Julian Assange Versus The World Media Essay

Julian Assange Versus The World Media Essay Breathing, drinking, eating, going to the toilet, sleeping, and checking your Facebook profile: nowadays, these are the actions which basically constitute the largest portion of our daily activities. But one of these items doesnt fit very perfectly into this list. Today, there are 900 million people who have a Facebook account and they all spend more than 700 billion minutes a month logged on to this social network, according to Seth Harden (2012). Hence, we are all responsible, indirectly, of Mark Zuckerbergs nomination as Person of the Year by Time Magazine for 2010. Since 1927, Time Magazine has been honoring certain notions a person, an object, or even a concept that are deemed most influential on our society each year. But what does this whole networking platform add to our lives? What does it possess that is so special and why has it changed the course of our lives permanently maybe? Another candidate for the award was Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, an Australian international organization that brings up massively important news and information that should have been secret to the public. When looking at the controversy raised all around the world by Time Magazines decision of awarding Zuckerberg with the Man of the Year Award over Assange in December 2010, one would suggest finding out whether the Wikileaks founder would have been a better choice than Facebooks CEO, since he has exposed news and information that has been much more beneficial to our societies worldwide despite the fact that many would argue that Facebook has influenced our culture like no other previous phenomenon. Born on May 14, 1984 in Dobbs Ferry, New York, Mark Zuckerberg was already a computer programmer at the age of 12. During his first year at Harvard University, Zuckerberg developed a face-selection online program called The Face Book. Its main purpose was to allow its users to choose between two girl faces based on who is hot and who is not! This project then evolved into becoming a certain type of social network The Harvard Connection. After dropping out from Harvard, Zuckerbergs project became the social network known as Facebook and reached a million users within its first few months. (Mark Zuckerberg, 2011). According to Angela Lewis (2010), she asserts that Facebook is the second most visited website in the world, and  the fastest growing demographic 35-plus group. (p.1). As a result of Facebooks popularity, Mark Zuckerberg has become the twenty-fifth most powerful man alive and the thirty-fifth youngest billionaire in the world (Worlds Most Powerful People, 2012) . However, Zuckerbergs wealth and power solely depends on us, the users of his social network who are unaware that the whole Facebook phenomenon does nothing but benefit its creator. Today, as Facebook users, we have become Facebook dependent. In a recent research about Facebook addiction conducted by the University of Bergen in 2012, results have shown that since Facebook became as ubiquitous as television in our everyday lives, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to know if they are addicted to social media. Indeed, Facebook addiction has become such an overwhelming phenomenon that has invaded our societies worldwide. This new type of addiction is very similar to other types of dependencies. Addiction to smoking is an obvious example. Studies have shown that it displays similar characteristics to any sort of addiction: The user thinks that he is doing something productive when he clearly is not. He believes that his life would be less fun without it, despite having a totally different open world waiting for him. In addition to all of that, the addicted user considers it harmless when in fact the addiction greatly impacts his productivity, conc entration, self-esteem and well-being; finally, he thinks it is cool when in fact it is not. (PressWire, 2012). This is not only the case with Facebook. Twitter and other social networks have been considered objects of addiction as well. People using these social networks are totally unaware of the fact that their whole life is at stake when logging onto the social platform and exchanging information with friends, family members, or any random fellow user. Basically, many of us do not have the habit of reading the Terms and Policy of any online website we subscribe to. Hence, we are definitely missing out on details that might be fatal for our security. For instance, Facebook keeps track of ones online activity while logged onto the social network. In other words, it knows what other websites the user is using and precisely what he is doing. Furthermore, Facebooks policy states that all media or information published by any user is definitely public and the Facebook team is free to access it anytime it wishes to. Finally, if a user decides to delete or deactivate his/her account, his personal information will still exist in the Facebook databases; in other words, there is no such thing as privacy on these kind of social platforms. Simply, Facebook is doing nothing but wasting our time, our lives, and our ambition. It destroys our privacy and, based on a study conducted in 2010 on children and teenagers who use Facebook and Twitter in Australia, results show that these websites only contribute by making kids dumber (The Hindustan Times). Therefore, we might consider Mark Zuckerberg a privacy thief or an international serial killer whose victims are peoples minds and imaginations. However, one must not blame him alone, but blame all Facebook users for their unawareness. Time Magazine awarded Zuckerberg the Person of the Year award in 2010 for his work in the development and easing of communication around the world, despite creating a worldwide addiction and mani pulating users personal information. Despite all of Facebooks negativities, many consider Zuckerberg a hero that has influenced the course of our daily lives. They claim that Facebook allows them to communicate with their families all around the world, as well as get in touch with the outside world, meet new people, and share their experiences. Some even dare to postulate that Facebook is a way to relieve stress, and others support Zuckerberg just because Facebook is a medium through which one can post his/her photos, which is totally absurd. For starters, concerning the revolutionary idea of Facebook, we all basically know that communicating with friends, family and coworkers in an interactive way is easily done through Skype since the year 2002. Moreover, one must note that Skype provides us with its services without the need to communicate personal information with the headquarters. Moreover, regarding the argument which states that Facebook helps in making new friends, one would simply suggest that there is actually no better way to make friends than going out to the real world, socializing with the people at the school, university or the workplace. But let us assume for a moment, that genuine friendships could be made through a social network. One cannot be sure whom he is talking to and sharing his experiences, photos, thoughts and personal information with. The probability of communicating these private photos and facts of ones life to a hacker is very high. No real friendships exist on Facebook. When someone has a thousand friends or more on Facebook, do you think that he/she really knows all these people? Are they really friends? Should they be called friends in the first place? Scientists have proven that having more than 150 friends at a time is irrational and impossible. Finally, doctors have got the answer for those claiming that Facebook is stress-relieving: Facebook users with more friends suffer more stress and neurotic limbo from feeling they have to continually update and amuse t heir larger audiences, according to a research conducted by Dr. Kathy Charles at the University of Edinburgh in 2011 (J-A.Barnes, 2012). A better and more efficient way to reduce stress is to run, walk, and work out. Therefore, we may conclude that there is no solid and concrete reason leading to award Mark Zuckerberg with the Person of the Year 2010 title over other candidates that have really influenced the course of the international political scene in the same year. The competitions runner-up and overwhelming reader favorite, Julian Assange, is a forty two year old activist, publisher and journalist who is mostly renowned for being the founder and editor-in-chief of  Wikileaks. Despite, winning first place in the online survey, Time Magazine rejected the voters will and selected Mark Zuckerberg as Man of the Year. In his youth, Assange was a  hacker-activist who then became a computer programmer and journalist, winning the 2011  Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism for his contributions to freedom of speech all around the world with Wikileaks (Davin, 2011). He was prosecuted in 2011 for rape in Sweden but was convinced that my [his] prosecution for rape in the Swedish courts was engineered by vengeful U.S. intelligence. Today, after being imprisoned several times in the past couple of years, he is in political asylum, granted to him on August 16th 2012, by the Ecuadorian  Foreign Minister. As stated on their official webpage, Wikileaks i s a non-profit media organization. Since 2007, its goal was to bring important news and information to the public and provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to its journalists. One of Wikileaks most important activities is to publish original source material alongside news stories so that readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth. Wikileaks has sustained and triumphed against legal and political attacks designed to silence the publishing organization, journalists and anonymous sources. According to Time Magazine (2011), regardless of what happened or happens to Assange, which he will almost certainly not deserve, the construction of stateless, secure and indestructible Internet drop boxes through which anonymous Internet users can access to circulate highly important data to is an unprecedented innovation. Secrets will never be safe again, or more specifically, they will never be hidden from the people again. Showing his true goal through the Wikileaks project, Julian Assange was asked on the December 19th 2010 episode of Saturday Night Live What are the differences between Mark Zuckerberg and me [him]? and answered ironically that I [he] give private information on corporations to you for free, and Im a villain. Zuckerberg gives your private information to corporations for money and hes Man of the Year. Therefore, Wikileaks may change things in a permanent ongoing way. By uncovering the truth on the political and geopolitical scenes all around the world through an open and privacy-free platform such as the Internet, Wikileaks has radically changed the way we perceive social media, politics and diplomatic relations between governments in a positive manner. Moreover, it has raised awareness among the world population concerning transparency and the honesty of governments towards the people. However, the whole Wikileaks organization is facing worldwide opposition, especially by the governments. For instance, according to the Washington Post, The Obama administration warned Wikileaks chief Julian Assange that the expected release of approximately 250,000 secret State Department documents would have grave consequences and place the lives of journalists, human rights activists and soldiers, at risk (G. Kessler, 28 November  2010) showing that the United States of America are ready to endanger their civilians violate journalists rights in order to keep its secrets away from the public. In addition, a law has been voted on recently condemning every individual living in the United States to a minimum sentence of 2 years in jail in case he/she decides to share information with Wikileaks, showing once more how the Obama administration is resolved to oppress the freedom of speech and opinion. Therefore, regardless of whether one only considers positive events on choosing the Pe rson of the Year, the choice may have been more credible or simply more adequate, to have Julian Assange as Person of the Year 2010. Meanwhile, some opposite viewpoints may state that Wikileaks is harmful towards a countrys national security and assume that it is the sole reason behind depriving Assange the Man of the Year title. As they may see it, the people holding these points of views think that the whole organization causes a wave of protest against the political and governing class inside a country, hence disturbing its national security and prosperity. These arguments are most commonly held by people close to the reigning regime or class. They need to keep their interests secure at all price, and would do whatever that is in their power to stop any opposition to their system. This notion gives us an idea of what director Michael Moore discusses throughout his movies and how he describes his conspiracy theory, which becomes clearer day after day, and revealed secret after revealed secret. These classes of people governing the world, these self-centered egoistic maniacs who control the media through their ow n TV stations only think about their interests, their final income, their next target and so onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ they are living their sick life regardless of the peoples will, despite being in the position they are in thanks to them. The people have rights: they have the right to know, especially to know what is really happening behind the walls, in offices, and underneath the tables. It is our right to know whether we are being lied to each and every day. If we were subject to treason in any way, we have the right to manifest and contest the political system governing our country in order to achieve total justice within it. That is why the argument mostly used by this kind of people is not solid. It is simply biased and by no means objective. In conclusion, one may easily doubt the Man of the Year awards credibility and the criteria used in order to award a certain individual, object or concept. However, in the Time press release, Mark Zuckerberg said At a very high level, some of the themes [Facebook and Wikileaks] could be connectedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the Wikileaks story I think is fascinating but I also dont think were anywhere near the end of it. (Zuckerberg, December 2011) The Facebook CEOs statement suggests that although Facebook has brought many changes to our social life, if Wikileaks path is finally more publically supported, spreading knowledge and avoiding public deception, then Julian Assange is clearly the man who will have improved more lives and even saved them. However, he  has been maligned in the press, thrown in jail, and had his name dragged through the mud. On the same Saturday Night Live episode stated earlier, he sarcastically stated that thanks to Wikileaks, you can see how corrupt governments operat e in the shadows and lie to those who elect them. Thanks to Facebook, you can finally figure out which Sex and the City character you areIm a Samantha, but if the Swedish police ask, Im a Charlotte. showing the superficiality and uselessness of a project such as Facebook. Finally, one may ask: Will anyone remember this title in a few years? I think probably not. Winners of such awards are often related to events that seem like a much bigger deal at the time. For instance, does anyone recall why Vladimir Putin won it a couple of years ago?

Problem-Solving Essay

Today the world has many issues, like hopelessness, prejudice, and selfish desires. The definition of the word moral is; concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. In the world today there are few moral standards; we have numerous evil influences and few holy and godly influences. What does it mean to live honorably? It means that you respect yourself and others and live a life worth living. People have selfish desires to please themselves and not others.The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 do not be achieved: â€Å"Bad company ruins good morals. † The company we keep, the influences we are under, and the things we look at all directly affect our morals and ethics. Some of the things that affect us morally are, music movies, books, the Internet, the friends we have, and the relationship (or lack of) that we have with God. The way we treat others and ourselves is a huge part of our lives and the way we live the m. We should strive to be like Jesus in all our endeavors. Matthew 5:48, you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.Some of the ways that we could help the world regain moral standards are, leading by example, helping out or volunteering, and evangelism. The example we set should be an important priority for us as Christians; we should be Christ-like at all times. We could also help out the less fortunate, volunteering at charities or donating money; we should do our parts as Chrism's messengers in the world. The final thing we could do is evangelism, the spreading of Chrism's word. The world Is a sinful place, and God will come soon and take his people from It. The morals that we have are vital to our character.You could live honorably by, asking questions, figuring out what leads you astray, and helping fix It. James 1:22-25, but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For If anyone Is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he Is like a man who looks Intently at his natural face In a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks Into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed In his doing. Problem-Solving Essay By AbernathyThe world is a sinful place, and God will come soon and take his people from it. Asking questions, figuring out what leads you astray, and helping fix it. James 1:22-25, but be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed.

How To Make a Model of the Lungs

Constructing a lung model is an excellent way to learn about the respiratory system and how the lungs function. The lungs are respiratory organs that are vital to the breathing process and necessary to acquire life-giving oxygen. They provide a place for gas exchange between air from the outside environment and gases in the blood. Gas exchange occurs at lung alveoli (tiny air sacs), as carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen. This oxygen is then delivered to the tissues and cells of the body by the circulatory system. Breathing is an involuntary process that is regulated by a region of the brain called the medulla oblongata. Building your own lung model will help you to gain a better understanding of how the lungs work! What You Need Scissors3 Large balloons2 Rubber bandsElectrical tapePlastic 2-liter bottleFlexible plastic tubing - 8 inchesY-shaped hose connector Heres How Gather together materials listed under the What You Need section above.Fit the plastic tubing into one of the openings of the hose connector. Use the tape to make an airtight seal around the area where the tubing and the hose connector meet.Place a balloon around each of the remaining 2 openings of the hose connector. Tightly wrap the rubber bands around the balloons where the balloons and hose connector meet. The seal should be airtight.Measure two inches from the bottom of the 2-liter bottle and cut the bottom off.Place the balloons and hose connector structure inside the bottle, threading the plastic tubing through the neck of the bottle.Use the tape to seal the opening where the plastic tubing goes through the narrow opening of the bottle at the neck. The seal should be airtight.Tie a knot at the end of the remaining balloon and cut the large part of the balloon in half horizontally.Using the balloon half with the knot, stretch the open end over the bottom of the bottle.Gently pu ll down on the balloon from the knot. This should cause air to flow into the balloons within your lung model.Release the balloon with the knot and watch as the air is expelled from your lung model. Tips When cutting the bottom of the bottle, make sure to cut it as smoothly as possible.When stretching the balloon over the bottom of the bottle, make sure it is not loose but fits tightly. Process Explained The purpose of assembling this lung model is to demonstrate what happens when we breathe. In this model, structures of the respiratory system are represented as follows: plastic bottle chest cavityplastic tubing tracheaY-shaped connector bronchiballoons inside bottle lungsballoon covering the bottom of bottle diaphragm The chest cavity is the body chamber (bounded by the spine, rib cage, and breast bone) that provides a protective environment for the lungs. The trachea, or windpipe, is a tube the extends from the larynx (voice box) down into the chest cavity, where it splits into two smaller tubes called bronchi. The trachea and bronchi function to provide a pathway for air to enter into and exit the lungs. Within the lungs, the air is directed into tiny air sacs (alveoli) that serve as the sites of gas exchange between the blood and external air. The breathing process (inhalation and exhalation) relies heavily on the muscular diaphragm, which separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity and works to expand and contract the chest cavity. What Happens When I Pull Down on the Balloon? Pulling down on the balloon at the bottom of the bottle (step 9) illustrates what happens when the diaphragm contracts and the respiratory muscles move outward. Volume increases in the chest cavity (bottle), which lowers air pressure in the lungs (balloons inside the bottle). The decrease of pressure in the lungs causes air from the environment to be drawn through the trachea (plastic tubing) and bronchi (Y-shaped connector) into the lungs. In our model, the balloons within the bottle expand as they fill with air. What Happens When I Release the Balloon? Releasing the balloon at the bottom of the bottle (step 10) demonstrates what happens when the diaphragm relaxes. The volume within the chest cavity decreases, forcing air out of the lungs. In our lung model, the balloons within the bottle contract to their original state as the air within them is expelled.

Sexual Assault And Harassment Incidents Essay - 1877 Words

Imagine you are a female student, about to start college for the first time. You are excited because you finally get to leave home and live somewhere other than with your parents. You get to live with friends in dorm rooms – dorm rooms that might be co-ed. Not only do you have to handle the struggle between classwork such as homework and studying, but now, you also have the possibility of needing to maintain a job and facing the temptation of college parties. However, if you are at a party, study group, or just with your friends, there is a chance that as a female student, and sometimes even as a male student, that you could become a statistic. The statistic you become is another number added to the college’s list of sexual assault and harassment incidents. Now the question is if you report the incident that happened to you, who would you report it to? A student has two options of reporting: to report the incident to the police and go through the judicial system or to g o through the school’s trial system. Two terms that often get confused are sexual harassment and sexual assault. The Department of Defense defines sexual harassment as â€Å"a form of sexual discrimination that involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal and physical conduct of a sexual nature† (Sexual Assault vs. Sexual Harassment). Examples of sexual harassment would include cat calling, touching or staring at inappropriate spots such as someone’s chest or buttocks area,Show MoreRelatedSexual Assault And Sexual Harassment1251 Words   |  6 Pagesand left, trained to stay there regardless of what may happen. A special bond develops when leaders live their lives following the fundamentals of leadership.†-- SMA Glen E. Morrell Today, sexual assault and sexual harassment continues to occur throughout the Army. 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