How to Create and Use Hashes in Ruby

How to Create and Use Hashes in Ruby Arrays are not the only way to manage collections of variables in Ruby. Another type of collection of variables is the hash, also called an associative array. A hash is like an array in that its a variable that stores other variables. However, a hash is unlike an array in that the stored variables are not stored in any particular order, and they are retrieved with a key instead of by their position in the collection. Create a Hash With Key/Value Pairs A hash is useful to store what are called key/value pairs. A key/value pair has an identifier to signify which variable of the hash you want to access and a variable to store in that position in the hash. For example, a teacher might store a students grades in a hash. Bobs grade would be accessed in a hash by the key Bob and the variable stored at that location would be Bobs grade. A hash variable can be created the same way as an array variable. The simplest method is to create an empty hash object and fill it with key/value pairs. Note that the index operator is used, but the students name is used instead of a number.​​ Remember that hashes are unordered, meaning there is no defined beginning or end as there is in an array. So, you cannot append to a hash. Values are simply inserted into the hash using the index operator. #!/usr/bin/env rubygrades Hash.newgrades[Bob] 82grades[Jim] 94grades[Billy] 58puts grades[Jim] Hash Literals Just like arrays, hashes can be created with hash literals. Hash literals use the curly braces instead of square brackets and the key value pairs are joined by . For example, a hash with a single key/value pair of Bob/84 would look like this: { Bob 84 }. Additional key/value pairs can be added to the hash literal by separating them with commas. In the following example, a hash is created with the grades for a number of students. #!/usr/bin/env rubygrades { Bob 82,Jim 94,Billy 58}puts grades[Jim] Accessing Variables in the Hash There may be times when you must access each variable in the hash. You can still loop over the variables in the hash using the each loop, though it wont work the same way as using the each loop with array variables. Because a hash is unordered, the order in which each will loop over the key/value pairs may not be the same as the order in which you inserted them. In this example, a hash of grades will be looped over and printed. #!/usr/bin/env rubygrades { Bob 82,Jim 94,Billy 58}grades.each do|name,grade|puts #{name}: #{grade}end

A Beginners Guide to the Renaissance

A Beginners Guide to the Renaissance The Renaissance was a cultural and scholarly movement which stressed the rediscovery and application of texts and thought from classical antiquity, occurring in Europe c. 1400 – c. 1600. The Renaissance can also refer to the period of European history spanning roughly the same dates. Its increasingly important to stress that the Renaissance had a long history of developments that included the twelfth-century renaissance and more. What Was the Renaissance? There remains debate about what exactly constituted the Renaissance. Essentially, it was a cultural and intellectual movement, intimately tied to society and politics, of the late 14th to early 17th centuries, although it is commonly restricted to just the 15th and 16th centuries. It is considered to have originated in Italy. Traditionally people have claimed it was stimulated, in part, by Petrarch, who had a passion for rediscovering lost manuscripts and a fierce belief in the civilizing power of ancient thought and in part by conditions in Florence. At its core, the Renaissance was a movement dedicated to the rediscovery and use of classical learning, that is to say, knowledge and attitudes from the Ancient Greek and Roman eras. Renaissance literally means ‘rebirth’, and Renaissance thinkers believed the period between themselves and the fall of Rome, which they labeled the Middle Ages, had seen a decline in cultural achievement compared with the earlier eras. Participants intended, through the study of classical texts, textual criticism, and classical techniques, to both reintroduce the heights of those ancient days and improve the situation of their contemporaries. Some of these classical texts survived only amongst Islamic scholars and were brought back to Europe at this time. The Renaissance Period â€Å"Renaissance† can also refer to the period, c. 1400 – c. 1600. â€Å"High Renaissance† generally refers to c. 1480 – c. 1520. The era was dynamic, with European explorers â€Å"finding† new continents, the transformation of trading methods and patterns, the decline of feudalism (in so far as it ever existed), scientific developments such as the Copernican system of the cosmos and the rise of gunpowder. Many of these changes were triggered, in part, by the Renaissance, such as classical mathematics stimulating new financial trading mechanisms, or new techniques from the east boosting ocean navigation. The printing press was also developed, allowing Renaissance texts to be disseminated widely (in actual fact this print was an enabling factor rather than a result). Why Was This Renaissance Different? Classical culture had never totally vanished from Europe, and it experienced sporadic rebirths. There was the Carolingian Renaissance in the eighth to ninth centuries and a major one in the â€Å"Twelfth Century Renaissance†, which saw Greek science and philosophy returned to European consciousness and the development of a new way of thinking which mixed science and logic called Scholasticism. What was different in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was that this particular rebirth joined together both the elements of scholarly inquiry and cultural endeavor with social and political motivations to create a much broader movement, albeit one with a long history. The Society and Politics Behind the Renaissance Across the fourteenth century, and perhaps before, the old social and political structures of the medieval period broke down, allowing new concepts to rise. A new elite emerged, with new models of thought and ideas to justify themselves; what they found in classical antiquity was something to use both as a prop and a tool for their aggrandizement. Exiting elites matched them to keep pace, as did the Catholic Church. Italy, from which the Renaissance evolved, was a series of city-states, each competing with the others for civic pride, trade, and wealth. They were largely autonomous, with a high proportion of merchants and artisans thanks to the Mediterranean trade routes. At the very top of Italian society, the rulers of the key courts in Italy were all â€Å"new men†, recently confirmed in their positions of power and with newly gained wealth, and they were keen to demonstrate both. There was also wealth and the desire to show it below them. The Black Death had killed millions in Europe and left the survivors with proportionally greater wealth, whether through fewer people inheriting more or simply from the increased wages they could demand. Italian society and the results of the Black Death allowed for much greater social mobility, a constant flow of people keen to demonstrate their wealth. Displaying wealth and using culture to reinforce your social and political was an important aspect of life in that period, and when artistic and scholarly movements turned back to the classical world at the start of the fifteenth century there were plenty of patrons ready to support them in these endeavors to make political points. The importance of piety, as demonstrated through commissioning works of tribute, was also strong, and Christianity proved a heavy influence for thinkers trying to square Christian thought with that of â€Å"pagan† classical writers. The Spread of the Renaissance From its origins in Italy, the Renaissance spread across Europe, the ideas changing and evolving to match local conditions, sometimes linking into existing cultural booms, although still keeping the same core. Trade, marriage, diplomats, scholars, the use of giving artists to forge links, even military invasions, all aided the circulation. Historians now tend to break the Renaissance down into smaller, geographic, groups such as the Italian Renaissance, The English Renaissance, the Northern Renaissance (a composite of several countries) etc. There are also works which talk about the Renaissance as a phenomenon with global reach, influencing – and being influenced by – the east, Americas, and Africa. The End of the Renaissance Some historians argue that the Renaissance ended in the 1520s, some the 1620s. The Renaissance didn’t just stop, but its core ideas gradually converted into other forms, and new paradigms arose, particularly during the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. It would be hard to argue we are still in the Renaissance (as you can do with the Enlightenment), as culture and learning move in a different direction, but you have to draw the lines from here back to then (and, of course, back to before then). You could argue that new and different types of Renaissance followed (should you want to write an essay). The Interpretation of the Renaissance The term ‘renaissance’ actually dates from the nineteenth century and has been heavily debated ever since, with some historians questioning whether it’s even a useful word anymore. Early historians described a clear intellectual break with the medieval era, but in recent decades scholarship has turned to recognize growing continuity from the centuries before, suggesting that the changes Europe experienced were more an evolution than a revolution. The era was also far from a golden age for everyone; at the start, it was very much a minority movement of humanists, elites, and artists, although it disseminated wider with printing. Women, in particular, saw a marked reduction in their educational opportunities during the Renaissance. Its no longer possible to talk of a sudden, all changing golden age (or no longer possible and be considered accurate), but rather a phase that wasnt entirely a move forward, or that dangerous historical problem, progress. Renaissance Art There were Renaissance movements in architecture, literature, poetry, drama, music, metals, textiles and furniture, but the Renaissance is perhaps best known for its art. Creative endeavor became viewed as a form of knowledge and achievement, not simply a way of decoration. Art was now to be based on observation of the real world, applying mathematics and optics to achieve more advanced effects like perspective. Paintings, sculpture and other art forms flourished as new talents took up the creation of masterpieces, and enjoying art became seen as the mark of a cultured individual. Renaissance Humanism Perhaps the earliest expression of the Renaissance was in humanism, an intellectual approach which developed among those being taught a new form of curriculum: the studia humanitatis, which challenged the previously dominant Scholastic thinking. Humanists were concerned with the features of human nature and attempts by man to master nature rather than develop religious piety. Humanist thinkers implicitly and explicitly challenged the old Christian mindset, allowing and advancing the new intellectual model behind the Renaissance. However, tensions between humanism and the Catholic Church developed over the period, and humanist learning partly caused the Reformation. Humanism was also deeply pragmatic, giving those involved the educational basis for work in the burgeoning European bureaucracies. It is important to note that the term ‘humanist’ was a later label, just like â€Å"renaissance†. Politics and Liberty The Renaissance used to be regarded as pushing forward a new desire for liberty and republicanism - rediscovered in works about the Roman Republic- even though many of the Italian city-states were taken over by individual rulers. This view has come under close scrutiny by historians and partly rejected, but it did cause some Renaissance thinkers to agitate for greater religious and political freedoms over later years. More widely accepted is the return to thinking about the state as a body with needs and requirements, taking politics away from the application of Christian morals and into a more pragmatic, some might say devious, world, as typified by the work of Machiavelli. There was no marvelous purity in Renaissance politics, just the same twisting about as ever. Books and Learning Part of the changes brought by the Renaissance, or perhaps one of the causes, was the change in attitude to pre-Christian books. Petrarch, who had a self-proclaimed â€Å"lust† to seek out forgotten books among the monasteries and libraries of Europe, contributed to a new outlook: one of (secular) passion and hunger for the knowledge. This attitude spread, increasing the search for lost works and increasing the number of volumes in circulation, in turn influencing more people with classical ideas. One other major result was a renewed trade in manuscripts and the foundation of public libraries to better enable widespread study. Print then enabled an explosion in the reading and spread of texts, by producing them faster and more accurately, and led to the literate populations who formed the basis of the modern world.

Refugees and Asylum seekers in the U.S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Refugees and Asylum seekers in the U.S - Essay Example The U.S has people from almost every part of the globe with the general population characterized of different races. The US operates under a motto â€Å"e pluribus unum† (Martin, 3) insinuating that from many nations to one nation and as such it is a well framed structure. Therefore, since traditional periods, immigration has been acknowledged in the U.S through providing the immigrants with opportunities to better themselves as well as the United States as a nation. The dominant immigration patterns have been noted since early periods of 1820 with statistics revealing a great influx of about 66 million legal immigrants from all over the world. Germany and Mexico has been in the lead for having high populations of immigrants to the U.S ever since. However, the country has also harbored hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, which has in the past triggered quite heated debates of the fate of such persons. The search for employment and education has equally been associated with the influx of the immigrants into the United States of America over years. People move from one country to another for different reasons: voluntary on basis of work and employment, political reasons, family re-unification, natural happenings like disasters, need for one to voluntary change natural surroundings, poverty or for general economic reasons. Involuntary reasons may stem up from running away from natural disasters such as earthquakes, political or civil wars, involuntary deportation as well as seeking asylum as refugees. Asylum seekers are persons who get to foreign countries looking for protection against mistreatment or persecution within their homeland and who may not necessarily be refugees. On the other hand, refugees are persons who would be persecuted within their own countries of nationality on basis of their religion, race, nationality, political stand or opinion or better still membership to a social group. The U.S has been credited over years to work by a principle that restricts her to deport foreign nationals to their countries of orig in where it is proved that their lives or freedom is at a threat (Wasem, 1). Immigration is a common feature within the U.S, though there are guidelines and frameworks that are responsible for regulating the issue. Moreover, apart from internal regulatory frameworks that govern migration of persons as refugees or even asylum seekers in the U.S, there are international frameworks

Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Research Methods - Essay Example A research survey done by Epstein, Barker, Vorburger & Murtha, 2004 showed that about 12%of people with this problem received integrated treatment. The treatment addressed two major concerns which were improving the reach of the clients in the hospitals by ensuring the services for treating the cases are available and two improving individual counseling, group counseling and residential treatment. However there are barriers to the integrated treatment such as lack of training and professionalism, finances issues and the organization itself that challenges the treatment of the substance and mental health. On the other hand Drake et al., Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2005, New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003, tend to differ since he has come up with training attempts to overcome these barriers. Since the early 1980s problems of co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder have gradually been developed and tested.In the research there is a review regarding ty pes of interventions, problems limiting the research and suggestion regarding future directions of the research. Current research shows that at least three types of integrated interventions for drug use disorder are effective with these two groups: counseling contingency management and long term residential patients. The other integrated treatment such as the Group counseling are reliable on factors such as education, skills building and friends and family support while the contingency management integrated treatment check mostly on substance use and do not rely on factors such motivation from others and other processes which involve learning and understanding of things. Other interventions treatments never show effects on drug use but they lead to improvements of the other integrators this is according to Ledger, wood & Petry, (2006). The researchers have drawn positive reasonable conclusions such as in the studies of individual counseling which were based so as to motivate the ind ividual who was being interviewed. Eight studies were identified and then followed experiments which were mainly aimed on the outcome of the drug abuse. Four studies examined individual counseling and other three studies showed that substance abuse repercussions was unpredictable, (Baker et al., 2002a, 2002b; Hulse & Tait, 2002; Swanson, Pantalo, & Cohen, 1999. A single study of nine months was conducted by Barrowclough et al. (2001) and he documented some positive results but most of the experiments he conducted the outcomes of the drug abuse and other outcomes differences on substance use were not constant when the client was at his eighteen month of usage. The most recent studies indicate that group interventions are becoming more definite, standardized, and more effective. Bellack, Bennett, Gearon, Brown, and Yang (2006) came up with evidence that group counseling treatment have positive effects on those using drugs though one challenge they faced is that the patients must be wi lling to learn. Family intervention was aimed at improving the knowledge of the family members concerning the problems of the client and how they cope when the mental illness or substance abuse re -occur. A study was conducted for this and the results were positive but faded when interventions ended. Case management in this case means concrete work which is in build to improve

Looking At The Social Problems Of Racism

Looking At The Social Problems Of Racism Racism was a pressing social problem long before the emergence of the digital age. Earlier, the proliferation of hate crimes was tied to geography of the place, but due to the advent of modern technologies, the proliferation of hate crimes and hate belief can be unlimited transfer in the world through the internet. Therefore, the advancement of digital communication technologies has added a new dimension to the racist problem by making the racial hatred materials easily accessible. Through the internet, authors are free to post anything directly into the public domain where there is a potential readership of millions of people. This is totally different from publishing a book or newspaper article, where the author is subject to the discipline and control of an editor. Thus, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to exclude from the internet those who would seek to distribute potentially offensive material via its various facilities.  [1]  The object of this essay is to discuss the regulation of racial content on the Internet. Firstly, it will explore how the racist content being governed by the United States, Europe country as well as International level and then goes on to examine the problems in regulating racist content on the internet. The final part of the essay will focus on how to solve those problems. In the late 1990s, every country started to apply their anti-racist legislation to the Internet, based upon the principle that what is illegal off-line is illegal online.  [2]  Nevertheless, legal strategies for combating racial hatred content differ from country to country.  [3]   In the United States, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the Congress from making laws which respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech and infringing on the freedom of the press.  [4]  Thus, US law has been criticised for constitutionally protecting racist and xenophobic propaganda since public authorities are forbidden from interfering in the content of such communications. Besides, there is no clear guidance as to what constitutes a hate speech crime in cyberspace from the United States Supreme Court and what is under the protection of freedom of speech.  [5]   On the other hand, Europe countries adopted a different way to solve this problem. According to Article 10 of European Convention on Human Rights, right of free speech is not absolute; it is subject to the consideration of morality, internal security and public safety. No protection is given to speeches that deny or lead to the destruction of human dignity or others Convention right by virtue of Article 17. Moreover, the Council of Europe Recommendation on Hate Speech  [6]  called upon member States to take appropriate steps to combat hate speech by ensuring that such steps form part of a comprehensive approach to the phenomenon which also targets its social, economic, political, cultural, and other root causes.  [7]  As the racist problem is becoming more serious over the internet, the Convention on Cybercrime treaty was drawn up by the Council of Europe which signed by thirty-eight European countries, including United States, Japan, Canada and South Africa. However, the Con vention failed to reach a substantial international agreement on racist speech standards. For instance, The U.S. delegation refuses to sign the treaty as such provision is not complying with its constitutional protection of free speech. Thus, the members decided to make these controversial provisions subject to a separate Protocol.  [8]  The Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime focus on the criminalization of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems. The purpose of the Additional Protocol is to harmonize substantive criminal law in the fight against racism and xenophobia on the Internet and to improve international cooperation in this area. As regards to the international legal regime, there are numerous international instruments which attempt to address the problem of racism. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1963) (ICERD), the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (1966) (ICCPR), the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976) (ICESCR), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) (CEDAW), the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1973) (Apartheid Convention). With respect to racism and xenophobia, one of the specific challenges arises from national differences in free speech protection.  [9]  As different jurisdictions internationally may not recognize the actionable form of racial hatred content, it is not easy to criminalize them if they are protected under various national freedom provisions. For instance, marketing Nazi memorabilia is legal under the First Amendment in the United States, whereas it is illegal in Germany. Even Europe citizens are willing to accept that freedom of speech does not immunise statement that intended to incite hatred and discrimination; US citizens strongly support their First Amendment which affords a citizens right to freedom of speech a higher status than other rights.  [10]  The U.S. Supreme Court has declared that the government cannot censor freedom of speech whether it is expression on the Internet or public speech or information on print or broadcast media. All Web sites in the U.S. are viewe d within the traditional limits of the Constitution. As illustrated by the case of Yahoo! Inc. v La Ligue Contre Le Racisme et LAntisemitisme,  [11]  it is a complex issue when nations with conflicting laws confront each other on the internet. Due to the lack of the international standard for the term racial discrimination, it is difficult to introduce effective criminal sanctions and enforce them strictly. Racist and xenophobic material was defined by the Additional Protocol as any written material, any image or any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as a pretext for any of these factors.  [12]  However, it is hard to draw a line between forms of prejudice such as racism, on the one hand; and emotions such as hate. Racism is a wrongheaded prejudice that deserves to be contested, whereas hatred is not objectionable in itself. Its simply an emotion, and it can be an entirely legitimate and appropriate emotion at that. In fact, the discussions about hate speech and hate crimes tend to muddle these two thing s. The Council of Europe uses the word hatred, in the context of the Additional Protocol to the Convention On Cybercrime, to mean intense dislike or enmity.  [13]  But are right-thinking people not entitled to feel intense dislike or enmity towards racists?  [14]  Furthermore, some criticized that content regulation by the Additional Protocol to the Convention On Cybercrime is frightening in its scope as the Bible or the Quran could fall afoul of such all encompassing censorship.  [15]   In addition, the nature of the Internet makes the limitation of national sovereignty exist in reality. As we know each country does have his interest and problem, it is hard to have a consensus on the judicial attitude toward racial hatred content. United States refused to adopt anti-hate speech laws is not because of the notion of American exceptualism, rather it is mainly because to control hate speech would contravene the First Amendment.  [16]  But when one states cannot or does not want to control the content of the web sites based on its territory, it will become the safe harbour for those wish to carry out particular forms of antisocial behaviour such as the distribution of pornography, the peddling of hate speech, or the sending of unsolicited spam message.  [17]  Consequently, the other states may face difficulty to exercise their control over their web sites. With the United States legally unable to sign the Additional Protocol, it fundamentally undermines the effec tiveness of the Protocol.  [18]   In order to tackle racial hatred content on the internet, law enforcement is the basic mechanism that should be employed. First of all, there is a need to have a global definition as to what constitutes hate speech or racist. Besides, the use of an international legal regime to tackle racial discrimination is highly recommended as this approach will give people a chance to have their cases heard in an international arena. This is very important especially when all local means of legal redress have been exhausted.  [19]  Further, law enforcement agencies dealing with cyber hate must possess necessary knowledge and skill in order to adapt this technical, fast and ever changing environment. Therefore, comprehensive training must be given from time to time. In addition, we should have a regulation like the European Directive on E-commerce, which limits the liability of ISPs for the content they host or to which they give access. This Directive is totally different from the United States law which grant complete immunity to ISPs.  [20]  Once obtaining actual knowledge that it is hosting illegal content, the provider need to remove the illegal content as soon as possible otherwise the hosting provider could be held liable.  [21]  This provision is very efficient for tackling illegal content since ISPs are eager to ensure the benefit of immunity. This is also true as most of the U.S. ISPs do have assets in Europe.  [22]  Furthermore, American ISPs that act in such a manner will be protected by the Good Samaritan provision under the Communication Decency Act which protects ISPs that voluntarily take action to restrict access to or availability of material that they consider to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively vi olent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.  [23]  The combination of the European Directive and the Good Samaritan provision make it possible for Europe to reach American Internet companies with business interests in Europe, despite the First Amendment shield.  [24]  Such a tool has already been used by Germany against eBay pertaining to the sale of Nazi songs, books and clothing.  [25]  After being notified, eBay disabled the access to the controversial items immediately without any delay.  [26]   Cyber hate is a global phenomenon and cannot be settled via a local strategy. Thus, it requires an international approach to establish legal norms that respect national conventions but ensure cooperation between agencies and governments.  [27]  There should be better international co-operation and co-ordination by those NGOs and other private organizations monitoring the use of the Internet for hateful and terroristic purposes as suggested by Brian Marcus.  [28]  The International Network Against Cyber Hate, through partnership with the Anti-Defamation League is a good example as to how international co-operation between non-governmental groups in the United States and the rest of the world can work together to combat on common issues that raised by the internet.  [29]   Besides, internet providers and hosts should incorporate code of conduct in their Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policies that includes agreed-upon definitions and/or broad rules on what types of materials they will not host and what types of materials are illegal, this is crucial by making codes of conduct enforceable and moving towards internationally consistent minimum rules.  [30]  There are a lot of US-based companies have such exemplary models that could be followed to encourage this industry-based self-regulation.  [31]  In addition, any such efforts must be truly voluntary because any sort of government involvement in any self-regulation effort will not be able to avoid raising questions about possible coercion no matter how benign such involvement might seem.  [32]   Since the task of assessing the legality or illegality of specific data is difficult for Internet providers, there is a need to have a hotline such as UK Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) by enabling the public to response to racial hatred content on the Internet that they find of substantial concern.  [33]  These hotlines can help in ensuring effective and appropriate action be taken if the reported content is potentially illegal. In fact, so long as an ISP acted to take down on notice it could satisfactorily claim immunity as a host from liability.  [34]  Thus, the availability of hotline has to be widely publicized on the Internet as well as in traditional mass media. In addition, International cooperation between hotline is required to have effective action across boundaries in cases where the reported content is not hosted in that particular country. This also helps to overcome problems in the complex diplomatic procedures required for cross-border cooperation of law enfor cement authorities.  [35]   While ISPs and other organizations that host Web sites can restrict hate speech by taking down illegal content, racial content can also be restricted on the other end, by using a filter or other software that denies the Web user the ability to access sites containing those contents.  [36]  One technology that can be used to screen out unacceptable content is the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) which proposed by the World Wide Web Consortium.  [37]  PICS can rate the content of Web sites based on a number of factors, such as violence or language. A Web site can voluntarily rate itself using the PICS criteria. Besides, the product called SurfWatch can be used to filters out hate speech and the filtering software product called Bess can blocks online content that advocates discrimination against others based on race, religion, gender, nationality or sexual orientation.  [38]  Thus, web users have the right to choose not to look at racist or hate content, even Bigots have the right to post them. No self-regulatory mechanism can work independently without an education and awareness campaign. The Internet industry should work together with government agencies to provide general awareness of self-regulatory systems such as filtering systems and hotlines. Such a campaign should be directed at children and parents as well as a general campaign involving society at large. School play an essential part in helping children to acquire and develop the knowledge and skills to understand the benefits and problematic Internet content. Therefore, the information shared between monitoring groups should be made widely available, and posted on the Internet so it can be shared freely to help parents and educators recognize hate sites on the Internet.  [39]   As suggested by Durban Declaration, the Internet itself can be an effective tool in the fight against racism. Therefore, the Internet industry should work in conjunction with government agencies as well as private bodies to create awareness and promoting attitude change about discrimination. In conclusion, the regulation of racial content on the internet is in its infancy. It is a global phenomenon which cannot be tackled alone by a single country. In fact, given the global and borderless architecture of the Internet, no single approach can provide a solution to tackle racial hatred content on the internet. It must bear in mind that racism was there since time immemorial, it does not exist because of internet, thus education is a crucial tool in combating racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. Therefore, I would share the view of Dr Karen Mock and Lisa Armony that the fight against racism and hatred on the Internet will be won through increased efforts to incorporate Holocaust education, multiculturalism, anti-racist, and human rights education in the schools.  [40]  

Julius Caeser Essay

â€Å"Beware the Ides of March† (I. iv. 52). This familiar line by the Soothsayer in Julius Caesar reflects the presence of omens and ghosts in the play. What exactly is the significance of these supernatural references? The supernatural establishes mood, develops character, and foreshadows the plot. First, the supernatural creates mood in the play. The most important mood is impending doom which gradually increases until the scene of Caesar’s assassination. This mood is first introduced with the scene of a terrible storm on the night before Caesar’s murder. Many supernatural things happen during this storm, including men on fire and lions walking on the streets of Rome. Tension is further created as Casca describes his unearthly visions. The feeling of doom continues as Calphurnia’s dream is revealed when Caesar says, â€Å"She dreamt tonight she saw my statue, / Which, like a fountain with a hundred spouts / Did run pure blood, and many lusty Romans / Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it† (II. ii. 1. 76-79). The audience feels that something is about to happen and that the dream is an omen that foreshadows Caesar’s demise. Tension builds once again as Caesar is warned repeatedly by the soothsayers to beware the ides of March. The supernatural events which occur in the play clearly help to create the mood which keeps the audience’s interest throughout the rest of the play. A second purpose of the supernatural is to reveal characters. Julius Caesar is a self-confident, conceited man when he ignores the warning of the Soothsayer in his statement, â€Å"He is a dreamer, let us leave him. Pass! † (I. ii. 1. 22-24). His words show that either Caesar does not believe in omens, or he is trying not to appear superstitious in front of the crowd to keep up his public image. Caesar is not the only character in the play who can be assessed by the way he reacts to the supernatural. Some of Brutus’ characteristics are also revealed when he comes into contact with unusual forces of nature. For instance, Brutus is unmoved when the storm is raging outside. However, when Caesar’s ghost appears in front of him, he is shown as a superstitious but noble man, who accepts his destiny. Brutus says, â€Å"The ghost of Caesar hath appeared to me / Two several times by night, at Sardis once / And last night here in Philippi fields. / I know my hour is come† (V. v. 1. 16-19). Brutus believes that everything is predetermined and that there is no way of changing his fate; therefore, he does not try to battle with it and accepts his punishment readily. Clearly, Shakespeare reveals characters through their reaction to the supernatural. The final dramatic purpose served by the supernatural is to foreshadow the plot. The storm before Caesar’s assassination is a perfect example. Casca, who is deeply influenced by the storm, describes the unusual sights, â€Å"A common slave – you know him well by sight – / Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn / Like twenty torches joined, and yet his hand, / Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I. iii. l. 15-32). These terrible phenomena prophesy violent times for Rome and the death of the emperor. Also, Calphurnia’s dream and the soothsayer’s warnings convince the audience that the murder of Caesar is inevitable. Another superstitious event that foreshadows the action, occurs in the first scene of the last act, when Cassius says: And in their steads do ravens, crows and kites Fly o’er our heads and downward look on us As we were sickly pray; their shadows seem A canopy most fatal, under which Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost. (V. i. l. 84-87) The ravens and crows are a bad omen and the audience expects the defeat of Brutus and Cassius’ troops. However, the spectators may not be sure and may, therefore, anticipate the ending with interest. Clearly, plot is developed by the supernatural. In conclusion, supernatural events create the moods of tension, suspense or impending doom; they reveal some strengths and weaknesses of the characters; and they also foreshadow the action which helps to keep the audience’s interest. The characters are warned by the forces of the supernatural about their gloomy future; everything seems to be predetermined. The spectators are left with the feeling that the destiny of humans is preordained and they cannot change their fate.

Microeconomics Is The Branch Of Economics That Studies And...

Microeconomics is the branch of economics that studies and analyzes the market behavior of both individual firms and consumers, that help to understand the decision-making process of those individuals. Microeconomics analyzes the relationships between both the buyers and sellers as it studies the factors that influence both parties. Microeconomics focuses on the supply and demand of products and how small businesses price those items. Macroeconomics, however, focuses on the national’s economy as a whole and the basics of the business world. The main building blocks that make up microeconomics include: market structures, supply and demand, price elasticity, scarcity, marginal benefit, and marginal cost. During the initial phase of starting up a business, one of the major factors to consider is the type of market the business owner desires to be in. The four major market structures include, perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. Each market has positive and negative attributes the business owners must account for. Business owners must also know the number of different sellers there are in a particular market, they must be able to handle the stress of running a business, and they must have a keen eye on the fluctuating prices in the market. Many entrepreneurs do not do enough research on their local economy, which ultimately leads to their failure. Both a monopoly and an oligopoly market are among the top rated due to their high profit rates.Show MoreRelatedWhat ´s Microeconomics?1069 Words   |  5 PagesMicroeconimcs is the branch of economics that studies and analyzes the market behavior of both individual firms and consumers to help underst and the decision-making process of companies and households. It analyzes the relationships between both buyers and seller and at the same time studies the factors that influence the choices of both those parties. 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