...Storyline: In the year 2154, the RDA Corporation plans to explore Pandora, an earth-like moon situated at a distant galaxy for its rich abundance of unobtanium - a valuable mineral. The planet is inhabitant by Na ‘vi, a blue skinned species which are human like with feline characteristics. As Pandora’s atmosphere does not any human survival, scientists create human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. These avatars are controlled by genetically matched human operators. Jake Sully was sent as a replacement for his identical twin brother who was recently murdered. Jake is a paraplegic war veteran. Dr. Grace Augustine who is the head of the Avatar Program appoints Jake as a bodyguard. In Pandora, Jake escorts Augustine and biologist Norm Spellman. The group was attacked by a large predator and eventually Jake gets separated from his team. Later, he was rescued by Neytiri, a female Na’vi. Hse took Jake to their clan where he was given a warm welcome. Back in the camp, Jake was identified by the leader of RDA security forces colonel Miles Quaritch who promises Jake to get back his real legs in exchange for intelligence about the natives. He was also appointed a task of making the Na’vis to abandon Hometree which was situated above a large deposit of unobtanium. In the meanwhile, Jake grows close towards Neytiri and her clan Omaticaya. Jake started enjoying his life through his avatar and eventually tries to stop his people to destroy the Omaticaya’s peaceful life on the Hometree...
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...By 2154, humans have severely depleted Earth's natural resources. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) mines for a valuable mineral – unobtanium – on Pandora, a densely forested habitable moon orbiting the gas giant Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri star system.[12] Pandora, whose atmosphere is poisonous to humans, is inhabited by the Na'vi, 10-foot tall (3.0 m), blue-skinned, sapient humanoids[34] who live in harmony with nature and worship a mother goddess called Eywa. To explore Pandora's biosphere, scientists use Na'vi-human hybrids called "avatars", operated by genetically matched humans; Jake Sully, a paraplegic former marine, replaces his deceased twin brother as an operator of one. Dr. Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement but accepts his assignment as a bodyguard. While protecting the avatars of Grace and scientist Norm Spellman as they collect biological data, Jake's avatar is attacked by a thanator and flees into the forest, where he is rescued by Neytiri, a female Na'vi. Witnessing an auspicious sign, she takes him to her clan, whereupon Neytiri's mother Mo'at, the clan's spiritual leader, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society. Colonel Miles Quaritch, head of RDA's private security force, promises Jake that the company will restore his legs if he gathers intelligence about the Na'vi and the clan's gathering place, a giant arboreal called Hometree,[35] on grounds that it stands above the richest...
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...Modernity In the 18th century, the enlightenment began to take fruit in the world. In France, the people began to get upset and in the french revolution they took over their monarchy. Which later they gained an emperor named Napoleon Bonaparte. His thoughts were to conquer all Europe and to make it all Frenchify. In Great Britain, the Industrial Revolution began to take place and to affect in a beneficial way to all Europe and America. Modernity is a time period where the people believed in the secularization, being social and having the most modern things in the science area was the best of the best. The movie Metropolis directed Fritz Lang has a very big image in how modernity was represented. In the film, secularization was a big part. For example, this meant that it was a typical post-medieval and post-traditional and became a historical period. The Secularization of modernism is that religion was emancipated. In the movie religion was something difficult to talk about. The workers were making plans in order to see a woman, Maria, give basic lessons of the bible that was christianity. The workers or slaves seen her as a god because she gave them the hope they needed to keep having strength for their family and themselves. The owner of Metropolis, Joh Fredersen, wanted to keep everything under control which meant he didn't want the workers to feel any type of hope in being free. That meant he had to prohibit any type of religion and beliefs. In order to get rid of this...
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...James Cameron’s movie Avatar was a major discussion amongst my friends when it came out. All of them had seen it at midnight opening, while I was stuck home doing errands and work. For weeks they would talk about how amazing the scenery was and how epic the fights were between the Na’vi and humans. I was completely lost during each discussion we had when we hung out at Starbucks or each other’s houses. I hated not knowing what the movie was about and finally I decided to watch it online. Now I know the reason why people thought it was awesome. I was just like every other viewer who thought the scenery was breathtaking and the story was amazing. Although I have seen Avatar about a hundred times now, I never once thought there were hidden messages occurring behind the movie. I had to watch it again so I could see why people seemed to view Avatar as being an environmental or political issue. The movie seems able to predict how our future will turn out, a type of religion being practiced, and show us acts of imperialism being displayed throughout the story. I was so distracted by the technology used to create Avatar’s scenery; and how amazing the creatures and characters looked that I never once noticed how it could be possibly be allegory of our own world. The movie seems to predict that our future will become miserable. That we will gradually fall short of supplies and that Earth will end up dying. So far this seems to be true because the earth is already fighting back for...
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...COM-120 February 16, 2014 Intercultural Communication Paper I chose to write about the movie Avatar. Avatar is a science fiction movie set in the 22nd century. The film's title refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body with the mind of a remotely located human, and is used to interact with the natives of Pandora. The story centers around a paraplegic marine named Jake Sully. Jake’s twin brother was a scientist on the planet Pandora, and part of an avatar program. When his brother died, Jake was offered his job, as he had the same DNA match up as his brother’s avatar body. Shortly after arriving, he is asked by the greedy corporate figureheads, Parker Selfridge and Colonel Quaritch, to infiltrate the native humanoid "Na'vi" people of Pandora and negotiate the surrender of their sacred tree home because there was a huge unobtainium mine worth a lot of money under the tree. If Jake agrees and is successful, he will get a spinal surgery that will fix his legs. When Jake took his brother’s job, he did not know anything about Pandora and its people. The Na’vi were a ten-foot-tall, blue-skinned native tribe, considered to be a very eco-friendly, living off the land, and only taking what they needed to survive. In addition, The Na’vi were a peaceful civilization. They did not fight amongst themselves, but worked together to grow as a whole. As Jake learned the language and culture of the Na’vi aliens, he grows to love them, and in turn, falls in love with the beautiful...
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...The film depicts the main character, Rocky Balboa, in a lower class neighborhood of Philadelphia, highlighting his surrounding environment, occupational value, friends and peers as impoverished. The first important part of the early exposition is the scenes showing Balboa at work, as a loan shark for a larger operation. This job requires Balboa to confront and physically assault debted customers if unable to make their respective payment. This lays the groundwork for the journey of achieving the “American Dream”. Balboa working such a low-end, odd job just to make ends meet symbolizes the working class, more specifically the lower class. This gives insight to the struggles these people face everyday, not only through Balboa’s work as a loan shark, but the dock worker in a dirty environment who is unable to pay his loan in the same scene. Many signs throughout the early exposition align with the reasoning within the rhetorical framework. For example, Rocky attempts to go to the boxing gym but because of his lack of success and low amount of money, Mick gives Rocky’s locker to someone else. This exposes how America views poor people, and illustrates the intolerance of poor people in society. Though America creates programs and means of financial aid in order to help the poor, there is a general understanding of American society that the rich are celebrated and the poor are considered disgraceful in the public eye. This does not reinforce my own opinion, it is just a fact of some...
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...Herbal Supplements The FDA should regulate herbal supplements as it ensures safety for the consumer. If taken properly, herbal supplements have great benefits. The problem is that there simply is not enough regulation of the herbal supplements. Many herbal supplements can be dangerous if taken incorrectly. What’s worse, people simply do not have enough information about the benefits and risks of herbal supplements. A great example of the lack of regulation is overuse of Ephedra. A while back, people started taking mass amounts of Ephedra in order to lose weight. It ended in a great amount of deaths, causing the FDA to take measures against makers of medicines containing Ephedra. Because it was considered an herbal supplement, it did not have the same scrutiny as synthetic drugs. Herbal supplements can be just as powerful as synthetic drugs, so the same vigilance in regulation should apply. Also, harmful ingredients sometimes end up in herbal supplements, which present an entirely new risk. If herbal supplements were more closely monitored, there would be a better chance of preventing this from happening. Because of the lack of regulation, consumers do not have any assurance that what they are buying is safe. Consumers need that assurance, especially when it comes to health products. There also is not very much awareness about herbal supplements. People do not realize how powerful some herbal supplements are. Many people hold the mistaken belief that herbal supplements...
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...The objective for most companies today is to maximize profit. The iPod has proven to be a major contributor to Apple’s overall revenue growth. However, one issue that we face with the iPod is the ability to obtain new customers. New technological innovations can be a hindering effect on long term profitability. Apple was known for its constant technological advances. Each generation of the iPod was better than the one before it. However, nowadays, consumers are able to download music right on to their smartphones and tablets, which reduces the likelihood of them wanting to buy an iPod. Cost structure will most likely not have an effect on the long term profitability of the iPod. “Cost structure is the expenses that a firm must take into account when manufacturing a product or providing a service.” (Investor Words) Apple does not manufacture their devices. Foxconn is the manufacturer for Apple and they are located in China. Apple pays their manufacturer very low and charges the consumer a high price. “While watching an interview given by CNN's Fareed Zakaria with China's Premier Wen Jiabao on October 3 2010, the Premier made a reference to the cost of making the iPod when speaking (through a translator) about the Chinese and American economies. He stated that he remembered when (in their last interview in 2008) that Fareed Zakaria made an example of the "iPod player in the United States. An iPod player is sold at $299 in the States (in 2008). But the Chinese producer only...
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...The End of Men Casper Pedersen 2.a Men have always been the dominant force in western society both economically and politically. Most top jobs belong to men and the majority of the world’s influential politicians are male, such as Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and the Chinese president Hu Jintao. Because of this male dominance, men have led the way of culture and society for ages. But all of this may be about to change in our postindustrial era. In her article, “The End of Men” from the magazine The Atlantic, July/August 2010, Hanna Rosin argues that woman are in fact well on the way of taking over the role as the dominant cultural force. But is she right when she proclaims “The End of Men”? Hanna Rosin builds up her article in order to convince her readers that women are playing an increasingly influential role in society and are ultimately replacing men’s status as the dominant sex. She does this by referring to developments in the job market, in education and politics and in the pop industry. In all these important fields she sees a tendency towards female power. Her argument is initially built on facts, “Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same” (ll. 1-3). These facts speak to the reader’s intellect and builds up a trustworthiness, so that the reader feels that Rosin is right in pointing out...
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...A special report on China's place in the world Brushwood and gall China insists that its growing military and diplomatic clout pose no threat. The rest of the world, and particularly America, is not so sure, says Edward Carr Dec 2nd 2010 | from PRINT EDITION • • IN 492BC, at the end of the “Spring and Autumn” period in Chinese history, Goujian, the king of Yue in modern Zhejiang, was taken prisoner after a disastrous campaign against King Fuchai, his neighbour to the north. Goujian was put to work in the royal stables where he bore his captivity with such dignity that he gradually won Fuchai’s respect. After a few years Fuchai let him return home as his vassal. Goujian never forgot his humiliation. He slept on brushwood and hung a gall bladder in his room, licking it daily to feed his appetite for revenge. Yue appeared loyal, but its gifts of craftsmen and timber tempted Fuchai to build palaces and towers even though the extravagance ensnared him in debt. Goujian distracted him with Yue’s most beautiful women, bribed his officials and bought enough grain to empty his granaries. Meanwhile, as Fuchai’s kingdom declined, Yue grew rich and raised a new army. Goujian bided his time for eight long years. By 482BC, confident of his superiority, he set off north with almost 50,000 warriors. Over several campaigns they put Fuchai and his kingdom to the sword. The king who slept on brushwood and tasted gall is as familiar to Chinese as King Alfred and his cakes are to Britons,...
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...violence during the Tiananmen Square conflict in 1989. A more modern example of when a government turns its troops on protesters can be compared to the youth revolt in France in 2006. In France there were students protesting a labor bill that they believed to be unfair and in the case of the Tiananmen square conflict students and residents both protested because they believed their government to be unfair as well not following the Chinese Constitution. There are a few factors that could have contributed such as cultural, economical, or political ones. The main reason that many believe to be what led to the protests is the death of Hu Yaobang. Hu was the general secretary of the Communist party of China. He was considered controversial because he believed that the government should become more western in there policies and was a supporter of democracy. When Hu Yaobang suddenly died of a heart attack on 15 April 1989,students began to organize on the 16 of April. Millions of people joined the march making it as said by the article China-Conflict at Tiananmen Square: “ the greatest challenge to the communist state in China since the 1949 revolution”. The protests lasted for seven weeks until June 3 when the army moved into the area shooting random protesters. Outside governments were horrified but what had happened. UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said she was “shocked and appalled by the shootings”. Three ways that cultural reasons could be one of the factors that helped cause...
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...1949: The Commies take control When Mao Zedong’s Communist Party took control of China in 1949, it inherited the most populous country on earth—over a half a billion Chinese people. This was more than triple the population of the U.S., which at the time stood at 150 million (US population in 2010 = 310 million). More is better? After a century of wars, unrest, and epidemics,China saw a population boom (helped by improved medical care and sanitation). This growth was initially greeted by leaders as an economic advantage. Reflecting the prevailing attitude of the leadership, Hu Yaobang, secretary of the Communist Youth League reasoned that, “A larger population means greater manpower…the force of 600 million liberated people is tens of thousands of times stronger than a nuclear explosion.” The Communist Party of China (CCP) condemned birth control as well as banned the import of contraceptives (doh!). Can China feed itself? On August 1949, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson authored the China White Paper, in which he expressed his doubts about China’s ability to feed itself. He wrote: “The first problem which every Chinese government has had to face is that of feeding its population. So far, none have succeeded.” In direct response to this, a defiant Mao retorted: “Even if China’s population multiplies many times, she is fully capable of finding a solution; the solution is production.” He also famously stated that a large population is “a very good thing … Of...
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...Despite the huge number of studies about cultural dimensions, I think that it does not still exist a “perfect theory” which can help us understanding better other cultures. Professors L. Nardon and R. M. Steers try to find a solution not creating another brand-new theory, but providing what they call the “core cultural dimension”. The aim of the two professors is to seek convergence across the already existing theories, trying to facilitate both research and cross-cultural comparisons. The “core cultural dimensions” are: • Hierarchy - Equality • Individualism - Collectivism • Mastery - Harmony • Monochronism - Polychronism • Universalism – Particularism In spite of the attempt of solving the so-called “culture theory jungle”, they are not still come to the perfect theory. In my opinion, in order to find the perfect theory, a professor does not have to seek all the convergences among already existing cultural dimensions and make a summary of them, but, rather, he has to choose the right ones paying attention to the others. My perfect theory is formed by five dimensions and it deals with the following topics: • Use of time • Display emotions • Communication • Reach the goal Personally, I do not take into consideration any of the four clusters which Hofstede calls “the dimensions of national culture”. Of course, they can be considered the ancestors of later models and they inspired a lot of theorists, but they are also too old (1967-1973), too general,...
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...RESEARCH PAPER 06/36 19 JUNE 2006 A Political and Economic Introduction to China “If the 20th century ended in 1989, the 21st began in 1978” Martin Jacques, The Guardian, 25 May 2006 China’s political and economic rise and what it means for the world is now a central preoccupation of analysts and policy-makers. Public awareness of China is likely to increase as the 2008 Olympics in Beijing draw near. This Research Paper is intended to act as a resource that Members of Parliament and their staff can draw upon when engaging with China’s remarkable transformation. Part I provides key facts and figures about China. Parts II and III review recent developments and future prospects by addressing four key questions. Is political authoritarianism sustainable? Can China’s development be peaceful? What are the main domestic economic challenges facing China? What is China’s impact on the world economy? Part IV summarises key aspects of UK and EU relations with China. The Paper ends with a select bibliography of key sources. The Research Paper is intended to act as a platform for a series of Library Standard Notes that will address in more depth specific issues about China that there is space here only to discuss briefly. Jon Lunn, Maria Lalic, Ben Smith and Claire Taylor INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE SECTION Ed Beale, Ed Potton, Ian Townsend and Dominic Webb ECONOMIC POLICY AND STATISTICS SECTION HOUSE OF COMMONS LIBRARY Recent Library Research Papers include: List of 15...
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...Gloabal Leadership: Grey Zone Paper Tiananmen Square Protests 1989 Chirs Niu 1454792 March 30, 2012 Box: 145 Industrial revolutions and economic reforms were the key drivers for Western societies to start the march towards democracy. The world’s most populated country, China, led by its historical figure Deng Xiaoping, started economic reform in the late 70s. Ten years of reform changed the country revolutionarily, making a once unenlightened and closed society prosperous and promising. The then current democratic atmosphere of the world heavily influenced the Chinese intelligent individuals, especially educated youth from state universities, during the late 80s. Nevertheless, the one party dominated socialist nation, which lived on its complete political control since independence in 1949, had not yet prepared to commence political reform that would eventually lead to democracy (CNN). In the early summer of 1989, astonishing sequences of events broke out and drew the entire world’s attention. This memorable event is known as the June 4th Event or Tiananmen Square Protests 1989. The Chinese government, unlike many democratic ones, uses authoritarian powers to facilitate political aspirations, from which the actions defined by the Communist Party as representing people’s rights and interests. Nevertheless, when students, workers and citizens marched on the streets all over China, the government chose to protect its own interests rather than those of the people’s...
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