Qualitative Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Qualitative Studies - Essay Example Therefore, the discussions and observations are structured loosely, thus allowing for the expression of a "full range of beliefs, feelings, and behaviours" (Polit and Beck, 2007, 57). However, in contrast to quantitative studies, analysis and interpretation are ongoing and concurrent activities that will continue to guide choices about the next sample with concurrent modifications of the types of questions or necessary observations. Thus with the goal of clustering together of related types of narrative information into a coherent scheme of time consuming and intensive data analysis, the sample needs to be determined. The aim of most qualitative studies is to discover meaning and to uncover multiple realities, and so generalizability is not a guiding criterion as in quantitative studies. Thus probability sampling is not necessary. Randomly selected population may not necessarily be good informants, and thus the sampling method must be one of nonprobability methods. These include: extreme or deviant case sampling, typical case sampling, and snowball sampling (Cochran, 1977, 13-47). This means, there must be a purpose for any particular sampling method. In probability sampling, elements are selected by nonrandom methods. ... These are convenience, quota, and purposive (Polit and Beck, 2007, 292). Convenience Sampling A convenience sample can be defined as a sample in which research subjects are recruited based on their ease of availability, or in other words, the sample comprises of the most conveniently available subjects. Essentially, individuals who are the most ready, willing, and able to participate in the study are the ones who are selected to participate. In qualitative research, it may be helpful to use a convenience sample to test the appropriateness of interview questions. This is an inexpensive and quick way to test the design of the study by approaching an interested group of people first before embarking on a larger, longer, and more expensive study (Diekmann & Smith, 1989, 418-430). The main problem with such sampling is that the available subjects might be atypical of the population of interest with regard to critical variables. It has been argued that convenience samples can lack transferability or external validity in qualitative research. Thus although this is simple and more co st-effective, it is important to remember that the participants recruited are not necessarily reflective of the population being studied, and they may not necessarily be reflective of all view points, and thus the research may be criticized to be biased (Polit and Beck, 2007, 292). Quota Sampling (Stratified Purposeful) This is also known as quota sampling in which the researcher identifies population strata and also determines the number of participants needed from each stratum. To be able to determine this, the information about the population characteristics is necessary, since it should represent diverse segments preferable in a representative

Bring Fate Upon Himself Essay Example for Free

Bring Fate Upon Himself Essay Arthur Aster Miller, born in New York in 1915, is a playwright of many successful works. When he was young, his father was a shopkeeper that was financially destroyed by the Great Depression of the 1930s, which prompted the Millers to move to Brooklyn. He grew up playing football and baseball and did not seem to display characteristics of genius. He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1932. In 1956, Miller, recently divorced, married model and actress Marilyn Monroe. He wrote a screenplay entitled Misfits, mainly to have his wife star in it. Often late on set and under the influence of drugs, Marilyn caused great strain on their marriage. The marriage fell apart in 1961. In 1964, he remarried, this time to photographer Inge Morath. Arthur Millers play A View from the Bridge centers round an ongoing problem, illegal immigration, and then deals with problems related to people trying to live together and coming into conflict with their individual desires and motivations. The topics raised are never easy to deal with and Miller shows how skillfully he can write about difficult issues, whilst enhancing the English language. The actors whose American accents are clear and convincing deliver the words with perfect pronunciation. This is a great view of life, which Arthur Miller is able to translate into a superb play. The cast all gives fine performances and bring out each characters innermost feelings with great skill. America is known as rich, wealthy and merchandised land. America warm-welcomes the outsiders. Many people migrated to America, and dreamt that there would be a better life for them, were excitement, enthusiasm, and adorability and thought someone will care for them. Jobs are easy to get, highly paid, yeah, but in America, there is more money, more problems. This is ironic as the Statue of Liberty stands over them, which promised wealth, happiness and the American dream, but failed to deliver. A View From the Bridge is a play set in the 1950s in Brooklyn, New York. Miller uses a lot of the places in the play A View From The Bridge symbolically. The first is in the title; it represents the fact that this play is only one view from the Brooklyn Bridge. It shows that there are many other lives being lived out around that bridge and maybe there are similar incidents occurring. It also gives the reader a sense of being a spectator, as Alfieri is, who can see what is happening but is powerless to stop it. The viewpoint is one of a middle-class person looking down on this inferior scene from a remote and distant place. From this place the practices on the waterfront would have seemed alien and unreal. That is why it is important the play was so named. This story is about a family who take the risk of welcoming illegal immigrants, Marco and Rodolpho, from Italy to stay in their home. Eddie, the father of Catherine was murdered. Some say he was the victim and was just a hardworking, honest man who was protecting his daughter. Others say his behaviour was unacceptable and he was a judgmental, scheming, selfish man who had to realise that Catherine was not still his little girl, and brought his fate upon himself. Heres what I think. Eddie Carbone didnt deserve to die, which I agree with, however the facts prove that if Eddie had not done what he did he wouldnt have died. Alfieri is the symbolic bridge between American law and tribal Italian law. Alfieri, himself the son of an Italian immigrant, acts as a chorus in the play. He gives his perspective from his position on the bridge or meeting ground between Italian and American cultures. Alfieri attempts to portray the characters objectively, but, especially in the case of Eddie Carbone, narrates the play as if it were a great legend. Alfieri positions himself as the great scribe or teller of an epic tale: the flat air in my office suddenly washes in with the green scent of the sea the thought comes that in some Caesars year another lawyer set there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course. Alfieri adds grandeur to the story and transforms the story of a Longshoreman into a larger than life tragic tale. Alfieri was a lawyer who Eddie turned to when he needed help in the situation. Alfieris opening speech of Eddie describes him as a hard and honest man who worked hard for a living. He was a good man as he had to be in a life that was hard and even This quote is interesting as it shows how Eddie was from before meeting the immigrants to when Catherine and Rodolpho started dating. Eddie Carbone is a hard working longshoreman; he lives in America and lives with his wife Beatrice, and Catherine, who is Beatrices niece. One of Eddies problems was that he was too overprotective of Catherine and still treated her as his little girl. In act one Catherine was offered a job, however Eddie did not approve of his little girl going out into the big wide world on her own. I want you to be with a different kind of people. I want you to be in a nice office In this quote Eddie is saying she is too good for that job and should stay at school. Eventually after a lot of persistent persuasion from Beatrice and Catherine he lets her take the job. Eddies protectiveness was a good but it had reached a stage that was too protective.

Richard Wrights The Man Who Was Almost a Man Essay -- Richard Wright

Richard Wright's The Man Who Was Almost a Man The Man Who Was Almost a Man is a fictitious short story about an uneducated black boy's quest to become a man. Growing up in the early 1900's was a very hard task for most black people. The lack of education was one of the hardest hills they had to overcome to make it in a world dominated by whites. The story centers upon one 17-year boy who has very low self-esteem caused by his peers. He believes that owning a gun will gain him respect with others and thus make him a man. The title of this short story has several different ways of being interpreted because the time and atmosphere in which it was written. The short story was written in first person narrative, which gives a graphic account of the personality of the character Dave. The short story is also written in a dialect of an uneducated black boy which gives the reader the feel of what is was like to be that young man back in the early 1900's. The stories title The Man Who Was Almost a Man holds many different meanings to how Dave must have felt back in those times. Dave's struggle was man versus society in an era where his skin color meant more than his actions. He was unable to interact with the white society and was outcast by his peers because of his age. He believed at this time in his life that being a man was the more important than life itself. Buying a gun and learning to shoot was his solution to becoming a man. This was not the case though. The first time he fired the gun it numbed his hands and fell to the ground. He also shot Mr. Hawkin's mule, which he was unable to cover up. Now everyone would know what he had done which would give his peers a bad impression of him. He would not gain their respect, nor... ... a man. Life was hard back then and being accepted played a big role in all blacks searching for that one thing that would make them accepted within their society. Works Cited Blau, Eleanor. "The Works of Richard Wright, This Time Published as Written." The New York Times 28 Aug. 1991, final ed., sec. B: 1-2. Brignano, Russell Carl. An Introduction to the Man and His Works. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1970. Fabre, Michel. The World of Richard Wright. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1985. Hannon, Charles. "Teaching the conflicts as a temporary Instructor." College Literature 6 (1997): 126-141. Joyce, Joyce Ann. Richard Wright's Art of Tragedy. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1986. Walker, Margaret. Richard Wright, Daemonic Genius: A Portrait of the Man, a Critical Look at His Work. New York: Warner Books, 1988.

What Motor Is More Reliable?

The survey found that the Japanese brands Yamaha,Honda are more reliable brands. But to me Honda is more reliable to me because its cheaper to fix if it breaks and Yamaha has more hp and tuqort and is faster. Honda is just a all around good atv, dirt bikes because you have your 400ex and you crf250f. Yamaha is good for speed and racing atvs, and dirt bikes like your 400 bashanee and your yz450f.Honda is made in the US so everything is cheaper for parts and take less time to get to your destination. The next year, Honda marketed the handling-friendly ATC200X to beginners. honda's first introduced the KLT200 – a three-wheeled atv – into the market in 1981. The company's first four-wheeler in 1985 and was called the Bayou 185. The Bayou 300 4Ãâ€"4, honda first atv 4-wheel drive atv.Yamaha is made in japan and the parts cost so much because they have to ship cost The YZ250X is optimized for the unique demands of Hare Scrambles and GNCC ® racing. The YPVSâ„ ¢-equipped 249cc two-stroke engine is combined with a wide-ratio five-speed transmission for the ultimate cross-country power plant.Yamaha .com TOKYO, Japan, October 5, 2016 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that the two companies have begun discussions toward a possible business alliance in the Japanese market in the â€Å"Class-1 category*† which include scooters with a 50 cc engine or emy community does atv poker runs at least once a year to raise money for charity, i've seen almost every brand of atv and i will address them all, for the record out biggest ride was about 300 bikes Honda: their not the most powerful or fastest but their quality is by far the best, i've seen one break down Polaris: laughing stock, i don't even know why people buy them, they do have power, but in a few years you will rebuild the whole bike Yamaha: a close second, they have very few problems, but its probably because most people don't keep them stock and try to modify them to much Kawasaki: i don't see many of them, but what i do see are impressive, a tie for second Can-am: i've only seen a few and they may beat honda on quality , but the price for a decent bike is ridiculous, their to pricey, but seeing less than a dozen, i can't saylectric motor. Debate honda is the best .com . Some people like other atv brands that's their opinion.

How might it influence an approach to international politics? Essay

In British usage the definition becomes derogatory precisely at the time that the idea of the modern nation-state is becoming ever more dominant. If we turn to the American voice of Emerson, though, a clear difference in tone emerges. We may see Emerson seek to determine the dualism between the local and the universal without recourse to the particular structures of state government. Emerson’s Kantianism is obvious in â€Å"Politics,† where he claims that â€Å"a conceptual of the codes of nations would be a transcription of the common conscience. † In Emerson’s description of the new man we can also hear the particular bulk of nineteenth-century American political thought become conjugal to this cosmopolitanism, as he calls for â€Å"men who are at home in each latitude and longitude, men of universal politics, who are involved in things in proportion to their truth and extent. † (Stephen E. Wicher, 1957), 309 This is certainly an enlarged view of the world, one in which the particular vigor and adventurousness of Americans will lead towards a lately refreshed cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism in this framework seems to grow directly out of the power of individual men, almost bypassing the community completely, and in this way the tension between local and universal appears to be determined. Yet obviously Emerson’s thought also rests resolutely on its particular understanding of the American individuality and its relationship to the world. One might say then that his universalism is beached in the United States, much as Montesquieu was grounded in France. Until it is practically eclipsed by nationalist emotion in the last years of the nineteenth century, this fundamentally paradoxical cosmopolitan receptivity lurks within much American social discourse, emerging not simply in the appeal to universal humanism which surrounds the new discourses of social improvement in the 1890s, but also in the popular press discussions concerning American achievements in science, technology, and world exploration. Though, cosmopolitanism comprises politically compelling reasons. If cosmopolitanism cannot bring an explicitly and directly political program, it is at least a step toward this kind of internationalist political education. Cosmopolitanism is a condition that concerns to only a fraction of humanity who can give it. A common stereotype of cosmopolitans illustrates privileged, politically uncommitted elites – made up of wealthy corporate managers and (a few! ) academics and intellectuals – who retain their condition on the basis of autonomous wealth and a globetrotting lifestyle. In this classification, cosmopolitanism is a matter of consumption, an obtained taste for music, food, fashion, art, and text from all parts of the world. Second, cosmopolitanism refers to a principles or philosophy. modern political philosophers lean to divide themselves into communitarians, who believe that moral principles and obligations are or must be grounded in specific groups and contexts, and cosmopolitans. The final urge us to see ourselves as ‘citizens of the world’, forming a worldwide moral community of humanity unswerving to universal ideals of human rights. An alternative of this extensive argument is whether cosmopolitanism can be submissive with nationalism and patriotism. Third, the idea is used to refer to a political project, a new order of transnational political structures exercising what is at times described as ‘cosmopolitan democracy’. The idea implies a layer of global governance which limits the dominion of states and yet is not itself a world state. Cosmopolitan institutions would co-exist with states and would supersede their authority in particular spheres of activity. The institutions most considered for their potential to assist in the comprehension of such a cosmopolitan project are the United Nations and the European Union. the majority of the work on this topic remains somewhat abstract. A remarkable exception is the work of Martha Nussbaum, who has detailed a detailed vision of cosmopolitan education. In the study of international relations, David Held is the leading scholar and supporter of cosmopolitan democracy. For Held, ‘cosmopolitanism . . . seems to explicate, and offer a compelling elucidation of, the classical conception of belonging to the human community first and foremost, and the Kantian conception of subjecting all beliefs, relations and practices to the test of whether or not they allow open-ended interaction, uncoerced agreement and impartial judgment’ (Held 2002 : 64). Beck argues that the initiative of Americanization suggests a national understanding of globalization that is defectively adapted to the transnational world of the Second Modern Age. Rather, he proposes ‘rooted cosmopolitanism’, a cosmopolitanism that draws uniformly on the local. This serves to disperse the binary thinking that still tends to distinguish discussions on post-colonialism. The ‘otherness’ of others is renowned, and at the same time the sociological mind can be freed from its methodological nationalism and can grip a cosmopolitan perspective, with all the consequences this entails for the field.

Rich Dad poor Dad

Rich Dad poor Dad Summary Written by Robert Kiyosaki, ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ is a story that explores one man’s journey from ten cents an hour to financial independence. Unlike many of other children, Kiyosaki had two fathers- the biological poor father and the ‘financial icon’ father.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Rich Dad poor Dad specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The author compares the approaches for success that each of the two fathers taught him. He compares their financial intelligence and business skills; qualities that his real father, the poor but highly educated man, lacked. In Chapter 1, Kiyosaki tells of his early life with his friend, Mike, as boys growing up in Hawaii. Fortunately, meeting mikes father changed Kiyosaki’s destiny for he learned of priceless money principles that he applies in life even today. Mike’s father employed the author and Mike in a grocery store where they worked for peanuts. Unsatisfied with the pay, Kiyosaki asked for a pay rise but received a pay cut instead. As the two boys almost ran out of patience for a pay increase, they managed to meet their boss (Mike’s father) only to accept a moral lesson and forgo a pay increase. They both opted to learn the moral of the lesson despite the rich dad giving them a significant pay increase as an option. They learnt the important lesson that, the rich do not work for money; no, money works for them by employing other people to work for them In Chapter 2, the author explains the importance of financial intelligence in achieving financial success. He argues that wealth lies in the ability to identify opportunities and utilize them. He compares the rich and the poor in terms of risk-taking, whereby the poor and the middle class prefer to play it safe and avoid risks. He explains that investing in assets and minimizing one’s expenditure contributes to financial success. The po or on the other hand spend more than they can keep. In Chapter4, the author explains that for individuals to become financially sufficient, minding one’s own business is important. Focusing on nurturing one’s own businesses instead of the employer’s business contributes to financial independence. Another important lesson described in the book is that taxation only affects the poor. The rich avoid heavy taxations through corporations, which offer tax exemptions and protection from litigation. This phenomenon offers an ideal way for the rich to protect their wealth. The author also explains that self-confidence in business and financial literacy involving investments is more important than saving small sums of money monthly. The author also describes the importance of working to acquire skills instead of working for money.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Skills in accounting, market trends, and business laws enable the rich to achieve financial success. The author also describes the importance of education in business and describes the skills such as management skills that individuals need to achieve success. In addition, the author describes the obstacles including human traits that hinder financial success and offers the tips for expanding personal wealth. Analysis The author believes that for an individual to achieve financial success, he or she must strive to own his/her businesses instead of working for employers. He feels that the poor work hard for less while enriching the employers. About financial literacy, the author stresses the importance of accounting and proper management of one’s expenditure as a way of achieving financial success. In addition, the author holds the opinions that individuals should invest more in solid assets and cut down liabilities to achieve financial prosperity. Interestingly, the a uthor depicts the poor dad as well-educated but lacking business skills showing that education is less important in achieving financial success. Later, in Chapter 6, he stresses the importance of education and training to enhance business and investment skills. He also recommends that education make one a better investor coupled with increasing one’s financial intelligence. This contradicts the picture created by the author’s biological dad who was poor despite being highly educated. In addition, the author recommends that financial success can be achieved through employing intelligent and trained minds. The idea that financial literacy leads to financial independence concurs with the story of the two dads. The poor dad is a highly educated professor who lacks financial literacy skills. As a result, he never makes it financially despite working hard while the rich dad, who was financially intelligent, invested in assets, undertook risks, and achieved great financial su ccess. The poor dad emphasized on education as a way of achieving financial success. However, the rich dad groomed the author on business skills that turned out to be important in achieving financial success. Reflection In the story, the author explains that the rich do not work for money; instead, they hire intelligent minds to work for them. In my opinion, I think the rich also need to work to some extent particularly in managing workers and their investments.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Rich Dad poor Dad specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, I think the idea of minding one’s own business is a noble one. By investing in assets and businesses, I can become self-employed and avoid exploitative, unrewarding, unsatisfying jobs. In addition, financial literacy is an important lesson for professional individuals. Understanding basic financial skills can help one create and grow wealth. However, the author did not come out clearly on how training or education helps an individual to develop financial intelligence. Conclusion Rich Dad Poor Dad provides vital lessons and tips to the reader on attaining financial success without much struggle. In addition, it outlines the necessity of financial literacy as a vital tool of success. However, it fails to accord importance to training or education. In a scale of 1-10, I would rate it eight.

National Idea of the Early and Late 19th century essays

National Idea of the Early and Late 19th century essays Nationalism as a radical idea of the early 19th century was destined to have an enormous influence in the modern world. In this ideology we find some points standing out, firstly nationalism has normally evolved from a real or imagined cultural unity supporting itself especially in a common language, history, and territory. Nationalists also have usually sought to turn this cultural unity into political reality and modern nationalism had its immediate impact in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. This kind of movement emerged in the early nineteenth century. Though the restored order of Metternich which from 1815-1848 did suppress the revolutionary challenge, it nevertheless had to reconcile itself to some of the demands that had been made earlier and moderate constitutions were granted by most states. Post-revolutionary nationalism was the greatest threat to Metternich's restored order. The idea of national self-determination was repellent to Metternich. It not only threatened the existence of the aristocracy but also threatened to destroy the Austrian Empire and revolutionize central Europe. Between 1789 and 1848 nationalism in the form of republicanism was generally associated with liberalism and its hostility to the Old Order. Liberals believed that each people, each national group, had a right to establish its own independent government and seek to fulfill its own destiny. But nothing could alter the fact that the age of nationalism had arrived, and so, on one level, the idea of Europe fragmented into particularism of the national ideal. But this did not all mean that the new system of nation-states was without norms. As Europe consolidated into fewer but larger states, the idea of Europe took on a normative role as a regulative idea. From 1848 onwards, when liberal, or republican, nationalism failed to stage a successful revolution against the Old Order, nationalism became progressively less concerned with ...

Your Ultimate Content Marketers Guide to Keyword Research

Your Ultimate Content Marketers Guide to Keyword Research I am sure youve heard of the term keyword research before. Everyone is talking about it, yet its often misunderstood. Keyword research is the process of finding words and phrases that best represent what your site does. Keyword research is heavily based on searching behavior: We research keywords that people tend to type in the search box. The main goal of keyword research is to get your pages rank for keywords we optimize them for. This guide will take you through the process of selecting, organizing and placing the keywords in order to help you brainstorm article ideas and create content that achieves higher search rankings. Is Keyword Research Dead (Or Dying)? Its been in attention baiting headlines many times: Many of those claim both SEO and keyword research on deathbed and its been nothing new for as long as SEO exists. The truth is, neither keyword research nor SEO are going anywhere. They are evolving and maturing, yes, but not dying for sure. Neither keyword research nor SEO are going anywhere.There are more tools and trends emerging making keyword research more interesting and insightful. While it was merely finding terms with lower competition and high volume a few years ago, its more than that today. Get Your Free Keyword Research Template Bundle Do better keyword research with these three free downloadable resources: A Keyword Research List Template to store your keyword ideas (and never lose them). A Latent Semantic Indexing infographic to better understand how infusing content with secondary keywords impacts SEO. An on-page SEO checklist to fully optimize each piece of content you create.Your Ultimate Content Marketer's Guide to Keyword ResearchKeyword Research: Where to Start Keyword research starts with defining the core terms  (or seed terms or head terms). These are the most essential terms that your industry revolves around. Further into keyword research your task will be to expand the list of your core terms with various keyword modifiers. That being said, you may come across slightly different ways to explain the keyword structure, but I prefer to stick to the most simple one. A keyword consists of: Core term: Your most important word or phrase that defines your site. In the ideal world, you want to rank #1 for this term but too many sites share this desire. Keyword modifiers: Words that come with your core terms making up longer phrases that are usually easier to rank for (because not as many sites want to compete with you for those rankings). Your core term can be as broad and as generic as the nature of your business dictates. In most cases, you are the best (and maybe the only one) to tell which words define your business best. For example, if you are running a restaurant, your core term isn't really [restaurant] because you don't want to rank #1 when people simply type [restaurant]. The real word you want to rank for is whatever city you are in plus restaurant: That's what will drive customers your way. So in this simplistic scenario, your core term is something like [Austin restaurant]. On top of that, your other core terms may be: [restaurants in Austin] [restaurant in Austin] It may be really hard to rank well for [Austin restaurant], so depending on the nature of your restaurant, your keyword modifiers may be: [downtown  Austin restaurants] [vegan  restaurant in Austin] [Italian  restaurant in Austin] More generic keyword modifiers that may help you get some targeted visits may be: [Best  restaurants in Austin] [Top  restaurants in Austin] [Best-rated  restaurants in Austin], and so on Now, enough with restaurants. I understand that this article is primarily for content creators but I needed a very concrete example to illustrate the concept better. Let's say you are creating an in-depth content marketing course, then: The basic and traditional goal of keyword research is to expand your core term using all kinds of modifiers and assess which of those phrases will give you more chances to rank as high as top 5 Google search results. So let's talk about distinguishing your core terms first. Recommended Reading: How to Boost Traffic with 34 Important SEO Tips You Need To Know (+Free Kit) So How to Find Those Core Terms? Like I said, in most cases those will come from your common knowledge. If you've been in the industry at least for some time, you'll know which words flow around. However there are tools to help, of course.  Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool  is perhaps the most useful one to start with. Type the first word that comes to mind and it will suggest more terms and phrases. For example, for [chocolate] top suggestions are: dark chocolate chocolate truffles chocolate gifts These are all solid core terms to start your research with. Another solid idea to start your keyword research with, especially if you are somewhat new to a niche, is to look for industry thesauruses and glossaries to go through most common terms and definitions. This will give you a few more ideas of core terms to start with. Even generic thesauruses will help. For example,  Thesaurus.com  is always a good start. Here are its suggestions for chocolate terms: Searching Google for [chocolate terms] will give you lots of more words to play with. Here's what I found: Tip: Create a list of your core terms that best describe your site and what you are going to cover. This list should be quite short though: Don't list more than 10 terms. How to Find Valuable Keywords? Simply expanding your list with longer phrases isn't enough. The actual goal is to find valuable keywords. Simply put, a valuable keyword is the one that has a high demand and a low competition. This means that enough people type this phrase in a search engine for you to go into trouble to create content for it while not too many publishers have already created content targeting that exact word for you to have a chance to rank high. As you can imagine, it's not really easy to find keywords like this because web publishers and marketers have been searching for them for many years now. Luckily, there are tools to help. I have explained a quick  keyword research exercise here. In short, using the tool like  Serpstat, you need to find keyword phrases with high search volume (i.e. high demand) and low competition (i.e. low offer) If chocolate is your major topic, here would be your lower-competition phrases that offer pretty exciting content ideas: Mind that any of the above can be expanded further: Just click any phrase and the tool will suggest even more ideas: These are all great content ideas and you can estimate the demand (search volume) and offer (competition) at a glance too. However, take the competition number with a grain of salt. It is based on the aforementioned Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool competition metric, however it doesn't reflect the organic search competition: It shows how many advertisers want to pay to show their ads for that term, so it is not always the competition you are looking for. For example, Google will label competition for the word [chocolate] as "low", however it's almost impossible to actually rank for that word in Google, because it's too common and too many powerful publishers already rank for it... Tip: Expand your core terms using keyword research tools based on competition and search volume metrics. Use your best judgment when assessing competition because some terms may have low competition but can be actually impossible to rank for. So How to Better Estimate Competition? When you finally have the list of the keywords you want to base your content around, make sure you actually search Google  and scroll through top 10 results. Here are a few flags I am using: Are there articles ranking high or rather home pages?  It will be harder to compete with home pages because they usually accumulate lots of positive signals. Home pages are the most powerful pages of pretty much any website. How many really huge websites rank on top?  For example, Wikipedia links are almost impossible to outrank. But there are other huge publishers that dominate every other niche, like imbd.com, popsugar.com, buzzfeed.com and others. If top positions in search results are dominated by huge brands, that will be hard to beat. You can go even geekier and search for [allintitle:keyword]. This will show how many web pages have that term in the page title (i.e. headline). This is exactly how many web pages you are competing with. Another thing to always check in Google is the presence of blended results, i.e. other types of search results Google may show on top of their generic blue-and-white results. These can be: Image search results, Shopping search results News search results. This is an example of shopping search results: Serpstat  shows whether these blended search results appear if you search for any keyword in their list: These may indicate that a particular keyword is not worth too much effort because there will be too much of something else all around search results for users to find your article: Tip: Actually search Google for each phrase you select and see whether you have a chance to rank in top 5 there. Apart from signaling of a potential cluttered search results page, these "blended" search results often signal of two important things: Usually they appear for more popular (more competitive) terms They may signal of keyword intent which is something we'll talk more about next. Recommended Reading: How to Make an SEO Content Strategy that Will Improve Your #1-3 Results by 248% What Is Keyword Intent? Keyword intent represents what the searcher may be willing to do when searching for a particular phrase.  Keyword intent is the most important concept when it comes to keyword research. It determines how well you can satisfy the user who comes to your site from search results. There are three major types of keyword intent: Informational: A user is looking to find answers to their questions. For example, [chocolate history] signals of informational intent. Trasactional: A user is looking to buy something. For example, when a user is searching for [personalized chocolate], they are most likely to buy some. Another example with the definitive transactional intent is [order chocolates online] Navigational: A user wants to find a specific brand, for example [hershey chocolate] Content marketers also distinguish "commercial intent", that is when a user researches something before buying one. Taking our chocolate example above, if a user searches for [chocolate gifts], they are most likely to be interested in buying some gifts but they may also be interested in reading your article listing most unique chocolate gift ideas together with suggestions where to find them. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Keyword Research with Latent Semantic Indexing How to Organize Those Keywords? So you go through lists and lists of keywords... how to make use of them to turn into a long-lasting content marketing plan? Here are a few ways to organize your keywords: Organize by Intent The first step is to organize keywords by intent: Keywords with informational intent. Those are outright content ideas to add to your content editorial calendar. Keywords with transactional intent. These are seldom content ideas. You'd better hand those off to your product development team. Keywords with commercial intent. Those are keywords that require some more brainstorming: You need to actually have the products in mind in order to create content around these keywords because your readers will ultimately be interested in making an action (i.e. buying). If you have a product to sell, think which type of content would be best to direct those visitors into your sales funnel. Maybe that could be a downloadable guide or a list article. If you monetize your site through ads and affiliate programs, think which ones would be good to list in content here. Keywords with navigational intent may become part of your reputation management strategy or competitive research. Organize by Action Some keywords may be good ideas for future content Some keywords may be used to optimize or update old content Organize by Content Type Depending on your site, different keywords may become different content forms: FAQ pages Blog posts Indepth articles (Maybe with pdf downloads available) On-site glossaries Product reviews Various types of cornerstone content Finally, not all keywords need to represent a separate content piece. Lots of keywords will become sections of broader articles which is something we'll talk about in more detail. Excel or Google Sheets are by far the best way to play with your keywords and organize them using multiple labels: Tip: Carefully go through your keyword lists and organize them by intent, action to take with the keyword and the type of content you plan to create. How Do Keywords Structure Your Content? As I mentioned above, not all keywords will necessarily become a separate piece of content idea. Some of them will become subtopics of articles. When doing keyword research, I usually create "tree-like structure" for sets of phrases that would make separate articles. For example, if you decide to write an article on [coffee quotes], a separate article idea would be [morning coffee quotes]. monday coffee quotes sunday coffee quotes tuesday coffee quotes wednesday coffee quotes saturday coffee quotes All those were taken from the actual Serpstat export: You'll save lots of time writing future article creating these trees while still doing your keyword research. They will direct your writing helping you create more in-depth content. These will also make up your article subheadings (those H2 or H3 headers you see in most articles here). If you get even geekier, you can generate the clickable table of contents using those subheadings. This way there will be even more visible instances of the keyword in the page: Use  this plugin  to generate a clickable table of contents for each of your articles. Tip: When organizing your words, think which words are going to become separate content pieces and which one will be used inside broader articles as subtopics. If you prefer to write long-form content, those tree-like notes will help you expand your article using different angles. You can also move each tree to a different file or tabs. To avoid spreadsheet overload I do two things: I always make sure I use labels in my Google Spreadsheets to easier organize my article ideas I collect them all through a separate dashboard in  Cyfe. You can iFrame as many Google Docs there as you want and have them all in front of your eyes whenever you are ready to work on your editorial calendar: Recommended Reading: How to Write Like a Journalist to Be a Better Marketing Storyteller Where to Put Those Keywords? This is another highly misunderstood area. It used to be as simple as making sure your keyword is placed often enough in the text and that every page of your site targets one specific keyword. A few years ago you would have been advised to create two separate pages, one target [Austin restaurants] and another targeting [restaurants in Austin]. Things have changed dramatically since then. For one, search engines have become much smarter and you cannot trick them into thinking your page is worth ranking simply because it has a high "keyword density". Besides, in-depth content covering many sets of different keywords is a preferred optimization model these days. So where to put those keywords? For good keyword prominence, I suggest making sure your keyword is included into: Your article headline (And thus the page title). That's what Google usually picks as the clickable link in their search results too! Your URL slug First paragraph of the article Article subheadings Of course, you'll end up with more keyword instances throughout the article (because you'll actually write about the topic) but the above placements will ensure your keywords are easy to notice and associate with your content. Recommended Reading: This is the HTML Cheat Sheet and Tutorial Every Content Marketer Needs Going Beyond Keyword Strings: Synonyms, Entities, and Context Google is going  beyond exact strings  of words that make up phrases. It is now looking for signals of quality content, mentions of known concepts, related terms, synonyms. All of these will tell Google that the author has done your research and tackle different aspects of the topic. That being said, keyword research is not enough to create high-quality high-ranking content. You need to research the topic, and then research some more, making the lists of notable brands, events, places, etc. (these are all entities) and thinking which of those should be covered in your content.  Here's a good guide on content research process  for your further reading. Make sure you are well versed with industry terminology, that you know different ways to explain those niche-specific terms, that you use lots of synonyms and that your writing is rich in references and visual explanations. Those are all  signals of high-quality content  but not just that. The more effort you put into your content research, the more backlinks and social media shares it will generate, driving long-lasting traffic to your website.

Strategic Marketing Master Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Marketing Master - Assignment Example These three elements form the basis of a marketing management audit. The following sections will explain how one can use the marketing audit to uncover the information one will need to shape one's eventual marketing activities. First point of comparison between the two is that marketing audit is a comprehensive, systematic and periodic examination of a firm's environment, objectives, strategies and activities to find problem areas and opportunities to recommend a plan of action to improve the performance of marketing strategies of the firm. Whereas an audit of financial statements is defined as the assessment by an autonomous third party of the financial statements of an organization or a company or other, ensuing in the publication of a sovereign view on whether or not those financial statements are appropriate, correct and comprehensive. Financial audits are characteristically carried out by firms of practicing accountants, due to the expert financial reporting information they need. The financial audit is one of many declaration or evidence of tasks provided by accountancy firms, whereby the firm offers an independent view on published data. Financial audits also help investors deciding whether to invest in a firm or not. Marketing audits are also performed by independent third party with the purpose of defining the shortcomings of the present strategies of the firm. The Market Audit Element A market audit is an attempt to define the structure of the environment in which a company operates-the marketplace. Its function is to collect information and organize it in a fashion that alerts one to marketing needs, problems, and opportunities. This information becomes a document that provides a detailed, accurate, and unbiased view of the marketplace. Why Perform a Market Audit The purpose of performing a market audit is to find out what to expect from the marketplace one are currently in or are considering entering. It provides one with data on any barriers or limitations one might encounter in entering or expanding into a market so that one can determine what it will cost to exist or compete. It also tells one what the possible return will be; in other words, what the market is worth to one (market value) or what one can expect in terms of revenue generation (sales volume/ earning potential). The market audit is the base from which one will develop tactic to get these returns. A market audit builds the foundation for future marketing decisions. The golden rule in performing a market audit is that one must be objective and read the market as it actually is. This means the audit must not be structured around one's product, service, or business. Though these may be mentioned as reference points, don't make them central to the audit. To do so could result in conclusions slanted toward one's business, giving one an inaccurate picture of the market and defeating the purpose of the exercise. The audit is based on market research activities and must be completely independent from research on the performance of one's product, se

The Importance of the Price Elasticity of Demand Research Paper

The Importance of the Price Elasticity of Demand - Research Paper Example On the other hand, Fair Trade is a controlled certification method where there are conditions set on agricultural commodities production. The goods of Fair Trade that are produced according to the criteria followed in the trade are warranted a small price above the price of the world market. The main important part of this Trade is the products’ market in the countries that are developed. The main purpose of this study is to look into factors that mainly affect Fair Trade coffee demand and work out the coffees’ price elasticity of demand. This research is mainly aiming in giving answers why many purchasers may buy products of Fair Trade at higher prices than the substitutes of Fair trade goods. In addition, there is price elasticity of demands impacts on retail revenues mentioned in this paper. The findings obtained from this study showed that Fair Trade demands of coffee depend on various functional features like brand, price, taste and locations of sales. According to the theoretical models that are founded on the complementary utility, conclusions that arise are that price elasticity of demand mainly depends on the Fair Trade and regular coffee price differences and the demands of Fair trade coffee shares in comparison to the consumption of the whole coffee (Giovannucci, 105). Price elasticity of demand measures products quantity responsiveness to changes of the products price. It is referred to as the own price demand elasticity for a product sometimes. Many theories provided have concepts of consumers aiming to make best use of their personal utility. It would be unreasonable if a customer is likely prepared to spend more on the Fair Trade goods than for the Fair Trade good substitute if they have the same quality (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, 1). Many people using this product have interests on the conditions used in producing the Fair Trade goods even though there may be no effect on the standard product quality. Fair Trade coffee is described a product that has innovations, whereby making the process of production to be good increases the product quality in a slight way. Many consumers, who are aware of the product and like it, are willing to spend more on the product quality that has been improved. In addition, consumers may be gr ouped separately. Some consumers will take a product due to their characteristics and others due to the price of the product. Prices of these products are supposed to vary in different point of sales except there are features that permit the sellers to price the products differently. The location effects depend with the mobility of the consumers and if they buy all their products in one locality. There are various reasons that may lead to the Fair Trade coffee demand (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, 1). The reasons may be the flavor, the brand, quality, price and convenience of the coffee may affect the decisions used while purchasing the product. Another factor that may affect the decision of purchasing is the origin of the coffee. There are negative values in the price elasticity of demand for products, this is there would be demand in a certain commodity if the price is low. In Fair Trade coffee, the price elasticity of demand is important in various ways (Riley, 1). Retailers may discriminate prices among customers if there is a low price elasticity of demand. In a case where the demand is not elastic, there will be a less demand decrease to be suffered by the producers, even if the coffee prices are high. According to Giovannucci (161), this theory concludes that if there is a small Fair Trade Coffee price elasticity of demand, there will be great revenue obtained from the product sales even if there is an increase in the

How markets fail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

How markets fail - Essay Example He said that despite the fact that there are economic thinkers such as the utopian and reality-based economic thinkers; market can still fail mainly because of the unseen variables. According to Cassidy, market can fail despite the fact that the prevailing conditions are favorable (403). To many, a financial crisis of such nature in an advance economy appears to be a phenomenon of the past. It is like diseases such as smallpox which are still found in poorer countries, but essentially eradicated from the developed countries. However, Cassidy warns that financial crisis can still occur despite the fact that the economy is advanced. Cassidy was aiming at responding to the disaster that hit the western banking system unexpectedly. The financial crisis occurred during the period when most people were expecting positive results. Both the utopian thinkers and real-based economic thinkers could not tell what was going to come. They could not anticipate nor imagined that the disaster would o riginate at home. All they knew was that there was a growing current account imbalance between the United States and china and that incase of any form of financial crisis, these two countries are likely to be the first one to experience the crisis. Most people believed that changes in technology and the impact of globalization had enabled the central bank to figure out the secret to conducting monetary policy in a stabilizing way. Because of this, most people including the economic thinkers believed that the central was equipped with necessary knowledge, skills and know how having kept the economy on track after a series of ups and down in the 1990s. Most economies did no even stop to ponder about the case of Japan, which experienced economic bubble despite the fact that its economy was advanced. They claim that it would have been a normal phenomenon to find a financial or banking crisis in Japan given that Tokyo, a hybrid economy, lacks real market economy like the Great Britain. U nexpectedly, the disaster struck the economy that was believed to be advanced and strong to resist the tides. Most people, including the economic thinkers had no real answers to the unexpected phenomenon. Cassidy had an idea of what might be the cause of the unusual breakdown. As mentioned above, Cassidy wanted to clarify the fact that in event of financial crisis, bankers do not have bigger responsibilities and therefore, no one should lay blame to them (405). Cassidy argues that even if bankers had tried their best to meet the interest of their shareholders, there is no assurance that would have fulfill the interest of everybody. This is because society, according to Cassidy has different believes and perceptions, which may not be good for banks. Cassidy asserted that the belief that most of the economist have about the market is a mere theory. He particularly criticizes the belief that most of the proponents of the free markets have about market behavior. Cassidy questioned wheth er producers and consumers in a free market can lead to a beneficial outcome for a whole society. He also questioned the argument brought forth by the famous economist, Adam Smith that states that market systems is similar to an enormous decentralized machine for conveying signals and that the resulting outcome is both efficient and stable. Cassidy cautiously explore various areas of these

Current marine issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Current marine issue - Essay Example tion at the international level via amendments to MARPOL Annex VI is the most effective way that can be followed by the shipping companies to achieve both financial as well as ethical success. To accomplish this, hardwares, including the internal as well as the hardware need to be quality tested and has to be made sure that it is sea worthy. Then importantly, the environment should be made devoid of the dangerous SOx and NOx. For that, variety of technologies is available in the market for the shipping companies. Thus, shipping organizations should understand the serious nature of the problem and put their minds to come up with strategies that can overcome the negative fallout. For every ship management company, the concept of social responsibility is of vital importance. Vital importance in the sense, it is not a compulsion on the part of ship management company to imbue social responsibility in their policies, strategies and goals. However, if it were added, it would function as a right ingredient positively changing the lives of not only the common people but as the well as the organization, both in the financial sense as well as in the image sense. So, ship Management Company has to find ways to initiate plans to cater to the common people in the society and importantly protect or not destroy the environment through eco-friendly measures. They could do this by organizing separate actions or events that will fulfill its social responsibility. Or the ship management companies could do this, by integrating certain policies or rules into their setup, which apart from helping the organization in smooth and effective functioning, also helps to fulfill its so cial responsibility. â€Å"It is worth stressing that being socially responsible means not only complying with relevant legislation, but also going beyond compliance and investing more than required into human capital and the relations with stakeholders† (Fafaliou, Lekakou and Theotokas 2002) Nowadays, management

The Name Of The Rose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Name Of The Rose - Essay Example The chief suspect for these deaths, William asserts, is the library assistant Berenger.   But there is more to the mystery than the series of deaths, for further probes inside the library unravel great hidden secrets that could embarrass and topple Christian authority over the masses.   The intrigue and the suspense intensify as further evidence and events unfold, leading to a gripping climax and ending.   The books in the library are the special significance to the plot and substance of the movie.   It is suggested by William early in his investigation that notes and translation to the Greek version of a book are found on the desk of Venantius.   And later during the investigations of the library, he discovers invaluable collections of ancient wisdom, including such Greek luminaries as Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, etc.   The Abbott and the institution of Church would not be pleased upon learning of this discovery, for this ancient wisdom is more sophisticated than what is found in the Holy Bible. More importantly, that such wisdom could emanate from Pagan worshippers such as the ancient Greeks would undermine the authority of Christian theologians in Medieval Europe.   Considering all these potential threats to their power and privilege, the presence of these books in the hidden library has been kept a tightly held secret.   And attempts to crack open its access points are w hat sets up the central plot of the story.   Hence, the books and the secret library containing them are central to the narrative. The message to be gathered from this story is rather discouraging.   Authority figures usually tend to act brutally and ruthlessly in suppressing dissenting voices and views.

Digital Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Digital Marketing - Assignment Example Radio advertisement has two advantages. One is that the turnaround time on getting an advertisement on air is exceptionally short (Buckingham, 2008). A basic time period of a radio advertisement is three weeks generation and two weeks to create an aggregate media purchase. This is to process an advertisement of solid quality and to purchase noteworthy broadcast appointment. Little organizations can frequently transform and put on notice in simply a couple of days. Both the Capital FM and Magic FM could be moderate enough to permit redundancy of Gap 360 offer. Capital FM and Magic FM are selected accurately due to their demographics which is Manchester and home in target group which are adults within the age 18 to 35 years. You can select a station pretty correctly by its demographics and home in on your intended interest group. Commercial processing expenses are low. Its a prompt medium along these lines works well for advertising occasions, for example, an uncommon deal, on the day. By taking into consideration of the daily papers audience figures and demographics the Manchester, Metro and Guardian papers were picked. The higher the number of audience of a newspaper in given location of interest should be considered. Production expenses might be low however one requires a smarts design that can attract and hold attention of the intended target. In case of Manchester evening news: the circulation, reach, and cost of promotion are higher compared with Metro. From the table 2 we can deduce that the rate of response in the same for both local and national press. At the point when considering the types of advertisement, two elements to keep in mind are frequency and reach. Gap 360 needs advertisement that will reach the maximum possible number of individuals, and also want individuals to see their advertisement often with the goal that they remember Gap 360 and its product. The newspaper ads will enable Gap 360 to advertise to certain

The Name Of The Rose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Name Of The Rose - Essay Example The chief suspect for these deaths, William asserts, is the library assistant Berenger.   But there is more to the mystery than the series of deaths, for further probes inside the library unravel great hidden secrets that could embarrass and topple Christian authority over the masses.   The intrigue and the suspense intensify as further evidence and events unfold, leading to a gripping climax and ending.   The books in the library are the special significance to the plot and substance of the movie.   It is suggested by William early in his investigation that notes and translation to the Greek version of a book are found on the desk of Venantius.   And later during the investigations of the library, he discovers invaluable collections of ancient wisdom, including such Greek luminaries as Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, etc.   The Abbott and the institution of Church would not be pleased upon learning of this discovery, for this ancient wisdom is more sophisticated than what is found in the Holy Bible. More importantly, that such wisdom could emanate from Pagan worshippers such as the ancient Greeks would undermine the authority of Christian theologians in Medieval Europe.   Considering all these potential threats to their power and privilege, the presence of these books in the hidden library has been kept a tightly held secret.   And attempts to crack open its access points are w hat sets up the central plot of the story.   Hence, the books and the secret library containing them are central to the narrative. The message to be gathered from this story is rather discouraging.   Authority figures usually tend to act brutally and ruthlessly in suppressing dissenting voices and views.

Reading questions for white in jakarta Coursework

Reading questions for white in jakarta - Coursework Example It is human nature to be curious of other cultures and people. Every culture in the world is defined by the dominant race and not through its own means. Some people who feel uncomfortable being identified as a particular race pretend that they are part of the crowd and do not stand out so much. Non-white cultures often have words to call white people. These words can be offensive if used in the wrong manner, but primarily they are non-threatening even if somewhat impolite. White culture tries to portray the view that it is not marked because otherwise it would not have power over non-white cultures. 1. Through reading this I did agree that white people do not really have a defined culture. There are very few celebrations specifically for white people because they seem to be able to celebrate every occasion. It is other cultures that are marked because they have their own celebrations and festivities that are important to them. For white culture to gain importance there needs to be more of a celebration of it. 2. I had not thought that it was rude to call white people a slang term. These terms have always been used to call white people because they are different and stand out, especially when they are in an environment where they are in the minority. 3. The thing I am confused about is why other cultures seem to cope better, or assimilate better, when they enter a dominant white culture, yet the reverse does not produce the same results. I mean that white people who live in countries other than their own tend to struggle because they have been used to being the dominant culture and suddenly are not anymore. I think that it is interesting who white people are portrayed in movies and on television. Because they are the dominant culture, they seem to be able to play every role. Yet people of other ethnicities only have few roles available to them, and those roles will likely fill a stereotype. Why are so

Harrison Bergeron Essay Example for Free

Harrison Bergeron Essay Kurt Vonneguts short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is about a futuristic society where beauty is destroyed to create equality. It centers around the highest official, appropriately named, the General Handicapper. His only role to to seek out and find to people who are skilled, pretty, or good at sports and forced them to hide away these talents through masks and waits. It is through basic literary elements that Vonnegut creates and develops the theme that general conformity leads to the deformation of humanity. The short story begins in the future, The year was 2081† and Vonnegut immediately puts out the benefits of this futuristic society, stating â€Å"everybody was finally equal† and not just equal â€Å"before God† but in â€Å"every way† possible (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 7). Vonneguts description foreshadows what is to come in the novel and certainly this forced equality can only lead to a dangerous and potentially deadly ending. Conformity and the effects of uniformity is a common theme in the bulk of science fiction literature and Vonneguts short stories are no different. However, in â€Å"Harrison Bergergon† not just the theme of uniformity is explore but also the stripping away of humanity. This short story, the government forces everyone to be equal nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 7). Government agents force people who are beautiful to wear ugly masks and people who are thin are forced to carry around weights. The goal of all this control is to make sure that everyone has the same handicaps, the same features, and the same feelings. Even odder is that smart people were forced to wear radios which interfered with there brain functional creating a human society where everyone was equally stupid. By eliminating the the issues, which modern society still deals with, of racism, sexism, and discrimination based on looks, Vonneguts future society should be healthy and happy because everyone is the same. However, in the pursuit of equality the loss of humanity took place. Humanity is based on the idea of independence and individualism. The featured protagonist of this short story and namesake is Harrison Bergeron. He is a bright and friendly boy who has the most hated qualities in his society. He is intelligent, handsome, tall, and strong. Due to Harrisions features he is required to do several things to compensate for all his good quality. He is subject to radio noises which stops his concentration and focus. He has to carry hundreds of pounds of extra weight. He also have to wear sun glasses which gives him a head and he has to undergo surgery fort o make him ugly. While awaiting his surgery he escapes and takes over a news station. On air he takes off his handicaps and is revealed to society. When enters the station he is looks like a walking junk yard, required to wear a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random ( Vonnegut, 1968, p. 21). He also meets up with a ballerina and she too casts off her imposed disabilities. When the couple dances they shrug off the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well, leaping to kiss the thirty-foot ceiling until finally they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time. It is then that Glampers enters with her shotgun† (Vonnegut, 1968, p.  22). Unfortunately both are killed by the General Handicapper. As a sub plot his parents are watching the news station but once everything is said and done they can not remember what has happened due their forced handicaps. Irony is another literary device that Vonnegut uses in this short story. Vonnegut comments on the look-ism which is apparent in American society. Vonnegut even appears cynical about what passes as average in America. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldnt think about anything except in short bursts (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 20). The observation on the ballerinas continues the undercutting humor: They werent really very goodno better than anybody else would have been, anyway (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 20). Heavy irony emerges in the plodding Hazels missing the point, as when she sympathizes with the stuttering announcer for trying real hard to do his best or suggests George might remove some of his weights in the evenings. Compounding the irony she says, I think Id make a good Handicapper General. Good as anybody else, said George. The range of sounds and the comic brutality of their effect provides another source of comedy. One of Georges winces prompts Hazel to ask the cause. Sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a hammer, he replies. Another sounds like a twenty-one gun salute that leaves George white and trembling and leaves two of the ballerinas on the floor clutching their temples. The final one is a riveting gun. GeeI could tell that one was a doozy, said Hazel. You can say that again, said George. Gee said HazelI could tell that one was a doozy. (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 41) Hazels stupid behavior and mindset symbolizes the dumbing down of America. In addition the television is equally symbolic. When this book was written, the television was now found in every home throughout the country. It became the way that people communicated and received news. Reading, literature, and human interaction decreased and was replaced by the mindless chatter of television shows and governmentally run news broadcasts. Hazels aversion to the old days when she could be made to feel like something the cat dragged in (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 22) obviously is not very persuasive The narration in â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is also interesting. This is because the narration is third person, as if person is looking back on the events that just happened. Third person omnipresent is an interesting choice for narration because it allows the reader into the minds of all characters. For example Vonnegut reminds the readers, in third person narration Nobody can be in any way superior to anybody else, as guaranteed by the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of the agents of the United States Handicapper General (Vonnegut, 1968, p. 20). In particular, the motivations of each character which inspire their actions and words. â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† is a very unique short story because Vonnegut manipulates basic literary elements and creates a satire of American ideals and societal norms. Vonnegut is able too, in a tongue and cheek manner, show how the government can create a society which lacks humanity. A government that is left uncontrolled can exert such great power that it can destroy what makes human unique creatures on this planet. In doing so, people become mindless and vulnerable to the governmental propaganda that tells the citizens of a society that these rules are for their own good.

Security issue on terrorism

Security issue on terrorism When it comes to the word terrorism,what is it? Terrorism is a sudden attack by a small group of people called terrorist that wanted to show their feeling or to get what they want through violent act,the reason why they attack could be related to political issues, religious issues, races issues, economics issues and so on.Terrorist used to attack by bombings and killing. How could the word significant be define? Significant is something more serious, more obvious or more deadly in particular sense and its depending to the situation and circumstances. The reason why terrorism has become a more significant security issues is because Terrorists attacks are stronger (effective) as states do not have strong body to attack like other states. For example, September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, bali bombings On 10 September 1973, a Provisional IRA bomb exploded in the booking hall at 12.24 pm, causing extensive damage and injuring six people, some seriously. The 3lb (1.4kg) device was thrown without warning into the station by a youth who escaped into the crowd and was not caught. Other than that, Terrorist are more extreme and radical in nature, willing to attack and provoke superpower states. They are willing to attack strong nation states like US, China etc etc. Example, September 11th. Besides that,Terrorist can attack without its own states approval, making it difficult for other states or UN to stop but in the other hand States have reasonable and clear reason why they attack; they attack for benefits and welfare of their sovereignty or welfare of people. Terrorist attacks are less sanely motivated.This case could be refer in the September 11ths tragedy. Terrorist does not have rules of engagement not to attack civilians but in the other hand Legit army have rules of engagement to follow (not to attack unharmed civilians), but terrorist do not have it any ROE such as the Bali Bombing, Terrorist groups are also hard to contact and negotiate with unlike other threats. After the terrorists attack, they could escape to other place and continue their life, they might also have the second attack, its either they attack the same place or not. Next, Terrorists do not need sanction from the UN to do anything they just do it, making them unpredictable such as the September 11th incident, they not need to inform others that they are going to attack, but yet, they attacks on the PWC suddenly and get media attention, this makes terrorism dangerous. Besides that, Terrorists create anxiety as anyone could be terrorists. They are hard to identify. Normal people could be terrorist, but they do not have a special look telling that they are terrorist, they could but at anywhere and anyone. Due to attack, terrorists forces war to break out between states. If a group of terrorist from Iraq attack PWC in US, and they just escape to another country, When US forced Iraq to take imprison the members of Al-Qaeda, but Iraq could nt get Al-Qaeda, then theres will be a conflict between these 2 nations, It might be a war between Iraq and US. Terrorist are dangerous because their attacks might have run wilder around one or two bombings or attack daily and Since the demise of USSR, terrorism has been wilder such as the Mumbai attack in 2008 were more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks by Muslim terrorists from Pakistan. This attack kills at least 173 and 308 people injured. Other that the cases mention above, the list below shows the cases of terrorism attacks. Somalian pirates raid ,They attack ships not for any political gains or religious reasons but rather for financial problems. As of May 2, 2009, the pirates were reported to be holding 17 ships and around 300 crews. 2003 Marriott Hotel Bombings The 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing occurred on 5 August 2003 in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel, killing twelve people and injuring 150. All those killed were Indonesian with the exception of one Dutch businessman, one Danish, and two Chinese tourists. The hotel was viewed as a Western symbol, and had been used by the United States embassy for various events. The hotel was closed for five weeks and reopened to the public on 8 September. 2004 Australian embassy bombing The 2004 Australian embassy bombing took place on 9 September 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Madrid Train Bombings The Madrid train bombings consisted of a series of coordinated bombings against the Cercanà ­as (commuter train) system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 (three days before Spains general elections), killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. The official investigation by the Spanish Judiciary determined the attacks were directed by a al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell although no direct al-Qaeda participation has been established. Spanish miners who did not carry out the attacks but who sold the explosives to the terrorists were also arrested. Besides that,we also have the cases of 2010 Moscow Metro Bombings , TheMay 1998 riots in Indonesia, Pakistani state terrorism, State terrorism by Iran and State terrorism and Russia. USSR= TheUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) was aconstitutionallysocialist statethat existed inEurasiafrom 1922 to 1991. ROE= Rules of Engagement = inmilitaryorpoliceoperations, therules of engagement(ROE) determine when, where, and how force shall be used. Such rules are both general and specific, and there have been large variations between cultures throughout history. Is there any more significant issues in Security issues? Terrorism is a significant issue in security issue, but there are more issues that serious than Terrorism. Terrorists are active, but they are not more dangerous as states. States have WMDs, but terrorists often dont. And the food security. China is becoming a developed country. Around the world, there are many states that are purchasing products (daily needs ) from China such as clothes, accessories, food and so on. The case of the Melamine incident causes people from many states avoid for buying the food products from china such as milk candies. Especially milk, in November 2008 China reported an estimated there are 300,000 victims causes by this Melamine incident ,six infants dying fromkidney stonesand otherkidney damage, and a further 860 babies hospitalized. We can see that many babies suffered from kidney problems after they took the milk powder. An infant still have many years to go, how could they survive in their future? This has affected the next generation. Besides that, Health issue is also concerning in security issue such as the SARS incident and H1N1 incident. Health issue can be define as problems concerning health which can lead to massive outbreaks that harms hundreds or thousands of lives. More than 5,300 SARS infections have been reported at the end of April 2003 in more than 20 countries so far, the most SARS cases are in China. The global death toll is at least 400, so far and the number climbs. The number of suspected and infected cases of SARS is tiny so far, compared to the 3 million people who died of AIDS last year, the danger of the SARS epidemic is significant. For H1N1, Although most cases are mild, these epidemics still cause severe illness in 3-5 million people and 250,000-500,000 deaths worldwide. On average 41,400 people die each year in theUnited Statesbased on data collected between 1979 and 2001.The latesr report from the CDC estimates that in the United States alone, as of March 2010, there had been about 12,0 00 deaths caused by swine flu. On January 18, 2010, the WHO Director-General also said the pandemic appeared to be easing in the northern hemisphere but could still cause infections until winter ends in April, and that it was too soon to say what would happen once the southern hemisphere enters winter and the virus becomes more infectious.Currently, there are 14,286 confirmed deaths worldwide. This figure is a sum of confirmed deaths reported by national authorities. Third, Natural disasters are also significant in security issue.Terrorism actions may be dangerous and claim dozens of lives, but natural disasters claims thousands or millions of lives. The weather nowadays changes very quickly,makes that natural disasters are more unpredictable and even more impossible to stop than terrorism such as Haiti earthquake, China Sze Quan 512 earthquake, Tzunami in Southeast Asia and Chille, floods in China Yellow River, Lahar in Tangiwai. Terrorists attack can be recovered from any of their attack less significant, natural disaster problems are more dangerous and bring more problems because natural disaster causes plagues, massive infrastructure damages and so on. Lahar is volcanic mudflow or landslide. This happened in 1953 Tangiwai disaster caused by lahar and in 1958,the Amero tragedy caused the town of Amero was buried and an estimated of 23,000 people were killed. Floods is also a serious security issue as in 1931, the great flood at Huang He caused death between 200,000 to 4,000,000 in China. Although issues caused by terrorism is worrying, security issues caused by natural disasters are more complex to deal with as these events are at most, completely unpredictable and there are no ways that the state can deal with the threat unlike terrorism. Conclusion It still remains difficult to say whether or not terrorism is the most significant or a more significant threat in security issues nowadays. This is because the security issues faced by one nation state may differ from the ones being faced by other nation states. Yes, globally, terrorism is a growing threat in security issues, however, due to globalization, and the rapid destruction of the environment caused by man, so is health and natural disaster issues as well. However, to make a sweeping statement to say that terrorism threats affect the whole world is difficult to say. Security issues faced in Malaysia may differ from security issues faced in the United States or even Africa. In a nutshell, terrorism is becoming a more significant security issue in the certain nation states but not in the whole world as there are other more significant issues that are out there as well.

Practical vs. Supernatural in The Hound of the Baskervilles Essay

The novel The Hound of the Baskervilles is written by a British author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1859. Following â€Å"nine years in Jesuit schools, he went to Edinburgh University, where he received a degree in medicine in 1881. He then became an eye specialist in Southsea, with a distressing lack of success† (Doyle 1). Doyle’s financial letdown in Southsea created a need for an alternative way for him to generate profit, so he became an author. In the first of his many stories A Study in Scarlet, Doyle brings Sherlock Holmes to life; he is a detective and the protagonist of the story. Doyle’s inspiration and idea for an observant detective came from Dr. Joseph Bell of the Edinburgh Infirmary. Dr. Bell had brilliant powers of observation, analysis, and inference. Doyle’s story was rejected several times before a British publisher bought it for  £25 (Doyle 1). â€Å"From early on, the worldwide popularity of Holme s annoyed his creator, and with a cause: the detective’s adventures, wonderful as they are, tended to overshadow everything else Conan Doyle wrote† (Dirda 42). Doyle eventually becomes so weary of Sherlock Holmes that he chose to kill off his character. However, Doyle had to later resurrect Holmes’s character due to popular demand for additional stories (Doyle 1). It was while playing golf one day, Robinson told Doyle a story of an ancient tale about a hound that haunted Dartmoor; â€Å"he was so inspired by this local legend that he resurrected Holmes, whom he’d killed off eight years earlier, in The Final Problem, at Switzerland’s Reichenbach Falls† (Cook). According to a 1996 article from New Statesman, â€Å"For well over 100 years, the great sleuth of Baker Street has been a staple of our imaginati... ... Doyle is cherished as the creator of one of the best-loved detectives in English literature--but his talents as an author ranged far and wide, from science fiction to swashbucklers.† New Statesman [1996] 7 Nov. 2011: 41+. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Doyle, Sir Author Conan. Sherlock Holmes The Hound of the Baskervilles. England: First Signet Classic Printing, 1986. Print. Sangeetha, K. â€Å"Kinesics in Arthur Conan Doyle.† Language In India Nov. 2011: 694+. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. â€Å"The Hound Of The Baskervilles: A Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel.† Publishers Weekly 256.34 (2009): 49. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. â€Å"The Science of Sherlock Holmes: from Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases.† Science News 29 Apr. 2006: 271. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.

August and December

The time allocated for teaching and learning is a factor influencing pupils' academic performance. There are three school terms every year with holidays in between in the months of April, August and December.Research has shown that majority of schools start learning after the first week of the school term. This indicates that there is a lot of time wastage before learning begins. Besides,most schools loose many teaching/ learning hours at the beginning of the term. This wastage leads to less work being covered and syllabus not being completed on time hence contributing to poor performance in KCPE examinations. b. Adequacy of Learning Resources: The adequacy and use of teaching and learning materials affects the effectiveness of a teacher's lesson.Teaching and learning esources enhances understanding of abstract ideas and improves performance. Adequate learning resources like text books,improvised weather instruments,relevant child friendly library books, wall maps and the exercise bo oks are of paramount importance. This makes learning easier of subjects like Social Studies very abstract to the pupils. Further still,it has been proven that school facilities have a direct effect on teaching and learning. Text books enable the pupils to follow the teacher's sequence of presentation and aids in understanding of lessons. . School Administration :The quality of school administration plays a vital role in academic performance as it is concerned with pupils, teachers, rules, regulations and policies that govern the school system. In analyzing the efficiency of school administration, the following aspects ought to be considered: Frequency of staff meetings Frequency of checking teachers' schemes of work and lesson plans Adequacy of teachers' prior preparation Frequency of class observation by the head teacher. Few staff meetings may lead to less co-ordination of curriculum implementation.This an lead to less monitoring and reporting of the progress of the schools activi ties to the teachers . Frequency of Checking Teachers' Schemes of work: The responsibility of checking the professional documents like teachers' schemes of work and lesson plans lies in the hands of the head teacher. This may be done in person or he may delegate to the deputy head teacher or the senior teacher. Preparation and use of schemes of work by the teachers enhances sequential teaching and results to improved achievement.Checking of teachers schemes of work should be done frequently to allow the head teacher monitor curriculum implementation. Frequency ot Checking the Teachers' Lessons Plans :Teacners' lesson plan is a protessional document prepared by teachers for the purpose of presentation of a lesson. The teacher indicates whether the lesson has been taught and objectives achieved; if the lesson is not taught, then the teacher indicates the reason why and when he intends to cover it; if the lesson objectives are not achieved, the teacher plans for remedial lesson in orde r to make the concept understood by the pupils.Head teachers should monitor lesson plan preparation frequently; otherwise it may lead to poor erformance. Adequacy of Teachers' Prior Preparation: Adequate prior preparation before a teacher goes to class leads to good performance by the pupils. This promotes sequential presentation of concepts by the teacher to the learners. Always, prior preparation by the teachers leads to systematic delivery of concepts to pupils and enhances performance. Observation of Classes by Head teachers: One of the roles of the head teacher is to carry out internal supervision of curriculum implementation in his/her school.This involves physical observation of teachers' lessons in progress. One of the head teachers' roles is regular class supervision in order to promote curriculum goals. Failure to do so may lead to poor performance. 2. Teacher-Based Factors These are the factors within the teachers that could hinder or promote academic performance of pupil s in their schools. The following are some of the aspects of teacher based factors: Teachers' commitment Teachers' frequency of absenteeism Teachers' motivation Teachers' work load.Teachers' Commitment Level: Good performance is as a result of high commitment levels by the teachers. Studies shows that teachers who lack enthusiasm are unable o teach effectively, making pupils not to learn well. Frequency of Absenteeism among Teachers: When teachers absent themselves from school frequently, pupils go unattended and do not do well in examinations. Absenteeism by teachers reduces the amount of instructional time and this result in the syllabus not being completed. This in return results to lower output of work by the pupils.Teachers' Motivation:A World Bank Report (1986) acknowledges that teacher satisfaction is generally related to achievement as satisfied teachers would concentrate hence enhancing academic performance of their pupils. Teacher Turn-over Rate:lf the teacher turn-over ra te is high then it can contribute to poor performance in examinations. According to Schneider (2003) high teacher turn over forces schools to devote attention, time and financial resources attracting replacement of teachers. Teachers' Workload: This is the number of lessons teachers take per week.If teachers are not overloaded their output in terms performance should be good. 3. PUPlLS BASED FACTORS These are the factors within the pupils that could enhance or hinder their academic performance. The following are some aspects under pupil-based factors: 1. Pupils' language use 2. Pupils' rate of absenteeism 3. Pupils' lateness to school. Pupils' Language Use: Pupils who interact using English language tend to understand it better and do well in examinations as all examinations apart from Swahili are written in English language.It is equally true that leaner who also interact well using Swahili language will pass the Swahili exam. Therefore,both languages must be encouraged in equal me asure by the teachers,parents and the larger community. Pupils' Frequency of Absenteeism: These is the aspect of how frequent pupils absent themselves from school. When pupils absent themselves from school, they tend to lose many concepts and definitely may not do well in exams. The effect of absenteeism and irregular school attendance is that materials taught are difficult to understand when studied on one's own.Continued loss of classes results to loss of content and knowledge. Class assignments,exercises,homework and holiday homework would not be properly and correctly done leading to poor performance. 4. Community-Based Factors Community based factors are factors within the community that impede or enhance pupils' academic performance. In analyzing the community based factors, the following aspects can be looked into: a) Parents' Consultation with Teachers:Good performance is realized when parents work in consultation with the teachers in order to understand their children bette r.Studies shows that most often parents do not consult teachers and that most parents were not so much concerned about education of the children. Bogus (2004) indicated that parents' interaction with teachers enables them to know what their children are encountering in school and what could be done to deal with the problems. It would also put pupils on alert and tudy in school as they would know that their parents would inquire about their performance.

Freedom of Speech in the Philippines Essay

Freedom of speech is the concept of the inherent human right to voice one’s opinion publicly without fear of censorship or punishment. â€Å"Speech† is not limited to public speaking and is generally taken to include other forms of expression. The right is preserved in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is granted formal recognition by the laws of most nations. Nonetheless the degree to which the right is upheld in practice varies greatly from one nation to another. In many nations, particularly those with relatively authoritarian forms of government, overt government censorship is enforced. Censorship has also been claimed to occur in other forms (see propaganda model) and there are different approaches to issues such as hate speech, obscenity, and defamation laws even in countries seen as liberal democracies. Article III Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines specifies that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of expression. Some laws inconsistent with a broad application of this mandate are in force, however.[29] For example Certain sections of the Flag and Heraldic Code require particular expressions and prohibit other expressions Title thirteen of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines criminalizes libel and slander by act or deed (slander by deed is defined as â€Å"any act †¦ which shall cast dishonor, discredit or contempt upon another person.†), providing penalties of fine or imprisonment. In 2012, acting on a complaint by an imprisoned broadcaster who dramatised a newspaper account reporting that a particular politician was seen running naked in a hotel when caught in bed by the husband of the woman with whom he was said to have spent the night, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights ruled that the criminalization of libel violates freedom of expression and is inconsistent with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, commenting that â€Å"Defamations laws should not †¦ stifle freedom of expression† and that â€Å"Penal defamation laws should include defense of truth.† ************************************************************************* â€Å"If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.† – Noam Chomsky The freedom to express our thoughts is an important part of our individual identity. When we talk and write about our opinions we are contributing ideas and participating in society. Freedom of expression is covered in article 19 of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights: â€Å"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers†. Freedom of expression is widely acknowledged as a basic human right that should be available to all, playing a crucial role in a fair and open society. Many countries and organizations place limits on freedom of expression. These limitations can be a way of controlling people. Restricting voting rights, censoring speech and art and outlawing specific religious and political groups are some of the tools governments have used to control public opposition. Even societies that consider themselves free and democratic suppress opposing views. Consider your local newspaper; although you might expect objectivity, if you were to analyze the content, you might not find a variety of informed opinions and critiques. Editorial and news writers may be influenced by their own political views. In some places, reporters are trained to manipulate or omit information that could harm those in power. Should there be no limits on freedom of expression? If we are entitled to express ourselves freely we must accept that others will express ideas very different from our own. This might include ideas that offend and possibly even hurt us. Hate speech attacks people based upon such distinctions as race, religion and gender. Should we censor ideas that damage and promote cruelty? The content of a book, a song or a film may cross societal lines of morality and decency. Should we censor art works that are violent, insulting or degrading? These are some of the complex questions you must think about. Feeling intimidated and forced to subscribe to traditional or mainstream beliefs is a violation of your personal freedom. But sometimes authorities set rules and boundaries for good reason. Understanding why the rules exist is more important than automatically obeying them. ***************************************************************************** Cybercrimes and Freedom of Expression Despite the view of the United Nations Committee on Human Rights that Philippine criminal libel is contrary to Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on freedom of expression, Congress and President Benigno Aquino III still enacted the Cybercrime Prevention Law which, among other things, added electronic libel as a new criminal offense. Worse, this new law increased the penalty for cyber libel to prison mayor from the current prison correctional provided under the Revised Penal Code. This means that electronic libel is now punished with imprisonment from six years and one day to up to 12 years, while those convicted for ordinary libel under the RPC are subject to imprisonment only from six months and one day to four years and two months. And because parole, a means by which a convict may be spared from actual imprisonment may be granted only to those sentenced to serve a prison term for no more than six months and one day, anyone convicted for cyber libel will inevitably serve a prison term. Since the Philippines leads the rest of the world in terms of Facebook and Twitter usage, this means that unlike ordinary libel complaints which are oftentimes brought against printed newspapers -given the element of publication, any user of these leading social media tools is now liable for prosecution. The fact that an allegedly libelous writing appeared on the Internet is already sufficient to prove the element of publication. The new Cybercrime law is an outright defiance of the UN Human Rights Committee View in the case of Alexander Adonis vs. Republic of the Philippines. In that View, the UNHRC declared that Philippine libel law under the RPC contravenes freedom of expression on two counts: one, it is a disproportionate means by which to achieve its avowed goal of protecting the privacy of private persons; and two, because there is an alternative in the form of civil libel, or the payment of damages. The UN HCR also took the view that our libel in the Philippines, because it does not recognize truth as a defense, is additionally defective on this ground. While the View of the UNHRC is this instance is non-binding, the Philippines nonetheless is under an obligation to heed it because of the maxim â€Å"pacta sundt servanda†, or that treaty obligations must be complied with in good faith. The UN Human Rights Committee Views, since the membership of the body consist of leading experts in human rights, are accepted as authoritative on the issue of states compliance with their obligations under the ICCPR. Simply put, the view against our libel law is very strong evidence of breach of a state obligation under the ICCPR And instead of heeding the UN’s call to review its existing libel law, Congress and President Aquino appeared to have slammed the body by enacting an even more draconian legislation against cyber libel. Our constitutional commitment to freedom of expression has long been recognized. Justice Holmes, for instance, wrote: â€Å"When men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas — that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market . . . .† The commitment exists because it is only through freedom of expression that we are able to discern the truth and able to fiscalize despotic regimes: â€Å"The freedom to speak one’s mind is not only an aspect of individual liberty—and thus a good unto itself—but also is essential to the common quest for truth and the vitality of society as a whole. We have therefore been particularly vigilant to ensure that individual expressions of ideas remain free from governmentally imposed sanctions. By criminalizing internet libel, government expanded the infringement of freedom of expression even to the realm that has enabled us to give life to the principle of a free market place of ideas- the internet. Prior to this law, it is ironic that the Philippines was even cited by the United Nations for not interfering with the internet. The law is a testament to the reality that despite the overwhelming mandate given to this administration, coupled with its unprecedented public approval ratings, it continues to be insecure and unable to compete in the market place of ideas. We will see the Aquino administration in court on this one. And we will prevail. For unlike other laws that enjoy the presumption of regularity, this cybercrime law, insofar as it infringes on freedom of expression, will come to court with a very heavy presumption of unconstitutionality. There can be nothing sadder than suing the son of icons of democracy for infringement into a cherished right. ************************************************************************* IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) guarantees the right to freedom of expression in the following terms: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. The UDHR, as a UN General Assembly resolution, is not directly binding on States. However, parts of it, including Article 19, are widely regarded as having acquired legal force as customary international law since its adoption in 1948. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty ratified by over 150 States, including the Philippines, imposes formal legal obligations on State Parties to respect its provisions and elaborates on many of the rights included in the UDHR. Article 19 of the ICCPR guarantees the right to freedom of expression in terms very similar to those found at Article 19 of the UDHR: 1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of opinion. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or through any other media of his choice. Freedom of expression is also protected in all three regional human rights instruments, by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The right to freedom of expression enjoys a prominent status in each of these regional conventions and, although the Philippines cannot be a party to them, the judgments and decisions issued by courts under these regional mechanisms, offer an authoritative interpretation of freedom of expression principles in various different contexts. Freedom of expression is a key human right, in particular because of its fundamental role in underpinning democracy. At its very first session, in 1946, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 59(I) which states: â€Å"Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and †¦ the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.† As the UN Human Rights Committee has said: â€Å"The right to freedom of expression is of paramount importance in any democratic society.† RESTRICTIONS OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The right to freedom of expression is not absolute; both international law and most national constitutions recognise that it may be restricted. However, any limitations must remain within strictly defined parameters. Article 19(3) of the ICCPR lays down the conditions which any restriction on freedom of expression must meet: The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: (a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; (b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals. A similar formulation can be found in the European, American and African regional human rights treaties. These have been interpreted as requiring restrictions to meet a strict three-part test. International jurisprudence makes it clear that this test presents a high standard which any interference must overcome. The European Court of Human Rights has stated: â€Å"Freedom of expression †¦ is subject to a number of exceptions which, however, must be narrowly interpreted and the necessity for any restrictions must be convincingly established.† First, the interference must be provided for by law. This requirement will be fulfilled only where the law is accessible and ‘formulated with sufficient precision to enable the citizen to regulate his conduct’. Second, the interference must pursue a legitimate aim. The list of aims in Article 19(3) of the ICCPR is exclusive in the sense that no other aims are considered to be legitimate as grounds for restricting freedom of expression. Third, the restriction must be necessary to secure one of those aims. The word â€Å"necessary† means that there must be a â€Å"pressing social need† for the restriction. The reasons given by the State to justify the restriction must be â€Å"relevant and sufficient† and the restriction must be proportionate to the aim pursued. The Constitution of the Philippines, however, does not explicitly provide for restrictions to the right to freedom of expression. The only restriction to the rights to expression and information and press freedom is encapsulated in the provision on the right to privacy. Article III, Sections 3 of the Constitution states: (1) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires otherwise as prescribed by law. (2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE MEDIA The guarantee of freedom of expression applies with particular force to the media, including the broadcast media and public service broadcasters. The European Court of Human Rights, for example, has consistently emphasised the â€Å"pre-eminent role of the press in a State governed by the rule of law†. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has stated: â€Å"It is the mass media that make the exercise of freedom of expression a reality.† Media as a whole merit special protection, in part because of their role in making public ‘information and ideas on matters of public interest. Not only does [the press] have the task of imparting such information and ideas: the public also has a right to receive them. Were it otherwise, the press would be unable to play its vital role of â€Å"public watchdog†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. It may be noted that the obligation to respect freedom of expression lies with States, not with the media per se. However, this obligation does apply to publicly-funded broadcasters. Because of their link to the State, these broadcasters are directly bound by international guarantees of human rights. In addition, publicly-funded broadcasters are in a special position to satisfy the public’s right to know and to guarantee pluralism and access, and it is therefore particularly important that they promote these rights.