless in nature suddenly begins to take a new shape, strangely in keeping with what feels like a unique and deeply ingrained individual patterning. The center of the personality moves from the ego toward the Self, in an attempt to establish a new center of the psyche somewhere between the two. There is something in the human psyche, which in its own fullness of time, struggles to produce the â€Å"true personality. † The individuation is an autonomous, inborn process, which means that it does not require external stimulation in order to come into existence. The personality of an individuation is destined to individuate just as surely as the body is destined to grow. But just as the body needs proper food and exercise for healthy growth, so the personality needs proper experiences and education for healthy individuation. For example in the early stages of childhood, of infancy personalities of the child are a reflection of the parent’s personalities, meaning that the child does not carry his own identity. But when the child separates himself from the parents, as in he starts attending school. He will then start shaping his own personality in unique ways apart from the parents. Three facts about Carl Jung. Jung was an introverted child and found happiness in being quiet and being alone. When he was a child he played by himself, since his sister was not born until he was nine. He spent hours inventing and playing games, then abandoning them to devise new and more complex ones. He did not want anyone to disturb him o tot interfere while he played. Jung had religious conflicts throughout his adolescence. Questions concerning religion were taboo. It produced confusion in jungs’ mind but it was the barrier that made communication with his father virtually impossible. He searched unsuccessfully through books for answers to his questions. Religious discussions with his father invariably ended unsatisfactorily, often with fuss and hard feelings. Jungs father died and made his financial situation worse. This left him responsible for the support of his mother and sister. Some of his relatives urged jung to discontinue his studies and seek employment, fortunately, one unclc offered financial assistance to take care of the family and the other relatives loaned jung money to continue at the university.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

War, by its very nature, is an act that is a display of horror, violence, terror, suffering and most of all death (William Einwechter, 2004). But the question is, can the engagement of a nation in a war be considered just? What exactly is a just war? By definition, a just war is a conflict that is engaged by two nations with a fixed set of rules for combat (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006). But this exception applies if the two combatants possess similar traits (Philiosophy, 2006). In the Christian perspective, war, or the engagement in it, is bound by certain qualifications to make the war devoid of sin (Einwechter, 2004).God Himself has depicted Himself as a warrior, waging wars on the unrighteous (Einwechter, 2004). It would be understood that if warfare is inherently evil, then warfare would not be a correct and accurate depiction of God's character (Einwechter, 2004). And second, God directly ordered his people to engage in war, to annihilate threats to their country a nd people (Einwechter, 2004). But to better get a grasp of war, we must include in the two views that are inherent in the decision to see if a war is right or wrong.The pacifist belief holds that all war or the engagement in war is inherently wrong, while the realist belief states that in war, all is fair and right (John Buell, 2002). But the concept of engaging in war cannot be deduced to the superiority of one party over the other in terms of military might (Paul Ramsey, 2002). To Christians, what is made as the case for declaring a war unjust is when the commandment against killing is viewed in a legalistic manner, precluding all other interpretations (Ramsey, 2002).The war on terrorism cannot be viewed therefore as a just and correct conflict (Dale Snauwaert, 2002). Terrorism is not an identifiable enemy, just as what God commanded in the ordering of wars against certain and specific people (Einwechter, 2004). As President Bush's statement attests, the war is on terrorism, not o n a single threat of a nation or alliance (Snauwaert, 2002). The President's â€Å"war† is not with a terrorist nation, but an ideology, a strategy (Snauwaert, 2002). Secondly, in the Bush war, the threat is not imminent (Snauwaert, 2002).It is what the government calls â€Å"pre-emptive action†, an attack against a perceived, not an actual, threat (Snauwaert, 2002). The mandate for the use of violence, such as in engaging in war, is the prevention of violence, not the spread of it (David Nils Gyllenhaal). Citing from law enforcement, if a criminal will do more harm if he is not killed, then the actions in war is to stop the incidence of a nation's actions in spreading its violence, and that will take force to accomplish (Gyllenhaal).ReferencesBuell, J. (2002). Just war theory and the wars of the 20th century. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www. yale. edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2002/3/02. 03. 01. x. html Einwechter, W. (2004). A Christain Perspective on just war. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www. visionforumministries. org/issues/ballot_ box/a_christian_perspective_on_jus. aspx Gyllenhaal, D. (n. d. ). Just war theory: a new church perspective. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www.newphilosophyonline. org/journal/data/111a/Gyllenhaal_Article– New_Philosophy_January-June_2008. pdf. Ramsey, P. (2002). The Just War: Force and Political Responsibilty. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield 2002 Snauwaert, D. T. (2002). The Bush doctrine and just war theory. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www. trinstitute. org/ojpcr/6_1snau. pdf. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2006). Just war theory. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from http://www. iep. utm. edu/j/justwar. htm

Communication in Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communication in Economics - Essay Example The economists on the other hand estimated that that over 10 million dollars are spent each year as an average payment package for the chief executives in only big companies. The economists believe that the people who are on the receiving end of this kind of enormous transfers of the shareholders end ironically want the CEOs to continue. The economists have put it across that letting the excessive pay escalate every year badly hurts the already battered reputations of the American chief executives and from their point of view the silence has been very baffling. The economists also believe that there should be an inter4nal pay equity in every single company so that to avoid this perception that there are better people in the highest realms of business. The economists have also clearly said that with all the scandals that have been occurring in the recent past the CEOs only care about themselves and the idea that they create wealth for their shareholders is seen as the most ridiculous thing. This is true since most of them do not actually do the physical work themselves but their employees do the work and hence they are the ones who have created wealth for the shareholders from the type and the quality of service they provide. The economists further believe that without the presence of the lower level employees the CEOs would not have the companies at all because they would really have an awfully hard time in doing all the company's' jobs at once. Another very interesting issue is that the CEOs in America suggest what they would like to receive as their payment package. It then gets to the human resources person who later gets a consultant and it works so well that the CEOs get what they had implied or what they think they deserve. This makes the CEOs be highly respected by their peers. The economics think that it would be very fair if all the people were paid the salaries that they think they deserve by the companies that they work for. Since paying the CEOs hefty amounts of money leaves the economists wondering what about the people who have impacted the CEOs lives and the teachers who taught them the basic math and even reading. This people do not make millions in a year but they have helped in the creation of who the CEOs are today and if given a chance every one of these people who have worked tirelessly would like to make millions as the CEOs do but it just can't happen. (Noah, September, 1991) The economists suggest that the society has been playing a significant role in allowing the CEOs get much more power than anyone else and they assume that they deserve the credit for building their million dollar companies. The CEOs however play an insignificant role in sustaining the companies and in most instances they do not have to make as many decisions as the board members do or as much work as the secretaries. All the actually do is simply watch and monitor the stock prices and clearly ensure that they are still earning at least a seven digit salary. The boards on the other hand have been made to accept the logic that the CEOs should be in the top half in their pay and if it is not so this leaves an implication to the to the general public

Canadian Economics Policies and employment Research Paper

Canadian Economics Policies and employment - Research Paper Example The control of money supply eventually leads to the changes in interest rates prevailing in the economy. These changes are generally introduced so as to influence other macroeconomic variables / factors, which include employment trends in the country, balance of payments, aggregate demand and supply and production, inflation rates, etc. It cannot be stated that there is a uniform or universally acceptable structure or model for devising the monetary policy of an economy, and depending on the particular characteristics and issues faced by an economy and the dynamics of national and international financial markets, every country designs its monetary policy in its own way (Bernanke & Mishkin, 1997). The objective of intervention in the economy by a country’s government through monetary policy has been largely to influence varying macroeconomic indicators, as mentioned in the previous paragraph; however, the techniques and methods of doing so have revolutionized on a continuous ba sis, which are built upon the conventional mechanisms of controlling inflation, unemployment rates and other variables (McEachern, 2011). The most important change noted in the techniques used to control macroeconomic variables through monetary policy is the shift from direct controlling of money supply through direct intervention of Central Banks to indirect controlling and depending upon market mechanisms and forces to act in a favorable manner (Hirschey, 2009; Nadal, 2001). Keeping in view this background, the present study aims at determining the relationship between monetary policy and inflation trends, with particular reference to the Canadian economy. In this regard, following research question has been formulated, which will be answered on the basis of analysis conducted by researcher in this report. Research Question The research question, which is to be answered in this study on the basis of analysis and findings, is: What is the nature of relationship between monetary pol icy and inflation, with specific regard to the Canadian economy? Keeping in view this research question, this study can be considered as an important contribution to the existing literature pertaining to the relationship between monetary policy and inflation in Canadian economy. Moreover, the fact that this study includes application of various macroeconomic factors and policies, it can therefore be regarded as an important research work for individuals interested in exploring the macroeconomic environment of Canada and how different factors correlate in a practical environment. Research Method Adopted There are two broad approaches of carrying out a research work, which include qualitative and quantitative research approaches. A qualitative research approach requires the researcher to assess information on the basis of its qualitative attributes and aspects. The qualitative research approach may not necessarily produce quantitative results, as it does not make use of quantitative a nalysis of the information. On the other hand, following a quantitative rese

Strategic Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Marketing - Assignment Example Nike’s strategy has always been to develop their brand with global perspective by creating a motivational consumer base for the company. Nike tries to influence the brand perception of the consumers and can sustain it by adding materialistic benefits in marketing strategy. In order to sustain in the competitive scenario, it is recommended to the company that enhancing their business into the motor sports segments will create a bigger market place for the Nike. Also they can develop their connection with the consumers if Nike endorses athletes who are close to their consumers or local athletes. Marketing concepts and strategies are evolving rapidly with the growing competition in the corporate sector. New forms of marketing such as viral marketing, guerilla marketing, etc. are now forming exclusive segments of the marketing process of the business houses. As defined by Beard (2008), strategic marketing helps the firms to align their business objectives with the market demands and creates consumer awareness. Grà ¶nroos (2010) added that the primary objective of a strategic marketing process is to help the business develop a long-term sustainable competitive advantage. Combining the above two definitions it can be observed that strategic marketing helps in developing a competitive advantage by allying the business objectives with market requirements. Nike is known to be one of the pioneers of the modern day marketing process. They have established themselves as one of the leading brands in the sportswear industry (Anderson and Narus, 2007). The strategic marketing concept o f Nike will be analysed in context to the role of services in marketing and factors that can be included to boost the marketing effectiveness of the company. The researcher will try to evaluate the gaps in the marketing strategy of Nike in terms of the service marking strategy and provide

Crude Oil Transport System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Crude Oil Transport System - Essay Example Size is not everything, so the physical character of bulk goods is not the only factor that controls how it is transported. Whilst both definitions describe identical goods and commodities (crude oil, grain, iron ore, coal, automobiles), the first focuses on how these are handled and transported, and the second highlights the economic goal of bringing down costs with properly designed systems that transport the goods from the source to its destination. Bulk goods can be reclassified (Stopford, 1997) according to their physical state, liquid (crude oil) or dry (major bulks like iron ore, minor bulks like forest products), or how they are handled (liquid, homogeneous, unit load, wheeled, and refrigerated). This definition closely associates bulk goods with the type of ship used to transport them. The second definition (economics) considers sea transport and handling of bulk goods as only one part of the transport system supply chain that extends from the extraction of the raw materials, their storage before, during, and after sea transport, and delivery to a location for processing (as in a crude oil refinery) or sale (to other buyers of crude oil). This paper focuses on the Crude Oil Transport System for three reasons the author finds interesting: first, amongst all the bulk goods, international trade in crude oil is the largest in terms of volume, value, and shipping capacity; second, the global transport system is entirely dependent on the crude oil transport system (Greene, 2005); and third, crude oil has unique economic, social, and political factors worth discussing. Â  

Shipping Law - The collision regulation rules Essay

Shipping Law - The collision regulation rules - Essay Example The Merchant Shipping Regulations of 1996 (MSA) provides that the definition of the word "ship" includes hovercraft. More specifically the regulation 2 (1) provides for the application of the Collision Regulations to seaplanes registered in the UK. Moreover, the 1976 Convention does not apply to floating platforms constructed for the purpose of exploring or exploiting the sea-bed, also does not apply to hovercraft.( Chorley & Giles 1999) Section 313 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 defines a ship as every description of vessel used in navigation. Section 58 of this act, clearly states that the act applies to a master or employee of a United Kingdom ship or a foreign ship in United Kingdom waters, who does any act that causes or is likely to cause serious injury to a person, or any act that would prevent serious injury to a person (Mandaraka 2001). However, the section 310 of the Act makes the definition of the ship, applicable to hovercraft. By section 311 of the same act, the Secretary of state has power to declare anything which is designed or adapted for sea uses to be a ship of any purpose of the MSAs. However, this power is not yet exercised (Mandaraka 2001). Furthermore, it can be considered that there is a gap in the Merchant Shipping Act of 1995, considering the definition in the words "used in navigation". There is no clear definition in relation with the navigation and therefore relevant definition given from decided cases. Case: Steedman v Scofield The plaintiff was riding a jet-ski when he was involved in a collision with a speedboat driven from the first defendant. The collision was caused by the negligence of the plaintiff while acting as agent or servant of the water-skier. The plaintiff instituted proceedings against the defendants for his personal injuries. It was contended that the action was time barred by the time the writ was issued under the provisions of the S8 of the MCA 1911 (Fizpatrick &Adderson, 2005). The issue was whether the jet-ski was a "vessel used for navigation purposes. In the relevant section of the Merchant Act, the "vessel" is defined as any ship or boat or any other description of vessel used in navigation. Also in the same section (742) is defined the ship as every description of vessel used in navigation not propelled by oars. (Mandaraka 2001) Therefore in accordance with the above definition, the jet-ski was a "vessel" because it was used in navigation for the purpose of the MSA, and I t was also a "ship" because it was not propelled by oars. However, the admiralty judge held for this case that: "to come within the definition of "ship" in accordance with the MSA the jet-ski had to be a vessel used in navigation. A vessel was usually a hollow receptacle for carrying people and the word "vessel" was used to refer to craft larger than rowing boats and it included every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a mean of transportation in water: a jet-ski was not a vessel!!! The phrase "used in navigation" is referred to the concept of transportation of persons or commodities to intend destination navigation was not considered synonymous with movement in water, but was defined as a movement from one place to another. Therefore, a jet-ski was capable of movement on water but the purpose was not to go from one place to another. It might be possible to navigate a jet-ski but it was not a

Operations Management (Quality Control in Operations) Essay

Operations Management (Quality Control in Operations) - Essay Example (2) The planned systematic activities necessary to ensure that a component, module, or system conforms to established technical requirements. (3) The policy and procedures, established in an organization which is meant for the purpose of providing and maintaining a specified degree of confidence in data integrity and accuracy throughout the life cycle of the data. If the process is not established and the standard procedures are not adhered to, then it will result in poor quality. As a consequence the deadlines will not be met within the required time frame and subsequently deliverables to the customer will be delayed. Thus productivity is affected. The cost of a product includes the manufacturing cost and cost of quality. The cost of quality is the money spent what it would cost to build a product right the first time. If every worker could produce the defect-free products the first time, COQ would be zero. Since this situation would not occur, there are associated with getting defect free product is produced. Prevention: Monoey required to prevent errors and to do the right first time is considered prevention costs. This category includes money spent on establishing methods and procedures, training procedures, training workers and planning for quality.

The Water Cycle Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Water Cycle - Research Paper Example Nature has the ultimate solution of making the above mentioned necessity happen through the â€Å"water cycle†. The water cycle is a process in which water switches its state between the three different phases, namely solid, liquid and gas. And then further the water cycle includes circulation between the earth’s surface, water bodies and the atmosphere. The basic driving force of the water is the sun (Hughes 12-19). The water cycle is of immense importance as it helps to regulate the temperature of the earth surface and also helps in bringing rainfall to various parts of Earth.. When the water on Earth’s surface is evaporated it takes away the Earth’s heat as well, thus cooling the surroundings. And when the water condenses it release back the heat thus warming up the environment and this helps in regulating temperature throughout the globe. The water cycle helps to circulate minerals between different places on the Earth and also helps in conversion of rocks to soil. An important contribution of the water cycle is the formation of different topographical features throughout the earth which enhance beauty of the Earth’s surface and also provides other benefits. Without the presence of water cycle it would not be possible for the living organisms to survive (Olien 9-14). The water cycle is comprised of six different processes or steps. Each process has its own significance and importance. The progression of water cycle starts from the process of evaporation. The sun’s heat helps to convert the water present on the earth to water vapors. Water on earth is present in a number of different resources like rivers, oceans, seas, lakes etc. Water evaporates not only from the surface of the earth, but from trees and plants. This process of evaporation of water from trees and plants is called transpiration. Water at the North and South Pole is in the form of snow and ice. At very low temperatures and high pressure snow is directly converted into vapors without having a liquid state. This process is known as sublimation and is much slower than evaporation. The water vapors rise in the air and from clouds. Water gets evaporated by absorbing the heat from the sun and the water can also evaporate by absorbing the heat from the surroundings and thus lowers the temperature of the nearby environment. When water evaporates all impurities are left behind, and the vapors that rise in the air are far pure than the water present on Earth (Hughes 23-27). As the water vapor rises in the air, the temperature decreases as a result of which the vapors condenses to form clouds or remain suspended in the air as fog. The clouds are formed by the accumulation of tiny water droplets. The tiny droplets of water keep on accumulating to form larger and larger clouds. These clouds travel to different parts of the globe and absorb more and more water to increase its size. When the clouds have no longer the ability to hold together, then the tiny droplets of water combine to form larger droplets of water. Also, at higher altitudes the temperature is extremely low. Hence, the water droplets lose their heat energy and fall down on earth as rain. If the temperature of the area is cold then there is a possibility that instead of rain the water droplets fall as snow, hail or sleet. Precipitation can also occur in the form of drizzle. By the process of precipitation the water that has

Practitioner Values in Dementia - Portfolio 1 Essay

Practitioner Values in Dementia - Portfolio 1 - Essay Example 1). It will also look at values and government legislations as ethical basis for healthcare. People with dementia are losing their memory, especially those that are aging (US National Library of Medicine, 2012, p. 1). The dysfunction in their brain has serious effect to their memory and their ability to communicate. Though this illness is common among elderly, but this is not normal for all of those that are aging (US National Library of Medicine, 2012, p. 1). Whitehouse,  Price,  Struble,  Clark,  Coyle,  and Delon (1982) explained memory loss of patient with dementia and Alzheimer based on evidences indicating that the nucleus basalis of Meynert, a distinct population of basal forebrain neurons, is the source of cholinergic innervation of the cerebral cortex (pp. 1237-1239). Post-mortem research illustrated the profound reduction in the presynaptic markers for cholinergic neurons in the cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia of the Alzheimer's typ e (Whitehouse et al., 1982, pp. 1237-1239). Research further bared that memory loss is associated to that neurons of the nucleus basalis of Meynert which undergo a profound and selective degeneration at more than 75% in these patients and provide a pathological substrate of the cholinergic deficiency in their brains (Whitehouse et al., 1982, pp. 1237-1239). Demonstration of selective degeneration of such neurons represents the first documentation of a loss of a transmitter-specific neuronal population in a major disorder of higher cortical function and, as such, points to a critical subcortical lesion in Alzheimer's patients (Whitehouse et al., 1982, pp. 1237-1239). Recent analysis of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), involving representative sample of Health and Retirement Study (HRS), bared that health care for people with dementia have increasing emotional and physical demands (Vaughn, 2013, p. 1). Thus, add to the financial burden for care. It also inspires the National Hea lth Institute to find effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, too (Vaughn, 2013, p. 1). Through NAPA, health expert established and enforced National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease the institution also capitalized on research and development of BRAIN initiative, with the support of the president, to generate approaches to broaden our understanding on the neurological disorders, inclusive of neurological disorders and Alzheimer (Vaughn, 2013, p. 1). Dementia is an illness that could be genetically inherited by offspring from their elders or parents. Alzheimer is considered as the worst form of dementia which may appear at 65 years of age or further (Alzheimers.org, 2013b, p. 1). Hence, health practitioners call this a familial disease. Vascular and fronto-temporal dementias are other forms of dementia (Alzheimers.org, 2013b, p. 1). The first can be developed by high cholesterol levels in their bodies. Other milder forms of dementia which can be de tected at an earlier age are dementia with Lewy bodies, Down’s syndrome, and Huntington’s disease (Alzheimers.org, 2013b, p. 1) Medical experts admitted difficulty in determining the cost of dementia care, both in formal and informal setting, because majority of those who suffered in this illness has also multiple medical

Phonetics Case Essay Example for Free

Phonetics Case Essay Introduction The aim of this thesis is to give a systematic description of some aspects of English morphophonemic. The thesis falls into 2 chapters: The first chapter, which is an introduction, presents a short sketch of the title, the problem, the purpose of the study,phonological rules. The second chapter is devoted to some of the basic concepts required in the study of morphophonemic. It starts with various definitions of morpheme, allomorph. The thesis ends with some conclusions, a list of bibliography. Morphophonemic Analysis designates the analytic procedures whereby paradigms with phonological alternations are reduced to underlying representations and phonological rules. The term morphophonemic analysis has a now obscure origin. In the 1940s and 1950s, many phonologists worked with a theory in which (roughly) all neutralizing rules were assumed to apply before all allophonic rules. This in effect divided the phonology into two components: a neutralizing component, whose units were called morphophonemes, and a non-neutralizing component, which dealt with phonemes and allophones. This bifurcated-phonology theory is widely considered untenable today, but  morphophonemics remains a useful term for characterizing the study of neutralizing phonological rules as they apply in paradigms. When we conduct morphophonemic analysis, we seek to establish a connection between data and theory. The theory in question is that morphemes are stored in the lexicon in an invariant phonemic form, are strung together by morphological and syntactic rules, and are then converted to their surface forms by a sequence of phonological rules (often neutralizing), applied in a particular order. The purpose of morphophonemic analysis is to discover a set of underlying forms and ordered rules that are consistent with the data; and the payoff is that seemingly complex patterns are often reduced to simplicity. Morphophonemic analysis may be contrasted with phonemic analysis. Phonemic analysis is a more limited form of phonological analysis that seeks only to discover the non-neutralizing (allophonic) rules of the phonology. In phonemic analysis, only the distribution and similarity of the phones is examined. Therefore, the data need not be grouped in paradigms, but need only comprise a sufficiently large and representative set of words. Like phonemic analysis, morphophonemic analysis can be pursued with a systematic method. The main purpose of my work consists in making exact definition of a phoneme and allophone and be able to distinguish them. To understand what is morphophonemic?   Problems of my work are: morphophonemic and morphophonological rules, types of morphophonological changes, relation between phonology and morphophonology, isolation forms, rule ordering, morphophonology and orthography. Morphophonology (also morphophonemics, morphonology) is a branch of linguistics which studies the interaction between morphological and phonological or phonetic processes. Its chief focus is the sound changes that take place in morphemes (minimal meaningful units) when they combine to form words. Morphophonological analysis often involves an attempt to give a series of formal rules that successfully predict the regular sound changes occurring in the morphemes of a given language. Such a series of rules  converts a theoretical underlying representation into a surface form that is actually heard. The units of which the underlying representations of morphemes are composed are sometimes called morphophonemes. The surface form produced by the morphophonological rules may consist of phonemes (which are then subject to ordinary phonological rules to produce speech sounds or phones), or else the morphophonological analysis may bypass the phoneme stage and produce the phones itself. Morphop honemes and morphophonological rules When morphemes combine, they influence each others sound structure (whether analyzed at a phonetic or phonemic level), resulting in different variant pronunciations for the same morpheme. Morphophonology attempts to analyze these processes. A languages morphophonological structure is generally described with a series of rules which, ideally, can predict every morphophonological alternation that takes place in the language. An example of a morphophonological alternation in English is provided by the plural morpheme, written as -s or -es. Its pronunciation alternates between [s], [z], and [É ªz], as in cats, dogs, and horses respectively. A purely phonological analysis would most likely assign to these three endings the phonemic representations /s/, /z/, /É ªz/. On a morphophonological level, however, they may all be considered to be forms of the underlying object //z//, which is a morphophoneme. The different forms it takes are dependent on the segment at the end of the morpheme to which it attaches – these dependencies are described by morphophonological rules. (The behaviour of the English past tense ending -ed is similar – it can be pronounced [t], [d] or [É ªd], as in hoped, bobbed and added.) Note that the plural suffix -s can also influence the form taken by the preceding morpheme, as in the case of the words leaf and knife, which end with [f] in the singular, but have [v] in the plural (leaves, knives). On a morphophonological level these morphemes may be analyzed as ending in a morphophoneme //F//, which becomes voiced when a voiced consonant (in this case the //z// of the plural ending) is attached to it. This rule may be written symbolically as: /F/ - [ÃŽ ±voice] / __ [ÃŽ ±voice]. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pipes (| |) are often used to indicate a morphophonemic rather than phonemic representation. Another common convention is double slashes (// //), as  above, implying that the transcription is more phonemic than simply phonemic. Other conventions sometimes seen are double pipes (|| ||) and curly brackets ({ }). Types of morphophonological changes Inflected and agglutinating languages may have extremely complicated systems of morphophonemics. Examples of complex morphophonological systems include: 1. Sandhi, the phenomenon behind the English examples of plural and past tense above, is found in virtually all languages to some degree. Even Mandarin, which is sometimes said to display no morphology, nonetheless displays tone sandhi, a morphophonemic alternation. 2. Consonant gradation, found in some Uralic languages such as Finnish, Estonian, Northern Sà ¡mi, and Nganasan. 3. Vowel harmony, which occurs in varying degrees in languages all around the world, notably Turkic languages. 3. Ablaut, found in English and other Germanic languages. Ablaut is the phenomenon wherein stem vowels change form depending on context, as in English sing, sang, sung. Relation between phonology and morphophonology Until the 1950s, many phonologists assumed that neutralizing rules generally applied before allophonic rules. Thus phonological analysis was split into two parts: a morphophonological part, where neutralizing rules were developed to derive phonemes from morphophonemes; and a purely phonological part, where phones were derived from the phonemes. Since the 1960s (in particular with the work of the generative school, such as Chomsky and Halles The Sound Pattern of English) many linguists have moved away from making such a split, instead regarding the surface phones as being derived from the underlying morphophonemes (which may be referred to using various terminology) through a single system of (morpho)phonological rules. The purpose of both phonemic and morphophonemic analysis is to produce simpler underlying descriptions for what appear on the surface to be complicated patterns. In purely phonemic analysis the data is just a set of words in a language, while for the purposes of morphophonemic analysis the words must be considered in grammatical paradigms to take account of the underlying morphemes. It is postulated that morphemes are recorded in the speakers lexicon in an invariant (morphophonemic) form, which, in a given environment, is converted by rules into a surface form. The analyst attempts  to present as completely as possible a system of underlying units (morphophonemes) and a series of rules that act on them, so as to produce surface forms consistent with the linguistic data. Isolation forms The isolation form of a morpheme is the form in which that morpheme appears in isolation (when not subject to the effects of any other morpheme). In the case of a bound morpheme, such as the English past tense ending -ed, it will generally not be possible to identify an isolation form, since such a morpheme does not occur in isolation. It is often reasonable to assume that the isolation form of a morpheme provides its underlying representation. For example, in some American English, plant is pronounced [plà ¦nt], while planting is [ˈplà ¦nÉ ªÃ…‹], where the morpheme plant- appears in the form [plà ¦n]. Here the underlying form can be assumed to be //plà ¦nt//, corresponding to the isolation form, since rules can be set up to derive the reduced form [plà ¦n] from this (while it would be difficult or impossible to set up rules that would derive the isolation form [plà ¦nt] from an underlying //plà ¦n//). This is not always the case, however; sometimes the isolation form itself is subject to neutralization that does not apply to some other instances of the morpheme. For example, the French word petit (small) is pronounced in isolation without the final [t] sound, although in certain derived forms (such as the feminine petite) the [t] is heard. If the isolation form were adopted as the underlying form, the information that there is a final t would be lost, and it would be hard to explain the appearance of the t in the inflected forms. Rule ordering Morphophonological rules are generally considered to apply in a set order. This means that the application of one rule may sometimes either prevent or enable the application of another rule provided the rules are appropriately ordered. If the ordering of two rules is such that the application of the first rule can have the effect of making it possible to apply the second, then the rules are said to be in feeding order. For example, if a language has an apocope rule (A) which deletes a final vowel, and a cluster reduction rule (CR) that reduces a final consonant cluster, then the rules are in feeding order if A precedes CR, since the application of A can enable application of CR (for example, a word ending /-rpa/ is not itself subject  to CR, since the consonant cluster is not final, but if A is applied to it first, leaving /-rp/, then CR can apply). Here rule A is said to feed rule CR. If the rules are ordered such as to avoid possible feeding (in this case, if CR applies before A) then they are said to be in counter-feeding order. On the other hand, if rules are ordered such that the application of the first rule can have the effect of preventing application of the second, then the rules are said to be in bleeding order. For example, if a language has an epenthesis rule (E) that inserts a /w/ before certain vowels, and a vowel deletion rule (D) that deletes one of two consecutive vowels, then the rules are in bleeding order if E precedes D, since the application of E can prevent application of D (for example, a word containing /-iu-/ would be subject to D, but if E is applied to it first, leaving /-iwu-/, then D can no longer apply). Here rule E is said to bleed rule D. If the rules are ordered such as to avoid possible bleeding (in this case, if D applies before E) then they are said to be in counter-bleeding order. The terminology of feeding and bleeding is also applied to other linguistic rules, such as those of historical sound changes. Morphophonology and orthography The principle behind alphabetic writing systems is that the letters (graphemes) represent phonemes. However in many orthographies based on such systems the correspondences between graphemes and phonemes are not exact, and it is sometimes the case that certain spellings better represent a words morphophonological structure rather than the purely phonological. An example of this is that the English plural morpheme is written -s regardless of whether it is pronounced as /s/ or /z/; we write cats and dogs, not dogz. The above example involves active morphology (inflection), and morphophonemic spellings are common in this context in many languages. Another type of spelling that can be described as morphophonemic is the kind that reflects the etymology of words. Such spellings are particularly common in English; examples include science /saÉ ª/ vs. unconscious /ÊÆ'/, prejudice /prÉ›/ vs. prequel /priË /, sign /saÉ ªn/ signature /sÉ ªÃ‰ ¡n/, nation /neÉ ª/ vs. nationalism /nà ¦/, and special /spÉ›/ vs. species /spiË /. Conclusions according to this chapter Morphophonology (also morphophonemics, morphonology) is a branch of linguistics which studies: 1. The phonological structure of morphemes. 2. The combinatory phonic modifications of morphemes which happen when they are combined. 3. The alternative series which serve a morphological function. Examples of a morphophonological alternatives in English include these distinctions: Plurals -es and -s, as in bus, buses, vs. bun, buns. Plural of -f is -ves, as in leaf, leaves. Different pronunciations for the past tense marker -ed. English, having lost its inflection, does not have much morphophonology. Inflected and agglutinating languages may have extremely complicated systems, e.g., consonant gradation. A morphophonemic rule has the form of a phonological rule, but is restricted to a particular morphological environment. Morphophonemic rules are sensitive to their environment, unlike phonological rules. Whenever morphological information is required to specify the environment for an allophonic rule, the rule is morphophonemic. The prefix /in-/ has the allomorphs [il] and [ir]: /in-/ + responsible irresponsible /in-/ + logical illogical Therefore, there must be a morphophonemic rule which determines the allomorphs [il] and [ir] of the prefix /in-/. The purpose of both phonemic and morphophonemic analysis is to produce simpler underlying descriptions for what appear on the surface to be complicated patterns. When morphemes are clustered or grouped in words than changes in the phonological structures of these words occur. Such changes are called morphophonemic changes. Assuming that we allow phonological rules to apply in sequence, we can cycle through them using the output of the first rule as the input to the second. For many cases in the data set, at most one phonological rule introduces a structural change. But in cog, tail, or comb we see a single derivation that involves both rules. Furthermore, such cases are not rare in English. Any word that begins with a voiceless stop and contains a vowel that precedes a voiced consonant will require the application of both rules. We use cog as an illustrative example: Allophone Central to the concept of the phoneme is the idea that it may be pronounced in many different ways. In English (BBC pronunciation) we take it for granted that the r sounds in ‘ray’ and ‘tray’ are â€Å"the same sound† (i.e. the same phoneme), but in reality the two sounds are very different – the r in ‘ray’ is voiced and non-fricative, while the r sound in ‘tray’ is voiceless and fricative. In phonemic transcription we use the same symbol r for both, but we know that the allophones of r include the voiced nonfricative sound É ¹ and the voiceless fricative one . In theory a phoneme can have an infinite number of allophones, but in practice for descriptive purposes we tend to concentrate on a small number that occur most regularly. Phoneme This is the fundamental unit of phonology, which has been defined and used in many different ways. Virtually all theories of phonology hold that spoken language can be broken down into a string of sound units (phonemes), and that each language has a small, relatively fixed set of these phonemes. Most phonemes can be put into groups; for example, in English we can identify a group of plosive phonemes p, t, k, b, d a group of voiceless fricatives f, ÃŽ ¸, s, ÊÆ', h, and so on. An important question in phoneme theory is how the analyst can establish what the phonemes of a language are. The most widely accepted view is that phonemes are contrastive and one must find cases where the difference between two words is dependent on the difference between two phonemes: for example, we can prove that the difference between ‘pin’ and ‘pan’ depends on the vowel and that i and are different phonemes. Pairs of words that differ in just one phoneme are known as minimal pairs. We can establish the same fact about p and b by citing ‘pin’ and ‘bin’. Of course, you can only start doing commutation tests like this when you have a provisional list of possible phonemes to test, so some basic phonetic analysis must precede this stage. Other fundamental concepts used in phonemic analysis of this sort are complementary distribution, free variation, distinctive feature and allophone. Different analyses of a language are possible: in the case of English some phonologists claim that there are only six vowel phonemes, others that there are twenty or more (it depends on whether you count diphthongs and long vowels as single phonemes or as combinations of two phonemes). It used to be said that learning the  pronunciation of a language depended on learning the individual phonemes of the language, but this â€Å"building-block† view of pronunciation is looked on no wadays as an unhelpful oversimplification. Phonemics When the importance of the phoneme became widely accepted, in the 1930s and 40s, many attempts were made to develop scientific ways of establishing the phonemes of a language and listing each phoneme’s allophones; this was known as phonemics. Nowadays little importance is given to this type of analysis, and it is considered a minor branch of phonology, except for the practical purpose of devising writing systems for previously unwritten languages. Conclusion: An allophone is a phonetic variant of a phoneme in a particular language. A phoneme is the smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of a language. A phone is one of many possible sounds in the languages of the world. Phonemics a branch of linguistic analysis involving the study of phonemes, the structure of a language in terms of phonemes. General conclusion Morphophonemics, in linguistics, study of the relationship between morphology and phonology. Morphophonemics involves an investigation of the phonological variations within morphemes, usually marking different grammatical functions; e.g., the vowel changes in â€Å"sleep† and â€Å"slept,† â€Å"bind† and â€Å"bound,† â€Å"vain† and â€Å"vanity,† and the consonant alternations in â€Å"knife† and â€Å"knives,† â€Å"loaf† and â€Å"loaves.† The ways in which the morphemes of a language are variously represented by phonemic shapes can be regarded as a kind of code. This code is the morphophonemic system of the language. The morphophonemics of English is never so simple. There are always many instances of two or more morphemes represented by the same phonemic shape, and there are always cases in which a single morpheme is represented now by one phonemic shape, now by another. Therefore the morphophonemics of English is never trivial. Literature: 1. Hayes, Bruce (2009). Morphophonemic Analysis Introductory Phonology, pp. 161–185. Blackwell. 2. R. Jakobson, C. G. Fant, and M. Halle, Preliminaries to Speech Analysis, Fundamentals of Language (Mouton and Company, The Hague, 1956). 3. P. Roach (2004). â€Å"English Phonetics and Phonology†, Cambridge. 4. www.wikipedia.ru 5. www.sil.org 6. www.msu.edu

Sustainable Living In The 21st Century Environmental Sciences Essay

Sustainable Living In The 21st Century Environmental Sciences Essay Sustainable living is about a lifestyle that reduces an individuals or societys use of global natural resources (Ainoa et al. 2009). For sustainable living, we should conduct our lives in ways that are consistent with the core principles of sustainability, in natural balance and respectful of humanitys symbiotic relationship with the Earths natural ecology and biological cycles (CELL, 2010?). Such a living style requires that we make serious attempts to reduce our carbon footprint by altering diet, energy consumption and transportation methods (Winter, 2007). Brown () has described sustainable living in the 21st century as shifting to a renewable energy-based, reuse/recycle economy with a diversified transport system. It is generally recognized that education is the most important factor in improving the quality of life and for enhancing opportunities for individual development. However, it has only recently been realized that education is the decisive factor in addressing the present crisis related to environmental instability. The extent of the global environmental degradation crisis has only come into focus because of the multiple and repeated alarms being raised over the effects of climate change. However, addressing the multiple threats to the sustainability of humanity within the 21st century is an enormous challenge involving educating and re-educating people on a multitude of complex and inter-related concepts. Education must have a dominant role in moving towards sustainable living since it is the single most important factor in improving the quality of life. Science education is essential in achieving social development through environmental awareness. Education must be the advocate for environmental sustainability being a moral obligation for all. Moving towards environmental sustainability involves educating communities on the intensity of present environmental degradation and motivating them to reduce their ecological footprint based on acquired knowledge and experience. Higher education is particularly relevant to solving the crisis of climate change (Hales, 2008). It is timely that higher education should focus on science and engineering for the development of new technologies for conservation of water and energy supplied and teach communities how to live and work sustainably. Specially structured educational programs are needed. These should be multidisciplinary to cover all aspects that relate to sustainable living, must holistically address the total energy, water and carbon footprints of lifestyle choices, and explain how these choices, decisions and behaviours affect natural resources, social equity and economic development. Further, extension programs mu st act as models for others to follow and help communities walk the talk (Crosby et al., 2008). This chapter is an attempt to emphasize the most significant aspects of education associated with moving toward sustainability. What is sustainability? Sustainability has different meanings for different people and has only recently come into sharp focus following concerns on climate change and the consequences for sustainability of humanity. Unfortunately, the climate change debate has overshadowed the more important debate on the sustainability of the environment. Over the last two centuries, the environment has been seen as self-sustaining and a resource to be exploited and consumed. Only in recent decades has the environment been acknowledged as being seriously stressed and threatened, and in urgent need for conservation and regeneration. Despite the present widespread recognition of global environmental degradation being caused by human neglect, there is intense debate on how environmental conservation and regeneration can be achieved both now and in the future. This debate is frustrated by a lack of a pragmatic definition of sustainability, particularly in relation to sustainable environmental development. The much quoted Brundtlund Report definition published in 1987 was the first to link sustainable development to social responsibility: sustainable development means maintaining the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. However, the needs of the present generation are many and diverse and include food, water, energy and money among others. These needs have already exceeded the resources on which they depend and so the ability of future generations to meet their needs is already compromised. Following such a loose definition of sustainability, there has been continuing alarm on the disparity of the needs of the rich compared to those of the poor and on what should be sustained and priorities of sustaining. The reality is that present population growth, exotic lifestyles and excessive consumption of resources are not sustainable but to create sustainability remains an elusive objective. It is obvious that there is an urgent need to move towards sustainability based on major changes to the present dominant social and community values. The extreme dedication of communities to consume resources must change to conservation of resources coupled with wealth accumulation changing to wealth distribution to assist in closing the gap between the haves and have-nots. Hence, sustainability should be driven by people power. Sustainability also implies changes of attitude and emphasis on perceptions of the meaning of economic growth. This has long been associated with increased trade and industrial development which have produced a downward spiral of increased poverty and progressive environmental degradation. Economic growth has to be measured in terms of meeting the essential needs of humanity without enhancing environmental degradation together with greater equity in the distribution of economic benefits. Social justice is a crucial component of sustainability. Sustainability is primarily dependent on the preservation of the diverse and complex ecosystems which make up the global ecosphere. These fragile systems are under unprecedented stress as a consequence of the relentless demands for cleared land for housing and industry, the increasing demands for fossil fuels for energy generation and the burgeoning demand for food from grain crops and for fish from the oceans. It is only because of the comparatively recent alarm bells sounded by the onslaught of climate change that irreversible environmental degradation has been fully recognized and appreciated but alas, not fully understood. In order to emphasize the scale of degradation and its correlation with human impact, a new jargon has emerged that of ecological footprint which is a measure of the ecological capacity of individuals. At present, even the crudest estimates of ecological footprints indicate that the developed nations of the world are living beyond their ecological capacity and are thus living on borrowed time. Sustainability inevitably involves government at all levels and requires democratic revitalization to produce sustainable, accountable and equitable forms of capitalism which activate social reforms and promote ecological awareness. There is a common perception that technology will solve the sustainability issue but this is a misconception since although technology can assist moving towards sustainability, it is not the unilateral antidote. Further, achieving sustainability is not a quick fix phenomenon but a prolonged and uncertain journey involving dedicated commitment of people and resources. It is already clear that the rate of technological development in mitigating climate change is not consistent with the magnitude of problem. Put simply, to reduce carbon emissions means capturing carbon dioxide and diverting it from the atmosphere. These two operations need to be both technologically and economically feasible and require time consuming research coupled with innovative strategies to commercialize new scientific discoveries. Although a tangible definition of sustainability is elusive, it does have many facets all related to sustaining the environment as the top priority.   Thus, education for moving toward sustainability also has many facets which are best illustrated by the cluster chart shown in Figure 1 and a brief discussion of each component of this cluster follows. Fig. 1 Cluster diagram to describe the components of education associated with sustainability. Education for sustainable environments Sustaining humanity in the 21st century depends on sustaining the environment as the top priority so as to preserve its resources. In simple terms, preserving these resources means that sustainable consumable yields are provided but that the consumption rate does not exceed the regeneration rate. Similarly, non-renewable resources must be preserved which means that the consumption rate is balanced by the production rate of renewable resources. In conjunction with these balancing strategies, it is necessary to ensure that waste generation does not exceed the assimilation rate of the environment. Clearly the present crisis of acute and widespread environmental degradation is the result of these three factors being ignored over many decades. The environment in all its dimensions is degrading globally. Atmospheric pollution has been of major concern for many decades but has now reached new heights of concern following the widespread concern on the effects of climate change. The main cause of climate change is believed to be due to the excessive build up of carbon dioxide in the lower atmosphere caused mainly by the excessive combustion of fossil fuels for the production of energy. However, carbon dioxide is not the only known greenhouse gas, methane is also a potent heat storage gas along with water vapor. This fact alone is sufficient for much complacency within the climate change debate and poses additional challenges for climate change educators. Whether or not climate change is a reality is irrelevant in the context of environmental sustainability since all factors which disturb the equilibrium of the environment which has been established over millennia have to be considered and addressed. Loss of biodiversity from the land arises largely from habitat loss and fragmentation produced by overuse of land for development, forestry and agriculture. This is blatant conversion of natural capital to investment capital and although there has been widespread condemnation of destruction of the rain-forests of the world for decades,   the realities of such devastation are only now becoming fully apparent as are the effects of intensive agriculture which reduces soil quality at alarming rates. It is ironic that forests conserve biodiversity, preserve water and soil quality, provide a wide variety of products and, above all, produce atmospheric oxygen by photosynthesis and yet these provisions still have no tangible market value as compared with the economic benefits of logging and land clearing which directly increase atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.   Such are the challenges for sustainability education, since the mindsets of developers and economists clearly have to change and natural resources need to be priced sufficiently high to ensure their preservation. Similarly, water resources globally are at crisis point. Freshwater is essential for human life but at best, it is less than 5% of the global resource. Excessive use of freshwater supplies for irrigation has markedly affected the health of river systems mainly by reducing flow rates which in turn places stress on wetland systems. Further, natural flooding of river flood plains has been curtailed by the construction of dams and weirs which further control river flow rates and hence place severe stress on vital river ecosystem resources. It is again ironic that many of these aquatic ecosystems have been studied in detail over several decades but it is only comparatively recently that inter-dependence of these ecosystems has been appreciated and value of biodiversity as a realistic measure of environmental health realized. Further, the marine environment is also undergoing rapid degradation which is most apparent from the decline in the number of fish species as a result of over-fishing with the advent of trawl technology and unsustainable fishing practices. Although the recent increase in success of aquaculture has and will continue to address this imbalance, it is clear that more severe international statutory controls on fishing are required together with the implementation of sustainable fishing practices- both of which depend on international agreements and treaties which are difficult to achieve and implement. Education for sustainable economies The supreme challenge for sustainable living in the 21st century is to curb excessive consumption in the developed world whilst raising living standards in the developing world without a net increase in consumption of natural resources and environmental impact. Historically, living standards have correlated with economic growth and environmental degradation, and so moving towards sustainable living is at best challenging and at worst, impossible. Again, education is required to change the mindset on what constitutes a sustainable economy, firstly by understanding why present national economies are not sustainable. Contemporary economics is based on economic growth and efficient allocation of resources, and multiple strategies are put in place to achieve pre-determined economic objectives upon which the wealth of nations is based. Conversely, the so-called new economics or ecological economics is based on sustainable growth and fair and efficient distribution of resources. The first time that the latter became a reality rather than a theory was at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change summit when developing world nations argued very convincingly that the developed world should financially assist the developing world in reducing global green house gas emissions. The failure of the summit to reach a unilateral agreement on greenhouse gas emissions was largely due to a lack of agreement on the basic principle of wealth distribution which underwrites ecological economics. Conventional economics puts a price on natural resources such as fossil fuels, minerals, water and foodstuffs and these are regarded as the main drivers of national economies. However, equally important natural resources such as national parks, marine parks, wetlands, coral reefs, mangrove swamps and many others are regarded as economic externalities which need not be priced and therefore are ripe for exploitation, particularly through tourism. Ecological economics is based on realistic pricing of all natural resources which are subject to consumption by humans, either directly or indirectly and in addition, is committed to the belief that sustainable economics is based on a unilateral greening of industry such that manufacturing processes are energy and waste efficient, consume less resources and provide clean, safe working environments. Ecological economics is the fundamental platform of the emerging carbon economy. However, it is already evident that there is much opposition to a carbon tax and skepticism of the effectiveness of carbon emission trading schemes in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so public education on the basic science and economics underpinning these schemes is obviously urgently required. Education for sustainable communities There is no doubt that the overwhelming threat to sustainability of humanity in the 21st century is that the present global population of about 6.8 billion is consuming 40% more resources that the Earth is producing per annum and so with a projected global population of 9 billion by 2050, 5.4 Earths worth of resources will be required to achieve human sustainability. Even to move towards sustainability on such a scale obviously requires a massive psyche change of humanity and   Ã‚  extreme urgency in the implementation of sustainable living practices. Building sustainable communities essentially involves people power but communities require educating in order to develop the knowledge, values and skills required for informed decision-making that will improve quality of life now without damaging the environment in the future. Achieving sustainable living is a journey of indefinite duration but with a clearly defined destination. It is a journey taken both by individuals and by communities simultaneously to the benefit of all. The foundation of sustainable communities is the development of sustainability literacy within communities which involves an understanding of the present imbalance between consumption and regeneration of essential natural resources energy, water and food. It is somewhat ironic and humbling to witness that the indigenous communities of the world have been far more sustainability literate over the last two centuries than the so-called modern communities over the last two decades. Sustainable communities are resilient communities which have changed life-style behavior and habits which depend on excessive consumerism to those which embrace waste reduction, reuse and recycle strategies all of which harmonize living standards with environmental demands. These changes take time to implement but result in community social well-being, strong economies and flourishing environments, the benefits of which become obvious to all. Sustainable communities vary enormously with respect to size and character but traditionally form two groups urban and rural. In the past, it has been much more difficult to sustain rural communities due largely to the one-way migration from country to town/city to obtain employment. However, this trend can be at least partially reversed with the wider implementation of eco-development which has been responsible for the so-called new urbanism philosophy but is only just becoming apparent in rural and regional centre infrastructure planning. Eco-development is based on a clean, green living philosophy which incorporates consumption of renewable energies, conservation of water and living off the land using smart ways to grow food. Sustainable literacy only becomes effective when communities understand and appreciate that sustainable living not only gives rise to better, healthier lifestyles but also is cost effective both in the short and long terms. By virtue of their sustainable lif e-styles, sustainable communities are resilient to the effects of climate change and are well suited to benefit from future carbon-based economies. Education for sustainable energy supplies Sustaining humanity in the 21st century requires sustaining energy resources and supplies which creates the dilemma which has become known as the global energy crisis. Coal, oil and natural gas combined provide about 80% of global energy needs mainly in the form of electricity and transport fuels but at the same time produce the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions which are believed to be responsible for global warming. It is estimated that global energy demand could jump by 50% by 2030, consistent with a global population increase of 1.5 billion over the next two decades and this translates to a global warming estimate of the order of 6oC if fossil fuels continue to be the primary energy resource.    An increase of 6oC corresponds to about 3 times the global warming which has occurred over the last century and would have catastrophic environmental, economic and social effects. It is this type of horror scenario which is driving the so-called global energy revolution which dictates that there has to be a move away from fossil fuels as the primary energy resource towards the use of clean green renewable energy resources. These are receiving increasing attention but all have significant technological, development, economic and ethical problems associated with them. The dilemma is that at present, all known renewable energy resources combined including nuclear, solar, wind and biofuels account for less than 10% of global energy requirements and although considerable technological advances are occurring with respect to the commercial development of renewable energy resources, this situation is unlikely to change significantly within the next decade. Similarly, efforts to reduce greenh ouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power stations, collectively known as clean coal technology, are at least 10 -15 years away from commercial reality. It is conservatively estimated that fossil fuels will remain as the primary global energy resource for at least the next 30 50 years and that phasing out of existing coal-fired power stations will take at least 10 15 years. Thus, the energy crisis is essentially how are sustainable energy supplies to be provided exclusively from renewable energy resources over the next half century? Although, it is generally agreed that the transition to renewable energy resources is inevitable, the time scale for such a transition is very unclear since there are not only major technological problems to be overcome but also major social and economic issues to be addressed along the way which involve significant educational strategies to be unilaterally implemented. Given that it is already abundantly clear that we live by an energy economy it is unlikely that the extra costs associated with abatement of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion coupled with the costs of developing alternatives to fossil fuels will be readily accepted by communities, given that the present escalating costs of electricity and transport fuels are a source of despair globally. Then there are ethical issues to be resolved in the transition to clean energy resources. It has been extensively argued that nuclear power is the only realistic alternative to coal and oil as a primary energy resource but the general population is very concerned about the degree of fail-safe operation of nuclear power stations and is very concerned about safe disposal of nuclear waste. Similarly, biofuels which rely on food crops such as corn products as the primary energy resource are competing with the desperate need to increase grain production globally to address malnutrition in some 23% of the global population. It is clear that the global energy revolution will only succeed if viable education strategies are introduced and available to the general population which address the widespread lack of understanding of climate change and, in particular, its causes and also address the pros and cons of renewable energy resources. The immediate future has to involve a blend of old and new energy generation technologies coupled with a widespread recognition that energy has to be conserved and not wasted. It is practical education programs which will promote this ethic at all levels within communities. Education for sustainable water supplies Sustainable living also means having access to sustainable water supplies. At present, it is estimated that some 15% of the global population do not have access to safe water and the majority of these are in developing countries. It is well-known that many of the life threatening diseases, so common in the developing world, are spread by drinking contaminated water. Further, it is estimated that agricultural irrigation consumes some 65% of global freshwater supplies and already many countries and regions are experiencing water scarcity at alarming levels due to prolonged periods of drought. Droughts are predicted to become more prolonged as a result of the consequences of climate change and so demand for freshwater will inevitably rise predicted to be by some 30% over the next two decades and thus it is clear that urgent strategies are necessary to educate communities to use less water more efficiently. Unfortunately, increase in freshwater use is driven by numerous factors which are difficult to assess and control. These factors include population increase and distribution, lifestyles, economies and, most particularly, by increasing demands for food which drives increases in irrigated agriculture. There is also a political factor which influences freshwater usage in that many of the worlds major freshwater resources are shared since major rivers often flow through several countries. For example, the Danube passes through 12 countries that use its water and the Nile flows through 9 countries which are totally dependent on its waters. Agreement between countries that share freshwater resources can be difficult to achieve and sustain but are generally associated with demands for more effective water usage and strict management programs. Since freshwater is such a valuable resource, water pricing is a highly contentious issue at all levels domestic, industrial and agricultural. Agriculture is linked directly to food production and hence farmers believe that they have the right to sufficient water to produce sufficient crops to provide a sustainable income for themselves and their families. Some governments however believe that such water rights should be controlled by license in view of the scarcity of the commodity and this explains the conflict that is evident between primary producers and water licensing authorities. It is inevitable that sustainable agriculture depends on a major reduction in water used for irrigation by progressive use of drip-irrigation technology in conjunction with installation of improved drainage and recycling systems. Also, during the so-called Green Revolution of the 1960s, new strains of many species of crops resulted in large increases in productivity and this technology is now focused on strains of grain crops which require less irrigation. At the industrial level and as a major part of industrial greening strategies, industry is adopting water recycling initiatives which may include partial treatment of waste water. These initiatives are complementary to the energy consumption reduction strategies and are consistent with the 3Rs of clean, green industry reuse, recycle, reduce. At the domestic level, a user pays system is usually applied to water consumption and during periods of drought, restrictions are placed on water usage which are enforced by water management authorities. It is becoming increasingly apparent that due to the escalating cost of water, communities and individuals are becoming more aware of the need for water conservation and are taking appropriate steps to initiate the 3R rule both individually and collectively. These initiatives include the installation of water tanks in homes to collect rain water and the recycling of non-sewage waste water for external use. No longer can it be taken for granted that the right to water means simply turning a tap on. Education for sustainable food supplies Food security, in conjunction with sustainable energy and water supplies, are the essential components of sustaining humanity. At present, food security is not a reality since at least 15% of the global population is undernourished and with a projected surging population increase, it is a daunting challenge to reduce world hunger, especially since this is directly linked with poverty and exacerbated by global warming. The Green Revolution, which partially achieved food security over the period 1960 to mid-1980, was the dawn of intensive agriculture which has resulted in serious environmental problems. Widespread deep tilling of land together with excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides coupled with intensive irrigation has caused degradation of soil quality and texture in addition to dry land salinity. The additional threat of climate change will inevitably further threaten the achievement of food security in coming decades unless urgent steps are taken now to move towards sustainable agriculture. Science, technology and innovation are essential drivers of sustainable agriculture and hence food security. Improved mechanization of agriculture using efficient harvesting machines which reduce soil compaction are already increasing productivity and use of geographical positioning system (GPS) technology to monitor and control the position of such machinery enables precisely measured amounts of seed, fertilizer and pesticides in addition to the determination of soil and plant quality, which enables early detection of diseases. Further, development of improved crop varieties and marker assisted plant breeding combine to reduce losses due to pests and diseases. These biotechnologies lead to strains which are tolerant of drought, heat and saline conditions in addition to improved pest and disease resistance. Further, drip irrigation coupled with micro-nutrient addition is becoming increasingly effective in increasing production of staple crops such as sweet potato. In the quest to find alternative, clean, green energy resources, bio-fuels have come into prominence.   Biofuels are currently produced from starch, sugar cane, wheat, maize and palm oil. Biofuel production is currently somewhat controversial since the required raw material is derived from land that should be used for food production. In addition, sugar cane and palm oil plantations contribute to deforestation of tropical rain forests.   Second   generation   biofuels are currently being investigated which use crop residues, grasses and willows as base materials and these have much promise as future commercial biofuels and are free of the food related controversies. The last decade has seen massive exploitation of marine resources in the quest to achieve food security. The application of modern technology to commercialization of fishing operations has led to a global overfishing crisis such that sustainable fisheries thresholds have been exceeded. Many of the coastal commercial fisheries have collapsed as a result of declining catches and the global industry is facing further threats from seawater warming and increasing acidification caused by climate change. Thus, the seafood industry is not sustainable. The solution involves harvesting methods that capture fish selectively and within specified limits so as to allow regeneration. However, such strategies are difficult to implement on an international scale. Aquaculture is becoming increasingly important in addressing the challenge of food security. Total fish capture in 2010 amounted to some 145 million tonnes of which aquaculture contributed 54 million tonnes representing an increase of some 20 million tonnes compared to a decade ago. Aquaculture meets at least three objectives: provides seafood and hence income for coastal communities, reduces fishing pressure on wild populations and maintains fish supply to sustain commercial, subsistence and recreational demands. Aquaculture can be sustainable provided that quality seawater, dependable supplies of seed and feed-stocks are available together with application of strategies to ensure disease free hatcheries and grow-out systems.   The next generation of aquaculture may involve introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs have already been introduced into agriculture and genetically modified crop strains have been shown to give higher yields with lower fertilizer suppo rt. The transgenic animal products are controversial and early attempts to market GMO salmon have faced stiff resistance. However, the potential for GMOs to be a force in combating food shortages is significant and cannot be overlooked. Food security is clearly based on a combination of sustainable agriculture, sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture together with a paradigm shift in the extent to which natural food resources are exploited. Fundamentally, more food has to be produced with less energy, less water, less chemicals and by methods which allow environmental regeneration. Education in sustainability science and technology Sustainability science is the science associated wi

Portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood

Portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood Zeinab Kobeissi Over the years, pre and post 9/11, many people have noticed that Hollywood tends to dehumanize Arabs and Muslims. In most western movies, Arab and Muslim characters are subjected to racial and ethnic stereotyping and have continued to be the center of vilification for the entertainment industry in the states. The mass media has depicted Arab and Muslim stereotypes in a number of ways within the American culture and the west in general. Through the society’s media, literature, theatre, and many other creative outlets, stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims is manifested continuously. Such representations have been negative for the most part, whether they were based on historical facts or on works of fiction. They have also had very negative repercussions on Arabs and Muslims who live in the west especially as a reaction to current events and when it came to daily interactions. Generally, Arabs and Muslims exist as one-dimensional characters in Hollywood cinematic works and appear almost sub-human. They are typically always a danger or a threat, ignorant, violent, and most importantly obsessed with kidnapping or killing as many Westerners as possible as they supposedly view them as the enemy. Edward Said notably coined the term â€Å"Orientalism† to express the cultural habit of converting those from eastern cultures into the â€Å"Other†. The notion of Orientalism presents exotic characters that are created from a Western political and social biased perspective in order to provoke a powerful reaction against the eastern culture while at the same time confirming western values. Basically, the hero westerner defeats the nameless evil villain from the east and the western audience in turn feels good about itself. In Reel Bad Arabs, Shaheen states that televisions image of the Arab is omnipresent [and] is becoming a part of American folklore. He also says that Arabs have consistently appeared in American popular culture as billionaires, bombers, and belly dancers† which are known as the 3 B’s for the role of a typical Arab character in a Hollywood movie. What most seem to be forgetting though is the fact that â€Å"Muslim† is no more synonymous with â€Å"Arab† than â€Å"Christian† is with â€Å"American†. In Hollywood movies, Arabs are equivalent to Muslims, though Arabs actually comprise only 12 percent of the Islamic world population. Islam followers or supporters live on every continent and the Muslim majority is not present in the Middle East, rather in the Asia-Pacific region in countries like India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In fact, the latter has the largest population of Muslims and is a constitutional republic. It is not very surprising, however, that Hollywood makes Arabs and Muslims synonymous, appearing in such a manner as one. Hollywood is simply reinforcing the concept of Orientalism when it comes to Muslims. Edward Said explains how the image of Muslims in the eyes of orientalists was not any different from anti-Semitic views by saying that, â€Å"Not accidently, I indicate that Orientalism and modern anti-Semitism have common roots†¦ The transference of a popular anti-Semitic animus from a Jewish to an Arab target was made smoothly, since the figure was essentially the same.† Basically, what Hollywood now does is use a newer and more effective technique to warp the image of Islam; how Muslims are described in Hollywood is similar to how the Jews were portrayed in Nazi-inspired movies. It is crucial however, to mention that there have actually been some movies after 9/11 that portray Muslims quite fairly; such as The 13th Warrior. Unfortunately though, the negative image is usually more influential than the positive one as it feeds people’s fears. According to a survey done by the Pew Forum in 2009, 35 percent of Americans believe that Islam promotes violence more than the rest of the other religions. Moreover, according to a poll done by Time Magazine, 62 percent of Americans do not personally know a Muslim American. This means that most Americans form their concept of Islam from what the mass media offers them, and this is extremely problematic. Hollywood must give out an image that gives attention to what unites the people of this world, focusing on the positives and the universal humanistic qualities that bring people together instead of dividing them. The 13th Warrior is one of the very few Hollywood movies that portray Arabs and Muslims realistically. The Arabs in this movie are portrayed in a way that they appear to be multi-dimensional just as any westerner would be in a Hollywood production. The Arab here is not only depicted as a regular human being but even more so as an actual hero. Even Jack Shaheen deems it as one of the best depictions of Arabs in film; it has a balanced and progressive image of Arabs. The main character, Ahmad ibn-Fadlan Ibn-Fadlan is an Arab, who is at the same time the narrator describing his exploits with the Vikings. He tells his experience with them looking back as an outsider. The life of these Vikings is seen from the perspective of a character who appears to be a learned member of a civilized society, serving as an observer and the viewers’ window to a foreign culture from foreign eyes. Through him, we see and react to traditions that neither we nor him are familiar with, and this makes t he viewer discover more about him as well as those he is talking about. The way he adapts to their cultural ways and even adopts some of their social patterns as well adds more layers to his character, and this encourages respect and tolerance for other religions and races. Neither the Arabs nor the Vikings seem to be radical or fanatic and no faith is criticized or put down. In The 13th Warrior, from the point of view of the Arab â€Å"other†, we see characters from two distinct cultures and backgrounds learning from each other and growing from the experience. The main character and protagonist in this Hollywood movie is actually a likable Arab who realistically tells the tale of his encounter with a strange culture and convincingly demonstrates his attempts to connect with this odd and bizarre world that he has stepped into. In turn, the Vikings treat him kindly and put aside his differences instead of distrusting him for them. They even come to a point where they refer to him as â€Å"little brother†. The Arab is portrayed as rational and intelligent vs. impulsive and primitive. Ibn-Fadlan quietly learned the Vikings’ tongue by immersing himself into their conversations during their nights next to the bonfire and carefully dissecting their language. He learns to understand it and speak it by merely listening to them talk and repeating the sounds in his mind, a task that would probably be impossible in real life. This helps his character appear as an educated man who is clever enough to accomplish incredible tasks quite quickly, which earned the respect of the Vikings. Another act of intelligence by Ibn-Fadlan is when he deciphers what the oracle had told him and his fellow warriors when they went to see her. The men wanted to ask about the whereabouts of some men who had attacked them earlier, but the woman was quite mad and could not speak very coherently. When no one was able to understand what she was hinting at, Ibn-Fadlan was able to put the clues together and finally tell the warriors where the men who had once attacked them lived. Not to mention that the Arab was the only one who was able to provide a token from the enemy for the oracle to derive energy from. â€Å"Drawing sounds†, which referred to the writing of letters and words, was something the Vikings knew only the Arab was capable of doing amongst them. A fellow warrior found Ibn-Fadlan drawing these sounds into the sand with a stick and wondrously questioned him about it. Ibn-Fadlan explained to him how he could also speak them back – read them – and showed him how it could be done. Even though the Viking still did not quite grasp this notion, he recognized Ibn-Fadlan’s spectacular ability to comprehend such a novel and complex idea and eventually learned from him, as Ibn-Fadlan did from the Vikings. Even though Ibn-Fadlan is Arab and Muslim, there is no direct assumption that just because he is Arab he is also a Muslim. The emphasis of his identity remains on the fact that he is an Arab and that is where the focus lies. We discover he is Muslim when he tries to explain to the Viking that there is only one God, and that Mohammed is his prophet, which is an actual prayer in Islam. Also, we see him praying on the prayer mat only once in the entire movie, which helps in showing that Muslims are not necessarily praying and saying â€Å"Allahu Akbar† all the time as they do in most other Hollywood productions. We are used to seeing the intolerant and angry Arab who cannot accept other cultures and religions other than his own. In this film the Arab surprisingly shows tolerance to the others’ religion and cultural practices unlike a stereotypical Arab, as depicted by Hollywood, who is always at war with the West and their ways. When Ibn-Fadlan gets injured in battle, a Viking woman attempts to heal his wounds by applying cow urine. When he learns what she is putting on his cuts he reacts quite disgustingly and asks her for clean water instead. After explaining how this is better for the wound to heal properly, he complies and puts his recovery in her unusual methods. You would never imagine an Arab falling in love with a Western woman and actually having a respectful and polite interaction as Hollywood almost always portrays the Arab man to be abusive and oppressive to women. Ibn-Fadlan falls in love with a Viking woman and they share a mutual admiration to one another; neither looks at the other as an â€Å"other† but rather as true equals. Unlike the usual Arab depiction of them mistreating women, here the Arab treats the Western woman with utter appreciation and affection. He even makes love to her outside of wedlock, that night after the big battle where they find themselves unable to resist their attraction to one another, which is also not allowed in Islam. Ibn-Fadlan finds himself trying out new things and not resisting exposing himself to alien traditions. The Arab is usually never adaptive or social in Hollywood films, but more closed off and unwilling to interact with the outside world. Ibn-Fadlan breaks this stereotype and engages in a give and take relationship with the Vikings where he accepts that he can learn a few things from their culture just as they could from him. One of these examples is when he attempts, for the first time, to taste an alcoholic beverage which a Muslim cannot have. Religiously at the time, the fermentation of grapes and of wheat were forbidden in Islam, so when the Viking offers Ibn-Fadlan a drink after battle, he politely rejects. However, when the Viking explains to him that this was actually made of honey, Ibn-Fadlan dares to take a sip from the Viking’s horn. At the beginning, Ibn-Fadlan is given a sword by the Vikings as this is what he would be using in battle. Arabs back then were used to fighting with lighter and much thinner swords, which meant there was no way the Arab was able to strategically fight and win with a sword that weighs almost twice or three times the one he usually uses. He adapts to certain fighting styles by observing the Vikings fight and learns to use new armory, such as the wooden shield used for protection which he is also not accustomed to. At the same time though, while learning that he would be a much better fighter and far more useful as a warrior, he decides to stick to the same old kind of sword he is used to and goes to the blacksmith asking for one according to his own specifications. Through this, the Vikings see the advantage of a lighter and therefore faster sword and are impressed with his wit. He successfully shows the Vikings that although his sword is lighter, although his horse is smaller (which h e was ridiculed for), he can be far more effective. Despite the fact both Arabs and Vikings are portrayed fairly and as both having equal negatives as well as positives, the Vikings are portrayed as somewhat more barbaric than the Arabs. Ironically, the way Arabs are portrayed as primitive in Hollywood movies is how the Vikings are portrayed in this movie, to some degree. They appear to be aggressive and impulsive, lacking hygiene, and not all that clever, while the Arab is the epitome of self-control, decency, and wit. Generally, neither is depicted as evil or bad; they are both righteous and pious warriors as shown by this film, but the underlying qualities of culture and traditions that are present for each are shown in different lights. The Vikings, in the beginning, are made out to look like complete fools and dirty slobs who possess limited intellectual skills. They share a bowel of water to remove snot from their noses and rinse their mouth with which they pass around for everyone to use. They also cast a few of bones to predic t future events that might take place. However the Arab appears to be very clean and even shows disgust to their unhygienic ways (it is not shocking how he was unable to adapt to this specific cleansing method). The usual poor misrepresentation of Arabs and Muslims that dominates Hollywood movies is what seems to be pushing movies such as The 13th Warrior into the background. The twisted depiction of Arabs and Muslims is a representative image of how they truly are; it is a myth and does not fully reflect reality. A certain connotation is masquerading as a denotation and it became so literal that people started believing it as fact. There exists this dominant meaning or understanding of Islam or Arab-ness, which is not fixed or inherent, rather created based on a complex of social interaction among the two parties or sides. The interplay between the different cultures created this iconic image and a certain decision was made when it was chosen to be represented in this manner; it was agreed upon in a particular context to portray this value and this culturally imposed meaning. One thing is for sure: Hollywood’s determination on reacting to the same political and social spurs for years and even decades now is pretty consistent. No group of peoples provide more ground for Hollywood’s degenerating stereotyping than Arabs and Muslims, and it seems that this is probably not going to change any time soon. As the world’s leading cinematic industry, the Arab stereotype has a greater negative impact on audiences today than it did decades ago. Nowadays, Hollywood’s films are created, developed, and disseminated world-wide, reaching viewers globally. The international success of a movie has become the decider of its popularity; it is not just domestic and local approval that deems a movie a hit anymore. Also, Arab images not only affect international audiences, but international movie makers as well in this case. Arabs and Muslims have given the world quite a lot throughout the years, from architecture to mathematics, but how much of it has found its way onto the movie screens? They have grown tired of seeing rudimentary and inaccurate depictions of themselves that are causing them to be extremely misrepresented to others on this planet. In fact, what does Hollywood think the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world are thinking when they see movies that they are depicted so unjustly in? Hollywood realizes that it has a key role to play in shaping public opinion (domestically and internationally) but only time will tell whether it ever decides to deliver a realistic and just viewpoint on the Muslim world, the Arab world, and their peoples. The most effective films are the ones that remind us that the essence of our collective human experience shows us at our best, free of nationality, ethnicity, politics or religion. But before a movie can ever deliver that, it must be completely and utterly with out stereotype to say the least, Muslim, Arab or otherwise.