Relation to the Socio-Political Essay Example for Free

Relation to the Socio-Political Essay Comparison and Contrast of the General Tones of the Sumerian and Egyptian Hymns, in Relation to the Socio-Political and Geographic History of these Nations It is interesting to note that the Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations both sprung up beside rivers: Egypt lies in the delta of the Nile while the Sumerian civilization was on the fertile Mesopotamia along the banks of Tigris and Euphrates. It is thus expected that both civilizations revere their river, and associate them with gods, because the rivers prove to be vital to their existence and a channel of life for them. These forces of nature are considered holy and addressed by prayers. Examples of such pleas can be found in both hymns â€Å"A Sumero-Akadian Prayer to Every God† and the â€Å"Hymn to the Nile. † In these prayers, however, we find very different attitudes of the early people towards their gods. In the Sumero-Akadian prayer we will read a tone of sorrow, grief and fear by a troubled soul over his offences with the gods. The introduction fearfully desire for peace with the divinity: â€Å"May the fury of my lords heart be quieted toward me. † Throughout the text we will also find out that the gods are not named, but is rather just sanctified as an existing being that may not be offended. This apparent fear of the divinity may be attributed to the structure of the Mesopotamian civilizations, where the land was divided into different city-states believed to be owned by a deity. The Sumerian state is therefore not a solid state, but is a conglomeration of small states. Consistent fear of invasion made them turn into the divine beings for protection and blessing. As a further note, in the Sumero-Akadian civilizations, the power of government is divided into two: the lugal took care of the military powers and the even more powerful ensi was the supreme religious leader who also controlled â€Å"economic and technological expertise† (Krejci and Krejcova, p. 31). It can therefore be seen that the fear of the gods was the way of the ensi to maintain political control over his dominions. Political and social structure in Egypt proved much different from the Sumerians. The whole of Egypt was controlled by only one ruler – the Pharaohs. This unity gave the Egyptians more control over their surroundings and their country. Early on, the Egyptians had a clear sense of identity (Kemp, p. 25). This control is best exemplified by their ability to time and control the flooding of the Nile. However, geographically, the Egyptians were not as lucky as the Sumerians, as they were surrounded by deserts. This made them consider the Nile as a gift from the gods, a means by which they would live. It is therefore not surprising that the â€Å"Hymn to the Nile† is a joyous song of praise. The overall theme of the hymn is perhaps best stated in the first lines: â€Å"Hail to thee, O Nile! Who manifests thyself over this land, and comes to give life to Egypt!† References Mircea Eliade `From Primitives to Zen`: A SUMERO-AKADIAN PRAYER Ancient History Sourcebook:Hymn to the Nile, c. 2100 BCE Jaroslav Krejci, Anna Krejcova (1990). Before the European Challenge: The Great Civilizations of Asia and the Middle East. SUNY Press. Barry J. Kemp (2006). Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, 2nd Ed. Routledge

Windows NT Proposal Essay -- Essays Papers

Windows NT Proposal Migration to Windows NT Proposal Plan As technology advances so should the products and services provided by companies. In every industry, technology is becoming the key success factor to growth and profit. The ability to communicate with people all around the world has created a new marketplace for business. In order to remain competitive, it is important for companies to utilize the most current technology. At ABC Inc., the use of the latest technological tools allows the company to provide first-rate, quality architectural engineering services to its clients. As part of the company's strategic goal to increase profits and clients, the board of directors established an information technology steering committee to look at how the company could improve its' technology. The committee was tasked to make sure the company had the latest available industry computer tools and to make sure all employees were uniform in terms of the technology. One of the most important findings of the committee's research was the fact th at the company and its branches were using varying types of software and hardware systems. The findings also showed that this lack of uniformity caused numerous communication problems not only with the branches and corporate offices, but also the clientele. These findings were reported to senior management. Based on the findings, recently, senior management made the decision to ensure all employees, branch offices and corporate office were working on the same software and hardware systems. Management decided to move the entire company to a Windows NT environment, in order to improve productivity, to create uniformity, to create a more functional network infrastructure and to develop an Intranet and Internet web sites. The Information Technology department (referred to as the "Team") was asked to take a look at the pros and cons of moving to Windows. The Team has prepared the following report based on its research efforts. Business Requirement(s) ABC Inc. is a progressive company based in San Diego, California. Since 1980, the company has offered a full range of architectural engineering services, from planning and analysis to design and implementation. We currently employ over 50 people in our home and branch offices that include Las Vegas and San Francisco. Like many companies that implemented computer... ...ipment. This problem would cause headaches when one network was not in synch with the others. Centralized manageability would increase the stability of the network system. Although Windows NT will be the operating system of choice, some of the company's UNIX system will have to be retained. The UNIX servers provide high-end graphics and geometric functionality so necessary in the architectural engineering field. However, once Windows NT 5.0 arrives with its 64-bit processor, the company will migrate its graphic functions to the NT format. Integrating the UNIX servers into the Windows NT system will be accomplished by using the public domain software known as Samba. Samba allows a UNXI server to "†¦behave similarly to a Windows-based server†¦" allowing clients to access and share Unix applications seamlessly via NT. Communication within our network has much improved with Windows NT. We are now capable of sharing files and data between all offices. Our Fast Ethernet Intranet provides speedy and stable communication transport. Justification {Explain and justify the selected operating system} 1. "Benefits of Migrating to Windows NT" Feb 1998, p. 186, Brian Honan

Effect of imperialism on the Rwandan genocide Essay

There is a lot of history in a small country like Rwanda. The original inhabitants were the ethnic Twa. By the 10th century, Hutu farmers were established there. Tutsi warriors with cattle arrived after the 14th century. Tutsi formed a monarchy by the 16th century. All tribes shared a common language and culture, and there were no race issues until the 20th century. (4) Germany was the first European country to colonize Rwanda in 1899, administering it indirectly through the existing king. Belgium took control in 1916, during World War I. Belgium received it as a League of Nations mandate in 1919 and continued indirect rule but restructured the system to increase ethnic divisions. (4) The Belgians favored the Tutsi over the Hutu and Twa, which was a big mistake that caused huge problems in the future and lots of racism. (5) In 1946 Rwanda became a UN trust territory administered by Belgium. (5) Pressure rose during the 1950s as Hutu protested against Tutsi for rights and voting. Violence spread quickly after the Hutu sub-chief was attacked by the Tutsi. Many Tutsis died or fled to neighboring countries. Belgian troops intervened and set up a policy reversal, with a Hutu-led government. (4) With democratization going through Africa, monarchy was abolished in 1961 and Rwanda gained complete independence in 1962, as two countries, Rwanda and Burundi. (5) Tutsi exiles continued attacks on Hutu throughout the 60s. The First Republic, led by Hutu, ended with a 1973 rebellion coordinated by the Hutu Minister of Defense, Juvenal Habyarimana. Tutsi revels in Uganda formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, or the RPF, and invaded Rwanda in 1990. The conflict ended in 1993 with a power-sharing agreement treaty. But the peace was broken again when Habyarimana’s plane was shot down in April 1994. (5) Know one knew whether it was Hutus that shot down the plane, but they were accused nonetheless. â€Å"Hutu politicians opposed to the late president Juvenal Habyarimana were targeted in the first few days after the plane crash, which has yet to be satisfactorily explained. But now the killings seem to be directed purely against Tutsis,† according to Hilsum. (1) This was the end  of the Second Republic and the beginning of a 100-day well-organized genocidal rampage. Hundreds of thousands fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire (now the Congo). The RPF fought back and took control on July 4, 1994. Thousands fled from the RPF advance and many died from disease and unsanitary conditions. In 1996 Hutu refugees became targets of Tutsi violence, and Hutu soldiers attacked the Tutsi. Rwanda sent militia to defeat the Zairian troops helping the Hutus. Most refugees were sent back to Rwanda, but some remained to launch guerilla attacks in northwestern Rwanda. (4) Courts were set up for 124,000 people for crimes during the genocide. The first Hutu president was elected in 2000 when the old president resigned. Trials are still going on today, charging people with war crimes during the genocide. Because of the great scars of Rwanda’s history in the last century, Rwanda today has a very weak economy and is very undeveloped industrially. The products are mostly agricultural, and most of the population are subsistence farmers. The main crops consist of coffee and tea. Also grown are bananas, beans, cassava, cattle, pyrethrum, sorghum, and sweet potatoes. The only mining resources are tin and wolframite. A lack of fertile soil limits agricultural expansion. (4) Rwanda only trades with Uganda because of bad relations with other countries. This makes trade very expensive there because of this. (5) Christianity was introduced in Rwanda by missionaries in the early 20th century. Today 65% are Catholic, 9% Protestant, 1% Muslim, and 25% follow indigenous beliefs. Ethnic tribes are still mostly Hutu and Tutsi, which are now peaceful. 90% are Hutu, most of the rest are Tutsi, and only 1% are Twa. The official languages spoken in Rwanda are English, French, and Kinyarwanda, a Bantu language. (4,5) Independence Day is celebrated on July 1. The government consists of the President and Transitional National Assembly of 70 seats. Local elections establish councils responsible for local disputes, minor crime, tax collection, and salaries for teachers and doctors. The country is very crowded and there is lots of disease. (5) Most of the problems in Rwanda in the last century were caused by imperialism. The genocide in Rwanda affected its neighboring countries as well, and thousands of Hutus and Tutsis were also killed in Burundi by similar problems there. The incredible amount of racism and hate in the very heart of Africa was sparked by the colonial structure enforced by Germany and then Belgium. According to Dowden, the Tutsi, making up only about 10% of the population, â€Å"were a kind of feudal cattle-owning aristocracy who lorded it over the Hutu peasants.† Belgians gave the Tutsis a big advantage in education, leading them to have professional jobs. (2) Before the Europeans came there was peace in Africa. But after greedy 19th century European politicians occupied the African continent, enslaving or abusing its people, ethnic conflicts broke out all over Africa, followed by a century of bloodshed. The conflicts and the current problems in Africa could have been prevented if imperialism wouldn’t have existed. There would not have been a genocide during which hundreds of thousands of innocent people were slaughtered over a period of 100 days. According to LaFraniere, â€Å"The Rwanda genocide is considered the worst ethnic killing since the Holocaust. In 100 days, an estimated one in 10 Tutsi in Rwanda were wiped out, along with many moderates among the Hutu, who make up the majority of the population. The efficiency of the killers, who chased down the Tutsi at roadblocks and in the streets with sharpened sticks, nail-studded clubs and grenades, surpassed that of the Nazis, some historians contend.† (3) The financial crisis in Rwanda and the suffering of its people today could have been prevented if it wasn’t for so much hate and carelessness of imperialistic European nations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Bibliography 1. Hilsum, Lindsey. â€Å"Men mad with killing drown nation in blood†. The Independent. 1 May 1994. 2. Dowden, Richard. â€Å"A wound at the heart of Africa†. The Independent. 11 May 1994. 3. LaFraniere, Sharon. â€Å"3 convicted of genocide in Rwanda Media chiefs guilty of inciting massacre of Tutsi in 1994†. International Herald Tribune. 4 Dec. 2003. 4. World Book Encyclopedia 2003. Vol. 16. 5. Culture Grams 2004.

Definition and Examples of Zimbabwean English

Zimbabwean English is the variety of the English language spoken in the Republic of Zimbabwe, located in southern Africa. English is the primary language used in schools in Zimbabwe, but it is one of the 16 official languages in the country.   Examples and Observations: From Rhodesia to ZimbabweZimbabwe, earlier Southern Rhodesia, became a British colony in 1898. By 1923 it gained a measure of self-government and was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1953 to 1963. Like South Africa, Southern Rhodesia had a settled white population, the leaders of whom opposed the notion of one man, one vote. In 1965, the white minority broke away from Britain but its Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was declared illegal. In 1980, general elections were held and Zimbabwe came into existence.(Loreto Todd and Ian F. Hancock, International English Usage. Routledge, 1986)Influences on  Zimbabwean EnglishRhodesian English is regarded as a fossil, non-productive dialect. Independence as a democratic republic under black majority rule in 1980 changed the social, economic and political conditions in which blacks and whites interacted in Zimbabwe; in this environment, it is appropriate to refer to the prevailing English dialect in the country as Zimbabwean English (ZimE) as it is a productive and changing variety. . . .The principal influences on Rhodesian English lexis are Afrikaans and Bantu (mainly chiShona and isiNdebele). The more informal the situation, the more likely it is is to encounter local expressions.(Susan Fitzmaurice, L1 Rhodesian English. The Lesser-Known Varieties of English, ed. by D. Schreier et al. Cambridge University Press, 2010)Characteristics of  Zimbabwean English[W]hite Zimbabweans perceive that their dialect of English is distinct from other southern African accents. They . . . refer to details of pronunciation and lexis in order to illustrate how their speech differs from British English on the one hand and South African English on the other. For example, informants will refer to the fact that lakker . . . is a Zimbabwean word. Actually, it is a loanword from Afrikaans lekker, nice, but it is pronounced in a specifically Zimbabwean way, namely with a more open front vowel: lakker  [là ¦ kÉ™]  and without a final flapped [r]. Additionally, Zimbabwean English has unique lexical expressions, many of them dating from early colonial days, some adaptations or innovations, some loan translations. For example, the (now quite old-fashioned) approbatory adjective mush or mushy . . . nice may well have arisen out of the persistent misunderstanding of the Shona word musha  home, while shupa (v. and n.) worry, bother, hassle, is a borrowing from Fanagalo, the colonial pidgin used by whites. The verb chaya strike ( Shona tshaya) also occurs in Fanagalo. Thus white Zimbabweans . . . link their dialect to the matter of the identification with place and differentiate themselves from those from neighboring South Africa for instance.(Susan Fitzmaurice, History, Social Meaning, and Identity in the Spoken English of White Zimbabweans.  Developments in English: Expanding Electronic Evidence, ed. by  Irma Taavitsainen  et al. Cambridge University Press, 2015)English in Zimba bweEnglish is the official language of Zimbabwe, and much teaching in schools is also carried out in English, except in the case of the youngest Shomna- and Ndebele-speaking children. . . . The Zimbabwean English of the native anglophone population resembles very closely that of South Africa, but according to Wells (1982) it has never been systematically studied. Native English speakers make up less than 1 per cent of the total population of 11 million.(Peter Trudgill, Lesser-Known Varieties of English. Alternative Histories of English, ed. by R. J. Watts and P. Trudgill. Routledge, 2002) Also Known As: Rhodesian English