Internet security Essay Example for Free

Internet security Essay In the developed and developing world, the use of the internet has increased in popularity. The use of the internet has become the preferred mode of communication and resources for various players like industries, corporations, telecommunications, and governments and in business. In business, the internet has facilitated financial transactions that have greatly changed the face of business making it fast and simple and in conformation to the global village the technology has created. With the increased use of the internet, there has been a corresponding increase in cyber crime from criminals who are seeking either financial gains or other advantages for example military. The frequency of these attacks is very high and the levels of sophistication used are great . This makes it difficult for many organizations to determine new threats, their risk factors and ways of dealing with the menace (Cetron, et al, 2009). Many times it is difficult for the organizations to determine which attacks to deal with first and how to allocate resources to deal with them. In the commercial sector, attacks on electronic financial transactions have resulted in great financial losses and corresponding reductions in user confidence. Electronic transactions consist of funds transfers, data interchange, trade confirmations and benefits transfers. Many crimes that occur have plagued the industry for years like theft, service denial, extortion demands or fraud. Technology has however; greatly magnified the ability of major crimes to be committed in a matter of seconds. Electronic security is an industry that is growing and becoming globalised. This industry offers services in the categories of assessment, access and utilization. To demonstrate the severity of attacks on April, 2009, Chinese and Russian spies managed to infiltrate the United States of America electrical grid and inserted disruptive software into the system (Cetron, et al, 2009). An attack which occurred prior to this one on September 2008 would have caused the collapse of the global economy were it not for intervention. Unidentified hackers robbed the lucrative American financial market accounts a total of five hundred and fifty million dollars in a little less than two hours. If the accounts would not have been closed by the Treasury Department they would have lost almost six trillion dollars. This would have caused the global economy to collapse in approximately twenty four hours. One security threat is phishing. Phishing involves the acquisition of sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, usernames and pin numbers. It makes its presentation as being a legal entity. The unsuspecting victims are lured by receiving communications which purport to be from a popular website or payment processors. It is usually done through instant messaging services or emails (Shu-Min Shann-Bin, 2006). These communications directs the users to enter their details at a fraudulent website which bears a great semblance to the authentic one. Phishing attacks were observed on two popular brands which provide payment services for banks globally in the United States of America in February 2010. The fraudsters created phishing sites in English and other languages, the most popular being French. These websites targeted customers by sending spam mails with the subject proving the card number and claiming that there was a risk of fraudulent transactions taking place. This attack was created using two types of phishing websites. The first utilised Uniform Resource Locators which were created with domain names with many top level domain variants. The most popular domain which was utilised was . cz which represented the Czech Republic. Upon entering their sensitive information into a card holder page for the false verification, the page redirected to the real website. The second attack utilised Uniform Resource Locators with Internet Protocol domains which were hosted on servers based in the United States (Glaessner, 2002). The Uniform Resource Locators’ strings were very long, typically with more than seven hundred characters. The pages asked for sensitive data but had an auto signed debit card or credit card number. This auto signing was done by placing stolen numbers of cards obtained from earlier attacks on the form. Upon receipt of information the page was redirected to a blank page. Cross site scripting is a form of phishing that occurs in programs or websites that allow user input. If the input data is not properly sanitized the program may then process thee input or execute the codes which the original program was not to do. This has been used to redirect users to fake websites. Users are advised not to click on suspicious links in emails and to check the Uniform Resource Locator’s of the website to authenticate brands. It is also advised that one should type the brand domain name directly into the browser address instead of following links. The use of security software has also been recommended. Pharming involves redirecting the redirection of websites traffic and taking it to a false website. Pharming is done by either converting the hosts file on the victims’ computer or exploiting Domain Name Systems servers’ software (Basu, 2009). These Domain Names Systems servers main task is to convert internet names to their real addresses. A compromised server therefore does not direct traffic to legitimate websites. Highly vulnerable sites of compromised are near internet leaves. If wrong entries on a computer’s host file are made it results in circumvention of name lookup using its own name to Internet Protocol mapping, this makes it a popular target for malware. Once it is rewritten a user can be redirected to a fake copy. The better targets for pharming are desktop computers as they receive poor administration in comparison to most other internet services. Host file compromises can compromise the network router. Many routers specify Domain Name Systems to clients on the network and wrong information here spoils the entire local area network. A compromise in routers is very hard to detect. Pharming also occurs by infecting the victim’s computer with malware or a virus. This causes the redirection of a website to a fake one. An unsuspecting user may enter information site unaware. To avoid pharming, users are advised to search for details that prove that the website is authentic. Typing the sites address into the browser bar also offers some protection. Use of an antivirus to reduce virus infiltration into the computers is also recommended. Vigilance is important in warding off attacks. Trojan horses are also a great threat to internet security. Trojan horses present themselves as valuable software which is available for downloading on the internet. This fools many people into downloading the virus in the presumption that it is another application. A Trojan horse is usually separated into parts which are the client and the server. The client is usually disguised as important software and is situated in some sharing networks like peer to peer or uncertified websites for downloads. As soon as the client Trojan is executed in the computer, the attacker who is the person operating the server has great control over the computer and can destroy it depending on his purpose. The spread of the Trojan horse virus can occur through email attachments using various spamming techniques. Malware creators spread the virus through chat software like Skype and Yahoo Messenger. The virus may also infect other machines by distributing copies of itself to those in the address book of the infected computer. There are many types of Trojan horses. Remote access Trojans give attackers complete control of he victim’s computer and access to any information stored in the files. Password Trojans copy all passwords and look for passwords as they are keyed into a computer and send them to a certain email address. Key loggers log the keystrokes used by victims and send the log information to the attacker and can be configured to online and offline modes of recording. Destructive Trojans cause destructions to files and deletes them completely from infected computers. They are able to delete all system files of a computer (Basu, 2009). While there are other types of Trojans not mentioned here, it should be noted that a Trojan may work with a combination of some of the functionalities explained. To best avoid a Trojan hose virus attack, one should open email attachments or files received from strange senders. Installing and updating an antivirus program is also helpful. For secure electronic online transactions certain criteria have to be addressed and met. There must be secure access control which determines who has access to a system and be able to deny access to intruders. Proper authentication of users and message integrity must also be established. Privacy of the parties involved must also be safeguarded and maintained (Shu-Min Shann-Bin, 2006). Non-repudiation must be ensured where the sender cannot deny (falsely) sending a message. The use of online signatures has also been manipulated to commit fraud. Electronic signatures are a recognized electronic way of showing that a person has accepted the contents of a message sent electronically. These signatures are increasingly being used in electronic commerce and have evolved into digitized signatures which are encrypted and more secure than a simple electronic signature. While they are themselves subject to fraud the purpose of their creation was to combat fraud (Hansen, 1995). Electronic signatures are based on legal principles which have to be understood by the institutions which wish to use it. The use of digital signatures is a code that authenticates the origins of a document. A well done electronic signature causes the signer to be uniquely identified. It also causes the document to be locked using encryption technology and is electronically stamped throughout the process with time and date. It also stores the document for access without fear of being lost or its existence denied. The security of electronic financial transactions can also be enhanced by the use of digital certificates against phishing and pharming. To avoid manipulation of transactions in signature based online banking, utility of Class-3 electronic card readers should be explored. Virus scanners should be used to protect from Trojan horses. Care when downloading software should be exercised. With the mass adoption of technology, countries around the world are increasingly using technological based solutions to address their needs and carry out their functions. The use of the internet has created a highly competitive market. While cyber crime has not infiltrated or integrated itself equally in many countries it is an industry that is growing very fast and deserves much global attention (Shu-Min Shann-Bin, 2006). As earlier discussed, it has the potential of destroying whole markets and creating great havoc. Attempts to control cyber crime have not been concerted. Many challenges have arisen in trying to control this threat. Technology is a fast changing and cyber crime has achieved very high levels of sophistication. Cyber criminals have designed malware which are virtually undetectable and are difficult to diagnose. It has proved challenging to design and keep up with these creations (Glaessner, 2002). Due to the high levels of vulnerability to cyber attacks there is an urgent need to formulate clear policies. These policies should include guidelines on how to cyber crime is to be dealt with. This should include coming up with laws that will outline prosecution of cyber criminals due to the potential of these criminals to create damage and go unpunished and detected. Users of the internet and the various services it offers should also assume personal responsibility for their own safety (Cetron, et al, 2009). Studies have shown that the ‘human factor’ is largely the cause of the success of cyber crime rather than advancements in technology. In the United States, despite various public campaigns on internet security, people continue to be reckless with their personal information. This leaves them very vulnerable to attacks by cyber criminals. Predictions have been made that incidences of cyber crime will continue to increase. Users should therefore be very vigilant in monitoring their information. Software to combat cyber crime is available and users should take the initiative to acquire this software to alert them of suspicious websites or claims. They should also regularly update their software like antivirus which is highly dynamic due to the creation of new viruses and malware that occurs at a very high rate (almost daily). In conclusion, electronic financial transactions have created great savings in terms of financial savings for both providers and users and reduced the wastage of time. The use of this technology has correspondingly exposed its users newer forms of crime and every effort must be made to combat cyber crime.

Photography boundaries and uses

Photography boundaries and uses Photography from its very beginning served in a beneficial manner to democratize portraiture, expanding its boundaries and traditional uses. It no longer remained as an exclusive privilege of the aristocracy, the only class to afford it. By expanding its periphery, photographic portraiture not only complicated its function, but raised several intriguing issues in the new domains it spread to. By far, it complicated issues of identity and self-representation. Portraiture which was a means of re-asserting social status now opened up questions of gender, sexuality, and ethnicity. So how did portraiture overcome its narrow boundaries? It is important for us here, to trace a brief history of the creation of identity in photographic portraiture because our modern vision of constructing identities has important historical precedents. The development of photographic portraiture occurs at a unique point in history the time of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America. It thus coincided with the ascendency of the middle class into the domains of finance and culture. The newly acquired wealth of the bourgeoisie was spent lavishly on all kinds of goods, mostly in a way to emulate the lifestyle of the aristocracy. Just as a king would inscribe his victory pillar with his achievements to stand against the tide of time, the newly emerging bourgeoisie etched their arrival on the photographic paper. It is to be borne in mind that portraits were always meant for public display and enter into a dialogue with the world at large, even when they were limited to private consumption. Representing their opulent lifestyle in the portraits, the bourgeoisie at one stroke could visually affirm their social status to the world at large, as well as pose a constant challenge to the aristocratic monopoly of signs. Photographic portraiture during this time (mid 19th century) could basically be divided into the bourgeois family photo and individuals (men) of great success (not those who enjoy greater rights and privileges due to high birth). This clearly demarcated the private and the public sphere of the bourgeoisie. The middle-class ideals of the family and success were comprehensively treated in the photographic studios of the major cities where, the bourgeois body was situated within a network of cultural, social and ideological relations. Through these discourses between the body and the camera, a moral icon was being cultivated. There began to emerge a set of codes vis-à  -vis posture, expression, lighting, dress, etc which were evoking a middle-class cultural ideal. These were aimed to be an inspirational and moral source for the working classes. It was in the portrait of the family that struggles over representation of gender and interaction between the sexes began to peek its head. Although during Enlightenment there was a universal climate of liberty and equality and a general freedom for the woman, it was contested by a large majority of male thinkers. Historically significant writings of Rousseau and studies in the Encyclopaedia of the latter half of the 18th century conclude on the basis of female biological dispositions, that women are â€Å"unequal but complementary partner of men†, â€Å"the destiny of women is to have children and nourish them.† The emerging middle-class reformers and professionals by the 19th century had idealized the structure of family and pre-disposed social roles on the basis of gender, through the field of science, popular literature, sermons, etc. Let us analyze this photo belonging to the 1850s to further illustrate this view. A typical Victorian elderly couple is represented in the centre of the frame. The husband is facing the camera with a rather powerful authority which comes through in his intent vision. He is in the front, seated on a chair, and it is evident that he assumes full control of decision-making in the family. His wife on the other hand, comes across as a fragile dutiful figure on the back. It appears as if in reality, she is relegated to the background, almost without any assertive power in the family unit. It is this system of differences the camera captures that underlines the textured fabric of dominant social relations. The creation of identity in photographic portraiture is thus anchored firmly in a set of economic, political and social underpinnings. In the idealized Victorian family photo below, the family unit is presented in a ritualized display, oddly superficial in content and with the hierarchy of the domestic cult being apparently visible. The photo is of Sir Richard Strachey, a colonial administrator, soldier, botanist and engineer and his family engaged in a parlour game. In the other family photo, the male figure is seen to enact the role of the family-head, whose expressions and gestures are carefully rooted in the middle-class ideological terrain. The wife is a rather subdued entity. With passive children on display by their sides and bound to each other by cords of reciprocal love and obligation, the members of the family typified a whole new commitment to a domestic ideal. The space within which they were placed to photographed most often i.e. the photographers studio went a long way in reinforcing their social identities. It was basically a fabricated space, with various props for various occasions. Carefully altered according to needs, it served as the bourgeois drawing room, the balcony, and the like; they were symbols of middle-class recreation and leisure. Dotted with objects of art and cultivated taste, these spaces had the potential of conveying the bourgeois milieu. With the bourgeois coming into prominence and replacing the aristocracy of the ‘Ancien Regime, it was time that photography brought into the domains of visibility those so far neglected, not represented those ‘invisible. It was due to surveillance, almost, that the colonized subjects with their distinct ‘otherness or in other words ethnicity, and the labouring classes driving the capitalist machinery, came into the visual sphere. One of the striking features at a glance is how these classes are represented they are made to confront the camera, almost come to terms with its gaze. The blunt frontality shows a complete lack of sophistication which is markedly different from the cultivated asymmetries of the bourgeois pose. This middle-class awareness, that the body when carefully positioned always served as a cultural and class signifier, explains why they were never in conflict with the camera. - How has then modern contemporary photography dealt with the issue of identity in terms of gender, the public or private self or even sexuality? One of the significant changes which had occurred through the passage of time was the representation of women in photography. Be it in the workplace or on private dining table, images of women changed radically being more assertive, independent. They had over time, gained social and political rights and were enacting various roles at the same time the professional, the wife, the mother and the like. Thus representation of women in the workplace became an intense subject, especially during the time of Margaret Thatcher in Britain. But with unemployment rising to unprecedented levels during the 1980s, photography revealed shocking truths. It was found that women were mostly employed in low-paid professions or part time and faced several discriminatory practices with regard to class, gender and ethnicity at the workplace. In 1986-87, Rhonda Wilson presenting an oppositional view through her images, produced a striking series of work- drawing in heavily from popular imagery and signs and underlined with satire. In the photo below, which exploits the format of the beauty contest with sashes and higher pedestals, women with the worst weekly income levels are presented as three winners. They are represented in their professional capacities with each one holding props related to their work. Their expressions clearly reveal the irony. Thus it brought to the forefront important questions of womens role in the modern society and also in the male-dominated ‘workplace. It also revealed the sexual division of labour i.e. traditional feminine occupations being grossly underpaid. In another interesting take on the subject is Debbie Humphreys project of the 1990s Gender Crossings focussing on relationships between the sexes in the workplace. The women in this series of images, have disregarded the so-called gender boundaries and entered the domain of â€Å" mens † work. These women blend in with their male counterparts and have strangely subdued femininity. In the image below, we see three employees in a typical office environment. At a glance, it is hard to identify that the central figure is a female due to her cropped hair, guardedly crossed arms to conceal the breast and her typically male attire. The woman is flanked by one male colleague on either side who seem to be quite comfortable in presenting themselves in the particular environment. Standing firmly these men appear as intimidating to the female colleague, whose posture and expression testify to the fact. The picture raises important questions of why the female has chosen a male dress-code. Is it to be at par with the men in the profession? To legitimise her presence? In any case, the power structure of the place is clearly shown. Issues of representation become more complex when this woman professional also has to run the household. In Jacqueline Sarsbys photo-documentary series on the agricultural labour she portrays this dual role of ordinary working women in small English farms.

Transcendental Critic of the Puritans Essay -- Analysis, Hawthorne

There is no hard definition for Transcendentalism; it varies depending on which group of Transcendentalist one talks to. Webster defines its purpose is to discover the nature of reality by investigating the thought process instead of the objects of sense. The Oxford dictionary implies that divinity can be found in all nature and humanity. Almost all definitions include a search for truth, spiritual goodness, and the nature of reality by studying nature by communing with the human soul or an analysis of the human soul’s interaction with the spirit of God. Also, according to Raziel Abelson, Transcendentalism â€Å"†¦opposed the strict ritualism and dogmatic theology of all established religious institutions† (qtd. in â€Å"Brook Farm†). In 1841, a group of Transcendentalists established the Brook Farm formally known as the â€Å"Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education†; among that group were American literary and religious leaders such as Amos Bronson Alcott, William Ellery Channing, Charles Anderson Dana, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Theodore Parker, and Orestes Augustus Brownson (â€Å"Brook Farm†). It is because of the influence of the Transcendental movement that Hawthorne wrote â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† where he attempts to demonstrate (perhaps to the Puritan Church, certainly to all who read the stories) that the Puritan Church’s strict and unforgiving orthodoxy was not its greatest strength but its greatest weakness. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† Hawthorne’s overt use of spiritual/metaphysical allegory and symbolism is used to display the sinful nature of man and the possibly tragic consequences of the Puritan Church’s ridged and unwavering demand of sinless purity from its m... ...v. 2011. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"The Minister's Black Veil, A Parable.† Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. Web. 25 November 2011. ---. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown.† Literature Reading, Reacting, Writing. Compact 7th Ed. Kirszner and Mandell. Boston: Wadsworth, 2010. Print. King James Version Bible. Philadelphia: The National Bible Press, 1958. Print. "Transcendentalism." (n.d.): Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. "Transcendentalism n." The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Twelfth edition . Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2008. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Amarillo College. Web. 27 November 2011 â€Å"Transcendentalism.† Webster’s new World Dictionary of the American Language. Second College Edition. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1984. Print.

A Painting by Paula Rego called The Family - The Stimulus for our Dram

A Painting by Paula Rego called The Family - The Stimulus for our Drama Piece INTRODUCTION In this essay I will be discussing the work that I have done in the first module of performance studies. The aim of this module was to develop technical skills in dance, drama and music and using the performance process of improvising, rehearsing and performing and then applying these skills to four performance pieces. We carried out several skills workshops to help develop confidence in all 3 thematic areas to a more even consistency as some members of our group had never done dance, music and some hadn't taken expressive arts GCSE. In this module I developed skills in all three areas, some completely new skills (for example in dance) and those skills, which I already knew but developed them to a higher standard of performance. I also learnt the processes of constructing a performance piece in performance studies and skills that are applicable in all three thematic areas. I will elaborate on how I have developed these skills during this module in this essay. THE DRAMA PIECE The stimulus we were given for our drama piece was a painting by Paula Rego called "The Family" which contained a lot of ideas for interpretation, especially work on proxemics, which we had previously studied in our skills workshops. "The Family" shows an ambiguous relationship between men, women and children and the variation in the 'traditional' status of a father, mother and daughter figures. It is important to bear in mind during stages of improvisation that character and plot development are not always the most essential part of a drama piece. More advanced performance skills should be taken into account, such as tension, proxemics and physicality and the subtext created as a result of the effective use of these techniques, which our drama piece evolved around. We decided that the most direct way of communication was to produce a distinct sexual subtext between two characters, and in our case this was the father and the daughter. Initial brainstorms we had were focused on light, physicality and gesture in the picture and we didn't want it to be 'story - led' as we felt this would be too simplistic and wouldn't allow us to explore our skills and techniques as performers. In the early stages of improvisation, we decided that tension was vital in our scene, so this had to be created by si... ...med our dance to a structured rhythm sequence to show the evolving of the evil dominating the pure and good. But as I said before, there seemed to be no real motivation behind our piece. I did feel thought that although we had no dialogue, it was unnecessary to do so and I think that the studying of Boal and Pinter really helped with this. I think that, as a group we realised that plot and character development weren't important at that stage. By not having any characters but just acting the gestus of our role, we portrayed the mannerisms, which as a result created tension because of the content of the scene. I do feel that because we didn't have characters such, the other skills we had refined were lacking. This is the one piece that I actually would like to do again as I don't feel we devised and performed this to the best of our abilities. I think I would've liked to keep the music and dance pieces but adjusted the drama to include the kind of energy we had had in the drama piece where the piece was 'loaded' with subtext. This I feel was not dramatic and didn't convey the ideas to the audience that we wanted to. I don't believe this piece was as successful as it could have been.

Busting Bureaucracy with Radical Management: Forbes Magazine Article Cr

Busting Bureaucracy with Radical Management: Forbes Magazine Article Critique The article written by Steve Denning is covered in Forbes magazine to display the innovative and forward thinking studies that delves into why the Max Weber structure of management fails in today's management model (Daniels, 2010). The article is not complex and does not create a new basis, but rather reconstitutes the six bureaucratic principals developed by Weber in the early 1900’s (Daniels, 2010). With the six principals as a solid foundation, Denning (2011) explains and proves a modern fit, custom tailored, model of management for the 21st century. Statement of the Problem Since the early 1900’s the principals of the bureaucratic management structure have been bred into all white-collar hotshots. This type of management model was ideal with respect to the economical and social environment of that time period. While Webers six principals have stayed the same, the economical and social environment has changed exponentially in time with our societies’ technological advances (Dennings, 2011). With a new society, what was feasible in the 1900’s does not sit well in the 21st century. This type of management hinders rather than helps, for example, Jones (2010) explains, that an over-developed bureaucracy can delay decision-making procedures and increase costs due to a tall and centralized type of hierarchy structure in an organization. When there is a multilayered wall of officialdom between the problem and the solution, this waste of time and causes unneeded corporate stress. Moreover, Denning states that the default mental model o f management is not conducive for the once successful bureaucratic management methods (Forbes, 2011). Descripti... ...lateau with their shareholders or managers. Either way, there are a vast amount of inconclusive variables that could have accounted for the drastic display of data over the ten-year span. Works Cited Denning, S. (2011). Busting Bureaucracy with Radical Management | Management Innovation eXchange. Hack Management 2.0 | Management Innovation eXchange. Retrieved May 5, 2012, from http://www.managementexchange.com/blog/busting-bureaucracy-radical- management Jones, G. (2010). Organizational, Theory, Design, and Change. Upper Saddle River: Pearson. (Original work published 2001) The MIX: Busting Bureaucracy with Radical Management - Forbes. (2011). Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Retrieved May 5, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/12/05/the-mix-busting-bureaucracy- with-radical-management/

Historian’s Wizard of Oz Review Essay

the movie `wizard of oz`, the strengths and weaknesses of each document, the major differences between the documents, and feedback on any links to present day political and economic issues. Investigate the authors background. Introduction The Historian’s Wizard Of Oz, first published in 1900, made ripples in the literary world and its writer L. Frank Baum shoot to eminence, and the result was so many of the sequels. When MGM, in 1939, decided to convert this hit into movie version, many of the adaptations of Wizard of Oz had been appeared on stage. Although the film did not cause swell at the box office sales in the beginning, but made waves, as people become conscious to its hidden meaning, years following its initial release. â€Å"Its status as an American classic owes more to television, as The Wizard of Oz became an annual television event in the 1950s and 1960s. The universal quality of the story and the warmth of the film made it appealing to people of all ages. Who would’ve thought that The Wizard of Oz contained hidden meanings†?1 Critics and observers has been interpreted this mega hit in different ways for more than a century now. And it is Henry Littlefield, a high school teacher; presented the most illustrious interpretation of The Wizard of Oz. it is a fact that Baum had been very much involved in active politics in the last decades of 1800s.But, Baum never made claim at any stage that that the story, in its contents, was an allegory for politics. â€Å"Baum’s story corresponded to the issues and figures in American politics at the end of the 19th century. Littlefield found that he could use The Wizard of Oz to teach history to his students, as the story functioned well as an allegory to the Populist movement and the 1896 presidential election†. 2 Populism, the Key Issues of 1896 and Impact on Culture More than 50 translations has been made in various languages of East and West of The Wizard of Oz so far. Even, due to its popularity, different countries adapted in a way to match the corrosponding conditions of the local culture. For instance, â€Å"in some countries where the Hindu religion is practiced, abridged versions of the book were published in which, for religious reasons, the Tin Woodsman was replaced with a snake†. 1 When Henry Littlefield article was published in American Quarterly then people began to realize that The Wizard of Oz was a â€Å"parable on Populism,† a prototype of a rural political awakening in the last decades of 1800. The Populist Party of late 19th century mobilized the Farmers’ Alliances to its advantage. â€Å"Farmers faced considerable economic hardship and they believed that monetary policy was determined by eastern bankers and industrial interests. The Farmers’ Alliances wanted greater government regulation of railroads, tax reform and the free coinage of silver to increase the money supply†. 3 Wizard of the Oz made great impression on American, Russian, and other European countries. â€Å"A mere sampling of the breadth in which it is referenced might include Futurama (which parodied it in an episode), The Cinnamon Bear (a 1938 radio serial), RahXephon (a 2002 Japanese animated television show), Zardoz (a 1974 Sean Connery movie), Wizard and Glass (a 1997 Stephen King fantasy/Western novel), and the science fiction literature of Robert Heinlein†. 4 The Wizard of Oz: the movie: the Ups and Downs Although Baum produced the â€Å"Oz† film series in 1908 and 1914 but the most famous adaptation is the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, featuring Judy Garland as Dorothy. Francis MacDonell argues that the movie is an allegory of New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s program of social welfare to combat the widespread hardship of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The man primarily responsible for injecting this political message into the film was lyricist E.Y. â€Å"Yip† Harburg, who was a socialist and supporter of Roosevelt’s policies. Harburg had written the lyrics to â€Å"Brother Can You Spare a Dime?† which served as an apt anthem for the Great Depression. 5 The movie is magical and creative, its pluses is as MacDonnell described, The Wizard of Oz, †¦is a brightly-colored, visually bold, rapidly paced extravaganza, full of gaudy sets, outlandish costumes, and way-over-the-top acting.6 But, some of the scenes were insipid (the ridiculous conclusion of the poppy field sequence) or misplaced (the Cowardly Lion’s song, which occurs at perhaps the least appropriate moment). 5 A look into Frank Baum’s Life and His Political Ambitions L Frank Baum was born on 15 May 1856 in Chittennnango, New York. His earlier interest in the newspapers and magazines but when he entered in his 20s he started taking interest in theaters and operas. His mother was one of the leading champions of the Women’s Rights Movements. He shoot to eminence when he teamed up with Maxfield Parrish, the illustrator, and wrote his first book Mother Goose in Prose, afterwards he together with illustrator William Wallace he published Father Goose, His Book. Both books had drawn huge attention from the children. Nobody can say with surety that Frank Baum really preplanned to produce a work that was so much critical of the monetary aspects of the 1896 election. â€Å"Yet it is not too much of a stretch to interpret the imagery of the story in this light. Of all the fantasy characters Baum could have created to accompany Dorothy on her journey, he chose characters that evoked so strongly the occupations of ordinary people in the late-19th century—farmers and industrial workers. Lawrence Swaim suggests that Baum â€Å"may not have been conscious of [the political significance of the Oz imagery], which would explain why the political references in Baum’s books pop up in such a surrealistic way.†1 It is surprising none of the Baum biographers identified that if Baum had any political intention to write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. â€Å"If Baum had been a Populist supporter, the imagery in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz suggests that Baum had lost his zeal for the Populist movement.† 1 Endnotes 1. Ranjit S. Dighe, The Historian’s Wizard of Oz: Reading L. Frank Baum’s Classic as a Political and Monetary Allegory (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002) 2. Richard Jensen, The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1885-1896 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971) 3. Martin Gardner and Russell B. Nye, eds., The Wizard of Oz and Who He Was (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1994) 4. William Leach, Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture, (New York: Vintage Books, 1993) 5. Lynette Carpenter, â€Å"‘There’s No Place Like Home’: The Wizard of Oz and American Isolationism,† Film and History 15 (May, 1985), pp. 37-45 6. Francis MacDonnell, â€Å"‘The Emerald City Was the New Deal’: E.Y. Harburg and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,† Journal of American Culture (13 (Winter 1990), pp. 71-75.

Judicial Method: Activism vs Formalism

‘Judicial Method: activism versus formalism’ A new era has emerged from the societal and legal changes that have occurred in Australia. The age of Judicial activism has taken over the more traditional method of judicial formalism. Supporters of the latter’s concerns that it promotes power without responsibility, and blurs the separation of powers, however the supporters of the former agree that inevitable changes in society force the judiciary to acknowledge that judicial formalism is a method that is not completely obsolete, but takes is less of a primary concern as it were, compared to other factors that effect a case. Those who are in favour of judicial activism argue that social change has increased the need for legal change and judges need to be able to make decisions considering external factors and using processes other than the law that make judicial method more subjective, adhering to legislation and legal policy but giving more significant acknowledgement to situational factors. The Honourable Michael Kirby’s pro-activism article centers around the view that judicial method must divert from the traditional method of legalism that Justice Kirby defines as â€Å"strict logic and high technique†. It starts by outlining the need for the judiciary to make this transition into judicial activism due to societal changes, where strict legalism is put under pressure. Justice Kirby then goes on to explain that the method of judicial activism should not be abused by the judges, where it should â€Å"be anchored in legal authority† and be â€Å"neither wholly mechanical or excessively creative†. He describes that â€Å"restraint† be used when using judicial activism to ensure that a total ignorance of the written law does not occur . A similar article about pro-activism by Michael Coper agrees that the â€Å"phenomenon of social change†¦. has accelerated the rate of legal change† and put a â€Å"pressure on concepts like ‘strict logic and high technique ’, thus supporting the viewpoint that judicial activism is a reaction to social change. Another article by Frank Carrigan praises Justice Kirby’s use of judicial activism directly, outlining this by comparing Justice Kirby’s methods with Gava, a strong believer in the Dixonian theory of legalism. It explains that even Chief Justice Dixon J, considered to be a leader in the legal formalism movement, used contradictory methods of judgment, promoting legalism but applying judicial activism . This is evidence that change to judicial activism is inevitable as societal changes occur. Pertaining to the other articles, however, there are some shortfalls in Justice Kirby’s article that must be addressed. Firstly, the article does outline that certain â€Å"restraint† must be used when applying judicial activism in the process for a judgment. However, exactly how this restraint will be measured, or the factors to be considered in which a judge’s judicial method is considered to cross these boundaries are not mentioned in his article. He also fails to describe the consequences of the divergence of judicial formalism, that a failure of the independent judges to keep external factors other than the legal text as impartial dynamics rather than personal ones would result in a cataclysmic failure to achieve justice. A loss in consistency would result in a loss in public confidence in the judicial system. Also, Justice Kirby’s proposal of a more transparent judgment, where the judicial method and processes used to achieve a judgment is open to the general public for critique, may be a technique in which to make sure that a judge does not overstep the restraints, but by openly presenting the judicial method and decision process of a controversial judgment for critique to a society that is already critical of the judicial system may backfire and result in a further loss of public confidence instead of building credibility. Contrasting against Justice Kirby’s heavily biased pro-activism article, is Justice Heydon’s article that describes the absolute need for adherence and paramount importance to the impartial application of the legal text. Justice Heydon’s article clearly outlines what Justice Kirby’s article does not, the downfalls of having a judiciary use judicial activism. Justice Heydon points out that by allowing judges to use judicial activism, it â€Å"tends to the destruction of the rule of law† by impairing two qualities that are expected of a judge, a â€Å"firm grip on the applicable law [and]†¦total probity. The article continues to state that there is a blurring of the separation of powers, and this becomes a problem as the facility for a legislature to make laws compared to that of a judge results in concerns about the clarity, inconsistency, decisiveness and retrospectivity of the laws that are changed or made by the judiciary. Justice Heydon pro poses that it is not primarily the function of the judiciary to create and change laws, that it should be a limited amount, limited to the legislature, and that the failure to adhere to judicial formalism or legalism would result in failures in various areas of the application of law . John Gava’s article adds to the need for strict legalism, by indicating that human error in judges can create issues in consistency, and that with a â€Å"state of mind† the is of legalism, a more â€Å"institutional mindset† can be achieved that relies more on a collective wisdom which create decision that conform, rather than those that are more individualized when judicial activism is applied . Owen Dixon’s article further outlines a deeper issue at hand with the abandonment of judicial formalism, the loss of the ability to develop legal principle. It states that there was a â€Å"attempt to develop the law as a science† which would not be possible by neglecting the very â€Å"strict logic and high technique† that is constantly used to describe legalism . As with any legalistic paradigm or state of mind, it is inherent that there will be a pro to a con, an advantage to a disadvantage. According to these articles it is clear that the more common emergence of activism is due mainly to societal change, and the resurrection of formalism has occurred due to concern for the drawbacks that takes place with activism, and rightly so. The former three pro-activism articles and the latter three pro-legalism/formalism articles compliment each other in revealing the advantages and flaws of both judicial methods. After the analyses of these articles, it is apparent that an appropriate balance between the two judicial methods be maintained, always changing, according to the change in Australia’s society. Bibliography Justice j D Heydon, Judicial activism and the death of the rule of law, (2003), 23 Aust Bar Rev 110 John Gava, ANOTHER BLAST FROM THE PAST OR WHY THE LEFT SHOULD EMBRACE STRICT LEGALISM: A REPLY TO FRANK CARRIGAN, (2003) 27 Melb U. L. Rev. 188 The Right Honourable Sir Owen Dixon, G. C. M. G, Concerning Judicial Method, (1956) 29 The Australian Law Journal 469