Christianity and Poverty Essay Example for Free

Christianity and Poverty Essay Christian Aid was founded in 1945. In 1945 the members of the British and Irish churches were very shocked to see how hard life was for European refugees who had lost everything in the Second World War. In response to this, they new that something had to done about it. By making this decision, they managed to raise one million pounds to help these people. This group became known as Christian Aid. Everywhere in the world there are people whose lifes are hardly worth living, people who are in a desperate struggle for the basic needs of life. This is why Christian Aid was founded, to help try and give people a better state of living. Christian Aid helps out in emergencies around the world whenever it can, when people are plunged into terrible situations, as families were in Afghanistan during the war in 2001. Christian Aid usually sends money to local organisations who can then buy food or provide shelter for other communities. Also Christian Aid works on issues from healthcare to human rights, from support to landless peasants in Brazil to ending child labour in India. A project which I think is important is the BBC project. This is a very important project because it enables young people like Bumeh to piece together their lives and start having fun again. Every year, the Burmese Border Consortium brings food and basic education to around 120,000 refugees in 14 different camps along the border and campaigns on their behalf. I find this project very important because it helps a lot of people have a better way of living. This also is a big help for the future generation because more people are being educated and in this way, more people will continue to be educated. Christian Aid does this work in order for Christians who want to put their faith and beliefs into action to do so. Christian Aid is the main relief and development agency in the UK and Ireland. Although it was inspired by the gospel, it is not the case that it is solely for Christians. Christian Aid works with partners and supporters of many different faiths. The most important thing is that Aid is distributed on the basis of need, and regardless of religion, race, faith, creed or nationality. Some of these quotes explain why Christian Aid came into being in the first place, James 2:14-26 Christians believe that faith and beliefs should be demonstrated in practical ways to help people in need. and John 3:23 Christians believe that God loves everyone in the world and that they should show this love too. They believe that Jesus is the role model for living your faith. In all, I think that Christian Aid is a very sucessful organisation which benefits a lot of people all over the world. Christian Aid gives many people the opportunity to live life in a much better way of living. It gives people a chance, who would otherwise have never got the chance to improve their life. Also it allows people like us to help raise money for Christian Aid and lets us feel good about ourselves because we have done something for a very good cause. Therefore, I think Christian Aid is for a very good cause because they believe that we all have the power to make changes and they help to make many peoples lives much happier. After all what may seem to us as not a lot of money, can come out with life changing results for some people in the world. http://www.freebietown.co.uk/ukfreebiessamples.html http://62.169.139.99/eucerin/index.asp# eucerin http://www.freebiesiteuk.co.uk/health.htm

The Latin Image :: Latin Americans Romance Love Movies Essays

The Latin Image "The romantic and erotic Latin image implied recognition that Latin Americans and Romance peoples produced persons of great beauty and attractiveness."(Rios-Bustamante,21) The most predominant stereotype that surfaces in "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and "The Mark of Zorro" is that of the Latin Lover. This stereotype may be portrayed in a more positive light because in comparison to other demeaning Latino roles in early American film, the Latin Lover is characterized by "suavity and sensuality, tenderness and sexual danger."(Ramirez Berg,115) According to Ramirez Berg, "this stereotype we owe to one star: Rudolph Valentino."(115) In "The Four Men of the Apocalypse", Valentino plays the character of Julio, a man "destined to bear the burden of allowing both his grandfather and his father to relive their lives through him." Alexander Walker speaks of the classic scene. "Few film entrances are as stunningly designed as Valentino's in 'The Four Men of the Apocalypse'†¦..the sequence loses nothing by being so calculatedly staged: the impact on audiences was instantaneous." This description shows the impact that Rudolph Valentino had on audiences as the original Latin Lover of the American cinema(even though he wasn't Latino.) Julio is suave and sensual throughout the film, particularly while seductively dancing the tango. Although he is portrayed as this dangerous lover who is "worshipped by his models", he is not depicted as a true hero until he offers to fight for his father's country in the war. It seems as though "he actually changes into a man of honor-what anyone least expected from this spoiled son of privilege†¦" http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/FeaturedVideo/video16.1.htm In "The Mark of Zorro", Douglas Fairbanks plays the role of the dashing Zorro, the "almost mythical superhero who battles tyranny†¦defends the rights of both gentry and rabble equally." This film is a good example of the sensuous, desirable Latin Lover stereotype because Fairbanks is portrayed both with and without his "mask". When Fairbanks is playing the role of Zorro, he is strong, valiant, and romantic. "The girl is much more attracted to the dashing Zorro, who romances her in her garden one day." When he embodies the character of Don Diego Vega, he acts timid and weak, and has trouble winning Lolita's affection. The much stereotyped Latin Lover image was portrayed only by the masked man until the very last scene when Don Diego reveals his identity and protects the woman he loves.

The impacts of the Balearic Island’s in ‘abolishing’ the eco-tax and recommend alternative strategies to compensate for its effects

The purpose of the essay is to identify the potential impacts of the Balearic Island's in ‘abolishing' the eco-tax and recommend alternative strategies to compensate for its effects. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to shed some light on both positive and negative impacts concerning the tourists, host community, hoteliers and the environment. Reasons for eliminating the eco-tax will be highlighted, whilst also concerning its consequent effects on the Balearic Islands. It is fundamental to understand the term ‘eco' which is basically, concerns of the environment. One way it can be described is through eco-tourism, which according to Honey & Stewart (2002) is: â€Å"†¦responsible travel to natural areas, which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people† This suggests that tourists should be aware of the environment and its residents in order to minimise the negative effects their tourism can have on a community. Honey (2002) believes that tourism can create negative ecological externalities in the form of environmental damage. The tourism industry is suggested to damage the natural resources that form the basis for eco-tourism. Eco-tourism can therefore enhance the opportunities for better management of natural resources whilst providing a satisfying experience for the visitor. It is also vital to understand the term ‘tax', which according to Mak (2004) is â€Å"an involuntary payment to the government that does not entitle the payer to receive a direct benefit of equivalent value in return† In simple the aim of introducing the payment of a tax is to ensure everyone is supported. The Balearic Islands achieved this by introducing an eco-tax on 1st May 2002 in order to help restore the environmental damage caused by tourism. The hoteliers were responsible for collecting the payment of approximately 62p a day for each person at a three star hotel of persons over 12 years old. This meant that almost à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½35 was added to an average family holiday. (www.bbc.co.uk) An article from Tourism Concern (2002) ‘Balearics eco-tax gets the vote' stated that the eco-tax was reinforced to reduce environmental impacts; nevertheless the revenue earned would be used on â€Å"cleaning up the beaches, estates restored, heritage sites maintained, cycle and walking routes developed, rural economies boosted, and hotels encouraged to implement energy and water conservation measures.† The tax was set to bring in 25 million Euros from the 2002 visitors with subsequent years contribution predicted to top 45 million euros. An article by Palmer (2001) ‘Eco tax not enough to save the planet' suggests that â€Å"everyone will be paying ‘eco tax' or ‘environmental tax', happy in the knowledge that they are saving the planet† This article shows slight sarcasm, as although taxes are introduced, it may not be helping the environment. To some extent this can be valued as true, but surely paying a tax will mean maybe less people will travel to destinations hence less damage to the environment. The Balearic Islands have been recognised as a low cost, low quality package holiday destination. Therefore Spain, may have introduced the eco-tax to diminish this image and help re-educate the traveller; at the same time providing funds for conservation, which would directly benefit the economic development and help local communities. The Balearic Islands have a population of approximately 800,000 residents, yet nearly 11 million tourists visited each year. Therefore one can imagine the negative effects caused by the mass tourism. Hunter et al., (1996) believes that the impact of tourism upon the environment can be reported as short term or long term, direct, indirect or induced into two categories of negative and positive changes. An article by Morgan (2000) ‘A Taxing Time' suggested that the eco-tax was part of the electoral programme and most people saw it as a positive measure, recognising the importance of investing in the environment, restoring and conserving certain areas of special importance. Others assumed the tax would reduce the number of tourists wanting a cheap holiday and focus on having less, higher spending tourists. So, what were the reasons for the government of the Balearic Islands to abolish the eco-tax if the revenue received would benefit them? There are many different theories suggested a number of which will be discussed. A news extract from The Times stated that the â€Å"Government has decided to abolish the controversial eco-tax†, taking place on October 2004. The tourism Minister believed that in having the eco tax â€Å"did more harm than good†. An article from The Sun ‘Tax Axed for Holiday Isles', reinforced the † negative effect† on tourism. Suggesting that the eco-tax was not favourable for the Balearic Islands. Again supporting its abolition, .an article in the Express on Sunday Jeferies (2003) suggested about the eco-tax that â€Å"it is a move in the completely opposite direction to the one the government should be working in. They need to change strategy and adopt policies to revive and boost tourism† It is understood that the Balearic Islands need to introduce other ways in which the environmental damage is minimised and ensure that visitor numbers are increasing at the same time. Balearics Tourism office spokesman Jaun Vallespir suggested that the majority of tourists and foreigners were in favour of the tax, the drop in visitor numbers was down to economic problems in Europe and Post September 11th. Suggesting that there were a number of other reasons affecting tourism. Nevertheless a survey carried out by ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) found that 64% of tourists would be willing to pay an extra à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½25 to ensure environment standards, associated with their holiday were met. If such a high percentage of tourists were willing to pay why would the government still decide to abolish the tax? The Express on Sunday (2003) suggested that although the revenue obtained from the eco-tax could help protect the environment, it showed that visitor figures in 2002 were down by 900,000, creating a deficit of more than 800 million. Only 28 hotels out of the 100 were now staying open during the winter season. Spain's Balearic Islands have been internationally famous for having experienced rapid tourism development but were now suffering following the introduction of the eco-tax. â€Å"The islands depend on tourism for 84% of the Gross Domestic Product† (http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk. This indicates that the Balearic Islands have been heavily reliant upon tourism. Jaimw Puig suggested having an eco-tax gave an impression that the islands are in undesirable conditions. (http://www.ft.com) â€Å"The regional government gave the impression that the Islands were in a bad state of repair, that it is a terrible image to send abroad† This suggested that by having the eco-tax The Balearic Islands were portraying a bad image for the resorts by suggesting they needed money to improve their environment. However, this may be due to lack of knowledge and accessible information tourists require. Knight (2002) – http://www.observer.co.uk â€Å"†¦they are doing a lot to change their image but they are coming across as greedy.† Maybe the Balearic Islands could implement a tax for those tourists partaking in certain activities that are harmful to the environment. This is identified as a user charge, according to Mak (2004) it is â€Å"a price charged by governments to users to pay for specific government services or privileges† User charges are an appropriate way to finance public services when most or all of the benefits go to identifiable users, and non-payers can be excluded from using the services at a reasonable cost. By doing so, they would still have tourism coming in and revenue earned from taxes would be used to rejuvenate areas of that are environmentally damaged. According to Gilpin (2000) Belgium had imposed eco-taxes on products since 1993, applying them to goods considered to be harmful to the environment (Pittevils 1996- cited in Gilpin, 2000, pg 150) Alternatively the new ‘coach tax' levied in Venice is apparently an attempt by the city to reduce the number of motor coaches coming into the congested city. User charges used for such purpose are most effective when demand is price elastic. Westwood (2002- http://www.travel.telegraph.co.uk) â€Å"the tax could deprive the Islands economy of more than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300 million per year if tourists go elsewhere† Balearic Islands are very dependent on tourism therefore need to implement something that is feasible. The Gambia Tourism Authority has introduced a tourism development levy of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 per tourist from the 1st November 2002. The tax would be used to develop green areas, improve lighting in tourist areas, security and training for employees within the tourism sector. According to Barrett (2002) ‘Unfair yob tax or fair pay?' suggested that people were annoyed with the extra costs. The Sunday Times reported, â€Å"hotels are less than 40% full† there has been a huge fall in visitor numbers that the tourism industry are blaming on the eco-tax. Travel Trade Gazette – cited in Tourism Concern 2002 reported that hotels were handing out food and drink tokens to pacify the guests. The tax was unpopular with holidaymakers as it added an extra cost on holidays. The hoteliers didn't agree with the idea, as they were responsible for collecting the tax and tour operators felt that it had caused a decline in visitor numbers. Therefore maybe abolishing the tax would help resolve some of the problems, but at the expense of the environment. Increased competition from tour operators has led to cheaper flights. There is a direct flight that British Airways have recently started, from UK to Menorca costing approximately 125 euros (www.bbc.co.uk). Having cheaper flights to Balearic Islands will mean an increase in numbers to the destination hence have a knock on effect on the environment. The tax is being abolished yet more and more competition between airlines, means a huge increase in the number of visitors. To exploit this, an alternative solution would be to have customers pay an airline tax instead. According to an article from Friends of the Earth (FOE), they believe that if a charge for the UK flights was left unaltered but the charge of flights to Europe increased by à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 and other international flights by à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 the longest and damaging journeys would be taxed more heavily. This would raise an extra à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½700 million per year. www.foe.co.uk, by including tax via flights it would seem part of the cost rather than an additional payment. Whilst, also reducing friction between guest and hoteliers. Additional alternative strategies could be to ensure that the carrying capacity is under control. Mathieson and Wall (1982:21 – cited in Holden 2000 pg. 138) â€Å"carrying capacity is the maximum number of people who can use a site without unacceptable alteration in the physical environment and without an unacceptable decline in the quality of the experience gained by the visitors† If the carrying capacity is controlled in the Balearic Islands this could minimise the environmental damage. This could be instead of the eco-tax and may not result in the fall of visitor numbers. However environmental impacts will continue, therefore they could carry out environmental impact assessments (EIA), which would be beneficial to the destination, as they can assess certain areas affected. In conclusion, in order for the Balearic Islands to remain in the competitive market of tourism certain changes need to be addressed. Abolishing the eco-tax means that the alternative strategies put in place need to be carefully planned to ensure they are customer friendly, cost effective and not economically damaging. Clearly the eco-tax was introduced to provide financial support for the damage caused through tourism. Yet it failed to predict the decline of visitors, which in the long term would have a more adverse effect on its economy, yet a promising effect on its environment. Due to the fact the Balearic Islands relied heavily on its tourism income it would be seen as a positive measure to abolish the eco-tax. However this meant other solutions would be required to conserve the environment. As suggested airline taxes, user charge and carrying capacity are just some of the strategies suggested to alleviate the problems. As these have just been newly developed it will still require time and research to see their success in relation to the Balearic Islands. Therefore whilst these measures have been recommended as solutions to the abolishment of the eco-tax one will have to wait and see its success.

How Music Affects The Brain And People s Emotions

iSearch Paper: The Power of Music For my iSearch paper I am researching how music affects the brain and people s emotions. Although this is a complex issue, my passion has always involved music and an interest in how it affects how people react and think. I play the violin, and from personal experience I have noticed that when I am playing I have an emotional connection to the piece, whether it is sad, happy, or even upsetting. I have also noticed that the audience has an emotional impact based on what was performed. I plan to research scientific journals that record information and tests on how listening to music affects the brain and to look for documentation of someone exposing music to a culture that has no access to music and†¦show more content†¦Also, I would like to know if music has an effect on the brain that is significant enough for people to consider having their kids learn an instrument in order to get a head start on school and boost their intelligence. I began and followed my research plan by starting out by picking a few articles that discuss music in relation to the brain. I picked my article out based on what interests me most, which is music. I began by researching how music effects people and what emotional impact it has on people. Then, I came across articles with information about projects and research that had been done involving the brain and its connection to the spoken language. So far, I have located my sources through the internet using google. All of the articles that I have found have been very helpful and include sources of experiments done with results. They also include quotes from the researchers involved with the experiment and comments made by renowned scientist like Darwin. I had to form questions based off of the articles and use information I already had from being a musician to help with that process. Questions that helped guide my research were based on experiments that had been done regarding the brain and the question of how musical communication evolved. The emotional and universal aspect also brought up interest throughout my research that inspired a few questions about music today compared to music in the past. I found evidence to back up my