Effects of Eminem on Rap and Black Culture essays

Effects of Eminem on Rap and Black Culture essays The Effects Of Eminem on Rap and Black Culture The popularity of Marshall Mathers III, a.k.a. Eminem, in todays rap culture is undeniable; with his Marshall Mathers LP selling 1.76 million copies in its first week after release and The Eminem Show selling 285,000 copies on its first day. (mtv.com) Since his entry into a predominately African-American art form, Eminem has been thrust into the spotlight, and has done more than just live up to expectations, gaining countless loyal fans and even more bitter enemies along the way. Among the enemies is Raymond Benzino Scott, a rapper and co-owner of The Source, the largest Hip-Hop magazine in the country. Recently, Benzino released a song aimed to attack Eminem, entitled Pull Your Skirt Up. The lyrics attacked Eminems race, along with his street credibility and skill as a rapper. Eminem wasted no time answering back, releasing The Sauce, an attack at the magazine and Benzino, in which he states that he did not start the battle, but he will finish it; furthermore Nail in The Coff in, an attack aimed solely at Benzino, takes shots at his age, business practices, and promotion of his nine year old sons rap career. While Benzino insists that his opinion in no way reflects the opinion of the magazine, every issue since the beginning of this feud has included at least one article aimed to attack either Eminem or another artist on his record label, Shady Records. The most recent was aimed at 50 Cent, the newest addition to Shady Records, who currently has the one of the top selling albums in the country. The magazine has also begun to print a comic strip in every issue that illustrates the evil powers that have taken over rap (Eminem, Shady Records, and Dr. Dres Aftermath Record.) And the good forces (black rap artists) are fighting back to take over what is rightfully theirs. The ...

Environment and Animal Rights - Contrast and Compare

Environment and Animal Rights - Contrast and Compare Updated and Edited by  Michelle A. Rivera,  Animal Rights Expert for About.com  May 16, 2016 The environmental movement and the animal rights movement often have similar goals, but the philosophies are different and sometimes cause the two camps to oppose each other. The Environmental Movement The goal of the environmental movement is protect the environment and use resources in a sustainable manner. Campaigns are based on the big picture - whether a practice can continue without harming the balance of the ecosystem. The environment is important as it affects human health, but the environment is also, in itself, worth protecting. Popular environmental campaigns include protecting the Amazon rainforest from deforestation, protecting endangered species, reducing pollution, and fighting climate change. The Animal Rights Movement The goal of the animal rights movement is for animals to be free of human use and exploitation. Animal rights is based on a recognition that non-human animals are sentient and therefore have their own rights and interests. While some activists work on single issue campaigns such as fur, meat, or circuses; the broader goal is a vegan world where all animal use and exploitation is eliminated. Similarities Between the Environmental and Animal Rights Movements Both movements recognize we must protect the environment. Both oppose unsustainable practices, and both seek to protect wildlife from habitat loss, pollution and climate change. These threats affect not only whole ecosystems but individual animals who will suffer and die if we continue to ignore environmental issues. We also often see environmental and animal rights groups taking the same position on an issue for different reasons. While animal rights groups oppose eating meat because it infringes on the rights of the animals, some environmental groups oppose meat eating because of the environmental devastation of animal agriculture. The Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club has a Biodiversity/Vegetarian Outreach Committee, and calls meat a Hummer on a Plate. Both movements also work to protect endangered animal species. Animal rights activists work to protect spotted owls because they are sentient beings, while environmentalists want to see individual spotted owls protected because the individuals are important for the survival of the species; and that species is important in the web of life. Differences between the Environmental and Animal Rights Movements Most animal rights activists also try to protect the environment, but if there is a conflict between environmental protection and the lives of individual animals, animal rights activists will choose to protect the animals because the animals are sentient and the rights of the individuals cannot be infringed to protect trees or a collective group. Also, environmentalists may not object if an activity kills or threatens individual animals without threatening the species or ecosystem as a whole. For example, some environmentalists do not oppose hunting or may even support hunting if they believe that hunting will not threaten the survival of the species. The rights and interests of individual animals are not a concern to some environmentalists. However, hunting cannot be considered acceptable to animal rights advocates because killing an animal, whether it is for food or trophies, infringes on the rights of the animal. This applies whether or not the species is endangered or threatened. To an animal rights activist, the life of a single animal matters. Similarly, environmentalists often talk about conservation, which is the sustainable use of a resource. Hunters also use the word conservation as a euphemism for hunting. To animal rights advocates, animals should not be considered a resource. This difference in philosophies causes People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to refer to the World Wildlife Fund as the Wicked Wildlife Fund. WWF is not an animal rights group, but works to conserve nature. According to PETA, WWF has demanded more animal testing of genetically modified organisms before they are approved for human consumption. To WWF, the potential threat of GMOs to the environment and to human health outweighs the lives of animals who are used for GMO safety testing. Animal rights advocates believe that we cannot exploit animals in laboratories by conducting GMO testing, or in any other testing, regardless of the possible benefits. According to PETA, WWF also does not oppose the killing of seals for fur, since they do not believe that the practice threatens the survival of the seal population. Wildlife While the deaths of individual animals are not usually considered an environmental issue, environmental groups do sometimes get involved in non-endangered wildlife issues. For example, some environmental groups work to protect all whale species, even though some whale species - such as minke whales and Brydes whales - are not endangered. The protection of large, iconic animals like whales, panda bears and elephants will probably always be championed by some environmental groups regardless of their survival status due to the popularity of these animals, which gives them a high profile.

British expatriate managers coping with culture shock in the USA Dissertation

British expatriate managers coping with culture shock in the USA - Dissertation Example Various researches show that many of the expatriates who relocate to US to live and work often have mixed views regarding this, relatively, new nation. Many non-Americans, including many expatriates from UK, who relocate to the United States to do business to their bewilderment, find themselves undergoing a severe case of â€Å"corporate culture shock.† This article will examine the various problems and dilemma experienced by the expatriate managers when they relocate to foreign locales, with special focus on the British expatriate managers who generally face a culture shock as they move to live and work in the USA British expatriate managers coping with culture shock in the USA 1 Introduction 1.1 Background history â€Å"I think there’s just some incredible things that we could learn from other people’s cultures†- anonymous US expatriate manager. ... e managers with a bid to expand globally (Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 2001), while almost three-fourth of the expatriates are accompanied by their family members (Dickmann, Doherty, Mills, and Brewster, 2008). Expatriates within multinational companies play a vital role in initiating various foreign ventures and subsidies, and during troubleshooting at these offshore project sites. Globalisation along with economic liberalization that started in the early half of the 20th century made it necessary for many of the business firms to expand their trade and commerce globally, along with establishing an international distinction. In this context Bartol and Martin (1998) tells us that the process of globalization is in reality a strategy for worldwide integration where the chief objective of the various business firms is developing comparably standardized materials with a global address, along consolidating all the operations taking place at the worldwide level. In order to achieve t his goal, the organizations must necessarily send their chosen representatives for the various foreign projects, in order to oversee the work at site locations, and maintain the product and service standards in these foreign countries. Companies that with globalisation, have broadened their scope to create a worldwide presence and name, are often referred to as the multinational companies or MNCs (ibid). The origin of the modern form of multinational companies or MNCs that we see today can be traced back to the post World War II era. Though some companies may have started during the late 19th century, the development actually started from the late 1940s. However, it was only during the early 1980s, that various researchers in the fields of global HR management and expatriation (Evans,

Compliance of Businesses with the Principles of United Nations Global Essay - 1

Compliance of Businesses with the Principles of United Nations Global Compact - Essay Example Alcoa Inc., being an international organization with 31 headquarters all over the world and working in all the major aspects of its industry (developing technology, performing mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, and recycling of aluminum), believes it has enough expertise and experience for making recommendations to the Australasian Local Network. Furthermore, these particular principles are a basis of our Vision & Values statement, which makes us responsible for protecting and promoting â€Å"the health and well-being of the individual and the environment† (Vision & Values 2011). Alcoa Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S., is an outstanding project of our company, the activities of which are aimed at supporting our host communities worldwide (Alcoa Foundation 2011). The organization works as an independent foundation for addressing both global and local challenges of the communities. These activities are consistent with the vision and mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in terms of supporting â€Å"economic and social well-being of people around the world† (OECD 2011), and of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in regards to â€Å"promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights† (ILO 2011). Therefore, on the basis of our experience working towards the outlined above principles, we would like to propose the following recommendations: 1. Design, implement and control the fulfillment of a statement of protecting human rights in all the communities the company operates in (Global Compact Principle One 2011). Benefits & Implications: The company’s vision regarding human rights protection is clearly outlined and, thus, it is easier to develop corresponding structures and policies Communities differ and, therefore, some general and universal principles should be outlined in the statement instead of those to which a particular l ocal community is accustomed. A unified statement, being fulfilled, will not only promote human rights protection within the community but will also help to educated communities on what they should claim from organizations in terms of respecting and supporting people’s rights. Lessons Learnt The statement of protecting human rights of Alcoa Inc. now includes only the points regarding paying employees guaranteed minimum wages and prohibiting slavery (Health 2011), and we are working on improving this aspect. This shortcoming of ours has caused many problems in the past – we have even been blamed for putting corporate interests above the interests of people, governments or the planet. There, however, already exist good examples: the Human Rights Policy Statement of Continental Airlines, for instance, deals with such issues as ethical business conduct, as well as protection of the rights of co-workers and children (Continental Airlines, Inc. 2011).

Employee Relations Essay Example for Free

Employee Relations Essay In various business organizations, we find that, many employees are neglected and are most often demoralized, not motivated in performing their duties in the particular organisation, thus encouraging a poor employee relations, but in the United Kingdom, many businesses are flourishing, since they have set up an enabled system that tends to come up with factors that makes the firm to get a frequent and significant recognition of its employees, thus enhancing a good employee relations. The factors that are known to be most influential in the shaping of these employee relations in the United Kingdom are as follows: Communication In this case, we find that, most managers come up with a system to re-examine the performance of their employees. This system normally, include a precise communication system that brings an understanding between the employees and the management team, under which, the employees seem to appreciate the principles on which they are assessed thus, encouraging justice and equal opportunities in the organisation. The firms have an established internal coordination system and structure; this is usually a practical cooperation that helps to build stronger relationships among the employees. Thus there is the recognition of each employee’s contributions. In a firm every department has employees with different skills that are required at different roles. Therefore, the managers bring all these skills together, so that the firms objectives are achieved, and therefore, each employee is meant to understand what these objectives are, and how the different skills and functions within the firm are to contribute in achieving the goals of having a better employee relations, therefore they should know why they need to support each others efforts. Motivation The success of an organisation basically, depends on the employees using their full skills and knowledge in their production, therefore, these employees require motivation, and this motivation can be done in different ways and by different things. The employee Motivation in the United Kingdom normally involves, the compensation system which is the activity of giving the employees what they really want most from work, it therefore makes the manager, get his expectations from the employees, this expectations may include; production of quality goods and services. Motivation will enable the employees to have their goals in the organisation achieved; they will have a positive perspective on their position in the organisation. Motivation also creates the influence to change and build employees self-esteem and capacity to work. The managers have the responsibility of motivating workers, when the organizational structure is experiencing changes, and in this case, we find that the manager comes up with a plan that is used to define the environmental factors that brings an atmosphere of integrity, honesty, and confidence to the employees. Under this, the managers’ plan considers the factors that motivate the employees; this involves the determination of the important factors to the employee in his working life, and how they relate to his productivity. He also finds out what motivates the employees in their work, this is a situation where, we find most employees wanting a privileged compensation, an enhanced working environment, and flexible benefits from the amount of work that they do. This is always done by, asking them during the performance assessment, attitude inspection, and is also retrieved from informal discussion on what the employees want most from their jobs. On the other hand, the managers also spot the de-motivating factors of the organisation to the employees; these factors may be physical factors which include buildings or equipment or psychological factors such as monotony, injustice, barriers to promotion and lack of appreciation which normally affects the employee relations in an organisation. Since most workers in the United Kingdom claim to be working for money, and that their extreme benefit is encouragement; under this, money is always regarded to be a low motivator, and that it is only a short time motivator, after a rise is given to the employees salary, so the managers are always aware that benefits given after a particular performance rarely motivate their employees to use their potential effectively, most of the employees say that, the benefits are only used to motivate the new employees in the organisation but not the existing ones. Change Management Poor employee relations is normally said to be a leading factor to a change in an organizations’ performance; therefore most managers have been seen adopting a policy for managing changes within their organizations. In this case, we find that the introduction of this change is always meant to be motivating to the employees, since it is always used as an entry to the firms’ better achievement of its goals. To achieve a positive change in an organisation in the UK, the managers do not tell or instruct the employees, this does not help, but it only creates ignorance to the doubts and expectations of the employees, therefore the management team in an organization carry out discussions, through which the sharing of a particular problem helps in the creation of a better actions in dealing with the issues that are predicted to affect the productivity of the firm, due to the shared ideas and decision making processes derived from the open discussions, the employees are able to realize a change in the organizational performance. Changes in any organisation in the United Kingdom, normally involve learning, where the managers are able to know the learning capabilities of every employee in the organisation. Under this, one finds that his employees are categorized as follows; activists the manager may find that some of his employees like involving themselves in new ideas, problems, or opportunities meaning that, they do not like being impartial, Theorists, this is the category of learners, who are always comfortable with ideas they do not prefer involving themselves deeply without a reason. The other category is that of reflectors; they like taking time to think through things, thus they do not like being forced to move from one thing to another rashly and lastly the pragmatists they normally prefer to be linked between issues and their job description. Therefore, the manager is always in a position to deal with his employees who have different learning preferences and approaches, who may also respond differently to diverse situations affecting the organisation. In this learning process the manager is expected to give feedback, that plays a major role in motivating the employees, thus he should not leave the employees guessing the progress of their accomplishments, therefore, the managers always give adequate and accurate information on the development. Employee Recognition This is another factor that the employers put into consideration for the organisation to improve its employee relations, this is basically a communication instrument, which strengthens and compensates the most significant production that the employees have created for the organisation. The recognition structure is always made simple, instant, and effectively supportive to the employees’ relations and the organisation at large. Under this, the management team ensures that a principle for performance is established, involving the rewardable behaviour of the employees thus all of them are entitled to the recognition by the employer. This recognition supplies the employees with specific information about the behaviour they are being rewarded for. The management therefore, states that any employee who performs at a specified level receives a reward. Basically recognition occurs hand in hand with performance of the employees, thus it reinforces the employees’ encouragement and thus improving the workforce relations. Culture This is another factor that is most influential in the employee relations in an organisation, culture basically means, the environment surrounding an employee at work. In the United Kingdom we find that, culture is meant to shape the relationship of an employee and his work in an organisation. Culture represents an employee’s personality that carries principles, attitude, fundamental interests, knowledge, background, and behaviour that creates a person’s behaviour. Culture is particularly inclined by the organization’s management team due to the roles in decision making and strategic direction they impose in the organisation. We find the managers put in mind that culture is learned, thus employees are capable of learning how to perform, employees value rewards that are not associated with behaviours, since they have different needs, shared rewards from co-workers or have their most important needs met in their departments or project teams.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder :: Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD

Introduction There has been a proliferation of interest in the development and nature of individual’s thinking patterns and processes following traumatic psychological exposure (Ehlers, Mayou, & Bryant, 1998). In particular, previous research has suggested that specific thinking styles and patterns preceding trauma predict a greater vulnerability and a poorer long-term prognosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Dalgleish, 2004). Moreover, the literature has illustrated that adolescents can be predisposed to developing PTSD which develops as a result of either direct or indirect exposure to a trauma. For example, witnessing a trauma directly or learning about a specific traumatic event experienced by others (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994). Previous research has highlighted that adolescents that have been exposed to a trauma and PTSD may also be more vulnerable to developing aggressive and antisocial behaviours (Falshaw, Browne & Hollin, 1996), alcohol and drug dependence, hypervigilance and impulsive misconduct (Lynam, Caspi, Moffitt, Wikstrà ¶m, Loeber & Novak, 2000). Erwin, Newman, McMackin, Morrissey and Kaloupek (2000) suggest that a reason for this is that early exposure to trauma can have severe impact on adolescent’s functioning in terms of their emotions, cognition and behaviour, poor self-regulation and information-processing. Adding to this, Tyson & Goodman, (1996) suggest that it is these deficits in functioning coupled with the individual’s inability to regulate emotions that predispose them to engaging in protective aggression and dangerous re-enactment behaviours as a way of dealing with their exposure to trauma. The link between dysfunctional cognitions and PTSD has been widely explored by various researchers, and it has been suggested that a tight relationship exists between PTSD and antisocial behaviour in youths (Danckwerts & Leathem, 2003). However, little is yet known about the psychological mechanisms which underlie the relationship. This literature review will explore the underlying mechanisms which predict a greater vulnerability to the onset, development and maintenance of PTSD associated with young offenders. More specifically, depressive cognitions such as rumination and counterfactual thinking will be explored with reference to their link with PTSD. Defining Rumination and Counterfactual Thinking Individuals affected by PTSD often report symptoms of incessant ruminative thinking associated with a traumatic experience. The DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) does not however distinguish intrusive rumination and intrusive memories associated with the trauma in the development of PTSD. However, more recently various theoretical perspectives propose that the two are functionally distinct and should be regarded as separate entities (Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Joseph, Williams & Yule, 1997; Ehlers & Steil, 1997).

The Arena

The Arena â€Å"We glide through darkness but the early morning kind, darkness about to lift. † It is without discussion an adventure and an experience to have a child. Mostly a feeling of great love follows. But definitely a responsibility and fear follows. The fear of being insufficient and maybe even the fear of endangering what you love the most. This is because our identity changes. In 2008 Martin Golan wrote the short story The Arena. The story is about a father and his son. The father is driving his son to the arena, where he is going on a trip with his lacrosse team by bus.The story circles around the protagonist of the story, who is the father. It is written in his point of view. The story consists of very little dialogue, which only is between him and his son. Mostly the all-knowing reader is confronted with the father’s inner dialogue as if the reader was inside his head. This and the point of view are also shown in the language of the story. It is informal a nd spoken language that is written to look like a dialect: â€Å"I spent many an afternoon at the Arena when my boy was small† (page 2, line 4-5).It has the effect that it easier to see through the father’s eyes and identify with him. This leads to a characterization of the father. Already in the first few lines you sense a strong emotional connection to his son or children in general: â€Å"The Arena somehow manages to be too cold and too hot at the same time, and my afternoons there were equally mixed, the physical discomfort eased by seeing my child dizzy with the boundless delight children take in simple games† (page 2, line 6-8). The father seems fascinated by the childish dewy-eyed way of thinking.But the most significant is that just seeing his own child happy counterbalances his physical discomfort. Now his son is a teenager and he is driving him to the arena at six a. m. on a Saturday morning. â€Å"The early weekend hour, the stillness we alone are he re to break, is like the drive to a hospital for birth, or (I cannot dwell on this) in an ambulance with an injured child† (page 2, line 22-23). Whatever the father thinks of, he always seems to connect it somehow with children – in this case the contrasting joyful and sad stage.The protagonist seems distant and in his thoughts. He is not mentally present in the car. Then he states: â€Å"Before the life I have now I had another life, with a different woman, and we also had a child, a boy named Willie† (page 2, line 37-38). But the boy beside him, the one going to the arena, is his only child. This combined with his fear of dwelling by the thought of an ambulance with an injured child raises the suspicion that Willie is dead. This suspension is slowly confirmed but mostly indirectly.The suspension evolves as the father thinks: â€Å"We attended a group for parents of children who died in preventable accidents, and everyone tried to be helpful† (page 4, lin e 122-123). He and his former wife could have prevented the death of their son Willie. It may have been their fault or they could have felt it that way. In a way it is confirmed by the fact that the father and his first wife could not stay together after what happened. â€Å"We had to part after what happened, and it wasn’t from lack of love, I promise you that† (page 3, line 57-58).The relationship was no longer an intimate connection between to people in love, â€Å"†¦ it was as if the he borders between what one expects and what happens, between one person and another, had collapsed† (page 4, line 110-111). After Willie died it was as if the father and the first wife only did what was expected, how a normal happy couple would act. He explains it as if everything they did had quotation marks around like it was acting, just a lie. They were not happy and could not stay together. They had to move on from each other, but he did not.The father has not left th e past in the past. He always dwells at the thoughts of his former life: â€Å"I had missed a turn. I do this a lot. He’s never had a father who isn’t absent-minded, who remembers where to turn on roads he’s travelled a hundred times† (page 3, line 78-79). This also indicates that the father has lived there, a New Jersey suburb, a long time. It is possible he may not even have moved after the divorce. He sometimes wakes up and questions which life he is in – the first life or the second life. You sense a longing for his former life and Willie.His second wife looks like his first wife, so much that even he himself sometimes is in doubt. On the outside his present life seems like just as big a lie as the former. But when the father and his son reach the arena, something is different. His son jumps out of the car and starts playing with his friends. This scene seems to calm the father. â€Å"†¦ It hits me as nothing has since Willie† (page 5, line 144-145). Jumping children having fun, a symbol of life that seems to assure the father that it is okay to let go. He knows he will always worry for his child but that he will stand eside him all his life and help him. The protagonist starts at one point but ends another, which indicates a chronological composition. The structure of the story is atypical. Despite the chronological composition, the story focuses mostly on the past without being flashbacks. It illustrates on of the many contrasts of the story: the past vs. the present. The most significant contrast in the story must however be the one of life and death, closely related to the past/present contrast. The father’s past, his first life, was very emotional. It starts of very happy and crammed with love.But it ends horribly and clearly leaves marks on his mind and soul. These depressing memories are brought with him into his new life that otherwise is filled with life. It is not less filled with love than th e first, but the father’s need to remake his past with a happy ending overshadows the possibilities of real happiness. The contrasts life and death, past and present are in this case deeply connected to the contrast happy vs. depressed. These contrasts show the themes of the story that are self-acknowledgement and the escape from the past.In addition is another important theme the close bond between child and parent. The most important thing in the world for the father is his child. He will protect him no matter what and prevent what happened in the past. The story is more like memoirs than fiction. During the short drive from their home to the arena the reader understand the father’s feelings and thoughts. He describes episodes of his life as different â€Å"arenas† – the most important being Willie. It may be a curious version of Giddens’ theory on creating our identity and arenas.There are many different arenas, where you have to act after which arena it is. You have to learn and create your own identity from the experience you get in these different â€Å"spaces† so you know how to act in the many social arenas we are confronted with. The combination of the title The Arena and the memoir style can have had the intention to force us, the reader, to consider our own identity and how we act in our arenas. It may be Golan’s way of explaining the importance of knowing what to let go and when to move on so that it is possible for us to act in the best possible way in our future arenas.