Media Critic, George Gerbner observes that what we see on TV and in Essay

Media Critic, George Gerbner observes that what we see on TV and in magazines eventually becomes our standard of reality and de - Essay Example Many peoples lives are sedentary and feature little exercise. As several researchers have indicated, in strident tones: â€Å"According to the American Obesity Association, 65% of adults and 30% of children are overweight, and 30% of adults and 15% of children meet the criteria for obesity. Rarely playing outdoors, children spend their days chatting online or watching TV while snacking on nutritionally empty foods. The average child spends 4 hours per day watching TV, and only 1 hour per day completing homework† (Derenne and Beresin, 1). These health problems are causing a crisis in body image perspectives. Because people are living such unhealthy lives, they see the gap between their own bodies and bodies they see in entertainment products, and this may result in depression or other disorders. The entertainment industry unwittingly encourages this by refusing to feature people with â€Å"normal† or â€Å"average† bodies and by promoting unfortunate stereotypes. These issues can affect both men and women, but it appears that more magazines target women's insecurities and can have a big impact on them (Grogan, 108). Films do a great deal to shape our ideas of body image. One example would be the American film, the Nutty Professor starring Eddie Murphy. In this film, the Klump family is shown to be hugely obese. Each member of the family has bad hygiene and appears foolish; they are in the film to be laughed at. This is typical of the portrayal of overweight people in contemporary films: they are comedic subjects to be mocked. Rather than show them as people with a full range of feeling and complex motivations, the entertainment industry reduces them to silly stereotypes. This occurs in many films. Is it any wonder that overweight people see these images and internalize the negative energy surrounding them? It is not hard to see how people can develop eating disorders or low self esteem from the constant bombardment of such images. The altern ative can be true for music videos. Music videos are famous for their sexually idealized representations of both sexes, but especially of women. In many videos, half-naked women cavort around luxury sports cars. Men sing about their bodies as if they were mere objects. The most desirous women are those who are thin, have large breasts, and wear lots of make up. They wear clothes that reveal their body. To young people watching these images, the shows of wealth and power suggest that these things are attracted to these kinds of bodies. These bodies, viewers are told, are to be emulated, as they are the key to gaining access to this privileged world. While this is true for many kinds of music videos, there are some videos by artists such as Pink and Christina Aguilera which try to counteract the messages of most music videos. These rare videos tell viewers that they are special just they way they are and that they do not need to change in order to fit into a stereotype. It is evident that music videos largely portray unattainable body images, but that some videos do tell a different story, one of innate rather than physical value. Many television shows have similar body image issues as music videos and films. Attractiveness is everything. The comedian Chris Farley was routinely mocked for being overweight on Saturday Night Live. He eventually died from a drug overdose. Clearly, his life was very unhealthy.

The Impact of global recession on microfinance in Asia.(approximate Assignment

The Impact of global recession on microfinance in Asia.(approximate topic) - Assignment Example Thus, micro finance narrowly deals with the provision of small loans to low income individuals to help them start small business ventures. Microfinance does not involve large loans as poor people seldom need large loans or want to start big business ventures. Microfinance advocates believe that providing access to finance can help poor people in getting the resources to help themselves out of poverty. Poor people are usually avid savers but they save in kind rather than in cash. Jewelry, gold, animals and building materials are examples of things that they save which might not always be turned into cash easily. If they require finance, they borrow from relatives or landlords and other informal mechanisms which are often exploitative. (Micro finance, 2008) The modern microfinance mechanism is accredited to Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, the founder of Grameen Bank. He experimented with lending to poor women in rural areas and achieved great success due to high repayment rate and in terest rates. Although, bankers were unwilling to assume the risks and costs associated with micro lending, micro finance institutions succeeded in focusing on women and charging high interest rates that the poor were willing to pay. Although micro credit institutions have existed since the 1700’s, it wasn’t till Grameen Bank in 1983 that the approach to micro finance changed. Currently, it is considered a vital element in the eradication of poverty as it enables the poor to lift themselves out of their situation. (The history of Microfinance, 2006) The report covers the role and limitations of microfinance as well as the effect that the recession has had on this sector. It further takes Kazakhastan’s microfinance sector into account and the implications the downturn has had on it. The importance of microfinance: According to a study by Robinson (2002); 90% of the citizens in developing countries lack access to financial services from established institutions wh ether it is for credit or savings (Vincent, 2004). The impact of the financial sector on the economy and growth of the country is great and this unavailability of finance leads to the vicious poverty cycle of low investment, low productivity and thus low growth. Microfinance is a tool to empower the power, to provide them resources to invest in venture that will increase productivity and lead to economic growth. Although there are conflicting views to microfinance’s real contribution to economic growth and poverty alleviation it is a vital socio-economic tool. The importance of microfinance is that it focuses on the grass roots rather than on dev elopement from top. It focuses on the basics likes a woman getting a loan to set up a PCO and not on setting up industries; thus microfinance is within the grasp of the poor and does not require grand visions but rather baby steps. The investment of credit in an enterprise that leads to the generation of income increases economic gro wth and development. It not only leads to higher productivity but rather a higher standard of life. It expands income sources and increase aggregate demand thus has a multiplied positive effect on the economy and the lives of the poor. It is important to realize the importance of microfinance in providing income that is sustainable, the ventures that microfinance should focus on should be economically and environmentally sustainable to be successful so they help

Writer's choice Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Writer's choice - Article Example s scheduled in which people engaged in different party activities such as listening to music and dancing, drinking, eating besides sharing stories among other amusements. All the expected people were in the scene besides everyone seeming to be in a party mood depicted from their facial expressions. This was a very amazing event to me because it was the first I witnessed besides that attracted many people including some from the neighboring community. Additionally, it had a programed unlike many other such ceremonies that I had ever attended before besides was followed to the latter. Through the entire process, I learned that people have their own way of doing things as well as doing different things from the normal you would get a dissimilar result. This is because most ceremonies that I had attended there before lacked good planning and in mostly resulted to vices such as fights and injuries. Whatever one encounters little experiences out of lecture, which he or she gets while in the university, counts much in his or her future life. This is because such experiences equip an individual with knowledge hard to earn or achieve in class work. Moreover, students ought to indulge in such activities provided they do not harm them because they are also part of

Healthcare Informatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Healthcare Informatics - Essay Example One critical question that one should reflect on is whether the patients are aware of the privacy risks involved in exposing their personal health data? (Chbeir & Al Bouna, 2013). Or whether there are appropriate policies for these social sites that guarantee the safety of the information to avoid health data security breaches that may turn costly on the part of the information owners? Awareness and education of the users are of paramount importance in mitigating the privacy risks. Li (2013) observes that there policy implications of using the health social networking sites and the stakeholders and the policy makers should elaborate them to protect the privacy of online health data. The health social networking sites are left to decide what information will be kept private and what will be shared. If there existed knowledge about the privacy settings, patients would be able to restrict the health data they want to keep secret. Healthcare Informatics After reading the work by Li (2013), I strongly support the option of privacy by education for mitigating the privacy risks surrounding the health data shared on the social networking sites. It should be noted that the health data collected from the social sites attracted unlimited commercial interests that can be used as business opportunities for medical research companies and partners.

Based on the writer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Based on the writer - Assignment Example Rodger’s case is one event that has shocked the whole world because he was a son of a famous director. He could be going to celebrity parties and hanging out with girls but he was uploading hate speeches on YouTube expressing his rage and anger against girls who had allegedly dumped him (Hamad, 2014). This young man of 22 could not communicate with any other person, let alone the opposite sex. Failure to communicate probably resulted in a violent expression of rage and hate. His parents had already arranged a personal therapist for Roger. Feeling jealousy, rejection and/or depression is almost a normal thing in every teenager’s life. ‘Geeks’ or ‘nerds’ are usually prone to these feelings because they are the ones usually picked on by bullies. But taking out this frustration by killing people is nothing but mental sickness. ‘Jeopardy’ champion, Arthur Chu appeared on Good Morning America and told the world that Roger’s emotional state was ‘normal’ for any nerd except for the murderous actions (Murray, 2014), yet he was severely mentally ill. There is hardly any doubt about Rodger’s motives for his murderous actions; he sent 107,000 word story to his parents, therapist and some others right before he carried out the shooting (Duke, 2014). The debate about his father (famous director) giving him a nice lifestyle is unclear because in his ‘story’ he writes of his financial suffering. He wished he were wealthier. Sometimes wishes can be too far-fetched and other times they are just needs. A prisoner wanting freedom is not really a want, it’s a need. The want for wealth, money, opposite sex and popularity is never ending. Theres no comparison between a prisoner wanting freedom and a person wanting more money. Repressed anger can explode or passively ooze out of the person. It is not only the case with the teenagers or young adults. The story Sweat (1926) by Zora Neale

Associated British Foods plc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Associated British Foods plc - Case Study Example It grows sugar from beets in the UK and Poland, and owns and operates cane plantations in Zambia and Swaziland in Africa and in Guanxi Province in China. The company also produces bioethanol from wheat and cane production waste, and sells animal feeds and feeds microingredients to farmers in over 40 countries. ABF's revenues increased 13% to 6.8 billion in line with operating profit, which increased by 11% to 622 million in 2007. These accomplishments reflect the company's presence in high-growth markets such as China, India, Latin America, and Africa. Despite the strength of the sterling having an adverse effect on financial figures, the increases reflect good management and operating performance. The company is active in the search for alternative bio-fuels at a time of rising petrol prices, allowing ABF to benefit from and take advantage of the increasing demand for environment-friendly energy sources. The value of the profit margin was calculated from the adjusted profit before tax amounting to 613 million whilst total sales amounted to 6,800 million. The profit margin for the year is slightly lower than the previous year's figure of 9.36% from profits of 561 million on sales of 5,996 million. The profit margin went down slightly because of losses from currency transactions when translating non-sterling revenues to sterling revenues. Since the sterling is stronger than other currencies, most especially the U.S. dollar in which some of the company's revenues are recorded, the amount of sterling that could be earned for each dollar would be slightly lower than if the dollar were strong. Non-UK sales (3,547 million) were over half the total sales. According to the financial statements, operating costs were much higher this year than last year. This was explained in several places of the report as due to the number of acquisitions spent this year, resulting in higher employee expenses for example. The total number of employees in Europe, Middle East, and Africa went up from 4,917 in 2006 to 37,084 in 2007 because of acquisitions in these regions. Asset Turnover = 1.97 times The asset turnover was calculated using the sales figure of 6,800 million and the total capital employed of 3,460 million. This means that every 1 invested in the company's assets returned sales of 1.97 or almost twice the invested capital. This figure gives an indication of how well the company utilised its assets. In the absence of comparative figures with other companies, this figure does not signify much. However, the asset turnover in 2006 was much higher at 2.1 because the company had higher margins and lower assets (valued at 4,579 million) before the company went on an acquisition spree that increased the total capita

Prophet Mohammad Essay Example for Free

Prophet Mohammad Essay If I could travel back in time to meet a famous person from history, I would want to meet with Prophet Mohammad. He is well known across the world as the person who brought the Islamic religion to the Arab countries. His teachings can be found in the Holy Quran (Madelung, 87). It is said in Islam that Mohammed is the last of all the prophets God will send to all the people on the earth. Mohammed is very famous because he brought a religion to the world by the orders of God and in only a short time, it became well known everywhere. Even today, there are over 1 billion people in the world who are Muslims. Only a great person like Mohammed could have created a religion in his lifetime that would have captured the attention of all people. Islam started when God sent down angel Gabriel to Mohammed at the mountain Hara. He was first told, Okra which means read. The amazing part about this is Mohammed could never read nor write before meeting the angel. From this time at 40 years old until he was 63 years of age, he received many rules and wisdom from God. His instructions were to advise the people of Gods rules and how they should live, for they were living in haram or sin (Watt, 48). Mohammed was born and raised in Mecca. Read more:  How to write an essay about someone you admire His father died before he was born and he lost his mother too at the age of six and thereafter lived with his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib as an orphan (Andrea, 78). Growing up as an orphan in Mecca was never easy even though he was well fed by his guardians. At a tender age of twelve, Mohammed had started engaging in trading journeys with his uncle. He therefore started to develop interest in commercial trade probably because that was the only option he had because he grew up as an orphan. Mohammed took up the career as a merchant in his later youth and was highly regarded as trustworthy and later nicknamed â€Å"al-Amin†. Mohammed’s youthful days are really admirable and inspiring at the same time (Madelung, 59). He not only had an upright character but was also a very hard working young man who tried and beat the odds despite his humble background. It was for his reputation that a forty year old widow called Khadijah who asked for his hand in marriage which he accepted and lived happily thereafter (Turner, 89). After the death of Khadijah, Mohammed married other women numbering about thirteen and he was survived by nine of them. One of them was called Aisha, who according to the Sunni Muslims was Mohammed’s favorite companion. She is known for her instrumental work in bringing together the many scattered Mohammed’s sayings that later formed the Sunni’s hadith literature. As a husband, Mohammed had a great reputation at a time when women were lowly regarded in the society. It is said that he participated in house chores like washing, cooking and even sewing clothes. Although women were never treated fairly during the prophet’s time, Mohammed was extremely exceptional with his women. He not only listened to his wives’ advice but also engaged them in dialogue and arguments. This is worth emulating in today’s Muslim societies where women continue to suffer in the hands of their men (Andrea, 75). Mohammed’s future prophetic life was said to have been prophesized by another Christian monk he met his way to his many caravans from Mecca to Syria (Watt, 56). At the onset of his prophetic life, Mohammed was fond of visiting a cave in Mount Hira every year where he would meditate for weeks. According to Islamic teachings, it was during one of the ritual meditations at Mount Hira when angel Gabriel descended and instructed him to say the following words: â€Å"Proclaim! or read! ) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful, He Who taught (the use of) the pen, Taught man that which he knew not† (Quran 96: 1-5). Mohammed was very much disturbed by these revelations and knew the task required of him. He went home and shared with his wife Kh adija and Khadijah’s Christian cousin who consoled and reassured him that nothing bad would happen (Ramadan, 45). He was afraid of the news and did not know how he could get others to listen to what he was to say. His wife was the first to tell him she believed him and that Mohammed must do what was told. The amazing thing about Mohammed is his faith and willingness to do what God commanded. He never gave up in his prayers even after a pause of almost three years after the initial revelation. He prayed continuously until God finally commanded him to start preaching the word to his people. He was living in Mekkah of Saudi Arabia when he began his teachings to the people. According to Islamic teachings, Mohammed’s wife was the first person who believed that he was a prophet. His younger cousin called Ali Abi Talib and best friend Abu Bakr as well as his adopted son Zaid were to follow in believing in his prophesies (Turner, 102). Many of people from Mecca did not like or accept this way of life and tried to kill Mohammed. He would be mocked or chased away by the Meccans who could not believe or understand his new way of life. The opposition to Prophet Mohammed in Mecca began when he started preaching against worshiping of the idols that was a common feature in Mecca city. He also became a threat to the wealthy religious leaders who depended on the Kaaba, a major defining traditional feature of the Meccan religion which Mohammed’s teachings would render obsolete. Due to these, most of his new converts were killed by the wealthy merchants and other opposing groups who never wanted their traditional religions interfered with. But Mohammed had to endure insults and ridicules only and could not be harmed or killed because he came from the Banu Hashim clan (Madelung, 56). He left and traveled to different places including Yemen before he went back to Saudi Arabia to live in the city called Medina. The people of Medina were accepting of him and listened to his advice. There were some people there who professed to Jewish or other religions, but they did not fight with Mohammed. He had a good reputation in Medina where he helped to solve a long standing inter-ethnic conflict. A delegation comprising of representatives from all the clans involved in the fight between Jewish and Arabs in the Yathrib was sent to get Mohammed to arbitrate in the conflict. This did not only help him to escape the hostile city of Mecca but also enable him spread his teaching to various communities and clans in the greater Middle East (Ramadan, 83). Mohammed’s teachings really formed the foundation of the Islamic religion. One of the Muslim’s sources of spiritual inspiration is the Sunnah. The sunnah according the Islamic religion are deeds and sayings of the prophet Mohammed as preserved in the hadith and includes a variety of activities as well as beliefs such religious rituals, burial rituals, personal hygiene and the love between man and God. It is supposed to guide every Muslim and so far has been a great influence to the Muslim culture allover the world. For example, Mohammed taught Muslims a greeting to offer one another – â€Å"may peace be upon you† is wide used by Muslims from all corners of the world (Rahman, 69). The Sunnah has played an important role in the establishment and development of the religion’s sciences. Much of the prophet’s deeds and sayings have particularly contributed to the establishment of the Islamic law in the early years of the Islamic religion (Madelung, 78). The Sufis who sought to understand the inner meaning of the holy book, Qur’an and the true nature of the prophet, considered Mohammed not only as a mere prophet but as a perfect saint. Their spiritual descent is traced back to Prophet Mohammed (Rahman, 45). Mohammed was not liked by many of the outside tribes living throughout the Middle East and they wanted to hurt him, they taught their children to throw stones at him during his travels (Andrea, 65). A great quality of Mohammed that I look to is his patience. He taught to others that a very important behavior in life is to have patience with all issues. People would come to Mohammed with many complaints or questions to try and trick him (Madelung, 56). Others would do many things to him so he would go away. In all of these events, he would wait quietly and think before he answered or acted. I admire his ability to restrain himself and not fight small issues. In this world today, I think that everyone could benefit from this lesson of patience. Too many people die and are left hurting from wars between people who have little patience. During the spread of Islam, Mohammed gave people a choice to convert to Islam or if they did not want to, they would need to pay money that is like a tax. The Muslims and other people who would pay could live in harmony, but the tribes who refused to pay and resisted the teaching of Islam would end up in a war. These people had killed family members of Mohammed and wanted to fight him. So Mohammed and a small army would go out to fight, for example the Battle of Badr City (Andrea, 67). The small Muslim army won the battles because God had given them the strength to fight an enemy who hated God and worshipped idols. When the battles were over, Mohammed never took prisoners and killed them on purpose. He showed mercy and compassion. Like the Prophet Jesus had taught the way to live is with mercy, compassion and love. It is the only way to live a correct life. If you look to any of the prophets, they are famous and different from all of the other people because they took chances and were disliked. They had to remain strong in their faith of God and be patient. It was no different for Mohammed. There are many times in my life that I become angry because people are mean or I lose patience with them but I try to look to the example Mohammed made for the Muslims to follow. I sit and read the Quran and hope to find a peace. Conclusion When the word was revealed to Mohammed, the world was in a bad situation. People were worshipping idols and hurting the less fortunate and women. It was like these people were acting like animals. Mohammed was very scared of how he would be accepted by the people and if they would reject the word of God. I admire the strength of Mohammed when he was faced with danger. I sometimes wish to have that strength, so I must remain strong in my faith to God and look to Him for guidance. This was an important teaching of the prophet Mohammed. When I came to America, I was afraid because I was new and did not know many people. Also, the news shows things that can make people afraid of Muslims and I know some people will not like me because of it. I try hard to live by the example Mohammed set for the Muslim people so I may have a good life. It has been good for me in America. By having patience, I have learned many things about this country and also made good friends. I hope that people can look past the bad news media makes for people and discover the good things about Mohammed because there are many lessons a person can learn from his life.