Muhammads Personality and Character Ethics Inspired Muslims Way of Life

Introduction There is a big difference between personality and character ethics, but many people do not have any idea on the reality of the outstanding difference between the two subjects.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Muhammad’s Personality and Character Ethics Inspired Muslim’s Way of Life specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Personality temporary as it depends on the psychological environment that a person is exposed to, whereas character is permanent and it is not affected in any way by the psychological environment. However, character ethic, which ought to be dominant, is not always dominant in most people due to their strong personalities. Psychologists argue that this hypothesis underscores the main reason why many people are not successful and cannot influence the world. In the light of this realization, Prophet Muhammad, despite his physical challenging environment, had a strong char acter ethic that dominated his personality, which made him a legendary Muslim leader (Robinson 188). Brockopp (83) notes that Muslims believe that Muhammad was a prophet of God as well as a messenger, but he is assumed to have been stronger and more influential than all other prophets were. To the Muslim community, Muhammad is an influential icon just like Jesus is to the Christian community. He is believed to have been born in 570 CE and his real name is assumed to have been AbÃ… « al-QÄ sim Muhammad in Arabic, which is transliterated as Muhammad.Advertising Looking for research paper on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Even though God used many prophets to deliver messages to his people, Muhammad is believed to have been the last and the most influential, as evidenced by his initiation of the Quran writing. Non-Muslims refer to Muhammad as the founder of the Islamic religion, but Muslims believe that he is not the founder of the Islamic religion, but rather he was a follower because he too was an Islam. In addition, Muslims took him as a restorer of the unaltered faith of Adam, Abraham, and other prophets like Elijah and Jesus. According to Lapidus (78), Muhammad rose from humble beginnings to become a legendary leader of the Islamic religion just like Jesus in the case of Christian community. Influence of Muhammad’s Personality and Character Ethics Muhammad is strongly believed to have been born in about 570 CE, as there is no solid evidence of his birth date in the Quran or other books, in the Arabian city, Mecca. He was born to a poor family living in the desert and worst still lost his parents at a tender age. His uncle, Abu Talib, brought him up in the same city. At an early age, he portrayed a strong character ethic of independence and desire to do things his own way and that disposition pushed him into business. Despite being a young merchant, he was still a shepherd and looked after his uncle’s sheep and camels. At the age of twenty-five, Muhammad was already married and he was one of the wealthiest young men in Mecca.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Muhammad’s Personality and Character Ethics Inspired Muslim’s Way of Life specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More His character ethic of independence from other people’s normal way of doing things gave him a chance to retreat to the caves in the mountainous environment where he would carry out his periodic prayers. Other people that were close to him understood his personality and always allowed him to do things his own way, which illustrates that they admired his way of life and doing things since his young age and the reason he had a great multitude of followers (Brown 90). He continued to carry out his prayers in seclusion and at the age of forty, he first came across the first God’s reve lation in his life. He continued to have the revelations for a long time, but he did not reveal them to anybody until three years later. Looking into the religious beliefs of numbers in the Christian faith, Jesus preached for three years, but he did not have revelations like in the case of Muhammad, as Jesus was God himself according to Christians. Hence, Muhammad’s three-year period of revelation before publicly preaching the same is taken as a true hypothesis. In his first preaching known to the Muslims, he insisted on the oneness of God the Creator and noted that humans are fully supposed to submit to His perfect will, as it is pleasing to Him. In addition, Muhammad proclaimed himself a messenger and prophet of the true God, which he professed, but noted that he was the same as other Islamic prophets that existed before him.Advertising Looking for research paper on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The closest people known to him did not hesitate to believe him due to his ‘strange’ personality and character ethic since early childhood. In addition, he was known to be a sober person who was also humble and he lived according to his standards. Hence, to them, he could not have lied of revelations and the proclamation of the true God. Since his first public proclamation of God and his anointment as a prophet and messenger of God at the age of forty-three, Muhammad changed his lifestyle for good. He stopped his old way of life in which he was a merchant and a shepherd and started preaching and prophesying (Peters â€Å"The Quest of the Historical Muhammad† 297). His conversion was not a surprise to the people close to him, and thus they followed him with less resistance, hence forming part of his few followers as he kick-started his mission. However, some tribes in his home region of Mecca met him with hostility to a near point of persecuting him. They argued t hat prophets of God could not have come from his tribe and that he was opposing the principles of the ruling elites through his preaching, which could result in public anarchy. However, Muhammad did not bow to the threats. His personality ethic was unshaken in the face of threats and he continued to proclaim One God and argued people to follow him. Comparing his life to that of Jesus Christ, there are numerous similarities, as Jesus too had to flee to Egypt together with his parents in order to escape persecution from King Herod. Muhammad faced numerous challenges in Mecca to a point that he had to escape persecution by migrating to Medina. However, before he had emigrated from Mecca, he had gained numerous followers and he sent some of them for preaching mission to Abyssinia. These occurrences are believed to have been in the year 622 CE. This move was inspired by his strong personality and desire to fulfil his mission whereby despite the death threats and other challenges, Muhamma d continued to carry out his mission even to regions beyond Mecca. Muslims are inspired by his zeal in the execution of his mission to the God’s people and this event is found in the Islamic calendar and marked as the Hijra and due to its great significance to the faith, it marks the beginning of a new Islamic year. In addition, Medina was also not a peaceful region for his mission due to tribal prejudice, but he worked tirelessly to bring the separated tribes together under the law stipulated in the Medina Constitution. His ability to bring the tribes together offered him a great opportunity to preach and prophesy the God’s will to the people, which resulted in an increase in the number of his followers. After gaining more followers in Medina, Muhammad felt inspired to get back home and preach to people based on the belief that he could overcome the ruthless reaction of the tribes through battle. The tribes of Mecca worshiped idols and this practice had contributed to the heightened roughness of the people towards the God’s prophets. Hence, Muhammad wanted to change that culture, destroy the idols, and preach the message of one true God to his people (Peterson 89). On getting back to Mecca, together with his followers, tribes of Mecca opposed them with fierce battle that they retaliated and continued fighting for over eight years. By the eighth year of fighting, Muhammad’s followers had grown to over ten thousand people in Mecca, which enabled them take control of Mecca in a peaceful conquest. Thereafter, Muhammad then destroyed the idols that the tribes of Mecca worshiped across the entire region. He also proclaimed the God’s message to his people without their resistance. He later returned to Medina after staying in Mecca for about ten years where he is believed to have fallen ill immediately after his return before he died. However, â€Å"he died as a true legend of faith where many people in the Arabian Peninsula had co nverted to Islam; in addition, he managed to unite Arabia into the Islamic religious polity† (Brockopp 81). Hence, the Muslims view him as the founder of today’s United Arab Emirates. Muhammad as Seen in the Quran According to the Quran, the name Muhammad refers to someone who is praiseworthy and is found to have been used for four times. However, the Quran does not refer to him directly, but rather as a second person in which his name is also not used. Instead, he is referred to as appellations prophet, messenger of God, or rather the announcer of God. However, Quran says that God made some of his servants excel above others and to that effect, Muhammad is the seal of all other prophets and hence the praiseworthy. Hence, his character and personality ethic made him become praiseworthy in the Holy book, which he initiated its writing through his revelations. Quran is â€Å"the holiest religious text of Islamic religion and believed by Muslims to represent the revelatio ns that God revealed to Muhammad through angle Gabriel† (Brockopp 73). However, Quran does not have historical background the life of Muhammad like is the case of bible having the history of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith. However, there are historical sources that talk about the history of Muhammad. The Beginning of Quran Writing Muhammad is believed to have been the initiator of the Quran writing. Going back to his early life, his character of isolating himself from other people’s activities and going to the caves in the mountains played a major role in the Quran writing process. The Quran contains the revelations that he experienced while he prayed in the caves at the age of forties. He is believed to have â€Å"adopted the praying habit for several weeks in every year in a known cave on Mount Hira, which is near Mecca, his home region† (Ernst 67). According to the Islamic beliefs, during one of his praying session the archangel Gabriel appeared to him in the year 610 and revealed God’s message to him. In that revelation, God commanded Muhammad to recite some verses that would later be written in the holy book of Quran. However, Muhammad is believed to have revealed those revelations three years later to the public. It is believed to have been a challenging moment for him as his wife Khadija and her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who lived with them after telling of his revelation on the mountain, consoled him. These are the only people believed to have known of the revelations before he publicly proclaimed them three years later (Ramadan 20). In addition, even after being consoled by Khadija and Waraqah ibn Nawfal, Muhammad continued experiencing deep depression to a near point of committing suicide. The thinking that people would dismiss his claims and refer to him as an evil-possessed person overcame his character ethic, which caused tremendous fear in his life. This argument explains why he took three years before publicly proclaiming one true God and his revelation on the mountain. In addition, â€Å"the Islamic history tells that Shi’a tradition held that Muhammad was neither frightened by the appearance of the archangel Gabriel; on the contrary, he gave the angel a warm welcome as though he had expected him† (Dakake 75). This argument contradicts the idea of him being depressed after the revelation. Adherents of this theory also explain the three-year period silence as a period of prayer that Muhammad had to take in order to acquire spiritual strength and that period ended with a revelation in which God commanded him to continue preaching. Going by the two arguments, his preaching is written in the Quran together with his revelations. Hence, he initiated the writing process of Quran where his warning of unbelievers is directly proportional to what he preached. However, Dakake (89) notes that due to communication breakdown between his lifetime and the period at which Quran was written, his preaching together with revelation appears to have been manipulated and that is why he is often referred to as the third person. Conquering Opposition Islam traditionalists believe in the idea that the closest persons to Muhammad were the first to believe in his revelations and that he was a God chosen prophet. The first persons must have been Khadija and Ali ibn Abi Talib, who are believed to have comforted him during his depressed moments. Others are believed to have been Zaid, his adopted son, and closest friend, Abu Bakr, with whom they spend much time shepherding. The little support that he got from his family and close friends enabled him to begin the public preaching in Mecca where many opposed him violently (Peters â€Å"The Monotheists† 67). Interestingly, Islamic history holds that the first followers of Muhammad were mostly the poor people, young family members of great merchants with whom they had traded, and people who had failed to attain the highe st ranks of their tribal ruling. His preaching condemned idol worshipping, which was the norm of inhabitants of Mecca, and thus it them feel insulted, as it had been the norm for many generations. With time, his followers increased rapidly to the point where he divided them into sub-groups and sent them to foreign missions across different regions. The rapid increase of his followers is said to have threatened the local merchants and the ruling elites, who then tried to convince him to abandon his new faith, which he refused. The residents of Mecca started retaliation by killing some of his followers, which threatened his persecution and made him flee to Medina, where he continued to preach and win more followers. However, the increased cases of persecution in Mecca did not stop him from preaching and condemning the worshiping of idols. His followers continued to increase and the majority are believed to have been inspired by his consistent character of standing for the truth. Concl usion In conclusion, Muhammad is a true religious icon to the Islamic religion. His personality and character ethics played a major role in his preaching and initiation of the Quran writings, in which his revelations are written. Since his early childhood, his character ethics enabled him persevere numerous challenges after losing his parents and being adopted by his uncle. With such a strong character, he ventured into trade at an early age after being introduced by his uncle. However, his richness did not deter him from continuing with shepherding, and thus he got an opportunity to visit the caves on the mountains for prayers, where Archangel Gabriel found him for revelations. Hence, his character and personality became vital for his influence to the Muslims. From the history of Muhammad, I have found him not only an Islamic religious icon, but also a world’s icon. Although historical evidences that exist about him have been manipulated by personal opinions, I find it relia ble and it could be used for the elevation of his name. His consistent personal character ethics contributed greatly to his conquering tribes in Mecca that had hitherto opposed him with violence. I greatly value such a character. Works Cited Brockopp, Jonathan. The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. Brown, Daniel. A New Introduction to Islam, London: Blackwell Publishing Professional, 2003. Print Dakake, Maria. The Charismatic Community: Shi’ite Identity in Early Islam, New York: SUNY Press, 2007. Print. Ernst, Carl. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Print. Lapidus, Ira. A History of Islamic Societies, London: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print. Peters, Francis. The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and  Competition, New York: Princeton University Press, 2003. Print. Peters, Francis. â€Å"The Quest of the Historica l Muhammad.† International Journal of  Middle East Studies 23.3 (1991):291-315. Print. Peterson, Daniel. Muhammad, Prophet of God, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007. Print. Ramadan, Tariq. In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of  Muhammad, London: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print. Robinson, David. Muslim Societies in African History, London: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print. This research paper on Muhammad’s Personality and Character Ethics Inspired Muslim’s Way of Life was written and submitted by user Myles Park to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Five Things the Pulps Can Teach Us About Making More Money as a Writer

Five Things the Pulps Can Teach Us About Making More Money as a Writer From the early 1930s to the late 1950s, hundreds of writers churned out thousands of stories in cheap magazines printed on yellow pulp paper for a hungry audience craving action, adventure, mystery, romance and thrills. Writing for often less than a penny a word, these writers produced the equivalent of two or three 40,000 word manuscripts per month! And that work ethic can help todays writers be more productive and profitable. Here are five things these famous (or sometimes infamous) writers from the golden age of the pulps can teach us about making more money as a writer in today’s changing publishing industry. Thing #1. Write faster When guys like Walter Gibson (creator of The Shadow) and Lester Dent (creator of Doc Savage) needed 40,000 words turned in every month, they didn’t mess around. They learned how to write fast, because the faster they could write, the more fiction they could churn out, and the more they could get paid. Traditional publishing, with its long time to market for books, used to punish writers for being fast, but thanks to self-publishing, those attitudes are changing. Your readers are out there starving for what you write. If you make them wait, they’ll just go read somebody else, and they might forget about you. Don’t give them that chance! Thing #2: Write more books I know what you’re thinking. You probably have a day job, a family, and other time commitments, and you’re doing good to finish one book a year. But you don’t have to already be a bestselling author free of the day job before you can churn out more work in a calendar year. I’ve met plenty of writers who were able to put out three books a year, with very demanding full time jobs. You can do it, too. Just try to work up to writing 1,000 words a day, seven days a week, and in a year’s time you’ll have amassed at least three novels’ worth of first drafts! Thing #3: Write shorter books Admittedly, this is a bit harder to get away with than it used to be, depending on the genre you write. To charge the purchase prices big publishers need to turn a profit on each of their titles, they’ve demanded more and more words from their authors over the years. But thanks to self-publishing and ebooks, word count isn’t as important as it once was. Your readers won’t feel short-changed if the story they just read was 50K or 180K words, as long as they enjoyed it. Thing #4: Write different genres Writing the same thing all the time gets old pretty quickly, so branch out. If you’ve been writing period romance for a while, give a mystery a try. Genre hopping will keep you fresh and your work feeling new. Worried about alienating your readers?   Use a penname for the new genre. Thing #5: Write a series Publishing today has only rather recently latched on to the notion that pulp hacks - and pulp readers - have known for more than a century: People love a good series. A stroll down the aisle at your local bookstore reveals dozens of series in every genre, from epic fantasy to paranormal romance to thrillers. Readers just cant get enough of characters like Easy Rawlins, Jack Reacher, or Sandman Slim. Writing a series lets you really get to know the characters, making them easier to write. There you go, a few tricks of the pulp trade that can help you be a writing success today. Now go write!

Pyrrhic Victory - Origin of the Term

Pyrrhic Victory - Origin of the Term A Pyrrhic victory is a type of win that actually inflicts so much destruction on the victorious side that it is basically tantamount to defeat. A side that wins a Pyrrhic victory is considered ultimately victorious, but the tolls suffered, and the future impact those tolls, work to negate the feeling of actual achievement. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘hollow victory’. Examples: For instance, in the world of sports, if team A defeats team B in a regular season game, but team A loses its best player to a season-ending injury during the game, that would be considered a Pyrrhic victory. Team A won the current contest, however losing their best player for the remainder of the season would take away from any actual feeling of accomplishment or achievement that the team would typically feel after a victory. Another example could be drawn from the battlefield. If side A defeats side B in a particular battle, but loses a high number of its forces in the battle, that would be considered a Pyrrhic victory. Yes, side A won the particular battle, but the casualties suffered will have severe negative effects from Side A going forward, detracting from the overall feeling of victory. This situation is commonly referred to as â€Å"winning the battle but losing the war.† Origin The phrase Pyrrhic victory originates from King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who in 281 B.C., suffered the original Pyrrhic victory. King Pyrrhus landed on the southern Italian shore with twenty elephants and 25,000-30,000 soldiers ready to defend their fellow Greek speakers (in Tarentum of Magna Graecia) against advancing Roman domination. Pyrrhus won the first two battles that he participated in upon arrival on the southern Italian shore (at Heraclea in 280 BC and at Asculum in 279 BC). However, throughout the course of those two battles, he lost a very high number of his soldiers. With his numbers cut drastically, King Pyrrhus’s army became too thin to last, and they eventually ended up losing the war. In both of his victories over the Romans, the Roman side suffered more casualties than Pyrrhus’ side did. But, the Romans also had a much larger army to work with, and thus their casualties meant less to them than Pyrrhus’s did to his side. The term Pyrrhic victory comes from these devastating battles. Greek historian Plutarch described King Pyrrhus’s victory over the Romans in his Life of Pyrrhus: â€Å"The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.†

Research Proposal (E-waste Dumping & The Rule of Law in the 'Computer Paper

Proposal (E-waste Dumping & The Rule of Law in the 'Computer Village' Lagos - Nigeria. Synergizing Enforcement Process - Research Paper Example It is not for nothing that people stay in one continent and make purchases of goods from other continents without personally meeting the seller. Again, it is not for nothing that someone sits in the comfort of his home in Lagos and watch live soccer matches from the Stanford Bridge in London. All these processes are made possible by the pivoting power of technology. Technology may therefore be generally regarded as a good thing and the growth of it thereof (Koduah, 2003). However, it becomes worrying when technology and for that matter, globalization will not grow through the right approach. It is very important to appreciate the fact that any phenomenon; including globalization and technological advancement may be regarded as good but if it is implemented through a poor approach, the real essence of the phenomenon becomes defeated. 1.2 Statement of the Problem According to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the recent economic meltdown will â€Å"widen global inequalit y and plunge more of the African population into poverty† (Trevor, 2009). ... This situation is descried as electronic waste dumping (Cal Recycle, 2005). E-waste is generally argued to be an unfair way that the Western world is trying to bridge the gap in technological advancement that exists in Nigeria. Due to this, there have been calls and concerns from International, regional and local institutional environmental laws that guarantee public right to habitual health for critical scrutiny into the issue of e-waste dumping in Lagos. 1.3 Research Aims 1. To explain from a theoretical perspective what electronic waste dumping means. 2. To critically assess how rule of law in Lagos promotes or opposes electronic waste dumping in Lagos. 3. To identify specific enforcement processes in International, regional and local institutional environmental laws that guarantee public right to habitual health that are being abused as a result of electronic waste dumping in Lagos. 4. To give the root causes of electronic waste dumping in Lagos and by extension, Africa. 5. To fo recast what the eventual effects of electronic waste dumping would be for Africa and Lagos to be specific if the practice is made to continue. 1.4 Research Questions 1. What is the history behind electronic waste dumping in Lagos? 2. What factors have promoted the continuous existence of electronic waste dumping in Lagos? 3. What is the position of rule of law in opposing or promoting the electronic waste dumping cycle in Lagos? 4. How can international, regional and local agencies be instrumental in addressing the issue of electronic waste dumping in Lagos? 5. Does the continuous practice of electronic waste dumping have any long term adverse effect on Africa? 1.5 Justification of the Research Problem The successful

Business & Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business & Employment Law - Essay Example The entering into contract with Fernando by Simon is not legible. In the sale that Fernando entered into had no acceptance into the contract of sales. The offer was made by Simon and accepted by one party2. The seller did not enter to the allowance of the buying by Fernando. The contract was no variation in the terms of offer. Fernando though accepted the offer that was made by Simon did not notify him so that they could agree on the terms of the sales and the services that could be offered by Simon to him after the sales. In the sales there should be intention to be legally bound. The agreement that was to occur between the two parties were not confirmed by the law due to the fact that the agreement between the two was not reviewed. The enforcement was also not done in the basis of the public policy. Simon can be made not liable for the inconveniencies that was caused to Fernando. This is due to the considerations that was not made between the two. The value was worth to the contract that could have been reached between the two but it was not reached. Consideration as an element of an agreement for sale between the two parties was not agreed that could make them being bounded by the law to take the particular exchange of the book. The exchange that was to occur between the two people also was that that could not be held for productive use in the exchange since Simon was not able to receive the mail that was sent to him by Fernando. The exchange between the two was not of like kind since the two were not of the same nature and did not come to the agreement3. Fernando included in the payment for the book other additions that were not recommended and specified by Simon in his advertisement for the sale of the book. The additional charges makes the seller of the book not liable since he did not quote them in the advertisement. The contract that the two came into was void and this makes no

The low growth of women Essay Example for Free

The low growth of women Essay Due to the low growth of women entering in the politics, people all around the world are suggesting different approaches to enhance the growth of women in the political sector. Applying quota system is one of the approaches. The initiation of quotas in legislation for women puts forward a policy of precise means and goals. Due to the system’s affectability and efficiency the masses think that this approach will increase the representation of women in the politics. But these quota systems also face strong resilience and raise very serious questions. How to execute the quota policy? What happened to the countries who adopted the quota systems? What arguments come up for the use of quotas? Justification: The main thought behind using the quota approach is to encourage women to participate more in politics and work in political positions and also see to that the women are not only a few tokens in the political scenario. Quotas ensure that women are entitled to have a specified percentage of the associates in the legislative body, whether it is a committee, an assembly or a government. Quota systems help to raise the representation of women in the political world to ensure that women are not left out or being isolated and are at the every step of the political systems (Niven, 1998). Pros of quota system: ? Quotas will help to minimize the stress faced by the already present token women in the parliament or committee. ? It will help to raise the rights of women as a civilian in the same demonstration. ? The need of women’s experiences in the political life can be filled. ? It will help to represent the qualities and qualifications of women, which are the same as men, in the male dominated society. ? The fact is the political parties nominate the selections, not the voters, who only decide which nominee is elected. ? Conflicts may arise by applying quotas, but it would be temporary and will do a lot of good in the long run in the representation of women in the political frame. Opposing view point: According to Anna Balletbo and many others quotas are considered as double ended swords. Each end gives the male the upper hand over women. At one end, men think to empower the women by involving them in decision making and creating more opportunities for them. But at the other end, the men who are responsible for creating opportunities for women will try to find the women whom they can manage very easily and only allow the specific type of women who accept the domination of man over women (International IDEA, 2007). Cons of quota system: ? Quotas represent unequal opportunity for all as it is not purely based on merit and favors women. ? Quotas also represent an undemocratic atmosphere as the voters are not able to make the decision about who is going to be elected. ? Quotas simply shows that the political candidates are nominated because of their gender rather then their qualifications, which creates a system of unfairness as merit is not being preferred and people with higher capabilities and higher qualifications are brushed aside by the quota system. ? Women don’t want to get involved in politics because of the perception that women cannot be a part of government. ? Implementation of quotas will create many inter- party conflicts and lead to political instability. Conclusion: The primary objective of quota system is to increase the number of women in the political scenario and clearly represent the under acknowledge gender in the political system. A successful quota arrangement will allow the ample amount of qualified women candidates to be recruited by the political group or party, and a certain number of women will be in the part of the government instead of the few token one’s and lastly it will allow the elected women candidates to enforce their idea’s and their feminist thinking in decision making process. Just to pass a rule to allow women a 30 per cent seats in the parliament is not adequate. Implementation of the quotas is essential. Regulations should be kept clear cut, the vaguer they are, the more the risk of the non-implementation of quota regulations. Implementing the quota system will not silence its critics, as the regulatory body and the supporters of quota system need to understand, that their criticism is not temporary and have to be dealt throughout the future. By introducing quota system in the government bodies, in the past decade, has made considerable rise in the women politicians in most of the countries. These countries experienced a change in the policies and a significant growth in the women decision making. But it also depends upon the women as to how much they are loyal to their respective political parties and how much of the policy of quota is implemented (Tremblay, 2008). Through research it has been shown that women who are engaged in some sort of civil society work have got a higher chance of getting elected then the one’s who don’t and they also enjoy a greater influence on bills and policies then other women. Even if the quota system is implemented many hurdles are still to overcome in all the male-dominated societies. Reference: Niven, David. The Missing Majority: The Recruitment of Women as State Legislative Candidates. Praeger, 1998. International IDEA. Designing for Equality: Best-Fit, Medium-Fit and Non-Favourable Combinations of Electoral Systems and Gender Quotas. International Idea, 2007. Tremblay, Manon. Women and Legislative Representation: Electoral Systems, Political Parties, and Sex Quotas. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Travels with My Aunt Essay -- English Literature Personal Narratives E

Travels with My Aunt Part 1 Chapter 1 title – The beginning of the End 1. He meets Aunt Augusta and she is 74-75 yrs old 2. Henry describes his father. His father is: - sleepy - sloppy - a building contractor - not outgoing - not motivated to do his job 3. The mother is the Hunter and the father is the Hunted. This shows that his mother dominates his father. She is the person in charge. This also shows that the role of women has changed. Usually men dominated their wives, but in this case it is the complete opposite. 4. Henry says his Aunt was dressed like a ‘queen.’ He also says that his aunt is more towards the present mode. He is amazed by her appearance, for example her red hair and her teeth. At this moment there are no hints about his true relationship with his Aunt 5. This quote has to do with Henry’s life. He says that there is so much waiting. He is a retired man and he has almost dedicated his remaining life to his dahlias. This shows that all he now waits for is death. The irony is that life is all about waiting. His mother is also waiting for eternity. 6. This trip is so memorable for Henry due to several reasons: - the incident of the urn leads to another journey - in this journey he found out that his mother wasn’t his real mother - His life changes as he takes part in the trip which lead to more trips Vocabulary a) Lethargic (10) – laziness, sleepiness b) dahlia (11) – a type of flower, a plant Chapter 2 title – The Truth / Unpleasant surprise 7. Significance in Henry’s mind - shows what he is interested in (his values, eg, the dahlias) - he doesn’t want to go to Aunt Augusta’s house - consumed with the mundane (dull, boring, ordinary) 8. Henry’s... ...entful then he thought it would be. Mr Sparrow and Mr Woodrow come to Henry’s house. They are pursuing an inquiry at the request of Interpol. Vocabulary bb) irrational – without a reason Chapter 20 65. He notes that loyalty to a person certainly involves loyalty to all the flaws of a human being. This is what he now means by loyalty now that he has met Aunt Augusta. He says that his aunt wasn’t free of the tricking and immortality. He wonders if his aunt ever stole a check or robbed a bank. 66. Detective Sergeant Sparrow was looking for Mr Visconti or any of his traces. 67. They find a postcard from Panama signed A.D. 68. Sparrow knows that Visconti was a viper. He also knows that Aunt Augusta had something to do with Mr Visconti. He knows that Mr Visconti was over 80, presumably in his nineties. Vocabulary cc) chicanery – a trick

Food Inc Notes

Animals and workers are being abused. * Why many things are deliberately kept from us. * We are only allowed to know what the companies want us to know. * Farmers are not allowed to talk about many things. * We eat things every day without thinking about where they come from * Why is McDonalds is the largest purchaser of ground beef in the united states * This changes how ground beef is produced * Companies basically control our food system * In the 1970’s the top 5 beef packers controlled only 25% of beef. * Today the top 4 control more than 80%. Birds are now raised and slaughtered in half the time they were fifty years ago but now they are twice the size with large breasts. * All birds that come from farms must be almost exactly the same size. * â€Å"If you can grow a chicken in 49 days why grow one in three months? More money in your pocket! † * Chickens never see sunlight! Is this fair?* Tyson makes farmers change their minds about letting people tour their chicke n houses. * What are they hiding? * Tyson declined being interviewed. * Bones and internal organs of chickens can’t keep up with all the weight they gain. * Antibiotics are no longer working. They catch the chickens at night time so they give less resistance. * The farmer states that the catchers were mostly African-Americans but she is now seeing more Latinos which are undocumented workers. * They have no rights or choices. †¢Fast food is cheap and feels you up compared to cheap food in the market. †¢Cheaper calories are heavily subsidized †¢industry blames obesity on crisis of personal responsibility †¢We are hard wired to go for three tastes: Salt Fat and Sugar †¢These things are very rare in nature †¢We wear down how our body metabolizes sugar Type 2 diabetes used to only affect adults and is now affecting children.

True comedy explores themes as serious and important

True comedy explores themes as serious and important as appear in any tragedy. Demonstrate to what extent Educating Rite contains serious and important themes as well as being a comic play. BY D.. Thomson Educating Rite True comedy explores themes as serious and important as appear in any tragedy. Demonstrate to what extent Educating Rite contains serious and important themes as Wily Russell play entitled ‘Educating Rite' Is a dark and comic drama set within the confines of a University classroom. The play features two characters, Frank a troubled lecturer who has grown disillusioned with his existence, and Rite, a working classLiveryman with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to find meaning In life. The drama tackles many serious themes including alcoholism, social class and exclusion, relationship troubles and gender roles. It addresses these issues in an engaging and comic way, the seriousness of these issues often disguised by the wit and charm of the characters. The way that Frank is introduced to the reader says a lot about his character. The curtain draws on Frank frantically scurrying about looking for a hidden bottle of whiskey that he has concealed in his bookshelf. â€Å"Eureka† exclaims Frank as he finally finds it.This somewhat amusing scenario serves to highlight an unhappiness felt by the character and Issues around alcohol. This point Is further highlighted during a rather sardonic going and throwing with his partner. Frank concedes In this conversation that he Is taking on extra work â€Å"to pay for the drink†, and the billing nature of the dialogue suggests that all is not well in his relationship. Rite enters the scene full of energy and life after battling with the door knob on the way in. Her demeanor is that of a nervous working class girl who is desperately trying to come to grips with surroundings that are totally alien to her.Rite's brash and unconventional manner is perfectly illustrated in her attempt to convers e with Frank about an erotic painting displayed in his room. â€Å"This was like the porn of its day, wasn't it? † Rite innocently asks. The characters repeated questioning disguises an awkwardness she feels amidst an overwhelming desire to gain an education and move up In the world. In amongst their troubles there begins to blossom a friendship between the pair, Rite compared to the elitist crowd with which he is familiar.Frank on the other hand is an enigma to Rite, she does not understand why Frank is so unhappy in a life that she so separately craves for herself. This dynamic brings about some truly comic moments between the characters, an example of this being when Frank attempts to familiarize Rite with the works of E. M Forester. In this dialogue, Frank tries to emphasis to Rite the importance of looking at literature from an academic perspective. This point is somewhat lost on Rite when she Jokingly asks â€Å"Does the repeated use of the phrase â€Å"only connectâ €  suggest that in reality E. M. Forester was a frustrated electrician. Rite's relationship with men is a theme that develops throughout the play. Rite feels eke she is being held back by her husbands expectations. Her relationship with her husband deteriorates as she continues to study against her spouses wishes. This culminates in her partners desperate attempts to keep her in her place by burning her books. Rite's charm is not lost on Frank, he tells her at their very first meeting that he thinks she is â€Å"rather marvelous†. As the relationship develops Franks fondness for Rite grows and he becomes increasingly protective of her and perhaps Jealous of her progress.This point is illuminated when Rite begins to make friends amongst other students. When Rite is invited to travel with some new friends Frank immediately barks â€Å"you can't go†, this hasty response shows that Frank is fearful of losing influence over Rite and perhaps losing her altogether. Rite's relationship experiences demonstrate the struggles that working class women were likely to encounter at this time and the opposition they faced from the expectant and often overbearing men in their lives. As Rite progresses through her academic studies she begins to feel a disillusionment with her present life and a feeling that she does not belong.Her studies opened up a ewe world to her that she had not previously encountered. She began to feel ill at ease with her working class background as she regarded those around her as lacking in culture and ambition. She did not however feel at ease amongst academics and scholarly types either and this left her in a sort of limbo where she began to lose sight of what makes her unique. Her feelings are demonstrated in the following quote, â€Å"I'm a freak. I can't talk to people I live with any more. An' I can't talk to the likes of them on Saturday, or them out there, because I can't learn the language. This frustration was further compou nded by Franks desire to preserve Rite's individuality at the expense of her progression. His criticism of Rite's work as containing â€Å"nothing of you in there†, illustrates Franks desire to conserve the things in Rite that he finds most alluring. The play ends on a rather sad note as both of the characters are left with uncertainty surrounding their futures. Franks drinking and subsequent behaviors have taken their toll on his work and on his relationship. Franks future lay in Australia without his former partner as punishment for his actions.Rite also faces upheaval in her life s she begins to come to grips with the changes that have occurred as a result of her decision to gain an education. What is clear is that the pair are unlikely to be sharing the play in a poignant scene between the characters with Rite giving Frank a haircut that she had previously promised. This moment of rare intimacy between the pair illustrates the warmth the characters feel for each other, it does however seem improbable that they will share many more moments like this in future. To a large extent Educating Rite tackles many serious and important theme's in a UN- evasive and thought provoking way.It is a credit to the author that he is able to tackle such issues while maintaining a thread of comedy throughout the play. As examined in this essay, the play is able to look at issues such as social class, gender roles, alcoholism and relationship troubles without descending into morbidity and manages to keep the reader engrossed throughout. The humanness of the characters and their flawed nature helps the reader to empathic with the pair and their conflicting views of the world provide the catalyst for an often dark but comedic tale. Bibliography Russell, W. (2007). Educating Rite. 1st deed. London: Methuen Drama.

Definition and Examples of Orientational Metaphors

Definition and Examples of Orientational Metaphors An orientational metaphor is a  metaphor (or figurative comparison) that involves spatial relationships (such as UP-DOWN, IN-OUT, ON-OFF, and FRONT-BACK). Orientational metaphor (a figure that organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one another) is one of the three overlapping categories of conceptual metaphors identified by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in Metaphors We Live By (1980). The other two categories are structural metaphor and ontological metaphor. Examples [A]ll the following concepts are characterized by an upward orientation, while their opposites receive a downward orientation. MORE IS UP; LESS IS DOWN: Speak up, please. Keep your voice down, please.HEALTHY IS UP; SICK IS DOWN: Lazarus rose from the dead. He fell ill.CONSCIOUS IS UP; UNCONSCIOUS IS DOWN: Wake up. He sank into a coma.CONTROL IS UP; LACK OF CONTROL IS DOWN: Im on top of the situation. He is under my control.HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN: Im feeling up today. Hes really low these days.VIRTUE IS UP; LACK OF VIRTUE IS DOWN: Shes an upstanding citizen. That was a low-down thing to do.RATIONAL IS UP; NONRATIONAL IS DOWN: The discussion fell to an emotional level. He couldnt rise above his emotions. Upward orientation tends to go together with positive evaluation, while downward orientation with a negative one. (Zoltn Kà ¶vecses, Metaphor: A Practical Introduction, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2010) Physical and Cultural Elements in Orientational Metaphors Orientational metaphors that are strongly cultural in content form an internally consistent set with those that emerge most directly from our physical experience. The up-down orientational metaphor can apply to situations that contain both physical and cultural elements, such as Hes at the peak of health. She came down with pneumonia. Here good health is associated with up, in part because of the general metaphor that Better is up and perhaps also because when we are well we are on our feet, and when we are ill we are more likely to be lying down. Other orientational metaphors are obviously cultural in origin: Hes one of the higher-ranking officials in the agency. These people have very high standards. I tried to raise the level of the discussion. Whether the experience on which an orientational metaphor is based is directly emergent physical experience or one drawn from the social domain, the core metaphorical framework is the same in all of them. There is only one verticality concept up. We apply it differently, depending on the kind of experience on which we base the metaphor. (Theodore L. Brown, Making Truth: Metaphor in Science. University of Illinois Press, 2003) Lakoff and Johnson on the Experiential Basis of Metaphors In actuality we feel that no metaphor can ever be comprehended or even adequately represented independently of its experiential basis. For example, MORE IS UP has a very different kind of experiential basis than HAPPY IS UP or RATIONAL IS UP. Though the concept UP is the same in all these metaphors, the experiences on which these UP metaphors are based are very different. It is not that there are many different UPS; rather, verticality enters our experience in many different ways and so gives rise to many different metaphors. (George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By. The University of Chicago Press, 1980)

Profile of Pakistans ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)

Profile of Pakistan's ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is the country’s largest of its five intelligence services. It is a controversial, sometimes rogue organization that Benazir Bhutto, the late Pakistani prime minister, once termed a â€Å"state within a state† for its tendency to operate outside of the Pakistani government’s control and at cross-purposes with American anti-terror policy in South Asia. The International Business Times ranked the ISI as the top intelligence agency in the world in 2011. How the ISI Became so Powerful The ISI became that â€Å"state within a state† only after 1979, largely thanks to billions of dollars in American and Saudi aid and armament covertly channeled exclusively through the ISI to the mujahideen of Afghanistan to fight the Soviet occupation of that country in the 1980s. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, Pakistans military dictator from 1977-1988 and the countrys first Islamist leader, had positioned himself as the indispensable ally of American interests against Soviet expansion in South Asia and the ISI as the indispensable clearinghouse through which all aid and armament would flow. Zia, not the CIA, decided what insurgent groups got what. The arrangement was to have far-reaching implications the CIA didnt foresee, making Zia and the ISI the unlikely (and, in retrospect, disastrous) hinge of U.S. policy in South Asia. The ISI’s Complicity With the Taliban For their part, Pakistan’s leaders- Zia, Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf among them- seldom hesitated to use the ISI’s double-dealing skills to their advantage. That’s especially true regarding Pakistan’s relationship with the Taliban, which the ISI helped create in the mid-1990s and subsequently finance, arm and keep in business as a hedge against India’s influence in Afghanistan. Either directly or indirectly, the ISI has never stopped supporting the Taliban, even after 2001 when Pakistan ostensibly became an ally of the United States in the war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban. â€Å"Thus,† British-Pakistani journalist Ahmad Rashid wrote in Descent Into Chaos, Rashid’s analysis of the failed American mission in South Asia between 2001 and 2008, â€Å"even as some ISI officers were helping U.S. officers locate Taliban targets for U.S. bombers [in 2002], other ISI officers were pumping in fresh armaments to the Taliban. On the Afghan side of the border, [Northern Alliance] intelligence operatives compiled lists of the arriving ISI trucks and handed them to the CIA.† Similar patterns continue to this day, especially on the Afghan-Pakistani border, where Taliban militants are believed often to be tipped off by ISI operatives of impending American military action. A Call for the ISI’s Dismantling As a report by the Defense Academy, a British Ministry of Defense think tank, concluded in 2006, â€Å"Indirectly, Pakistan [through the ISI] has been supporting terrorism and extremism- whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq.† The report called for the dismantling of the ISI. In July 2008, the Pakistani government attempted to bring the ISI under civilian rule. The decision was reversed within hours, thus underscoring the power of the ISI and the weakness of the civilian government. On paper (according to the Pakistani Constitution), the ISI is answerable to the prime minister. In reality, the ISI is officially and effectively a branch of the Pakistani military, itself a semi-autonomous institution that has either overthrown Pakistan’s civilian leadership or ruled over the country for most of its independence since 1947. Located in Islamabad, the ISI boasts a staff of tens of thousands, much of it army officers and enlisted men, but its reach is much more vast. It exercises that reach through retired ISI agents and militants under its influence or patronage- including the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and several extremists groups in Kashmir, the province Pakistan and India have been disputing for decades. The ISI’s Complicity With al-Qaeda â€Å"By the fall of 1998,† Steve Coll writes in Ghost Wars, a history of the CIA and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan since 1979, â€Å"CIA and other American intelligence reporting had documented many links between ISI, the Taliban, [Osama] bin Laden and other Islamic militants operating from Afghanistan. Classified American reporting showed that Pakistani intelligence maintained about eight stations inside Afghanistan, staffed by active ISI officers or retired officers on contract. CIA reporting showed that Pakistani intelligence officers at about the colonel level met with bin Laden or his representatives to coordinate access to training camps for volunteer fighters headed for Kashmir.† Pakistan’s Overriding Interests in South Asia The pattern reflected Pakistan’s agenda in the late 1990s, which has changed little in subsequent years: Bleed India in Kashmir and ensure Pakistani influence in Afghanistan, where Iran and India also compete for influence. Those are the controlling factors that explain Pakistan’s apparently schizophrenic relationship with the Taliban: bombing it in one place while propping it up in another. Should American and NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan (just as American aid ended after the Soviet withdrawal from that country in 1988), Pakistan doesn’t want to find itself without a controlling hand there. Supporting the Taliban is Pakistan’s insurance policy against a repeat of American withdrawal at the end of the cold war. â€Å"Today,† Benazir Bhutto said in one of her last interviews  in 2007, â€Å"its not just the intelligence services who were previously called a state within a state. Today, its the militants who are becoming yet another little state within the state, and this is leading some people to say that Pakistan is on the slippery slope of being called a failed state. But this is a crisis for Pakistan, that unless we deal with the extremists and the terrorists, our entire state could founder.† Pakistan’s successive governments, in large part through the ISI, created the now seemingly out-of-control conditions that prevail in Pakistan that enable the Taliban, al-Qaeda offshoot al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and other militant groups to call the northwestern part of the country their sanctuary.

Bank Annual Report Assignment - Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bank Annual Report Assignment - Economics - Essay Example Other mining activities accounted for ASD 0.83 billions forming 0.22% of the total GDP.Thus taking the contribution of mining industries to 32.78 %( Annual 2004). Annual Report of the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates for the year 2004 has the data at Table (2-1) that Manufacturing and Construction Sectors contributed ASD 70.43 billions to 2004 GDP at constant prices of ASD 323.60 billions. In percentage terms this contribution came to 21.76 %( rounded off to 22%). Table(2-2) of the Annual report further shows that Manufacturing and Construction Sectors contributed ASD 78.02 billions to 2004 GDP at current prices of ASD 378.61 billions. In percentage terms this contribution came to 20.61 %( Annual 2004). Table(2-8) ,captioned 'Employees by Economic Sectors' , of the Annual Report of the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates for the year 2004 has the data that UAE had a total of 2.46 million employees in UAE in 2004.Of this 0.27 million were engaged in the Government Sector forming about 10.98% of the total employees. As against this Oil& Gas, and Manufacturing sectors deployed 0.35 million employees which formed about 14.23 % of the total employees (Annual, 2004).Thus more number of employees were deployed in Oil& Gas, and Manufacturing sectors when compared to the Government Sector.