Reflection Essay Essays - Writing, Essay, Charles Darwin

Reflection Essay My Reflection Essay Being the billionth paper that I wrote in this class, I thought my observational essay was pretty good. It had decent wording in it, consisted of many different techniques of writing, and was just overall well written. To write this paper, I started a week in advance. I went to my dad's house and sat in his office for about 5 hours writing the entire paper, while taking a few breaks of course! The office was totally quiet, which is one factor that I require in order to write a wonderful paper The easiest part of the assignment was thinking of ideas for the paper. They came to me immediately. The hardest part was putting those ideas onto paper. Transferring ideas into writing is one of the hardest things I have ever encountered in school. Some of the strengths in my paper include the different styles that I used, the wording, and the length. My wording sometimes sounds like words coming out of my mouth, and not just a dull sentence. The length of the paper is not too long and not too short, which makes it easier for someone to read it without losing interest. Some weaknesses about my paper are the lack of details and the plain-and-simple style that I sometimes slipped up and used. Details can be added, but the styles are hard to change. My plain and simple style can be told apart from my other styles, and it stands out in some papers, but not very much in this one. My Cats ideas were extremely helpful in process of writing my reflection essay. It saved me a lot of time. I used her ideas and combined them with mine to improve my paper. After writing this paper, I have found that I am no longer a terrible writer. I have matured a whole lot over the past summer, and perhaps have caught back up with my fellow classmates. I think my paper is basically ready for my portfolio. A few minor changes may need to be made, such as adding a few more details where needed, and maybe change some of the wording, but other than that I think it is ready.

edward De Vere essays

edward De Vere essays Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford, is perhaps the most influential and imaginative author of the renaissance. Though he received a bad name for his poor money management and harsh behavior, his work on poetry and development of verse has been key to the history of literature. De Vere was born at Castle Hedingham in Essex, April 2, 1550 (May 1). The de Vere family was hereditarily the Lord Chamberlains of England (May 1). They had been among the country's finest Earls since they had arrived from Normandy with William the conqueror (Ogburn 4). Edward's father, the sixteenth Earl, was a kind and popular man who owned a company of theatrical players at Hedingham (May 2). He died when Edward was 12, and Edward then moved to London with William Cecil, the most powerful man in the country (Green letter). De Vere's relationship with Cecil was never very good, even after he married Cecil's 14-year-old daughter Anne (Ogburn 12). Edward earned a Bachelor's degree at the age of 14, a Masters at 16, then studied law (Ogburn 6). He lost vast sums of money by backing failed trips to the New World and selling off most of his inheritance (Green letter). De Vere was a fan of the arts. He was associated with the growth of the public theatre, he was the leader of a group of writers dedicated to developing the English language, and is regarded as one of the finest Elizabethan poets (Frisbee 27). By the year of 1571, Edward de Vere was probably regarded with higher expectations than any other young nobleman (May 3). He was the premier earl of England, son in law and student of William Cecil, and an accomplished, wealthy, educated man. He was praised and thought of very highly. However, by January of 1575 he was well on his way to being broke (May 3). He had set out upon an elegant continental tour (May 3). During his 15 months abroad, Edward spent some 4,561 pounds (May 4). A sum derived mostly from selling his large mon...

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Sociology - Essay Example Since the UK contained a well-established political structure, well-trained and highly equipped army, navy and air force, magnificent economic stability and unshakeable social hierarchy, the country was in a position to rule over the entire world for several decades. By dint of her unconquerable armed forces, sharp foreign policy and enormous financial resources, the UK invaded on numerous Asian and African countries, and captured their wealth and governmental system. Hence, the people belonging to the subjugated states got orientation with the UK as a great strategic, educational and economic giant of the world at large. Consequently, they dreamed of visiting and settling down in the UK in order to lead a comfortable and respectable life for the future years to come. Additionally, the African men, women, children and elderly were also brought in the country as slaves, where they were meant to serve their white masters in their domestic chores and professional responsibilities as wel l. By looking into the history of the British Africans, it becomes crystal clear that the Blacks had been the least educated stratum of British society, as majority of this community was either working as slaves or got involved into different petty or purported odd jobs at lower scale. Similarly, because of their association with the labour in their native land as well as scarcity of food and fruits, the Blacks underwent poorer health condition in comparison with the rest of the entire English population. Though the situation has taken drastic change with the passage of time, and the country is viewed to be exemplary in respect of the health condition and education level of its citizens, yet the Blacks are still viewed to be the least developed community in respect of both health and education, as they are refused to be treated on the foundations of equality in the British society. Thus, their past is still haunting the Blacks even after several years of their freedom from slavery a nd settling down as free citizens in Great Britain. The Paper: The contemporary Britain is undoubtedly one of the most enlightened states of the entire sphere, which offers job, business, health and immigration facilities to the highly skilled and proficient individuals belonging to various parts of the globe. Additionally, the traditional British universities have been pioneer in providing high quality education by conferring degrees against different disciplines, which does not have any match with any educational institution of the entire world. It is therefore the students who had sought education and degrees from these renowned institutions, led their respective societies and cultures by rendering valuable services in their relevant fields. The entire exposure they gain and the outstanding vision they acquire is partially dependent of the British educational institutions, cultural values, social norms and traditional way of life that proves guiding star for polishing their perso nality and enhancing their capabilities to move and survive even in the multicultural civilisations. On the one side of the picture, there appears to be affluence, luxuries, social justice, economic prosperity and technological advancements, and on the other side, malpractices, apartheid, ethno-racial and religious discrimination, poverty and deteriorating health of the lower stratum of society raise their ugly head to threaten the glow of the so-called big claims of national

International Relations Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Relations Theory - Essay Example Realism helps us see how the lack of hierarchy in authority at the systemic level creates rules that confine the choices available to states. Similarly, the emphasis on power explains why some states are more successful in achieving their goals than are others. This approach to world politics called realism has a long, distinguished history and offers a coherent, parsimonious explanation for much of what goes on across the globe. Realism theory is different from liberalism and postinternationalism. Liberalism promotes the freedom to pursue economic gain, liberty to participate in the affairs of public life, respect for political human rights, and minimal government. Postinternationalism comes from the presumption that accelerating change and deepening complexity are the major tendencies at work in the world. Realism, liberalism, and postinternational polaics paradigms have some common elements but they also rest on different and contradictory, premises. Hans Morgenthau (1948) first expounded a theory on international relations which explained the past and current events and which will be the likely direction and shape of future relations. Morgenthau's ideas is similar to writings on world politics and represented continuity with the past. The realist approach stems from Thucydides, the chronicler of the ancient Peloponnesian War, who wrote, "The strong do what they have the power to do, the weak accept what they have to accept." Thucydides pushed for a first-class navy and the wealth of empire gave an edge to Athens. (Thucydides, 1978). It was "the growth of Athenian power and the fear this caused in Sparta" that, in Thucydides' opinion, caused the war. The fact of Athenian power and the fact, known to his readers, that Athens ultimately lost the war creates a terrible tension in his book. (Robert Connor, 1984). Athens, a powerful state lost the war because it overextended itself and fell victim to its own sense of grandeur. Its ci tizens forgot the necessity for moderation and denigrated the virtues of taking justice as well as advantage into their political calculations. Power, as expressed in ships and money, and the moral character of the warring cities accounted for the final outcome of the war.Power holds the two strands of realism that have evolved in the modern era. Traditional realism, which evolved in the 1930s and in the post-World War II period, is a form of realism grounded in a view of human nature. It points out that humans are self-interested, rational, and seek power; qualities that lead to the consistent, regular behavior of states. Traditional realism holds that we live in "a world of opposing interests and of conflict among them, moral principles can never be fully realized, but must at best be approximated through the ever temporary balancing of interest and the very precarious settlement of disputes." (Buzan, et.al., 1984).Neorealism or structural realism, highlights the structure of the international system rather than human nature to account for the behavior of states. Individual preference does not particularly count, since the individuals themselves do not matter a great deal in explaining the behavior of states. This theory proposes that the lack of central authority in the international system causes states to behave the way they do. The set-up of the international system forces states to attend not just to their own interests but to any changes in the power of other states. Realism

Two Works of Art from Ancient Time and From 1000 B.C.E OR 1000 B.C Assignment

Two Works of Art from Ancient Time and From 1000 B.C.E OR 1000 B.C - Assignment Example This can be seen in the museums as they are able to collects different types of arts like in The Grande Gallerie, Louvre of France and Free Gallery of Art. They are many artists known worldwide for their intellectual artistic way of delivering message like Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, and Alexander J. Davis who are known for their contribution in Art. Introduction Agostino Centobelli is a known sculpture in the past decade and in this context we are going to see the differences from his sculpture and Venus De Milo sculpture from Louvre gallery. They are both renowned artists in ancient craft (Tanner, 2006). Agostino was known from the cameo collection which was mainly used for jewelry which were common in Asia and Japan. It was known in the 15000bc which were used to tell manners, customs and traditions (Tanner, 2006). The sculpture of Venus De Milo which portrayed beauty and also goddess of love in the ancient period Comparison between Agostino’s and Venus de Milo’s Scu lpture The two art pieces were sculpted in ancient times from 1000b.c to 2000 B.C each using the natural color instead of using different colors. They both try to convey message to a given audience representing the culture, beliefs and traditions delivering to a bigger audience. There arts were both unique attracting people’s attention to date cutting across the world. The artists were mainly inspired by their environment and also we can see that the art are sculpted from stone. Each art has a unique message Agostino’s portraying the religion of Indians using jewelry while De Milo conveying the woman’s beauty. They both are from two different artists and were sculpted with different views in mind (Frank, 2011). Agostino’s art is more of complex comprising of different images unlike De Vinci’s which a single portrait of a lady is with cut hand. Part Two 1. The two arts use the form of sculpture as they are they are curved to bring out the different shapes. 2. They can both be seen created in the three dimensional structure as can be seen from the length, width and height used in the sculpture. We are able to see to the portrait in all dimension, front view, side view and back view. 3. Agostino’s art was with the use of stone (that is soap stone) or shells while De Milo sculpture used marble in creating. 4. From both of the art pieces we are able to see the curves used in order to bring out the figure as of De Milo and the one in cameo. They are smoothly shaped to bring out the quality of the portrait. 5. The colors used in the pieces of arts were natural colors of the materials as they only concentrated on curving and also to make it simple. In the era color was not the main reason of art but they tried to put across message to the different types of audience. 6. The curves are smooth and flowing with use of natural color. The three dimensional structure clearly tells the use of line to bring out the shape and concentra ted on making them perfect that’s why we can see its value till date. The simplicity also made the curvy areas or the portrait develop in the different decade of time (Frank, 2011) 7. They both have a subject matter as they try to give some information. This can be seen from the materials used, the portraits or rather the arts developed. 8. The subject of Agostino’s sculpture is jewelry while that of De Milo is lady’

Growth Of Islamic Fundamentalism In South Asia History Essay

Growth Of Islamic Fundamentalism In South Asia History Essay Islamic fundamentalism is not a new phenomenon. In recent times, it has acquired a militant and jihadi form. It has grown because of the failure of the ruling elite in South Asian countries in nation building and in constructing democratic polities. Successive regimes, both civilian and military, in some of the countries in the region have used Islam as a means to legitimise their rule. As seen in previous chapter that the Islamic fundamentalism has been well entrenched in Pakistans power structure for the last two decades or so, ever since the military rule of General Zia-ul Haq. Pakistan militarys alliance with the Mullahs was formed during this period. The conglomerate of six fundamentalist parties, the Muttahida Majlise Amal (MMA), controls the provincial government in the strategic NWFP, where it has already enforced a kind of Taliban rule. The MMA is also part of the government in Baluchistan. Subsequently Gen. Musharraf strengthened the Mullah-Military alliance. In the subsequent paragraphs we will study the Islamic fundamentalism in various other asian countries and pak role in spreading this fundamenatalism. PART I: ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN AFGHANISTAN Afghanistan and the Rise of Taliban Demography. Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordered by Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzebkistan and China. Its population approximately stand somewhere between 15 and 20 million people. The overwhelming majority of its population is Muslims, although a significant minority -between 10 and 20 per cent adheres to heterodox Sunni confession. The population is also diverse in both ethnic and linguistic terms. While two Indo- Iranian languages Persian and Pustho- are the ones most widely heard in the country, one also encounters speakers of Turk, Dravidian, Nuristani, and other languages. Afghanistan besides ethnicaly and linguistically, is also divided economically and spatially. Shaping of Fundamentalism Power Struggle the Root Cause. The Afghanistan is in turmoil since 1973. In 1973 Mohammed Daoud khan staged a coup, deposing his cousin king Zahir Shah and appointing himself as president. Daoud captured power with the help of Soviet- trained military officers, who were members of the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). On 27 Apr 1978, the leftist military officers overthrew Mohammed Daoud Khan in a surprise coup and Noor Mohammed Taraki came to power. Due to internal disputes within the Taraki Camp there was widespread killing of tribal leaders to extend control over them. Thus Amin overthrew and killed Taraki and made overtures to the USA. Russian Intervention. The Russian Intervention in Afghanistan played a crucial role for its subsequent control and a state of anarchy in the region. The reason for russian intervention in Afghanistan were as under:- Iranian Connection. During Oct 1974 The Shah of Iran offered aid worth $ 2 billion to Kabul and also give secure access to Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to the sea via Iran, there by reducing the Soviet leverage as the only alternative route for Afghan overland trade. The increased overtures of iran towards Afghanistan increased Soviet apprehensions. Inclination to USA. The Amin after assuming the power from Taraki made overtures towards USA. This caused Moscow panic and at this stage the Soviets decided to intervene militarily to stabilize the situation, instead the soviets got sucked into the war. Situation after Soviet Withdrawal. After the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. The number of Mujahideen faction who fought their Jihad against Soviet forces and communist regime of Kabul tried to capture the power in Kabul. The Afghan society was highly divided on tribal and ethnolinguistically lines at that time. The mujahideen warlords were also fragmented along these lines. As their communities interests were involved hence a consensus government could not be formed and neither a power sharing agreement could reach between them. The end result was anarchy in Afghanistan. Pakistan, which was a front line state for Americans and western nation for arms supplies to mujahideen during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan had now its own interest in keeping the Afghan disintegrated as it wanted it establish its own puppet government there, so it backed number of mujahideen groups but when they failed to capture the power in Kabul, it started the Taliban movement with Sau di money and US planning and Pakistans manpower. Pakistans Objectives. Pakistan objectives in Afghanistan are two fold. The first was to secure a receptive leader ship in Kabul which would ensure the transformation of Afghanistan into a Pakistan dominated, Pushtun ruled enclave and assist Pakistans goal of wider regional influence, and broader regional political, economic and strategic gains. The other was to enable Pakistan to enmesh the identity of Pakistans and Afghanistan Pushtun into one and settle once and for all the longstanding Afghanistan -Pakistan border dispute in line with Pakistans interests. These considerations assumed greater urgency after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which not only signalled the imminent end of communist rule in Kabul, but also opened up the potentially resource rich Central Asian Republic( CAR). Growth of Taliban Birth of Taliban. It is generally accepted by Afghanistan watchers that the Taliban had its birth in the rugged mountains of the Pak-Afghan border, inside Pakistan territory some time in Aug 1994. By early 1994 it became obvious to the ISI that the Burhanuddin Rabbani regime, not very friendly to Islamabad, was slowly consolidating itself in Kabul. While they were looking for alternative s, Maj Gen (Retd) Naseerullah Babar, the Interior Minister in the second Benazir Bhutto government floated the idea of creating a students militia along with some veterans from the Afghan mujahideen who had fought the Red Army and who had taken shelter in Pakistan. Gen Babar started his search for suitable leaders from around April-May 1994. In the process, he came across a certain Mohammad Umar Mujahid. Later widely known as Mullah Umar. By the end of May 1994 the basic infrastructure for launching the Taliban was in place. Around this time, the meeting with the Jamait Ulema Islam headed by Maulana Fazlur Rahman started bearing fruit in terms of deputing its students for the proposed outfit, which it proposed to call Taliban. Most of the Taliban are the children of the Jihad against Soviet Union. Many were born in Pakistani refugee camps, educated in Pakistani madrassas and learnt their fighting skill from Afghan Mujahideen parties based in Pakistan. Their families continued to live in Pakistan as refugees even after the fall of Kabul to the Mujahideen in 1992. The Taliban the Army of Islamic students -was raised from the madrassas on the Afghan Pakistan border. Sociologically, Pakistan had based this new revolution upon the segment of the fanatical and illiterate village mullahs- the land less and weakest section of Afghan society. They are generally orphans who prefer to live in madrassas for three square meals a day. Pakistani Connection. Many Taliban carry Pakistani identity cards, as they spent years in refuge camps in Pakistan, and thousand voted in the 1997 elections Baluchistan for their favourite Pakistani party- the Jamiat -e Ulema-I Islam. Moreover the Taliban recruited hundreds of Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist students to fight for their causes and were closely linked to Pakistans fundamentalist Islamic parties such as the Jamait -e Uleama Islam led by Maulana Fazular Rahman. Their social history also allowed them to be extremely well connected to many Pakistani state institution, political parties and business groups in what was already an extremely fragmented Pakistani power structure. Thus the Taliban were never beholden to one exclusive Pakistani lobby. ISI Support to Taliban. It is believed that the Taliban Shura and Umer are only a front and the actual thinking and strategy is provide by the former and serving members of the Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) of Pakistan. It wold be difficult to explain otherwise how the students of madrassas, dedicated to religious learning as a way to life almost overnight became warriors. The improvised madrassas in the NWFP and Baluchistan would hardly be in a position to impart any military training, unless they have sound and organized financial and military backing. In any event, over the last two years Lt Gen (Retd.) Hameed Gul, former Chief of the ISI, has emerged as an important spokesperson of the Taliban movement. Large number of former Pakistani military personnel a have been spotted in Taliban camps actively engaged in Taliban activities. PART II: ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN BANGLADESH Brief History Formation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh emerged as a new state in 1971 after a protracted struggle for autonomy, which evolved into a freedom movement against the Punjabi-dominated military bureaucratic establishment of Pakistan. Religion and Constitution. Though the initial Constitution of Bangladesh unambiguously enshrined secularism, which was to be realised by eliminating communalism in all its forms, and the establishment of multi-party democracy as fundamental political values. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had spelt out the meaning of secularism in the context of the Muslim society. He had explained that secularism does not mean absence of religion. The people of Bangladesh would have the right to religion but nobody would be allowed to use religion as a political weapon. Islam in Bangladesh has been based on three types of religious beliefs: modern, orthodox and popular. A majority of the Muslims of Bangladesh practice popular religion that includes faith in pirs, sacred places, Hindu gods and local deities and spirits. The Jamaat-i- Islami had no appeal in the political environment in East Pakistan since 1947. In, the Jamaat-i-Islami had only one member in that part of Pakistan. Bangladeshs Drift Towards Extremism. However, after the military coup dà ©tat of 1975, secularism was replaced by the words Faith in Almighty Allah in the revised constitution. A new era of the relationship with Middle Eastern Muslim countries, brought Wahhabi ideology back home from Arabia and created a social ground and support base for future fundamentalists in the country. In 1988, another military dictator declared Islam the state religion of Bangladesh by amending the Constitution. To create an aura of political legitimacy as well as to win support from the oil-rich Middle Eastern Muslim countries, military regimes rehabilitated and eventually collaborated with Islamic political organizations, some of which were radical and fundamentalist in nature. 43 Both military regimes tried to overcome their legitimacy crises by manipulating the political issue of Islamic identity. In this way, the military regimes not only created the opportunity for the Islamists to be a part of mainst ream politics in Bangladesh, but they also made Islamization an agenda of the state and Islam the de facto state ideology.44Subsequent democratic governments could not overcome the religious ideology created by the military regimes. During the anti-military period of the 1980s, the two major political parties, the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), continued to maintain tactical relationships with fundamentalist political organizations. The party that won the general elections in 1991 and 2001 formed a coalition with fundamentalist political organizations. The two of the militant fundamentalist organizations of this period that shocked the country the most were the HUJIB and the JMB. The mother organization of the HUJIB was located in Pakistan. Fundamentalist Acts in Bangladesh. Between March 6, 1999 and January 27, 2005, militant Islamists killed at least 156 people in Bangladesh. Bombs were thrown mostly at secular cultural gatherings, courthouses, and Sufi shrines. Worst among them were the bomb attacks at Udichi programs (a secularist cultural organization) programs, the Ahmadiyya mosque (a minority Islamic religious sect), Bengali new year celebrations, churches, movie theatres, the Bangladeshi born British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and at the rally of the party of opposition. The bomb attack that shocked the country most was the blast of August 17, 2005, where 459 bombs were exploded in 63 of the 64 districts in the country between 11:00 and 11:30 am. There were also several attacks on secularist NGO (Non-Government Organization) activists and newspapers. Two militant religious fundamentalist organizations, Harkatul Jihad al-Islam Bangladesh (HUJIB), and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), carried out these a ttacks. These two groups alone exploded hundreds of bombs throughout the country during this period in order to establish an Islamic regime in the country. In addition to these two groups, other militant Islamist organizations, active in this period that were also involved in similar violent and terrorist activities included, Shahadat al-Hikma, Hizbut Tawhid, Bangladesh Islamic Manch, and Hifajate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon. Pakistan Link. The two of the major and active militant fundamentalist organizations of Bangladesh are HUJIB (Harkatul Jihad al-Islam of Bangladesh) and the JMB (Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh). The mother organization of the HUJIB was located in Pakistan. The Pakistani HUJI had first appeared in the early 1980s as a group of supporters of the Afghan resistance against Soviet aggression, known as Jamaatul Ansar (Group of the Helpers). With the support of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), the group renamed itself as Harkatul Jihad al-Islam (The Movement for the Islamic Jihad) in 1988.53 In the 1990s it expanded its operations beyond Afghanistan, especially in support of the struggle of Muslims in non-Muslim countries. Shafiqur Rahman, an Afghan war veteran, founded the Harkatul Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh in 1992. The organization officially declared its existence at a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka on April 30, 1992. Presently there are approx 27 militant outfits in Indias Northeast that have ties with Bangladesh and its various religio-political groups. The ISI and Bangladeshs DGFI coordinate with ULFA. The influx of migrants from Bangladesh across the border into north-east India and West Bengal certainly poses a threat of Islamic militancy spreading in these regions of India as well. During the rule of the BNP-led four-party alliance between 2001 and 2006, militant Islamic groups such as the HUJIB and JMB received significant material and moral support from Islamists within the alliance. PART III:THE DANGER IN NEPAL Gen. Nepal is a Hindu kingdom but not a Hindu state and religious minorities have lived in the Kingdom without any discrimination. Over the last several years, the Kingdom, however, has been in turmoil. It has been plagued by Maoist insurgency and the struggle for end of monarchy and establishment of Democracy in the Kingdom. Both these major struggle were over by 2006. However the country had to think and work out the settlement before the maoist can be adopted and the new constitution can be enacted for the country. Though the country is pro India and anti Islamic Fundamentalism, but a disturbed situation has been exploited by the anti India countries over the years. The use of Nepal soil by the Islamist for causing disturbance in India have been established time again.The presence of militant Islamists on the India-Nepal border has been causing concern in the contiguous Indian areas. Geographical Realities. It may be noted that India has an open, porous border with Nepal, which is 1,859 km-long. There are almost 20 Indian districts that share the border with 27 Nepalese districts. The open border provides a free field to all kinds of criminal activities, like drug trafficking, smuggling, intelligence activities, fake currency, fugitives, etc. Matter of Concern. What has caused concern is the emergence of numerous madrassas and mosques on both sides of the border. The number of mosques is certainly not justified by the number of Muslims in the area. The madrassas are largely funded from West Asia. These developments too have serious implications for India. The 1999 hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane on a flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi, which ultimately ended with the release of three top Pakistani terrorist leaders, showed that the ISI had set up an active base in Nepal. Some Kashmiri groups belonging to Hizb-ul Mujahideen have been caught in Nepal trying to send money to Islamic separatists in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani presence in Nepal is reflected in the growth of madrassas, increase in Muslim population, floating of fake Indian currency and is helped by an open border and lack of monitoring system. PART IV: ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN SRI LANKAN Origin and Growth of Islamic Fundamentalism. Muslims in Sri Lanka are the descendants of the Arabs, who came about a thousand years ago. The origins of Islamic fundamentalism in the country, however, are recent and can be traced to 1990 when the Sri Lankan ethnic Tamils drove away Muslims from the Eastern region under their control. This forced migration increased Muslim population in the districts to which they had migrated. No effort was made by the government to rehabilitate these uprooted Muslim refugees, who had to live in poverty and misery. Over time, madrassas came up, funded by munificent Arabs. Frequent Sinhala-Muslim communal clashes began to take place. Shariat courts were set up and strict rules imposed on Muslim women in the Eastern areas. The situation in the Muslim areas deteriorated and Muslim- Buddhist clashes became a regular feature. Militant camps were set up in the Eastern areas where volunteers were given arms and weapons training in the jungles and they called themselves jihadis fighting a holy war for protecting themselves. Ironically, the government itself had provided arms to the Muslims in the early 1980s to protect themselves against the LTTE. Also, attempts were made on part of the government to use Islamic militancy as a buffer against the LTTE. The country has been facing the threat of Tamil Eelam. The situation in the Eastern province is a potential bloody cauldron. There have been reports of two Islamic militant bases in Valaichchenai. The formation of an Osama Squad in Batticaloa has also come to notice. All this indicates growth of extremist elements in the community. Pak Involvement. The ISI is keenly interested to collect intelligence about developments in Indian nuclear establishments, many of which are located in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In this background, the appointment by Pakistan two years ago of a former director of the Intelligence Bureau as its High Commissioner in Colombo was not without significance. There has been an increase in the activities of Lashkar-e-Toiba in the Eastern province. PART V: ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM AND INDIA Fundamentalist Parties Post Independence. After independence apart from some minor outfits, there were two main fundamentalist parties in the country, the Jamiat-al Ulema-i-Hind and the Jamaat-t-Islami. The Jamiat-al Ulema, which had opposed the creation of Pakistan till the end, withdrew from Indian politics after the freedom and the framing of the Indian Constitution. While the Jamaat-i-Islami was divided after the emergence of Pakistan in 1947 and some members of the Jamaat, including its founder, Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, migrated to Pakistan, with an aim of creating an Islamic country. While the, members of the Jamaat, who stayed back in India, formed a separate Jamaat in April 1948. The leaders of the Indian Jamaat opposed secularism in all walks of life and decided not to participate in elections, and decided to opt out of the Indian political system. However Jamaat accepted the secularism in 1960s, though with some reservations. The Jamaat members from Jammu Kashmir have not been part of the Indian Jamaat and formed a separate party in the state. Growth of Islamic Fundamentalism in India. India is marred with a plethora of terrorist/ insurgency related problems, terrorism in Punjab, insurgency in its NE, Maoist insurgency in its Central Part, Islamic Fundamentalism in J K and till late LTTE influence in its southern part. However among all these the threat from Islamic fundamentalism by large, poses the most complex and significant threat to India. India comprises of largest Muslim population after Indonesia in south Asia. Islamic fundamentalism in the form of terrorism in India was initially limited to the region of J K, but today it has spread its tentacles to other parts of India too. The series of bombing episodes in Mumabai, Banglore, Hyderabad, Varanasi, the hijacking of Indian airlines, attack on parliament, mumbai 26/11, etc are testimony to the growing influence of Islamic fundamentalism in India. India clearly has become a target of jihad in the age of globalisation. Islamic fundamentalism is against democracy and equal rights for all citizens, irrespective of caste, creed, or gender. Its further growth will disrupt peace and stability in the country and in the entire region. Pakistan Invovement. It was well realised by various pakistani rulers and dictators that subdueing India with military might is near to impossible and a proxy war in the form of Jihad would accrue disproportionate result. Keeping this aspect in mind Gen Jia-ul-Haque implemented this plan during his tenure. This plan of destabilising India, was implemented through the ISI, an intelligence agency whose officer cadre is drawn from Pakistan Army which is considered to be the state Instrument of this policy, Pakistan involvement in creating and fostering religious extremist groups and terror organisations in Kashmir and elsewhere in India is well documented. PART VI: PAK INVOLVEMENT IN GROWTH OF ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM IN SOUTH ASIA Through our previous study it ha sbeen amply established that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan is not only responsible for the present situation in Afghanistan and in Jammu and Kashmir, but it also has far reaching consequences for all countries of the South Asian region. All South Asian countries are pluralistic and face at different levels, internal tensions and conflicts based on caste, religion, ethnicity, language and community, and these distort their national integrity and unity. Religious nationalism has made a great headway not only in Pakistan but also in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It has made Pakistan a haven for Islamic terrorists, including Al Qaida, and it inspires terrorist activity in Kashmir. Some of the features of Islamic extremism in South Asia are: religiously defined national identity, undermining of democracy by promoting majoritarian theory and practice of non-liberal democracy and accentuation of international conflicts on ethno-religious lines, for example, between Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India and Muslim Bangladesh. The fundamentalists aim to turn the Muslim majority states of the region into Islamic states and start jihad in those countries where Muslims are in a minority. There is no accurate information about the exact number of madrassas in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India. Many of these madrassas disseminate the militant ideology of Islamic fundamentalism and turn out militants. These contribute to the ongoing destabilisation not only in Pakistan but also in other countries of the region. The potential radicalisation of Indian Muslims is also a cause of concern. The Pakistan had the repercussions in other countries of the region. The major Islamic party, the Jamaat-i- Islami of Pakistan, and the Tablighi Jamaat and their militant offshoots has a strong presence in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. There is a wide network of Deobandi and Wahabi madrassas in almost each South Asian country and many of them are being funded by Saudi and Pakistani sources. Pakistan has been sponsoring a militant terrorist campaign in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir for the last two decades. Pakistans official agencies have been active in promoting militant groups in all countries of the region. In India, there has also been a visible increase in the activities of Pakistani-sponsored militant groups, like Lashkar-e Toiba and Jaish-e Muhammad. South Asia is the most complex region of the world in terms of religion, and is inhabited by the followers of all major religions. Islam, after Hinduism, is one of the major religions of South Asia. It has the second lar gest following (29 per cent) after Hinduism (64 per cent). Almost four out of every 10 South Asians are Muslims, and they form the single largest Muslim population in the world. Islam in the region has had to co-exist, ever since its arrival in the Indian subcontinent in the first century of the Islamic calendar, with a bewildering variety of religions and cults. All the countries in the region that emerged after Independence are hence multireligious, multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic. India is larger, both in size and population, than all the other countries of the region combined. It has also the largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. Conclusion Muslims constitute the majority of the population in three of the seven countries in South Asia, i.e., Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives, and they are also a significant minority in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. But Muslims of South Asia are not a monolithic community. Even at the height of the Mughal Regional Implications of the Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in Pakistan rule in India, the Muslims of the region did not constitute a single harmonious community. They are divided in different Islamic sects, subsects and schools of thought. Though a majority of them belong to the Sunni sect, each South Asian country has a substantial number of Shias and other minority sects and schools. Almost every country in the region also faces unresolved ethnic, communal and linguistic tensions that at times lead to major conflicts. The terrorist campaign in Jammu Kashmir- waged mainly by militant Islamic groups sponsored and trained by Pakistans agencies and the disruptive activities of the Islam ic fundamentalist parties within Pakistan, therefore have wider implications and pose a major threat to the region. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan has had serious implications for social and political stability in the region and a highly volatile impact on relations among communities adhering to different faiths. References/End Notes

aldous huxley :: essays research papers

Aldous Huxley was born in Surrey, England on July 26, 1894 to an illustrious family deeply rooted in England's literary and scientific tradition. Huxley's father, Leonard Huxley, was the son of Thomas Henry Huxley, a well-known biologist who gained the nickname "Darwin's bulldog" for championing Charles Darwin's evolutionary ideas. His mother, Julia Arnold, was related to the important nineteenth-century poet and essayist Matthew Arnold. Raised in this family of scientists, writers, and teachers (his father was a writer and teacher, and his mother a schoolmistress), Huxley received an excellent education, first at home, then at Eton, providing him with access to numerous fields of knowledge. Huxley was an avid student, and during his lifetime he was renowned as a generalist, an intellectual who had mastered the use of the English language but was also informed about cutting-edge developments in science and other fields. Although much of his scientific understanding was superficial—he was easily convinced of findings that remained somewhat on the fringe of mainstream science—his education at the intersection of science and literature allowed him to integrate current scientific findings into his novels and essays in a way that few other writers of his time were able to do. Aside from his education, another major influence on Huxley's life and writing was an eye disease contracted in his teenage years that left him almost blind. As a teenager Huxley had dreamed about becoming a doctor, but the degeneration of his eyesight prevented him from pursuing his chosen career. It also severely restricted the activities he could pursue. Because of his near blindness, he depended heavily on his first wife, Maria, to take care of him. Blindness and vision are motifs that permeate much of Huxley's writing. After graduating from Oxford in 1916, Huxley began to make a name for himself writing satirical pieces about the British upper class. Though these writings were skillful and gained Huxley an audience and literary name, they were generally considered to offer little depth beyond their lightweight criticisms of social manners. Huxley continued to write prolifically, working as an essayist and journalist, and publishing four volumes of poetry before beginning to work on novels. Without giving up his other writing, beginning in 1921, Huxley produced a series of novels at an astonishing rate: Crome Yellow was published in 1921, followed by Antic Hay in 1923, Those Barren Leaves in 1925, and Point Counter Point in 1928.

A Reaction to the Article, “The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind” by Gustave Le Bon

I resolutely concur with Gustave Le Bon’s LAW OF THE MENTAL UNITY OF CROWDS, which is indeed a socio-psychological phenomenon manifested throughout history and continues to manifest in our day-to-day lives. We are social beings. That makes this law almost absolute that to exclude oneself from it would mean excluding oneself from the rest of society and humanity, or one’s community to be more specific.Le Bon’s multifaceted analysis on the psychological crowd gave me the feeling of referring to it as a community. As he spoke of â€Å"collectiveness†, I remembered â€Å"sharing.† His discussion on the â€Å"individual comprising the crowd† reminded me of â€Å"group membership.† When he spoke of â€Å"contagion† I thought of â€Å"shared expectations and common goals.†His â€Å"influence and suggestion,† are â€Å"motives and issues† to me in relation to community. Most importantly, his statement of individuals being equals regardless of intellect and social status is â€Å"democracy.†   These heightened my belief of the law as I became more comfortable in relating his claims to everyday life.What is more convincing with the article is that it was written in a realistic and practical approach. Le Bon didn’t dwell idealistically in his concept of the psychological crowd, like me in my understanding of a community.Diversity, conflict, and factions in thinking are certainly inevitable and are always threats to harmony and homogeny. More so, the bottom line of every crowd or community’s dynamics is the motives, commitment, and gains of its members.Like Gustave’s discussion on the psychological crowd’s dynamics of having the individuals conscious and independent ways of thinking dissolved in a crowd, my understanding of a community is that it is composed of people who transmit knowledge through sharing rather than individually inheriting traits and characte ristics from their parents.Undeniably, this law had been formulated through in-depth observation of the dynamics of historical events and processes. It shall never cease to support the existence of social, cultural, political, and economic entities, that is all the advances as well as the setbacks human development has brought to us.ALL religions, ALL laws, ALL business establishments and policies, ALL family systems, ALL academic institutions, ALL forms technology, ALL sciences, ALL wars and conflicts, etc. are all products of MENTAL UNITY OF CROWDS. As long as people converge to work on something, as long as they exist and need each other, this law shall be valid.If Sociology is the study of human social behavior, origins, institutions, organization, and the development of human society, then Le Bon’s Law would be the very much essential to justifying the existence of the science (Sociology).It effectively presents a powerful phenomenon that explains the process of the simp le individual being the foundation of a more complex crowd, which tells us so much about social relationships and behaviors, and organizational processes. Thus, it is able to profoundly provide us a base of what we are actually studying every day in this course.

A letter about growing tomotoes in greenhouses and pesticides

A letter about growing tomotoes in greenhouses and pesticides Dear farmer Hillbilly,I understand you are having trouble growing your tomatoes so I am writing to give you some tips on how to get the best results from your tomato plants.One Method you could consider is intensive farming. Intensive farming methods include growing high-yield crops and using fertilisers and pesticides.Food production can be increased by growing high-yield crops, removing other plants and pests and adding fertiliser to the soil.For best results in growing tomatoes, you could use these intensive farming methods.Remove competing plants from the crop growing area can be done by using herbicide spray. This method allows more energy to be transferred to the crop, however it could reduce biodiversity.You could also remove animals that feed on the crop using pesticides. This prevents energy being transferred from the crop to consumers, however using pesticides could reduce biodiversity and may poison helpful organisms.English: Spraying pesticide in CaliforniaBiological cont rol is an alternative to using pesticides. By releasing a natural predator into the tomato growing area, the number of pests can be reduced. This can have bad affects as the numbers of different organisms in the food web are changed. Sometimes the predator can become a more serious pest than the original problem.Tomatoes can also be grown in greenhouses to increase productivity. The benefits of this method are that the growing conditions can be monitored and controlled to improve productivity.An extreme form of growing tomatoes in greenhouses is called hydroponics. Soil is replaced by a mineral solution pumped around the plant roots.Removing the soil removes soil organisms which can cause disease. Monitoring and adjusting the concentrations of minerals in the solution enable you to control growth. It allows your tomatoes to be grown in regions where there's no soil.You should think carefully before using...

Netherlands - Geography, Government and History

Netherlands - Geography, Government and History Population: 16,783,092 (July 2010 estimate) Capital: Amsterdam Seat of Government: The Hague Bordering Countries: Germany and Belgium Land Area: 16,039 square miles (41,543 sq km) Coastline: 280 miles (451 km) Highest Point: Vaalserberg at 1,056 feet (322 m) Lowest Point: Zuidplaspolder at -23 feet (-7 m) The Netherlands, officially called the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is located in northwest Europe. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to its north and west, Belgium to the south and Germany to the east. The capital and largest city in the Netherlands is Amsterdam, while the seat of government and therefore most government activity is in the Hague. In its entirety, the Netherlands is often called Holland, while its people are referred to as Dutch. The Netherlands is known for its low lying topography and dikes, as well as for its very liberal government. History of the Netherlands In the first century B.C.E., Julius Caesar entered the Netherlands and found that it was inhabited by various Germanic tribes. The region was then divided into a western portion that was inhabited mainly by Batavians while the east was inhabited by the Frisians. The western part of the Netherlands became a part of the Roman Empire. Between the 4th and 8th centuries, the Franks conquered what is today the Netherlands and the area was later given to the House of Burgundy and the Austrian Habsburgs. In the 16th century, the Netherlands were controlled by Spain but in 1558, the Dutch people revolted and in 1579, the Union of Utrecht joined the seven northern Dutch provinces into the Republic of the United Netherlands. During the 17th century, the Netherlands grew in power with its colonies and navy. However, the Netherlands eventually lost some of its importance after several wars with Spain, France, and England in the 17th and 18th centuries. In addition, the Dutch also lost their technological superiority over these nations. In 1815, Napoleon was defeated and the Netherlands, along with Belgium, became a part of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands. In 1830, Belgium formed its own kingdom and 1848, King Willem II revised the Netherlands constitution to make it more liberal. From 1849-1890, King Willem III ruled over the Netherlands and the country grew significantly. When he died, his daughter Wilhelmina became queen. During World War II, the Netherlands was continuously occupied by Germany beginning in 1940. As a result, Wilhelmina fled to London and established a government in exile. During WWII, over 75% of the Netherlands Jewish population was killed. In May 1945, the Netherlands was liberated and Wilhelmina returned the country. In 1948, she abdicated the throne and her daughter Juliana was queen until 1980 when her daughter Queen Beatrix took the throne. Following WWII, the Netherlands grew in strength politically and economically. Today the country is a large tourist destination and most of its former colonies have gained independence and two (Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles) are still dependent areas. The Government of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands is considered a constitutional monarchy (list of monarchs) with a chief of state (Queen Beatrix) and a head of government filling the executive branch. The legislative branch is the bicameral States General with the First Chamber and the Second Chamber. The judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court. Economics and Land Use in the Netherlands The economy of the Netherlands is stable with strong industrial relations and a moderate unemployment rate. The Netherlands is also a European transportation hub and tourism is also increasing there. The largest industries in the Netherlands are agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, and fishing. Agricultural products of the Netherlands include grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables, and livestock. Geography and Climate of the Netherlands The Netherlands is known for its very low lying topography and reclaimed land called polders. About half of the land in the Netherlands is below sea level polders and dikes make more land available and less prone to flooding for the growing country. There are also some low hills in the southeast but none of them rise above 2,000 feet. The climate of the Netherlands is temperate and highly affected by its marine location. As a result, it has cool summers and mild winters. Amsterdam has a January average low of 33ËšF (0.5ËšC) and an August high of just 71ËšF (21ËšC). More Facts about the Netherlands The official languages of the Netherlands are Dutch and FrisianThe Netherlands has large minority communities of Moroccans, Turks, and SurinameseThe largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven.

Poverty in the USA Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poverty in the USA - Article Example So there are statistical and social definitions of poverty, as well as a mixture of both methods. Social definition includes the concept of empowerment and human development (Think Quest, 2006). In other words, â€Å"...objective measures of poverty present numerous problems in terms of identifying the poor, but succeed in providing the aggregate statistics policy makers desire† (Maxwell, 1999, p. 3). Most of the time emphasis is made on defining and measuring poverty thresholds and poverty lines, but some researchers argue that policy makers should define and measure poverty in terms of â€Å"self-sufficiency† (Mutari, 2001) or the level of income that a person or a family really needs to live a life free of worries about economical and human development issues. In the United States poverty began to be measured in the 1950s based on a survey that showed that families spent about one-third of their incomes on food. Mollie Orshansky, an economist from the Social Security Administration, set the poverty threshold at three times the cost of an economy food plan defined by the Department of Agriculture (University of Michigan, 2001). The thresholds are updated yearly and vary according to the size and age composition of a family (US Census Bureau, 2009). Frank states that â€Å"using these income levels, the Census Bureau reported that 12.7% percent of U.S. residents and 17.8% of U.S. children lived in poverty in 2004. Black Americans experience poverty at nearly double these rates: 24.9% of all Blacks and 33.3% of Black children live in households with incomes below the poverty line† (Frank, 2006). Most of the researchers and experts agree that the poverty line is â€Å"far too low for a household to survive on in most parts of the United States† (Frank, 2006). Researchers Pearce and Brooks found that â€Å"a single parent living in the Bronx with two children, one in school and one in daycare, would need a gross income of $3,684 per month

Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Memo - Essay Example Abuses of corporate e-mail in this manner should be reported to a manager and the IT department immediately. Computer crimes fall into many different categories. Some involve the use of computers to defraud, illegally access account information or to otherwise hack into a system to obtain corporate information which that person would normally not have access to. In this instance, activity would most likely occur in a remote location, away from our corporate office. If one of your security professionals does encounter an issue, for instance, an employee believes someone has used their computer or workstation to commit such an act, ask the employee to keep his or her hands off all computer and peripheral equipment. Contact our department immediately, so the employee’s account information can be deactivated. We may have to change username and password for e-mail and for customer databases, When marketing or account management employees are involved. There may be other You can suggest they work from another location or office. I would be more than happy to provide a laptop and equipment for temporary use. Remind the employee that their close out of current computer screen. Tell the employee to go with you now, no exceptions. This procedure should be followed for any type of suspicious computer crime that may be linked to an employee. equipment. Leave it for investigators and/or the IT department. All e-mail messages or printed documents that are suspicious in nature, ie: a list of employee private contact information, should be left intact in its current location. Do not attempt to move, copy I hope this helps you with the training of your team. Please keep in mind that most computer crimes leave little obvious evidence. However, when they involve an employee, fingerprints and access to e-mails or files may be necessary, so nothing should I would like to explain what social