Midnight in Paris Analysis Essay

In the movie â€Å"Midnight in Paris†, there are a lot of interesting sights in the most beautiful city in the world. During the film, Woody Allen showed us how Paris is beautiful in the morning, charming in the afternoon, and enchanting in the evening, but it is magic and has a lot of surprising things after midnight. Starting with the Eiffel Tower, there were a lot of iconic shots of Paris at its most touristic points like its beautiful streets under the rain, the famous river in the city ‘La seine ‘, and the broad gardens that makes this city the most beautiful destination for the famous artists who were looking for a quiet place to develop their talent as writers. The movie is a nice combination of Paris in 2010 and Paris in the past, when the famous artists and writers were there like Ernest Hamingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, Gertrud Stein, and Salvador Dali. Throughout the movie the director didn’t just show us Paris and its tourist locations, but also took us to destinations out of the city such as Versailles and Monet’s gardens in Giverny. Then, there were all the warmly lit shots of the cafes, restaurants, and the famous shops such as Coco Channel and Dior. In addition, the beauty of the sights and the photos grabbed the viewer’s attention to want to watch this movie and to discover a lot of more information about some of the most famous artists in the early 19th century. The movie â€Å"Midnight in Paris†, had succeed with participation of group of people who were capable and successful in their job as artists. The writer and director was Woody Allen, and the lead actors were: Owen Wilson, Rachel Mc Adams, and Kathy Bates. The cast was by Marian Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Adrien Brody, and Alison Pill. The studio was Gravier Production, Mediapro, Televisio de catalunya TV3, and it was made in May 20, 2011 by Sony Pictures Classics. The romantic comedy fantasy film had many unbelievable moments starting by discovering the city in the moment to traveling back in time each night after midnight. On one hand, the movie had a lot of interesting moments between the past and the present. The story was about an American family who went to France for a business trip, and the two young people Gil and his fiancee were engaged to be married even though their mentality and their thinking were different. She used to argue with him all the time and she didn’t like him to be a writer as much as to work in Hollywood. Gil was the kind of person who likes to write and to be a successful writer, and by the time he was in Paris, he believed that this ity is the only place he will find himself in. Suddenly, and while he was walking around the Parisian streets, he found himself coming back in time to the 19th Century when all the famous writers and painters were there. Thus, this moment Gil had a big change in his life. Starting by breaking up with his fiancee and falling in love with a French woman. He found himself with the stars of art in Paris in its golden time, and he didn’t believe that he had a lot of conversations with the best writer ever, Ernest Hamingway. On the other hand, Paris in its golden time was the best destination for a lot of artists around the world. Ernest Hamingway was an American author and journalist who chose to live in the city of art, Paris in the golden age. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Many of these are considered classics of American literature. Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he reported for a few months for The Kansas City Star before leaving for the Italian front to enlist with the World War I ambulance drivers. In 1918, he was seriously wounded and returned home. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his novel, A Farewell to Arms. In 1922, he married Hadley Richardson, the first of his four wives. The couple moved to Paris, where he worked as a foreign correspondent, and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s â€Å"Lost Generation† expatriate community. The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway’s first novel, was published in 1926. In my opinion as a viewer, Hemingway was one of the most interesting personalities in the movie because he had made a change on lot of artists after him and he was a good example for those want to be successful in their life as a Gil, and the most interesting part in the movie was the conversation that was in the old Peugeot car when they were talking about men and their fear of death. Lastly, â€Å"Midnight in Paris†, had package of information everyone should know. Thus, I recommend watching this movie, because it wasn’t just a story like what we usually see in other films, but had much information about some famous artists in the 19th century. Also, we went back with the movie to see how those people used to live in nice and quiet world especially in the art city. Personally, I liked the movie from the beginning to the end, because and while I was watching it, I enjoyed its quiet music they used to listen to. The music and the rain in the Parisian streets had made a beautiful picture about this city and also I enjoyed seeing some touristical places I had visited while I was in vacation there. In addition, I liked the story about Gil and how he was encouraging himself to get on the right way in the art, by having a good self-esteem, even though he had a lot of obstacles with his fiancee and her parents.

The Negative Effects the Media Has on the Pit Bull Breed

The Negative Effects The Media Has On The Pit Bull Breed Did you know that for over one hundred years the Pit Bull was called the â€Å"Nanny Dog† by Americans, and was the breed that symbolized our country? One of the most famous Pit Bulls was Petey from The Little Rascals. For generations people got a Pit Bull to keep their children safe because these dogs were the most trustworthy of any breed with children and adults. Now the Nanny Dog is being persecuted by the media, and being called the hellion breed that frightens people. Even though plenty of other dogs bite people, they only publish stories about Pit Bulls. Poodle bites man† is not a very eye catching headline. The media publicizes crazy myths, and they label any dog a Pit Bull even if it is not. The media also zeros in on the specifically negative and extreme incidents; they often do not provide the circumstance surrounding the incidents, and also neglect to mention important statistical information and compar isons to other similar incidents. Being a Pit Bull owner, and having many friends who own them as well, I know that the media is incorrect in their portrayal of the Pit Bull. They are the most loving and gentle breed I have ever known.The media had labeled certain dog breeds as bad breeds for a long time. The Pit Bull is just the most recent victim of the media’s criticism. Before Pit Bulls it was the Rottweiler, before the Rottweiler it was Dobermans, and before Dobermans it was German Shepherds. Each breeds being deemed as vicious and unpredictable to be around people. Every time there was uproar of the public for bans and restrictions on owning them. It is painfully ironic that the media has turned on the breed once the symbol of our country and our national babysitter.In temperance tests (the equivalent of how many times your kid can poke your dog in the eye before it bites him) of all breeds the most tolerant was the Golden Retriever. The second most tolerant was the Pit Bull. I am sure anyone has heard of the Pit Bulls locking jaw, this is a myth. Pit Bulls jaws do not lock; in fact they do not even have the most powerful bite of dog breeds. Pit Bulls are not human aggressive, in fact studies have shown that Pit Bull puppies prefer human company to their mother’s two weeks earlier than any other breed. Also, another common myth is that they don’t feel pain.They feel just as much pain as any other breed. These are the myths that the media is drilling into the public’s heads. Now this tolerant, patient, and gentle breed of dog is embarrassingly being portrayed as the most dangerous. Now sadly 6,000 Pit Bulls are put to death every day, by far the highest number of any breed to be euthanized. Mistaken identity is a huge problem in the media nowadays as well. There is countless times where headlines claimed that a Pit Bull had done wrong and then later on find out it was not a Pit Bull at all, or they just say Pit Bull because the dog resembled one.And even if the media corrects themselves the damage had already been done, people already have the image of the Pit Bull in their mind doing wrong. For example, a story from October, 2007 has as a headline â€Å"Lynn teacher mauled by Pit Bull. † Then the story goes on to identify the dog as a Lab/Rottweiler mix. The term Pit Bull should never have been used. Another story March, 2006 headline â€Å"Pit Bull attacks 12 year old. † However the picture shown of the captured dog is not a Pit Bull, and does not even appear to be a Pit Bull mix.After complaints to the news station regarding the mistaken identity and the use of the term Pit Bull, instead of correcting their mistake, they took down the photo and just left the story up written the same way. These are just a few examples of hundreds of falsely identified Pit Bull stories. Now there may well be some stories where a Pit Bull or Pit Bull mix was correctly identified, but many times they do not mention the circumstances that the attack happened, or the statistical comparison to any other breed of dog attacks.The Humane Society of the United States says that it is imperative that the dog population the community be understood. To simply pull numbers of attacks does not accurately represent the breed. For example, by reviewing a study that states there have been five attacks by Standard Poodles in a community and ten attacks from Pit Bulls in the same community, it would appear that Pit Bulls are more dangerous. However, if you look at the dog population in that community and find there are 50 Standard Poodles and 500 Pit Bulls, then statistically the Pit Bull would be the safer breed.The media turning them into this bad vicious dog is making the wrong people want to own them. Drug dealers and felons are seeing them as protection dogs, or using them to make some cash by breeding. As a result of over breeding, many communities have much more Pit Bull and Pit Bull mixes than a ny other dogs. With the over population of the breed, people’s fear of them, and breed restrictions many of these dogs end up in shelters or euthanized. On the positive side recently I have seen some great stories about Pit bulls. Many people re starting to get educated that this breed is no more dangerous than any other dog. A story from May 9th of 2012 headlines â€Å"Hero Pit Bull saves owner from train tracks. † This amazing story goes on to explain how the woman fell unconscious on the tracks and Lilly, the eight year old Pit Bull, managed to drag her out of harm’s way. Risking her own life Lilly was badly hurt by being struck by the train. After needing her leg amputated, many surgeries and physical therapy she is still just as happy as ever. The Pit Bull can go through so many traumas and still bounce back and be just as loving as ever.Pit Bulls that have been used as fighting dogs and bait dogs get adopted and act like none of it ever happened. Though th e media has already caused so much damage to the judgment of the Pit Bull breed, I am hopeful that people will wake up and realize these dogs are one of the best companions you could ever have. My Pit Bull wants nothing more than to be loved; he is an 80 pound baby who sleeps under the covers in my bed. Maybe the Pit Bull will one day be known as the symbol of America, and the â€Å"Nanny Dog† again.

INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMICS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMICS - Essay Example Even though, restrictive policies are tools used to prevent or reverse inflation, they also reduce the aggregate demand. Tax-based policies employ tax incentives to encourage compliance with specified wage and price policies. The author then talks business cycles which allow the simultaneous pursuit of the steady price level and high employment policy objectives. Furthermore, the author indicates that the interest rate policies are determined by the macroeconomic coordination process in which a leniency in monetary policy can set off an MCP and lower interest rates, while expansionary fiscal policy can set off an MCP and raise interest rates. The chapter then discusses the data problems and policy delays which include the recognition lag, implementation lag and the impact lag associated with the implementation of different policies (Ashby, 2009). Chapter 11 Chapter 11 deals with international issues related to the macroeconomic environment through balance of payments, pegged rates an d domestic policy and flexible rate and domestic policy. The ratio domestic and foreign currency, in this case, dollar ($) and euro (â‚ ¬) is the exchange rate, that is, the international value of the dollar, stated as the euro cost of a dollar.

Evidence based approach on hand washing by nurses Essay

Evidence based approach on hand washing by nurses - Essay Example The product should contain at least 60% alcohol and user should follow the following steps in hand-washing: Routine hygienic hand washing for health care workers This routine was developed to ensure optimum cleaning of disease pathogens Use warm water to wet your hands Apply antiseptic soap containing chlorohexidine work up a good lather of the soap applying with vigorous contact on all surfaces of the hands especially nails and between fingers Washing should last for at least 15 seconds followed by thorough rinsing in clean water and avoid splashing Dry hands using a disposable blotting towel and discard it 1.1 Background This evidence based approach is based on studies published by centre for disease control and prevention (CDC) guideline (2002) for hand-washing and hospital environmental control that strongly recommend hand-washing using appropriate cleansing agent by care givers. The guidelines recommend alcohol-based gels as opposed to medicated soap and plain water for hygienic hand-washing by HCWs. Maintenance of a hygienic environment for the patient is recommended by WHO (2009) guidelines suggesting that clean care is safer care based on WHO patient protection policy. When microbial develop an antibiotic resistance is developed, they can be transferred and spread through bacteria strains very rapidly. Studies indicate that in England and Wales, less than 2% of Staphylococcus aureus strains were methicillin-resistant in 1990 butthis figures had changed by 2002 42% of Staphylococcus aureus strains were methicillin-resistant (Alexander 2010). An estimated 300,000 cases of hospital-acquired MRSA occur each year in England leading to 5,000 deaths. MRSA is a leading cause of death ahead of HIV, TB and viral hepatitis (Boucher 2008). MRSA infection could be reported within 48 hours of admission to a hospital (Jones 2007) resulting to 43% of all skin infections reported in U.S. In 2005 in the United States reported 368,600 hospital admissions for MRSA which in cluded 94,000 cases of invasive infections. MRSA complications resulted in 18,650 deaths. The number of MRSA fatalities in 2005 surpassed the number of fatalities from hurricane Katrina and AIDS combined and is substantially higher than fatalities at the peak of the U. S. polio epidemic (Evans 2008). 2. Formulation of the Question (step1) 2.1 Concept of evidence based practice Evidence based practice has been with the health service for a very long time. Craig (2012, p. 5) opines that evidence based practice has existed since the early 19th century. The only difference with what is currently practiced however has to do with the fact that in those days, there was not as much documentation of the system and research on the issue as there is today. Today, it is known that evidence based practice has become a paradigm shift in healthcare work whereby service providers make use of modern best evidence in their decision making process about patient care that involves the use of the profes sional’s acquired expertise, patient preferences and vaules, as well as the systematic appraisal of existing research to an assigned clinical question (Bernardo, 2007, p. 375). Sackett (1996) also

There is no set topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

There is no set topic - Essay Example The ‘naked self’ refers to Whitman’s metaphor his spontaneous blending or connection to the world he lives in. In particular, a representation of nature and America is perceived in the ‘self’ under his possession and by rhetorical naming, he enumerates acquaintances of humans and dispositions at the aim of making recognition to their worth by way of contributing to be part of his formation. Seemingly he puts this in a resonance that as he takes part of what others are, equivalently, his existence shares to them a part of himself. No matter how large and distinct the external world is and the other human beings outside of the individual self, Whitman persuades the readers to find the essence in collectiveness as bearing impact upon the singleness of a person. Just like a ‘self’ with a soul of its own, the collective co-existences surrounding form a network to the self so if seen as a whole, the collection is seen as one with a singular sou l that discerns every part of itself as every part is the self making up the breathing union. As he tries to raise a political stand on describing a ‘democratic self’, Whitman admits at having undergone a struggle of remaining part of a whole while invoking the freedom to acquire an identity which by nature stands different or unique compared with the rest.

Data Collection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Data Collection Paper - Essay Example This is where good academic performance usually starts. However, as these students continue to blend with others or as they continue to dwell within the grounds of the academic institution, they encounter certain things that influence their thinking, their outlook and their attitude. In the case of academic performance, there are several factors that can affect students' attitude towards school. Some of these factors include peer pressure, family background or problems, school location or environment, the student's lifestyle and teachers, and other psychosocial reasons. There are also studies that show that ethnic differences can affect a students' attitude towards school. Professor Laurence Steinberg, in one of his publications, stated that ethnic differences causes students to have different beliefs or reactions regarding failing in school. Specifically, he cited Asians as believers that poor performance in school would have negative or unfavorable consequences. Furthermore, he exp lains the effect of peer pressure on a child. Results of his studies also show that a lot of American teens believe that people make fun of those who do well academically. This implies that they would rather not have high grades to avoid being laughed at. Majority of the students also expressed that they never talk about academics or school-related issues with their friends (Edsource Online, 1999). In relation to the g... This teacher factor means how the teacher deals with the students, the teacher's manner of teaching, the teacher's professional and casual relationship with the students, and other relevant and significant elements that might have an impact on the students' performance. This study aims to answer the following questions: 1. What are the factors that can affect a students' academic performance 2. What are the examples of "teacher factor" that have significant effects on a student's performance In addition, at the end of this study, solutions on how to minimize the negative effect of "teacher factor" on students' performance should be provided. Since the research will tackle the different factors, particularly the "teacher factor", that affects students' performance in school, results will be beneficial to other students of different educational level. Through this research, students will learn about how to avoid being affected by such factors, and therefore, begin to develop a more positive outlook about school and help them excel in class. Aside from the students, this research will also be of help to educational institutions by providing them with relevant information on how to improve and develop better relationships among the teachers and the students. This research can also serve as a reference for future researchers. This is going to be a descriptive research which will involve male and female high school students as respondents. The sampling technique to be used will be random sampling. This research will make use of a questionnaire as the data collection method. This will allow the researcher to have a larger sample size and, therefore, obtain more reliable and accurate results. This method is also less

Letter to the editor Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Letter to the editor - Assignment Example Mr. Perez makes the assumption that everyone will agree with his position that racial profiling is dangerous rhetoric. The truth is Americans are concerned with the problems of illegal immigration. Only minorities might agree with this point of view. A better argument can be made than racial profiling is wrong. Solutions need to be given for the immigration problem. There are no easy solutions, but maybe if Arizona is provided with alternatives, then racial profiling legislation might not be needed. Several options that could be explored are stricter I.D. regulations. New technology could provide the answer. In many states, to receive an I.D. a fingerprint must be given. Police might be provided with a fingerprint pad to compare with the fingerprint listed on file. If the I.D. is not legitimate this could be spotted immediately. Another option would be all government services have a photo I.D. with the fingerprint requirement. Services like healthcare, any governmental services, and so forth could be mandated. Buying tags, registering a car, filing a lawsuit, and registering for a post office box are all examples of government services. Driver’s Licenses and state I.D.s with better security measures like finger prints, barcodes, and photos embedded in the issue I.D. with the same techniques as used in money and checks could help spot illegal immigrants. A perfect example of checking I.D. legally would be through the Census. If an individual does not send in a Census form , the Census bureau sends out field agents. Names that are sent in can be checked with legitimate Social Security numbers, credit reports, and other sources, if a name cannot be matched up, then I.D. will be required. There are so many instances that an I.D. is required. Eventually illegal immigrants would be caught. Crime is another issue that the Arizona legislation addressed. Violent crimes are being committed by

Research Methods-Planning and Evaluating Research based on a Essay

Research Methods-Planning and Evaluating Research based on a Questionnaire - Essay Example The effectiveness of the selection process relies on the amount of knowledge on the researchers’ hands concerning sampling (Cohen & Lea, 2004). The sample population should be enough to address the issue at hand and as a researcher, one should avoid biased sample sizes ensuring that the sample size is neither excessive nor small. Questionnaires can be administered and be distributed in a number of methods depending on the study’s scope. The different ways in which questionnaires can be distributed includes using postal services, telephone, electronic, and through personal administration or self-reports. All the methods used in the distribution of questionnaires as pointed out depend on the scope of the survey undertaken in terms of costs and time (Kalof & Dan et al., 2008). Administration of questionnaires to a sample in far locations is best distributed according through postal, telephone, and electronic mode. The three methods are effective in cost reduction while at the same time ensuring the researcher gets the input of respondents in far areas (Patton & Patton, 2002). However, the most effective form of distribution is through personally administered questionnaires or self-reports. This method involves the interviewer or researcher administering the questionnaires to the respondent physically. Th e physical presence of a researcher is important in the provision of guidance and clarification to respondent while at the same time ensuring they establish a rapport with their respondents (Patton & Patton, 2002). Self-reports and personally administered questionnaires yield high response rates in comparison to other modes of distribution and thus researchers should ensure they use it as a tool for research. Likert scales are important components of research especially when conducting a survey with the aid of questionnaires. The scale can be described as an ordered scale where respondents are availed with options to

Business Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Communication - Essay Example The goal of the company is sustainable growth reflected in consistency and profits. In order to achieve its goals, the company need commitment to accelerate efficiency, reduce cost, focus on potential markets and implement efficient decision-making and execution processes. One of the greatest challenges the company is faces is that the beer industry is in its mature competitive stage. In the beer industry, 37% of American adults are beer drinkers. Furthermore, it is the widely purchased hot drink with a projected steady growth. The beverage is enjoyed by all types of consumers. Competition from other competitors is immensely strong. Every company tries to strengthen their global position. Some of Heineken’s rivals are InBev and Grupo Modelo. To cope with the stiff competition most companies, sorted to merging and acquisition. For example; South African PLC united with Miller, and Molson was acquired by Coors. In 2004, InterBrew merged with Ambev and later acquired Anheuser-Bus ch. Heineken has to ensure that it is well presented globally. It became the first company in worldwide distribution of its products aided with strategically placed warehouses. In its operations, small brewers were acquired that made it the biggest beer maker in Eastern Europe. With many brewers across the world, the company has the strength of shipping its products to local areas with minimum costs. Through the acquisition of many breweries, it managed to spread it label. The company decided not to advertise its product on TV in UK from the year 2006. This communication strategy is challenging because most corporations used media to reach homes of millions (Lin, no date). Part 2: Evaluation of corporate communication Is the communication strategy chosen by Heineken a creative corporate communication? The strategy was a right one. The aim of corporate communication is to pass your message across to clients, organization staff as well as to the stakeholders. The message preached is t he starting point of discussion within the organization, and a message can be communicated through many options. The point of argument for Heineken was that TV channels cannot effectively reach targeted market because they are many. The company sought for better alternatives that were adequate and effective than TV adverts (Aashwin 2005). Heineken became sponsors of Heineken European Cup in rugby union and European Champions League through Amstel beer. Through this strategy, the company would get exposure on TV with a target of reaching its consumers. This mode of approach looks more effective than blanket TV adverts. Creativity in reaching its global market puts it ahead of its competitors. Through this sponsorship program, customers get associated with the product of the organization. Heineken incorporated other efficient ways of communication. Communication is conveyed through mission statement, packaging, logos, livery, endorsement and straplines. Part 3: Legislation Communicati on policy is required by organizations because it provides guidelines managers should use in daily communication with employees, stakeholders and customers. Guidelines are also issued on company spokesperson and rights of employees. A clear definition of operational methods is required because they are used in marketing and influence physical design of markets and regulations. Factors to be considered when developing

Critical Analysis of Locke's Representative Realism and Berkeley's Essay

Critical Analysis of Locke's Representative Realism and Berkeley's Subjective Idealism - Essay Example However, some phenomena are best represented using the theory of realism, while other phenomena are best represented by idealism. An example of which is when attempting to understand the basis of phenomena that are usually labeled as miracles, magic, spontaneous healing, or shamanism. The best theory to adopt in this case is that of idealism. So in practice, a thinker will determine what phenomena are most essential to him, and then support the theory that he deems best to interpret them. In Berkeley’s point of view, all thoughts, passions and ideas exist within the mind, while anything that is outside of the mind is unintelligible. His claims is such that it is impossible for us to ever come to know what is outside the mind, and so, we cannot even think about it. This claim would then entail that anything that is outside of mind has no meaning for us. If something is outside of the mind, it means that we are incapable of receiving any sensory input and any sensations from it. This entails that we are incapale of even perceiving it because we cannot detect it in any way. Sensations are meaningless except to the mind that receives them. All the ideas that we have of objects are derived from sensation and so are set within mind. Objects necessitates a mind to perceive them. It is impossible for us to imagine any sensible thing or object distinct from the sensation or perception of it. While imagination, on the otherhand, is based on what we have already seen. In this view, even mythical ideas such as centaurs, which we have never seen but can imagine, are made up of a collage of other ideas that we are capable of perceiving. The sensations of objects are indivisible from the ideas of them. Berkeley further insists that even though objects exist, they are not made up of an independent medium called matter. The existence of these objects is dependent only on their being perceived by an observer. A mind connects only to other minds while ideas can only relate other ideas. However, if Berkeley is right, if an object did exist that was not related to mind, which means that it would have to be an unthinking thing, then how could it form a mental image in us? If an object is not related to the mind, then it cannot affect our mind in much the same that for an object to affect our mind, it must be a mental product first. In opposition to Berkeley's views, â€Å"Representative realism† is Locke’s view that we experience objects indirectly through â€Å"representations† wherein the mind represents the world, but does not duplicate it. Primary qualities are measurable using numbers such as those of sizes and weight. Relativism is the view that no one can have perfectly objective knowledge. â€Å"Objective† in this context is defined as being â€Å"the same for everyone.† Secondary qualities, on the otherhand, results from the interaction of sense data with our sense organs, meaning they are â€Å"subjectiveâ⠂¬ . They correspond to nothing about the world as it is, but only about the world as it seems to each of us individually and privately. Locke claims that all knowledge comes from the senses and because each individual has a unique set of sense experiences, no two people will have exactly the same sense experiences. If knowledge comes only from the senses, no two people will have the same knowledge, and as long as people ground their beliefs in their sense data, nobody’

Critical Lens Paper Essay Example for Free

Critical Lens Paper Essay Joanna Kathleen Rowling once said, â€Å"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.† Rowling’s words suggest it is our decisions that show who we really are more than our capabilities. It’s not about what we can do or how fast we can get it done, but it’s ultimately about the decisions we make to do something or not. Rowling’s words are in fact valid. The choices you make in a difficult situation can fundamentally show the people around you what you’re made of and what you’re about. Evidence of Rowling’s words exist in Ashley Antoinette’s novel Moth to a Flame through the use of characterization and Sidi’s novel Fatou: An African Girl In Harlem also through the use of characterization. Both Antoinette and Sidi’s work show that the decisions we make ultimately show who we truly are. Sidi uses the characterization of the Fatou in his novel Fatou: An African Girl In Harlem to show that the choices we make basically show who we really are. Fatou is the protagonist in the novel. She was brought from African to America at twelve years old to marry a forty year old man named Lama. Fatou was sold to this man so her family could live wealthy in Africa. She always thought America was the land of greatness and freedom until she got there. Her forty year old husband did nothing but abuse her. Fatou wanted nothing more than to get away from Lama and make a better living for herself. She decided to go to school and get her get her diploma. Moreover, she decided to no longer be someone else’s property. The characterization of Fatou in the novel clearly shows that your decisions show who we truly are. Instead of being someone’s slave, Fatou chose to run away and make a better life for herself. Furthermore, she showed everyone around her that she’s not property and she’s no longer going to be oppressed by her forty year old husband. All things considered, by using Fatou Sidi shows or choices are what sho w what we truly are, not our capabilities. Ashley Antoinette uses the characterization of Raven in her novel Moth to a Flame to show the decisions we make fundamentally show who we are as a person. Raven is the protagonist in the novel. She is the daughter of Benny Atkins. At seventeen, Raven began dating a known stick-up kid named Mizan. Unknown to her, Mizan had different intentions. He wanted to take Raven’s father off his throne. Raven’s Father, Benny Atkins, was the king of the whole drug scene in Flint, MI and Mizan envied him. Her Father sensed there wasn’t something right about Mizan and forbid Raven to see him again. Unfortunately, this only pushed Raven closer to Mizan. From then on, Raven’s life began to spiral downward. Her father died, her mother was sent to jail, and she was left to take care of her six year old sister. Raven and her little sister moved in with Mizan. Shortly after, Mizan started abusing Raven. After losing her child because of the constant beating, Raven finally foun d the courage to leave Mizan. She reached out to Ethic, a man that worked with her father, and he helped her and her little sister get on their feet. Raven and Ethic ended up falling in love and starting their own family. Raven also applied for college classes and eventually got her degree. Antoinette’s portrayal of Raven shows that your choices are what make you who you are. Raven chose to leave Mizan and make a better life for her little sister, instead of being someone’s punching bag. Furthermore, Raven chose her life. She showed many individuals around her that she can stand on her own two feet and even with her struggles, she was going to make it. Thus, by using Raven Antoinette showed that your capabilities are nothing compared to the decisions you make. Joanna Kathleen Rowling’s quote, â€Å" It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities† , illustrates that our abilities are nothing compared to the decisions we make, our decisions are what show those around us who we ultimately are. Rowling’s words were validated by Ashley Antoinette in her novel Moth to a Flame using the characterization of Raven. She showed her readers that abilities mean nothing because the protagonist wasn’t capable of overcoming her boyfriend. Instead, the protagonist chose to leave him and she saved her life doing so. The lens is also proven true by Sidi in his novel Fatou: An African Girl in Harlem in which he uses the characterization of the protagonist Fatou to show that some things you’re not capable of controlling but you can make a choice to remove yourself from the situation. Writers like Antoinette and Sidi show readers that our choices are what show the individuals around us what we’re made of not our capabilities.

Gold: Demand, Supply and Impact

Gold: Demand, Supply and Impact Introduction India shares a unique relationship with gold, one that is very complex and timeless. From Hindu mythology to various cultural traditions, gold is deeply embedded in the Indian psyche. It’s a symbol of purity, prosperity, good luck, status and wealth. Every Indian, rich or poor, living in city, town or village, is a potential first time buyer or , as in most cases, a repeat buyer. Gold purchases serve a two-fold purpose- that of an ornament and an investment. The emotional and sentimental attachment to gold further adds to the complexity as gold is passed on from one generation to the next. Right from the time a child is born to the time of marriage, gold finds a place in all the rituals and traditions. In addition to this, the religious significance of gold in India means festivals and temple offerings are other important triggers for high sales of gold. Our aim is to study what triggers the Indian consumer to buy gold, the changing trends in purchase behavior, the impact of this on India’s financial stability and to recommend ways to monetize gold or suggest alternate instruments that can curb the investment demand for gold in the country. We analyzed the existing literature on gold to systematically understand current understanding regarding the factors that act as triggers for the Indian gold consumer. We will then compare this with our primary research in an attempt to draw a clearer picture of the gold market in India and suggest ways to monetize it. Section 2: Brief Review of Literature Section 3: Gold: Demand, Supply and Impact on Financial Stability Demand for Gold The ‘Report of the Working Group to Study the Issues Related to Gold and Gold Loans NBFCs in India’, constituted by RBI, states that the demand for gold in India cannot be compared with that of the demand for gold in other parts of the world. The 1.3 plus billion population of India would continue to generate demand for gold, especially through imports. The demand is from both investors in gold and gold jewelry consumers. Due to various cultural, religious, economic and social reasons, the gold demand in India is autonomous. The benefit that it offers by way of long-run inflation hedge, high liquidity and also, the absence of substitutes with similar risk-return profile makes it an attractive asset to store. The convenience of cash based transactions and absence of documentation hassle (no paper trail, tax obligations etc.) further makes it a preferred channel for money laundering. Hence the committee concludes that attempting to curb the gold demand in India would a dif ficult and complex task. Also, historically gold has a been a measure of economic power of kingdoms and nations. In recent times, particularly after the 2008 crisis, gold as an investment asset has drawn attention and the prices of gold soared in the aftermath of the crisis. (International Journal of scientific research and management) Studies show a strong correlation (0.83 for the 2006Q3–2013Q2) between gold imports and inflation expectations of Indian households, indicating that one reason for high gold demand is its use as an inflation hedge. (Selected Issues Paper on India, IMF, 2014) Source: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2014/cr1458.pdf Source: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/indias-gold-imports-are-starting-to-weigh-down-the-economy/1/195178.html Price Sensitivity of Consumers The Bloomberg BusinessWeek article titled â€Å"Correlations: Indias Gold Grab† says that the 23% fall in gold price since October, 2013 shifted the investors away from gold to risky but high return equities. Contrary to this, the Indian gold consumers took advantage of the price drop. Consequently, the purchases in April and May were so high that it began to show in the widening trade deficit. This mid-April slump was the largest in more than three decades and it pushed the banks, traders, and jewelers in India to import more than 100tons of gold. This indicates the complex behavior of Indian consumers with respect to gold price which does not match the typical investor profile. Yet most buyers of gold consider the metal from both consumption and investment angle. Source: Changing Trends of Consumers Retailers K. Balaji and Dr. Maheshwari in the research paper titled â€Å"A Paradigm Shift in the Buying Behavior of Indians Towards Gold Jewelry – A Theoretical Approach with Reference to the Growth of Branded Retailers† posits that as Indian jewelry market matures, the changing consumer preferences are expected to lead to a more organized industry while share of family jewelers is expected to decline. The Indian consumer is moving from unbranded to branded jewelry with fashion trends dictating more and more of the purchase decisions. Although, currently the market is fragmented across the value chain with more than 30,000 players with modern retailers making only 4-6% of the share. It further states that with rising population and income levels there will be an overall increase in spending, including spending on aspirational products which includes gems jewelry. The tastes are changing and the consumer is focusing on more modern and intricate designs as compared to the traditi onal chunky ones. Isha Datwani, founder of Anmol Jewelers says, â€Å"The biggest change we see is that younger people are buying gold†. This working class of young Indians have their own views and opinions and the role of elders as influencers in gold purchase is reducing. Also this new set of Indian consumers has an increased focus on transparency, service, brands and fashion. Also the new set of branded chains, through innovative branding and advertising, are targeting the aspirational class of Indian women by positioning gold as more than an investment, as something that is deeply rooted in our culture and intended to make a woman look more beautiful. The have resorted to new ways of segmenting and usage (e.g. creating new occasions for purchase) to attract new sets of consumers. Source: Technopak Analysis Section 3: Supply of Gold Impact on Financial Stability Gold supply comes from imports, mining, sales of gold reserves, and â€Å"old gold scrap† (the recycling of gold). (IJSRM volume 2 issue 2 Feb 2014). Against the backdrop of high inflation, negative real deposit rates, gain in international gold prices and expectations of further increase, India’s gold imports increased from about 1.5 percent of GDP in 2004-08 to 3 percent in 2011-13. (Muneesh Kapur and Rakesh Mohan) . Source: http://goldminersreport.com/library/the-ascendency-of-real-gold-demand/ RBI gold swap scheme http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-07-02/news/51030718_1_yellow-metal-gold-international-bullion-banks Source: http://www.dgcmagazine.com/cant-keep-indians-from-their-gold/ A high inflation for long duration lowers the real rates, resulting in increased gold imports and decreased household financial savings. Gold imports in turn weaken the rupee and worsen the current account deficit. (Selected Issues Paper on India, IMF, 2014) Considering the nature of demand for gold in India, restrictions on gold imports should be considered as a temporary measure as over time these may become less effective (e.g.: increase in smuggling). To ensure macroeconomic stability, we need to reduce the gold imports in long run. For this, its demand as ‘store of value’ must be curbed which is possible by lowering inflation and increasing real returns on bank deposits. (India Article IV Consultation, IMF, 2014) Section 4: Measures to moderate the demand for Gold and monetize it The RBI Reports describes various measures to curb the demand for gold and monetize the idle gold stocks: Gold Loans: These are a flexible channel to improve the financial inclusion in the country, especially for the illiterate and semi-literate people who may need to raise loans for medical emergency or need education loans or even for business loans by SMEs. There is a huge untapped gold stock lying idle in hands of individuals (anywhere between 18000 to 20000 tonnes), out of which only a small fraction (about 3 %) is being monetized through gold loans. Gold Bank: The Group has suggested the setting up of ‘Gold Bank’ or ‘Bullion Corporation of India’ as a ‘backstop facility’ that will lend (provide refinancing) to institutions against the collateral of gold. It can also play a role in retailing functions like recycling and pooling of idle gold. Gold Recycling: There is a large stock of idle gold, both with individuals and with institutions like Temples as devotees offer gold jewellery in large quantities. There is also estimated 300 tonnes of scrap gold that comes into the system every year. So, by finding means to recycle the idle and scrap gold, we can turn an unproductive asset into a financially productive one. Buy-back by Banks: Currently, banks are operating a uni-directional channel- importing and selling gold. The Group has suggested that the canalising agencies like banks and nominated agencies should function bi-directionally, i.e., they should also be able to buy back tamper proof gold coins at transparent prices. Monetization through banks: Another alternative that the paper suggests is to allow banks to accept gold deposits from the public and use these gold deposits as a hedge, thus monetizing gold till it is redeemed. New gold-backed products: The Working Group has also suggested introduction of gold-back products to monetize the idle gold stocks and at the same time reduce the demand for physical gold. These are broadly classified into five categories: Products like Modified Gold Deposit Scheme in which gold taken as deposit is recycled to meet domestic demand and returned at maturity, thus monetizing privately held gold stocks. Products like Gold Accumulation Plan, Gold Certificate, e-Gold Plan through Banking Channel, Paper Gold that facilitate systematic investment in gold. Gold Accumulation Plan would help those who can purchase gold in small amounts and delays the gold imports till the required amount of gold is accumulated and actually delivered. Products like Gold linked Account and Gold Securities which allow active portfolio management by providing flexibility to buy and sell gold similar to ETFs. Under Gold Linked Account the transaction takes place outside the country thus eliminating gold import. Products like Gold linked Dual Account and Gold Securitisation, which are derivative products that enable customers to take positions depending upon their view of gold prices. Products like Gold Pension in which the customer will keep his gold with the bank and in return receive a monthly pension. References: Sheetal Dubey, Anamika Hardia (2014), â€Å"Demand Supply Trends of Sparkling Metal†,  International Journal of scientific research and management (IJSRM). Retrieved from  http://ijsrm.in/v2-i2/7 ijsrm.pdf Muneesh Kapur, Rakesh Mohan (2014), â€Å"India’s Recent Macroeconomic Performance: An  Assessment and Way Forward†, IMF, WP/14/68. Retrieved from  http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp1468.pdf International Monetary Fund, Selected Issues Paper on India, January 2014. Retrieved from  http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2014/cr1458.pdf FICCI-Technopak Report on Unlocking the Potential of India’s Gems Jewelry Sector, January, 2010. K.U.B. Rao and others (2013), Report of the Working Group to Study the Issues Related to Gold Import and Gold Loans NBFCs in India, Reserve Bank Of India. K. Balaji, Dr. Maheshwari (2014), â€Å"A Paradigm Shift in the Buying Behavior of Indians Towards Gold Jewelry – A Theoretical Approach with Reference to the Growth of Branded Retailers† Prabhudatta Mishra, Swansy Afonso (2013), â€Å"Correlations: Indias Gold Grab†, Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Bibliography India, Article IV Consultation (2014), IMF Country Report No. 14/57, http://goldresearcher.com/gold-supply-2/ http://goldresearcher.com/supply-demand/indias-gold-market/

Sex,Slavery And Human Trafficking

Sex,Slavery And Human Trafficking In some cases, sex slavery and human trafficking are connected to one another. Human trafficking is the practice of being tricked, lured, coerced, or otherwise removed from their home or country. In most instances, human trafficking of women and children had led them to being sexually exploited by traffickers. It is believed that more people are being trafficked across the border against their will now then at any point in the past. Adult victims are lured into this hidden industry with false promises of good jobs in other countries, false marriage proposals, or kidnapped. Children are also kidnapped into the sex industry, sold by their own families, and at times families are manipulated into selling their children. Traffickers would tell parents or family members that the children would have a brighter future if they left their families. Families believed that these traffickers would take their children and teach them a good trade to ensure their future, or be educated. But in reality, women and children are sold to brothels and held captive. Victims are kept in deplorable conditions, beaten, raped, and threatened. Medical care does not exist for those victims and many are exposed to deadly sexually transmitted diseases. History Viviene Cree (2008) wrote that women and children are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking because of their experience of powerlessness, poverty, gender-based discrimination, and the history of sexual and physical violence. Unfortunately, human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is not something that happened overnight. History has shown us that the selling and using of the human body for sexual gratification was happening then and practice is continuing today. While searching for some information on the history of sex slavery, we found several academic articles that dealt with the owning of women and children for sexual use. Yaron Ben-Naeh (2006) wrote that from the 16th to the 19th century, female slaves were kept in Jewish household during the Ottoman Empire. The slaves that were being kept in these households were of Slavic origins captured during the Ottoman Campaign, or by their Tator collaborators in Eastern Europe. Because these slaves were of Slavic origins, the documented physical descriptions of these slaves were that they had fair colored hair and light colored eyes. Females were sought out for their domestic skills, strength, and their obedience. It was also suggested that the slaves were considered as beautiful objects that were present in the household. Court records, from that period, listed a wide range of prices of slaves. Prices were given according to the slaves physical attributes, skills, appearance, age, and the length of service agreed upon. These females were not only used for domestic servitude, but some were used as concubines to the males of the households, usually the master o f the domain. Sexual relationships with their masters were part of the slaves domestic duties. There was some documentation that female slaves were freed from their owners, if they were loyal and obedient. It was also written that some slaves mentioned in the wills of their deceased masters. Sometimes these slaves were left some money or items in the will. Some slaves are transferred to different family members or sold to neighbors when their owners passed away. It was not uncommon for some female slaves to be married off to family members, relatives, or friends. Children of the female slave, if they converted to Judaism and the Jewish owner acknowledged paternity, were legitimate heir and were legally allowed to their fathers inheritance. Viviene Cree (2008) wrote that public concern about human trafficking is not new. In the 19th and the 20th century, organizations were put together to stop the trafficking of human beings. One of these organizations was The National Vigilance Association (NVA), which was launched on August 1885 in London, UK. The purpose of the organization was to undertake private prosecution and alert the police to the infringements of the newly passes Criminal Law Act. The main provisions were: *1. It became an offense to procure a woman under 21 years of age for prostitution. *2. The age of sexual consent was raised from 13 years to 16 years *3. Anyone who detained a women or a girl for the purpose of unlawful sex, in an brothel or other premise. *4. Financial penalties or imprisonment were imposed on anyone found guilty of keeping, managing, assisting, owning, or renting out premises used as a brothel or for the purpose of prostitution. In the beginning, the organization was focused on local activities in their area. For instance, prostitutes were blamed for the declining health of the nation and the armed forces. The NVA created campaigns to eradicate prostitution. To accomplish this task, members investigated brothels, dance halls, and dangerous houses. Members of the organization were able to remove women and children whom they believed were at risk. At the end of the 19th century, the NVAs executive committee formed the International Bureaus British National Committee to handle international activities. In 1921, the League of Nations took over the responsibilities of the International Bureau and combined their forces with the NVA on seeking agreements between countries on the repatriation on prostitutes, on the traffic of women and children, and on the abolition of licensed houses (regulated brothels), and on the assistance of expelled foreign prostitutes. The organization targeted the white slave trade, which dealt with child prostitution and the entrapment and removal of white British girls from overseas brothels. The panic was over the kidnapping of innocent (white) girls who were being forced into the life of prostitution. Socialist believed that prostitution, at that time, was the inevitable by-product of capitalism. Women had to use their bodies because the economic structure did not offer women legitimate opportunities of earning a wage. Another part of history has shown us that war was another excuse used to violate womens bodies, such as trafficking women across to the battlefield to service soldiers. The comfort women use by the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII, was one of the most extreme forms of institutionalized forms of violence against women. It was institutionalized because the Japanese military felt that if they set up brothel stations it would reduce the amount of rapes. Until recently, the comfort women of WWII have been silent and lost in the written pages of history books. The military called these women military comfort women to disguise the horrific nature and true purpose of these women. In December 1991, Korean women had started to come forward claiming to be comfort women and exposing sexual crimes committed against them by the Japanese army during the war. Pyong Gap Min wrote that the victimization of Korean Comfort Movement has three major components: (1) their being forced into military sexua l slavery, (2) their suffering inside military brothels, and (3) their half-century of agonizing experiences after their return home. These women came forward because they felt that they deserved any official apology from the Japanese government. They also were seeking compensation, prosecution of offenders and war criminals, proper education of the public on the nature of this war crime, a rewritten history of war crimes in the textbooks to include the sexual violations, and memorial tablets for the deceased comfort women. Young girls, between the ages of 14 to 17, were taken off the streets by Japanese soldiers and were forced to service an average of thirty to forty soldiers a day. George Hicks wrote in his book, The Comfort Women: Japans Brutal Regime of Enforced Prostitution in the Second World War that these women were rotated between some many men that their pudenda grew swollen and inflamed, and they were constantly attempting to gain relief by applying cold towels. Hicks also mention, that women were taught tricks of the trade by maximizing time and effort. They were taught to douche between rapes, or hurriedly apply cotton wool soaked in disinfectant. As supplies started to run low, the women had to reuse condoms by rinsing them off between uses. These girls were made to service in military brothels established in China and other Asian and Pacific countries during the Asian and Pacific War (1932-1945). The girls came from Korean, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Europea n women were also used by the military. These women were of Dutch, taken from prisoner of war camps in Indonesia. The estimate numbers of women taking and transported across the battlefield was about 200,000, and less than 30 percent survived to the end of the war. Korean women made up the higher percentage of the women taking, about 80 percent of the total population of comfort women. The Japanese army divided the women according to race, class, nationality, and the ranks of the officers they were made to service. Korean women and Asian women were taken an advantaged of by the lower class soldiers. Japanese and European women were saved for the upper class officers of the military. Korean women were treated more cruelly than Japanese women, mainly because of Japaneses colonization of Korea. It was not until recently, that the Japanese government would not acknowledge the use of comfort women during WWII. For years, Japan had denied the recruitment and transportation of these women. On January 16, 1992, Yoshimi Yoshiaki, a Japanese history professor, discovered documents found information about the military comfort women in the library of Japans Self Defense Force in Japan. Finally, with the discovery of documentation and victims stepping forward, Japan admitted to this part of their history and issued a formal apology in August of 1993 with no compensation. Instead the government solicited donations from their citizens and put the funds into the Asian Movement Fund. By doing this, the government avoided any legal and financial responsibilities. Another war that contributed to the trafficking of females to service male soldiers was during the Vietnam War. During the war, the Thai government received billions of dollars in military and economic aid because of its alignment with the United States (Ratchada Jayagupta (2009). In exchange, the Thai government authorized 700,000 U.S military troops in north-eastern and eastern Thailand. Because of the increase of foreign men coming into their areas, criminal networks started to recruit females from costal towns of Pattaya and Bangkok for sexual services. These women were used to service military men on their leave time. To help facilitate the migration process, immediate family member of the women, locals, and traffickers would be involved in the transportation. When the U.S government withdraw its troops from Thailand, which did not stop sex tourism in Thailand. As a matter of fact, by 1982 tourism had become Thailands top foreign exchange earner. In most cases involving crime and criminal activities, the males exploitations of females was/is for the purpose of sexual gratification and for profit. In the animal kingdom, some species exploit their females not for the purpose of satisfying their lust but to ensure the continuation of the species. One of these animals is a species of copepods, called a sea louse. The sea louse males start recruiting females by giving off a chemical smell that females find irresistible. The female would follow the chemical trail that lead up to the males lair. When she gets close enough, the male would capture her and bring her inside the lair. The male would repeat the same procedure for the next three months until he has enough females. The male sea louse can have up to three dozens females in his harem. He will line all the females in a row in his tunnel to monitor them closely. When the females begin to molt, he will then mate with each of them. The females will sacrifice their lives in order for their offspring s to survive. Each female will become swollen with eggs, and when it is time those eggs will hatch. It takes a lot of energy to hold such a large number of young in her shell. By the time the young are ready to be born, she will died of exhaustion. Profits Money is the incentive of most crime and criminal activities. Unfortunately, sex slavery or human trafficking is a highly profitable underground industry. Rachada Jayagupta (2009) believes the human trafficking has now become the third largest criminal activity in the world, next to drugs and arms trafficking. Jennifer Ludden (2009) wrote that human trafficking is the second largest illicit business in the World after drugs. After narcotics and arms sales, trafficking is estimated to be the largest source of revenue for organized crime (U.S. Department of State 2004). Trafficking of human beings is such a lucrative business, that it profits are estimated to be in the billions every year. The selling of the human body is considered more profitable than drugs. In 1990, the trafficking of human, mostly for prostitution, generated an annual profit between $1.9 billion and $3.2 billion Canadian (Janet Bagnall (2002). Drugs are sold and used once, but the body of the person can be used and sold over and over again. Women, who are sold into prostitution, can be earners for their pimp for years. Most of the money that these women make goes directly to the hands of their pimps, with little or nothing going to the victims. On February 5, 2010, The Sun reported that an Irish Pimp, who ran a multi-million euro prostitution ring in Wales, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Thomas Carroll, his wife Shamiela Clark, and his daughter Toma Carroll, were all sentence for trafficking women and forcing them into prostitution. The girls, who would charge their clients 250 euro for an hour, had to lodge their earning into Toma Carrolls account. Carroll would than transfer the money to her fathers account. In 2006, 111,000 euros was deposited, 113 million euro was deposited in 2007, and 500,000 was lodged by September 2009. Trafficked women retain little or nothing of the money they earn. Women and children of these sex industries are immediately discarded when they no longer become attractive to their potential clients, or are no longer profitable to their pimps. In Cambodia, children are considered commodities, and are often tortured and killed when they have outlived their usefulness. Another reason for the short lifespan of these victims is they are more susceptible to diseases. With inadequate health care and poor hygiene, many victims are infected by AIDS and other transmitted diseases. Victims are giving drugs and rape repeatedly by their captures to break their wills and prevent them from escaping. These captures would usually be the first to rape their victims, in order to give them lessons on how to please their clients. If these trafficked women or girls do no meet the quota or the requirements to satisfy the clients, they would be quickly sold off to another person or brothel. Women and children are also given drugs so they can earn more money by taking on more clients. Some women and girls choose to take methamphetamines, in order to endure the physical and mental pain. They also take the drugs to be able to take on more clients. Kuntea Pang, left her home in Kampong Cham, to find her sister in the city. When she arrived there, a woman and said that she would help Kuntea find her sister. Instead, this woman brought her to a brothel and gave her methamphetamines. The drug made her not want to eat and not want to sleep, qualities that are desirable in sex worke rs. The methamphetamine also made Kuntea forget what happened to her as she was being held captive. When women and children are discarded, new recruits must take her place in the sex industry. Traffickers target victims according to the taste of their customers. In Thailand, young virgins in the sex tourism industry are considered a prize commodity. Virgins are prized because of their youth, inexperience, and the lack of sexually transmitted disease. Child virgins are especially prized because of their beauty and lack of sexual transmitted diseases. Larry Hilblom, the founder of DHL courier service, was one of those people who preferred the innocent of children. Generic testing had confirmed that he fathered at least four children from three Pacific Rim countries (Scheer, 1997). Shared Hope International (SHI), a non-profit group, undertook a 12 month long operation of commercial sexual exploitation in Jamaica, Japan, Netherlands, and the United States. SHI revealed a sophisticated business model for the sex tourism and sex trafficking. They compared this business with being in a m all. In a mall, buyers are able to choose from a variety of human products of different ages and different colors. David Hodge wrote that traffickers increase their market by being able to provide younger and younger females to be used for prostitution. The United States Central Intelligence Agency, estimates that traffickers can earn about $250,000 for each trafficked women. Child pornography is another type of sex industry that has become highly profitable for pimps and child sex operators. Child pornography includes magazines, videos, photographs, books, pictures, audiotapes, motion pictures, and images on the Web that show children in sexually explicit acts. Barri Flowers (2001) said, Some children are forced into child pornography by pimps and operators of sex rings or sex tourism, where they turn into sex slaves. In Germany, the sales of child porn are estimated to exceed $250 million. The biggest consumer of child porn comes from the United States, with their numbers to be about 6 million dollars annually. Eighty-five percent of the worldwide sales of pornography come from America (Flowers, 2001). So how much does a human body cost in this underground economy? The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) gave an example of how profitable the selling of human being is. They used the example of a girl who was kidnapped in the village of Nepal. This girl would be trafficked to India and sold for $1000 and then trafficked into the United States and sold for $20,000. Janet Bagnall from the Gazette, wrote that young girls from Nepal are sold at the Indian border for four dollars. They are then sold a second time to brothel owners in Bombay for $500 to $1000. These girls would not be able to leave the brothels until their purchase price has been paid off. The purchase price plus interest would be a debt that these Nepali girls must pay off, which might stretch on indefinitely. The United Nation estimates that human traffickers can earn about 10 billion dollars per year, and the average sale price for a slave is $12,500. Globalization Traffickers, pimps, organized groups have found another way to increase their profit margins. Instead of staying within their own countries, these opportunists have found a way to take their industry globally. By being able to transport women and children to a wider range, they are able to supply a larger clientele. Criminal gangs have started trafficking their victims to area where they believe there will be a high demand for sexual services, such as rock concerts, football games, and other major sporting events. During the World Cup games in 2006, there was an increase of sex trafficking to meet the demand for commercial sex during that event. It is estimated that more than 40,000 women and children were transported to Germany for the month long event. Many victims were placed in mega brothel, quickie shacks, and other underground networks that existed in Germany during that time. The Internet has made it especially easy for clients to find their victims in other countries. Technological advances have made it possible for a much broader, international group of consumers to travel long distances to have sex with minors in the 20th and the 21st century. The Internet is highly unregulated and the fastest growing communication network in the world. In just a matter of minutes, a man can book a plane ticket, get a hotel, and reserve the body of a female all in the comfort and privacy of his own home. Donna Hughes said that advertisements and endorsements for sex tourism, mail order brides, brothels, strip bars, and escort services are openly and easily found on the World Wide Web. Men are able to go onto internet discussion groups and find information on the sex industry. They are able to find names of brothels in other countries, information on the price of women and girls. Descriptions on sex tours found in The World Sex Guide would have information on hotel pric es, taxi services, telephone numbers, cost of alcohol, what kinds of sex act that can be bought, the price for each act, and the comments about the women. In 1995, an American man who operated Pimps R Us, organized a sex tour to the Dominican Republic. The tour was four days and three nights and included oral sex from a prostitute chosen by the tour guide. As of 1996, 25 companies in the United States offer sex tours to other countries. These packaged deals will include plane tickets, accommodations, ground transportation, local guide, and the promise of sexual encounters with local girls. One U.S based sex tour operator promises customer that they will never sleep alone in this tour. Women and children are trafficked everyday to underdeveloped and developed countries. It is not uncommon for women and children to be trafficked from countries that have economic and political problems. The flow of the trafficked is from poorer to richer countries. From Latin America to the United States and Western Europe, from Eastern Europe to Western Europe, the Middle East, Japan, North America; from Africa to Europe; from Nepal to India; from Burma, Cambodia, and Vietnam to Thailand; from Thailand to Japan and Australia (Baird, 2007). Many of the women and girls are taken and trafficked into the commercial sex industry. The United Nation (UN) believes that the victim of trafficking spans the globe, from 127 countries to be exploited in 137 countries. Most of the slaves come from Albania, Belarus, China, Romania, Russia, and Thailand. They are then trafficked to destinations such as Asia, western Europe, North America, and the Middle East. It is estimated that as many as half of the 100,000 women and children working in brothels in Bombay came from Nepal (Wilson, 1997). Since the 1990s, girls are being trafficked to Thailand from neighboring countries. These countries are Myanmar, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Yunnan Province in China. Women and girls are trafficked from Cambodia primary from Vietnam. The victims are brought from Cambodia and sent to brothels in Phnom Penh to work. Some Cambodians are transported out to other countries like Thailand, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The regions with substantial child trafficking burdens include West Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Latin America (Beyrer 2004). In Quebec, organized crime network can recruit and transport Russian women from their homes and into Quebec message parlors with 3 weeks. Foreign tourists who travel to these countries come from fairly rich, developed countries. A large number of foreign sex tourists are males from wealthy industrialized countries like the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Japan. A high number of tourists come from the Unites States. Each year foreign travelers from predominantly Western countries pump billions of dollars into the economies of developing nations when they purchase sexual services (Andrews, 2004). Foreigners feel that paying for sex with a female or male is part of the travel experience. It is hard to estimate how many foreign tourists frequent these Southeast Asian countries because many tourists evade arrest in these countries that they commit the crimes. Child sex tourist face little fear of being caught because there is a relatively low risk of being prosecuted in the countries that they committed their criminal act. Police corruption and the government turning a blind eye is another rea son these men get away with their crimes. Most developing nations have little incentive for domestic enforcement because tourism is one of the main driving forces behind their economies (Andrews, 2004). It is very difficult for victims to seek help from institutions that were mandated to protect people; instead these institutions also become the puppets of organized gangs. Some peace officers are paid to look the other way by pimps, organized gangs, or traffickers. Corrupt law enforcement officials are giving bribes or sexual services in return for not arresting pimps or brothel owners (Andrews, 2004). In Cambodia, Dr. Kek Galabru, president of a human rights group, said that public official profit greatly from protection of child sex trade and that they themselves are frequent patrons of the brothels where the children are sold. Sri, a fourteen year old girl from Thailand, was sold to a brothel owned by an investment club. The members of this club were business and professional men , government bureaucrats, and local politicians. These men would leave the management of the brothel to pimps and a bookkeeper, to keep their hands clean. When Sri tried to run away from the brothel, a policeman found her and brought her back to her pimp. Slave trade requires the direct or indirect involvement of national governments (Kapstein, 2006). Since the profits are so high, traffickers have plenty of money to pay off government officials and local law enforcement. The U.S House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary said, sex tourists often escape prosecution in the host countries, because of factors ranging from ineffective law enforcement, lack of resources, corruption and immature legal system. Sex slavery is not only happening in other countries, but also in the United States. In the United States, brothels are operating as legitimate message parlors, spas, and acupuncture clinics. The U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted 555 people for human trafficking between 2001 and 2005, of those cases 129 cases involved child sex trafficking. The State Department revealed that 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States every year against their will. Shared Hope International and the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated that every year 100,000 underage girls are forced or lured into the world of prostitution. Las Vegas is one city where minor sex trafficking is happening in large numbers. Children are being trafficked to Las Vegas from all over the United States. Interstates and expressways are making it easier for pimps to transport their victims across state lines. Truck drivers are recruited to drive minors to different states and deposit them to truck stops. CV rad ios become a very useful tool for truck drivers and sex workers to find each other. Sex workers would announce that they are available by letting the drivers know what channel she is on. If a driver is interested, he would tell the prostitute where he is located and what color is house is. Truck stops are the perfect place for hidden crimes to happen because they are isolated and out of the public and law enforcement view. United States Department of State Report The major source, The U.S. Department of States annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) annual report, is utilize to determine the trafficking efforts from various countries and to connect it to foreign assistance that performs in that region (Schuckman, p. 85). The report is arranged from Tier 1 to be most compliant to Tier 3 as noncompliant (McKinney, 2009): Tier 1: Countries that fully comply with the acts minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Tier 2: Countries that do not fully comply with the minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. Tier 2: Watch List: Countries on Tier 2 requiring special scrutiny because of high or significantly increasing number of victims; failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons; or an assessment as Tier 2 based on commitments to take action over the next year. Tier 3: Countries that neither satisfy the minimum standards nor demonstrate a significant effort to come into compliance. Countries in this tier are subject to potential non-humanitarian and non-trade sanctions. Italy According to U.S. Department TIP for June 2009, Italy has a Tier 1 status. However, Italy is one of many countries that traffickers harbor and transport women and children internationally for sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked for forced prostitution mainly from Nigeria, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Albania, and Ukraine but also from Russia, South America, North and East Africa, the Middle East, China, and Uzbekistan (McKinney, 2009). According to the NGO statistics, there are two-thirds of the ninety percent of illegal foreign seasonal workers in Italy. This provides a larger opportunity for traffickers to prey on these victims. Moreover, these traffickers make it difficult for law enforcements to track the victims by constantly rotating these victims from various cities for a short period of a time. Even with the challenges, the Italian Government will continue to comply with the limited regulations to stop human trafficking. The Government of Italy is not showing mercy when traffickers are prosecuted and convicted. Italy abides by the 2003 Measures Against Trafficking in Persons law. This law provides the convicted a sentence of eight to twenty years of imprisonment, punishment equivalent to other grave offenses (US Senate Subcommittee, 2000). If the convicted was charged for trafficking for forced labor, then other laws will be used. Incomplete data for 2008 show the government investigated 2,221 individuals, arrested 316, prosecuted 480 trafficking suspects, and convicted 225 trafficking offenders, compared to 163 convicted for the same time frame in 2007 (US Senate Subcommittee, 2000). According to NGO ECPAT, roughly 80,000 Italian men travel to Kenya, Thailand, Brazil, Latin America, and the Czech Republic for sex tourism annually. In May 2008, an Italian male committed an offense both Thailand and Cambodia for child sex tourism. The Government sentenced him a total of fourteen years of imprisonment. The Italian Government not only offers punishment, but also protection for the victims. According to Article 18, anit-trafficking law allows authorities to grant residence permits and provide protection and job training services to victims of trafficking. Also, Article 13 provides for six months assistance to victims. With these assistance provided, these victims will have some hope for independence and begin a new life. Another benefit provided for victims is that they are not generally penalized if they file complaints against their traffickers. This will assist in more prosecutions and encourages victims to become proactive. Russia According to the U.S. State Department TIP June 2009 report, Russian ranks Tier 2-watch list. This is alarming. According to Schuckman, the activists that work for human rights, international, and humanitarian organizations, argue that countries that are technically in Tier 3 are granted a higher Tier 2-watch list as a diplomatic gesture. Nevertheless, Russia continues to be an origin as a transit and destination country for

Newtons Method: A Computer Project :: Newton-Raphson Method

Newton's Method: A Computer Project Newton's Method is used to find the root of an equation provided that the function f[x] is equal to zero. Newton Method is an equation created before the days of calculators and was used to find approximate roots to numbers. The roots of the function are where the function crosses the x axis. The basic principle behind Newton's Method is that the root can be found by subtracting the function divided by its derivative from the initial guess of the root. Newtons Method worked well because an initial guess was given to put into the equation. This is important because a wrong initial guess may give you the wrong root for the function. With Mathematica, a program for Newton's method can be produced and a graph of the function can be made. From the graph, the a good initial guess can be made.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Newton's Method works to find roots for many functions, it does have its disadvantages. The root sometimes cannot be found by using Newton's Method. The reason it sometimes cannot be found is because when the function is equal to zero, there is no slope to the tangent line.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As seen in experimentation's, it is important to select an initial guess close to the root because some functions have multiple roots. Failure to choose an initial value that is close to the root could result in finding a the wrong root or wasting a lot of time doing multiple iterations while getting close to the actual root.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On some occasions, the program cannot find a root to an initial guess that is placed into the program. In some instances Mathmatica could not find the root to the function, like if it is a parabola with its vertex is placed

Cognitive Psychology Essay -- Papers Neurology Essays

Cognitive Psychology Psychology is defined as the study of mind, emotion and behaviour. One major perspective within psychology is known as cognitive psychology, which is primarily concerned with the explanation of thought processes through the development of theoretical mental systems. Cognitivism is somewhat broad in it’s approaches to psychology and only linked in it’s goal to create hypothetical mental structures to explain behaviour (â€Å"History & Scope Of Psychology†). The exact origins of cognitivism are difficult to pinpoint. Ideas that make up the perspective have been traced back to ancient Greece; however it is in modern times that it has developed to it’s prominent status of today. This period of time is referred to as the â€Å"cognitive revolution† of the 1960’s, lead by the work of those such as Piaget and Chomsky. Prior to this revolution, behaviourism (the study of cause and effect; environmental factors and their effect upon behaviour) was considered to be the dominant school of thought in psychology; however cognitivism soon emerged as the new dominant perspective. (â€Å"The History & Scope of Psychology†). It was in the 1967 publication of Cognitive Psychology by Neisser that a name was coined for the rising field of psychological science, and an outline of major research-to-date and significant concepts was offered. (Maclin & Solso, 2000) The goals of cognitivism are to attempt to understand the way in which the many processes of our minds work, through use of the scientific research method. It emphasises the importance of the mind in .. ...d adverse behaviour. Appleton Century Crofts: New York. Maclin, Otto H & Solso, Robert L. (2000) â€Å"Cognitive Psychology: History Of The Field† in Encyclopedia Of Psychology, Vol 2. American Psychological Association: New York. Neisser, U (1967) Cognitive Psychology. Appleton-Century-Crofts: New York. Piaget, J (1962) Play, Dreams & Imitation In Childhood. WW Norton: New York. Piaget, J (1970), Piaget's theory. In P. Mussen (ed) Handbook of child psychology, Vol.1. Wiley: New York. Ross, Suzanne L & Sharpe, Pete R. (1987) Living Psychology. Scribe Publications: Victoria Shannon, CE (1948) Mathematical Theory Of Communication in Bell System Tech. J. 27, 379-423, 623-656 Smith, E.E (2001) â€Å"Cognitive Psychology: History† in Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol 3. Elsevier: Oxford

Algebra Tiles and the FOIL Method Essay examples -- Mathematics Educat

Algebra Tiles and the FOIL Method Algebra is one of the most critical classes a mathematics student takes. In this crucial course, the student must make the jump from concrete numbers and operations to variables and uncertainty. Unfortunately, this area of mathematics is where most students lose interest in mathematics because the concepts become too abstract. The abstractness frightens students and this fear is where the typical â€Å"I hate math† attitude comes from. Educators need to be aware of this problem and accept that the traditional methods of teaching mathematics, specifically algebra, are too focused on intangible concepts. These concepts need to be introduced to students in a more approachable manner, such as concrete representations. One such concrete representation, algebra tiles, is an excellent way to introduce the concept of multiplying monomials and binomials. The multiplication of monomials and binomials is an essential ability for students to master in order to continue mathematics. Many s tudents are intimidated by the concept of multiplying these vague terms with variables. In essence, the traditional method of teaching the multiplication of monomials and binomials, the FOIL method, is too theoretical for students to comprehend. A new approach must be used, and algebra tiles are one of the best new ways to approach this topic. To start, the traditional FOIL method needs to be studied. The Math Help tutoring website explains the FOIL method as the process of â€Å"multiplying the terms in parentheses to get the quadratic form.† FOIL is an abbreviation for the order a student follows when multiplying. â€Å"FOIL, of course, means: First, Outside, Inside, Last – the order of multiplication to expand the dou... ...iplying monomials and binomials. However, if one method must be selected, algebra tiles are the best way to address the needs of today’s mathematics students. Works Cited Leitze, Annette Ricks, and Nancy A. Kitt. â€Å"Using Homemade Algebra Tiles to Develop Algebra and Prealgebra Concepts.† Mathematics Teacher. 93.6 (2000) : 462-466. Otken, Phil. â€Å"The Foil Method.† Technical Tutoring, 2004. 24 November 2004. http://www.hyperad.com/tutoring/math/algebra/The%20FOIL%20method.html. Stein, Mary Kay, Margaret Schwan Smith, Marjorie A. Henningsen, and Edward A. Silver. Implementing Standards-Based Mathematics Instruction. Columbia University: Teachers College Press, 2000. Wilcox, Ted. â€Å"Using the Foil Method.† Free Math Help, 2004. 24 November 2004. http://www.freemathhelp.com/using-foil.html.

Close to the water’s edge Essay

When people are at a point in their life where they have to make important decisions that will form their future and identity, it is said that they are standing at a crossroad. Choosing a path can often be difficult because there are so many different ones to choose, and it only gets harder when somebody tries to influence you, such as maybe your parents. Parents always want the best for their children, but do they always know what the best is? Probably not. This is also the case in Close to the Water’s Edge, where the main character is struggling to find his own way in life while his mother is trying to force him to choose a future to her liking. Close to the Water’s edge is a fictional short story by Claire Keegan and it deals with many different themes such as identity development, oppression, social inheritance, money and love. It is told by a limited omniscient 3. person narrator. The limited omniscient narrator’s effect on the story is that it becomes a muc h more serious story because we only focus on his deep and almost melodramatic thoughts of life. Had we for example heard the stepfather’s thoughts he would probably have told us that the main character is just a spoiled little boy or something similar, but this is not the impression the author wishes to give us, she wants us to see the story from the main characters point-of-view so we’ll se the moral of the story. The language used in the short story is quite sophisticated and the grammar is mostly correct. There is no great use of slang or abbreviations, which is the same with the language used by the characters- an indication of a high class family. The story takes off in medias res as we’re not introduced to the main character but are thrown into a sequence where he is out on the balcony. The structure of the story jumps between the present and the past, as we’re given a flashback to when his grandmother went to the ocean with his grandfather, and then the story leaps back into real time when the family is eating at the restaurant Leonardoâ€℠¢s. Leonardo’s is a very fancy seafood restaurant by the bay, like every other setting we are taken to in the story. The stepfather is a millionaire so the general setting is very luxurious, like the fancy restaurant, the penthouse on the beach, and the references to Harvard University at which the main character is a student. It is made clear by setting that the family is very high class people, though some of them still have bad manners. The stepfather is a static  character, very rich, very arrogant, cruel and insensitive. He is also the antagonist of the story, and keeps picking on the boy for being gay by throwing degrading verbal punches at him: â€Å"Did you hear about this guy Clinton? Says if he’s elected president he’s going to let queers into the military† he says, â€Å"what do you think if that, Harvard?† (p. 3 l. 88-90). â€Å"Even so. The best and the brightest. How come you never bring a girl down?† (p. 4 l. 123 – 124). And the stepfather has arranged for the cooks to bring his stepson an embarrassing bright pink cake, like the one you giv e a girl for her first birthday (p. 4 l. 133-134). The mother is a beautiful hot tempered woman, a bit superficial and wears expensive clothes and lots of make-up. She is also a static character, we know she is supposed to represent the trophy woman whose only job is to look well. The main character is also our protagonist, a very sensitive, polite and intelligent young man, who feels crippled because of his parents of whom neither will accept him for how he really is: gay, and with no ambition of wealth (p. 1 l. 4-7). As stated earlier on, the main character is at a crossroad in his life where he has to make some big decisions, but he is not free do to so in the beginning, because of his mothers fierce attempts at pressuring him into choosing her lifestyle. In the first part of the story the boy is out on the balcony when his mother comes out to him and ties an â€Å"unnecessarily tight bow† (p. 3 l. 70). This bow is a symbol of how she is holding on to him, pressuring him. This thesis is supported by this quotation from the mother:† You play your cards right and this could all be yours someday. He’s god no kids. You wonder why I married him, but I was thinking of you all along†(p. 3 l. 76.78). But then later on he walks down to the beach and starts thinking about his grandmother, from whom we guess that he has been given the different outlook on life than the one his mother holds â€Å"the woman who embraced him to tightly she bruised him† (p. 5 l. 161). He thinks about how she lived a life of regret because she never stood up to her husband, and he realizes that that is not the way he wants to live. He wants to free himself of his parents- he loosens the knot around his neck as a symbol of losing their controlling grasp on him. He feels almost as if he had been dipped in his parent’s presence in a liquid form and is now all dirty, so he takes his clothes off, and swims in the sea as a symbol of rebirth. His grandmother never jumped into the water because she was afraid of how deep the water  was, but he jumps in, because he realizes that life is about taking chances and you will regret it if you fail to. The main character still doesn’t know what will happen if he stands up to his parents or tells the world that he is gay, but that is a part of life- it involves risks. The title is also the moral in the story; a way of saying that you have to make your own decisions. The main character is close to the water’s edge on the beach, and now he has to make a choice of either jumping in and taking a chance with his life, or staying on solid ground well knowing how the rest of his life will turn out.

Gender Dysphoria and the Persecution of Transgender People

The morality of sex has been given wide attention because it is a principle to differentiate between proper sexual behavior and improper sexual behaviour. Since the sexual act is connected with the giving birth to children (human reproduction),it despite being a very private and intimate matter. People normally born with only one sex either male or female. There are people who unsatisfied with their own sex which most probably happen in man,they undergo gender reassignment therapy to make themselves a real woman.In 20th century, issue regarding sex exchange is still a rare and unprecedented case. Einar Mogens Wegener make an outstanding decision that he want to undergoes sex exchange,he is one of the first identifiable recipients of male to female sex reassignment therapy which after that named himself as Lili Elbe. In 1930,the medical technology is still not advanced enough to make sure the sex exchange operation can be successfully done but he still determined with his own decision .He went through a series of five operations over a period of two years. However, three months after her last operation, he died. His cause of death is believed to have transplant rejection. He is a pioneer to the history of sex exchange. In the aspect of psychology,the cause of human being who unsatisfied with their own sex and strong willing to undergo sex exchange is due to ‘gender dysphoria’ but the cause of gender dysphoria is still an unknown.Recently, scientific evidence suggests that there are biological influences before birth. This imply that gender identity, along with other physical characteristics, is established long before environmental factors influence individual socialisation. A recent experiment suggests that both biology and some environment influences may play a role in determining gender identity. In the medical model, transsexual men and women are diagnosed with gender dysphoria and gender identity disorder.In the DSM IV the American Psychiatric A ssociation presents several components of what it calls ‘gender identity disorder’: * a strong and persistent cross-gender identification, which is the desire to be, or the insistence that one is, of the other sex * not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex but evidence of a persistent discomfort about one’s biologically assigned sex * clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning. While some forms of gender identity dysphoria may be temporary and thus ranssexualism is immutable. However, the costs of sex reassignment surgery vary. According to the data collected through internet,Female to male surgery in Toronto costs approximately $10,000 to $12,000. In the UK, where the Gender Identity clinic of the Clark Institute of Psychiatry used to sent its clients, male to female surgery costs approximately ? 9,000 (approximately $18,000 Canadian). The information that is available on costs of sex reassignment surgery indicates that in the United States male to female surgery can cost between $10,000 and $28,000 (U.S. ). According to the 1996 British Columbia law reform project on human rights and the transgendered community, male to female sex reassignment surgery ranges from between $5,000 and $10,000. Female to male sex reassignment surgery costs considerably more, ranging from $20,000 to more than $60,000. Under legal and medical issues,the authors note that the legal system and the medical system have engaged in the ‘medicalisation of identity’. For example, the courts ask whether, medically speaking, a person is a woman or a man.In Ontario, the government interpretation of the Vital Statistics Act requires a medical letter and sex reassignment surgery before allowing a change in the birth certificate. Government policies for other documentation vary, but many ask for medical proof that the individual is transsexual instead of ac cept self-identification. Consultees reported instances of court cases such as custody disputes where the transsexual parent was required to undergo medical assessment to confirm the person's gender identity.Next,transgendered person must receive legal recognition from a gender identity clinic, which is not always accessible, in order to receive appropriate service or treatment from the health care system and other organizations that they may come in contact with. General practitioners often do not have suffivcient resources or expertise that provide appropriate services to transgendered patients. As a result, there are many transgendered individuals who self-medicate and self-treat with hormone therapy, which subsequently puts their health at risk.Many individuals in this situation reported that they felt they have no other option due to expensive operation cost and lack of expertise in this aspect. There are some case that a pre-operative transsexual woman and one intersexed woman should always bring along the letters written by their doctors because the letter recommend the individual and advised that the individual had been diagnosed as having ‘gender identity disorder’ so that the people address the individual as a woman.These two individuals indicated that they carried this letter at all times in the event that they were stopped by the police, stopped when using women’s change rooms or washroom facilities, questioned at government agencies or in any other official setting. It is a recent trend that a growing number of people who are transgendered no longer consider sex reassignment surgery as a suitable option for them either due to cost, medical risks, medical barriers or even on principle.Many of them do not wish to assimilate into a society with rigid bifurcated standards of sex and gender congruence, but rather ask that society accepts and adapts to transgendered people. Nevertheless, a large number of transsexuals in Ontario seek sex reassignment surgery but due to a recent change in government policy, economic and medical barriers, they cannot access it. These factors also effectively preclude transgendered people from accessing hormone therapy.Sex change is a term often used for sex change in humans, that is all medical procedures transgender people may pursue, or specifically to sex reassignment surgery, which usually refers to genital surgery only. It is also sometimes used for the medical procedures intersex people undergo or more often are subjected to as children. â€Å"Sex change† is sometimes also used for the whole process of changing gender role and the medical procedures associated with it.Actually,to them, changing of gender role such as living as a woman instead of living as a man, or living as a man instead of living as a woman, is much more important than any medical procedures. There are many different opinion of people nowadays toward the transgender issue. Some people thought that people who really decide to change their gender must be a brave and ambitious people. They give people some positive effect that we must not let our fear to outweigh our desire to make our dreams come true.Thus,they feel that people who undergoes transgender without care on other people’s view is so courageous as the ready to suffer of the pain in operation and in the cold-shoulder of society. However,there are some people who think that people who not appreciate just will unsatisfired with their own gender,we should appreciate what we had as a gift of God. Therefore,there are some family members who not agree with them and feel that it is a shame toward the reputation of a amily thus this causes some of the thransgender persons homeless. This is because transsexual youth who are open about their identity face extreme abuse and rejection from families and peers. Many are forced to leave their home communities and survive on the streets. During the consultation, some individua ls indicated that they were not in conflict with the diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Indeed, the diagnosis facilitated their ability to identify in their felt gender and allowed them to access sex reassignment surgery.One group involved with transgendered individuals who are homeless, street workers or living with HIV/AIDS stated that the medical diagnosis is especially important for lower income transsexuals who cannot afford private medical care or who are employed during the transition from the birth assigned sex to their felt gender. Others were, at the very least, concerned with the negative stereotyping attached to a diagnosis of a psychiatric disability. Most community members stated that access to medical services for sex reassignment should not be barred even if the psychiatric diagnosis is removed.One group made an analogy between the accommodation of medical needs related to aligning one’s physical appearance to one's gender identity on the one hand and the medical care that is required during pregnancy on the other. For instane,The Supreme Court of Canada in Brooks recognized pregnancy as a health issue rather than a disability and required that accommodation be provided on the former basis. Similarly, it is argued that transgendered persons should be able to obtain accommodation without being ‘pigeon-holed’ as persons with disabilities. According to the data,transgender person actually face a lot of morality problems.For example the transgender students face severe discrimination and harassment in schools. 89. 5% of transgender students report feeling unsafe in schools. Transgender students are at higher risk of dropping out of school and of suicide. Next, many transgender and gender non-conforming students have no access to bathrooms. Some are told to use the bathroom that does not correspond to their gender identity. Many are expelled from school because the school does not know where the person should use the bathrooms. Then, more than one quarter of them said they had lost a job due to being transgender or gender non-conforming and half were harassed.Many Americans have a profound lack of understanding of what it means to be transgender. Consequently, transgender people commonly face a wide variety of discriminatory barriers to full equality. They sometimes face difficulties meeting their basic needs such as getting a job, housing and health care or in having their gender identity respected too like in the simple act of going to a public restroom. As a conclude,the transgendered community has to deal with discrimination, physical violence and undue stereotypes in reality. Those are eight main problems face by transgender people: (a) HIV/AIDSHIV/AIDS is a significant health consideration for transgendered individuals who engage in high-risk behaviors such as unprotected sexual activity or intravenous drug use. This issue is highlighted by a research report done in Vancouver, which indicated that 70 to 8 0 per cent of transgendered sex trade workers are HIV positive. (b) Transgendered Youth Transgendered youth have limited access to professionals who understand the nature of gender identity and how to support a transgendered individual. Continued homophobia and transphobia in the social services directed to gay, lesbian and bisexual and transgendered youth compound this.This was stated several times in the consultations. One woman related the story of her incarceration in youth group homes before her sex reassignment surgery. She was told to act like a man, disciplined for not doing so, and survived the process simply by denying her transgendered status. Further, consultees stated that the educational system does not understand transgendered issues. Transgendered youth and transgendered parents both face barriers dealing with the school system. Some social service agencies are beginning to recognize the need to address these issues.For example, the Catholic Children’s Aid of Metropolitan Toronto has developed a policy that includes transgendered youth in its intervention policy. The policy states that all staff care providers and volunteers must undergo training with regard to the needs, concerns, language, symbols and culture of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth and families. Issues concerning sexuality that arise in service delivery to transgendered youth should be treated with the same respect, concern, sensitivity, and confidentiality accorded to heterosexual youth and families. c) Services and Media Service delivery to the transgendered community is generally reported to be poor. In consultations, individuals reported that they had been stopped by the police and told to identify who they were. Hospital workers show prejudicial attitudes in treatment once the birth assigned sex of the individual is discovered. Insurance companies give differential treatment once the transsexual identity of an individual is discovered. Transgendered wome n have difficulty accessing women’s shelters and other social service agencies.Families of transgendered people, including spouses, children and parents also lack the resources to obtain the support and understanding they need and to be free from discrimination. The media generally shows a misunderstanding of the issues faced by transsexuals. There is often confusion of terminology used to describe individuals, i. e. not distinguishing between the issues of transsexuals, cross-dressers, etc. The result is that derogatory or sensationalistic language is frequently used when reporting on issues that are related, in whole or part, to transgender issues. d) OHIP Coverage From 1970 to 1998, OHIP coverage had been provided for sex reassignment surgery for individuals approved by the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. Ontario’s Ministry of Health treated most aspects of sex reassignment surgery, including out-of-province procedures, as reimbursable services under OHIP. Section 7 of the Health Insurance Act] outlines that breast enlargement, augmentation, mammoplasty or breast reconstruction in a male to female conversion is not an insured benefit unless prior authorisation is received from the Ministry of Health.In all cases, health coverage for sex reassignment surgery in Ontario was contingent upon having completed the program at the Gender Identity Clinic at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry and having been recommended by the Clinic for sex reassignment surgery. In October 1998, the Ontario government decided to remove sex reassignment surgery from the list of services covered by provincial health insurance. This decision was met with public outcry from the transgender community and is interpreted as a statement that the government does not consider the issues of transgendered people as valid, significant, or important.This decision has a profound impact on transgendered people who are part of a highly marginalised community and who are also often in a lower income bracket which means they lack the financial resources to pay for surgery. The Ministry of Health has not provided any rationale behind the decision to delete health insurance coverage for sex reassignment surgery. An article in the Toronto Sun, based on information apparently provided by the government, states that the savings will be applied to cardiac surgery.However, the public funds allocated for sex reassignment surgery are insignificant when compared to the budget of the Ministry of Health. The article ignores the fact that qualified professionals have identified surgery to be a medical necessity. Moreover, the consequences of not covering surgery may include additional or increased costs in other areas such as counselling and health care. It may also result in an elevated risk of suicide in the transgendered community because individuals are unable to obtain appropriate services. e) Fear of discovery Transsexuals and transgenderists fear discovery of their birth -assigned sex. Likewise, for cross-dressers, the fear of being discovered is a significant concern. The repercussions of being discovered can include termination of employment, loss of housing, loss of services, social isolation and other forms of discrimination, harassment and possibly violence. (f) Hate Crimes and Transgendered Individuals Crime statistics indicate that transgendered people are victims of hate crimes that may also involve violence.Furthermore, such crimes may not be taken as seriously or dealt with appropriately. As noted in a draft brief by the Canadian Task Force for Transgendered Law Reform: (g) Poverty There is no statistical data about the rates of poverty for transgendered people. However, it was noted during consultation that transgendered persons experience severe economic hardship. This could be due to the difficulties in accessing medical and insurance services, discrimination in the workplace, and social and economic marginalisation.Mirha-Soleil Ross, t he co-ordinator of ‘Meal Trans’ a program for transgendered people in Toronto, states that 90% of those people who utilise the program earn less than $10,000 a year. (h) International Persecution of Transgendered People The social rejection of transgendered persons manifests itself internationally through cross-border issues of recognition of transgendered individuals as refugees and related issues of returning them to their country of origin under international law. For example, a transgendered woman who claimed refugee status in Canada was deported to Mexico although she alleged fear of persecution if returned.Public and government should give more concern toward transgender people,we must not discriminate those people but give more positive support toward them as it is not easy fot a person to decide to undergo sex exchange,the person must be tough and brave enough. In order to minimize the rate of suicide in the population of transgender people,we should pay more at tention to them and thus give them an equal rights as what normal people got. We should not evade them in public but on the other hand we should respect their choice of undergo transgender.We always erroneously believe that transgender normally is AIDS carrier but in fact they too love themselves and of course will protect themselves for AIDS by having proper sex intercourse. Recent studies have shown that transgender people are at high risk for HIV. Few studies, however, have directly compared the HIV risks and sexual health of transgender persons with that of other sexual minority populations. This study used baseline data of intervention studies targeting transgender persons, men who have sex with men, and women who have sex with women and men to compare their HIV risk behavior and sexual health.No significant differences were found between transgender persons and non-transgender men or women in consistent condom use or attitudes toward condom use. Transgender persons were less l ikely to have multiple partners and more likely to be monogamous than men who have sex with men; no differences were found between transgender persons and the women in this respect. When combining data on condom use, monogamy, and multiple partners, transgender persons did not differ from either non-transgender group in their overall risk for HIV.Transgender persons were less likely than the men or the women to have been tested for HIV. With regard to HIV prevalence, 17% of the men compared to only one transgender person and none of the women reported being HIV-positive. Transgender persons were also less likely than men who have sex with men to use drugs; no differences were found in the use of alcohol. However, with regard to mental health, transgender persons were more likely than the men to have experienced depression and more likely than men or women to have considered or attempted suicide.Finally, transgender persons reported the lowest levels of support from family and peers. Thus, in our sample, transgender persons appear to be at lower risk for HIV but at higher risk for mental health concerns than men who have sex with men. Remarkably few differences were found between transgender persons and women who have sex with women and men-a finding which might reflect the impact of social stigma on sexual health and have implications for the design of future HIV/STI prevention efforts.