Global Warming The 9 Most Vulnerable Cities

The changes associated with global warming are increasing the risk of flooding in coastal cities. The rise in sea levels has been leading to saltwater intrusion and infrastructure damage from storm surges. Intensifying rainfall events elevate the risk of urban flooding. At the same time, urban populations are growing, and the value of economic investments in cities is skyrocketing. Further complicating the situation, many coastal cities are experiencing subsidence, which is a lowering of the ground level. It often occurs because of extensive draining of wetlands and heavy pumping of aquifer water. Using all these factors, the following cities have been ranked in order of average expected economic losses from climate change induced flooding. 9 Most Vulnerable Cities Guangzhou, China. Population: 14 million. Located on the Pearl River Delta, this booming south China city has an extensive transportation network and a downtown area located right on the banks of the estuary.Miami, United States. Population: 5.5 million. With its iconic row of high-rise buildings right on the water’s edge, Miami is certainly expected to feel the sea level rise.  The limestone bedrock on which the city sits is porous, and saltwater intrusion associated with rising seas is damaging foundations. In spite of Senator Rubio’s and Governor Scott’s denial of climate change, the city has recently addressed it in its planning efforts and is exploring ways to adapt to higher sea levels.New York, United States. Population: 8.4 million, 20 million for the entire metropolitan area. New York City concentrates a phenomenal amount of wealth and a very large population right at the mouth of the Hudson River on the Atlantic. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy’s dama ging storm surge overtopped floodwalls and caused $18 million in damage in the city alone. This renewed the city’s commitment to step up preparation for increased sea levels.  New Orleans, United States. Population: 1.2 million. Famously sitting below sea level (parts of it are, anyway), New Orleans is continuously fighting an existential struggle against the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River. Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge damage prompted significant investments in water control structures to protect the city from future storms.Mumbai, India. Population: 12.5 million. Sitting on a peninsula in the Arabian Sea, Mumbai receives phenomenal amounts of water during the monsoon season and has an outdated sewer and flood control systems to deal with it.Nagoya, Japan. Population: 8.9 million. Heavy rainfall events have become much more severe in this coastal city, and river floods are a major threat.Tampa – St. Petersburg, United States. Population: 2.4 milli on. Spread around Tampa Bay, on the Gulf side of Florida, much of the infrastructure is very near sea level and particularly vulnerable to rising seas and storm surges, particularly from hurricanes.Boston, United States. Population: 4.6 million. With a lot of development right on the shores and relatively low sea walls, Boston is at risk of severe damage to its infrastructure and transportation systems. The impact of Hurricane Sandy on New York City was a wake-up call for Boston and improvements to the city’s defenses against storm surges are being made.Shenzhen, China. Population: 10 million. Located approximately 60 miles further down the Pearl River estuary from Guangzhou, Shenzhen has a dense population concentrated along tidal flats and surrounded by hills. This ranking is based on losses, which are highest in rich cities like Miami and New York. A ranking based on the losses relative to the cities Gross Domestic Product would show a predominance of cities from developing countries. Source Hallegatte, Stephane. Future flood losses in major coastal cities. Nature Climate Change volume 3, Colin Green, Robert J. Nicholls, et al., Nature, August 18, 2013.

The History of the Term Academy Explained in “Academies...

The article â€Å"Academies of Art; Past and Present† by Nikolaus (1973) encompasses the history of academies in general. Beginning from the Plato’s time, the term â€Å"academy† has changed its connotations. The writing style is eloquent, yet covers the developments on the topic in every era. The writer used the article as a prologue for the reader to understand the term â€Å"academy† in order to make sense of the forthcoming chapters of the book. As the term had varied meanings, its reference in each century has different meanings and background. This summary consists of the description of the article, comments and discussion on the writing style and author’s arguments in the article. The author has discussed the evolution of the term â€Å"academy† in the†¦show more content†¦Meanwhile, Renaissance and Antiquity became a synonym of university, which was used alternatively as its Latin translation ‘academy’. As Renaissance was over and was taken over by Mannerism in art, academies became more loose and informal and grew in number in Italy. Since 1540 even the associations liked to call themselves academies, which further made the understanding of its connotation complex. In Rome the academy found by Queen Christina changed the notion further as it became center of activities like reading and criticizing poetry, literature, performing drama and comedy plays. The author focused the meanings of academy getting broader. Feastings organized by peasants, lecturing, discussions and research by scholars were added aims to the academies in Italy. However the term was never used for the entire university or a school. In schools academies were re ferred as groups of students tutored privately by some noblemen. This spread in the use of academies affected the art abundantly after the Mannerism took over. Artists started to specialize in various genre of art i.e. still life, folk life, water color etc. in contrast with Renaissance academies the Mannerism academies were organized, with elaborated rules. The history of the term academy is important, as the writer emphasized, in order to

HIH Scandal free essay sample

HIH was originally found in 1968 by Ray Williams, then was acquired by British company CE Health PLC in 1971, and renamed as HIH in 1995. Before its collapse, HIH was the second largest insurance company in Australia, and covered several insurance segments, including workers compensation, public and private liability, property, industrial and commercial insurance. It also expanded globally into the US and UK markets. On March 15, 2001, HIH insurance was placed into provisional liquidation. The liquidator estimated that the total loss of HIH are up to $A5. 3 billion as the results of over-optimistic valuations of assets and extensive under-estimation of liability, which represented as the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Event leading to failure 1993-1994 CE Health Commences operated in UK and entered workers compensation underwriting market in California, USA. 1995- 1997 HIH expanded their business rapidly through several merge and acquisition, including CIC insurance, Utilities Insurance. It became to the Australias largest underwriter of bancassurance business after acquiring Colonial Mutual General Insurance at January 8, 1997. We will write a custom essay sample on HIH Scandal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 1998 HIH blacklisted stockbroking analyst who disputed it assessment of the company at Sep. 2008 In January, HIH won a $A300 million takeover bid for FAI Insurance; later HIH admitted it paid more than it expected for FAI, which is estimated to be only worth $A100 million In March, HIH posts a 39 per cent fall in 1998 net profit at $37. 6 million, blaming damage claims. In July, a routine external audit by Arthur Andersen fails to raise the alarm. The regulators and others accept the companys declaration with $939 million in asset. Two months later, HIH sells part of its domestic personal lines business to German Insurance giant Allianz for about $A 500 million. A day after the deal, HIH shares tumble to an all-time low after lower-than -expected profit results announcement and criticism of the Allianz deal. 2000 December, Ray Williams resigns as managing director with a $A5 million severance agreement. Rodney Adler, former FAI chief, is called for resignation. February, HIHs December financial statement overdue at Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). The Australian Securities Investments Commission ( ASIC) concerns that company might no longer be solvent 2001 March 15, 2001 HIH is forced into provisional liquidation by ASIC with losses of $800 million. ASIC launches its biggest ever investigation, seizing HIH documents. The liquidator revises deficiency between $A 3. 6 billion and $A 5. 3 billion, which becomes called Australias largest corporate collapse 2005 April 14, 2005 Former HIH director Rodney Adler was sentenced for four and half year jail for four criminal charges, which included: Two counts of disseminating information knowing it was false One counts of obtaining money by false or misleading statement One count of being intentionally dishonest and failing to discharge his duties as a director in good faith and in the best interest of the company. HIH insurance is now in run-off, which may take over 10 year to complete. Shareholders may lose their entire capital. The Falling of HIH Insurance According to an American report, the HIH insurance company’s failures are attributed to rapid expansion business strategy, unsupervised delegation of authority, underpricing, reserve problems, false reports, reckless management, fraud, greed and self-dealing. Many of HIHs business difficulties can be primarily due to its aggressive expanded business strategies. Over a decade, HIH created more than 200 subsidiaries, and the business covers almost all insurance business segments, domestically and globally. It either entered the insurance market  that is already overcrowded and competitive by offering lower insurance premium (California, US), or chose a sector that it did not fully understand which lead to business issues and legal risks (London, UK). On the other hand, the due diligence failure exacerbated the situation. HIH acquire some troubled insurance business with too high price during its rapid growth period in 1990s. The most controversial acquisition is that pays $A 3 00 million to buy FAI from Rodney Adler, who later became a member of HIHs board of director. FAI was revealed only to be worth $A 100 millions later. HIH also has many fundamental problems, such as underpricing and reserve problem. It offers insurance with very low price, but failure to set aside enough capital to cover it future liability. According to press reports, HIHs actuarial adviser had warned HIHs risk management concern a year before company collapse. However, instead of adding extra capital, HIH chose to buy reinsurance to lay off its risk. It was proved as wrong decision on June 2000 since all reinsurance cover was run out. Further more, the HIHs failure is not only attributed to the business strategy and fundamental problem, but also includes additional issues in conjunction with risk reporting, corporate governance, fraud, external auditing and regulation. Along with companys collapse, it was found that three of HIHs board members in 2000 are previously employed by Arthur Andersen, who is the external auditor of HIH. It has raised huge issues for the reliance of the information provided by company and their auditors. ERM Lesson Learned from HIH failure It is not surprising to hear of insurance companies failure in entering new market, in overpaying in mergers and acquisitions, in mispricing and in being undercapitalized, but it may be rarely found in such a large scandal of HIH. It is a typical case of lack of ERM practice, which leads HIH primarily exposure on systematic risk and operational risk. If possible, we believer two key component of ERM practice can largely help company to reduce those risk exposure, corporate governance and line management. From the ERM perspective, setting corporate governance can ensure senior  management establishing appropriate organizational process and executing risk management across the company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also provides both specific requirement and severe penalties for noncompliance with newly established governance and disclosure standards. If there is corporate governance setting up for HIH, it will reduce the potential operational risk, such as unsupervised delegation of author ity, reckless management, fraud, greed and self-dealing. Add paragraph on strong compliance and internal audit. ERM suggests setting up line management aligning business strategy with corporate risk policy, measuring capital required to execute business strategies such as when pursuing new business and growth opportunities or in acquisitions. Specifically in HIH case, if line management is set up to evaluate risk acceptance criteria when considering new product and market opportunities, and to develop formal transaction and business review processes during due diligence, it will allow company to better understanding those risk at initial stage, and further reduce underpricing risk and due diligence risk.

White Elephants Essay Example For Students

White Elephants Essay The short story Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is comparable to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber. Both authors use a wide array of techniques in order to develop the complicated relationship between the characters in the story. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Thurber talks about a character, Mitty, that attempts to escape from his controlling, manipulative, and annoying wife by daydreaming. Conversely, in Hills Like White Elephants Hemingway discusses the relationship of an unacquainted, peculiar, and alcoholic couple that faces a tough decision on abortion, but keep finding distraction in order to run away from the decision. In essence, Thurber and Hemingway discuss the same concepts of relationship difficulties; and in order to develop these ideas they use strong visual imagery, powerful diction, pathos, and outstanding symbols that describe the story better than explicit description. Ultimately, it has the effect of creating ambiguity and therefore, engaging the reader into the story. We will write a custom essay on White Elephants specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Both Hemingway and Thurber start their short story without any context, rather with a strong display of visual imagery, responsible for giving a hidden summary. For instance, in Hills Like White Elephants it is possible to deduce that Hemingway attempted to make the setting a summary of the story itself. Particularly, when Hemingway communicates that the characters are located in between two lines of rails in the sun (Hemingway 170). Hemingway illustrates the characters dilemma of having two options through the image of the two lines of rails. Finally, the sun is mentioned, creating an image of a place that is hot and therefore hard to concentrate as will happen during the characters argument. Similarly, in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Thurber makes the effective decision of introducing Mitty as having a thin ice breaking, voice and wearing a full- dress uniform with heavily braided white cap pulled down rakishly (Thurber 545). The emphasis on the description of Mitty during his daydream is vital because it creates an image that both serves to show what he aspires to be, as well as presents foreshadowing for Mittys constant dreams with his authoritative self. On the whole, the usage of visual imagery ends up smoothly and indirectly giving a summary of the story. Later, as the story progresses the authors start to use other techniques in order to show the type of relationship that exists between the characters. In order to portray the troublesome relationships between the characters in the stories the authors use powerful hostile diction during their conversations. In Hills Like White Elephants, it is possible to note the harsh tone among characters when the man says, Just because you say I wouldnt have doesnt prove anything (Hemingway 171). The diction of the phrase, doesnt prove anything is the strongest example of diction because in that moment it becomes clear the mans distrust for the woman, and the bases for their dysfunctional relationship. Nevertheless, in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Thurber uses the same techniques, like when Mitty says that his own wife seemed grossly unfamiliar (Thurber 545). The unsympathetic words grossly unfamiliar serve the effect of showing Mittys disproval of his wifes actions and attitude towards him. Hence, it becomes possible to affirm that both of the authors use subtle words in the characters conversation, allowing readers to get to the sense that the characters have a wearisome relationship. The authors also use those carefully placed words in order to show how persuasive the other characters can be. In both of the short stories the authors use, negative connotation and pathos in the dialogues between characters in order to better transmit the idea that persuasion can often lead to problems among people. In Hills Like White Elephants the man tries to persuade the girl that if she has the abortion, than it will be perfectly natural (Hemingway 171). The connotation of the word natural in the sentence suggests he will not have any connection to her, that he will be able to move on. This is his motivation, and why girl is so terrified about having it. Additionally, in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty when Mittys wife says, You re not a young man any longer(Thurber 545). The connotation of the word younger functions to state that Mitty is no longer a vigorous man; he has lost his manhood. .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 , .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .postImageUrl , .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 , .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164:hover , .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164:visited , .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164:active { border:0!important; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164:active , .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164 .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u77a090cc009f43a506d801494ed04164:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Literary Analysis of Masque of the Red Death EssayThe authors use pathos and diction, as a way of showing how Mittys wife and the man persuade the others of something they believe is morally correct. Lastly, the authors choice of diction has the effect of emphasizing the aggressive tone during the persuasion and appealing to the characters emotions. The use of negative connotation will justify the characters attitudes later on, of trying to avoid their problems. Both authors use cautiously placed symbols in order to show the characters avoiding their problems. In the story Hills Like White Elephants the characters find themselves in the midst of a discussion related to abortion. However, they are not able to come to an agreement because the train arrives, and they are forced to up the two bags and them around the station (Hemingway 173). That moment highlights clearly that the two bags become a symbol for the decision because even though they have been saved from making the decision they are still forced to have their baggage with them. Likewise, in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Mitty sees himself the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful(Thurber 550). This description reveals that Thurber used the firing squad as a symbol for the solution of Mittys problems, which would be death, even if it is only a psychological one. Therefore, it becomes clear through the well-placed symbols, of bags and firing squad that the characters problems need to be faced. Both Thurber and Hemingway effectively use strong visual imagery, powerful diction, pathos, and outstanding symbols to transmit their ideas, about, for example, that if avoided problems will always haunt people and in particular, troublesome relationships. Ultimately, the main reason for the success of both Hemingway and Thurber was the fact that they were showing the stories rather than just telling it. This, technique allow the story to be more intriguing and engaging since it creates ambiguity and therefore leave room for different interpretations of the works. Ambiguity is important because it permits the reader to draw several different conclusions from the same excerpt and at the same time the author to communicate several different themes.

Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Example

Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Example Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Homosexuality and same sex marriage is one of the serious issue in our society. This essay summarize whether homosexuality and same sex marriage is still considered as a taboo or not. Taboo is any human behaviour that is normal for him/her but may not be for other. Hence, we could recognise taboo only at the time when we encounter other opposing our behaviour. Every society differs in its point of view regarding any sort of Taboo-defying behaviour. Hence homosexuality and same sex marriage is hotly debated between individuals that, should it be considered as a taboo or not?People tolerance to the behaviour like homosexuality and same sex marriage depends upon their on their present norm, values and belief system. Degree of tolerance depends upon various factors like cultural background, religion, sex, historical period and location. Media is one of the prominent factors that make people aware about any social issue. Moreover media covers any social report as their prime report. Hence there are various opinions toward media coverage upon this issue. This essay tries to summarize how media act upon this social issue and what kind of role does it play to create awareness in public.International communication has significant role to create bridge between various nations hence it is obvious that the communication between two or different nation will eventually bring sharing of social issues and make changes to it according to the demand of situation. To show the impact of international communication upon the social issue of a nation, this essay uses Australia as a case study. Essay mainly focuses on how the international communication creates a gradual improvement in the attitude of people and whole nation towards homosexuality and same sex marriage.This essay also address how cultural elements impact laws and opinion, hence it identifies what type of cultural influence may change attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. INTRODUCTION Dr. Hutton Webster defined â€Å"Taboo are prohibitions which, when violated, produce automatically in the offender a state of ritual disability – taboo sickness- only relieve, when relief is possible, by a ceremony of purification†(Wallis, 1943). Any human act is not itself considered as a taboo until other society marked it as a taboo.Hence, we could recognise taboo only at the time when we encounter anything which we could think as a normal but it might not be normal for other. Every society differs in its point of view regarding any sort of Taboo-defying behaviour. Their degree of tolerance relies on their present norm, values and belief system. Those beliefs which were considered as a Taboo may be Taboo at past but not at present. Here, the same belief and norms of society is dealt whether homosexuality and same sex marriage is considered as a taboo or not.This is a vague opinion whether to consider homosexuality and same sex marriage as a taboo or not because it depends on how indi vidual tolerate it. Those who believe that homosexuality and same sex marriage as a right to freedom and every individual has a right to choose their partner to live their life may consider it is not a taboo. But other group may think that it could bring a bad impact to society and even to human race. Some argue that, there will be very frightening consequence of homosexuality and same sex marriage if proper rules and regulation is not made on time, it may affect human race and continuity to subsequent generation.In different society still homosexuality and same sex marriage is a concern which still raises several eyebrows. Regardless of yearly homosexual parades and the judiciary’s move to make homo sexual legal, the utterance still induce powerful comeback from the society. Social scientists are enormously fascinated by the emerging issue of homosexuality and same sex marriage (Ben-Ari, 2001; Herek, 2004; Jefferson, 2010; Lee, 2011; David A. Moskowitz, 2010). According to t he 3 studies of Haslam and Levy (2006), all of the reports are related with crucial importance in attitude about homosexuality.According to them, the 3 things are the belief that homosexuality is biologically based, indisputable, and permanent near the beginning life. It is the faith that is cross-culturally as well as traditionally common; and the faith that it holds a judicious, cautious behavior pattern with defining appearance. Similarly they indicate the faint but influential function of essentialist faith in presuming common attitudes to homosexuals but also the possible defensive function of these beliefs. (Haslam amp; Levy, 2006).In another study done by (Hewitt amp; Moore, 2002), those who believe that homosexuality is a genetically or biologically caused shows little or no negative attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. But those who believe that it is not genetically acquired rather it is a habit developed in later of life as they choose it, may develop neg ative attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. During the post World War II there was various civil right movements, along with other movement homosexuality also came into existence and gain a momentum(Hekma, Oosterhuis, amp; Steakley, 1995).In one of the study done by (Herek, 2004; Raja amp; Stokes, 1998), they found that attitude towards homosexuality and same sax marriage depends upon the gender also. They found that heterosexual female were more flexible and sympathetic towards lesbian and gay rather than heterosexual male. Hence the degree of homophobia not only relates to social norm and values but also to gender attitude which confirms at which degree they treat homosexuality and same sex marriage. Similarly, Lannutti and Lachlan also came to the same conclusion that heterosexual man and women differ in their attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Lannutti amp; Lachlan, 2007). This hypothesis was further extended by (D. A. Moskowitz, Rieger, amp; R oloff, 2010), and found that homophobia and gender are inter related i. e. gender may have a reasonable effects with the attitude towards homophobia. They presented a graph in which they correlate the relationship of homophobia and gender. Attitude towards homosexuality greatly varies between the different culture, historical periods and location. Different cultures have different norm and values which will verify whether homosexuality is appropriate or not. Since 1970s, various countries were tolerant towards homosexuality.Many people in Africa and Middle East were still denying to accept homosexuality and considered it as a taboo which was found by the The Pew Research Centers 2007 Global Attitudes Survey. Homosexuality and same sex marriage is getting more acceptable in Western Europe, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and United states. Similarly, though the acceptance could be a less majority many Latin American countries now accept homosexuality. Figure 2: Percentage of responder s that answered accepts towards homosexuality (Source: Pew Research Centers 2007 Global Attitudes Survey)CONTRIBUTION OF MEDIA TO ATTITUDE TOWARD HOMOSEXUAITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE Media has a prominent affect on any social issue. Media covers any social issues as their prime reports. In the same manner homosexuality and same sex marriage issue is covered by various media. How the society attitude is changing on the timely basis is covered by media. Bryati and Zillmann, 2009 present a view that though there are lots of debate going on how mass media effects public learning ability, scholars argue that mass media has prominent effect to particular issue, and attitude formation and change.There are various media awareness program in different nation and they give their view regarding the modern media like Television program and Movies whether these source of media are actually providing useful tips to the viewer or not. In the same sense, media awareness program frequently object that modern TV and Movies are providing positive feedback to sanitize the homosexuality and same sex marriage and try to hide or cover its filthy part. Nevertheless homosexuality and same sex marriage have created a great movement and achieve an enormous momentum in recent years in both media portrayal and participation in media production.The issue of homosexuality are tremendously dominant in all areas of media, covering production to consumption. Moreover, media is considered as useful tools in highlighting social issues like homosexuality and same sex marriage that they are invested in the political spot light. For example fight over gay marriage in California (Sean Sullivan, March 27 2013) regarding Supreme Court’s consideration of same-sex marriage in high-profile cases. Likewise, Media is always trying to show the gradual change in attitude of an individual towards homosexuality and same sex marriage.There are several homosexual people as a high-ranking media personality l ike Ellen Degeneres (host of one of daytime television largely admired program as well as reviewer on American Idol), Elton John (Grammy and Academy Award winning singer-songwriter), Jann Wenner (owner and publisher of Rolling Stone), David Geffen (billionaire co-founder of DreamWorks SKG), Rich Ross (studio chair of Disney). There are various popular shows in Television related to homosexuality like â€Å"Modern Family† and â€Å"The Office†.These shows are trying to give viewers a positive feedback regarding homosexual lifestyles and exhibit a growth of homosexuals in present culture. Not only TV shows but also various movies are pushing homosexuality as a desire of people is innate and we should show positive attitude towards homosexuals. The film â€Å"MILK† by Sean Penn won the Oscar of 2009 for his portrayal of gay right activist Harvey Milk. Similarly in the movie Phiadelphia which was an American drama movie of 1993 related to homosexuality and homophobi a won the various awards.This movie actually show how we treat homosexuals people in our society and try to push people out of this dilemma and make believe that homosexual people should be ranked in the same position as others. Though various research are conducted on sexual socialization, till we have little knowledge that how adolescence gain knowledge of about homosexuality. As well as how ethnicity and sex manipulate their awareness regarding homosexuality. In one of the research conducted by (Calzo amp; Ward, 2009) , they try to see the sights how parental, peer and media communication they frequently encounter about homosexuality.Their results showed that media addressed the topic homosexuality more frequently. IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN HOMOSEXUALITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE – AUSTRALIA International communication plays a vital role in changing attitude towards any social issues. Each nation see how other nation go with any social issue and try to be a part of the nation or they can give their opposite view regarding any social issue. Homosexuality and same sex marriage is a prominent social issue which every nation is facing at this time. There is gradual development in the acceptance of homosexuality.There are changing views and attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Countries like Norway, Argentina, Canada, Portugal, Urugay, Iceland, Netherland, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium, Spain and Denmark legally recognise same sex marriage nationwide. In USA only a minority people believes that being a gay or lesbian is sinful now - a change that a Southern Baptist-allied research group associated to President Barack Obamas changed opinion of gay marriage(Bob Smietana,2013). Culture is shifting from anti gay to acceptance of same sex marriage in USA.Though homosexuality has been illegal in most countries for many centuries, we can see the gradual acceptance of it and various nations began to implement legislative reforms which allow for certain consensual homosexual acts. In case of Australia, the majority jurisdictions have responded to this inclination and have legally recognized homosexual acts between consenting adults in some cases. In 1972 South Australia became the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalize some homosexual acts. (Bull, M. , Pinto, Susan, Wilson ;amp; Paul, 1991). Further reforms were made and still continued in the area of homosexuality.The impacts of international communication are clear upon Australian law reform regarding homosexuality. Since the Australia was first settled by British in 1788, the law governing sexual behavior came from England. Every Australian States were inherited by the British anti-homosexual laws i. e. Act of 1898. In 1960s, Don Dunstan, Attorney-General in South Australia made an attempt to present the draft to decriminalize homosexual behavior but during the last hour he decided not to present the draft due to the lack of public support (Graham Carb ery, 1993).Australian criminal law stopped treating heterosexual and homosexual conduct differently in 2003. The main element in fetching the first 2 restructurings of South Australian’s anti homosexuality laws was the death of gay academic Dr George Duncan on 10th May 1972. It alerted public attention by this event which was extensive aggravation of homosexuals in Adelaide by police. If we start from 1700s, the first recorded death penalty for Sodomy was seen as guilt around 1828-63. Till 1969, it was a crime for men to engage in homosexual act in every state in Australia.In 1972 the first political activist, Gay liberation was initiated at the Sydney University. Homosexuality law reforms were passed in 1976 in Australia. Likewise in 1978 huge rally was conducted by homosexual commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. New South Wales became the first state to pass the bill not to do partiality against homosexuals. Similarly, In 1984 Australian Medical Associa tions agree to remove the homosexuality from its list of illness or any mental disorder.Australian Capital Teritory (ACT) passes the Domestic Relationships Act; it was the initial authority which provides same sex relationships similar lawful status as heterosexual relation (gaytraveller. com. au). Till now Australia bans recognition of same sex marriage at federal level. All of the above mentioned histories regarding homosexuality and gradual development and acceptance of homosexuality at public and authority level are due to the influence of mass communication both at public and federal level.International communication creates a bridge between raising issue at different level and how other Nation responded to these issues. There are a long history on how Australian treated homosexuality and now how they are reforming their attitude and behavior regarding homosexuality. International communication has significantly raised the concern about homosexuality and made the government com pelled to make reforms in the laws which was on public interest. Despite the various countries had already accepted same sex marriage, Australia has not given full support same sex marriage.Still Prime Minister Gillard opposes the same sex marriage. Australian increment support for Gay marriage and international acceptance may bring changes towards the attitude of same sex marriage. It is obvious that changes should happen because the public support on gay marriage is outstanding and sooner or later it may happen. After the US President Barack Obama publicly endorsing same sex marriage in national television, there was a hope that Gillard may change her views regarding same sex marriage but it seems that Prime Minister Julia Gillard will continue to oppose gay marriage.There is not only national pressure from public or any social organization to accept homosexuality and same sex marriage. There are various international organizations which prepare certain criteria up to which level any nation can act upon any social issues. Though it is not compulsory to be under the rules of international organization, but still every nation has to be a part of international organization and follow its certain criteria. There was a claim by UN Human Right Commission that Tasmanian Legislation did partiality to homosexuals and hence it violated International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.Due to this Federal Government passes legislation, that gives public right to sexual privacy, which ultimately supersedes Tasmanian’s anti-gay laws (NSW Council for Civil Liberties). This is how international communication can create a situation to bind with certain condition and change attitude towards the social issues like homosexuality and same sex marriage. CULTURAL IMPACT ON HOMOSEXUALITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE There are various cultural element that may impact laws and public opinion that may influence attitudes towards homosexuality. Religion may play a significant role towards any social issues like homosexuality.Each and every person abides by their own religion and follows the code and conduct of that religion. Religion is an organized collection of belief system which when violated may be quite serious problem to any people social status. Homosexuality is still considered as a taboo in many societies, this may create a threat to homosexuals to show their inclination to homosexual behavior. For example in an Islamic Nation like Iran still homosexuality is considered as serious crime and their law orders the punishment of homosexuals acts by the death penalty(Gorton, 2002).People of western cultures are more likely to accept homosexuality than other cultures. Hence those cultures which have already accepted homosexuality may have affect on other culture to change their opinion towards homosexuality. Different religions have varying views in regard to homosexuality. Jewish, Christian, Sikh and Muslim cultures have generally recognized homosexual a ctivities as wicked. However, Hinduism and Buddhism generally view homosexuality primarily from the viewpoint of its karmic effects, with different conclusions.While having a sight upon Australian religious affect upon homosexuality, it has still captured public negative attitude towards homosexuality though there is now large majority of people accepting homo sexuality and same sex marriage. Recently PM of Australia assured that religious groups they will have the freedom under a new rights bill to discriminate against homosexuals and others they deem sinners, according to the head of the Australian Christian Lobby (Jonathan Swan, Jan 16 2013).The Australian Christian Lobby and Catholic Australian Family Association, still get up against homosexuality and same sex marriage. However The Progressive Jewish community in Australia largely supports LGBT rights. In Australia religion plays a vital role that controls the activity of homosexuality. It is obvious that those who believe reli gion as their sole source of civilization do not want to go against their religion and the views against religious institution and people. Hence still there are majority of people who believe homosexuality as wrong task.Not only religion but social control also influence heavily on public opinion towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Internal social control like socialization and internalization of norms, values and beliefs play a significant role. External social controls like social media and media campaigns, moreover Politics, government rules, large organizations, embarrassment and stigma etc. also have a prominent affect on it. Australian Labor Party has come under a great deal of attack from LGBT for not fully supporting same-sex marriage (Luke Gaham 26 Sep 2012).This makes sense how political interference can create a situation to react to any social issues. As I had already discussed earlier about media, various campaigns and media shows about their affect on social i ssues, homosexuality, it is always trying to give public either its opinion regarding homosexuality or present public opinion of homosexuality and same sex marriage. In both case media campaign plays a vital role to control pubic attitude towards homosexuality. Social media like facebook, blog are increasingly showing increment in the popularity of homosexual and gay marriage.Media Release: Gay Marriage Rights in Australia (GMRA) reaches a historic 100,000 fans, which is one of the facebook page. This page is created to make public aware about LGBTIQ rights and to give people a clue how they can participate to establish a change in public negative attitude towards homosexuality. This page was created on May 2009, and now it is the most significant and powerful LGBTIQ right related facebook pages in Australia (gay marriage rights in Australia, www. facebook. com). There are various blogs about homosexual campaign where various fans provided their views regarding homosexuality.Similar ly different websites are on internet which periodically updated current affairs about homosexuality and how people are changing their views towards homosexuality. More over as discussed earlier there are different TV shows and movies which try to show the homosexuality as a normal practice and should be adopted by public. Educational institutes are also giving their proper attention in Australia to make homosexuality as a choice of public and hence should not be treated differently. CONCLUSIONIn the overall, Homosexuality is one of the major social issue which is hotly debated in various nation. Attitude towards homosexuality greatly varies between the different culture, historical periods and location. Media has a prominent effect on homosexuality and same sex marriage. It covers the issued related to homosexuality and make public aware about the pros and cons of homosexuality. This will eventually help public to understand homosexuality in depth and choose whether to accept it or not. On the whole media is always seemed to provide a better understanding of homosexuality.In Australia this issue is still debated. Though majority of public are accepting homosexuality as a normal behaviour still federal government has not given full right as hetero sexual couple have. Same sex marriage is not legally permitted in Australia. Australia as developed nation full of elite people is still lagging behind to solve this issue which may due to political and religious matter. But seeing the public acceptance of homosexuality we can predict that sooner or later this nation may allow same sex marriage.Last but not the least I have some of my opinion why homosexuality is so hotly debated issue and why this may be considered as a taboo in various parts of world. I think it might be an issue like homosexual cannot produce any children and as well as they are not being part of the way things are done. The way we perform marriage, our family, tribal devotion etc. were significan tly valued in prehistoric culture. So how any couple who cannot bear children can fit in this culture. Moreover, homosexuality is thought to be performed for only sexual pleasure and public believe it to be an immoral act.So in overall homosexuals were taken as the one who have not any contribution to society. Homosexuality won’t be taboo itself if people do not believe it as a sinful behaviour. People must believe that every human being should have a same right as other; no one is allowed to discriminate any one on the basis of sexual behaviour. Its sound so horrible that even people are sentenced death penalty after they are found to be homosexual which is itself a crime and even a great taboo for me. No one has right to take any one life on the basis of their sexual nature.If we believe that religion has a power to penalise any homosexual, I completely disagree that view because if god has created this world and people, it’s a wish of god to make any one homosexual or heterosexual.REFERENCES Ben-Ari, AT. (2001). Homosexuality and heterosexism: views from academics in the helping professions. British Journal of Social Work, 31(1), 119-131. Bob Smietana, January 11 2013, USA TODAY, Survey: Big drop in those who say being gays a sin, accessed on 16 April 2013 usatoday. com/story/news/2013/01/10/poll-minority-says-being-gays-a-sin/1825461/M. (2009). Contributions of parents, peers, and media to attitudes toward homosexuality: investigating sex and ethnic differences. J Homosex, 56(8), 1101-1116. Gay marriage rights in Australia, 3rd June 2011, Media Release: Gay Marriage Rights in Australia (GMRA) reaches a historic 100,000 fans, www. facebook. com, accessed on 17th April 2013 https://www. facebook. com/notes/gay-marriage-rights-in-australia/media-release-gay-marriage-rights-in-australia-gmra-reaches-a-historic-100000-fa/10150212436128560  Gorton, Don. (2002).Gay Rights in the Clash of Civilizations. (Essay). The Gay amp; lesbian review worldwi de, 9(1), 16. Graham Carbery, 1993, Towards homosexual equality in Australian criminal law: A brief history, Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives Inc, accessed on 16 April 2013    alga. org. au/files/towardsequality2ed. pdf

Foreign Exchange Derivatives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

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Legal studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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