Residual welfare model in Hong Kong

Residual welfare model in Hong Kong Residual view of social welfare Social welfare is a significant issue in a society. The social issues let us know which welfare should provide and to what extent the welfare can be provided. In fact, the ways to provide social welfare may vary between different societies. The social welfare system in Hong Kong is adopting the residual welfare model. Hong Kong has followed the big market, small government ideology for many years. It is based on the idea of the residual welfare model that there is no need for the government to engage in the distribution process of social welfare. This is because people can resolve the problems themselves. The needy can find support through the market mechanism, family or the nonprofit organizations. The government will only provide support to people when the needy really can’t solve the problems themselves. Therefore, according to the big market, small government principle, the government holds the belief that people have the ability to get rid of the difficulties. The government is the last and temporary resort of the needy. The government can provide the immediate support to the needy. However, in the long term, the needy have to find ways to help themselves. Due to the residual welfare model, the policies in Hong Kong are not universal. The social assistances in Hong Kong usually have the means test because the government just will help people who are under a very poor financial or living condition. I will use the education and housing aspects in order to show that the policies in Hong Kong demonstrate the ideology of residual welfare model. For education, the government provides funding in the form of loans and grants for students who live in the low income family. The students might get full grants of their tuition fee but they should undergo the means test first. Besides, in order to protect people’s basic living need, the government launches the public housing scheme. The government provides affordable housing for low-income residents. If people want to apply for the public house, they should pass the means test in the public housing scheme. From the policies of education and public housing, we can know that Hong Kong is under the residual welfare model because every policies are not universal and they will set some requirements for people to attain which this is match the beliefs of residual welfare model. Thus, the laissez-faire style and ‘positive non- interv entionism’ are regarded as two main features of Hong Kong’s policy. Despite the education and housing policies, the retirement protection system also demonstrate the ideas of residual welfare model. The aging population problem is becoming more serious in Hong Kong. The aging population of aged 65 and above is getting increasing from 12% to 17% in 2002 to 2012 (Census and Statistics Department, 2013). Hong Kong is experiencing the aging problems over the past decade. In my following part, I will focus on the retirement protection policy within the elderly welfare system. Three-pillar retirement protection approach In order to deal with the aging problems, the World Bank implements the multi-pillar-model. There will be three pillar approaches toward the retirement protection system when the World Bank first times to launch the scheme. The Pillar I is a public retributive and defined-benefit system. It is so called the ‘pay as you go’ approach. Besides, the Pillar II is a private, funded and defined contribution system. Also, the Pillar III is a private, voluntary and supplementary defined contribution system (Roller, 2012). The two more pillars were added in the models later which are the Zero Pillar and Pillar IV. The Zero pillar aims to protect people’s basic need. It holds the belief that everything should undergo the process of means test. It is also related to the Pillar I because both of them are wishing to alleviate poverty. Both of them believe that all citizens should engage in the welfare process (Castells, 2010). Moreover, Pillar IV is talking about some support f rom family which might not be related to the money (Chou, 2009). Even though the model of the World Bank has five pillars nowadays, Hong Kong is still adopting a three-pillar approach toward the retirement protection policy. First, the Zero pillar exists in Hong Kong which aims to provide the basic need to the elderly. In Hong Kong, when the elderly meet the age requirement, they can receive the CSSA and Old Age Allowance (OAA). The CSSA and OAA can act as spare money for the elderly to fulfill their daily living. Second, Hong Kong has the Pillar II which the example is the MPF. If you get a job, there is no doubt that every employee has to engage in the MPF. Third, Hong Kong has the Pillar III which is related to the voluntary private savings(à ©Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ·Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ¼Ã… ½Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ³Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ¼Ã…’2011). In order to have a better living as a retired person, they might use their own savings to support their daily life. For the retirement protection policy, we can know that the government is obeying the rule of ‘big market, small government ’. It means that the government and the other institutions also have the responsibility toward the retirement protection policy. The Means tests are the primary method for determining eligibility when applying the CSSA and Old Age Allowance. Selective cash assistances are reserved for people defined within the context of the policy as in need. Means testing is used to identify people with limited resources. This selective process determines the eligibility for welfare benefits or services so it shows the ideas of residual welfare model. The government uses the three pillars approach in order to provide the basic need to the elderly. However, it is not problem free with the three pillars approach. Hong Kong Council of Social Service finished a statistic about aging population last year. There are a third of people aged 65 and over are living under poverty (à ©Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ·Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ¼Ã… ½Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ³Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ¼Ã…’2011). They are regarded as very poor people among the world. Thus, people argue that if the CSSA and Old Age Allowance which the elderly rely on can really provide the basic necessities for them. Besides, people also argue that the MPF covers only working people. Housewives and others who are not employed are not covered by the MPF. There is little difficulty in understanding that people will feel doubt that how the retirement protection of the housewives is. Obviously, the existing retirement protection policy is trying to tackle the financial problems of the elderly. When the elderly really need help, the government can provide them with the basic need. The report from the Census and Statistics Department shows that the aging population will be increasing quickly in the coming years. The elderly aged 65 and above will increase from the 1.0 million last year to 2.6 million in 2041. This statistic suggests that by 2041, around one in three persons will be elders (Census and Statistics Department, 2013). Thus, due to the limitations in the retirement protection policy I mentioned, there is no doubt that the government should make improvement toward the retirement protection policy. Experiences from Taiwan Taiwan is the same as Hong Kong that it also has the aging population and with the similar geographic background as Hong Kong. As the retirement protection policy in Taiwan is quite well developed, it can be Hong Kong’s reference when improving the retirement protection policy. Taiwan follows the five-pillar approaches when dealing with the elderly policy. I will focus on talking about the National Pension Program in Taiwan because the other retirement protection policies in Taiwan are nearly the same as other countries. The National Pension Program aims to provide the elderly with the basic needs in their daily living. For the elders who want to apply for the National Pension Program, they ought to undergo the process of means test and there is a residency requirement that they have to pass. In order to maintain the sustainability of the National Pension Program, the government should not pay the money to the elders in one time. They should pay the money step by step, such as monthly (Roller, 2012). Urge for a universal retirement protection scheme Hong Kong and Taiwan have the similarities in the reform process. However, their pension reform is very different. Taiwan implements the National Pension Program successfully whereas Hong Kong just focuses on the CSSA and Old Age Allowance. With reference in Taiwan, some people suggest that Hong Kong ought to expand its retirement protection policy which is to introduce a retirement protection scheme which is for all citizens. This scheme is later explained by Professor Nelson Chow Wing-sun. He proposed to set up a universal retirement protection scheme in Hong Kong. In the scheme, HK$3,000 monthly pension will be given to people aged 65 and above (à ¥Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ °Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¦- °Ã‚ ¼Ã…’2013  ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. In order to maintain the stability of the scheme, the employers and employees need to contribute and the government would be responsible for some of the fund. This new scheme eliminates means tests and other administrative procedures because age criteria are the only eligibility to decide if you can get the pension or not. I think that the retirement protection scheme proposed by Professor Nelson Chow has the same meaning as the National Pension Program in Taiwan because both of them focus on the people who are not in the labor market. They all want to protect these people from being poor. For the existing three pillar approach, I feel doubt of their effectiveness in meeting the needs of the elderly. With the low rates of return, the MPF can’t support people’s daily living. Thus, if the elder just rely on the MPF system, it is not rational for them. Due to the shortcoming of the three pillar approach, I have a quest for a universal retirement protection scheme as what Professor Nelson Chow proposed. However, based on Professor Chow’s proposal on universal retirement protection scheme, I think there should add the means test into the scheme. The aim of the universal retirement protection scheme is to alleviate elderly poverty. Thus, the poor people serve first. We should target on t hose with a genuine need and some form of means testing is necessary. There is no doubt that the elderly deserve a decent and better retirement. If we have the means-tested in the universal retirement protection scheme, some people can’t receive the public pension due to their income level. Thus, people might argue that it is not a retirement protection for all citizens so it is unfair. However, if there is no means test and everyone aged 65 or above can receive the pension, it might damage the economic development of Hong Kong and increase burden on employers. Moreover, any retirement protection scheme without means test is regarding as ‘welfarism’. This might cause the financially infeasible for the government to shoulder the burden of a universal retirement protection scheme over time. Therefore, in order to make a good use of the universal retirement protection scheme, I suggest that there should include a means test in Professor Nelson Chow’s proposal which is the same as the Taiwan’s National Pension Program. There is not a new thing when talking about the aging problem. Hong Kong and Taiwan have many similar characteristics toward the elderly policy. However, Taiwan developed its retirement protection policies at a faster pace. Thus, Hong Kong should learn from the Taiwan’s National Pension Program that to implement the means test in the universal retirement protection scheme. The advantage of the scheme is that it provides the protection to the non-employees. For the existing retirement policy, such as the MPF system, it excludes the protection of the housewives. Thu, a universal retirement protection scheme can complement this problem. Besides, for some people, they argue that the financial pressure will be mounted on working people under the universal retirement protection scheme because they have to bear the cost of the scheme. Thus, in order to make a good use of the fund, the universal retirement protection scheme should include the means test. Moreover, the means test can act as a resource distribution. This is because the needy elders can be found and they can get help from the government. Improvement of the three pillar approach Many people hold the belief that it is a huge concern for the population development that one in three people will be aged 65 years old and above in the coming years. This phenomenon threatens the economic growth because there will be more people but less that are working. Thus, fewer people will contribute to the economy. If we have more elderly people in Hong Kong, it is a must to review the retirement protection policy. For our future planning of retirement protection system, Professor Nelson Chow’s universal retirement protection scheme can be one of the measures. We can’t find a model answer to tell us how to set up a good retirement protection policy due to the diversity of different countries. Despite Professor Nelson Chow’s proposal, there is essential for the government to make changes on the three approach model toward the retirement protection policy. For the Zero pillar, CSSA and OAA act as a safety net for the needy elderly. However, there might have some problems toward the CSSA. When applying the CSSA, the elderly’s family members, such as her son or daughter, have to sign the declaration that they won’t provide financial support for the elderly. Thus, if the elderly is in bad relationship with her family members, here son or daughter might not able to sign the declaration for her. Thus, the elder can’t get the CSSA. Also, the money in the CSSA might not be able to provide basic needs for elderly because of the inflation. Due to the inflation, we have to pay more money when buying things. In order to help the elderly during inflation, the government should adjust the money in CSSA more frequently. In addition, we should improve the MPF system in the Pillar II. The employees should feel free to choose their MPF program due to the different sets of requirements. There should be no barriers for employees when choosing the MPF program. Furthermore, the government ought to offer incentives to encourage voluntary savings in Pillar III. The pillar III is related to the voluntary contributions to the MPF system. In order to encourage personal savings, the government needs to provide the tax incentives for people. For the three pillars approach, the government needs to assess the financial sustainability regularly. As suggestion before, the existing three pillars policies should be reinforced and enhanced. Future planning of the retirement protection policy Everyone agree that the universal retirement protection scheme is not implemented in Hong Kong for the elderly at this moment. The government only focuses on the Zero pillar. The government set some rules for the elderly to meet. If they can pass the requirements set by the government, they can get assistance. When planning the future policy for retired people, the scheme proposed by Professor Chow could be the way out. We should consider the concept of ‘responsibility’ when planning the future retirement protection policy. Hong Kong is under the residual welfare model that people solve the problems through the family and market. The government is the last way to help people. Thus, for the retirement protection policy, it is related to the concept of ‘who is responsible?’. Some people think that the old age living protection should be the responsibility of individuals and their family and not be laid on others nor should it be wholly financed by the governme nt. Thus, the role played by the government in retirement protection policy can be different from various parties. In the perspective of limited financial resources, the government should only provide for the financially needy elderlies and not for all senior citizens. On the contrary, with the level of Hong Kong’s economic development and the huge financial reserve, some people proposed that the government have the capacity and means to provide for basic livelihood protection for all senior citizens. The perception toward retirement protection policy will influence the role of the government. If people link the retirement protection policy with the income, it causes heavy burden on public finance and may have influence on the economy. On the other hand, people who universal retirement protection scheme points to a kind of benefit for all senior citizens, unrelated to their past work history or salary. They hoped for the setting up of some kind of universal livelihood protection grant. There is obvious that Hong Kong uses the three approaches toward the retirement protection policy. Many elderly received the cash assistances from the government. They still live under poverty. This might people argue that if the CSSA or other cash transfer programs are viable or not. Nowadays, people have a higher expectation on the welfare support. They have the quests for universal retirement protection scheme. The scheme supposed to provide better protection for retired people. However, how the scheme should be implemented is still under a negotiation process. There are many things we have to decide when implementing the scheme, such as to undergo the means test or not. The universal retirement protection in Taiwan implement in a very successful way. Even some people claim that Hong Kong is better developed than Taiwan, we still should learn from Taiwan’s experience and decide how to initiate a universal retirement protection scheme. We should launch the scheme according to the specific features of Hong Kong. In fact, some people claim that the political environment affect the implement of the retirement protection scheme. This is related to people‘s conservativeness toward a policy. Thus, we should be aware of the political issues when designing the retirement protection policy. The retirement protection policy is a very complicated subject which affects all HongKonger and has far-reaching impact on the fiscal sustainability in Hong Kong. In order to find a suitable way of the development toward retirement protection policy, people should clarify the concept which is related to ‘responsibility’. References à ©Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ·Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ¼Ã… ½Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ³Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¡Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  Ãƒ §Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ºÃƒ ¤Ã‚ »Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¼Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…’à ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ °Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ ©Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ ¤Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ Ãƒ ©Ã… ¡Ã…“à ¥Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¦Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¡Ã…’ ¼Ã… ¸ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ ¥Ã‚  Ã‚ ±Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ²Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¶Ã¢â‚¬Å"à ¦- °Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ Ã… ¾Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¼Ã…’2011 à ¥Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ ´4 à ¦Ã…“ˆ4 à ¦- ¥. à ¥Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¨Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ °Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¦- °:à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…  Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ ¦Ã…“Æ’Ã ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ §Ã‚ ­-à §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ ¨Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ µÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã…’à ¥Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¦Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ 2013  ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ­Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¸Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ±Ã¢â€š ¬ Castells, M. (2010), The Shek Kip Mei Syndrome: EconomicDevelopment and Public Housing Development in Hong Kong and Singapore, UK. Pion Ltd. Census and Statistics Department (2013), Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chou, L.K. (2009). â€Å"Retirement Income Protection in Hong Kong†. Ageing in East Asia Challenges and Policies for the Twenty-first century (pp. 105-137). London: Routledge. Roller, E. (2012). The welfare state: the equality dimension. The scope of government, New York: Oxford University Press. 1

Jim Morrison Essay -- Religion, Culture, Elvis

I preface this paper by a consideration of why Jim Morrison can be discussed within the discourse of religious studies. I suggest four possibilities. The first is the place of religion in late modernity; that is, as individualized, subjectivated and deinstitutionalized. These factors contribute to the circumstances under which Morrison may be understood in religious terms because of the conditions they create. Religion may be deinstitutionalized (Luckmann 1967; Bibby 1990), but people are still religious (Chaves 1994). This enables religion to exist in other ways; one way is through dead celebrity. In an article entitled â€Å"Is Elvis a God? Cult, Culture, Questions of Method,† John Frow (1998, 208-209), after discussing the apparent failure of the secularization thesis,1 remarks, â€Å" . . . religious sentiment . . . has migrated into many strange and unexpected places, from New Age trinketry to manga movies to the cult of the famous dead . . . we need to take religion ser iously in all its dimensions because of its centrality in the modern world.† Further, religion as individualized and subjectivated (Hervieu-Là ©ger 2000) allows people to create their own systems of meaning and transcendence. Dead celebrity, using Morrison as an exemplar, is one system. The second possibility follows from the first. Regarding the changing nature of religion in the 1960s, religious studies scholar, Gail Hamner (2003, 447), wrote that â€Å"popular culture became subject to deification or at least spiritualization.† Although this paper does not intend to provide an account of the process by which some celebrities were sacralized in the twentieth century, it should be noted that literature on the subject does exist. A seminal work, in this regard, is The Work o... ... supplemented by relevant scholarly literature and popular biographies of Morrison. It is with these four possibilities, religion in late modernity, scholarship on religion and celebrity, the way we think of, and define religion, and Riddell (2008), that I consider Jim Morrison and religion. There is a paucity of academic literature on Jim Morrison, yet a reasonable amount of popular literature, which I am engaging in my evaluation. Scholarship on dead celebrity fandom has progressed in the last decade; however, in 1998, John Frow (1998, 200) claimed that â€Å"we lack almost completely the tools to make sense of [the process by which dead celebrities are sacralized].† My hope is that by outlining the role of Morrison in self-propagating his own myth, combined with a posthumous documentation of this process, I will contribute to literature on dead celebrity fandom.

The Importance of Diagnosing and Treating Inmates With Mental Illness

In the early and mid 1900’s the U.S went through a period know as deinstitutionalization, where patients in mental facilities were reintroduced into society. This action was sparked by the introduction of antipsychotic drugs and the lack of funding to house and maintain mentally ill patients. This was to help not only the financial restraints of the government but to help each of the patients within the facilities by giving them the ability to live a fulfilling life without confinement. In the last few decades changes in the United States judicial system such as mandatory prison sen ¬tences, longer prison terms, and more restrictive release policies have lead to an exponential increase in the number of inmates located within the jails and prisons. Currently, there are more than two million individuals incarcerated in the United States. Psychiatric illnesses within correctional populations are excessively higher compared with the general population. Currently more than half o f all in ¬mates have a diagnosis of a mental illness. Correctional facilities are legally obligated to diagnosis and treat the medical and mental health needs of the individuals committed to them. As a result, more psychologists and psychiatrists are practicing in jails and prisons. While the act of deinstitutionalization was to help people with mental illness live fulfilling lives it seems to have made a full circle back to institutionalization. This paper will discuss the view points of how the current system is inadequate in all areas and must have a complete overhaul so that mentally ill prisoners are not lost in the system, how the current U.S prison system adequately diagnosis and treats prisoners suffering from mental illness, and how the current system is... ...on is underdeveloped, funding for correctional facilities to house, diagnose, and treat inmates with mental illness is lacking, and finally the ratio of psychologists to inmates is such that there is a definite need for incentives so that psychologists are willing to work in such facilities. Works Cited Burns, K. (2011, February). Psychiatry behind bars: Practicing in jails and prisons. Current Psychiatry, 10(2), 15-20. Retrieved from http://www.currentpsychiatry.com/pdf/1002/1002CP_Article1.pdf Lamb, H. R. (2009, January). Reversing criminalization [Editorial]. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 8-10. Retrieved from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/short/166/1/8 NCCHC (2008, August). Managing mentally ill inmates in prisons. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35(8), 913-927 . Retrieved from http://cjb.sagepub.com/content/35/8/913.short#cited-by

Comparing Mans Downfall in Second Coming and The world is too much wit

Man's Downfall in Second Coming and The world is too much with us  Ã‚     Ã‚   Although W.B. Yeats wrote roughly a century after the Era of Romanticism, his Romantic precursors influenced his writing greatly. One of his most famous poems, "The Second Coming," echoes both Blake's The Book of Urizen and Shelley's most ambitious poem Prometheus Unbound (Bloom 530). Despite less criticism on the relationship between Yeats's poems and the writing of another one of his Romantic predecessors, William Wordsworth, Wordsworth's reproach of greed and materialism in a waxing industrial society influences Yeats' poetic interpretation of the apocalypse. Both Wordsworth and Yeats depict man's downfall; "The world is too much with us" foreshadows and describes the reasons for the predicted apocalypse of The Second Coming. A cultural concentration on redundant commercialism, loss of focus on nature, and lack of conviction fuel both poems, yet only Yeats envisions the graphic result in an eventual takeover of man. In the first four lines of "The world is too much with us," the speaker laments man's shift of focus from nature to materialism: The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon (Wordsworth 1394)! Wordsworth, normally writing in a much softer tone indicative of the Romantic style which he helped to define, begins the sonnet with a strong, scolding voice associated so specifically with Milton (Levinson 644). He emphatically condemns the "vulgar materialism" of the age exhibiting the human race's frivolousness and frets that instead of looking to Nature (their own and the surrounding), human... ... Cantor, Jay. "History in the Revolutionary Movement: Men Made Out of Words." The Space Between: Literature and Politics. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 11. Detroit: Gale, 1983. 540-541. Levinson, Marjorie. "Back to the Future: Wordsworth's New Historicism." South Atlantic Quarterly 88 (1989): 633-659. Profitt, Edward. "Yeats's 'The Second Coming.'" Explicator 49 (1991): 104-105. Wordsworth, William. "The world is too much with us." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed., the major authors. Ed. M. H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1996. 1394. Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed., the major authors. Ed. M. H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1996. 2280      

Music Piracy Is a Good Thing Essay

If pirating music hurts musicians income so badly it would show, and after all this time of pirating music it hasn’t. Music piracy benefits artists more than it hurts, therefore it should be legal. Music piracy is mostly committed by people who are everyday people who have average income jobs and have families who end up being sued by big record companies over downloading music for free. It seems a bit to greedy when you look at the difference in pay between the artist and the people who download the songs. ( †¦) say that the people who pirate the music are more likely to go to the show and buy the albums after downloading music (Ernesto). Also, people who pirate music tracks are very likely to develop an connection to the bands orartists and that will lead to them attending the shows, buying albums and merchandise. When putting this issue in perspective, record companies are just looking for money without any consideration for the ways of getting it. Record companies start suing people who have downloaded music for ridiculous amount of money in attempt to intimidate and scare off the fellons from downloading music illegally. The main groups affected are college kids that don’t have the money. Sarah Barg was a sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Sarah received an email from a label company stating that she owed $3,000 to the Recording Industry Association of America (Bratton). For that amount,, Sarah would be paying $7. 87 for each song. Majority of the songs she pirated were from the eighties and weren’t even relevant anymore, and yet she was battling record company’s in court over them them. Sixty students like Sarah at UNL received the same similar, as well as hundreds sent out to over sixty other universities across the country. Not knowing ow else to handle the situation, Barg contacted her parents and they had to cover her settlement. â€Å"I don’t know what I would have done. I’m only 20 years old,† says Barg. Well over five hundred students across the states have paid settlements to avoid being sued. â€Å"I see it as bullying,† UNL freshman Andrew Johnson says, â€Å"Legally, it makes sense, because we donâ⠂¬â„¢t have the money to fight back. † Johnson illegally downloaded one song and settled $3,000 to avoid being sued for one song. The money used came from the 18 year old’s college fund and he now has to work two jobs to compensate for his losses. The record companies seem to target those can’t fight back. In 2007, major record companies such as Warner music groups, Warner Bros Records, Inc. , and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, tried to sue a young girl from Texas named Whitney Harper for illegally downloading music from file sharing networks on the internet (Malisow). Whitney was at the time was sixteen years old and was being sued for a minimum of $750 per song when Whitney downloaded thirtyseven songs. That is a little over $20,000 and she is only sixteen years old. Harper tried to use the Innocent Infringer Act that would reduce fees to $200 per song. In order to accomplish that, Harper had to prove she was unaware of the copyright laws by claiming that the copyright notice placed on cds were not on the file sharing networks on the Internet therefore she was unaware. The companies referred to the sixteen-year-old as a â€Å"long term massive infringer† of copyright laws. Harper warned that if the companies won the case that downloading music off the Internet could never be innocent infringement. The Harper case is one the few after many years still going through federal court. The companies had stated they were going to begin transitioning away from suing individuals and find better means of fixing the issue. After years of record companies using an intimidation method to fix the pirating problem, it got them nowhere because the amount of pirates only went up, and the efforts by the companies were in most cases useless. According to the Wall Street Journal, they attempted suing many single mothers, a thirteen-year-old girl, and a dead peope. The new approach is for the companies to work with Internet service providers and when music is eing pirated the user receives a warning that they will lose Internet service if they continue(WSJ. com). The companies still reserve the right to sue if someone is a heavy violator or has ignored several warnings, but even with this new system, it still seems like the companies are only out for money, but in an attempt to escape negative attention from the media, they change their approach. According to The Independent, peo ple who illegally download music also spend more money on music, concerts, merchandises than anyone else. The Secretary of State for Business, Peter Mandelson, stated that the record companies new approach to crack down on illegal down loaders by cutting off internet service could potentially harm the music industry more than help it. â€Å"The people who file share are the ones who are interested in music. They use file sharing as a discovery mechanism. † The artists also have mixed opinions over file sharing, some such as James Blunt and Lily Allen are anti-piracy and Shakira is pro-piracy(Shields). Sites have come out with monthly bills for unlimited music plans that seem fairer. Some artists don’t feel affected by file sharing and support the fact that piracy creates a bigger fan base for them. Bands like Angels and Airwaves have produced free records so copyright wasn’t an issue. They figure that the fans will still come see them play and record sales aren’t the only thing to being in a successful band. Some artists don’t seem to realize that. Most artists make plenty off of record sales even with a piracy problem, so court cases and law suits on everyday people by record companies seems a bit greedy and selfish. Even with the new laws, they are still pushing to stop this unstoppable problem. Today music piracy is referred to as a dead issue. Most cases that are still pending are being dropped. This year a $54,000 fine on a single mother of four was dropped by the U. S. District Court Judge, Micheal Davis, who stated piracy is â€Å"no longer monstrous and shocking. The need for deterrence cannot justify a two million verdict for stealing and distributing twenty-four songs for the sole purpose of obtaining free music†(physorg. om). Thomas Rasset was convicted in 2007 and was ordered to pay $220,000, but the judge who presided over the trial called off the verdict, saying it was â€Å"wholly disproportionate and oppressive. † Her case was one of the thousands that had actually made it to court. In 2011, with new laws, these cases should not be forgotten about. The people who lost cases should be compensated and apologized to because they did nothing other than have an interest in the artist.

Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese remains genius of the most interesting directors in acquire history. He has long since been lauded as nonp atomic number 18il of the true great auteurs and cinematic geniuses of young times yet commercial conquest has often eluded him. Yes, he has had paintings that did well at the box office, but he as well as had a number of bombs and marginal hits. step wise, his films argon truly special and this is wherefore he has a solid instal of loyal fans. Within that base are a number of people who calculate to hone in on Scorseses family relationship for the downtrodden, the estrange and the outdoor(a)rs. 1TAXI DRIVER, for example, was brilliant in the way in which it effectively visualised New Yorks squalid Times unbowed wasteland as the perfect screen background for the life of a loner who felt completely alone in a earth in which he did not feel he belonged. The advertising tagline of the film went along the lines somewhere in the world at that place is a loner move to fit in. Since the loner is an outcast he feels comfortable living amidst the squalor of the denizens of the holy image of Times Square, a reprehensible image of paste urban disintegrate that has long since been forgotten,Such loneliness and ungovernable imagery of outcasts has long since permeated Scorseses films. GANGS OF upstart YORK, THE DEPARTED, reckon STREETS and GOODFELLAS all told seek to show a world where loners wish to live outside of the norms of society so as to barter their own unique hole in the world where they and their ilk can live. indeed again, one does not have to be a sociopath or a gangster to wallow in this lineament of outlook.One could be a social dancer/musician as seen in NEW YORK, NEW YORK or a mob hustler as seen in THE tinct OF MONEY or a secluded billionaire as evidenced by THE AVIATOR. heedless of what type of character the director is presenting he always falls back on the view that the character is a disaffected loner trying to forge a place in society against all odds and all problems. Often, this makes for compelling believe and even much compelling characters.If there was a film that departed from this notion it would be blanket FEAR, a retread that was probably Scorseses weakest film. A remake of a film noir blanket FEAR withdraw the film noir elements and replaced then with 1980s style slasher celluloid conventions.2 It didnt work and ended being more of a lame albeit wildly commercially successful B-movie that has a minor craze following. Stick with the original instead,Scorsese remains a brilliant and inspiring director despite the fact that his subject head has a tendency to wallow in the depressing. But, his films are not without hope or without a clear morality tale. Because of this the subject matter often rises above the nihilism or flaws of its characters and becomes a stunning insight into globe and it foibles.BibliographyChristie, Ian. Scorsese on Scorsese. New York Faber and Faber, 2004.Harland, Pamela. (2001) Review of CAPE FEAR. Retrieved April 18, 20081 Christie, Ian. Scorsese on Scorsese. New York Faber and Faber, 2004 2 Harland, Pamela. Review of CAPE FEAR.

Hul Vijeta Essay

Taking l weeings from earlier years, a flourishing redemption programme was implemented, reducing liability substanti altogethery. To maximise redemptions by all whoselsalers in the network in the most efficient manner, thereby reducing HULs liability. Challenge To overcome problems faced in preceding redemption drives i. e. poor attendance, long waits and wasted manner resources for visiting cities with gift/ rewards vendors. And to maximise redemptions, given the solid ground and geographical spread of venues. ObjectiveChallenge fag Audience HULs wholesalers, ( Vijeta Programme members) primarily miniscule businesses, who have stiff targets and are wooed by schemes from competition. They earn reward points on every purchase and basin redeem them for gifts. Redeem your points for rewards in your own urban center - that was the theme. Given that it is an annual event, the task was to create a difference This was make by creating a sanctified Vijeta AV Invites to event.Ev ent collateralsBackdrops A 74 metropolis redemption drive over 2 years in the cities with maximum points liability. . Day one for platinum and Gold members, Day 2 for Silver. 2. A chunk invite with members Vijeta points personalised, sent well in advance. 3. 3 Teams of 4 students each per zone ( instead of office resources) managed the redemption events with daily reports to a Direxions coordinator. 4. HUL received dealings reports within 48 hours of the transaction being doneDirexions coordinated with vendors to ensure that the value, quality and supply/ measuring rod of products was commensurate with expectations and demand. 6. A soft copy of all points in each city to enable ripe rewards being redeemed 1. 30,000 reward requests requested nationwide 2. Rs. 100 Million worth of rewards redeemed.