Johnny Tremain Movie free essay sample

These characters gave this film variety and creativity which made me learn more about the real events. Paul Revere was a master silversmith and one of the leaders of the Revolutionary forces in Boston. In this film, he played an important role as one Of the leaders Of the Sons Of Liberty. He is also the one who Johnny goes to for help on the design of the handle on Jonathan Lets tea cup, who tells him to make the handle deeper and larger. Paul Revere is most famous for alerting the Colonial militia to the approach of British forces before the tattles of Lexington and Concord.The Sons of Liberty were another important part in this film. The Sons of bribery was an organization of American patriots that originated in the pre- independence North American British colonies. The group was formed to protect the rights of the colonists. They are best known for undertaking the Boston Tea Party in 1 773 in reaction to the Tea Act, which led to the Intolerable Acts. We will write a custom essay sample on Johnny Tremain Movie or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Samuel Adams and Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, and James Otis were some notable members. The Boston Tea was a key event in the growth of the American Revolution.It was a nonviolent political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, in 1773. The colonists disguised as Indians, destroyed the entire supply of tea by dumping the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea. Johnny and his friend, Rah, partook in this event. Johnny Terrain is the fourteen-year-old apprentice of the Boston silver- smith Ephraim Alphas. When Johnnys hand is disfigured in an accident that happened trying to fix the handle on Mr.. Lets cup, he can no longer work as a silversmith, and hes forced to find another job.Johnny finds a new life among the leaders of the committee and finds himself transformed from a selfish youth into a patriotic young man. Although he is a fictional character, he is the main protagonist in this film and an important role in the movie. Priscilla Alphas is Ephraim Alphas granddaughter. She is loyal, selfless, caring and one of Johnnys closest friends. In the beginning of the film, Johnny confides a secret with her, saying that he is secretly related to Mr.. Late. When they are in court, she is brought in as a witness tachyon did to steal Mr.. Lets christening cup.She helped Johnny and gave him advice that helped him become a better man. Ephraim Alphas was Johnnys master. He was a Boston silversmith and a sincere man. Mr.. Alphas attempts to teach Johnny humility by referring to the bible, praying, following the Sabbath (which Johnny disobeys. ) He was very kind to Johnny and offered him a place to stay even though he could no longer work for him because of his hand. All of these events and characters played an important role in this film and eloped me get a more in depth understanding of the American Revolution from different perspectives.Johnny Terrain is a work of historical fiction, combining real people and events like Paul Revere, Sons of Liberty, and the Boston Tea Party, and fictional ones like Jonathan Terrain, Priscilla Alphas, and Ephraim Alphas. I feel that this film gave me a lot more information in a way that I could interpret it. The fictional characters helped shape the historical events that occurred and led up to the American Revolution and the real events helped shape how America became today.

Brahmagupta essays

Brahmagupta essays Brahmagupta was born c. 598, in Bhillamala, which was located in Northwestern India. The suffix -gupta probably indicated that the family belonged to the Vaisya caste (made up of mostly farmers and merchants). He likely lived the majority of his life in Ujjain, India, which at the time was the center of Hindu astronomy and mathematics. There he had access to the best observatory in India as well as the writings of many great scientists and mathematicians who came before him, such as Hero of Alexandria, Ptomely, Diophantus and Aryabhata. In his own work he drew heavily from these sources and often corrected their mistakes. At the age of 30, Brahmagupta wrote his first book, Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta. In 25 chapters this work explains much of his work in astronomy and mathematics. One of his greatest contributions that was revealed with the Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta was the defining of zero. He defined it as the result of subtracting a number from itself. Some of the properties he listed follow: When zero is added to a number or subtracted from a number, the number remains unchanged; and a number multiplied by zero becomes zero. He also gave rules for zero in terms of fortunes, which represent positive numbers, and debts, the negative numbers, as well as fortunes related to debts: A debt subtracted from zero is a fortune. A fortune subtracted from zero is a debt. The product of zero multiplied by a debt of fortune is zero. The product of zero multiplied zero is zero. The product or quotient of two fortunes is one fortune. The product or quotient of two debts is one debt. The product or quotient of a debt and a fortune is a debt. The product or quotient of a fortune and a debt is a debt. In a failed attempt to extend these statements to include division by zero Brahmagupta stated that zero divided by zero is zer ...

A History of the Arab Peoples Albert Hourani Essay Example for Free

A History of the Arab Peoples Albert Hourani Essay ? Albert Hourani’s book â€Å"A History of the Arab people highlights the Arab history in general since the early beginning of Islam –and even before that-, till the modern ages in the nineteenth century. The book is great for westerners interested in the Arabs and for Arabs, who are not familiar with their history. The book is a good add to any interested reader. Back ground information Lebanese-American historian Albert Tourane represent this book as an addition to his previous works discussing Arab’s history and Arabian affairs such as, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1789-1939,which was first published in 1962. It would be a mistake to deal with this book as a pure history book. It’s not depending only on dates and chronological extent of the Arabic people and civilization and this is a good point to build our review on it. Summary Hourani’s book begins with the story of Ibn-Khaldon, the great Arab socialist. The following chapter talks about the appearance of Islam and Muhammad and then his successors and the formation of the Islamic empire 3 . Next, the book talks about the Islamic society and its Koranic accounts 4 with the great revolution in translating science and Greek philosophy with the appearance of Sufism 5 . Islamic expansion and the description of minorities like Jews and Christians 6 followed. Life in countryside 7 and cities 8 and the rulers of the societies 9 were mentioned in later pages. † way of Islam† 1o and â€Å"The culture of the Ulema† 11 are two chapters talking about the faith in Islam with sense of community and low determination. The book also shows how culture was well represented 12 and how the following Ottoman empire 13 sustained the Arab world, with a brief description of Ottoman societies 14 . Chapter fifteen starts talking about the eighteenth century 15 and the European powers in the Arabic areas 16 like French intervention in Algeria. Opening of Suez Canal and Zionism arose with Jews settled in Palestine 16 and how the culture of Imperialism 17 started to have a loud voice in the area. Word War One 18 and its influence discussed in Chapter nineteen 19 with the modern life in Arabic societies 20 . Book show how the emergence of Israel started and the independent movements were held from French & British and The tragedy of the triple attack on Egypt on 195621. Chapter twenty two 22 show a rapid change in Arabic societies and the Arabic culture extended 23 with the climax of Arabism started from 1950s 23 . Final chapters of the book discussed the difference between Arabs, the sudden death of Nasser and the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel 24. final chapter states some major problems in the area, including Kurds struggle for independence, Sudan problem and women issues. Number of twenty pages of maps followed, which make a great way to represent the places that was mentioned in the book. Evaluation of the book This book is well represented with all the illustration and maps introduced. The Index is well-written and helpful in finding any information directly. As mentioned before, the book couldn’t be categorized as a history book; its better described as Social-history book and starting with the life of Ibn-Khaldun is such evidence. It represents a vast look on the Arabic societies through history, describing the life style, science, different religion and civilization. Many chapters described the same period of time but dealing with different subjects, like chapters twenty 25 two and twenty three 26 in the (1950s and 1960s). From the other point of view, this book skims some important details such as, the detailed pre-Islamic era, the great empires of Umayyad and Abbasid which was represented with partly amount of pages that doesn’t exceed seven pages in some cases. Also the detailed life of Prophet Muhammad, which has a great impact on the Arabic societies. Also Crusaders wars weren’t well mentioned, although it has a very huge impact on Arabs in its time. Conclusion Dealing with the history of Arabs is such a great effort and a hard game to play. This book tried to do the most of the job with a different way, which is representing history from the social point of view. I would recommend this book if one already has a minimum knowledge and understanding of Arab history . Otherwise I recommend alternatives such as, History of the Arabs from the earliest times to the present, of Philip Hitti. It would be useful for a good specialized historical reading. A History of the Arab Peoples Albert Hourani. (2017, Apr 17).

EPI7005_2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EPI7005_2 - Essay Example Such inhomogeneties may be a result in some imperfection within the magnet or magnetic susceptibility spatial variation of the object that is being imaged (Christ, 2000, p. 78). The spatial variation is normally referred to as susceptibility artifacts. EPI applied in most of protocols used in diffusion weighted acquisition uses a homogenous static field. Such a field does not normally hold for MRI head. The distortion that comes out of this is significant enough to even exceed ten millimeters. Such artifacts come in the way of accurate diffusion images alignment with structural MRI and are considered obstacles to the head MRI joint analysis of structure and connectivity. Some of the methods used for correction of magnetic susceptibility distortions include the use of a filed map. However, such methods of applying field maps are not reliable and accurate; hence, they do not result in reliable EPI alignment with structural images that correspond to it. The T2-weighted structural image approach that relies on EPI baseline image and still gives account of the susceptibility artifacts is the recommended approach (Edelman and Schmitt, 1994, p. 610). How accurate the reconstruction of the image is depends on the spin’s resonance frequency (rf) which is formed normally through a spatial linear gradient superposition and an external filed that is homogenous and strong. The above conditions have to meet failure to which the anatomical structures relative positions will end up being misrepresented in the MRI image reconstruction. A good example of this is a case in which a spin is presented to a magnetic field that is not the same as the expected value resulting from the magnetic susceptibility. In this case, the geometric distortions process will be witnessed from the MRI image (Reinsberg, Doran, Charles-Edwards, and Leach, 2005). When the spin is increased, it leads to the production of MRI signals whose intensity is relatively low while areas having high magneti c susceptibility experiencing total signal loss (Zhou and Gullapalli, 2006). Question 1A Several parameters have to be reduced in order to optimize EPI image, and they include: A. Reducing the time of echo train length: the longer the length of the echo train, the more time is required by the spin to gather phase error and the greater the distortion witnessed. One of the ways of minimizing the total time of train length is by minimizing the echo spacing. The less the time is taken by the frequency gradient in sampling the signal, the less the distortion will be witnessed as shown in figure 1. The period for sampling is normally during the flat readout gradient portion unless there is ramp sampling. In FSE, the less the ESP or the echo spacing is, the less the blurring of the image gets. In EPI, minimizing the echo spacing also results in a reduction in the blurring and geometric distortion. Figure 2. The sampling time and the read encoding gradient during normal gradient performance (McMahon, 2012) As the segmentation degree increases, the echo number acquired per rf excitation decreases. This in turn minimizes the geometric distortion as the phase error time of accumulation is reduced. Figure 3 below demonstrates the reduction in

Wiki level English proof Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wiki level English proof - Essay Example gic" So far, the Daogame has successfully held three investment fair, about 20 of 60 pocketgame development teams received support from Daogame investment & trading conference and got over 48 million financial support from investor. The closed matrix mode is used in time cost management and CP quality management by Daogame investment & trading conference as a leader in pocket game industry. Moreover, Daogame investment & trading conference aim at high quality service pocket game developer and investor. 1. Oydcapital aim at TMT investment project that include pocket game, mobile Internet, e-commerce. They explore value of potential and creative idea. All members of fund management team were graduated from Tsinghua and Peking University. They have a great experience overses in the relative industry. With its operational experience and accumulated in the Sino-US trade both rich industry resources and connections to make up for insufficient investment in the company, as they seek opportunities for cooperation, customer follow-up financing and mergers and acquisitions or listing opportunities. Currently, Oydcapital have invested in 20 of 50 pocket game company. Such as EGLS (3billion sold to Dragon pipe manufacture co.Ltd), Lexun, Meituan.com. 2. Newmargin Ltd. is one of the largest investment company in China was established at 21 of July 1991. In the Chinese market Newmargin produce investment mode by many years’ development and exploration. Newmargin has over 400 clients, most of them coming from IT industry. such as Sina(one of largest web portal in China), UC, Xiaomi, Vancl, Kugou(popular online music platform in China), Thunder etc. Around 50-60 organizations were listed in market by Newmargin support. 3. China Renaissance K2 Ventures is one of the angle investor in technic area. Their clients include jumei.com, Centaur.cn, zhaogang.com, meilele.com, mojichina, Meet you, lmbang, breadtrip, Airline

Ideological underpinnings of a movie Essay Example for Free

Ideological underpinnings of a movie Essay An expectation has arisen among film-critics and audiences, that movie-makers will deal with the serious issues, such as racism and violence, at a serious level. In other words, it is expected by critics and film-goers alike that films will have meaning. However, if meaning is expected what precisely creates and communicates meaning in a film? As Louis Giannetti points out in his book, Understanding Movies (2008), the presence of ideology in a film impacts the film in its entirety, from tone to theme. In Giannettis estimation, ideology is another language system in film and this language is largely conveyed through code (Giannetti, 453). In order to help illustrate the way that ideology influences films, Giannetti offers a series of categories into which the influence of ideology in film can be functionally divided. The following discussion of the film 300 (2007) will use Giannettis ideas as a support-structure to show how meaning in film is ultimately determined by the films prevailing ideology. In any discussion of meaning in film, it will be important to distinguish between what might be considered overt or even propagandistic meaning and thematic or expressive meaning. Of course this distinction is quite artificial and the two hypothetically divided types of meaning are often one and the same. That said, there is often a conspicuous difference between a film which has an explicit propagandistic agenda than a film which is based on generating thematic and emotional subtlety. The movie 300 offers, even to the most casual viewer, an example of what Giannetti calls Explicit ideology (Giannetti, 449). In this category of ideological content, a movie serves, at least partially, as obvious propaganda for a viewpoint or cause. That 300 functions as a form of propaganda is easily arguable. However, it is slightly more difficult to pinpoint exactly what specific cause or theme is being forwarded by the films ideology. In order to determine the films ideological bearing, closer attention must be paid to its content and its artistic tone. Giannetti mentions that tone in a film can be one of the most important aspects of presenting the films ideology. What Giannetti means by tone is its manner of presentation (Giannetti, 489). For example, in the movie 300, any number of important scenes, if played with a comic rather than a heroic tone, would create a different response in the viewer and therfore communicate a different ideological vision. Imagine the scene where Leonidas kicks the Persian messenger down the well: if the well had sounded out a loud burp after swallowing the messenger, the tone of the scene would have mocked the idea of Spartan pride and Spartan loyalty rather than celebrating it. The reason that tone is so important in a film is that it defines the way the audience will evaluate and judge the characters and scenes of a film. Because as Giannetti insists, Tone can strongly affect our responses to a given set of values (Giannetti, 489), tone is closely connected to ideology and theme. In the example given above, Leonidas kicks the Persian messenger down the well and this scene is presented in a heroic tone. From the outset of the film, the viewer is cued-in to understand that the Spartans are heroic and that they operate from a sense of pride and fearlessness. The tone of heroicism is conveyed not only through the action of the scene, but through the stylized representation of the characters as muscle-bound heros. The Mise-en-scene of the film is connected to the visual color-schemes of comic books and graphic novels. The sense of legend permeates the film, as it permeates the actual historical event. Therefore, the most dominant or controlling tone of 300 can be considered heroic. The fact that a movie has a controlling tone does not mean that other types of tones are not present in isolated scenes. In fact, the opposite is generally the case. The shifts against the dominant tone also help to convey meaning and ideology in a film. If the controlling tone of 300 is heroic, then the scenes that play against this dominant tone, such as the scene where Theron rapes Queen Gorgo, serve to reinforce the films dominant tone and ideology. When Theron tells the Queen she will not enjoy what is going to happen to her, the tone of the scene is tragic rather than heroic, and Therons status as a villain is cemented in the audiences minds. The scene, by depicting graphically, the rape of Spartas Queen reinforces the heroic sacrifice of Leonidas and his men. Another aspect of films that influences ideological language is the cultural context in which a given film is made and shown. Cultural context is a crucial aspect of a films ideological meaning. The expectations of a given audience rest on the fact that Every nation has a characteristic way of looking at life, a set of values that is typical of a given culture (Giannetti, 465). The movie 300 is an American movie made for American audiences. ecause of this it would be hard for anyone to miss the obvious connections between contemporary world-events and the ideological themes that are shown in the movie. Comparisons with recent events are more or less easy. Any observer could see the present-day war against terrorism as a stand for freedom and to view the Battle of Thermopylae as a sort of allegory for the modern-day struggle against tyranny. Obviously, the movie 300 forwards this connection through the kind of code that Giannetti describes. Still, as Dennis Behreandt points out in his review of the film from The New American (2007) the movie serves to buttress the American mythos that our present-day warriors are likewise fighting for freedom in Iraq and also that this is most evident in the scene where Gorgo addresses the Gerousia, the Spartan Senate when her speech could only remind any aware person of the recent troop surge in Iraq (Behreandt). This kind of cultural context would, obviously, be of less significance to someone who lived out side of the U. S. han to someone steeped in to American values. In addition to the cultural context of a film, there is usually a predominant political context. The political context of a film, for Giannetti, can loosely be divided into one of two categories: left and right. Left-leaning films are those that show multiple viewpoints to issues and propose more flexible responses to issues and problems. Giannetti describes leftists as people who believe we ought to be flexible in ou r judgments. By contrast, right-leaning film-makers are those who embrace a more stringent world-view. The rightist film-maker is more absolute in judging human behavior [ ] Right and wrong are fairly clear-cut and ought to be evaluated according to a strict code of conduct (Giannetti, 457). In the case of 300, the designation of Rightest is, obviously, the most fitting for the film due to its tone and cultural perspective. Loosely, according to the discussion above, the following observations about 300 can be made in light of Giannettis criteria for evaluating the ideological underpinnings of films. First, that 300 is a film that relies predominantly on a heroic tone. Second, the film 300 depends on the specific cultural associations of American society to find its full ideological impact. Third, that 300 represents a Rightest political ideology. The three conclusions, taken together, along with the initial determination that 300 is an explicit communicator if ideology, beg the question as to whether or not 300 is more a vehicle for entertainment or propaganda. One of the opposing aspects to this idea is the fact that 300 is based on history. The idea that historical realism balances out the poetic licesne often taken by Hollywood regarding tone and presentation is one that, for better or worse, many film-goers probably believe. In addition to the idea that a culture could exert such self-discipline in its military caste and instill within each soldier a sense of bravery and fearlessness was a very powerful concept in 300 , which seems to resonate deeply with modern times. It is hard not to be fascinated by the Spartans, to wonder what made them as strong and resolute a they were and to wonder just as Xerxes What kind of men were these Spartans who in three days had slain before his Majestys eyes no fewer than twenty thousand of His most valiant warriors? (Pressfield, 8). However, the fact shades of realism exist within the largely stylized or expressionistic flavor of the film only serves to elevate its power to transmit equally stylized (or stereotyped) ideologies. For example, the difference between vanity and pride seemed to have a great deal of influence on the Spartan conception of bravery as it was portrayed in the movie 300. Modern-day leaders would never think of putting themselves in direct danger like King Leonidas: his pride rather than his vanity dictated his actions and pride stems from a sense of civic (or national) unity. Loyalty is another important concept in the movie. It becomes the central most important idea, given that Spartan military power evolved out of the phalanx, which required the utmost loyalty and steadfastness of each warrior in the unit as a whole. The idea that a Greek traitor showed the Persians another path, which enabled them to come round behind and encircle the Greeks and that this ultimately led to the wholesale destruction of the Spartans at Thermopylae shows how important loyalty was to the Spartans. After Leonidas is killed his men fought on with redoubled fury under the Persian arrows, as much to defend the fallen body of their King from the savagery of the barbarians as to show their valor (THE GREATEST WARRIORS). The historical basis of the film is incorporated into the larger and more important myth of the movie that is conveyed in heroic tones that simplify historical subtleties and create a fictional paradigm of idealism. Therefore, the fact that realism in films can be construed into a propagandistic function, is the reality that filmmakers, and especially American filmmakers, are subject to the prejudices and blind-spots which are inherent to the social position they occupy and to which they owe their ability to make high-profile films. Elizabeth G. Traubes Dreaming Identities: Class, Gender, and Generation in 1980s (1992) offers background to the mores and machinations of the filmmaking industry in America and her observations are important for understanding that movies are, in fact, propagandistic and often they represent the experience of only a very small segment of American society. This narrowness is obscured, according to Traube, beneath a veneer which can be thought of as a traditional moralistic package. Traube points out that, in reality, audience preferences are only one of many factors that influence production decisions. Producers also shape their work to conform to dominant sensibilities and values, including those of the producing community itself (Traube, 69). This reality combined with Traubes complex but insightful understanding of fairy-tale motifs in movies is crucial to elucidating the way that anger and racial conflict are expressed propagandistically in film. All fables rely on a straightforward, linear narrative due to the fact that complex stories tend to obscure the thrust of the intended moral. Because the author of any fable is able to transform topical news and politics into universal predicaments (Haggiss Fable 38), a fable carries with it the dangerous connotations of stereotype and oversimplification. The movie 300 stands as an heroic statement about the importance of protecting liberty and freedom. The ideological message that bravery and loyalty are essential aspects of preserving freedom and rather than Sparta, now it is America that faces the threat from Persia and by telling this story so forcefully and with so much passion the film embrace the mythos of the battle rather than the historical truth of the era, which is strongly conveyed in the film. (Behreandt). The ideological underpinnings of the movie 300 are based in a rightist, conservative set of political values that celebrate military capacity and force of strength. he films ideological message is one of social and civic duty as well as xenophobia. The film is geared toward an American audience in a time when America faces military challenges on several fronts and as such plays to the expectations of its audience. The tone of the film is heroic and its political ideology is conservative. The most logical conclusion that can be drawn from these facts is that, as mentioned by Giannetti, the ideological language of the film emerges as the most important aspect of the film as a whole. Further, the code that is used in the movie is comprised of historical truths and cultural stereotypes. The film blurs the line between entertainment and propaganda. It is accurate to suggest that the film, stripped of its propagandistic functions, would cease to exist. The unity of the film, in terms of narrative, editing, staging, costuming, scene construction and even music is derived more from a unity of ideology than from a unity of style or form. The movie follows a traditional fairy-tale arc of narrative to reinforce an already existing set of ideologies in its expected audience. Therefore, the best way in which to interpret the movie 300 is the method demonstrated by Giannetti that isolates and categorizes the ideological code of a film and makes the ideological language much more understandable for the average film-goer.

Verbal Image Translation Analysis Based Upon Ian Flemings From Russia With Love :: essays research papers

This paper deals with the problem of verbal image translation from SL ( English ) into TL ( Ukrainian ). The research is based on comparison of the original [ 1; 337p. ] and Ukrainian translation [ 2; 190p. ] of Ian Fleming’s â€Å" James Bond : From Russia With Love† A few words should be mentioned about the author and his book . Ian Fleming ( 1908 – 1964 ) was a great journalist and detective stories writer . In 1931 he joined Reuters news agency, and during the World War 2 he was a personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence at the admiralty, rising to the rank of commander . At this time he acquired the first-hand knowledge of secret operations . He started his first James Bond novel â€Å" Casino Royale† at the age of 44 , by which time he became the foreign manager of Kemsley Newspapers . He wrote it in the Golden Eye , the house he had built in Jamaica . James Bond has won Ian Fleming the world fame , being the greatest British fictional icon of the late 20-th c. The book is about a British secret agent James Bond , on whom every major foreign government has a file, and whom the Russia’s deadly SMERSH organisation has targeted for elimination – they have the perfect bait in the irresistible Tatiana Romanova . Her mission is to lure Bond to Istanbul and seduce him, while her superiors handle the rest . Bond walks into the trap – but he is always the one to win . The language of this detective story is mostly unexpressive, unemotional, and the stylistic devices ( SD ) that the author uses are typical of the genre : the lyrical images are absent, most of the SDs are used as the means serving to create the picture of the cold, ruthless world of constantly alternating death and fight for survival . Artistic images mostly are stylistically neutral , as no or little expressiveness or emotional colouring is present in them . The same concerns the idioms and phraseologisms ( of which the verbal image is the basic constituting element [ 3 ; 28 ] ) occuring infrequently . The translated work of art is percepted as the artistic one only provided that it corresponds to artistic and stylistic tradition of the TL [ 3; 28 ] .

Ethical Movie Review: Blood Diamond Essay

0.1 Introduction The following essay will examine ethical issues addressed through the movie â€Å"Blood Diamond†. The two main issues identified and discussed are; child soldiers and conflict diamonds. My main lens of ethical theories will consist of the four western theories, this includes, egoism, utilitarianism, ethics of duties and ethics of rights. Even though these theories are based on ethical absolutism, I will still try to apply a pluralistic view. Additionally, some of these theories will be expanded and other theories that do not tend so much towards ethical absolutism will be added. The following section will concentrate more on how these issues occurred and try to give some potential answer to the problems. In order to do so descriptive ethical theories will be tools in the examination. Finally the conclusion will be presented by a combination of a film review and a short summary of the findings in the text. 1.1 Children with guns The first of the two ethical issues that will be examined is the use of kids as soldiers. In order to do so I believe I have to take a subjective role on the subject, looking from a rebel soldier. The reasons for this is because I believe objective or western views on this topic will in the end state that this is neither moral or ethical. In order to get a more interesting view on the matter, I will use an alternative approach and try to look out of the eyes of a soldier taking the use of kid soldiers. The question is; how can the use of kids as soldiers be justified? The situation described in the movie tells us about the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which is a rebel group fighting the government in Sierra Leone 1999. To put the situation in a soldiers mind, one could argue that his or hers thoughts were, â€Å"I am being invaded by the west, they are stealing my diamonds, the government is corrupt, how can I win this fight?† This perspective is based on RUF as one minded soldiers, of course they are not, but in order to make this argument the assumption is so. The first ethical theory that can be linked to the response of child soldiers is egoism. The main concept of this theory is justified with one having to focus on one self; to control all other things is to hard (Crane and Matten 2010). It is important to distinguish from selfishness, and one can argue that this action can be justified as an egoistic mindset, not a selfish point of view. They do not fight only for their own winning; they fight for what they believe is best for the country and RUF. The rest of the world would probably disagree to the use of kids, but how can they judge a situation that for most of them is so far away that they can only be prejudice not knowledgeable about the situation? One can even go so far to say that both the consequentialist theories supports the actions performed by this rebel group, they are fighting for their own desires and what they believe is the greater good. In order to do so they have to utilise the resources available, ergo using children as soldiers and living in utilitarianism. Consequentialist theories focus on the outcome, and one can state that is what has to be the focus in order to actually use so young people for means in war. The differences between the theories are that egoism focuses on the decision-maker while utilitarianism casts an eye on the wider community, which RUF seems to do as well when fighting against the government (Crane and Matten 2010). For the remaining theories on this issue, there is no one that can be associated with the use of children for these actions. Both non-consequentialist theories have clear moral guidance that will not support the course of actions taken by the RUF. Ethical duties have three main maxims, and I believe no RUF soldier would want the use of child soldiers to become a universal law. Maxim two analyses will tells us that all the children have not freely decided to become soldiers, and can be said to be used as means by the RUF to achieve their goals, not to educate the children in the right way. The third maxim asks if the actions are universally accepted, there is no need for explanation here, it is not accepted by the world. Ethics of rights and justice has a large focus on human dignity and humanity; one can reasonably state that there is neither in the use of children as soldiers. So we can now make a short summary to say that with a pluralistic (maybe a bit more relativistic) view on the two consequentialist ethical theories the use of kids to bear arms can be justified. We will discuss this issue further in the next section of the essay, but first the issue of blood diamonds will be addressed. 1.2 â€Å"Bling-Bang† Conflict diamonds or blood diamonds as the title of the movie confirms is an important ethical issue enlightened by director Edward Zwick. Before going into discussion around ethics regarding this topic, a short definition of conflict diamonds is appropriate: â€Å"Conflict Diamonds – also known as blood diamonds – are diamonds that are used to fuel conflict and human rights abuses. They have founded brutal conflicts†¦ that have resulted in the death and displacement of millions of people.† (Global Witness 2011). In Sierra Leone 1999 the diamonds are traded for mostly weapons by the RUF, the buyers are big diamond companies using cleansing methods around the world in order to â€Å"wash† the stones. As the movie shows us, the diamond industry is powerful and unethical. Working from a view of pluralism which is an ethical middle way between absolutism and relativism, one which I believe should and is being used the most, the actions of the diamonds corporations are highly immoral and unethical. Pluralism is based on the notion that morality is a social phenomenon according to Kaler (Crane and Matten 2010). If one would argue that morality is a social phenomenon, the morality of taking use of rebel groups as RUF and their extreme methods of operations can in no way be justified. Aiding criminal and horrifying actions like these should never be done. The scary part is that this is nothing new, corporations do think of people as means only which is opposite of what the second maxim of ethical duties suggest (Crane and Matten 2010). A quote from the movie which describes this situation, and implies that the companies fool consumers into believing that every diamond comes without blood is said by Danny Archer when talking to an American journalist, â€Å"In America it’s bling bling, but out here it’s bling bang.† (Imdb.com 2011), What Mr. Archer here says is very on the spot on how unethical the operations of diamond companies deceive the world. And they do so knowingly, after all the intro of the movie shows a G8 conference where diamond CEO’s are precent and applauded for attending the fight against blood diamonds. When they at the end then still buy blood diamonds, their actions can be nothing else than both immoral and unethical. For every ethical theory that include morality, honour, or even the greater good, these people do not seem to care, and it is hard to find any way to justify their means except for financial winnings, which is sad, unethical and immoral. Their actions can be found as unethical by three of the four ethical theories mentioned; the only one that again can come to create peace of mind for the CEO’s is the line of egoism. Again the financial desires of diamond companies seems to be all they care about, and if they believe that everything else is not their problem, then egoism will accept the actions of these people. There is a but here, and as the last paragraph stated, they knowingly deceive and knowingly know what the history of their stones are. They make that history matter to them as soon as they attend the diamond meeting. And when they make that blood covering those diamonds matter, stepping out of line of the egoistic theory is something they do, and as ethical theories are rules and principals that determines right and wrong, these actions can clearly be stated as wrong (Crane and Matten 2010). I will not spend much time on covering the three remaining theories on this topic because I do not see room for much distortion when measuring the decisions up to the remaining three theories. Put simply, utilitarianism is not supported because their actions are not for the greater good. There is no â€Å"greater good† in buying conflict diamonds unknowingly for consumers; neither is there for exploiting a brutal civil war for economical purposes. There are to significant impacts on world’s society for this to be disregarded. Over to the non-consequentialist theories they are as described previously in the essay based much on morality, dignity and humanity, and there are room for little of these concepts in the actions of Van de Kaap. Van de Kaap is the character of the diamond CEO in this movie. And as mentioned earlier supporting such horrible military actions defies what the second maxim of ethical duties suggests. Now that the four main ethical theories have been discussed with this issue the following section of this essay will seek meaning in the actions performed by RUF and diamond corporations. 2.1 Finding the reasons Normative theories tend to focus more on the problems after actions and decisions have been made, this section will use tools from descriptive ethical theory, which are used as tools on how the decisions are made and why (Crane and Matten 2010). There are two main categories to address, individual factors and situational factors. I believe that individual factors do not play an important role compared to situational factors. I do acknowledge Ford and Richardson’s (1994) argument that socialisation matters, but I do not recognise this as an individual factor; this goes over to the situational factor. One can argue that adults have individual factors when presenting different childhood environments, and this is true, but to determine how a person will act when born is not possible. The only factor recognised with individuals to really matter is mental illness, and then I mean birth sickness not sickness developed during the life. The other factors all depends on environment. As a scene in the movie show, Mr. Archer is found in a conversation with a local man taking care of children and is asked the question if he believes people generally good or bad and responds; â€Å"No. I’d say their just people.†(Imdb.com 2011). This is true, there are none born evil or good, it is our actions that show us what we become. So the tool that will be used to interpret the actions of RUF and Van de Kaap are mostly situational factors. Assumptions are telling us that 10 000 children were fighting for the RUF (Murphy 2003). As we can exclude most individual factors, one can start by blaming environment for actions performed by human beings. Beginning this will be with exploring the relevant situational factors. The situation described in the movie is a rebel group fighting the government in which they believe are corrupt and see no other solution than to take the fight in their own hands. As the movie provides us only with one way the children end up as soldiers, there are other reasons for children to bear the RUF uniform. Murphy (2003) talks of four models of child soldiers, the first one is called â€Å"coerced youth† which is the model of brutal coercion of children into the army, just as the one we see in the movie. The remaining three models are not going to be described in detail here, but tell us a bit different story. Children living in poverty and with a rough childhood, bad parenting in a chaotic country can easily tend to blame the government. The search for authority and some sort of place for them in society can make them join what they feel is the right fight, or maybe just to get some meaning in their lives. The society has not provided the safety that a child needs so it seeks it, the cognitive moral stage these kids live in is named preconvention. Their cognitive moral development is shaped by the environment, and it â€Å"refers to the different levels of reasoning that an individual can apply to ethical issues and problems.† (Crane and Matten 2010:153). The preconventional stage says that to determine what is right and wrong out from punishment or rewards from their subordinates, and in this case RUF rewards unethical behaviour. The mindset of children are found in the strategy of denial (Anand, Ashforth and Joshi 2004) they remove responsibility from themselves; hereby their actions can be accepted by themselves and then implemented. In addition their locus of control is probably low in a kids mind, and seeking control in authority figures. Now to the RUF, one can see reasons for why child soldiers were used, if one is to believe that a combination of kidnapping and children joining willingly were the start up. The way from there can be that children were seen to be useful and thereby just adapting more children as they felt the need. This may very well be one of the reasons for the use of child soldiers. The next point will pursue reasoning for which diamonds create unethical behaviour. To find the meaning of exploiting Sierra Leone for their diamonds we can draw similarities with the reasoning above. More accurately the strategy used to rationalise unethical behaviour. Van de Kaap will be again the person of interest in this, and in this movie this person represents the strategy denial of responsibility (Anand, Ashforth and Joshi 2004). Not in the same way as the children described above, but in the sense that they believe that if they do not take advantage of these diamonds, someone else will. By having that attitude the other strategy, denial of injury (Anand, Ashforth and Joshi 2004) also fits. They may acknowledge that people are getting harmed, but it is not their responsibility since someone else would take their place if they were not there. The reward is what gives the organisation meaning, people tend to do what they are rewarded for, and in that process it is easy to forget the ethics regarding their actions (Crane and Matten 2010). We can also blame the world’s ignorance of the issue, Crane and Matten (2010) writes that â€Å"Quite simply, ethical violations that go unpunished are likely to be repeated.† And this is the world’s responsibility, in the movie we find a journalist to take this job, fighting against a world that seems oblivious to the issue. So what possible solution can be proposed to it all? 2.2 Possible solutions The first proposed solution to be addressed will be blood diamonds. Already the Kimberly process has been formed in 2003. This is a response on conflict diamonds and mentioned in the beginning of the movie (Global Witness 2010). The imitative is a non-government, non-corporate and therefore independent imitative which sertify conflict diamonds. It is said to be an exclusive club as only members can trade with members and therefore something countries long to take a part in. Global Witness state on their homepage â€Å"†¦ attempts at industry self-regulation have been woefully insufficient; meaning that it still isn’t possible to guarantee to consumers that the diamonds they purchase are free from the taint of conflict and human rights abuse.† And this tells us that it is hard, but at least someone is putting in an effort. So when the regulation is hard, we should take care of some roots of the problem. Diamonds is a good defined as a want, it is not a need. One can therefore blame the consumers on making it possible for companies to profit so much of diamond trade, and by doing so I want to put some of this responsibility back in their hands. The consumer has to make sure that what they are buying does not support conflicts in other nations. If a system would be demanded by the people, one could argue that the power which lies with the people is strong enough to make the corporations act. The second solution is in some way already shown in the movie, a rehabilitation â€Å"centre† in the jungle for kids. It is important to do this properly and not ignore the kids once they have become soldiers. In addition I believe that by fighting poverty is a way of fighting children turning to killers. To perform these two tasks that here is proposed is something that the western world should be obligated to do when thinking of all the pain it have caused for Africa in the past centuries. One possibility would be for the G8 to take use of discourse ethics and form a panel with parties from rebel groups, ex-child soldiers, local government and objective minds. That concludes this section of the essay; the next one will be a short summary and review of the movie. 3.1 Short review of movie and text The final section of this essay will be a short movie review combined with some conclusions from this essay. The director Edward Zwick has in my eyes done a fantastic job, the movie is stuffed with real life issues, and two are presented in this text by child soldiers and blood diamonds. Zwick presents ethical issues in an action packed thriller filled with good acting and effects. I view this movie as a perfect combination of Hollywood and the real world, there are a few clichà ©s, but that has to be expected; the rest is a mind opening truth that certainly was a goal for the production when the release date was set 18th of December, right before the year’s biggest diamond sale period. The three main characters each present separate ethical morality, the â€Å"soldier of fortune† gives us an egoistic mindset, but gets softer as the movie closes to the end. The way the movie presents both the understanding for the desire in egoism as well as showing that it is possible to change and also show compassion a moral twist. The second character is a fisherman presenting a more feminist ethical theory, showing much love for family and care for people, even a man that is likely to steal from him. The last character is a female journalist fighting for fairness and justice. And Maddy Bowen can easily be linked to several ethical theories, but closest to theories of justice. Her fight for fairness and getting the west to open their eyes gives another moral angel to the situation in Sierra Leone. All in all Zwick with good help from his actors presents the issues of child soldiers and blood diamonds in a very good way, one can see that the diamond corporations of the world did not like it, they fought the movie for a long time and ended up with a 15$ US million PR campaign (PRWatch 2006) that resulted in a website called diamondfacts.org. This is interpreted as a sign that he is pushing on the correct buttons and may be something that forces change. I do not believe I would change anything with his movie, in order to reach the target market a combination of fiction and facts are needed. This essay has proved that the use of child soldiers as well as trading conflict diamonds is unethical and has asked the world to act as a solution; there is power within the people that should be used to pressure changes to these issues.

New Technology

New technologies that are being developed by the minute provide great convenience to today’s people. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine going about one’s daily tasks without the help of new technologies. Thus, every aspect of modern living, such as transportation, education, banking, manufacturing, and communication depend on modern technologies. Aside from the conveniences brought about by newly developed technologies, there is a host of opportunities that come along with these technologies.However, alongside the various technologies that make modern living easier, serious dangers and threats are also being developed, either consciously or otherwise. These threats are often posed against the security of information, and commonly consist of viruses and worms. Certain criminal and immoral acts that have been committed as a response to new technologies, such as information theft, also pose a threat to the safety of data.These threats come in various forms, and can range f rom simple delays and additional cost to graver consequences such as theft of money and other property. Worse, the dangers brought about by new technology could lead to blackmail and revelation of trade secrets. These dangers pose serious threat, not only to individuals, but more importantly, to institutions, businesses, and the government. Confidential information that is obtained without authority from government sites could produce dire consequences.The government, because of its role in society, necessarily keeps loads of information about its citizens, its agencies, and its national security. These data are kept by the government to serve its various roles as protector of society and provider of basic needs and services. These data are also made available to the government because of its unique position, and are not meant to be made available to everyone. If vital information is leaked or brought into the hands of the wrong people, there is no limit to the kind of damage that c an arise.Those individuals and organizations that are concerned with keeping their files private should take steps to protect their computer systems. Thus, there should be systems or individuals whose task it would be to protect computer systems and files from unauthorized access or from viruses.These reasons are the primary reasons why new courses are being offered in colleges and universities nowadays, which courses aim to train people on the business of ensuring the safety of computer information. One such field of specialization is called information assurance.The recent developments in information and computer technology and the resulting negative effects in the safety of businesses, institutions, and governments give rise to various opportunities to information assurance professionals. The field of information assurance involves people, policies, procedures, and computer equipment and programs that aim to protect information and computer systems.The development and proliferati on of new viruses and worms and the discovery of new techniques of obtaining information without authority challenge information assurance professionals to similarly develop new ways of dealing with the risks and threats. Moreover, there is a continuing challenge to professionals in this field to evolve as fast as the other side is evolving. Information assurance professionals must always be prepared to counteract whichever step is taken by people who want to destroy existing computer infrastructure.Thus, there is always a challenge to information assurance professionals to be able to provide information as they are needed by the end users, maintain the integrity of the information, ensure the authenticity of information through verification methods, maintain the confidentiality of information, and provide proof of the integrity and origin of data.The growing complexity of computer infrastructure and the increased use and dependence on computer systems all over the world made inform ation assurance a necessity.   The duties of an information assurance, consisting mainly of closing loopholes that may be used by unscrupulous hackers, are exciting and interesting.Thus, it has become my heart’s desire to study information assurance so that I may learn the fundamentals of computer infrastructure. I want to learn how to create, develop, and maintain a system of checks and quality controls that could help organizations protect their valuable and confidential data. I want to be at the forefront of the fight against dishonorable abuses of the computing technology. I want to be an expert in detecting and controlling any unauthorized intrusion to an organization’s computer infrastructure. This way, I am able to serve a vital role in society, that of protecting privacy and integrity of valuable information. New technology New technologies that are being developed by the minute provide great convenience to today’s people. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine going about one’s daily tasks without the help of new technologies. Thus, every aspect of modern living, such as transportation, education, banking, manufacturing, and communication depend on modern technologies. Aside from the conveniences brought about by newly developed technologies, there is a host of opportunities that come along with these technologies.However, alongside the various technologies that make modern living easier, serious dangers and threats are also being developed, either consciously or otherwise. These threats are often posed against the security of information, and commonly consist of viruses and worms. Certain criminal and immoral acts that have been committed as a response to new technologies, such as information theft, also pose a threat to the safety of data.These threats come in various forms, and can range f rom simple delays and additional cost to graver consequences such as theft of money and other property. Worse, the dangers brought about by new technology could lead to blackmail and revelation of trade secrets. These dangers pose serious threat, not only to individuals, but more importantly, to institutions, businesses, and the government. Confidential information that is obtained without authority from government sites could produce dire consequences.The government, because of its role in society, necessarily keeps loads of information about its citizens, its agencies, and its national security. These data are kept by the government to serve its various roles as protector of society and provider of basic needs and services. These data are also made available to the government because of its unique position, and are not meant to be made available to everyone. If vital information is leaked or brought into the hands of the wrong people, there is no limit to the kind of damage that c an arise.Those individuals and organizations that are concerned with keeping their files private should take steps to protect their computer systems. Thus, there should be systems or individuals whose task it would be to protect computer systems and files from unauthorized access or from viruses.These reasons are the primary reasons why new courses are being offered in colleges and universities nowadays, which courses aim to train people on the business of ensuring the safety of computer information. One such field of specialization is called information assurance.The recent developments in information and computer technology and the resulting negative effects in the safety of businesses, institutions, and governments give rise to various opportunities to information assurance professionals. The field of information assurance involves people, policies, procedures, and computer equipment and programs that aim to protect information and computer systems.The development and proliferati on of new viruses and worms and the discovery of new techniques of obtaining information without authority challenge information assurance professionals to similarly develop new ways of dealing with the risks and threats. Moreover, there is a continuing challenge to professionals in this field to evolve as fast as the other side is evolving. Information assurance professionals must always be prepared to counteract whichever step is taken by people who want to destroy existing computer infrastructure.Thus, there is always a challenge to information assurance professionals to be able to provide information as they are needed by the end users, maintain the integrity of the information, ensure the authenticity of information through verification methods, maintain the confidentiality of information, and provide proof of the integrity and origin of data.The growing complexity of computer infrastructure and the increased use and dependence on computer systems all over the world made inform ation assurance a necessity.   The duties of an information assurance, consisting mainly of closing loopholes that may be used by unscrupulous hackers, are exciting and interesting.Thus, it has become my heart’s desire to study information assurance so that I may learn the fundamentals of computer infrastructure. I want to learn how to create, develop, and maintain a system of checks and quality controls that could help organizations protect their valuable and confidential data. I want to be at the forefront of the fight against dishonorable abuses of the computing technology. I want to be an expert in detecting and controlling any unauthorized intrusion to an organization’s computer infrastructure. This way, I am able to serve a vital role in society, that of protecting privacy and integrity of valuable information.

Conjugating the French Verb Réfléchir

Conjugating the French Verb Rà ©flà ©chir Rà ©flà ©cher  is the verb that means to reflect or to think in French. Its a rather easy one to remember because it resembles the English word reflect. French students will also be happy to know that this is a pretty easy verb conjugation. After this lesson, youll know the most basic ways to use  rà ©flà ©chir  in the present, past, and future tenses. The Basic Conjugations of  Rà ©flà ©chir Verb conjugations allow us to give French verbs like rà ©flà ©chir meanings such as I reflected in the past tense or she is reflecting in the present tense. While French does make you memorize more forms of each verb than English does, you can use what youve already learned with other verbs to study this one. Rà ©flà ©chir  is a  regular -ir verb, so it uses a very common conjugation pattern that tells us which ending to use. First, however, you must recognize the verb stem:  rà ©flà ©ch-. Using that and the chart below, find the correct ending by looking for the subject pronoun and the tense that matches your subject. For example, I am reflecting is  je rà ©flà ©chis  and we will reflect is  nous rà ©flà ©chirons. Present Future Imperfect je rà ©flà ©chis rà ©flà ©chirai rà ©flà ©chissais tu rà ©flà ©chis rà ©flà ©chiras rà ©flà ©chissais il rà ©flà ©chit rà ©flà ©chira rà ©flà ©chissait nous rà ©flà ©chissons rà ©flà ©chirons rà ©flà ©chissions vous rà ©flà ©chissez rà ©flà ©chirez rà ©flà ©chissiez ils rà ©flà ©chissent rà ©flà ©chiront rà ©flà ©chissaient The Present Participle of  Rà ©flà ©chir The present participle of rà ©flà ©chir is formed by adding -ssant to the verb stem. This results in the word rà ©flà ©chissant. Rà ©flà ©chir  in the Compound Past Tense For the past tense, you can use the imperfect, though the passà © composà © is a good option as well. Its a compound that requires you to conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir to the present tense, then attach the past participle rà ©flà ©chi. For example, I thought is jai rà ©flà ©chi and we thought is nous avons rà ©flà ©chi. More Simple Conjugations of  Rà ©flà ©chir While the conjugations above should be your first priority because theyre used most often, there are a few more you may need to know. For instance, the subjunctive is used when you have a question about the act of thinking. Likewise,  the conditional says that someone will think only if something else also happens. Though theyre not used as often, it is a good idea to also know the passà © simple  and  the imperfect subjunctive. Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je rà ©flà ©chisse rà ©flà ©chirais rà ©flà ©chis rà ©flà ©chisse tu rà ©flà ©chisses rà ©flà ©chirais rà ©flà ©chis rà ©flà ©chisses il rà ©flà ©chisse rà ©flà ©chirait rà ©flà ©chit rà ©flà ©chà ®t nous rà ©flà ©chissions rà ©flà ©chirions rà ©flà ©chà ®mes rà ©flà ©chissions vous rà ©flà ©chissiez rà ©flà ©chiriez rà ©flà ©chà ®tes rà ©flà ©chissiez ils rà ©flà ©chissent rà ©flà ©chiraient rà ©flà ©chirent rà ©flà ©chissent If you need to use  rà ©flà ©chir  in short commands or requests,  the imperative form  is useful. This is the one instance when its perfectly acceptable to skip the subject pronoun. You can shorten  nous rà ©flà ©chissons  to  rà ©flà ©chissons. Imperative (tu) rà ©flà ©chis (nous) rà ©flà ©chissons (vous) rà ©flà ©chissez

Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Risk Management - Essay Example But attention must also be paid to the risks. EHR are used by may different types of healthcare delivery systems, from hospitals to private practice. By definition, "To be defined as an Electronic Health Record, an electronic approach to collecting storing and manipulating data must be able to accomplish: collection of patient health information and data, results management, order entry management, and decision support" (Health, 2007). Although this system often makes dealing with patient records more orderly and efficient, some have raised concerns over how the process of keeping these electronic records relates to issues of patient confidentiality and privacy. Because there is so much more access to the information electronically, there is also more possibility that the information will wind up in the wrong hands. In many ways, this is an ethical issue that comes down to the individual using the EHR system. This comes from the perspective that a universal ethics is possible and also that it must be based on choice. This pattern of choice must start with the individual; there cannot be a group ethic that is in agreement without individual ethics. The individual healthcare professional is a person who must make choices regarding how to behave. This behavior can be broken down into two categories: the choice as it effects the society around the person making the decision, and the decision as it affects the person making the choice. An individual could make an ethical choice to respect patient confidentiality and keep this in mind when using EHR with passwords and encryption. They could choose whether or not to tell the truth. They can make an ethical distinction between giving and taking. The list goes on and on. Ethics is ultimately seen to be a personal decision that may or may not be effected by an external group or group philosophy. In this ethical mix, "As information technology expands throughout healthcare, opportunities for breach of confidentiality become abundant, from information left on the fax machine and patient data left visible on a computer screen" (Jenkins, 2002). Therefore, it is up to the individual professional to be as vigilant as possible, and work within a technological system in a way that shows responsibility and ethics. This issue is relevant because as mentioned, today's healthcare environment is one that is quickly changing as new technology is constantly being adopted, and this technology brings risks as well as rewards. Patient privacy and confidentiality also remain relevant concerns from an ethical as well as a legal perspective in the healthcare environment. In today's healthcare setting, "Computer systems designed for clinical use apply technology that is protective of data. In addition, an electronic patient record is backed up according to hospital policy' and as the chart is modified by caregivers, those changes are automatically saved and an audit trail created" (Conner, 1999). But at the same time, this efficient means of keeping data could lead to possible compromises in patient confidentiality, because even encryption and passwords are not fool proof security systems. Confidentiality is an important aspect of any client-professional relationship. It is intricately involved with issues of trust between the

The Spratly Islands Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Spratly Islands - Essay Example Some of the island claims overlap and have led to international tensions over the right to claim some of the world's largest oil reserves and expand their territorial fishing rights. Powerful nations in the area that have a growing need for energy pose a serious threat for future disputes, but recent agreements have eased the tensions to a degree and offer some hope of a model of economic cooperation. . Claims to the islands in the archipelago largely rest on the claimant's ability to establish a historical record of being there first, their geographical proximity, or a record of diplomatic agreements. China, Japan, France, and Vietnam all made claims to, and inhabited, the islands sporadically before and during the first half of the 20th century. China's claim to the islands dates back 2nd century BC Han dynasty, and in 1933 the Chinese made a formal public declaration of claim to the islands and stated that the islands "are inhabited only by Chinese fishermen, and are internationally recognized as Chinese territories".1 The Japanese used the Spratly Islands as a staging point for their assault on the Philippines during World War II, but the action drew little attention from the British who considered the islands terra nullius, a non-legally binding concept that argues uninhabited islands are open to settlement.2 Vietnam's claims date back to the 17th century and are bolstered by an 1884 treaty that claims the French administered the islands while they were a protectorate of France.3 Vietnam has recently contended that they have continuously occupied the islands since the 1600s and have "exercised effectively, continuously and peacefully its sovereignty" over the Spratly islands as well as the neighbouring Paracel Islands.4 Historians have largely disputed the legitimacy of the claims made by Vietnam and since World War II the islands have become the centre of an international debate involving China, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Since World War II the Spratly Islands have gained significant strategic importance for their location amid a rapidly developing area, as well as for the economic value of their natural resources. Ownership of the islands gives the owner internationally recognized fishing rights in an area that is rich in fish and seafood. The discovery of some of the richest gas and oilfields in the world has sparked an intense competition for ownership. The islands lie in the middle of several nations that have a growing need for oil that is mostly currently imported from the Middle East and Africa. In addition, the islands lie in the middle of the shipping lanes that include the Strait of Malacca, which serves the expanding Asia-Pacific economic region, and is the second busiest sea-lane in the world5. It is estimated that over half the world's supertanker traffic and "half of the world's merchant fleet (by tonnage) sails through the South China Sea every year".6 This gives the owners of the islan ds geo-political strength as well as control of the resources in the area surrounding the islands. The island's strategic location and the ability to disrupt trade have given the Spratly Islands an increased military importance in light of the world's growing need for oil. The most recent decades have seen open hostilities as nations have worked to build a spirit of