Riots Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Riots - Essay Example The protesters rallied with Gray’s family in a bid to find answers as to what happened to Gray while he was under police custody. The protesters rallied to help his family find the truth. The protests turned violent on the Monday night of 27th April 2015, when rioters began to damage buildings and destroy police vehicles. The violent protests resulted to looting of several stores and businesses. The protesters pushed to get explanation on Gray’s death and for justice. The protests resembled those held in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York after the deaths of unarmed African American men while under police custody. The Baltimore riots resulted from the arrest and death of Freddie Gray an African American man. The riots were sparked on the basis of calls for justice for Gray’s family and accusation of police brutality and racial profiling of suspects. The protests began peacefully but later turned violent resulting to looting and damaging of public and private goods in Baltimore,

Against Media Censorship Essay Example for Free

Against Media Censorship Essay * On television, music, and most websites, they inform the user about the contents of their website, song, or show; but others (like YouTube) put on age restrictions on them. * I’m sure most of you have had to go through these at some point in your life and have gotten upset when you can’t hear the whole song or watch the whole movie. * I’d like to explain to you all how Media Censorship is in direct violation of the First Amendment and how it can make it harder for kids to learn about certain aspects of life. * The First Amendment is one of our most important Amendments because it allows us, the citizens of the United States, to speak our minds about anything without legal government penalty. * Freedom of speech is no longer considered important to the government. People should be able to express themselves, whether it’s through music, movies, or anything, but instead they have to bleep the cuss for their song to go on the radio and block the inappropriate parts on a movie which can possibly cause a loss in entertainment or power in the message * The morals of people that have been hidden information from and the morals of the people who haven’t been hidden from are completely different. If certain things are hidden from people, then that gives people a curiosity in the subject and may cause people the use of illegal actions to obtain it. * Education isn’t something for kids need to be censored from. * People are curious about life and feel they need to learn more about it, if everything was censored then this can cause parents to be in uncomfortable situations and cause kids to ask more questions. * The government shouldn’t have to tell people what they can and can’t watch or listen to; this should be up to the person or the parents of that particular person. * The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) monitors every radio station, Television broadcast, and music broadcast to make sure that nothing inappropriate is said on the broadcast that they think may ruin the mind of the listeners. * Most music is censored while there are few artists that refuse to censor their music, and nearly all movies are also censored. * The First Amendment states that you have a freedom of speech and the FCC shouldnt be able to take that away. People can be better educated on topics if nothing is censored. * The sound of music and the graphics of movies are some things you all would most likely want to keep. * In conclusion, The media should not be censored and should not be allowed to be censored.

Social Interface :: science

Social Interface In the introduction of the book of Norman Long, â€Å"Battlefields of Knowledge†, Long states that theoretical and the application itself cannot be segregated into their respective venues. His book takes a different perspective specifically by not discriminating between the â€Å"knowledge of understanding† and â€Å"knowledge of action.† Long’s book assumes that the theoretical and the pragmatic issues are so intimately entwined that it would be like separating melted ice from your coke. Long stresses that we must work on an actor-oriented approach where we can base new types of theorization and methodologies. The proposed model suggests that a theoretical technique be developed to take into account the actions of the actors and be able to construe them clearly. It also should show how different analyses work themselves out through accommodation and negotiation. By this method, we concentrate on the performer and recognize the multiple realities and diverse social practices of a variety of actors. The interaction between diverse social interests encourages social change and is essential when it comes to understanding development processes. The intersection where we have different social organization mixing with one another negotiating is called the interface. The interface is where the social systems interacts in their own worlds and where the different actors see their own realities and work on how to achieve certain goals they may have set for themselves or goals that the society they are in have been set for them. For this paper, I will attempt to process the relation of a drug addict under going rehab with his/her therapist through our actor oriented approach and hopefully something intelligent will come out. As stated above, the actors are the physician and the patient. It can be noted that such a small group may not produce much of a social change but from trivial matters arise serious obstacles. We may use this interface as to how our society views such a problem and tries to resolve it. Drug addiction in our country has recently become a growing concern for our citizen. Designer drugs have entered our country from illegal drug exporting countries like China or Thailand. And instead of enticing the usual mid-thirties demographic, these pushers peddle their merchandize to young teenagers ranging from twelve to twenty, most of them still easily influenced by their peers. In order to counter this new scourge that our society faces, we have set up rehabilitation centers or detoxification cente rs for the addicted ones.

Evil: Mark Twain and Higher Animals

From The Damned Human Race by Mark Twain Mark Twain is a central figure in American literature. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, his finest work, is the story of a journey down the Mississippi by two memorable figures, a white boy and a black slave. Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835 and was raised in Hannibal, Missouri. During his early years, he worked as a riverboat pilot, newspaper reporter, printer, and gold prospector.Although his popular image is as the author of such comic works as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and The Prince and the Pauper, Twain had a darker side that may have resulted from the bitter experiences of his life: financial failure and the deaths of his wife and daughter. His last writings are savage, satiric, and pessimistic. The following selection is taken from Letters from the Earth, one of his last works. It has been under the title The Damned Human Race and has been printed in numerous essay anthologies.Did todayâ⠂¬â„¢s newspaper feature headlines about people fighting somewhere in the world (Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa)? Most likely, it did. In the following selection, Mark Twain concludes that the combative and cruel nature of human beings makes them the lowest of creatures, not the highest. With scathing irony, he supplies a startling reason for humans’ warlike nature. The Damned Human Race Mark Twain I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the lower animals (so-called), and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man.I find the result humiliating to me. For it obliges me to renounce my allegiance to the Darwinian theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals; since it now seems plain to me that the theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one, this new and truer one to be named the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals. In proceeding toward this unpleasant conclusion I have not guessed or speculated or conjectured, but have used what is c ommonly called the scientific method. That is to say, I have subjected every postulate that presented itself to the crucial test of ctual experiment, and have adopted it or rejected it according to the result. Thus I verified and established each step of my course in its turn before advancing to the next. These experiments were made in the London Zoological Gardens, and covered many months of painstaking and fatiguing work. Before particularizing any of the experiments, I wish to state one or two things which seem to more properly belong in this place than further along. This, in the interest of clearness. The massed experiments established to my satisfaction certain generalizations, to wit: 1.That the human race is of one distinct species. It exhibits slight variations (in color, stature, mental caliber, and so on) due to climate, environment, and so forth; but it is a species by itself, and not to be confounded with any other. 2. That the quadrupeds are a distinct family, also. Th is family exhibits variations (in color, size, food preferences, and so on; but it is a family by itself). 3. That the other families (the birds, the fishes, the insects, the reptiles, etc. ) are more or less distinct, also. They are in the procession.They are links in the chain which stretches down from the higher animals to man at the bottom. Some of my experiments were quite curious. In the course of my reading I had come across a case where, many years ago, some hunters on our Great Plains organized a buffalo hunt for the entertainment of an English earl. They had charming sport. They killed seventy-two of those great animals; and ate part of one of them and left the seventy-one to rot. In order to determine the difference between an anaconda and an earl (if any) I caused seven young calves to be turned into the anaconda’s cage.The grateful reptile immediately crushed one of them and swallowed it, then lay back satisfied. It showed no further interest in the calves, and n o disposition to harm them. I tried this experiment with other anacondas; always with the same result. The fact stood proven that the difference between an earl and an anaconda is that the earl is cruel and the anaconda isn’t; and that the earl wantonly destroys what he has no use for, but the anaconda doesn’t. This seemed to suggest that the anaconda was not descended from the earl.It also seemed to suggest that the earl was descended from the anaconda, and had lost a good deal in the transition. I was aware that many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown a rabid hunger for more, and have not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor servings in order to partially appease that appetite. I furnished a hundred different kinds of wild and tame animals the opportunity to accumulate vast stores of food, but none of them would do it.The squirrels and bees and certain birds made accumulations, but stopped wh en they had gathered a winter s supply, and could not be persuaded to add to it either honestly or by chicane. In order to bolster up a tottering reputation the ant pretended to store up supplies, but I was not deceived. I know the ant. These experiments convinced me that there is this difference between man and the higher animals: he is avaricious and miserly; they are not.In the course of my experiments I convinced myself that among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animals. Roosters keep harems, but it is by consent of their concubines; therefore no wrong is done. Men keep harems but it is by brute force, privileged by atrocious laws which the other sex were allowed no hand in making. In this matter man occupies a far lower place than the rooster. Cats are loose in their morals, but not consciously so.Man, in his descent from the cat, has brought the cats looseness with him but has left the unconsciousness behind (the saving grace which excuses the cat). The cat is innocent, man is not. Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity (these are strictly confined to man); he invented them. Among the higher animals there is no trace of them. They hide nothing; they are not ashamed. Man, with his soiled mind, covers himself. He will not even enter a drawing room with his breast and back naked, so alive are he and his mates to indecent suggestion.Man is The Animal that Laughs. But so does the monkey, as Mr. Darwin pointed out; and so does the Australian bird that is called the laughing jackass. No! Man is the Animal that Blushes. He is the only one that does it or has occasion to. At the head of this article we see how three monks were burnt to death a few days ago, and a prior put to death with atrocious cruelty. Do we inquire into the details? No; or we should find out that the prior was subjected to unprintable mutilations.Man (w hen he is a North American Indian) gouges out his prisoners’ eyes; when he is King John, with a nephew to render untroublesome, he uses a red-hot iron; when he is a religious zealot dealing with heretics in the Middle Ages, he skins his captive alive and scatters salt on his back; in the first Richards time he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it; in Columbus’s time he captures a family of Spanish Jews and (but that is not printable; in our day in England a man is fined ten shillings for beating his mother nearly to death with a chair, and another man is fined forty shillings for having four pheasant eggs in his possession without eing able to satisfactorily explain how he got them). Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals. The cat plays with the frightened mouse; but she has this excuse, that she does n ot know that the mouse is suffering. The cat is moderate (unhumanly moderate: she only scares the mouse, she does not hurt it; she doesnt dig out its eyes, or tear off its skin, or drive splinters under its nails) man-fashion; when she is done playing with it she makes a sudden meal of it and puts it out of its trouble. Man is the Cruel Animal. He is alone in that distinction.The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses. Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out, as the Hessians did in our Revolution, and as the boyish Prince Napoleon did in the Zulu war, and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel. Man is the only animal that robs his helpless fellow of his country takes p ossession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him. Man has done this in all the ages.There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed. Man is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. In our day he is always some mans slave for wages, and does that mans work; and this slave has other slaves under him for minor wages, and they do his work. The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living. Man is the only Patriot.He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other peoples countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns, he washes the blood off his hands and works for the universal brotherhood of man, with his mouth. Man is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion, several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother’s path to happiness and heaven.He was at it in the time of the Caesars, he was at it in Mahomet’s time, he was at it in the time of the Inquisition, he was at it in France a couple of centuries, he was at it in England in Mary’s day, he has been at it ever since he first saw the light, he is at it today in Crete (as per the telegrams quoted above) he will be at it somewhere else tomorrow. The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out, in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste. Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal. Note his history, as sketched above. It seems plain to me that whatever he is he is not a reasoning animal. His record is the fantastic record of a maniac.I consider that the strongest count against his intelligence is the fact that with that record back of him he blandly sets himself up as the head animal of the lot: whereas by his own standards he is the bottom one. In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectiona tely. Next, in another cage I confined an Irish Catholic from Tipperary, and as soon as he seemed tame I added a Scotch Presbyterian from Aberdeen.Next a Turk from Constantinople; a Greek Christian from Crete; an Armenian; a Methodist from the wilds of Arkansas; a Buddhist from China; a Brahman from Benares. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping. Then I stayed away two whole days. When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all right, but in the other there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and fezzes and plaids and bones and flesh not a specimen left alive. These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court. One is obliged to concede that in true loftiness of character, Man cannot claim to approach even the meanest of the Higher Animals.It is plain that he is constitutionally incapable of approaching that altitude; that he is constitutionally afflicted with a Defect which must make such approach forever impossible, for it is manifest that this defect is permanent in him, indestructible, ineradicable. I find this Defect to be the Moral Sense. He is the only animal that has it. It is the secret of his degradation. It is the quality which enables him to do wrong. It has no other office. It is in capable of performing any other function. It could never hate been intended to perform any other. Without it, man could do no wrong. He would rise at once to the level of the Higher Animals.Since the Moral Sense has but the one office, the one capacity (to enable man to do wrong) it is plainly without value to him. It is as valueless to him as is disease. In fact, it manifestly is a disease. Rabies is bad, but it is not so bad as this disease. Rabies enables a man to do a thing, which he could not do when in a healthy state: kill his neighbor with a poisonous bite. NC) one is the better man for having rabies: The Moral Sense enables a man to do wrong. It enables him to do wro ng in a thousand ways. Rabies is an innocent disease, compared to the Moral Sense. No one, then, can be the better man for having the Moral Sense. What now, do we find the Primal Curse to have been?Plainly what it was in the beginning: the infliction upon man of the Moral Sense; the ability to distinguish good from evil; and with it, necessarily, the ability to do evil; for there can be no evil act without the presence of consciousness of it in the doer of it. And so I find that we have descended and degenerated, from some far ancestor (some microscopic atom wandering at its pleasure between the mighty horizons of a drop of water perchance) insect by insect, animal by animal, reptile by reptile, down the long highway of smirch less innocence, till we have reached the bottom stage of development (namable as the Human Being). Below us, nothing. Discussion Question: How does Twain use satire in this essay? Be specific and refer to the text along with your explanation. Summary Response Assignment: Write a summary response on Twain’s essay, The Damned Human Race. †¢ †¢In the first part of your paper, the summary, you should objectively (without bias) summarize the essay by discerning only the most significant points Twain makes. Do not include analysis, interpretation, evaluation, or opinion. Simply report the â€Å"guts† of his essay. Use academic, third person voice in this section. In the second part of your paper, the response, comment on Twain’s essay. How do you interpret it? What do you think about it? With which points do you agree or disagree? Why? Evaluate Twain’s essay. Is it effective or ineffective in making his point? Why? Use first person voice in this section because you are providing your own opinion.

Epic Hero and the Values of the Society Essay

The hero of an epic is characterized by their extraordinary abilities and strength which helped them to meet all the challenges they need to face along their journey. They are the main subjects of these long narrative epic poems. The epic hero is separated from the rest of the people. They are being admired by others for their ability to do what ordinary man would not attempt to do. The birth of these heroes was taken account into. These men are destined to play an important role in their society. They also became the reflection of the values of their society. Epic heroes are mythical characters taken from the ancient times. These heroes are larger-than-life because of their impressive and heroic deeds that can surpass what ordinary man can do. More specifically an epic hero must posses certain qualities to recognize him as a real epic hero. They must possess great physical strength. They are more clever and cunning than the ordinary. They are adventurous and brave. They are not easily intimidated or frightened by the challenges ahead of them. They have goals and are highly determined to attain their quest for something they believed is of great value for him and to his people. They are victorious most of the time with the battles they encounter. Their success gave them recognition. Their society may choose him to be their rightful leader or ruler because of the marvelous thing they proved they can do. After learning this things about an epic hero one can observed among epic poems this pattern of the heroes characteristic. They seem to be similar in many ways. Along with other epic heroes of all times are the names like Beowulf, Gilgamesh and Odysseus. Looking at how each of the heroes had transformed themselves through the various test and preparation they undertake before they are recognize as heroic leaders. They come from different backgrounds and culture which they typically embodies. Beowulf: the Old English Epic Who is Beowulf? What was his exploits? What values where important in his society? These are the questions that will guide us to discover more about the epic hero Beowulf. This epic poem had been written in England though the setting of the story could have been in Scandinavia. Beowulf as many knew is one of the most important surviving Anglo-Saxon classic literatures. This epic was believed to have been written between the 8th and 11th centuries. (Foster, 2003) Beowulf was recognized as a Geat. He was known by others as a super human. One of his greatest achievements was when he defeated Grendel in an encounter. Beowulf fought one-on-one with Grendel which was known as a monster an enemy of the people of that time. Beowulf came to rescue the people of that kingdom from Grendel. To show his successful defeat of Grendel he brought home Grendel’s head. During the struggle, he won because of the help of a magical giant sword. Beowulf then also battle with Grendel’s mother who was plunge deep into the earth. He faced alone the monster found in the underworld. After he won in this adventure he didn’t become immediately the new king. He fought for the throne along with King Hygelac. King Hygelac died during a raid and was then offered the throne but he refused and let the king’s son inherit the throne. Because of his many heroic acts the Danes were please. The Danes and the Geats are then united. The people now anticipated Beowulf to be their new king. He must face other more dangers to prove himself worthy to be called the King of the Geats. His last battle involved a fight with a dragon. By that time he was in old age and has been ruling the Geats when the dragon came and threatened his kingdom. He needs to defeat this dragon to save his people from danger. He must risk his own life to achieve his goal of saving the kingdom. In this battle he successfully killed the dragon but it left him seriously wounded. He then had to face his death. Odysseus: The Greek Mythical Hero After Beowulf is another famous epic hero by the name of Odysseus. Odysseus also with Latin name Ulysses was the reigning ruler of the island kingdom of Ithaca. (Hunter, 1997) unlike Beowulf this man was already enthroned as a king. In the Trojan War he was the key heroic figure meaning he was among the well known leaders of the Trojan War. Odysseus was actually reluctant to join the expedition. Even if he doesn’t want to join the battle he still fought heroically in the Trojan War. He even led the dangerous nocturnal raid together with Diomedes. It was believed that Odysseus was one of the originators of the Trojan horse which were used by the Greeks to finally take over the city of Troy. His journey was specially guided by divine intervention. After the Trojan War Odysseus next quest is to successfully return home with his family. Now returning back on his family was his main goal but the journey is very difficult and there are many things he needed to pass through. He also needs to face the underworld just like Beowulf who fought in the world of the dead. The difference with Odysseus is that he didn’t fight but rather talk and ask some questions. In this journey he came to the point that he need to choose between mortality and immortality. He chose mortality because he wants his home together with his wife Penelope. Going back home he encountered various tragedies like when his ship was destroyed by a thunderbolt and a storm and when he was trapped in island of the Nymph Calypso. Many things have happened after the war and on the way home. When Odysseus came at last he found that there were problems in Ithaca also. It took about twenty years before he successfully returned to his home. He found out that his wife Penelope had remained faithful to him all through those years even though there are pressures for her to get married again. He arrived at the palace and found the suitors of his wife. He pretended to be a beggar and destroyed all of them afterwards.