Hume and his contemporaries Essay Example for Free

Hume and his contemporaries Essay Live art performances, marked by an overture of spirituality, consciousness, physical introductions to pain, drawn further on to include specific rituals, symbolisms, varied states of emotions brought by self-inflicted hurt and eventually, culminating in a wild display of frenzy and shocking images, are less likely to please the uninitiated audience than it will provoke a sense of awe and wonderment among performance art critics. In a similar situation, Marina Abramovic’s attempts to upend the static discourses of physicality, mental states of mind and art that pervade current Western hegemony, understandably, can only be regarded in the extremes by people steeped firmly into formal traditions. Either her method of performance will elevate its spectators to a heightened degree of appreciation, therefore merit a thunderous welcome to a novel brand, sui generis, of art of our time at the end of each scene; or her gruesome didactics on the body’s threshold for pain, simply fails to pass muster. Her performance practice, a risk more than anything else, certainly inspire debates on whether or not to set moral, perhaps even social limits to art in order to determine, in precise and concrete terms, at which point creativity and imaginative art themes and performances become either delightful to the senses or noxious to the sensitivities of the general public. The idea of drawing the line along and between different shades of extremes, although already evinced clearly in the works of Marina Abramovic, seems to fit the consensus on the idea of censuring the bold and burlesque, stripping it off its material enunciation and expression to mitigate the horror and revulsion inherent in the exposition, or in the worst case, totally ignore it until the novel yet misunderstood facade fades from inattention. However, thanks mainly to Marina Abramovic’s unwavering desire to reach her audience, despite the sometimes hostile reception during her performances itself, in ways that continually push the envelope of spectator tolerance, did she carry her work from the esoteric art circles to mainstream. To wit, in one of her collaborative performances with Ulay, entitled Incision (1978), while purposively eliciting reaction, probably direct participation, from their audience, one of the spectators primed the climactic resonance of the work by jumping into the stage to kick Marina Abramovic as she was lying prostate right in the middle of the act. In her biographical work, she writes that although she expected the attack to happen any moment during the performance, she did not realize the immediacy and steeled resolution of that man who assailed her (Abramovic, 1998). Photographs of the show caught the man with a leg lifted, jumping into the air. â€Å"The next photograph shows Abramovic lying on the floor, and the man seems to be landing from a kicking action [†¦] the audiences interrogation manifested in a spontaneous physical attack (Tang, 2005). Ethical and moral questions, as well as aesthetic controversies have been discussed quite animatedly as early as the 18th century. Philosophers, like David Hume, have started to addressed the tough issues about morality, art and taste—the chief concerns that pervaded his era. Cynthia Freeland, introducing the notions of Taste and Beauty, in a book about defining the slippery strands of art, writes that Hume and his contemporaries â€Å"would not have approved of blasphemy, immorality, sex, or the use of body fluids as appropriate in art† (Freeland 2001). As a caveat to this general statement, it must be understood that even though 18th century consciousness all the way up to the present have not been too open in giving cognizance to art that smack of Marina Abramovic’s own brand of carnal art expressions, there are already extant cultural and social systems which places importance into shamanistic and ritualistic gestures. Among art critics and historians, some pursue a theory of art as ritual: â€Å"ordinary objects or acts acquire symbolic significance through incorporation into a shared belief system† (Freeland, 2001). In the same vein, Freeland further digs deep in history to provide evidence in varied cultural rituals that depict blood and physical pain. She avers that â€Å"when a Mayan king shed blood before the multitude in Palenque by piercing his own penis and drawing a thin reed through it three times, he exhibited his shamanistic ability to contact the land of the undead† (2001). Other modern artists try to recreate a similar sense of art as ritual, just as much as Marina Abramovic has had for the last three decades. Diamanda Galas, for instance, â€Å"fuses operatic wizardry, light shows and glistening blood in her Plague Mass† (2001), supposedly to exorcise pain in the era of Aids. Herman Nitsch, Viennese founder of the Orgies Mystery Theater, promises â€Å"catharsis through a combination of music, painting, wine-pressing, and ceremonial pouring of animal blood and entrails† (Nitsch, n. d. in Freeland, 2001). As it turns out, these very rituals are ingrained in Western traditions. Illuminating examples of which are the amount of blood depicted in European’s, and verily much of the cultures in the modern world today, two main belief discourses: that of the Judeo-Christian and the Greco-Roman. By taking a cursory review of religious and classical texts of Western traditions, we are able to immediately uncover a plenitude of blood representations and ritualistic sacrifices. In the Old Testament, Yahweh is seen to require â€Å"sacrifices as parts of His covenant with the Hebrews† (Freeland, 2001). Similarly, Agamemnon â€Å"faced a divine command to slit the throat of his own child [†¦] the blood of Jesus is so sacred that it is symbolically drunk to this day by believing Christians as promising redemption and eternal life† (2001). Such myths and religious stories are rather germane to Western art. We read of Homeric heroes wining the favors of their gods and goddesses by sacrificing animals. Likewise, the tragedies of Lucan and Seneca â€Å"piled up more body parts than Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Sreet† (2001). Not surprisingly, likewise, Renaissance paintings are never without a hint of blood draped at the canvassed in hard red-acrylic paint whilst Shakespeare’s tragedies typically concluded with swordplay and stabbings. The preceding examples of ritualistic performances which involves blood and sacrifices, death and disease, murder and trials, are very instructive with regards to our penchant for the macabre and the dreadful. It is in these premises that Marina Abramovic draws much of her inspiration to create an art, pro forma, that bespeak of our capacity to endure scenes of gore and violence—if only on a less exacerbated state. Her performance, for the most part, certainly places importance on the symbolic values of ceremonies, gestures and artifacts. Albeit appearing random and spontaneous, her methods establish a logical connection between her consciousness while performing and her body’s means of coping with the strength of self-infliction. In the nascent days of her art, she has performed controversial after controversial explorations into the limitations of the mind and the body. Rhythm 10, in 1973, was the first in a series of abject surrender to the inevitability of suffering. Alone in the stage, she prepared a set of knives to be used as piercing objects in a risky game of Russian hand roulette. Without signs of hesitation, she proceeded to stab the spaces between her fingers in a rough yet determined fashion. Each time she made the mistake of cutting her flesh; she dropped the knife and took out another one to repeat the process all over again until she made use of all ten knives (Abramovic, 1998). The following year, in the performance entitled Rhythm 5, she sought to re-evoke the energy of extreme body pain by constructing a huge star soused with combustible petroleum liquid. At the onset, the structure as lit to flames, and while she was standing right outside the contraption, she religiously clipped her fingernails, cut her hair and them inside the burning star. The denouement of the program was when she danced around and then flew across the flames into the center of the burning star. Serious and life-threatening complications ensued when the smoke that engulfed her from inside asphyxiated her to the point that she no longer had control of her actions. The medical team and the audience, who were all there to watch, started to suspect that something was terribly amiss. Fortunately, the quick responses from the stand-by technicians saved her from an untimely death caused by severe smoke inhalation (Abramovic, 1998). In the same year and the years that followed, Marina Abramovic designed similar art experiments that were meant to test the limits of herself and her body, and later the audience and their tolerance for vicarious agony through her body. Rhythm 2 and Rhythm 0, were performed with the hopes of proving that the consciousness can go beyond the rubric of psychological triggers in mind. The sole aim of both was to uproot the inherited tendencies of the mind to reel from stark images and provocative gestures. She sought to cultivate in the audience a sense of indifference in order that one may reach a virtual catharsis what with all the sharp and strong representations between the body and suffering. For artists like Marina Abramovic, it is clear to them that what they are performing, and while in the act of performing, there is a higher purpose that they wish to achieve regardless of the methods by which these are made possible. They have a firm understanding and appreciation for every act and gesture that they make. None of such are done without rhyme and reason. For artists like Marina Abramovic, everything that happens during any performance, in spite of the harsh opinions of critic that meet them right afterwards, makes a lot of sense. However, audiences who see and react to these artists do not enter, much less share the beliefs and values, or with prior knowledge of what will transpire, with that of the artist. When asked about the origins of her creativity and ideas for her art performance, Marina Abramovic happily recalls her childhood memories with her parents. As if to show indeed that her style was a result of previous life experiences that may be susceptible to a psychoanalytical reading, she narrates: â€Å"A long time ago I made a piece called Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful. At that time, I thought that art should be disturbing rather than beautiful. [†¦]My life is full of such contradictions. [†¦] My father and mother are divorced. As an adult, I recently wanted to go back to help them because of the war. With the embargo, there is nothing in the stores. [†¦] I called my father to ask him what he needs, and he dictates a long list antibiotics, bandages, penicillin, toilet paper, coffee, sugar, powdered milk, all these basic things for survival. Then I call my mother and ask what she needs. She says, I need Chanel lipstick, Absolute Red, Number 345, and hair spray. I am between these two. † (Abramovic, 2005) Most modern art, in this case, within the context of theatre, videos and live performances, fail to provide ample background reinforcement against the dominant traditions and systems of belief. What invariably happens is that the audiences will remain ignorant to, consequently, unappreciative of the complexities and undertones of the supposedly artful, meaningful and profound gestures. The audience, instead of sharing that same degree of catharsis, sacrifice and initiation, will shy away. They themselves are alienated from the performance so much that they are brought far afield the community, forcing them to abandon the art because of pure shock and horror, largely as a result of their ineligibility to feel as the artists do (Freeland, 2001). Damien Hirst, the ‘Britpack’ artist who sparked controversy in the 1990s with his motley display of macabre high-tech exhibits of â€Å"dead sharks, sliced cows, or lambs in glasses of formaldehyde, [†¦] has parlayed his notoriety into success with his popular Pharmacy restaurant in London† (Freeland, 2001). By no means, therefore, are the works that revolve around symbolisms, spirituality, humanity and fatalism seldom reflects the nature of most of our ritualistic traditions. Symbols of pain and suffering that are central to many religions, cultural systems, political and social units, may come off to the lay person as undesirable and may even cause the same panic as had the man in Marina Abramovic’s performance. Art performance that utilizes imageries that hint at violence, torture and distress, when it is performed in the public who has no inkling of its context, meaning and history are in danger of misconstruing art for capricious display of filth and tripe. As with all in theatre, the performer must work against mutual projection between audience and performer, the identification in which [we] believe so readily in the other as the keeper of our treasure and our disease (Tang, 2004). Valie Export, a similarly omnipresent and provocative figure in the world of art performance, shares the same problems of audience interaction, although not as much as Marina Abramovic. Beside art performance, her repertoire includes film, text, painting and photography to name a few. These avenues of artistic expression gravitate towards her criticisms for feminism and gender. A staunch activist and a progressive performer, she has oftentimes been called a woman living an anachronistic life. This is due to her revolutionary ways to present her ideas that even her colleagues, who without proper notice of her intentions to perform, usually end up dismissing her as too fanciful and idealistic. Her works on ‘Asemie or the Inability of Expressing Oneself Through Facial Expressions’ (1973) and ‘Touch Cinema’ (1968) garnered both fame and distress. Chief of the reasons that contributed to an admixture of reception from the critics and audience is the fact that her ideas do not create strong meaningful associations that the people can readily identify with. Humor and parody may be part and parcel of her work as a performer, but these effects are not what she contemplated to be so. Indeed, while she wanted to catch the attention of her spectators, her ultimate goal is to instruct them of the subtle messages regarding feminism, modernism and ritual art. Export, along with the controversial artists at the turn of the 21st century, became (in-)famous in the recent decades because of her startling presentations of objects and her body (Mueller, 2004). Of her earlier works, ‘Aktionshose: Genitalpanik’ or ‘Action Pants: Genitals in Panic’ (1968), Export engaged the audience, piquing their imagination and belief, with a series of photographs, simultaneously permitting them to engage her as the tangible representations of the images presented in the collage. In an art theater in Munich, dressed to the nines, with the crotch cut out of her pants, Valie Export threaded each row person-to-person, showed her outfit thereby giving the film-viewing public with a palpably visual representation with a real female body. In doing so Export tackled the pornographic reduction of women in static representations just when ideas of feminism and gender were starting to develop during that time. Her message is commensurate to a direct, unapologetic, political affront to the abstract objectification of the female body as a fetish. She moved an aesthetic gesture beyond the representational context of the safe boundaries of art into an actual encounter with a public. Export effectively brought to the fore the various dimension of simple, albeit arresting, bodily gestures â€Å"both to produce and to represent action [. . . ] by stressing the moment and the process of its own production† (Stiles, n. d. ). Export repudiated the representational static sign and discharged an interventionist act by revealing her yonic-self to the public vis-a-vis the photos on the display. Art performance, in the recent decades since its entrance in the mainstream, has, and is continuing to encompass a wide field of human proclivities which spans across a whole, comprehensive range of emotions, symbols and design. Although traditional views on aesthetics and taste still influence much of the productions in the art, more and more innovative, socially-informed, stunningly beautiful works of art performance are being (re-)invented and (re-)discovered every time. It doesn’t matter whether these newly created art forms subscribe to tradition or to the taste of the general public. What matters most is the never-ending quest to plumb the full extent of our humanity as individuals and as a community. Art performance is yet to supplant, at least equal the popularity of video-films, cinema, photography and painting in terms of the instances that these are demanded by the public. But with the works of Marina Abramovic, Ulay, Damien Hirst, Valie Export et al and their boundless passion to break the mold and stun the public to enlightenment, art performance can be considered as a significant cornucopia of art studies and of artistic expression. A number of critics do give favorable comments to Marina Abramovic’s performances and ingenuity, Valie Export’s live photography sessions, Hirst’s â€Å"gleaming vitrines with suspended animals inside† (Freeland, 2001). However, it must be noted that even if the critics find them beautiful and artful still its startling content warrants full attention; nothing short of shallow and pedantic in all respects of praise and criticism. Freeland writes, perhaps disinterestedness has some small and specific role in approaching difficult art by enabling us to try harder to look at and understand something that seems very repugnant to the senses (2001). The work’s content and the artist performing are just as crucial as the theories that surround art performance. It is not so much as merely an arbitrary act done through the caprice of a strange art performer. It is instead, a manifestation of our natural tendencies, our history, our sense of taste and what is beautiful, our entire spirituality and lastly, our consciousness set against the body as a tool to perceive reality. Art performance as practiced by these artists is a celebration of the body and of our community. An excellent performance and performer do more than take the audience to elevated heights, but also give them a sense of being truly and undeniably alive. And such, makes all the difference. References Abramovic, M. (2005). Marina Abramovic: the biography of biographies. New York London: Charta Publishers. Abramovic, M. (1998). Artist body: performances 1969-1998. New York London: Charta Publishers. Freeland, C. (2001). But is it art? : blood and beauty. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. Mueller, R. (1994). Valie Export: fragments of imagination. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Stiles, C. (n. d. ). Aktionshose: genitalpanik (action pants: genital in panic). Retrieved January 15 2008, The Galleries at Moore database. Tang, A. (2005). Gazing at horror: body performance in the wake of mass social trauma. (Masters of Arts program, Rhodes University 2005). .

Suicide terrorism

Suicide terrorism Suicide terrorists are said to be fanatics. Discuss this statement with regard to the analysis of suicide terrorism and Asymmetric warfare. This paper is a discussion on modern suicide terrorism, starting with a brief history of suicide terrorism, moving onto definitions, characteristics, theories and the asymmetries of suicide terrorism. Suicide terrorism can be dated back to ancient times; it is the evolution of the suicide bomber that brings the most notoriety. With many analysts such as (Gunaratna, 2000; Winkates, 2006), trace the evolution of modern suicide terrorism to Sri Lanka and Lebanon in the 1980s. Acts of suicide terrorism in the past have been relatively confined and their use limited to a small number of locations around the world. In the last decade there has been a significant expansion in the scope and frequency of suicide terrorist attacks. The number of terrorist attacks fell from 660 in 1988 to 250 in 1998; the number of suicide terrorist attacks was climbing rapidly (Clayton, 2003, p. 18). This increase in suicide attacks during the period 2000-2005 is 2.7 times greater in comparison to the period b eginning in the 1980s and lasting until 1999 (Pedahzur Perlinger, 2006, p. 1987). During the period 2000-2009 the scope of suicide terrorism expanded dramatically, with suicide terrorist attacks in Indonesia (Bali), Sri Lanka, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United States, England, Spain, Russia, Chechnya and Bangladesh. Although there have been suicide attacks within the west, it is the rapid increase of attacks within countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq that is the notable with a year on year increase. Saudi Arabia became so alarmed with the rise in suicide terrorism that in April of 2006 the Saudi government announced plans to build a multibillion-dollar electrified fence along its 560 mile border with Iraq (Dreazen Shiskin, 2006, p. A1). According to ISAF, in 2008 suicide bombings increased 26 percent from 2007(ISAF, 2009, toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, January 2009). There has also been a noticeable change in the individuals who carry out suicide attacks, once seen as mainly carried out by you ng men for either Religious or political reasons and yet there has been an increase in the number of women and children now playing an increasing part in suicide missions . One of the latest attacks took place on the Moscow subway, killing 35 and wounding many more; both of these attack where carried out by female suicide bombers. Suicide terrorism can be seen as inexpensive, deadly, and especially effective in accomplishing terrorists goals (Hoffman, 2003, p. 1; Jalalzai, 2005, p.110) attacks have also become increasingly effective in terms of the destruction they cause and the number of people they kill, as the suicide terrorists adopt new innovations such as explosive vests (Gall, 2006, p. A15).There is an asymmetry within suicide terrorist attacks, western countries have a reliance upon smart weapons in the conflict against those seen as terrorists. These weapons can cause huge amounts of damage without the need to directly attack the enemy with ground troops, thus lessoning the casualties sustained during combat operations. The use of a suicide bomber in effect becomes the human equivalent to the smart bomb. The weapon is self directing to the target, it can make changes to the target location, timing and delivery method on an ad hoc bases making the suicide bomber the ultimate smart bomb (Hoffman 2003). The use the human body as a weapon is not a new phenomenon being well documented through the ages. Pape (2005, p.11) calls the Zealots and the Sicarii the worlds first suicide terrorists. The name sicarrii means dagger-men, who would infiltrate Roman-controlled cities and stab Jewish collaborators or Roman legionnaires with a sica, kidnap the staff of the Temple Guard for ransom, or poison their enemies (Bloom, 2005, p. 8). The Zealots and Sicarii used violence to encourage public uprising, including the Jewish War of AD 66. They would attack their victims in broad daylight and in highly public places with little apparent regard for their own safety or escape. Pape (2005) notes that many of these attacks must have been suicide missions, since the killers were often immediately captured and put to death typically tortured and then crucified or burned alive (p. 12). Assassins were an 11th 12th century Shia Muslim sect from the Nizari state, their name, the assassins comes from the Arabic word hashishiyyin. According to Pape (2005), the Assassins created an effective organization f or the planned, systematic, and long-term use of political murder that relied on suicide missions for success. Pape (2005) reports that between 1945 and 1980, suicide attacks temporarily disappeared from the world scene (p.13). Pape (2005) and others (Laqueur, 2003) note the occurrence of politically- and/or religiously driven hunger strikes and suicides (particularly self-immolations) during this period but Pape (2005) claims there is not a single recorded instance of a suicide terrorist killing others while killing himself (p. 13). Reuter (2004) disagrees, citing a pro-Palestinian Japanese Red Army-sponsored attack on Israels Ben Gurion International Airport on May 20, 1972. In what Reuter (2004) notes as the first suicide attacks in the Middle East, on this day three Japanese gunmen with machine guns killed twenty-four people at the airport. They made no effort to escape, and two were shot dead by the airport guard (Reuter, 2004, p. 136). Inspired by Irans use of human minesweepers against Iraq, Hizbollah, launched a series of attacks against Western and Israeli targets in Lebanon (Winkates, 2006, p. 92). Hizbollah suicide attackers killed 80 and wounded 142 in its April 1983 attack on the American Embassy in Beirut, killed 241 and wounded 81 in its October 1983 attack on the US Marine headquarters near Beirut and its attack against the French Multinational Force, killed 58 and wounded 15 (Winkates, 2006, p. 92). In November 1983, Hizbollah suicide terrorists killed 88 and wounded 69 in an attack on the Israeli Defence Force headquarters in Tyre and a month later killed four and wounded 15 in an attack on the American Embassy in Kuwait (Winkates, 2006, p. 92). Sprinzak (2000) notes that Hizbollah leaders were initially very uneasy about the decision to launch suicide attacks, under the reasoning that Islam does not approve of believers taking their own lives. Hezbollahs spectacular success at achieving its goals of ex pelling foreign forces from all of Lebanon inspired other organizations such as Hamas, Tamil Tigers and al-Qaeda to adopt the suicide terrorist method of attack (Pape, 2005, p. 14). The Tamil Tigers were founded in 1972 as a Marxist, ethnic Tamil, Hindu separatist group seeking independence from the Sinhalese Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka. Their Black Tiger division trained to launch suicide attacks against Sri Lankan political leaders, military targets and civilians (Pape, 2005; Winkates, 2006). Hafez (2006) observed that outside of the Middle East, the Tamil Tigers have led the pack in the number and sophistication of suicide missions. It is estimated that the organization completed some 250 successful suicide attacks between 1987 and 2006 (Hafez, 2006, p. 5). In the early 2000s, ethno nationalist and Islamist Chechens began launching suicide attacks against Russian targets (Hafez, 2006, p. 5). Al Qaeda began launching attacks against American and Saudi targets in the Middle East in the mid-1990s. Al Qaedas spectacular entry into the suicide terrorist hall of fame occurred on August 7, 1998 when suicide terrorists used two delivery trucks loaded with explosives to blow up within minutes of each other, the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing a total of 224 people and injuring more than 4,300 persons (Reuter, 2004, p. 142). A little more than two years later, in October of 2000, Al Qaeda suicide bombers detonated 225 kg of explosive charges alongside the American destroyer, the USS Cole on a refuelling stop in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 American sailors and injuring forty. A year later, Al Qaeda suicide terrorists launched their principal suicide operation and what is described as one of the big gest single suicide terrorist action to date, the 9/11 attacks in the United States, killing about 3,000 (Reuter, 2004, p. 144). This attack lead to explanations of suicide terrorism becoming defined as, first, that the suicide terrorist was irrational and/or mentally ill (Brym Araj, 2006; Pastor, 2004; Wintrobe, 2003).Secondly that the deprivation hypothesis this theory uses the explanation that that suicide terrorists were educationally, economically or otherwise deprived compared to their peers (Brym Araj, 2006; Krueger Maleckova, 2002 .In recent years the Bush Administration has advanced both of these theories in some of its anti-terrorist expression. President Bush repeatedly spoke out against the evil and irrational terrorists who commit these actions. The Bush Administration argued that poverty reduction programs in terrorism-prone regions will reduce the incidence of suicide terrorism (Pastor, 2004; Pape, 2005). Numerous studies have found little or no support for these t wo theories of suicide terrorism, recent studies have provided evidence which directly refutes these theories. Krueger Maleckovas, study in 2002, on the economics and education of suicide bombers directly refutes the deprivation hypothesis of suicide terrorism. Krueger Maleckova 2002 concluded that, the evidence that we have assembled and reviewed suggests that there is little direct connection between poverty, education, and participation in or support for terrorism. Indeed, the available evidence indicates that compared with the relevant population, participantswere at least as likely to come from economically advantaged families and to have a relatively high level of education as they were to come from impoverished families without educational opportunities (Krueger Maleckova 2002 p. 9). Numerous studies have established that overall, suicide terrorists do not suffer from personality disorders or mental illnesses which would explain their participation in suicide terrorism (Berko Erez, 2005). As Wintrobe 2003 argued, it is possible to explain suicide terrorist acts in rational choice terms, and that, while such acts are indeed extreme, they are merely an extreme example of a general class of behaviour in which all of us engage (Wintrobe 2003 p. 2). Explaining that, suicide terrorist is not necessarily irrational. A third theory of suicide terrorism focuses on the influence of culture, especially religious culture, on suicide terrorists (Brym Araj, 2006). These explanations have often been used to explain suicide terrorism among Shia Muslims, based on the tradition of the cult of sacrifice (Hafez, 2006; Bloom, 2005). Although this fails to explain the existence of suicide terrorism among cultures and religions with no established cult of sacrifice and it cannot suff iciently explain suicide terrorism among secular, nationalist groups (Pape, 2005; Hoffman, 2003). Furthermore, as Brym Araj 2006 point to, while such cultural resources likely increase the probability that some groups will engage in suicide attacks, one must be careful not to exaggerate their significance. One difficulty with the clash of civilizations argument is that public opinion polls show that Arabs in the Middle East hold strongly favourable attitudes toward American science and technology, freedom and democracy, education, movies and television, and largely favourable attitudes toward the American people. They hold strongly negative attitudes only toward American Middle East policy. This is less evident of a clash of civilizations than a deep political disagreement (Brym Araj 2006 p. 1973). A more recent theory of suicide terrorism has been offered by Robert Pape (2003, 2005). Based on his analysis of suicide terrorism from 1980 through 2004, Pape presented a three-part model describing the causal logic of suicide terrorism. Papes theory de-emphasizes the role of religion including Islamic fundamentalism and focuses on the role of terrorist organization strategy and secular nationalist objectives. Pape argues that suicide terrorism follows a strategic logic aimed at political coercion (Pape, 2005, p. 21). Pape argues that suicide terrorism is part of an organizations broader campaign to achieve political objectives, usually in response to a foreign occupation. Pape goes on to argue that suicide terrorism also follows a social logic since terrorist organizations often command broad social support within the national communities from which they recruit (Pape, 2005, p. 22). A number of analysts, including Bruce Hoffman (1998, 2003) have advanced explanations of suicide terrorism which propose rationale-choice models emphasizing the role of organizational factors that support Papes theory. Theorists have argued that Papes theory is overly simplistic (Atran, 2006; Bloom, 2005; Brym Araj, 2006). Brym Araj 2006 argues that strategic thinking is only one element that may combine with others in the creation of a suicide bomber (Brym Araj 2006 p. 1972). Atran has recently challenged Papes theory on a number of points, including Papes sampling methods which completely discount the explosion of suicide terrorism in Iraq (Pape 2005, p. 130). Atran calls into question Papes dismissal of the role of ideology and religious fundamentalism as well as his assessments of the effectiveness of suicide terrorism (Atran, 2006, p. 132). Other recently emerging theories of suicide terrorism include Pedahzur Perlingers 2006 social network perspective explaining suicide ter rorism in terms of social motivations and Blooms multi-factor model of suicide terrorism (2005). There is a development towards more complex models of suicide terrorism accounting for the role of individual, social, cultural, strategic, ideological, and organizational motivations and factors in suicide terrorism (Smith, 2004). Defining terrorism especially the suicide terrorism will never be an easy task, as Dershowitz (2002, p.4) observes, there is difficulty in a definition that everyone can agree upon is illustrated by the catchphrase, One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. Dershowitz (2002, pp. 4-5) breaks down most definitions of terrorism into three main elements: 1) the nature of the targeted victims; 2) the nature of those who commit the violence; and 3) the method by which the terrorist seeks to influence their audiences. Atran (2003, p.1535) observes that the concept of terror as systematic use of violence to attain political ends was first codified by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution. Robespierre saw terror as an emanation of virtue that delivered swift justice (Atran, 2003, p. 1535). Another major difficulty occurs in separating the concepts of terror and terrorism. Pape (2005, p. 9) explains that terrorism involves the use of violence by an organization other th an a national government to intimidate or frighten a target audience. Pape (2005, p. 9) explains further that most terrorist strikes or campaigns have two general purposes: to gain supporters and to coerce opponents. While Papes (2005) definition excludes the possibility of state-sponsored terrorism, numerous other definitions are wide enough to include terrorist acts conducted by or on behalf of a nation state as well as those conducted by private organizations or individuals (Dershowitz, 2005; Winkates, 2006). Winkates (2006,pp. 88-99) defines terrorism as the premeditated threat or use of violence against persons or property, designed to intimidate non combatant victims, the object of which is to change or to stabilize private or public policy. Definitions of suicide terrorism combine the concepts of terrorism and suicide. As with definitions of terrorism, the definitions of suicide terrorism found in the literature vary. Hafez notes, one problem in defining suicidal terrorism concerns the various possible perspectives on the act: how one describes acts of self-immolation committed in order to kill others is a task fraught with controversy. Those whose support these acts of violence prefer to call them martyrdom operations, and their perpetrators heroes and freedom fighters. Those who oppose them prefer to call them homicide bombers, suicide terrorists, or suicidal murderers (Hafez, 2006, p.4). Hafezs own definition of suicide terrorism relies on the more descriptive term of suicide bomber or human bomb which is defined as an individual who willingly uses his or her body to carry or deliver explosives or explosive materials to attack, kill or main others (Hafez, 2006,p. 4). Blooms definition of suicide terrorism is defined as a violent, politically motivated attack, carried out in a deliberate state of awareness by a person who blows himself or herself up together with a chosen target. The premeditated certain death of the perpetrator is the precondition for the success of the attack (2005, p. 76). In terms of the objectives of suicide terrorism, Bloom describes this as, although a suicide attack aims to physically destroy an initial target, its primary use is typically as a weapon of psychological warfare intended to affect a larger public audience. The primary target is not those actually killed or injured in the attack, but those made to witness itThrough indoctrination and training and under charismatic leaders, self contained suicide cells canalize disparate religious or political sentiments of individuals into an emotionally bonded group (Bloom, 2005, p. 77). Pedahzur states that suicide terrorism includes a diversity of violent actions perpetrated by people who are aware that the odds they will return alive are close to zero (2005, p. 8). Pape agrees in that , What distinguishes a suicide terrorist is that the attacker does not expect to survive the mission and often employees a method of attack such as a car bomb, suicide vest, or ramming an airplane into a building that requires his or her death in order to succeed. In essence, suicide terrorists kill others at the same time that they kill themselves (2005, p. 10). Pape further argues that a broad definition of suicide terrorism could include any operation that is designed in such a way that the terrorist does not expect to survive it, even if he or she is actually killed by police or other d efenders. Pape also argues that We might call such operations suicide missions instead of suicide attacks (2005, p. 10). Winkates argues that the best litmus test for definitive suicide terrorism is the intentional and successful sacrifice of a human life to achieve a terrorist objective (2006, p. 89). Hoffman (2003) argues that two key characteristics of suicide terrorism explain its growing popularity with terrorists groups around the world: suicide bombings are inexpensive and effective (p. 2). While coordinated multi-target attacks such as the 9-11 attacks and the London bombings may require extensive planning and considerable investment, even these types of suicide terrorist attacks are less expensive than many conventional terrorist attacks and definitely less expensive than funding an army. The majority of suicide attacks are carried out by individuals, minimizing the amount of investment and administrative overhead. The reliance on human bombs provides terrorists with the ultimate smart bomb (Hoffman, 2003, p. 2). Such smart bombs can be extremely efficient and effective. One of the characteristics of suicide terrorism is its effectiveness against the selected target. As of 2003, suicide terrorism accounted for just three percent of all worldwide terrorist acts, but for 50% of all terrorism-related deaths (Clayton, 2003, p. 18). This is another factor contributing to its effectiveness. The high-kill rate of suicide terrorism increases the amount of terror such attacks instigate in target populations. As Furedi 2007 notes, The threat represented by mass-casualty terrorism is not confined to its capacity for destruction. Public dread of this phenomenon is underpinned by the assumption that this is a treat that is unpredictable and random and its effect incalculable (Furedi, 2007, p .7) adding further to the overall result; suicide terrorism becomes effective in producing fear, justifying its deployment in conflict, by highlighting the unpredictable ability of the act, to produce more fear than the actual act. The act of suicide terrorism highlights an important asymmetry; terrorist need to be successful only once to kill Americans and demonstrate the inherent vulnerabilities they face, (US Congress, 2002). The asymmetry of suicide terrorism is not only the causation destruction, but to seize the attention of Governments and the population of the nation it targets, as Laqueur (1999) notes;Terrorism has been with us for centuries, and it has always attracted inordinate attention because of its dramatic character and its sudden, often wholly unexpected, occurrence. (Laqueur, 1999: p, 3) Asymmetric terrorism reaches out not merely through the use of physical violence but through the symbolic transgression of social morality and national security. Terrorism, as Townshend, (2000); Laqueur, (1999); Chomsky, (2001) have suggested, goes right to heart of what makes us safe; it forces us to pay attention to it whether we want to nor not. The proliferation of video taped messages from leaders of suspected terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda is a testament to the symbol over the actual act of physical violent; there is nothing violent in the images of Osama bin Laden addressing the world through the Aljazeera television networks but it has symbolic presence in a world that is dominated by media and communication technology, as Van der Veer and Munshi (2004) suggest, one of the major successes of modern terrorist organisations is their ability to use the resources of their enemies: the Internet, satellite television, mobile phones and the mass media. Even the condemnation of t errorists in the media, can aid the cause of terrorist organizations; by describing physical acts of violence through the duality of good and evil or right and wrong, the Western media merely serve to elevate and obfuscate the real nature of terrorism which, as research has shown[1], is far more fractured and complex. In this sense, much of the terrorist organizations aim, of seizing attention, is actually carried out by the opposing media; eager for a story and for a simple answer. Suicide terrorism has become a relatively successful military and political strategy; the 9/11 attackers commanded the attention of the world not only through their own efforts but through their targets media; the American television companies, the European press and the global media conglomerates all shared in the process of captivating the publics imagination that, as Towshend(2000) notes; dramatically amplifies the anxiety about security which is never far from the surface of society. (Townshend, 2000 : 8), the communication of the message and the success of this are inextricably linked to the terrorist organisation itself. A highly ordered group with distinct political aims is likely to be more successful in delivering its message than a disparate, non-focused organisation whose aim is to spread confusion and fear. Douglass McFerran(1997) details that many of the IRA campaigns of the 1970s and 80s had distinct short term as well as long term political aims, very often terrorist attacks on mainland Britain were specifically concerned with achieving a specific political target such as protesting over the widespread imprisonment of suspected terrorists or the treatment of those all ready in prison. As Townshend details this is not the case in every terrorist act; the PanAm flight 103 attacks for instance that saw a plane explode over town of Lockerbie in 1988 had no prior demands or message attached to them and very little admission of guilt after (Just, Kern and Norris, 2003: 285).The nature of the attack is likely to influence the success of the communication of demands; Dobkin (1992) details that in 1970 members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked three airliners in order to not only secure the attention of the worlds media in which they were successful, but to demand the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners in British military jails. Their demands were largely met and most of their hostages were released; however when compared to the contemporary Munich terrorist kidnapping where members of the Black September group killed eleven Israeli athletes in an attempt to secure the release of 236 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.Hoffma n (1998) details that the Munich kidnappings were not only failures in terms of communicating and achieving recognisable demands but also in media manipulation: The Palestinians had not only failed to obtain their principal, stated demand the release of terrorists imprisoned in Israel and West Germany but, to many observers, had hopelessly tarnished the morality of their cause in the eyes of the world. Indeed, international opinion was virtually unanimous in its condemnation of the terrorists operation. (Hoffman, 1998: p, 72). But, again, this can often have the opposite to the desired effect. Robert Singh (2003) suggests that the 9/11 attacks merely served to strengthen the socio-political position of the American people, the very group that came under attack; he also suggests that the security systems around the globe became more vigilant and aware of any gaps in their processes: Rather than initiating a transformation, 9/11 accelerated trends, policies and approaches that were well established. If the attacks most immediate political effects were certainly dramatic the Bush administrations approval ratings soared and public confidence in the federal government attained levels unseen since the early 1960s (Singh, 2003: p,52). Al-Qaeda, built upon this position when coalition forces invaded Iraq and later Afghanistan, the fear that is produced by asymmetric warfare attacks is sometimes seen as the main outcome, Somali rebels succeeded in influencing the American public, after pictures of dead American soldiers where broadcast on CNN, in the same way as the Madrid Suicide bombings had on the Spanish public, directly influencing government policy and leading to the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, the American government forced by the public outcry pulled troops out of Somalia. With limited resources and limited damage to western societies al-Qaeda, has managed to change the very ideals for which it is said the war on terror is conducted. It has become a norm in Europe that after a terrorist attack, new security legislation and other measures are established to combat the threat of terrorism; however most of these policies seem to neglected the human rights of the citizens. These changes are highlight ed by Arce (et,al 2009) the traditional treatment of terrorism-as-asymmetric-conflict in terms of the relative resource disparity between terrorists and their ultimate targets, an additional asymmetry exists through the definition of success. For the target government, success is defined in terms of security against all possible attacks; whereas for terrorists one success is often enough to alter the political landscape, airways, etc. If one target is successfully attacked, then counter terror policy and the competency of the government itself can be subject to public scrutiny.(Arce, et,al, 2009). Thinking and organizing in a different manor than an opponent in order to amplify advantages and by doing so also exploit an opponents weakness. Changes to asymmetrical warfare have been greatly affected by the digital age, no matter the policy initiatives in trying to undermine the terrorists propaganda and promote its own; the forum of the internet allows suicide attacks to be displayed to a world audience. The filming of Martyr videos and attacks can serve both as a recruitment campaign reaching to all corners of the world and a forewarning to those who oppose terrorism. Understanding and defining suicide terrorism is open to debate; there have been a number of successes in terms of securing specific demands in the past not least of all the 1970 skyjacking operation by the PFLP. However, we have also seen how terrorism can be divisive, how it can engender the very opposite of what it sets out to do. As we saw with the London bombings, a post 9/11 society is one that treats the threat of terrorism as a consequence of modern city living. This is perhaps the one main reason why terrorism may become considered a strong military strategy: today the more terrorist activity there is, the more political value it has, yet the less it affects every day individual life. However, of course, terrorism is perhaps the only strategy that many disenfranchised groups have which may account for its constant presence on the global political stage. Ultimately, however, terrorism is a symbolic act, an act that depends upon fear for its meaning; as the public becomes more and more exposed to images and symbols of terror they also become more and more immune. As Baudrillard suggests (2003) the violence of the terrorist is likely to become merely just another image in the media and the terrorist themselves just another face on the television screen and it is this, ironically, that provides its greatest counter measure. In this essay the difficulty in defining, theorising and understanding has been discussed. The asymmetries involved within terrorism have also been discussed, showing that with the use of digital media and little resources the ability of the target to respond to attack within its own borders can become limited to the change of political policy, which in turn may undermine the authority of the government within its own borders. The September 11 attacks and during the post Cold war era, the world has seen no greater power than the United States. International Relations have seen the control and dominance of the United States over the worlds structure. However, after the Twin Tower attacks, the world started realizing the role of others inside the international arena, these others preferably labeled terrorists; questioned the validity of several theories that were formulated as soon as the end of the Cold War was announced, these theories were trying to predict the shape and attitude of the world as it entered a new era. It has always been known that every era in history adapts an indication that will mark it as distinctive, and therefore all of those theories were simple speculations on the nature of what could be such an indication. Theories valid, some predicted the rise of democracy and liberalism, others feared the return of barbarism and anarchy. Also, other theories predicted a clash that will divide the borders of the world according to culture, civilization, ethnicity, and most importantly religion. The world has dramatically changed with terrorism as the key player. It is also very clear that the asymmetries involved in terrorism are very powerful, as it was able to question the strength of the United States, and was able to reform the political policies of many world countries. Terrorism is the worlds most fearful enemy, an enemy that is powerful, aggressive, and most importantly ambiguous. There is no concession within society on terrorism, for many it is not a problem and life continues, for others it has change their view of world order and politics. BIBLIOGRAPHY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (Section 1230, Public Law 110-181) http://www.defense.gov/pubs/OCTOBER_1230_FINAL.pdf Accessed 06/04/2010, Arce, Daniel G; Kovenock, Dan; Robertson,B, Suicide Terrorism and the Weakest Link, CESIFO WORKING PAPER NO. 2753,CATEGORY 2: PUBLIC CHOIC

Induction of Aminolevulinic Acid Synthase Gene Expression

Induction of Aminolevulinic Acid Synthase Gene Expression Induction of aminolevulinic acid synthase gene expression, down-regulation ferrochelatase and enhancement of metabolite, protoporphyrin IX, excretion by co-therapy with isoniazid and rifampicin (1. Isoniazid and rifampicin induced liver injury by regulating 5-aminolevulinate synthase and ferrochelatase and enhancing protoporphyrin IX 2. Mechanism of rifampicin and isoniazid induced cell death in L-02 cell line and mice) Abstract Isoniazid(INH) and rifampicin(RFP) are first-line antituberculosis drugs, co-therapy with INH and RFP is highly effective. However, the combination of these two drugs frequently cause liver injury or liver failure in humans. The risk of hepatotoxicity is considerably higher in patients receiving both RFP and INH than in those receiving either RFP or INH alone. Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the mechanism of injury after isoniazid or rifampicin used in various animal models, however, the important mechanism for the combination of isoniazid and rifampicin in humans remains unclear. Here we investigated this combination induced hepatotoxicity using L-02 cells and mice. Introduction Tuberculosis remains a global public health problem whose effects have major impact in developing countries. World Health Organization estimates that there were 8.6 million new TB cases in 2012 and 1.3 million TB deaths. The currently recommended treatment for new cases of drug-susceptible TB is a six-month regimen of four first-line drugs: isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and pyrazinamide. (Global tuberculosis report 2013). However, the combination of isoniazid(INH) and rifampicin(RFP) frequently cause liver injury or liver failure. The risk of hepatotoxicity is considerably higher in patients receiving the combination than in those receiving either RFP or INH alone. The mechanisms leading to liver failure in humans were poorly understood. Recently, a new mechanism ,independent of INH metabolism, is found in the RFP and INH co-therapy induced liver injury. Li et al. (Li, et al. 2013) found that co-therapy with RFP and INH targets porphyrin biosynthesis and results in hepatic protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) accumulation and liver injury . PPIX is an intermediate in porphyrin biasynthesis. Normally the concentrations of PPIX is very low in the liver. However, in some cases the concentration abnormally elevated in blood and liver, such as erythropoietic protoporphyria. High concentrations of PPIX in the liver are known to cause liver injury (Anstey and Hift 2007; Casanova-Gonzalez, et al. 2010). Using hPXR mice, Li et al. demonstrated that the accumulation of endogenous PPIX is through PXR-mediated transcriptional activations of aminolevulinic synthase-1(ALAS1) genes. ALAS1 is the rate-limiting enzyme of heme synthesis in the liver and is drug-responsive, providing heme for CYPs and other hemoproteinsis. Activation of PXR can up regulate ALAS1 expression in liver (Fraser, et al. 2003). RFP upregulate ALAs1 increasing heme-biosynthesis in the liver and overproducing PPIX through activating PXR signalling pathway. However, PPIX accumulation strongly suggests that ferrochelatase became a ratelimiting enzyme during INH-RFP treatment (Lyoumi, et al. 2013). Ferrochelatase (FECH) ,the final enzyme in the heme biosynthetic pathway, catalyses ferrous iron inserted into precursor porphyrin protoporphyrin IX to form heme, and when defective or deficient, causing accumulation of protoporphyrin IX. Ferrochelatase is active in cells that produce 80% heme in the bone marrow (Bloomer, et al. 1991) and the rest in hepatocytes (Bonkowsky, et al. 1975). The excess protoporphyrinIX becomes insoluble in bile and exerts cholestatic effects leading to architectural changes in the hepatobiliary system ranging from mild inflammation to fibrosis and cirrhosis (Anstey and Hift 2007). MATERIALS AND METHODS PI staining L-02 were allowed to adhere on glass bottom dishs for 4h, followed by INH,RFP or INH/RFP. The medium was removed after h and cells were stained with for 30 min. Nuclei were stained with 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and images were recorded with a fluorescence microscope. Western blotting L-02 cells cultured in flask were harvested using 0.25% trypsin (Hyclone, Thermo Scientific, Waltham, Mass). After centrifugation at 1000r and lysis using buffer for Western blotting (), total proteins were collected by following the kit instructions. Protein concentrations were determined using the BCA Protein Assay Kit (). After heating at 95 °C for 5 minutes in sample buffer, proteins were separated on SDS-PAGE using 10% polyacrylamide gels before electroblotting onto PVDFmembrane(). Nonspecific binding was blocked by incubation for 2 hours in 5% (w/v) nonfat milk. The following primary antibodies were used overnight at 4 °C: Rabbit anti-human FECH antibody(; 1:1000); Rabbit anti-human ALAs1 antibody( 1:500); Rabbit anti-human BCRP antibody(; 1:500). Bound antibodies were detected using horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies (Beijing Biosynthesis Biotechnology Co. LTD). Finally, the membranes were visualized by chemiluminescence. RNA Isolation and Real time Polymerase Chain Reaction for ALAs1 and FECH Cell Culture L-02 cells, a human fetal hepatocyte line, purchased from Cell Bank of Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, purchased from Shanghai, China, were cultured according to the manufacturer’s instructions 15 at 37 °C in 5% CO2. Cell culture materials were procured from Corning() Discussion Nevertheless, the ability of chemicals to activate PXR is species dependent. RFP is a human PXR specific activator that weakly affect on mouse (Lehmann, et al. 1998). INH hepatotoxicity is thought to be dependent on metabolic activation by arylamine N-acetyltransferase and CYP2E1, but Li found AcHZ and hydrazine do not cause INH-related hepatotoxicity. Hepatic heme synthesis leading to protoporphyria and possible impact with other metabolic systems (Davies, et al. 2005). References Primary Sources Secondary Sources Uncategorized References Anstey, A. V., and R. J. Hift,  2007, Liver disease in erythropoietic protoporphyria: insights and implications for management. Postgrad Med J 83(986):739-48. Bloomer, J. R., et al.  1991, Heme synthesis in protoporphyria. Curr Probl Dermatol 20:135-47. Bonkowsky, H. L., et al. 1975, Heme synthetase deficiency in human protoporphyria. Demonstration of the defect in liver and cultured skin fibroblasts. J Clin Invest 56(5):1139-48. Casanova-Gonzalez, M. J., et al.  2010, Liver disease and erythropoietic protoporphyria: a concise review. World J Gastroenterol 16(36):4526-31. Davies, R., et al.  2005, Hepatic gene expression in protoporphyic Fech mice is associated with cholestatic injury but not a marked depletion of the heme regulatory pool. Am J Pathol 166(4):1041-53. Fraser, D. J., A. Zumsteg, and U. A. Meyer,  2003, Nuclear receptors constitutive androstane receptor and pregnane X receptor activate a drug-responsive enhancer of the murine 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase gene. J Biol Chem 278(41):39392-401. Lehmann, J. M., et al.  1998, The human orphan nuclear receptor PXR is activated by compounds that regulate CYP3A4 gene expression and cause drug interactions. J Clin Invest 102(5):1016-23. Li, F., et al.  2013, Human PXR modulates hepatotoxicity associated with rifampicin and isoniazid co-therapy. Nat Med 19(4):418-20. Lyoumi, S., et al.  2013, PXR-ALAS1: a key regulatory pathway in liver toxicity induced by isoniazid-rifampicin antituberculosis treatment. Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol 37(5):439-41.

The Many Faces of Freedom? Essay -- Expository Exemplification Essays

The Many Face of Freedom? Freedom is a concept that people are often willing to die for and it is the cause of much fighting. However, few people ever claim to dislike freedom. This raises an interesting question: how can people fight over what is generally considered to be a positive idea? Does this mean that someone must be against freedom? The answer is that people cannot agree on what freedom is, thus numerous groups can claim to be "for freedom" while strongly disagreeing on the means by which to achieve it. These groups often argue vehemently and passionately, trying to convince the majority that their side is right. However, emotion is only one part of deciding who is more persuasive. I offer two examples of disagreements regarding freedom, as proof that freedom is neither tangible, nor a singular idea. An example of a disagreement about freedom between two larger groups is offered in Michael Rossman's account of a student protest in "The Wedding Within the War". Feelings between students and the administration came to a head in an argument regarding tables set up by student organizations to meet new members and pass out information. The administration first restricted the students' rights by forcing them to move the tables from the heart of campus to the edge of campus, further from the majority of students. Then, a few years later, the students were told that they were not allowed to have the tables at all (102). Since their campus is a microcosm of the larger government of America, this limiting of their rights frightened them, causing them to react. As a result, they held a demonstration to make these concerns heard. Their main point, as presented in "Catch-801" by Marvin Garson was that "the University Administ... ...s to be a singular concept. The personal quality of an individual's definition of freedom is also the reason why the students were able to be more persuasive. Their writing contained a sense of personal concern, that decisions made regarding freedom would impact each one of them individually. In contrast, political speeches, although concerned more with the majority, spoke more in terms of abstract freedom, which is much less persuasive. Works Cited Garson, Marvin. "Catch-801." Takin' It to the Streets. New York. NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. Reagan, Ronald. "Freedom vs. Anarchy On Campus." Takin' It to the Streets. New York. NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. Rossman, Michael. "The Wedding Within the War." Takin' It to the Streets. New York. NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. Roth, Philip. Goodbye, Columbus. New York. NY: Bantam Books, 1968.

Holding Parents Accountable for Their Childrens Behavior :: essays research papers

In the past, there have been many minors who have done numerous of acts in which they are punished in a reasonable manner. Just imagine if the parents of these children were put on trail instead of the minors. Why should a parent have to suffer the consequences for their child’s mistake, in which they probably had no idea what the child was doing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to The Beaufort Gazette in Beaufort, SC, â€Å"A couple in Boise, Idaho now faces criminal charges because their 10- and 12-year old sons sexually molested three of their younger siblings, starting when one of the children was just one month old.† The report goes on to say, â€Å"Prosecutors said one girl was just 2 years old when the abuse started in October 2002. The other girl was less than 8 months old. The sexual abuse of the boy allegedly began in December 2002, when he was just one month old.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to The Idaho Statesman Newspaper in Boise, Idaho, â€Å"The parents are being charged with four counts of felonies. The first three include the connection with the allegations of sexual abuse by the boys, and the fourth charge addresses allowing a child to walk on dirty floors, in which resulted in infected cuts on the child’s feet.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This sounds more like a child neglect case rather than a connection of a child molestation case. I am not defending the couple in any way, but I feel there is no proof of them knowing about such acts going on between their children. Therefore, it will be hard to prosecute the couple on the molestation charges unless there is some type of evidence that is not being presented or considered until the trail.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was a

Film and Television Criticisms: Similarities and Differences of Male Characters Essay

Male portrayals on televisions have greatly evolved from the standard hero stereotypical illustration of primary male characters. During the entry of 21st century, masculinity among male roles have expanded and included variety of multicultural forms. In fact, the current illustration of masculinity has adapted to the liberal trends of society and even considered various facets of sexual considerations than the common romanticized absolute hero-portrayal of males. In addition, the male sexual domination against feminism is now becoming less frequent compared to the males roles of the 20th to early 21st century. Background of the Problem During the entrance of 21st century, various cultural modifications in various countries worldwide have occurred due to globalization, western influences and the decline of the concept on gender discrimination. Due to the vast liberalization on gender and influences of globalize and liberalized environment, communities, especially in United States, are now evolving the gender portrayals from conventional to a more equalized stature. As for these socio-cultural modifications, gender roles in media and entertainment are also being influenced by the shifting of idealism. In terms of male roles in entertainment, the common hero stereotypic roles implicating absolute masculinity have already diverted in accordance to the prevailing trends of the society. Since the public is now open to different variations of sexualities, male behavioral patterns and the society’s awareness on multi-gender variations, roles portrayed by males in variety of television programs have been modified to more multi-faceted and diverse forms. In an effort to illustrate these conditions, three movies with different genre and cultural implications have been selected are analyzed based on the similarities and differences of male roles in the television programs of the 21st century. Discussion The Male Characters of Prison Break Prison Break (2005) is an action, thriller and drama- based television series created by Paul Scheuring with the primary characters, Michael Scofield (portrayed by Wentworth Miller) and Lincoln Burrows (portrayed by Dominic Purcell). The two main protagonists play the role of brothers who aimed at escaping the prison penalty before Lincoln faces his trial of execution penalty due to the false accusation of murdering the vice-president, Terence Steadman. The two characters are hindered by the antagonist group called, The Company; although, despite of the trials and obstacles beneath the prison walls of Fox River State Penitentiary, the brothers are able to save themselves from the grasps of the covert agents of the said group. Prison Break is one of the best male role portrayals in the television series as of 21st century. From the given overview, the brothers are confronted by the issues of their past and the accusations made against Scofield’s brother, Lincoln. Three of the most notable strengths of the brothers are (1) brotherly bond to each other, (2) Scofield’s expertise in construction engineering and Lincoln’s genius skills, and (3) their comrades who are also escapees of the prison. Meanwhile, most weaknesses observed among the brothers are sometimes (1) their immediate concern to their comrades ending to self-risks, and (2) frequent conflicting plans and misunderstandings. Despite of these strengths and weaknesses, the brothers are motivated to escape the prison and live the free status that they are supposed to possess. Schofield already considers the little or zero possibility of uplifting the verdict to his brother; hence, both of them hope to escape the grasps of their chasers and live out of the claws of their enemies. The roles of the two characters are portrayed in a masculine sense where the sensitive attachments as brothers are very much evident. From the physical features and role portrayed by the brothers, each role manifests a sense of interdependency with each other. The Male Characters of Dante’s Cove Dante’s Cove (2005) is another film oriented to a horror and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) genres created by Michael Costanza with gay couple, Gregory Michael and Charlie David, as the primary characters of the series. The television program is another face of the male role portrayals that are liberally being introduced to the public in the 21st century. The gay sexual orientation of males is one of the considerations to the vastly evolving male culturalism in the film industry, which essentially provide a different course depiction of male portrayal. In the story, Kevin (portrayed by Gregory Michael) is a formerly discreet bisexual who happened to fall in love with his seasonal buddy, Toby (Charlie David) who actually works as a bartender in a haunted hotel at Dante’s Cove. During the middle section of the first season, Kevin is able to realize what he wants and decides to leave his prosperous life with his mother and discriminating father-in-law to live in with Toby at Dante’s Cove. Upon Kevin’s arrival to the area, he is confronted by various premonitions from the warlock antagonists, Ambrosius Vallin (portrayed by William Gregory Lee). In the story, Kevin has accidentally freed the warlock by a simple kiss from the prison-enchantments of another antagonizing character, Grace Neville (portrayed by Tracy Scoggins) – the witch of Dante’s cove. By freeing Ambrosius from his prison, he sets out to hunt his so-called destined lover in the persona of Kevin. Meanwhile, being the former lover of Ambrosius, Grace hunts the love of Ambrosius (Kevin) in order to avenge herself from the warlock’s betrayal of her love 50 years ago. The couple is now confronted by the immense witchcraft of the two members of high-orders. The task of the Kevin and Toby is to maintain their emotions to each other despite of the efforts of the two antagonists in breaking their relationship apart. From the given overview, the strengths of the primary characters present in the film are the (1) emotional bonds to each other despite of gender issues and (2) the aid coming from their comrades from the cove. However, certain weaknesses observed in their male portrayal are (1) their fragility against lies, (2) gays’ stereotypes of polygamous nature, and (3) the emotional set backs that occur between the two. Meanwhile, some of the observed motivational behaviors present in the two primary characters are their attachments to one another and the supporting atmosphere they obtain from their bisexual and lesbian friends. Throughout the film, Toby and Kevin hope to finally obtain peace with their ideal form of gay relationship; however, the greatest fear confronting the two is their separation from one another. Despite of their gender similarities and the moral-culturally considered taboo, the couple has evidently established their ideal perspective of gay relationship while maintaining the external nature of their masculine behaviors. The Male Characters of Heroes Heroes (September 25, 2006) is a drama, science fiction television series created by Tim Kring with his primary character, Peter Petrelli (portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia). The story revolves in the discreet existence of evolved human beings capable of using unnatural powers inherent within their genetic structures. Each evolved superhuman possess either destructive or supportive form of unique abilities. The main antagonist, Sylar (portrayed by Zachary Quinto), is an evolved form capable of absorbing the powers of other superhumans by actually devouring their brains. Sylar moves with his intent of capturing the key to his immortality with the power of the Cheerleader, Claire Bennet (portrayed by Hayden Panettiere). Unlike Sylar, Peter Petrelli possesses the unique ability of absorbing one’s power by simply getting near towards these people. Unfortunately, he enters in without recognition in his skill and unable to manipulate the absorbed powers at his will. Peter is confronted by the complex task of saving his kind from the deadly virus released by a group of individuals who wants their kind annihilated. The science fiction film revolves in the lives of various complicating lives of different characters of the film; however, the concentration of tasks and the primary role as the hero is vested in the character of Peter Petrelli. In terms of his strengths as the male role of the film, he possesses (1) distinct and non-replicable skill of obtaining one’s ability in the simplest way, and (2) comrades that are also equipped with unique abilities. Meanwhile, despite of the heroic character of Peter, his identity in the film is surrounded by critical weaknesses that serve as his primary obstacles prior to achieving his goal of defeating his antagonists. Some of these identified weaknesses are (1) his incapacity to control his powers and abilities at his will, (2) his fragile emotions when it comes to his brother Nathan Petrelli and his loved ones, (3) unable to recognize his own potential, and (4) his fear towards his own abilities. Meanwhile, despite of the weaknesses of his character, Peter is motivated by lost of his brother, Nathan, the death of his loved ones, and the abduction of his girl during his travel in the future. Out of these obstacles and discouragements, Peter still hopes to rescue his girl and his brother from their circumstances; however, he is still confronted by the fear of the destruction he can cause and fear of loosing his love ones in his own hands. Conclusion: Analysis of the Three Chosen T. V Programs In analysis of the male character portrayals from the three chosen television programs, particularly Prison Break, Dante’s Cove and Heroes, there are certain similarities and differences observed among the characters of the said programs. In consideration of similarities, Prison Break’s brothers – Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows – depict the anti-heroic roles in terms of the storyline’s plot. The masculine sides of the brothers are further exemplified by their complex relationships involving a different sense of heroic act compared to the conventional heroic roles of male portrayals in the past. Meanwhile, Dante’s cove similarities in Prison Break is its ironic male roles of anti-masculine portrayal in terms of sexual orientations in the film wherein Kevin and Toby are confronted by the issues of saving their queer relationship being confronted by the horrifying witchcraft of the antagonists. Lastly, Peter Petrelli of Heroes is more similar to Prison Break’s brotherly linkage as with his brother, Nathan Petrelli, who is very much emphasized in the plot of Peter’s journey. In terms of the character similarities, the primary male roles of the said three television programs have already diverted to a different heroic stereotype common in the 20th century film plots. Meanwhile, in terms of the differences showed by the three primary male roles, each possesses differences in relation to the use of multi-culturalism components, gender portrayals, and defining characters of masculinity. As for Prison Break, the brothers are confronted by the emerging complexities of brotherly conditions. In a cultural sense, Prison Break illustrates the conventional role of brotherly affection; however, gender concerns might suggest the questionable bonds of brothers. In addition to cultural components, the nature of their role as prison breakers even distort the 20th century heroic male roles, such as the romanticism influenced-heroes. In Dante’s Cove, the male roles of Kevin and Toby are confronted by issues of cultural liberalization in terms of their illustration of free manly affection, which is actually considered non-manly by cultural norms. However, as for the film and the definition of masculinity, Dante’s Cove is able to raise the concept of manliness in a more behavioral sense than with sexual choices or preferences. Obviously different from the two male portrayals of Prison Break’s brothers and Heroes Peter Petrelli, Dante’s Cove couples have altered the components off masculinity by portraying it outside the common stereotypes of male film roles. Lastly, the character of Peter Petrelli in his diverse heroic role in Heroes has actually portrayed a fragile heroic role. Initially with his low self-compliance and belief in his capacities, his masculinity is confronted by a weaker illustration of identity, which is another diversion from the usual romanticism heroic view. In conclusion, as of 21st century, male roles in television programs have indeed evolved to more complex and diverse heroic portrayals.

Is It Better for People to Stop Trying When They Feel Certain They Will Not Succeed?

Assignment: Is it better for people to stop trying when they feel certain they will not succeed? Although there is the notion held by some people that we should give up some tasks in our life which â€Å"seem† not to be successful forever, I really consider that we should insist on everything we want to do. For, the consistency and the durability of the certain thing will lead us to splendid success. Due to Continuation, Mathew Emmons, a famous sport shooter, and Alfred Nobel, known for his invention of dynamite, earn themselves irreplaceable fame in their respective fields.Matthew Emmons, though missed the Olympics Games champ in shooting all the time, still impresses us with his fortitude. As a famous American shooter, Matthew attended Olympics Games for three times separately during the past twelve years; he missed the first place unchangeably. Nevertheless, he always appeared at the great games, chasing after his dream to become the champ in shooting. During the Olympics o f Athens, he let his champ go by bombing in the last shoot. Matthew, though frustrated, still collected enough courage to participate in the following games in Beijing and London.Unfortunately, misfortune happened on him again; He implausibly scored only few points in the last shoot in the final of his games, narrowly escaping the champ. Afterwards, interviewed by journalists, Matthew said that he would assiduously prepare for Rio de Janeiro. Undeniably, he might feel distressed when he failed in so many great games; he never gives up. Instead, he insists on training and hopes to attend the Game in Rio de Janeiro, 2016. At the same time, the unstopped experiment made by Alfred Nobel can illustrate my idea.Alfred Nobel owes his irreplaceable fame as an inventor of dynamite. Alfred Nobel cultivated great interest in science, especially in explosive, since very young under the influence of his father. Alfred Nobel engaged himself into experiments to find a more powerful and stable subs tance after his graduation from the college. The procedure proved to be tough, even frustrated. On 3 September 1864 a shed, used for the preparation of nitroglycerin, exploded at his factory, killing 5 people including Nobel's brother.Nobel was not obsessed with the bitterness of such accident; instead, he became more strengthened about his goal to find new chemical substance to replace nitroglycerin. Nobel was eventually rewarded when he successfully invented dynamite in 1867. We had to admit that Nobel suffered a lot during the experiment: lose his brother, lose many friends, and lose the trust from the family. However, he had no idea to give up the research on the Dynamite. Through our constant efforts, we can best demonstrate our ability and pursue our dreams. Maybe, the result may change miraculously towards direction desired by us.