Compare the Media Law of England and Wales with a European Country Essay

Compare the Media Law of England and Wales with a European Country - Essay Example England and Wales laws differ with other European countries like Italy and Australia, depending on privacy and defamation laws governing the media, as well as regarding the age of criminal responsibility. For example, the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 8, 14 in Italy, 18 in Belgium, and 16 in Spain. This paper will critically analyse how the international journalism and media laws differ from the legal systems in England and Wales, using case studies. The media laws The freedom of speech should be provided to the media, yet, the people have rights which need to be protected; the exact opposite of the media’s rights (Banks and Hanna, 2009, 2). France has been lagging behind in the freedom of the media, it being the last European country to launch the use of television, UK being the first, followed by Italy, then Germany (Katisrea, 2008, 13). In France, broadcasting until 1982, was a state monopoly, controlled by the minister of information and culture, a nd this ushered in a lot of manipulation from the government (Katsirea, 2008, 19). A law passed in 1982 is what brought about the abolishment of state monopoly in broadcasting. In Greece, the media law prohibits advertising children’s toys between 7am and 10 pm. NCRTV is the only independent authority governing the media in Greece. ... ivil, and which allows a victim of harm through publication of materials, word or any other means, to sue the responsible party (Banks and Hanna, 2009, 305). The aim of the laws of defamation is to strike a balance between promoting freedom of speech, and that of protection (Quinn, 2009, 183). The injunctions and super injunctions applied by England’s and Wales’s legal system to protect people from having their information published in the media, are not applied in all European countries, yet, some countries like France have adopted the trend and privacy is incredibly common. The case of Ryan Giggs injunction on Imogen of Big Brother and against the Sun Newspaper is an indication of England and Wales’s regulations on media laws. Ryan Giggs managed to get an injunction in April 2011 against the Sun newspaper mentioning his name as the person involved in the sex scandal with Imogen Thomas (BBC, 2012). The privacy cases arise from the 1998 Human Right Act, which giv es people the right to protection (Quinn, 2009, 251). Injunctions are issued giving rights to them being known, yet the presence of super injunctions is not supposed to be known. Francois Mitterrand’s physician, Claude Gubler, published book in 1996, two weeks after his death revealing his last secret. Mitterrand had been diagnosed with prostrate cancer in 1981, and not in 1992. The family obtained a temporary injunction against the selling of the book, after 40, 000 copies of the final secret had been sold. The injunction was aimed at preventing the selling of the books or even the publishing of the book by the media houses and news papers (Tiersky, 2003, 220). In France when Mitterrand was the president, the media was gagged lot and its freedom restrained. This is evidenced by the fact that he gagged

Compare How Duffy and Armitage Write About Violence in Salome and Hitcher Essay Example for Free

Compare How Duffy and Armitage Write About Violence in Salome and Hitcher Essay ‘Salome’ and ‘Hitcher’ both use a first person persona and with that, give us insight into their feelings and the theme of violence throughout both poems. In ‘Salome’, Duffy’s character uses a nonchalant tone with no remorse when depicting her actions, which is also present in ‘Hitcher’ too. Salome had ‘done it before’ and will ‘doubtless do it again’ but is oblivious of the repercussions of what she has just stated. She is a promiscuous character and is unaware of what she has done until the last stanza, whereas the narrator in ‘Hitcher’ is fully conscious of his actions. He ‘lets him have it’ and is proud of his actions and his ability to not swerve while attacking the hitchhiker. His colloquial manner represents that he sees it as an entertaining story and how he is unaffected by his actions. Near to the conclusion of ‘Salome’ she decides to clean up her act, becomes repentant of how she has behaved. In comparison, Hitcher just drives away from the body and is ignorant as to his fate; he does not care if he’s alive; he just ‘lets him out’. His casual description of how the body bounces and disappears questions his mental stability and his possession of a conscience. Salome also defends herself, describing the man as a ‘beater or biter’, proposing that she reacted in self-defence although she could also be referring to herself. The plosive ‘b’ also portrays the violence involved with those words. At the end of ‘Hitcher’, the concluding couplet is sarcastic and ironic, seeing as the intended recipient is no longer with him. He recalls thinking ‘Stitch that’ as if the hitchhiker got what he deserved. To him, it’s a joke. Similarly, Salome states ‘ain’t life a bitch’, which is also ironic, as the person she is speaking to is dead. She doesn’t care; he could be any old Simon Andrew or John. Hitcher’s reference to the weather is normal, which shows how his behaviour hasn’t impacted him; the murder was the therapy for his anger as his outlook is now pleasant. The fact that he and the hitchhiker were of the same age wasn’t of particular consequence to him, they both had the same opportunities, yet vastly different paths. The mention of this shows how he can crack at and given moment, and his attention for the inconsequential. Salome’s therapy for her hangover was her maid’s ‘innocent clatter’, so unlike Hitcher’s methods. The fact that Salome calls her maid ‘innocent’ shows how naà ¯ve and unknowing she is about Salome. She’s Salomes opposite. The rhythmic repetition of the ‘er’ sound emulates the sound of her footsteps which soothes Salome after her night on the ‘batter’. This shows the violence which ensued last night and all the aggression, as well as inverting the fema le stereotype or passiveness.

Electronic business

Electronic business E-business (electronic business) can simply be described as a wider concept that embraces all aspects of the use of information technology in business. It doesnt just deal with buying and selling it also deals with the servicing customers and collaborating with business partners and with organisation. An example of is Amazon, they deal with the selling of books and music cds online. They act as the middlemen in between the publishers and the consumers. E-business is any business process that is empowered by an information system. E-business can be divided into three parts namely business to consumer, business to business and business to employee. Today, this is mostly done with Web-based technologies. Electronic business methods enables companies to link their internal and external processes more efficiently and flexibly, work more closely with suppliers and partners to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers. In practice, this involves the introduction of new re venue streams through the use of electronic commerce, the enhancement of relationships between clients and partners and improving efficiency from using knowledge management systems. E-business can be conducted over the public Internet, through internal intranets and over secure private extranets. E-business covers business processes along the whole value chain: electronic purchasing (e-procurement) and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, customer service and cooperation with business partners. This applies to traditional and virtual organisations. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. E-business software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. Applications can be divided into three categories: A) Internal business systems: Customer relationship management Internal transaction processing Human resources management Process control Employee information portals Workflow management Enterprise resource planning Knowledge management Document management systems B) Enterprise communication and collaboration Content management system E-mail Voice mail Discussion forums Chat systems Data conferencing Collaborative work systems C) Electronic commerce- Business-to-business electronic commerce or business-to-consumer electronic commerce Electronic funds transfer Supply chain management E-marketing Online transaction processing Scope of e-business applications These applications can be available to different kinds of users: All users of the internet Only the employees on the intranet A specified targeted group of users of an extranet (like customers, partners etc.) E-business offers the opportunity to rethink a whole range of assumptions about how businesses operate, how they relate to their customers and supplies, and their roles and position in the wider market place. The drivers for e-business can be divided into the follows: Opportunities and Threats. Opportunities E-business gives the opportunity to choose a business model. Some organisations such as prudential assurance with Egg and Co-operative Bank with smile have launched different internet businesses, and have taken the opportunity to establish a new brand which might be more representative of their business vision for the future of their business, that an old long-standing brands. E-commerce also gives the opportunity to define the relationship with customers. I.e. routine service transactions are under the customers control. The customer is encouraged to learn the script for example the process associated with placing an order. This learning increases the barriers to switching. Customer knowledge: This embeds the collection of data which give the organisation an upper hand over rivals for example my bank. My bank knows my by name and address which can help stop crime. Cost saving on transactions can be considerable because the customer takes responsibility for a large element of the service transaction. Access to global markets: This takes place mostly in niche markets; access to such global markets has provided welcome opportunities for small businesses and entering the global market is challenging. Threats Barrier of entry are minimal. It takes short period of time to implement web presence and thereby to launch a new business. Size doesnt matter and indeed small and medium sized companies may be more flexible and adaptable. Increase customer expectation about choice, especially in relation to wide product range, the opportunity to undertake comparison shopping, and 24-hour availability. Pressure on product margins. Markets that have pressure on product margins, additional pressure will arise from an additional channel of delivery. Virtual organisations (VO) This is a temporary network of independent companies- supplies, customers, even rivals- linked by information technology to share skills, costs, assets, ideas to create, distribute product and services with out being limited by traditional boundaries or locations and gaining access to one anothers markets. Virtual organisation has many locations and need to communicate between those locations, to share information and work collaboratively on that shared information to produce joint products and services, with the use of information systems. From my point of view virtual organisation can be described as A virtual organisation is an opportunity-pulled and opportunity defined integration of core competencies of different partners which is based on information systems. In a virtual organisation a single project can run across different partners on basis of computer support. In a virtual organisation experts can be accessed through the computer network. In a virtual organisation participants interact with each other as team members within computer supported collaborative work. In a virtual organisation, companies must be connected electronically so that people within an organisation can inter-operate and intra-operate across the electronic business environment, using common tools to navigate around the e-business environment and share information. Virtual organisation will have neither central office nor an organisation chart. This type of organisation will have no hierarchy and no vertical integration. The purpose of such an organisation is to or alliance is to command speed and flexible in order to: Break down market barriers to new products by rallying the required skills and expertise from groups, individuals, and even rivals from outside organisational boundaries. Gain access into new markets and technologies. For this type of organisation to exist they must have the following: Adaptability, flexibility and responsiveness to change requirements and conditions. Effectiveness. Empowerment of staff. Low level of bureaucracy. High infusion of IT to support business processes and knowledge workers. Stewardship of expertise, know-how and knowledge. Dispersion of components parts. The success factors for such organisations are: Shared risks. Mutual benefits. Trust. A shared vision. The goals of a virtual organisation are: Excellence: each partner brings its core competence. Utilization: resources of partners are utilized more profitably. Opportunism: market opportunity can be met better together than by each individual company. Any of these factors can change the opportunism that led to the formation of a virtual organisation may lead to its demise. The bad thing about this organisation is that when they is a conflict, misunderstandings or unforeseen event the organisation has few established procedures to deal with the negotiation and conflict resolution. In a virtual organisation a key component to have is a virtual team. A virtual team is an evolutionary form of network organisation enabled by advances in information and communication technology. The opportunistic nature of such alliances suggests that they will generally be short term and exist only until after their objective has been achieved. The five main attributes of a virtual organisation are alliance for a common goal, underlying information and communication technologies, vertical integration, globalization, and collaboration. The member companies may then disband and proceed to create new partnerships. In reality the permanence of alliances an d the way in which virtual organisations mutate will depend on the interdependencies between the member the members, and the extent to which original objectives evolves into new shared objectives. Organisations are driven to become VO due to different situation: Needs for process innovation companies are often motivated by competitive pressures, supply, demands and other factors to achieve increased productivity and quality. Sharing of core competencies- VO (virtual organisation) help address the voids in an organisation for example the starting up, turn over and retirements. Mobile workers- VO (virtual organisation) concepts can help the numerous companies employing mobile staff such as auditors, consultant and technicians. Cost reduction- improving efficiency often means reducing overhead, such as redistributing cost over several partners locations. Changes in employee values and attitudes toward work- quality of life are a major factor in keeping and employing staff. Costs and problems of traveling- VOs (virtual organisation) address transportation issues, such as unpredicted commuting time, traffic hassles, the cost of fuel and environmental impact of commuting. For an organisation to be able to implement VOs (virtual organisation) it will include: Telecommuting the partners employees work at a location away from the usual workplace such as at home or mobile locations. Tele-centres these satellite offices typically are located in communities outside of local area but provide space, equipments for employees commonly not available in telecommuting. Mobile working this refers to the working environment of mobile workers who are required to use technology such as mobile phones, e-mail wireless devices, pagers and laptops. Hot desking is when employees of an organisation temporary physical occupy a work station or surface in the organisation or a partners organisation. Hoteling employees of this organisation dont have traditional office space in a building but instead work from home or the road and reserve conference rooms or offices at a building, usually the companys headquarters, when they need to meet with clients, colleagues, or their departments. Virtual team is a group of employees that work in a Geographically Dispersed Team (GDT), space, and organisational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology i.e. e-mail, groupware or video conferencing. Technologies In E-business technology is any thing that facilitates and constrains the development of e-business. Most of the excitement around e-business is integrally associated with the potential of the internet, and more specifically the web. Whiles these technologies are important let us not forget that in e-business, especially in business-to-consumer applications, is concerned with allowing customers access through whichever channel they choose for example mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA) with WAP display or public access kiosks i.e. in airports, railway stations, and shopping centres. So in other words customer will want to be able to access information in the move, as well as through fixed machines at home or at work. The only problems with this is that the products been viewed can not be touched, smelt, or seen like in a traditional shop. An advantage of these e-businesses is that a customer can go to a virtual mall and collect information on a product, compare prices with similar products and also check details of the product. The main technologies that I will be talking about will be: The internet. The World Wide Web. Intranet and Extranets. The term internet and World Wide Web are often used interchangeably. These two are not the same thing. The internet is a collection of interlinked computer networks or a network of networks while the World Wide Web comprises of those servers linked to the internet that use HTTP. The defining characteristic of the web is that websites or documents are linked to one another through hyperlinks which are embedded in the website. Users move from one site to another with the help of hyperlinks. Another concept that is often encountered in the internet world is that of the intranet. An intranet is an organisations internal communication system that uses internet technology. Intranet is a web browser and graphical user interface. While the internet offers access to its contents for almost any member of the public, intranet have strict access controls in form of passwords and firewalls. These security devices protect company web pages, document databases and other information from external access. These are useful for large companies operating from several places. Extranet is an extended intranet that gives access to users beyond the organisation such as customers, suppliers, collaborators and some times competitors. Extranet also have security devices that protect information from other internet users and define the level of access for approved users. The internet connects millions of computers and the rate of increase in use and the new subscriber are the growth day by day all over the world. This is why a lot of companies are very excited and invest a lot of money in the e-business area of there company. For companies the internet is the gateway to a huge market its just a matter of finding your niche. An example of a very success internet company that we all know is Amazon. Most companies find it important to have a presence online in form of a website, since the internet is becoming a cheaper way of promotion and visibility. For customer the internet is a gateway to information, commercial and government websites, software and document archives, and e-mail. The internet offers for both the customer and companies a rich seam of information and commercial transactions and commerce. Relationship between E-business, Virtual Organisation, and Technology. The relationship between e-business, virtual organisation and technology are that virtual organisation needs e-business and technology. In virtual organisation technology is important because virtual organisation needs these technologies such as the internet to form and re-form alliances and to create blurred boundaries of the organisation, break down barriers to entry and gain access to new markets. It also needs technology for security issues, compatibilities and interoperability, payment mechanism and mobile network channel capacity. It needs e-business because e-business embraces all aspects of information technology in business i.e. security issues related with data security and payment mechanisms, reducing costs, improved customer service and increased competitive edge. This includes buying and selling, collaborating with business partners and the integration across business processes and communication within the organisation. Technology has also helped the virtual organisation advance information and communications technologies. It has also have in flexibility, improved security, low costs, and improved resource utilization. Technology has helped communication to allow members separated by time and space and often culture, geography, history and future to engage in collaborative work. E-business technology is important because e-business needs technology to be able to embrace information technology for example without the internet e-business will not be able to care out tasks like buying and selling online, communicating with customers, companies being able to promote and be visible online. So without technology they will be no e-business. Virtual organisation can be related to e-business only if a company is involved in a temporary network of independent companies linked by information technology to share skills, costs and access to one anothers markets or to produce a product or service. Virtual Organisations and e-business are related to technology or work hand to hand because without them the relevant technologies would not have being created for example in e-business the online transaction processing would have being useless because they will be no need for online transaction without the introduction of e-business. In the case of virtual organisation technology has help make it work for example the internet has made it easy for a virtual organisation to form and re-form alliances and to create blurred boundaries of the organisation, break down barriers to entry and gain access to new markets. Technology has also helped virtual organisation advance information and communications technologies. It has also have in flexibility, improved security, low costs, and improved resource utilization. Technology has helped communication to allow members separated by time and space and often culture, geography, history and future to engage in collaborative work. Benefits of E-business are that it gives the opportunity to choose a business model, it redefines the business relationship, it introduces cost saving for the company i.e. advertising or overhead costs, it gives the company access to new global markets, the company gets introduced to E-commerce, it gives companies like banks Customer knowledge for instant knowing the customer by first name. Benefits of technology are better communication i.e. able to reach more people with the help of the internet, saves on over head costs, it introduces cheaper ways of promotion and been visible to the customers and potential customers, technology gives better storage methods i.e. banks storing information on the magnetic strip of a credit/debit card or super markets storing information on a bar code, it introduces better ways of communicating. Benefits of virtual Organisation are the partners share risks, share costs, it breaks down market barriers to new products by rallying the required skills and expertise from groups, individuals, and even rivals from outside organisational boundaries, it give the partners access into new markets, expertise and technologies, it introduces increased flexibility of organisations and finally it improves customer relations for the partners. Conclusion As discussed I believe that technology, virtual organisation and e-business work to complement each other. Technology is important for both e-business and virtual organisation because both need some sort of technology to be able to exist or work for example virtual organisation can not succeed without technology. It needs technology to set up a networks, communications, security and e-business cant exist without the help of technology because technology is needed to embrace information technology foe example support the internet, World Wide Web, electronic mail, groupware such as lotus and video conferencing. In terms of technology without e-business and virtual organisation the technologies will not be designed or created for example in e-business the online transaction processing would have being useless because they will be no need for online transaction without the introduction of e-business. Technology has also helped virtual organisation advance information and communications t echnologies. It has also have in flexibility, improved security, low costs, and improved resource utilization. Technologies has helped communication or have meetings to allow members separated by time and space and often culture, geography, history and future to engage in collaborative work.

Todays Family :: essays research papers

Surviving in the Ross Sea   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emperor penguins and Weddell seals are the only marine predators that breath air and live year round in Antarctica Ross Sea. How these two animals are able to live among each other when there diets, hunting depths and area distribution are shared is the question. Ross Sea is called home by six emperor penguin colonies, approximately 180,000 birds, and about 50,000 Weddell seals. It is important, when considering competition between these two species to know that each share above and below water resources however it is below water prey where problems may occur. Several items can be considered to determine true competition overlap. These items include prey selection, using different hunting depths and habitat separation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fish account for most of the diet of both predators (99.3 % for seals and 89-95% for penguins). To take it one step further, Pleuragramma antarcticum, or Antarctica silverfish is the primary prey for each. Of the fish consumed, 88.6% of penguin’s fish diet and 99.3% of the seals diet consist of the Antarctic silverfish. This species of penguins and seals do not select fish of different classes despite body and mouth size difference. Seal prey is slightly larger, yet still considered juvenile as are penguin prey. Absence of larger prey in the penguin diet may be due to the fact that all samples were collected during chick rearing periods. It is possible that adult birds would capture larger fish for themselves and return with slightly smaller sizes for their young. Although seals and penguins hunt for the same size and species of fish, this does not restrict them from cohabitation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next we will consider the depth at which they hunt. Both, seal and penguins are excellent divers. In order to dive at great depths, these species move oxygen away from the lungs and into the muscles and blood. This allows them to store 3-4 times more oxygen than the average land mammal. In addition, seals and penguins use other techniques to reduce oxygen intake. Examples of this include the reduction of heart rates during long dives and an energy conserving swim pattern called burst and glide. It is known that penguins and seals have the ability to reach similar depths, however, the time below surface varies between the two animals.

The Federal Court System :: essays research papers

The Federal Court System Chapter 18 Sections 3 and 4 I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Supreme Court A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The supreme court of the United States is the only court specifically created in the constitution a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chief Justice of the United States b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Eight associate justices II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Judicial Review A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1st asserted its power of judicial review in the classic case of Marbury vs. Madison in 1803 a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  aftermath of the stormy election of 1800 b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Provision of the Judicial Act of 1789, in which congress had created the federal court system. Law gave the Supreme Court the right to hear such suits in its original jurisdiction (not on appeal from a lower court). 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Court Refused Request B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marshall’s powerful opinion a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The constitution is, by its own terms, the supreme law of the land b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All legislative enactments, and all other actions of the government, are subordinate to and cannot be allowed to conflict with the supreme law c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Judges are sworn to enforce the provisions of the Constitution and therefore must refuse to enforce any governmental action they find to be in conflict with it III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jurisdiction A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Original and appellate jurisdiction a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  from lower federal courts and from the highest State courts b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution spells out two classes of cases that may be heard by the High Court in its original jurisdiction 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  those to which a State is a party 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  those affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and councils B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Congress can implement the constitutional provision A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Court shall have the original and exclusive jurisdiction over 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  all controversies between two or more States 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  all cases brought against ambassadors or other public ministers, but not consuls IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How cases Reach the Court A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6,000 cases are now appealed to the Supreme Court each year. Of these, the Court accepts only a few hundred for decision. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chosen according to â€Å"the rule of four†: at least four of its nine justices must agree that a case should be put on the Court’s docket. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most cases reach the supreme Court by writ of certiorari 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  an order by the Court directing a lower court to send up the record in a given case for review 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Either party can petition the Court to issue a writ 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Cert† is granted in only a limited number of instances – typically, only when a petition raises some important constitutional question or a serious problem of statutory interpretation. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When certiorari is denied, the decision of the lower court stands in that particular case. a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All the denial means is that, for whatever reason, four or more justices could not agree that the Supreme Court should accept that case for review C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Few cases do reach the Court in yet another way, by certificate.

How does Virgil deviate from Homer in the underworld, and why Essay

When comparing â€Å"The Aeneid† to â€Å"The Odyssey†, it is impossible not to notice the similarity between Homer and Virgil’s poems. Both heroes leave Troy, granted one barely escapes and the other leaves victoriously, and both in one sense or the other are trying to reach their home, whether it is the old or future home. The adventures of the two heroes are incredibly similar on a number of accounts with the trip to the underworld being most intriguing. First of all it is important to understand that Homer and Virgil wrote their poems for different reasons; Homer’s â€Å"The Odyssey† was written for entertainment purposes, while Virgil’s â€Å"The Aeneid† was written in order to subtly praise Augustus and promote the glory of Rome. This could in fact explain most of Virgil’s deviations from â€Å"The Odyssey†. The two poems present us with very clear similarities; both heroes have to travel to the underworld in order to continue their voyage; both meet friends, foes and most importantly a parent. Besides that, both Odysseus and Aeneas are guided by a god without whom they may have not been able to enter the underworld, and would definitely would not have been able to leave it. Even with these similarities however, the tasks of Odysseus and Aeneas are entirely different and the underworlds which they become acquainted with are also not explained in the same manner. Therefore, while the basic idea of the underworld seems to be the same for both poets, their description of Odysseus’s and Aeneas’s trips make these passages entirely different. One of the most obvious comparisons of the poems is Aeneas and Odysseus’s meeting with old friends and family; both for example meet one of their parents. In this case, Odysseus may be sympathized with more for he did not know of his mother’s death and in the underworld had learnt that she died because of his absence and her longing for her son. Aeneas on the other hand does know that his father is no longer alive, but that does not stop both characters from crying when seeing their parent and both trying to embrace him/her three times. The gender of the dead parent also makes a point; Aeneas’s dad could be referring to the all-knowing Caesar and the male dominance in Rome. Odysseus’s mother on the other hand, once again for the purpose of entertainment, could be representing Penelope, Ithaka and all the love Odysseus has for his home. Besides the meeting with their parent, both heroes are undermined through their treatment of the spirits. For example, both are captains and both have managed to miscount their sailors not noticing that one of their men has died. This is crucial for Aeneas’s story for if he is the founder of Rome and cannot keep count of a handful of men, how is he to establish and control a new city? Besides that, another interesting point is Odysseus’s meeting with Ajax and Aeneas’s meeting with Dido. Here, the similarities are bewildering; both of these characters die because of the heroes, both of them die by thrusting a knife into their chest and both of them are still angry with Odysseus and Aeneas. As interesting as their actions may be, Odysseus and Aeneas both blame their actions on the gods, Aeneas more than Odysseus. Once again this undermines the founder of Rome for he cannot take responsibility for what he has caused and expects the gods not only to help him get to Italy, but also to be able to blame his mistakes on them. Even the reason for Odysseus and Aeneas’s trip to the underworld creates confusion as to what is similar and what is not. For example, they both enter the underworld because they need to in order to complete the voyages but also because they have been told to do so by the gods. Odysseus enters Hades in order to find the prophet Teiresias to guide him back to Ithaka, even though by going to this meeting he is risking his life, and Aeneas enters the underworld to see his father who tells him of the future of the city he is about to found. One of the main contrasts of the two poems is that Odysseus focuses more on the past of his life; he is trying to get home where he was before, in the underworld he sees his fallen friends from Troy, he is trying to get back to his wife and son etc. Aeneas on the other hand is much more focused on the future; he is also trying to get home, but that home does not exist yet, besides that, while seeing his old friends he also finds out about the future of his generations and yet even more about the city he is on his way to establish. This could bring us to the point of Homer’s vs. Virgil’s reasons for writing their poems; as mentioned earlier,  Homer wrote his poem for entertainment purposes. This explains why the majority of book eleven is made up of Odysseus meeting his old friends and great warriors of the war; through telling their stories, Homer entertained the readers and the audience by letting them imagine how the heroes act after their death (what still matters to them, which quarrels have not been forgotten etc.). Virgil on the other hand skips most of the greetings of Aeneas with old friends and focuses instead on the meeting with his father. There, while including sentimentality, the main point of the meeting is for Aeneas and the readers to find out about where the rulers of Rome came from. Aeneas in the underworld gets to see, although not speak to, his future son, the future Caesars and learns all about the glory of the future empire. Even the description of the underworld itself may fall under the same entertainment vs. glorifying Rome purposes. Homer’s Hades is filled with darkness, screams and blood; even in order to get the spirits to talk to him, Odysseus has to give them fresh blood to drink (â€Å"whom you allow to enter where the blood is will speak to you† 164). That image going alongside the terrifying dark description of Hades shows how brave Odysseus was; despite the fact that he does confess â€Å"†¦I grew sick with fear.† (46). This is an entirely different perception of the underworld Aeneas enters: even though on the outside it is surrounded by the souls of the unburied who incite fear, once Aeneas has gone through the darkness and the souls he meets his father in a â€Å"†¦places of delight†¦ green park land† (855). This is an interesting description because it suggests to the readers that once you pass through the darkness and hardship, you are rewarded with happiness and freedom. Through this Virgil could be describing not only everything Rome’s founder had to do for the city, but also glorifying Augustus by describing that none of the benefits of Rome have come easily. Even small remarks such as â€Å"Some train on grassy rings, others compete In field games† (860) could be referenced back to the how strong and hardworking the Roman nation is. While glorifying Rome and Augustus, Virgil also includes some subtle criticisms or questions about the founder of Rome. First of all, while Odysseus was able to enter Hades alone, Aeneas had to be shown the way by the prophetess and servant of Apollo: when following her heels Aeneas walked with determination and pride, but without her fear overwhelmed him. This could suggest that Aeneas is not in fact as great and fearless as he may seem. Besides that, one of Aeneas’s main tasks was to retrieve the golden bough (would the whole notion that it was golden signify that the Romans are now a â€Å"golden† nation?) which only those who are destined by fate can take down easily. Aeneas however could not even find the bough himself, his immortal mother had to send doves to lead the way. Afterwards, when his mother did show him where the golden bough was, â€Å"†¦though it clung, [he] greedily broke it off,† (298). The fact that the bough clung could be interpreted in two ways; for those who were reading it to see the glory of Rome, it could suggest the battle between Juno and Venus with Aeneas caught in between them, and the fact that he does take it down in the end suggests that the gods are in his favor after all. For those who are open to the criticism of Rome, it could be interpreted as the fact that Aeneas was not entirely brought their by fate, that maybe he specifically did not have to be the founder of Rome, but Venus made it happen. Furthermore, the word â€Å"greedily† is interesting to have been used in this context: when reading about a hero who has established one of the greatest empires one would not expect him to be greedy, rather fearless but calm and level headed; Aeneas greedily ripping off the bough does not create and image of a hero. In conclusion, Virgil’s â€Å"The Aeneid† greatly resembles Homer’s â€Å"The Odyssey† and this is seen clearly through the poets’ descriptions of the underworld. However, while â€Å"The Odyssey† was created for entertainment purposes, Virgil has managed to subtly praise and criticize his city, its ruler and its founder making his poem, and book six specifically, full of surprises.

Zoe’s Tale PART III Chapter Twenty-Two

â€Å"Demand something back,† I said to myself as I waited for the Obin council member to greet me in my state-room. â€Å"Demand something back. Demand something back.† I'm definitely going to throw up, I thought. You can't throw up, I answered myself. You haven't figured out the plumbing yet. You don't know what to throw up into. That at least was true. The Obin don't excrete or take care of their personal hygiene the same way humans do, and they don't have the same issues with modesty that we do when they're with others of their own race. In the corner of my stateroom was an interesting array of holes and spigots that looked like something that you would probably use for bathroom purposes. But I had no idea what was what. I didn't want to use the thing that I thought was the sink, only to find out later it was supposed to be the toilet. Drinking from the toilet was fine for Babar, but I like to think I have higher standards. This was definitely going to be an issue in another hour or two. I would have to ask Hickory or Dickory about it. They weren't with me because I asked to be taken directly to my stateroom when we took off and then asked to be alone for an hour, at which point I wanted to see the council member. I think that by doing that, I messed up some sort of ceremonial welcome from the crew of the Obin transport (called Obin Transport 8532, in typical and boring Obin efficiency), but I didn't let that bother me. It did have the effect I was going for at the moment: I had decided I was going to be a little bit difficult. Being a little bit difficult was going to make it easier, I hoped, to do what I needed to do next. Which was to try to save Roanoke. My dad had his own plan to do that, and I was going to help him with it. But I was thinking up a plan of my own. All it needed me to do was to demand something back. Something really, really, really big. Oh, well, my brain said. If this doesn't work at least you can ask this council guy where you're supposed to pee. Yes, well, that would be something. There was a knock on my stateroom door, and the door then slid open. There was no lock on the door because Obin among themselves didn't have much of a concept of privacy (no signal on the door, either, for the same reason). Three Obin entered the room: Hickory and Dickory, and a third Obin who was new to me. â€Å"Welcome, Zoe,† it said to me. â€Å"We welcome you at the start of your time with the Obin.† â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"Are you the council member?† â€Å"I am,† it said. â€Å"My name is Dock.† I tried very hard to keep a smile off my face and failed miserably. â€Å"You said your name was Dock,† I said. â€Å"Yes,† it said. â€Å"As in ‘Hickory, Dickory, Dock,'† I said. â€Å"That is correct,† it said. â€Å"That's quite a coincidence,† I said, once I got my face back under control. â€Å"It is not a coincidence,† Dock said. â€Å"When you named Hickory and Dickory, we learned of the nursery rhyme from which you derived the names. When I and many other Obin chose names for ourselves, we chose words from the rhyme.† â€Å"I knew there were other Hickorys and Dickorys,† I said. â€Å"But you're telling me that there are other Obin named ‘Dock,' too.† â€Å"Yes,† said Dock. â€Å"And ‘Mouse' and ‘Clock,'† I said. â€Å"Yes,† said Dock. â€Å"What about ‘Ran,' ‘Up,' and ‘The'?† I asked. â€Å"Every word in the rhyme is popular as a name,† said Dock. â€Å"I hope some of the Obin know they've named themselves after a definite article,† I said. â€Å"We are all aware of the meaning of the words,† Dock said. â€Å"What was important is the association to you. You named these two ‘Hickory' and ‘Dickory.' Everything followed from there.† I had been getting sidetracked by the idea that an entire fearsome race of aliens had given themselves goofy names because of the names I had thoughtlessly given two of them more than a decade before; this comment by Dock snapped me back into focus. It was a reminder that the Obin, with their new consciousness, had so identified with me, so imprinted on me, even as a child, that even a nursery rhyme I liked carried weight. Demand something back. My stomach cramped up. I ignored it. â€Å"Hickory,† I said. â€Å"Are you and Dickory recording right now?† â€Å"Yes,† Hickory said. â€Å"Stop please,† I said. â€Å"Councilor Dock, are you recording this right now?† â€Å"I am,† it said. â€Å"Although only for my personal recollection.† â€Å"Please stop,† I said. They all stopped recording. â€Å"Have we offended you?† Dock asked. â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"But I don't think you'll want this as part of the permanent record.† I took a deep breath. â€Å"I require something from the Obin, Councilor.† â€Å"Tell me what it is,† Dock said. â€Å"I will try to find it for you.† â€Å"I require the Obin to help me defend Roanoke,† I said. â€Å"I am afraid we are unable to help you with that request,† Dock said. â€Å"It's not a request,† I said. â€Å"I do not understand,† Dock said. â€Å"I said, it's not a request. I didn't request the Obin's help, Councilor. I said I require it. There's a difference.† â€Å"We cannot comply,† Dock said. â€Å"The Colonial Union has requested that we provide no assistance to Roanoke.† â€Å"I don't care,† I said. â€Å"What the Colonial Union wants at this point means absolutely nothing to me. The Colonial Union is planning to let everyone I care about die because it's decided Roanoke is more useful as a symbol than a colony. I don't give a crap about the symbolism. I care about the people. My friends and family. They need help. And I require it from you.† â€Å"Assisting you means breaking our treaty with the Colonial Union,† Dock said. â€Å"Your treaty,† I said. â€Å"That would be the one that allows you access to me.† â€Å"Yes,† Dickory said. â€Å"You realize you have me,† I said. â€Å"On this ship. Technically on Obin territory. You don't need Colonial Union permission to see me anymore.† â€Å"Our treaty with the Colonial Union is not only about access to you,† Dock said. â€Å"It covers many issues, including our access to the consciousness machines we wear. We cannot go against this treaty, even for you.† â€Å"Then don't break it,† I said, and this is where I mentally crossed my fingers. I knew the Obin would say they couldn't break their treaty with the Colonial Union; Hickory had said so before. This is where things were about to get really tricky. â€Å"I require the Obin help me defend Roanoke, Councilor. I didn't say the Obin had to do it themselves.† â€Å"I am afraid I do not understand you,† Dock said. â€Å"Get someone else to help me,† I said. â€Å"Hint to them that the help would be appreciated. Do whatever you have to do.† â€Å"We would not be able to hide our influence,† Dock said. â€Å"The Colonial Union will not be swayed by the argument that our forcing another race to act on your behalf does not constitute interference.† â€Å"Then ask someone the Colonial Union knows you can't force,† I said. â€Å"Whom do you suggest?† Dock asked. There's an old expression for when you do something completely crazy. â€Å"Shooting the moon,† it's called. This was me raising my rifle. â€Å"The Consu,† I said. Blam. There went my shot at a very faraway moon. But it was a shot I had to take. The Obin were obsessed with the Consu, for perfectly excellent reasons: How could you not be obsessed with the creatures that gave you intelligence, and then ignored you for the rest of eternity? The Consu had spoken to the Obin only once since they gave them consciousness, and that conversation came at the high cost of half of all Obin, everywhere. I remembered that cost. I planned to use it to my advantage now. â€Å"The Consu do not speak to us,† Dock said. â€Å"Make them,† I said. â€Å"We do not know how,† Dock said. â€Å"Find a way,† I said. â€Å"I know how the Obin feel about the Consu, Councilor. I've studied them. I've studied you. Hickory and Dickory made a story about them. Obin's first creation myth, except it's true. I know how you got them to speak to you. And I know you've tried to get them to speak to you again since then. Tell me it's not true.† â€Å"It's true,† Dock said. â€Å"I'm willing to guess you're still working on it even now,† I said. â€Å"We are,† Dock said. â€Å"We have been.† â€Å"Now is the time to make that happen,† I said. â€Å"There is no guarantee that the Consu would help you, even if we convinced them to speak to us and hear our plea on your behalf,† Dock said. â€Å"The Consu are unknowable.† â€Å"I understand that,† I said. â€Å"It's worth a try anyway.† â€Å"Even if what you ask were possible, it would come at a high cost,† Dock said. â€Å"If you knew what it cost us the last time we spoke to the Consu – â€Å" â€Å"I know exactly how much it cost,† I said. â€Å"Hickory told me. And I know the Obin are used to paying for what they get. Let me ask you, Councilor. What did you get from my biological father? What did you get from Charles Boutin?† â€Å"He gave us consciousness,† Dock said, â€Å"as you well know. But it came at a price. Your father asked for a war.† â€Å"Which you never gave him,† I said. â€Å"My father died before you could pay up. You got his gift for free.† â€Å"The Colonial Union asked for a price to finish his work,† Dock said. â€Å"That's between you and the Colonial Union,† I said. â€Å"It doesn't take anything away from what my father did, or the fact you never paid for it. I am his daughter. I am his heir. The fact you are here says that the Obin give me the honor they would give him. I could say to you that you owe me what you owe him: a war, at least.† â€Å"I cannot say that we owe you what we owed your father,† Dock said. â€Å"Then what do you owe me?† I asked. â€Å"What do you owe me for what I've done for you? What is your name?† â€Å"My name is Dock,† it said. â€Å"A name you have because one day I named those two Hickory and Dickory,† I said, pointing at my two friends. â€Å"It's only the most obvious example of what you have through me. My father gave you consciousness, but you didn't know what to do with it, did you? None of you did. All of you learned what to do with your consciousness by watching me grow into mine, as a child and now as who I am today. Councilor, how many Obin have watched my life? Seen how I did things? Learned from me?† â€Å"All of them,† Dock said. â€Å"We have all learned from you, Zoe.† â€Å"What has it cost the Obin?† I asked. â€Å"From the time Hickory and Dickory came to live with me, until the moment I stepped onto this ship, what has it cost you? What have I ever asked of any Obin?† â€Å"You have not asked for anything,† Dock said. I nodded. â€Å"So let's review. The Consu gave you intelligence and it cost you half of all the Obin when you came to ask them why they did it. My father gave you consciousness, and the price for it was a war, a price which you would have willingly paid had he lived. I have given you ten years of lessons on how to be conscious – on how to live. The bill for that has come due, Councilor. What price do I require? Do I require the lives of half the Obin in the universe? No. Do I require the Obin to commit to a war against an entire other race? No. I require only your help to save my family and friends. I don't even require that the Obin do it themselves, only that they find a way to have someone else do it for them. Councilor, given the Obin's history of what it's received and what it has cost, what I am requiring of the Obin now comes very cheap indeed.† Dock stared at me, silently. I stared back, mostly because I had forgotten to blink through all of that and I was afraid if I tried to blink now I might scream. I think it was making me look unnervingly calm. I could live with that. â€Å"We were to send a skip drone when you arrived,† Dock said. â€Å"It has not been sent yet. I will let the rest of the Obin council know of your requirement. I will tell them I support you.† â€Å"Thank you, Councilor,† I said. â€Å"It may take some time to decide on a course of action,† Dock said. â€Å"You don't have time,† I said. â€Å"I am going to see General Gau, and I am going to deliver my dad's message to him. The Obin council has until I am done speaking to General Gau to act. If it has not, or will not, then you will leave General Gau without me.† â€Å"You will not be safe with the Conclave,† Dock said. â€Å"Are you under the impression that I will tolerate being among the Obin if you refuse me?† I said. â€Å"I keep telling you this: I am not asking for this. I am requiring it. If the Obin will not do this, they lose me.† â€Å"That would be very hard for some of us to accept,† Dock said. â€Å"We had already lost you for a year, Zoe, when the Colonial Union hid your colony.† â€Å"Then what will you do?† I asked. â€Å"Drag me back onto the ship? Hold me captive? Record me against my will? I don't imagine that will be very entertaining. I know what I am to the Obin, Councilor. I know what uses you have all put me to. I don't think you will find me very useful after you refuse me.† â€Å"I understand you,† Dock said. â€Å"And now I must send this message. Zoe, it is an honor to meet you. Please excuse me.† I nodded. Dock left. â€Å"Please close the door,† I said to Hickory, who was the closest to it. It did. â€Å"Thank you,† I said, and threw up all over my shoes. Dickory was over to me immediately and caught me before I could fall completely. â€Å"You are ill,† Hickory said. â€Å"I'm fine,† I said, and then threw up all over Dickory. â€Å"Oh, God, Dickory,† I said. â€Å"I'm so sorry.† Hickory came over, took me from Dickory and guided me toward the strange plumbing. It turned on a tap and water came bubbling out. â€Å"What is that?† I asked. â€Å"It is a sink,† Hickory said. â€Å"You're sure?† I asked. Hickory nodded. I leaned over and washed my face and rinsed my mouth out. â€Å"How do you feel?† Hickory said, after I had cleaned myself off as best I could. â€Å"I don't think I'm going to throw up anymore, if that's what you mean,† I said. â€Å"Even if I wanted to, there's nothing left.† â€Å"You vomited because you are sick,† Hickory said. â€Å"I vomited because I just treated one of your leaders like it was my cabin boy,† I said. â€Å"That's a new one for me, Hickory. It really is.† I looked over at Dickory, who was covered in my upchuck. â€Å"And I hope it works. Because I think if I have to do that again, my stomach might just flop right out on the table.† My insides did a flip-flop after I said that. Note to self: After having vomited, watch the overly colorful comments. â€Å"Did you mean it?† Hickory said. â€Å"What you said to Dock?† â€Å"Every word,† I said, and then motioned at myself. â€Å"Come on, Hickory. Look at me. You think I'd put myself through all of this if I wasn't serious?† â€Å"I wanted to be sure,† Hickory said. â€Å"You can be sure,† I said. â€Å"Zoe, we will be with you,† Hickory said. â€Å"Me and Dickory. No matter what the council decides. If you choose to stay behind after you speak to General Gau, we will stay with you.† â€Å"Thank you, Hickory,† I said. â€Å"But you don't have to do that.† â€Å"We do,† Hickory said. â€Å"We would not leave you, Zoe. We have been with you for most of your life. And for all the life that we have spent conscious. With you and with your family. You have called us part of your family. You are away from that family now. You may not see them again. We would not have you be alone. We belong with you.† â€Å"I don't know what to say,† I said. â€Å"Say you will let us stay with you,† Hickory said. â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"Do stay. And thank you. Thank you both.† â€Å"You are welcome,† Hickory said. â€Å"And now as your first official duties, find me something new to wear,† I said. â€Å"I'm starting to get really ripe. And then tell me which of those things over there is the toilet. Because now I really need to know.†