Evening With A Pagan :: essays research papers

An Evening with the Pagans~ A brief history of paganism~ Over 25,000 years ago, our ancestors across the continent practiced an ancient form of religion known as paganism. During the Neolithic and Paleolithic time era, our ancestors were in awe of the great manifestations of nature. Due to lack of scientific thought, they were riddled with ignorance and superstition. Everything had a supernatural explanation. They associated each naturalistic phenomena with a type of god, inscribing inanimate objects with life -like characteristics .This practice is referred to as animism. Every element ,be it thunder ,rain or the sun ,was thought to be a god (or goddess) within it. Eventually their gods became an object of worship   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  known as polytheism. Eventually many forms of polytheism evolved to what is known as paganism. Modern Paganism Now defined as :The worship of a god or goddess whose roots are in pre-Christian Western Europe. Modern paganism is alive and well today. It consists of many sub-divisions .These include ~Wicca ,druidism Santeria and many others. Wicca focuses on the worship of a god and goddess .In Wicca ,there is a plethora of pantheon of deities that one can choose from including: Greek, Norse ,roman etc...... Focusing on a Greek Wiccan tradition ,this will be describing the pagan festival of Hectare. The Festival of Hecate The festival of Hecate is celebrated between the 3rd and 4th Saturday of August. (which ever is closest to the new moon) It is in honor of the Greek goddess Hecate. She was first worshipped in ancient Greece -called the triple goddess of magic. She is often represented in triple form ; maiden (youth) ,mother (fertility) and crone (the wise woman). In ancient Rome ,she was known as trevia ,the cross road with three paths. Hecate is symbolized by the phases of the moon. Each attribute correlates with a particular phase of the moon. The waxing moon (maiden),the full moon (mother) and the new moon( crone). The Ceremony~ Upon arrival at the festival in Georgetown Delaware, everyone gathers for the lecture. This is to educate the newcomers as to what the ceremony entails. The ceremony is always rehearsed before it is performed. After the lecture ,there is a large potluck feast to keep everyone energized for the evenings festivities. The processional~ When the sun sets, the processional begins. With everyone in their appropriate magical attire,(consisting of a robe and jewelry) everyone lines up proceeds with the first phase. This is called consecration- each person is consecrated . This is done by covering the body in incense smoke and sprinkling of water. This is a purification process that cleanses the body of negative

Public Police and Private Security Essay

Abstract         Public police and private security agencies will hardly find a compromise. Public police votes for limitation of private security rights. Private security becomes more popular with the increasing criminalization of the society. In reality, the objectives of public police and private security significantly differ.       The increasing popularity of private security agencies has raised substantial concern among the public police officers. The objectives of public police and private security differ, but public police agencies fear that private security will bury traditional policing standards, and will replace the major policies objectives and responsibilities.          In the general structure of public policing responsibilities, private security guards traditionally fulfill â€Å"supporting roles†. By hiring contractors, some federal agencies save up to 50 percent of their traditional expenditures. â€Å"One firm provides security for six major public transit systems around the country, transports prisoners, maintains booking and security for a juvenile assessment center, and supplies security for court houses in 40 states† (Youngs, 2004). Although private security agencies possess full range of policing equipment, personnel, and opportunities, such agencies are permanently restricted from fully participating in public policing. Potentially, private security and public policing could have similar objectives, but public policing remains purely a state structure. Public police agencies use private security firms to concentrate on their major tasks. In many aspects, these strategies remind outsourcing principles, which are often employed business. In Ontario, private security was given some freedom â€Å"to observe, report, and deter [†¦] elsewhere private security companies are offering quasi-police services in low-income housing projects† (Harman, 2000). Although private security and public policing could effectively combine their efforts, and work for the decrease of criminalization in the country, public policing insists on the fact that public police and private security cannot follow the same objectives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Public policing continues fulfilling its â€Å"traditional crime-fighting duties. Private security carry out their mission of protecting their companies or clients’ people, property, and information, while at the same time serving the homeland security objectives† (COPS, 2004). Private security and public policing are still too far from joining their efforts and objectives for the benefit of criminal situation in society. References COPS. (2004). Private security / Public policing. Harman, A. (2000). Private security use debated. Law & Order, 48 (6), pp. 125-126. Youngs, A. (2004). The future of public / private partnerships. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 73 (1), pp. 7-12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Are You a Self Motivator? Essay

Absolutely. I can always find something productive that needs doing. * I’m very motivated to do a good job at what I take on, and I like to stay busy. * I am a self motivator, and I take great pride in my job as a nurse. â€Å"Do you plan to make nursing your career? † * I do! I absolutely love being a nurse, and the satisfaction that comes with helping patients is incredibly rewarding to me. * I love being a nurse, and there are so many opportunities for learning and growth that I believe that I can spend my entire career satisfied and challenged in nursing. As a career, nursing offers so many opportunities that I find exciting. I plan to continue my education, and progress in the field. â€Å"Do you prefer to work alone, or as part of a team? † * That depends on the circumstances. I enjoy being part of a treatment and support team, but I also like the autonomy of working alone. * I believe that nursing in a hospital is a team effort, and I really enjoy making m y contribution to the team. * You need a certain amount of independence to work without the daily support of a team. As an in home nurse, I enjoy the one-on-one with my patients. â€Å"How do you handle stress on the job? † * By focusing on the most important thing, the care of the patient. I feel I owe it to my patients to stay calm and focused on them. * In the ER setting, there are often stressful situations that arise. I just make sure that the stresses of the job don’t interfere with the care of the patient. * I am generally an easy going person, and I don’t allow on the job stress to interfere with my work. * How do you envision your career  progressing? I would like to gain experience and continue my education so that I can grow in my career as a nurse, potentially moving into a supervisory capacity down the line. * I would like to gain experience at each level of nursing, and pursue my education as the opportunity arises. * There are many different paths that a nursing career can follow. Since I am just beginning my career, there are a number of opportunities that I f ind intriguing. During my training, I really enjoyed that fast pace of the ER, as well as assisting during surgery.

Compare and Contrast the Social Responsibility Theory

COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE AUTHORITARIAN THEORY WITH THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY OF THE PRESS. The press also known as the fourth estate plays a very critical role in educating, informing, entertaining and bridging the gap between the mass community and the executive, judicial and legislative. Hence what is more essential is its stance on policy and choice of theory, which is a system of law like propositions and set of ideas that guide action or predict a consequence.The purpose of this research is to compare, that is to put side by side and to contrast, and that is state the difference between the Authoritarian theory with the social responsibility theory of the press. There is not much of a hint of comparison between the Authoritarian theory and the social responsibility theory, in that the heart beat of the authoritarian theory is designed to protect the status quo and existing social order mainly biased towards the ruling elite and those that are in authority.The authoritaria n press is under state control and heaps more thrust with the public media while the social responsibility of the press thrives on democracy and principles of public service media which seek to cater for minorities, the so called mass community and ordinary people. Unlike the authoritarian theory of the press, the social responsibility avenue directly gets its funding from the public through licensing and this is true mainly for the electronic media.The authoritarian on one hand regards the role of the press to be that of nation building and propaganda and as a mouth piece for the ones in authority, hence the main source of funding is the ruling elite and the government. Both the authoritarian and social responsibility theory seek to communicate to an audience, communication is absolutely essential to effective leadership and press. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can’t get a message acr oss clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn’t even matter.This is the true hummer and nail of the authoritarian set by political leaders due to the reality that repetition is the rule of long and deep lasting impressions. This is a propagandist mode of communication to drive home a particular message. The state sets up censorship boards and agents to regulate and monitor the operations of the media in the authoritarian theory, issues of censorship and punishment for diversion from rules that are set by political leaders and authorities are central in this theory.It thrives on censorship and repression of freedom of expression as exemplified by the enactment of the draconian laws such as Public Order and Security Act chapter 11:7 (POSA), the Access To Information and Protection of Privacy Act Chapter 10:27 (AIPPA), The Broadcasting Services Act Chapter 12:06 and the Criminal Law (Codification and reform) Act in the nation of Zimbabwe. Basically th ere is no diversity on coverage, which is catering for all tastes and interests. The social responsibility theory of the press however is not rigid and allows for freedom of expression and thus catering for all tastes and interests.The socially responsible press takes something complicated and makes it simple to understand to layman, compared to the authoritarian which propagandises all information and feeds the masses with what the ruling elite desires to propagate that is government policy. I would like to believe that the authoritarian believes audiences are passive partakers of information whereas the social responsibility adheres to the reality that people are active consumers and do have a choice of what media to consume.This is seen with the geographical universality of provision and reception, thus encouraging competition in programs and freedom to broadcasters, more over there is room for feedback and diversity; while the authoritarian to a lesser degree diversifies to push government policy and agenda. The major criticism against the authoritarian theory is that it does not create a viable atmosphere and environment for free expression and diversity which are essential elements for any democratic and free society; hence the principles for the social responsibility theory may differ from country to country.What is important to understand is that the public service concept is opposed to the authoritarian, propagandist mode. Radio dialogue and other community radio initiatives are using legitimate means of giving people a real taste of media diversity and thus getting them involved; They bring members of the community together, record their discussions and distribute this material on CD’s. When people hear themselves they get excited about media issues. Authoritarian control tended to be exercised in arbitrary, erratic ways.Sometimes, considerable freedom might exist to publicize minority viewpoints and culture as long as authorities don't percei ve a direct threat to their power. Unlike social responsibility theory, authoritarian theory doesn't prioritize cultivation of a homogeneous, national culture. It only requires acquiescence (compliance) to governing elite. This perspective also held that ruthless elites could use media as a means of gaining personal political power. These demagogues could manipulate media to transmit propaganda to fuel hatred and fear among a majority, unite them against minorities, e. g. s Hitler used the media to arouse hatred against the Jews. The Social Responsibility Theory of the Press, emphasize the need for an independent press that scrutinizes other social institutions and provides objective, accurate news reports. The most innovative feature of Social Responsibility theory was its call for media to be responsible for fostering productive and creative â€Å"Great Communities†. It said that media should do this by prioritizing cultural pluralism- by becoming the voice of all the peopl e- not just elite groups or groups that had dominated national, regional or local culture in the past.Dennis McQuail in 1987 summarized the basic principles of social responsibility theory as the following: 1. Media should accept and fulfil certain obligations to society. 2. These obligations are mainly to be met by setting high or professional standards of in formativeness, truth, accuracy, objectivity and balance. 3. in accepting and applying these obligations, media should be self-regulating within the framework of law and established institutions. 4. the media should avoid whatever might lead to crime, violence or civil disorder or give offense to minority groups. . the media as a whole should be pluralist and reflect the diversity of their society, giving access to various points of view and to rights of reply. 6. Society and the public have a right to expect high standards of performance and intervention can be justified to secure the public good. 7. Journalists and media prof essionals should be accountable to society as well as to employers and the market. Social Responsibility theory has proved quite durable. Most journalists take seriously the central values of social Responsibility theory such as luralism and cultural diversity; However the state of affairs is not so with the authoritarian theory of the press. Unlike the Authoritarian theory, the social responsibility theory of the press takes hid and pays cognisance to people’s right to true information- the right of people to express themselves freely through the media of communication and the journalistic dedication to objective reality; – this aims to provide public with adequate material to facilitate the formation of an accurate and comprehensive picture of the world.The journalist’s social responsibility is also of the essence, this emphasizes the fact that journalistic information is social good not just a commodity. When it comes to the Journalist’s professional i ntegrity; dealing especially with rights not to work against personal conviction and other matters of personal ethics. The social responsibility theory of the press has respect for such, while the Authoritarian theory has no regard for such values and ethics. Ethics is a practise of moral behaviour by individuals, governments and social institutions.Ethics is more to do with principles concerning the rights and wrong of conduct, principles which have some reason theoretical basis which therefore apply objectively and impartially. Besley & Chadwich 1992 The Social responsibility theory of the press in contrast to the Authoritarian theory has respect for, Public access and participation, this includes the right of rectification and reply, respect for privacy and Human Dignity, respect for the Public interest.This relates to respect for the national community, in democratic institutions and public morals, respect of Universal Values and diversity of cultures. This calls for respect for human rights, social progress, national liberation, peace, democracy, elimination of War and other great evils confronting humanity. This calls for abstention from justifying aggression, arms proliferation, violence, hatred, discrimination, promotion of a New World information and communication order. This is directed especially at the need for decolonization and democratization of information and communication.After all said and done my conviction is that the Authoritarian theory in contrast with Social Responsibility theory does not encourage media practitioners to see themselves as front-line participants in the battle to preserve democracy in a world drifting relentlessly toward tyranny. This gives rise and room to fear amongst media operators and infringes on the right of freedom of expression, the list of people who have been arrested for exercising their right to freedom of expression is long.In December 2008, for example, Jestina Mukoko, Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Proje ct, was abducted and tortured. Members of Woman of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) are harassed, intimidated, assaulted and arrested on a regular basis. Okay Machisa, the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZIMRIGHTS) was arrested in March 2010 for organising reflections – an exhibition of pictures of victims of the 2008 political violence. Geoff Nyarota was arrested for exposing some foul play at the Mazda industry formerly Ford motors.

Roosevelts New Deal and American Federalism Assignment

Roosevelts New Deal and American Federalism - Assignment Example In the same clause, it postulates that the congress shall impose taxes and duties in a uniform manner across all the states of the United States of America. The third clause is very important as it defined the power of the congress with regard to commerce issues. It states that the congress will have power to regulate powers among the US states and also between the Unites States of America and the rest of the world as well as with the Indian tribes. This clause gave the congress and thus the federal government exclusive power over the state governments, to regulate trade and commerce as well as make, establish and enforce laws regarding commerce. By giving such powers to the federal government, the role of the states was being trampled underneath the federal government and this clause was to later play a big role in defining the power boundaries between the federal government and the state governments. Commerce is definitely very important for any government and giving commercial sup remacy to the federal government meant that the power of the state government was minimized and the power for the federal government was increased.Supreme Court judgements in the past have also helped in defining the parameters of the powers of the federal government of the United States of American over the state level laws. These decisions by the United States include the Supreme Court decisions in McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden. In this McCulloch, the second bank of United States found itself in a row with the state of Maryland. The state of Maryland had passed a law that required all banks, local or federal, to only issue local notes and also to pay taxes on these. The second bank of United States did not however want to pay tax because this was not in line with federal bank regulations. As a result, the state of Maryland took the case to court and the case was eventually decided in favour of the second bank of the United States. The Supreme Court quoted the supremac y clause of the United States constitutions and said that the state did not have the power to override the federal laws and that the court should be able subscribe to the federal laws as a guidance to its decision. The same issue was also repeated in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden (1824). In this case, the issue was about the monopoly given to Ogden on the use of the navigation waters of the New York area. The state of New York had given Ogden a monopoly over the waters of the area and also tried to convince the other neighbouring states to do the same but they refused. Gibbons, appealed to the Supreme Court which overruled the decision and argued that the state did not have powers to override the federal laws. The Supreme Court quoted the third clause of the eighth section of article I of the United

A Political Speech on Guantanamo Bay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Political Speech on Guantanamo Bay - Essay Example However, the remnants of the war will never settle and will forever terrorize our minds as we try to move on. Why -because we could never come to terms of the fact that someday we will pay for all the pain and suffering we have caused to others. The sword of Damocles hangs high above our heads as we take in the Prisoners of War at our own mercy and disposal. In the guise of national security we seek to inflict pain and torture on the prisoners to extract what "-information to justify their presence in camps like Guantanamo Bay in Cuba" As POW's, these men are the mere forgotten and dispensable "soldiers-made-puppets" of another ambitious man wielding a form of power. These men are ordinary humans just like every American soldier we send to battle. They had homes and families who took care of them before being uprooted to fight for a cause and we are slowly draining them of their capacity to lead normal lives. Like spectators in a barbaric show of strength, we take pride in stripping them of the last vestiges of sanity. Instead of nurturing these men to erase possible traces of hate, we are evoking the primal instinct of man to fight back and defend. We try to insult a person's faith and his right to religion and what do we have to offer in return We are engaged in endless arguments over the prisoners in Guantanamo yet at the moment, we can never prove whi

History Matrix Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History Matrix - Coursework Example The Mesopotamians were commoners who never lived within their citadels walls which were protective. They were always subjected to raids by roaming armies making the are unsafe. Additionally, the Mesopotamians believed the world was more like a prison to them especially with their continuous suffering. Unlike their counterparts, the Egyptians had a stable lifestyle and viewed the world positively. One major difference between Mesopotamian and the Egyptian religions was the regional quality or rather the local of the latter. Another distinction that existed between the two was their hierarchical division with the Mesopotamian deities, with water, earth and four gods of heaven (Dudley, 1973). Generally, there are various factors, which played a key role in influencing Egyptians and Mesopotamians civilizations in developing their worldviews. Most of the factors in this case were influenced by the cultures, religion and the lifestyle of the two civilizations. Generally, geography played a key role in differentiating the Mycenaean and the Minoan civilizations. In Mycenaean and Minoan case, geography dealt with interaction and location. Therefore, the Minoan civilization collapsed after the eruption of Thira/Santorini island volcano after which the Mycenaeans took over the military. The Mycenaean civilization tended to fall with the movement of a different bellicose group of people hence making the civilizations different and in this case the Dorian. In simple terms, the geography of their areas ensured that their civilizations were different in terms of their culture and day to day life (Nilsson, 1972). Generally, the Achaeans or rather the Indo-European people tended to adopt and develop on the Minoan civilization achievements. Alternatively, the Achaean artisans tended to adopt the Minoan civilization design on jewelry, tools and pottery. On the other hand, the Archaic Greece also