Live Without TV Essay

When my family’s only television set went to the repair shop the other day, my parents, my sister, and I thought we would have a terrible week. How could we get through the long evenings in such a quiet house? What would it be like without all the shows to keep us company? We soon realized, though, that living without television for a while was a stroke of good fortune. It became easy for each of us to enjoy some activities alone, to complete some postponed chores, and to spend rewarding time with each other and friends. First of all, with no television to compete for our time, we found plenty of hours for personal interests. We all read more that week than we had read during the six months before. My father seemed to be addicted to newspapers during his free time at home. My sister and I had time to complete the book â€Å"Top 100 romance novels† that I had borrowed for three months and we had also shared our feeling together. We each also enjoyed some hobbies we had ignored for ages. My family went swimming every weekend and we found more interesting than ever before. In addition, my sister and I both stopped procrastinating with our homework. We realized that without television’s attraction, we could finish our homework faster and more effective. Second, we did chores that had been hanging over our heads for too long. There were many jobs around the house that had needed attraction for some time. The things we had to do were cleaning up our rooms, and then renewing them with paper-hangings. My father did laundry while my mother arranged the kitchen, and my sister and I took care of plants in the garden. We also had a chance to do some long-postponed shopping. Go shopping with family was my hobby and my mother had chances to buy some essential items. I bought some new English books and of course, some new short stories. And each of us also caught up with e-mail and did paperwork that was long overdue. Dad and mom finished their reports and our two sisters completed our presentations sooner than planned. Finally, and probably most important, we spent time with each other. Instead of just being in the same room together while we stared at a screen, we actually talked for many pleasant hours. My sister had an opportunity to tell about her short vacation with her friends to Nha Trang. We also shared our feelings about our daily work. Moreover, for the first time in years, my family played some games together. We reminded our memories with several games of chess with our own funny rules. And because we did not have to worry about missing this or that show, we had some family friends over on a couple of evenings and spent an enjoyable time with them. My parents had chances to chat for hours with their close friends and they found very glad. They were all proud of their children, their jobs and their happy life. Once our television returned, we were not prepared to put in the attic. But we had some sense of how it can take over our lives if we are not careful. We are not more selective. We turn on the set for our favorite shows, certain sports events, and the news, but we do not leave it running all evening. As a result, we find we can enjoy television and still have time left for other activities and interests.

Michael Jackson Biography

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson was born on 29 August 1958 in Gary, Indiana, USA. His father was Joe Jackson. His mother was Katherine Jackson. His siblings are Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael, Rebbie, La Toya, Randy, and Janet Jackson. American superstar Michael Jackson has entertained audiences his entire life. In the early 1960s, the older boys Jackie, Tito and Jermaine had begun performing around the city; by 1964, Michael and Marlon had joined in. Michael's singing and dancing talents were amazingly mature, and he soon became the dominant voice and focus of The Jackson 5.In 1969, the boys were producing back-to-back chart-busting hits as Motown artists (â€Å"I Want You Back,† â€Å"ABC,† â€Å"Never Can Say Goodbye,† â€Å"Got to Be There,† etc. ). Behind the scenes, Joseph Jackson pushed his sons to succeed. He was also reportedly known to become violent with them. Michael and his brothers spent endless hours rehearsing and polish ing up their act. At first, the Jackson 5 played local gigs and built a strong following. They recorded one single on their own, â€Å"Big Boy† with the B-side â€Å"You've Changed,† but it failed to generate much interest.The Jackson 5 moved on to working an opening act for such R artists as Gladys Knight and the Pips, James Brown, and Sam and Dave. Many of these performers were signed to the legendary Motown record label, and it has been reported that Gladys Knight may have been the one to tell Motown founder Berry Gordy about the Jackson 5. Impressed by the group, Gordy signed them to his label in 1968. At the age of 13, Jackson launched a solo career in addition to his work with the Jackson 5. He made the charts in 1971 with â€Å"Got to Be There† from the album of the same name.His 1972 album, Ben, featured the eponymous ballad about a rat. The song became Jackson's first solo No. 1 single. In August 1994, Jackson announced that he had married Lisa Marie Pr esley, daughter of rock icon Elvis Presley. The couple gave a joint television interview with Diane Sawyer, but the union proved to be short-lived. They divorced in 1996. Some thought that the marriage was a publicity ploy to restore Jackson's image after the molestation allegations. Later that same year, Jackson wed Nurse Debbie Rowe. The couple had two children through artificial insemination.Son Prince Michael Jackson was born in 1997 and daughter Paris Michael Jackson was born in 1998. Rowe and Jackson divorced in 1999 with Jackson receiving full custody of their two children. He would go on to have a third child, Prince Michael Jackson II, with an unknown surrogate. In 2002, Jackson made headlines when he seemed confused and disoriented on stage at an MTV awards show. Soon after, he received enormous criticism for dangling his son, Prince Michael II, over a balcony while greeting fans in Berlin, Germany.In a later interview, Jackson explained that â€Å"We were waiting for tho usands of fans down below, and they were chanting they wanted to see my child, so I was kind enough to let them see. I was doing something out of innocence. † But many were unforgiving of the star's behaviour, with former fans and media outlets clamouring to have Child Protective Services take Jackson's children from him. That is some information of the big list of accomplishments of Michael Jackson. By Doron Cassell

Arts or Protection of Enviroment

Obviously, both of these two choices have their own reasons that our society could get benefits from each of them. In the past several decades, remarkable achievements have been made in the arts, while our natural environments are increasingly getting worse and even more difficult to handle. Under these current circumstances, I believe that it is not so hard to make decision about this question. The company should choose to protect the environment.The first and the most important thing is that we must survive on this planet that allows us almost every possibility, including supporting the arts or something like. These days, our natural environments are under the threats of contamination, global warming, extinction of species, etc. For example, the oil leaking on the Gulf of Mexico, has contaminated a large amount of sea area. And this not only has a negative effect on ocean-life, also it has influence on our life strongly. Therefore, it is very worthy to costing some money to protect the environment.Furthermore, spending some money on protecting the environment is a good investment to a company. It is from fact that our every activity is based on our environment. As far as I am concerned, if the company spends some money on environmental friendly issue, it will gain more public attention and earn more supports by which the company could grasp the best opportunity to develop more successfully. In return, the company would also do more and more things that good to the environment.Finally, giving some money to protect the environment is one thing, and doing the precedent to protect environment is quiet another. If a company take a good example for protecting environment, it is easy to imagine that this successful precedent will provoke the public and also other companies to protect our brittle environment. By means of this, I believe that more environmental protection programs which are running for our wellbeing will come into being. In view of the above concerns, the company should choose to protect the environment rather than to support the arts.

Similarities and Difference Between Hinduism and Buddhism.

Similarities and difference between Hinduism and Buddhism. Buddhism believes in the process of reincarnation based on deeds of the present life. Hinduism also believes that everyone is a part of an impersonal world and therefore, one's soul reincarnates into another body of any being, based on the deeds of the present life. One has to work for salvation oneself and therefore, cannot blame others for the same. The salvation depends on the good deeds of a person. In Hinduism also, one attains salvation as per one's own fate and deeds. Both of them believe that there are many paths to attain enlightenment such as overcoming through your feelings and desires and controlling over the six conscious senses. Both the schools of thought believe that excessive attachment to things and people in the physical world causes pain and suffering. Therefore, we must get ourselves free from the illusions of ‘Maya' or worldly desires. Both of them gives an emphasis on the practice of meditation and other forms of yoga, which not only helps one to concentrate on the truth of life, but also facilitates the path of enlightenment and liberation. The Hindus believe in 300,000 Gods. Buddhism do follow some rituals but only in the form of meditation, and bowing and different forms of worship while offering prayer in the Buddhist temples. Buddhist practices also do not require any priests. The rituals, being followed by the Hindus are more complex and vary from birth to death of a person. Besides, priests do play important role in all the rituals. The Buddhists do not believe in the stages of life. People can join any of the stages any time depending upon their spiritual preparedness. The Hindus believe in the four stages of life What impact has a religious or spiritual tradition had on your life. I would have to say my parents. They are both Christians and raised me and my brother and sister as Christians. I was baptized and have attended church throughout the years. I have also gone to youth group and to youth camp. We do family devotions. My dad tries to get us all together at night. It is hard we all play sports or do other activities and sometimes we are tired. I like what the devotions say it is just I don’t always want to sit there and do it. I believe in God, it is just sometimes I have a hard time doing what I know I should do. Read the subsection on Mesopotamia and write two or three sentences to summarize it. All the Mesopotamian civilizations to follow – Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian – adopted Sumerian culture and made it their own. The Sumerians were the originators whom everyone copied. In addition to creating the first forms of writing, the Sumerians invented the plow, the wheel, and used bronze tools. Their impact was so great that we feel it today when we hear about the Great Flood. The Amorites were better known as Babylonians – named after the city they founded in central Mesopotamia called Babylon. Babylon became the most well-known city in all of Mesopotamia. The most famous king of the Babylonians was one of its earliest kings Hammurabi. Define or describe each of the following key terms from this section. Civilization- A complex culture in which large numbers of people share basic elements, such as a social structure, religion, and art. Patriarchal- Society in Mesopotamia was dominated by men. Circle the letter of the word that has the closet meaning to the boldface academic vocabulary words from this lesson. 1. A system of codes helped maintain order in early civilizations. C. regulations 2. Early civilizations focused on what the leaders believed were important goals for maintain their social structure. A. concentrated Egypt and Divine Kingship Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower Nile River. Egyptian civilization began around 3150 BC. Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh. The history of ancient Egypt occurred in a series of stable Kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as Intermediate Periods: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. Egypt reached a high of its power during the New Kingdom. Egypt was conquered by a succession of foreign powers in this late period. Egyptian monarchs had many titles, but the most common was pharaoh, which means â€Å"great house† or â€Å"palace. † 1. How did King Solomon Help Jerusalem become the capital of Israel? Under King Solomon the Israelites established control over all Palestine. Jerusalem became the capital of a united kingdom known as Israel. He expanded the government and encouraged trade. He is known for building the temple in Jerusalem. 2. How did Judaism give Jews strength? Judaism became a stateless religion. They believed God was not fixed to one place; he was lord of the whole world. It helped them maintain an identity as a people even though they did not have a state. 3. What Jewish beliefs are parts of Western tradition? Human beings are separate from nature and must struggle against it; human beings have a particular relationship to a supreme being, who watches over them. 4. How was Judaism unique among ancient religions of western Asia and Egypt? Asia and Egypt believed in many Gods. Judaism was monotheistic, being one God. It gave all people not just a ruler or priest, access to God. Judaism – People of Judah were Jews and their religion was called Judaism. Monotheistic – Belief in one God. Covenant – A contract with God’s people when lead out of bondage. Prophets – Religious teachers used by God to speak to his people. Ancient India Cast System and Hinduism/Buddhism will be covered. Cast System – Social and religious classification based on discrimination Hinduism – Religion whose followers believe in karma and reincarnation. Buddhism – Religion with a goal of achieving wisdom. Networks – Extended family used in caste system. Ancient China 1. In what way was the â€Å"mandate from Heaven† a powerful ruling force? This political belief said that a ruler was the ruler because Heaven had given the mandate. 2. How did the beliefs of Confucius indirectly support the â€Å"Mandate from Heaven†? He believed people were naturally good and every person could acquire knowledge and virtue if you had a virtuous leader. He believed in obedience to superiors. Confucianism – It was the same thing. He believed people were naturally good and every person could acquire knowledge and virtue if you had a virtuous leader. He believed in obedience to superiors. Core – In Chinese society the family is the core. The fathers place was very high. How did the law codes and religious beliefs develop in ancient civilizations? About 5,000 years ago, the first civilizations began to develop along river valleys. The rich, fertile farmlands of river valleys helped these civilizations to thrive. These early civilizations relied on a traditional economy based on farming. Many developed into cities with systems of government, social structures, and belief systems, laying the foundations for later civilizations. Through warfare and trade, these and other cultural achievements spread to new lands. The Hebrews developed Judaism, a monotheistic religion based on the worship of one God, whose laws are set out in the Torah and the Ten Commandments. In Egypt, the benefits of the Nile River supported the development of early civilization. The history of ancient Egypt is divided into three periods: Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom. Religious beliefs about gods, values, and life after death affected ancient Egyptian life. India is a land of mountains, fertile plains, and arid regions. In the Indus River valley this civilization was taken over by the Aryans, who invaded India and destroyed many Indus Valley cities. Geography isolated early Chinese civilization, yet the people developed a writing system, literature, silk making, and other arts. They honored nature and ancestor spirits. How did the caste system influence the lives of people in ancient India? The Aryans divided their society into separate castes. Castes were unchanging groups. A person born into one caste never changed castes or mixed with members of other castes. Caste members lived, ate, married, and worked with their own group. At the top of the caste system were the priests, teachers, and, then warrior caste, farmers and merchants, and craft workers and laborers. The untouchables were the outcastes, or people beyond the caste system. Their jobs or habits involved â€Å"polluting activities† including any job that involved ending a life, such as fishing killing or disposing of dead cattle or working with their hides. Untouchables were often forbidden to enter temples, schools and wells where higher castes drew water. In some parts of southern India, even the sight of untouchables was thought to be polluting The Civilization of the Greeks Greek Ideas about Government The Greeks had a lot of different kinds of governments, because there were many different city-states in ancient Greece, and they each had their own government. In addition, people's ideas about what made a good government changed over time. Aristotle divided Greek governments into monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies and democracies. For the most part, Greece began by having monarchies, then oligarchies, then tyrannies and then democracies, but at each period there were plenty of city-states using a different system, and there were many which never did become democracies or tyrannies at all. All Greek city-states seem to have been monarchies, ruled by kings. Homer's Iliad, and Greek mythology in general, shows us a whole series of kings like Agamemnon and Theseus, and some of their palaces have survived for archaeologists to dig up. Writing About History Persuasive Writing. How was the polis the center of Greek Life? â€Å"Polis† is the Greek word for a city-state. Some city-states were democracies; others were ruled by kings, who in Greek were called tyrants, a tyrant was just a king, not necessarily an evil or cruel. How important was the polis to Greek life? Let's put it this way there was no Greek life outside a polis. The entire Greek history is a history of rivalries between city-states. What was the citizen of Ancient Greece Like? Only Males who had: were 18, owned land, were free and both parents of the male had to be the children of citizens. Females, no matter how high born, could not become citizens. Slaves and Foreigners could not become citizens. Also, man slaves could not be citizens either. Citizens were expected to attend regular meetings, as well as serve in the army or navy. Who ran the Spartan government? They had two kings, hereditary monarchs; the kings were automatic members of the Gerousia, the council of 28 elders picked for life plus the two kings. Five ephors, chosen annually by popular election, had the main power. The final part was the assembly, made up of all Spartan citizens over 18. Why is Athenian democracy considered a model for American democracy? The founders of democracy in Athens exercised decisions through a direct democracy in which all male citizens were allowed to have direct influence on the decisions. Although in the United States today we accept democracy as a form of life it had its early beginnings in the city-states of Ancient Greece. The form of government known as democracy had its early roots in Ancient Greece but its influence has a direct connection with the type of government we have today in the United States. Today in the United States of America we have a representative democracy in which we appoint â€Å"representatives† through election. Define each of the following key terms. Polis – In ancient Greece, an independent city and its surrounding region under a unified government. Usually the town was walled and contained a citadel on raised ground acropolis and a marketplace agora. Tyrant – A tyrant was one who illegally seized and controlled a governmental power in a polis. Democracy – Is a government by the people or rule of many. Oligarchy – Is ruled by the few. Direct Democracy – Is a form of government in which people collectively make decisions for themselves, rather than having their political affairs decided by representatives. Without common goals, a community would have a community would have a difficult time maintaining order. (c. aws) Only adult males could vote in ancient Athens. (a. grown-up) The Greek Love of Wisdom. The ancient Greeks considered wisdom to be an important virtue. Socrates and Plato, philosophy was literally the love of Wisdom. Plato's The Republic, in which the leaders of his proposed utopia are to be philosopher kings: rulers who understand the Form of the Good and possess the courage to act accordi ngly. Aristotle, in his Metaphysics, defined wisdom as the understanding of causes, i. e. knowing why things are a certain way, which is deeper than merely knowing that things are a certain way. Philosophy – Refers to an organized system of thought. Socratic Method- Socrates used it as a teaching method he presumed that all knowledge was already present in each person and after careful questioning could draw out. Foundations – What people build things on like government or religion, like their beliefs. Who lived in the polis? The development of the Greek polis whether a military oligarchy in Sparta or democracy in Athens allowed citizens to participate in political issues. This concept of the â€Å"rule by the people,† mainly in Athens, gave the citizens a sense of freedom and harmony. In order to be a citizen in the polis, one had to be an adult whose ancestors were Greek and from that particular polis. Children, foreigners, and slaves could not be citizens. Citizens had many exclusive rights. How did Athens and Sparta differ? The city-states differed in different regions of ancient Greece. Even though the states kept the concept of the polis, the way in which each was governed differed. Two of the most important city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta developed as a war-like polis, while Athens developed as a democratic one. Rome and the Rise of Christianity.

English Arbitration Act 1996 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

English Arbitration Act 1996 - Essay Example This Act was formed for improvements accumulating from the former arbitration acts and case law following the structure and language of the Model Law without completely adopting it. The 1996 Act is characterized by many features, the most important being confirming the Principle Part Autonomy. Although it includes a number of mandatory provisions, the Act leaves a large number of issues up to the freedom of parties. Moreover, it limits the intervention of courts during the arbitral process except for assisting in its efficiency. Even after rendering the arbitral award, it limits the right of parties to appeal, balancing between the significance of the courts' interference to assist in achieving justice when the arbitral tribunal conducts wrongly and issues an unjust award and the fact that the arbitral award shall be final and binding and that the intervention of courts shall be limited. In addition, it is inclusive as it deals with most aspects of the arbitral process in details leaving some aspects up to the discretionary power of the court. In this chapter, the significant aspects of the arbitral process are addressed in the light of 1996 Act. ... proceedings,9 the national court's power in supporting the arbitral process,10securing the attendance of witnesses,11 and enforcing arbitration awards.12 3. Arbitration Agreement The English Arbitration Act provides a simple and at the same time broad definition for the arbitration agreement by defining it as "an agreement to submit to arbitration present or future disputes (whether they are contractual or not)."13 With this broad definition, the English Act recognizes both types of the arbitration agreement; arbitration clause and submission agreement. Moreover, based on Section 6, the reference within an agreement between parties to a written arbitration clause or a document that includes an arbitration clause is considered an arbitration agreement between those parties "if the reference is such as to make that clause part of the agreement."14 However, although the English Act does not stipulate the explicitly of this reference, the approach of the English case law confirms the nec essity of such reference to be in unambiguous and clear words.15 3.1 The Formal condition for the arbitration agreement Under the 1996 Act, the only formal condition for the arbitration agreement to be submitted to the provisions of this Act is the condition of being written.16 This Act gives a broad interpretation as for the existence of this condition. It deems that the arbitration agreement is in writing if it is made via exchanging written communications,17 or if it is written but not signed whether by one or all parties.18 Similarly, when this agreement "is evidenced in writing"19 or there has been an oral agreement to arbitration between parties by referring to written terms.20 In addition, the 1996 Act is sufficient with the existence of this requirement whenever the arbitration

BlackBerry - Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

BlackBerry - Report - Essay Example In 2010, it had a market share of 43% in the United States of the American market. However, in the recent years, the market share of the company has dramatically faced a precipitous decline. The steep decline has been due to the intense competition from the Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhones. For this reason, the blackberry company’s market share in the United States personal consumer market only, was trimmed down to 3.8% in the year 2013. However, on other markets other than the United States private consumer market, the products have had a healthy market trend. In September, the same year, the company authenticated an intent letter to be acquired by the United States ($4.7 billion or US $9 per share). It was through a consortium led by Fairfax Financial that then announced its plan to take the company private. Later on November 4, of the same year, the deal was wiped in favor of US $1 billion. At the moment, the majority of the remaining value of the company lies in innovation. A number of different factors influence the company’s competitive position. However, the company’s greatest challenge in the coming months or years will be to prove to business and consumers that they can match the current Android, Apple and the coming up Microsoft juggernauts that seem to be evading into the distance ahead with their consumers. Reports by Marukawa (2010) detail that in the past months, Blackberry smartphones have gone from being the once dominant smartphones in the market to becoming marginal player in most markets. It has resulted to the company suffering significant losses. The company is losing out to the current iPhone and android mobile handsets. Blackberry launched its tablet, and the Blackberry playbook a year after the iPad, first generation. To blackberry, this was one of the moments that proved to be extremely disastrous. The playbook did not sell as

WHAT IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WHAT IS WESTERN CIVILIZATION - Essay Example The development of societies therefore is major component that emphasizes the changes and corroborates with the wider imperatives associated with Western civilization. The emergence of Western civilization is often linked to Greece and Roman civilization of Europe where resurgence of art and culture and increased trade activities became the fundamental of advancing society. The consolidation of political power through trade and commerce was the highlight of the era that witnessed dramatic changes in political, social and cultural environment of Europe. The changes were mainly due to advancing knowledge in the area of science and technology and greater awareness of art and culture. Major discoveries and invention in the area of science and technology can be contributed to this period. Great artists and scholars like Michelangelo, Leonard da Vinci, Copernicus, Galileo, Botticeli etc were few of the prominent artists and scholars who had made significant impact on world and are still acknowledged for their work. Western civilization is also referred to European countries and the new world which owed its origin to the European colonization. The New World or the contemporary America is intrinsic part of Western civilization. The tremendous advancement of American society in all areas vis-Ã  -vis socio-cultural and political environment has been vital element that has contributed to its rapid growth into Western civilization. Indeed, the judicious use of knowledge and its development into most powerful democratic state of the world has been recognized by everyone. The science and technology was used for social advancement with envious competencies and socio-cultural and political tenets were interpreted through accrued knowledge rather than through religious guidelines. These were key components of emerging new models of Western civilization. Western civilization is integral to the advancing knowledge that is exploited for socio-economic and political