Abstract This paper is a discussion of black activist, author, and self-described political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of "Live from Death Row". The paper looks at how Abu-Jamal, who is awaiting execution for a crime he insists he did not commit, has written scathingly about racism in America and the particular racism of the death penalty.
From the Paper "Abu-Jamal's writings convey the deep-rooted rage of many blacks in America who believe that justice is not color-blind but instead discriminates against black men, especially when their victims are white. Abu-Jamal is a powerful writer, though his writings are targeted to an almost exclusively black audience and his interest seems focused principally on inspiring his audience to political action. His fury, and the perspective that he represents, is almost diametrically opposed to the moderate, mainstream voices of civil rights activism most closely associated with the late Martin Luther King Jr. His writings are worth studying for the understanding they give of the ways that civil rights has failed many blacks in America and the suggestion that racism continues to be a powerful social issue."
Abstract This paper discusses how "Rage Against the Machine" has been a very influential political musical group and how, in this day and age, there are not many musical groups that can put forth such important political issues in their music. It examines a few of the issues that "Rage Against the Machine" writes music about and some of the political injustices that they are trying to fight, which include the struggles of Mexican immigrants and the fight for the freedom of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
From the Paper "Rage Against The Machine was formed in Los Angeles back in 1991. The band consisted of Zach De La Rocha on vocals, Brad Wilk on drums, Tom Morello on guitar and Tim Commerford on bass. Zach was in a previous band called Inside Out, and the title of Inside Out's second album was "Rage Against The Machine", that is how the band got its name. They sold 5,000 copies of their demo tape and played two shows at Lollapalooza in California. After playing that they were signed by Epic Records. In November of 1992 the album "Rage Against The Machine" was released. The album sold over a million copies and was on Billboard's top 200 chart for 89 weeks. Rage went on to play benefits like the Anti-Nazi League Benefit and the Rock for Choice Benefit. In 1993 Rage went on to play Lollapalooza again, only this time they never played any music."
Tags: mumia, abu-jamal, immigrants, united, nations, death, penalty
Abstract In this essay the writer notes that there are very few criminal justice trials which have been as remarked upon as the 1920s Braintree Robbery involving co-defendants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, and the much later trial of Mumia AbuJamal. The writer points out that these trials, because of the dubious verdicts reached in each instance, put American justice on trial and called into question the underlying assumptions which could bring the full wrath of the state down upon unpopular but not necessarily guilty defendants, despite a dearth of compelling evidence against them. With this in mind, the following paper examines both cases and discusses the issues of fairness, evidence and celebrity-hood which lie at the respective heart of each.
Abstract This paper looks at the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. The writer discusses how social psychology may have made inevitable what happened between the prisoners and the soldiers at Abu Ghraib .
From the Paper "Currently several military trails are going on following the revelation of abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison. For example, Reserve Sgt. Gary Pittman went on trial for his involvement in the assault of an Iraqi POW, who later died. This paper examines the facts that led to this and other abuses at Abu Ghraib from the perspective of social psychology, in order to ask the question: Could social psychology have predicted ... "
Abstract This paper analyzes the biographical and ideological premise of Abu Hanifa's perception of Islamic law and religious beliefs. Abu Hanifa is responsible for creating laws that could be seen through modes of reasoning and logic, which had been unfounded in the initial stages of Islamic rule and expansion. In this legal perspective, the jurisprudence of Hanifa allows for certain variables to be either omitted or included in how Muslims and non-Muslims were judged under the law.
From the Paper "This history study will examine the life and legal ideology of the famous Imam Abu Hanifa. By realizing the scope of influence this great leader had in Muslim history, one can realize how he affected the written ideology of religious texts through the law. In this manner, Abu Hanifa became an innovator in organizing the laws and hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad. By realizing the scope of his life in dedication to Islam, the study will present his life and literary innovations in regards to his religious practice and piety. The biographical background of Abu Hanifa is important, since he was part of early interpretation of the various hadiths (prayers) and written text of the Koran."
Abstract This paper examines the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, where discipline and military standards were disregarded by US military soldiers, who beat, humiliated, and tortured prisoners. The paper points out that the US did not start to reevaluate the standards and conditions of their prisons until more cases of prisoner mistreatment throughout prisons in Iraq started to surface. The American Army started to set new standards to enforce throughout its units since it could no longer place the blame on "a few bad apples." The paper argues that, while this might seem like a change for the better, the United States Army was already in the possession of the resources needed to prevent such an occurrence. The paper concludes that the events that took place at Abu Ghraib and other prisons could have been avoided with the presence of proper leadership, supervision, and enforcement of basic military standards.
From the Paper "During times of war, strong leadership and positive role models are essential in keeping order and focus in a group of people. Good leaders take charge, allot tasks, and enable others to cooperate to complete a project. In order to sustain their status and continuation of the group, soldiers take part in collective observational learning. This prevents corruption through negative reinforcement and strengthens camaraderie through mutual positive reinforcement. In my beast squad, my platoon sergeant was always present, setting examples for New Cadets to follow. My squad leader imitated his actions, always treating us fairly, and disciplined us when we needed it. In the case of Abu Ghraib, the presence of a positive role model was needed to prevent the distortion of military standards. The presence of a good leader would have allowed the soldiers in the prison unit to instill within themselves competence, loyalty, and honor to the tasks they were assigned. Furthermore, if Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick II was a good leader, he would have instated the military standards in accordance with the Geneva Convention that he and his staff were trained in, and he would have felt the moral obligation to stop the mistreatment of prisoners. The soldiers tasked with guarding the prisoners would not have been free to abuse detainees had Staff Sergeant Frederick II followed his training and enforced orders."
Abstract This paper compares the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib to that seen in Philip Zimbardo's landmark psychological experiment into group behavior and the effects of differential power. The paper relates that Zimbardo's experiment demonstrated that even ordinary citizens without any previous history or known predisposition toward violence or abusive behavior have the potential to become cruelly abusive under circumstances that combine authority, unsupervised autonomy, and authoritative control over others. The paper then looks at how, in many ways, the real-life abuses at Abu Ghraib paralleled Zimbardo's previous observations of human behavior during his 1971 experiment at Stanford.
From the Paper "The degree of abuse at Abu Ghraib was much worse than observed in the 1971 Stanford experiment, even after factoring in the fundamental differences between real life situations and controlled experiment. If anything, the fact that ordinary civilian students proved capable of such conduct on other civilians, even without the psychological stresses of a wartime combat zone and genuinely hostile prisoners, suggests that the risk of similar abuse in genuine wartime situations is much higher. "
Abstract Using polling data from the Israeli and American publics from the early 1980s, along with newspapers too, this paper studies how public support for the 2003 Iraq War and the 1982-1983 Lebanon invasion rebounded, despite the Abu Ghraib and Sabra and Shatila incidents.
From the Paper "The United States of America, scholars might someday say, happened upon the invasion of the Mesopotamian state of Iraq while searching for international terrorist groups in all of the wrong places. This is stated glibly because it is a very long and complex story. For the purpose of this study, it is only necessary to understand that having conquered Iraq, terminated its central government, and unwittingly facilitated the decline of civil society, the United States began detaining and interrogating petty criminals, former Ba'th party officials, violent insurgents, and frankly any other suspicious persons within the country's borders in March of 2003."
Abstract This paper provides a textual reading of a poem by one of Arabia's most celebrated wine song poets, Abu Nuwas. It focuses on the elements of Nuwas' poetry that are most reflective of Arabic wine songs as well as those elements uniquely his own, including his focus on the joys of urban life, wine and drinking, and lust for adolescent boys.
From the Paper " Philip F Kennedy maintains that Abu Nuwas is considered by most literary historians to be the finest wine poet of the Arabic tradition. Nuwas, a homosexual, devotes many of his wine songs to subjects relating to love lust and sexuality..."
Abstract This paper explains that the atrocities associated with the once American controlled Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have been represented visually through a series of oft repeated photographs taken by American guards at the prison. The author points out that these images are of frequently naked, hooded Iraqi prisoners being publicly shamed and tortured by America soldiers, often shown smiling and referring to the spectacle with what can only be described as glee. The paper states that these pictures have left a lasting mark on the face of the war and on the image of the United States all over the world.
From the Paper "Another issue associated with these grave deeds and their photographic record is the obvious and frequent utilization of nudity as a manner to debase prisoners. The guards are shown fully uniformed (in a show of power over the prisoners) while prisoners, except for the covering of their faces are debased in scenes of immorality completely incongruent with their faith and their pride, yet interestingly congruent with the world view (as it applies to Islam) as it relates to hatred of western freedoms, including the manner in which the west freely depicts nudity and objectifies the body."
Abstract The paper states that like many of its neighboring countries, the United Arab Emirates has made enormous efforts in recent years in an attempt to reduce dependence on the dominant public sector and to provide private investors a bigger role in the economy. The paper discusses the case study which determines whether the Abu Dhabi stock market is efficient, what type of analysis mechanism is best suited for identifying investment opportunities, and its implications for investors and the state. The paper presents a critical review of the relevant, peer-reviewed, scholarly and organizational literature followed by an analysis of stock market performance in the region and what these findings suggest for the future. The paper provides a summary of the research and salient findings in the concluding chapter.
Outline:
Introduction
Review and Analysis
Methodology
Data Analysis
Results and Findings
Conclusion
From the Paper "In this regard, Schleifer emphasizes that, "The reason is that 'making money' in finance means making a superior return after an adjustment for risk. Showing that a particular strategy based on exploiting stale information on average earns a positive cash flow over some period of time is not, therefore, by itself evidence of market inefficiency" . In order to earn this profit, an investor may have to bear risk and his profit may just be a fair market compensation for risk-bearing; however, there is a problem in measuring the risk of a particular investment strategy and demands a model of the fair relationship between risk and return. For this purpose, one widely accepted model is the Capital Asset Pricing Model; however, this is not the only available alternative. "
An insight in the life of the author of "Live from Death Row," focusing on his political activism in the Black Panthers, his murder conviction, the death sentence and litigation.
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 4 sources, 2000, $ 39.95
From the Paper "This paper is a discussion of black activist, author, and self-described political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of Live from Death Row. Abu-Jamal, who is awaiting execution for a crime he insists he did not commit, has written scathingly about racism in America and the particular racism of the death penalty. Abu-Jamal's writings convey the deep-rooted rage of many blacks in America who believe that justice is not color-blind but instead discriminates against black men, especially when their victims are white. Abu-Jamal is a powerful writer, though his writings are targeted to an almost exclusively black audience and his interest seems focused principally on inspiring his audience to political action. His fury, and the perspective that he represents, is almost diametrically opposed to the moderate, mainstream voices of civil rights activism most closely..."
Tags: BIOGRAPHIES, AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES, LAW: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Abstract In large countries, administering justice is by no means an easy task. This is because there are a great many people, composing a diverse demography amid a never-ending sea of social problems. In order to cope with these problems, criminal justice systems are set up to implement laws that address disorder. But in spite of the criminal justice system being established, intricacies created by social disorder mitigate the efficiency of the laws implemented. In addition to this, there may be other factors, such as malpractice by law enforcers that cause the justice system much embarrassment and dissatisfaction. This paper argues that the American criminal justice system appears to be composed of separate systems with weak links to each other, since they each act almost independently according to the discretion or loopholes in the law. The paper uses a case study to present its argument.
From the Paper "Another weakness in the justice system is the allowance for law enforcing officers to use discretion. These are actions that are legitimate, but it must be remembered that these actions are allowed because of the fact that if every one had to be judged by the narrow descriptions of the law there would be many more people in jail than there already are. But the problem is that there have been several cases where police discretion has also been used in a negative fashion."
Abstract The paper explores how a minority of the current generation of British Muslims, mainly children and grandchildren of Muslim Asian immigrants to Britain after World War II, turned to Islamic extremism. The paper discusses how Britain has become a breeding ground for Islamic terrorism and identifies the powerful influence of the fundamentalist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri and his contemporaries on these young Muslims. The paper shows how Abu Hamza poisoned young minds and took advantage of young people who were often homeless and aimless. The paper makes it clear that Abu Hamza and his associates are by all accounts the extreme end of the spectrum of Muslim society.
Outline:
Introduction
The Spread of Islam Across Europe
The Influence of Hazma
Accommodation of Islam in Europe
Islamic Extremism in Europe Hearing
Summary and Conclusion
From the Paper "Humayun Ansari writes in the work entitled: "The Infidel Within: Muslims in Britain Since 1800" that "since the Second World War Muslims have migrated to Britain in much larger number than before 1945..." (2004) The post-1945 migration is divided into two groups according to Ansari with the first phase being workers from less-developed countries and the second phase starting with the oil crisis of 1974-74. The Muslim workers were willing to take jobs that other immigrant workers found to be "undesirable" and that paid very low wages."
An overview of the terrorist organizations Revolutionary Organization 17 November, Abu Nidal, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaida, and their use of the media to further their causes.
Abstract This research paper about terrorist organizations and the media, discusses four separate terrorist organizations in relation to their causes and the way they make use of the services of the media. The four organizations are: Revolutionary Organization 17 November, Abu Nidal, Hezbollah, and Al-Qaida. It also examines how these terror groups are linked and how the world governments, in particular, the U.S. government, are actively fighting terrorists to achieve peace for the world.
Outline
Terrorism-Then and Now
Greek Terrorist Organization: Revolutionary Organization 17 November
Armed Propaganda
International Terrorist Organization: Abu Nidal Organization
Lebanese Terrorist Organization: Hezbollah
Hate Speech on the Internet
Multinational Terrorist Organization: Al-Qaida
The Media, Government and Terror Organizations
From the Paper "Working in cooperation with November 17, the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) a.k.a. Fatah Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Council, Arab Revolutionary Brigades, Black September, and Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims, is an international terrorist organization founded by late Sabri al-Banna (a.k.a. Abu Nidal). Abu Nidal carried out terrorist attacks in twenty countries, killing or injuring approximately nine hundred persons (Abu Nidal, 2003). ANO is said to have committed ninety actions of violence, including a failed assassination attempt on Yaser Arafat (Abu Nidal, 2000). The targets of ANO include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO, and various Arab countries. The group maintains its presence in Iraq currently. It has an operational presence in Lebanon too."
