Censorship On The Internet :: essays research papers

Censorship on the Internet Five years after the first world wide web was launched at the end of 1991, The Internet has become very popular in the United States. Although President Clinton already signed the 1996 Telecommunication ActI on Thursday Feb 8, 1996, the censorship issue on the net still remains unresolved. In fact, censorship in cyberspace is unconscionable and impossible. Trying to censor the Internet its problematic because the net is an international issue, there is no standard for judging materials, and censorship is an abridgment of democratic spirit. Firstly, censorship on the Internet is an international issue. The Internet was constructed by the U.S. military since 1960s, but no one actually owns it. Thus, the Internet is a global network, and it crosses over different cultures. It is impossible to censor everything that seems to be offensive. For example, Vietnam has announced new regulations that forbid "data that can affect national security, social order, and safety or information that is not appropriate to the culture, morality, and traditional customs of the Vietnamese people." on June 4, 1996. It is also impossible to ban all things that are prohibited in a country. For instant, some countries, such as Germany, have considered taking measures against the U.S. and other companies or individuals that have created or distributed offensive material on the Internet. If the United States government really wanted to censor the net, there is only one solution - shut down all network links of other countries. But of course that would mean no Internet access for the whole country and that is disgust by the whole nation. Secondly, everyone has their personal judgment values. The decision of some people cannot represent the whole population of those using the net. Many people debate that pornography on the net should be censored because there are kids online. However, we can see there are many kids of pornographic magazines on display at newsstands. It is because we have regulations to limit who can read certain published materials. Likewise, some people already use special software to regulate the age limit in cyberspace. Why do people still argue about that? It is all about personal points of views. Justice Douglas said, "To many the Song of Solomon is obscene. I do not think we, the judges, were ever given the constitutional power to make definitions of obscenity."II. In cyberspace, it is hard to set up a pool of judges to censor what could be displayed on the net. Thirdly, censorship works against democratic spirit, it opposes the right of free speech and is a breach of the First Amendment.

Outline and Asses the Feminist Explanations of Gender Inequalities

Outline and asses the feminist explanations of gender inequalities (40) Feminists believe that women are unequal to men, and the different groups think it is down to different reasons. Liberal feminists think it is because it is down to gender role socialisation. Marxist feminists believe it is down to capitalism. Radical feminists think women are not equal to men because of relationships within the home, and black feminist think they are unequal not just because they are women, but also because of their skin colour. All groups of feminists also believe that women are subordinated due to patriarchy, (the idea that males are dominant).Firstly, liberal feminists, such as Ann Oakley argue that gender role socialisation is responsible for sexual division of labour. Girls and boys are socialised in different ways. For example girls are encouraged to take on caring roles, which could lead to them having jobs such as nurses in the future. 3 agents of socialisation- the family, the school an d the media have an influence on the way boys and girls are socialised. For example, in the home there is manipulation and canalisation. Manipulation is when boys and girls are encouraged to play with gender specific toys. Canalisation is when specific behaviour is encouraged or discouraged.For example if a boy falls over and hurts himself, he is encouraged not to cry and to act in a brave way. On the other hand, if the same thing happened to a girl, she would be given more sympathy. Ann Oakley argues that there is still an expectation for women to take on the housewife/mother role. Because of this, it is more difficult for women to pursue careers as men do. Oakley also claims that employers expect women to play the role of housewife rather than pursue a career. This patriarchal ideology is justified by men through claims that women are more suited to caring roles because of their maternal instinct.However, recently some liberal feminists such as Sue Sharpe have been more optimistic . She has said that not all women take on caring roles because of their socialisation. They may react against their socialisation, or pursue a career. Secondly, liberal feminism has been criticised because it tends to assume that all women accept their gender identities in a passive way. Liberal feminism also does not take race or class into consideration. Marxist feminists believe women's subordination is down to the influence of capitalism. Women are seen as a reserve army of labour. ‘ Companies only hire hem when they really need them, and they do less important jobs than men, making them more disposable. Women change jobs more frequently than men, so are more vulnerable at times of redundancy, they tend to be less skilled, and capitalist ideologies locate women in the home. The reserve army of labour theory has been criticised as it fails to explain why there are women's jobs and men's jobs. It is seems to overlook the fact that patriarchy can be influential by itself. The Marxist feminists seem to imply that once capitalism is abolished, gender inequality will disappear, which might not actually be the case.On the other hand, Radical feminists, such as Elizabeth Stanko argue that women's inequality begins in the home, and then extends outwards in the rest of society. If a women is unequal in a relationship with her husband at home, then she is unequal to other men in wider society, e. g. in the government and the media. Radical feminists focus on power relationships between men and women in private. They claim that men exploit and control women within the home. They also claim that when the patriarchy ideology fails, (when women do not dress and act as they are told to) then men resort to domestic violence in order to control them.Therefore, it is not capitalism that controls and exploits women; it is men themselves within the home. Women are disadvantaged in the labour market because within the home they are forced by men to be housewives and mothe rs. However, Radical feminism has been criticised by Marxist feminist for focusing on just one source of gender inequality; the home. They don't take into account the fact that capitalism could be contributing to women being disadvantaged in terms of employment. Radical feminists have also been accused of being ethnocentric; i. . they assume patriarchy is the same in all societies and cultures. However this may not be the case if you for example look at patriarchy in Asian cultures and white cultures, it might be quite different. Black Feminism essentially argues that sexism and racism are inextricable from one another. Forms of feminism that strive to overcome sexism and class oppression but ignore or minimize race can perpetuate racism and thereby contribute to the oppression of many people, including women.Black feminists argue that the liberation of Black women entails freedom for all people, since it would require the end of racism, sexism, and class oppression. In conclusion, all feminist theories agree that we live in a patriarchal society. However the reason we live in a patriarchal society is commonly argued amongst feminists each believing that a different ting caused it. All the reasons are well backed up theories and all have been criticised, It could be said that all are correct and it is not just one of these reasons cause patriarchy but the combination of all of them.

South African Financial Industry

Non-traditional participants continue to aggressively explore revenue opportunities offered by the South African banking industry. The increased market threats, highly competitive and continually changing environment has led to Strategy& (2017) to refer to it as â€Å"a market place with no boundaries†. Figure 1 below, shows how the South African financial industry has progressed into the current state from just over a decade ago. The environment is characterised by intense competition, globalisation, heightened customer mobility and demand and deregulation (Bedeley, 2014; The Banking Association South Africa, 2014). Advancements of digital solutions has been the key enabler for the non-traditional participants to re-shape their value proposition and endeavour into the banking market. This has resulted in empowered global customers (Somal, 2017). To combat the increasing threats and outperform the new entrants, traditional banks continue to seek out digital transformational strategies (Bedeley, 2014; Somal, 2017; Strategy&, 2017). To South African traditional banks, the more threatening challenge is customer retention over attraction (Bedeley, 2014). They acquire vast customer data from the large market share evident in the second paragraph. This data continues to emerge at an alarming rate, due to increased market shared, increased customer base and innovation (Bedeley, 2014). The South African Banks have the opportunity to develop more customer centric strategies to respond to the wealth of data at hand. The key lies with translating this customer data into insight to enhance relationships with existing customers. Referred to, in the modern age, as data analysis. Data collection and analysis need to be a crucial part of business strategy (Somal, 2017). Data analysis depicts what has changed, and how to respond to it (McKinsey&Company, 2018; SAS, 2018). This implies the data capture, storage, processing and analysing strategies must make full use of the technologies available to take up the challenges born from the data surge (Bedeley, 2014). Harvesting data and looking for patterns and anomalies to provide insight lead to better business decision making and outcomes. This is not limited to, but includes, reduces operational costs, business risk analysis, reduced business uncertainty, consumer behavioural predictions, and guide smarter strategies to optimise current offerings or develop new ones (Bedeley, 2014; EY,2017; Stringfellow, 2014). Collecting and analysing customer data is not a new trend, the challenge is storing vast amounts of data, but, new technologies have relieved that liability (Forrester, 2018; TDWI, 2011). Organisations that adopt data analysis surpass their competition by 5% in productivity, and 6% in profitability (EY, 2017; Stringfellow, 2014). According to EY (2017), by 2020, each human being will generate 1.7 megabytes of new information per second. And, in the past two years, human beings have generated more information in the history of humankind. Effective internal and external knowledge management grants organisations the agility to detect opportunities and threats (e.g., reacting to new products or services of competitors); grasping possible opportunities (e.g., expanding into new markets), and staying afloat in a market whilst possessing competitive advantage (e.g., digital strategies to deliver efficient products or services) (Cà ´rte-Real, Oliveira & Ruivo, 2017; Bedeley, 2014; EY, 2017; McKinsey&Company, 2018).Understanding the South African MarketThis section aims to put into perspective the current market that South African banks serve. In 2017, 80.1% of South Africans lived in formal dwellings, 16.5% in informal dwellings, and 5.5% in traditional dwellings (StatsSA, 2017). According to a report by Standard Ba nk (as cited by BusinessTech, 2014), the poorest of the households in South Africa account for 62.3%, with members who earn a combined income of R7, 167 per month. Middle class households, earning from R86, 001 to R1.48 million per annum, account for 26.4%. Affluent households account for 0.4%, with an income of more than R2.36 million per year. The bank notes, only 5.5% of households possibly have the capability to save each month; Furthermore, the affluent households have a 65% saving capability each month of their income after-tax. The poor households contribute 11.2% to the country's income, the middle class contribute a total of 64.6%, whilst the affluent contributes 22.6%. This report highlights the severity of inequality in South Africa, whilst on the flip side highlights growth in the middle class (BusinessTech, 2016). Businesslive (2017) states, in the fourth quarter of 2016, there were 24.31-million credit consumers in South Africa, which is 8 million more than the employed South African population; Moreover, two out of every five credit-active consumers have an impaired record, which is 40% of the 24.31-million credit-active consumers; However, other debt including loan sharks debt were not included. In 2015, the World Bank report, declared South Africans as the world's largest debtors (Businesslive, 2017).?Costumer Satisfaction Index for the South African Banking IndustryIn the fourth quarter of 2017, Consulta released a Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) for the South African banking industry. This satisfaction index is based on brands exceeding or falling short of customer expectations, and the respondents' idea of the ideal product to achieve an overall result out of 100 (Consulta, 2017). The report reveals the degree of satisfaction of South Africans with their banks. Survey participants included 13,099 bank customers across various segments selected at randomly (Consulta, 2017). The table below shows the year-on-year SAcsi scores for the South African traditional banks from the year 2017 till 2017. Absa shows a decline in the past three years, dropping from 74.8 in 2014 to 73.3 in 2017, resulting in obtaining the bottom position among the banks included in the benchmark. Standard bank previously held the last position, but, made a recovery with a substantial 3.3% increase in 2017 from the previous year. Nedbank suffered a 0.9% in 2017 from the previous year, 2016 77%, obtaining a 76.3% moving it to below the industry average of 77%. FNB obtained a 0.4% decrease in 2017 from the previous year, 2016 81.3%, but remains above the industry average. Capitec customers have remained the most satisfied for past five consecutive years. The 2017 Capitec score was 85.3%, 8.3% above the overall industry average.Gap Withing the South African Banking Industry Regarding Data AnalysisBanks are only using a portion of the customer data that is available to them to generate insight to optimise current offerings. The reasons for the low insight is silos and organisational structures, skills and talent gaps, data privacy, regulatory and legal framework or ethical issues and high costs associated to data analysis strategies (Somal, 2017). This prevents them from responding to changing customer needs; hence, leads to missed revenue opportunities. By prioritising data analysis to a key component to daily decision making, South African Banks can be equipped to integrate data from the different sources and develop solutions to better serve their customers, which will deliver noteworthy benefits (Strategy;, 2017). The outcome of this section suggests that with data analysis South African banks can provide business value by facilitating the acquisition of supply chain and marketing knowledge (Cà ´rte-Real et al., 2017). That translate to the right person offered the right product on the right device at the right time (Bedeley, 2014). Since banks have so much data available with the necessary analysing tools, they have a 50% chance of retaining a customer that is about to leave (Somal, 2017). Section three forms the fundamentals of the investigation of this paper. The section begins with the use of insight harnessed from customer data analysis to enhance customer experience by reviewing closely related literature; and then grants much needed detail on the data required for this resolution; how it will be collected from diverse sources to build better models and gain more actionable insights; improved to generate the right results and avoid making incorrect conclusions; and analysed for better decision making. The section concludes by presenting some key challenges and benefits of data analysis.

Poetry Criticism Essay

Write a critical appreciation of the poem INCENDIARY by Vernon Scannell. You should comment on theme, diction, tone and structure. An incendiary is a bomb which sets things on fire, which gets across the idea that the boy was like a dangerous weapon, ready to explode at any time. This poem is about a boy who sets a farm on fire in hope that he receives the attention he has been longing for. In the first line, the poet describes the boy to have a face â€Å"like pallid cheese†. This simile is depicts the boy to look quite sick and weak. We immediately feel pity and realize that the boy is uncared for. The poet also describes the boy to have â€Å"burnt-out little eyes† implying that, with reference to fire, his eyes have died out showing that he has lost hope. The fire was huge, boiling and all-consuming, as implied in this quote: â€Å"As brazen fierce and huge, as red and gold and zany yellow. † This suggests that the fire was a multitude of colours- â€Å"red, gold and zany yellow†. It was also bold, savage and extremely big- â€Å"Brazen, fierce and huge†. The word zany also suggests it being, uncontrollable or wild. The poet shows the extent of damage caused by the fire through the quote â€Å"spoiled three thousand guineas† worth of crops. The fact that he uses â€Å"guineas† could imply that the poem was set some time ago. Scannell portrays the scene as frightening and very damaging: â€Å"Is frightening- as a fact and a metaphor†. He describes the flames as â€Å"flame-fanged tigers†. This is a metaphor in which the flames are compared to tigers; wild animals which are perceived as viscous and ferocious. These large flames are said to be â€Å"roaring hungrily†. The use of the word â€Å"hungrily† implies that the flames are consuming while the use of the word â€Å"roaring† is an onomatopoeia showing that the fire was loud. The reader no longer feels a sense of pity towards the boy because he has caused so much irreversible damage. The feeling of hostility is heightened through this quote: â€Å"And frightening too that one small boy should set the sky on fire and choke the stars†. This use of personification portrays the image of the large amount of smoke rising so high that it blocks out the stars. This could possibly be another indication of lost hope as the light of the stars is no longer visible. The poet once again tries to make us feel pity for the boy: â€Å"Such skinny limbs and such a little heart which would have been content with one small kiss had there been anyone to offer this†. This quote once again introduces the theme of neglect. His â€Å"skinny limbs† show that he is malnourished. The boy is longing for â€Å"one warm kiss† which gives the reader an idea of his motives. He is probably seeking attention, in an effort to be loved. The poem doesn’t have a particular rhyme scheme however rhyming couplets appear three times throughout the poem, one of them appearing at the end. Like this, the poet emphasises specific lines in which he may want to be particularly powerful. When a poem ends in this way after not having much rhyme throughout, it can make it more emotionally moving. Due to the lack of punctuation and the effect of the rhyming couplets that appear, the tone is quite fast which possibly indicates the short amount of time in which the farm caught fire. It may also create a lively atmosphere to bring the energy of the fire to life. In this poem, Scannell uses an exaggerated but possible example of what a child may do when he or she is uncared for. Through this he tries to show us the consequences and dangers of neglecting children and the desperate measures they may turn to.

Quantitative Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Quantitative Methods - Assignment Example For calculating the monthly expenses for the both types of mortgages first the nominal interest rates should be used to calculate the effective annual interest rates. This is done by using the following formula: I=(1+r/x)^x-1 In order to obtain the effective annual rates the Microsoft Excel formula was used: EFFECT(nominal_rate,npery), where nominal_rate is the annual nominal rate and npery is the number of compounding times per year. These values were calculated in Microsoft Excel using the formula: PMT(rate,nper,pv,fv,type). Rate is the interest rate of the mortgage, Nper is the total number of repayments for the loan, in this case 300 months (25*12), Pv is the present value of the total repayments that are to be made, Fv is the future value that one wishes to attain after the last repayment, in this case 0 and lastly Type indicates whether the repayment is made at the beginning of the month (0) or at the end (1), in this case we assume it is made at the start of the month so 0. In order to evaluate the Interest Only Mortgage option we must first calculate the effective annual interest rate on the deposit placed in the sinking fund. This will be done in the same way as for the Repayment Mortgage. The results are presented in the table below: The monthly cost Interest Only mortgage consists of the interest paid over the mortgage period and the amount accumulated in the sinking fund.... epayments for the loan, in this case 300 months (25*12), Pv is the present value of the total repayments that are to be made, Fv is the future value that one wishes to attain after the last repayment, in this case 0 and lastly Type indicates whether the repayment is made at the beginning of the month (0) or at the end (1), in this case we assume it is made at the start of the month so 0. In order to evaluate the Interest Only Mortgage option we must first calculate the effective annual interest rate on the deposit placed in the sinking fund. This will be done in the same way as for the Repayment Mortgage. The results are presented in the table below: Nominal interest rate on deposit in sinking fund Number of compounding periods per year Effective annual interest rate on deposit in sinking fund 5.50% 1 0.055 5.75% 1 0.0575 6.00% 1 0.06 6.25% 1 0.0625 6.50% 1 0.065 6.75% 1 0.0675 7.00% 1 0.07 7.25% 1 0.0725 7.50% 1 0.075 7.75% 1 0.0775 8.00% 1 0.08 8.25% 1 0.0825 8.50% 1 0.085 8.75% 1 0.0825 9.00% 1 0.09 The monthly cost Interest Only mortgage consists of the interest paid over the mortgage period and the amount accumulated in the sinking fund. In order to calculate the monthly payment into the sinking fund using Excel the PPMT(rate,per,nper,pv,fv,type) formula was used where rate is the interest rate per period, per is the period, nper is the total amount of payments in the sinking fund, pv is the present value of the mortgage, fv is the future value expected in our case 0 and type indicates when the monthly payments are due in this case we assume that they are made at the beginning of the period so we take the value 1. The results are listed below: Annual interest rate Number of years in the loan Amount of loan Payment into investment plan 5.50% 25 350000

Christianity and Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Christianity and Judaism - Essay Example Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because: Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies, Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah, Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus are mistranslations and Jewish belief is based on national revelation (Rabbi Simmons) Jews believe that the coming Messiah will build The Build the Third Temple (The Good News Bible, Ezekiel 37:26-28), Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (The Good News Bible, Isaiah 43:5-6) and the God will be King over all the world -- on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (The Good News Bible, Zechariah 14:9).Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to come. As per Jews beliefs, Jesus was not a prophet and he has taken birth on earth after the prophecy was ended. They also believe that the Messiah will take birth quiet naturally, same way like all the other human beings and will not possess any supernatural qualities like the Jesus. Jews don’t have much belief in miracles as they believe that the miracles done by the Jesus was with the help of magical powers rather than any Godly power. The above beliefs seem to be baseless since nobody can predict the actions of God. Sin has entered the world through one human being Adam and the whole world is filled with sins because of the gene transfer from Adam. It is an accepted fact now, that the children exhibit the characteristics of their parents because of the gene transfer. Thus the sin committed by Adam has been transferred to the blood of the whole future generation. As per God’s rule, death is the punishment for sin. But the death of future generation cannot be justified since they were not responsible for their sins directly. So as per God’s plan, a sinless person must sacrifice his life in order to remove the dark spots caused by the sins of Adam. But, unfortunately, there were no sacred persons on earth as everybody was the sons of Adam. Because of the above

Final Case Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Final Case Report - Essay Example In 2011, the entry of the crystal silicon producers mainly from China has resulted to the reduction in the module costs. In order to face the increase in competition, First Solar has applied new technological approach in order to manufacture solar cells. The case of First Solar revealed the fact that the concerned company has been effective in performing operations competitively owing to cost advantage in using crystal silicon. The key strategic issues identified from the case of First Solar are that the company has faced increased competitions from other producers of solar modules. In addition to this, the entry of Chinese firms in solar industry has been affecting the leadership position enjoyed by First Solar as an individual competitor in the solar industry. In this respect, the competition from other firms had a negative impact on the market share of First Solar (First Solar Inc, 2013). The aim of the essay is to develop strategic planning report for First Solar on the basis of identifying the problems or issues faced for market competition. Furthermore, internal and external analysis of the environment has been conducted with the intention of identifying the threats as well as opportunities for the concerned company. In addition to this, strategies have been developed based on the issues identified using different analytical models that are essential for the success of the company in the long run (First Solar, 2015; First Solar Inc, 2013). First Solar is the global producer and seller of solar modules and uses photovoltaic energy for producing the same. First Solar as one of the renewable energy organizations is devoted to sustainable business practices in order to gain competitive position in the market. The mission statement of the company reveals the objectives of the organization. The mission of First Solar is to provide clean and affordable solar electricity worldwide. In addition to the use of eco efficient solution to generate