Palestine vs Orientalism Essay

Joe Sacco’s Palestine is a journalist’s journey throughout the Palestinian lifestyle, Israel and other facets of the state. Not only does Sacco voluntarily put himself into a dangerous occupied territory but he also assembles himself as a character in his engaging novel. Sacco is collecting the stories of the Palestinians and the destruction that Israelis have brought to their lives and families. Edward Said’s Orientalism provides a parallel to Sacco’s novel, as he conveys a plethora of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. Said examines the different aspects of orientalism and gives light to the fact that because orientalism has lasted in our world this long, it has no . Although Said’s Orientalism is similar to Sacco’s Palestine, Said’s description of the Western world and its view of the East require one to rely on Sacco’s examples of true life stories to determine one’s own definition of orientalism. Sacco’s Palestine gives readers an inside look into the diminishing Palestinian life during the first intifada in which Sacco was present. The first intifada was a very powerful and liberating time in Palestine, as the citizens were revolting against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories Israel had control over. After witnessing the horrific tragedy that many Palestinians experience each day from Israel, Sacco interviews a family that has lost their stable income and family heritage. An older man explains â€Å"The olive tree is our main source of living†¦we use the oil for our food and we buy clothes with the oil we sell†¦a good roman tree can produce 20-30 liters in a year†¦ here we have nothing else but the trees†¦ The Israelis know that an olive tree is the same as our sons†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Sacco 61-62). Not only did the Israeli soldiers cut down all of the families olive trees leaving them with nothing, the soldiers also forced the older man Sacco interviewed to cut some of his own olive trees down by himself. This incident is extremely powerful and moving, knowing that for a lifetime this man had a stable income and knew that his family would always be taken care of with these trees and now he is being over powered by the soldiers to take that all away. This provides a clear example of the helplessness that Palestinians experience under Israeli occupation of their home land. Both readings prove to be valid in their explanations of orientalism and anti-orientalism although, Edward Said’s idea of orientalism is indefinite which is obtained in Sacco’s Palestine and the day-to-day lives of the Palestinians that Sacco presents. The western influence has burrowed into the lives of the orient and created turmoil between Israelis and Palestinians. The Western support of Israel has only heightened the resentment toward Palestinians. As an Israeli business woman states her Orientalist view toward Palestine â€Å"Maybe, if I were a Palestinian I’d be a terrorist, too, to get back my land† (Sacco 254). It is evident that these Western ideas of the said â€Å"Terrorists† have spread so rapidly into Israel, when in reality Israel and the aggressive techniques their soldiers are taught to use against the Palestinians are in fact terrorist attacks in themselves. Despite the similarities; Said’s Orientalism stands out beyond the true context of Sacco’s Palestine. â€Å"†¦ in short, Orientalism is a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient† (Said 3). Because of the agreement between the Western states and Israel, the Israeli army and governmental views are very similar to the ones the Western world has, thus, creating authority over the Israeli Orient. On the other hand Sacco’s Palestine shows readers the evil and more or less terrorist like views of Israel. Taha, a Palestinian expresses his anger towards Israel when his friend, Shreef, admits that he wants a visa in able to work in Israel. Shreef states that he â€Å"has no problem with the Israelis†¦they are like Europeans† (Sacco 2). Taha reacts abruptly, slamming his over-sized clenched fist down onto the game table that had before held chess pieces. With saliva connecting between his teeth, with wide mouth, Taha lets out a startling. Palestine is an underdeveloped and vulnerable state; Israel is able to build a stronger built army with powerful tactics in order to take advantage of the weak and pacific (peaceful) manner of the Palestinians. Throughout Sacco’s journey he soon realizes that what he has encountered is now more of a pilgrimage. He even goes as far as to name a sub-chapter Pilgrimage, showing the reader that they’ve been on this pilgrimage with him. The families that let this American journalist, Joe Sacco, into their lives are very brave in showing him their true pain and struggle. Many of the interviewees struggle with the question is Sacco going to do anything to help them after they let him into their lives. The facts and stories that are full forcibly thrown at Sacco and the readers make it hard to not spread the word about the occupy happening in Palestine and the torture that the innocent Palestinians must go through every day. Even if Sacco’s novel doesn’t make a significant change in Palestine how they are treated it may although, make a significant change in a person of any race, and allow that person to examine their own life and be thankful for what they have. Ultimately, Said’s careful and precise wording provides a better standpoint for the argument of â€Å"the other† within Orientalism. With â€Å"the other† conclusively being someone of another race, nationality, religion and/or gender. Orientalism will continue to exist be taught and learned, until the western and the east come to an underline consensus about each other. A reason for the westerns view about the east and vice versa is a lack of knowledge about one other. Sacco made a lasting impression with his work in Palestine in order to more accurately educate those who know nothing more than bias, orientalism views.

Mercy Killing or Murder? Essay

It has been exactly one month ago your mother told you she has cancer and it is inoperable. The doctor have her three months to live and told her that the cancer would be very painful and would spread to her brain causing her to be very confused and disoriented. Now you stand before your mother, a mere shadow of the person she once was. She looks at you with tears in her eyes and asks you to do something that you would never consider doing in a million years. Your mother that you love more than life itself has just asked you to help her commit suicide. She tells you she cannot stand the pain anymore and she cannot bear to see the family stand around her crying, hoping and praying that she will get better knowing she will not†¦ What would you say to her? Would you or could you help her? Would you ask the doctor to do it for you? These are just a few questions one would be faced with if put into that situation. On one hand, you want to do whatever your mother tells you to do. However, on the other hand actually you would be committing murder in the eyes of the law. Euthanasia in my opinion should be a freedom of choice because it provides a way for individuals to relieve extreme pain, it allows individuals to die with dignity, and it frees up medical funds to help other individuals. Although, some may conclude that euthanasia would not only be for people who are terminally ill, it would become non-voluntary, and it would become a means of health care cost containment. Euthanasia provides a way for individuals to relieve extreme pain. Many people fear the lingering effects of chronic illness, when pain and the inability to control one’s body reduce the quality of life (Kavanaugh). What person wants to live if their life is nothing but pain from the time they wake up until they fall asleep. Most people who have these life ending illnesses also have to heal with having to have someone take care of them twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This is where most individuals lose what dignity they have. Poor mental health can be treated- medications, psychotherapy, etc. – whereas terminally ill individuals plagued with excruciating pain death is inevitable (Humphry). What kind of life is it to have someone do everything for you? Basically, these individuals are like life size dolls that have to be bathed, dressed, and feed by someone in order to live. There cannot be many individuals who want to live their remaining days on this earth in that situation. Euthanasia allows individuals to die with dignity. When a person has no quality of life, then they should be able to choose to die because it is unfair to force them to continue living (Smith). It is understandable that someone would rather die than have to wear diapers and have someone there that has to take it off and clean up after them. That is just one of the very many things that cause a person to lose their dignity. Human life is sacred it should not be degraded by reducing the quality of life for the sake of extending the quality of life (Green). Family members also go through tremendous grief watching their loved one day after day suffer. Most individuals will tell you that after their loved one has passed away they are glad they are not suffering anymore. Euthanasia provides relief not only for the individual who is suffering, also for the family members who have to endure seeing their loved one suffer and watch lay in utter embarrassment due to the fact that they cannot control their bodily functions anymore. Euthanasia frees up medical funds to help other individuals. Money saved could be used towards saving people who can be or towards research into why their condition cannot be cured (Flemming). Doctors could be on the brink of discovering a cure to a certain illness but they cannot get the funding needed to continue their research because the money went to keep a few individuals alive who were diagnosed with only a month to live. Is that fair to the parents of a five year old who is waiting for that research to be done so their son or daughter could be able to live a full life, grow old, and have children of their own? It would also help the financial burden that would occur on the remaining family members. An individual staying in the hospital one month could accumulate charges in the tens of thousands of dollars. Millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money is spent keeping alive and caring for many people who are just waiting in hospitals to die (Humphry). Can you imagine the research doctors could do with that kind of money? Maybe if a few of those who were diagnosed with only a month to live and wanted to end their life had the freedom to do so, doctors could use the money saved and put it towards finding a cure for whatever that individual was dying from. Who knows, maybe the next person that came along with that illness would be cured due to the fact that a few certain individuals choose to end their lives by euthanasia. Euthanasia would not only be for people who are â€Å"terminally ill. † The legalization of euthanasia would be devastating because it would have mentally ill and depressed individuals that do have some hope of recovery wanting to end their lives (Weir 58). Individuals who are depressed might at that very moment think they want to end their life. Nevertheless, what about a few days later when things do not seem so awful. That individual may not choose euthanasia. Depression, in my opinion should not be a factor in someone wanting to end his or her life. The reason being is that when someone is depressed they may feel like they do not want to live another day, but the next day they might feel very different. That is the problem with someone being diagnosed with depression. One day they may want to die, the next day they may feel like they are on top of the world and want nothing more than to live. An article in the journal, Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, described euthanasia guidelines for those with a hopeless condition, â€Å"hopeless condition† was defined to include terminal illness, severe physical or psychological pain, physical or mental debilitation or deterioration, or a quality of life no longer acceptable to the individual (Braddock). How can any guidelines be set due to the fact that everyone’s idea of an acceptable quality of life is different? What you may think is a good quality of life; another individual may think that if they had to live like that they would go insane. There needs to be more research done on these guidelines before they are set in stone. Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment. Legalized euthanasia raises the potential for a profoundly dangerous situation in which doctors could find themselves far better off financially if a seriously ill or disabled person â€Å"chooses† to die rather than receive long-term health care (Smith). This concept would put individuals and their families in an awkward position. Knowing you’re going to die in only a matter of months, do you decide to go ahead and end your life knowing the money saved will help someone else, or do you tough it out waiting and hoping that some kind of miracle cure comes in the nick of time giving you another chance at life? Their doctors might course individuals with HMO’s into euthanasia because HMO’s are all about making money (Dyck). No individual should be made to feel guilty about wanting to live, especially by his or her insurance carrier or doctor. No one should be pressured into making that decision especially when they are ill. Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath before they begin to practice. They swear in this oath to protect life, not to try to end it. If doctors start being coursed by insurance carriers this would go against everything they are suppose to believe in. Some doctors in this world who are all about making money and the legalization of euthanasia would give those unscrupulous doctors the perfect opportunity to make more money. Euthanasia will become non-voluntary. Emotional and psychological pressures could become overpowering for depressed or dependent people causing them to opt for euthanasia (Smith). If doctors start suggesting euthanasia to their patients, those patients may feel like the doctor knows what is best for their situation and actually consider euthanasia only because they feel like the doctor is pressuring them. Before the doctor suggested euthanasia, it was not even a considered by the patient. Doctors need to realize what kind of influence that they have over patients before they start suggesting euthanasia, especially when it comes to the elderly. Most elderly people feel as if their doctor that they have been with for years is some kind of â€Å"God† and will listen to and do just about whatever the doctor tells them. If the choice of euthanasia is considered as good as a decision to receive care, many people will feel guilty for not choosing death (Flemming). This is where euthanasia becomes a problem. Euthanasia goes against most people’s religious belief. However, if the doctor is telling them that it is ok, how are these elderly individuals going to be able to make a sound decision? Euthanasia is a very complex topic, one with many doubts and unanswered questions. The question society needs to answer is not: is euthanasia morally permissible (it has tacitly conceded that it is), but which type of euthanasia is permissible, and under what conditions? The power to terminate life, at present, solely rests in the hands of the medical profession and is not exempt from misuse or abuse. Euthanasia should be a freedom of choice in my opinion, it not only provides individuals relief from extreme pain, it allows them to die with dignity, and it frees up medical funds to help others that are in need. However, some individuals may feel that euthanasia would not only be for people who are â€Å"terminally ill,† it would become non-voluntary, and it it would become a means of health care cost containment. I do not claim to hold the answers to the difficult questions euthanasia raises, nor do I claim to be a pro euthanasia lobbyist. However, I do believe that if an individual is terminally ill and feel that their quality of life is not acceptable, he or she should have the right to choose to either let nature take its course, or choose euthanasia and die with dignity. Work Cited Braddock, Clarence. Physician-Assisted Suicide, Ethics in Medicine. 11 Apr 2008 Univ. of Washington School of Medicine 19 Apr 2008 http://depts. washington. edu/bioethx/topics/pas. html Dyck, Arthur. Life’s Worth: The Case Against Assisted Suicide Economy and Society. AD 2000 16. 2 05 March 2003 http://www. ad2000. com. au/articles/2003/march2003p17_1281. html Flemming, Rebecca. â€Å"Suicide, Euthanasia and Medicine: Reflections ancient and Modern† Economy and Society. 34. 2 (2005) 295-321 Ebscohost. Hazard Community and Technical Coll. Lib, Hazard, Ky. 19 Apr. 2008

Case study - analysis company's economic issue and expansion of Essay

Case study - analysis company's economic issue and expansion of solution - Essay Example They are the proprietors who take the advantage of their position in ranking to exploit the employees and strain the gains of a firm for their personal gains. One key aspect of these vulture capitalists is that they invest in a firm, shows quick returns but the firm is bound to collapse and as such, the capitalist seizes part or the whole of the assets of the firm. Such is the case as described by John Nichols about the Hostess Brands Inc. These investors then cover up by laying blames on the employees and the workers unions. Hostess Brands Inc, the collapsing maker of Twinkies, Wonder Bread, vast range of snack cakes and other breads is one such a company to have severely been hit by the wave of the unscrupulous vulture capitalists. She has closed her 33 plants around the United States and has now embarked into liquidating the assets in a bid to offset the huge amount of debts outstanding. The company’s employees went on a strike joining the rest of the union’s members over the alleged exploitation by the proprietors and the top management distributions. Neoclassical economists have studied the optimal production of a firm by focusing on distribution of income among other aspects of major importance. This is well illustrated by the analysis of supply and demand and maximization of utility by individuals who are constrained on income matters and the study of firms that are constrained in terms of costs. According to the proponents of the neoclassical thoughts, people are always rational in thinking, and have rational preferences when it comes to value based outcomes. It is worth noting that firms maximize profits while persons maximize utility. As regards relevance in information, people act independently. However, according to analysts, individual persons lack competence in negotiations and bargains. This necessitates unions of persons with like interests or grievances. This can explain the formation of the BCTGM, a workers union that serves the hostess workers, however, the workers of the firm did not ask for better pensions as individuals or also through their union and this would better explain that the union was in no way responsible for the crisis. In fact, as a matter of fact, the company employees have a record of good working relations with the proprietors and have had working benefit and wage concessions. Adjustments to new demands in the industry and technological advancements have dominated the firm in the past. Farber defines labor unions associations of workers who bargain collectively and has the employers regarding the terms laid down for employment. The BCTGM was formed to serve the following purposes as is the role of all other labor unions: as a maximizing agent, as a bargaining body for the wages, as an arbitrator in times of conflicts and strikes and basic amongst all the roles, as a determiner of membership (Farber, 2001, 1). Nevertheless, Hostess collapsed as a result of the vulture capitalist’s nature of the management team. The team laid off 20% of the workforce and while the workers bore all the burden of the collapsing corporation, the management engaged more in looting the company’s assets and funds. According to the classical economics, human beings are assumed to be rational and that they make decisions on the best way for personal gains. This explains the nature of the vulture ca

Instrumentation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Instrumentation - Assignment Example For purposes of accuracy, we carried out reliability and validity tests on our results. Validity is where an instrument performs and provides measurement as per the expectation while reliability is where a tool provides for consistency when used in different capacities (Christensen, Johnson & Turner, 2011). For internal validity, we made sure that the sample size was representative, and a test-retest study done by recording the data on data sales and on how leadership styles affected leadership potentials. Generalizations methods used were statistical methods such as correlation to see if cause and relationship existed. On the other hand, reliability was also ensured. The questionnaire was made into two parts where one was done online, and the other presented on a personal basis. These enable us to determine the consistency of the data that ensured that our research was adequate. For the research to determine the causal relationship validity was quite necessary. Since our data was to be used to make generalizations, the research findings must be compared to some base so that accurate conclusions can be found (Vogt, 2006). For instance, the consultant’s sales data needs to be compared to the market effectiveness while the leadership styles are compared to leadership potentials of any business hence prompted the use of

Reading Blog Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading Blog - Assignment Example David Orique highlights the achievements made by Bartolomà © de las Casas one of them being his successful penetration into tierra de Guerra, an area that had remained unconquered due to the hostility of the locals. The author also indicates that this area stood as a model of Casas’ evangelization ideas in practice. However, there is need for clarification on whether the region remained as Casas had developed or it finally fell into the influence of other conquerors with different ideas on the relationship between the Amerindians and Spaniards. This is because most of Casas’ ideas were novel, but others including merchants who only saw the economic importance of the region without concern for the native population rights always challenged their implementation. In Staceyann Chin reads Bartolomà © de Las Casas and Destruction of the Indies the brutality of Spanish conquerors is highlighted through Casas’ story about treatment of the native population who were massacred in large numbers. The killing and degrading of native people is compared to the treatment of beasts. Even as Casas is interested in documenting the atrocities committed by Spanish conquerors, he seems to be overcome by his subjective stance about the events leading to his exaggerations of the situation. For instance, Casas estimates the native people to be about three million with the attack only leaving about two hundred persons behind. Even though the massacre of majority of population is possible especially based on the described brutality of the Spanish conquerors, there is need for further information to identify the method of estimation of the population and the number of death (Staceyann Chin reads Bartolomà © de Las Casas, Casas 1-17). In Gilgamesh the author presents the exploits of Gilgamesh, a king in the city-state of Uruk and his friend Enkidu who highlight the power of friendship as the two are

Manufacturing process for rear spoiler for formula 1 Coursework

Manufacturing process for rear spoiler for formula 1 - Coursework Example Since the rear wing assembly is made from carbon fibre, it has very low weight coupled with high strength and rigidity. In terms of rigidity, it is comparable to steel, although it is roughly 5 times lighter. The drawback is the high material costs and the multifaceted process of manufacturing. It is of note that 1m2 – one square metre – of pre-impregnated carbon fibre sheet cost ranges from â‚ ¬50 to â‚ ¬200. A typical F1 rear wing is build with around 210m2 of pre-impregnated sheet of carbon fibre costing in the region of â‚ ¬42,000 to make the carbon fibre components alone. The rear wing is manufactured to weigh only 10 kgs (Moore 2012). The manufacturing process of an F1 rear wing is a complex process. The process initially begins with manufacturing the carbon-fibre pieces to be used in making the rear wing. At first, the rear wing is designed on the computer using Computer Aided Design (CAD). The data is then processed and acts as a foundation for Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM). With the use of a 5-axis milling machine, the form is then cut into a tooling block which will essentially serve as a positive mould (Sauber Motorsport 2014). The laminators place the pre-shaped pieces of carbon fibre on to this tooling block. When this process is finished, the whole item is bundled into a polythene bag. It will then be vacuum-sealed and put in an autoclave wherein it gets cured for between 10 hours to 20 hours at a temperature of roughly 50Â °C. After a few last touches, the resultant negative mould is then ready to be utilized in manufacturing the actual carbon fibre component – the rear wing (Anderson 2013). ). In manufacturing the rear wing, 2 sets of aerofoils which essentially make up the F1 rear wings are made separately. The lower aerofoil comprises one element; it is smaller than the upper aerofoil and provides some downforce. The upper aerofoil comprises 1 element and provides the most downforce and it varies from one

Homework Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Homework - Case Study Example The practices proposed by NIST are too complicated and technically demanding for such business entrepreneurs to adopt and implement. 3. In the present age, technology advances at a very fast pace. It takes a lot of time and effort to implement the practices in the existing technology-based system, let alone a system that is constantly upgraded and renewed by the incorporation of new technology. 4. NIST requires configuration of workstations, laptops, and all types of technology with the industry standard active protection with firewall (â€Å"FASP Areas†). This becomes very costly for the business entrepreneurs particularly in the underdeveloped and the developing countries that tend to rely upon the pirated copies of software generally. 5. To consider the application of the NIST proposed security practices on a typical business, it is imperative that things are analyzed in a global context. While businesses in the advanced countries are extremely technology savvy and complying with the rules and regulations regarding computers, those in the third world countries are