The Epidemic of AIDS in the African-American Community :: Health Medical HIV Diseases Essays

In the early 1980's, many gay men were found to suffer from Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer usually associated with elderly men of Mediterranean ethnicity. Eventually the gay men wasted away and died. Word began to spread throughout the homosexual community that gay men were dying of an otherwise rare cancer. The medical community began to refer to this syndrome by the colloquialism "Gay Cancer". As medical scientists researched, they discovered that the syndrome included other manifestations, such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). A rare form of pneumonia caused by protozoa, its name was changed to "GRID", or Gay Related Immune Deficiency. The effect that the stigma of homosexuality had on the general public's perception and handling of the disease cannot be overlooked. Within the medical community, it quickly became apparent that the disease was not specific to gay men (as blood transfusion patients, heroin users, heterosexual women and newborn babies became added to the list of afflicted), and the renamed the syndrome (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) in misconception holds that the disease was introduced by a gay male flight attendant, named Gaetan Dugas, referred to as "Patient Zero". However, subsequent research has revealed that there were cases of AIDS much earlier than initially known. It has also been theorized that a series of inoculations against hepatitis that were performed in the gay community of San Francisco were tainted with HIV. There is a high correlation between recipients of that vaccination and initial cases of AIDS, though this of course has never been proven to be accurate. Since the turn of the century, the overall health of all Americans has improved substantially. Although advances in medical and scientific technology have improved the health status of the American people, there is a growing concern and recognition that African-Americans have not benefited equally from the fruits of science. Whereas these facts are not "new news," it is apparent that most of the public and the scientific community are not fully aware of the full impact of these problems. There are government agencies that aim to provide health services to minorities: the Office of Minority Health (which seeks to develop health policies beneficial to minorities) and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (which seeks to promote minority health and eliminate health disparities). On June 23, 2004 President George W. Bush spoke at a press conference in Philadelphia, Pa. where he announced his latest HIV/AIDS initiative.

Filter Bubbles

Everyone who needs information from the World Wide Web, uses search engines like Google or Yahoo! to find the specific information he or she is looking for. These engines help us to filter all the information given by the internet with the help of invisible algorithms. Without them we would sit many hours in front of the screen and filter the information by ourselves. For example the search of a brownie recipe has an output of over forty billion search results.For this reason it is good to have these algorithms but on the other hand it should be possible to select on our own which information gets filtered or not. For instance none of these algorithms will be able to decide which information is relevant to us. It is comparable to our bookshelves at home. If there are only holiday catalogues in it and I am looking for the latest information about travel warnings in Egypt I will not find it, because I am only interested in the destination itself. As I already mentioned unique ‘fi lter bubbles’ will be created for my profile as a consequence of these algorithms.Another significant point is that the user will not be able to influence which content gets into the bubble or gets blocked by the binary gatekeepers. It seems to me, that the internet shows us what it thinks we want to see and not what the user really wants to know. I am not totally happy with that fact. I believe that there won’t be any chance to change our search behavior and the results if we are not aware of the fact of these filter methods. As far as I can see there are many sites on the internet which use these algorithms like Facebook, Amazon and Google.In the case of Facebook it could mean I won’t be able to see the posts of specific friend ‘A’ because I liked the posts of a friend ‘B’ first. I have to admit this scares me a bit because I may also want to read what friend ‘A’ posted. The fact is that all of this so called invention ha ppen in the darkness and stay there if no one recognizes them and cares about the security on the internet. Summing up it can be said that there are both positive and negative aspects which plead for the invisible algorithms.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - 692 Words

In the Western part of Africa there is one dominant religious group in Nigeria that surpasses the rest. They have had much success in politics, economics, an above all have had better education levels than any other West African group. This astounding group is known as The Igbo. During British colonial times Christianity was enforced into the Igbo way of life, this changed some Igbo to believe that what the Christian missionaries were saying is true and that the Christian faith was the way to go. Through commercial trading Islam spread into Igboland, and this led to more Igbo people leaving the Igbo way of life for another, whether it be Islam or Christianity which divide the country in two. In the novel Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe British colonialism and the migration of Muslims to Nigeria led to the change in the faith, social and economic changes in the Igbo society. Traditional Igbo faith believes that there is only one creator or god known as Chineke. Igbo people also believe in many spirits. An example of a spirit in the Igbo religion would be Ala the earth goddess. The Igbo people believed that their religious life influences there non religious life. Igbo people call their ancestors or spirits by breaking Kola nut pouring liberations of wine, and say prayers to invite the spirits and ancestors. The Igbo people take their religion seriously, in which they punish harshly for commitment of sins. â€Å" †¦ to await Ojiugo’s return. And when sheShow MoreRelatedThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1415 Words   |  6 Pagesbook Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe does just that. This book should be taught in schools because it shows the values and traditions of Achebe’s Igbo culture, persistently teaches life lessons throughout the book, and shows the darker reality of European colonialism in Africa. Chinua Achebe is known as one of the most influential and famous authors to ever write. Chinua Achebe originates from an Igbo background and he expresses that through his writings very well including Things Fall ApartRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe1324 Words   |  6 Pages Chinua Achebe chose to write his novels in English to reveal a deep response of his people to colonisation and to make that response understood to people all over the world. Things Fall Apart was written in English to teach people worldwide of the struggles he faced and the people of Nigeria faced growing up. Many authors and critics have written about Achebe’s ‘Things fall apart’ adding their valued opinion on what he was trying to say and his decision to write in English. In the followingRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Essay1203 Words   |  5 Pages who took their land for monetary gain. This was a dark period of time for Africans that live there. The U.S. Civil War and The Great Depression both can be related, in this instance, to how down their people were because of what happened. Chinua Achebe said it best, â€Å"I would be quite satisfied if my novels...did no more than teach my readers of their past...was not a long night of savagery from which the first European acting on God’s behalf delivered them†(qtd. in â€Å"Morning Yet† 45). In theRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1452 Words   |  6 Pagesassume control over the Roman Empire. However, imperialism in Africa remained a recorded element from 1750 to 1945. This paper visits how control and changes were influences over the Africans during this time period as seen through Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. (UKEssays, 2015) Europe was experiencing a few financial and political changes that forced the major European forces to investigate abroad regions to add to their resources during the seventeenth century. In order for the EuropeanRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe2361 Words   |  10 PagesThings Fall Apart Book Critique Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a historical fiction novel describing the life of Okonkwo in a Nigerian village succumbing to European ways, in order to portray Achebe’s view on imperialism. It was chosen for us to read by our teacher because it describes imperialism and its effects in an Ibo village of Nigeria. It also shows the treatment of natives by the Europeans and how the natives reacted. Things Fall Apart is useful to our course of studies because itRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1265 Words   |  6 PagesThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is markedly relevant to our current course of studies in World History, as it tells a story based on European Imperialism in Africa. Coming off the heels of our Imperialism unit, this post-colonial novel provides very helpful context on different civilizations’ perspectives throughout the Age of Imperialism; aside from analyzing death tolls, descriptions of conflicts, and names of countries, it was previousl y hard to envision what life was actually like during thatRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 735 Words   |  3 PagesThings fall apart. Achebe. Ernest Gaines once said, â€Å"I write to try to find out who I am. One of my main themes is manliness. I think Im trying to figure out what manliness really is.† Indeed, every society or culture has its own understanding of an ideal man. Even though these characteristics are different in various parts of the world, the significance of masculinity can never be overestimated. â€Å"Things Fall Apart† by Chinua Achebe is considered as one of the best examples of a riseRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe897 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel, â€Å"Things Fall Apart† by Chinua Achebe the Igbo tradition revolves around structured gender role. Everything essential of Igbo life is based on their gender, which throughout the novel it shows the role of women and the position they hold, from their role in the family household, also planting women crops, to bearing children. Although the women were claimed to be weaker and seemed to be treated as o bjects, in the Igbo culture the women still provided qualities that make them worthyRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Essay1851 Words   |  8 Pageschoice and styles are critical not only to the reader’s understanding of the text but to his appreciation as well. How language is effectively manipulated in their writings enhances the reader’s valuing of the works. The selected novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a representation of Igbo culture and their language. It explores the life of an Igbo tribe at the time of when colonization hit Africa. It could be considered as a post-colonial text, as the protagonist of the story and the otherRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1948 Words   |  8 Pageswellbeing or their absence. Things Fall Apart is a novel that was written by Chinua Achebe, who is a supporter of multiculturalism as depicted in his book through the appreciation of the differences between cultures. In his novel, Achebe has used the Igbo society as a representation of the African cultural roots. He demonstrates that interactions between cultures have both the constructive and unconstructive consequences. The primary purpose behind Achebe writing Things Fall Apart was to respond to the