Essay on Satire in Lysistrata -- Lysistrata Essays

Satire in Lysistrata Satire is a literary manner built on wit and humor with a critical attitude directed to human institutions and humanity. A successful satiric play will show certain truths about society and then try to improve upon them. Satire is meant to be constructive rather than destructive. Aristophanes uses satire in Lysistrata to convey many different themes such as war and peace, the struggles of power and class, and the life and death issues that are seen in war. Satire is successfully used and seen in Lysistrata by stereotyping women in general and then the different classes of women as well. Double entendres are seen throughout the play to help add humor to the play. Sex is used as humorous tool but only to covey a deeper theme that consists of war and peace and also of life and death. Aristophanes stereotypes women as bickering, self-centered, unintelligent people in the beginning. They are sex driven and selfish. Lysistrata is upset that the women are late for the very important meeting "Here I've called a meeting to discuss a very important matter, and they're all still fast asleep" (180). Calonice sums up what women are thought to do all day, and also what they represent to their households; "The women! What could they ever do that was any use? Sitting at home putting flowers in their hair, putting on cosmetics and saffron gowns and Cimberian see-through shifts, with slippers on our feet?" (181). It is in fact these very frivolous ideas that are used to bring peace to the two cities. Throughout the play Aristophanes begins to knock down ... ... convey deeper themes of life and death, the struggles between power and class structure and also the societal differences between men and women. Aristophanes uses humor to hook his audience into his play, and then undermines the surface humor with much bigger thematic issues. If this play had simply been about women withholding sex for other reasons such as wanting more money for shopping or other frivolous ideas it would not then be considered a satiric comedy. Satire requires more than physical humor. An issue must be raised such as the life and death theme that is seen in the war in Lysistrata, and a solution must then be made. Aristophanes created the women in the beginning to be bickering, unintelligent, and self-centered people. But in the end it was their idea and compromise that ended the war.

Essay examples --

The Regulators By: Anika Khanderia What was the Regulator Movement? The Regulator Movement (also known as the War of the Regulation, or the Regulator uprising) was an uprising that took place in the Carolinas from 1765 to 1771 when citizens of both colonies took up arms against corrupt colonial officials. Historians consider the Regulator Movement to be a catalyst to the American Revolution, even though it was unsuccessful. Causes of the Uprising Many factors influenced the uprising that took place in the Carolinas during the 1760s and 70s. Firstly, many people emigrated from the urban northeast to the rural southwest during the 1760s which created a huge population increase in the Carolinas (as noted by the Censuses). The once agricultural inland section that was populated by planters was upsetted as merchants and lawyers headed westward. At the same time, the local agricultural economy was experiencing a deep economic depression due to the severe droughs that had occured throughout the past decade. The loss of crops cut out the average farmers'/planters' main food source as well a...

Ray-Ban Promotion Strategies

Ray-Ban in the 20th century has been able to prove its ability to maintain parallelism between its products and the century’s style determined by the American Culture. A decade breakdown will prove this parallelism successful. In the 1930’s to the 1940’s the Aviator style was introduced, perfectly complementing the number of social phenomenon pertaining to this decade. There was a dramatic increase in interest for aviation and all the machines and technological advances that came with it. One of the most influential publicity acts the brand experienced for men, was when General Douglas McArthur[1] landed his military plane at the World War II base in the Philippines sporting a newly released pair of Aviator sunglasses. The famous picture of the General wearing his general’s hat, smoking a tobacco pipe and the Ray-Ban Aviator Sunglasses really pushed Aviator’s, as well as Ray-Ban, over the top. These sunglasses became part of the highly respected pilots’ equipment. The men confided in the Aviator’s fine quality and protection against optical harm. Women were also added into this look group when one of times most famous female aviator, Amelia Earhart, was also spotted with a pair of Ray-Ban’s Aviators. During the next decades, the world was bouncing back from the terrible times of war. The population had seen and experienced enough suffering allowing only growth and happiness to take place. The economy was progressing to a point where people were forgetting their sorrows and only concentrating on all the heroes which were coming home. Women were also gaining from this growth by increasing their rights. They could finally work. This time had become filled with enjoyment, glamour, color, and rock’n’roll[2]. With this change in era, Ray-Ban needed to keep on top of their game and follow the present trends. Ray-Ban began offering a vast range of colorful frames to go along with the clothing style of the time. This caused the new dark lens sunglasses to become an iconic accessory while still having top of the line sun damage protection. This time and environment was the perfect situation for Ray-Ban to release their new line of sunglasses, the Wayfarer. They were the first sunglasses to have plastic frames yet considered to be of high quality. Every aspect about these new sunglasses were attractive to the public. The new endless shape of the frame and fun advertising strategies immediately transformed the Wayfarers into the times, and presently, most sold model in history. In the 1960’s the United States took a technological turn for the best of mankind. President John F. Kennedy raises America’s hopes and dreams by announcing the plan of a man making a trip to the moon. With such amazing and quick advances in technology, Ray-Ban learned to do the same. Throughout this time Ray-Ban found they had the capacity to create sunglasses that were mounted in unbreakable frames. They put on the market these sunglasses never even dreamed of before and were able to greatly increase the price of their sunglasses by 70%. This price increase was done to prove the quality of such a product and maintain a popular image of class. With this increase in popularity even more artists, musicians, movie stars, and television stars were publicly spotted wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses. Ray-Ban even began to make appearances in Hollywood movies as part of the everyday outfit of many characters[3]. The next decade brought on a whole mix of social compromises, as well as the desire to escape reality. This led to the beginning of an interest in science fiction and its role in television and music. Consequently, the changing societal trends influenced the company’s new design and the use of more advanced technology. The new Ski and Sports Collection is introduced, with the two new styles called the Vagabond and the Stateside. At this point, Ray-Ban was making specialized sun glasses for mountain climbers with mirrored lenses, side protectors made out of leather, and nylon[4] mountings which would cover the ears inhibiting these glasses from falling. This new line was creative but very limited in market segmentation. The segment was so small that advertising had to be real specific to the interest of the intended market. This was done by publishing in certain ski, outside skills and sports magazines as well as selling the sunglasses in sporting goods stores. Ray-Ban was also realizing its â€Å"Naturals† collection, created with the intention of being a more casual line. This collection went hand-in-hand with the new age of Disco music and glamorous Rock. The sunglasses consisted of larger frames with a larger variety of softer more matte colors with outlines in metals such as silver and gold. The lenses were degraded to a point where the sunglasses were perfect for day and night use. Due to the fact that this new line went hand in hand with the social trends of the moment, advertising was a breeze. Ray-Ban introduced advertisements which simply informed the population about their product. By just informing the population was interested in what they saw and took a liking to the new style. During this time there was also the release of the Ambermatice sunglasses. These consisted of adjustable lenses meaning, they would change different colors in order to adjust to the conditions of the sun and more efficiently protect the eyes from the rays. On sunny days the lenses would become darker allowing more protection, while on a cloudy day the lenses were lighter giving off an amber color. These sun glasses were intended for those athletes who were constantly exposed to the sunlight but the style took flight and became a quick trend. Big athletes such as David Beckham, were used as the advertising strategy for this new line. By showing different athletes sporting this new athletic collection, Ray-Ban was luring in a whole different market segment. Ads were all about sports and being manly which allowed men to feel comfortable buying themselves a pair of sunglasses. The world was then introduced to Wings by Ray-Ban. A unisex style of sunglasses defined as being â€Å"aerodynamic and revolutionary†, and were thought to be the predecessors to the sunglasses with the opened up lenses (these were the lenses which were held in place only by half of the mounting, generally in their upper area), which appeared solely 20 years after the introduction of the â€Å"Wayfarers†. These appealed to the public’s new interest of gender equality. Ray-Ban advertised this as the idea behind the look creating a who new meaning for these sunglasses. This reached out to the public greatly making â€Å"Wings† a very successfully marketed collection. Ray-Ban’s popularity kept expanding not only due to the great success in publicity and their relationship with fashion, but because of their constant appearances in Hollywood. The Blues Brothers, Risky Business and Miami Vice are all examples of popular movies which increased Ray-Ban’s popularity. But, it was definitely Tom Cruise and Kelly McGills award winning film Top-Gun that pushed Ray-Bans sales through the ruff. It was during this increase in success that Ray-Ban was awarded two very prestigious recognitions. In 1985 , the same year Top-Gun was released, the company was recognized as â€Å"The Best Sunglasses in the World† by the Council of Fashion Designers of America[5]. Due to this recognition, Ray-Ban’s owner Luxottica, is able to become a corporate affiliate of the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America)[6]. Four years later, Ray-Ban receives another recognition and is awarded the Woolmark Prize in 1989, for their ability to influence the look of a North American male. In the 90s, Ray-Ban continued to be featured in films and TV shows in which various of the protagonists were displayed sporting mostly Wayfarers. Reservoir Dogs, for example, has the opening scene in which a few of the film’s characters are shown actually putting the sunglasses on. Recurrent placement is what made Ray-Ban sunglasses famous â€Å"Ray-Ban now places its glasses in 160 films and TV shows each year†[7] This decade also brought about the development and patenting process of â€Å"DiamondHard Scratch-Protection†. This was a covering put on the lenses of the sunglasses that would make them ten times more resistant that the usual anti-rupture lenses. This lead to a boom of the Orbs style, which was dark framed classes sometimes having strange designs that consisted of a very thin mounting. This and the Predator style both represent a great part of the success of the brand in recent years and their growing popularity within the male population. This was done by making more market specific commercials and displaying the men and women wearing these as fashionable and attractive. Once we reach the 21st century, the fashion industry seemed to be on a designer block. The new fashion was simply old styles with new qualities. [8] For Ray-Ban, this was great news. Once again Ray-Ban was able to put on store shelves their classic Aviator and Wayfarer styles simply renewed and with better quality. Their advertisements for these classic retros were the same as when they were first introduced. The public seemed to love the look of old commercials and ads. Ray-Ban took a few steps backwards and a huge leap forward. In the year 2003 though, apart from traditional collection of sunglasses, there is the introduction of optical glasses using lenses created to fit in with the Ray-Ban designs. There is also the introduction of the Junior collection which is comprised of various models of the known styles simply designed to fit the visage of a child. At this point, Ray-Ban began to recognize how important children were to the market. Fashion was becoming bigger even for children but Ray-Ban did not advertise to the children. Ray-Ban came up with ways to market this Junior collection to adults, parents. Ray-Ban showed matching â€Å"mommy and baby† sunglasses as the new fashion icon. Ever since Luxottica acquired the rights to the brand, previously owned by Bausch and Lomb[9], Ray-Ban has been constantly coming up with new slogans such as â€Å"Change your view†, and the most recent being â€Å"Never Hide†. These new publicity slogans are taking the interests of the coming generations and making it their objective. Still using the classic styles but adding a great variety of color and design, these new slogans are telling the population to be themselves and not be afraid. To complete the introduction of these, in December 2008, the company had a concert called â€Å"Ray-Ban Remasters† which brought together numerous bands, celebrities, and artists. Instead of having many small advertisements Ray-Ban came out with a single big bang. A new strategy which until today seems to have worked, Ray-Ban is more than a brand of sunglasses. Over time Ray-Ban grew into a fashion icon. Countless have said or say that they add a touch of retro and avant-garde style. Many would say they define your personality. When you choose a Ray-Ban you are often choosing an image shaped by history and strong personalities. If we take a look at the history of Ray-Ban’s sunglasses production, it was a company which sunglasses went through many ups and downs throughout most all of the products and styles. Due to the great struggle in the world’s economy, if any other company experienced the same path in which this one did, they would have definitely given up and carried on. Ray-Ban, on the other hand, with their constant push to be up in the market and to be present in fashion, has sincerely proven to be victorious in their market strategy. Ray-Ban’s classic Wayfarers, was the brand which most struggle but ended up being the most sold sunglass brand to date. As discussed before, the Ray Ban Wayfarer was introduced in the early 1950’s. Their production began when Ray Ban decided to stray away from the common metal framed sunglasses and take a risky change. They used colorful plastic frames, an idea which took flight in the fashion world immediately. Wayfarers are sometimes cited as the best-selling design of sunglasses in history, and have been called a classic of modern design and one of the most enduring fashion icons of the 20th century. †[10] The Wayfarers though, did not start off this way. These sunglasses started off with a strong stable position in the industry when they were introduced in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The new product was like a shiny new toy for all of America’s fashion industry. Once the fad quickly passed, Ray Ban’s sales quickly dropped. Despite Ray Ban’s efforts to get artists, such as the Blues Brothers, to be human advertisements, by the 1980’s these sunglasses were no longer a success. Ray Ban had to change their promotion strategy and fast if there was going to be any chance of the Wayfarer surviving. In 1982 Ray Ban came to terms with their issue and took a large financial leap to correct this problem. A $50,000 yearly contract was signed with Unique Product Placement to have Ray Ban’s sunglasses on screen and in front of consumer eyes. The sunglasses would be appearing in movies and television shows. Throughout this period Ray Bans were displayed in more than 50 shows and big screen movies per year[11]. Some of the most famous on screen phenomenon in which these appeared were â€Å"Risky Business†, â€Å"The Breakfast Club†, â€Å"Miami Vice†. Just four years prior, Ray-Ban had been considering discontinuing their Wayfarer product. Due to their new product placement contract, the Wayfarer Sunglass peaked at $1. 5 million in sales in 1986 alone. This popularity did not stop with just films and television shows though. Ray-Ban made sure their incredible come back kept them on top. â€Å"Wayfarers were the decade’s sunglasses of choice. †[12] As the 90s rolled around, once again the Wayfarers lost their great popularity. The great success they found in the 80’s just did not seem to stick. Ray-Bay though, being the true innovators that they are, learned how to deal with this issue quickly. In 2001, Ray-Ban had the Wayfarer undergo a dramatic redesign which included smaller frames which were also less pointed. They also changed from acetate, a cellulite compound used for binding, and changed it to a lighter plastic based chemical. The reasoning behind this redesign was to make the sunglasses more wearable and to have their physique be different and more appealing. Wayfarers stuck it through and stayed in the limelight well into the late 2000s when celebrities decided to change their sunglass style to much larger vintage frames. The company’s designers quickly caught on to the new trend and realized how high the vintage Wayfarers were selling for on varies online bargaining sites. â€Å"Ray-Ban’s marketing strategy was threefold: a return to the sunglasses’ original, rebellious design, an ‘edgy’ advertising campaign and ‘high-profile PR events’, and the use of new media like MySpace to connect with consumers† Brunelli, Richard. â€Å"Ray-Ban Wayfarers: Made in the Shade†[13]. As of October 2007, the Ray-Ban Wayfarer became Luxottica’s third best selling style later increasing sales over 40%. Despite their past fails, Ray-Ban learned and put to practice great promotional strategies which lead them to success. One of the main reasons this company stayed solid and in business is because Ray Ban has always stayed true to having a clear and successful promotion mix. Not to be confused with marketing mix, promotion mix consists of: advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, corporate image, direct marketing, and exhibitions. When it comes to advertising, Ray-Ban can be considered experts. A great portion of the company’s success in being one of the most popular styles in the fashion world can definitely be awarded to Hollywood, TV, movie stars, and musicians, but it was mostly through the advertising strategies that Ray-Ban was able to expand and make themselves known. Ray-Ban’s constant evolving marketing campaigns is what truly set them apart from the rest. Wanting to keep up with the fast pace of the fashion industry Ray-Ban had to constantly come up with new ideas and products to adapt to new technologies. Ray-Ban started off simply having picture ads, now Ray-Ban uses the internet, television, pictures, and even big screen advertising in the center of New York City. An example of an extremely successful advertisement campaign has been the â€Å"Never Hide† campaign, in which celebrities and regular Ray-Ban customers send in pictures of themselves sporting a Ray-Ban style to the company’s site. Many of these pictures are displayed in New York City’s big screens for everyone to see. Not only does this create demand but shows the company’s respect and love of everyone’s interest and creativity. This doing can also be considered a sales promotion, marketing communication with the purpose of increasing consumer demand and stimulating market demand. Another promotion mix element is public relations which consist of stimulation of supply for a product by planting significant news about it or the producer in a well known favorable media source. Ray-Ban can pride themselves on the fact that the way they marketed their products through well known and highly respected sources, increased their products quality belief and promotes the company’s image positively. The image of an organization is an extremely important part of marketing. In order to have consumer’s trust and their willingness to buy a product from a company, the company’s reputation must be a good one. Ray-Ban has no doubt, a very good image. This reputation has come from the stability it has maintained regardless of the constant roller coaster in the economy and market. Ray-Ban’s image also positively changed when the bigger, more respected company Luxottica bought out the brand. So in conclusion, Ray-Ban Sunglass company, has simply had the key to success from start to present, and that is marketing.

Classicism And Romanticism In Sleepy Hallow

Shannon Divine English B block Mrs.. Bernard In the movie The Legend of Sleepy Hollow there are many examples of Classicism and Romanticism. Romanticism meaner imagination over reason, common man important, nature and beauty. Classicism is the opposite of that, it is reason over faith h, fixed laws of humanity and the idea that society and more important than the undivided In the movie many characters and places both have characteristics of both Classicism and Romanticism. In the beginning of the movie Cohabit Crane, one of the main characters, is a PRI example of classicism.Crane is a person who believes in science and facts. When he first entered Sleepy Hollow to investigate the killings, he didn't believe the ghost store SE about the so called â€Å"headless horseman†. He believed there was a reason for everything. He said that the heads of the victims could not have Just disappeared by magic, that the heads have to be somewhere and someone obviously took them. Cranes mothe r also had a big part in showing classicism in the movie. She was not allowed to be free. She believed in witchcraft but Cranes father wouldn't allow it.He didn't believe in it and had a stop to it immediately. The movie also showed classicism by showing how overcrowded the Jails were. This showed how important society was and that society was more important than the individual. Classicism was shown great lay in the beginning of the film. Romanticism was shown greatly in the town of Sleepy Hollow. All of the townspeople believed in the story of the headless horsemen which is an example of romanticism. The headless horsemen shows examples of mystery and strangeness which is what romanticism is.The witch in the cave also was an example of romanticism. It showed invigilation over reason and nature and beauty. The witch, like the headless horses was a spirit from another world. The tree of the dead that the headless horsemen iris up from also shows romanticism. The tree has no reason un like classicism which is filled with reason. Cohabit Crane also changes his views by the ending of the book. H alkalizes that the headless horseman is a spirit and not everything can be proven by science.He came to the conclusion that magic and the supernatural is real. He change De a lot throughout the movie. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow shows that you can have both Classicism and Romanticism together in one movie. It also showed how people can change there believes like Crane did. Classicism was shown more in the beginning of the movie whereas Romanticism was shown at the end of the movie. Romanticism and Classicism m differ greatly but in this movie they contrasted each other.

Choicepoint and Sony, an Ethical Analysis Essay

Ethics refers to what comes off as right or wrong to an individual’s conscience .The internet age has brought about new ethical issues, not only for an individual but for the society as well as it has eased anonymous manipulation and distribution of information, creating new and easier paths for committing crimes like piracy, identity theft, infringement of an individual’s privacy etc. In this paper we will be analyzing the Choice-point case and the ‘Sony data breach ‘case from an ethical point of view. (Laudon &Laudon, 2010, p.128) Background: The ChoicePoint Data breach: On September 27 of 2004, ChoicePoint,a company that aggregates and stores personal information, suspected that some of its small business customers were involved in suspicious activities and informed the police. (Paine, Phillips, 2008)On February of 2005, ChoicePoint only notified those residents of California whose data had been leaked to the illegal customers, since a certain law in California requires it. A protest from the public, however, forced the company to notify the details of the breach to the other involved parties residing in the other states. The swindlers who scammed ChoicePoint had created over 50 accounts with previously stolen identities over the course of a year or even longer. (Pantesco, 2006) Look more:  the issues concerning identity theft essay Changes in business practices (Otto, Anton & Baumer, 2007): ChoicePoint made numerous changes after the 2004-2005 data breach. The company closed the 50 fake accounts and made a policy to refuse any faxed business licenses in the future .The Company formed a new policy, that all nongovernmental organizations need to be re-credentialed in order to do business with it, and increased its procedures in verifying the identity of the company. More stringent and better business policies in ensuring the safety of their customer’s data, for e.g. partial masking of social security numbers were employed. The company continued its investigations of its databases for further indications of foul play and brought in outsiders to assess and rectify their practices. The Sony Data Breach: The Sony data breach was a result of an intrusion from an outsider party, causing an outage in the PlayStation Network and Qriocity’s services between 17th April 2011 and 19th April, 2011.A confirmation from Sony revealed that pieces of personal information had been stolen from each and every 77 million accounts. This breach resulted in Sony shutting off the PlayStation Network for 23 days. (Hirai, 2011) Sony stated that the chairman of the company had submitted explanations wanted by United States House subcommittee regarding the attack and that they were taking some measures to prevent further breaches. When questioned about the delay in making the breach public, Sony explained that they’d sought help from outside officials to conduct an investigation in order to comprehend the nature and magnitude of the incident; and hence forensic analysis and investigation had caused the delay since they wanted to have all the necessary details before making the breach public. On May 14, 2011, Sony released a security patch called PlayStation 3 firmware version 3.61 requiring users to change their password upon signing into their account in the PlayStation Network. (Seybold, 2011) Compensation: In compensation for this outage, Sony announced hosting of special events for their users. Sony wanted to appreciate the loyalty of the customers who stuck to using Play Station network and didn’t look for other alternatives. Hence Sony announced an extension of free 30 days of its various services for its existing users. Also, few of their games in the PlayStation network were made free, though these games are available only in some regions or countries. In addition to that Sony also offered one year’s worth of â€Å"free identity theft protection’ to all of its customers. (Wesley, 2011) Ethical Analysis According to Culnan and Williams (2009, p.679),the two aspects of morality that are principal to the relationship between information aggregators and information providers are vulnerability and avoiding harm. Aspect of Vulnerability Analysis: Since the customer gives away his data in exchange for something in return, he loses control on how that information would be used in the future.(Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 681) The firm that is aggregating the data has the duty to exercise caution in protecting the consumer’s vulnerability, not only for the sake of the customer but also to build its own reputation. However, in the cases of both ChoicePoint and Sony breach, the consumers were vulnerable. Individuals whose data ChoicePoint and Sony stored lacked knowledge about the risks posed by – Choice Point’s credentialing procedures or the way personal information was stored by Sony. Aspect of â€Å"Do No Harm† Analysis: Most ethicists are of the opinion that data aggregators have the minimum duty of doing no harm whenever there is an issue concerning information privacy rights (DeGeorge 2006; Goodpaster 1987; Marcoux 2003; Valesquez 2003 as cited in Culnan& Williams, 2009), even more so when their treatment of the consumer’s sensitive personal information makes the consumers unnecessarily vulnerable. (Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 682) In both the cases of ChoicePoint and Sony Data breach however, the ‘DO NO Harm’ principle was violated and moral responsibility was clearly absent in the behavior of the officials of these firms. (Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 682)ChoicePoint’s questionable intentions in delaying the notification of the breach to the public and the fact that ChoicePoint only bothered to search records that were leaked within 15 months to the date of the search ,until pressurized, were criticized heavily.( Evers, 2005)Further investigations revealed that ChoicePoint had been subjected to a similar scam in 2002.( Paine, Phillips, 2008) The fact that ChoicePoint could be duped so easily within two years proved that ChoicePoint hadn’t done anything to improve its practices since the last breach. Similarly, Sony also had a delay in notifying the users of PlayStation network about the breach. The public disputed Sony’s reason for its delay by speculating that, if Sony judged the situation to be so grave that it felt the need to shut down its PlayStation network, then they should have warned the public without any delay as well. Moreover, Sony failed to give any concrete reports regarding the breach and merely stated that they cannot rule out the possibility of a ‘username or password ‘leak. One more thing to be noted is that the fiends could have possibly gotten information like email addresses and first names of the customers who had consented to receiving information about new deals or products from Sony or its partners.Now, there is a pretty good chance that the fiends might send emails in the format of a Sony webpage template and extract valuable information from those customers. Hence this breach indirectly paved the way for more unintentional breaches in the future. (Eddy, 2011) According to, (Laudon &Laudon, 2010,p.135),the basic Concepts of ethics are as follows: Responsibility: where the individual or the organization should accept the duties, costs and obligations for the decisions that it made. Accountability: where the organization should be aware of what decision is taken by whom. If it is impossible to find out who was responsible for what action then that organization is basically incapable of ethical analysis. Liability: this basically extends the concept of responsibility to legal actions where the affected individuals should be able to get compensation for their damages. Analysis : In my opinion, both ChoicePoint and Sony showed half-hearted ethics on these incidents as a whole. While Choicepoint did inform officials about the breach as soon as it found out, yet it only felt necessary to inform the public because of the California law. The people in the other states were notified because of public outcry. Also limiting the search results for leaked records to only 15 months prior to the date of the search just because it was necessary by the law was another mistake on ChoicePoint’s part. Thus ChoicePoint violated the ethical concepts of responsibility and accountability yet they seemed to have understood their mistake when they were making changes in their policies and practices after the 2004-2005 breach, and were willing to take corrective actions. But it is debatable whether ChoicePoint’s corrective measures were taken to save its own business or whether it genuinely cared for the affected individuals. Similarly, though Sony did do necessary investigations, it failed to concretely identify which parties had been affected or what kind of information have been stolen. Similar to ChoicePoint, there was a delay in notifying the public regarding the breach. Hence, there is a dearth of responsibility and accountability from Sony’s side as well .The compensations given can similarly be argued to be a ploy for keeping itself in the market. While, ChoicePoint and Sony offered free credit monitoring and free identity theft protection respectively for one year, they disregarded the possibility that the thieves might lie low and take advantage of the stolen information after the passage of a year. Hence these companies showed half-heartedness in being ethically liable as well.

Explain Christian views on suicide Essay

In a broad sense suicide can be defined as, â€Å"the act of intentionally ending your life.† However, there are many different types of suicide. Durkheim identified four kinds: egoistic suicide, which is the result of feeling one’s life is meaningless; altruistic suicide, the act of giving one’s life for the greater good; anomic suicide, the result of a major social change that disrupts a person’s sense of order; and fatalistic suicide, the results of excessive regulation, when one’s future is pitilessly blocked by oppressive discipline, such as in a prison or dictatorship. Christians believe that all life is sacred, and therefore the vast majority of denominations are against all forms of suicide. In examining the reasons behind this, a good place to start is the Christian teaching on the sacredness of human life. Christians believe in the sanctity of life, meaning that all human life is created in God’s image and has intrinsic worth. The Decalogue teaches, â€Å"Do not kill.† This includes killing oneself. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes 7:17 states, â€Å"Be not over much wicked, neither be you foolish: why should you die before your time?† Prematurely ending your life prevents the believer from serving God to his full potential. This idea is backed up in the New Testament, where the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:16, â€Å"Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?† Christians reject the idea of total bodily autonomy, meaning that they do not believe we have the right to do whatever we want with our bodies. The Bible suggests that our bodies are not our own, but God’s, and therefore we do not have the right to destroy them. Historical church fathers have held consistently negative views on suicide. Augustine was one of the first to publically speak out against it. He opposed it because we have a duty of selfà ¢care arising from natural inclination and we have a debt of love that we owe to others. In The City of God he wrote, â€Å"certainly he who kills himself is a homicide, and so much guiltier of his own death, as he was more innocent of that offence for which he doomed himself to die.† To take one’s own life into one’s hands and act precipitously by committing suicide is to look away from God (a final and definitive refusal of trust in God and a denial of trust in his providence, by the very nature of the act itself excluding any subsequent repentance/penance). Furthermore, Aquinas was also against suicide. In Summa Theologica he set forth three reasons why suicide is immoral. Firstly, it is contrary to natural law. Secondly, suicide does injury to the common good because the person’s community will suffer. Thirdly, it is a sin against God because life is God’s gift to man. For it belongs to God alone to pronounce sentence of death and life, according to Deuteronomy 32:39, â€Å"I will kill and I will make to live.† However, there is one form of suicide that some Christians would accept, and that is altruistic suicide in the form of martyrdom or self-sacrifice. Jesus taught that, â€Å"Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.† For example, in Judges Samson brings down a temple killing both himself and the Philistines. Augustine said that suicide was rooted in pride and lack of charity, whereas martyrdom is commendable and for the good of others. The different Christian denominations are generally unified when it comes to views on suicide. In the Roman Catholic Church it is regarded as a mortal sin, and the Catechism asserts, â€Å"Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life.† The Presbyterian Church would hold a similar view, as the Westminster Confession reads, â€Å"The sins forbidden in the sixth commandment are, all taking away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in the case of public justice, lawful war, or necessary defence.† Even though they clearly teach that suicide is a sin, it is not an unpardonable sin. Salvation is by grace alone and if one is truly saved, nothing (not even suicide) can separate them from Jesus. The United Methodist Church believes that suicide is not the way life should end, but would be hesitant to label it a sin. Therefore, they denounce the condemnation of people who commit suicide, and do not believe surviving family should be stigmatised. Modern psychology has impacted the Christian view of suicide. In the past Christians were guilty of separating physical and mental illness and although they were in support of treatment for physical ailments, they were wary of psychiatric treatment. Even today some fundamentalist churches would see illnesses such as depression as purely spiritual afflictions. In the wake of high profile suicides such as Rick Warren’s son Matthew, most leaders are encouraging the Church to acknowledge that matters of depression and suicide are medical in nature and should be addressed no differently than other physical illnesses. They imply that to do otherwise promotes stigma, shame and restricts the believer’s access to appropriate care. Another reason why Christians are against suicide is the profound negative effect it can have on other people. Suicide does not just harm the person who dies, it is a form of bereavement even more devastating than usual because the family will forever agonise over what led the person to take their life, and if they could have prevented it. This is especially so if the family discover the body or witness the suicide. Suicide can damage close communities such as schools and churches. Wyatt said that, â€Å"suicide can have devastating effects on others. In fact, it can be one of the most selfish and destructive acts anyone can perform.†

An Incident That Made Me Believe in Fate!!!

An Incident That Made Me Believe In FATE!!! I am choosing that free will exists in our world. I think that I make my own choices every day, but I know that God definitely helps me along the way. Every day I wake up, and I make a decision, should I go back to sleep, lie here looking at the walls, or should I get out of bed and go to class? My story takes place before I was a teenager; I would have to flashback twenty years. What is faith? Is it belief in one’s God? How does one find faith? Can someone that claims to have faith ever doubt? When I was twelve years old, I thought that I was religious. I went to a function with my youth group. In attendance were a great number of kids, I felt lost in the shuffle with so many things going on. Just as I contemplated to sneak away, a boy came over to talk to me, â€Å"How thoughtful,† I said to myself. We sat for a very long time and read the Bible together. It made me feel so special, like I was starting to belong to the group. I felt it was so wonderful that someone took the time to notice me. This experience had a very special meaning to me. One of the most important aspects of teenage life is feeling secure, accepted, and loved. At that moment I felt all those things at one time. My preacher came over to talk with me and wondered why I was sitting all alone. I looked up and realized I was alone. I told her about the boy who had noticed me. We read the bible together, and we talked for hours. She helped me look for him and we couldn’t find him anywhere. I was devastated and had no idea where he could have gone. I had been looking all weekend for the boy who noticed me, only I still couldn’t find him anywhere. That’s when I realized that this was awesome. I know what it is: It is fate or faith? Here I am at a Christian event, and to think I was visited by the Lord. I told the preacher that, and she told me that I need to tell everyone the account of what happened. So there I was, standing in front of this group of kids. I was so anxious, but also calm. The story just flowed out of me. I told everyone what exactly happened to me this weekend. Whether individuals believe in God or not, a person must have a reason for his or her belief. I think fate has dealt me with a wonderful reason to believe in God!!!