360° Change

Randall Wallace, director of “Secretariant”, shows through his movie the transformation of Penny’s life regarding three main aspects, profession, family and personality. At the beginning of the movie this main character is shown as a devoted and abnegated housewife; although, a series of events transformed her in a strong, decisive business woman.   

The first change that we could see in Penny’s life is related with her family. At the beginning of the movie Penny was a devoted mother and wife, however, when her mother died, her life gave a turn. She started to spend more time handled family business because her father was very sick and he could not be in charge of that.  So, she was most of the time out of the house, instated of attending the family activities like her daughter high school performance. Her husband experienced a change too, first he was upset because Penny was all the time out, but at the end he was proud because Penny achieved all her goals.

        In Penny’s childhood her father started to teach her the business of the horse racing and everything that it involved. The love to her father made her love horses even more, but later in her life she decided to leave that life style and get married. However, the dead of her mother made Penny assumes the profession of house priding. The turn of 360° that she had in her life converted Penny in a business woman with a strong character, and taking risky decisions, leaving behind his life of housewife and deciding to take her life in her own hands. This caused that her family feels a lack of attention. Consequently, this deteriorated the family relation which happens a lot of the time in the real world.

Another important aspect that changed in Penny’s life is her personality. At the beginning of the movie, this main character seems to be a passive and abnegated person. However, the change of profession made her modify also her attitude towards life. The empowerment she adopted in front of all men in the movie as her husband, brother and employees is evident. Thus, it is clear that this woman confirmed with her acts the strong, decisive and satisfied woman she became. In fact, her first and unique laugh at the end of the movie is used as a symbol that emphasizes her happiness.

This movie shows us an example of how life can change in any moment. Penny used to live a simple life but when her parents died all changed, including her family, profession and personality. She became a different woman with new goals.

Ethnic Conflicts

Ruanda

Over 800 000 people were killed in an unimaginable genocide over just 3 months in 1994 in Rwanda. Tutsis were systematically targeted by extremist Hutus and killed based on ethnic identity alone. Although some were quick to blame ancient tribal hatreds for the bloodshed, more reflective analyses highlight the significance of the social construction of ethnicity. But adopting a constructivist outlook begs important questions: where and how is ethnicity constructed? Furthermore, since the existence of ethnicity alone does not explain conflict, its politicization and mobilization need deeper examination. One potential site of the creation, mobilization and politicization of conflict-creating ethnic divisiveness that has received inadequate attention from political scientists is the formal education system. Schools are among the major influences on identity and attitudes toward the other, yet their impact on conflict has largely been ignored. Based on interviews conducted in Rwanda, and supported by document analysis, this paper argues that Rwanda?s formal education system contributed to the building of divisive ethnic identities fostering social fragmentation during both the colonial period, and from independence to the genocide of 1994. Such findings have important implications for Rwanda?s future and for other countries endeavouring to build enduring peace and prevent violent conflict.

Yugoslavia

The current ethnic conflict in what was formerly Yugoslavia has roots that extend far back into history. The nationhood of the different ethnic groups in Yugoslavia was always somewhat artificial, brought about by the force of circumstances after World War I more than by a desire on the part of the different groups to be joined together under one banner. The nationalistic feelings in Yugoslavia extend back to the nineteenth century, to the era of nationalism throughout Europe. The ethnic groups in the region have long been divided by cultural differences, religion, and language. Efforts to unify the region failed until after World War I, when the impetus to come together increased for economic and security reasons. Yet, the nation that emerged was always tenuous because the union did not satisfy the needs of all the groups equally. Tensions seethed beneath the surface for the period of independent rule, and they continued under the domination by the Communists, who were able to keep the groups together only by the threat of force and by imposition of all structure and regulation from above. In this atmosphere, ethnic differences produced virulent actions taken by one group against another, leading to what have been defined by the international community as war crimes. The first trial for such crimes is set for next April; the issue is whether the Nuremburg Principles should be applied to this and subsequent trials.

The Holocaust 

Also known as The Shoah, was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany throughout Nazi-occupied territory. Approximately two-thirds of the population of nine million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust perished.Some scholars maintain that the definition of the Holocaust should also include the Nazis' genocide of millions of people in other groups, includingRomani (more commonly known in English by the exonym "Gypsies"), Soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet civilians, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah's Witnesses and other political and religious opponents, which occurred regardless of whether they were of German or non-German ethnic origin. By this definition, the total number of Holocaust victims would be between 11 million and 17 million people.

The persecution and genocide were carried out in stages. Various legislation to remove the Jews from civil society, predominantly theNuremberg Laws, was enacted in Nazi Germany years before the outbreak of World War II. Concentration camps were established in which inmates were used as slave labor until they died of exhaustion or disease. Where the Third Reich conquered new territory in eastern Europe, specialized units called Einsatzgruppen murdered Jews and political opponents in mass shootings. The Third Reich required Jews and Romani to be confined in overcrowded ghettos before being transported by freight train to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, the majority of them were systematically killed in gas chambers. Every arm of Nazi Germany's bureaucracy was involved in the logistics that led to the genocides, turning the Third Reich into what one Holocaust scholar has called "a genocidal state".Opinions differ on how much the civilian population of Germany knew about the government conspiracy against the Jewish population. Most historians claim that the civilian population was not aware of the atrocities that were carried out, especially in the extermination camps, which were located outside of Germany in Nazi-occupied Europe. The historian Robert Gellately, however, claims that the government openly announced the conspiracy through the media, and that civilians were aware of every aspect of the conspiracy except for the use of gas chambers.Significant historical evidence points to the idea that the vast majority of Holocaust victims, prior to their deportation to concentration camps, were either unaware of the fate that awaited them, or were in disbelief of the information that they had received; they honestly believed that they were to be resettled.

Immigration a chain of problems

There are three main disadvantages in immigration that developed countries are experiment nowadays. The first disadvantage is the increase of poverty and the creation of marginal communities. According to the United Nations 2 of each 6 habitants in marginal community are migrants from other countries. As the second difficulty that immigration brings to countries is the increment of the unemployment that is a consequence of the first point that is mentioned in this paragraph; the high levels of poverty in conjunction with the lack of education and the few employment opportunities will trigger a high number of unemployment cases. The third problem making chain with the last two is the increase in the crime level, according to the Real Instituto Alcano “Foreigners represent 4 or 5% of the Spanish population, but almost 9% of those convicted and 27% of those arrested for crime in 2001”, with this example and the other two disadvantages can be probed the issues of immigration. In conclusion the migration is only the beginning of a chain of problems that can be prevented if we can break at least one of the links that compose it.    

Here we have a link to obtain more information about the efects of illegal inmigration.

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14573

Global Warming evidence

The evidence of global warming is arresting nowadays and, this can be noting it in three main phenomena. The first sing is the increasing of the temperature record in earth.

According to the EPCC: “The global surface temperature increased by 0, 74 ± 0,180˚C during the 21th century”.   As the second sing we have the melting of the poles that is a consequence of the razing oceans temperature. “In 30 years the 30% of the poles will be melted”. (“N.G”) Finally in third case the number of Skin Cancer is going to the roof because of the excessive amount of sun the people have been receiving, as the statistics showed. A lot of habitants suffering this kind of disease around the world and it are causing many deaths, which are making the families go through. In conclusion we must take actions to stop or reduce the global warming effects which already showed to much evidence of it veracity. 

The Severe Consequences of Domestic Violence

    There are three main types of consequences in Domestic Violence. First, there are physical harms which consist in any injury produced on the victim´s body. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the statistics said: “Around the world at least one woman in every three has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise, abused in her lifetime. Most often the abuser is a member of her own family”. “One study estimated that more than 3% of women were severely assaulted by male partners or cohabitants over the curse of the year”. (“C.J. Newton, M.A.”) The second consequence is the social effect; this may be a misperception on society from the side of the person assaulted. This might produce that the victim becomes a shrinking violet person, so this person will be rejected by the society. As the third point, physiological effects are the most frequent ones, and they will leave a sign on the victim´s live. According to Dr. Luis Echegaray, “The main physiological effects are: fear, anxiety, fatigue, stress disorders and post-traumatic effects”. In conclusion these three phenomena produce severe consequences on victim´s future. 

Here we have a test that would help to all these persons that believe that they are suffering domestic violence to probe their reality.

http://domesticviolencetest.com/