The Historical Context Of West African History - 1039 Words

For our final paper, we were to read Sundiate. This was my favorite book to read due to the fact that I have an interest in West African history. From reading this book we should know the historical context, who Songolon Kolonkan and Balla Fasseke are and what roles they play, what details show existence of long distance trade, what the universal religion is, and what we learned about West African history. The book really gave me a broad idea of what life would be like during that time. I can only imagine seeing thousands of traders coming into Mali with their camels and donkeys carrying what they had to trade. What is the historical contexts? Sundiate was born in the kingdom of Mali. He lived was born in 1217, and lived a short 38 years†¦show more content†¦Balla was there to help Sundiata whenever he got put into bad situations. The father of Sundiata ,Maghan Kon Fatta, also had a griot who went by the name of Gnankouman Doua (Sundiata, xvii). An interesting fact about gr iots is that their position moves down to their child. Balla basically was to teach and pass on the traditions of the Mali culture. Balla also played a major role in how Sundiata began to walk. Sundiata was tired of constantly having to crawl everywhere he went and had enough of everybody talking about him. Sundiata requested the Balla bring him an iron bar to assist in holding him up. It takes a lot of courage for someone to do that. Sogolon Kolonkan was the sister to Sundiata. She also protected and guided him. They have the same parents, so they are full blooded brother and sister. Sogolon wached over him. There were witches who were going to test Sundiata , but he ,unknowingly, had nothing to worry about. â€Å"Sogolon was very well versed in the art of witchcraft and watched over brother† (Sundiata, 26). Sogolon was not going to let anything happen that she did not think Sundiata couldn’t handle. What details shows existence of long distance trade? Mali sat right in the middle of the trade route that runs through West Africa. Trade was a booming in Mali. Traders traveled for hundreds of miles because of the variety of resources and items that were coming through. Due to that fact that the traders needed to carry many goods across far distance they

Darwin Destroyed the Concept of Human Specialness Free Essays

Darwin destroyed the concept of human specialness I would say I disagree quite strongly with the assertion that Darwin destroyed the specialness of humanity. For this relatively brief paper I am going to attempt to refute this claim and try to highlight some of the things that highlight how we have kept the same level of ‘specialness’ that we have always had. There are many people who would say that we humans are the only beings with full consciousness, in the words of a great many this would translate to having a soul. We will write a custom essay sample on Darwin Destroyed the Concept of Human Specialness or any similar topic only for you Order Now Humans surely have a soul-like property, a mind, something that separates us from the multitudes of lower species from the smorgasbord of earthly life. It isn’t my purpose for this paper to discuss whether or not we have a soul but I do intend to talk about what constitutes our mind, our selves. The fact that we as humans possess a high degree of consciousness to me spells a very special kind of existence. Can even our nearest intelligent creatures on the tree of life appreciate the magnificence of life? Can a chimpanzee sit back and admire the beauty of the sprawling life in the jungle? Does he marvel at his own bodies ability to repair itself after he has been in a bloody brawl with a rival? Can a dolphin be awestruck by the morning sun glistening on the surface of the water? Does he wonder what life would be like for him if he were one of those surface beings he often sees on boats in the ocean? Humans are extraordinary because, being the most advanced form of life on the planet, we possess brains larger than all other forms of life(save for some large mammals but even then ours are much bigger proportionally) With this we have evolved two magnificent features which can only set us worlds apart from and ahead of all other life forms. We have this amazing sense of self, sense of awareness- in a word -consciousness. This grants us the capability of knowing who and what we are (to a large extent anyway), and where we came from (Darwin is owed some credit in this field). It is the ability to see beauty in a sunset on a savannah, to hear the splendour in Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker, to read great works of literature and be able to travel the universe with our imaginations. The other great feature we have as a follow on from having large brains is the wonderful power of language. This splendid trait has gone hand in hand with consciousness to create the incredibly unique life form that homo sapiens has become. Our ability to understand the universe and our position in it is one of the glories of the human species. Our ability to link mind to mind by language, and especially to transmit our thoughts across the centuries is another (Dawkins 2008 p3) Our advanced cultures have truly become magnificent phenomena. We have complex, yet highly virtuous systems of ethics and values. Largely stemming from our aforementioned large brains and the use of language we have self evolved to create ways of living that set us apart from all the rest of earthly creatures, both those alive today and all the previous inhabitants of the earth including ones from bygone eras. Humanity is replete with themes of co-operation, love, compassion, altruism, sympathy for our fellow beings as well as for all other life forms. We have been capable of many such virtues for a long time, since we became human one could say. As John Eccles (1980 p204) reminds us, there are snippets of evidence that as far back as eighty thousand years ago Neanderthal man held ceremonial burials- a truly altruistic act. Or, as he also noted- the bones of two men dated from sixty thousand years ago which show they were incapacitated for up to two years yet they had been kept alive by caring tribes folk. There is other evidence from as far back as this of the compassionate behaviour between members of humanity and we all know only too well of absolutely countless examples of it in recent history and of course in present day. For all modern mans shortcomings and problems in our societies, we have always been gifted with a great sense of right and wrong, of cruelty and kindness. With this majestic property that is consciousness comes the boundless faculty of thought. We are capable to reason, plan, remember to a limitless degree. Technology today has become something we could never have imagined even one hundred years ago. We have invented the most ingenious and sophisticated equipment to be able to look inside our brains. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)scans and the more recent positron-emission topography(PET) scans are machines with wonderful capabilities for seeing goings on in the brain. We can monitor which parts of the brain are being used when we experience certain thoughts. We cannot however, as Ward highlights(2008 p147), even begin to monitor in advance what people are thinking. Our thoughts are far and away more complex and profound than any other animals (or machine) can hope to have and, importantly, remain ours and ours only. If we try to look at the bigger picture, the macroscopic view of things, are we still special? When we gaze up into the night sky and contemplate our place in the universe it is very easy to become overawed by the sheer scale of the cosmos and our relative minuteness in it. How can there be anything special about us when we are almost nothing in relation to the vast universe. I believe it is not that we are in the universe but that we are the universe. â€Å"Far from exposing human beings as incidental products of blind physical forces, science suggests that the existence of conscious organisms is a fundamental feature of the universe†(Davies 1992 p21). As Davies alludes to here humanity is actually an intrinsic part of the universe and, whether or not there are other advanced conscious beings far out in space, we are or are part of the pinnacle of life, of nature, and of the cosmos. If the universe is one giant living organism, a vast clockwork mechanism, a massive computer then we are its brain, its central cog, its CPU. I try to imagine the perspective of a person who would make a statement like the title for this essay. I can understand the point whereby humanity is seen as simply the result of a very long line of life adapting and developing or, to use the term elucidated and made famous by Darwin- evolution. Life is just mechanical, they might say they have learned from Darwin, it only instinctively drives to keep living. What’s so special about what is simply the as yet highest point of this unconscious , robotic like endeavour in nature. Are we more special than the animals below us on the food chain, or before us in eras like the dinosaurs. Was even the earliest amoeba not as special as us given its importance in the chain of events? This viewpoint, while largely correct in its facts and assumptions, doesn’t give any credence to what homo sapiens has become since he has evolved from the ape. Hopefully this paper has made some of a case as to why the two legged big brained organisms that we are have a deep specialness to them. Bibliography Davies, Paul. 1992. THE MIND OF GOD. London: Penguin Books Dawkins, Richard. 2008. MODERN SCIENCE WRITING. Oxford: Oxford University Press Eccles, John C.. 1980. THE HUMAN PSYCHE. Berlin: Routledge Ward, Keith. 2008. The Big Questions in Science and Religion. Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation Press How to cite Darwin Destroyed the Concept of Human Specialness, Papers

Corporate Social Responsibility for OZ Minerals - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theCorporate Social Responsibility for OZ Minerals. Answer: Introduction The business corporations are nowadays largely emphasizing on improving their social, economic and environmental performance for achieving sustainable growth and development. The businesses in order to achieve sustainable growth are developing their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports that provide information regarding the benefits achieved by all the stakeholders through their measures taken for improving the social, economic and environmental performances. In this context, there has been development of GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) sustainability reporting guidelines to provide assistance to the business corporations worldwide for effective sustainable reporting (Schaltegger, Bennett, and Burritt, 2006). In this context, the present report aims to analyze the extent of two selected business entities complying with the sustainability reporting standards of GRI. The business entities selected for the purpose are OZ Minerals and Caltex and the report is prepared on the p erspective of an analyze working in a consulting firm seeking to develop expertise in corporate sustainability. Analysis of Sustainability Reporting of OZ Minerals and Caltex as per GRI Principles The GRI reporting framework is developed for providing a generally accepted framework to disclose the information relating to economic, environmental and social performance. The GRI principles contain both specific and general reporting principles regarding the sustainable performance of a firm that needs to be applied by wide range of stakeholders. The GRI guidelines consist of two parts that are, reporting principles and implementation manual (Fisher, 2009). The compliance of OZ Minerals with the GRI reporting principles can be analyzed as follows: OZ Minerals The OZ Minerals is an Australian mining company listed on ASX and mainly involved in operating copper-gold mine. The company as involved in mining operations has a major responsibility of taking all the measures for environment protection. In this context, the GRI 304 standards have addressed the importance of protecting biodiversity for promoting sustainable growth of an entity. As per the standard, a reporting entity should provide information about the measures adopted for protecting the genetic diversity and natural ecosystems (White, 2009). The sustainability report of OZ minerals indicates that it effectively complies with the GRI biodiversity standard as it has disclosed adequate information regarding the land and biodiversity conservation. The company has developed and implemented a biodiversity management plan for indentifying the potential impacts of its mining operations on flora and fauna. The emphasis of the plan is to protect the endangered species and develop the proce dures for prohibiting the unauthorized haunting or trapping of native species by its employees (OZ minerals: Annual Report and Sustainability Report, 2016). The GRI 306 principle has addressed the requirements for an entity to provide the information in relation to treatment of effluents and waste generated (Fisher, 2009). The OZ minerals also complies effectively with this standard as it has disclosed all the necessary information in relation to measures adopted for minimizing waste generation. The company has adopted adequate procedures or re-handing waste, promoting post-mining land use and effective disposal of solid and hazardous waste. It has designed the disposal facilities for managing the waste materials as per the licensing and statuary obligations. The waste rock produced is disposed in rock dumps within the mining areas and tailings are disposed off through the use of special engineered facilities. In addition to this, the GRI 306 standard directs the business entities to disclose adequate information in relation to occupational health and safety (Laasch and Conaway, 2014). The OZ Company is strongly committed to integrated highest standards related to promoting the health and wellbeing of the employees and local community. The company has implemented three policies in this regard, that are, health and safety policy, diversity and inclusion policy and ethics and human rights policy. Also, the company has adopted health and wellbeing performance standards and governance systems for monitoring the effectiveness of its occupational health policies. As per the GRI 413 standards, the company has also adopted adequate measures for promoting the development of local communities through its land rehabilitation and closure plan. The mine closure plan aims to achieve the designated land use after post-mining activities. The land disturbance and rehabilitation plans aims to achieve environmental stability in the area degraded through mining activities for promoting the development of local communities residing nearby the area (OZ minerals: Annual Report and Sustai nability Report, 2016). Thus, it can be said that OZ minerals effectively complies with the GRI 101 standard of including the stakeholders in carrying out all its business activities. As per the standard, the company has effectively identified its stakeholders and disclosed adequately the measures taken for creating value for all its stakeholders. The company has clearly explained its strategic mission of creating sustainable value for all its stakeholders underpinned by its there pillars of safety, capital discipline and strong values (OZ minerals: Annual Report and Sustainability Report, 2016). The company has aligned its sustainability context with the annual report in order to improve in its business operations through adequately disclosing the financial and non-financial information to all its stakeholders as per sustainability context of GRI (Laasch and Conaway, 2014). Caltex On the other hand, Caltex, an Australian chain of petrol station does not integrate the use of GRI standards for developing its sustainability reports. The company though has disclosed the sustainable measures adopted by it for improving its social, economic and environmental performance. The company takes appropriate measures for protection of environment but has not disclosed the measures taken by it for promoting the development of biodiversity as per the GRI standards (White, 2009). The company though implements various measures such as adopting the use of Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) for designing more sustainable packaging to reduce the waste generation but the information provided is limited and is not per the GRI 306 standard. The company also has provided information in relation to promoting the occupational heath and well being of employees through implementing the risk management framework that monitors the occupational risks faced by the employees (Caltex Australia : Annual Report, 2016). However, the disclosure provided by the company in relation to occupational safety measures is not as per the GRI 403 standards. The company also supports the development of its local communities through providing them financial assistance and undertaking programs aimed at providing information relating to their various community activities to protect them from any of their hazardous business activities. Thus, it can be stated from overall analysis of disclosure provided by Caltex in relation to its sustainable performance that it does not effectively follow the GRI reporting principles (Caltex Australia: Annual Report, 2016). Also, the company has not aligned its annual report with the sustainability report that will help in developing an insight into the sustainable performance of the company properly (Laasch and Conaway, 2014). Conclusion Thus, it can be stated from the overall discussion held in the report that OZ minerals effectively complies with GRI reporting guidelines. However, the Caltex Company needs to develop its sustainability report separately with its annual report for providing detailed information regarding its sustainable performance as per the GRI standards. References Caltex Australia. 2016. Annual Report. Fisher, D. 2009. Corporate Sustainability Planning Assessment Guide: A Comprehensive Organizational Assessment. ASQ Quality Press. Laasch, O. and Conaway, R. 2014. Principles of Responsible Management: Global Sustainability, Responsibility, and Ethics. Cengage Learning. OZ minerals. 2016. Annual Report and Sustainability Report. Schaltegger, S., Bennett, M. and Burritt, R. 2006. Sustainability Accounting and Reporting. Springer Science Business Media. White, G.B. 2009. Sustainability Reporting: Managing for Wealth and Corporate Health. Business Expert Press.