Comparison in the Issue Between USA and South Africa Essay Example for Free

Comparison in the Issue Between USA and South Africa Essay This paper seeks to make a comparison on freedom of expression between the United States and South Africa. The question to be answered in contained the definition of the problem. II. Definition of the Problem (or Issue/Topic) Is the freedom of expression now in the Republic of South Africa now comparable with that of the United States? III. Nature and Extent of the Problem in the Two Countries The Republic of South has evolved into a republic not many years ago which signifies its adoption of democratic framework which basically includes the freedom of expression as part of the rights of the citizens. The US Constitution which includes the freedom of expression on the other hand has been in existence much longer in number of years as compared with RSA’s. Given the extent of the proliferation of the technology and the universal nature of human rights at this point, it is interesting to evaluate whether the rights or freedom of expression are comparable or have close similarities between the two countries. IV. Dynamics of the Problem This part would refer to the factors that could create or perpetuate the problem or those that would tend toward elimination/resolution of the problem. What could create the problem may include lack of vigilance of the citizens in protecting their rights. Democracy requires vigilance of its citizens (Shaw, S. , 2001; Africa Research Bureau, 1981) and the failure of these citizens to assert their right could result to the demise or non-enjoyment of the right. Another factor is the support of the courts to uphold the right of the citizens by the nature of the decisions made. It is also required that courts need to have independence from the political branch of the government (Lieberman, 2006; Bowman Iii, 2005). What could work towards elimination or resolution could come from the factors that c could create or perpetuate the problem. If the citizens therefore are vigilant, there is a great chance that the right would triumph in the court battles. Similarly if the courts are independent from the political branches of government and that the resulting decision are based on the spirit and letter of the rights or freedom of expression (Pasqualucci, 2006; Pannill, 2002), they by all mean, the conflict if any on these rights may be resolved in favor of their assertion and eventual enjoyment by its citizens V. Analysis on the Degree of Comparability It could be cited that RSA’s ratification of its 1996 Constitution, signaled the adoption of some of the best practices from the different part of the world including that of the US. Since US is believed to the leader in the area of human rights, it could be thought the RSA may actually have improved on what is has adopted. The IFLA/FAIFE World Report: Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (1998) indicates that South Africa still requires more time to have its freedom to be considered comparable to the US. There is thus the RSA court decision involving the freedom of expression thing and what came out was that the Supreme Court has just even overruling previous decisions in favor of the upholding better right of freedom of expression. This means that RSA’s judicial system needs more time to really attain what the US as leader in human rights has attained as to freedom of expression. The IFLA/FAIFE World Report: Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (1998) has cited a decision on defamation in favor of â€Å"City Press† where the court has recently removed the unfair burden of legal liability on media. Without this ruling, the media would continue to be inhibited in its ability in championing the right to freedom of expression. This recent ruling was therefore considered as a victory of the principles of freedom of expression as contained in RSA’ Constitution. Since it was just made recently because of the RSA’s history of more repressive regimes, it could be asserted that it may require more time before RSA could match the kind of right now enjoyed in the US. VI. Conclusion Based on recent rulings of South Africa’s Supreme Court, it could be deduced that citizens of RSA could now be having more freedom of expression. But as stated in the dynamic of the problem, there are factors that could determine the resolution of conflicts pertaining to the right and the same factors could also be influenced the decrease or demise of the rights to expression. One of this is vigilance that must be asserted by the citizens of South Africa. The present level of technology could be a great help for them to use to protect their right by their acts of vigilance. The courts too need to be independent from political branches of government and be not cowed by the experiences of past regimes in South Africa. It has taken South Africa to adopt those of the US principles on human rights including the freedom of expression. It should be enough to conclude, it could not be that fast to reach what the US has attained in many decades for RSA’s freedom expression of expression to attain high degree of comparability with the US. VII. References Africa Research Bureau (1981) Africa Research Bulletin, Africa Research, Ltd. , 1981 Bowman Iii (2005) Mr. Madison Meets a Time Machine: The Political Science of Federal Sentencing Reform; Stanford Law Review, Vol. 58 ICL (2008) The Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, {www document} http://www. servat. unibe. ch/icl/sf__indx. html, Accessed November 11, 2008 IFLA/FAIFE World Report: Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (1998), {www document} http://www. ifla. org/faife/report/south_africa. htm, Accessed November 11, 2008 Lieberman (2006) Sorting the Revolutionary from the Terrorist: The Delicate Application of the Political Offense Exception in U. S. Extradition Cases; Stanford Law Review, Vol. 59 Pannill (2002) Free Speech, The Peoples Darling Privilege: Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History; Journal of Southern History, Vol. 68, 2002 Pasqualucci (2006) Criminal Defamation and the Evolution of the Doctrine of Freedom of Expression in International Law: Comparative Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 39 Shaw, S. (2001) South Africas Transition to Democracy: An African Success Story : a Resource Book on the Positive Changes of the Nineties, The Author

Epic Story Essay Example for Free

Epic Story Essay Epic Story I’d like to call upon the fiction gods to empower this story to be extravagant. The cold storm carried on with its overwhelming booms from the thunder shaking the house from the outside. Terrified, the blond haired Juliet sat in the corner of her darkened closet attempting to go unnoticed by the intruder stalking around her house. She sat there hugging her legs, praying that he wouldn’t hear her soft whimpers of fear. She listened quietly to the footsteps walking around her once safe home. They began to come closer, she could feel her heartbeat pick up, and he began to slowly approach her inadequate closet hiding spot. Her heart began to beat ferociously. Staring up at the door handle, she knew all of her efforts to escape this ordeal unharmed had been abandoned. The handle twisted, she looked for something, anything to protect herself with, and she came up empty handed. Sheepishly, she attempted to cover herself further with her father’s overcoat. The door began to open, she huddled as close to the corner as she could, wishing she could just sink through the walls to safety. She was in tears now, trying her hardest to muffle them, she thrust the jacket into her quivering mouth. Then, with just enough of an opening to see the intruder’s cold murderous eye; it stopped with a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Juliet froze, in anticipation of what was to come next. The intruder left her closet to investigate. Juliet knew this would be her one and only chance to escape; she quietly snuck out of the closet and began to run towards the backdoor. Halfway there she heard the deafening sound of a bullet leaving the barrel of the intruder’s gun. Looking around she caught a glimpse of her mother’s frail body crumple to the ground through the reflection of a mirror. In agony, she pushed herself to go on towards the freedom of the door. She grasped the handle and swung it open. Running out into the rabid storm, she scanned the yard for somewhere safe, glancing behind her, she saw the intruder catch sight of her, she ran as fast as her legs could take her towards the gate, away from this nightmare. Halfway there dividing her from escape, she felt a large mean hand catch her arm and swing her around. Fighting his grip she flailed her arms and punched him, but doing no harm, he dragged her back into the house. With one large blow to the right side of her head, she blacked out. She woke up to throbbing on the right side of her head. Attempting to grasp it, she found her hands were tied together against a pole, along with her feet, and tape over her mouth. She looked around and saw her sister tied up across from across the room, her head hung over. She also saw a large table in the middle of the dirty basement. On the right was a staircase, and coming down it was the intruder. He carried a large tool bag that clanged whenever he took a step. He walked over to her sister, untied her and laid her on the table. While he prepared to harm her sister, Juliet began to fidget out of the chords that held her hostage. She got one hand free, then the other, going unnoticed, she untied her feet. Waiting for the opportune moment, she charged towards the intruder, jumping on his back and strangling his neck with all her might. He was staggering about, he got close to a wall and crashed her into it; she crumpled to the ground in pain. He punched her again, and again, and again, until she was bloody and bruised. At the verge of consciousness, he stopped. Opening her eyes, she saw her sister hitting him with an axe. ~~~ They opened the door and the brightness from outside filled their heart with hope. They walked hand in hand towards freedom. (I figured out this was supposed to be a true story after I finished†¦.. whoops! )

Gardners Theory of Intelligence

Gardners Theory of Intelligence It is a pretty common phenomenon that some people acquire knowledge and skills 10 or 20 times faster than others (Payne Tirre 1984). Some people acquire certain kind of knowledge that others cannot even acquire after years of practice. This sort of individual differences in learning are commonly occur due to differences in intelligence. Thus, learning ability is part of intelligence according to some psychologists and most of the educators barely make any difference between learning and intelligence. Therefore, it sounds paradoxical that both of them have quite separate ways throughout the history of psychology. According to psychologist intelligence will never have a general definition (Strenberg Dtterman 1986). It can be said that it is not a concept which can be scientifically useful (Jensen 1987d) as it lacks such meaning that is not just a random choice of any psychologists. Of Gardners proposed seven types of human intelligence, linguistic and logical-mathematical are the first two types noted by him commonly valued in educational institutes, e.g. school, colleges (Gardner, 1999, pp. 41). Gardner concluded the definition of intelligence by saying that it could only be applied to some certain explanations of human understanding and behavior, and last but not the least morality is generally a about the kind of person that an individual is and the kind of person an individual has wanted to be. It is not, in itself, an intelligence (p. 77) Gardners view of intelligence has us much ideas for thinking about intellectual functioning but is being expert in one or more of these intelligences actually a reflection of intelligence. Strenberg (1985, 1986) addresses this statement by considering intelligence as a type of mental self-management comprising of tree basic components: componential intelligence, experiential intelligence and contextual intelligence. As these three types of intelligence define intelligent behavior, this theory is known as a triarchic theory. The Information-processing Model reflects on what is going to happen when information flows through different types of internal structure which are should be existing inside the learner. These sort of structures represent the main function of the central nervous system. It should be noted that these sort of structures are hypothetical. According to Gange et al. (1984) some of the process that has been used by the system can be performed better by some individuals than others, but the systems nature will be the same. After having a good concept of how information are being processed, stored and retrieved through the help of the information model, students can learn much more effectively and efficiently as comparing to the period when they were not aware of that. According to Gage Berliner (1984), memorizing things and trying to remember how to how to execute skills is one of the main tasks of learning. If someone learns something one night and cannot remember it some later time is of a very little use according to Gage and Berliner (1984). They believe that metacognitive learners are able to get cognitive strategies to help them to remember things easily and to recall it after a later time. According to them this process is called encoding. At schools teachers can help out the students to encode information. Firstly, they have to provide the learner the information already coded in the form of graphs, tables etc. These help the learners to easily store those data in his/her memory in an easily remembered form. After that teachers can provide that cues to activate the coded data. This helps the students to recall the information that has already been stored in their long-term memory in an encoded form for a long time. Motivation can be referred to the reasons underlying behavior (Guay et al., 2010, p. 172). According to Gredler, Broussard and Garrison (2004) motivation can be considered as an attribute that lets us to do something or not to do something. According to Stipek (1996), ancient approaches to this study of motivation in the literary discourse on extrinsic reinforcement. According to that literature, all sort of behavior, including an individuals achievements , was considered to be controlled by reinforcement. One of the key figure of this approach includes B.F. Skinner, who identifies various categories of reinforcement. Positive reinforcement or gifts or rewards are the result that increases the chance of a particular behavior by getting rid of some negative outer stimulus. On the other hand, the fear of being punished refers to odious consequences that decrease the probability of an individuals behavior. Under this structure, the teachers job is very clear: to give satisfactory grades to reward that individual or give an awful grade or being punished. A set of empirical studies on the manipulation of motivation exists. Though these evidences describes both positive and negative effects, proposing that instructional strategies and classroom contexts can both increase or decrease students motivation. References: Broussard, S. C., Garrison, M. E. B. (2004). The relationship between classroom motivation and academic achievement in elementary school-aged children. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 33(2), 106-120. Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st century.  New York: Basic Books. Gage Berliner (1984). Educational Psychology Payne, D., W. Tirre. (1984). Individual differences in learning rate. Paper presented at  the Ninth Psychology in the Department of Defense Symposium, USAF Academy,  Colorado Springs, Colorado. Sternberg, R. J., Detterman, D. K. (Eds.). (1986). What is Intelligence?  Norwood, USA: Ablex. Stipek, D. J. (1996). Motivation and instruction. In D. C. Berliner R. C. Calfee (Eds.), Handbook of educational psychology (pp. 85-113). New York: Macmillan.

Cuban Cigars Brands and Companies :: Cuban Cigar Cuba

Cuban Cigars: Cigar Brands and Companies and Their Role in the Development of Exile Culture Political passions in the Cuban community run fervent and high. Cuban exiles were people that were forced to flee their homeland as a result of Fidel Castro seizing control of the government in 1959. Cubans greatly differ from other Hispanic groups in terms of why they migrated to the United States. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans came to the United States is search of greater economic opportunities. Cubans on the other hand were forced to leave Cuba due to their political beliefs and viewpoints. Those who opposed Castro's political views were looked upon as dissenters and were, in turn, forced out of Cuba. Cubans migrated to the United States in several different waves. The first wave of Cubans came in 1959; those that came then were mostly Batistianos, Cubans that were affiliated with the overthrown Fulgencio Batista. The next wave came between 1961 and 1962; this was when most of the major industries in Cuba began to become nationalized enterprises. Those that fled were predominantly doctors, lawyers, business people and skilled workers. Perhaps the largest migration occurred in 1980 with the Mariel Boatlift. In April 1980, due to growing discontent, Fidel Castro declared that anyone that wanted to leave could leave the island. Recently, other waves of migration have occurred. Most notably, between 1992 and 1994, thousands of Cubans attempted to reach the shores of the United States in rafts (balsas) and overcrowded boats. As a result of the large number of Cuban exiles in Miami, a certain exile culture has formed. Cubans that had to flee their homeland because of Fidel Castro, and his regime, possess great discontent and intolerance toward Castro. The anti-Castro point of view is prevalent in Miami and other areas that Cubans inhabit. The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) is a powerful exile group that spearheads many efforts to enforce and uphold sanctions in order to expedite Castro's removal from power. This organization and others like it have supported trade embargoes on Cuba and all its national products. Since 1960, an embargo has been in effect on Cuban products. These embargoes are today supported by exiles who claim that the blockade is against Castro and not against Cuba. With the embargo in effect, it has been, and still is, illegal to buy, sell, trade or import Cuban products. In turn, it has been illegal to import Cuban Cigars.

Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone Harry Potter starts off slow, but gets very interesting near the end. In the beginning, you meet the Dursleys, Harry’s aunt, uncle, and their son Dudley. Then you learn that Harry’s parents were witches, and that they were destroyed by a evil wizard. A good witch, Albus Dumbeldoor, sends Harry to the Dursleys, because they’re his only remaining family. The Dursleys however, hated Harry and his family, so Harry was mistreated for years. He was forced to live in a cuborrod under the stairs. He had to watch as the fat, stuck up Dudley got whatever he wanted, and then usually broke whatever it was he got. Then one day Harry got a letter. As Harry was beginning to read the letter, his uncle, Vernon Dursley, took it from him. After reading the... Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone Essay examples -- Essays Papers Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone Harry Potter starts off slow, but gets very interesting near the end. In the beginning, you meet the Dursleys, Harry’s aunt, uncle, and their son Dudley. Then you learn that Harry’s parents were witches, and that they were destroyed by a evil wizard. A good witch, Albus Dumbeldoor, sends Harry to the Dursleys, because they’re his only remaining family. The Dursleys however, hated Harry and his family, so Harry was mistreated for years. He was forced to live in a cuborrod under the stairs. He had to watch as the fat, stuck up Dudley got whatever he wanted, and then usually broke whatever it was he got. Then one day Harry got a letter. As Harry was beginning to read the letter, his uncle, Vernon Dursley, took it from him. After reading the...

Math Coursework - The Fencing Problem :: Math Coursework Mathematics

The Fencing Problem Aim - to investigate which geometrical enclosed shape would give the largest area when given a set perimeter. In the following shapes I will use a perimeter of 1000m. I will start with the simplest polygon, a triangle. Since in a triangle there are 3 variables i.e. three sides which can be different. There is no way in linking all three together, by this I mean if one side is 200m then the other sides can be a range of things. I am going to fix a base and then draw numerous triangles off this base. I can tell that all the triangles will have the same perimeter because using a setsquare and two points can draw the same shape. If the setsquare had to touch these two points and a point was drawn at the 90 angle then a circle would be its locus. Since the size of the set square never changes the perimeter must remain the same. [IMAGE] The area of a triangle depends on two things: the height and the base. The base is fixed in this example so the triangle that has the biggest height, i.e. the middle triangle, will have the biggest area. The middle triangle turns out to be an icosoles triangle. I am going to focus only on icosoles triangles. I have constructed a formula linking all three sides in and icosoles triangle. [IMAGE] X X X=any number which is greater than 250 and less than 500 ======================================================== 1000 - 2X Using Pythagoras theorem I can find and equation linking a side to the area. ====================================================================== ÂÂ ½(1000 - 2X)ÂÂ ² + HÂÂ ² = XÂÂ ² HÂÂ ² = XÂÂ ² + (X -500)ÂÂ ² H = height X 500 - X XÂÂ ² - (500-X)ÂÂ ² H Area 251 249 1000 31.6 7874.1 300 200 50000 223.61 44721.0 333.33

Comparing poems Essay

In this essay I am going to compare the way the theme of racism is dealt with in the poems ‘Half caste’ and ‘nothings changed’. I will analyse the poems and then compare them. The things I will be comparing are the similarities and differences, the layout and also the use of language. I will be looking at both of the authors Tatamkhula Africa (Nothings Changed) and John Agard (Half caste) intentions and then decide which one of the poems I think is most effective. I am going to begin with a comparison of the purposes of the two poems. Nothings changed is about a black man looking back at his childhood and realising that ‘nothings changed’, he is upset about this as although segregation is said to have gone, he feels as if it is the same as before. Half-caste is about a mixed race man who is asking for an explanation for why they are treated like half a person. He refuses to be called half-caste as he finds it offensive. In both of these poems, the writer is dealing with the issues of racism. The two writers are expressing their anger and want the readers to take notice of how they feel. The two writers both use repetition throughout the poem. Tatamkhula used the phrase ‘nothings changed’ as both the title and the ending of the poem, this emphasises the fact that his whole poem is based on the fact that he feels that nothing has changed in his life, mainly on the aspect of the way black people are treated. John repeats ‘explain yuslef’ a number of times throughout the poem, he says this because his main aim of the poem is for people to explain themselves. These both are examples of repetition used by the writers to emphasise on their point that they want to get out by writing their poem. The two writers have a completely different style of writing. In nothings changed the writer uses standard use of English as he is happy to write this way. On the other hand the writer of half caste writes the words in slang. Clearly he wants to show the reader that he is what he is and is not going to change for anyone.  Tatamkhula compares a black person like himself to an ‘amiable weed’, he is doing this as he feels that both black people and amiable weeds are not cared for. Also he believes they are not wanted. He then later compares a white person to the opposite, a ‘red rose’, this maybe because he thinks that a lot of care is taken into caring for a red rose and also the white people. Here Tatamkhula expresses himself through metaphors and he does so continuously throughout the poem. John’s use of language happens to be really strong. He shows straight away that he is extremely angry. An example of this is that he said could have said you can come back tomorrow and listen my other half of my story if you want, however instead he demands the reader ‘yu must come back tomorrow’. The ‘must’ emphasises that the writer is serious.  Both of these writers use different type of writing to express the way they feel. Tatamkhula effectively uses metaphors to compare what he feels like and what other people are being treated as. John’s strong use of language makes his poem more effective as he is showing exactly how he feels in the first instant. Both writers’ intentions are similar. They both want the reader to think about and understand what they are going through. They want these problems of racism to stop. Tatamkhula writes about what he sees and feels. An example of this is when writes ‘I press my nose to the dear panes’. Here he is on the other side of the glass from were the white people are sitting. This shows that he is separated from the people. He expresses that although segregation has said to be gone, it is still there. He can see the white people through the glass, however the glass is like a border where he can not pass only because of his colour. John Agard throughout the poem is writing as if he is speaking to the reader. It seems as if he is having a conversation with the reader, ‘excuse me’, I believe that this makes it more interesting, and also encourages the reader to take it more seriously.  He often uses the term ‘half-caste’ to outsmart people who use this term. Although he uses slang he shows that he is aware of the things going an around the world. He says ‘yu mean when Picasso mix red an green is a half-caste canvas’. This is an example of him having good knowledge and yet outsmarting the term ‘half-caste’. Here he is arguing that if Picasso’s paintings can be a mixture of red and green, why can’t he be a mixture of races without being treated as half of a person. Tatamkhula explains how they are treated differently with the example of their food. At the ‘whites only inn’ there is ‘crushed ice’, ‘linen falls’ these both show expense and luxury items. He then compares this with what he is used to which is ‘bunny chows’ and ‘plastic table tops’ This clearly shows that this is not an expensive place, yet more shows it is a cheap place. He then adds further ‘Wipe your fingers on your jeans’ this shows that he is used to doing this, and yet is proud of doing it. He is not ashamed to express the way he is living and feeling. Both writers express their anger continuously through out the poem. They obviously want things to change, and want to be treated equally as everyone else. They express there feelings in form of a poem which they want people to take notice of, and maybe if they are the ones who are causing or doing something to make them feel like this, they would want them to stop instantly.  In my opinion I strongly believe that ‘Nothings changed’ is far more effective. I think this because it expresses more how he feels and what he is going through. Although ‘Half-Caste’ also expresses the writers feelings it is not as effective. This may be because Tatumkhula uses many examples of what he feels like and how he is treated differently.