United Nations Essay Example for Free

United Nations Essay â€Å"The UN is made up of 191 nations from around the world. It is frequently called the UN. It was established in 1945 soon after the Second World War as a means of bringing people together and to avoid war. The UN logo depicts the world held in the olive branches of peace†. (CBBC Newsround) United Nations: Post Cold War Era The United Nations is considered to be an international entity that has â€Å"struggled with the challenges of globalization for several years, especially since the Asian financial crisis† (Ruggie, 2003, p. 1); it has power, according to one people, to solve the international issues such as wars; however to another group of people, the United Nations has its own certain limitations beyond which it cannot operate or seems not to be operating. The very first evidence in this regard when the United Nations is seen almost completely paralyzed despite with all its might is the Cold War era that stretched over 40 years. In this connection, Holmes (1993) informs us that â€Å"For over 40 years, the Cold War conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union paralyzed the peacekeeping functions of the United Nations. With few exceptions, the United Nations and other multinational organizations were ineffective in resolving major conflicts because of the zero-sum nature of the Cold War†. In 1993, Holmes critically reviewed the United Nations’ operation in the scenario of the Post Cold War era and that time he came up with the observation that the United Nations had a heavy hand put by the United States of America. He tells us that the United Nations operations like peacemaking, peace-enforcement, and military involvement were limited for certain reasons such as the huge monetary aid, the troops contribution by world states to back up the United Nations’ force. These limitations, according to Holms, kept United Nations a body that was not independently powerful to take actions against any mayhem going on in the world. He tells us of the U. S. policymakers that how they would look for the loopholes where they could make a way into the controlling of the United Nations so the national sovereignty could be secured: â€Å"The challenge for U. S. policy makers is to identify these circumstances and to develop guidelines for ensuring that U. S. interests are protected. The United States should, in this regard, be sensitive to three variables: (1) how a peacekeeping operation affects American national security; (2) how much it costs; and (3) the degree to which it erodes American sovereignty† (Holmes, 1993, p. 1). The kernel point to Holmes (1993) is that the United Nations is not a free body to work without pressure from a country (the U. S. ) so â€Å"if it attempts to overreach its powers, and pretends to be an independent force in international politics, the United Nations will surely fail in maintaining any kind of world peace and stability† (Holmes, 1993, p. 1). Moving ahead we witness a similar remark made by O’Brien (2003) that â€Å"The United Nations was conceived by the United States 60 years ago to express, embody and extend American ideals†; yet there is another observation by Goff (2003) that the United Nations is only as strong as is the will of the states which run it: â€Å"The United Nations system relies on the collective will of all its members. It is these member states that set its priorities. The United Nations cannot act without their consent. It falls, therefore, upon us all to make the United Nations relevant in todays world† (2003, p. 1). Frankly speaking, In practice the United Nation has not developed as was first imagined initially it was composed mainly of the Allies of World War II, largely European major countries, , and nations of the Americas and Commonwealth countries. It was imagine as an organization of â€Å"peace-loving† nations, who were uniting to stop future aggression and for other humanitarian reasons. However, Close cooperation among members was predicted; and the Security Council especially was predicted to work in relative unanimity. Hopes for necessary accord were soon crashed by the frictions of the â€Å"cold war†, which impacted the functioning of both the Security Council and other UN organs. The United Nation has played a comparatively secondary role in the most world crises, including 1973; the Pakistan-India War of 1971; the Afghanistan war and Vietnam Israeli-Arab Wars of 1967. However in the very begging of 1970s the united nation amplified its activity in the development of less dominant countries. (Schuijt, 2005) â€Å"Even as the U. N. is called on to tackle enormous problems like ethnic, state and religious conflicts and sustainable use of natural resources, the organization reflects the imbalance of power that exists between powerful and weak nations† (Schuijt, 2005) Certainly, it would be true to say that some dominant countries are using the United Nations as a vehicle for their own interest and rule over the world. David Shorr cited the great example on this thing in â€Å"world have the UN they deserve by saying that the â€Å"The UN is only as strong or as week as governments want it to be. Member states should stop using the UN as a â€Å"scapegoat† for governments’ failure to achieve international consensus. The UN cannot change on its own; the responsibility lies with governments to implement reform in the best interest of the UN†. (Shorr, 2006) Many developing countries’ leaders opine that the UN in every aspect discriminates between developing and non-developing countries. Moreover, the UN is playing a dual role for different countries in every aspect, whether politics, social norms, safety, security etc. for instance, Bahamas continues to emphasize the need for bigger and more comprehensive discussion of globalization and its effects on the well-being of concerned commonwealths, with the United Nations given a role in solving these issues. Further they quoted that, we have continuously expressed dangerous concerns over certain decisions by the United Nations or its organs that were not coherent with the aims and intentions of the Charter. However, nothing was done to right the wrong. When errors are discovered, it becomes our obligation to correct them. They further emphasized, that UN should go over the legal political basis of its own undertakings in the period of 1950s and 1960s in relation to the cardinal rights of our Melanesian sisters and brothers in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in West Papua and the UN must not in this â€Å"The United Nations cannot and must not, in this new millennium, carry on to turn a blind eye on its own past failures, which has led UN to three long, agonizing decades of injustice, tragedy and guerrilla warfare in West Papua. It is morally, politically and legally wrong to do so. The Organization has competent bodies, such as the Special Committee on decolonization or the International Court of Justice, which should look into the matter. The Netherlands -– the former colonial Power –- should recognize its share of the responsibility in helping to resolve the situation of West Papua in a peaceful and transparent manner. †(World Leaders Adopt, 2000) But on the other hand, developing countries member like the US and UK deploring this fact that they are using the UN for their own interests and they also believe that being a powerful member of the UN they have to offset things in an news paper article published in June 16,2005 in Los Angles Times US put US reforms first and declared that â€Å"United States — a veto-holding member of the council along with Britain, France, Russia and China — believes that a bigger group would not necessarily be better†. (Farley, 2005) Another example is the Republic of Paula who surely believes that the UN will strive hard to embrace the remaining non-member nations around the globe. And in this aspect, they hope that the UN will change his rigorous attitude towards developing countries. Besides this, they are confident that these goals at a certain extent are achievable like through the help of 2000 UN reforms. They further disclosed the facts that, â€Å"The United Nations has enabled smaller, developing and least developed countries, such as my own, to contribute to world peace in our own albeit small way. Whilst there have been measurable benefits from membership of the Organization, it also has the positive scope to deliver much more equitable changes†. (World Leaders Adopt, 2000) United Nations’ Reforms However, after 2000 the United Nations met severe criticism for its operations and seemingly dependence over the United States of America. Moreover, there were issues of better managing the in-organization matters such as security, funding, and so on. Thus, a series of reform episodes started making its place in the pages of United Nations’ history. It was expedited after the Iraq invasion by the United States of America as the â€Å"oil-for-food† became the household phrase of international politics. For example, President Bush’s frequently quoted remark â€Å"America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country† is something that reminds us of the absolute power days when slavery was practiced. (Schaefer and B. Kim, 2004) Thus, all these mayhem led people such as Annan to come up with some solid say that would, at least on the surface, guarantee the impartial role of the United Nations in the world and the through some solid reforms. As such Annan came up with the three major areas that needed to be redefined for the better operations of the United Nations. These were: development, security, and human right. These opened up for the public in the year 2005 and â€Å"The secretary general’s report [was] based on tow earlier studies. One was done by the committee he appointed [in 2004] to propose U. N. reforms. The second study was about how to meet goals set five years ago for reducing world poverty in half by twenty fifteen. † (Gollust, 2005) Nonetheless, by seeing the US 2000 reforms one can easily understand that the US government uses the UN for their own countries political interests to a certain extent, it is believed that America and some other dominant countries being a Vito power uses UN as a scapegoat. But on the other hand American denies these facts in a news paper article â€Å"George Mitchell, a former U. S. Senate majority leader and a co-chairman of the Task Force on the United Nations, which was created by the U. S. Congress, said he had encountered objections to American sponsorship of the reforms and had tried to combat them. Its wrong to think that reform is a favor done for the U. S. , he said. I make the argument to countries that their long-range interest is served by supporting this. While we have indicated that this is an American priority that is a conclusion that they ought to be reaching for themselves. † (Hoge, 2005) Moreover, 22nd Meeting of Chairmen/Coordinators of the Group of 77 held in Geneva in 7-9 july 1997, the chirman said that â€Å"The United Nations must carry out its mandated, comprehensive role in the economic and social areas. This includes policy analysis, consensus building, policy formulation and coordination, and delivery of technical assistance to developing countries† (22nd Meeting of Chairmen, 1997) This is an area for more study, to see the Iran ongoing nuclear scenario one would easily conceive the role of the UN in Iran nuclear technology. In this regard, The Irani government countinously accusing the UN. â€Å"Ahmadinejad said while giving interview in CBC News in Sep 19, 2006 they were transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eye of United Nations inspectors. He questioned why his country was being denied its own nuclear program when others have not†. (CBC News, 2006) In January 1992, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt assumed as the UN’s first post-Cold War Secretary General under the enormous pressure from the US and also from the lobby groups like the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), he instantly set to work reforming the secretariat and annihilating programs that drew the acutest corporate warned by his advisors that the IMF and world bank based in Washington DC and under big influence by the United States treasury had a comparative degree of advantage over the united nation in the both macro and micro economic policy domain and that the united nation lose creditability if it for some reason did not scale back its efforts in this area. The UN secretary general’s official believes that the â€Å"UN â€Å"must change or die† and that it must reach out to â€Å"new actors† in a globalizing world, beyond the nation-state members†. (Paine, 2000) Conclusion The United Nations must abandon the double-standard and come up with the peaceful solutions to maintain the security and peace, combat problems such as environmental degradation, diseases and terrorism and guarantee a dialogue among nations. â€Å"The developing countries should be helped to reduce their foreign debt. Throughout its history, the United Nations has achieved enormous successes, including the solution of various conflicts throughout the world†. (World Leaders Adopt, 2000) In the end, I would like to say that it would be good for the world that the UN must abandon double standards between dominant and developing countries and should come up with peaceful solution for the sake both world security and safety. The first duty of the UN should assure all countries in terrorism, disease, environmental degradation and so on. Obviously, the developing countries should be giving sufficient help in unburden their foreign debts. The duty of the United Nations is to promote and develop like Somalia and other African regions. The United Nations should provide equality guarantee to underdeveloped in terms of every thing human rights to politics. References 22nd Meeting of Chairmen/Coordinators of the Group of 77 Chapters Geneva, 7-9 July 1997, Statement Of Principles on UN reform Brett D. Schaefer and Anthony B. Kim (July 9, 2004). Forging Freedom Coalitions to Promote U. S. Priorities in the United Nations CBBC Newsround | UNITED NATIONS | What is the UN? http://news. bbc. co. uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/united_nations/newsid_1721000/1721851. stm Accessed, April 18, 2007 CBC News UN being abused by West: Iranian PM (Tuesday, September 19, 2006) David Shorr, March 7, 2006 World Leaders Have the UN they Deserve Ellen Paine (October 2000), The Road to the Global Compact: Corporate Power And The Battle Over global public policy at the united Nations John Gerard Ruggie (2003). The United Nations and Globalization: Patterns and Limits of Institutional Adaptation. Global Governance, 9(3), 301+ Kim R. Holmes (1993). New world disorder: A critique of the United Nations. Journal of International Affairs, 46(2), 323-340. Columbia University School of International Public Affairs Martin Schuijt (November 29, 2005). The Mother of All Coalitions. (November 30, 2005). Inter Press Service Maggie Farley, News paper article, Los Angeles Times (June 16, 2005), US Puts UN Reform First, Official Says Press Release: (8 September 2000). World Leaders Adopt ‘United Nations Millennium Declaration’ At Conclusion of Extraordinary Three-Day Summit

Korean Buddhism :: Religion Korea Religious Essays

Korean Buddhism Buddhism was first brought from China to the Korean peninsula in the year 372 CE. At this time the dominant and traditional religion was Shamanism. While Shamanism was the belief in animism and nature-spirit worship, Buddhism expressed the idea that human beings as well as nature possess spirits and should be included in the rites of worship. This had no conflict with Shamanism and so it was easily adapted. The early elementary forms of Buddhism believed primarily in cause and effect related to the path of happiness (Buddhapia). More recent applications of Buddhist monks’ time goes to solving conflicts within different sects of Buddhism or among other religions. They also devote a great deal of time to solving doctrinal inconsistencies (Charles Muller). More traditionally a basic concept of Buddhism is that of interpenetration (t’ung) in which one must move along a path that has already been opened and just needs to be traversed. This is especially relevant in that of a sage’s mind capable of â€Å"penetrating† (understanding) the principles of things. Penetration as Charles Muller says, â€Å"Is a basic underpinning of both the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, in both of which the inner and outer aspects of the person are understood to penetrate each other such that quality of the person's inner mind is always discernible in his outer appearance†. Other important aspects of Korean Buddhism are individuality, mental foundation and ideology, philosophical reformation movement, and the pursuit of harmonization and unification. Individuality is found all throughout the Buddhist culture where there are many different approaches to meditation, studying sutras and chanting. Buddhist ideology assisted in the foundation of many aspects of Korean culture including socio-political issues. Korean Buddhists devoted their thought to philosophical reformation in the overcoming of fixed concepts. Buddhism developed different levels as each one reached its level of conceptual development. A Buddhist’s final stage comes when their teacher sees that they are fit and sends them off to become a full member of the monastic community in which they will have five days of training and lectures before the actual ceremony (Buddhapia).

“Ode to an Orange” by Larry Woiwode Essay

Ode to an Orange by Larry Woiwode is an evocative essay that brought many of my memories back. I became part of the story by experiencing what the author was describing. Larry incites all of our senses with the sharp description of an orange that for most of us is simply another fruit. The smell produced when we squeeze it, and its spherical orange shape gives us the sensation of being there. This essay made me think about the different ways we look at an orange. Most of us are accustomed to the conventional way of seeing an orange. However, for some people an orange is a lot more than merely a fruit. The author emphasizes in the importance of an orange for him. One example of this emphasis is at line 10 when he mentions; â€Å"There was no depth of degradation that we wouldn’t descend to in order to get one†. This tells me that the author not only liked oranges, but that he was passionate about enjoying the flavor and texture of an orange. I think that the author feels in this way because the orange brings some of his most memorable times back. He clearly remembers the way her mother used to tease him and his brother. He emphasizes this by repeating his thoughts in the end. I enjoyed reading this story because I can relate with what the author writes. In the summers of my childhood, there was no better flavor than the originated by a cold orange juice. After reading this story, I felt a strong desire to buy some oranges and make a glass of cold juice, and the fact that is summer now; greatly complements it. Finally, this story has made me more aware of the ordinary things we have around us. Everything is an interesting topic for writing, and as the book mentions, we need to be more perceptive with our environment. Larry has a unique way to make us feel inside the story. He reminds me that before theaters and television was writing. We only need our imagination to create the most beautiful stories.

Climate Change Lab Report

I. Introductiona. In this lab, the question being investigated is, â€Å"Has climate changed over time?† b. The hypothesis is, â€Å"If CO2 levels affect climate, then the climate has changed overtime because of the increased greenhouse effect caused by higher levels of CO2 emissions.† c. Variables:1. Independent Variable: Amount of CO2 2. Dependent Variable: Climate changeII. Background InformationClimate is the weather pattern in an area over long period of time. Climate is more focused on the long term rather than day to day or week to week changes. Due to uneven heating of the Earth’s surface, climate changes depending on where the location is on the planet. Factors such as incoming solar energy, Earth’s rotation, and air and water movements all affect an area’s climate. Different levels of these factors influence the biomes on the planet.The current climate change is the warming of Earth’s atmosphere. Climate change has happened naturall y all throughout history, but never to the degree that it is now. Average global temperature and CO2 levels are rising due to human activity on the planet such as increased agriculture, raising livestock, and burning fossil fuels. Now it is known that climate change is happening for a many reasons. Scientists studying ice cores, seafloor sediment, and tree rings are all seeing how the climate change is affecting the planet.Even if immediate action is taken, there would still be lasting implications on the entire planet. Things such as rising sea levels, health implications, and severe droughts could all happen because of an increase atmosphere temperature. While some areas would be subjected to scorching temperatures, other would be plunged underwater. Warmer climate would allow for a longer breeding season for microbes and parasites. Action to stop climate change  needs to happen as soon as possible before it could get worse.III. Data AnalysisAfter looking at the data, it is clea r that the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere directly affect the temperature of Earth’s climate. As the graphs show, the higher the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, the higher the average global air temperature is.Graph 1 shows how the rise in carbon dioxide has caused the average global air temperature to rise. For example, in 1965 the CO2 part per million (ppm) was roughly at 318ppm, and later in 2005 the CO2 levels were at about 374ppm. This clearly shows how the CO2 ppm levels have risen over time due to various human activity on the planet.In Graph 2, the average global temperature over time is shown. This graph shows how the average global temperature anomaly has risen dramatically over the course of about 120 years. In 1900 the average global temperature anomaly was -0.1, while in 2000 is was almost at 0.6.In Graph 3, the relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide is shown over very long periods of time on Earth. From 400,000 years ago until present, the lines m apping out the temperature and CO2 levels in the atmosphere have stayed almost overlapping each other the entire time. It is also shown how the CO2 levels have affected the temperature. The CO2 levels have always changed first, falling or rising, with the temperature following that same trend almost immediately after.In Chart 1, tree core data over time is shown. The growth of trees is greatly impacted by the climate that they grow in, and with warmer temperatures due to a warmer climate they will have a longer growing season allowing for thicker rings. For example, in 1600-1649 the average ring thickness on a tree has 0.24cm. Later, in 1900-1960 the average ring thickness from the same tree was 0.37cm.IV. ConclusionThe original hypothesis stated that if CO2 levels affect climate, then the climate has changed overtime because of the increased greenhouse effect caused by higher levels of CO2 emissions. The data gathered supports and accepts this hypothesis. It is shown by multiple st udies how both the CO2 parts per million and the average global temperature has risen over time. As the graphs show, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere has a direct impact on the average global temperature, causing the temperature to rise and fall as the levels of CO2 rise and fall.This lab is very important to the planet, and the everyday lives of everyone on the planet. Climate change has an impact on all life on Earth, and even just a one degree change in average global temperature could end with catastrophic results. Even with immediate action, there will still be lasting implications on the planet. People can no longer ignore the changing climate, or pretend that it’s not going to affect them. Humans have had a huge negative impact on the climate, and for the benefit of not only themselves but for life as we know it, such impacts need to be reversed.

The eNotes Blog Happy Birthday, Pablo Neruda Quotes about Life (andLove)

Happy Birthday, Pablo Neruda Quotes about Life (andLove) Born in Chile on July 12, 1904, we recognize Pablo Neruda 112 years later as a political activist and eclectic poet. As a Communist holding several Chilean governmental posts, Neruda  faced danger when Radical Party presidential candidate Gabriel Gonzlez Videla turned against the Communist Party. After the Communist Party was banned from Chile over the course of the next year, he traveled around Europe whilst in exile and began writing. One of his most famous works, Tonight I Can Write, was highly controversial  for being sexually explicit. In contrast, Nerudas Ode to My Socks is a great example of his  odes that celebrate and praise everyday objects. Head on over to to  ask a question about Pablo Neruda, or browse answered questions that others have already asked! Sources and further reading: /topics/tonight-can /topics/pablo-neruda-adam-feinstein /topics/pablo-neruda goodreads.com/author/quotes/4026.Pablo_Neruda

Using Readability Formulas

Using Readability Formulas Any readability formula is one of many methods of measuring or predicting the difficulty level of text by analyzing sample passages. A conventional readability formula measures average word length and sentence length to provide a grades and Observations, below. Five popular readability formulas are the Dale-Chall readability formula (Dale Chall 1948), the Flesch readability formula (Flesch 1948), the FOG index readability formula (Gunning 1964), the Fry readability graph (Fry, 1965), and the Spache readability formula (Spache, 1952). Examples and Observations: Because researchers have been examining readability formulas for almost 100 years, the research is comprehensive and reflects both the positive and negative aspects of formulas. Essentially, research firmly supports that sentence length, and word difficulty provide viable mechanisms for estimating difficulty, but they are imperfect. . . .As with many tools that work with normally developing readers, readability formulas may require some tweaking when the target population includes struggling readers, learning-disabled readers, or English language learners. When readers have little or no background knowledge, readability formula results may underestimate the difficulty of the material for them, particularly for English language learners. (Heidi Anne E. Mesmer, Tools for Matching Readers to Texts: Research-Based Practices. The Guilford Press, 2008) Readability Formulas and Word Processors Today many widely used word processors offer readability formulas along with spell checkers and grammar checkers. Microsoft Word provides a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. Many teachers use the Lexile Framework, a scale from 0 to 2000 that is based on average sentence length and average word frequency of texts found in an extensive database, the American Heritage Intermediate Corpus (Carroll, Davies, Richman, 1971). The Lexile Framework circumvents the need to perform ones own calculations. (Melissa Lee Farrall, Reading Assessment: Linking Language, Literacy, and Cognition. John Wiley Sons, 2012) Readability Formulas and Textbook Selection There are probably more than 100 readability formulas currently in use today. They are widely used by teachers and administrators as a way of predicting if a text is written at a level appropriate for the students who will use it. While we can say with relative ease that readability formulas are fairly reliable, we need to be cautious in using them. As Richardson and Morgan (2003) point out, readability formulas are useful when textbook selection committees need to make a decision but have no students available to try out the materials on, or when teachers want to assess materials that students may be asked to read independently. Basically, a readability formula is a quick and easy way to determine the grade level of written material. However, we must remember that it is only one measure, and the grade level obtained is only a predictor and thus may not be exact (Richardson and Morgan, 2003). (Roberta L. Sejnost and Sharon Thiese, Reading and Writing Across Content Areas, 2nd ed. Cor win Press, 2007) The Misuse of Readability Formulas as Writing Guides One source of opposition to readability formulas is that they are sometimes misused as writing guides. Because formulas tend to have just two major inputs- word length or difficulty, and sentence length- some authors or editors have taken just these two factors and modified writing. They sometimes end up with a bunch of short choppy sentences and moronic vocabulary and say that they did it because of a readability formula. Formula writing, they sometimes call it. This is a misuse of any readability formula. A readability formula is intended to be used after the passage is written to find out for whom it is suitable. It is not intended as a writers guide.(Edward Fry, Understanding the Readability of Content Area Texts. Content Area Reading and Learning: Instructional Strategies, 2nd ed., edited by Diane Lapp, James Flood, and Nancy Farnan. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004)Dont bother with the readability statistics. . . . The averages of sentences per paragraph, words per sentence, and characte rs per word have little relevance. The Passive Sentences, Flesch Reading Ease, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level are computed statistics that dont accurately assess how easy or hard the document is to read. If you want to know whether a document is hard to understand, ask a colleague to read it. (Ty Anderson and Guy Hart-Davis, Beginning Microsoft Word 2010. Springer, 2010) Also Known As: readability metrics, readability test

Changes in media and its effects on personal, social and work lives Essay

Changes in media and its effects on personal, social and work lives - Essay Example However, all this came to change with the fast development of technology. Before we knew it, we had television, and all this changed everything because we could not only hear the news but could also see who was presenting it as well as videos of the news itself. It has indeed been a privilege for me to live long enough to see the development of media from its infancy to where it is today. Question: What are your feelings concerning the development of the Internet and social networking? Granddad: it is quite fascinating how the technology for transmitting media has developed and how fast that development has been. The things that we used to think were impossible have now become reality and this is something quite extraordinary. The Internet is a technology that I did not become aware of until sometime in the mid nineties when it was first introduced to me. I found it to be most useful because I could use email to send information, which I would have otherwise sent by mail, and I could find information instantly online, without having to go to a library, as used to be the case. I have come to adapt to this new technology like a fish in water, because it has made my life all much easier, especially now that I do not move around as much as I used to. I am an avid user of social networking sites such as Facebook, where I have come to encounter plenty of information as well as made many friends. I have also been able to rekindle old relationships with people whom I knew when I was younger, but life put us in different paths. Furthermore, the different sources of news have ensured that any biased news can be detected. I personally prefer watching news online and during the Iraq War, recently, I used to watch Al Jazeera and BBC to get a balanced picture of the news. Question: Which media do you think has managed to survive way into the modern times? Granddad: In my opinion, I believe that television, and most especially cartoons, have not lost the charm that kept peopl e hooked to them. When I was young, I used to love the Disney cartoons and I followed them every chance I got. I still see the same fascination in cartoons among kids today and this, I believe, is continuity. Personally, I am still a huge fan of cartoons because they not only remind me of my younger days but also make me laugh, something that I have to admit, has become extremely rare for me in other forms of entertainment. Question: What was the relationship between politicians and media, and has this relationship changed? Granddad: In previous decades, it was extremely difficult to find politicians who were open with any form of media. In fact, media was always treated with suspicion because of the belief that their main purpose was to destroy political careers by creating scandals. This, I believe, has changed since many politicians have come to embrace the media to further their own political careers. President Obama in the United States is an example of this new trend among pol iticians. He has used the media so well that he has managed to maintain his popularity where other presidents would have fallen from grace. I may add that media has come to influence change in society because without it, the Americans would not have been able to elect a black president. Essay Media has experienced plenty of changes, especially from the mid twentieth century to the present day. It has not only led to the development of better means of communication between people but has