Affirmative Action

The history of the growth of equality for African Americans in America has been one of great accomplishments followed by many small gains and many set backs as well.  The outlawing of slavery did not instantly make all blacks equal with whites in America.  It took many subsequent legal actions as well as hundreds of social efforts, big and small, to slowly make the progress we have seen today.  But even in this day and age, in a new century, there is an ongoing battle against racism.  It seems we need leadership to guide society to true equality as much now as ever in our history.


The abolition of slavery only began the long hard struggle for African American culture to become a true part of what it means to be an American.  That is because even though the legal definition of slavery had been thrown down, the attitudes and cultural systems in place to keep the races separate and to deny black people rights equal with whites had to be addressed one by one.


Slowly over the decades, we have seen big changes but many came at a great cost.  From the legal granting of the right to vote to African Americans to the civil rights movement to school desegregation, each step forward came with resistance, great difficulty and significant sacrifice from leaders and ordinary citizens alike to make each step toward true equality a fact.


Of all the efforts to “level the playing field”, none has been more controversial than the Affirmative Action program.  In its beginning, it was intended to be a supplement to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Over time it had become clear that despite removal of laws that enforced segregation or discrimination, there seemed to be a natural segregation in the work place that was keeping African Americans from getting a fair chance at jobs because of the prejudices of an employer, even if that prejudice was not officially recognized in the company charter.


There were two significant executive orders that made affirmative action a reality.  The first was Executive Order 10925 signed by President Kennedy on March 6, 1965 which was the first law to make mention of the phrase.  This was followed by much more sweeping Civil Rights Act which was signed into law by President Johnson.  Together these laws attempted to correct by legal means the disparity of opportunity that existed in the workplace for people of color by instituting a system of quotas that employers had to meet to satisfy federal affirmative action minority employment levels.


But as is often the case when the government attempts to impose right attitudes via legislation, these laws often created as many problems for minorities as they cured.  Nevertheless as the application of the quota systems began to become widespread, it did open many doors for African Americans that would not have opened due to racial prejudice and silent segregation that was keeping the African American community from reaching its economic potential.


In truth, nobody really liked this kind of imposed fairness system.  For whites, they felt the sting of an artificial system of judgment that was sometimes called “reverse discrimination”.  While there was some justice that the white community got a taste for what it felt like to loose out on opportunity due to the color of your skin, it did not help the country in our goal of growing together to become one “color blind” community.


 Affirmative action was a mixed blessing for the African American community.  While it did its job in the short term to opening doors that were closed due to racism, it is not the ideal solution.  That is because it did not fulfill Dr. King’s vision of a world where a man is judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character.  We can hope that we will grow to that point as a culture and look back on affirmative action as an unfortunate but necessary provision to help us grow and mature as a truly integrated culture.

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Effects of Mass Media on Young Generation

How do the media influence young people in today's society? Our society still seems confused about what to think about children and young people. It seems to be gripped with a fear of children, blaming them for much of society's ills: crime, vandalism, drugs, drink, sex, teenage pregnancy. The list goes on. But if these theories are true, where do these rebellious attitudes stem from? The obvious answer would be from the upbringing of children, but in my opinion the media also plays a substantial role in the attitudes, behavior and physical aspects of youth today, in particularly that of young women. We are constantly being bombarded with advertising, opinions, images and stories which appear to be forcing us to conform to a specific image of how we are supposed to be, whether it be slim, more intelligent or prettier.

Media strongly affects youth culture. The media executives are quick to defend their role in youth violence and bullying while selling millions of dollars in ads focused on youth. TV producers, network executives, motion picture companies and others in the media deny any impact of their programs on the attitudes and actions of youth. Meanwhile they continue to spend millions on special effects and marketing geared to increase appeal to youth markets. While corporations spend millions on market research and advertising to create products and campaigns targeted at a youth demographic, they still deny their ability to influence youth. If this were true to fact, would NIKE continue spending millions every year on product development, marketing and advertising? Would McDonalds still be using cartoon like characters to sell hamburgers? Would music labels be increasing the level of violence and sexual content in the music geared towards the youth audience? Would liquor companies be using youth oriented activities in their advertising? Of course it works on influencing youth and its ideals advertising would not be a multi-billion dollar a year business. If it had no influence, M-TV would not have consultant on staff spending huge amounts of money to ensure them keeping up with youth culture.


We've all heard it before. Blame it on TV or other means of media. If a child bludgeons another child to death with a wrench or shoots a classmate, it is the violent TV programs that they watch which are to blame, not the parents or the supervisors who are supposed to be there to make sure their kids do the right thing. How far is it true that the media is responsible for trivializing death and violence, thus causing the children of America to go out on shooting rampages, or kids in Britain to murder innocent toddlers? First let us look at the way the media portrays death. Death has always been a taboo subject. People do not usually sit around talking about death, especially to children. It may be for that reason that children do not really understand the concept of dying. We constantly see instances in cartoons where a character is killed, but in the next scene, that same character is alive and well again. The fact is that they do not actually die. Characters like Warner Bros. Wild E Coyote never die.


As clichéd as it may sound, it has been rightly said all things have their good as well as bad effects. In the similar conduct media also has its good as well as bad influence on youth. Well these were the negative influence of media on youth. Now we focus on the affirmative aspects of media.

Media plays a very important role in creating awareness. There are certain issues which remain untouched among youngsters as they feel guarded concerning it. Media helps in providing information regarding such topics. There are many such topics that are highlighted by the media. The current one that can be talked about is the quota system in colleges. Media created awareness that how injustice was being done with deserving candidates due to reservations in colleges. There was procession taken out by students in order to object regarding this bias discrimination.
One other such issue is the debate carried on regarding sex education. Media was trying to highlight both the aspects of the matter that whether sex education must be allowed in schools or not. There were a group of people who were all for it and there were people who considered it a taboo. Even though we are heading towards westernization, our roots still remain Indian. And that is the reason why we fell anxious discussing such issues with young ones. But if we think practically then there are so many instances where children head the wrong way just in the anxiety of knowing certain issues. So, the only acceptable approach in which we can guard our child from choosing the wrong path is by talking to them and educating them about the issues that need to be learnt at the right instance.

Media being one of the important means to reach out to the masses and influence their thinking and decision making, only to the positive media cannot attract attention of the masses, and to gain viewer ship, negative media has to be incorporated to balance out and attract the masses, but a line has to be drawn between the positive and the negative media in the interest of the younger generation.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/article-marketing-articles/effects-of-mass-media-on-young-generation-562352.html

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World Flags and Their Symbolism

It is always fascinating to study world flags and their symbolism.  There are thousands of flags across the world, and each one has its own history and unique symbolism and meaning.  Below you'll find the meaning behind a few of the world flags for some of the world's largest countries.

Examples of World Flags and Their Symbolism

Afghanistan :  This flag is a unique design featuring a background of three colors - black, red, and green.  The national emblem, in the center of the flag, is Mehrab and Pulpit in white, with a flag on each side of it.  The top of the insignia reads "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his prophet, and Allah is Great."  The three colors represent various stages of the history of Afghanistan.  Black represents the 19th century, red identifies its fight for independence, and green identifies the country's hard-won independence.

England : The flag of England features a red cross over a white background.  It is also known as the "St. George."  The flag has its origins in the crusades, and most historians believe that the flag was flown in England just before the second crusade.  England was not actually a nation until 1272 under King Edward I, and its earliest reference was in the Welsh War of 1277.  The United Kingdom flag, of course, is the Union Jack, adopted on January 1, 1801.

Finland : The flag of Finland is the "Scandinavian cross".  It is a blue cross against a white background.  The meaning of this flag is interesting; the blue represents the lakes, and the white represents the snow of the great country of Finland.

France : The French flag was adopted in 1794 and it features three vertical colors - blue, white and red.  The history of this flag comes from the colors used during the storming of the Bastille, and the Royal white.  The current flag is the original flag in use during the rule of Napoleon I.

Germany : The origins of the flag of Germany comes after WWII in the late 1940s.  The new government adopted the black-red-gold from the Weimar Republic on May 9, 1949.  The black-red-gold colors originates from 1870 when the German Empire wanted to incorporate the black and white of Prussia with the white and red of the Hanseatic League.  Therefore the post WWII colors actually represent the history of Germany quite well.

China : The Chinese flag consists of a large yellow star in the corner and four stars off to the right side all on a red background.  The red traditionally represents revolution.  The large gold star stands for the Communist Party, and the small gold stars are the four united classes - workers, peasants, rich, and the capitalists.

Japan : The Japanese flag is the well-known red circle, representing the sun, in the center of a white background.  The history of this flag dates back to the early 1600s when the Tokugawa shogunate adopted the flag on its ships.  By the 19th century, all Japanese vessels bore the flag of the rising sun.

Understanding World Flags and their Symbolism

An excellent resource for more information about world flags, and the symbolic meaning of the colors and images on those flags, are the various country guides that you can find at any library or bookstore.  Of course, if you are traveling in any foreign country, many times locals can offer you a much better insight into the history and local legends surrounding the national flag.  Always show respect and reverence to the flag of any foreign country you are visiting.

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The Major Economic and Social Problems in the Arab World?

Water issues can greatly participate in tense interstate relations in the region. The rapid growth of Arab populations is making water far more valuable than oil"*. The major water resources of the Arab world are jointly shared among different countries inside and outside the region(Turkey and Africa ) and as unused water resources became less and less in recent years led to competition over these resources and in certain cases to conflicts. Nile River, the Tigris and Euphrates, the Jordan River valley (and its tributaries), and groundwater resources in the West Bank and Israel are the main water systems under dispute in the region. A direct result of the water problem is the need for large food imports as Arab world is the least food-self-sufficient region in the world. Many countries in the region are using desalinization plants to increase their water supply by converting sea water to fresh water.However, it is an expensive option, and with the present technology it can only offer a limited solution to the drinking water problem.

Lack of industry is also one of the major problems in the Arab world." It is very clear that Arabs not used their vast resources to at least obtain some of the basic knowledge to be players in the international explosion of Technology and commerce**". With a very small manufacturing and a very week agricultural base, the Arab world depends nearly completely on foreign imports to maintain an increasingly high-tech urban society and that makes the imported food and chemicals critical to survival. Locally produced capital goods almost not exist. Transport, communications, power, water purification and distribution, and construction equipment must all be imported. Building the essential industry in the Arab countries stayed a dream because of the Excessive dependence of the west advanced industrial economies and Inadequate manpower education and rehabilitation. But Some Arab countries such as Tunisia, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon are qualified to take on industries and technology available in Europe and re-export the products to European markets. The best example of such industries is textile and ready-made garments and shoes, mostly in Syria.

"Investments in the Arab world has been disappointing "***.The Arab world of share flows of the total world investment still very low compared to the huge potential possessed to the flow of foreign direct investment received by the Arab countries. Investments in the Arab countries are clashes with many barriers which are the same toward the comprehensive development. The lack of ability to deal with the intractable problems of the country like in many Arab countries there is the case of tribal and political ethnic, sectarian conflicts. As in Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Algeria, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine as the most important factor for attracting investments is the stability. Capital always looking for a higher degree of profit. Investor could not venture in projects that might be exposed to destruction and failure in any moment, in addition to administrative constraints such as poor management performance and the spread of bureaucracy and rampant corruption and lack of attention to self-censorship, also the low level of feasibility studies comes as one of the most important obstacles facing investors.

Social problems
"The population of the Arab world today is around 325 million people # spanning two continents" **** . Dwelt an area about one and a half times the U.S and women constitute half of the total population. with an estimated average rate of growth by about 2.4%,down from about 2.6%during the period 1985-1995,although this decline is still the highest rate among the major regions in the world(Al Jazeera newspaper 13/10/2007)# #. It projected to increase 400 million in 2020. There is a significant disparity in population size between the Arab states. Egypt and Yemen are considered overpopulated while most Arab countries are relatively under populated. A top UN official warned the authorities in Arab cities of the high growth rate of population as it could lead delay in progress and development and also could lead to social unrest, pressure on public utility services and environmental problems. Also the population growth can lead to poverty, and causing problems like water shortage and traffic jams. This increase problem has not been dealing with as one aspect of comprehensive development. (Al Jazeera newspaper 13/10/2007)
Education is another problem facing the Arab world. Approximately 30% of the people in the Arab World illiterate. Although education is becoming more accessible and the gender gap is being reduced, the region had not witnessed the positive changes seen in Asia and Latin America, particularly in literacy rates and enrolments in secondary schools and universities. The education system is not effective enough as students are being made to learn things but not to taught how to learn .Djibouti, Yemen, Iraq and Morocco were ranked the worst educational reformers. The Arab world does not read according to various reports, even those defined as not illiterate because they completed eight years of schooling they consider illiterate. This problem has to do with the economic situation. Reading books is a privilege for people who have spare time and money. The poverty that sweeps the Arab world leaves the individual struggling for survival his whole life. How is he supposed to read a book?

The human security issue of a global nature is important for people everywhere, rich and poor alike People in the Arab world have become Consider insecurity comes from problems related to daily life rather than a result of fear of a global problems, and for many of them security has become a symbol of protection from the threat of hunger, disease, unemployment, drugs, crime, social conflict, pollution and human rights violations, political oppression and environmental risks. Many have lost their children because they have to work in early age .this leads us to emphasize the idea that neglect of State for human security will be a problem and the threat of danger had seen in the coming years when the numbers of unemployed generates sense of hopelessness and frustration aggravating elements necessary for the region communal violence levels because of the rampant corruption in the public sector. Severity of this problem may differ from country to country, but all these threats remain a growing phenomenon.

Conclusion
Problems in the Arab world are varying and overlapping and that in many areas such as economic, social, politics and even in culture. There will be a large increase in unemployment, housing, schooling and more serious other problems. So what might the future hold? That is really up to the Arabs, their governments and those who care about the region?

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Peace and Harmony

The most essential thing in any country for its people is to live in peace and harmony. However, beautiful and wealthy a country may be if there is no peace in that country, the people who live in those countries are always in tear and sadness. Some of the countries like Bangladesh that has floods very often, Japan that suffers terribly when there are earthquakes, also there are countries like America, Africa that have many high mountains and they have earth slips that ruin many buildings, houses and the people. These are very, very unfortunate countries. When we compare our Sri Lanka with those countries, we will feel how fortunate we are to be always protected with the coziness of our motherland.

Our beautiful country is known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. Although we are not that much unlucky to face those terrible natural disasters, as the citizens of Sri Lanka, we are unfortunate to suffer from WAR.

Even though we are still suffering by the war which has started 20 years back by LTTE, we are a safe made country. Even with the war causing much trouble in North province and some other rural areas, we are not affected by food. We grow our own rice, vegetables, fruits and we make our own milk products. We even supply some of our primary industry products like Tea, Coconut, Rubber and Gems as our own exports.

As we are affected more and more by the war, our forces become much more stronger. There are thousands of noble sons and daughters who are always ready to give up their lives on be half of our Motherland. They are divided as Army, Navy, Air force and Police. They are always ready to go to the front without any fear at any moment.

If we expect to have peace, then we should try to achieve peace as a family, a society and finally the whole country. Then automatically the country will achieve peace and harmony. Greed and Selfishness always start a war. Some are not satisfied with what they have, they just wants to grab others properties. So, as the LTTE becomes drunk with greed in grabbing a part of our beautiful Motherland, this unfortunate war started.

Pease is something that every human being would like to enjoy. If all human beings love each other and contented with what they have, there will be no space for war. War ruins a country and its people. Once a war comes to an end that country would lose its beauty and for people, it will take years and years to come back to its earlier position which was so beautiful with all its splendor. It's in the hands of all human beings to live a religious, unselfishness and take life to care for others.

Keeping the Full stop for the war will not just depend on praying god. Hold my hand, we will do it…

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