Reflection essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Reflection - Essay Example ry to the popular belief that the Filipino Amerasian children live prosperous lives in the Philippines since the country does not have anti-American sentiment. Whether or not a country nurtures anti-American sentiment provides no guarantee that its citizens would not be discriminated against if they look like Americans. The Filipino Amerasian children are socially outcast as they are identified with their American lineage instead of the Filipino lineage. The government of the US assumes moral responsibility to help the Filipino Amerasian children and provide them with the opportunity to migrate to the US. This can be achieved by preferring them on immigration services. Realization of any plans made in this regard requires joint cooperation of the Filipino people, the local governments of the Philippines, and the government of the US. It is noteworthy that the problem is not addressed just by providing these children with a way to reach the US; these children also need to be linked to their biological American fathers which is another challenge after the children reach the US. In order for the children to sue their fathers for child support, they need to know their fathers. Enforcement of child support is a matter primarily taken care of by state. Unfortunately, most states do not enforce the child-support payments ordered by court effectively. This imparts the need for providing these children with the opportunity to pursue redress at the federal level. It is just as important to address the issue at the source as it is to address it at the level of effects. American soldiers are still stationed overseas. It is important to see what steps the government of the US has taken to ensure that such biracial children with lost American fathers are not born to another nation like they were born to the Filipinos. Either the government should place a ban on the American soldiers having sexual intercourse with the local people or prostitutes of the host countries and

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 19

Sociology - Essay Example The field of politics as well as religion has always moved ahead together, several times these fields have helped each other and in certain cases these fields have conflicted with each other. Politics have been greatly impacted by religion and politics have to comply with religion in order to serve its own purpose. In other cases religious leaders have tried to impose their opinion based on religion in order to govern citizens in a better manner under the religious party they are part of. The activities stated above are clearly evident in the politics of United States, it is witnessed that huge amounts of funds are given to political parties and candidates of these parties depending on their view of various societal issues such as control of birth rate, abortion and the most heavily debated topic of gay marriage which has gained tremendous amount of popularity. The religious side that has been in the limelight over this issue is the Fundamentalist Christians, they used their ability to alter the secular policy in their own favor and they portrayed their religious thoughts by getting President Bush elected during the election of 2000 and 2004. In other religions such as the religion of Islam where Muslims elect their political leaders and then direct and control their leaders who have to act in accordance to Islamic religious book called Quran. The similarity between the field of politics as well as religion is the purpose of controlling the citizens and human being’s cognition, soul and behavior. The game played in these fields is simple; the game played in these fields is based on gaining more and more support in order to gain recognition as majority.

How Pollution Destroys the Atmosphere and Habitats Essay Example for Free

How Pollution Destroys the Atmosphere and Habitats Essay Introduction â€Å"Nowadays, industries, automobiles, power stations, etc. have become indispensable in our daily life.† ( Science Level K page 242) Have you ever wondered what causes pollution? Forms of Pollution Pollution is the process whereby various harmful substances are added to the environment (land, water, air etc.) by human and natural activities. The main various types of pollution that exist are: Air Pollution Air pollution is the cause of release of chemicals, and particulates into the atmosphere which endanger human life and living matter on the earth by humans, human products and natural disasters. As the current era of modern industrialization progresses more and more waste of the results of their production become toxins which can be freely inhaled and fatal to mammals. Water Pollution Water pollution is the introduction of chemical, biological and physical matter into large bodies of water that corrupt the quality of life that lives in it and consumes it. Like the discharging of waste water from commercial and industrial waste (intentionally or through spills) into surface waters; oil spills, household chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers are the major sources of water pollution. Land Pollution Land pollution is pollution of the Earth’s natural land surface by industrial, commercial, domestic and agricultural activities. It occurs when chemicals are released intentionally, by spill or underground leakage. Some of the main contributions to land pollution are deforestation, construction debris, industrial factories etc. Effects on Environment Human Health Pollution has many different forms that are not only doing damage to our environment but also to our health. Pollutants can enter human body causing diseases. Air pollution can cause breathing problems and eye, throat and skin irritation. When solid waste is not properly treated and disposed of, it can become a breeding for pests and disease can spread. Water pollution can cause waterborne diseases by polluted drinking water, polluted beach water, and, serious diseases by water polluted by chemicals. Water pollution may also result from interactions between water and contaminated soil, as well as from deposition of air contaminants (such as acid rain).Damage to people may be caused by fish foods coming from polluted water and vegetable crops grown or washed with polluted water. Plants Leaves find it difficult to produce food in polluted air. When trees begin to lose their leaves, they may eventually die. When there is too much chemical content in the water absorbed by the roots, it can also affect plant life. Water Pollution that affects plants would include acid rain. Soil Pollution problems affecting plants include the overuse of pesticides which selects for resistant strains of insects and weeds, the loss of topsoil due to overdevelopment and soil erosion, and the uptake of toxic chemicals through the mismanagement of solid waste. Acid rain can kill trees, destroy the leaves of plants, can infiltrate soil by making it unsuitable for purposes of nutrition and habitation. Trees and plants may absorb soil contaminants and pass them up the food chain. Animals Oil spills in the seas and oceans result in birds and animals (e.g. penguins and seals) being coated in oil. This makes it difficult for them to float and keep warm and they may eventually die. Solid waste in the water encourages the growth of algae which depletes water of oxygen and kills marine life. People, who don’t throw away their trash, throw it on the ground. It is very sad for stray cats and dogs who wander the streets with nothing to eat but garbage. That is how pollution is very effective on animals and how they used to live. Pollution Originates in Nature Volcanic eruptions, sandstorms and natural forest fires are one of the natural activities that cause pollution. These events cause a large amount of substances such as ash and dust, which are harmful to our health, to be added to the environment. The volcanic gases that pose the greatest potential hazard to people, animals, agriculture, and property are sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide which also can be generated by forest fires, and hydrogen fluoride. Sulfur dioxide gas can lead to acid rain and air pollution downwind from a volcano. Globally, large volcano explosive eruptions that inject a tremendous volume of sulfur aerosols into the stratosphere can lead to lower surface temperatures and promote depletion of the Earths ozone layer. Because carbon dioxide gas is heavier than air, the gas may flow into in low-lying areas and collect in the soil. The concentration of carbon dioxide gas in these areas can be lethal to people, animals, and vegetation. A few historic eruptions have released sufficient fluorine-compounds to deform or kill animals that grazed on vegetation coated with volcanic ash; fluorine compounds tend to become concentrated on fine-grained ash particles, which can be ingested by animals. Ways to Prevent Pollution Most human activities produce some waste products, but it is important to make sure that we have as little pollution as possible. Many people are switching to clean technology. That means having the same benefits from our modern life-style without the pollution. Electric cars, environmentally sensitive washing powders and solar-powered energy are examples. Less pollution is not only good for wildlife and nature human health benefits from less pollution as well. That means lower medical bills, and a better quality of life. There are many ways to stop pollution like:- * The best way to prevent water pollution is to not throw trash and other harmful chemicals into our water supplies because it causes harm to the rivers and lakes. * Throw trash in the proper places. * Reduce, reuse, and recycle things in your house. * Because of water run-off, dont put oils down the storm drain. * Cut the plastic ties on sodas so they dont hurt animals in case the ties in up in the bay. Conclusion We should all work to reduce pollution to work towards a greener and safer earth; for the next generation. Let’s give people hope for a better future; and let’s erase the thought of the â€Å"2012† ending, all over the world.

Marketing Profile Analysis On Pandora Internet Radio Media Essay

Marketing Profile Analysis On Pandora Internet Radio Media Essay For our Group project we will be doing a marketing profile analysis on Pandora Internet Radio. First, we will explain what the company does. Next, an in depth analysis including the site navigation, the Pandora business model, brand interactivity, the brand look, brand personality, their competitors, Pandoras metrics, what kind of consumers use Pandora, how consumers behave, and where Pandora could use room for improvement will follow. In the business model we will look at how Pandora makes their revenue through the different services they offer. Site navigation will describe where each click will take you and how to get from page to page. Brand interactivity explains how not only user can interact with Pandora, but how Pandora can interact with its users. Further, we will see how the brand looks across different formats from computer screens to mobile phones in brand look. Next, in brand personality, we will discuss what kind personalities are embedded in the brand. Also, while looking at competitors we will see how Pandora fares against their top competitors and what they do differently. Pandoras metrics will include the sites traffic, how long a consumer stays connected to a site, and its reach. Finally, when we look at consumers, we will look at how the Net gen is the majority of Pandora users, and how consumers move through the behavior model of acquisition, consumption, and disposition. What is Pandora? Pandora is a Internet radio service created by the Music Genome Project. They started up in 2000 and according to their website its the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Users can enter a song or artist and Pandora will play music that you entered, but also music that is stylistically and auditorily similar. They have more than 50 music analyist that study and listen to the music one song at a time, collecting details on every song based on close to 400 attributes that include melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, and lyrics. According to their website, the typical analyst working on the Music Genome Project has a four-year degree in music theory, composition or performance, has passed through a selective screening process, and has completed intensive training in the Music Genomes rigorous and precise methodology. Pandora never uses any bots or machines to extract data from any of the songs. The songs are always being updated and new songs are continually added to their ever expanding catalogue of titles. Site navigation Pandoras website is very easy to access. The address is http://www.pandora.com/. When the page loads, there are 3 places you can click at the top half of the page. You can register a new account, log-in with a preexisting account, or type in an artist, or song, and immediately begin listening to music. Clicking on the register hyperlink takes you to the registration page and is completely free. The only information needed is an email address, a password, the persons birth year, their US zip code, and their gender. There is a opt-out check box for personalized recommendations and tips. Once everything is complete you can click register for free of cancel. Registering for a Pandora account allows you to save you stations and access them from anywhere. If sign -in is chosen, all that is need is an email address and password. This takes you to all of your saved stations and also allows you to type in a new station or artist. Typing in an artist or song starts playing the music. The bottom half of the page is newer. There is a space where you can click to see the information about the music you are playing, view a mini feed of your profile, select music by genre, learn about how to get Pandora radio on your mobile phone and in your home, and see whats happening in the Pandora video series. Below this feed, you can view concert listings, gift a station where you can make a station and give it to another Pandora user, look at bookmarked songs, and again, go to the video series page. Business model The business model for Pandora is mostly ad driven. Consumers can register for free and begin listening to music immediately. Users are never required to pay anything because it is payed for by the advertisements. However, they have two more aspects to the business model. Once free Pandora accounts reach the 40 hour mark of listening per month, the music stops and you are required to pay 99 cents for unlimited listening for the rest of the month. You can also just come back the next month for another 40 free hours. Each month has the same choice on the limit and they never bill you after the fact of charge you. The final part of the business model is a paid Pandora One subscription account. This offers unlimited listening hours each month, plus no advertisements. It comes with a high stream quality, desktop application, extended interaction timeout, and a mini player. This can be purchased for a subscription for 36 dollars per year. Pandora also has a box through HP that you can purchase to stream music anywhere in your home. It has built in speakers and Wi-Fi connectivity. Aside from music, you can now view the Pandora vise series and look up concerts coming to areas near your town. Pandora is branching out to video and live music avenues. They also work with mobile companies through advertising and putting mobile applications on phones so you can listen to Pandora anywhere instead of just a computer or home device. Pandora allows for users to expand their musical knowledge based on their own personal preferences without requiring the user to purchase songs on a whim. The seemingly archaic days of buy before you try have ended partly because of services like Pandora. Pandora gives users the option to purchase each song multiple ways in a variety of digital formats. One of these methods is to buy a song via iTunes. While the iTunes service itself allows for the sampling of a given song, it does not give users the ability to stream the entire song prior to purchase.    Brand Interactivity Pandora is becoming more that just an internet radio player. Consumers can create a profile much like social networking sites and add friends to communicate with. Users can leave comments on other users profiles, share radio stations, and even find other Pandora listeners. With Pandora mobile applications, users can access this information where ever they are and listen to music straight from their mobile phones. Not only can you search to find song, or artist, you can also take a look at the Pandora video series, which is a video blog that contains videos about music, how the music is made, and where to hear it. Pandora also has a written blog where users can interact and comment on posts. The final point of interactivity is users can see a schedule of local live shows in their area. The list is based on your bookmarks list, thumb up and you station seeds, so the concerts that they show you are going to be based off of what your profile says you listen to and what you like. For each event, you can click on the ticket info button which takes you to the event website, to view the event and get tickets. This can also all be accessed from the mobile phone application. Brand look across formats Pandoras brand look is, for the most part, uniform across its various mediums. The page is identical no matter what browser you chose to view it on. This is extremely important for a service like Pandora. This is because a user might choose to view this content on a computer loaded with a browser that is different from the browser that they usually use Pandora on. An example of this would be a user who usually uses their windows-based computer loaded with Internet Explorer to access Pandora being forced for some reason to use a mac-based computer loaded with Safari. Because of Pandoras uniformity across platforms, this user will be able to use their Pandora on the mac-based computer without the initial learning curve often associated with using new web based services. Pandora is also able to be accessed on various broadband enabled mobile devices. Pandora has taken steps to make their service as uniform and consistent as possible across the mobile devices that might be used to access Pandora. For instance, Pandora accessed on a users Apple iPhone 3G looks almost identical to Pandora accessed on another users Motorola MOTORAZR V3. Furthermore, the page layout on both devices mirrors that of Pandora accessed on the users personal computers. This is another step Pandora has taken in order to reduce any additional learning curve that might be associated with accessing Pandora service on a users mobile device. Brand Personality Pandoras brand personality includes both a mechanical passion for music as well as a passion for connecting users with music that they otherwise might not have had or wanted access to. This mechanical passion for music is made evident by Pandoras Music Genome Project. Because of this mechanical passion, Pandoras brand gives off a scientific vibe. Pandora is also very diverse because no one persons musical taste is exactly like the next person. Musical taste is something that is very unique and Pandora is trying to cater to each persons uniqueness. They know each person is different, which what makes them different from other internet radio stations. Pandora is kind of like the guy that no one really cared about, but then everyone wants to know him because they realized how cool he really is. Major Competitors While Pandora brings many new and unique features to free internet radio, it is hardly the only game in town. Last.fm, Imeem, and Grooveshark are just a few internet radio alternatives to Pandora. Each of these services offers their own take on Internet radio. Lately, Last.fm has taken the position of Pandoras primary competitor. Like Pandora, Last.fm offers users the ability to stream custom playlists based on a users personal preference. While both services share this feature, they have unique and independent ways of doing so. Last.fm employs a technique called Scrobbling to determine which songs rise or fall in popularity. This is accomplished by the user downloading software on their personal computers and ranking their streaming music. With millions of users doing this on a daily basis, this is a great way to crowdsource popularity. Pandora on the other hand is based on The Music Genome Project. This is essentially a database of artist-defined analysis of each song. This analysis is primarily based on the songs musical attributes as well as unique qualities associated with the each song. So one on hand, you have millions of laymen ratings helping to improve the listeners streaming experience, and on the other hand you have a selected group of well trained ears pouring over individual songs to produce unique playlists for the user. Which is better is left up to the individual user. Recently, one of Pandoras competitors, Imeem, has stolen a substantial amount of traffic away from Pandora. Imeem is part social networking site, part internet media service. With Imeem, users interact with each other by streaming, uploading, and sharing music and videos. Imeem also allows users to build and share custom playlists with others directly on Imeems website or via an imbedded Imeem player through external sites such as Facebook and Myspace. Other online music services such as Grooveshark compete with Pandora. Grooveshark allows users to upload, stream, and vote on content similar to Imeem. Grooveshark also incorporates a Pandora-like system for recommending content based on the users personal song choices. With all these great features, why is Groovesharks traffic almost stagnant next to Pandoras mammoth annual growth of close to three million users? Grooveshark users have provided criticism that Grooveshark does not indemnify its users against any unlicensed uploaded content. Essentially, this means that Grooveshark is not responsible for the content that they host. Pandora Site Metrics According to Alexa.com, a website that specializes in web traffic metrics, Pandora is ranked 82nd for United States website traffic. This sandwiches Pandora between Newegg.com, arguably the internets largest electronic retailer, and the United States Postal Service for internet traffic. There are many metrics with which to compare a websites e-traffic and ultimately said websites/services success. The first of these metrics and arguably the most important is a websites daily traffic rank trend. This metric compares Pandoras daily traffic against other websites accessed. According to this metric, daily Pandora traffic has fluctuated over the past year. Currently, Pandora is ranked 371. Another metric with which to compare Pandora to its competitors is the time the average user stays connected to the given website. Currently, the average Pandora user stays connected eleven minutes. In relation to Pandoras previously discussed competitors, Pandora has the longest user retention rate. This compares to Last.fm and Imeems five minute and Groovesharks seven minute user retention rate. The last metric used is Reach. Reach refers to the percentage of global internet users who visit Pandora. According to Alexa, 97.7% of Pandoras users access Pandora from within the United States. This metric shows that Pandora has a strong national user base but should look into expanding their international user base. This is not necessarily the case for Pandoras competitors. Imeem, for example, has an extremely strong user base in Thailand, having a national user base of only 42.8% United States users. Last.fm has a United States user base of 35.2% with the remaining 65% consisting of international users. Ultimately, Pandora will need to begin increasing their international traffic if they plan on sustaining their growth. Customer Profile The types of people we see using Pandora, more frequently, and more often are the Net Generation. They were typically born from 1980-2000 and are anywhere from 10-30 years old. The reason that the Netgeners use Pandora more is because Pandora is a digital product and the Netgeners are growing up in a digital world. They are different from other generation in that their lives are surrounded by digital media. (Tapscott) 73% of youths between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet. For most teenagers it is a way of life. So, it is only natural that we see this age demographic using Pandora services. The characteristics of these consumers are as follows according to Tapscott. They have fierce independence because they create online identities and acquire knowledge to make their own decisions. They have and Intellectual and emotional openness and view the world in a global context. They have very free expression and have strong views. They are also very innovative and have a strong desire to be more mature than their predecessors. They investigate things out of curiosity, demands real time and fast processing, are very sensitive to corporate interest, and are very trusting online. Consumer Behavior Acquisition How the consumer gets content from Pandora is that they find it. This is accomplished by typing in an artist name, or song name, and Pandora streams then the content. They also get to choose more or less what they listen too. Also creating a profile helps in the acquisition process. They also get to create stations so that they can the content that suits them best. Consumption The customer consumes content by listening to the music, reading the blogs, or watching Pandoras video series. They can also consume content by getting gift stations from other users and communicating with them through a simple messaging service. Disposition In the disposition process, consumers can bookmark and save songs to remember them later and even use the information so that they can personally own the song. The content never really goes away though. They can listen, watch, or read the duration of the content, but its always there for the consumer to go back and listen, watch, or read it again. Ideas for Growth   Ã‚              The first idea for growth, which I think will also target a larger market, is somehow incorporating their service into automobiles a little better.   Currently, Pandora can only be heard through computers and cell phone with broadband data plans. If Pandora can create a way for people to get internet radio in cars with services, they could reach a larger audience for people that either dont listen to music on their computers or dont have expensive smart phones. A way of implementing Pandora into an already well respected device would be to implement Pandora functionality into satellite radios. It would also be a safer alternative to have something compatible with a car that being distracted by a mobile device.   Ã‚           Next, Pandora needs to begin expanding into the international market. Currently, Pandora has blocked access to users outside of the United States. This clearly explains why Pandoras user base is comprised of 97.7% United States users. Pandora founder Tim Westergren spoke directly on the topic saying: As it stands now, there is still no affordable license for a webcaster to stream legally (ie. abiding by all standing copyright law and properly compensating performers and composers) anywhere outside the US. However, Pandora has publicly stated their commitment to finding a way to provide Pandora service to international users, leaving new potential users with only keep the faithà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Finally, Pandora should look to advertise their paid services more. Even if they dont in publications or Ads, they need to at least start pushing it on their website more. The guess would be that they dont want to seem like they are moving to a paid service, but if they want to stay in this business, more money is what it is going to take and they need to start pushing people to subscribe, or buy products from them. Channel Mix Plan The Channel mix plan for Pandora is Internet. It is the one channel that can reach the maximum number of clients for their business model. They also use a phone application as a channel through mobile Internet service providers. The messaging with customer through both channels is all opt-in only. You will only receive emails if you check a box and any information is only sent or retrievable of you want, or ask for it. Conclusion In conclusion, we have discussed Pandoras business model in detail. It seems that once Pandora can monetize their service appropriately, they will be an extremely, financially, successful digital media venture. Furthermore, Pandora has a great deal of legitimate future growth considering they have yet to expand their service outside of the United States. Ultimately, Pandora has an extremely bright future in the internet radio market.

Elisa of The Chrysanthemums :: The Chrysanthemums Essays

â€Å"Why-why Elisa†¦. You look strong enough to break a calf over your knee, happy enough to eat it like a watermelon.† (Steinbeck 232) Most people reading this would just pass it off as a tactless man’s attempt to compliment, but is that all it is? In â€Å"The Chrysanthemums†, Elisa is a farm wife, whose only passion in life is found in her gardening. Henry, her husband, owns a farm and is oblivious to the monotony of Elisa’s life. Throughout the story, Henry is on the outside, never really understanding Elisa and how she feels. Until, a tinker comes by the farm and speaks with Elisa about her Chrysanthemums. By asking just one question, the tinker opens Elisa and allows her to release the passion and femininity that she keeps hidden throughout her life. In John Steinbeck’s â€Å"The Chrysanthemums†, Henry Allen’s seemingly inept comment is not just that but an allusion, put in place by Steinbeck, to the Dionysian maenads. Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, merrymaking and gathering. His followers, the maenads, were said to be pushed into some form of â€Å"divine madness†, aided by wine, which would lead to prophecy and insight. More often, however, it led to drunkenness and promiscuity. They would then dance, sing and wander about, not to mention, join in sexual activities to stimulate fertility of the earth and achieve ecstasy. The maenads would occasionally reach a dangerous â€Å"frenzied state† where if they happened across it, they would â€Å"tear animals apart and devour the raw flesh† (â€Å"Maenads† par.1). So, knowing that, we take a second look at our story. Elisa Allen has had an erotic experience with the tinker by merely speaking of the passion she has for her chrysanthemums that has opened her eyes to how much of herself that she hides and subdues. Henry notices a difference in Elisa, beyond the way she is dressed, but he has never seen the passionate side of her and does not know what to say. When Henry claims that Elisa looks strong enough to kill and eat a cow, Steinbeck is making an allusion to the maenads of the ancient Greek world. David Leon Higdon, a scholar, claims that â€Å"With this image†¦Steinbeck transforms the characters and the ranch, synchronizing empirical and mythical realities, and identifying Elisa's new power and beauty with those of the Maenads or Bacchantes in their worship of Dionysus† (par. 1). It is quite clear that Henry’s comment is more than just that. â€Å"It is as if Steinbeck wished his reader to feel, for one brief moment, that he or she had opened a door inappropriately and

The Selfishness of Oedipus in Oedipus the King :: Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

"Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race,† as quoted by William E. Gladstone, supports my thought that selfishness is what causes most of our problems in the modern world. Currently, we are living in an era that is filled with much gluttony and selfishness. However, selfishness is a trait that all of us possess, but the amount of selfishness that we have can determine the type of person we are. For instance, parents should always put their children’s needs before their own. Selfish parents would rather buy materialistic items for themselves than anything useful for their children. In Sophocles’s â€Å"Oedipus Rex,† the protagonist is literally blinded by his own arrogance. This attitude begins before he even travels to Thebes, and that is apparent due to the circumstances of his father’s death. Oedipus seals his own fate with his egotistical attitude and he cannot change his destiny after everything is set into motion. During his jo urney on the road to enlightenment, Oedipus’s selfishness causes him to transcend from being completely ignorant of his fate to holding on to the last shreds of denial to having an overwhelming sense of realization. The selfishness that Oedipus possesses causes him to have abundance of ignorance. This combination is what leads to his father’s death. After fleeing Corinth and his foster family, Oedipus gets into a skirmish with an older man. The reason for the fight was because, â€Å"The groom leading the horses forced me off the road at his lord’s command† (1336). Oedipus is filled with a rage after being insulted by the lord and feels the need to act. The two men fight, but Oedipus ends up being too much for the older man, and he kills him. What Oedipus is unaware of is that the man was actually his birth father and by killing him, Oedipus has started on the path of his own destruction. Not only does Oedipus kill his father, but also everyone else, â€Å"I killed them all† (1336). The other men had no part in the scuffle, but in his rage, he did not care who he was killing. As Oedipus becomes king, his selfishness only grows, as does his denial. As the king, he gained the burden of Thebes whenever a problem arose. To find a way to rid his city of the plague, he sent Kreon so that he would have some answers and be able to place the blame on something or someone.

Analyse an Example of Propaganda Essay

The use of propaganda has been practiced since early historical times. This is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude and view about a given issue in the larger population. This form of communication is meant for some cause or position (Taylor 2006, pp57-78).The information that is given in propaganda is usually not impartial as it is used to influence a given audience and in so doing further a given agenda. The facts used in propaganda are presented in a selective manner usually omitting bits in order to encourage some certain synthesis. Propaganda usually contains loaded messages which are meant to produce emotional response to the given information presented (Sommerville 2012, pp187-193). These being the characteristics of propaganda, the document will evaluate a video â€Å"Russia without Putin† produced in Russia during the 2012 election. The paper will examine the various aspects in the video which makes it qualify to be labeled as propaganda. The supp orting material will be evaluated as well as textual analysis. Discussion                      The release time of Russia Without Putin (2013) video was a calculated move-one day before the 2012 general election. Though there had been a long campaign period by which time such a video could have been released, the same was not carried out until the last minute. Such is the craftiness that can be associated with propaganda material. To the society the video was released to, they were meant to see it as the â€Å"savior† card before they committed political suicide by electing anyone other than Putin. Such is meant to be the power of propaganda (Silverblatt & Zlobin 2004, pp314-323). The timing of the video is also a characteristic of a propaganda video in that it was released late into the campaigns and precisely one day before the election. This did not give the voters enough time to deeply analyze the video and see the misleading presentation of facts. The people were not in a position to judge whether what they were being given was tr ue or not. With the devastating effects that were presented in the video of what would happen if they did not elects Putin, then the people were bound to be influenced to believe the video and vote Putin. In most times, any information that is meant to have the good of the people at heart should be presented in such a timely manner that there will be the full evaluation of the same and countering of facts which may not be true. However, with the video, there was no chance or the time to counter the content (Seidman 2008, pp177-184). In most times as highlighted in the introduction, propaganda material is meant to sway the people’s take in a given aspect. For this case, those rooting for Putin re-election would have wanted to influence most if not all of the voting population. The best option for this group to do this successfully was thus in form of a propaganda video (Reeves 2003, pp164-176). The Russia Without Putin (2013) video was released by Putin’s party channels and pro-Kremlin TV. The loyalty of the two groups is not hard to miss as they are known Putin’s campaign avenues. For the two groups to have released a video indicating what would happen to Russia if their preferred candidate was not elected is propaganda. They two pro-Putin groups were presenting their facts to the people without support of their source of their information or the truth in the same. Objective information should be delivered in such a manner that the reader or consumer is given accurate background with the ana lysis of the same being at hand. Missing the same is bound to be propaganda as the news will be subjective and often misleading. The same will be done with the intention to mislead. All the pro-Putin groups showed was the bad that would result if their candidate was not elected. They did not give the people the analysis of their subject thus the use of propaganda in the video (O’sahughnessy 2004, pp321-325). The channel of release of the video by the two Pro-Putin groups also makes the same qualify as propaganda. In most times, for news to reach most of the people, those who are in need of using a communication channel will utilize the most famous and the most effective channel. In the case of â€Å"Russia without Putin† video, the channel of choice was YouTube. This is a social media site where the pro-Putin groups targeted the larger audience the aim being to influence and sway the people into voting Putin back (Moore 2010, pp163-172). The groups knew that the release of the video on such a channel as you tube was bound to generate interest as it would reach many in the society especially the youth who are the majority group in consuming and using social media channels. For the video to have not qualified as propaganda and to show its impartiality, the same should have been released through Russia news channels. The same would have enabled the concerned group, in this case the R ussia society to see the authenticity and having the plight of the people at heart. However, release of â€Å"critical† information on what Russia would turn into without Putin with the use of social media channel affects the credibility and makes the video qualify as propaganda (Marlin 2002, pp97-124). The content in the video is segmented in such a way that there is a month to month account of Putin-less Russia. The video creators do an impressive job with a specification of the doomsday scenario of how Russia apocalypse will take place after without Putin. The clever crafting of scenes is meant to invoke the memories of the Russians to the past days marked by suffering (Kamalipour 2004, pp238-312). The Russian people are being led or manipulated to believe the calamities that will befall their nation. The specific scenes and accompanying propaganda are as follows: March 2012- The first month of a â€Å"Russia† without Putin is depicted as being marred by the struggle for political power by the various groups that may have had an interest in the same like in the past. The dissolving of the state duma will take Russia back to the dark days when the same was not in place. The various groups in the society who have been struggling to get to power will finally have their way. The video is meant to corrupt the minds of the people as to what will happen with the state when political power in politics is not held by Putin. Such issues as the formation of 200 parties within a month are not factual. The same may be a feat that is hard to occur which can also be read as propaganda (Herpen 2014, pp178-187). With the likes of the USA having been bitter rivals with the Russian, the same are shown to celebrate the fall of Putin where they declare the same as democracy. However, in real sense, such enemies will be celebrating the fall of Russia. The Ma rch section part of the video is to persuade the people not to make such a mistake as eliminate Putin from political power. May 2012                      Business is a big aspect in Russia. The same drives the economy. When such a critical channel is threatened, the people of Russia are bound to rally all the efforts in fighting for the same. Russia without Putin will see the same critical channel (business) face threats from the enemy. After two months without Putin in power, critical business such as oil, the banking sector and the transport sector will be doomed. Such critical amenities will end up in the hands of Russia society enemies. The fact that the video has examples of the same and who happen to be Putin’s political enemies is no surprise. Propaganda dictates that one portray the best case as they would want their audience to believe. In this case, those who have had their voices raised in public in opposition to Putin’s rule such as Eveginia Shirikova, Aleksei Navalnyi and Boris Nemtsov are shown to take over the major businesses (Gillespie 2000, pp 127-137). The Russia peop le are thus being led to oppose such a move. The fact that the same are Putin’s competitors is meant to show how they cannot be entrusted with such public amenities as banks, transport and oil business. However, as is the case with propaganda, the facts are not supported with people such as Boris Nemtsov being depicted as developing a sudden interest in business whereas he has been renowned for politics rather than his business prowess. With the nuclear aspect being a crucial matter in the whole world the fact that Russia’s enemy in this case the USA will be put in control of such weapons is something many in the Russian population would not be ready to allow. Propaganda in this section is meant to rally the Russian people behind protecting their amenities (Gessen 2013, pp98-112). September 2012                      The economy is a central part of any state. Russia without Putin will see the country face downfall in this section. The same should not be allowed to take place which is the message and call to the Russian people. The closure of huge companies such as Avto Vaz, the fall of the Russia stock exchange, the depreciation of the rubles against the dollar, highest rates of inflation, and unemployment are all economic problems that have plagued Russia in the past and left many suffering. This section of the video thus plays with the fear aspect in the society. The same would not want to go back to such times. Thus, the people are being reminded that failure to have Putin in power will result in their greatest fear coming to pass- suffering. Russia without Putin will see the society go back to the days when bread, an important commodity during hard times, becomes unavailable. The fact that this part of the video reminds the people of the past is a character istic of propaganda; relieving past failures in order to make the people think in the opposite direction (Freeze 2009, pp232-235). Going hungry is not something any society would want thus Putin should be allowed to stay in power to make sure that the same does not happen. November 2012                      If Putin is not in power, by this time as shown in the video, Russia will have degenerated into a violent society with civilians being the causalities. The plight of the needy such as the pensioners will have no one to take care of. This part of the video also relies on rekindling past bad memories in order to make people believe what is on offer to be the best. This is a major characteristic of propaganda (Cunningham 2002, pp128-154). March 2013                      This part of the video shows the degeneration of Russia just as it has been in the past with many regions wanting their independence from their mother country. Such a scene is reminiscent of the past times such as the end of the Second World War. Pro-Putin activists who made the video are aware of some of the emotional attachment the Russian people have with the motherland. They thus make sure that this part of the video depicts the fall-out within the same as it has happened in the past. In order to avoid the same, the people are made to believe that voting Putin will prevent such a scenario from emerging (Cull et al. 2003, pp157-163). June 2013                      Occupation of one’s country by foreigners is an aspect that many nations condemn and do not entertain. This is what the society in Russia is made to believe will happen if they fail to retain Putin in power. In the pretense of peace keeping, Russia will be invaded by other nations such as China and Japan occupying the different parts of Russia, for example, Chita, Khabarovsk, Blagoveshensk and Irkutsk and Vladivostok. With their nation’s sovereignty at risk, the Russian society is bound to resist such a move by all means in this case the best option being to retain Putin in power (Chomsky & Barsamian 2001, pp178-183). August 2013                      This section depicts the woes that will befall the society in this case human suffering. Failure to elect Putin will lead to continued occupation and invasion of Russia by the outside world with a human crisis such as the wiping out of entire societies such as Cossack militia. This is a move the society is being urged by this section of the video to desist from (Brady 2010, pp156-162). December 2013                      This section of the video is meant to convince the Russian society that failure to elect Putin will lead to the continued triumph of Russian enemies such as Alex Navalny. The same will receive international accreditation with people such as Navalny being awarded the Nobel peace prize. Navalny is a renowned Putin critic and political opponent thus international celebration of the same will mean Russia’s failure (Baker & Glasser 2007, pp231). February 2014                      International events such as the Olympics are a source of pride and prestige to the hosting nations. The fact that this section of the video depicts the upcoming winter games characterized by violence with Russia as the designated host is bound to touch each and everyone in the Russia society. The people will fight to see that the same does not occur. As per the planned propaganda in the video, the only way they can do so is by retaining Putin in power. The chaos from the games will also affect the rest of the society in that such amenities as communication channels and electricity will be interrupted. This section thus urges the people to protect the pride of their nation in hosting a successful international event by retaining Putin in power (Arutunyan 2009, pp132). Conclusion                      There was a timely release of the â€Å"Russia without Putin† video to the masses specifically one day before the election. The content as presented in the video relied on the influencing power of propaganda material. The target audience in this case the Russian voters were bound to be moved by the graphic portrayal of the doom that would befall their mother-land without Putin. The same would trigger an emotional cord within the voters in such a way that would enhance Putin’s re-election to power. 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