Friday, January 24, 2020

Exemplification Essay: Why The World Is Doomed -- Exemplification Essay

Every day when looking out a window, people see a beautiful earth. The earth is intriguing, but hinges on a delicate balance. Many natural resources keep the grass green and the sky blue. Man has made quite an impression on our world, and has transformed the earth's resources into tools to make life easy. However, mans' manipulation on earth has become detrimental to the health of our planet and the safety of mankind. Through the use and production of resources such as oil and energy, man is gradually poisoning the earth. Pollution has become such a dilemma in society; there is no real control or a feasible solution to society's recklessness. Without complete change, our system will collapse. The earth will eventually retaliate with disaster, or corporate control of our economy will cause hysteria and depression. Evaluation of the consequences and repercussion of worldwide pollution, may give people a better idea of what the future holds. It is unfortunate that within the past 100 years our worlds' economy has driven itself into a deep hole with the reliance on a "black gold" called oil. Since its discovery, it has been purified to produce many different forms of energy such as light, gasoline and more. Since technology has enabled mankind to discover more capable methods of transportation, mankind has exploited its power over nature and produced machines such as the combustion engine. In combustion engine's, oil explodes to move machinery, and emits a very toxic byproduct called CO2. Carbon is incredibly dangerous to the earth's atmosphere, and erodes huge holes in the ozone layer of our earth. This erosion causes global warming and climate change that is permanent and irreversible. The impact of global warming will not only ... ...e sources." All facts, statements and reports conclude that mankind is in part responsible for this change in our ecosystem. Hence if we do not change, drastic changes over the next 100 years will threaten the safety of some people and our environment. More and more research is being deployed into this intriguing field of science. Some scientists deny reports of global warming impacts. And some scientists show more and more proof of such impacts. When will the academic and governmental community understand the consequences of our treasured way of life? Will it take huge catastrophic man-induced disasters to change the worlds mind on what actions to take? Is our economy so reliant upon oil that it will risk our planets' health, for money? People need to take action on these issues before the damage of global warming has left a huge, worsening-footprint on our earth.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Media in the Arab World

Al-Jazeera is an independent news network functioning from Qatar, which has been steadily gaining attention since its inception in 1996. The network has been fairly controversial in its choice of topics and very unconventional as well which would explain why more Arabs and Westerners alike gravitate to it for information about the current state of the Middle East. It first became popular when the network acquired a videotape containing Osama bin Laden’s message regarding the 9/11 terrorist act. In the subsequent months, Al-Jazeera became the exclusive recipient of what came to be a series of bin Laden’s messages. Al-Jazeera is characterized by its bold actions of bringing to the public issues that were previously considered sensitive or even taboo to be discussed on-air. Some of these topics include politics, corruption, terrorism, issues on gender and sexuality, religion and family values. Previously, societal dictates make discussions about topics like these only possible behind closed doors, never for the public audience.   Because of the strict censorship that Arab governments have of the media, it has been pretty hard to come up with or relate an accurate and objective description of what’s happening in the Middle East but fortunately, the network Al-Jazeera changed all that. So what are its impacts to the known world? For one thing, Al-Jazeera served as one wake-up call to the Arab world. If before, the Middle East is left in the dark about things that concern them directly, it isn’t so now. Also Al-Jazeera encouraged a lot of Arabs to get involved with present issues regarding politics, security or even religion. Since Al-Jazeera began its popularity boom, its viewer’s frequency has been uncontested. People in the Middle East are as enthused now as we are when it comes to keeping up with all of the crucial happenings in the Middle East. (El-Nawawy Mohammed, 2002) Their most popular program is called â€Å"The Opposite Direction†. With this, Al-Jazeera invites proponents of both sides to discuss a particular issue. The show is very popular that a lot of political officials and experts are willing to appear on it. This lively discussion sometimes turn into hot debates between opposing parties resulting in very controversial airings where guests walk off the stage or yell at each other at the top of their voices. Scenes that have been previously non-existent in Middle East television. Because they are independent, the Qatari government imposes little, if at all, restrictions on the network. Another fact that contributes to its growing popularity no doubt. (Mohammed el-Nawawy, 2002) Aside from impacting Arabs in the Middle East, Al-Jazeera has also established quite a name in the western world. Al-Jazeera effectively challenged the monopoly of western news networks like CNN and NBC on coverage about Middle East events, a change that most Arabs welcomed because accusations about western networks portraying them (Arabs) in a bad light are numerous. Even within Middle East networks themselves as well as international ones, there is a recognition that Al-Jazeera’s always ahead especially when it comes to groundbreaking news in the Middle East. In fact, the network is so noteworthy that it helped put the Qatari government in the map. It also helped a lot of Arabs who are living in other parts of the world. For the first time, they are now shown an accurate picture of how it is like in their hometowns that further strengthens their ties to their respective, to use Benedict Anderson â€Å"imagined communities†. This helps them relate to important matters that concern them which would provide them enough opportunity to act on it. In a certain level, Al-Jazeera helped a lot in bridging geographical gaps and bringing the Arab consciousness closer and closer. Today, if one wants to know what’s happening in the Middle East, Arabs and Westerners alike turn to Al-Jazeera for news. The Al-Jazeera network certainly created a significant impact to the power of media everywhere. I’d like to think that what Al-Jazeera represents most is the epitome of what freedom of expression means. The right to express themselves, the media’s, should not be repressed whether in the Middle East or anywhere else. In this respect, Al-Jazeera serves as a beacon that proves that no matter what restrictions are imposed on speech whether culturally or socially, its freedom can still be attained. References El-Nawawy Mohammed, I. A. (2002). Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab Networks Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press. Mohammed el-Nawawy, A. I. (2002, April 15). Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East . (J. J. Myers, Interviewer)      

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

The Friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu Essay - 778 Words

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a historic story of the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh. The story depicts the short lived friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The story begins as Shamat the harlot seduces Enkidu and convinces him to go to the city of Uruk and meet Gilgamesh. From that moment on, the two were very close. They planned a trip to the forest of cedars to defeat the monster known as Humbaba so that Gilgamesh could show his power to the citizens of Uruk. However, Enkidu tried â€Å"vainly to dissuade† (18) Gilgamesh in going to the forest. Despite Enkidu’s plead, the two continued on their voyage to the forest where Humbaba lives. Once they arrived, they found the monster and killed him. They cut down trees, â€Å"then Enkidu builds a gigantic†¦show more content†¦Utanapishtim himself is living an eternal life. He sets off on this journey with the death of his close friend Enkidu still weighing heavily upon him. On his quest to search for this form of unreachable eternal life, Gilgamesh learned some lessons. Utanapishtim gives him some good advice about death and how â€Å"no one sees death, no one sees the face of death, no one [hears] the voice of death, but cruel death cuts off mankind.† (82) Utsanapishtim goes on to state, â€Å"they did not reveal the time of death.† (83) Gilgamesh is given a challenge to see if he was worthy enough of eternal life. The challenge was to stay awake for several days without an ounce of sleep; if he couldn’t pass this challenge then he couldn’t expect to live forever. Unfortunately Gilgamesh fails the task by sleeping the entire week. Utsanapishtim gives his a rejuvenation plant in his last will to help Gilgamesh. However, the plant is taken away by a snake. Gilgamesh ultimately gives up at this point; â€Å"for myself I have obtained no benefit.† (95) Gilgamesh ends his journey to see Utanapishtim on a bad note. He finally faces the fact that he cannot live forever. Instead of running from the inevitable like he has been doing, he has to face his fear of death. After all of his attempts, he fails miserably and decides to go back to Uruk. The significance ofShow MoreRelatedGilgamesh And Enkidu s Friendship1897 Words   |  8 PagesGilgamesh and Enkidu’s Friendship In the Epic of Gilgamesh, friendship is a strong theme that drives the story. The bond that Gilgamesh and Enkidu develop throughout the myth is a bond similar to that of brothers. Gilgamesh was fearless, but arrogant and Enkidu was created by the gods specifically to keep the legacy crazed Gilgamesh in check and to teach him humility; Enkidu becomes his conscience of sorts. Gilgamesh was oppressing the people of Uruk and Enkidu and needed to put a stop to it by confrontingRead MoreThe Epic Of Gilgamesh : Gilgamesh1013 Words   |  5 Pages Gilgamesh in 2015 Even though the epic Gilgamesh is thousands of years old, it is still read today. 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