Vigilant and vigilante

Vigilant and vigilante Civil policing arrangements aim at restoring justice within the society through the use of social justice structures. Capehart and Milovanovic suggest that the restoration of justice requires the reliability of the social structures and institutions within the society to operate efficiently and autonomously (2007). Further from relying on the social justice systems to punish offenders, members of the society are often asked to become vigilant. However, this has resulted into the sprouting of vigilante groups within the society that take upon themselves to deliver justice. Being vigilant refers to being extra careful about ones safety within their immediate environment. This will require the adoption of some safety practices such as walking with a flash light at night or getting home early. By being vigilant, individuals aim at shielding themselves from falling into any imminent danger within their immediate environment. On the other hand, a vigilante is a group composed of individuals that enforce the law on their own accord. Vigilantes seek justice in their self-developed style that is often quite different from the civil laws. Secondly, by being vigilant, an individual does not bestow any powers to punish upon themselves but rather seek to view their immediate environment with more clarity. Vigilantes bestow powers upon themselves by prescribing to other members on the modes of punishment within the society whereby lack of proper social structures could negatively impact on the society. Lastly, vigilantes are a response to a security deficit issue within the society. This deficit results into the unity among the societys members to bridge the justice gap. However, being vigilant is an individual response in an effort to boost ones safety (Capeheart Milovanovic 2007). References Capeheart, L Milovanovic, D 2007, Social Justice: Theories, Iss. Mvmts, Rutgers UP, Michigan.

HIV, homosexuality and poverty Essay

Human lives are rented, thus, for every action there is a consequence that must be paid. At the same time, life should be maximized before death claims its dues. Just like the craft of Jonathan Larson, the musical RENT portrays every character trying to find and create meaning in a life full of cruel realities. Their avant-gardism approach in life revolved on how they struggle to make something out of their skills and talents by drawing out their purpose of their life. The musical is a colorful illustration of how the lives of the struggling artists are interconnected by the issues of HIV, homosexuality, and poverty. In the middle of a highly urbanized New York, the characters are shaped by their eclectic beliefs and plunged into a never-ending search of their lives’ purpose. It is depicted in RENT that the search continues despite of the chaos which encapsulated their ambitions and goals as artists. Their difficulties are further aggravated because they are part of issues which set them apart from the society, making it harder for them to survive in the corporate environment of New York. RENT centralized the characters as part of the marginalized sector of the society. Their lives revolved around coping with sexually transmitted disease, fighting off the taboos of same sex relationships, and the miserable impoverished state of their residence. As the characters battled against these circumstances, the story continues to focus on the bonds of their friendship and unrequited love. The issues of STD, poverty, and homosexuality are central to the plot of the musical and portrayed how the characters revolved around these aspects. Four of the characters namely Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel are all HIV positive. Though masked by their lively and merry performances and songs, they’ve been struggling with the illness as its effects are felt by the time it slowly robbed them off their loved-ones’ lives. Based on the film, it gives the impression that HIV is prevalent in the community where they live in. HIV somehow symbolizes the illness that surrounds the characters, their illness to survive and thrive for life’s purpose. The scene of the second Life Support meeting showed other HIV positives, asking how they ought to move on with their life even though their days are numbered. Amidst the experiences of being sick, the Life Support group still holds importance for self-preservation. To pursue a life of dignity despite of the prejudices and judgments that should be dealt with having sexually transmitted disease. They openly expressed their fear of isolation and death itself as the disease slowly eats them up inside. HIV is presented as a disease which penetrates into society as a challenge to preserve their lives and change their meaningless life. Two pairs of characters are engaged in same-sex relationship. The open-mindedness displayed by people in East Side Manhattan as bohemians when they tolerated this relationship despite of it as being considered a taboo in the society, was portrayed in the movie. Homosexuality is being exercised freely in the community where the characters moved around. One can see that the other person within the same-sex relationship portrays a character to become similar with heterosexual relationship more. Such example of this would be the cross-dresser Angel and the lawyer Joanne who dressed in coat and tie. Though affections are openly exchanged in the same-sex relationship, the idea of cross-dressing for a man to look like a woman and vice-versa, is a way they used to blend into the society just like normal couple. The film portrayed that it was easier for the characters of Maureen and Joanne, and Tom and Angel to be homosexual couples when one of them dressed the part. It can be seen how society’s opinions against homosexual have been prevalent and by portraying some of the characters as cross-dressers, it made the homosexual relationships a bit subtle. RENT , first and foremost revolved around the lofty apartment wherein the characters lived in. They faced the danger of having their home being evicted due to the plans of building a digital studio and an extra lot. From the film, the East Side Manhattan is a residence to a lot of people struggling financially, and spiritually. Its impoverished state will be aggravated when Benny announced their eviction and he gave the condition to his friends that the rent will be free if Maureen’s protest will be stopped. As the story progressed revolving on this particular plot, the sceneries in the musical showed a great amount of poverty surrounding the apartment and Maureen knows that building the digital studio entails a displacement of a lot of the residents leaving no place for them to consider as home. It can be said that poverty, in the musical, has been presented as the root cause of the artists’ struggle to hopefully uplift themselves not just from the slums they live in but from the restless lifestyle that they have. Their struggles to carry out their ambitions equates with their impoverished soul that hungers for direction and sense out of life. It presented a gap as well between Mark, Roger, and Benny. Having married the daughter’s landowner, Benny alleviated from the kind of life that he shared with his former roommates. In a scene where all of them are inside Life Cafe, Benny told them to steer their life into purpose by making a move that showed maturity and responsibility, not the same laid-back attitudes that most of the character has. To alleviate from poverty, it is the same as finding direction in life. RENT is definitely a mirror of life itself, for all of us share the same struggles to be as carefree as we can and at the same time, to find our place in this world. The musical touched the realities which every human being may encounter, in a certain way or another. The importance that this film has pointed out is that the rented life that God bestowed should be felt in its full advantage. An individual’s role in the earth may be difficult to achieve because this is not a tangible thing that can be grasped by hand or can be seen by the naked eye. RENT focused on the concept that life can be measured by love. That love can be the very thing that an individual has been searching for all of his or her existence. For love, is one of the things that can not be bought nor rented, it is one of the aspects that can measure the purpose of one’s life.

Education for Rizal… Education for me… Essay

Every now and then my parents keep on telling me that my education should be in the number one slot in my list of priorities. They keep on telling me that I should put a great deal on finishing my studies. They say (like every parents say), it is the only thing they could leave to us when they pass away. So, without thinking about it thoroughly, this idea was instilled in my mind right away. But now that we were asked to write our idea about education and relate it with Rizals, this may serve as an opportunity for me to assess and reinforce this thought. As what the books say, the importance of education is quite clear. Education is the knowledge of putting one’s potentials to maximum use. One can safely say that a human being is not in the proper sense till he is educated. The training of a human mind is not complete without education. Education makes man a right thinker. It tells man how to think and how to make decision. Only through the attainment of education, man is enabled to receive information from the external world; to acquaint himself with past history and receive all necessary information regarding the present. Without education, man is as though in a closed room and with education he finds himself in a room with all its windows open towards outside world. The thought that education is indeed very critical for a nation to be at its best is not new to us. Right? Even our national hero has a say on this. In his works and writings, his educational philosophy is the most emphasized. Philosophy may be defined as the study and pursuit of facts which deal with the ultimate reality or causes of things as they affect life. Rizals concept of the importance of education is clearly enunciated in his work entitled Instruction wherein he sought improvements in the schools and in the methods of teaching. He maintained that the backwardness of his country during the Spanish era was not due to the Filipinos indifference, apathy or indolence as claimed by the rulers, but to the neglect of the Spanish authorities in the islands. For Rizal, the mission of education is to elevate the country to the highest seat of glory and to develop the peoples mentality. Since education is the foundation of society and a prerequisite for social progress, Rizal claimed that only through education could the country be saved from domination. Rizals philosophy of education, therefore, centers on the provision of proper motivation in order to strengthen the great social forces that make education a success, to create in the youth an innate desire to cultivate his intelligence and give him life eternal. Another thing, Rizal also sees education as the basis for his idea of an ideal Filipino. We can even observe in all his works and writings education plays a very important role. His characters are greatly shaped by education. For instance, in his Noli Me Tangere, the character of Crisostomo Ibarra, the elements of knowledge and education is clearly depicted. This is the reason why it is said that Ibarra is the character representation of Jose Rizal. He used education as a means towards attaining his aim of Philippine independence. Upon searching for our report in PI which is the Second Wave of Rizals Travels, I came across his letter to the women of Malolos. This letter is a way of extending his admiration to the said women. This also make my previous statements true, Rizal really puts much value on education. In this letter of his, Rizal pleads to the mothers for them to teach their children to love our mother nation and to fight for our liberty. Through this end also, our children will be able to acquire their worthy education. The thoughts of Rizal on education and how he used it as weapon for attaining Philippines independence made me realize its true meaning and importance. I remember, when I was still young, education for me is being able to go to school, nothing more. But it is a whole heap more. Education is a word with too many dimensions, too many to mention. Education plays an important role in the progress of an individuals mind and country. Ignorance and poverty are major speed-breakers in the swift developing country and can be overcome easily through education. You cant really call yourself educated if you can read and write or get flat 1s in every subject. A person who is educated has a certain atmosphere around him, of dignity and wisdom. If you are educated, you dont need to abide by the facts that the book recites, or follow Aristotles philosophy. Like Jose Rizal, an educated person builds on the facts the book says and has his own philosophy. If you are educated, you cant have a wrong philosophy. Education is everything. People are made aware of what is going on in the wide world and can understand these issues and take necessary measures. The quality of human resource of a nation is easily judged by the number of literate population living in it. This is to say that education is a must if a nation aspires to achieve growth and development and more importantly sustain it. This may well explain the fact that rich and developed nations of the world have very high literacy rate and productive human resource. In fact these nations have started imparting selective training and education programs so as to meet the new technical and business demands of the 21st century. The importance of education cannot be neglected by any nation. And in todays world, the role of education has become even more vital. It is an absolute necessity for economic and social development of any nation. Source:Life, Ideas, and Works or Rizal by Zalde.

Medieval Food Preservation Methods

For centuries before the medieval period, and for centuries afterward, human beings in all parts of the world used a variety of methods to preserve foods for later consumption. Europeans in the Middle Ages were no exception. A society that was largely agrarian would be keenly aware of the need to store up provisions against the ominous threats of famine, drought, and warfare. The possibility of disaster wasnt the only motive for preserving food. Dried, smoked, pickled, honeyed, and salted foods had their own particular flavors, and many recipes survive detailing how to prepare foods that have been stored with these methods. Preserved foods were also much easier for the sailor, soldier, merchant, or pilgrim to transport. For fruits and vegetables to be enjoyed out of season, they had to be preserved; and in some regions, a particular foodstuff could only be enjoyed in its preserved form, because it didnt grow (or wasnt raised) nearby. Virtually any kind of food could be preserved. How it was done depended on what type of food it was and whether a particular effect was desired. Here are some of the methods of food preservation used in medieval Europe. Drying Foods to Preserve Them Today we understand that moisture allows for the rapid microbiological growth of bacteria, which is present in all fresh foods and which causes them to decay. But it isnt necessary to understand the chemical process involved in order to observe that food that is wet and left in the open will quickly start to smell and attract bugs. So it should come as no surprise that one of the oldest methods of preserving foods known to man is that of drying it. Drying was used to preserve all sorts of foods. Grains like rye and wheat were dried in the sun or air before being stored in a dry place. Fruits were sun-dried in warmer climes and oven-dried in cooler regions. In Scandinavia, where temperatures were known to plunge below freezing in the winter, cod (known as stockfish) were left out to dry in the cold air, usually after they were gutted and their heads were removed. Meat could also be preserved through drying, usually after cutting it into thin strips and lightly salting it. In warmer regions, it was a simple matter to dry meat under the hot summer sun, but in cooler climates, air drying could be done at most times of the year, either outdoors or in shelters that kept away the elements and flies. Preserving Foods With Salt Salting was the most common way to preserve virtually any type of meat or fish, as it drew out the moisture and killed the bacteria. Vegetables might be preserved with dry salt, as well, though pickling was more common. Salt was also used in conjunction with other methods of preservation, such as drying and smoking. One method of salting meat involved pressing dry salt into pieces of meat, then layering the pieces in a container (like a keg) with dry salt completely surrounding each piece. If meat was preserved this way in cold weather, which slowed down the decomposition while the salt had time to take effect, it could last for years. Vegetables were also preserved by layering them in salt and placing them in a sealable container such as an earthenware crock. Another way to preserve food with salt was to soak it in a salt brine. While not as effective a long-term method of preservation as packing in dry salt, it served very well to keep food edible through a season or two. Salt brines were also part of the pickling process. Whatever method of salt preservation was used, the first thing a cook did when he got ready to prepare the salted food for consumption was soaking it in fresh water to remove as much of the salt as possible. Some cooks were more conscientious than others when it came to this step, which could take several trips to the well for fresh water. And it was next to impossible to remove all the salt, no matter how much soaking was done. Many recipes took this saltiness into account, and some were designed specifically to counteract or complement the salt flavor. Still, most of us would find preserved medieval food much saltier than anything were used to today. Smoking Meat and Fish Smoking was another fairly common way to preserve meat, especially fish and pork. Meat would be cut into relatively thin, lean strips, immersed briefly in a salt solution  and hung over a fire to absorb the smoke flavoring as it dried — slowly. Occasionally meat might be smoked without a salt solution, especially if the type of wood burned had a distinctive flavoring of its own. However, salt was still very helpful because it discouraged flies, inhibited the growth of bacteria, and hastened the removal of moisture. Pickling Foods Immersing fresh vegetables and other foods in a liquid solution of salt brine was a fairly common practice in medieval Europe. In fact, although the term pickle didnt come into use in English until the late Middle Ages, the practice of pickling goes back to ancient times. Not only would this method preserve fresh food for months so that it could be eaten out of season, but it could infuse it with strong, piquant flavors. The simplest pickling was done with water, salt and an herb or two, but a variety of spices and herbs as well as the use of vinegar, verjuice or (after the 12th century) lemon led to a range of pickling flavors. Pickling might require boiling the foods in the salt mixture, but it could also be done by simply leaving the food items in an open pot, tub or vat of salt brine with the desired flavorings for hours and sometimes days. Once the food had been thoroughly infused by the pickling solution, it was placed in a jar, crock, or another airtight container, sometimes with a fresh brine but often in the juice in which it had marinated. Confits Although the term confit has come to refer to virtually any food that has been immersed in a substance for preservation (and, today, can sometimes refer to a type of fruit preserve), in the Middle Ages confits were potted meat. Confits were most usually, but not solely, made from fowl or pork (fatty fowl like goose were particularly suitable). To make a confit, the meat was salted and cooked for a very long time in its own fat, then allowed to cool in its own fat. It was then sealed up -- in its own fat, of course -- and stored in a cool place, where it could last for months. Confits should not be confused with comfits, which were sugar-coated nuts and seeds eaten at the end of a banquet to freshen the breath and aid the digestion. Sweet Preserves Fruits were often dried, but a far more tasty method of preserving them past their season was to seal them up in honey. Occasionally, they might be boiled in a sugar mixture, but sugar was an expensive import, so only the cooks of the wealthiest families were likely to use it. Honey had been used as a preservative for thousands of years, and it wasnt limited to preserving fruit; meats were also stored in honey on occasion. Fermentation Most methods of preserving food involved stopping or slowing down the process of decay. Fermentation accelerated it. The most common product of fermentation was alcohol -- wine was fermented from grapes, mead from honey, beer from grain. Wine and mead could keep for months, but beer had to be drunk fairly quickly. Cider was fermented from apples, and the Anglo-Saxons made a drink called perry from fermented pears. Cheese is also a product of fermentation. Cows milk could be used, but the milk from sheep and goats was a more common source for cheese in the Middle Ages. Freezing and Cooling The weather of the greater part of Europe throughout much of the Middle Ages was rather temperate; in fact, there is often some discussion of the medieval warm period overlapping the end of the Early Middle Ages and the beginning of High Medieval Europe (the exact dates depend on who you consult). So freezing was not an obvious method of preserving foods. However, most areas of Europe did see snowy winters, and freezing was at times a viable option, especially in northern regions. In castles and large homes with cellars, an underground room could be used to keep foods packed in winter ice through the cooler spring months and into the summer. In the long, frigid Scandinavian winters, an underground room wasnt necessary. Supplying an ice-room with ice was a labor-intensive and sometimes travel-intensive business, so it was not particularly common; but it wasnt completely unknown, either. More common was the use of underground rooms to keep foods cool, the all-important last step of most of the above preservation methods.