Political Environment Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Environment Case - Essay Example The following concerns are hereby addressed: Response to the Letter One would first acknowledge support and congratulatory greetings to the new governor to indicate that one is not a detractor, nor a political enemy. It would be emphasized that any current policies and procedures would be appropriately justified to ensure that these are aligned with his administration’s thrust on addressing security and enhanced inmate programs. One would simply note that the currently implemented policies conform with the 1984 Justice Assistance Act which apparently removed previous restrictions and were inmates are enjoined to do productive work (Peak, 2007). Likewise, there were apparent recommendations enforced by the American Jail Association that encourages training programs, which are consistent with the educational and vocational programs currently implemented in the state prisons. ... One could present current statistics of improvements and therefore justify and rationalize that tighter and tougher policies and programs are not effective means to improve the current situation and condition of state prisons. As emphasized in the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, state prisons are encouraged â€Å"to provide for appropriate remedies for prison condition lawsuits, to discourage frivolous and abusive prison lawsuits, and for other purposes† (Peak, 2007, p. 255). As such, imposing tighter and tougher inmate policies would expose the state prisons to potential lawsuits that would be detrimental to the image of the state and of the new governor, who openly suggested these measures. Thus, aside from instituting tougher inmate programs, the current education and vocational programs which would capitalize on making the inmates productive would be more beneficial in the long run. Internal and External Support Therefore, rather than outrightly dismantling current p olicies and programs that have been effective and deemed successful, one would seek support from both internal and external stakeholders. From internal sources, one would solicit support from prison staff and personnel through a formal letter or correspondence and enjoining them to openly validate the progress and effectiveness of these current programs to the newly elected governor. They could send formal letters and copy furnish these correspondences to the local publications to make the new governor aware the all current programs and policies are transparent and effective. Likewise, external support could be solicited from the local community members who benefit from reduced recidivism of prisoners and for teaching them vocational and

Animal Crueltys Effect to Society Essay Example for Free

Animal Crueltys Effect to Society Essay People often think that animals are just unconscious creatures that don’t care about their daily lives. But they are actually just like us, they are living breathing creatures with simple lives and priorities. They prioritize more important things like, food, shelter and caring for their young and not like unimportant things like what they’re going to wear, who’ll look better and the like. But since we are the dominant species, then we are the ones who are supposed to help them when they are in need and care for them if they need medical care. But sometimes people just underestimate them and abuse them for fun, money , scientific experiments, etc. But they don’t see that they’re actually causing harm to them and to the society, they just think that they’re only here for food and entertainment. But that’s where they’re wrong, they’re actually the ones that should be the dominant species since they’re here first and we’re the ones that are supposed to help them know more about the world. So we should also help while they’re alive so we’ll have more use to them and we should spend our lives, sharing the world with them and not trying to wipe them out of the face of the earth. Some people say, â€Å"We help them, they help us. † That is true because if you’re kind enough to them then they’ll help you when you’re in trouble but some people misunderstood that, they think that we should help them by feeding them and they should help us by letting us kill them for profit. But that’s not how it should be, we should treat them as our own, help them as if they’re humans. Because without them, then we wouldn’t exist right now because all life begins from animals from the sea and they evolved to be available to be on land until they evolved to turn into us. Also if some animals disappeared from existence, it may have some chaotic results If the bees, butterflies, bats and other animals that can pollinate disappear then plants will not bear flowers, other plants might get extinct and lower the oxygen from our planet. If frogs, lizards, chameleons and the like disappeared then flies, locusts and possibly mosquitoes would be everywhere causing food contamination, damaged crops, dengue fever and more catastrophic things. But in some cases when animals attack people, they still shouldn’t kill them because it’s just in their instinct to attack if hey feel threatened or if their territory has been crossed. But people could still defend theirselves by tranquilizing them and sending them for check up after because in some instances they are sick and confused which causes them to attack. Sometimes they might not understand us but we should also learn understand them. Animals help humans, humans must also help animals. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat animals. If you treat them nicely then people would know that you can do the same to other people. But if you treat them violently then that means you have the ability to harm or kill people. Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives, wrote humanitarian Dr. Albert Schweitzer. And according to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the FBI, Murderers †¦ very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids. This proves some murderers start out as an animal abuser which then would make them curious on if killing animals is just as â€Å"fun† as killing people. Animal cruelty is not just caused by the abusers’ curiosity, it’s also a symptom of a mental disturbance. Some researches in psychology and criminology shows that people who commit animal cruelty rarely stop there, many of them later moves on to abusing or killing their fellow humans. Most of the records of the FBI shows a history of animal cruelty to many murderers and other criminals. There was a study in Northeastern University and the SPCA of the Massachusetts(USA) which shows that people who commit animal cruelty are five times more likely commit violent crimes against humans. The majority of the inmates at San Quentin penitinary who are sentenced to be executed for committing murder, â€Å"practiced† their crimes on animals before committing their crimes according to the warden. Some people who are cruel to animals are also cruel to children and their family. People who often neglect the needs of their pets often also neglect their children’s needs. Animal abuse is also an important indicator of child abuse, sometimes when children witness their parents abusing animals they can get influenced by their parents to do so too because of reacting to anger and frustration. Their violence might be directed at the only individuals in the family who are more vulnerable than they are: animal companions. One expert says, Children in violent homes are characterized by †¦ frequently participating in pecking-order battering, in which they might maim or kill an animal. Childhood cruelty to animals is indeed in the history of domestic violence. But in some cases animal cruelty is often discovered before the child abuse because it is more obvious to the neighbours that often hear the cries and howls of the animals because children are often threatened not to scream by their parents or else they’ll get hurt even more. Because of that, animal control agents which are possibly called by the neighbours are allowed to go into the house to investigate and then later possibly see the children with their scars and bruises which leads to being reported to social workers. This means that both the most vulnerable creatures in the house (the children and the pets) are abused by the adults. This proves that discrimination is present in the house. Some organizations such as the Baltimore police, The New Jersey Coalition of Battered Women and The Guelph Humane Society(Canada) work with animal control. Working with other agencies is called Cross Reporting which helps solve multiple cases. A study shows that 40% of battered women delayed seeking refuge from their abuser if their animal companion is included. This could possibly mean that the animals are also being abused along with the women since they find comfort from each other. These studies have led to a collaboration among social services and government agencies to develop a program for foster care of those animals. There are currently 100 programs in the US. Violence begins early specially for boys, some adults consider their children’s abusive behaviour to animal to the saying that â€Å"Boys will be boys. † Children who abuse animals should be treated with special care or else it might lead to a horrible way of life. Animal cruelty also proves the fact that most people don’t think before they do stuff because they don’t think of the consequences of their actions. Everyone should treat animals, children and women fairly because we are all here to help each other on going through our daily lives. People should stop discrimination and learn how to live peacefully together.

Essay --

Michael is struggling to remember small things. Michael is struggling to pay attention to his studies and is also stressing at work. He is told things and quickly forgets them or he’s hearing information and not being able to remember what he learned. Michael complains that he is stressing about work, but could that be causing him to forget things so quickly? Michael is suffering from what is known as short term memory. Short term memory allows limited space in a person’s mind which only allows the mind to remember up to seven items at one time. In order for short term memory to be stored it would have to be rehearsed which would cause it to be stored as long term memory which would stay in your mind for a long time. Short term memory or working memory can be manipulated in your mind causing you to forget something that you just heard. Michael is taking in this information but the information is being stored in his short term memory where something else might practically overwrite it and cause him to forget. Have you ever wondered how memories form? Memories are formed through conn...

Explore the Social and Political Factors

Explore the social and political factors that led to the formation of the national curriculum. The 1944 Education Act, put in place by the conservative president of the broad of education, R. A. Butler stated that there should be education for all, from primary all the way up to secondary education. That the duty of the local education authority should be one as to develop the spiritual, moral, mental and physical development of the community, that of school. However, during this time the only key requirements set out within the national curriculum based on what should be taught was for all schools to teach religious education.The national curriculum was not a guide for teacher to know what to teach, but rather the curriculum was largely determined by the teachers themselves, based on work topics commercially available within textbooks. Pupils were taught based on what was available rather than what was necessary to have a strong academic understanding. The curriculum for older pupil s tended to be based on examination syllabuses chosen by their teachers, again availability outweighing basic needs.There was limited influence from professional teaching bodies to introduce central direction of the curriculum allowing teachers to continue teaching an array of subjects and topics limited to resources of their textbooks. With such concern over falling standards of the education system within the UK, the early 1960s saw the Conservative minister of Education, David Eccles introduced a curriculum study group within the Department of education and Science. This group was then replace with the school council by Eccles successor Sir Edward Boyle in 1964 to look and develop the curriculum and education.The school council was formed with central and local government and teachers in order to oppose the accusation that the study group was self-ruled when governed by Eccles. The school council looked at new ways of teaching and assessing of subjects in order to create a consis tency. In the 1970s, concern rose again from the public, that the UK school system was not being well served. Under Shirley Williams as Labour Secretary of state, the Department of Education and Science and Her Majesty’s inspectors published papers on the curriculum issues, criticising both primary and econdary schools for their lack of balance in their curriculum and not accounting for changes occurring in society. In 1979 the Conservative Secretaries of State, Mark Carlisle, indicated that there should be a national consensus on a desirable framework for the curriculum following on from the Circular 14/77 report and review. This report led to Carlisle overseeing the abolition of the School Council and replacing it with the Curriculum and Development Committee and the Secondary Examinations council.Under Sir Keith Joseph as Secretary of State, 1985 saw the Better Schools White Paper recommended a proceeding with a nationally- agreed curriculum. In 1987 the Department of Educ ation and Science, under Kenneth Baker, issued a document that set out the foundation for a national curriculum. The document identified four key points: stability and consistency within the curriculum; a broad and balanced curriculum; support schools accountability and pupil attainment and aiding public understanding of the work of the schools.Following this, the 1988 Education Reform Act, passed by parliament set out the framework for the National Curriculum. Parliament’s key point in this development and centralisation of the curriculum was as follows: to promote the spiritual, moral, cultural and physical development of pupils which echoed the 1944 Education Act and to prepare pupils for the opportunities of adult life. The development of the National curriculum was overseen by two new advisory bodies, the National Curriculum council and the school Examination and Assessment Council.They sought expertise from a wide variety of educational backgrounds that drew on evidence and expertise throughout the education system emerging with a detailed framework for subject context which schools should be required to follow. The curriculum would be structured around Key Stages and be subject based, all subjects would be studied from age 5 up to age 16, covering the core subjects of English, Mathematics and science and foundation subjects of art, history, physical education, geography and music. Modern foreign languages would be taught from age 11.The syllabus would be set out in a Programme of study which would map out each subject at each Key Stage and include a scale of attainment levels to guide teacher’s assessment. Life and skills subjects were to be integrated within school teaching, including religious education and personal, social and health education. Testing within the National Curriculum was also implemented. These were drawn up by the Task Group on Assessment and Testing (TGAT). The TGAT sought to use a range of assessments that could be de livered and marked by teachers.Teacher’s assessments would be accompanied by national-administered standardised tests, known as key Stage Tests. These test results would then be published in performance tables to exhibit pupil’s levels of attainments. In 1989 the national curriculum was introduced into primary schools and was then rolled out across secondary throughout the 1990s. In 1991 key stage testing had began and by 1993 the inspection of schools was transferred over to Non-Ministerial Department of State from Her Majesty Inspectors and local authority inspection teams. The new inspection team was a independent body, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).

Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences

Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences, with reference to 50 cent's Amusement Park, attempting to account for its popularity despite its sexist representations of women In this essay I shall be investigating the ways in which hip hop songs appeal to both male and female audiences, with specific reference to Amusement Park (released May 8, 2007) by 50 cent (real name Curtis Jackson), and its music video. I will attempt to account for the huge popularity of this artist, and others of the genre, despite the apparent sexism displayed in his songs. Firstly I shall look at how hip hop has gone from primarily an underground phenomenon to having mainstream status, as recounted by Bakari Kitwana (2005). From when hip hop originated, it was always an alternate culture for black youngsters to turn to. During the late 1980s economic recession, many Americans were still living in poverty: unskilled workers faced poorer wages than before, resulting in a sense of alienation from mainstream America. Although they had achieved equality in legal status, there were still plenty of economic and social problems facing black youth. Not only was hip hop an artistic way of expressing and making public these issues, but also provided a sense of culture those less privileged. Concerns could be voiced through the medium of music and radio stations, which, although primarily were by and for black people, still very much of the white working class population, who were also facing similar problems and suffering from the same detachment from the mainstream. In the late 80s powerful black icons began emerging, such as Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and major bands like Public Enemy who produced ‘politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community'1. It soon became hard for white audiences to ignore hip hop culture. The East-West coast feud between artists from either side of America, leading to the eventual murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG also brought both urban issues and its music in to public light. Gangster rap was a predominant subgenre which was responsible for expressing shocking views (notably rap group N. You can read also Audience Adaptation Paper W. A. ‘s F*** tha police) and portraying the more violent and misogynistic side of hip hop culture. While it still receives a lot of backlash, hip hop has become increasingly mainstream and popular. One way to account for the popularity of â€Å"Amusement Park† is to look at the representations of women in the video on its own, and to draw conclusions from those alone. The girls are shown against a very minimalistic background, only with the â€Å"ride† which they are on. This puts the focus on to their bodies and faces, increasing our sense of their sexuality. Both the shots of the girls and their poses are explicitly constructed, as their poses are unnatural and staged. They often look directly in to the camera, suggesting an awareness of the audience's voyeuristic perspective. A shot which specifically give a sense of degradation is one in which a girl is shot almost directly from above, her body twisted unnaturally on the ground, looking on command as the camera focuses on her. This appeals to the male audience by making them feel that the girl is putting out her sexuality for the benefit of the viewers i. e. he individual watcher. It might seem that this video is primarily aimed at males however; the huge success of 50 cent in the mainstream implies that his apparent misogyny is not only accepted but embraced by a large audience. One explanation would be to accept the belief of female sexuality being masochistic, and that the gratification a female gets from the video is that of relating herself to the girls in the video who are enjoying being a sexual object. However, French feminist Luce Irigaray questions the idea the traditional view of female sexuality: †¦ omen in the sexual imaginary of Western culture have always been a male fantasy; hence maschocism is something forced on women by culture, not a quality inherent within them. Thus, women don't define their own sexuality, desire, or pleasure2. If we bear in mind the amount of competition that is around now in the hip hop industry and the selection of media now readily available, through the wide range of music channel, and the relatively recent development of the ability to watch music on sites such as youtube and yahoo, audience could be said to become more active in the way they choose and thus perceive their media. Taking Irigaray's perspective, female audiences do not necessarily need to read the text in masochistic way, and this broadening of choice in their media allows them to take an alternate stance on such texts: that of a more active one. If this is the case however, it does not necessarily mean that female audiences reject Amusement Park, only that there is room to interpret the representations in a more ironic way and as I shall discuss later on, the text itself encourages this type of reading. The next issue I shall look at is the extent to which 50 cent is taken as a serious role model by his audiences. His background would imply that he is the stereotype of gangster: his mother gave birth to him at 15, was involved in cocaine dealing, and was murdered at the age of 23. 50 cent himself began dealing in crack/cocaine and taking guns to school. Before the release of his first album with Columbia Records, he survived being shot 9 times, including once in the mouth, which led to him being dropped by the record company. This would seem highly ironic, given that to a large extent the idea of an authentic gangster was what selling rap records in the first place (artists such as Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B. I. G and Tupac Shakur had a history of crime and drugs; and the murders of the latter two helped to bring hip hop in to mainstream media). It is interesting to ask whether it was the songs that consumers were buying and continue to do so, (his debut album, get rich or die tryin' selling 12 million albums worldwide) or the now glamorised image of celebrity gangster which is currently present, despite the fact that he currently lives in an $18,500,000 Mansion. He himself admits to the fact that his image portrayed in his music is separate from him as a person: †¦ all the things I say are good, if you watch what I do. What I say on record is entertainment; but what I'm actually doing with my life and the things I've had the opportunity to do is what makes me inspiring3 Although evidently he has achieved a great deal for himself, in the media he rarely expresses himself personal side, and even has made attempts to reinforce his gangster image, and example being: I've been in situations where either it was me or somebody else, and I handled my business. 4 (2003) However, in the later interview he does deny any assumptions: †¦ people associate me with gun violence, when I was the one who got shot5 This suggest that Curtis himself does have an expectation that audiences will be able to distinguish between his image portrayed in the media, and the reality of his life, but does little to counteract the negative images. Is he also being naive in thinking that the audience will automatically realise this, and not model his violent and sexist lyrics? There is clearly some sort of awareness in public audiences, both black and white, as shown by findings by the Black Youth Project: Over half of youngsters between the ages of 15 – 25 strongly agree with the statement that â€Å"Rap music videos portray Black women in bad and offensive ways. 6 The huge success of 50 cent however, seems to contradict this, which would seem to imply that audiences are in fact able to separate this misogyny from the rapper himself. However, it could also be argued that this is merely a way of excusing such portrayals. Considering the artist's earlier works, such as Get in my car containing the lyri cs â€Å"I got no pickup lines / I stay on the grind / I tell the hoes all the time / Bitch get in my car† and the highly pornographic music video for Disco Inferno, it is harder to take such things lightly. A widely quoted statistic is that 70% of hip hop consumers are in fact white. Although it is interesting to note that no accurate source has been cited for this statistic, hip hop is undeniably a prominent part of mainstream white music culture. Before, when the genre was a political move as much as it was a music genre, a chance for black underprivileged youth to voice their concerns for the culture, it was something that both black and white people could understand in relation to their own lives. The current state of hip hop is that we ‘look through the keyhole into a violent, sexy world of â€Å"money, ho's and clothes†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ as described by Justin Ross (2007). This may be an accurate description of the way that audiences perceive such videos, given that 50 cent's music refers to neither the real problems, past or present, of black culture, nor to the life which Curtis leads. It would also account for the general acceptance of these representations, if the audience is distanced from what is shown in the videos: issues of sexism and violence are far less relevant outside black urban society and it is therefore easier for a white consumer to take the videos solely as entertainment. It is also important to remember that while the majority of hip hop artists are black, it is predominantly marketed and controlled by a white industry, as Bakari describes (p46) in which the importance of an authentic representation of black culture is of little importance compared with supplying the public with texts which they will buy in to, as evidently the sex appeal of the videos is an important aspect. The next thing I shall look at is the level of awareness of the sexism in both the video itself, and the audience it is aimed at. There are many shots which suggest that the images in it, and the lyrics, are not entirely sincere. This is evident in the shots of the girl sitting on a bench next to 50 cent. Unlike the rest of the images, she is not highly glamorised, and her actions appear to be a lot more naturalistic than the others. She directly reacts to his lyrics, often looking away smiling, as though amused by what he is saying. The title of the song could also be referring to 50 cent himself as a celebrity figure: that both his image and his songs are merely an â€Å"amusement;† not to be taken as serious. This creates a sense of bathos juxtapositioned against the more professional looking shots, so that the female audience can relate more to the women shown. Although taking up a lot less time in the video than the glamorised ones, it creates a distance between the hyperreality of the rest of the video, and the ordinary more down to earth shots, so audiences see the video more objectively. The shots of the girl lying provocatively on the car bear even less relation to the lyrics than earlier in the video, being more reminiscent of a car commercial than a music video. The car itself is briefly but distinctly focused on, which makes reference to the importance of money and material values which are present in not only video, but the whole hip hop industry. This hints at the suggestion that both the girls and their representations are merely a product of this, and therefore are not in fact serious degradations of the women. In this shot we see a girl, while impressed; rolling her eyes at the artist at the lyrics â€Å"You know it's no fun without the magic stick†. In this sense the girls are in fact the more active ones in the video, whilst 50 Cent mostly maintains his position as an entertainer. Instead of them covering the whole screen, two similar shots of the same girl are often slid in from either side against a plain black background, sometimes overlapping each other. Whilst in one sense emphasising the importance of the girls' bodies, it also is highly self aware as product, as by seeing two separate views of one scene, it reminds us that it is a construction. Instead of taking itself too seriously, it makes explicit its intention of providing a sex appeal. A less prominent but important character in the video is the girl dancing acrobatically, and the only girl who is represented by her skill rather her sexuality – the camera barely focuses on her face. On the surface, she seems to represent an entertainer at a fair (the bright flashing lights help to anchor this meaning), but it is possible to decipher alternate readings of her: certain comparisons can be drawn between the actions of 50 Cent and herself. She and he are the first people we see in the video, and she appears immediately after the artist announces himself: â€Å"50† and â€Å"Ferrari F-50†. The setting she is in is almost identical to that of 50 Cent's. At times her dance moves mirror the lyrics of his, for example at â€Å"You fear heights when I'm high hell yeah I go low†, she can be seen to do exactly this. In another shot she briefly does a boxing punch, followed by a similar view of 50 Cent looking macho. At the lyrics â€Å"yeah it's like that† she mimes as though saying the words herself. In this sense she is the female counterpart to 50 Cent, and could be said to hold the power, in that she has little direct engagement with the audience, while Curtis has to explicitly put on an act to keep is position as an entertainer. This could allow women to from the perspective of her instead of the rapper, and thus 50 Cent himself becomes the object of the video instead of the subject. As previously discussed, the initial purpose of this media text is to sell 50 Cent's music, and this is done by providing the audience with representations they are familiar with: a stereotypical ‘gangster', highly sexed girls, and also to be considered is the artist's own sex appeal. Firstly, the subject of the song itself is 50 cent inviting girls (the audience) to attend his â€Å"amusement park†, and the lyrics describe the activities available to those who go, thus partially placing him as the object of desire. He is shown later in the song without a shirt on, with lighting focused in such a way that highlights his muscular physique. An important issue is that of whether hip hop should be censored, else voluntarily toned down. In April 2007, a controversial incident occurred, involving Don Imus, the presenter of his radio show, which already had a reputation for its crude humour. In discussing a black female basketball team, he referred to the players as ‘nappy headed hos'. After floods of outraged complaints, his show was permanently removed from air, prompting wide discussion over the standards in the media, often with reference to hip hop. 0 Cent himself was involved in the subsequent discussion, but refused to agree to clean up his lyrics, using a politician involved in adult dating websites to make comparisons between standards in hip hop and that in supposedly higher society. While this may be true to some extent, it firstly does not provide a justification in itself; but also it is debatable as to how much of what he said was his own opinion and how many were prearranged arguments by his managers (in the video he can be seen grinning in long pauses after phrases such as â€Å"I personally believe†). On the subject of Master P, who made the decision to stop using sexist and violent lyrics, he replies â€Å"Well Master P doesn't sell CDs anymore†7. From this, and other interviews where he has put the focus on that of entertainment, one could draw the conclusion that the artist in fact, as Amusement Park suggests, concerned with little other than the money involved in the business. In defence to his own lyrics, 50 Cent has also expressed his irritation of apparent double standards in the media, in reference to Britney Spears' single ‘Gimme more'8 beginning with the lyrics ‘it's Britney, bitch'. While it may appear to be merely a sore complaint, it is certainly valid to discuss the treatment of women in other areas of the media, and by women themselves. The music video of the song in question consists of Britney Spears, wearing little more than underwear, dancing round a poll in a seedy setting. Similarly, in ‘Dip it Low' by Christina Milian, the artist is seen allowing herself to have black paint poured over her semi-clothed body, whilst a group of men stand at the side watching and jeering: the presentation of women apparent in male hip hop videos is not a unique one. In all aspects of the media girls are presented, more than anything, by their sexuality and appearance, which can be found in adverts in women's magazines, stereotypes in film and television (a notable example being Desperate Housewives), car adverts, drink adverts. Although elevated within the genre, this representation could be described as a reflection of attitudes prevalent in both the media and in society and therefore not so shocking to audiences. Another issue described by an internet blogger9 is that by shutting sexism and violence portrayed in hip hop music, it is shutting off a fundamental way of keeping these issues in the eye of the public. He quotes that the leading killer of African Americans is homicide; and that males are five times more likely to be killed than their white counterparts. These issues will still exist even in the absence of offensive hip hop. While this certainly an interesting point, hip hop paradoxically glorifies the very things which it makes an issue of. While artists like 50 Cent may primarily be driven by selling as many records as possible, he still in one sense continues to represent issues which would otherwise be forgotten, if only in a postmodern way. Therefore, in order for hip hop to serve this purpose, it is essential that audiences neither directly embrace the values shown in the videos, nor take it as purely entertainment, as Amusement Park evidently does allow us to do. However, audiences could be said to be becoming increasingly desensitised to these things, with violent films and video games and the huge availability of pornography through the internet, which would make this reading more difficult to achieve. Whether or not the sexism and violence in hip hop is justified or not, if audiences were to take a more active role in their media, it would simultaneously prevent potential influence from such songs, and also make thorny issues in black society more accessible to deal with.

Haiti essays

Haiti essays Want to send this story to another AOL member? Click on the heart at the top of this window. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Haitian authorities released an opposition candidate and four associates Saturday, nearly three weeks after they were arrested following regional elections, an opposition leader said. Authorities dropped charges of incitement to violence against candidate Jean Limongy and the four others, said Evans Paul of Limongy's Space for Concord five-party coalition. Limongy, a candidate for a lower house seat, and the others were arrested May 23, two days after local and legislative elections. More than 2 million Haitian voters, about 60 percent of the electorate, cast their ballots in the violence-free elections. The Lavalas Family party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide gained control of the upper house and was leading in most lower-house races as vote counting continued this week. Since the vote, police have arrested at least 37 opposition candidates and activists. Sixteen have been released. Space for Concord militant Laurore Noel, who was arrested with Limongy, remained in prison in Petit-Goave jail, about 35 miles southwest of the capital, Paul said. On Wednesday, three candidates projected as the winners for seats on the Port-au-Prince city council under Aristide's Lavalas Family banner were arrested on charges of having false police identification cards. Elections for legislative seats in Haiti's troubled Grand'-Anse district, where the vote was delayed due to technical difficulties, are set for Sunday, officials said. Haiti has been without a Parliament since President Rene Preval dismissed legislators in 1999 to resolve a power struggle. Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, r ...

David Gregg and the History of the Optical Disk

David Gregg and the History of the Optical Disk An optical disk is a plastic-coated disk that stores digital data. Tiny pits are etched into the disk surface that are read with a laser scanning the surface. The technology behind the optical disk is the foundation for similiar formats including CDs and DVDs. David Gregg The optical disk is an analog video optical disk format. The original format provided full bandwidth composite video and two analog audio tracks (digital audio tracks were added later). The optical disk (commonly known as the laser disc as trademarked by Pioneer) was replaced in popularity by the introduction of DVD in 1997. David Gregg Speaks on the Invention of the Optical Disk ...By dumbing down an electron beam to visible wavelengths, modulating it to the standard PWM video frequency, and reducing the power to photoresistive requirements, an e-beam optical videodisk mastering system was practical and commercially available in the late 50s. However, this simple and practical means of mastering was abandoned by others in favor of more costly and time delaying technology: the laser, the supreme toy of the moment for techies. Impact of David Greggs Patents Digital Versatile Disc or DVD and LaserDisc from PioneerMiniDisc from Sony Compact Disc or CD from Philips the 3M Company List of Patents for Optical Disk Technology Continue Extract from Optical Disk Patent Special thanks goes to Tom Peterson for providing information for this page including the words of David Gregg. David Gregg was Toms father by adoption. A transparent plastic disc is described in the Copending Application Ser. No. 627,701, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,966, issued March 4, 1969, in which picture information in the form of video signals is recorded on one or both sides of the disc. The recorded picture information on the disc is intended to be reproduced, for example, through a television receiver, by playing the disc on a turntable and by directing a light beam through the disc, as described in the Copending Application Ser. No. 507,474 now, abandoned, and its continuation-in-part application, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,258. The light beam is modulated by the video recordings on the disc, and a pick-up head is provided which responds to the resulting light signals to transform them into corresponding electrical video or picture signals for playback purposes. The present invention is concerned with such a video disc record, and with a duplication process by which a multiplicity of such records may be mass-produced from a master record die. The material of the disc record surface is made such to be appropriate for embossing and to enable, under suitable temperature conditions, a slight force pressing the disc surface against a master die to cause the impressions on the surface of the die to be embossed into the surface of the disc. With such an embossing process, there is no transverse flow of the disc material, as occurs in the usual prior art stamping or molding processes, as are presently being used in the production of phonograph sound records, for example, and by which the actual surface of the record is raised above its melting point. The stamping techniques presently being used in the manufacture of phonograph records are not suitable for the extraordinarily fine microgrooves and patterns required by video frequency recordings of picture information. Such stamping techniques as are presently being used in the production of phonograph sound records require that the master record die be heated to a temperature above the melting point of the vinyl or other plastic material used in the phonograph record. In the prior art phonograph record duplicating process, a biscuit of the vinyl or other plastic material is placed in a stamper, and the heated master record die is brought down onto one or both surfaces of the biscuit. The plastic of the biscuit surface is melted and caused to flow radially into the spaces defined by the impressions on the master die surface. As mentioned above, this stamping technique by present day standards appears to be unsuited for the extremely fine micro-spiral grooves required for video frequency recordings. As an alternative to the present day practice, and as will be described, a video disc record blank of laminated transparent plastic construction may be provided, the laminated record having a surface layer of relatively soft transparent plastic of any suitable known type, and which can be readily embossed; and a supporting base of a rigid plastic, such as an acrylic resin or polyvinyl chloride. As a first step in the alternate approach, the laminated disc record blank is heated to a point at which the surface tension of the surface material causes the surface to be smooth and regular. This temperature is the critical temperature at which embossed impressions may be formed on the disc surface, and it is below the melting point of the surface material. The embossing die(s) is(are) heated to a temperature slightly above the critical temperature, and it(they) and the record blank are brought together with a slight pressure. As the die(s) and the record blank are brought together, the die(s) is(are) cooled to the aforesaid critical temperature, and its (their) surface impressions are embossed into the surface(s) of the record. Obviously, if two sides are being embossed, two embossing dies are required. The supporting structure would require modification, but such modification is well within the skill of the art. After the disc record has been embossed, as described above, an opaque mask is deposited into the portions of its surface around the resulting embossed micro-grooves. This latter mask may be formed on the disc by using a vacuum deposition technique, as will be described. The aforesaid disc record, when laminated in accordance with the aforesaid alternate approach, is used in order to present the desired surface characteristics for optimum embossing capabilities, and yet so that the record itself may be rugged and suitable for rough usage. The laminated structure of the record comprises reasonably tough and dimensionally stable clear plastic for the main body of the disc; and a plastic material on one or both surfaces of the disc which is most suited for embossing. The combination provides a video record disc which is useful, which can take on appropriate amount of handling, and which still can be embossed easily and effectively.