The Impact of the Arabian Spring on the Citizens Decision

The political decision of citizens in any country is usually influenced by the situation within the country and by the events at the international political arena. From this point, it is important to examine the dependence between the success and failure of the definite political events and people’s further decisions to participate in the similar events or support political projects.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Impact of the Arabian Spring on the Citizens’ Decision specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The research question on which the project is based depends on the necessity to examine the possible connection and dependence between the people’s vision of the Arabian Spring’s successfulness and their willingness to participate in protests. To study the research question, it is important to focus on the associated hypotheses. According to the first hypothesis, if citizens perceive the Arabian Spring as unsuccessful, they are disappointed with its results and they are not ready to participate in protests because of the focus on the failure and disappointment. Furthermore, those citizens who discuss the Arabian Spring as successful are inclined to participate in protests and support them because of the focus on the strengths. To examine the research question and support the hypotheses, it is necessary to work out effective survey questions for questionnaires which are developed to study the citizens’ vision of the problem and their perceptions as well as the particular features of demographics which are important to present the description of the sample. That is why, survey questions are developed to state the gender and age characteristics of participants along with their education, occupational and socioeconomic status which can influence the citizens’ perception of the political events and their activity in relation to participation in the political life of the country. From this perspective, it is important to learn persons’ age, gender, religion, education, occupational and socioeconomic status along with political preferences and sharing the ideas of the definite parties which can affect the discussion of the political situation and perception of the Arabian Spring with the further participation in protests. The successfulness of the sampling procedures depends on the quality of the questions and on activity of participants while answering the questions and choosing the concrete answers instead of preferring not to answer a question. The frequency of choosing the concrete answers to questions is higher than of preferring not to answer a question, and this fact allows speaking about the credibility and usefulness of the answers received.Advertising Looking for research paper on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More From this point, th e sampling procedures can be discussed as successful. Paying attention to the specific features of the questions proposed for the survey, it is necessary to note that samples can be discussed as rather similar in relation to demographics. Thus, there are a lot of similarities regarding the age, gender, religion, and education. Similarities in political preferences can be influenced by the demographics criteria because the majority of the participants belong to the same social sector and share similar social and political interests.  The descriptive statistics can be successfully used to summarize a sample and provide the definite results in the form of numbers without presenting conclusions. To understand the role of the descriptive statistics in the project, it is necessary to concentrate on the variables discussed and on the results of the survey. The descriptive statistics used in the research is helpful to discuss the willingness of people to participate in protests as the dep endent variable with references to the mode as the measure of the central tendency. Thus, it is possible to focus on the general willingness of citizens to support the protests associated with the general perception of the Arabian Spring. In this case, the medium is more appropriate to discuss the independent variable studied in the project. The average people’s perceptions of the Arabian Spring influenced by their demographic characteristics affect their further decisions in relation to participating in protests. According to the descriptive statistics results, the participants interested in the project are predominantly male, the average age is 18-28 years, these persons are mainly students studying in colleges who are characterized by a rather low socioeconomic status and share the democratic ideas, and this tendency is observed even with references to the first fifteen respondents answering the survey questions. Table 1. Demographics Results Respon dent ID Party ID Geo gra phic region Reli gion Age Edu cation Gen der Govern ment: Bigger, smaller, or stay the same? Federal govern ment: limit or expand? Occupatio nal status Socio economic status Voted for in last election? 1 4 2 1 2 4 2 2 1 1 3 6 2 3 2 1 3 5 2 2 2 1 4 1 3 1 2 1 1 4 1 2 2 6 1 2 4 3 2 1 1 3 2 2 2 6 1 6 5 3 2 1 1 3 2 3 2 6 1 1 6 1 2 1 1 3 2 2 2 6 4 2 7 1 3 5 1 4 2 1 2 6 0 2 8 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 2 6 1 2 9 2 2 1 3 3 2 3 2 5 4 6 10 3 2 5 1 3 1 2 2 3 1 1 11 3 1 5 1 3 1 1 1 6 1 1 12 1 2 1 3 4 2 2 2 1 6 2 13 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 4 2 14 1 2 1 3 3 1 2 2 5 6 2 15 2 3 3 1 3 1 3 2 1 1 1 16 1 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 5 5 2 17 1 3 1 1 3 1 2 2 6 2 2 18 4 1 1 3 5 1 3 1 1 4 1 19 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 2 5 1 2 20 3 1 1 1 4 1 2 2 1 3 1 21 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 6 22 2 2 1 1 4 1 2 2 6 6 6 23 3 2 3 1 2 1 3 1 6 4 1 24 2 2 5 1 2 1 2 2 6 3 5 25 3 2 3 4 5 2 3 1 3 2 1 26 3 2 3 1 3 1 3 1 6 5 1 27 1 2 3 1 4 2 2 2 6 6 2 28 3 2 5 1 3 2 3 2 6 3 1 29 3 2 3 1 4 2 3 2 6 1 1 30 3 3 1 1 4 1 2 2 6 4 6 31 3 3 1 1 3 1 2 2 5 1 5 32 3 3 3 4 4 1 3 2 1 5 1 33 3 3 3 4 4 1 3 2 1 5 1 34 3 3 2 1 3 2 3 2 6 3 1 35 1 1 2 1 3 1 2 2 6 2 2 36 2 3 5 2 5 1 3 2 3 3 1 37 2 1 5 1 3 2 3 2 6 4 4 38 3 3 4 2 4 2 3 1 4 3 1 39 4 3 1 1 3 1 1 2 5 1 1 40 1 2 1 3 4 1 3 2 1 3 2 41 2 3 5 1 5 2 3 2 6 1 6 42 3 2 2 2 5 1 1 1 5 4 1 43 2 4 1 1 3 3 3 2 2 1 6 44 4 3 4 4 3 1 3 2 5 1 6 45 2 3 2 1 3 2 2 2 5 2 5 46 3 3 4 1 4 1 1 1 6 1 6 47 1 3 1 1 3 2 1 1 4 1 2 48 3 2 2 2 4 1 1 1 4 1 1 49 3 3 1 1 3 2 3 2 6 2 2 50 3 3 1 1 3 1 3 1 5 2 1 51 3 2 2 2 5 1 3 2 5 3 1 52 4 3 1 1 3 1 2 1 7 1 2 Graph 1. Demographics Results (15)Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Impact of the Arabian Spring on the Citizens’ Decision specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Summarizing the sample, it is important to pay attention to the fact that the identified demographic characteristics influence the participant s’ choice of the decision in relation to protesting significantly. Thus, the variability of citizens’ perceptions in relation to the Arabian Spring should be discussed in the context of the sample demographics. It is appropriate to test the hypothesis about the dependence of citizens’ participation in protests on the perception of the Arabian Spring with references to the Chi-Square test. It is necessary to compare the expected willingness of citizens to participate in protests and observed one as well as the role of discussing the Arabian Spring as successful or unsuccessful. The Chi-Square test results support the hypothesis that the vision of the Arabian Spring’s successfulness can influence the citizens’ further participation in protests. Using the test statistic (ÃŽ §Ã‚ ²=∑(O-E) ²/E), it is possible to calculate the researched dependence and focus on the difference between the observed and expected willingness of people to support prot ests. The low measures in relation to the differences allow speaking about the relevance of the discussed hypothesis. Nevertheless, the used Chi-Square test has both the strengths and weaknesses. Being an effective hypothesis test based on the statistical data, the Chi-Square test usually refers to the normal distribution. Thus, the Chi-Square test is helpful to observe the studied dependence and examine the possible difference which can exist between various groups of participants presented in the sample. However, the Chi-Square test is more oriented to the practical and numerical results without providing the theoretical information. Moreover, to guarantee the accurate results, it is necessary to concentrate on the possible observed and expected frequencies which are stated in the studied table. In spite of the possible weaknesses and errors while calculating the results according to the Chi-Square test, this measure of association is effective to analyze the findings in order to conclude about the effectiveness and appropriateness of the proposed hypothesis. The Chi-Square test is useful for measuring the dependence between the people’s willingness to participate in protests and their perception of the Arabian Spring’s successfulness as well as for connecting the demographic statistics with the observed findings.  The research question of the project is developed to examine the dependence between citizens’ perceptions of the successfulness of definite political events such as the Arabian Spring and people’s willingness to participate in further protests with references to their perceptions and visions of the results.Advertising Looking for research paper on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is possible to state that the dependence and correlation was found with the help of the project preformed, and the main hypothesis about the existing dependence and connection was supported. However, political events are complex in their nature, and a lot of aspects can influence the citizens’ political and social behaviour. Thus, the focus only on the visions of successfulness of the political situation and its results for the public can be discussed as limiting the examination of the other aspects of the problem. To avoid limitations and present the complex picture of the issue from the larger perspective, it is important to refer to the demographics results and citizens’ political preferences as also influencing the further participation in protests.  The development of the project allowed to observe the connection between the citizens’ perceptions of the political events and situations and their further actions associated with the social or political li fe. Thus, it was found that the vision of certain political events as successful can stimulate citizens’ further participation in the similar events because of orienting to the success. The failure in the development of the political situation can lead to citizens’ lack of interest in relation to the definite way of resolving this or that problem. From this point, those persons who discuss the Arabian Spring as successful are inclined to support the method of protests to resolve the further political issues because of concentrating on the positive results. However, the question still needs to explain the fact that the results of the Arabian Spring can be considered as both negative and positive ones by different people with references to their socioeconomic status. This research paper on The Impact of the Arabian Spring on the Citizens’ Decision was written and submitted by user Sara L. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Religion

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Being raised in a shack, sleeping on a dirt floor, eating spoiled food, and the interminable presence of death are the fuel for the fire. In the United States we worry about television ... Free Essays on Religion No part of the Bible and its interpretation is more controversial than the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is the last profound book in the New Testament. It conveys the significant purpose of Christianity by describing God’s plan for the world and his final judgment of the people by reinforcing the importance of faith and the concept of Christianity as a whole. This book was written by John in 95 or 96 AD. What is, what has been, and what is to come is the central focus of the content in Revelation. Literalist fundamentalists read Revelation’s multivalent visions as predictions of doom and threat, of punishment for the many and salvation for the elect few. Scholarly scientific readings seek to translate the book’s ambiguity into one-to-one meanings and to transpose its language of symbol and myth into description and facts. In Elisabeth Schà »ssler Fiorenza’s The Book of Revelation: Justice and Judgment, a third way of reading Revelation is depicted. The collection of essays in this book seeks to intervene in scholarly as well as popular discourses on the apocalypse from a liberationist feminist perspective. The first two parts of the book discuss the kind of theological-historical perspective and ecclesial situation that determines the form-content configuration of Revelation. The first section attempts to assess the theological commonality to and differences from Jewish apocalypticism. 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In Genesis 4:3-5 the Bible says, â€Å"In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Able brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and his face was downcast.† Much like Cain’s jealousy toward his brother Abel in Genesis, the protagonist Gene is often placing himself in competition with his best friend and worst enemy, Phineas. Phineas, affectionately known as Finny is much like Able. He is innocent and pure in his views on life and others. Knowles says he â€Å",Did abide by certain rules which he seemed to cast in the form of Commandments. (Pg 26)† Able was honest and wise by choosing to follow God’s orders. Thus, God was pleased with Able’s offering. Cain, on the other hand was quite the opposite. He is presented as being rather depraved and corrupted. In this way, Gene is similar to Cain. In the book Gene realizes the grip that sin has on his soul and claims, â€Å"It was just some ignorance inside me, some crazy thing inside me, something blind, that’s all it was. (Pg 183) † Unfortunately, Gene, like Cain, becomes consumed with jealousy of Phineas, due to the realization that he can never be as good as Finny- morally or athletically. The reader sees this when Gene states that, â€Å"there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same... Free Essays on Religion A religion is a system of beliefs usually involving the worship of supernatural forces or beings. Religious beliefs provide shape and meaning to one's perception of the universe. In other words, they provide a sense of order in what might otherwise be seen as a chaotic existence. Religions also provide understanding and meaning for inexplicable events such as a loved one being killed in an earthquake or some other unpredictable force of nature. For most religious people, their beliefs about the supernatural are at the very core of their worldviews. Karl Marx declared that as society changes so does religion. Marx’s opposition to this was from Max Webber who stated that religious ideas and beliefs shape changes in society. Although these men had varying ideals of society and religion, it is my belief that neither of them is incorrect in their thinking. When one looks at the origin of the major religions throughout the world one notices on important fact about each one. Each religion was created, by man, after the creation of the group of people who follow it. Marx was correct in his belief tat social changes bring on religious changes. Religions fulfill psychological needs. They help us confront and explain death. They help relieve our fears and anxieties about the unknown. Supernatural powers and beings may be appealed to or manipulated by people in times of crisis, as for example in praying to win a war or survive a fierce storm. Religions help ease the stress during life crises such as birth, marriage, serious illness, and death. It is not a coincidence that in most societies the "rites of passage" that are performed to help people adjust to these often highly emotional transitions are strongly religious. We also get psychological relief from "divinely given" moral codes. They lift some of the burden of decision making from our shoulders in difficult situations because they tell us what is right and wrong. Knowi... Free Essays on Religion What do I think about religion? That is a very tough question to ask myself. The first thing that comes to mind is what I was taught as a younger version of myself. That religion, in my case Christianity, was what my family did on Sundays. I was taught that religion was the reason I was here and why I continue to be here. It was a place and a thing of comfort. It had all the answers, except when it came to the point where I actually needed them. I was taught that the reason religion was around is to give the people that believe in it, hope. It was also our job to tell the people who did not believe that they should. Over the 23 years of my life I had had many â€Å"religious† experiences some good most bad. I have had a very tumultuous life in which I have been an inch away from death 3 times, in a coma for 2 weeks, and had many surgeries, most poignantly the removal of my left lung when I was 2 and a Kidney Transplant 1  ½ years ago. Now the reason I call these â€Å"religious† experiences is that my parents believe that God saved me. Also they think that I was â€Å"saved† for some reason that I have not figured out yet. They also believe that He (being God, of course) will show me the way. The reasoning for all this back story on me is so that you might understand what I think religion is, not necessarily what it was meant to be, but what I think it is now. I think religion originally intended on being exactly what my parents sought to teach me, a place of hope, faith, and love; knowing that some higher power is up there watching out for us. After many long years and numerous churches, youth groups, pastors, and sermons, I have come to think something entirely different from anyone else I know. Religion has come to be a place where the people who are â€Å"allowed in† come to bask in their own self-righteousness. It is an institution of separation. I am not saying that there is no such thing as religion any more, I... Free Essays on Religion Many people may be wondering what religion is exactly? Religion is a sacred engagement in which is believed to be a spiritual reality. Religion is a worldwide event that has played a part in all human culture and it is a much broader, more complex category than the set of beliefs or practices found in any single religion tradition. In all cultures, human being make a practice of interacting with what are taken to be spiritual powers. These powers may be in the form of god, spirits, ancestors, or any kind of sacred reality with which humans believe themselves to be connected. Sometimes a spiritual power is understood broadly as a complete reality, and sometimes it is approached through its appearance in special symbols. It may be regarded as external to the self, internal, or both. People interact with such presence in sacred manner-that is, with reverence and care. Religion is the term most commonly used to designate this difficult and different area of human experience. Where did religion come from? The word religion is derived from the Latin noun religio, which denotes both earnest observance of obligations and an inward spirit of reverence. Ways of Defining Religion In modern usage, religion covers a wide range of meanings that reflect the huge variety of ways the term can be interpreted. At one extreme, many committed believers recognize only their own traditions as a religion, understanding expressions such as worship and prayer to refer completely to the practices of their tradition. Some see religion-for example, â€Å" true love of God†, or â€Å" the path of enlightenment.† On the other hand it could be equated wit ignorance, passion, or wishful thinking. By defining religion as a sacred engagement with what is taken to be a spiritual reality, it is possible to consider the importance of religion in human life without making claims about what it really is or ought to be. Religion is not an object with a single, fixed defin... Free Essays on Religion Religion Religion in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's was seen as a spiritual movement and today since times have changed it is more what God can do for me than what I can do for God. So if we are to view in proper perspective the spiritual and religious conflicts of our age, as they are reflected in drama and fiction, then we must look at the outset to understand the nature of the relationship between literature and belief. Nothing is harder for a writer to write how they view religion or anyone else for that matter because it does not always go along with society’s ideals or views. Religion itself to day is seen as a joke especially with the televised religion that just takes money out of your pocket. After the attack on 9-11 and the war with Iraq this nation has started to turn towards God again, but honestly they are still to impatient because they don’t understand why things happen or for what reason. The world is running on time instead of patience or faith and that is wh at has lead this world into a downfall with religion. My father is almost fifty-one years old and grew up in a time in this country when there was a great spiritual awakening and a sensitivity to the things that pertained to God and it seemed like with religion, it didn’t matter what you believed there was a sacredness to it. For example in the Protestant religion they communed with God in their daily lives, either through their own understanding of the Bible or through experience with the Holy Spirit, and therefore needed no special rituals to secure or strengthen their faith. In practice, though, Protestants depended primarily on the Sunday service to preserve and reinforce their religious sentiments. It was in the church that people felt closest to God. It was there they heard the sermons that explained the Bible and upheld the evangelical ideal of moral behavior. My father said the he has seen many changes over the last few decades. His view on t... Free Essays on Religion According to the dictionary "religion is the service and worship of God or the supernatural."1 I challenge that definition. It is true that all religions do involve the worship of some supernatural force, however, it is also true that no religion in history has ever stopped at that. For a more complete definition of the word religion we also have to examine two other aspects. How has it affected man over the centuries? And what is the true motivation of its leadership? Some would have you believe that it has brought peace and harmony to the world and that its leaders are motivated by the service of their god. I suggest that a more accurate definition of word would be as follows. Religion, a feudal system of government which uses fear, hate and sometimes lies to control and manipulate people for the betterment of a select group of individuals. To better illustrate this point let's look at just three of the countless examples that human history has to offer. The Inquisition, "judicial institution, established by the papacy in the Middle Ages, charged with seeking out, trying, and sentencing people guilty of heresy."2 Heretics were considered enemies of the state. The penalty for heresy was torture and death. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, "Jesus was taken to Golgotha and nailed to a cross, the Roman punishment for political offenders and criminals."2 The Crusades, "The name Crusade (from Latin, "Cross") was also applied, to the wars against pagan peoples, Christian heretics, and political foes of the papacy."2 All three examples illustrate how man has used God to justify his greed and quest for power. When the leadership was challenged, it used devine decree to justify the murder and torture of the innocent. We are expected to believe that a non-physical being order the religious leadership to aquire riches and land, ofte n at the demise of the poor and helpless. The misuse of God isn't limited to the Ancient world. Today we have... Free Essays on Religion Ethical Values In The Old Testament How we live our lives is governed by ethics. Ethics is â€Å"human moral conduct according to principles of what is good or right to do.† Our ethical values today descend primarily from a Christian ethic in which â€Å"a truly ethical decision, we are told, must be spontaneous, undirected, free - the individual's unfettered and uncoerced response to each new decision-demanding situation.† The ethical values of today, especially Christian ethics, borrow and carry forward the Hebrew ethics of the past. Yet it is hardly fair to explain Old Testament ethics with only what was borrowed from it. What sets Judaism apart from other religions of the time was its monotheistic basis. The ethics of Judaism is historical and traditional as opposed to philosophical and theoretical. â€Å"In Israel, for the first time, an ethical conception of God is attained, and this not philosophically but historically; while its view of the moral life is certain of justification not only by reason but by history.† Thus God is looked at as an ethical personality and is looked to as an example of good and right. In the Old Testament, God's voluntary (voluntary for God) covenant with man must be looked at as the prime example of ethical value. The covenant's requirements is the source of all ethics, morals, laws, and justice in the Old Testament. The Mosaic Covenant is the best example of ethical values and norms in the Old Testament. The Mosaic Covenant has three parts; the Decaloque, the Covenant Code; and the Holiness Code. The Decaloque is made up of apodictic (or absolute) law, it is unconditional and has no â€Å"ifs or buts† about it. This is commonly refereed to as the "Ten Commandments." Although legally vague these commandments are the basics for all ethical norms in the Old Testament. The Covenant Code is made up of casuistic (or conditional) law, it has a characteristic ... Free Essays on Religion Throughout the ages of Christianity, there have been many drawbacks to this cause. Many leaders among the Christian community were persecuted due to the disbelief of Christ being the Messiah among pagan worshipers, heathens, and even other credible religious leaders. This persecution more often led to death, or other horrifying results. But no matter what horrendous effects, there was always a brighter side causing the Christian faith to grow even stronger. Because of Rome’s strictness in following the laws and rules, they were very tradition bound. Many of the Pharisees were determined that the Old Testament was the only acceptable basis of religious law that the people of Rome should follow. The believed that Elijah was the Messiah, and they were waiting for his return. They also didn’t expect a â€Å"Messiah† to act the way that Christ did, having anything to do with sinners was looked down upon. However, after Christ’s death and resurrection, the disciples were told to go out into the world and spread the good news of their salvation. This didn’t appeal to the Pharisees at all, and they immediately set out to stop this message of freedom. The religious officials continuously put Simon and Peter in jail, Stephen was stoned to death, and there have been accounts of John’s attempted murder in boiling hot oil. Many Christians were flogged, stoned to death, skinned alive, fed to lions, an d many more gruesome things. Nero burned half of Rome and then blamed the Christians, he even dipped some in kerosene and then lit them on fire so that there was light for the sporting events. Peter was even crucified, but he didn’t feel he deserved to die the same way as Christ so he was crucified upside-down. Persecution was so bad that Christians were accused of having a â€Å"hatred for the human race,† cannibalism, and incest. The response of the Christians has a lot to do with the influence upon the church. The Bible sta... Free Essays on Religion World Views on Religion Religion is the eternal search for the divine. This quest has been sought after since the dawn of mankind. Over time there have been countless types of religions. People have died for their religion, people have killed for their religion and people have dedicated their lives to their religion. With such a powerful force as religion it is no wonder why people are so dedicated to their beliefs. Due to this fact it is easy to see why there is so much conflict in regards to this driving force. There are many types of world views that define the meaning of religion. I feel that religion is a choice of a person’s beliefs and the goals in their daily lifestyle they wish to pursue. Every culture in the religious world differs from one another. The question we ask ourselves is what is the difference? The beliefs of the eastern philosophies have a different outlook on religions than the western philosophies. In the western beliefs, people focus on the question in relation to one single god and its overall relationship with the universe and mankind. In the eastern beliefs people analyze the factual details in life and nature and the spirituality in life. As of my own personal views on religion as a whole, I believe that it works as a foundational â€Å"brace† for humankind. It allows a culture to follow traditions in their religion to reach their goals and moral standards....

Systems and Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Systems and Operations Management - Assignment Example If we define this question the answer that we will get goes something like this: managing the activities, decisions and responsibilities of the resources so that it can produce and deliver the quality products or services in a stipulated span of time is called as Operations Management. Mainly, Operations Management about managing resources to create goods and services (Slack et al., 2010). In today’s competitive world, every organization has the operations management team that oversees the smooth functioning of the operations in terms of production and delivery of products and services. As Hayes et al. (2005) claims, effective operations strategy should be consistent and contribute to give competitive advantage. The person who manages this particular team is called as Operations Manager and it is his/her responsibility to see the operation is going smooth. Strategic Importance of the Digital Economy A decade before the Civil War, which was in 1850, the economy of the United St ates was not very big. It was even smaller than that of Italy. But after 40 years of the war United States was world’s largest economy. The reason behind this enormous progress is the railroads. What they did was connect the east and the west along with the interior parts with both the sides. With this move the industrial goods of the eastern part of the country gained access for the rest of the country; they scaled the economy with stimulation of the steel and manufacturing industries (Arthur, 2011). And this had made the economy to prosper many folds making it the largest economy. These types of changes are not unusual. Since 60 years or so there has been a great transformation in the economy of the country and most of the reforms are being done by the technology that has entered the country almost unnoticing. The entry of the technology has brought new social classes with them and also creates different classes of business. In today’s fast paced world is it possible to think such silent and slow yet deep economic transformation? If we look at the genetic or nano technology we can see the same, however, the time for them has not yet come in full force (Arthur, 2011). But it is arguable that there is something deep that is going as far as the information technology is concerned, which is way beyond the computers or the social media or e-commerce. The business processes that were completely human effort are now being executed electronically without losing time. These processes are executed in an unseen strictly digital domain (Katz and Koutroumpis, 2012). Let us take a look at an example. If you think about 20 years back, when you had to go somewhere in flight you would have a paper ticket that you would produce to a human being in the airport counter. After that the person would register your ticket, check your luggage in and help you know if the flight has arrived or not. All these activities were to be done manually by human interventions (Art hur, 2011). However, today, in the time of information technology, when you go to the airport you just need to swipe your frequent flyer card or credit card in the kiosk and you will get all the necessary stuffs – boarding pass, luggage tag, receipt etc. in just few seconds, without any human intervention. Once you swipe your card, an enormous conversation is being initiated among the

Strengthening Desirable Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strengthening Desirable Behavior - Essay Example First of all, it calls positive attention to students for meeting behavior expectations. This shows that the teacher is noticing when students do and do not conform to the expectation, and that a reinforcement will be offered to those who meet it. Also, verbal praise is immediate in nature. Students do not have to wait days to learn what the teacher appreciated about their contribution. Next, verbal praise is highly adaptive and specific. It can be used in a variety of academic and behavioral situations, and tailored to a precise individual student (Marzano, Pickering, Arredondo, Blackburn, Brand, and Moffett, 1992, p. 8). 2. Students who arrive to class on time may receive an activity reinforcer to strengthen their positive behavior. For example, all students in the 5th grade who are complete a whole term with no tardies can get a simple reward, such as a 20-minute mixer in a common area, inside the school or outside, where they can have a cookie, some juice, and some relaxing conversation for a short time as a reward for the diligence in getting to class on time. 3. Encouraging students to turn in assignments on time can be accomplished by using public display of good work. Teachers can group students within a class, or track the progress of one class against others, using a graphic display that shows how successful each class is in getting its assignments in on time. 4.

Entomology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Entomology - Essay Example Edward Jenner’s small pox vaccine that was developed from the cowpox provided the much-needed remedy for the dreaded disease and currently, the world is free of small pox infection. Since then, many vaccines have been developed and they have saved many lives besides enhancing the life expectancy of people on earth. Vaccines have eliminated once infectious diseases such as polio, yellow fever and leprosy in European countries, though low prevalent rates of these infections are still recorded in various parts of the developing world. Following the benefits of vaccination, I have moral obligation to the society and myself to be vaccinated against in order to preserve my health and protect other member from being infected. Vaccines are important medical interventions for saving lives and protecting people in the society from becoming sick (Maxcy, 1998). Prevalence of disease in any population is a huge impediment to economic growth that undermines development in all societies. Hig hly infectious diseases reduce the labor force in society, especially when it affects the most productive demographic group. In addition, high child mortality occurs in societies with high prevalence rates of fatal and infectious disease. This results to heavy economic losses, arising from the lost manpower hours that occur from absenteeism, bed rests and hospital admissions. The importance of vaccination in the society cannot be overemphasized. According to Maxcy (1998), life expectancy has increased dramatically world wide, compared to the last one hundred years. This has resulted to high populations that provide labor and market for the growing economies. Vaccination is not simply an individual decisions from which the person benefits or suffers. In the contemporary society, the life of each individual directly or indirectly affects that of another person. This implies that every society has a moral right of withholding practices that ensure the safety and health of every member. The society comprises of different categories of people, with varying health status and different health needs. Children and the elderly are very vulnerable groups, prone to infections that easily incapacitate or cause death. These groups rely on the other able groups in the population to provide security and health. Children rely on their parents for protection just like the elderly rely on their children to take care of them during old age. Failure of a guardian to vaccinate his or her child from infection is morally wrong because the child is not mature enough to make independent decisions about her or his life. Moreover, a child or anybody who is not vaccinated presents a health hazard to the rest of community members. I have moral obligation to the society and myself to be vaccinated. As a person, I am aware that my health and life are of great importance to the society and me. I have dreams, goals and aspirations that keep me going and they determine my purpose here in the pl anet. In this respect, I am aware that failure to become vaccinated against serious infections makes me vulnerable to disease that definitely affects my health and subsequent productivity in work and my studies. As a responsible citizen in the country, I am aware that the state of health of other vulnerable people depends on me. The decisions that I make about my own health determine their health as well and therefore failing to become vaccinated is morally wrong

Media Reaction to Muhammad Cartoons

Media Reaction to Muhammad Cartoons Research Objective: A quantification of social dynamics and ethics in global society. It is the aim of this project to assess the relative reaction of newspapers and their readers to the publishing of the Muhammad cartoons in various parts of the World. Since the Muhammad cartoons will obviously have generated the most anger in the Middle East and North Africa; we have chosen to ignore those major regions. The regions we focus on are: The United States of America Great Britain and Europe The Nations of Scandinavia The Left Bank The Indian Sub-Continent The Far East and South-East Asia The United States and Great Britain, of course, get special mention because of their position as leaders of the Free World / leaders of the War against Terror; and are by implication, leaders of the West who would possibly be (and indeed were) blamed for the publishing of those images (with their flags burned) regardless of their complicity or lack thereof in the publishing of the images (no main stream American or British paper republished the cartoons; and all government officials condemned the publishing of the same as a lack of sensitivity towards the Muslim population of the World. The Scandinavian countries of course, have been some of the most passive and anti-War in the past; and stood together as a matter of principle on this issue, and well see their reactions as well. The Left Bank to me comprises of the French and Germans; and all liberal forms that were not directly involved in the original conflict. France and Germany were a bit divided, with the ministers in power slowly backtracking and calling for calm; while the newspapers and opposition politicians lambasted the protests and called for their governments to condemn the negative reaction to the printing, as anti-democratic. We live in India of course, which also happens to have the worlds second-largest Muslim population after Indonesia, and it would therefore seem odd to not take into account the views professed here; as also in the region around us. China is an upcoming Great Power and is highly influential in Asia, and we have so considered the reactions from the Far East and South-East Asia as well. That answers the who? of our paper; but we have not quite covered the why? yet. We said that this is meant to be a quantification of the social dynamics in a Global Society. What does that entail? Well, a multitude of objects to be honest; all of which are inter-linked, across the realm of the socio-political and the economic. While it is still early in the stage to measure a fall out; we believe that it may be possible to extrapolate on the Raw data we gathered from our content analysis, by which we can posit some possible ramifications for Governments and Businesses alike, and the Press too. The basic questions we ask ourselves in the analysis, then? What was the nature of the defense / consternation the Press involved itself in with relation to this issue? Was the language used inflammatory, did it attempt towards peacebrokering, did it make a definitive stand? What was the stand that papers took? What was the reaction the public gave to those points of view? The answers that we found were then funneled to add specific weight to our proposition, to contradict it, or to re-evaluate it. The Proposition: That Democracies furnish the Press with certain rights to publish that must not be curbed (the tabloid press is a different matter—it is the mainstream Press we discuss here). That newspapers tend towards biases or political tilts is undoubtedly undeniable, and newspapers must not be open to government censure in the matter of press freedom. While it is imperative that newspapers publish with responsibility to all share-holders; which in the field of Mass Media implies subscribers and second-hand (re-issues, internet) readers. What were trying to establish is what negative effects such stories can have upon the circulation of national newspapers and the reaction of the public to them; and on the portrayal of either to the countries they deal with. There are multiple possibilities of where this research could be used—in social dynamics as we mentioned, in assessing press freedom or quantifying media ethics; and also in more basic analyses like the reaction of people to such incidents, (such as the boycotting of Western-made products in many parts of the Muslim world) not even getting to protests involving mass flag and effigy and product burning We will discuss this further in our conclusions Subjective Analyses The United States of America: From the voyages of Columbus-to the Oregon Trail —to the journey to the Moon itself —history proves that we have never lost by pressing the limits of our frontiers. —George Bush, 20 July 1989 Firstly this starts off with a bit on the Post 9/11 reactions and observation of Americas response to the tragic attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001. There are two principal features of American nationalism, both of which were evident in the response to 9/11. These are, in spirit, to a great extent contradictory but they often run together in American public life. The first is a certain element of American messianism: the belief in America as a city on the hill, a light to the nations, which usually takes the form of a belief in the force of Americas example. But at particular moments, and especially when America is attacked, it moves from a passive to an active form: the desire to go out and actually turn the world into America, as it were, to convert other countries to democracy, to the American way of life. In principle, the desire to spread democracy in the world is of course not a bad thing. But there are two huge problems with it. One is that because this element of American messianism is so deeply rooted in American civic nationalism, in what has been called the American Creed, and in fundamental aspects of Americas national identity, it can produce and after 9/11 did produce an atmosphere of debate in America which is much more dominated by myth than by any serious look at the reality of the outside world. Myths about American benevolence, myths about America spreading freedom, myths about the rest of the world wanting America to spread freedom, as opposed to listening to what the rest of the world really has to say about American policies. The second feature that cuts across this American messianism, however, is what can be called the American antithesis, that is to say, those elements in the American nationalist tradition which actually contradict both American civic nationalism and the American Creed. These elements, which are very strong in parts of America, include national chauvinism, hatred of outsiders, and fear and contempt of the outside world. This is particularly true in the case of the Muslim world, both because America has been under attack from Muslim terrorists for almost two generations now, but also because of the relationship with Israel, and the way in which pro-Israeli influences here have contributed to demonizing the Muslim world in general. This results in an incredible situation: on the one hand and there are here particularly the neo-cons the Bush administration who want to democratize the Muslim world, while on the other, neo-conservatives do not even bother to hide their contempt for Muslims and Arabs. Sometimes you hear, and even read, phrases like, The only language that Arabs understand is force, Let them hate us so long as they fear us and so on. This is utterly contradictory: people saying they want to democratize the Arab world but displaying utter contempt for Arab public opinion. Of course this is not just a moral failing, or a propaganda failing. It also leads to practical disasters, like the extraordinary belief that you could pretend at least to be introducing democracy, and on the other hand, you could somehow impose Ahmed Chalabi on Iraqis as a pro-American strongman, and that somehow the local population would line up to salute you and happily accept this. The extent to which this is fundamental to t he American national identity and is widely believed to keep Americans together means that it is very difficult in this country to challenge these myths When it comes to the newspapers in the United States there are those which take up a much more liberal stance while there are those that are hard and not targeted but go to the extremes of the phrase the land of the free. The one positive point of the country is that when it is said that there is freedom of speech, there is a lot of it, and because of which one has seen, documentaries (although on a single persons mindset) such as Fahrenheit 9/11 which although is extremely, targeting the Bush Administration but also reveals to the world the inner working of the worlds most powerful nation. In this Write up references taken up were from six American newspapers namely; The New York Times The Boston Globe The Chicago Tribune The Washington Post The Los Angeles Times Newsweek Magazine In all 18 articles from these newspapers have been analyzed to give out an opinion of what American nationalism is and to what extent is it prevalent in some leading newspapers in the United States of America. Among the Newspapers taken up and the articles under reference a pattern can be seen that everyone follows each other and that only a few dare to twist the use of words to mention of names of officials and other people of importance. With the current invasion of Iraq and the ever growing resentment against the Americans by the Muslim World a majority of the articles will be based on Iraq, the Middle East, and terrorism and on the Muslim world. Since the attacks on 9/11 America has been in a never ending battle with terrorism, along with allied support from various other countries in the world. But does it justify its actions, the Invasion of Iraq, The bombings in Afghanistan, The claims of nuclear threat, even targeting Saddam Hussein. Is this all truly in the best interest of the world or just a game for the worlds most powerful nation. Where millions of people in these areas have lost their lives, damage of property estimated in millions, use of weapons in large quantities, destroy ing nations.. Although these steps have already been taken by the U.S. it was now up to the newspapers in the country to report out the activities taking place in the war zone in which their country was playing a major part. As far as one can see, the newspapers do not seem to play a one-sided role or seem to tilt to a particular side but with reports from all angles in the battlefield and the repercussions back home one gets the feel that the newspapers are sensible and have a definite role which is positive in the world today. With a large cloud of disbelief and hatred and disgust looming over the Americans along with the outbursts of the Muslim community, today the American media and that of the world play a vital role in maintaining the stable atmosphere that we have today. The newspapers, one of the most powerful mediums of spreading awareness plays a pivotal role and an extremely delicate role keeping in mind sentiments of the various communities in the world. Seems to me like most people wo uld be able to grasp the difference that being patriotic means loving America, while being nationalistic places America, which can do no wrong, above other nations. The former is good. Its healthy. It promotes pride in ones nation. The latter, however, is not good. Its very unhealthy. It promotes arrogance to the point of hostility. Arnold Toynbee once said Great empires do not die by murder, but suicide. Would one say that its where the United States is heading? Europe: Report: British newspapers and British reactions The cartoon strip published by Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten, depicted the prophet Mohammed with a ticking time bomb for his head sparked widespread protests and violent demonstration across Europe and Asia. The drawings were originally commissioned by Jyllands-Posten from Danish artists after an author could not find an illustrator to depict Mohammed in a biography of the Prophet. The Danish cartoonists submitted a range of images, all banned by Islam, which strictly forbids depictions of the Prophet to avoid encouraging idolatry .One depicts a grinning, knife-wielding Mohammed flanked by two veiled women. Another, which appeared on the front page of Die Welt in Germany, and in La Stampa in Italy, shows the Prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban, topped by a hissing fuse. The Spanish newspaper ABC used a photograph of the original Danish newspaper, with its 12 cartoons. Die Welt also ran an editorial regretting a decision by the Dani sh newspaper to apologize for the upset caused. The Jyllands Posten has not apologized but its editor, Carsten Juste, said he would not have printed them had we known that it would lead to boycotts and Danish lives being endangered. These episodes of protests and demonstrations have raised heightened debates on the limits that the press should adhere to. And to defend their rights to freedom of expression, some newspapers went ahead and reprinted the inflammatory comic strip. The result was just as expected, with individual rights at loggerheads with the rights of the press, the world watches as the fire spreads slowly yet steadily over different parts of the world. London witnessed some violent protests where people took to the streets and embraced the Al-Qaeda and calling for the beheading of non-believers. Following this reaction, the liberal Muslims, that constitute the majority of the Muslim population in London, were left aghast and quickly took to the street making clear they were not around to incite mindless violence. The organizers had carefully chosen banners which had simple messages like united against islamophobia, united against incitement, mercy to mankind and Mohammed, symbol of freedom and hono r. Amongst the crowd were a number of white people who were opposing the sudden rise in violence. A rally held in Trafalgar Square on the 11th of February was backed by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. From among the crowd, a Mrs.Brka said, if you slap someone once, then okay, but if you slap someone 10 times, they will do something about it. This was in reaction to the reprinting of the comic strip by newspapers across Europe. Most of the violence that spread across the globe was completely reactionary and most were incited by imams who vehemently preached of the Jihad against the west. The press too held their own in defending their freedom of expression. In France the front page of the France-Soir tabloid carried the headline Yes, We Have the Right to Caricature God and a cartoon of Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian divinities floating on a cloud. Inside, the paper re-ran the Danish drawings. The appearance of the 12 drawings in the Danish press provoked emotions in the Muslim world because the representation of Allah and his prophet is forbidden, it said. But because no religious dogma can impose itself on a democratic and secular society, France Soir is publishing the incriminating caricatures. The protests during the later part of February in London were simply gatherings of Muslims from all over London in a bid for peace and tolerance Scandinavia: Report Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway and Finland In this part of the project well try to understand what had happened in Denmark with regards to the drawings on the prophet Mohammed. The problem with the cartoons in its basic form is that an author of a childrens book needed drawings for his book, but was afraid to do so because Islamic law prohibits depiction of Muhammad and when the cultural Editor of Jyllands Posten got wind of it he opted to use this as a catalyst for discussing Freedom of Speech and therefore he had a number of artist draw up some cartoons of how they imagined Muhammad. This did stir up some debate in Denmark but not really that much, except for a few Muslim who felt really offended and tried to get the Danish population to acknowledge their outrage. This however did not happen and therefore they decided to journey to several Muslim countries with a file containing the drawings and several other cartoons of Muhammad which were said to be even more offensive to the typical Muslim, and some might argue that without these added drawings the response would have been less drastic. After having spoke to a number of Danes, Norwegians and a few Finnish people the majority of the consensus was that they didnt want the government to exercise any apologies to the Islam world because as they say in Scandinavia the countries are all about opting for the freedom of speech. As Michael says They have a right to their voice But they dont seem to understand that the Danes have the right of free speech The problem was that the Danish people do not understand the respect some other people might have towards religion in other parts of the world, since we do not take religion as much more than some traditions and rituals that you go trough in life. And some other parts of the world dont understand the Danish pride of having the freedom to say/do whatever they want. Danish people stands very steadfast on the issue of freedom of speech, and will not tolerate that other people interfere with that, just because they were offended by some humorous drawings, which have been seen in many other cases, also with other religious figures. As Kasper Kataoka mentioned in his questionnaire, We know that Denmark is one of the most open and accepting countries in the world. There are a lot of Muslims and other foreigners living in our country, including myself. So when we se e people in some far away country, yelling about Denmark being the devil, being a intolerant country and treating Muslims bad, while they are tramping on our flag, burning buildings and causing all kind of obscene violence then we lose even more respect. A real big problem was the role of the Imams, those from Denmark have been traveling around the Muslim world, showcasing homemade pictures with a pig face and a praying Muslim being taken from behind by a dog. These imams traveled around to cause an upset; long after that the real pictures had actually been posted in the papers. Some of the pictures were even published in Egyptian papers long before people started protesting, and nothing happened back then. So what we believe is the reason for the escalation of the whole situation, is that the Muslims might have felt surprised by the western world for some time, and now they suddenly had something they could rally around. If there was an easy answer to this, it would already have been done. But communication is what is needed mostly. The fact that the Danish prime minister turned down a talk with the Muslim ambassadors in the start was a stupid move. Now all who are able to see a bit open on this subject, and is able to do something, should. Talk with people on the other side whatever side you are on, try to get some more understanding of why everything is happening, and try to make the people around you understand. Also the Danish Muslims have a big responsibility to spread out the word to their fellow Muslims, of how the Danish community is. This is already being done it seems. In Norway things seemed to be a little more different the main newspapers VG and Dagbladet were the ones who showcased these imagery and a quick response from Truls revealed that, I had no reaction to the cartoon, as they are commonly used in Scandinavia. such drawings are meant to start a discussion, not fighting This is what is reflected in most of the answers given by the Norwegians in that they all didnt anticipate the level of response that they got. But many feel that there shouldnt have been any sort of apology and that the Norwegian embassies should not have been burnt. As Truls says Diplomacy goes before everything to solve problems. Religious leaders who are ignorant and are lacking in knowledge should be replaced. Whereas those present in the chilly areas of Finland hadnt seen it through newspapers since it was never published in any paper. But they did get to see it through the internet sites. Most of them didnt even care enough to respond well and showed no real signs of interest or wanted to raise their voices. As teemu from Finland says An apology is an easy thing to do, especially if it solves problems this big. Even if they didnt mean to cause this, you still apologies. Usually you apologies someone when you accidentally step on their foot or something. That was the extent of their level of co-operation. So we see that from the study undertaken that the people werent really interested in knowing what was happening, most of them in Denmark hadnt even seen it in the papers. But many would have gone out of their way to gain some more insight into the whole ordeal. Many of the youth that I spoke to didnt know what the big fuss was about the drawings and some of the youth in Norway even thought it was like a war between Christians and Muslims. (In their own words: Islam world vs. Western world) To an extent it would see arrogant to us the way they responded but as mentioned, they didnt even feel the need to apologize. The newspapers were clearly advocating the freedom of speech and they paraded those values of theirs which they think actually symbolizes Scandinavia. Many of the newspapers in Denmark and Norway felt that they hadnt done much wrong and that the Muslims were overreacting to the whole issue. Another important note would be that the papers had actually apologized for their work and extended an apology as well, but the Muslims didnt seem to care too much as they wanted the governments to say sorry for the work of a newspaper. If the drawings were indeed meant to induce a discussion then why is it being used to induce violence in people? France and Germany / Liberal Reactions: The liberal defends the right to speech, the right to freedom, the right to the freedom of expression above all others. Personal or collective offense is subjective and of lesser importance than the right to air discourse that could degenerate to an offensive level. Benjamin Franklin once said that societies willing to give up little freedoms for a little more security deserve neither freedom nor security. The newspapers I have referred to in my analysis are: Le Monde, France Der Spiegel, Germany Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany Das Bild, Germany The Economist, Great Britain The Guardian, Great Britain The International Herald Tribune All newspapers are set in a strongly liberal tradition, and therefore exemplify the debate that perhaps lies at the heart of this misunderstanding and hatred. The West, set in its liberal traditions allows for Press Freedom like the Arab World just does not. Many Arabs found it shocking that Governments in the West cannot control what is published and what isnt by the Press. What was interesting here, however, were articles carried by Der Spiegel which were more sympathetic to the Muslim cause (one should remember, that though France and Germany are more liberal and stringent supporters of journalistic freedom; they hold the largest Muslim populations (France via immigrants from North Africa and Germany via Turkish Immigrants) in Europe. Mass Media Research This section will be short for now; as a large part recurs in the final analysis, as the position taken by the Left Bank is largely the view you might associate with this paper as well The conclusion will deal with liberal views, the political ramifications of taking a stand on an issue like this; and the economic fallout. The Indian Sub-Continent: Times of India Friday, February 10, 2006 On Friday, February 10th 2006 The Times of India published an article attributing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who condemned the publication of the controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons and advocated all steps to be taken to calm down the situation. He termed the articles as insensitive, offensive and provocative also stating that he was not against freedom of speech or expression. Sunday, February 12, 2006 This article told the story of the Muslim Protest march in the state capital. Carrying placards and raising anti-US and anti-Denmark slogans, they demanded that the respective governments apologize for hurting the religious sentiments. It was Maulana Sher Mohammed Madrasa Varisaya who interpreted the act as a violation of the religious liberties of believers of God. He demanded the United Nations to intervene and formulate an international law for prohibiting the repetition of any such act. Monday, February 13, 2006 Police fired tear gas and baton-charged about 7,000 students protesting the Prophet Mohammed cartoons on Monday in northwestern Pakistan. The crowd threw stones at Edwards College, breaking windows and causing other damages at the prestigious school founded by Christian missionaries during British colonial rule. The article claimed that the Muslims were angry because Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet. Under Pakistani laws, insulting the prophet or Islams holy book, the Quran, can be punished with the death sentence. Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Gunfire and rioting erupted on Wednesday as more than 70,000 people joined Pakistans biggest protest yet against Prophet Muhammad cartoons, burning movie theaters, a KFC restaurant and a South Korean-run bus station. Three people died and dozens were injured in two cities, police and witnesses said. The rioters ransacked the offices of the Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor, three cinemas and offices of Mobilink — the main mobile phone operator in the country, witnesses said. Thursday, February 16, 2006 Tens of thousands of Pakistani Islamists wielding sticks and waving green flags rallied in Karachi against cartoons of Prophet Mohammad on Thursday, the latest in a wave of protests in which five people have died. A branch of US-based Citibank, and an office of the German company Siemens, hung black flags to mask their logos, as did a Christian hospital and several cinemas on the rallys route. Saturday, February 18, 2006 At least 11 people died when Libyan police opened fire on demonstrators attempting to storm an Italian consulate during a protest against the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, Italian state television reported. Dozens were injured in the protest outside the Italian consulate in Benghazi, reports said on Friday. All the victims reportedly were Libyans. Sunday, February 19, 2006 Pakistani authorities arrested more than 100 activists of Islamic Jamaat-e- Islami (JI) and put its chief under house arrest ahead of an anti-cartoon demonstration. The Times of India more or less covered the violent protests that have rocked many parts of the world after the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in several countries. They have focused mainly on Pakistan, the country which is largely dominated by Muslim population, followers of Islam. The articles have been solely matter of fact, stating incidences how they have occurred. There have been subtle expressions of sentiments, like the TOI has covered mostly the riots and the arrests of Islamic activists in Pakistan. Hindustan Times February 10, 2006 The Hindustan Times were deeply alarmed at the repercussions of the publication in Denmark several months ago of insulting caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and their subsequent re-publication by some other European newspapers and at the violent acts in reaction to them. They stated that anguish in the Muslim world is shared by all individuals and communities who recognize the sensitivity of religious belief. February 10, 2006 This article gave us a brief about how the cartoons came into being, with the creators being threatened by the Islamic extremists. They also covered from where the article became a case of international conflict. They also spoke about the Danish: Then a group of Danish imams took the cartoons to West Asia. Complaining of press bias, they distributed the drawings — and, some say, fabricated a few of their own to ensure that unrest would be sown. Also stating that the Arab elites got into the game. Then ended as most articles did, on the victimized Muslims side. February 13, 2006 Vir Sanghvis candid expression that the silence of liberal Muslims was adding fuel to fire found favor with surfers. Like Sanghvi they chose to sprinkle their argument citing the recent incidents involving the offensive cartoons of the Prophet in Danish newspapers as well as MF Husseins nude paintings of Mother India. February 11, 2006 It talked about the latest religion vs. freedom of expression controversy: the fuss over the Danish cartoons that featured the Prophet Mohammed. Vir Sanghvi said do statements that cause religious offence fall in the same category? To argue that they do, we would have to prove that they caused damage to the safety of the religious faith (the national security parallel) or that they affected the way the faith was perceived by society, or even lowered its standing. But surely none of the people who complain about insults to religion accept that the slights can have these consequences? Is the safety of Islam threatened because a Danish newspaper carries a cartoon? Is Islam so weak a religion that a couple of cartoons can cause the world or society in general to think less of it? Clearly not. So, Im not sure on what grounds we could abridge the right to free speech when it comes to religion. If India is not to become a soft state, then we must stand up for liberal principles. We must stand up to the rioters, arrest those who foment violence and never, ever, give in to the blackmail. The Hindustan Times covered both sides of the coin. It gave us a whole idea about how the problem occurred, who was responsible and who instigated the whole process. It gives us both sides of the problems, framing it as mere as a Danish author wanting to publish it in her book. The Far-East and South-East Asia Major Newspapers in China/Hong Kong The China Daily is an English-language daily newspaper published in the Peoples Republic of China. The Communist Party of China-controlled state-run publication has the widest print circulation (200,000 per issue) among Englishlanguage newspapers in the country. The editorial office is in north Beijing, and the newspaper has branch offices in most major cities of China as well as in several foreign capitals. STANCE: China Daily was set up in 1985 and several journalists on the new paper supported the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. . The editor of China Daily, Zhu Ling, told foreign editors that the papers editorial policy was to support the policies of the Communist Party and only to make criticism of authorities if there was deviance from Party policy. CONTENT ANALYSIS: There were few editorials on the issue in the Post, which in itself says a lot, which shows how much importance was given to the issue in China/ Hong Kong. Other than the customary report, a certain report is interesting: A top Taliban commander offered a reward of 100 kilograms of gold to anyone who kills the person responsible for blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed This might not be directly indicative, however the inclusion of this article, which was ignored by other newspapers worldwide shows that China is not very p Media Reaction to Muhammad Cartoons Media Reaction to Muhammad Cartoons Research Objective: A quantification of social dynamics and ethics in global society. It is the aim of this project to assess the relative reaction of newspapers and their readers to the publishing of the Muhammad cartoons in various parts of the World. Since the Muhammad cartoons will obviously have generated the most anger in the Middle East and North Africa; we have chosen to ignore those major regions. The regions we focus on are: The United States of America Great Britain and Europe The Nations of Scandinavia The Left Bank The Indian Sub-Continent The Far East and South-East Asia The United States and Great Britain, of course, get special mention because of their position as leaders of the Free World / leaders of the War against Terror; and are by implication, leaders of the West who would possibly be (and indeed were) blamed for the publishing of those images (with their flags burned) regardless of their complicity or lack thereof in the publishing of the images (no main stream American or British paper republished the cartoons; and all government officials condemned the publishing of the same as a lack of sensitivity towards the Muslim population of the World. The Scandinavian countries of course, have been some of the most passive and anti-War in the past; and stood together as a matter of principle on this issue, and well see their reactions as well. The Left Bank to me comprises of the French and Germans; and all liberal forms that were not directly involved in the original conflict. France and Germany were a bit divided, with the ministers in power slowly backtracking and calling for calm; while the newspapers and opposition politicians lambasted the protests and called for their governments to condemn the negative reaction to the printing, as anti-democratic. We live in India of course, which also happens to have the worlds second-largest Muslim population after Indonesia, and it would therefore seem odd to not take into account the views professed here; as also in the region around us. China is an upcoming Great Power and is highly influential in Asia, and we have so considered the reactions from the Far East and South-East Asia as well. That answers the who? of our paper; but we have not quite covered the why? yet. We said that this is meant to be a quantification of the social dynamics in a Global Society. What does that entail? Well, a multitude of objects to be honest; all of which are inter-linked, across the realm of the socio-political and the economic. While it is still early in the stage to measure a fall out; we believe that it may be possible to extrapolate on the Raw data we gathered from our content analysis, by which we can posit some possible ramifications for Governments and Businesses alike, and the Press too. The basic questions we ask ourselves in the analysis, then? What was the nature of the defense / consternation the Press involved itself in with relation to this issue? Was the language used inflammatory, did it attempt towards peacebrokering, did it make a definitive stand? What was the stand that papers took? What was the reaction the public gave to those points of view? The answers that we found were then funneled to add specific weight to our proposition, to contradict it, or to re-evaluate it. The Proposition: That Democracies furnish the Press with certain rights to publish that must not be curbed (the tabloid press is a different matter—it is the mainstream Press we discuss here). That newspapers tend towards biases or political tilts is undoubtedly undeniable, and newspapers must not be open to government censure in the matter of press freedom. While it is imperative that newspapers publish with responsibility to all share-holders; which in the field of Mass Media implies subscribers and second-hand (re-issues, internet) readers. What were trying to establish is what negative effects such stories can have upon the circulation of national newspapers and the reaction of the public to them; and on the portrayal of either to the countries they deal with. There are multiple possibilities of where this research could be used—in social dynamics as we mentioned, in assessing press freedom or quantifying media ethics; and also in more basic analyses like the reaction of people to such incidents, (such as the boycotting of Western-made products in many parts of the Muslim world) not even getting to protests involving mass flag and effigy and product burning We will discuss this further in our conclusions Subjective Analyses The United States of America: From the voyages of Columbus-to the Oregon Trail —to the journey to the Moon itself —history proves that we have never lost by pressing the limits of our frontiers. —George Bush, 20 July 1989 Firstly this starts off with a bit on the Post 9/11 reactions and observation of Americas response to the tragic attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001. There are two principal features of American nationalism, both of which were evident in the response to 9/11. These are, in spirit, to a great extent contradictory but they often run together in American public life. The first is a certain element of American messianism: the belief in America as a city on the hill, a light to the nations, which usually takes the form of a belief in the force of Americas example. But at particular moments, and especially when America is attacked, it moves from a passive to an active form: the desire to go out and actually turn the world into America, as it were, to convert other countries to democracy, to the American way of life. In principle, the desire to spread democracy in the world is of course not a bad thing. But there are two huge problems with it. One is that because this element of American messianism is so deeply rooted in American civic nationalism, in what has been called the American Creed, and in fundamental aspects of Americas national identity, it can produce and after 9/11 did produce an atmosphere of debate in America which is much more dominated by myth than by any serious look at the reality of the outside world. Myths about American benevolence, myths about America spreading freedom, myths about the rest of the world wanting America to spread freedom, as opposed to listening to what the rest of the world really has to say about American policies. The second feature that cuts across this American messianism, however, is what can be called the American antithesis, that is to say, those elements in the American nationalist tradition which actually contradict both American civic nationalism and the American Creed. These elements, which are very strong in parts of America, include national chauvinism, hatred of outsiders, and fear and contempt of the outside world. This is particularly true in the case of the Muslim world, both because America has been under attack from Muslim terrorists for almost two generations now, but also because of the relationship with Israel, and the way in which pro-Israeli influences here have contributed to demonizing the Muslim world in general. This results in an incredible situation: on the one hand and there are here particularly the neo-cons the Bush administration who want to democratize the Muslim world, while on the other, neo-conservatives do not even bother to hide their contempt for Muslims and Arabs. Sometimes you hear, and even read, phrases like, The only language that Arabs understand is force, Let them hate us so long as they fear us and so on. This is utterly contradictory: people saying they want to democratize the Arab world but displaying utter contempt for Arab public opinion. Of course this is not just a moral failing, or a propaganda failing. It also leads to practical disasters, like the extraordinary belief that you could pretend at least to be introducing democracy, and on the other hand, you could somehow impose Ahmed Chalabi on Iraqis as a pro-American strongman, and that somehow the local population would line up to salute you and happily accept this. The extent to which this is fundamental to t he American national identity and is widely believed to keep Americans together means that it is very difficult in this country to challenge these myths When it comes to the newspapers in the United States there are those which take up a much more liberal stance while there are those that are hard and not targeted but go to the extremes of the phrase the land of the free. The one positive point of the country is that when it is said that there is freedom of speech, there is a lot of it, and because of which one has seen, documentaries (although on a single persons mindset) such as Fahrenheit 9/11 which although is extremely, targeting the Bush Administration but also reveals to the world the inner working of the worlds most powerful nation. In this Write up references taken up were from six American newspapers namely; The New York Times The Boston Globe The Chicago Tribune The Washington Post The Los Angeles Times Newsweek Magazine In all 18 articles from these newspapers have been analyzed to give out an opinion of what American nationalism is and to what extent is it prevalent in some leading newspapers in the United States of America. Among the Newspapers taken up and the articles under reference a pattern can be seen that everyone follows each other and that only a few dare to twist the use of words to mention of names of officials and other people of importance. With the current invasion of Iraq and the ever growing resentment against the Americans by the Muslim World a majority of the articles will be based on Iraq, the Middle East, and terrorism and on the Muslim world. Since the attacks on 9/11 America has been in a never ending battle with terrorism, along with allied support from various other countries in the world. But does it justify its actions, the Invasion of Iraq, The bombings in Afghanistan, The claims of nuclear threat, even targeting Saddam Hussein. Is this all truly in the best interest of the world or just a game for the worlds most powerful nation. Where millions of people in these areas have lost their lives, damage of property estimated in millions, use of weapons in large quantities, destroy ing nations.. Although these steps have already been taken by the U.S. it was now up to the newspapers in the country to report out the activities taking place in the war zone in which their country was playing a major part. As far as one can see, the newspapers do not seem to play a one-sided role or seem to tilt to a particular side but with reports from all angles in the battlefield and the repercussions back home one gets the feel that the newspapers are sensible and have a definite role which is positive in the world today. With a large cloud of disbelief and hatred and disgust looming over the Americans along with the outbursts of the Muslim community, today the American media and that of the world play a vital role in maintaining the stable atmosphere that we have today. The newspapers, one of the most powerful mediums of spreading awareness plays a pivotal role and an extremely delicate role keeping in mind sentiments of the various communities in the world. Seems to me like most people wo uld be able to grasp the difference that being patriotic means loving America, while being nationalistic places America, which can do no wrong, above other nations. The former is good. Its healthy. It promotes pride in ones nation. The latter, however, is not good. Its very unhealthy. It promotes arrogance to the point of hostility. Arnold Toynbee once said Great empires do not die by murder, but suicide. Would one say that its where the United States is heading? Europe: Report: British newspapers and British reactions The cartoon strip published by Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten, depicted the prophet Mohammed with a ticking time bomb for his head sparked widespread protests and violent demonstration across Europe and Asia. The drawings were originally commissioned by Jyllands-Posten from Danish artists after an author could not find an illustrator to depict Mohammed in a biography of the Prophet. The Danish cartoonists submitted a range of images, all banned by Islam, which strictly forbids depictions of the Prophet to avoid encouraging idolatry .One depicts a grinning, knife-wielding Mohammed flanked by two veiled women. Another, which appeared on the front page of Die Welt in Germany, and in La Stampa in Italy, shows the Prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban, topped by a hissing fuse. The Spanish newspaper ABC used a photograph of the original Danish newspaper, with its 12 cartoons. Die Welt also ran an editorial regretting a decision by the Dani sh newspaper to apologize for the upset caused. The Jyllands Posten has not apologized but its editor, Carsten Juste, said he would not have printed them had we known that it would lead to boycotts and Danish lives being endangered. These episodes of protests and demonstrations have raised heightened debates on the limits that the press should adhere to. And to defend their rights to freedom of expression, some newspapers went ahead and reprinted the inflammatory comic strip. The result was just as expected, with individual rights at loggerheads with the rights of the press, the world watches as the fire spreads slowly yet steadily over different parts of the world. London witnessed some violent protests where people took to the streets and embraced the Al-Qaeda and calling for the beheading of non-believers. Following this reaction, the liberal Muslims, that constitute the majority of the Muslim population in London, were left aghast and quickly took to the street making clear they were not around to incite mindless violence. The organizers had carefully chosen banners which had simple messages like united against islamophobia, united against incitement, mercy to mankind and Mohammed, symbol of freedom and hono r. Amongst the crowd were a number of white people who were opposing the sudden rise in violence. A rally held in Trafalgar Square on the 11th of February was backed by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. From among the crowd, a Mrs.Brka said, if you slap someone once, then okay, but if you slap someone 10 times, they will do something about it. This was in reaction to the reprinting of the comic strip by newspapers across Europe. Most of the violence that spread across the globe was completely reactionary and most were incited by imams who vehemently preached of the Jihad against the west. The press too held their own in defending their freedom of expression. In France the front page of the France-Soir tabloid carried the headline Yes, We Have the Right to Caricature God and a cartoon of Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian divinities floating on a cloud. Inside, the paper re-ran the Danish drawings. The appearance of the 12 drawings in the Danish press provoked emotions in the Muslim world because the representation of Allah and his prophet is forbidden, it said. But because no religious dogma can impose itself on a democratic and secular society, France Soir is publishing the incriminating caricatures. The protests during the later part of February in London were simply gatherings of Muslims from all over London in a bid for peace and tolerance Scandinavia: Report Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway and Finland In this part of the project well try to understand what had happened in Denmark with regards to the drawings on the prophet Mohammed. The problem with the cartoons in its basic form is that an author of a childrens book needed drawings for his book, but was afraid to do so because Islamic law prohibits depiction of Muhammad and when the cultural Editor of Jyllands Posten got wind of it he opted to use this as a catalyst for discussing Freedom of Speech and therefore he had a number of artist draw up some cartoons of how they imagined Muhammad. This did stir up some debate in Denmark but not really that much, except for a few Muslim who felt really offended and tried to get the Danish population to acknowledge their outrage. This however did not happen and therefore they decided to journey to several Muslim countries with a file containing the drawings and several other cartoons of Muhammad which were said to be even more offensive to the typical Muslim, and some might argue that without these added drawings the response would have been less drastic. After having spoke to a number of Danes, Norwegians and a few Finnish people the majority of the consensus was that they didnt want the government to exercise any apologies to the Islam world because as they say in Scandinavia the countries are all about opting for the freedom of speech. As Michael says They have a right to their voice But they dont seem to understand that the Danes have the right of free speech The problem was that the Danish people do not understand the respect some other people might have towards religion in other parts of the world, since we do not take religion as much more than some traditions and rituals that you go trough in life. And some other parts of the world dont understand the Danish pride of having the freedom to say/do whatever they want. Danish people stands very steadfast on the issue of freedom of speech, and will not tolerate that other people interfere with that, just because they were offended by some humorous drawings, which have been seen in many other cases, also with other religious figures. As Kasper Kataoka mentioned in his questionnaire, We know that Denmark is one of the most open and accepting countries in the world. There are a lot of Muslims and other foreigners living in our country, including myself. So when we se e people in some far away country, yelling about Denmark being the devil, being a intolerant country and treating Muslims bad, while they are tramping on our flag, burning buildings and causing all kind of obscene violence then we lose even more respect. A real big problem was the role of the Imams, those from Denmark have been traveling around the Muslim world, showcasing homemade pictures with a pig face and a praying Muslim being taken from behind by a dog. These imams traveled around to cause an upset; long after that the real pictures had actually been posted in the papers. Some of the pictures were even published in Egyptian papers long before people started protesting, and nothing happened back then. So what we believe is the reason for the escalation of the whole situation, is that the Muslims might have felt surprised by the western world for some time, and now they suddenly had something they could rally around. If there was an easy answer to this, it would already have been done. But communication is what is needed mostly. The fact that the Danish prime minister turned down a talk with the Muslim ambassadors in the start was a stupid move. Now all who are able to see a bit open on this subject, and is able to do something, should. Talk with people on the other side whatever side you are on, try to get some more understanding of why everything is happening, and try to make the people around you understand. Also the Danish Muslims have a big responsibility to spread out the word to their fellow Muslims, of how the Danish community is. This is already being done it seems. In Norway things seemed to be a little more different the main newspapers VG and Dagbladet were the ones who showcased these imagery and a quick response from Truls revealed that, I had no reaction to the cartoon, as they are commonly used in Scandinavia. such drawings are meant to start a discussion, not fighting This is what is reflected in most of the answers given by the Norwegians in that they all didnt anticipate the level of response that they got. But many feel that there shouldnt have been any sort of apology and that the Norwegian embassies should not have been burnt. As Truls says Diplomacy goes before everything to solve problems. Religious leaders who are ignorant and are lacking in knowledge should be replaced. Whereas those present in the chilly areas of Finland hadnt seen it through newspapers since it was never published in any paper. But they did get to see it through the internet sites. Most of them didnt even care enough to respond well and showed no real signs of interest or wanted to raise their voices. As teemu from Finland says An apology is an easy thing to do, especially if it solves problems this big. Even if they didnt mean to cause this, you still apologies. Usually you apologies someone when you accidentally step on their foot or something. That was the extent of their level of co-operation. So we see that from the study undertaken that the people werent really interested in knowing what was happening, most of them in Denmark hadnt even seen it in the papers. But many would have gone out of their way to gain some more insight into the whole ordeal. Many of the youth that I spoke to didnt know what the big fuss was about the drawings and some of the youth in Norway even thought it was like a war between Christians and Muslims. (In their own words: Islam world vs. Western world) To an extent it would see arrogant to us the way they responded but as mentioned, they didnt even feel the need to apologize. The newspapers were clearly advocating the freedom of speech and they paraded those values of theirs which they think actually symbolizes Scandinavia. Many of the newspapers in Denmark and Norway felt that they hadnt done much wrong and that the Muslims were overreacting to the whole issue. Another important note would be that the papers had actually apologized for their work and extended an apology as well, but the Muslims didnt seem to care too much as they wanted the governments to say sorry for the work of a newspaper. If the drawings were indeed meant to induce a discussion then why is it being used to induce violence in people? France and Germany / Liberal Reactions: The liberal defends the right to speech, the right to freedom, the right to the freedom of expression above all others. Personal or collective offense is subjective and of lesser importance than the right to air discourse that could degenerate to an offensive level. Benjamin Franklin once said that societies willing to give up little freedoms for a little more security deserve neither freedom nor security. The newspapers I have referred to in my analysis are: Le Monde, France Der Spiegel, Germany Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany Das Bild, Germany The Economist, Great Britain The Guardian, Great Britain The International Herald Tribune All newspapers are set in a strongly liberal tradition, and therefore exemplify the debate that perhaps lies at the heart of this misunderstanding and hatred. The West, set in its liberal traditions allows for Press Freedom like the Arab World just does not. Many Arabs found it shocking that Governments in the West cannot control what is published and what isnt by the Press. What was interesting here, however, were articles carried by Der Spiegel which were more sympathetic to the Muslim cause (one should remember, that though France and Germany are more liberal and stringent supporters of journalistic freedom; they hold the largest Muslim populations (France via immigrants from North Africa and Germany via Turkish Immigrants) in Europe. Mass Media Research This section will be short for now; as a large part recurs in the final analysis, as the position taken by the Left Bank is largely the view you might associate with this paper as well The conclusion will deal with liberal views, the political ramifications of taking a stand on an issue like this; and the economic fallout. The Indian Sub-Continent: Times of India Friday, February 10, 2006 On Friday, February 10th 2006 The Times of India published an article attributing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who condemned the publication of the controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons and advocated all steps to be taken to calm down the situation. He termed the articles as insensitive, offensive and provocative also stating that he was not against freedom of speech or expression. Sunday, February 12, 2006 This article told the story of the Muslim Protest march in the state capital. Carrying placards and raising anti-US and anti-Denmark slogans, they demanded that the respective governments apologize for hurting the religious sentiments. It was Maulana Sher Mohammed Madrasa Varisaya who interpreted the act as a violation of the religious liberties of believers of God. He demanded the United Nations to intervene and formulate an international law for prohibiting the repetition of any such act. Monday, February 13, 2006 Police fired tear gas and baton-charged about 7,000 students protesting the Prophet Mohammed cartoons on Monday in northwestern Pakistan. The crowd threw stones at Edwards College, breaking windows and causing other damages at the prestigious school founded by Christian missionaries during British colonial rule. The article claimed that the Muslims were angry because Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet. Under Pakistani laws, insulting the prophet or Islams holy book, the Quran, can be punished with the death sentence. Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Gunfire and rioting erupted on Wednesday as more than 70,000 people joined Pakistans biggest protest yet against Prophet Muhammad cartoons, burning movie theaters, a KFC restaurant and a South Korean-run bus station. Three people died and dozens were injured in two cities, police and witnesses said. The rioters ransacked the offices of the Norwegian mobile phone company Telenor, three cinemas and offices of Mobilink — the main mobile phone operator in the country, witnesses said. Thursday, February 16, 2006 Tens of thousands of Pakistani Islamists wielding sticks and waving green flags rallied in Karachi against cartoons of Prophet Mohammad on Thursday, the latest in a wave of protests in which five people have died. A branch of US-based Citibank, and an office of the German company Siemens, hung black flags to mask their logos, as did a Christian hospital and several cinemas on the rallys route. Saturday, February 18, 2006 At least 11 people died when Libyan police opened fire on demonstrators attempting to storm an Italian consulate during a protest against the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, Italian state television reported. Dozens were injured in the protest outside the Italian consulate in Benghazi, reports said on Friday. All the victims reportedly were Libyans. Sunday, February 19, 2006 Pakistani authorities arrested more than 100 activists of Islamic Jamaat-e- Islami (JI) and put its chief under house arrest ahead of an anti-cartoon demonstration. The Times of India more or less covered the violent protests that have rocked many parts of the world after the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in several countries. They have focused mainly on Pakistan, the country which is largely dominated by Muslim population, followers of Islam. The articles have been solely matter of fact, stating incidences how they have occurred. There have been subtle expressions of sentiments, like the TOI has covered mostly the riots and the arrests of Islamic activists in Pakistan. Hindustan Times February 10, 2006 The Hindustan Times were deeply alarmed at the repercussions of the publication in Denmark several months ago of insulting caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and their subsequent re-publication by some other European newspapers and at the violent acts in reaction to them. They stated that anguish in the Muslim world is shared by all individuals and communities who recognize the sensitivity of religious belief. February 10, 2006 This article gave us a brief about how the cartoons came into being, with the creators being threatened by the Islamic extremists. They also covered from where the article became a case of international conflict. They also spoke about the Danish: Then a group of Danish imams took the cartoons to West Asia. Complaining of press bias, they distributed the drawings — and, some say, fabricated a few of their own to ensure that unrest would be sown. Also stating that the Arab elites got into the game. Then ended as most articles did, on the victimized Muslims side. February 13, 2006 Vir Sanghvis candid expression that the silence of liberal Muslims was adding fuel to fire found favor with surfers. Like Sanghvi they chose to sprinkle their argument citing the recent incidents involving the offensive cartoons of the Prophet in Danish newspapers as well as MF Husseins nude paintings of Mother India. February 11, 2006 It talked about the latest religion vs. freedom of expression controversy: the fuss over the Danish cartoons that featured the Prophet Mohammed. Vir Sanghvi said do statements that cause religious offence fall in the same category? To argue that they do, we would have to prove that they caused damage to the safety of the religious faith (the national security parallel) or that they affected the way the faith was perceived by society, or even lowered its standing. But surely none of the people who complain about insults to religion accept that the slights can have these consequences? Is the safety of Islam threatened because a Danish newspaper carries a cartoon? Is Islam so weak a religion that a couple of cartoons can cause the world or society in general to think less of it? Clearly not. So, Im not sure on what grounds we could abridge the right to free speech when it comes to religion. If India is not to become a soft state, then we must stand up for liberal principles. We must stand up to the rioters, arrest those who foment violence and never, ever, give in to the blackmail. The Hindustan Times covered both sides of the coin. It gave us a whole idea about how the problem occurred, who was responsible and who instigated the whole process. It gives us both sides of the problems, framing it as mere as a Danish author wanting to publish it in her book. The Far-East and South-East Asia Major Newspapers in China/Hong Kong The China Daily is an English-language daily newspaper published in the Peoples Republic of China. The Communist Party of China-controlled state-run publication has the widest print circulation (200,000 per issue) among Englishlanguage newspapers in the country. The editorial office is in north Beijing, and the newspaper has branch offices in most major cities of China as well as in several foreign capitals. STANCE: China Daily was set up in 1985 and several journalists on the new paper supported the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. . The editor of China Daily, Zhu Ling, told foreign editors that the papers editorial policy was to support the policies of the Communist Party and only to make criticism of authorities if there was deviance from Party policy. CONTENT ANALYSIS: There were few editorials on the issue in the Post, which in itself says a lot, which shows how much importance was given to the issue in China/ Hong Kong. Other than the customary report, a certain report is interesting: A top Taliban commander offered a reward of 100 kilograms of gold to anyone who kills the person responsible for blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed This might not be directly indicative, however the inclusion of this article, which was ignored by other newspapers worldwide shows that China is not very p