Control room video Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Control room video - Essay Example The theme is successfully delivered because of the portrayal of hierarchy in the documentary. The theme of the documentary was delivered to the audience in such a way that the arguments from both the sides were given. In the end it was the audience who had to decide as to which side was right and which was wrong. The attack on the media was also shown in the documentary to prove the evidence against the US government. It basically showed that the media was being controlled by both the sides or perhaps was being tried to be controlled. The power of the media is analyzed in the documentary and the message has been given to the audience. 2. To what extent the documentary might change your perception on the war in Iraq?   The documentary can have a great impact on my perception regarding the Iraq war. The casualties that I saw in the media previously raised my sentiments for the Iraqi citizens. But the documentary portrays that media itself is being controlled by the sides hence it wou ld change my view regarding these sentiments. I would have a balanced view for the Iraqi people because the US soldiers being attacked and tortured was not shown much in the videos shown in media. The war on Iraq however was waged so that the regime of Saddam Hussein could be ended and the people of Iraq be helped. The documentary raises a question for me that â€Å"was this objective really achieved? I believe that it was not and hence the war in Iraq was a waste of time and resources of the United States which could have been spent in a much better way. The documentary shows the real side of the media and how they were being controlled. After watching the documentary I can say that I have balanced views regarding the war but the casualties in the war did affect the Americans in a bad way. 3. Critically identify the strengths and weaknesses of the video.   The video had some strengths and weaknesses which made it worth watching. Firstly it does not conclude everything on itself but rather leaves it to the audience to decide as to which side they should choose. The strength of the video is that it involves the real people of Al Jazeera who talk for the whole situation themselves. Thus the audience can be assured that this documentary is not fake or lying about things. The series of incidents that happened in the Iraq war are shown in the documentary such that it gives an overall view about the situation of war to the audience. It uses different real events to show how the television was being blamed for the incidents that occurred during the war. Al Jazeera was being targeted by the US officials and a footage of that target has been shown in the documentary. The attacks on the television office have also been shown in the documentary so as to provide evidence to the viewers regarding the story that the movie is providing the audience with. This evidence proves to be one of the strengths of the video and helps the audience to understand the politics that was being worked out against the media. 4. Briefly, do you recommend this video to other viewers? If yes why? If not

Gasoline Prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Gasoline Prices - Essay Example Increased fuel prices forces American society to find alternative energy sources and motivates the government to invest more into research and development of the cars with less fuel consumption and improving efficiency of the refinery sector. Crude oil prices have the major impact on gasoline prices. Other factors include refinery capacity in the country, gasoline inventories maintained by refiners which is going downward, regulatory environment (national air quality standards), and the structure of the gasoline market. It is important to note that mergers lead to anticompetitive effects because more power is given to merged companies who are able to increase prices above competitive level. The first wave of mergers has started in 1990s in US when several competing with each other companies have merged. More than 2,500 mergers have occurred at that time - since 2000 only 8 mergers have occurred involving different market segments (exploration, production, and transportation) (Energy Markets: Factors Contributing to Higher Gasoline Prices, 1). Refining capacity in the United States is not expanding at the same rate as demand for the gasoline. The American average refinery capacity is 92 percent - as the result, there is no room to expand production (Energy Markets: Factors Contributing to Higher Gasoline Prices, 1). ... Experts attribute higher prices to the expending demand (particularly for the electricity production) while supply is not expanding at the same rate. The balance of demand and supply is especially affected if demand or supply changes unexpectedly. For example, the prices went up at the end of year 2005 when two hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast region (Natural Gas: Factors Affecting Prices and Potential Impacts on Consumers, 1). As it was noted above, the domestic refineries are already working at their full capacity and the fact that the gasoline is imported leads to the shortage of supply. According to market structure principles, the shortage of supply results in increased cost - people will buy gasoline despite of the price they pay. In 2004 the United States citizens have consumed approximately 20.5 million barrels per day of crude oil accounting for as much as 25 percent of global production. Half of this crude oil was used for the production of gasoline. Data from the Energy Information Administration indicate that the capacity of American refineries is approximately 16.5 million barrels per day. Even though the refineries are upgraded, the majority of them have been built over 25 years ago. By year 2020 the demand for gasoline is projected to increase by 20 percent and the country will not be able to satisfy the domestic demand. As Karen Matusic has noted, since May 2005 the demand for gasoline has increased by 3.3 percent while the price increased by 35 percent. From supply side, she continues, those refineries that has been destroyed by hurricanes are operating now and the capacity utilization rate rose to 91.7 percent (Matusic, 1). Despite of the increased capacity, the price for gasoline is not