8 Stages of Genocide

There are 8 stages of genocide the first stage is classification. The Jewish people, homosexuals, handicapped, and gypsies were the main target for the Nazi’s. The reason why was because Adolf Hitler thought that Germany was becoming weaker because of the people who he thought were to be Genetically week. His idea of a non weak person is a person who is pale, blonde hair, and blue eyes. The second stage of Genocide is Symbolization, the Nazi soldier’s symbolized targeted people with different color triangles.The homosexuals had a pink triangle, brown triangles for gypsies, green for criminals, and red for political enemies. All of the people who were marked with triangles were targeted very easy, were harassed, but the main purpose of the coloured triangles was so they would be easy identified. The third stage of Genocide is Dehumanization, German doctors would experiment on the people they kept prisoners like animals because they were trying to find out how to make the perfect human being. The fourth stage of genocide is Organization, the way that Nazi’s prepared for theGenocide was by putting people into Ghettos for easy access. Then the weak would be moved off to be exterminated. The fifth stage of Genocide is Polarization The Jews were often told by Nazi soldiers that they were not worthy to live in normal towns so they put the Jews into Ghettos which were often dirty, disease ridden and low on food. The Nazi soldiers acted like they were greater then everyone. The sixth stage of Genocide is Preparation They prepared for genocide by splitting people up and putting them intoGhettos for easy access and making coloured triangles for easy identification and punishment. The seventh stage of Genocide is Extermination. Many people died in the holocaust inlcuding Jews, Roman, homosexuals. Around 6 million people overall died because of this Holocaust and up to 1. 5 million were kids. The last stage of Genocide is Denial Holocaust denial is the claim that the genocide never happened. It was claimed that only 2,700 people died because of World War I and that camps could not have held that many people

Progress Report Essay

In this Assignment you will proofread the Progress Report listed below. Next, you will identify the 10 mistakes that are listed in the report. The mistakes could be misspellings, incorrect abbreviations, or misuse of a medical term. Please list them in the chart below under the heading â€Å"Medical Terminology Error.† After you have listed the errors, you will need to identify the correct term or abbreviation. Please list them in the chart below under the heading â€Å"Correct Term.† At the end of the project be sure to list all applicable references and cite them in APA format. Main Street Hospital and Medical Center 6000 North Tree Street – Branch, Pennsylvania 12345 – (555) 123-4567 ————————————————————————————————————————————————– PATIENT NAME: Susan SunshineMEDICAL RECORD:5555555 DATE OF DEATH:04/04/1954DATE OF ADMISSION:07/31/2013 PROGRESS NOTE CHIEF COMPLAINT: Severe lower abdominal pain and the inability to void for the past 12 hours. PRESENT ILLNESS: Sam Samuel is a 75-year-old Asian-American man who came into the emergency department at 3 am stating that he was in great pain and could not urinate. He had not been seen by a physician for several years but claimed to be in good health except for â€Å"a little high blood pressure.† The patient reports urinary frequency, noicturia x2, hesitancy, intermittency, disuria, and diminished force and caliber of the bladder system. In addition, he complained of intermittent pain in the right posterior lumbar area, radiating to the right flank. He also has post-void dribbling and the sensation of not having completely emptied the bladder. Earlier today, he had hematuria at the end of urination and several bouts of N&D. MEDICATION ALLERGIES: None CURRENT MEDICATIONS: Benadryl 25 mg. dailys, at bedtime. PHYSICAL EXAM: Temperature 98.6 ® F. Blood pressure 140/90. Pulse 98. Respirations 24. Palpation of the abdomen shows a suprapubic mass approximately three fingerbreadths below the umbilicus, dull to percussion, and slightly tender. IMPRESSION: Renal Pelvis distention caused by urinary outlet obstruction, probably from benign prostatic hyperplasia. PLAN: Indwelling Foley catheter for relief of urinary obstruction. Imaging to include a CAT scan, kidney ultrasound and IVR. Urinary consult. Labs to include white blood count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea nitrogen (BUA) and urinalnysis.

Civil Disobedience Essay

Based on the writings of Henry David Thoreau it is very relevant that he is very opposed to government involvement of any kind. He doesn’t believe that the government should be involved in everyday life. Thoreau doesn’t understand the point of having a government system that will be useful to everyone and not just a select few. Thoreau proceeds to explain his many reasons as to why the â€Å"government is best [when it] governs [the] least.† He thought people should stand up to the very ones that made society so corrupt and weak. Thoreau believes the government puts personal selfish interests on a pedestal. Thoreau’s opening statement set the tone for his entire essay. He begins his essay by saying that the government, so far, has rarely proven to be useful. He believes that the power the government has derived from the majority rather than the few. This is mainly because the majority is the strongest group not because their viewpoint is right but because they have many in numbers. He then continues to express the fact that many people do what they believe is right and not to just follow the law created by the majority. He insists that people should do away with the law all together when the legal system becomes unjust. Thoreau then states that the United States is a perfect example of an unjust government. He believes that is because of the fact that they have shown support of slavery and they have participated in the practice of aggressive war. In regards to a man following his first obligation, Thoreau believes that a man isn’t obligated to get rid of the evils of the world, but he is obligated not to take part in these evils. This means that no man should feel the need to participate in an unruly government if he does not choose to do so. Thoreau asks, â€Å"Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward.† He is basically stating that it is far more important to develop respect for what is right, rather than a respect for law. Thoreau sets a very powerful and aggressive tone by choosing to open his essay this way. Thoreau doesn’t see the effectiveness of reform within the US government. Thus, he wants his readers to feel the same way. He then says that he is convinced that petitioning and voting for change achieves very little. Thoreau uses a wide variety of examples, some personal, that depict the unjust system that he discusses. By using his own personal experiences, he is allowing the reader to fully understand everything he is trying to depict. He speaks on the fact that during a protest against slavery, he refused to pay the taxes that were issued to him. Because of his refusal to pay the taxes, he spent the night in jail. But, overall his thoughts and opinions dissociated him from the government because he chose not to participate in its institutions. He then states that one can’t see the government for what it really is because one is still working within it. And, in this way they believe that everything is justified because they are a part of the strong majority. He feels that having too much respect for law causes people to do wild things. For example, he believes that the government has turned soldiers into machines for their own personal use making them a shadow of what is real. Thoreau is very passionate and honest about everything that he says. He wants the reader to know exactly where in his heart these words are coming from. He never uses a harsh syntax or diction when writing because he doesn’t want to sound angry. Throughout his essay, Thoreau uses an intense appeal to pathos. He mostly uses pathos when he describes a conversation with his cell mate. Thoreau asks his fellow prisoner what he got put in jail for and the man replied saying, â€Å"they accuse me of burning a barn; but I never done it.† Thoreau does this to appeal to the emotion of his readers by showing them that what the government does isn’t fair. He also shows this when he says that he has been waiting 3 months for his trial, and he will probably have to wait another 3 months before he actually gets his trial. Thoreau describes the conversation to paint a picture in the minds of his readers, of an innocent man that had to wait a half a year to attempt to prove innocence. The fact that this innocent man was spending his waiting time in jail, draws a lot of sympathy from his readers. Thoreau also uses a great deal of imagery in this essay. When describing his  jail cell, he used â€Å"the rooms were white†¦washed once a month†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was doing this to show his audience that his punishment really wasn’t as bad as most people thought it would be. Thoreau even said that he viewed his cell almost as if it were an apartment, and the jail house, a city. This supports his idea that jail technically isn’t a punishment for those in it. Thoreau, here, is trying to persuade the readers to stand together and revolt against the government because it is their duty to do so. He then goes on to say that neither him, nor his cell mate pose any real threat to society. This makes the reader question his place in jail. If he really wasn’t a threat, then why was he locked up? Thoreau is very opinionated about his very broad views of the government. He believes that the government has only lasted this long because people refuse to execute their own will. And, until this happens, no changes will ever be made. Thoreau wishes for a society in which man makes decisions of his own mind and not the mind of those that are trying to suppress the truth. In some aspects Thoreau is right. Some current laws are not honorable. Overall, Thoreau just wants to conform to the laws set in place, but he feels that that phenomenon won’t happen. In his essay, Thoreau makes it very clear of his idea that â€Å"government is best [when it] governs [the] least.† He uses many rhetorical strategies such as imagery, symbolism and pathos as an effort to persuade the readers that the best kind of government is one of laissez-faire. His main ideas were present in his writing. He wanted to show people that a hands-off government is not the best thing for everyone. Because if he was thrown in jail for one night due to the fact he didn’t pay poll tax for six years, then why don’t people step up and revolt against the government? He wanted the reader to feel empowered by his words so that there could truly be a change in government policies.

Risk Management (article Critique) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Risk Management (article Critique) - Case Study Example CITS worked towards two different options of achieving the MIS system - procuring a ready to deploy software and in-house development of the MIS software from scratch. After assessment of pros & cons and the cost benefit analysis CITS decided to develop the MIS system in-house. However, this decision caused trouble times due to attrition of key people and lack of specialists. The project was finally completed with the help of final year students and an internal mentor who took the responsibility as part time assignment. The article finally claims that the MIS system was deployed successfully. The fundamental problem in this case study was lack of appropriate Risk Management. The analysis of the two modes of MIS deployment presented on pages 45 & 46 (Rodrigues. and Govinda. 2003. 45-46) is not promising because it doesn't take into account any risk analysis. The decision of developing in-house was taken purely on financial benefits which again may not have considered the enormous hidden costs in the in-house development process. Field & Keller (1998: 117) presented that after the risks are assessed and identified, the actions that can be taken are risk avoidance, risk reduction, risk transference, contingency planning and risk acceptance. The project plan of CITS largely ignored these aspects of risk mitigation and hence faced serious obstructions to the project due to attrition of key people and reluctance of end users in the data entry process. The documentation by CITS doesn't even include the project risk management part of the overall planning (Rodrigues. and Govinda. 2003. 46). Hence, the CITS was greeted with multiple surprises especially due to the people specific issues. The attrition of the system analyst at a time when the decision of developing the MIS in-house was taken recently must have left the CITS with only the high level design documents. At this stage a lecturer was engaged to take the project further who later on utilized his final year students to carry out the coding. The author hereb y argues that it is very unlikely that the low level designs and coding standards were established effectively for the project and hence the students might have used ready to compile codes that are available on the Internet. From the author's perspective, a project managed in this mode might have lived with high risks related to bugs, quality, data security, etc. (although not mentioned specifically in the case study). Hence, the Project Manager might have taken the route of risk acceptance given that he was able to develop & execute a contingency plan that largely worked for him. Comparing with the IS checklist by Cadle & Yeates (2004: 257-261), it appears that many aspects of the checklist were not planned by CITS. For example, the acceptance criteria, developer's skills, architecture aspects, testing methodologies, staffing requirements, etc, were not analyzed effectively in the MIS strategic plan documented by CITS. The entire plan

Write a letter to the editor Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write a letter to the editor - Assignment Example In 1960 people accepted the appointment of Robert Kennedy as the attorney general of United States. However when President Bill Clinton announced his intention to place his wife Hilary Clinton on some key government post in 1992, he accrued much disapproval from the masses. People tolerated the appointment of Robert Kennedy but did not favorably react to the appointment of Hilary Clinton because they did not want to see the concentration of state power within one family. For it is a fact that when an individual is granted a government post on the basis of one’s connections and not on the basis of true merit, there does stand a valid possibility that, that person may not have the capability to do justice to the post one is appointed to. Such a practice demines the transparency within government and makes the states hiring and contracting activities, the concern of one single family, rather than being a sacred trust and

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 14

Case study - Essay Example It will explore the aspect of euthanasia and its interrelation with the Hippocratic Oath where the doctors have to make a decision whether to save their lives or to let the patients die willingly. It will also explore the issue of legal consent obliged to the patients. The essay argues that doctors have a moral duty to save patients lives according to the Hippocratic Oath. Patients suffering from terminal illnesses sometimes give up and prefer death to pain. John’s case is an example of a patient who has given up and wants death through euthanasia. Hopelessness is one of the factors that associates with euthanasia and is a contributor of early death. It is characterized by the patient’s loss of fighting spirit due to factors such as poor prognosis, pain, undesirable effects of treatment and rapid deterioration of health and advancement of illness. Most patients with terminal cancer usually have a sense of hopelessness and in many times lose the self-control and the self-belief that they can prolong their life. Loss of control makes them to consider decisions such suicide and euthanasia (DeGrazia 42). Other Issues such extreme suffering and high medical bills can easily convince the patient to consider euthanasia. In such a case, the doctors should practice positive psychology and instill hope and optimism that they will do everything in their ability to help the patient recover and continue with life. Doctors should encourage patients to take control of all aspects of their lives and have a fighting spirit. In John’s case, Dr. R and Dr. S should have dissuaded Mr. John H from taking such a decision and that there was still a chance that John would survive. At the time John made such a decision, the two doctors had some chance of trying to improve John’s health even though it was in a deterioration state. It is the role of healthcare providers to provide

Prohibit gay couples from obtaining a marriage license Research Paper

Prohibit gay couples from obtaining a marriage license - Research Paper Example The Equal Protection Clause, which forms part of the 14th amendment, prohibits the states from making a legislation that can deny the citizens equal protection under the law (Newton 34). The 14th amendment only mentions the state governments but not the federal government. In this case, the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 cannot gay couples the right to marriage in the society. Accordingly, the 1996 Defense of Marriage act has not conclusively denied the states the right to grant gay marriage license since it only grants the states the right to not recognize gay marriages performed n other states. In addition, the Defense of Marriage Act1996 legally implied that States has the option of recognizing same-sex marriage. In Massachusetts Supreme Court decision of 2004, the jurists adhered with the equal protection clause since banning gay marriages denied the citizens the right to benefit from various federal government programs and right to be treated equally in the society regardless o f the sexual orientation. Jurist activists have observed that equal protection clause of the 14th amendment desired to protect some groups from subordination and thus sexual orientation should be strictly safeguarded (Cahill 165). Strict constructionist jurists oppose the making on laws on the bench since they prefer a conservative approach when issuing judgments on gay marriages. Strict constructionist jurists are of the view that law-making duties should be left to the executive and legislators and judges should never make judicial decisions under the influence of their personal political or policy agenda (Newton 78). The jurists are bound by the ‘original intent’ of the applicable law and exercise judicial restrain in controversial public agendas such as legalization of gay marriages and granting of gay couples a license. These jurists are opposed to the idea of states granting marriage license to gay couples. They argue that the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 is th e underlying law that guides marriages in the constitution. The jurists would argue that the Act prevents the federal government from recognizing any gay marriages. Accordingly, the jurists strictly observe the Act since the States are protected from recognizing gay marriages that have been executed in other states (Cahill 67). Accordingly, the Act conclusively defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman and does not mention the possibility of any gay unions. Strict constructionist jurists argue that Supreme Court of Minnesota in the case of Baker v. Nelson (1971) clarified that any marriage occurs between a man and a woman and entails the possibility of procreation and support of children. In addition, the opponents of gay marriage license argue that marriage is not a right like the right to life or fair trial since it is a privilege and only heterosexual marriages can procreate and serve the purpose of the society (Cahill 265). Although the US is a secular society, a m ajority of the individuals identify with a particular religion such as Christianity, Islam or even Baptism. All the religions claim that marriage is sacred and involves the union of a man and woman with the aim of procreation (Merin 87). According to strict construction

Perfect Personal Statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Perfect Personal Statements - Essay Example I have always been charmed by advancements in technology, which have facilitated progress in terms of the development of electronics. My interest in electronics began when I received a Gameboy gift from my parents. Since then, my desire to learn more about anything concerning electronics has grown by leaps and bounds. I believe I am profoundly suitable to study electronics since challenges, which a normal domain of the Gameboy world, typically bring out the best in my abilities. I relish the opportunity to think creatively and imaginatively and take immense pleasure in learning the intricacies of how electronics function. Since my childhood, I have been satisfied with my level of intelligence and constantly establish new goals and objectives to help stretch my mind and imagination in a better manner than previously. I always allow my experiences to shape my thoughts, while simultaneously holding on firmly to my convictions and what I have learned in the past. This continues to be my way of life. In order to supplement my interest in electronics, I took quite a number of computer courses in the high school curriculum over the years. In addition to my enhanced knowledge of computer, I took an English 4 course during which I grew exceedingly passionate regarding photography, as well as video editing. In my spare time, I love playing video games, watching quizzes and shows on technology gadgets, discovery channels and science. These games and shows enable me keep up with the latest trends in the electronics world, as well as appreciate the latest and greatest technologies and gadgets from across the globe. When I first came to the US, I loved listening to classic rock, which played a pivotal role in enhancing my knowledge of the English language.

Bullying and the longterm effects Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bullying and the longterm effects - Thesis Example Bullying Statistics (2009) asserts that Internet has invented quite a few new forms of bullying techniques through chat programs, email, or on social media sites. Cell phones are the newest form for bullying someone. All these forms are equally applicable to the present generation children studying in schools. Colorado Trust (2012) argues that the effects of bullying can prevail lifetime. Victims of bullying may have more health issues, low self-esteem, weaker social interactions and high chance of academic failures. At the same time, those who are involved in bullying develop a criminal record before age 24. The perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of teachers, parents, and other adults contribute a lot in reinforcing bullying. Many adults deal with the issue of bullying as a normal way of growing up and even instill bullying behavior themselves. It is such a serious issue that 30 states have enacted anti bullying laws so as to control and eradicate bullying from their states. State laws either define bullying or ask state boards of education to do so. Colorados law, for example, defines bullying as "any physical act, or verbal or written provocation, that may cause distress to anyone in the school or at any school related places including school grounds, school vehicles or at designated bus stop. In a state like Georgia, any district that fails to make anti bullying policy does not get state funding. Several states have integrated bullying prevention programs into the curriculum. In Virginia, every school needs to address the inappropriateness of bullying in their schools character program. Bully Police USA is an organization that scrutinizes state policy laws on bullying and grants rating to them. Oklahoma state education department spearheads research-based programs for the prevention of intimidation, harassment and bully ing of students at every public school in the state (State Policy Trends

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 14

Sociology - Essay Example The two major rivers, the Nile Valley in Egypt, and the Tigris-Euphrates in Iraq were the places of the worlds early civilizations. The three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam originated from the Middle East and here is where urban life and centralized forms of political organization arose. The archaeologists are rebuilding the cultural advancement that transformed the human ancestors from nomadic hunters and gatherers into established villagers who cultivated varieties of wheat and barley and set aside domestic sheep and goats. The most important era in human history, which can be dated back to 8000 B.C., has been considered to as the Agricultural Revolution, to emphasize its importance in the progress of human cultural past. The evolution from hunting and gathering for one’s food to one depended on food production and established society life was the introduction to the next step in human intellectual growth, the start of civilization, which goes back to about 5000 B.C in the Middle East (Rassam n.pag 2007). The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Flowing southward to the Persian Gulf across southern Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, give life into the parched land transforming this area of desert is part of the Fertile Crescent. This region became the Middle Eastern civilization more than 8,000 years before. The agricultural revolution transformed nomadic hunter-gatherers into a socially multifaceted, enduring civilization. Approximately a hundred centuries later, another type of agricultural revolution is in progress in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, because of the major infrastructure advance in Turkey’s Southeast Anatolia area which will provide irrigation to 1.7 million hectares of fresh farmland. One of the most accomplishments of the project in 1994 was the two water-delivery tunnels which will vent out lake behind the Ataturk Dam to water the regions of southeastern Turkey that lie north of the Syrian border. Before the

Management of change with reference to change management models Essay

Management of change with reference to change management models - Essay Example This is necessary for all the implications of the change in any organisation. The change has been analysed according to the model. They are as follows: 7 PROCHASKA AND DICLEMENTE’S CHANGE THEORY 8 ANALYSIS OF THE INDIVIDUAL POWER AND POLITICAL RELATIONSHIPS ON THE MANAGEMENT STYLES OF THE ORGANISATION 10 UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS OF THE POWER 11 POWER MODEL 11 EXPERT MODEL 12 CONCLUSION 13 INTRODUCTION CASE PERSPECTIVE The use of the change management in any organisation is subject to a number of factors that are inherent to the nature of the organisation. The development of the resources is one of the primal factors that decide the shape of the organisation. The use of the different kind of parameters is one of the ways in which the change management of an organisation is accomplished. After the careful observation of this case study in a very objective manner, there has been the identification of the change initiatives to the various kinds of models of the change management . The college, Pearmount College is a medium sized institution in the field of the further education. The college has a part of the social responsibility being the only college that has the post-graduation facility in this place. All the sixteen courses are run in the manner of the post-graduation. The use of the resources is also an area of concern. The performance for the A level was found to be satisfactory (albeit average), but the sixth form colleges were having a very bad performance. This could be attributed to the teaching methods. The new principal of the institution took to the steps of reform for a change in the existing facilities. The aim was to provide the best type of sixth form in the country. There were a number of inherent issues that need to be taken in the context for the use of the data. The factors that triggered the change management measures were as follows- The quality of the full time course was under the scanner. There was differential gradient that existe d between the vocational and the full time courses. The staffs of the institution are ageing. The distribution of the workload was also seen to be uneven. In the case of the removal of the vocational course, it was seen that the level of the activity reduced by a great extent. This created a lot of functional problems in the field of the allotment of the appropriate kind of the workload. The efficiency of the programs was also to be questioned due to the rapid kind of the changes being faced by the institution. The changes proposed were as follows: The restructuring of the staff. The increase of the number of the working hours of the students and the staff. This was done to enable more amount of the teaching to happen. This shall also allow the development of the college. The impact of the changes would also be higher in this context. The pay structure of the institution was to change, with the introduction of some higher paid posts and the lower paid posts. The existing lecturer co uld re-apply without the assured chances of the re-instatement in the college. The major positions had been given a 90 day period by teaching staff, and rapid progress was made in its implementation. There are a number of theories that can be applied in the context of the organisational change. They could

Newspaper article to evaluate Essay Example for Free

Newspaper article to evaluate Essay Newspaper article to evaluate and review the purpose of faith schools in multi-faith and multicultural Britain. Faith schools in Britain are schools that teach general national curriculums but using religious principles and aims within their teaching. The extremities of these principles vary between different faiths and different schools. The term â€Å"faith schools† was first used in 1990 when Muslim institutes demanded for more freedom within education. There is approximately 7000 faith schools in Britain, almost a third of all state funded schools with around one and quarter million pupils but many ask if there is any need for such a large number of faith schools in a society that is becoming more secular. In 2006, 197 faith schools made up the 209 primary schools in the UK that achieved â€Å"perfect† results in that year’s league tables. All students reached the expected standard for 11 year olds in English, maths and science. The best school in the tables was North Cheshire Jewish primary school which offers â€Å"a traditional Jewish education†. The most improved school was St Anne’s Roman Catholic primary school whose results tripled within three years. Some would say that faith schools create a â€Å"social sorting† of children according to class, ability, religion and academics. This could be backed up by the fact that faith schools achieve higher exam results on average in the UK. However, the pupils who attend the secondary faith schools who have been to high-achieving primary schools appear to be from more well-off families. As well as this, according to a report for the Government, faith schools only achieve better results as they select the best pupils, not because of their religious ethos thus raising the question in whether if there is a need for faith schools. The Politics Show South has surveyed all the secondary schools in the region and found that 72% of pupils at the regions faith schools got five good GCSE results, as against a national average of 53. 7% getting five good GCSE results. Four out of five faith schools in the South beat the national average. A parent at the Islamia Primary School in Queens Park, North London, also sees cultural advantages for her children in faith schools. I wanted them to have a sense of pride as a Muslim but also to be following the English curriculum so that they could hopefully continue on to university and mix with everyone else. â€Å"But at the same time theyd know about Islam from a Muslim and not a Christian point of view. † As well as result statistics, faith schools are also keen on imposing discipline and teaching ethics to students. Some say that â€Å"the force of their religion and faith and the ethos of how to become a good citizen will be there all the time. † This means that students who study at these faith schools may have difficulty indulging in a crime or hating people or doing something which is not like their religious ethos. However a lot of people would agree that the rise of multi faith schools within the country would actually produce more secular societies as the rise in numbers and funding of one particular faith for schools could lead to unsettlement from other faiths. Also, single faith schools can also leave children unequipped to deal with life in mainstream Britain as only select things are taught within single faith schools. Director of National Secular society said: If they are moving from restricted communities into a single faith school, they have very little contact with those from the majority community. And then suddenly, when they are 16 they come out into the majority community for the first time and into the workplace. Im worried about the implications of that.

Inter-Professional Education in the Healthcare Sector

Inter-Professional Education in the Healthcare Sector Chapter 1 Introduction Health carers working in Malta are expected to work towards a patient-centred care and to communicate and collaborate in multidisciplinary teams even if they lack sufficient basic knowledge on the role of every team member. Sacco (2008) stated that there has to be effective team-working, communication and collaboration between professions for patients and their allied care to improve. He also stated that I.P.E. between the different professions is a way of attaining this team-work. Much has been written over the past few years on inter-professional education (I.P.E.) and its effect on the health care system. A lot of research and promotion have been conducted. However, Lumague et al. (2006) still believes that professional programs are still not giving the appropriate importance of I.P.E. in their curricula. According to Sacco (2008), I.P.E. was never used by any of the professions related to medicine in Malta, as a way of learning. Buttigieg stated (as cited in The Times of Malta, 2008) that â€Å"we still have a long way to go to be able to claim with confidence that interdisciplinary collaboration in teaching and research at our University is bearing the fruit that is becoming increasingly necessary in the world of today. Although the exercise was found to be very exhausting by the researcher, it was also an enriching experience and an introduction to the world of research. Provided that this was the authors first attempt to research, the study has helped her develop a better understanding of the research process. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 The Current Healthcare System and the Present Situation at the FHS Sacco (2008) stated that in the present healthcare system, patients are looked after by Multidisciplinary Teams comprising an extensive range of healthcare and other professionals. Apparently, the FHS board is not fully aware of the benefits of I.P.E. and although a lot of lip service is presented to working as a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT), not much is truly done to promote it throughout the actual education (Sacco, 2008). Sacco (2008) argues that in Malta, although the medical profession is part of the MDT, little or no integration is happening throughout the undergraduate years. Furthermore, there has to be a clear distinction between ‘Common Core Learning and I.P.E. The terms should not be used interchangeably since they do not have the same meaning. Currently in Common Core study-units students are being taught together with other students from other divisions of the FHS, or other faculties within the University, which is the same as ‘multi-professional education as this involves learning the same content together side by side, which in turn should not be mistaken with I.P.E. (Sacco, 2008). The latter does not only comprise the subject matter, but it also involves the different roles of different professions and how professionals can work together towards a shared goal (Sacco, 2008). Health education was somewhat inward-looking, however, owing to the altering health services, has changed from being ‘mono-professional to ‘multi-professional, and then becoming ‘inter-professional (Sacco, 2008). 2.2 Background on I.P.E. The need for immediate improvement of human resources was recently emphasized by the World Health Report 2006 produced by the World Health Organisation, according to which, the world is short of 4.3 million doctors, midwives, nurses and support workers. This crisis was also recognized by the 59th World Health Assembly (2006), who demanded upgrading of the health personnel production through various methods which included ‘‘innovative approaches to teaching in industrialised and developing countries.   Furthermore, Gilbert (2005) pointed out that shortage of healthcarers in Canada were already reported in the Curtis Report, back in 1969, and the latter approved of : considerations for replacing the training program with a more advanced one, empathetic patient care, and increased collaboration and management in delivering healthcare. In addition to this, the requirement of numerous necessities of particular groups of facility users, the diversity of necessary service responses to these and the necessity for effective information exchange and discussion with regards to care planning and delivery, lead to the demand for cooperation between the health care professions and the social care professions, and health and welfare/ social care agencies (Towards Unity for Health, n.d.). Robson and Kitchen, (2007), also emphasised the importance of an effective interprofessional collaboration in order to provide the best healthcare possible. The necessity of health and social care professions working together more was already highlighted for a number of years (Department of Health, 1989, 1998, 2000).  Ã‚   The complexity of patient care is on the rise, thus effective cooperation between health and social care professionals is needed. However, evidence proposes that the latter two are not cooperating well with each other (Cochrane Review, 2002). Collaboration still poses several problems especially with interprofessional coordination and communication. In a study carried out by Robson and Kitchen, (2007), students thought that communication and interprofessional relationships are the key factors affecting collaboration. I.P.E. has long been supported to be a solution to the challenges which collaboration presents (WHO, 1988; Department of Health, 2000). However, although it is evident that I.P.E. initiatives within universities have many beneficits, there were doubts to how successful the development of such initiatives could be (Oxley Glover, 2002). The following are several problem issues that were identified by Brian ONeill (as cited in Oxley Glover, 2002): Finding placements, particularly for team experiences Differences amongst students with respect to knowledge they bring to the course, motivations for taking the course, and preferred learning styles Evaluation of outcomes Transferability of knowledge and skills to practice, and impact of interprofessional learning to practice. 2.3 Challenges to the Implementation of I.P.E. Research suggests that it is very important for the professionals to have knowledge on how to work, communicate and collaborate effectively and cross boundaries between professions for a better health care system. According to the Council for the Professions Complementary to Medicine (2006), â€Å"Physiotherapists should communicate effectively with registered medical practitioners, other health professionals and relevant outside agencies to provide effective and efficient service to the patient† (p. 2). Salvatori, Berry, and Eva (2007), reported that although barriers to implementing I.P.E. exist, the need to overcome them is critical if we are to keep pace with the changing healthcare system and better prepare health professional students for collaborative practice. A preliminary survey of I.P.E. found that, there is a wide variability when the term ‘interprofessional is interpreted and that there are many barriers to I.P.E. some of which are overloaded curricula in schools of health professions, faculty and administrations lack of support and also financial limitations (Rafter et al., 2006). Not all of the above had been successful where endeavored. Oxley and Glover (2002) stated that in their own research some participants felt that they had not benefited from inter-disciplinary work as the course were â€Å"too theoretical. On the other hand, most of the respondents felt that this work was successful owing to the inclusion of for example practical experience, work placements, and inter-professional projects. 2.4 What is the Best Time to Introduce I.P.E.? The best time to introduce interprofessional learning in higher education still remains debated (Horsburgh, Lamdin, Williamson, 2001). On the other hand, Yan, Gilbert, Hoffman (2007) stated that it is the time to take a step forward to an I.P.E. and collaborative practice.   Students themselves were found to be in favour of I.P.E. as early as possible that is in their first year of their course prior to the development of professional prejudice (Parsell, Spalding, Bligh, 1998; Horsburgh, et al., 2001; Rudland Mires, 2005) and stereotyping of other healthcare groups which may in turn have a negative impact on attitudes when it comes to collaborating interprofessionally (Hojat et al., 1997; Tunstall-Pedoe, Rink, Hilton, 2003; Rudland Mires, 2005). On the other hand, introducing I.P.E. early in the course may sometimes be useless when labeling has already been formed in the minds of those who are about to start the course. Rudland and Mires, (2005), reported that medical students start the course already knowing the main differences between the nurses and the doctors characteristics and backgrounds. For example medical students perception of the nurses is that they are more caring, have less social status, less competent and academically weaker than doc tors. According to Khalili Orchard (2008) currently the way healthcare students are learning and socialized is via a uni-disciplinary model, which in turn may lead to in-group and out-group behavior (The Social Contact Theory).   Learning about the roles and responsibilities of just ones profession leads to professional socialization which in turn might lead to professionals distrusting other professionals and forming myths of perceptions about them, thus professional socialization and lack of effective collaboration. Sacco (2008) stated that professional socialisation is more the training of medical students into developing as doctors and physiotherapy students into developing as physiotherapists, rather than preparing them to be able to become team members. Shared interprofessional learning may be a solution to this problem as professions come to appreciate roles and responsibilities of other professions. Thus, I.P.E. may be the key to more effective collaboration in the actual workpl ace. Furthermore, it would be ideal if knowledge, skills and attitudes would be passed on from the I.P.E. into the actual workplace, something that still has to be accomplished within Maltas health services (Sacco, 2008). Multiprofessional learning and education (now looked at as interprofessional) have been given great importance by the World Health Organisation (as being an important factor in primary health care) since 1978 in the Alma-Ata 1978 Primary Health Care Report and it was emphasized later in 1988, in their statement ‘Learning Together to Work Together for Health.   This initiative was also supported in many countries by other legislative and policy requirements such as ‘Learning together to work together (Department of Health, 2000) in the UK and the Inter-professional Education for Collaborative Patient Centred Practice Initiative, supported by Health Canada (Herbert, 2005). 2.5 Evidence Available to Support I.P.E. Hammick, Freeth, Koppel, Reeves, Barr (2007) states that there is limited evidence to support the proposal that learning together will aid practitioners and agencies to work better together. The effect of I.P.E. on the healthcarers work still needs to be re-examined since â€Å"there is no published evidence that I.P.E. promotes interprofessional collaboration or improves client relevant outcomes† (Zwarenstein et al., 2005). Campbell (2003) reported that most studies that he selected for his systematic review were deficient in their methodologic rigor. The review concluded that there was no convincing impact of I.P.E. in improving collaborative practice and/or health/well-being. On the other hand, evidence that suggests that interprofessional learning improves interprofessional collaboration is also available (Atwal Caldwell, 2002). Oxley and Glover (2002), maintain that there are benefits to I.P.E. for different stakeholders including employers, universities and students. For example the recruitment of a higher standard of graduate by employers will in turn have a positive reflection on the institute and its operators. According to the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (2002), â€Å"If health care providers are expected to work together and share expertise in a team environment, it makes sense that their education and training should prepare them for this type of working arrangement.† Barr, et al. (2000) succinctly summarises the four main benefits I.P.E. can provide: Enhances motivation to collaborate Changes attitudes and perceptions Cultivates interpersonal, group and organisational relations Establishes common value and knowledge bases Hammick et al. (2007) found that I.P.E. is generally liked, allowing knowledge and skills needed for to work in collaboration to be learnt. Furthermore, staff development is the main impact on the effectiveness of I.P.E. and can help learners bring out the unique values about themselves and others (Hammick et al., 2007). When it comes to initiatives with regard to quality improvement, I.P.E. is effective in improving practice and services (Hammick et al., 2007). On the other hand, according to Zwarenstein et al. (2005), â€Å"there is no published evidence that I.P.E. promotes interprofessional collaboration or improves client relevant outcomes†. Thus, the need for more research on I.P.E. is needed. 2.6 Attitudes towards the Inter-Professional Teamwork and Education   There was an amount of studies carried out to gain more information regarding attitudes of healthcare students towards interprofessional teamwork and education. Such students tend to show positive attitudes towards I.P.E. (Tunstall-Pedoe, et al., 2003; Pollard, Miers, Gilchrist, 2004; Curran, Sharpe, Forristall Flynn, 2008). In a research study conducted by Lumagae et al. (2006), when it comes to patient care, interprofessional teamwork was approved by all the participants who all agreed that opportunities comprising their development of skills, attitudes and behaviours required for interprofessional collaboration should be involved in their healthcare education. Salvatori et al. (2007) also stated that â€Å"It is clear that students enjoyed their experience and perceived new respect and understanding of other professional roles and the potential for interprofessional collaboration in caring for patients† (p. 80). Most of such studies stated that there is a tendency that medical students and also postgraduate medical residents have significantly less positive attitudes towards interprofessional teamwork when compared to students from other healthcare professions (Hojat et al. 1997; Leipzig et al., 2002; Pollard et al. 2004; Tanaka Yokode, 2005). Attitudes of medical and nursing students towards interprofessional teamwork were studied and no significant difference was found between them two (Curran, et al., 2008). However, Curran et al. (2008) also found out that these two groups of students report significantly less positive attitudes towards interprofessional teams when compared to pharmacy and social work students. Curran et al. (2008) also reported that medical students significantly showed less positive attitudes towards I.P.E. when compared to nursing, pharmacy and social work students. Being a female and/or a senior undergraduate also showed more positive attitudes towards interprofessional teamwork and education (the latter being more significant especially with prior experience with I.P.E.). In this study, profession, gender and year also seemed to play a role in determining positive attitudes towards both interprofessional teamwork and education. On the other hand, Pollard et al. (2004) found that there were students who had viewed interprofessional collaboration negatively and they included mature students and those that had experience at university or of working in a health or social care settings. Curran et al. (2008), argues that although having previous experience in I.P.E. activities may not improve attitudes to it, participating in it may have more positive attitudes towards interprofessional teamwork. 2.7 Attitudes towards the Roles of their Own other Professional Groups Research has also tried to give answers with regard to students attitudes towards the roles of their own other professions. Tunstall-Pedoe, Rink, and Hilton (2003), argue that the overall attitude of students studying medicine towards students from other professions was less positive. In a study carried out by Hojat et al. (1997), medical students were found to have different attitudes from nursing students with regard to areas of authorities and power, including professional dominance and medical responsibilities in serving patients needs. Furthermore, Spence and Weston, (1995) maintains that nurses were more clear in their perceptions of competencies essential for medicine, than medical students were about competencies important for nursing.  Ã‚  Ã‚   It should be noted that literature review with regard to I.P.E. at the FHS was scarce and difficult to find.   Chapter 3 Materials Methodology 1 Introduction This chapter describes the planning and development of the research study. It also explains the underlying rationale for deciding on the studys structure. 3.2 Objectives of the Study It is not really known whether students of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) and the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (FMS) agree to the implementation of a new I.P.E. system at the FHS. The overall objective of the study was to understand whether students at the FHS and at the FMS know what I.P.E. is and to explore their opinions regarding the implementation or not of I.P.E. in the common curriculum at the FHS. The goals of the study were to: Explore the students understanding of the term I.P.E. Identify whether the students agree or disagree to the implementation of I.P.E. and I.P.E. study-units at the FHS, and if they agree, the study-units or areas of study they would like to see becoming inter-professional and at what stage of their course to implement it. Find out the students attitudes towards I.P.E. with regard to its benefits and challenges if any. Discover the students attitudes towards I.P.E. teams Discover the students attitudes towards other healthcare professions 3.3 Operational Definition of Terms Table 1 Illustrating the operational definition of terms. 3.4 The Research Design For the aims and objectives of the study to be addressed, the latter had to be descriptive, qualitative and thus, a non-experimental and explorative research design was considered to be the most suitable approach. One-to-one interviews were preferred to group interviews since in the former more personal information about the participant could be elicited (Carter, Lubinsky, Domholdt, 2011), the patient may feel more comfortable to speak in front of a person rather than in front of a group and thus giving more honest information especially when it comes to expressing his/her attitudes towards others. The interviews were carried out in-person, with the advantage of providing the best opportunity for building rapports and for observing the interviewees nonverbal cues (Carter, et al., 2011). 3.5 The Research Setting This study was conducted in Malta with the permission of the University of Malta. The University has a number of Faculties two of which being the FHS and the FMS, from which students were chosen to participate. The courses which fall under these faculties and which were included in the study can be found in Appendix F, wherein the numbers of students present in each division is also given. The participants had a say in the choice of the research setting, and preferred meeting at places most familiar and within reach to them including University of Malta areas, Mater Dei Hospital and at certain pharmacies, which were also within reach by the researcher. Carter, Lubinsky, and Domholdt (2011), suggest that the setting in which the research is carried out contributes greatly to an interviews success. The interviewer made sure to choose a setting which is familiar and comfortable to the interviewee, with special attention given to the environmental setting such as quietness to avoid interruptions, adequate lighting, room temperature, and comfortable and appropriate set-up of chairs to avoid building psychological barriers. Carter, Lubinsky, and Domholdt (2011), emphasized the importance of an appropriate introduction to an interview as this sets up the tone, affecting the rest of the interview. Furthermore, the researcher was aware of the body language at all times, keeping the appropriate distance, maintaining eye contact in line with cultural norms, showing interest and full awareness in what the interviewee was saying (by for example leaning forwards to him/her, nodding, smiling to funny comments that the subjects passed) and speaking clearly and at an adequate volume level. Attention was also given to choosing the appropriate type of clothing as in an interview the attire plays an important role. At the end of each interview, the interviewer made sure to thank the participant for his/her contribution to the research study in order to show appreciation and to indirectly help promote and encourage participation in future research. 3.6 Target Population In this study, the target population which is described as ‘the entire population in which a researcher is interested and to which he or she would like to generalize the study result (Polit and Beck, 2008, p. 767), included students from all the different divisions of the FHS and from the divisions of Pharmacy and Medical students which both fall under the FMS. When the researcher interviewed these students, the latter had already started their next scholastic year. The researcher staggered the interviews so as to gain more knowledge whilst completing the literature review and to be able to give the participants appropriate cues during the interviews. This helped the researcher to achieve better results because the cues given targeted the research question. A literature search of electronic databases including Ebsco, Cinahl and Pubmed was conducted between January 2009 and May 2011. The inclusion criteria for this study were: All the students whose course fell under the FHS or the FMS. Male or female Willingness to participate in the study. English speaking Students over 18 years of age. The study will be using undergraduate students opinions rather than post-graduate healthcarers opinions, as there is a lack of similar studies on the issue. The exclusion criteria for this study were as follows: Students who never had any clinical experience. Students who did not fell under University of Malta Those who did not want to participate. 3.7 Sampling Size and Methods Used to Choose the Sample Owing to time constraints, a method of convenience sampling was used to select a sample for the study, choosing easily accessible people who are in proximity to the researcher or who are willing to take part in the study (Castillo, 2009). This method is also the cheapest, simplest sampling form available and does not entail planning (Ellison, Barwick, Farrant, 2010). This type of sampling offers a fast attainment of preliminary information with regard to the research question being studied and is also inexpensive (Berg, 2004; Castillo, 2009). Students who satisfied the criteria were recognized and 31 people were chosen including 12 males and 19 females whose ages ranged from 19 to 46. The following is a proportion showing the total number of medical students, is to the total number of pharmacy students is to the total number of students from the FHS, respectively: 426: 196: 823. One student per 90 students for each FHS division was interviewed in order to have a representable sample . The researcher was aware that the selected subjects could not represent the entire population as to test the whole population it entails to interview an enormous amount of people and that would have taken an infinite amount of time to complete the study. The sampling was unrepresentative and did not offer statistical advantages (Ellison, et al., 2010). The sampling size was mostly determined by the available time and resources. The researcher tried to find a balance between depth and breadth of the interviews. The in-depth information obtained from the research population provided rich and valuable data. The researcher contacted subjects who satisfied the inclusion criteria of the study via e-mails or face-to-face, in order to set appointments for the interviews, and had to find a compromise between both her and the subjects availabilities. The researcher made sure that she would not disturb them. The researcher used stratified sampling to make sure that a particular sample, from the known population under study, is denoted in the sample (Berg, 2004). Furthermore, the use of stratified sampling also helped the researcher to access small subgroups within the population, allowing the researcher to examine the extremes of the population (Castillo, 2009). This known population was divided into strata, chosen according to literature support, from which samples were selected. The researcher had information on the population and was able to divide it into strata, for which a sampling fraction had to be applied, which represent proportions of the whole population (Berg, 2004). Qualitative research makes sure that informants are not manipulated in a certain way as would probably be typical in studies which are quantitative experimental, but, instead tries to access the informants viewpoints (Carter, et al., 2011).   3.8 The Research Instrument The interview guide had two parts, one of which included demographic data and the other part included fifteen open-ended questions. The latter produced the qualitative data. The intention of establishing a rapport with the interviewees was to make them feel more comfortable. Friendly light conversations, the use of sense of humour, and common conventions for example talking about weather conditions and about the surrounding environment helped to ease any tension built by the research situation and to start building a warm rapport. Furthermore, the researcher made sure that the interviewees had a say in the setting of the interview by asking them their preferred place, to augment comfort of the participant (Carter, et al., 2011). Moreover, the researcher made sure that the location chosen offered the least interruptions not to prevent limitations in conducting the interviews.   A self-preparatory semi-structured interview was the tool of the study (Appendix I). The clearest purpose of an interview is to collect information (Carter, et al., 2011). Questions were pre-designed prior to the interview and based on literature, yet, the format used in semi-structured interviews allows the researcher to elicit more information from the participant and to make questions more clear (Carter, et al., 2011). Berg (2004), characterized semi-structured interviews as being relatively structured, as being flexible both in wording and order of the questions, as being able to allow adjustments in the language level, as allowing the interviewer to give answers to questions and to make some clarifications if needs be, and as allowing the interviewer to add/remove probes (according to subjects). Carter, Lubinsky, and Domholdt (2011), pointed out that observation and interviewing skills were actually qualitative research methods seen regularly in clinical practice. As a physiotherapy student, the researcher was taught how to observe and assess patients thoroughly. This was an advantage to the researcher as she had already been gaining skills in observing and interviewing people prior to beginning the research study, thus, eliciting better and more reliable data. For example, being able to give relevant cues at the appropriate time during the interviews kept the interviews flowing. Carter, Lubinsky, and Domholdt (2011), stated that developing skills in interviewing when one is a student or a healthcare professional will transfer to a research study. The researcher made sure to try to elicit as much information as possible from the interviewees without putting them in an uncomfortable position. The latter was avoided by not asking too much of the participants, by selecting the right probing and cues, by showing an attitude of healthy curiosity and care, and by not judging them and keeping in mind that others have their values and opinions too. Any non-verbal communication noted was written as fieldnotes during the interviews and added to the transcripts. During the interviews the researcher followed a copy of the interview schedule in order to keep the interviewee on track and used probes to make it easier to elicit complete data from the interviewees (Berg, 2004). Probes were also used when the subjects used monosyllabic answers such as ‘yes or ‘no. ‘Uncomfortable silence was also used as a sign that the researcher expected to obtain more information. The interviewer also kept in mind to sound as natural as possible when asking questions and to remain neutral on the subject so as not to bias the participant by sharing personal judgments. Choosing facilitative techniques like providing utterances (for example ‘uh-huh), using ‘reflection by repeating some words of the interviewees utterance, ‘confrontation to point out certain physical evidence as the interviewee spoke (for example â€Å"I noticed you smiled when you told me that), ‘interpretation (for example ‘It sounds to me like youre not happy about that situation) were used to encourage the interviewees to continue (Carter, et al., 2011). Goffman (as cited in Berg, 2004) noted that people do not only learn to send or receive messages during their growth but also they learn how to avoid particular types of them. Goffman called this avoidance ‘evasion tactics. Berg, (2004) made it clear that although this has to be surmounted when conducting interviews, one has to be caref

Traditions During the Halloween Period

Traditions During the Halloween Period Halloween Introduction Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31st. When people celebrate halloween they use some customes and hold the party, decorate their house, watch horror movies, visit haunted houses, bonfires, carving jack olantern, and also do trick or treat. Those are just some activities that usually happen in the halloween nowadays. But just several countries that celebrate it as a holiday. In my country, Indonesia, they dont celebrate it. I dont know why my country dont celebrate it as a holiday. I think the rational reason is because our country has its own perspectives about halloween. In my country there are many religions and most people choose Islam as their religion. This religion against eve to be our national holiday. Not just Islam but also some of the Christian. And this case is not only happen just in Indonesia, there are some other countries that against halloween. In the part of United Kingdom, police have threatened to prosecute parents who allow their children to carry out the trick element. The highest level of popularity about Halloween belong to North America and Canada. Every year, 65% of Americans decorate their homes, stores, and offices for Halloween. That percentage exceeded only by christmas. When Halloween happens the most candy is sold. And now Halloween is currently the 2nd largest commercial holiday. These are some country that celebrated Halloween; Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czechoslavakia, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Latin America, Spain, and Sweden. That have different ways to celebrate Halloween. In Austria, some people will leave bread, water and a lighted lamp on the table before left on Halloween night. They have a reason for doing this, the reason is because it is once believed that such items will welcome the dead souls back to earth on a night. The custom in Belgium on Halloween night is to light candles in memory of dead relatives. The Belgian people do not open their doors to unknown persons including children and they do not welcome somebody who do â€Å"trick or threat† and ask for candies. Because only several people are welcomed to do the â€Å"trick or threat†, many children fight in the streets to steal candy from others during the halloween. In Canada and United States, they celebrate Halloween as usual but a little bit modern, for instance; Jack OLanterns are carved and the festivities are including parties, trick-or-treat and decorating their homes with pumpkins and corn stalks. The Halloween festival in China known as Teng Chieh. They celebrate it by placing some food and water in front of photographs of family members who have died while lanterns are lit in order to light the paths of the spirits as they travel the earth on Haloween night. Worshippers in Buddhist temples made boats of the law from paper, some of which are very large, which are then burned in the evening hours. This custom have two purpose: first, as a remembrance of the dead and the second, is in order to free the spirits of the pretas in order that they might ascend to heaven. Pretas are the spirits of those who died as a result of an accident or drowning and whose bodies were consequently never buried. And in Czechoslovakia, chairs are placed by the fireside on Halloween night. There is one chair for each living family member and one for each family members spririt. English people have another celebration which is similiar to Halloween. It is called the Guy Fawkes Day. The festival is held on November 5th and adopted many customs from Samhain. These festivities are marked by torchlight parades where children use masks made from beets and pumpkins. Scottish people practice their ancient pagan rites. Children wear costumes and cut scary faces into large rutabagas and place a candle inside them. They receive candies after they provide a nice entertainment to their neighbours. In Germany, the people put away their knives on Halloween night. The reason for this is because they do not want to risk harm befalling the returning spirits. And The Halloween celebration in Hong Kong is known as Yue Lan (Festival of the Hungry Ghosts). They believe that in this time, the spirits roam the world for twenty-four hours. Some other people burn pictures of fruit and money at the same time, believing that those pictures would reach the spirit world and bring comfort to their friends and family who have died. Irish children enjoy Halloween festivities by carrying lanterns cut into large rutabagas. They do â€Å"trick or threat† and receive sweet candies from their neighbours and Irish houses decorated with Halloween lights. Spanish people enjoy each kind of holidays and parties. Halloween in spain called as El Dia de los Muertos†. But not just in spain but also among Spanish-speaking nations. â€Å"El Dia De los Muertos†s purpose is to remember friends and families who have died. They believed that their friends and their families who have died will return to their home on Halloween. Because of this many families construct an altar in their home and decorate it with candies, flowers, photographs, fresh water and samples of the deceaseds favorite foods and drinks. Candles with incense are burned to help the departed find his or her way home. Relatives also tidy the gravesites of deceased family members including snipping the weeds. The grave is then adorned with flowers, wreaths or paper streamers. On November 2nd, relatives gather at the gravesite to picnic and reminisce. Some of these gatherings may even include tequila and a mariachi band although American Halloween customs are gradually taking over this celebration. In Japan, The Japanese have a similiar festival like Halloween. It is called Obon Festival (also known as Matsuri or Urabon). This festival is dedicated to the spirits of ancestors. This Festival is held during July or August. The Japanese prepared special foods and bright red lanterns are hung everywhere. Candles are lit and placed into lanterns which are then set afloat on rivers and seas. During the Obon Festival, a fire is lit every night in order to show the ancestors where their families might be found. Obon is one of the main occasions during the Japanese year when the dead are believed to return to their birth place. Memorial stones are cleaned and dances performed by the community. Korea also have a similiar festival to Halloween called as â€Å"Chusok.† This Festival take place on August. During this period of time the families thank their ancestors for the fruits of their labor, by visiting their tombs and making offerings of rice and fruits. In Sweden, Halloween is known as Alla Helgons Dag and is celebrated from October 31st until November 6th. In this celebration the time of work is shorten. This also applied for universities, while for schools, they are given a day of vacation. Those activities are being shorten because people need time to prepare the eve and also to respect their ancestors, families and friends who have died. Many countries in this world celebrated Halloween. How they celebrate it and what are the names of the festival itself is depend on the country in which the Halloween is held. The dates are also different for each country. Despite the differences from each of every country, the purpose of the event itself stays the same, to respect the ancestors, families, relatives and friends that have died. History Of Halloween Halloween Bonfire Long time ago Halloween celebrated at the end of the harvest season in Celts culture. Celts is an ethnic of old irish who lived in Great Britain, Northern France and some other part in Europe. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their most respected god. Because sun made the earth beautiful and the crops grow. On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter, thecookingfires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests, would met in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would lighted new fires and offered sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would began. When the morning arrived, the Druids would gave an ember from their fires to each family who would then took them home to start new cooking fires. These fires would kept the homes warm and freed from evil spirits. The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1st. The November 1st festival was called Samhain. Samhainor â€Å"Samhuinn† is pronounced â€Å"sow-† as in female pig â€Å"-en† with the neutral vowel sound not â€Å"Sam Hain†, because â€Å"mh† in the middle of an Irish word is a â€Å"w† sound. But now, we know it as Halloween. This day mark the end of summer, the harvest, the beginning of the dark, cold winter and a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. The festival would last for 3 days, from October 31st until November 2nd. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each others fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening from the sacred bonfire to helped protecting them during the coming winter. During the first century, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory, Britain. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona which called as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and gardens. The Pomona was invariably portrayed as a beautiful maiden whose arms were filled with fruit and who wore a crown of apples upon her head. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of bobbing for apples that is practiced today on Halloween. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule, the customs of the Celtics Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed becoming one major fall holiday. The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church would make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the saints. The day was called All Saints Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows. Years later the Church would make November 2nd aholyday. It was called All Souls Day and was to honor the dead. It was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up as saints, angels and devils. But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their early customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31st, people continued to celebrate the festivals of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years the customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallows Eve, Halloween, and then Halloween. The Halloween we celebrate today includes all of these influences, Feralia and Pomona Days, the Festival of Samhains, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Symbolic Of Halloween Halloween Costumes When the time comes, certain things of Halloweens decoration will be used, so that the house will looks like a haunted house. Symbols related with Halloween such as pumpkin, apple, black cat, skeleton, bat, owl, witch, etc. are also commonly use for the decoration. Those symbols came from a myriad of origins and traditions. And every symbols have different meaning. The most common symbol of Halloween is pumpkins. However, the original celts carved the frightening faces into gourds or turnips, not in the pumpkins. They put a candle inside the gourds or turnips to light the way for a bite to rousting neighbors door-to-door for a donation to their cause. Along with the irish mass migration to the United States the turnips then replaced by potato famine. However, due to the scarcity of this potato, they changed it into a more accommodating fruit, pumpkins. They used pumpkins because the color of pumpkins is orange which also the color of Fire. As a Fire color, orange can helps to create change and brings about action. And the candles inside the pumpkins, represent the power of illumination, bringing light to the darkness which is in our soul and mind. Apples also became one of the symbols in Halloween Eve. Apples have been long associated with female deities with immortality, resurrection and knowledge. One reason being that if an apple is cut through its equator, it reveales a five-pointed star outlined at the center of each hemisphere, also known as a pentagram. Apples being one of the symbols in Halloween since the Roman invaded Britian, They hold honored Pomona or Pomona Day. Pomona was the Roman Goddess who presided over fruits and gardens. The Pomona that decribed as a beautiful maiden whose arms were filled with fruit and who wore a crown of apples upon her head. It is generally accepted that its from Pomona that the association of apples became aligned with Halloween. Bat is the one of scary symbol in Halloween Eve, they eat mosquitoes and have sharp incisor teeth to suck blood from its victim. This mammals were thought to indicate the presence of spirits or ghosts. Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition . There are some superstition related with a bat, the superstition is if a bat flew around a house three times on Halloween, death would be coming soon, but its just superstition. However in china red bats are symbols of long life, and amulets are worn as lucky charms to bring happiness. And Five red bats can also represent the five good fortunes of health, longevity, love, wealth and virtue. Black cats is the others of scary symbol in Halloween. Their so many reason why that animal being the symbols of Halloween. In this symbol the cat is black and black is a common color of mystery and the unknown. Black also considered to be an absorbing element- taking on off- kilter energies and transforming them into purer frequencies. Black cat described as Mysterious, precocious, sleuthy, and also able to see and stalk the darkest nights without aid of light. Because of that the cat has long been considered to be closely linked with otherworldly concepts. Indeed, many practitioners of energetic communication welcomed the company of felines as it was understood these creatures could serve as a facilitator to opening otherworld doors. Black cat have some superstition,and the superstition is if a black cat crosses your path its mean you have bad luck right now. Ironically if black cat walking towards you is considered lucky, while one walking away is said to be stealing your luck. The skeleton is a symbolic of Halloween that reminder of the remnants of life. And its also symbols of the death, disease and the shortness of earthly life. The part of skeleton is skull, bones, crossbones. The Skull represent the receptacle used in the process of transformation in alchemy, and it was powerful symbols invoking a heightened awarenees of our psychis potential. Bones considered with death, if we are death we just left the bones of our body. and the crossbones represent poision and danger to pirate. Owls have long been symbols of wisdom of an esoteric nature. Although the owl is a symbol of wisdom, it is feared by some cultures. Owls are related with night, sorcery, silence,death and the ability to seen the ghosts. Because owl hides in the darkness and fears the light it has often come to the symolize the â€Å"Prince of Darkness†. Usually owl are often associated with witches. At one time it was believed that the owls would swoop down on Halloween night and eat the soul of the dying. The Christians seen Gravestones are as a memorial to the people who already died, but others see it as the place where the world of the living meets the worlds of departed spirits. A long Times ago Gravestones actually is heavy rocks and boulders that were placed on graves, because they worried if the ghost rised from their grave, they used heavy rocks and boulders to keep the dead people rising from their grave. Blood also related with Halloween, because the Celts Culture as the origin this eve, believed that gods that controlled the forces of nature craved blood sacrifices human or animal. Just like Aztex culture when they priest lifting the heart he just cut from the chest of a living sacrifice. It could as well have been a Mayan priest or any other devotee of the cruel forces from the world of the occult. Another symbol that related with Halloween is Fire. Why fire become one of the symbol, it because one of the celts culture. During samhain the Druids used it for protection against bad spirits and they also doing ritual sacrifices to their gods. For the sacrifices they used animal or human. Fire also was symbolized warmth and protection as well as death and destruction to cultures around the world. Spider and Web has symbolized the weaving of life and the cyclical ways of nature. But in the Halloween, it point to dark, scary places, haunted by ghost and hidden from light and dust mops. Spiders are creatures considered to be endowed with supernatural qualities which make them harbingers of mystic energy. They so mystical because of their ability to weave webs, which has long been symbolic of time, fate progress and the representation of human journey (on both physical and philosophical levels). They also have eight legs, and the number eight is symbolic of cycles which would make the spiders presence during this time of year (symbolic of the transition between summer to winter) quite fitting. A universal symbol for departed spirits and occult visitations are Ghosts. These cookies, like the ghost-shaped sweets served at Mexicos Day of the Dead celebrations, tend to minimize the reality of spiritual warfare in post-Christian America. The decorative ghosts may be cute, but to the countless victims of demonic bondage and oppression, the spirit world is no joke. Witches have the power to preform rituals, evoke magic and concoct formulas and spells to connect with the spirit world and manipulate its forces. They called as mistress of the occult. Witches are gifted at energetic interpretations; and in ancient times their talents, perspectives and expertise would be called upon during this time of year for help in understanding messages from the non-physical side of life as well as forecasts for seasons ahead (long before the Farmers Almanac, there were soothsayers :-). And so, witches as a Halloween symbol are understandably vital to the occasion. From the Legends told, witches would gather twice a year when the seasons changed, before the end of April on the eve of May Day and on the eve of October 31st on the eve of Halloween. They would gather on that time because when the seasons changed Its a time to the Veil between mundane and magical are be quite thin and energies tend to take on more revealing forms. They came with their broomsticks, to celebrate with the devil. One of the superstitions told of witches casting spells on unsuspecting people, transforming themselves into different forms and causing other magical mischief. One of the superstitions also said that the only way to meet a witch, you had to put your clothes on the wrong side out and walk backwards at midnight, on Halloween night. Halloween Traditions When Halloween began there are some activities and common traditions that will be done at night. These activities already exists from long time ago, adapted from celts culture, and from other country that influenced with Halloween. Lets see the activities and common tradition when Halloween happen; v Bonfires On the night of Halloween, Celts would bring wood and start bonfires or fire festival on the hilltop. They would throw the bones of slaughtered cattle into flames, and young people would go from house to house asking for food offerings and kindling for the Samhain fires. The people would extinguish their heart fires and gather together to create large fires on sacred hilltops to honor and to give offerings to their gods. They used crops and the bones of animal as offerings to the gods which had been culled and then burnt in the fires. But thats not all, they also used personal and symbolic items for relief from sickness or bad fortune. They belived that Bonfires and sacrifices guaranteed the sun would shine brightly after a long, dreary winter. On that time it is only called as fire fest, but now in modern world, it become bonfire which comes from words bone and fire, meaning â€Å"fire of bones†. Long time ago Bonfires have superstition. The superstition of holding bonfires is to encourage dreams of who your future husband or wife going to be. When bonfires happen the person who want to see the future husband or wife, should drop a cutting of his hair into the burning embers and then, that person will dream about the future of his/her beloved one. v Halloween Costumes One of many traditions in Halloween is to wear costumes. This tradition is very common especially for children. On the night of Halloween, children would dress up in scary costumes and go to their neighbour, ‘Help the Halloween Party or doing ‘Trick or Treat. This tradition also related with celts, long time ago when celts held huge bonfires in hilltop, they dressing up in elaborate animal skins and heads to disguise themselves as spirit and devils so that the real ones couldnt distinguish them as being human. By distinguisting themselves, they hoped that they would be able to avoid being carried away at the end of the night. That ceremonies also consisted of dancing, telling stories, and reading fortunes. However popular histories of Halloween tell us the practice goes back to celts ancient, but in fact there is little primary documentation of masking or costuming on halloween before the twentieth century. Halloween costumes became popular for Halloween parties in America in the early 1900s, for both adults and children. Halloween Costumes are often designed to imitate supernatural and scary beings. The costumes are traditionally those of the symbol of Halloween such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, devils, and other. But now there are also customes of pop culture figures like presidents, from movie, televison, and also cartoon characters.  § Costumes for Children Children is the best object to try ware custome in halloween, they will look cute in many custome that related in halloween fest, but nowdays they will be used cartoon characters or movie and the others. Below here you can see the many customes that used by children when halloween;  § Costumes for Adult F:woman customes.jpgAnother popular trend for Halloween is for women and in some cases also for men, they use halloween costumes as an excuse to wear particularly revealing costumes, showing off more skin that would be socially acceptable otherwise. Below here you can see the many customes that used by women and men when halloween; v Carving Jack-O-Lanterns Halloween: Pumpkins on stepsThe traditions of carving jack-o-lanterns originated from the Celts. Jack-O-Lantern means â€Å"Jack of the Lantern†. This name is based on the Irish legend that tells a man named Jack who could not enter heaven or hell. Jack could not enter heaven or hell because of his own fault. According to the story, jack invited the devil to have a drink with him. But jack didnt have money to pay the drink, so he made the devil to changed himself into a coin so that jack could use the coin to buy drinks. And the devil did it, after the devil changed into a golden coin, jack paid his drink. Jack then decided to kept the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the devil from changing back to his original form. After that, Jack freed the devil, but in one condition, the devil must promised to him, that he would not bother him for one year and if jack died, the devil would not claim his soul and then he can entered the heaven. After one year, the devil came up and jack tricked the devil again to climbed a tree to pick a fruit. While the devil was climbing the tree, jack carved a sign of cross on the tree so the devil could not came down. Jack promised to the devil, he could erased that sign under one condition, that the devil would not bother him for ten more years. When Jack died, God would not allow such an unsavory figure like jack into heaven, and when jack tricked the devil he said that if he died, the devil would not claim his soul. And devil did his promise to jack and kept his words, not to claim his soul which means not to allowed Jack went into hell. Because of these situations, Jack could not enter heaven nor hell. So he was sent into the dark night. When he walked, he found a coal and put that coal into a carved-out turnip to lighted his way. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as Jack of the Lantern, and then, to put it more simply, Jack OLantern. To keep him away, local villagers would carve scary faces into turnips and place them in their windows. Thus, the flickering flames from the Jack-O-Lantern eventually became associated with the spirits of the dead. v Trick or Treat The custom of trick or treating evolved in Ireland, centuries ago. In preparation for All Hollows Eve, the the poor people would go door to door upon the rich folks and receiving money, gifts or food in return for prayers for the dead on all souls day. The food was gathered for a huge feast and celebration. But now Trick-or-treatingis acustom traditionforchildrenonHalloween. Children will come wear scary costumefromhouseto house, and asking for treats such ascandy, or sometimesmoney, with the question, Trick or treat?. The trick is an idle threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property, such as eggs and flour being thrown at householders windows if no treat is given. In the North America, trick or treating is one of the main traditions of Halloween and it has become common socially expected that if somebody lives in a neighborhood with children, they should gave treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters. Trick-or-Treats already existed in Britian and Ireland, where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cake. This tradition is done in theUnited States,United Kingdom,Canada,Ireland,Puerto Rico, and centralMexico. In Mexico trick-or-treating called as calaverita, its a spanish language that meaning is â€Å"little skul†. Then the children will ask their neighbor â€Å"me da mi calaverita?†, in english means can you give me my little skull?. In the last twenty years, this tradition has spread to other countries, such asItaly,AustraliaandNew Zealand, possibly because of U.S. American TV shows and movies in those countries. v A Party Of Departed Spirits The idea is to ask your friends or relatives to come as the ghost of some famous deceased character. Each of them must bring a pumpkin lantern as their ticket of admission. When all guests are assembled, announce that the first game will be guessing the ghosts. Number each person, then furnish pen and paper for the contest. Award a prize to the one who guesses the most correctly. v Sailing Walnut Boat Boats are made from the empty walnut shells. In each is fastened a short piece of brightly-colored candle, along with the name of someone at the party. Light the candle and set it afloat with others in a tub. The boat bearing the candle first extinguished on its own will denote a bachelor or an old maid. v Ghosting, a.k.a. Boo-ing Ghosting is fast becoming a popular Halloween tradition in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and other countries as well. Depending on your location, the new custom may be known as Ghosting, or Boo-ing but the concept is the same. Ghosting is a fun way to spread the Halloween spirit among friends and neighbors. This activity can begin any time in October but the first or second week of the month is the best, allowing sufficient time for the entire neighborhood to be ghosted. v Halloween Games  § Apple Bobbing, Ducking For Apples or Snap Apple Apple bobbing also known as bobbing for apples, and its have different name in some county depend where do you celebrate Halloween. In Scotland Apple bobbing called as â€Å"Ducking For Apples†, and in Ireland, they called â€Å"Snap Apple†. It is a game customarily played on Hallooween. The game will be played if the tub or a large basin fill with water and apples. They chose apples as the material because apples are less dense than water, they will float at the surface. The players try to catch one apples inside the tub without use of hands to secure an apple in their mouth. Ducking For Apples in scotland, they play the same game with apple bobbing but before they throw the apple onto a basin they place a dime in one apple, a ring in another and a button in the third. These denote fortune, marriage and single blessedness. And Mix these apples in a large tub with as many others as will fit. After that the rule and the next step of the game is the same with the apple bobbing, the difference is that after they catch the apple., the player must then pare their apples, trying not to break the paring strip. The apple paring is thrown over the left shoulder and is then said to form the first initial of the parers life mate. bobbingIn Ireland, Snap Apples usually do not use tub or large basin, they only use apples. The apples will be suspended from a string and the players are blindfolded. The First players to get decent bite of the apple gets to keep the prize or reward. But sometimes they also played as the same game by placing apples in a basin of water and trying to get an apple with their mouth without using hands. This traditions came from the Roman goddess Pomona who presided over fruits and gardens. The Pomona that decribed as a beautiful maiden whose arms were filled with fruit and who wore a crown of apples upon her head. And this game is an important part of the celtic when families would gather for a communal feast at samhain fest. The people belived where whoever bites the apple first in the group will be the first to marry, and girls who place the apple they bobbed under their pillows are said to dream of their future lover.  § Candle Blowing Candle is related with Blowing. Candle is one of the very famous Halloween fortune game on Halloween. Light of the candle can set the mood for a mystical future predicting exercise, which can involve a lot of people, depend on the candles you have. For this game we can use colored candles. To make this game more exiting, you can call a lot of people to participate in this game. And you can get to know predictions on peoples personal life through this candle game. Blindfold the players and then let them blow out a candle, the number of puffs required to extinguish the flame governing the number of years before the players marriage. If you want to play this game, just prepare a silk cloth blindfold, a table, a matchbox and three candles. For the candles you can chose different color because every color have different meaning, but you should pick the candle pink, green, and orange colors. After you already prepared it all, light three cand

Tupac Shakur Is Still Alive Essay -- essays research papers

Tupac Shakur Is Still Alive   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On September 7, 1996, Tupac Amaru Shakur was riding in the passenger side of a black BMW driven by Marion Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records. Tupac and Suge had just finished watching Mike Tyson defeat Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tupac was standing up through the sunroof while the car was stopped at a traffic light. The Cadillac containing the gunmen passed an entourage of Tupac’s allies, many of them bodyguards. Four unidentified men pulled alongside Suge’s car, fired 13 rounds, and sped away. No one gives chase and there were no witnesses on the street. How come? Why not, especially after a heavyweight fight? Tupac was shot in multiple places including his pelvis, hand, and torso. Suge was grazed in the head w/ a slug of a bullet fragment. On Friday, September 13, 1996, he was reportedly pronounced dead at 4:03 p.m. at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. But, did he really die? There are many suspicious deta ils about his departure that contribute to this theory. It is supposed that Tupac is still alive b/c of things said before and after his death, actions done before and after his death, and other reports.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I got a big money scheme, and you ain’t even wit’ it,† 2Pac states in the song â€Å"I Ain’t Mad At Cha.† 2Pac certainly earned a lot of money by faking his death. His LP All Eyez On Me (1996), rap’s first 2 disc album, shot back up to the Billboard top 10 in the weeks following his death. His latest CD, The Don Killuminati: The Seven-Day Theory, recorded under the alias Makaveli, debuted on the Billboard charts as the number one album in the nation. By selling 664,000 copies, it surpassed the â€Å"gold† plateau in one week and is now a multi-platinum hit. Sales of his other CD’s also increased dramatically, w/ his third solo album, Me Against the World (1995), actually climbing back onto the Billboard charts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Las Vegas is a payoff city, meaning all sorts of folks have been known to be on the take, like lawyers, doctors, press, etc. When Tupac was in the Las Vegas hospital and one of his lungs was removed, the doctors were tight-lipped about his condition. One nurse made the public statement that Tupac would live and that she was positive of it. The fact that a trained medical professional state... ...ere canceled in Los Angeles and Atlanta, both of which were open to the public.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One counterargument that may mislead people into thinking that Tupac is still alive is the fact that an autopsy picture and report were released. Have you ever been standing in a grocery line and happen to see The National Inquirer? Well, if so, then you know how pictures can be altered, right? Also, on the autopsy report, it states that he weighed 215 pounds when he only weighed 168. Not only that, but it also declares that he was 6’ 2† when he was only 5’10†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another counterargument that is trying to disprove his still being alive is that his mother is going around the country speaking of her son’s death. Of course she or anyone for that fact, that knows that he is still alive isn’t going to admit it. He supposedly faked his death, then why would anyone blow his cover by admitting that he is still around?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once one summarizes all the evidence, the things said before and after his death, actions before and after his death, among other reports, it becomes obvious that Tupac Amaru Shakur is not dead.