Ethics in Data and Web Mining

Ethics in Data and Web Mining Liliam Faraon What is the importance of ethics in Data Mining? We live in a time when the pursuit of knowledge is indispensable. From the transformations we have witnessed in the past years, we can acknowledge that information assumes a growing importance and a requirement for any sector of human activity. Some authors say that 90% of all data in the world has been generated over the last two years, and more and more devices will be connected to the internet generating data that can be used by companies to predict patterns of consumption and increase specific sales. The article: 17 Internet of Things Facts Everyone Should Read published by Forbes in October, 2015, brings us an idea of some numbers and the potential market that is available to be exploit: Nowadays there are more objects connected to the internet than people; By the year of 2020 around 250.000 vehicles will be connected to the internet, (saving time spend in traffic, fuel, improving the performance and protecting the environment and generating data); The global wearable device market has grown 223% only in 2015 specially by the launching of Fitbit ® and Apple Watches; Internet of Things will add $10 to $15 trillion to global GDP by 2036; But looking at all the facts some questions are raised, such as: how the data we produce is managed and stored? How is it perceived? How businesses are taking advantage from all the that information? And finally, how do we protect our own data and make sure is not being used without consent? Thats where web mining poses a threat to ethical values, such as individuality and privacy. Improvements in IT and storage capacity has enabled companies to develop tools for data collection through many channels. There are a variety of ways individuals generate data, such as: ATM visits, bar-code readers, biometric devices, credit and debit card transactions, loyalty clubs, medical records, online shopping, rentals, scanners, subscriptions, website browsing and use of many Smart devices available. As a result, there is an exponential growth of the amount of data stored and available to be explored. This generation of data brought the need of new techniques and technologies that can analyse and convert all this information into useful knowledge and Data Mining becomes a very powerful resource. When all these data are merged and mined, they can infer a persons associations, credit information, health, income, political interests and tastes. Liu defines data mining as The process of discovering useful patterns or knowledge from data sources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The patterns must be valid, potentially useful and understandable. (Liu, 2011, p. 6). Data mining based on algorithms are very automated and analytical tools and its use is rapidly increasing. By combining databases, information visualisation, machine learning, mathematical modelling, pattern recognition, statistics and more recently artificial intelligence, very large and complex datasets can be analysed and relationships, patterns, outliers and trends can be revealed. Figure 1: Data Mining         Ã‚   Raw data itself is not useful at all, but the information that can be extracted from the data is where the real value seats. We have endless amounts of data being produced and stored, it makes sense companies and governments have the desire to analyse all this data to uncover patterns potentially useful hidden in there. Data Mining process is basically categorised into two classes: Descriptive: describes the general properties of information stored in a database Predictive: draws inferences from the data in order to make predictions. Witten emphasises: Data Mining is about solving problems by analysing data already present in databases (Witten, 2013, p. 4). Decision makers desire the right answers for broad questions and obviously, the more data gathered the more questions raised. Which customers are likely to respond in a positive way to a marketing campaign? What products will have more success when launched? What is the best price range for a new product? How do the competitors tend to react? The response for those questions cannot be reached based on feelings or intuition, they can be answered by analysing customers behaviour and profile using data mining tools. By collecting and summarizing and making use of data mining companies and organisations can identify insights and obtain competitive advantage, recognize potential competitors, improve customer service relationship, target customer expectations and needs. It also has important uses in social business and science, most recently Government Agencies are using Data and Web mining applications to uncover criminal activities such as terrorist threats. There are many Data Mining tools are available in the market nowadays, each one with its particularities, the most common are KNIME, NLTK, Orange, RapidMiner (formerly known as YALE), R-Programming and WEKA . Ethics must be a condition of the world, like logic. Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951. Giant social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter hold billions of users data, keeping these data protect and as a secret is a big concern. When an individual creates an account on any of those social media channels a policy agreement is accepted, and it is basically data related. Data Mining analysts use people personal information collected by organisations all over the world through many different technologies and use them especially for prediction analysis, but practitioners must be very careful when analysing patterns, certain kinds of discrimination are not only unethical but also illegal, gender, religion, race and certain sensitive information is totally unacceptable, in the other hand, anonymizing data is very difficult, for example, over 85% of Americans can be identified from publicity available records using just three pieces of information: zip code, birth date and sex (Witten, 2013, p.33). When a person shops for a product online, the company has access to customers address, credit card, name, phone number and other information in their database. But how does the company encrypts the information and protects it from misuse or security breach is and ethical and legal issue. Some matters are also raised: Is it ethical and legal to use the users information for publicity purposes? How can users protect their right of privacy? Where does the right of a company meets the ethics when sharing its data with another company to comprehend and understand customers and increase profit by selling this information to third party companies is a very important matter and it must be carefully discussed. There is a thin line between of a persons privacy and companys right to use it. When a person provides personal information, he or she needs to know how and what it will be used and a few steps must be taken to guarantee confidentiality and integrity. The use of data particularly data about people for data mining has serious ethical implications and practitioners of data mining techniques must act responsibly by making themselves aware of the ethical issues that surround their particular application. (Witten, 2013, p. 33). There is a growing concern regarding to the use of private and sensitive information and the ethical issues of Data Mining must be analysed and understood both from the business and the personal point of view. From a personal point of view, by Data Mining execution respecting consent, privacy and regulations customers might appreciate the fact they are being target with more personalized offers based on circumstances and needs and in return they may be willing to provide more specific data about themselves. From a business point of view by respecting the privacy issues companies will save resources as they will be able to target very specific customers for certain products. It is obvious that as any other powerful technology there are negative consequences of Data Mining, some results can ineffective, misdirected or unregulated, but if used correctly it can be very resourceful. Some points are very important and organizations making use of data mining techniques should give a thought about them when the use of personal data is planned: Connectivity and data sharing All the users and people that give consent are connected through the internet and share data Security is essential Once all the information traffics through databases, companies worry about the security and privacy, that way all the data will be encrypted, the web services will be hosted in a server with a certificate installed and authentication user The importance of Privacy Policy Privacy Policy is a legal statement and regulates the privacy policy related to users personal data which is under companies responsibility Infrastructure The process will not function without an application to analyse, interpret, read and draw patterns from the data Account management: Gathering and leveraging Account Management has all the information gathered and leveraged, and elaborate can advertising campaigns. It plays an important role in the profitability of the company Information could be released without the consent of the person, it becomes an ethical dilemma, because sometimes the users are unaware of the information gathered and that is being used by companies. It is very important to highlight that the person has the right to know how it will be used and should be able to have the opportunity to consent or not the collection and use. And also when a person becomes part of a group profile and used as a decision making basis, the individuality is threatened, people cannot be judged only as group members, but also as an individual, able to make its own decisions. It is likely that in the next few years an inspection of ethical issues and legal implications will be further required, legislation of digital privacy will be developed and laws will enter force, confidentiality and privacy preservation should be the main points of concern. Unauthorised extraction of data will be considered a crime and companies must be ready for that. Data Mining algorithms are very important and powerful tools for analysis and predictions, they are expected to become more and more significant in the future, decision based on data will change the way companies base their processes, of course there are no 100% guarantee that they will succeed, but, are more likely to be successful than decisions based on feelings or gut. Once patterns are revealed profiles can be drown and stereotypes can be used for crime prevention, commercial proposes, marketing campaigns, policies development and many others. Meanwhile Data Mining ethical issues need to be raised and awareness increased, as the world continues to develop, more and more data is likely to be collected and the Data Mining processes will become more sophisticated. People will need to get a clearer idea of privacy and companies will have to become more transparent on its processes of collect, gather and use of data. Cook, Jack (2005). Ethics of data mining. Available at: http://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1443context=article Ethics in Computing. Available at: https://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/privacy/mining/study.php [Accessed: 02 March 2017]. Fule, Peter. Detecting Privacy and Ethical Sensitivity in Data Mining Results. Available at: http://crpit.com/confpapers/CRPITV26Fule.pdf Liu, Bing. (2011). Web Data Mining: Exploring Hyperlinks, Contents, and Usage Data, Springer MARR, Bernard.17 Internet Of Things Facts Everyone Should Read (2015). Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/10/27/17-mind-blowing-internet-of-things-facts-everyone-should-read/#5e463ad01a7a [Accessed: 01 March 2017]. Wahlstrom, Kirsten (2006). On the Ethical and Legal Implications of Data Mining. Available at: https://csem.flinders.edu.au/research/techreps/SIE06001.pdf Witten, Ian H (2013). Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, Morgan Kaufmann. Zhen, Ethical issues in Web Data Mining. Available at:http://blog.nus.edu.sg/group208/2012/11/25/ethical-issues-in-web-data-mining/ [Accessed: 01 March 2017].

We All Have the Right To Life! :: abortion argumentative persuasive argument

We All Have the Right To Life! Life is a right held by all creatures on the universe, everything has life; however, everything also has it's own character or individuality. Every person is his or her own self and does what he or she wishes to do to a certain extent. Many people are opposed to an individuals decision on life they should realize that in America people have the freedom to do what they want. In Roman times, abortion ans the destruction of unwanted children was permissible, however civilization's aged and now there is a huge controversy about who chooses. In the 1970's the Roe v. Wade was tried in the U.S. Supreme Court. 'Jane Roe' took the District Attorney of Dallas county to the Supreme Court because she wanted an abortion and was not legally permitted to have one where she lived. She could not afford to travel elsewhere to have it "preformed" so she went to court. On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court said that it was legal for any woman to have an abortion and terminate her pregnancy at any given time. The Roman Catholic Church has said that abortion is murder and violates all terms of human morality. My personal opinion lays between that of the Roman Catholic Church and the Supreme Court. I believe that a woman should have the right to an abortion only if she was raped and can not afford to have the child, or if she does not know who the father is. If the woman just want's to have an abortion for no reason, believes that the baby will be born with a handicap, or will be born with a disease, life threatening or not the abortion should not be permitted to take place. Within the past year President Clinton has vetoed a bill that will outlaw "partial birth abortions," I strongly oppose his decision and believe that he should have outlawed them. In New Jersey, there is an assemblywoman writing a bill that would outlaw them in New Jersey and fine each party involved twenty-five thousand dollars. Assisted suicide has also been a controversial topic concerning the right to life. I believe that everyone should come to accept the fact that people have

Benefits of Hosting Major Sporting Events Essay

1. When bidding to host an international sporting event, there is always the possibility that revenue will not exceed expenses. How would you respond to a local group that would rather have the city’s money spent on social programs? When a city is preparing a bid to host an international sporting event, some parts of the community will argue that the taxpayer’s money should be invested into social programs that will benefit the community, rather than into sporting events. It is a valid argument that hosting an international sporting event can have a substantial financial impact on a city. An example of this is the great debt incurred by Montreal when they hosted the 1976 Olympic Games (p.89 Thoma and Chalip). It could be argued that the huge amounts of money that were spent on building new stadiums or arenas, and modernising existing infrastructure, may have been better spent on education, health care or subsidised housing. While there is some merit to the above argument, bidding and hopefully hosting an international sporting event can bring significant benefits to a city. The following are a range of benefits that can be presented to the local community: i. A significant international sporting event should not be viewed as a single event in isolation. The event should be considered as part of a broader calendar of events offered by the city and the direct positive impact to the economy that this derives. An example of this is the calendar of events that Melbourne and the state of Victoria hold. Events held include the Formula One Grand Prix, UCI Track Cycling World Championships and FINA World Swimming Championships. These and other major sporting events contributed  to over AU$1 billion to the Victorian economy (dpcd.vic.gov.au/sport/major-events). The success of hosting an international sporting event can further support the host city’s claim as being an attractive destination to hold other major sporting events. ii. Second, the successful bid can lead to a number of approaches to urban regeneration, which can ultimately benefit the host ci ty’s population. Tallon (p.5 urban regeneration in the UK) defined four approaches of urban regeneration: a. Economic – an international sporting event can enhance the employment opportunities in the short- and long-term, increase labour supply and increase economic activity. b. Social/Cultural: the international sporting event can instil a sense of national pride, strengthen values and tradition of the host city and increase the level of interest and participation in the activity associated with the event. c. Physical/Environmental: in the event of a successful bid, the host city can invest in constructing new facilities, improving existing facilities and promoting environmental or ‘greener’ sporting initiatives that can benefit the community in the future. d. Governance: the event will allow the engagement of the local community and the involvement of other groups, and for the host city’s government to review their administration and public policy (p.67 Sports Marketing M elissa Jane). Having the opportunity to host an international sporting event, can allow the host city to revitalise itself through urban regeneration. As a consequence of this regeneration, the host city has the potential to become more efficient and effective, and be able to provide further support and resources where needed. iii. Third, a strong vision in promoting the host city and the region for the international sporting event can attract visitors from other regions of the country and from overseas. This gives the host city the opportunity to showcase itself to the across the globe. This can have a positive economic impact during the event as a result of the influx of visitors and afterwards through the generation of new tourism markets (Cooper, Contemporary Tourism, p.169). The promotion of the host city can also achieve a greater awareness of the community in the wider sporting and tourism spheres. iv. Lastly, the improved infrastructure can enable the city to host further sporting events a nd serve the community for many years. The creation of an improved image, the attraction of economic development and the increase in civic pride  (Urban Tourism, Law p.149) has the potential to create a lasting legacy for the host city. An international sporting event has the potential to create an image that can potentially provide the host city with new levels of global recognition and opportunities for economic, political and social development (Pellergrino and Hancock p.2 2010 Deloitte). Although there is a valid argument for a city to invest into social programs that may benefit the local community, the points presented to the local group can hopefully allay those fears that the city is wasting the taxpayer’s money bidding to host an international sporting event. The event itself can be viewed as a part of a broader calendar of events, the community can benefit from the urban regeneration of the city, promotion of the international sporting event and the city can attract visitors from all over, and the event can leave the host city with a positive lasting legacy. 3. Explain how the Americans deal with China with respect to the defection of tennis player Hu Na from the Peoples Republic of China. Over many years, we have witnessed the entanglement of politics and sport. From the boycotting of international sporting events, such as the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games where the United States and many other Western countries refused to participate due to Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan; protests from individuals like Arash Miresmaili of Iran who sympathised with the oppression of Palestinians (p398 comparative politics Hauss) and refused to compete against Ehud Vaks of Israel; and the expulsion of South Africa from many international events due to apartheid that was prevalent in the country. Another occurrence of politics interfering with sport is evident in the ‘Hu Na Incident’, which as Pendleton (p.13) pointed out was a two-way interaction between sport and diplomacy, resulting in decisions being made at the highest political levels. The ‘Hu Na Incident’ started in July 1982, where Hu Na disappeared from her hotel room whilst touring with a Chinese government sponsored tennis team. Days later, papers were filed with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service requesting political asylum on the grounds that Hu Na had been pressured and persecuted by the Communist Party of China. Hu Na was a rising tennis star in China. She won several tournaments, including the National Sparetime Schools Tournament in 1975, the National Junior Singles crown in 1978 and the National Singles title in 1981. Her success was not just limited to China, she also won the doubles (in 1981) and singles (in  1982) titles at the Casablanca Cup held in Mexico. Initially, the United States had announced that any decision in regards to Hu Na would be based upon the advisory opinion of the State Department. Members of the United States Congress also urged the State Department to grant Hu Na’s request for political asylum. This announcement provoked an immediate diplomatic crisis (p.190 women, sport and society). Upon hearing this, a Chinese spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that China would hold the United States responsible for Hu Na’s safe return and that such an incident would harm the cultural exchanges between the two countries (Pendleton 14). The Pro-China newspaper Wen Wei Po also argued that Hu Na’s visit to the United States was in accordance with the Sino-America agreement. Thus, the United States government had a duty of care for her safety, regardless of whether the invitation came form a governmental or non-governmental organisation (Pendleton 14). In April 1983, after almost ten months, the decision to grant Hu Na political asylum was finally made by the State Department. At the time, Arthur P. Brill of the United States Justice Depa rtment, released the following statement (Pendleton 15): Hu Na has been granted asylum under the Refugee Act of 1980, which provides asylum in cases where the applicant establishes a well-founded fear of persecution, due to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a special social group. The decision drew support from several quarters in the United States, most notably that of then United States President, Ronald Reagan. After the United States had granted political asylum to Hu Na, Beijing reacted sharply claiming that the decision to grant asylum to Hu Na had been immoral and a grave incident harming relations between the two countries (Nafziger and Wei p.135 Pandektis). The decision was also described as ‘a grave political incident long premeditated and deliberately created by the United States’ (Pendleton p.16). As a result of this decision, Ding Gu, the Director of the Bureau for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries of the Ministry of Culture, cancelled nine bilateral exchanges that inclu ded art exhibitions, performing arts group tours and a film festival. After citing that the United States could not guarantee the safety of its participants, the All-China Sports Federation announced it would also withdraw from ten international events that were to be held  within the United States. China further threatened to retaliate against future incidents, and that it would ‘never for the sake of relations with the United States, abandon its principled stand of safeguarding its state sovereignty and national dignity’ (p27 Chinese Security Robert Ross). During all this posturing by China, the United States demonstrated its resolve by refusing to send Hu Na back to China and granting her political asylum. Ronald Reagan’s administration publicly affirmed that the United States policy would remain constant whether Beijing decided to retaliate or not, or threatened to downgrade relations by withdrawing its ambassador from Washington, or some other action (p86 US-Chinese Relations Sutter). Beijing had clearly miscalculated when it thought it could threaten the United States on this issue, considering this was the period that the Sino-America relations had become normalised. It was a clear win for United States foreign policy, as they were prepared to reject any unreasonable Chinese demands, whilst seeking to improve relations with them.

How To Find A Job In Another State

How To Find A Job In Another State Looking to relocate? Whether you’re in a rut, or moving for personal reasons, or just plain need a change, it is possible to find a job in another state before you even move there. The most important thing is to try and establish and start building a network, however small, of local contacts on the ground in your new area.  Here are a few strategic tips for landing a job in a new place.Start building your network online.Use LinkedIn to begin creating a community in your new locale. Start reaching out to people in companies and fields wherein you might like to work in your new location. Join Meetups or large locally-based groups in that area to keep an eye on what is going on. Take advantage of your college or university’s alumni association and mine it for local contacts or people in your industry that might be able to connect you locally.Pretend you’re already thereThis doesn’t have to involve any dishonesty- particularly not if you are actually plannin g to move. Don’t put your old address on any of your materials. If you have a friend in that area, use their address temporarily. If you don’t, set yourself up with a local address using a service like Mailboxes, Etc. that will forward your mail to you and won’t be as obvious as a P.O. box.Network in person.Take advantage of any travel to the area by attending any Meetups or events that would be relevant to your search. Pop into companies and shake hands. Get a sense of neighborhoods you might like to live in; this is a great way to start conversations with potential contacts. Use sites like Zoominfo to try and get contact information for managers in companies you’re keen to work for and see if you can score an informational interview or two.Think through the logistics.Figure out what your tax liabilities will be in the new area- this can affect your compensation bottom line. What is the cost of living? What is the salary spread for your industry and posi tion? What salary range will you have to ask for in order to maintain your current quality of life, given discrepancies in what things cost and what people like you make in the new location. Make sure you have a good sense of what relocation would cost you- and be prepared to pay it out of pocket.Make your mission clear.When you’re writing your cover letter, make it clear that you are moving, not just that you would move. Make it clear that you’re doing this regardless of the outcome of this particular application. If you can, put a date on it. If you’re using a friend’s address, say that you’re temporarily staying with that person while you finalize your job search. That tips employers off that you’re serious and already settling in. Also that they won’t have to pay relocation expenses. (Don’t give up the possibility of this off-hand, but if you want the move or the job enough, be prepared to move yourself.)When writing your c over letter, the important thing is to convince your employer that this move is part of your long-term plan. Show them that this job isn’t the only reason, but that it’s also not some stop-gap leapfrog situation just to get you in the area.

Bus 272 Ch 8 Essay

Bus 272 Ch 8 Essay Bus 272 Ch 8 Essay 8 Team Dynamics 1 Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa What are Teams? Groups of two or more people Exist to fulfill a purpose Interdependent interact and influence each other Mutually accountable for achieving common goals Perceive themselves to be a team Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 2 Many Types of Teams Permanence How long that type of team usually exists Skill differentiation Degree of skill/knowledge diversity in the team Authority differentiation Degree that decision-making responsibility is distributed throughout the team or centralized Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 3 Informal Groups Groups that exist primarily for the benefit of their members Reasons why informal groups exist: 1. Innate drive to bond 2. Social identity 3. Goal accomplishment 4. Emotional support Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 4 Team Advantages/Challenges Advantages 1. Make better decisions, products/services 2. Better information sharing 3. Increase employee motivation/engagement Challenges 1. Process losses 2. Brook’s Law 3. Social loafing Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 5 Team Effectiveness Model Team States Norms Organizational and Team Environment Rewards Communication Org structure Org leadership Physical space Cohesion Team Efficacy Team Trust Team Design Accomplish tasks Task characteristics Satisfy member needs Team size Team composition Team Processes Team development Team norms Team cohesiveness Team trust Time and Team Development Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa Team Effectiveness 6 Maintain team survival Organization/Team Environment Organizational and Team Environment Rewards Communication Org structure Org leadership Physical space Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 7 Best Tasks for Teams Complex tasks divisible into specialized roles 2. Well-structured tasks – easier to coordinate 3. Higher task interdependence 1. Team members must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs Teams are usually better because high interdependence But teams less effective if task goals differ – use other coordinating mechanisms Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 8 Best Tasks for Teams Team Design Task characteristics Team size Team composition Teams better for tasks that are: sufficiently complex (require teamwork) can be divided into more specialized roles requiring frequent coordination well-structured (easier to coordinate) Teams preferred with higher task interdependence Extent that employees need to share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs. Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 9 Team Design Levels of Task Interdependence Task characteristics Team size Team composition High A Reciprocal B A Sequential B C Resource Pooled A Low Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa C 10 B C Team Design Team Size Task characteristics Team size Team composition Smaller teams are better because: less process loss more engaged with team get to know each other feel more responsible for team’s success But team must be large enough to accomplish task Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa 11 Team TeamDesign Design Team Composition Task characteristics Team size Team composition Effective team members must be willing and able to work on the team Effective team members possess specific competencies (5 C’s in diagram) Canadian OB 9e: McShane/Steen/Tasa Conflict Resolving Diagnose conflict sources Use best conflicthandling strategy Team Member Competencies Comforting Show empathy Provide psych comfort Build confidence 12 Coordinating Align work with others Keep team on track Communicating Share information freely, efficiently, respectfully Listen actively Team Composition: Diversity Team Design Task characteristics Team size Team composition Team members have diverse knowledge, skills, perspectives, values, etc. Advantages

Contextual analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Contextual analysis - Essay Example The sound of water saturates the entire film as well as its soundtrack. Incidentally, the delicate sound of bath water that softly drips from a visibly long, wet hair could only be comparable to the waterfalls at Niagara (Gopnik 2). The story winds in and out in a manner likened to the temporal Mobius strip. The film is generally about two women. One woman is relative young and eager whereas the other one is older and reserved. The two women are ostensibly going about their day-to-day routine and activities. Incidentally, the visitor is pondering just in case the two women are really one. Thesis Statement: While the artist has effectively used the audio-video platform to underscore the lives and attributes of two women characters that are at different stages of their lives, I believe that the representation of water is satisfactory evidence to prove that the two women are the same though portrayed in different parts or stages of their lives. The artist has effectively intertwined the lives and daily routines of the two women in a way that suggests their past successfully shaped their present. In the same way, the experience alongside currents of time shaped their past. In essence, remembering is evidently a creative way since it is obviously difficult to recall that past completely (Connors 4). Apart from the theme of water, Tan’s film also reflects the aspects of isolation, dislocation and loss. The double projection employed by the artist display the older woman reminiscing about her youthful life. The film moves back and forth in attempt to show life in the past and present. Commissioned by Vancouver Art gallery, the film simultaneously displays the video recording of flowing water (Connors 4). The flow of water apparently dominates the film and soundtrack thereby giving an impression of the memory flow and time. It is imperative to emphasize that the two women are at different stages of their lives. Figure 1 Figure 2 While the younger woman is still eager and ambitious to accomplish many of her dreams in life, the older one could only recollect the good moments and difficulties of her young life. Life to the young woman is vast with opportunities and aspirations bother in the short term and long term (Piturro 10). The piece demonstrates the kinds of historical, social, cultural relationships that human beings carry within themselves as they progress in life from childhood to adulthood and finally old age. The older woman is reticent, a sign that she perhaps feel content with the various achievements she has made in life. She credibly thinks it is time to reflect on the successes and disappointments of life because the strength and vigor is long gone (Piturro 10). In contrast, the young woman has numerous ambitions she intends to achieve in the near future. Furthermore, she evidently has the power, strength, vigor and determination to realize her dreams. The movie Rise and Fall examines the retrospective gaze along with its rela tionship to several images that people carry that are reflective of their social, cultural and historical dynamism. It is clearly intricate to tell whether the two women in fact represent a single woman at different points in life (Connors 4). What is very logical in the video is that their ages are contrasting. However, Tan lets the viewers acquire adequate account of their daily rituals. For

African history- railway strike in west French Africa Essay

African history- railway strike in west French Africa - Essay Example African nations have a dynamic history in the events of their colonial periods. Respective nations in Africa were under the rule of diverse colonialist nations. For instance, most of the West African nations were colonized by France. In most cases, the colonial regimes had predetermined capitalist interests. Therefore, they exploited Africans for cheap access of resources. West African was under the colonial regime of France. The colonial period in this region had significant historical events that defined the conflicting relationship amongst the French colonialists and the African natives. These significant events were documented by diverse scholars. Ousmane Sembene and Frederick Cooper were key writers that recorded the colonial events in West Africa. Sembene’s and Cooper’s literal productions have both similarities and differences. Similarities As denoted previously, the literal productions by Sembene and Cooper possess significant similarities. These documents are s imilar through their exploration of conflict and disharmonious interests of the French colonialists and the West Africa natives. Sembene produced his literal record of the colonial events in the form of a novel. He therefore inserts fictional characters and settings of the factual event in the colonial periods of West Africa. Through his text, Sembene explores the major conflict between the colonialists and the West African natives in diverse ways. Sembene defines the ramifications of a previous strike through the flashback of the character Naikoro1. She grieves in pain upon the consideration of her loss of her husband and the disappearance of her son. This flashback by old Naikoro portrays a heated conflict and antagonism that existed between the colonialists and the West African natives2. It is therefore evident that the native Africans had perceived the need for freedom long before the railway strike in 1947. They had premeditated the move of a strike in reference to the existent conflict with the interests of the French regime. In the event of the flashback, Naikoro becomes agitated by Bakayoko’s step-daughter. She had spoken French and Naikoro was irritated by this fact3. This tendency demonstrated by the character represented the resentment that native Africans had against the French regime. Cooper also demonstrated the conflict amongst the larger groups of West African natives and the French colonialists. Cooper produced an analysis of the events in colonial and post-colonial West Africa. His literal record of the events is factual and non-fictional. This article gives a comprehensive account and analysis of the events of the railway strike. It also factors in the eventualities of the railway strike in 1947. Cooper defines the strike as a result of the strong integration amongst the African communities4. The railway strike lasted for approximately five months and it was planned from the community level amongst the West African natives. This artic le therefore defines the West African communities as cohesive for the purpose of freedom attainment. Members of diverse communities reached a concrete agreement of paralyzing the railway operations. Therefore, this is an evident reflection of conflict and antagonism amongst the African natives and the French regime. The conflict is defined through the premeditation of West African communities to launch a railway strike in the quest for equality and freedom5. Sembene and Cooper present a growing trend of the rivalry between the French colonialists and the West African natives. They are in a conflict that tends to grow in the progression of time. This is a tendency that is described by both writers within their