Friday, November 29, 2019

Silence Of The Lambs Essays - Hannibal Lecter,

Silence Of The Lambs THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS The novel The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris is said to fall under the genre of psychological horror. The stories that fall under the genre of horror include a few essential elements: a villain or one seen as evil to create an initial story line. The foil is the next element; a foil is a person who tries to stop the villain from going through with the evil plan or plot. These two elements naturally lead to conflict between the two persons or groups and then from this conflict ? suspense, the last element is added. Suspense is important to keep the reader interested and to keep the story line going. When psychology is added to a story, the definition of horror is changed completely. There are still those few essential elements above but there is also a few more added. The story now has something to do with the mind and how it works, and there is really no definition for that. The mind and it's workings are a mystery to us and that mystery of the mind ad ds to the suspense and therefore the idea of psychology and horror are able to go together and become one. This essay will prove that The Silence of the Lambs is indeed a psychological horror according to the five criteria above along with other sources. The first element to a psychological horror is a villain, and the villain is The Silence of the Lambs is Mr. Jame Gumb. He is a white male in his mid thirties, ?most serial killers are white male, unemployed, intelligent and experience financial difficulty.?(Bonata, 3) Gumb is all of these things, he is unemployed but a very skilled seamstress, and using these skills is making himself a second skin out of women who he is able to take control of and render them powerless. He is also very intelligent but is anable to interact with other people and therefore remains unemployed. He experienced financial difficulties until he was the recipient of a large sum of money from an inheritance. ?The unconscious fear of women goads some men with a compulsive urge to conquer, humiliate, hurt, or render powerless some available sample of womanhood.? (Menninger, 183) Gumb was deeply disturbed and unable to overcome the death of his mother and he wanted to be like her and resented any woman because he feels that he should have been born a woman instead of the man that he is. He is sewing a skin of women to try to become more like his mother and less of the man that he is. This is how he received his nickname ?Buffalo Bill? because the way he murders and then skins his victims. Jame Gumb is a very disturbed individual and his ?violence and crimes are often attempts to escape from insanity.? (Menninger, 181) Jame Gumb is in a word where he believes that he can become a woman and live somehow be with his mother again or even attempt to become her. ?Men who are violently afraid of their repressed but nearly emergent homosexual desired often try to overcome these fears with violent demonstrations.? (Menninger, 183) Jame Gumb did no t know what he was in terms of sexuality and decided that he would rather be a woman than a man. This desire drove him to commit such horrible crimes and try to become a woman using their skins. The foils to Jame Gumb are a much stronger force that he is or could ever be, they are the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the FBI. They want to stop the murders as soon as possible so that no other lives are lost and the country can get back to normal without living with the fear of a serial killer on the loose. Along with the FBI, an X-psychiatrist named Dr. Hannibal Lecter and, Clarice Starling they try to stop the murders and regain order to society, this is not an easy task and there are many obstacles along the way. The first obstacle is that the whereabouts of Gumb are unknown and his identity has alluded the FBI since the

Monday, November 25, 2019

Fault in our Stars Book Talk Essay Example

Fault in our Stars Book Talk Essay Example Fault in our Stars Book Talk Essay Fault in our Stars Book Talk Essay Essay Topic: Talk The Fault in Our Stars Her parents decide to send her to a cancer support group where teenagers meet and discuss about their lives with cancer. Stubbornly, she agrees to go, opening the doors to a impolitely different life. At the support group, she meets an attractive boy named Augustus Waters, a former basketball star whose leg was amputated due to cancer. Throughout the novel, Augustus and Hazel grow closer and closer, developing an inseparable relationship. In a short amount of time, their lives turn upside down; through seemingly endless hospital stays, to traveling abroad. In spite of the typical predictions of a story about a teenager with cancer and a crush, unlike any other book with similar characteristics, The Fault In Our Stars is filled with unpredictable and Jaw-dropping scenes. One scene after another, I was astonished by the dramatic chain of events. This captivating book taught me Just how one persons misfortune can have an effect on many others. : Additionally, this novel taught me to always have an optimistic outlook on life, despite of tough obstacles that l, and others, may face. John Greens beautiful writing made me feel as if I were a part of Hazels life. Experiencing a powerful, contrasting range of overwhelming happiness and laughter, as well as striking heartaches, I couldnt stop flipping the pages to see what would happen next. The suspense was so intriguing. It is the most realistic, fictional book I have ever read. In the world today, there are many people affected by cancer. In this novel, you can see how hard life is for teenagers at such a young age to deal with the hardships of cancer. However, this book also shows that even for people with cancer, the sky the limit. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is willing to go onto an emotional roller coaster ride of humor, romance, and tragedy. What holds the responsibilities of the tragedies of fate? Is it true? Does the fault lie in our stars? Or does it lie within ourselves? Grab and read the book to find out!

Friday, November 22, 2019

The American Political System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The American Political System - Essay Example The American political system is indeed on that is rightfully the envy of the other countries. The system of check and balance within our political system should be considered the greatest strength of our government. However, it is this very strength that also weakens our political structure in a certain way. Too much check and balance in the legislative arm of the government results only in never ending filibustering which in turn prevents the government from effectively governing the society that they are supposed to lead. Just look at the recent events between the White House and Congress and you will know that I am stating a well known fact. Check and balance, when done incorrectly by our government leaders instead ends up weakening our political and economic structure. If I were given a chance to change something about the American democratic system, it would have to be the electoral college. Although the college is good as a provider of check and balance within the two party system, it stifles the true will of the people by allowing their individual belief and voices to be heard because individual votes are not counted in favor of either two party system candidate. Therefore, an electoral college proclamation of a president cannot really be considered to be the real voice of the people thus, one cannot actually say that the president elect has the overwhelming support of the American

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

SPIRITUAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SPIRITUAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT - Essay Example In the future, I would focus more on spirituality to make my approach universal rather than being specific because not all people welcome religion. The tool however helped for the interviewee to open up that sometimes he has a need for someone bigger than him when he feels lonely. The tool is non-judgmental and compassionate in approach and this helped me get through the defenses of the interviewee. The spiritual experience I had with my interviewee was fulfilling. At first he was resistant and does not want to admit that he too, just like all of us, needs some divine guidance. Eventually however, he softened and he in fact calls out for God during his moments of despair. The non-judgmental approach of the tool help him opened up which he used to find very difficult for fear of reprisal. On my end, the tool helped me connect and get through the seemingly tough exterior of the interviewee. It also helped me understand that the stress and negative experiences that the interviewee undergone made him hard and defensive. For example, when I asked about his down moments, the interviewee initially played tough that he can handle anything. The tool help me get through him and address his spiritual need. The experience affirmed by belief that all of us need â€Å"Somebody† bigger than us especially during our tough times. As the saying goes, â€Å"there is no atheist in a foxhole† because human strength will always fail us. We could appear tough just like my friend but it is really just a defense mechanism to make him look strong with his peers. Deep inside however, he also have spiritual needs which when explored, is actually bigger than most of us because it has long been repressed due to his negative experiences and fear that society may judge him as weak. When I made him open up, it was like a floodgate of pent up emotions and suppressed pains that has long been buried beneath him. I promised that whatever he tells

Monday, November 18, 2019

A student should participate in study groups Essay

A student should participate in study groups - Essay Example For example, if two students, both equally intelligent and capable, completely complement each other’s skills in a physics course, then it is only logical that they work together in order to learn from the other’s experiences and abilities. Study groups, like a group in the workplace, seek to fulfill the goals of each member to the extent that each member’s objectives are aligned with the other members of the group. Usually, it is the case that members of a study group are interested in achieving a better grade, and this desire is what unites the individuals in their efforts to help others and in turn help themselves. Students should participate in study groups because such groups offer knowledge, experience, and skills that individuals alone could not realize. Study groups have been shown to be successful, particularly in fields where knowledge is particularly specialized, such as in more in-depth fields like physics, chemistry, and computer science. Research ha s demonstrated that students retain more information by devoting time to hands-on laboratory work and with faculty. In addition, study groups are helpful to students insofar as they encourage individuals to become active learners and to become better collaborators with peers (Guo 190). As such, study groups tend to produce higher results on academic performance than individual work. In a study of perceptions of academic support services by engineering students, researchers Charlotte Amenkhienan and Lori Kogan observed that students thought that study groups were invaluable. Individuals thought the chance to describe course material to others assisted in a clearer understanding of the notes. Moreover, in order to add more to the group talks, members of study groups retained an incentive to finish work in a suitable manner. Students who had trouble in their classes found it difficult to identify fellow students with whom to make study groups. This was described as a limitation to fres hman year academic performance. As the authors wrote, â€Å"Their inability to establish contacts with fellow students precluded their ability to take advantage of valuable peer networking and study group opportunities† (Amenkhienan and Kogan 536). In other words, the study groups were instrumental to some students’ success, while the inability to actually participate in them in other cases was a burden on their academic performance. This corroborates findings from other research that study groups are an asset to students of specialized fields. In one case of study group effectiveness for students, a pre-medicine undergraduate student named John decided that he should form a study group with other pre-medicine students because he had trouble with mathematics. Sure enough, John was able to put together a study group of pre-medicine students, some of whom were strong in mathematics, others in physics, others in chemistry, and others in biology. John was able to leverage his strength in biology to help a fellow member of the study group, Kevin, who was especially strong in mathematics. Together, the students could work collaboratively while doing well in their courses. This specialization of skills within the study group provides for personal improvement that one would not have access to outside of the group. If John had continued without participating in a group, his academic success would be

Saturday, November 16, 2019

North Koreas Influence of Peace in North East Asia

North Koreas Influence of Peace in North East Asia North Korea and North East Asian Peace and Security Current security issues in North East Asia, raised by North Korea Nuclear Test. Please examine how far North Korea can affect the peace and stability in Northeast Asia and how other countries such as America, Japan, China, and Russia react on this issue. And lastly, How to solve this security issues permanently and increases future stability in the area? Abstract The following dissertation will discuss and evaluate North Koreas influence and effect upon peace and security within the North East Asia region. This dissertation will evaluate North Koreas relationships with other countries in the North East Asia region such as South Korea, Japan, and China. Countries from outside the immediate North East Asia region like the UnitedStates, Russia (as the largest successor state of the Soviet Union) and to a lesser extent Britain and France also have an interest in the North East Asia Region. All these countries have an interest in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear tests. For instance these countries must consider how the actions or the potential actions of the North Korean government are able to influence or effect peace and security within the North East Asia region. Nongovernmental organisations like the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as the International Atomic Energy Aut hority (IAEA) have taken a great deal of interest in how North Korea effects the peace and security of its immediately neighbouring countries. These organisations are taking North Koreas nuclear programme as well as its ballistic missile capacity into account when they regard the North Korean threat to peace and security going beyond the confines of the North East Asia region itself. This dissertation will evaluate the development and changes in North Korean government policies that have influenced and arguably threatened peace and security of the North East Asia region from Koreas initial division at the end of the Second World War through to the present day. North Korea has been regarded as a threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region ever since Pyongyangs decision to invade South Korea provoked the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. The Korean War as will be discussed set the mould for North Korean defence and foreign policies, whilst ensuring the importance of the relationship with China and Russia. The North Korean regime, as will be shown, has been very reluctant to embrace and adopt any kind of economic or political reforms, preferring to use its scant resources on maintaining and expanding its military capacity. It is also continuing its nuclear weapons programme, long drawn talks having yet to result in effective nuclear disarmament, and thu s undermining peace and security within the North East Asia region, and when issues of nuclear proliferation are concerned outside that region. Finally the following will explore whether there are any ways in which North Korea can finally become a country that its neighbours in the North East Asia region could trust and believe will not threaten their common peace and stability rather than a country that they mistrust. The United Nations is an organisation that could offer the North Korean assistance to overcome its failed economy in return for the ending of North Koreas nuclear programme and potentially aggressive foreign policy. The main onus for international efforts to contain North Korean nuclear weapons development has been by the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. The prospects for the international community being able to monitor and eventually close down North Koreas nuclear weapons programme, dismantling any weapons already constructed will also be discussed and evaluated. Introduction Korea has a long history of being a definable and separate nation state, although it was for many centuries subject to Chinese and later Japanese control (Lenman, 2004, p.450). Japanese control of Korea was ended by its defeat in the Second World War, which would inadvertently lead to the partition of Korea (Whitakers, 2007, p.892). The division of Korea was caused by the way that the Allied powers liberated the country from Japanese occupation, United States troops cleared the south, with the Soviet Union being responsible for clearing the north. This was intended to be a temporary division along the 38th parallel that would provoke the hottest conflict of the Cold War, as well as creating a dispute that continues to destabilise the peace and the security of the North East Asia region. As with the division of Vietnam the division was purely carried out as a reflection of the distribution of American and Soviet armed forces at the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1945 (Gad dis, 2005, p.41). It was Kim Il Sung who had previously fought the Japanese for many years that emerged as North Koreas first political leader, and he would be the man most responsible for his countrys attempt to re-unite Korea by force. Kim Il Sung was also responsible for North Koreas subsequently militant defence and foreign policies that has remained stridently anti-Western, militaristic, and potentially aggressive towards its immediate neighbours in the North East Asia region ever since. It was Kim Il Sung that decided to re-unite Korea by force, after his realisation that diplomacy would not bring about such a re-unification led to the plan to invade South Korea, although he seems to have pre-empted similar plans that the South Koreans had hoped to implement. Kim Il Sung went ahead with that invasion with the approval of the Soviet Union and China, and the apparent indifference of the United States, which had already withdrawn its military garrisons from South Korea during 1949. However, the Nor th Korean invasion which, was launched in June 1950 persuaded the United States to lead the United Nations forces into defending South Korea and driving the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel. The United States had been able to take advantage of the Soviet Unions representative not been at the United Nations due to the Soviet decision to boycott the organisation due to Communist China being excluded from the Security Council (Evans Newnham, 1998, p. 293). The United States decision to intervene in the Korean War started its long -standing military alliance with South Korea to guarantee South Korean security from the continued threat of North Korean aggression. The Korean War itself would drag on for three years with the North Koreans having to rely on large-scale Chinese military intervention and covert air support from the SovietUnion. North Korea only survived after the American led United Nations forces had captured the majority of North Korean territory due to Mao Zedo ng sending in the Chinese army. The conflict could have escalated, due to the involvement of Soviet aircraft that could have provoked a war between the superpowers yet both Moscow and Washington did not want an all out war to start due to the Korean War (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 228). After the Korean War the prospects for Korean re-unification seemed to be remote, with the two Korean states being integrated into the alliance systems of the Soviet Union and the United States respectively. North Korea was therefore firmly in the communist camp, and initially enjoyed strong and productive political, economic and military relationships with both China and the Soviet Union. South Korea was a willing member of the United States alliance system and received substantial monetary and military backing from the United States, and later significant economic investment from Japan that would make it wealthier than North Korea. The United States government was not bothered by the Seouls regime lack of democratic practices just as long as it remained fervently anti-Communist (Hobsbawm, 1994 p. 228). Kim Il Sungs North Korean regime was in contrast avowedly Marxist-Leninist in ideological outlook, whilst trying to create a strong sense of North Korean nationalism that was decided ly anti-American and increasingly isolationist in perspective (Heywood, 2003 p. 179). The Korean War meant that neighbouring countries such as South Korea, Japan, and China kept an interest in political and diplomatic developments that involved North Korea, the former as potential enemies, the latter originally as an ally. The balance of power during the Cold War meant that North Korea could only pose a threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region if that suited the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent China. The Kremlin to a large extent kept the regime in Pyongyang in check, not wishing to provoke further conflict, and realising that the United States would not tolerate North Korea attempting to invade South Korea again, or indeed developing its own nuclear weapons. On the other hand the Soviet Union exported missile and nuclear technologies to North Korea as part of its military and economic aid packages to the Pyongyang regime (Gaddis, 2005 p. 60). The fighting during the Korean War was heavy, the agricultural sector being particularly adversely affected, and the war had devastated North Koreas economy. American bombing had also heavily damaged the North Korean capital city, Pyongyang. The number of North Korean fatalities, 419,000 was testimony to the high human costs of the conflict, with around 3 million people dying during its course (Castleden, 2005, p.299). The scale of destruction did not prevent a strong economic revival and rapid industrialisation, although most of those improvements were brought about by considerable amounts of help from China and the Soviet Union (Castleden, 2005, p.300). Large-scale industrialisation in North Korea would therefore have undoubtedly been much harder to achieve without that substantial aid that North Korea received from China and the Soviet Union. The Soviet decision to export nuclear technology to North Korea, for the non-military use of generating electricity would later allow Pyongy ang the opportunity to start its own nuclear weapons programme. That would have been unthinkable at the height of the Cold War, as neither the Soviet Union nor the United States would allow any of their satellite states to disturb the nuclear power balance between them. However, once the North Korean regime believed that the Soviet Union and China would no longer offer North Korea any meaningful kind or level of protection that is indeed precisely what the North Korean regime decided to do (Lenman, 2004, p.451). North Korea would continue to operate a planned economy even though that would eventually fail to adequately support its military build up and its civilian population. The North Korean government opted to keep its military infrastructure expanding rather than attempt economic reforms or adequately providing for its people (Heywood, 2003 p.137). The Soviet Union would have certainly disapproved of North Korean plans to develop its own nuclear weapons, yet the Soviet Unions in fluence upon North Korean military and defence policies had waned long before its own disintegration in 1991 (Gaddis, 2005, p.264). North Korea arguably became a threat to the peace and stability of the North East Asia region due to the nature and character of its hard line Stalinist regime. Kim Il Sung was a Marxist dictator in the mode of Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. However for the majority of the Cold War period the North Korean threat was seen to be much less pronounced to the non-communist parts of the North East Asia region than the more obvious threats of the Soviet Union and China (Gaddis, 2005, p.60). Kim Il Sungs craving for power meant that North Korea dedicated and continues to dedicate a large percentage of its national budget and resources towards internal repression and building up its military strength to threaten the other countries of the North East Asia region. However, North Koreas conventional weapons would not be enough to successfully invade South Korea whilst the United States continues to offer full protection against such attacks, even if their purchase had almost bankrupted the Pyongy ang regime (Castleden, 2005, p.303). Despite the faltering of the North Korean economy in the last two decades or so, Pyongyang seems to be more interested in threatening South Korea and Japan with nuclear weapons and ballistic weapons than feeding its own population. Although North Korea should be wary of what happened to its erstwhile ally, the Soviet Union whose excessive and unsustainable military expenditure played a major part in its eventual collapse (Tipton, 1998, p.434). However, although the North Korean regime decided to start its nuclear weapons programme that decision violated North Koreas formal and legal pledges not to proliferate its own nuclear weapons. North Korea had signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and had joined the IAEA, which meant that it was not supposed to start its own nuclear weapons programme at all (Evans Newnham, 1998 p. 68). For the North Koreans there were other examples of small and large sized states that had already broken their promises and legal commitments not to develop their own nuclear weapons. Those states nuclear weapons programme with varying degrees of reaction from the official nuclear powers of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, China, and France. Countries such as Israel, India, and Pakistan have gone on to successfully acquire their own nuclear weapons with little or no action been taken against them to make them give up those devices. The North Korean regime understood that it could dev elop nuclear weapons with the possiblity that the United Nations and the leading powers would not be able to take any effective action to take those weapons off North Korea (Fukuyama, 2006 p. 80). Chapter One North Korean defence and foreign policy misrepresented or a threat to peace and security? Since the foundation of North Korea as a separate nation state its defence and foreign policies have been geared towards the re-unification of Korea on Pyongyangs terms, rather than South Koreas terms (Rayner Stanley, 2006, p.234). As far as the North Korean regime of Kim Il Sung was concerned the re-unification of Korea was not an issue that should concern any other countries apart from North and South Korea themselves. It was the context of the Cold War that complicated the strategic, military and diplomatic situation concerning the dispute between North and South Korea about which country should over power the other to dominate a reunified Korean state. In military terms North Korea is the strongest, in economic terms South Korea is the strongest (Tipton, 1998, 434). On the one hand the assistance of China and the Soviet Union was useful for the economic development of North Korea and also as a means of building up the countrys military power. On the other hand the Cold War meant that the United States was more alert about the need to protect the countries in the North East Asia region that were opposed to communism, like Japan, South Korea and South Vietnam (Gaddis, 2005, p.60). The Cold War meant that the United States was unwilling to allow any more parts of North East Asia to fall under communist rule. After all the presence of United States forces in Japan had allowed the United Nations forces to resist Kim Il Sungs invasion of South Korea. North Vietnam would eventually overcome South Vietnam despite the best efforts of the United States, yet the terrain of Vietnam was different from that of Korea and the North Vietnamese had better military tactics than the North Koreans (Hobsbawm, 1994, p.228). Whilst the Cold War continued, North Korea was not seen as the main threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region, superpower rivalry meant that the Soviet Union and the United States mistrusted each other more than they mistrusted any other stat e. China would also emerge as a major power within the region, one that eventually took independent policy decisions from those of the Soviet Union. The United States government however, remains wary of North Koreas intentions towards the rest of the North East Asia region (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). The peace and security of the North East Asia region altered during the 1960s, not as a result of changes in the Cold War, but as a result of alterations in the relationship between North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union. The regime of Kim Il Sung had not wished for North Korea to be reliant upon either China or the Soviet Union as soon as the country had recovered from the Korean War and had become economically self sufficient. By the mid 1960s the North Korean regime believed that it become self-sufficient and no longer such high levels of aid from China or the Soviet Union. Kim Il Sung wanted to maintain military links with China and the Soviet Union, yet did not wish for North Korea to be a mere client state of Beijing or Moscow. North Korea was not going to be like the majority of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe were in relation to the Soviet Union. Although of course the North Koreans did not have to worry about invasion by the Soviet Union if it took much of a n independent from Soviet policy (Castleden, 2005, p.301). North Koreas military power was originally reliant upon Chinese and Soviet built equipment and the regime could not afford weapons from any other countries outside of the communist bloc (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). Under Kim Il Sungs leadership North Korea could not get away from its close economic links with the Soviet Union until the latters collapse in 1991, which in turn would have very detrimental affects upon North Korea (Watson, 1997, p.246). The strong relationship between China and the Soviet Union declined dramatically towards the end of the 1960s resulting in border clashes between the two states. The break down in the relationship between China and the Soviet Union meant North Koreas most powerful allies would spend more time arguing with each other than the United States. Pyongyang did not back either state publicly although Kim Il Sung regarded the Soviet Union as a more reliable ally, and unlike Beijing, Moscow did n ot occasionally make insulting comments about the North Korean leader (Watson, 1997, p.240). Whilst the North Korean economy seemed to enjoy impressive growth rates from the 1950s through to the 1970s, the country arguably did not have or develop the infrastructure or indeed have the resources to become a serious threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region. North Korean economic policy was heavily influenced by the planned economies of China and the Soviet Union, and was as unsuccessful in North Korea as they had been in China and the Soviet Union (Heywood, 2003 p. 152). Kim Il Sungs regime collectivised agriculture and began the process of large-scale industrialisation. The collectivisation of agriculture commenced in 1946 when estates with Japanese owners were confiscated in the north under Soviet guidance (Tipton, 1998,p.304). Collectivisation and the modernisation of agriculture increased the life expectancy of the North Korean population. Industrialisation at least during the 1950s and 1960s appeared to be impressive. However much of that economic growth was due to the revenues raised from the export of natural resources to the Soviet Union and the receipt of aid from the Soviet Union (Watson, 1997, p.246) Economic growth could have been stronger if it had not been hampered by Kim Il Sungs decision to make expenditure on the military as high as possible, and his governments main priority. The military build up was meant to unnerve the South Korean government. In terms of total expenditure South Korea spent more on its military expenditure than North Korea. This was mainly due to North Korea being regarded as an ever-present threat to South Korean security. There were differences as to how the two countries military expenditure was regarded in the North East Asia region and beyond. South Koreas military expenditure was seen as being justified as it would deter North Korea. On the other hand, North Koreas military spending was viewed as being unjustified, aggressive and a sign of Kim Il Sungs megalomania, policies that his son, Kim Jong Il has continued (Gaddis, 2005, p.61). North Korea had one major disadvantage if its regime wished to outspend South Korea in terms of their defence budgets, as they were poorer. Whilst North Korea found it difficult to find foreign investors, South Korea was able to attract very high volumes of investment, especially from the United States and Japan. South Koreas increasing levels of wealth meant it could easily match North Koreas military build up, without reducing the living standards of its population, or driving its government towards insolvency (Tipton, 1998, p.304). In terms of any future conventional war between North and South Korea, South Korea held key advantages. Firstly, the South Korean population was twice the size of its neighbour to the north, potentially allowing for its armed forces to have twice the number of personnel in war- time conditions. In 1985, South Korea was estimated to have a population of 41.2 million compared to North Koreas population of 20.1 million people (Watson, 1997, p.262). South K orea was economically more productive and therefore wealthier than North Korea, with the latters seemingly impressive growth rates beginning to slow down by the start of the 1980s. An example of the growing disparity between the countries was the per capita income, whilst it was $790 for North Korea in 1982, it was $1,840 for South Korea in 1983. In economic terms, North Korea could not realistically afford its high levels of military expenditure, although Kim Il Sungs regime was determined to carry on with spending money it believed kept the regime in power and made it a continuing danger to its capitalist neighbours (Watson, 1997, p.262). In the following decade North Korea was widely regarded as bring an increased threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region, despite the countrys economy going in to a steep decline. Whilst the North Korean regime refused to scale down its military expenditure its agricultural sector, especially suffered an alarming drop in productivity that contributed to an estimated two million North Koreans dying of starvation during the 1990s. Despite famine and economic decline the North Korean regime still used scarce resources to develop its nuclear weapons programme. North Korea barely increased its economic productivity during the 1990s and was by then considerably poorer than South Korea. To give a stark contrast, South Korean per capita gross domestic product (GDP) reached an impressive $13, 700, whilst North Korean GDP languished at $900. It was a paradoxical situation in which, although the North Korean regime could increasingly threaten its neighbours with missiles and nuclear weapons, yet it would eventually need emergency aid from those countries to prevent more of its own population starving to death (Pipes, 2001, p.152). On paper at least, North Korea has impressive conventional military strength with around 3,500 tanks and 2,500 armoured personnel carriers, whilst the army had 950,000 troops. The North Korean air force has 590 combat aircraft, whilst the navys 88 submarines could pose a serious threat to shipping in the North East Asia region in the event of a future war. However it is the potential development and possible of nuclear weapons that causes a greater concern than North Koreas conventional arsenal (Whitakers 2007, pp.893-94). South Korea has smaller armed forces yet still has a standing army 560,000 strong and 2,330 main battle tanks. South Korea would no doubt have to increase those numbers if 94, 450 Americans were not based in South Korea (Whitakers 2007 p. 895). However, it was not just North Koreas strength in terms of conventional weapons that means it is regarded as being a threat to peace and security in the North East Asia region. The United States government has long suspected that North Korea has played a part in sponsoring and supporting terrorism within the North East Asia region and indeed further afield. The suspicions of the United States have been founded upon the anti-American rhetoric that the North Korean regime its content to produce from time to time (Gaddis, 2005, p.261). South Korea had previously accused North Korea of trying to undermine internal stability by supporting dissident South Korean groups and calling for the re-unification of Korea (Tipton, 1998, p.304). North Korea was one of the countries that the administration of Ronald Reagan denounced as being terrorist states back in 1985. The Reagan administration viewed North Korea as being a risk to international peace and security within and beyond the North East A sia region (Ward, 2003, p.349). North Korea did not have any moral or political hang ups about selling weapons such as assault rifles to other countries that found it hard to acquire weapons due to arms embargos or sanctions. For instance, North Korea sold surplus Soviet manufactured assault rifles to Iran during the early years of the Iran-Iraq War. Such arms sales may have contributed to the United States accusing North Korea of being a terrorist state. The North Koreans could have countered that these claims were hypocrisy on the part of the American government that sold a much greater volume of weapons to any state or organisation that was anti-Communist, or if it suited the United States interests to do so. Hypocrisy that was demonstrated by the Iran –Contra Affair in which the money from arms sales to Iran was used to fund the Contra forces in Nicaragua (Fisk, 2006, p.278). North Korea also supplied ballistic missiles to the Iranians and even sent engineers to Iran to e nsure those missiles successfully reached Iraqi targets, especially Baghdad. The willingness of the North Koreans to sell missiles to the highest bidders certainly increased concerns about Pyongyang posing a threat to peace and security (Fisk, 2006, p.281). Surveillance and interceptions of cargo ships have provided evidence that North Korea will sell weapons to terrorist organisations as well as any state that can afford them. For instance, the Spanish navy intercepted a North Korean merchant ship that was officially taking cement to South Yemen. Once aboard that ship the Spanish found ballistic missiles that could have been used by the terrorist group that had brought those missiles. The Middle East is a volatile region at the best of times, so the ability of North Korea to supply ballistic missiles to governments and terrorists groups in that region is another concern for the United States and other Western countries (Davies, 2003 p. 238). It was during the early 1990s that the prospect of North Korea carrying out a successful nuclear weapons programme became the cause of major international concern. In the United States, the administration of President Bill Clinton was determined to persuade the North Korean regime to halt that nuclear weapons programme peacefully by preference, or by force if necessary (Clinton, 2004 p. 561). Aside from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan were, and still are the countries that are most anxious to prevent North Korea acquiring and keeping nuclear weapons. Britain and France have also been involved in international efforts to prevent North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons as members of the United Nations Security Council, and as signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Evans Newnham, 1998 p. 381). South Korea and Japan are particularly anxious and insecure about North Koreas attempts to produce nuclear weapons because they would be the most obvious targ ets if North Korea ever decided to use nuclear weapons. That anxiety is increased because the South Koreans and the Japanese are well aware that the North Koreans have the technical capacity to fit nuclear warheads to its force of ballistic missiles that can reach all the major cities in South Korea and Japan. China is also anxious that the nuclear weapons programme of North Korea does not provoke a military confrontation between North Korea and the United States that would bring widespread destruction and shatter the peace and stability of the North East Asia region. China remains keen to continue its impressive economic growth rates and also hopes to maintain political stability in the region, a stability that North Korea has a strong propensity to disrupt. China is therefore willing to act as a go between to prevent conflict arising between the United States and North Korea that would be very damaging to the North East Asia region as a whole (Cheek, 2006 p.136). That also means t hat China is willing to back the efforts of the United States, South Korea, and Japan to reduce the North Korean threat to peace and security (The Guardian, February 14 2007). Russia, as the main successor state to the Soviet Union, on the other hand has attempted to maintain strong economic, military, and economic links with North Korea. Those links leave Kim Jong Il hoping North Korea has more leeway in its disputes with the United States and the United Nations over its plans to acquire nuclear weapons. Whilst Russia is caught between promoting its economic links with North Korea without harming its relationship with the United States that improved with the latters war on terror in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, it would normally put its relationship with the United States first. The Russians and North Koreans remain keen upon maintaining a strong relationship between each other, although that is based on pragmatism rather than a common ideological outlook. Whilst the Russian government believes that like the Chinese government it could help resolve the international disputes that currently mean that North Korea is regarded as been a threat to peace and s ecurity in North East Asia region (Meir, 2004 p. 417). North Koreas defence and foreign policy was seen and remains seen as a serious and increasing threat to the peace and security of the North East Asia region because of the nature of the Pyongyang regime itself. That is due to Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il concentrating upon the maintaining of their personal hold on power. That hold on power is through a strong military with undoubted loyalty to the national leader, and via a system of forced labour and prison camps that detain political dissidents or opponents of the regime. The regimes internal position is also protected and promoted through a cult of personality for Kim Il Sung and now Kim Jong Il that rivals other cults of personalities witnessed in other communist regimes. It most closely resembles the cults of personality experienced in the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union, or China under Chairman Mao Zedong, especially during the tumultuous period of the Cultural Revolution (Castleden, 2005 p. 301). The Nor th Korean regime during Kim Il Sungs lifetime not only managed to copy Chinese and Soviet propaganda techniques; the North Koreans also managed to emulate their purges. Such pronounced levels of dictatorship have always managed to make the United States suspicious of North Korean intentions. The South Koreans and the Japanese tend to reinforce American concerns over the de-stabilising effects of North Korean defence and foreign policies. The South Koreans and the Japanese therefore have fears for their safety as without an American military presence in the North East Asia region they would not be able to defend themselves from North Korean attacks. As the United States and its North East Asian allies do not trust North Korea, the United States uses satellites to monitor North Korean military activity and its nuclear installations, whilst the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) constantly carries out surveillance operations (Lane McCormack, 1993 p. 178). Chapter Two Containing the North Korean threat to peace and security in the North East Asia Region To a large extent North Korea is widely considered to be a threat to peace and secu

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Chaucers The Wife of Bath :: Chaucer Wife Bath Essays

Chaucer's The Wife of Bath Chaucer’s character, the Wife of Bath, grabs the reader’s attention immediately as she sets the stage for giving an account of her beliefs on love and life: â€Å"Housbondes at chirche dore I have had five.† Because of her blunt honesty at the very beginning of her Prologue, the reader senses that the Wife of Bath feels no shame and carries no regrets about her many marriages. This is confirmed when the Wife proclaims, â€Å"Of whiche I have piked out the beste.† She displays two attitudes throughout the piece: living life to the fullest and loving to gossip about her past. We see this first attitude as the Wife looks back on her life and says, â€Å"But Lord Crist, whan that it remembreth me / Upon my youthe and on my jolitee, / It tikleth me aboute myn herte roote – / Unto this day it dooth myn herte boote / That I have had my world as in my time.† The Wife expresses joy over the life she has lived and seems completely satisfied with all that took place. Much of the history she entrusts to her fellow pilgrims details her sexual drive. Her sexual appetite represents her great desire for vivid living. The Wife is not bitter about any of her marriages. Even when the husbands seemed bothered by the fact that she acted like the man in the relationships in that she was demanding, controlling and sexually dominant, she did not mind. She actually reveled in the fact that she had complete control in four of her five marriages. This sexual appetite parallels her attitude of enjoyment and pleasure in life. Instead of feeling shameful about her overactive sex drive, she simply said, â€Å"God bade us for to wexe and mulitplye.† She does not feel disgraced by her actions; instead, she sees herself as simply following God’s orders. Additionally, she feels that her sexual appetite is sanctioned by God because, â€Å"He saide th at to be wedded is no sinne: / Bet is to be wedded than to brinne.† Because she is married, she is allowed to pursue her desires to their full force and feel no shame because she is not burning with a forbidden passion for a man that is not her husband. The second attitude expressed is that of a love for gossiping about herself.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Did Microsoft Violate Antitrust Policy?

â€Å"The US complaint has been filed by a Tangent, a small Burlingame, California-based hardware vendor that says it is a Microsoft certified partner, but has still been â€Å"caused significant harm† by â€Å"Microsoft's exclusionary and restrictive practices†[1]The Northern California Company Tangent, who is also a Microsoft Certified Partner, has claimed that Microsoft has caused them â€Å"significant harm† through â€Å"exclusionary and restrictive† practices.[2]In its complaint, Tangent describes patterns of anticompetitive practices by Microsoft.     The activities listed by Tangent incorporate the procedure of no-option bundling of Outlook (electronic mail software) with Office (a suite of word processing, financial, media and various business software) and Active Directory (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol which provide central authentication and authorization services for Windows based computers) with Windows Server (host integration). The forced process under the bundling system also includes the Windows Media Player (a software application player and library for digital media) and Windows Media Server (advanced live video and audio streaming functionality) along with the desktop personal computer and the server operating system, e.g. XP, Vista, etc.Tangent attorneys’ stated in the law suit, â€Å"Microsoft's exclusionary and restrictive practices†¦have caused significant harm to (Tangent) by increasing, maintaining or stabilizing the price it paid for Microsoft's operating system software above competitive levels,† [3]In a filing with the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Tangent’s resident territory and the right of the plaintiff to file locally, is in the clear supportive position to show cause of how Microsoft has historically continued to engage in anticompetitive conduct and practices. Thereby causing irreparable financial and market damages by directly man ipulating by different means in a number of forms the price Tangent has paid for Microsoft's operating system software.   Clearly upon comparison and review the prices are openly above competitive degrees.Tangent has been able to list in the detail the historical relation of the personal computer and the Microsoft factor.   They contend that Microsoft, in the letter of the law as well as the spirit, has still failed to operate within number of instruction guidelines and continues to violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.,  §2.Tangent has taken on the interesting position of requesting a jury to hear the case instead of a judge.   Clearly, the intent is to appeal to peers or citizens who will hear testimony as to the unfair practices of Microsoft.   There is the grave risk on the part of the Tangent argument that the issues are very complicated and so technically that only engineers or legally trained experts can decided on the case.   It can be equally promised that Microsoft lawyers will attempt to convolute the issue to a level of complicate techno speak in order to confuse the jury and possible deadlock or mistrial.   Either way, the path for appeal is being paved.Without the normal constraint of frank competition in the marketplace and also because of â€Å"exclusionary practices† invoked by Microsoft as a standard practice, Microsoft has been able to perform in a way that the increases the â€Å"playing field† edge in its favor. Additionally, this method employed by Microsoft works to preserve or artificially maintain prices at anti-competitive conditions that cause harm to vendors and business partners. [4]In essence, Tangent has charged that Microsoft has artificially inflated prices for the cost of the operating system software for certified partners who have no other choice in the matter thus injuring Tangent.One of the strongest positions taken by Tangent against Microsoft is that the Microsoft server OS (operatio n system) includes specific, unique, undocumented programs and screens (interfaces) accessed and employed by its servers to communicate seamlessly and tacitly with one another.   Primarily, the use of several servers (server farm) is within a multiple network server community.â€Å"Tangent alleged further that Microsoft entered into restrictive agreements with OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and system builders, limiting or eliminating their ability to feature non-Microsoft products.† [5]Cleary, the most important aspect of the Tangents argument, which in this case can be asserted by any plaintiff, is for Microsoft to cease marketing products under the guise that the uniformity of it’s software is standardize and practical.   This is not the case nor has it been in quite a while.   The position by Microsoft does not give rise to a supportive community of certified partners.   Candidly, it causes a minor panic.Microsoft’s secretive and clandestine modus operand lends it self to a sense of obvious guilt.   The resistance to the release of the source code for any of it’s of its operating systems underlies its non-competitive practices.Demonstrating no lack of indignation, Microsoft has chosen not to respond to any comments on this complaint or that fact any other.   Their practice has been to only to acknowledge that the case is being reviewed.Tangent is based in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Burlingame and builds custom configured-to-order desktops, notebooks, thin clients and servers primarily for educational institutions, government agencies, business markets and proprietary enterprises.   The company is using the Microsoft Operating Systems. [1]   -Microsoft faces fresh US and EU antitrust complaints 23rd February 2006 [2] http://wowtechminute.com/93/antitrust-lawsuit-antithesis/ Antitrust Lawsuit Antithesis Posted by Brent Norris Technology News March 2006 [3] http://news.com.com/Computer+maker+files+an titrust+suit+against+Microsoft/2100-1014_3-6041788.html By Ina Fried Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: February 21, 2006, [4] http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=29797 Off at a tangent By INQUIRER staff: Monday 20 February 2006, 10:10 [5] http://www.channelinsider.com/article/Tangent+Suit+Claims+Microsoft+Soaked+Partners/171923_1.aspx   Tangent Suit Claims Microsoft Soaked Partners DATE: 21-FEB-2006 By John Hazard

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Fiffteen by William Stafford

The poem Fifteen by William Stafford, describes the ideas of a young teenager and imaginations when he sees a motorcycle at the side of the rail, It tells us of how the main character gets familiar with adulthood and starts getting mature, it gives us changes. The author in his poem describes the ideas and temptations that a fifteen year old would have, and it gives us a message of how when you are blinded of your teenage dreams, at the same time to take and decide the correct paths and decisions. In the first stanza William Stafford stops realization. He describes a motorcycle below a bridge.The cycle is abandoned, â€Å"engine running as it lay on its side, ticking over slowly in the high grass. † To begin his poem Stafford gives us a location, â€Å"South of the Bridge on Seventeenth. † If one were to assume that we as people, traveled metaphorically in any direction I would think it to be north for example: â€Å"Up† for all different purposes. Staffordâ€⠄¢s character is south, not necessarily heading south, but he is south in relation to the bridge. Changes are like bridges, connections between one span of life and the next. Points where the road which below is much less stable, where there aren’t miles of solid ground below.Changes are things that you have to get over. And thinking that Stafford’s age which is fifteen years, like us all, we are heading north, then he’s in for a change a bridge in the future. The motorcycle in the other hand was found â€Å"back of the willows one summer day. † Willows are beautiful flowing trees, their branches fall down and hide their trunks veiling whatever may lie at their shape from all on the other side of their barrier. Stafford’s character finds the motorcycle beyond the barriers of the willows and so we can imagine him pulling aside the waterfall of green and revealing the pefrect machine.On the other hand everything about the scene finds of a hidden trut h discovered. The high grass, tall as if to hide the treasures that are within it, and the willows, and even the picture of calm, warm serenity that comes to mind with the idea of trees in the summer. But the boy finds the cycle unexpectedly, he did not know or even awaited it. In the second stanza it connects temptation and imagination. The cycle becomes his forbidden imagination, it has a â€Å"pulsing gleam†¦shiny flanks†¦demure headlights fringed where it lay;† it is arousing him. First with its beauty it’s pulsing and shiny.It’s elegant and bright as described in the second stanza . Then it’s interest, he â€Å"led it gently to the road and stood with that companion, ready and friendly. † It draws him in. And for the first part he’s taken with it. He â€Å"admired† it. He â€Å"stood† with it. He was young and he saw the beauty as something he wanted. He was a teenager after all chasing his dream. These moments a re him being a child this is him before the â€Å"good man† from later in the poem. You can tell he is taken with it from the way he â€Å"gently† leads it to the road, he is taking care of it.You are not gentle with things that you think are not needed or that you dislike. One does not describe these things either as having a â€Å"pulsing gleam. † Possibly freedom and perhaps bliss are shown in stanza three. The character is imagining himself on the open road. He’s picturing taking the motorcycle and riding away on it. It gives to speculation if he, being fifteen can even legally drive one, let alone that would then surely be considered stealing. Assuming that he’s not there appears the forbidden imagination again. It’s not legal, not okay, yet he wants it temptatiously.Though, as for freedom and excitement, he clearly states that there is a â€Å"forward feeling, a tremble. † For example a reader would take this to be excitement gr owing inside the main character. He is confident. He is happy and positive at least because he is â€Å"patting the handle,† and receiving a â€Å"confident opinion. † He is indulging or giving interest, a word used to express freedom to do something enjoyable. In the fourth stanza Stafford’s poem takes a different direction shall we say, a new character is introduced, the owner of the motorcycle.The grass which is mentioned earlier seems to be hiding more than just the cycle, but also its rider. This also shows a change in the nature of the boy, a decision being made. He thinks and â€Å"thinking†¦found the owner. † The boy in a rush pushes aside his temptation towards freedom and excitement. He chooses. He does not choose to ride away, though, rather to be mature and responsible. To think of more than just himself and locate whomever the bike had belonged. The owner, thrown from the bike in the crash.The rider is â€Å"just coming to,† or el se awakening from unconsciousness he must have got from his crash. He had â€Å"flipped over the rail. He had blood on his hand, was pale† This man is not in good shape. He just crashed his motorcycle and had blood on his hands. On the outside he is injured and broken needs help getting to his bike. Physically, he is weak while it seems that the main character being fifteen, is not. He is strong which is connected from the fact that they are young, full of life as fifteen year olds are. But the rider once at his bike, becomes strong once again, he â€Å"roared away. He is not magically healed , he is still bleeding from the crash, but he has the inside strength of a confident adult and he still gets on his bike and rides away. Before leaving the man calls the main character â€Å"a good man†. To sum it up, the main character begins as a fifteen year old with a change a bridge in his future, he is beginning to realize this. Then he becomes, in the fourth stanza,  "a good man. † Most importantly, a man. He started maturing, learning of getting older, most importantly! Stating in my conclusion that the boy, as he finds the cycle and then after moments of indecision, returns it begins his own road to adulthood.He goes from thought of the temptations of the machine to giving it back to its owner and watching him ride away. So I took myself as an example, because I am also a teenager who has his dream and goals and will be facing adulthood myself. It showed us a mature boy who fought of his temptations and teenage dreams, and choosing the correct path of adulthood. It gives a strong message of spirituality which does pushes us forward of following our dreams but at the same time taking the right decision, as shown with the main character.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

sexual orientation essays

sexual orientation essays Sexual orientation has been and to some degree is still seen as a taboo topic. For many years it has been argued that sexual orientation is based on one's gender and one's sexual preference, should be based on one's sex (i.e. females should be attracted to males and males to females). For generations, these narrow views were considered to be the norm. However, hidden within society was a lifestyle that once aired was seen as deviant. Homosexuality and many sexual orientations were seen as sexual deviancy that needed some type of treatment to cure. Many people use the term sexual preference to describe someone's sexual orientation, such as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc. Heterosexuals are individuals attracted to the opposite sex, homosexuals are individuals who are attracted to the same sex, while bisexuals are people who are attracted to both sexes. However this term is outdated because "sexual orientation is no longer considered to be one's conscious individual preference or choice, but is instead thought to be formed by a complicated network of social, cultural biological, economic and political factors (http:// www.siews.org/pubs/fact/fact0006.html)." Sexual orientation is based on one' erotic, romantic and affectional attractions. These attractions could occur with the same gender (sex), to the opposite gender (sex) or both. Society is obsessed with finding what determines one' sexual orientation, if an individual is homosexual or bisexual. Surprising, society is not really fascinated why heterosexuals are 'straight'. "Straight people do not 'come out' because our society assumes that people are straight unless they say that they are not (Planned Parenthood. 2000, p. 3)." This assumption is known as heterosexism, which is quite offensive and disrespectful towards the homosexual community. A large sector of the population fails to realize how difficult 'coming out' might be for homosexuals to their f...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Pricing and Brand Equity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Pricing and Brand Equity - Assignment Example Creative brands are given the permission to utilize non-normative strategies without consumer permission. Moreover, apart from the inferential mechanism underpinning this licensing impact, innovative brands not only escape the penalty associated with using a categorical strategies, but also gain for using such strategies (Barone and Jewell 2013). One popular measure of success for brands of business entities is the customer-based brand equity. It is an asset that can be a background for a competitive edge and the long-term profitability of a business enterprise (Barone and Jewell 2013). Brand equity regards stakeholders’ response to the marketing efforts concerning objects distinct to the particular brand. It focuses on financial and strategic issues to raise the brand over other available alternatives. There is a broad range of strategies in which a firm can get innovation licensing and intellectual property copyrights. When a company innovates, it establishes a form of monopoly coming from the intellectual property rights it gets. A firm can also get property rights by licensing intellectual property from another company in order to expand business margins. Another strategy is entering into a joint venture of innovations and licensing such innovation as a common intellectual property copyrights to the company (Palfrey, J. 2011). Clients can contribute such intellectual property licensing for free. A corporation can exercise its licensed innovation and property rights entirely by excluding others from using it. However, a company can better benefit from such intellectual property rights over their innovations by licensing, selling or giving away part of the property rights. It constitutes a firms innovative licensing marketing strategy(Barone and Jewell 2013). A company might also offer the license to any other company in an open access, with an aim of gaining a

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Current Status of Online-Photo Sharing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Current Status of Online-Photo Sharing - Essay Example This has brought a new dimension in online-photo sharing. It has become easier for people to take photos using the high-pixel camera on their smart-phones. Furthermore, users can share photos with friends and family by posting them on Facebook at their convenience. Moreover, some online-photo sharing platforms like Instagram, offer Facebook and Google as an additional application. This is meant to make photo sharing more convenient. This review of the current status of online-photo sharing will include a discussion of the most popular methods of photo sharing nowadays. An online-photo Sharing site facilitates its users to post and share visual images with their friends and families through an online server. It also acts as their digital photos storage place (Photo Sharing Sites 2009). These sites have customized features which either allows public or private sharing of photos with friends or user groups. These customizations are meant to satisfy user’s diverse demands and preferences. Flickr (www.flickr.com) and Photobucket (www.photobucket.com) are the most famous online-photo sharing sites. These photo sharing sites have also developed advanced features like â€Å"photoblog,† where users upload photos to share their daily life experiences with other users. This is usually done by tagging and adding descriptions to the uploaded photos. Users can add any information on their photographs, such as camera model, location where the picture was taken and share ideas inside the photo. The search engine application installed on these sites enables pictures to be easily accessed by their title, dates, or any other distinguishing characteristic. It also enhances interaction and sharing on the online-photo sharing site. Social networking site provides users with a platform whereby they create profiles and communicate with friends and families via the Internet. People share photos and experiences with other users freely. In