Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 7

Abortion - Essay Example topic of abortion first from a standpoint of statistical data which reinforces the fact that teen pregnancy, though declining in number, is leading to an abortion epidemic in the U.S., â€Å"In the U.S., teen abortion accounts for 19% of all procedures of this nature†(Huttenlocker, 2008). Establishing quantitative data by obtaining statistics from a reliable source is an effective approach to structuring a sound and convincing argument on any topic, especially one of this nature. Huttenlocker proceeds to establish that though teen pregnancy has actually declined in number within the last ten years, the abortion rate has not. This validates the fact that abortion is being treated as a means of birth control as opposed to being a last resort decision in extreme circumstances. By going on to include health information pertinent to teens having abortions, Huttenlocker is able to clearly establish the notion that abortion may not be the best alternative for teens, especially as a m eans of birth control, â€Å"Teens are at higher risk for post-abortion infections such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and endometritis (inflammation of the uterus), which may be caused either by the spread of an undiagnosed sexually transmitted disease into the uterus during the abortion, or by micro-organisms on the surgical instruments which are inserted into the uterus†(Huttenlocker, 2008). Huttenlocker does not exhibit specific rhetoric which serves to convince his reader as much as he presents claims supported by quantitative data thus reinforcing his credibility. This method utilized by Huttenlocker leaves little room for fallacy or the suspicion of it. This article does not leave its reader in the dust as does the following article but instead, actively informs the reader without prejudice or preaching and thus should be rated as 1 out of 4, 1 being the highest rating due to skilled rhetoric, without a great deal of unsubstantiated claims or fallacies. The next article was

Federal Fairfax ACt (H.R 25 and S13) and SCFarifax Act (H-3993) Assignment

Federal Fairfax ACt (H.R 25 and S13) and SCFarifax Act (H-3993) - Assignment Example The idea behind this legislation is that it seeks to simplify the current tax code, expand home ownership, un-tax the poor, improve global competitiveness, promote higher education and charitable giving and create more jobs. The underlying assumption was that consumption provides a more stable and fairer base for taxation than income. The bill has conveniently been called â€Å"A bill to promote freedom, fairness and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the internal Revenue Service and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the states.† The Fair-Tax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll-based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive National Retail Sales Tax (NRST) and a prebate to ensure that no American citizen pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality and through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment. The proposed Fair-Tax would be a broad-based, destination type consumption tax with statutory tax liability on final consumers and tax collection in the hands of sellers of goods and services to these consumers. The tax base would include all supplies of goods and services, which would mean a substantial enlargement compared to the tax base of the current state sales and use taxes. It promotes neutrality as tax cascading is prevented by taxing all final consumption of goods and services and by exempting business inputs. Under the fair tax act, the IRS will be disbanded and in its place a new excise tax bureau established within the department of treasury to collect remaining excise taxes. The social security administration would collect Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. The NRST would collect the revenue services of the individual states. It

Effects of an oil price shock on importing and exporting countries

Effects of an oil price shock on importing and exporting countries From the middle of twentieth century, due to exceptional importance of the crude oil in the supply of the worlds energy demands, it has become one of the major indicators of economic activities of the world. Even after the appearance of alternate forms of energy like solar power, water and wind, the importance of crude oil as the main source of energy still cannot be denied. This sharp increase in the world oil prices and the volatile exchange rates are generally regarded as the factors of discouraging economic growth. Particularly, the very recent highs, recorded in the world oil market bring apprehension about possible slump in the economic growth in both developed and developing countries. A large number of researchers proposed that exchange rate volatility and oil price fluctuations have considerable consequences on real economic activities. The impact of oil price fluctuation is expected to be different between in oil exporting and in oil importing countries. An oil price increase should be considered as bad news for oil importing countries and good news for oil exporting countries, while the reverse should be expected when the oil price decreases. Through demand and supply transmission mechanism, oil prices impacts the real economic activity. The supply side effects are associated with the fact that crude oil is a basic input to production, and an increase in oil price leads to a rise in production costs ultimately that result in firms lower output. Oil prices changes also entail demand-side effects on investment and consumption. Consumption is also affected indirectly through its positive relation with disposable income. Moreover, oil prices have an adverse impact on investment by increasing firms costs. On the other hand it is generally recognized that the depreciation of exchange rate would reduce imports and expand exports, while the appreciation of exchange rate would encourage imports and discourage exports. Especially a depreciation of the exchange rate leads to income transfer to exporting countries from importing countries through a shift in the terms of trade. Since 2003, oil prices increased continuously, even touched the peak of $137 per barrel in July 2008, but after that a declining trend was observed. After 1970s, many negative oil shocks hit the world economies. The first one was during 1973-74 caused by OPEC oil prohibition, and secondly in 1978-79 when the OPEC put restraints on its oil production. This rising trend in oil prices continued until mid 1980s, subsequently, Iraq-Iran war in early 1980s further shoot up the prices. However in 1986, when Saudi Arabia increased its crude oil production, oil price tend to decreased. In 1990s, Iraq-Kuwait war was a major factor of oil price increase but it was ended in a year because of Asian financial crisis. In 1999-2000 the OPEC again narrow its production leading to another price shock. The latest and last oil price shock was started in the year 2003 which continued till July 2008. In other words, oil prices have always remained quite volatile. According to report of IEA (2004) , these price shocks have raised serious concerns among the policy makers all over the world. The adverse economic impact of higher oil prices on oil-importing developing countries is generally considered as more worse than for the developed countries because of their more reliance on imported oil and are more energy-intensive. Malik. A (2007) also mentioned in her research that, the recent surge in the oil prices especially after 2000 has worried many economists about its possible adverse impacts. This increasing trend in the oil prices has hurt many of the economies worldwide including that of Pakistan, in terms of creating inflationary pressures, increasing budget deficit and balance of payment problems. According to ADB (2005) report, supply, demand, and speculative factors, and their interrelationships, all leads towards the steady rise in oil prices. From the last many years, all over the world, the demand for oil grew due to economic strength and growth in the US, as well as strong economic performance in developing Asian countries specially China and India. From 1990s to 2003 global demand for oil grew at the rate of 1.3 % whereas for the People Republic of China and India the combined rates is at 7 % and accounted for almost 40 percent of the demand growth. There are various empirical literatures, investigating the relationship between oil price variations and economic growth. The existence of a negative relationship between macro-economic activities and oil prices has become widely accepted especially after Hamiltons 1983 work. He pointed out that increase in oil prices, reduced US output growth from 1948 to 1980. Hamiltons findings have been confirmed and extended by many authors and researcher. Hooker (1996) confirmed and extended Hamiltons work for the period 1948 to 1972 and demonstrated that the oil price level and its changes do reflect the influence on GDP growth. This is shown in the third and fourth quarters after the shock that rise of 10% in oil prices lead to a GDP growth decrease of approximately 0.6 %. Accordingly, Lee et al. (1995) Mork (1989), and Hamilton (1996) presented the non-linear transformations of oil prices to re-establish the negative association between oil prices increases and economic decline, as well as t hese researchers also analyzed Granger causality between both variables. The result of Granger causality test proved that oil prices Granger cause U.S. economy before 1973 but no longer Granger cause was found from 1973 to 1994. Recently, Hamilton (2003) and Jimenez and Rodrà ­guez (2004) also confirms the non-linear relationship between the economic growth of U.S. economy and increases of oil prices The quantitative exercise conducted by the IEA in alliance with the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and development) department of Economics and with the assistance of IMF Research department in 2004, indicated that a continued $10 per barrel increase in oil price would result in the decrease of about 0.4 % OECD as a whole, in the first and second years of higher prices. Inflation would increase by half a percentage and unemployment would also increase in this case. The OECD imported the oil at a cost of over $260 billion in 2003 which is 20% more than its 2001 oil need. European countries, which are highly dependent on oil imports, would suffer most in the short term, their GDP dropping by 0.5% and inflation rising by 0.5% in 2004. The U.S would suffer the least, with GDP falling by 0.3%, because its indigenous production meets a bigger share of its oil needs. Japans GDP would fall 0.4%, This analysis assumes constant exchange rates and economic growth for the US econom y. The present paper is the extension of the existing empirical literature in two directions. First, we have not focused on the oil importing US economy only , rather we analyzed the effects of an oil price shock in two different type of countries which include five oil exporting countries i.e. Saudi Arabia, Norway, Venezuela, Kuwait , Nigeria and five oil importing country i.e. Pakistan, India , China, Japan , Germany. Secondly, we will not only demonstrate the relationship between oil prices and real economic growth but we will also analyze the role of the real exchange rate for real economic growth. Oil Importing Countries China Chinas real GDP has increased continuously at surprising rate of 10% per year in recent years. Simultaneously with strong economic growth, its demand for energy is also surging rapidly. The figure 1 clearly shows about the oil consumption and production behavior of the country which tends the country to import from different countries. China produces 3798 thousand barrels per day and consumes 8200 thousand barrels per day of oil in 2009. This means that China has to import roughly 4402 thousand barrels per day to meet its consumption needs per day. In the year 2007, China was declared as the worlds third largest net importer of oil behind the U.S and Japan. In July 2005, the reform of the exchange rate system was introduced by the central bank of China. After the reforms, the exchange rate of yuan was set according to a basket of other currencies. At the end of 2007, the yuan was appreciated by 7.5% approx. against the dollar, in consequence of these reforms. India According to the Oil Gas Journal (OGJ), India had second-largest amount of proven oil reserves i.e. 5.6 billion barrels in the Asia-Pacific region after China as of January 2009. With the high rates of economic growth and over 15 % of the worlds population, India has become one of the important consumer of energy resources. In 2006, India was the sixth largest oil consumption country of the world. The global financial and credit crises have slowed Indias significant economic growth particularly in its manufacturing sector. Due to this crunch, the GDP growth rates have turn down from 9.3 percent in 2007 to 5.3 % in the last quarter of 2008. Despite of this slow economic growth, Indias energy demand continues to rise. India is developing into an open-market economy now but traces of its past autarkic policies remain. The accelerated country growth was averaged at 7% since 1997 and the main factor behind this was economic liberalization, including reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, began in the early 1990s. An industrial slowdown early in 2008, followed by the global financial crisis, led annual GDP growth to slow to 6.5% in 2009, still the second highest growth in the world among major economies. The government abandoned its deficit target and allowed the deficit to reach 6.8% of GDP in FY10. Nevertheless, as shares of GDP, both government spending and taxation are among the lowest in the world. From the figure 2 it can easily be observed that the production of crude oil is not upto that level to meet consumer demand which tends the country to import from outsiders. From 1996 onward India is producing oil approximately with the same trend but consumption is increasing day by day. India produced 680.4 thousand bbl/d of total oil in 2009, of which approximately 650 thousand bbl/d was crude oil, with the rest of production resulting from other liquids and refinery gain. India has over 3,600 operating oil wells, according to OGJ. Although oil producti on in India has slightly trended upwards in recent years, it has failed to keep pace with demand and is expected by the EIA to decline slightly in 2009. Indias oil consumption has continued to be robust in recent years. In 2007, India consumed approximately 2.8 million bbl/d, making it the fifth largest consumer of oil in the world. In 2006, India was the seventh largest net importer of oil in the world. The EIA expects India to become the fourth largest net importer of oil in the world by 2025, behind the United States, China, and Japan. On the other hand the Govt of India control its exchange rate and after 2002 reforms , it tends to decrease and Indian currency tends to appreciate. Japan In the years following World War II, government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan develop a technologically advanced economy. Today, measured on a purchasing power parity basis, Japan is the third-largest economy in the world after the US and China; measured by official exchange rates, however, Japan is the second largest economy in the world behind the US. Japan has virtually no domestic oil or natural gas reserves and is the second-largest net importer of crude oil and largest net importer of liquefied natural gas in the world. Including nuclear power, Japan is still only 16 percent energy self-sufficient. Japan remains one of the major exporters of energy-sector capital equipment and Japanese companies provide engineering, construction, and project management services for energy projects around the world. Japan has a strong energy research and development program that is supp orted by the government. Oil is the most consumed energy resource in Japan, although its share of total energy consumption has declined by about 30 percent since the 1970s. The figure 3 clearly shows about the oil consumption and production behavior of the country which tends the country to depends heavily on imports from different countries. Japan Oil production is very low and in 2009 it produces only 5.3 thousand barrels per day which is very low as compare to its consumption demand i.e. 4362.9 thousands barrel per day in 2009. This means that Japan has to import roughly 4357.02 thousand barrels per day to meet its consumption needs per day. Due to its gap between domestic consumption and production, Japan remains the second-largest net importer of oil after the United States. After 1970s Japan shows the declining trend in its exchange rate with dollar which means that dollar depreciate against Japanese yen. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely becaus e of the after effects of inefficient investment and an asset price bubble in the late 1980s that required a protracted period of time for firms to reduce excess debt, capital, and labor. In October 2007 Japans longest post-war period of economic expansion ended after 69 months and Japan entered into recession in 2008, with 2009 marking a return to near 0% interest rates. Germany The German economy the fifth largest economy in the world in PPP terms and Europes largest is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals, and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labor force. GDP grew just over 1% in 2008 and contracted roughly 5% in 2009. Germany crept out of recession in the second and third quarters of 2009, thanks largely to rebounding manufacturing orders and exports primarily outside the Euro Zone and relatively steady consumer demand. The German economy probably will recover to about 1.5% growth for the year 2010. Because of Germanys monetary dilemma, and because the German government as well as the nations bankers and industrialists have recognized German limitations and vulnerabilities, the exchange rate of the country remain very stable from the last many years against dollar. However, If we see the Figure 4, we can easily judge the oil consumption and production behavior of the German economy. In the year 2009 the total oil production was 30.8 thousand barrels per day while the consumption was 2,437 Thousand barrel per day. This means that roughly country had to imported 2406.2 thousand barrel per day of oil from other nations. As with the passage of time it reduces its consumption of oil due to environmental reforms but to fill the gap of Oil production and consumption, country have to rely heavily on oil imports. Pakistan Pakistan, an impoverished and underdeveloped country, has suffered from decades of internal political disputes and low levels of foreign investment. Between 2001-07, however, poverty levels decreased by 10%, as Islamabad steadily raised development spending. Between 2004-07, GDP growth in the 5-8% range was spurred by gains in the industrial and service sectors despite severe electricity shortfalls but growth slowed in 2008-09 and unemployment rose. Inflation remains the top concern among the public, jumping from 7.7% in 2007 to 20.3% in 2008, and 14.2% in 2009. In addition, the Pakistani rupee has depreciated since 2007 as a result of political and economic instability. The government agreed to an International Monetary Fund Standby Arrangement in November 2008 in response to a balance of payments crisis, but during 2009 its current account strengthened and foreign exchange reserves stabilized largely because of lower oil prices and record remittances from workers abroad. Figure 5 of oil consumption and production shows that Pakistan is not reach in oil production however, the ratio is quite good than other advanced economies. The consumption of oil in the year 2009 was 373 thousand barrel per day which was less as compare to 2008 i.e.396 thousand barrels per day. Oil Exporting Countries Kuwait Kuwait is one of the worlds top exporters of oil, with about 2.4 million barrels per day exported in 2008. Kuwaits economy is heavily dependent on oil export revenues which account for roughly 90 percent of total export earnings. Kuwait channels around 10 percent of its oil revenues into the Future Generations Fund for the day when oil income runs out. The Kuwaiti constitution forbids foreign ownership of Kuwaits mineral resources. The Kuwaiti Parliament passed the Foreign Direct Investment Act in 2001, aimed at promoting foreign investment in Kuwaits oil and gas sectors, which facilitated some development in those sectors. Kuwait has a geographically small, but wealthy, relatively open economy with self-reported crude oil reserves of about 102 billion barrels about 9% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 95% of export revenues, and 95% of government income. Kuwaiti officials have committed to increasing oil production to 4 million barrels per day by 2020. Kuwait survived the economic crisis on the strength of budget surpluses generated by high oil prices, posting its tenth consecutive budget surplus in 2008, before slipping into deficit territory in 2009. Foreign exchange rates of Kuwaiti dinar are quite stable if compared with dollar. Figure 6 above shows the production and consumption capacity of the co untry which clearly depicts the exporting behavior of the country. In the year 2009 the total oil production was 2350 thousand barrels per day where as consumption was only 320 thousand barrels per day which allow the country to export the oil to other nations and increase their income level. From the figure the it can also seen the how Iraq- Kuwait war in 1992 impact the Kuwaiti oil market and its production. Venezuela Venezuela is one of the worlds largest exporters of crude oil and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. In 2008, the country was the eighth-largest net oil exporter in the world. The oil sector is of central importance to the Venezuelan economy. Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for roughly 90% of export earnings, about 50% of the federal budget revenues, and around 30% of GDP. A nationwide strike between December 2002 and February 2003 had far-reaching economic consequences real GDP declined by around 9% in 2002 and 8% in 2003 but economic output since then has recovered strongly. President Hugo CHAVEZ in 2008-09 continued efforts to increase the governments control of the economy by nationalizing firms in the agribusiness, banking, tourism, oil, cement, and steel sectors. In 2007, he nationalized firms in the petroleum, communications, and electricity sectors. In January, 2010, CHAVEZ announced a dual exchange rate system for the fixed rate boliva r. The system offers a 2.6 bolivar per dollar rate for imports of essentials, including food, medicine, and industrial machinery, and a 4.3 bolivar per dollar rate for imports of other products, including cars and telephones. The nation is also the fifth largest member of the OPEC, in terms of production. As a result of its bountiful natural resources, Venezuelas economy has been one of the most thriving economies in South America. According to Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Venezuela had 99.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in 2010, the largest amount in South America. Figure 7 shows that Venezuelas production of crude oil has fallen, while domestic consumption has risen, causing a decline in net oil exports. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to Islams two holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina. Saudi Arabia has an oil-based economy with strong government controls over major economic activities. It possesses about 20% of the worlds proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 80% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings. Roughly 5.5 million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, particularly in the oil and service sectors, while Riyadh is struggling to reduce unemployment among its own nationals. Five years of high oil prices during 2004-08 gave the Kingdom ample financial reserves to manage the impact of the global financial crisis, but tight international credit, falling oil prices, and the global economic slowdown reduced Saudi economic growth in 2009, prompting the postponement of some economic development projects. Saudi Arabia is t he worlds largest producer and exporter of total petroleum liquids, and the worlds second largest crude oil producer behind Russia. Saudi Arabias economy remains heavily dependent on oil and petroleum-related industries, including petrochemicals and petroleum refining. Oil export revenues have accounted for around 90 percent of total Saudi export earnings and state revenues and above 40 percent of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP). Figure 8 shows the Suaid Oil production and consumption behavior. It is the largest consumer of petroleum in the Middle East, particularly in the area of transportation fuels. Domestic consumption growth has been spurred by the economic boom due to historically high oil prices and large fuel subsidies. In 2006, Saudi Arabia was the 15th largest consumer of total primary energy, of which 60 percent was petroleum-based. The remainder was made up of natural gas, the growth of which has been limited by supply constraints. The graph also depicts the sa me behavior of consumption and production Saudi Currency is one of the stable currencies as compared to dollar from the last decade. Norway Norway is the worlds third-largest gas exporter, its position as an oil exporter has slipped to seventh-largest as production has begun to decline. Norway opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994; nonetheless, as a member of the European Economic Area, it contributes sizably to the EU budget. In anticipation of eventual declines in oil and gas production, Norway saves almost all state revenue from the petroleum sector in a sovereign wealth fund. After lackluster growth of less than 1.5% in 2002-03, GDP growth picked up to 2.5-6.2% in 2004-07, partly due to higher oil prices. Growth fell to 2.1% in 2008, and the economy contracted by 1% in 2009 as a result of the slowing world economy and the drop in oil prices. According to the Oil and Gas Journal (OGJ), Norway had 6.7 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 1, 2009, the largest oil reserves in Western Europe. Norway produced about 2067 thousand barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2009 and consumed about 220.2 thousand barrel per day (Figure 9).From 2004 onward the trend shows that Oil production is declining day by day but the good sign is that consumption trend is not showing many fluctuations however, there is hope that new developments in the Barents Sea and increasing the production of existing fields will offset some of the recent declines. In 2008, Norway was the sixth-largest net oil exporter in the world, exporting about 2.25 million bbl/d. According to EIA, Norway exported an estimated 2.25 million bbl/d of crude oil and petroleum products in 2008, down from 2.34 million bbl/d in 2007. According to Statistics Norway, the amount of crude oil alone exported in 2008 was 1.83 million bbl/d. The largest single recipient of Norwegia n oil was the United Kingdom, which imported 35 percent of Norways total oil exports. Norway currency was also depreciated in 2007-08 but again appreciated in 2009 as compared to dollar. Nigeria British influence and control over what would become Nigeria and Africas most populous country grew through the 19th century. Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. Oil-rich Nigeria, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management, has undertaken several reforms over the past decade. Nigerias former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from its overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 80% of budgetary revenues. Based largely on increased oil exports and high global crude prices, GDP rose strongly in 2007-09. The Nigerian economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector which, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), accounts for over 95 percent of export earnings and about 65 percent of government revenues. Figure 10 show s the oil production and consumption of the country. The graph shows the decreasing trend in the production si de, hence less oil will be available to export. In 2009, total oil production in Nigeria was slightly over 2.2 million bbl/d, making it the largest oil producer in Africa. Crude oil production averaged 1.8 million bbl/d for the year. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Nigeria had an estimated 37.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of January 2010.Since December 2005, Nigeria has experienced increased pipeline vandalism, kidnappings and militant takeovers of oil facilities in the Niger Delta. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is the main group attacking oil infrastructure for political objectives, claiming to seek a redistribution of oil wealth and greater local control of the sector. Additionally, kidnappings of oil workers for ransom are common. Security concerns have led some oil services firms to pull out of the country and oil worker s unions to threaten strikes over security issues. The instability in the Niger Delta has caused significant amounts of shut-in production and several companies to declare force majeure on oil shipments. Nigeria is an important oil supplier to the United States. Close to 40 percent of the countrys oil production is exported to the United States. Currency of Nigeria is also not as much stable and was highly depreciated in 2009 against dollar. Despite the general recognition that oil price and real exchange rate plays an important role in economic growth, a comparative analysis on the impact of oil prices and exchange rate on oil export country and oil import country is still few. In this paper we firstly take the natural log to eradicate the problem of after that we have checked the descriptive statistics of the data. After descriptive analysis we then employed ADF test to check the stationarity of data. After checking stationarity of data we employed AIC test and then Co-integration. Granger Casualty test was employed at the end to investigate whether the oil price and real exchange rate Granger cause to the economic growth in all of our oil importing and exporting countries. Moreover, the vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling with co-integration techniques is applied to examine how real GDP in all our sample countries are affected by changes in international oil prices and the real exchange rate of these countries in the long-run. Finally, a vector error correction model (VECM) will be employed to analyze the short-run dynamics of these variables.

Leonadro da Vinci’s Painting, The Mona Lisa :: Essays Papers

Leonadro da Vinci’s Painting, The Mona Lisa The scientists of history still can not settle down about Mona Lisa’s mysterious face. A lot of them spent years to find out, who that woman on the painting was. Another version has come up recently. Magdalena Soest from Germany’s Leverkusen spent ten years of her life, studying Leonadro da Vinci’s painting. He came to conclusion that Mona Lisa was a courtesan, who had the nickname â€Å"The Ttigress.† Many experts are sure that Soest’s research will put an end to the never-ending dispute about the woman on the painting. There were alternative versions set forth for that. The most known one of them says that the painting depicts a Florentine woman, named Lisa di Antonio Maria di Noldo Gherardini, - the wife of one of the noblest citizen of Florence, Francesco di Bartolommeo di Zanobi del Giocondo. Extraordinary versions say that Mona Lisa was a woman of easy virtue, another one says that the painting depicts a transvestite, or even Da Vinci himself, wearing women’s clothes. Magdalena Soest believes that Mona Lisa was the Duchess of Forli. Soest thinks that her theory can be proved with another paining of the Italian artist Lorenzo di Credi, who painted a woman in 1487 that looked very much like Mona Lisa. There is a big similarity between those two paintings, in spite of the fact that the woman on the earlier painting is about 25 years old, and on the older one – 40 years of age. Both of the painted women have the proud bearing, their hands are resting in the same position and they both have mysterious smiles. The German newspapers hurried to publish the photographs of those two paintings so that the readers could compare. Soest examined very carefully every little detail before coming out with her conclusion. According to Soest’s theory, Mona Lisa’s name is Caterina Sforza, who was born in 1462, the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan. She was considered to be one of the most beautiful women, and was noticeable for her incredible courage. Together with her first husband Girolamo Riaria she led their troops in storming one of Rome's greatest citadels, the Castel Sant'Angelo, in a bid to install their candidate as the Pope when Sixtus IV died in 1484.

Semiotic Analysis of Barack Obama in Time Magazine

SEMIOTICS ASSIGNMENT The front cover of TIME magazine, issued on December 10, 2007 was taken before the start of the presidential campaign in America, and the man on the front cover is Barack Obama – who was a favourite at the time. The bias of the picture, the cover’s anchorage and the article altogether show that the underlying purpose of this magazine’s issue was to influence readers to side with TIME and vote for this man. This cover resembles a famous picture taken of Martin Luther King Junior and serves to link Obama with the American Civil-Rights hero in order to influence the reader’s position towards Obama.This cover can be seen as a metaphor of the rise of the African American in society, as well as politics. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation (Oxford dictionary) and will be used to unveil the hidden meaning behind this front cover. This is a picture of a black man in a suit, who is standing upright with h as his arms crossed. This man is neither smiling, nor is he frowning and is not looking directly at the camera. The background is multiple shadings of grey. The word â€Å"TIME†, as well as the anchorage is in white, and words â€Å"the contender† are in red.The outside rim of the magazine is also red, with a white border between the picture and the red rim. Obama’s suit gives off an impression that he is polished, prepared and serious. Obama’s suit also commands a sense of respect from the reader and a sense that he has etiquette as well as control. The man’s facial expression is neutral – which gives off the impression that he is stable, reliable and somewhat loyal. This is effective because one sees this control and presumes that this man is secure in who he is (he feels no need to make false pretences) and thus one can trust him with their vote in the coming presidential elections.The man’s upright posture illustrates a sense of s trength because he looks anchored and thus powerful. The man is not looking directly at the camera which enhances his seriousness and creates a sense of intrigue within the reader – one can’t help but wonder what this man is thinking of, and why he is thinking it. The man’s posture makes him appear courageous and determined to handle the responsibility of anything (i. e. the presidential campaign). Obama’s body language of firmly folded arms insinuates that he is being defensive, ready to take on a boxing fight.The fight will be the upcoming presidential campaign which includes the â€Å"attacks† that he will get from the public and media being in the race (for example the media will be negative and pointedly highlight his inadequate characteristics). Therefore by looking just beyond the camera, Obama appears to be aware of what is coming and prepared to face the coming battle like a courageous boxing hero. The shaded grey background highlights the man’s power and illuminates him in a god-like manner.The light surrounding the man results in the reader’s eyes being drawn directly to him, and gives the the impression that he is â€Å"the light† and is like an angel in the darkness. The magazine name, â€Å"TIME†, is in white in order to contrast the grey background and highlight the magazine’s name. The anchorage on the front cover enhances the overall message of a sense of polish and control. â€Å"TIME† is written in Times New Roman, an old-fashioned and serious style of writing – which corresponds to the pieces of writing within the magazine.The name of the magazine is also not fully displayed (Barack’s head is blocking the â€Å"M† of TIME) and this demonstrates the popularity of the magazine because the magazine is so well known that people can immediately recognise it, without even displaying its full name. It also highlights Obama’s importance and pres tige – the fact that the company are willing to be less recognised by their name is not an issue due to Obama’s great popularity and dominance, which will influence people to buy the magazine anyway because of him.TIME is in the colour white which makes it an arbitrary sign which represents goodness, peace and innocence. â€Å"The Contender† is also highlighted on the cover, and characterizes someone who is fighting for first place in a competition. Red attracts the reader’s eye to the title of the magazine’s issue, draws attention to the man’s face and highlights that he is in the running for something big. â€Å"The Contender† is in bold (which draws the reader’s attention to the words) and is in a very rich red – which is an arbitrary signifier that can represent passion, power and strength.This corresponds to the article’s position towards Obama which highlights his courage, ambition and dominance in the presi dential campaign. It is also interesting to note the publisher’s use of â€Å"the† instead of â€Å"a† because Obama is a contender for the presidency of America, and is joined by many other contenders. However, by replacing â€Å"a† with â€Å"the† the reader is positioned to view Obama as the one and only competitor in the campaign.This therefore influences the reader to believe that he is going to be the ultimate winner of the competition because all other opponents are forgotten and will pale in comparison to his lead in the competition. The article inside the magazine talks about Obama’s â€Å"pledge to practice a new kind of politics† and how he managed to get â€Å"more money from small donors than all the other Democratic candidates combined† (TIME). This extract shows the biased approach that the author of the magazine, as well as the director of the photography for the front cover took with regards to Obama’s p ortrayal as an American politician.The article purposefully highlights the massive power that Obama and his organization has in the lives of many Americans, and this is linked to the light in which he’s portrayed in on the front cover – a portrayal of power and dominance. The article also speaks about the other political campaigners who are opponents of Obama’s (such as Hilary Clinton, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld) – however Obama portrayed to be in a more dominant position than them.For example: â€Å"Obama has also begun to sharpen one of his strongest arguments – that experience is not the same thing as judgement – for which Clinton has not yet found a rejoinder†. When reading the article, it is very apparent that the writer is clearly in favour of Obama and his political campaign. This bias is also seen through the light that Obama is portrayed in the picture – a dominant, powerful and superior light, a sign that he is supe rior to all the other â€Å"contenders† in the presidential campaign.One can’t help but question if this magazine company’s political reliability due to their bias when it comes to the governance of the country. It is also interesting to note that Obama, who used to practise Civil Rights Law, is positioned to resemble Martin Luther King junior. O’Shaughnessy and Stadler (2008) define intertextuality as the process of knowingly borrowing and referring to other texts or interpreting one text in the light of other related texts. As you can see from the very famous above image, TIME very skilfully resembles the Front cover to this picture of the American hero, Martin Luther King junior.King was a peaceful Civil Rights leader who also refused to conform to the political practices of the time and created a peaceful yet powerful movement that America had never seen before. King is known as an innocent, equality-driven leader who made a big difference in a small amount of time. King’s portrait is a medium sized picture of him in a suit with his arms folded where he is also not looking directly into the camera – much like the portrait of Obama.The likeness between these two pictures therefore makes the reader assume these same quality traits of King, to that of Obama – which then makes the reader regard Obama to be a hero who will lead the country into equality and greatness, much like King did. This picture highlights the growth of the African Americans in society as well as politics because Obama is portrayed in a dominant light, instead of the inferior light with which the African Americans were portrayed in the previous century.TIME’s target market is success-driven, intelligent men (and on the rare occasion women) who are involved in business and take an interest in politics. This is therefore a successful front cover because it addresses all of those fields – politics, business, current affairs etc. W hilst most people would say this was a boring front cover – when correlated with their target market, it is clearly effective in convincing their desired consumer to choose their magazine from the rest. Even though this cover is severely biased, it is valuable because of its link with Martin Luther King Jr. nd its emphasis of the rise of the African American in not only society –but also politics. REFERENCES: BarackObama. Biography. 2010. [O] Available: http://www. biography. com/people/barack-obama-12782369? page=4. Accessed on 25/03/2012 Oxford Dictionaries. 2012. [O] Available: http://oxforddictionaries. com/definition/semiotics? q=semiotics. Accessed on 27/03/2012 Tumulty, K. 2007. [O] Available: http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1689203-2,00. html. Accessed on 28/03/2012

Critique of Theoretical Framework

Religion, Social Policy, and Social Work Practice Faith-based Services in Public Welfare It is generally accepted that the church has been a locus of social service and social change throughout America's history, and â€Å"that the concept of human services emerged, at least partially, from a religious base† (Ellor, Netting, ; Thibault, 1999, p. 13). Furthermore, it is recognized that the social work profession in the United States was influenced by a long history of religious traditions (Ellor et al, 1999; Hugen, 2012; Rosethal, 2006).The social welfare system that emerged in the United States, ormerly and presently, continues to be a mix of faith-based and secular organizations and groups with diversified perspectives and approaches (Ellor et al, 1999). The diverse perspectives and approaches to social welfare in the United States are rooted in an expansive array of worldviews and faith traditions. The U. S. is a pluralistic society characterized by a diversity of people, op inions, and religions (Monsma, 2012).The church is simply one of many places where social welfare ideations have manifested themselves, and the battles against social injustices have been fought. For many years a great variety of religiously affiliated organizations, colleges, hospitals, and social service agencies have received federal welfare funding. There is nothing profoundly new about the inclusion of faith-based organizations in the delivery of social welfare services to the disenfranchised and vulnerable populations (Karger et al, 2007).What is new is the prominence of postmodern, humanistic ideologies in social welfare that began in the 20th century (Hugen, 2012). The clashes between present-day humanistic and faith-based ideologies have spawned a lasting political debate over the correctness of federal government unding of faith-based social services. A major landmark for this political debate occurred in 1996 when the United States Congress passed a set of provisions unde r the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) section 104†also known as the Charitable Choice clause (Daly, 2009; Wuthnow, 2004).Charitable Choice removed many of the restrictions on integrating religious content with faith-based delivery of social services, and positioned faith-based social service agencies as equivalent to secular social service agencies (Karger et al, 2007). The ovement to incorporate faith-based social service agencies was further fueled by President George W. Bush's Faith Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) (Kennedy & Bielefeld, 2006; Daly, 2009; and Wuthnow, 2004).The Bush administration aimed to do two things based on the core Judicious principles of Charitable Choice: first, to increase the amount of federal social-welfare resources going to faith-based organizations; and second, to protect the organizational autonomy and religious identity of these groups when contracted with the government (Daly, 2007). As a result of the Bush-era FBCI, eleven faith and community-based offices were created n federal agencies, and many states began to develop programs to expand the role of faith-based social services in delivering anti-poverty assistance (Reingold, Pirog & Brady, 2007).The Bush-era faith-based initiative was strong enough that the Bush administration's proposed budget for 2002 allocated nearly $90 million to organizations that expanded or emulated models ot tai tn-based social service programs (Twombly, 2002). Today, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), there are 956,738 public charities, 97,435 private foundations, and 70,745 other types of nonprofit organizations (NCCS, 2013). According to the NCCS Core Files, public charities reported over $1. 59 trillion in total revenues, and $1. 9 trillion in total expenses in 2011. Of the public charities' revenues: 22% came from contributions, gifts and government grants; 72% came from program service revenues, which includ e government fees and contracts; and 6% came from â€Å"other† sources (NCCS, 2013). Blackwood, Roeger, & PettiJohn (2012) reveal that there was a 42. 3% growth in the number 501(c)(3) public charities from 2000 to 2010. In New York State alone, there are 1 5,362 religious or spiritually related public charities (IRS Business Master File 04/2010).Eric Twombly (2002), an affiliate of The Urban Institute, and Ira Colby (2007), a social work professor at the University of Houston, point out that many faith-based organizations, such as The Salvation Army, United Jewish Communities, Catholic Charities, and Lutheran Social Services have historically received government support and played a significant role in social service provisions in the United States. These groups are key players in many local areas in both direct ocial provision and setting government service priorities.The goal of this essay is to explore the political debate over Charitable Choice and the faith-based initia tive, and secondly, to uncover the implications for social work practice and social work education from this debate. It is evident that faith-based organizations play a substantial role in the delivery of social welfare services in the United States (Nagel, 2006). To begin our exploration of this issue, we will look at the relevant worldviews and belief systems that support or refute the federal government support of faith- based social service agencies.Worldview/ Belief Issues Republicans have favored the privatization of social welfare and reinforced the value of nonprofits. Conservative thinkers believe that churches can address welfare better than the government and the secular social service system (Cnaan & Boddie, 2002). Conservatives vigorously attack the belief that government should finance and deliver social services to the population (Karger et al, 2007). Conservatives argue privatization has become a paradox in social welfare because the private sector has been utilized in service provision and precedes the welfare state in many instances.David Osborne and Ted Gaebler (1992) assert in Reinventing Government that the private and public sectors have different roles. The government's role should consist primarily of establishing the objectives of social policy, and the private sector role should consist of executing the policy. David Stoesz (2007) co-author of American Social Welfare Policy argues, â€Å"nonprofit organizations have been poor competitors, often losing out to for-profit firms† (p. 193).He further asserts that the nature of nonprofits make them less competitive than commercial firms, and when for-profits nter the same market, they often take a substantial portion of the market until nonprofits adopt the same management procedures and become more efficient. A large assumption is this: if for-profits suspect that they can generate a profit by providing superior service to a clientele, they will seek to subcontract with the governme nt and provide the service.Conversely, Ira Colby (2007) the Dean and Professor of social work at the University of Houston asserts that privatization of social services as the answer to creating ettective service provisions tor the poor is a â€Å"grossly erroneous assumption† (p. 194). According to Colby (2007) the catchphrases of â€Å"compassionate conservative† or â€Å"faith-based social services† are simply resurfacing ideas from a previous welfare era where greater reliance on the private sector was emphasized.Liberal ideology asserts that the government should play a central role in the provision of services†that government is responsible for ensuring that all people, regardless of status in life, receive needed services and supports that maximize their well-being and ability to participate in society. In essence, basic social services are the business of the government (Colby, 2007). Monsma (2012) identifies 5 factors that underlie and work to mol d how liberals view the public role of faith- based organizations.The first is a strong emphasis on the free, autonomous, choosing individual. The second is a suspicion of traditional values and religion when they enter the public square. The third is seeing government as a potentially positive force for social change and improvement. Fourth is its embrace of the strict church-state separation, no-aid-to-religion standard. The fifth and final factor is the legacy of the nondiscrimination statuses of the 1960s. These factors, which can be onsidered beliefs, lead liberals to look negatively upon faith-based human service providers.The emphasis seems to be instead on freedom of choice and what the government can potentially do to improve societal conditions. Rev. Robert Owens (2001) posits that a negative correlation exists between the amount of funding received by religious organizations and the strength of religious mission. Owens, in his stance against public funding of religious or ganizations, argues that accepting government money to provide social service programs only deepens the confusion in communities about who works for whom. Accepting government money turns the state/ church relationship upside down†where the church works for the state.The solution then is to keep religious congregations independent of the influence of government. Political, Legal, Social Policy After the Great Depression, President Roosevelt's New Deal political ideations focused on the structural conditions contributing to poverty and social inequality. Because of the depression, it had become obvious that personal morality could not prevent or be the primary cause of poverty (Nagal, 2006). Therefore, the public responsibility for ocial welfare was emphasized, and the popular moral dimension was minimized in social service delivery.Following the New Deal era, the Reagan administration shifted the focus back to the inclusion of faith-based organization in social service provisi ons. President Reagan considered religious organizations to be more effective than public or secular, nonprofit social service providers (Cnaan & Boddie, 2002). Reagan went so far as to use the parable of the Good Samaritan as a metaphor for the cause of poverty. His perception of the biblical parable contrasted a bureaucratic aseworker against the Good Samaritan: The story of the Good Samaritan has always illustrated to me what God's challenge really is.He crossed the road, knelt down, bound up the wounds of the beaten traveler, the pilgrim, and carried him to the nearest town. He didn't go running into town and look tor a case-worker to tell him that there was a tellow out there that needed help. He took it upon himself. (Denton, 1982, p. 3 as cited in Cnaan & Boddie, 2002) Reagan believed in volunteerism and the increased responsibility of private organizations to meet society's social-welfare needs. The emphasis on volunteerism resulted in a decrease of government spending on so cial welfare initiatives in the 1980s.Reagan challenged the private sector to step up and meet the needs of society. He called on churches to provide for the needs of the poor within their own neighborhoods (Yancey, 2007). President Clinton took the challenge one step further and suggested that organized religion would be able to make a significant contribution to reducing the need for social welfare if each congregation in the United States would hire one person in need (Wuthnow, 2004). Here is what President Clinton said:Under this law [Charitable Choice], every state, when it becomes effective, every state in the country can say: If you will hire somebody off welfare, we'll give you the welfare checks as a supplement for the wages and the training. It means, folks, when you go back home, your church can receive a person's welfare check and add to it only a modest amount of money to make a living wage, and to take some time to train people and bring their children into the church, and make sure their children are all right and give them a home and family.I Just want every pastor in this audience to think about it. Just think about it. If every church in America hired one person off welfare, if every church in America could get some work to do that, it would set an example that would require the business community to follow, that would require the charitable and other nonprofit organizations to follow. We cannot create a government Jobs program big enough to solve the whole thing, but if everybody did it, one by one, we could do this Job. Associated Press, 1996, section A2) Throughout the later part of the 20th century, the federal government called on the Church to act as the primary safety net for people in need. History reveals that faith- ased organizations have always been a part of providing social welfare services. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 with the Charitable Choice clause and Bush's Faith Based and Co mmunity Initiative simply increased the collaboration between faith-based organizations and the federal government.Separation of Church and State Before the Charitable Choice provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, faith-based organizations contracting with the government had to remove all religious symbols from the room where service was rovided; accept all clients; refrain from any religious ceremonies; hire staff that reflected society, not the organization's belief system; adhere to government contract regulations; and incorporate separately as an 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organizations (Cnaan ; Boddie, 2002).All this changed after the PRWORA of 1996. First, faith- based services providers retain their religious autonomy; second, the government could not curtail the religious expression or practice of faith-based services; third, taitn-based service providers were exempt trom complying with employment policies andated by the Civil Ri ghts Act of 1964; finally, faith based organization contracting with the government were no longer required to establish a separate, secular 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization (Cnaan ; Boddie, 2002).There are, however, some stipulations that remain in order to contract with the government. Faith-based organizations are fiscally accountable to use government funds for the intended social services and not for religious worship or proselytization. The purpose of this section of the law is to ensure a clear separation between church and state. In order or the government to remain neutral to the religious or secular character of organizations, both are offered an opportunity to participate in social service programs.As Rosenthal (2006) states in his conclusion on Charitable Choice Programs and Title VII's Co-Religionist Exemption: By offering religious institutions the opportunity to participate in social service programs, Congress is faithfully engaging the constitutional principle of n eutrality by affording these organizations the same opportunities as non-religious organizations. On the flip side, however, the Constitution requires that this participation be both ecular and non-discriminatory, so as to ensure that religious organizations are not benefited simply by virtue of their religious character. p. 665) Implication for Social Work Practice David Stoesz (2007) in his response to Should Social Services be Privatized asserts that the social work profession traditionally sides with social welfare. This leads to the dismissal of nonprofit agencies and blatant hostility to for-profit agencies. Because of this bias, social work education is devoid of the knowledge and skills that are essential to business strategies in service provision. The implication for social work education would entail an increase of content in finance, marketing, information systems, and contracting.This would equip social workers to be more competitive in the new human-service market. Wit h access to government funding that no longer regards the religious character of the service provider as a hindrance to the separation of church and state, it is likely (if not already evident by the NCCS reports) that more faith-based organizations and churches will engage in partnership with the public sector. This significant change has influenced social service delivery.As a social work practitioner, I could easily find myself working within a faith-based organization or at least collaborating with a faith-based organization in service delivery. Social work is a value-based profession. Although more secularized than ever before, social work can provide leadership in shaping the collaborative effort between the helping professions and faith-based organizations. This is especially important in considering the integration of spirituality and religion in social work practice.With the prevalence of faith-based organizations providing social services, it ould be beneficial for social work education to increase the content on ethical social work practice within religious settings. With an increased competency in the integration of social work practice with religion and spirituality, social work practitioners can further appreciate the efforts of religious organizations to address social problems. Social work should also â€Å"proceed cautiously to outline the parameters ot ethical social work practice in religious organizations† (Sherr et al, 2009, p. 64) so that service delivery does not cross the ethical line and become an opportunity for proselytizing. The profession of social work continues to realize the importance of religious and spiritual beliefs for clients. The importance of these issues in social work education is supported by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standard, 2. 1. 4: Social workers understand how diversity characterizes and shapes the human experience and is critical to the formation of identity.The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of multiple factors including age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration tatus, political ideology, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation†¦ [Social workers] gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse groups†¦ (CSWE, 2008, p. 5) The NASW Code of Ethics (2008) points to the importance of recognizing religious and spiritual beliefs in order to practice in a holistic, client-centered manner.Section 1 . 05(c) of the Code of Ethics states: Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, ex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, martial status, political belief, religion, immigration status and mental or physical disability. (NASW, 2 008, p. 9) Competently addressing religious and spiritual beliefs is part of the holistic approach to working with the multi-dimensional person†bio, psycho, social, and spiritual.To ignore the value system of a client leaves the door open for social workers to taint the helping relationship with their own beliefs and values (Zellmer & Anderson-Meger, 2011). Summary populations (Karger et al, 2007). History reveals that faith-based organizations have lways been a part of providing social welfare services. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 with the Charitable Choice clause and Bush's Faith Based and Community Initiative simply increased the collaboration between faith-based organizations and the federal government.Conservative thinkers believe that churches can address welfare better than the government and the secular social service system (Cnaan ; Boddie, 2002). Conservatives vigorously attack the belief that government should finance and deliver social services to the population (Karger et al, 2007). Liberal ideology asserts that the government should play a central role in the provision of services†that government is responsible for ensuring that all people, regardless of status in life, receive needed services and supports that maximize their well-being and ability to participate in society (Colby, 2007).With an increased competency in the integration of social work practice with religion and spirituality, social work practitioners can turtner appreciate the etto religious organizations to address social problems. With the prevalence of faith- based organizations providing social services, it would be beneficial for social work ducation to increase the content on ethical social work practice within religious settings. The clashes between present-day humanistic and faith-based ideologies have spawned a lasting political debate over the correctness of federal government funding of faith-based social servic es.In the American pluralistic society, public funds should not be used to promote any particular religion. Therefore, the social work profession should take a leadership role in appreciating diversity, and ethically navigating social welfare and the faith-based initiative.