President Candidates

Michael Brandenburg F. Abraham Macroeconomics 23 October 2011 Six Republican Candidates Mitt Romney solution to our unemployment crises is to have people pay for unemployment insurance like the pay for heath or home insurance. Then the government can use their extra money to help create extra jobs. One of the things that Newt Gingrich wants to do is lower the corporation tax to make the United States more desirable. This will help companies that moved to China to come back to the USA. Michele Bachmann believes that when you take the minimum wage off it will create more jobs.The competitive market will increase the minimum wage on its own while providing more jobs. Rick Perry claims that stimulus money should only be used occasionally not constantly. Another thing he plans on doing is cut taxes so companies can hire more employees. Ron Paul wants to strengthen the dollar value in such so the things we own and sell are worth more. Paul also informs us that when you decrease inflation i t stabilizes the job market. Herman Cain says that people at or below the poverty line should not have to pay income tax.Also he agrees to get rid of minimum wage to promote competition between businesses. Works Cited http://www. sodahead. com/united-states/romney-workers-should-pay-their-own-unemployment-benefits/question-1388133/ http://www. lsureveille. com/bachmann-s-repeal-of-minimum-wage-will-not-fix-economy-1. 2604388 http://offthekuff. com/wp/? p=18061 http://www. nolanchart. com/article4214-ron-paul-could-fix-the-dollar. html http://www. dailykos. com/story/2011/10/21/1028782/-Herman-Cains-fix-to-his-9-9-9-plan:-create-opportunity-zones-of-corporatederegulation

My Journal Entry Week Essay

â€Å"Well that’s what we did with my kids and they turned out just fine.† Is a phrase that I have heard plenty of times over the years. I tend to be a very honest person no matter the situation or consequences so I have ticked off a lot of people over the years and have lost many of friends for being such an honest opinions or advice. I have three handsome and polite little boys. Well at least most of the time. Over the years I have been approached by parents of their friends that they go to school with and were asked if my boy could stay the night with their boy. Now don’t get me wrong I love sleepovers when they are done at my house or it is at a house of responsible mature parents. My oldest son just became a teen ager. How exciting right? Yea right now he constantly wants to go and stay with friends. These friends that he has are rotten, mean and ignorant boys. I know that it is not their fault but, their parents fault for how they are raised. I also know these parents as well and know what kind of parents they are and how they live their lives. One of the fathers to the boys called me a while back and wanted my son to come and stay the night with his boy. Not only did he call me while he was intoxicated but he lets his son drink as well. I told him no. He asked me why I was being so difficult about my son staying over I decided just to be brutally honest with him. He actually said these same words. â€Å"Well that’s what we did with my kids and they turned out just fine.† He must have thought I did not have access to a television because a few weeks earlier his oldest son was on the evening news for being drunk and being involved in a stabbing. I most certainly do not think they turned out just fine. For a case that this saying may be true in some cases would be if the parent was talking about their child taking an extra class or volunteering at shelter of some kind. When I was fourteen my parents always had me work in the summer to earn my own money. Not only did it not bother my future any but, made it much better by teaching me responsibility. Why is it important to utilize problem-solving techniques in exploring developmental issues, grounded in child development theory to explain and/or demonstrate a foundational knowledge of the children’s developmental continuum, from conception? Because there are many questions that need to be answer starting from birth until old age. Does baby dream? To stress at an older age. If scientist investigate all these  questions to find answers you may discover how to keep a baby calm when nothing else seems to work to how to help an aging parent hoe to remember simple things such as where they left their eye glasses. What makes scholarly research different from anecdotal evidence (or personal experience) in explaining child and adolescent development? [Hint: Consider the methodology of the articles you are reading.] Anecdotal evidence is evidence that comes from anecdotes. Anecdotal evidence is known to be suspicious and is not to be relied on. Scholarly research is research that is done by scholars and professionals that can show evidence that can be relied on. Identify and briefly describe the key points of one theory and why you feel that theory is applicable to child and/or adolescent development. I agree with the Erik Erikson that conflict is the major concept of human development when it comes to establishing an identity in life. If a child does not deal with the conflicts they may not be able to establish their role in life as easily as others or maybe not at all. This leads to a lot of confusion. Finally, relate the value of continued learning with a concluding reflection on why we should incorporate both personal experience and scholarly research grounded in theory to help support any statements made in this class or any other professional setting. I think it is important to have any and all evidence no matter what it may be. The more research and life lesson we learn the better we will learn in the future by learning from school and past mistakes. Mossler, R.A. (2011). Child and adolescent development. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Endless Questions video About.com Psychology

Strategic analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic analysis - Essay Example l in understanding how Tesco PLC is successful in gaining competitive advantage over its leading competitors in the marketplace such as Asda and Sainsbury’s. In order to determine the intensity of competition in the retail industry, the author of the report will implement the five competitive force frameworks along with segmentation strategies Tesco PLC has adopted pertaining to its target market. By identifying these strategies, the author will formulate certain recommendations for the management of Tesco PLC in order to capitalize on the opportunities available in the marketplace. To achieve the objective of this report, the author of the report has used different theoretical models in order to understand the business level strategies of Tesco PLC. With the help of these strategic models and theories, the author will reflect the findings of the research activity by communicating the competitive positioning approach implemented by Tesco PLC in order to come over the intense competition provided by its rivals in the retail industry of UK. On the other hand, the findings of this research report would also communicate to the rivals of Tesco PLC, how they can gain competitive advantage by adopting counter business strategies. The strategy analysis and the resulting recommendations are formulated keeping in view the long-term objectives of Tesco PLC and its rivals. Moreover, the focus of the recommendations will be laid on the changing business dynamics due to highly globalized business environment keeping in view the set of resources and competencies of the retail sector in UK. In order to increase readers’ understandability of the concepts presented in this report, the author will divide the strategic analysis into three parts. These are as follows: Jack Cohen founded Tesco in 1919 by establishing a market stall in East London. In this manner, it can be asserted that Tesco is engaged in retail business for nearly a century in UK. Since 1919, Tesco PLC has been

NVR Firm Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NVR Firm Analysis - Essay Example Its scope of activities though is wide ranging. It not only deals with home construction and marketing of homes, but also other related things such as financing programs, settlement, and title services care of its NVR Mortgage Finance subsidiary. It therefore seeks to cater to every need of the homebuyer. The types of homes NVR builds include single-family detached homes, town homes and condominium buildings. It offers a variety of home designs. It sells about 15,000 homes annually. The sizes of the homes range from 900 sq. ft. to 7,300 sq. ft. The prices range from $60,000 to $2.5 million with an average of $373,000. NVR went through a difficult period in the 1990s when it had to file for bankruptcy. But since then the company has restructured itself and in the 2000s is once again a leading company. In 2004 the company reported solid gains including revenues of $4.3 billion, which was a 17% increase over the previous year. Its big competitive advantage is its branching out into providing financial services because this has really helped the company increase its revenues. In 2005 it was the 10th largest homebuilder firm in the United States. (builderonline.com) NVR now has a 1.32% share of the market compared to Pulte Homes’s 3.61%. (builderonline.com) â€Å"We believe that we operate our business with a conservative operating strategy. We do not engage in land development and primarily construct homes on a pre-sold basis. This strategy allows us to maximize inventory turnover, which we believe enables us to minimize market risk and to operate with less capital, thereby enhancing rates of return on equity and total capital. In addition, we focus on obtaining and maintaining a leading market position in each market we serve. This strategy allows us to gain valuable efficiencies and competitive advantages in our markets which management believes contributes to minimizing the adverse effects of regional economic cycles and provides growth opportunities within

The Increasing Importance of Complexity in International Relations Essay

The Increasing Importance of Complexity in International Relations - Essay Example Thus, the environment for each state is no longer limited to its internal and neighboring environment. The increasing number of factors makes it quite challenging to analyze the international environment for any country. Traditional analytical models that are based on linear relationships are no longer sufficient to explain the complex phenomena of international relations. The twentieth century approaches focused on managing order are giving way to fresher approaches (Rengger, 212) . Hence, complexity has become an increasingly important aspect of research on international relations. It offers an opportunity to apply a general systems theory to the analysis of international events. The international environment today is more complex and open than a decade ago. Factors such as globalization, climate change and terrorism have contributed much to integrate the world along several dimensions. This paper explains the increasing importance of complexity in international relations by identi fying the components of complexity theory and explaining their relevance to contemporary international events as well as past events that have significantly impacted on the present state of affairs. Concepts such as interdependence, fitness, and coevolution are discussed along with other essential concepts. The paper concludes with an overall assessment of the value can understanding of complexity can provide to the study of international relations.... Complexity theory offers an explanation for identifying and acknowledging such relationships. Its concepts and principles can be applied to analyze relationships between individual actors and the areas where mutual benefits and risks lie. The rapid pace of globalization is one of the major stimuli that have made complexity theory increasingly relevant to the study of international relations. Under the WTO agreements, the economies of individual countries have become increasingly dependent on one another. In addition, regional alliances such as ASEAN and the EU have made the economic and political systems of nation states dependent on one another. The most recent examples of such interdependence can be observed in the 2008 global financial crisis and the more recent Euro debt crisis. Events such as a sub-prime crisis in the US have affected economies around the world, mainly because the US is today the centre of the global economic system. Similarly, a debt crisis originating in Greec e has raised issues for the well-being of the German economy. Complexity theory can increase our understanding of such contemporary issues by supporting existing theories and concepts. Fitness and International Relations Complexity theory aims to explain the fitness between an actor and its environment. The concept of fitness is an integral component of complexity theory and treats an actor as a member that can affect and is also affected by changes taking place in the environment (Clemens, 13). Thus, in complexity theory individual actors are assumed to act in a complex environment. A complex environment is characterized by a large number of

Poverty and Underdevelopment in Modern Times Essay

Poverty and Underdevelopment in Modern Times - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that this serves as grounds for the presence of the sick, the poor and the illiterate. These three are not only indicators of poverty, but are also indicators of underdevelopment. A country is said to be underdeveloped if it has a high rate of illiteracy. While First World countries have high literacy rates, the opposite is seen in countries that do not have enough teaching facilities and teachers. The cycle of underdevelopment is one that is hard to break. Through the lack of university graduates that add up to their workforce, there is not much to be expected of professionals in the underdeveloped country. Furthermore, the quality of industrial products produced in a country where native is more advanced than technology itself cannot be seen as worthy of being exported. Another determining factor of an underdeveloped country is the preference of imported products over the locals. Due to the availability of high priced imports, the local sector is deplete d of wealth and therefore the budget is decreased. Furthermore, the growing populations which cannot be supported by the government due to the lack of enough funds are forced to live daily on malnutrition. The cost of living in rural areas differs significantly with urban areas, and the marginalized sector is ever present. Simply put, poverty is the outcome of a country’s underdevelopment. The lack of funds for every citizen in the country to receive the benefits due him results to inefficiency and deprivation. These in turn lead to a poor way of life that will be resulting to a country which is poor. Poverty is an issue that cannot be easily alleviated. Even with the presence of organizations that claim to target the elimination of poverty, it still lingers and is growing still. Along with the population explosion comes the increase in poverty. It is a primordial matter of country security.

MG2119 Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

MG2119 Marketing Research - Essay Example Moreover, the findings are a comprehensive scrutiny on the various facets of the company that the manager should know to make decisions that will facilitate sustainability. Corporate social responsibilities define the lawful actions that extend some social goodness to the community, business environment and employees. (Palmer, 2012) Programs in social responsibility include actions to make a better environment for the society and stakeholder’s lives in an organization. Most companies are not aware of the accountability factor hence they do not make any significant impact to the societies; essentially, this is because they lack the right strategies and procedures to implement in their systems (Palmer 2012). Most companies fail at achieving sustainability because they lack the necessary curriculums; however, they are those that establish these curriculums but do not effectively implement them. CSR curriculums facilitate meeting of customer’s needs by companies; they improve their esteem by making them feel more worth in the society. These programs also act to the corporation’s advantage since they attract a great number of customers hence increasing the sales. In cases of Insurance policy companies, they increase the number of people that want to be in their hands and these also motivates the company to continue offering better services using the social responsibility programs (Annabel & Deanne, 2011). Social responsibilities act as guidance to how employees and stakeholders behave and conduct themselves in the work place. CSR, merely as laws, facilitate employees’ actions, as individuals or as a group, in different situations like when providing services to customers, when handling corporation assets and when required to execute business-based tasks. Failure to establish the different aspects related to corporate social responsibility is the reason why top-level managers for most companies do not succeed in

A Horror Show at the Cinemaplex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Horror Show at the Cinemaplex - Essay Example This brief paper is a case study of this entertainment sector that tackles major issues facing them. The word horror in the title of this case pertains to the financial bloodbath in this industry. Discussion The format of this paper follows a question-and-answer format and there are five major questions to be discussed in the case study pertaining to the film industry and its major players. 1. Perform a comprehensive analysis of the five competitive forces. Discuss what level of competition can be expected amongst industry rivals. A major determinant for industry profitability is the ability to provide content which are the films produced by the major movie studios. These studios dictate and control the release and the timing of new film releases, and with just a few major studios left today (without thinking of the independent film producers), supplier power is highly concentrated in these movie studios. A film distributor or a film exhibitor is at the mercy of these studios which c an dictate their terms. The threat of new entrants is much less, taking into account the high cost of producing a decent movie which ranges in the US$100 million and above; therefore, the barriers to entry is a very prohibitive barrier indeed (Gove and Matherne, 2009, p. 218) with a third of the costs going to marketing and distribution expenses. The only threat are the few independents who can make a few films which may not do well at the box office. Costs of putting up a theater is going up. The availability of alternative modes of watching movies such as cable television and a DVD player gives the buyers (moviegoers) considerable discretion with regards to movies. This means people need not go to theaters purposely to watch a movie since they can do these at the comforts of their homes without all the aggravations and accompanying hassles. Buyer power is not so concentrated but if moviegoers decide not to watch a movie, then nobody can force them. Two key considerations are the core demographic group (12-24 year olds) is a very fickle group and the other key factor is that there is no magic formula when making movies as box office hit. Buyer power is also shown by flat ticket sales, with revenue increases due to higher ticket price. It is the threat of substitutes that had caused some movie exhibitors into bankruptcy. A slew of new technologies such as the DVD player, cable television and now, the Internet using a new mode of distribution which is movie streaming, are t he main reasons for the sharp decline in movie attendance. Rental firm Netflix (and also Blockbuster before) has a considerable archive of classic and new films in addition to television shows (re-runs), sports and musicales. Better home viewing technologies like cheaper and larger television sets with flat screen has now made watching a movie at home a good approximation of the so-called â€Å"movie experience.† There is no more need to drive to a theater, find a parking space, buy snacks and then go back home. The degree of rivalry within this industry is bound to increase some more. With fewer people going to theaters because of all the hassles (long drives, sticky floors, projected pictures not in focus, noisy people chattering away in the next few rows and cellphone interruptions, etc.) and the core demograp

Challenges in the Third Sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Challenges in the Third Sector - Essay Example Social benefit structures are usually diverse in different nations. These systems take care of components of social defence, family unit strategy and individual dependability in a different way, and all over the Europe, a combination of these components can be found. Their individual characteristics still control nationalized social exchange of ideas, even though globalisation, altering financial conditions, progressive EU legislative and increased stress on resources appears to direct towards ‘convergence’ .Although in some European nations, civil society - even if the phrase itself is of current derivation - has been a venerable happening, other nations’ experience with them is fresh. Global commonality either has brought active establishments in Europe to start non-governmental organizations or help their counterparts in rising parliamentary governments do this, and their support is usually ongoing.There is no established description of the expression 'civil so ciety establishment'; however, it is normally implicit to take account of the social associates, NGOs, mutual interest organizations and local establishments (Comaroff, p. 99, 2009). What all establishments have in common is their ‘not for profit’ nature, which does not indicate they cannot produce in excess, but does indicate they have to be reinvested in and utilized for the common use of the establishment. In various nations, the global year of volunteers 2001 has evidently been an incentive to reorganize as well as develop volunteering directive.

Value-Neutrality Paper Associated with Counseling Essay Example for Free

Value-Neutrality Paper Associated with Counseling Essay When working in the counseling field, one must remain neutral about issues that a client is suffering from. A counselor should not criticize a client for what he or she may believe in and should make ethical decisions when dealing with his or her clients. Within this paper, one will locate personal beliefs on ethical decisions, factors that might lead a counselor to referring a client to another counselor and, what would a counselor do if a referral is not an option. As a counselor, remaining value-neutral to a client’s situation should always be practiced with ethical decision-making. A counselor should remain neutral to all issues that a client is in session for to give the client the necessary help that is needed. If a counselor expresses moral judgment to a client in regards to his or her issue, the client can become resistant to the therapy session and the counselor. A client comes to the counselor because they are looking for help not to be judged or looked at negatively (Module 3 Lecture). With the issues stated above, I would be able to have a therapy session with a client, even though I am against all of the issues. Personally, I would stay away from my own values and beliefs so that no problems will arise within our counseling relationship. An example is that if I were to use my own values in a therapeutic session with a client, it would be only to allow the client to see that I was not successful with a similar issue they are facing. Out of nine ethical-decision making models that were created for counselors, no two models were alike but had similarities. Most of the models stated for one to identify the problem, consult the ethic codes, think about the consequences of the decision, and choose what is best for the client (Remley Herlihy, 2010). With ethical-decision making, as a counselor one must integrate a model that fits them personally to help the client because no one model works for everyone. If a counselor is faced with a client who suffers from any of these issues, the counselor has to work with the client to help them with his or her situation. Be mindful to the issue that the client is facing and if you are not experienced and do not fully understand, get help from another counselor who is more experienced in that area. A factor that may lead a counselor to refer a client to another counselor is handled case by case for the best outcome for the client. Reasons would be, if the client has come to a counselor that is not trained to treat the condition the client needs help with, dual relationships, insurance reasons, financial abilities of an agency, or if the client and counselor is having difficulties relating. If referring a client was not an option, I would work with another counselor to gain the necessary knowledge that is needed to treat my client and make the situation professional (Module 3 Lecture).

Types of unemployment and their importance

Types of unemployment and their importance As a matter of fact, there are a lot of the meanings of unemployment. Generally, unemployment is a state of the people who are without work, seeking jobs or not looking for works. Moreover, we have two ways to express the amount of unemployment, in terms of: a number and a percentage. Unemployment can be estimated as a rate of two numbers: amount of jobless people in labor force and total number of labor force. Claimant and Standardized are two means of estimating unemployment rates. However, collected information can be influenced by many factors: false claimants, demoralized work-seekers, part-time employees, and underground economy, etc. In a labor market, wages would adjust to make the supply of labor and the demand for labor would be equal. There are two main types: equilibrium unemployment and disequilibrium unemployment. Moreover, more workers tend to find a job and work so that the demand is not enough to satisfy the needs. As a result of that, unemployment occurs in the market. Equilibrium level of unemployment happens when the number of workers who ready to take their jobs is lower than the total number of the labor force. There are three types of disequilibrium unemployment: real wages unemployment, demand- deficient unemployment and growth in the labor supply. Demand deficient is one of the most factor which influences on the economy growth quickly because of the recession. The recession just happens in a short time but in fact, It will change many factors such as workers are difficult to get a job or the countrys GDP fall rapidly. Equilibrium unemployment has three types: Frictional unemployment that occurs as a result of imperfect information in the labor market. Structural unemployment arises from changes in the pattern of demand or supply in economy. Seasonal unemployment associated with industries or regions where the demand for labor is lower at certain times of the year. Table of Contents I. Introduction 5 II. Unemployment Error: Reference source not found6 A. The meaning of unemployment 6 B. Official measures of unemployment 8 C. Unemployment and the labour market 11 D. Types of disequilibrium unemployment 14 Real-wage unemployment Demand deficient or cyclical unemployment..à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Case studyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.17 E. Equilibrium unemployment (or natural unemployment) 19 Fritional (search) unemployment Error: Reference source not found Structural unemployment. Seasonal unemployment.. III. Conclusion 21 Introduction The serious problem which every country must deal with increase their economy is unemployment. Therefore, before going any further we have to define precisely what we mean by unemployment. It depends on how narrowly it is defined. Actually, the general meaning is no job. Each country almost wants have a low amount of unemployment because if we have a high unemployment amount, our economy will gradually decrease our income. As a result, our economy will go down a lot. In order to understand easily we can examine how the economy flows as below: Unemployment Æ’Â   ® No income  ® No consumption  ­  ¯ Lay off workers  ¬ Productions Æ’Å ¸  ¬ Aggregate demand Æ’Å ¸ So, this flow chart keeps happen continuously over and over. Thats why our GDP is getting lower and lower as well as jobless people are getting higher and higher. II/ Unemployment: The meaning of unemployment As a matter of fact, almost countries experienced the recession. Moreover, the unemployment figures bring the recession into an even sharper focus. However, the average of unemployment has different levels in different countries. There are many different definitions of unemployment. As a result, we will focus on the meaning of unemployment and the ways express the amount of unemployment. Firstly, we have to address the meaning of unemployment. Generally, unemployment simply means that a person is jobless. Nevertheless, this meaning is not exactly right because children and retired people will be not essential for the statistics. Regardless of the fact that Michael Todaro defines it in two ways as voluntary and involuntary unemployment. The definition of voluntary unemployment is that the people do not find employment, and want to stay at home in order to take care of their families. Conversely, people are able and willing to work but there are no jobs available for them. Therefore, we can understand that unemployment is a state of the people who are adequate standards of health as well as ages and able to work, but they are without work, seeking jobs or not looking for work. Secondly, we should concentrate on the ways express the amount of unemployment. As a rule, there are two ways so as to represent the unemployment, in terms of: a number and a percentage. The number unemployed is used when people are unable to find a job even so they are reading and waiting to work at the prevailing wage. Alternatively, the economists can be expressed the unemployment rate as a percentage if they represent the percentage of total labor force which includes all persons in employment and unemployment. In other words, the prevalence of unemployment usually express as the unemployment rate which is defined as the percentage of the labor force. For instance, if there were 30 million people in employment and 2 million people in unemployment in a country, we could find the unemployment rate by: All things considered, unemployment is one of the most important problems in the economy. The level of unemployment usually shows the economic situation in a country. Furthermore, it also changes over time because it depends on the economic conditions and other circumstances. B) Official measures of unemployment Unemployment is the serious problem in every country. It is one of the primary factors has effected to the increasing or the decreasing Government income. The main objective of every economy is always attempt to cut down a percentage of unemployment rates as low as possible, because it can be a charge of social, an ineffectiveness of human resources or a reduction of national revenue. In order to resolve these crisis effects we need to estimate the unemployment rate to boost the national economy. There are two general measures of unemployment: Claimant unemployment and Standardized unemployment rates. Claimant unemployment: According to this measure unemployment rate will be calculated as percentage between the number of claimants and the total of labor force. It has several important advantages. For example, it is not too difficult to resume information, and it is the fastest method so far. Although the method has the advantages listed above, it also has some disadvantages such as false information or overstate of people just wants to get allowance but not really looking for a job. In addition, this number excludes jobless people that cannot satisfies the qualified for benefits. Standardized unemployment rates: This is the modern formula set up by two international organizations: The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Based primarily on them the rate will be collected by national labor force examination. Basically, work forces are enough old to go to work and also active to looking for a job right now. It is an improved measure but it still has the limit in somehow. First, we can observe it on the effective factor. For instance, providing the more exactly figure than Claimant unemployment because it include people who highly want to find out a job but cannot be eligible claimant at the meantime. In contrast, several bad factors of this method make it has some less effective. It is taking much time to survey and statistic. Moreover, it cannot count discouraged workers who have given up looking for a job after long-term unemployment. And people work for underground economy, which have illegal job for example drug dealer, mafia and etc. can be consider as unemployment while part-time workers who would like to get the full-time job but they cannot get any suitable jobs are excluded from unemployment numbers. To illustrate this let examine the unemployment rate in Australia with the method of Standardized unemployment rates from source of CIA world factbook: Source of CIA world factbook. Based on above column chart- the numbers of Australian unemployment rate survey from labor force- we can observe the lowest rate in 2009 and the peak in 2003. However, the percentage from 2009 to 2010 increases dramatically with percentage of +1.5% because the influence global economic resection. In order to avoid economic seriously affected by the recession, Australian government has solutions by injecting a lot of money as well as push their citizens to spend money to expand more job for Australians. However, this situation still does not effective in this time. To sum up, Australian government should have the right policies to improve this situation unemployment. C) Unemployment and the labor market In a labor market, wages would adjust in order to make the supply of labor and the demand for labor would be equal. The reasons of unemployment can be divided into two main types: equilibrium unemployment and disequilibrium unemployment. In a perfectly competitive labor market, the intersection of demand and supply curves determined the wage rate and level of employment. Real wage S D N Labor Real wage S D Labor Average (Real) Wage Rate AS N e d W AD O Q No. of workers Sloman, 2007, Unemployment, inflation and growth, Essentials of Economics, England: Peason Education Limited, pp. 312-313. According to the Sloman (2007), the aggregate supply of labor curve (AS) is fairly inelastic and it may become less inelastic when the new labor enter the labor market or the unemployed workers rather start to work than search for a new better job . It indicates the number of workers who are willing to accept the work at different real wage rate. Besides, the downward slope is the aggregate demand for labor curve (AD). Firms will spare employees and replace some factors of the production when the real wage rate is getting higher. If the minimum wage is set above the equilibrium wage in the labor market, a surplus of labor will occur and create disequilibrium unemployment. Moreover, more workers tend to find a job and work so that the demand is not enough to satisfy the needs. As a result of that, unemployment occurs in the market. Besides, not every worker can get a job even when they try to search for it. Workers tend to think that they may find appropriate jobs given their tastes, skills and reasonable wage. Equilibrium level of unemployment happens when the number of workers who really ready to take their jobs is lower than the total number of the labor force. D) Types of disequilibrium unemployment: 1. Real wage unemployment: Firstly, we focus on the real-wage unemployment which is the form of disequilibrium unemployment. It occurs when real wages for works are forced above the market-clearing level leading to an excess supply of labor. As a matter of fact, trade unions are one of the most important causes of real-wage unemployment because they control the wages by their power. However, their power has diminished significantly over recent years. Moreover, it is popularly believed that the minimum wage is also the reason for real wage unemployment. 2. Demand-deficient It also calls cyclical or Keynesian unemployment. If the economy slides into recession or inflation, this thing will happen. Besides, aggregate demand is a caused of demand deficient. If demand for goods and services decrease, it leads to the surplus of output and consequently, the firm are forced to dismiss amount of labor they employ before. Furthermore, the recession lasts more seriously and the higher will worst case. In addition, the people who out of work will be de-skilled or de motivated. As a result, it is hard to find a new job in the future or perhaps they earn a few money in lowing job. Cyclical unemployment will increase during the recession time otherwise will go down when the economy recover. Moreover, demand deficient may be happen in the long term because of many reasons. The first thing is if the company cut wages of worker, it dues to it will influences on aggregate demand and consumer spending. Next reason is the higher of unemployment will make the customer l imit their spending and it makes the GDP of one country will reduce Demand deficient unemployment is associated with the theory of J.M.Keynes who developed his General Theory of Money against a backdrop of the Great (.December 2nd, 2009 | economics) Unemployment caused by a fall in total demand with no fall in the real wage rate. Why real wage would not fall ? There are two reasons to explain this question Efficiency wages: The first thing is the traditional one of balancing the demand and supply of labor. The second is motivating workers. Efficiency wages means we will attract the qualified employees by pay higher salaries than the market clearing. Furthermore, the surplus labor market can make the employer work less hard and make substandard goods. Another ideas is that it can make the number of unemployment increase rapidly because they will hire a group of people who can work effective, as a result, they will get a lot of profits from employment. Insider power: the people are members of unions and they also have many special skills or their knowledge can attract employers while the outsiders do not have influence on the firm. As a result, the outsiders can drive down the real wage rate even eliminate demand- deficient unemployment. To examine more details about this problems, if the real wage really fall , perhaps we cannot solve this problem and might be make it worse because they will cut in workers wages, it leads to the workers income also go down. Consequently, labor force have to reduce their consumption of goods ->remain demand deficient unemployment. In addition, although the economy can overcome again, the demand deficient still fall steadily because of business cycle. 3. Growth in the labor supply The labor supply and demand need to balance together. If the supply of labors increases, it means there are many workers will seek the firm, but in fact there is not enough demand of labors, it may be a cause of unemployment. Moreover, the real wage will fall and it is also a disadvantage of things with employers. Finally, the woman or the children have over 16 years old can get a part time job despite the lower average wage rate. CASE STUDY Figure: Rates of unemployment among youth (15-24) and older workers (55-64): 1995-2005 I will show you more details about unemployment among youth (15-24) and older workers (55-64) 1995- 2005. It is difficult to measure of youth unemployment from full- time student to full time worker. In Australia, the trends of young people combine education and employment in many different ways. For instance, many teenage schools always find a part- time job to support their tuition fees such as waiters or waitress in the restaurant or Vietnamese students help their host selling foods in the supermarket Young people try on different types of post- school education just as they try-on different jobs (Wynn,2005). Moreover, it is hard to find a full-time job in 2005 because of recession. As a result, 20% teenagers who look for full- time work are unemployed (Parliamentary Library,2005). In figure 4 show unemployment among youth has fallen by a relatively large 5%, otherwise, the older workers also go down strongly in 2005 with 2%.Due to, a rise in participation rate of this group. Recent unemployment is a second group which is facing high unemployment. There three reasons, first of all are youth people, they have to spend a lot of time to find out information to get a suitable job. It is difficult for person who cannot speak English and they also shock by many varieties of culture even lacking of good- skills. Finally, the discrimination is one of the most important things because it always happens everywhere such as sexual, national origins or age (Richardson et at 2004). Data for 2005 show that migrants with these characteristics quickly find employment six months after arrival, 83% of skilled primary applicant had a job, while 12% were looking for work(5% were not in the labor force)*. In general, higher unemployment and non- participation in the labor force than for skilled primary applicants. Sloman, 2007, Unemployment, inflation and growth, Essentials of Economics, England: Peason Education Limited, pp. 312-313. If the minimum wage is set above the equilibrium wage in the labor market, a surplus of labor will occur and create disequilibrium unemployment. Moreover, more workers tend to find a job and work so that the demand is not enough to satisfy the needs. As a result of that, unemployment occurs in the market. Besides, not every worker can get a job even when they try to search for it. Workers tend to think that they may find appropriate jobs given their tastes, skills and reasonable wage. Equilibrium level of unemployment happens when the number of workers who really ready to take their jobs is lower than the total number of the labor force. E) Equilibrium unemployment is the economic situation in which aggregate demands for and supplies for labor at the current real wage rate are equal. There are three types of equilibrium unemployment: 1. Frictional unemployment: Can be understand like this example, a  first-time job seeker  may lack  the resources or efficiency  for finding the company that has  the job that is available and suitable for him or her.  As a result this person does not take other work, temporarily holding out for the better-paying job. Basically to understand that frictional unemployment is the place which is helps unemployment to search or find jobs for them, even they are voluntarily. Even though after the unemployment try their first job and they cant be suitable with that , they can be continue to ask the frictional unemployment to help them again to search a new job. In this place, so many available unemployment for workers search and neither for unemployment. 2. Structural unemployment: As you know, the computers may have eliminated jobs but they also opened up some of new positions for those who have the skill to operate. As we know, the structural unemployment is the place for company to changes their economy. There are 2 main reasons: A change in the pattern of demand b) A change in the method of production 3. Seasonal unemployment: Unemployment expected at a given time of year. Resort areas, for example, can expect to experience seasonal unemployment during the off-season. Unemployment statistics provided by the government are seasonally adjusted. CONCLUSION Unemployment is a serious problem with each country which has an important effect of society as well as economy. Firstly, we need to estimate a detailed amount of unemployment rate of each careers and ages. Moreover, from this estimate, the government needs to release the type of unemployment which will be necessary to improve. From this point, it should put forward a lot of suitable strategy or policy about society and jobs. To improve this situation, we should have job information, which is provided by government job centers, by private employment agencies, or by local and national newspapers.

Compare and Contrast Low Carbohydrate Diets and Low Fat Diets :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Compare and Contrast Low Carbohydrate Diets and Low Fat Diets The two most popular methods to lose weight are the low carbohydrate diets and the low fat diets. Both are in complete contrast when it comes to each diet’s food choices, the low carbohydrate diet which completely breaks the food pyramid limits a person to eating foods that are high in carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta and rice, while on the other hand, the low fat diet which follow the food pyramid limits a person to eat foods that are high in fat like meat, milk, and bean groups. Although each diet may sound very different from one another, they also share similarities. Both the low carbohydrate diet and the low fat diet claim that each is a good tool for weight loss. Even though their process in achieving weight loss and good health are in complete contrast; researchers found that each of the diets accomplish the same results.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Starting with each diet’s idea, low fat diets state that fat is bad for the body they also address that not all fats are dangerous. Low fat dieters actually admit that some fats are needed to stay healthy. The low fat diet does not restrict a person from foods that contain fat. In an online article Choose a Diet low in Fat, Saturated Fat and Cholesterol, it was stated that â€Å"Fats supply energy and essential fatty acids and promote absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K†. In contrast with the â€Å"good fat†, there is also a negative, which is the â€Å"bad fat†. Saturated fat, which is considered the â€Å"bad fat†, has been linked to high cholesterol and heart disease. It is mostly found in milk and other milk products. Therefore, the low fat diet encourages its participants to reduce saturated fat for it is the main cause of high cholesterol level. On the other hand, even though low carbohydrate diets do not state that carbohydrates are bad; they do state that it causes weight gain; this idea gives most Americans that it is bad because it causes a person to gain weight. When a person eats foods that are high in carbohydrates the body produces more insulin, which causes the body to quickly change food into body fat. This is why the low carbohydrate diets like the Atkins diet restricts a person to eat very small amount of food that contains

Unconditional Love in E.B. Whites Charlottes Web Essay -- English Li

Unconditional Love in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web In fantasy like Charlotte's Web, the animals are true to their natures, yet similar to people. They think and worry and love and hurt and laugh and needle one another as people do. In Charlotte's Web, human truths of friendship and love are revealed. I strongly agree with the statement that Charlotte is truly the ideal role model of unconditional love and will support my stand by highlighting Charlotte's selfless acts, contrasting her with Templeton, showing why he is the complete opposite of her, comparing her with other models of love such as Fern, Mrs. Arable and the goose and lastly, proving that Wilbur's change is a result of her unconditional love. We know Charlotte's nature very well. She was Wilbur's best friend and saviour; beautiful and intelligent. As White put it, "It's not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both." She is not only motherly, but hardworking, and her web words prove it. She is the same wise and selfless character at the end of the story that she was at the beginning, which makes her the ideal model of unconditional love. In Wilbur's first conversation with Charlotte, Wilbur's discovery of how Charlotte survives impedes their new friendship, "Charlotteis fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty- everything I don't like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is pretty and, of course, clever?" The friendship looked questionable. But White reassures us by saying "she has a kind heart, and she was to prove loyal to the very end." The development of what seemed like an impossible relationship reveals and defines unconditional love. Charlotte's profound love for Wilbur ... ... and contrasting Charlotte with the other characters in Charlotte's Web has shown that the degree of Charlotte's love is incomparable and irreplaceable. She is indeed the ideal role model of unconditional love. Bibliography Book - White, E. B. (1952). Charlotte's Web. Hamish Hamilton. - White, E. B. (1999). Salutations! Wit and Wisdom from Charlotte's Web. HarperCollins Publishers - Lukens, R. J. (1995). A Critical Handbook of Children's Literature. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers Journal - Marion, G. (1973). E.B. White's Unexpected Items of Enchantment. Children's Literature in Education, 11, 104-115. Internet Resource - Huntley, C., Phillips, M.A. (1994). Storytelling Output Report for Charlotte's Web. Retrieved February 29, 2004, from http://www.dramatica.com/story/analyses/analyses/charlottesweb.html

Harold and Maude and The Book On The Taboo About Knowing Who You Are Es

Comparing the Movie, Harold and Maude and The Book On The Taboo About Knowing Who You Are The character Maude, in the movie Harold and Maude, lives a life congruent with the ideas Alan Watts expresses in The Book On The Taboo About Knowing Who You Are. In his book, Watts explores the relationships between life, death, ego, and environment. Watts's purpose is not to lecture but rather to let the book serve as a "point of departure" (11) for its readers. Maude also serves as the "point of departure" for the character Harold. Under Maude's guidance, Harold transforms from a depressed teenager obsessed with death into a new, positive person. Maude, however, dies shortly thereafter because she cannot guide Harold for the rest of his life. Indeed she, like The Book, is merely "a temporary medicine...not a perpetual point of reference [for Harold]" (11). Both Maude and The Book are only starting places from which Harold and Watts's readers must learn to achieve peace and understanding within themselves. Watts first addresses the issue of religion. Although the goal of many religions is to lead followers to "enlightenment," Watts believes that "irrevocable commitment to any religion is not only intellectual suicide, it is a positive unfaith because it closes the mind to any new vision of the world" (11). People become so obsessed with their religion and convinced that it is the only true religion that they become blind to new ideas and experiences. Instead of being incarcerating, religion should be enlightening. In the movie, Harold asks Maude if she prays to a god. Maude responds, "Pray? No. I communicate." Maude understands that it is restraining to blindly worship a god. By using the word "communicate," sh... ...ime in his life, Harold loves another person, Maude. When Harold tells Maude he loves her, however, she tells him, "Good. Now love some more." Now that Harold has found that capacity to love, he is able extend his love beyond only Maude. He has also learned about his senses: he "smells" snow, feels the contours of wood, hears music, and sees the beauty of nature. Finally, Harold learns how to accept death. Instead of continually pretending to commit suicide to desensitize himself to death, Harold realizes that death is an inevitable part of the circle of life. At the end of the movie, Harold lives, while Maude dies, because he has not yet experienced life. Unlike Maude, Harold is just beginning to defy the taboos of society and find himself. Works Cited: Watts, A. W. (1966). The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. New York: Vintage Books Harold and Maude and The Book On The Taboo About Knowing Who You Are Es Comparing the Movie, Harold and Maude and The Book On The Taboo About Knowing Who You Are The character Maude, in the movie Harold and Maude, lives a life congruent with the ideas Alan Watts expresses in The Book On The Taboo About Knowing Who You Are. In his book, Watts explores the relationships between life, death, ego, and environment. Watts's purpose is not to lecture but rather to let the book serve as a "point of departure" (11) for its readers. Maude also serves as the "point of departure" for the character Harold. Under Maude's guidance, Harold transforms from a depressed teenager obsessed with death into a new, positive person. Maude, however, dies shortly thereafter because she cannot guide Harold for the rest of his life. Indeed she, like The Book, is merely "a temporary medicine...not a perpetual point of reference [for Harold]" (11). Both Maude and The Book are only starting places from which Harold and Watts's readers must learn to achieve peace and understanding within themselves. Watts first addresses the issue of religion. Although the goal of many religions is to lead followers to "enlightenment," Watts believes that "irrevocable commitment to any religion is not only intellectual suicide, it is a positive unfaith because it closes the mind to any new vision of the world" (11). People become so obsessed with their religion and convinced that it is the only true religion that they become blind to new ideas and experiences. Instead of being incarcerating, religion should be enlightening. In the movie, Harold asks Maude if she prays to a god. Maude responds, "Pray? No. I communicate." Maude understands that it is restraining to blindly worship a god. By using the word "communicate," sh... ...ime in his life, Harold loves another person, Maude. When Harold tells Maude he loves her, however, she tells him, "Good. Now love some more." Now that Harold has found that capacity to love, he is able extend his love beyond only Maude. He has also learned about his senses: he "smells" snow, feels the contours of wood, hears music, and sees the beauty of nature. Finally, Harold learns how to accept death. Instead of continually pretending to commit suicide to desensitize himself to death, Harold realizes that death is an inevitable part of the circle of life. At the end of the movie, Harold lives, while Maude dies, because he has not yet experienced life. Unlike Maude, Harold is just beginning to defy the taboos of society and find himself. Works Cited: Watts, A. W. (1966). The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. New York: Vintage Books

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Well, it worked, I finally got the angel to leave the room. It went like this: Raziel called down to the front desk and asked him to send Jesus up. A few minutes later our Latin pal stood at attention at the foot of the angel's bed. Raziel said, â€Å"Tell him I need a Soap Opera Digest.† In Spanish, I said, â€Å"Good afternoon, Jesus. How are you today?† â€Å"I am well, sir, and you?† â€Å"As good as can be expected, considering this man is holding me prisoner.† â€Å"Tell him to hurry,† said Raziel. â€Å"He doesn't understand Spanish?† Jesus asked. â€Å"Not a word of it, but don't start speaking Hebrew or I'm sunk.† â€Å"Are you really a prisoner? I wondered why you two never left the room. Should I call the police?† â€Å"No, that won't be necessary, but please shake your head and look apologetic.† â€Å"What is taking so long?† Raziel said. â€Å"Give him the money and tell him to go.† â€Å"He said he is not allowed to buy publications for you, but he can direct you to a place where you can purchase them yourself.† â€Å"That's ridiculous, he's a servant, isn't he? He will do as I ask.† â€Å"Oh my, Jesus, he has asked if you would like to feel the power of his manly nakedness.† â€Å"Is he crazy? I have a wife and two children.† â€Å"Sadly, yes. Please show him that you are offended by his offer by spitting on him and storming out of the room.† â€Å"I don't know, sir, spitting on a guest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I handed him a handful of the bills that he'd taught me were appropriate gratuities. â€Å"Please, it will be good for him.† â€Å"Very well, Mister Biff.† He produced an impressive loogie and launched it at the front of the angel's robe, where it splatted and ran. Raziel leapt to his feet. â€Å"Well done, Jesus, now curse.† â€Å"You fuckstick!† â€Å"In Spanish.† â€Å"Sorry, I was showing off my English. I know many swear words.† â€Å"Well done. Spanish please.† â€Å"Pendejo!† â€Å"Splendid, now storm out.† Jesus turned on his heel and left the room, slamming the door behind him. â€Å"He spit on me?† Raziel said, still not believing it. â€Å"An angel of the Lord, and he spit on me.† â€Å"Yes, you offended him.† â€Å"He called me a fuckstick. I heard him.† â€Å"In his culture, it is an affront to ask another man to buy a Soap Opera Digest for you. We'll be lucky if he ever brings us a pizza again.† â€Å"But I want a Soap Opera Digest.† â€Å"He said you can buy one just down the street, I will be happy to go get one for you.† â€Å"Not so fast, Apostle, none of your tricks. I'll get it myself, you stay here.† â€Å"You'll need money.† I handed him some bills. â€Å"If you leave the room I will find you in an instant, you know that?† â€Å"Absolutely.† â€Å"You cannot hide from me.† â€Å"Wouldn't dream of it. Hurry now.† He sort of shuffled sideways toward the door. â€Å"Don't try to lock me out, I'm taking a key with me. Not that I need it or anything, being an angel of the Lord.† â€Å"Not to mention a fuckstick.† â€Å"I don't even know what that means.† â€Å"Go, go, go.† I shooed him through the door. â€Å"Godspeed, Raziel.† â€Å"Work on your Gospel while I'm gone.† â€Å"Right.† I slammed the door in his face and threw the safety lock. Raziel has now watched hundreds of hours of American television, you'd think he would have noticed that people wear shoes when they go outside. The book is exactly as I suspected, a Bible, but written in a flowery version of this English I've been writing in. The translation of the Torah and the prophets from the Hebrew is muddled sometimes, but the first part seems to be our Bible. This language is amazing – so many words. In my time we had very few words, perhaps a hundred that we used all the time, and thirty of them were synonyms for guilt. In this language you can curse for an hour and never use the same word twice. Flocks and schools and herds of words, that's why I'm supposed to use this language to tell Joshua's story. I've hidden the book in the bathroom, so I can sneak in and read it while the angel is in the room. I didn't have time to actually read much of the part of the book they call the New Testament, but it's obvious that it is the story of Joshua's life. Or parts of it, anyway. I'll study it later, but now I should go on with the real story. I suppose I should have considered the exact nature of what we were doing before I invited Maggie to join us. I mean, there is some difference between the circumcision of an eight-day-old baby boy, which she had seen before, and the same operation on the ten-foot statue of a Greek god. â€Å"My goodness, that is, uh, impressive,† Maggie said, staring up at the marble member. â€Å"Graven image,† Joshua said under his breath. Even in the moonlight I could tell he was blushing. â€Å"Let's do it.† I pulled a small iron chisel from my pouch. Joshua was wrapping the head of his mallet with leather to deaden its sound. Sepphoris slept around us, the silence broken only by the occasional bleat of a sheep. The evening cook fires had long since gone to coals, the dust cloud that stirred through the city during the day had settled, and the night air was clean and still. From time to time I would catch a sweet whiff of sandalwood coming from Maggie and I would lose my train of thought. Funny the things you remember. We found a bucket and turned it upside down for Joshua to stand on while he worked. He set the tip of my chisel on Apollo's foreskin and ventured a light tap with the mallet. A tiny fragment of marble flaked away. â€Å"Give it a good whack,† I said. â€Å"I can't, it will make too much noise.† â€Å"No, it won't, the leather will cover it.† â€Å"But I might take the whole end of it off.† â€Å"He can spare it,† Maggie said, and we both turned to her with our mouths hanging open. â€Å"Probably,† she added quickly. â€Å"I'm only guessing. What do I know, I'm just a girl. Do you guys smell something?† We smelled the Roman before we heard him, heard him before we saw him. The Romans covered themselves with olive oil before they bathed, so if the wind was right or if it was an especially hot day you could smell a Roman coming at thirty paces. Between the olive oil they bathed with and the garlic and dried paste of anchovies they ate with their barley, when the legions marched into battle it must have smelled like an invasion of pizza people. If they'd had pizzas back then, which they didn't. Joshua took a quick swipe with the mallet and the chisel slipped, neatly severing Apollo's unit, which fell to the dirt with a dull thud. â€Å"Whoops,† said the Savior. â€Å"Shhhhhhhh,† I shushed. We heard the hobnails of the Roman's boots scraping on stone. Joshua jumped down from the bucket and looked frantically for a place to hide. The walls of the Greek's bathhouse were almost completed around the statue, so really, except for the entrance where the Roman was coming, there was no place to run. â€Å"Hey, what are you doing there?† We stood as still as the statue. I could see that it was the legionnaire that had been with Justus our first day in Sepphoris. â€Å"Sir, it's us, Biff and Joshua. Remember? The kid from the bread?† The soldier moved closer, his hand on the haft of his half-drawn short sword. When he saw Joshua he relaxed a bit. â€Å"What are you doing here so early? No one is to be about at this hour.† Suddenly, the soldier was yanked backward off of his feet and a dark figure fell on him, thrusting a blade into his chest over and over. Maggie screamed and the figure turned to us. I started to run. â€Å"Stop,† the murderer hissed. I froze. Maggie threw her arms around me and hid her face in my shirt as I trembled. A gurgling sound came from the soldier, but he lay still. Joshua made to step toward the murderer and I threw an arm across his chest to stop him. â€Å"That was wrong,† Joshua said, almost in tears. â€Å"You are wrong to kill that man.† The murderer held his bloody blade up by his face and grinned at us. â€Å"Is it not written that Moses became a prophet only after killing an Egyptian slave driver? No master but God!† â€Å"Sicarii,† I said. â€Å"Yes boy, Sicarii. Only when the Romans are dead will the Messiah come to set us free. I serve God by killing this tyrant.† â€Å"You serve evil,† Joshua said. â€Å"The Messiah didn't call for the blood of this Roman.† The assassin raised his blade and came at Joshua. Maggie and I leapt back, but Joshua stood his ground. The assassin grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close. â€Å"What do you know of it, boy?† We could clearly see the murderer's face in the moonlight. Maggie gasped, â€Å"Jeremiah.† His eyes went wide, with fear or recognition, I don't know which. He released Joshua and made as if to grab Maggie. I pulled her away. â€Å"Mary?† The anger had left his voice. â€Å"Little Mary?† Maggie said nothing, but I could feel her shoulders heave as she began to sob. â€Å"Tell no one of this,† the murderer said, now talking as if he were in a trance. He backed away and stood beside the dead soldier. â€Å"No master but God,† he said, then he turned and ran into the night. Joshua put his hand on Maggie's head and she immediately stopped crying. â€Å"Jeremiah is my father's brother,† she said. Before I go on you should know about the Sicarii, and to know about them, you have to know about the Herods. So here you go. About the time that Joshua and I were meeting for the first time, King Herod the Great died after ruling Israel (under the Romans) for over forty years. It was, in fact, the death of Herod that prompted Joseph to bring his family back to Nazareth from Egypt, but that's another story. Now you need to know about Herod. Herod wasn't called â€Å"the Great† because he was a beloved ruler. Herod the Great, was, in fact, a fat, paranoid, pox-ridden tyrant who murdered thousands of Jews, including his own wife and many of his sons. Herod was called â€Å"the Great† because he built things. Amazing things: fortresses, palaces, theaters, harbors – a whole city, Caesarea, modeled on the Roman ideal of what a city should be. The one thing he did for the Jewish people, who hated him, was to rebuild the Temple of Solomon on Mount Moriah, the center of our faith. When H. the G. died, Rome divided his kingdom among three of his sons, Archelaus, Herod Philip, and Herod Antipas. It was Antipas who ultimately passed sentence on John the Baptist and gave Joshua over to Pilate. Antipas, you sniveling fuckstick (if only we'd had the word back then). It was Antipas whose toady pandering to the Romans caused bands of Jewish rebels to rise up in the hills by the hundreds. The Romans called all of th ese rebels Zealots, as if they were all united in method as well as cause, but, in fact, they were as fragmented as Jews of the villages. One of the bands that rose in Galilee called themselves the Sicarii. They showed their disapproval of Roman rule by the assassination of Roman soldiers and officials. Although certainly not the largest group of Zealots by number, they were the most conspicuous by their actions. No one knew where they came from, and no one knew where they went to after they killed, but every time they struck, the Romans did their best to make our lives hell to get us to give the killers up. And when the Romans caught a Zealot, they didn't just crucify the leader of the band, they crucified the whole band, their families, and anyone suspected of helping them. More than once we saw the road out of Sepphoris lined with crosses and corpses. My people. We ran through the sleeping city, stopping only after we had passed through the Venus Gate, where we fell in a heap on the ground, gasping. â€Å"We have to take Maggie home and get back here for work,† Joshua said. â€Å"You can stay here,† Maggie said. â€Å"I can go by myself.† â€Å"No, we have to go.† Joshua held his arms out to his sides and we saw the bloody handprints the killer had left on his shirt. â€Å"I have to clean this before someone sees it.† â€Å"Can't you just make it go away?† Maggie asked. â€Å"It's just a stain. I'd think the Messiah could get a stain out.† â€Å"Be nice,† I said. â€Å"He's not that good at Messiah stuff yet. It was your uncle, after all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Maggie jumped to her feet. â€Å"You were the one who wanted to do this stupid thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Stop!† Joshua said, holding his hand up as if he were sprinkling us with silence. â€Å"If Maggie hadn't been with us, we might be dead now. We may still not be safe when the Sicarii realize that three witnesses live.† An hour later Maggie was home safe and Joshua emerged from the ritual bath outside the synagogue, his clothes soaked and rivulets running out of his hair. (Many of us had these mikvehs outside of our homes – and there were hundreds outside the Temple in Jerusalem – stone pits with steps leading down both sides into the water so one might walk in over one's head on one side, then out on the other after the ritual cleansing was done. According to the Law, any contact with blood called for a cleansing. Joshua thought it would be a good opportunity to scrub the stain out of his shirt as well.) â€Å"Cold.† Joshua was shivering and hopping from foot to foot as if on hot coals. â€Å"Very cold.† (There was a small stone hut built over the baths so they never got the direct light of the sun, consequently they never warmed up. Evaporation in the dry Galilee air chilled the water even more.) â€Å"Maybe you should come to my house. My mother will have a breakfast fire going by now, you can warm yourself.† He wrung out the tail of his shirt and water cascaded down his legs. â€Å"And how would I explain this?† â€Å"Uh, you sinned, had an emergency cleansing to do.† â€Å"Sinned? At dawn? What sin could I have done before dawn?† â€Å"Sin of Onan?† I said. Joshua's eyes went wide. â€Å"Have you committed the sin of Onan?† â€Å"No, but I'm looking forward to it.† â€Å"I can't tell your mother that I've committed the sin of Onan. I haven't.† â€Å"You could if you're fast.† â€Å"I'll suffer the cold,† Joshua said. The good old sin of Onan. That brings back memories. The sin of Onan. Spilling the old seed on the ground. Cuffing the camel. Dusting the donkey. Flogging the Pharisee. Onanism, a sin that requires hundreds of hours of practice to get right, or at least that's what I told myself. God slew Onan for spilling his seed on the ground (Onan's seed, not God's. God's seed turned out to be my best pal. Imagine the trouble you'd be in if you actually spilled God's seed. Try explaining that). According to the Law, if you had any contact with â€Å"nocturnal emissions† (which are not what come out of your tailpipe at night – we didn't have cars then), you had to purify yourself by baptism and you weren't allowed to be around people until the next day. Around the age of thirteen I spent a lot of time in and out of our mikveh, but I fudged on the solitary part of penance. I mean, it's not like that was going to help the problem. Many a morning I was still dripping and shivering from the bath when I met Joshua to go to work. â€Å"Spilled your seed upon the ground again?† he'd ask. â€Å"Yep.† â€Å"You're unclean, you know?† â€Å"Yeah, I'm getting all wrinkly from purifying myself.† â€Å"You could stop.† â€Å"I tried. I think I'm being vexed by a demon.† â€Å"I could try to heal you.† â€Å"No way, Josh, I'm having enough trouble with laying on of my own hands.† â€Å"You don't want me to cast out your demon?† â€Å"I thought I'd try to exhaust him first.† â€Å"I could tell the scribes and they would have you stoned.† (Always trying to be helpful, Josh was.) â€Å"That would probably work, but it is written that ‘when the oil of the lamp is used up, the wanker shall light his own way to salvation.'† â€Å"That is not written.† â€Å"It is too. In, uh, Isaiah.† â€Å"Is not.† â€Å"You need to study your Prophets, Josh. How are you going to be the Messiah if you don't know your Prophets?† Joshua hung his head. â€Å"You are right, of course.† I clapped him on the shoulder. â€Å"You'll have time to learn the Prophets. Let's cut through the square and see if there are any girls gathering water.† Of course it was Maggie I was looking for. It was always Maggie. By the time we got back to Sepphoris the sun was well up, but the stream of merchants and farmers that normally poured through the Venus Gate was not there. Roman soldiers were stopping and searching everyone who was trying to leave the city, sending them back the way they came. A group of men and women were waiting outside the gate to go in, my father and some of his helpers among them. â€Å"Levi!† my father called. He ran to us and herded us to the side of the road. â€Å"What's going on?† I asked, trying to look innocent. â€Å"A Roman soldier was murdered last night. There will be no work today, now you both go home and stay there. Tell your mothers to keep the children in today. If the Romans don't find the killer there'll be soldiers in Nazareth before noon.† â€Å"Where is Joseph?† Joshua asked. My father put his arm around Joshua's shoulder. â€Å"He's been arrested. He must have come to work very early. They found him at first light, near the body of the dead soldier. I only know what has been shouted from inside the gate, the Romans aren't letting anyone in or out of the city. Joshua, tell your mother not to worry. Joseph is a good man, the Lord will protect him. Besides, if the Romans thought he was the killer he would have been tried already.† Joshua backed away from my father in stiff, stumbling steps. He stared straight ahead, but obviously saw nothing. â€Å"Take him home, Biff. I'll be along as soon as I can. I'm going to try to find out what they've done with Joseph.† I nodded and led Joshua away by the shoulders. When we were a few steps down the road, he said, â€Å"Joseph came looking for me. He was working on the other side of the city. The only reason he was near the Greek's house is that he was looking for me.† â€Å"We'll tell the centurion we saw who killed the soldier. He'll believe us.† â€Å"And if he believes us, believes it was Sicarii, what will happen to Maggie and her family?† I didn't know what to say. Joshua was right and my father was wrong, Joseph was not fine. The Romans would be questioning him right now, maybe torturing him to find out who his accomplices were. That he didn't know anything would not save him. And a testimony from his son not only wouldn't save him, but would send more people to the cross to join him. Jewish blood was going to be spilled one way or the other over this. Joshua shook off my hands and ran off the road into an olive grove. I started to follow, but he suddenly spun on me and the fury of his gaze stopped me in midstride. â€Å"Wait,† he said. â€Å"I need to talk to my father.† I waited by the road for nearly an hour. When Joshua walked out of the olive grove he looked as if a shadow had fallen permanently on his face. â€Å"I am lost,† he said. I pointed over my shoulder. â€Å"Nazareth that way, Sepphoris the other way. You're in the middle. Feel better?† â€Å"You know what I mean.† â€Å"No help from your father, then?† I always felt strange asking about Joshua's prayers. You had to see him pray, especially in those days, before we had traveled. There was a lot of strain and trembling, like someone trying to force a fever to break by sheer will. There was no peace in it. â€Å"I am alone,† Joshua said. I punched him in the arm, hard. â€Å"Then you didn't feel that.† â€Å"Ouch. What'd you do that for?† â€Å"Sorry, no one around to answer you. You're soooooooo alone.† â€Å"I am alone!† I wound up for a full-body-powered roundhouse punch. â€Å"Then you won't mind if I smite the bejeezus out of you.† He threw up his hands and jumped back. â€Å"No, don't.† â€Å"So you're not alone?† â€Å"I guess not.† â€Å"Good, then wait here. I'm going to go talk to your father myself.† I tramped off into the olive grove. â€Å"You don't have to go in there to talk to him. He is everywhere.† â€Å"Yeah, right, like you know. If he's everywhere then how are you alone?† â€Å"Good point.† I left Joshua standing by the road and went off to pray. And thus did I pray: â€Å"Heavenly Father, God of my father and my father's father, God of Abraham and Isaac, God of Moses, who did lead our people out of Egypt, God of David and Solomon – well, you know who you are. Heavenly Father, far be it from me to question your judgment, being as you are all powerful and the God of Moses and all of the above, but what exactly are you trying to do to this poor kid? I mean, he's your son, right? He's the Messiah, right? Are you pulling one of those Abraham faith-test things on him? In case you didn't notice, he's in quite a pickle here, having witnessed a murder and his stepfather under arrest by the Romans, and in all likelihood, a lot of our people, who you have mentioned on more than one occasion are your favorites and the chosen (and of which I am one, by the way) are going to be tortured and killed unless we – I mean he – does something. So, what I'm saying here is, could you, much as you did with Samson when he was backed into a corner w eaponless against the Philistines, throw the kid a bone here? â€Å"With all due respect. Your friend, Biff. Amen.† I was never very good at prayer. Storytelling, I'm fine with. I, in fact, am the originator of a universal story that I know has survived to this time because I have heard it on TV. It begins: â€Å"Two Jews go into a bar†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Those two Jews? Me and Josh. No kidding. Anyway, I'm not good at prayer, but before you think I was a little rough on God, there's another thing you need to know about my people. Our relationship with God was different from other people and their Gods. Sure there was fear and sacrifice and all, but essentially, we didn't go to him, he came to us. He told us we were the chosen, he told us he would help us to multiply to the ends of the earth, he told us he would give us a land of milk and honey. We didn't go to him. We didn't ask. And since he came to us, we figure we can hold him responsible for what he does and what happens to us. For it is written that â€Å"he who can walk away, controls the deal.† And if there's anything you learn from reading the Bible, it's that my people walked away a lot. You couldn't turn around that we weren't off in Babylon worshiping false gods, building false altars, or sleeping with unsuitable women. (Although the latter may be more of a guy thing than a Jewish thing.) And God pretty mu ch didn't mind throwing us into slavery or simply massacring us when we did that. We have that kind of relationship with God. We're family. So I'm not a prayer-master, so to speak, but that particular prayer couldn't have been that bad, because God answered. Well, he left me a message, anyway. As I emerged from the olive grove, Joshua held out his hand and said, â€Å"God left a message.† â€Å"It's a lizard,† I said. It was. Joshua was holding a small lizard in his outstretched hand. â€Å"Yes, that's the message, don't you see?† How was I to know what was going on? Joshua had never lied to me, never. So if he said that this lizard was a message from God, who was I to dispute him? I fell to my knees and bowed my head under Josh's outstretched hand. â€Å"Lord have mercy on me, I was expecting a burning bush or something. Sorry. Really.† Then to Josh, I said, â€Å"I'm not so sure you should take that seriously, Josh. Reptiles don't tend to have a great record for getting the message right. Like for instance, oh, let's see, that Adam and Eve thing.† â€Å"It's not that kind of message, Biff. My father hasn't spoken in words, but this message is as clear as if his voice had come down from the heavens.† â€Å"I knew that.† I stood up. â€Å"And the message is?† â€Å"In my mind. When you had been gone only a few minutes this lizard ran up my leg and perched on my hand. I realized that it was my father giving me the solution to our problem.† â€Å"And the message is?† â€Å"You remember when we were little, the game we used to play with the lizards?† â€Å"Sure I do. But the message is?† â€Å"You remember how I was able to bring them back to life.† â€Å"A great trick, Josh. But getting back to the message†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Don't you see? If the soldier isn't dead, then there was no murder. If there was no murder, then there is no reason for the Romans to harm Joseph. So all we have to do is see that the soldier is not dead. Simple.† â€Å"Of course, simple.† I studied the lizard for a minute, looking at it from a number of different angles. It was brownish green and seemed quite content to sit there on Joshua's palm. â€Å"Ask him what we're supposed to do now.†

Internet & Society Essay

The world is changing and many new technologies are being developed continuously. Our daily life is affected by these changes. The changes will become faster in future. Internet is one most important result of changing technologies. It has become a part of our daily life. Every new technology has its own effects. Some of them are positive and some may be negative. We should avoid the negative effects. Technology should be used in a positive manner, otherwise it will destroy us. Internet is an amazing creation of the technology. The whole world is affected by it and all people are directly or indirectly related with it. Internet is extremely helpful for numerous persons. Students take help of internet for their homework. Investors use internet for the information about stocks. Sport fans watch score and statistics. Internet has taken the place of television. Today internet is same as the television in 1940-50s. Internet is more useful and advantageous than television. But it is not possible for every person to use the internet. Internet also created an effect on the print media and it is gradually replacing the print media because a magazine or newspaper can be published at a very low cost on the internet. There is no need of ink and paper on the internet and fewer workers are required. That’s why print media is taking the advantage of internet. Internet is the main reason behind the revolution in society. Because of the internet, communication between the different countries, societies, communities became possible. Before the internet technology there was no other communication system being so vast to express the ideas and the feelings. Through internet data, voice, and video communication is possible. Mostly people avoid speaking to unknown person. Internet has proved very useful for such kind of people, because they talk with people without showing their age, looks and class. People find many friends through the internet. Many public sites provide this facility. People can gain many friends through these sites. Many young people are earning money with the help of internet by web designing, game construction, working as a freelance writer. It means internet provides many opportunities for the people. Internet has shrunk the world. Today each country is connected with another country with the help of internet. People of one country or society are becoming familiar with the culture of another country or society. With the help of internet the people who have knowledge got their position in the society. At present online shopping has become very popular. People are buying products from their home with the help of the internet. People buy products at low cost from the internet as compare to market because companies can save money of shops and workers in online shopping. United state based company Amazon. com is the best example of online shopping company. People can find each and every thing at lower cost on this website. In recent years some companies have allowed their employees to work at home with the help of internet because workplace has become very stressful and the pollution also increased in some last years. This is very advantageous because a person can save money and time by working from home. The Internet provides freedom of speech. The people who don’t have courage can convey their ideas with the help of internet without any fear. With the help of internet now people are globally connected. A person can communicate with the person of other part of the word at any time through internet. Now people are connected socially and professionally by the use of internet. Internet is very suitable and affordable medium of communication. Today we can place an order just by click a button. Now we can book hotels, flights and train tickets online. Internet made the communication easy. Now we can communicate with the help of e-mail, video conferencing, instant messaging, and Voice over Internet Proxy (VoIP). People can easily get information with the help of internet because there is a very huge database on the internet related with each object. People are finding jobs with the help of internet. We can submit many forms online, which saves time. On internet we can decide that which news or information we want to read. Internet is also playing an important role in the field of entertainment. We can play many games and solve puzzles. Songs can be listened online and we can watch videos on internet. There are some bad effects also, because of the internet on the society. Pornography is a very bad effect of the internet. Sexual material is easily available on internet and society is accepting this material without hesitation. Because of this interest of the people in sex is increasing day by day. As a result, sex-related crimes are increasing continuously. Because of the internet a lot of jobs have been lost, because a small number of people are required to run a site. Because of the online shopping people do not leave their home. This is a reason behind the many diseases such as obesity. Online shopping is not helpful for the local economy because most of these online shopping sites are international. Internet is not always reliable, because there is a risk of breaking the privacy. There is everything is in the form of binary information. On internet we are dependent on others for our privacy. We can not surely protect our information. With the help of data mining our information can be theft. Copyright problem has become a great problem now days. Identity of a person can be theft with the help of internet. There are many other bad effects of the internet such as meeting with the people whom you met online, giving personal information to a complete stranger, giving wrong information. A person can be easily cheated by the internet. Many terrorists are using internet technology for communication by using a wrong address. Child pornography, credit card frauds, espionage, online stalking, kidnappings are some other bad effects of the internet on the society. Now it can be said that it depends on us how internet affects society. Internet can be proved very useful if we use it in a positive direction. Many laws are made for preventing internet crimes, but these crimes are still there. There is a need of enforcement of these laws. Internet can be very useful for the society. It is the best medium of communication and it can be said a good platform for expressing your ideas. There are a lot of changes in the society because of the internet. Internet enhanced the status of the living. Today information and education about the safe use of computer has become very important. There are many disadvantages of the internet, but I think it has really improved our lives.There is a need of education and enforcement of the laws. References Cole J. I. The Impact of the Internet on Our Social,Political and Economic Life. The UCCLA Center for communication Policy. 2000. Cuizon, G. Internet Crime: How Does It Affect Our Society?. April 15, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2009 from http://www. socyberty. com/Crime/Internet-Crime-How-Does-It-Affect-Our-Society. 109754 Nie, N. Study of social Consequences of the Internet. Stanford Institute of the Quantitative Study of Society (SIQSS). 2000. Pros and cons of the Internet in today’s society. Retrieved February 24, 2009 from http://www. helium. com/items/779510-pros-and-cons-of-the-internet-in-todays-society Purdy, R. The Internet- Boon or Detriment to Society? Retrieved February 24, 2009 from http://iml. jou. ufl. edu/projects/STUDENTS/Purdy/INDEX. HTM Rajani, M. K. & Chandio, M. S. Use of Internet and its effects on our Society. Retrieved February 24, 2009 from http://www. szabist. edu. pk/ncet2004/Docs/Session%20VIII%20Paper%20No%202%20(P%20157-161). pdf The Internet’s Effect on Society. November 19, 2001. Retrieved February 24, 2009 from http://www. bbc. co. uk/dna/h2g2/A650684

Broadway Theatre – a History

Broadway Theater Broadway is the longest street in New York, starting in downtown Manhattan, and running through town, crossing the Broadway Bridge, and continues to Bronx (Greiner, visit- new-york-city. com) Then why when people hear this street name, do they think of theater? That’s because this street, commonly referred to as the â€Å"Great White Way†, has 36 theaters. These 36 theaters, along with 4 other, make up what is called the Theatre District. Broadway history dates back to the late 1600's, when a coffee house called ‘The King's Arms' opened in 1696 on Broadway.Some scholars think this may have held Manhattan's earliest theatrical performances (Kenrick, J, musicals101. com). However, it isn't until December 6, 1732, when the first professional performance of a specific play is recorded in New York City. The play was â€Å"The Recruiting Officer†, and was performed by a group of actors from London, in an empty building near Maiden Lane and Pearl Street. Performances continued in this unnamed place through the end of the decade. For it wasn't until 1750, when New York had around ten thousand citizens, that it received its first formal theater (Kenrick, J, musicals101. om). However, the theater was still not on Broadway, but slightly east on Nassau Street, which gave it the name â€Å"Theatre on Nassau Street. † This theater was a wooden, two story structure that could only hold about 280 people. Walter Murray and Thomas Kean presented Shakespeare’s â€Å"Richard III† on March 5, 1750. They also presented the first documented musical in New York, which was John Gay's â€Å"The Beggars Opera†, on December 3, 1750. Historians don't know much about the Theater on Nassau Street, which results in mostly guesswork. In her book â€Å"Theater In American†, Mary C.Henderson said, â€Å"May have been either a warehouse or a brewery (or both). . . probably fitted up with a stage at one end, benches in front of it, and a raised gallery at the rear for common folk. Murray and Kean made a significant addition to their New York playhouse – they added boxes along the side walls, not only to increase the seating (a sign that they attained a moderate success) but also to provide a special place for the elite of the city. † (Henderson, 237). Unfortunately, the theater was later sold and turned into storage space, and then was eventually torn down in 1754 to make way for a church (Kenrick, musicals101. om). In 1798 the city's first world-class theater was built (Kenrick, musicals101. com). The â€Å"Park Theatre† could hold 2,000 people, had a spacious bench-filled pit, four tiers of private boxes, and a top gallery. Lewis A Erenber talks about the Park theatre in his book â€Å"Steppin' Out† saying, â€Å"All kinds of performances were housed under one roof, so that audiences in the 1830s might see drama, circus, opera and dance on the same bill. New York's P ark Theater, despite a reputation as an elite house, had a relatively large room that permitted the masses to govern the stage.Each class had its own part of the theatre, but all attended – mechanics in the pit, upper classes and women in the boxes, and prostitutes, lower class men, and blacks in the balcony. The rowdy audiences often yelled, stamped, drank and smoked during the performance. † (Erenberg, 15). Admission for the theater was 50 cents for the pit, 25 cents for the gallery, and a full dollar for the boxes (Kenrick, musicals101. com). The behavior of the rowdy audience was often drowned out by the action on stage, though showers of nuts and fruits from the balcony were common.Prostitutes often conducted business in the balcony, which led to much belief by the church that theatres were â€Å"foyers of hell†. One of the next theaters to open, was the ‘Bowery Theatre' in 1826 (Kenrick, musicals101. com). It aimed at the upper class at first, but whe n new management took over, decided to cater to the working class, by more action packed plays. According the Broadway League, it â€Å"Presented varied popular fare through the years, including spectacle, variety, melodrama, Italian vaudeville (c. 1915), and Chinese theatre (1920s).Burned down (and rebuilt) five times: 1828, 1836, 1838, 1845, and 1923–until a June 5, 1929 fire closed the theatre for good. † (Broadway League, ibdb. com) On the other side of the spectrum, for the upper class, The ‘Astor Place Opera House' was built in 1847, by wealthy New Yorkers, with the sole purpose of bringing Italian opera to the city (Broadway League, ibdb. com). These two theaters are commonly remembered for the Astor Place Riot, when in the spring of 1849, they were both performing the production of Macbeth.American ‘Edwin Forest' was directing the play along the middle and lower classes at the Bowery, while British ‘William Macready' appealed to the upper clas s at the Astor Place Opera House. As one source states, â€Å"A volatile combination of press ballyhoo and widespread anti- British sentiment incited a claque of Forrest's fans to disrupt a few of Macready's performances. † (Kenrick, musicals101. com). On the night of May 10, 1849 while the mainly upper class audience was enjoying their performance of Macbeth at the Astor Place Opera House, a mob of twenty thousand lower and working class men broke into a full-scale riot.When the violence got out of control, the police fired their guns directly into the crowd, killing at least twenty-two, while wounding more than 150 (Kenrick, musicals101. com). Robert W. Snyder says in the Encyclopedia of New York City that, â€Å"After the Astor Place Riot of 1849 entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines: opera was chiefly for the upper middle and upper classes, minstrel shows and melodramas for the middle class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working c lass and the slumming middle class. (Jackson, 1226).While there will always be fighting between the classes, it never again was centered around a theatrical event. As New York City grew in population, more ways of entertainment were on the rise. Laura Keene became one of the first nationally recognized actress managers of the American Stage (Kenrick, Musicals101. com). She produced and starred in many comedies and musicals at 622 Broadway. She set Broadways first â€Å"long-run† record with a 50 performance hit called ‘The Elves' in 1857, and continued to astound everyone with her musical ‘Seven Sisters' in 1860, which had 253 performances.With the Civil War going on during this time (1861-1865), this vastly expanded and upgraded railroads, which made it much more easier and affordable for the theatrical productions to tour. It was during one of these tours, when Laura Keene's troupe came to Ford's Theater in Washington, DC for the Spring of 1865, that President A braham Lincoln was assassinated while attending the performance of â€Å"Our American Cousin† on April 14. Even though Keene had no control over Lincoln's assignation, her name because so linked to the tragedy, that it soon forced her into retirement.Charles Hoyt's â€Å"A Trip to Chinatown (1891) became Broadway's long-run champion, with 657 performances (Kenrick, Musicals101. com). A â€Å"Trip to Coontown† was performed in 1898, and was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans in a Broadway theatre. In 1894, â€Å"The Passing Show† was the first Broadway revue. However, it received little attention, and revues would not really catch in popularity until Floren Ziegfeld introduced his Follies in 1907. (Zenrick, musicals101. om) Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 1900s, but New York Runs continued to be relatively short, in comparison to London runs. In 1910, smaller off-Broadway thea tre groups really took up. They would setup shop in smaller downtown venues, with the purpose of promoting experiments works, with people who may not make it to the city to see them. Some of the first groups were â€Å"The Washington   Square Players (later renamed the Theatre Guild), The Provincetown Players, and The Neighborhood Playhouse† (Zenrick, Musicals101. om). Most of the first off-Broadway performances were â€Å"Socially challenging dramas (Zenrick, musicals101. com)†, for it wasn't until later when musicals became a part of the off-Broadway scene. Since gaslight was not strong enough to be used with colored filters, theatre district advertising was dull through the 1890's. The first animated electric billboard appeared in Times Square in 1903, with Victor Herbert's musical â€Å"The Red Mill†, installing a sign with carbon lights that imitated the revolving arms of a windmill.This sign used electric light, which was far brighter, and made advertisi ng much easier. Soon, every Broadway show had some sort of electric sign, but since colored bulbs burned out too quickly, at first white lights were standard. This is where Broadway gets it's name â€Å"The Great White Way†, because the largest of these eletric billboards, oftenly called spectaculars, were actually stopping traffic with the night glow that they gave off. (Zenrick, musicals101. com) In 1927, neon lighting was introduced, which helped elongate shapes and bright colors.Broadway's business peaked in the 1927-1928 season, as more ten 70 legitimate theatres housed over 250 shows, but then later dropped tremendously in the 1930's in the depression, some Broadway productions even had to file for bankruptcy, such as Lee Shuberts productions (Zenrick, musicals101. com). Though eventually, World War II booseted the American economy, and many great musicals appeared in the 1940's, such as â€Å"Oklahoma†. Off-Broadway also increased, in small downtown theatres in Greenwich Village, and the Lower East Side that had been home to experimental theatre since the 1920's.Such shows such as â€Å"The Fantasticks† opened in 1960, â€Å"Godspell† (1971), â€Å"Little Shop of Horrors† (1982) â€Å"Nunsense† (1985) were born off-Broadway, and were very successful (Zenrick, musicals101. com)   During this time, marked the beginning of the â€Å"Theatre Wing’s Tony Award†. This award is theatre’s most prestigious and coveted prize, designed to celebrate excellence in theatre (Tony Awards, tonyawards. com) The 1980's Broadway was took over by imported â€Å"Mega-Musicals† (Cats, Les Miserables), and the 1990's saw the rise of big corporations   such as Disney (Beauty and the Beast, Lion King).These hits brought more people to Times Square, showing that the district had fresh commercial potential. Big, new, hotels were built, and a series of corporations (MTV, ABC, etc) were now present in the neig hborhood. (Zenrick, musicals101. com). For the book, â€Å"New York, An Illustrated History† states, â€Å"By the late 1990s, a new Times Square had emerged – cleaner, better lit, and more wholesome than it had been in half a century, and busier and more profitable than it had been in decades. Each night as the sun went down, the district was transformed into a glowing, shimmering diaphanous dish of light. (Burns, Sanders, & Ades, 554). Unfortunately, As theatrical productions got more technologically advanced, and theatrical production costs continued to rise, so did the price of tickets. Orchestra seats that once went for $8 in 1965, were $45 in 1985, and up to $100 in 2001, which is a much higher rise than the overall price of living (Zenrick, musicals101. com) Modern day Broadway shows that can very expensive. The production of the play â€Å"Wicked†, which is currently in its seventh year on Broadway, has grossed nearly $1. billion dollars, and has been se en by nearly 23 million people worldwide (Wicked Facts, newsobserver. com). â€Å"The Phantom of the Opera† is another Broadway play that has seen phenomenal success in its run. The show has received 7 Tony Awards, and been see by more then 10 million people. It has been on Broadway for over 17 years, making it the most successful production in the history of Broadway. In conclusion, New York's theatre district is once again a prime tourist attraction, and the theatrical productions remain a huge factor in the city's financial well-being.According to the League of Theatre Owners and Producers, Broadway shows currently sell one and a half billion dollars worth of tickets annually (Zenrick, musicals101. com). Broadway Theater is a staple in live entertainment, and something that is amazing to be able to see. Works Cited Kenrick, John. â€Å"Theatre in New York: A Brief History. † Musicals101. com – The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musicals. N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 June 201 0. . Henderson, Mary C.. Theater in America: 200 Years of Plays, Players, and Productions. First Edition ed.New York: Harry N Abrams, 1991. Print. Erenberg, Lewis A.. Steppin' Out: New York Nightlife and the Transformation of American Culture. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1984. Print. â€Å"IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information. † IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information. N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 June 2010. . Jackson, Kenneth T. (Edited). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955. Print. Ades, Lisa, Ric Burns, and James Sanders. New York: An Illustrated History. Exp Sub ed. New York: Knopf, 2003. Print.Greiner, Julie. â€Å"A Brief Early History of Broadway Plays. † A Brief Early History of Broadway Plays. N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 June 2010.