Category: Uncategorized

Living Religions

Question 1

Christianity is a faith based on the existence, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. He was born a Jew approximately two thousand years ago and was tried and crucified by the Roman government which said that his teachings and actions were blasphemous. The Bible has shaped the growth of Christianity because it is termed as the Holy book and through it, God communicates to Christians. During the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down and filled the Christians who believed, they were distinguished from non-Christians because there was a visible fire their door. These were the Christians who then moved from Egypt to Israel which was the land God had promised them. Another historic event that led to spread of Christianity was the filling of disciples with the Holy Ghost after the resurrection of Jesus. This was a promise made by god and after its fulfilment, more people believed in Christianity and the teachings of Jesus. Christianity promises the acceptance by God despite of ones sins and this is evident according to Abraham who was favoured by God for his great faith despite his sins.

Question 2

Following the demise of Prophet Mohammed, issues of succession led to the division Muslims into two sects; Sunni and Shiite Muslims. The Sunnis regarded the caliph as the administrator of the Islam special Islam laws and therefore, he would have been the right person to succeed Prophet Mohammed. The Shari’ah laws were written according to the Qur’an and could be applied to real life situations. The Shari’ah law is interpreted to each age group by the Imam who is said to have the closest divine understanding for the laws.

Question 3

Belief and witness also known as the shahada is the first pillar of Islam that requires one to proclaim that Allah is the only true God and Mohammed was his prophet. It is a requirement according to the Qur’an for Muslims to tell others about Islam so that they can make a decision about their faith.

The second pillar of Islam is the daily prayer that is performed five times a day while facing Mecca. An imam may be present during the prayers, but is not required to come between the Muslim when praying to Allah. Before the prayers, a ritual is done using water and in some cases sand so as to purify the body. A number of prayers together with some verses of the Qur’an are recited while kneeling and bowing. The facing of Mecca by all Muslims acts as a unifying factor for all Muslims around the world not considering their social standing. In the mosque, men and women pray independently with men in front of the women to avoid sexual distraction by the women. Prayer strengths one’s belief when repeated a number of times and it is also said to purify the heart and that is the reason it is done five times a day.

The third pillar is “zakat” also known as spiritual almsgiving. Muslims are required to donate at least two percent of their accumulated wealth at the end of the year to Muslims who are less fortunate. The intention is too prevent personal greed while attempting to make all Muslim financially equal. This pillar literally means purifying wealth that is distributed among other Muslims keeping the money in a healthy circulation.

Fasting is the fourth pillar of Islam and is obligatory to all Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan which celebrate the disclosure of the Qur’an to Prophet Mohammed. However, Muslims are required to fast on a regular basis during other months other than the month of Ramadan but it is not obligatory. All those Muslims that of recommended age, healthy, not menstruating or nursing a new-born baby are required to refrain from food, drink, smoking and sexual intercourse from dawn till dusk for the month of Ramadan. It is said that fasting burns up all impurities in the bodies purifying the soul so as to improve their relationship with Allah.

Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam also known as paying pilgrimage to Mecca. All Muslims with the ability of visiting Mecca to pay their pilgrimage are required to do so at least once. If a Muslim can afford to sponsor another Muslim who is incapable of going due to finances, then it is a requirement for them to do so. However, this pillar is not mandatory because not all have the financial capabilities to travel to Mecca. This is meant to collectively bring Muslims from all round the world. A series of rituals are performed and it is a requirement for all the male pilgrims to wrap themselves with a similar cloth so as to symbolise that they are all equal.

Of all the discussed pillars of Islam, shahada is the easiest to fulfil because it only requires a Muslim to proclaim their faith to others telling them about Allah and his prophet Mohammed. All Muslims would be capable of fulfilling this pillar regardless of their health or social status. Fasting is termed by many Muslims as the hardest to fulfil because it requires one to be disciplined to ensure that all the guidelines provided for fasting are followed. It is also the hardest because it is obligatory and if one does not observe fasting due to valid reasons, then they are required to do so at a later date.

Jihad according to Prophet Mohammed is the constant battle within self in the effort to distinguish between right and wrong. It is an inward fight in the heart that is externally expressed to bring out harmony within the community so as to protect the teachings of Islam and its faith. It states in the Qur’an that jihad should not be used for personal benefits. However, the Qur’an allows one to engage in war if they have been wronged or captured unlawfully and their rights infringed. This statement has led to the different perceptions of jihad in textbooks. A misunderstanding of the Qur’an has led many to engage in constant battles and terrorism acts claiming that they are only protecting the interests of other Muslims.

Name:

Lecturer:

Course:

Date:

Media and Gender-inequality

The need for equality across people with different genders is a topic that continues to be discussed since its inadequacies are witnessed not only in the occupation sector but also in the political area. Unfortunately, one pervasive medium of information, the Television shows, and movies have only increased the issue farther. According to a study by Dr. Lauzen, after studying the characters both on-screen and behind the screens programs, only 5% of them had an equal number of female and male characters. Also, while it may seem that the female characters in the broadcasting network are increasing the data suggests otherwise since the number of the female between 2015-2016 was one percent less to that of 2006-2007. However, the underrepresented female characters are not the only depiction of gender inequality but also their characterizations in the shows and movies. Female characters are depicted as leaders in fewer instances than the male characters, and they are also shown in fewer cases as working and more than the male characters.

Additionally, they are referred by their marital status. In regards to women being employed to work on the positions, behind-the-scenes have stalled in the past decade with only a one percent increase being witnessed. With the reference that those who are on the behind-scenes affect those on the on-screen, it is evident that programs with at least one female creator, the female speaking characters were 45% and females accounted for 32% where all producers were male. Also, programs with at least one female executive producers had 40% female characters, the more the creators and producers, the same was with the female characters (Berger). Nowadays, most people spend a maximum of 10 hours daily, and the depiction of women in adverts and shows shapes the perception of women where it depicts that whatever the value they will always be judged by their looks. Moreover, it illustrates that the ideal woman is whiter, which affects the perception of black women. Lastly, the only positive thing that is happening on the shows and movies it the diversification of people across all races.

Works Cited

Berger, Laura. “New TV Research Reveals Gender Inequality On-Screen And Off”. Womenandhollywood.Com, 2016, https://womenandhollywood.com/new-tv-research-reveals-gender-inequality-on-screen-and-off-146acc5ff99/. Accessed 3 Apr 2020.

Media and the Criminal Justice System

Student’s Name

Institution

Media and The Criminal Justice System

In the modern age of advanced technology, information is fast and readily made available to consumers. Consequentially, the media is significantly involved in ways that have helped to reach and provide information to their consumers through gadgets such as television, social media platforms, and radios. The mainstream media and social media have had a crucial impact on the criminal justice system by spreading information to the public, which has led to massive changes in the area. 

Mainstream media, which includes broadcast media and newspapers, are a popular source of information among people. People rely on them for news coverage, provision of information, education, and articulating their grievances. The mainstream media has a significant influence on the criminal justice system. One of the main impacts of mainstream media on criminal justice systems is that it highlights its weaknesses to improve it. Historically, mainstream media has put pressure on the government and other stakeholders to create an equitable criminal justice system. One of the most successful roles that the mainstream media played in influencing the criminal justice system was during the Civil Rights Movement. During the time, the mainstream media highlighted the plight of Blacks in America. The mainstream media covered stories of deep-rooted racism in American society, which included policy brutality and high incarceration rates among African Americans (Schultz, 2019). The stories covered by the mainstream media led to the improvement of Blacks and People of Color’s lives in the United States through the introduction of better policies. The policy changes introduced in criminal justice during the Civil Rights Movement era were a testament to the role mainstream media plays in creating an equitable society. 

In recent years, social media has emerged as a popular and choice among people for news, entertainment, and information. In recent years, it has played an important role in putting pressure on the criminal justice system with a view of creating change. Popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are now crucial ways of sensitizing, informing, and mobilizing people. In 2020, social media has been significantly used to mobilize people against policy brutality and bring change to the department of the criminal justice system. The recent killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which was captured by a witness, was spread via social media to millions of people worldwide. The clip, which illustrated a common problem of police brutality, sparked widespread protests in the United States, which have led to significant changes in police departments across the United States. The pressure created by the protests has put the criminal justice system in a spotlight and contributed to various defunding efforts (Rubinstein and Mays, 2020). 

The morning news had a few news stories on the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system news was fairly written and investigated. The journalists were fair and did not seem to portray any particular bias. I noticed that most of the criminal justice systems involved police brutality issues, which have been the main component of news stories in 2020. 

Reference

Rubinstein, D., & Mays, J. (2020, June 30) Nealy $1billion is shifted from police in budget that pleases no one. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/nyregion/nypd-budget.htmlSchultz J. (2019). Media coverage of law enforcement and effects of the image created. Dominican Scholar, https://scholar.dominican.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1150&context=senior-theses

Student’s name

Name of lecturer

Course Number

Date of assignment

Live to work

Introduction

Whether one has to live to work or work to live is a question that is so subjective. According to a guest author on “hat is work for, life is not always the way most people desire it could be. Few people are gratified by what they do but the remaining population is always grappling with the question of what they should do to make their lives comfortable. Most of the people work to ensure that their basic needs and that of their families are met. It is also argued that most people even after achieving much to maintain their families, they will continue working. This is mainly because “what is enough?” varies from one person to another. Most achievers in life are driven by the desire to succeed in whatever they do. In this article, we are going to discuss on the reasons that drive people to live to work as opposed to the vice versa(“What is work” 001).

Discussion

According to Baehr P and Wells G C (009), for one to be a good worker, he must have the qualities of diligence and hard work. This is evidenced by the fact that the hardworking people are give promotions and positions with better remuneration. The long time notion that people should work hard and retire to their comfort zones after retirement is being challenged. Most people are now thinking of how to make their later years most interesting (Baehr P and Wells G C 009). According to Weiss T “Living to work”, most companies in the US are grappling with the idea of their aging workforce. They are thinking of ways they can enhance and retail their employees who are past the retirement age. This is because of the vital skills they have that are of great importance to the companies. To deal with this brain drain from their companies, the companies have come up with enticements to ensure that the old folks do not live without disseminating the knowledge they have to the younger generations. For people to live and enjoy working, most companies are cutting down their responsibilities and altering some that cannot be done away with. (Baehr P and Wells G C (009)

According to Burstyn B S (001), most people in the US are working for longer hours than any other in the world. Most of them do not even have leaves. This has had adverse effects on the lives of the people. First, most people are pre-occupied by their work in that they do not even have time to think of their own lives. The much they can think of is what meal they will have next. Secondly, because of the limited time they have with their families, most of their relationships are compromised. Some even do not have time to form relationships. The tendency of people having to work for long hours has led to a population with people who do not have enough sleep. The children of such parents are also not spared .they have to learn to cope with the demanding lifestyles of their parents. This means that if the parents have limited time to themselves for relaxing, the children will be deprived of the leisure activities. Most of the parents even don’t have the time to go shopping as they are always buried in their desire to work hard to achieve lives’ needs(Burstyn B S 001).

Conclusion

From the discussions above you can tell that is better for one to live to work than work to live. A population who are driven by a work to live policy is doomed to fail. This is because the work force will have a burnout as they have limited time to release the stressors associated with their work. The driving force behind life should be to enjoy whatever they are doing as much as they have to meet their basic needs. There is no limit to what one can acquire and riches will never be enough, so live your life to the fullest (Baehr P and Wells G C 009).

Works cited

Burstyn Barbara Sumner, Working To Live has Been Overtaken by Living to

Work, September 22, 2003.Print

Baehr P and Wells G C.The Protestant Ethic and “The Spirit of Capitalism”

Penguin Books, pp.9-12, 2002. Print

Load Problem Questions: Free Movement of Goods Article 34 And 36

Question 1: Advice Free Pork Ltd If It Has Any Grounds under EU Law for Challenging the Two Spanish Laws

Both articles (Article 34 and 36) prohibit measures, which have particular restrictive effects. In majority of the cases, the term ‘measures’ equates to the laws passed directly by the Member State government. However, the ECJ (European Court of Justice), has stated that a measure can be an item wider and less well described. It is worth noting that the course of Conduct for a State intended to induce discriminatory practice among consumers and private individuals can constitute a measure (regardless it having or lacking a binding influence) and be in violation of the Article 34. The aspect of measures can also include the inaction of a State to stop private individuals’ acts, which prevent the free movement of goods (The College of Law 2012, p200).

The ECJ described the expression of quantitative restriction as measures that amount to partial or total restraint of, based on the circumstances, exports, imports or goods in transit. There are two laws that apply in this category but in this case, the most applicable law is the outright ban enforced by a Member State (Spain) on imports from another Member State (The College of Law 2012, p201). Free Pork Ltd plans to begin selling its products in Spain have been hampered by the law that requires the sale of sausages produced from humanely reared pigs to be checked by Spanish Sausage Checkers (SSC). If the sausages are not checked by SSC, the law prohibits its sales in Spain. However, the process of verifying whether the sausages have those conditions is usually lengthy. Therefore, Free Pork can challenge this Spanish law. There is also a law that requires the name of the company not to use words that imply health or fitness. Free Pork can also challenge this law because it restricts the importation of goods and can affect the brand image of the company.

The SSC is a form of a licencing system, which according to the articles, subjects the import of merchandises to the condition of getting an import licence. Even in situations where the application for an import licence is regarded a mere formality; it is a Quantitative Restriction. This is because is simply a mechanism in which imports can be restricted. In practice, it is very rare for the Member States laws to result to quantitative restrictions. The ban on exports or imports between Member States is found only in unusual circumstances (The College of Law 2012, p201). Therefore, failure by Free Pork Ltd to meet the conditions set by the Spanish laws is an outright ban on exporting sausages to this Member State. As stated earlier, the ban only happens in unusual circumstances, and thus, Free Pork can challenge the law because an unusual circumstance lacks, which prohibits it from exporting the goods to Spain.

The directive was important in developing a brief wording of the Article 34 TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) and it continues to offer guidance on the measures that can constitute a breach of Article 34 TFEU prohibitions. Article 2(1) of the directive describes a class of measures (for instance, national laws) that treat imported goods and domestic goods differently. They are commonly referred to as distinctly applicable measures. Article 3 of the directive describes a class of national laws that apply equally to imported and domestic products. These laws have a restrictive impact and they are commonly referred to as indistinctly applicable (The College of Law 2012, p202).

Therefore, the directive classifies both indistinctly and distinctly applicable measures as measures that have an impact equivalent to restrictions on imports. From the statement, it can be stated that a national law can become MEQR (Measures having Equivalent effect to a Quantitative Restriction) regardless of whether it “discriminates against imported products or appears to treat them in the same way as domestic products but is in practice restrictive in effect” (The College of Law 2012, p202). It is important to note that a Member State is capable of justifying more easily an indistinctly applicable law. Although Free Pork can challenge the law on imports restriction, Spain can justify its law because it is indistinctly applicable.

There are three categories of national laws capable of being MEQRs. The first category is laws aimed at enforcing standards (generally minimum standards) concerning matters like weight, description, labelling, size, content or price of goods. The second category is laws concerning tests designed to make sure that goods conform or obey standards indicated in the first category of laws. The third category is laws able to influence the behaviour of consumers and traders. Therefore, the emphasis is on the rules that are capable of having an impact, rather than on the rules essentially having an impact (The College of Law 2012, p204). The requirement to change the name of the company to a name that does not imply fitness or health can be challenged because that law has satisfied the requirement of being MEQRs. Therefore, Free Pork Ltd can challenge the law by proving that it is MEQRs.

The Cassis de Djion principles are applicable in the case of Free Pork Ltd and the Spanish laws. The first principle of Cassis de Djion states that where a national law is applicable to imported and domestic products alike, and where Community-wide standards concerning the products in question lacks, it may be mandatory to accept obstacles to trade caused by the reality that the national law differs from other Member States laws. However, the obstacles can only be acknowledged if the national law leading to the obstacle is essential to satisfy a mandatory necessity, and the law does not go further than it is necessary to accomplish its aim (The College of Law 2012, p204). Therefore, Free Pork Ltd can challenge the law if it is capable of justifying that the law is indistinctly applicable.

The second principle seems to conflict with the first principle but the two can be reconciled if there is a presumption that the goods lawfully produced in one Member State are marketable in another. However, if there is a law that obstructs this, the Member State can invalidate the presumption through Cassis or through Article 36 TFEU (The College of Law 2012, p207). Therefore, Free Pork Ltd can challenge this law. Based on Article 36, Free Pork Ltd can prove to Spain that the sausages it supplies do not pose health risk to people. The article states that a Member State willing to use this derogation has to prove the existence of an actual health risk (The College of Law 2012, p217). Therefore, under this article, Free Pork can challenges the laws by proving that its products do not pose health risk to the people of Spain.

Question 2. Advise Free Pork Ltd if it has any grounds under EU law for challenging the Spanish advertising requirement.

The Spanish laws regarding the broadcast of adverts targeted at consumers below the age of 12 years adopt a protective approach pushing the timing of the broadcast to not earlier than 9 pm. Under such circumstances, Free Pork’s entry into the Spanish market faces the limitation of adverts set by the Spanish national laws. Two important issues emerge in the deliberations of the legal position in which the Free Pork venture finds itself. On one hand, the right of the Spanish consumer protection policies as well as the right of the company under its commercial rights as discussed below.

In view of the Spanish national agencies position to enforce consumer protection against a backdrop of foreign policies having a negative position on a particular contestable matter, the position of the reprieve is offered to Member States in terms of the protection offered by the European Union. In Konsumentombudsmannen (KO) v De Agostini (Svenska) Förlag AB (C-34/95) and TV-Shop i Sverige AB (C-35/95 and C-36/95), it was held that the right of a Member State to apply advertisement prohibition to a foreign advertiser from a jurisdiction permitting such advertisements should not be contested. The case had particular consumer protection obligations from the Member State and the original intention of the law cannot be overruled.

It therefore implies that the bottom line of the contested interaction between the Free Pork venture into the market through the advertisement is expected to some extent, however debatable it is. However, the application of the law to a foreign market entrant where such a prohibition is not applicable provides a different concept for consideration by Free Pork where the reasons target a particular age group. The Spanish authorities for instance will find it important to invoke the provisions of Article 34 as demonstrated in the Keck formulae adopted in Keck and Mithouard (cases C-267 and C-268/91) [1993] ECR I-6097. Such invocation will involve the enumeration of the specific environment offered to domestic sausage marketers, which would be argued to be fairly reasonable if foreign entrants are subjected to similar treatment.

In Cassis de Dijon, the ECJ made the observation that a Member State has an opportunity to forward conflicting justifications on policies and laws impacting on prohibition of free movement of goods in the EU. According to the deliberations of the court, a nation implementing a trade policy likely to conflict the free movement of goods regime can forward certain arguments to sustain an argument for prohibition of movement of goods (The College of Law 2012, p217). Generally referred to as derogating opportunity from the provisions of the Treaty, it is possible for a Member State to launch a campaign from a legal position of national laws to attempt to control or restrict free movement as negated for all the Member States. As an illustration, it may be expected that the Spanish authorities will invoke the various derogation provisions under Article 36 to deny Free Pork to freely advertise and penetrate the sausage market. Derogation under Article 36 a) cites public interest, which is not clearly outlined and the Spanish authorities may twist the uncertainty to fit into the protection of public interest through barring adverts of sausages to children below 12 years of age.

Derogation c) also sounds like a possible excuse for reliance to invoke prohibitory opportunity for advertising to children below 12 years of age. The complexity of the burden of proof for the protection of health of the Spanish children may however proof to be an opportunity for Free Pork. In Commission v. UK: Re UHT Milk (case 124/81) [1983] ECR 203, it was held that the Member State must avail substantial detail on the nature and magnitude of the risks posed by the said products (The College of Law 2012, p217). By scrutinizing possible discrimination element in the particular Spanish law prohibiting free advertisement, it is possible to compel the authorities to avoid the prohibition. Section 5.2 of Article 36 dispels any arbitrary implementation of discriminatory laws. As observed in Commission v. UK (Re Imports of Poultry Meat) (case 40/82) [1982] ECR 2793, failure to demonstrate the extent to which a law is not restrictive to free movement of goods leads to infringement on EU laws (The College of Law 2012, p218).

In Konsumentombudsmannen (KO) v De Agostini (Svenska) Förlag AB (C-34/95) and TV-Shop i Sverige AB (C-35/95 and C-36/95), it also emerged that the Member State cannot prohibit advertisements from a different Member State on grounds of consumer protection to persons under 12 years of age (The College of Law 2012, p213). On this legal concept adopted by the court in the case, the EU offers relief to Member States to enjoy the regime on free movement of goods and their penetration into the market. It would certainly be restrictive to involved business if consumer protection laws selectively designed to a particular age group closes the channel available to free movement of goods to the ultimate market. The available options to Free Pork must therefore include seeking legal intervention against the restrictive Spanish laws targeting unfair advertisement prohibition on the grounds of protection of persons under the age of 12 years. As noted above, however, the Spanish authorities are expected to offer objection to contesting opinion regarding implemented policies targeted towards consumer protection such as freedoms of advertisement.

The spirit of Article 34 TFEU is particularly to offer definition to various selling arrangements that must prevent hindrances to free movement of goods. Under the finer implementation details, the spirit of the Article captures the need to provide non-discriminatory business regimes free goods movement among Member States. In view of the provisions of the article, it is apparent that the jurisdiction of the EC in determination of the restriction concepts experienced at the hands of national policies of a Member State are reasonable o other Member States. Substantial restrictions experienced by Member States in accessing the channels of distribution and free movement of goods must be countered by the EC framework as enumerated under Article 34 TFEU. The level of intervention by the EC as spelt out in Article 34 TFEU extends to the negative impact experienced by the Member States in the implementation of a regime withholding free movement of goods (The College of Law 2012, p213). The protection of inter-state trade perhaps has a far-reaching impact if implemented without discrimination and the EC demonstrates the importance of such consideration across several rulings through the ECJ. Whereas Member States have the general space of access of inter-state markets within the EU, the existence of principles of subsidiarity in the market and the natural limitations guarded by spirit of international community contradicts the principle of free movement of goods. References

The College of Law (2012) Unit 21: Free movement of goods, The College of Law.

-4572002628900Big Data & Artificial Intelligence in Marketing: What are the Ethical Implications?

Have you heard or did you hear about the Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal? This is a typical example of just how much is at stake when it comes to big data and artificial intelligence in Marketing. The advent of these new technologies has become the backbone of the success for a number of renowned multinational corporations including Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon, Alibaba etc. As more organizations jump onto the big data craze and AI technology as marketing tools, certain questions arise. A review of ethical implications of the technology demands answering certain concerns on big data and AI based marketing strategies and decision-making processes used presently. Looking at Big data and AI intelligence we must consider; the negative ethical implications of this new technology, how far is too far?

Big data is now big business but has become a tool for manipulation. According to Saran, (2018), Big data has enabled companies to better target the changing needs of customers; developing relevant, rich and needs oriented content but this has come at a cost. Organizations like Google and Facebook are now generating huge chunks of their revenue from big data. Big data is a big business because of the high accuracy levels of collected data that have helped make major organizational decisions in real time. Through data harvesting, organizations are now able to understand the needs of their target customers recognize the changing needs of every customer and respond appropriately in real time. This has created the problem of privacy breaches and user manipulation based on their personal information. Because of this level of accuracy, data can be manipulated and used to target individual vulnerabilities considered as weaknesses for eases of manipulation in crucial decision-making aspects such as elections.

Another major ethical concern is the issue of selling private user data to third parties. Companies like Google and Facebook have been found to sell user data and information to third party organizations at a profit. This is a growing concern, because there is no telling what extents, these organizations go to obtain the data and how much of the private user data is being given out. Additionally, most users don’t really know when, why and how their data is harvested, what is harvested and how this data is used. Companies like Cambridge analytica was able to use private user information to create targeted advertisements, which helped dissuade the electorate to vote in certain patterns. There are many other instances of user privacy violations and undesired targeted advertising which point to just how serious this problem will become as more organizations, governments and the general population joint the online data harvesting and artificial intelligence technology bandwagon.

00Big Data & Artificial Intelligence in Marketing: What are the Ethical Implications?

Have you heard or did you hear about the Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal? This is a typical example of just how much is at stake when it comes to big data and artificial intelligence in Marketing. The advent of these new technologies has become the backbone of the success for a number of renowned multinational corporations including Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon, Alibaba etc. As more organizations jump onto the big data craze and AI technology as marketing tools, certain questions arise. A review of ethical implications of the technology demands answering certain concerns on big data and AI based marketing strategies and decision-making processes used presently. Looking at Big data and AI intelligence we must consider; the negative ethical implications of this new technology, how far is too far?

Big data is now big business but has become a tool for manipulation. According to Saran, (2018), Big data has enabled companies to better target the changing needs of customers; developing relevant, rich and needs oriented content but this has come at a cost. Organizations like Google and Facebook are now generating huge chunks of their revenue from big data. Big data is a big business because of the high accuracy levels of collected data that have helped make major organizational decisions in real time. Through data harvesting, organizations are now able to understand the needs of their target customers recognize the changing needs of every customer and respond appropriately in real time. This has created the problem of privacy breaches and user manipulation based on their personal information. Because of this level of accuracy, data can be manipulated and used to target individual vulnerabilities considered as weaknesses for eases of manipulation in crucial decision-making aspects such as elections.

Another major ethical concern is the issue of selling private user data to third parties. Companies like Google and Facebook have been found to sell user data and information to third party organizations at a profit. This is a growing concern, because there is no telling what extents, these organizations go to obtain the data and how much of the private user data is being given out. Additionally, most users don’t really know when, why and how their data is harvested, what is harvested and how this data is used. Companies like Cambridge analytica was able to use private user information to create targeted advertisements, which helped dissuade the electorate to vote in certain patterns. There are many other instances of user privacy violations and undesired targeted advertising which point to just how serious this problem will become as more organizations, governments and the general population joint the online data harvesting and artificial intelligence technology bandwagon.

-10287001485900AI & BIG DATA IN MARKETING

00AI & BIG DATA IN MARKETING

-1028700-102870000

Discussion Responses

Response 1

Biggest Difference Between a Manager and a Leader

A significant level of commitment is implied by the word “manage,” which means “handle.” “To lead” implies to go ahead and clear a path for others. When it comes to leadership and management, the key distinction is that people follow leaders, whilst managers have people working under them. It is common for leaders to have compelling personalities that radiate positivity, as well as a focus on ensuring their team members grasp the vision and believe in it. Managers, on the other hand, usually have a vision and demand that everyone either accepts it or go. Managers and leaders are inseparable, according to my perspective. Developing an institution’s vision and energizing its employees to work together to achieve it is a direct result of this talent.

Even if excellent managers have leadership abilities, it does not imply that all leaders are in managerial positions. In other words, you do not have to choose between being a manager and being a leader. Short-term goals and objectives are the primary focus while in management mode,’ so to speak. It is when you are in “leadership mode” that you are picturing the future and building the framework for persuading others to join you. A manager is someone who is in charge of the day-to-day operations of an organization, whereas a leader is someone who inspires and motivates others. Be confident in your talents, expertise, and judgments if you want to be a good manager. However, this does not imply that you should act arrogantly toward those who work for you or believe that you are superior to them.

Proposal

Name of Student

Name of Institution

A Proposal to Test the Validity of the Public Interest Inquiry Criteria Used by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) Focusing on the Circular Copper Tube Decision

Introduction

CITT is the Canadian body that determines whether the imposition of countervailing measures and anti-dumping duties should be reduced, maintained or eliminated. It reports to the Minister of Finance pursuant to the Special Import Measures Act (s.42). The Parliament enacted the provision following consumer concerns that full margin levies of dumping duty resulted to higher costs of products for consumers and adversely affected competition in Canada. The public interest test sprang in light of these concerns. However, the legislation provides no definition of “public interest” hence it is left to CITT’s discretion to determine the definition as witnessed in the Circular Copper Tube decision (2014).

Statement of Purpose

Because unfettered discretion could derail the objectives of CITT and erode public confidence in it, there is the need to test the validity of the criteria used by CITT to warrant public interest enquiries. The factors outlined in the Act will be weighed against internationally recognized standards to ascertain their credibility. Moreover, the Act gives room for CITT to take into account any other relevant factors, a situation that calls for scrutiny into the possible loopholes that might arise in such imprecise modes of operation.

Importance of the Study

The study will prove that although players in the industry see “public interest” as a concept deserving strong support, there are many underlying issues that should be taken into account by CITT in the determination of a public interest inquiry. It would go against procedural fairness and good public policy not to have specific criteria on determining public interest and how to allocate weight to the interests of both producers and other players in the industry. An ideal test should find that injury has been occasioned to a domestic industry by dumping, and there is the need for a compelling argument for not imposing measures in such cases due to the public interest consideration.

Criteria that merely list factors are unsatisfactory as whoever determines the need for public interest would need to adopt at a certain view on the importance of industry and exporter interests. Failing to address the issue would trigger intense lobbying by interested parties to include their views on each factor’s relative weight in the absence of an indication of the weight attributed to each factor in determining the respective interests of consumers and the producer.

Any criterion of inquiry must be founded upon the requirement that there is the need for compelling reasons not to roll out measures due to broader issues of public interest. The requirement is crucial as it maintains a degree of integrity for the industry and addresses unfair trade practices. The failure to give greater weight to industry needs that are discovered to be materially injured than the needs of other players would produce unacceptable results for the industry and substantially undermine the entire rationale for anti-dumping. In turn, this would mean that failing to impose measures is largely exceptional, which should not be viewed as a critique to the reduced application of public interest.

List of Jurisprudence

The World Trade Organization Anti-Dumping Agreement

Global Congress Declaration on Fundamental Public Interest Principles for International Intellectual Property Negotiations

CITT Decision – Beer Originating in or Exported from United States of America by or on behalf of Pabst Brewing Company, G. Heileman Brewing Company and the Stroh Brewery Company, their Successors and Assigns, for Use or Consumption in the Province of British Columbia [Opinion No.: PI-91-001]

General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (Canada membership, 1947)

North Atlantic Free Trade Area (Canada, United States, Mexico) – 1994

Most Favored Nation Treatment under GATT

Non-discriminatory Administration of Quantitative Restrictions – GATT

Qualifications for GATT Exceptions

Chapeau – GATT

Vienna Convention – Treaty Interpretation

A Raisin in the Sun and Fences

Student’s Name

Institution

A Raisin in the Sun and Fences

Why “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Fences” are coincidence plots.

The plots of both “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Fences” are a coincidence. In both the texts, the central characters who are Walter and Troy respectively portray the same characterization of causing misunderstanding in the families as well as reverse fortunes which significantly brings confusion and irony at the climax of both stories. Coincidentally, in both the texts the authors depict the collapse of the African-American families around the mid-1950’s where the settings are in poverty based black residential in the United States.

The climax of “A Raisin in the Sun” arose as Walter gets into a disagreement with his wife and mother after the insurance money left by their deceased father. The ten thousand dollars confused the family as Walter seen it as an opportunity to venture into liquor business that he believed could earn him significant profits. Mama and his wife were for the money be used to pay Beneatha’s medical school expenses, and the rest could be used to find a new apartment where the family could comfortably settle (Hansberry, 1994). It is ironical that despite Walter going against the family will of paying his sisters fees, the money ends up being stolen and they ended up moving to the new mansion. Considering the text “Fences,” Troy get involved in a conflict with his Son Cory by being a hindrance to the boy being register to a college football scholarship forum. It is ironical that the unfinished fence around their backyard signifies incompletes of the family which is portraying by the protagonist act of straying with another woman and misunderstanding in the family leading to its breaking. Also, the irony is depicted by the action of Gabriel wishing his deceased well and sings that the doors of heaven to be opened for him despite his mistreatment.

Stagecraft description.

Stagecraft efficiently depicts the author’s skills in writing stage plays. Stagecraft in both “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Fences” does not only portray the settings and other literary devices in the plays but also essential in suggesting the actions in the play through physical elements. Minimal use of the stagecraft in both plays significantly leaves the audience in suspicion not having the precise information regarding what will happen next in the play, hence creating attraction. It is right that in both texts the devastating power of poverty, segregation, and oppression of the black American are portrayed to affect the families depicted throughout the plot. For instance, in the “A Raisin in the Sun” Ruth tells Travis that Mama could not give him fifty cents to go to the supermarket because they do not have the money. However, how have they portrayed the theatre epic? The use of right costume and other traditional elements that could postulate the culture of Africa-American during this decade would be significant for the audience.

In suggesting the actions and plot of the plays, both the writers depict their skills in staging. In consideration of the “Fences,” August Wilson’s has significantly applied the art by symbolically using the undone fence around Troy’s backyard. It depicts the incompleteness the couple’s relationship, and it becomes clear later after the act of Troy moving out of the marriage for another woman. It also signifies the certain boundaries that put the African-Americans in working for the white to earn a living and sustain their requirements. The minimal offering of the stagecraft to the audience in both plays makes the drama interesting as apart from generating their eagerness it also depicts the culture through the use of physical activity limitations.

Walter and Troy characterization

They were both pessimistic. Being African-American men who had families, they had hopes and worked hard to one day ensure that their families live well regardless of their ethnicity. Walter worked as a chauffeur for the white man, and he had hopes that the left insurance money by his father would be an essential opportunity to venture into a business that could brighten the family’s future. On the other hand, despite Troy having the lousy character of stealing, after the jail term, he worked hard to establish his baseball potentiality and also worked for the white men as other black people to sustain the family’s needs. Both are depicted as egoistic. The act of Walter refusing to pay his sisters medical school expenses only to end up investing all the money in an unviable business postulated selfishness. He did not mind about the other family members’ views and feelings and was only for his opinions be put in place. The case is the same with Troy as for the first instance he did not help his brother Gabriel with the compensation money and instead he purchased a mansion where they lived with his family.

Round characters by the authors depict both Walter and Troy. They are fully developed to serve the purpose of the plays from the beginning to end. Walter is the main character has been reflected as an antagonist of other family members as well as a caring and loving person at the end by his act of admitting not to sell the new mansion. Also, Troy has been portrayed as a three-dimensional character regarding his act of trying all he can to survive moving from the act of stealing to playing baseball and finally working family sustenance. Both generate the plots of the plays.

Walter Lee foils

The author illustrates Lena Younger and Beneatha Younger as Walter’s foils. At all the instances they are against the protagonist, and there is no any single time they do not support Walter. Lena Younger despite being Walter’s mother she is his antagonist and this is depicted during their disagreement on how to spend the inheritance money. After making her decision, Lena states that three hundred and fifty dollars have been used to purchase the mansion and the rest will be given to Walter to deposit them in his bank account, pay three hundred dollars for Beneatha’s schooling and use the rest in his business. She qualifies to be a foil as throughout the play she appears to contradict Walter’s will and end up standing for the family betterment.

On the other hand, Beneatha Younger apart from being Walter’s sister she is an active antagonist throughout the play. It is portrayed when they disagree when arguing about the insurance money spending. Walter tells her to stop her education eagerness and find a job to earn a living or marry like other women in the region (Hansberry, 1994). It hurts Beneatha as she is passionate in studying medicine and ends up blaming and assuming her brother’s words which are devastating. The drunk Walter abuses her boyfriend in her presence, but she ignores that and goes their ways leaving him alone.

Troy as the protagonist

Troy is the central character in the play “Fences” by August Wilson. He is the personality that evolves throughout the play, and the plot of the drama is developed through his characterization. The theater can be said to depict his life and association with other people. At the beginning of the scene he is portrayed as a criminal after the rejection and mistreatment by his father, and he ended up in jail where he realized his baseball passion. The climax comes to be through his character of being protective, caring and to some extent egocentric. The act of being protective made conflict arise between him and his son Cory who had a dream of ones becoming a football champion. However, Troy with his experience at the higher level athletes prevented his success in being registered to the college football league that could significantly open his doors.

The reason behind Troy rejecting his son’s recruitment was saving him from the segregation and discrimination at the higher boards. It efficiently portrays that he is caring and minds about his family future. Troy also worked hard to the extent of being promoted with the aim of providing his family’s needs. On the other side, Troy depicts the egoistic character that made him hurt his wife without minding the effects their relationship was endangered too. After, going astray and getting a daughter with another woman, Troy says that her mother is dead and she is innocent thus it is the role of Rose to bring her up (Wilson, 1994). In all cases the conflict arises in the play, Troy is a victim in one way or the other.

Marriage Troubles

In both Troy and Rose and Walter and Ruth Younger marriages are faced with troubles that endanger their relationships. Regardless of the difficulties in their marriages, the spouses survive till the end as one. To begin with, is the Walter and Ruth relationship that is depicted by the author are the most challenging deed to survive in. Among the difficulties, the marriage is faced with include disagreement, poverty, and restriction. The spouse all through the play has not been portrayed to be on the same side due to Walter’s selfishness. After receiving the inheritance from his father, Walter had the incentive of investing in liquor business which was against Ruth who supported Lena Younger, their mother. She states that the money must be used to purchase a house that the family can live in comfortably and the rest pay his sister’s medical school arrears.

Poverty was another devastating factor that affected the family. When Ruth realized that she was pregnant, she aborted to avoid adding another family member regarding the scarcity and condition of their residence. Ruth was also restricted to poverty as an African-American woman as it was possible to move out of the marriage for another partner but this did not happen. The survivability of the union was enhanced by Ruth’s tolerance and the support from Lena Younger who ensured that they stay well as a family. Regarding Walter’s personality, it would have been difficult to stand for the family alone this depicting the role of his mother in their marriage with Ruth.

ON the other side, the marriage between Troy and Rose underwent various challenges such as brutality and infidelity. Throughout his life, Troy has been aggressive and significantly causing conflict within the family. The act of preventing their son Cory joining the football club was devastating as his success would have been their joy, but Rose did not question about the action. Also, the act of fighting with the same son in front of Rose was not right as she was the mother of the family. She was suggestable to reacting to her husband’s brutality and misunderstanding, and this could significantly affect the relationship. Also, the action of infidelity depicted by Troy was a significant danger to their marriage. Regardless of all these challenges, the ties survived o the end the primary control being Ruth’s broad-mindedness character.

Restrictive Covenants in Levittown

Levittown is one of the places where its legacy was segregation during the 1950’s. It was right that there was a significant number of Africa-American residents, but the bias was their topic of the day. The Negroes did not have the right to stay at the same reservations with the white, and they used to survive and the harsh conditions along the ghetto. Regarding Ruth in the “A Raisin in the Sun,” she states that their house was under poor conditions and restricted to the extent that she was not ready to bring another life into being at the same environment. It significantly led to her abortion. The case was the same with the blacks in the Levittown. It is during this period that the Negroes were fighting for their civil rights in the nation as they were subjected to too much racism. The same blacks had been involved in the world war as military fighting for the same country that does not consider their equity.

Survival at these conditions was terrible, and the Africa-Americans were forced to work as servants for the white to obtain food as well as income to sustain their families. It is at this era when the Negroes were struggling to get the right to access social facilities such as school and hospitals for better living standards. They significantly had the potentiality of studying and participating in national growth, but they were not granted the opportunities. Also, regarding their capability of participating in sports and athletes, they could not get to the higher levels due to discrimination. The same is depicted in both the “A Raisin in the Sun” and “Fences” was discrimination and poverty are the blacks degrading factors.

References

Hansberry, L. (1994). A Raisin in the Sun. 1959. New York: Vintage.

Wilson, A. (1994). Fences (p. 282). Connecticut Repertory Theatre.

Audio:Introduction (50):

Amazon Kindle is a sequence of mobile electronic gadgets designed to allow readers to browse, read, download, or buy books for their consumption. The range of products provides by Kindle business is created and marketed by Amazon, for customers to read e-books through its e-reader (Dudley, 2019). For it is one of the products of industry 4.0 in the 21st century and developing, hence needs current digital business analysis to understand the trends.

Big data (100): promotion

Amazon Kindle can make an accurate suggestion before making sales. According to research done by Simon Peter Rowberry of the University of Stirling, the promotion process involves turning useful information from the data of the most preferred books through Business Intelligence (BI). It then highlights the words and notes in customers’ books and analyzes the feedback of Kindle and on social media (Wills, 2018). This process contributes to big data, a central project of modern science and business, which is used in the digital business to analyze and visualize the information (Breur, 2016). Amazon is widely known as a pioneer. To analyze data more accurately, Amazon developed Amazon RedShift in 2013, to manage a data warehouse in the cloud (Watson, 2014). The redshift is a part of Amazon Web Services (AWS), also used in an online social game, Zynga (Watson, 2014). The Redshift was useful to the Amazon company in the introduction stage of the game (Watson, 2014). This can inflect more concept of business intelligence, especially for businesses with a lot of data, which help in identifying more target market. Amazon’s application of big data will be emulated and promoted soon by various e-commerce enterprises as it becoming a trend.

Technological product (100): product

The products and product forms also changed. It is sent from Amazon Kindle to the e-reader mobile app. Both order and delivery occur virtually. Kindle uses a piece of technology equipment, through which virtual products are sent to the e-readers in a minute (Norman, 2009). This method is more developed, having improved technology sense, including fictitious, a unique code to identify each product. The equipment is updated periodically with a changing trend. For example, the idea of Kindle began in 2004, with the name of Fiona (Newton, 2019) and updated from 1.0 to Kindle 10.0. Also, there have been e-commerce developments such as VR, AR, and XR, which depicts future changes in e-reading.

Shopping website (no physical evidence) (100): place

Amazon Kindle uses a website to provide its products to customers. The website can be considered as an online store since it allows people to search, choose, and buy books they want through the web browser (Dudley, 2007). It was started by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as a simple form, to give people a fire-new way to buy books and receive them through logistics (Byers, 2007). However, with the emergence of digital disruption that slows down the process, there has been the development of more forms of shopping website, Kindle cloud is one of it. As one of the giant competitors in the market of content selling, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft tried to digitalize as many as books they can. The content is scanned and sent into the cloud (Grafton, 2015), and then be sent to customers’ equipments from the cloud in seconds after payment (Kowalczyk, 2019). This process does not need any physical evidence, but only a sum of data and a channel to pass through the cloud. Therefore, there is no physical evidence of store or product, which shows a current trend of e-commerce in the digital business.

Blockchain (100): price

As people are buying, payment has to be made to complete the sale process. Kindle provides an online payment platform based on the blockchain concept. In 2008, the most popular method of block chain was the bitcoin, whereas it currently widely used for funds flow (Swan, 2015). The block chain is used to translate users’ funds into the business’ account with rail (Nofer et al., 2017). The payment mode is convenient for customers, with cost-friendly prices. Also, the paying process is secure as it uses cryptography, which protects data from the modification (Narayanan et al., 2016). In addition, the payment mode can easily be recorded and tracked by the users themselves. It can be guessed that as the industry leader, Amazon Kindle has arguably influenced the entire Internet economy, can this method will be used widely.

References

Breur, T. (2016). Statistical Power Analysis and the contemporary “crisis” in social sciences. Journal of Marketing Analytics, 4(2-3), pp.61-65.

Byers, A. (2007). Jeff Bezos. New York: Rosen Pub. Group.Dudley, B. (2007). The Seattle Times: Brier Dudley’s blog. [online] Web.archive.org. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20101221083337/http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/brierdudley/2007/11/chatting_with_amazons_kindle_d.html [Accessed 23 Dec. 2019].

Grafton, A. (2007). Future Reading: Digitization and its discontents. The New Yorker.

Kowalczyk, P. (2019). What is Kindle cloud, exactly?. [online] Ebook Friendly. Available at: https://ebookfriendly.com/what-is-kindle-cloud-library-amazon/ [Accessed 2 Jan. 2020].

Narayanan, A. Bonneau, J. Felten, J, Miller, A. and Goldfeder, S. (2016). Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies. Network Security, 2016(8), p.4. R1

Newton, C. (2019). Inside the secret lab where Amazon is designing the future of reading. [online] The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2014/12/17/7396525/amazon-kindle-design-lab-audible-hachette [Accessed 23 Dec. 2019].

Nofer, M., Gomber, P., Hinz, O. and Schiereck, D. (2017). Blockchain. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 59(3), pp.183-187. R3

Norman, D. (2009). THE WAY I SEE ITSystems thinking. interactions, 16(5), p.52.

Rowberry, S. (2019). The limits of big data for analyzing reading. Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 16(1).

Watson, H. (2014). Tutorial: Big Data Analytics: Concepts, Technologies, and Applications. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 34.

Wills, J. (2020). 7 Ways Amazon Uses Big Data to Stalk You. [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/090716/7-ways-amazon-uses-big-data-stalk-you-amzn.asp [Accessed 1 Jan. 2020].

Swan, M. (2015). Blockchain: Blueprint for a new economy. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc.