Abstract
This paper takes a look at one of America's top documentary producers Michael Moore. In particular, the paper focuses on Moore's documentary, "Bowling for Columbine", a film on the gun culture and its wider political significance in the United States. The paper describes several creative and dramatic techniques of Moore's filmmaking to manipulate the audience into sharing his disdain of America's fascination with firearms and violence and discusses the ethical obligations involved in producing documentaries such as "Bowling for Columbine". The paper analyzes possible reasons as to why Moore chooses to use such exploitative techniques to express his views on gun culture but concedes that in spite of the controversy surrounding the film, it has undoubtedly succeeded in bringing the complex issue of America's relationship with firearms to the foreground of public debate.

From the Paper
"This has led to suspicions being raised concerning the modern documentary's commitment to realism, along with the ethical obligations involved in producing such a film. On the other hand, the considerable disagreement over the very definition of the term "documentary", has prompted some to praise Moore's approach to filmmaking, describing it as a dramatic and creative expression of reality. In spite of the controversy surrounding the film, however, it has undoubtedly succeeded in bringing the complex issue of America's relationship with firearms to the foreground of public debate."

Tags:documentaries, firearms, politics, ethics

Abstract
This paper discusses the effectiveness of the Press Complaints Commission as a regulatory body over the printed press in the UK. It looks at the role and work of the PCC while exploring the efficiency of self regulation.

From the Paper
"Newspapers and magazines are a primary source of information about the world for the general public and therefore accuracy is of a high importance when people frequently make social and political judgements from it. It is also argued that accuracy is important to protect individuals from the repercussions of inaccurate information . This can be a difficult task, when as John Solosky suggests "controlling the behaviour of journalists could be a difficult problem for the management of a news organisation, especially since reporters spend most of their time outside the newsroom" . The Press Complaints Commission (or PCC) attempts to keep printed publications in check through what is described as "self-regulation". This essay attempts to look at the role and work of the PCC, analysing whether or not self-regulation is an effective form of control."

Tags:journalism, journalist, magazines, media, newspapers

Abstract
This paper takes a wide-ranging look at human rights around the world today, showing the key themes and issues currently affecting the international community. The introduction explains key terms necessary for the paper and gives a history of the development of human rights. The paper focuses on two case-studies (though numerous other examples are cited where applicable): South Africa and Japan. South Africa is used as an example of a developing country whose human rights issues have been identified internally by the South African government as well as externally by the international community and then acted upon to some degree of success. The author of the paper goes undercover in Japan to show that, despite apparent "successes" such as in South Africa, shocking human rights violations still occur today worldwide even in developed countries and need to be exposed and then dealt with.

From the Paper
"The word "apartheid" was used as the National Party's political slogan in the 1940s but the policy of "separate development" extends back to the beginning of white settlement in South Africa in 1652. When the Afrikaan Nationalists came to power in 1948, the social custom of apartheid became institutionalized under South African law. The 1950 Population Registration Act categorized all South Africans into three racial categories: Bantu (black African), white or Colored (if mixed race); with a fourth category, Asian, added later mainly for Indians and Pakistanis. The system of apartheid was developed by a series of laws in the 1950s. The 1950 Group Areas Act allotted races to different residential and business sections in cities. The Land Acts of 1954 and 1955 restricted nonwhite residence to specific areas and limited ownership of land."

Tags:africa, apartheid, capital, execution, japan, punishment, racism, south

Abstract
This paper takes a wide-ranging look at human rights around the world today, showing the key themes and issues currently affecting the international community. The introduction explains key terms necessary for the paper and gives a history of the development of human rights. The paper focuses on South Africa as a case-study (though numerous other examples are cited where applicable). South Africa is used as an example of a developing country whose human rights issues have been identified internally by the South African government as well as externally by the international community and then acted upon to some degree of success.

From the Paper
""Human rights" are rights that all humans are entitled to such as the right to live, the right to liberty, the right to freedom of expression and the right to equality within society. "Civil rights" and "civil liberties" refer to the guarantees that a state may make to its citizens and are offered in addition to one's basic human rights. Perhaps the best quantification of human rights (and the mostly widely accepted) is the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the UN's Declaration is over half a century old and has been savagely criticized at times it still serves as a useful guide to general ideals of human rights."

Tags:apartheid, declaration, mandela, nelson, united, nations

Abstract
This paper examines how, in recent years, there has been much debate in the intelligence community relating to the balance between human intelligence (humint), and technical intelligence (techint), in satisfying a state's intelligence requirements. This paper addresses the argument from both sides and suggests that there has been an over reliance on techint in recent years, leading to inadequacies in intelligence gathering.

From the Paper
"The current debate, although not unique to the post 9/11 period, is certainly prevalent today, and has generally involved the advocates of techint in disagreement with those that suggest humint has been neglected as a result of this. Perhaps typical of those advocates is Turner (1985. p92. cited in Shulsky. p34. 2002), who states that 'One way or another, we should soon be able to keep track of most activities on the surface of the earth, day or night, good weather or bad.' As we shall see, the idea that one collection method is favoured over the other is not helpful to the ongoing debate on intelligence reform in the U.S. and that supporters of techint's superiority are misguided, perhaps because of what Emerson (2003. p2) describes as the 'American love affair with technology.' "

Tags:Humint, Techint, CIA, MI6, Mossad, 9/11

Abstract
This paper defines key terms necessary for the paper ('human rights', 'civil rights' and 'civil liberties') and gives a brief history of the development of human rights (from Socrates through to the U.S. Bill of Rights and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The main paper is split into two parts. Part one looks at alleged human rights violations from both an external, generally 'Western', perspective and an internal, Chinese (Asian-Islamic) perspective. It argues that human rights as an issue is being manipulated by both Western and Eastern governments for political purposes. Examples used in the paper include alleged oppression in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Tianenmen Square; as well as suspected torture based on religious, political and socio-cultural intolerance by the Chinese government. Part two looks at possible solutions to the human rights issue. It again uses both internal (Chinese) and external (U.S. and U.N.) perspectives and leads to the thought-provoking conclusion. The full text of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights is included in the appendix.

From the Paper
"'Human rights' are rights that all humans are entitled to such as the right to live, the right to liberty, the right to freedom of expression and the right to equality within society. 'Civil rights' and 'civil liberties' refer to the guarantees that a state may make to its citizens and are offered in addition to one's basic human rights. Perhaps the best quantification of human rights (and the mostly widely accepted in the West) is the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the UN's Declaration is over half a century old and has been savagely criticized at times it still serves as a useful guide to general ideals of human rights."

Tags:tianenmen, tibet, xinjiang

Abstract
The following paper examines the isolation of human embryonic stem cells. The author attempts to discover what these cells are and why they are so important. This paper will also take a look at those people that recommend the use of other sources of stem cells for medical reasons.

From the Paper
"This will potentially revolutionize medicine in the next century" (Smith, 1999)1 . The use of stem cells to develop drugs, study human development and provide a limitless supply of customized cells to replace damaged or diseased tissues, without incidence of adverse host reaction has replaced cloning as the perceived future of medical technology. The "Holy Grail" concept revolves around the knowledge that stem cells have the potential develop into any of the body's two hundred and twenty different types of specialized cells. The therapeutic promise of this is that once a stem cell has been isolated, it may reproduce endlessly in undifferentiated state and then be chemically coaxed to develop into any desired adult cell. Stem cells may eventually be used to produce tissues or entire organs specifically designed for their intended recipient. Cellular repair treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases as well as many forms of paralysis, previously irreversible autoimmune conditions, are the most exciting channel for this field of research. The potential uses of these unrestricted cells could even go as far as the generation of massive amounts of human cells (e.g. heart cells) which could be used to screen dozens of potential drugs and pick out the most promising few, without harm to human or animal life."

Tags:medicine, century, drugs, study, human, development, customized, genetics

Abstract
This paper focuses on the way counter terrorism and terrorism have changed since 9/11 and the growing role of the U.S. It also looks at the development of 'modern' terrorism and the possible consequences of the continuing War on Terror. It debates whether or not September 11th, 2001 can be seen as a day that changed the face of terrorism. It also discusses how since the invasion of Afghanistan, terrorist attacks have become more numerous and high profile although their basic purpose remains the same, to gain attention. It puts forward the view that what has changed about terrorism since 9/11 is the amount of media attention it now controls.

From the Paper
"As well as presenting a recent point of reference for terrorist activity, the conflicts in Palestine and Northern Ireland also show two different ways of dealing with the problem, certain aspects of which have been adopted by the United States. In the case of Britain and Northern Ireland, the conflict is one of territory and security for those who want British rule. In Palestine and Israel however, the situation is based purely on territory. This difference in the foundation for the terrorist action seems to have dictated the way in which terrorism has been dealt with. Because of the presence of British citizens in Northern Ireland, and the small section of society that is involved in the unrest , it has been British policy in recent years to try and settle the situation through political sanctions and increased security measures to prevent terrorism."

Tags:war, palestine, israel, ireland, afganistan

Abstract
Politics in Britain have greatly influenced the public in many ways, not least in their opinions. The following discussion looks at British immigration and asylum policies and their effect on the existence of prejudice and discrimination against minorities. It outlines the importance of the terms ?race? and ?racism? and the explanations and types that have been identified. An outline is provided of how the different types have been encompassed into immigration policies and the effect they had on popular and accepted views and what, if anything, has changed. A timeline of political events and legislation is analysed in depth to provide evidence and reasons for the existence of racism in contemporary Britain.

From the Paper
"Biologically race is a false concept, but it is real in sociological terms, in that people classify others as belonging to various races. Thus, some argue that there are no races but "social processes through which social relationships become racialised: represented ideologically as entailing race" . Thus, discrimination (i.e. political exclusion of migrants due to ?cultural incompatibility) is explained by some social scientists in terms of New Racism. It has its origins in the political crisis affecting Britain with the ascendancy of the political right in the 1980's. Its focus is ?the defence of the mythic "British/English way of life" in the face of attack from enemies outside ("Argies", "Iraqis"), and within ("black communities")? . Racism, in these terms, is defined as discrimination based on the notion that it is justifiable to demand physical separation due to different cultural ways of living. There are downfalls to this theory. Although it talks of culture, it primarily concerns itself with colour. Some argue that the notion of new racism produces blackness and Englishness as "mutually exclusive categories" . Thus the argument arises that there is nothing new about new racism and its notions are fundamentally based around that of old biological racism."

Tags:discrimination, prejudice, sociology, minority, immigration, asylum

Abstract
This paper discusses abortion, showing all the key themes and issues currently affecting it. The introduction defines terms necessary for the paper such as "abortion", "human life" and "human person" and gives a history of abortion from ancient until modern times. It then puts forward the arguments of "pro-life" and "pro-choice", focusing on two unusual case studies that turn upside-down commonly held views on when abortion is or is not appropriate - one supporting abortion (a mother who simply did not want a child at her life stage) and another opposing abortion (a woman who was born after her mother was raped). It attempts to show through these examples that it is possible to eloquently argue either for or against abortion but that ultimately it is impossible to determine whether abortion is "right" or "wrong" and that each case needs to be judged on its individual merits.

From the Paper
"The Catholic Church also has inconsistencies regarding intra-uterine devices (IUD's) and its funeral and burial services. Most people believe that IUD's interfere with the implantation of fertilized ovum in the uterine wall. If this is correct, it means that IUD's terminate development after conception and therefore after a human person has been formed. This means that, technically, approximately 43% of American women have had an abortion. There have also been burial services and funerals held by the Roman Catholic Church for aborted fetuses. However, this has not generally been the case as fetuses have not been considered full persons by the Church to the extent of being worthy of a formal requiem mass or formal burial service."

Tags:choice, human, incest, life, person, rape