Albert Einstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Albert Einstein - Essay Example This only showed that Einstein's determination and intelligence that he was able to make his disadvantage an advantage for him to succeed. His never-say-die attitude should be imitated by individuals who want to succeed despite of difficulties in some aspects of their lives. Another is Einstein is a versatile contributor to human existence, with different contributions on different fields of study. Although he is more known in the study of quantum mechanics in Physics, Einstein also has other gained spotlight in other areas like Religion, Philosophy, Politics, etc. The reason could be because of his gaining popularity which made him an important person to be consulted or be heard on several issues involving social sciences like Philosophy and Politics. Einstein knowledge in science made him invent things and technologies that are useful although some had produced harmful impacts on the human race like the nuclear weapons. Einstein is also notable for his contributions on the field of Mathematics particularly in Geometry. Einstein could have contributed more if he had been employed earlier which according to R. Archer (2005), took Einstein two years before being employed. His contributions also made him earn prestigious awards that only notable persons can attain.

The Gospel Of St. Paul Essay Example for Free

The Gospel Of St. Paul Essay The Apostle of the Gentiles as Saint Paul is revered as, is a persecutor of the followers of Christ, of Christians. It was on his way to Damascus that Jesus Christ revealed Himself to Saul (the Jewish name of Paul). It is in Chapter 22 of the Book of Acts that the incident was narrated when Jesus Christ asked Paul as to why Paul is persecuting the Lord. Hence, the Lord Jesus commanded Paul to go to Ananias where Paul got the message that the Lord has chosen him to spread his Word and declare His name to all pagans and Kings and nations. This revelation that brought about the conversion of Paul is due to the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ to have dwelt in Paul. Paul awakened to the distinction of the life he wishes and is destined to pursue as a Christian compared to his life as a Jew. Being born with the spirit of Jesus Christ at that instance and thenon caused the Word of God to dwell in him It was immediately clear to Paul who is Jesus Christ and how he will communicate to the whole world about him. It is a paramount teaching and admonition of Saint Paul that mankind should listen to the spirit, as he wrote his First Letters to the Thessalonians (Chapter 5 Verse 13). Paul thus was fully empowered and authorized to spread the Word of God and the Knowledge of God. â€Å"Paul sees himself as a charismatic. Consequently his proclamation rests on the power of the spirit and is accompanied by signs and wonders. He was given the grace of the apostolic office. Through this he has special authority that he can exercise with regard to the church, even if he makes only reluctant use of it. † After the conversion and baptism of Paul in Damascus he went to Arabia to prepare for his mission. He returned to Damascus and started preaching which enraged the Jews. Feeling the threat of such anger, Paul visited Peter and the other apostles in Jerusalem. It was Barnabas who introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles, declaring that Jesus Christ revealed himself to Paul and spoken to him and that Paul had already preached in the named of Jesus Christ. So when Peter and Paul met together with James, Paul learned from them everything about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter narrated how the event happened and proven as Jesus Christ revealed himself as alive and risen from the dead to hundreds of people So, together with the 12 apostles and the witnesses to Christ’s resurrection, Paul considers his enlightenment as a way of tradition which he relays to those he converts to follow Jesus Christ. â€Å"Tradition was a living and growing thing in the first-century church: the tradition which Paul delivered was fuller than what he received, for he was able to amplify the record of appearances of the risen Lord with his personal testimony. † Peter and the rest of the apostles were wary about Paul as he was known to be a persecutor of Christians. Yet, they all felt and believed that they are indeed being made to be united for the mission that is to declare the Word of God. Paul and the apostles met with the Council of Jerusalem where they encountered the profound issue of the Mosaic Law – the commandments of God has handed down to Moses. One of the mandates that the Jews standby firm is that salvation will only be attained after circumcision in the manner of Moses. The law must be strictly adhered to and the people of Jerusalem believes no other means to heaven. â€Å"The law had a special relationship with Israel, particularly to protect and discipline Israel in the period from Moses to Christ. But that was a temporary role. It should not be assumed, however, that this is the only function of the law and therefore that the coming of Christ means the abolition of the law† Yet, Paul heard how Peter has explained that belief and living by the Word of God in the way Jesus Christ has taught and exemplified and lived and died for is the true message of salvation. It is in such faith, Peter and the apostles thus attested that God’s miracles and wonders that they have seen and done were made possible. It is to adhere to the Word of God and at the same time avoiding all sins of idolatry and lusts. Paul was further enlightened on what Jesus Christ gospels and teachings are geared to. That God is a forgiving and all knowing God. His Divine Plan for mankind is to live in peace and love amongst each other and to revere His Divinity as one and absolute. And as Paul went about his ministry to propagate the faith in such accord, he was known for the solidity of his thoughts, the fluidity of his message and the sanctity of his feelings for mankind. â€Å"Paul’s theology of God was no abstract speculation but sustained and informed by his own experience in conversion and mission and prayer. It is the integration of intellectual rigour, missionary and pastoral effectiveness, and personal experience which makes his speech about God so compelling. † Paul’s teaching about the goodness of God as exemplified in giving to the world His Only Son by dying on the cross. Yet he expounded on the lesson that death from this life is a transition to another, better life. Paul achieved the realization as he painstakingly preached that Jesus Christ proved that it is in dying that man is born to eternal life. â€Å"The power of Christianity inspired by this faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is hard for us now to realize. Eighteen centuries have intervened between our selves and the living witnesses of the resurrection. But then they were living. And yet there were difficulties which Paul had to encounter, and many of them. It was not plain or easy work. † Thus, the preaching method of Paul ventured on showing and demonstrating the goodness he experienced in his vision of Jesus Christ. His change and his commitment to the Lord were all gifted to him. Jesus Christ became the only basis of his interpretation of the goodness of God; what a true relationship to God is all about. It is because as Paul explained in his Letter to the Galatians in Chapter 1, Verses 12 to 16, his enlightenment and conversion and mission do not come from man but from Jesus Christ. â€Å"The connotation of communicated knowledge is reinforced by the fact that, strictly speaking, what is revealed in v. 12 is the ‘good news’ whereas the purpose of the revelation in v. 16 is ‘to preach good news’. In Paul’s case, conversion and call to ministry are inseparable† Bibliography: Abbott, Lyman. The Life and Letters of Paul the Apostle Boston and New York Houghton, Mifflin and Company The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1898 Becker, Jurgen; Dean, O. C. ; Soards, Marion L. Paul: Apostle of the Gentiles Westminster John Knox Press, 1993 Bruce, Frederick Fyvie. Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000 Dunn, James D. G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006 O’Connor, Jerome Murphy- Paul: A Critical Life Oxford University, 1997 The Holy Bible. King James Version New York: American Bible Society, 1999 New York: Bartleby. com, 2000

The Ramifications of Green Political Thought :: essays research papers

The Ramifications of Green Political Thought According to Andrew Dobson The fundamental concept Andrew Dobson brings out in his novel Green Political Thought, is the revolutionary im-plications of ecologism. Dobson describes ecology as â€Å"deep green thinking.† He asserts that ecologism is a distinctive political ideology, which is separate from environmentalism, just as liberal-ism, conservatism, and socialism are kept separate from one another. He further maintains that what sets ecologism apart from other ideologies is "its focus on the relation-ship between human beings and the non-human natural world." Dobson further states that the purpose of green con-sumerism is to distinguish â€Å"need from want.† The laborious role of a true green society becomes the ability to formu-late strategies that define and reestablish the relation-ships between production and consumption. Without limits to our consumption, catastrophic consequences are inevita-ble for the environment and those who inhabit it. Such af-ter-affects of technological misuse include global warming, deforestation, pesticide poisoning, ozone depletion, acid rain, and species loss. Hence, solutions to remedy these by-products of limited consumption are the basis for con-troversy among people in present day society. Moreover, if the theories of modern ecology and sus-tainability (or lack there of) hold true, the ramifications of this ideology become global. Dobson creatively illus-trates in his book that there are not any simple solutions to correcting the shadowy future that industrialism is be-stowing upon us. The author further emphasizes two criti-cal features in relation to ecology and sustainability. The first is that technological solutions will not bring fourth infinite materials in a finite system. Secondly, the exponential growth of industrialism promises that Earth’s resources are unsustainable in lieu of the growing population. With that having been said, the challenge of the ecological movement is to convince the consensus that change is prudent. The heart of the debate of limited con-sumption involves the tradeoffs required to achieve sus-tainable development. For now, the majority of society would rather leave the grievances of repoliticalization and social change for the f uture generations to deal with, rather than conserving today, in order to plan for tomor-row. Here, I mean conserving in the sense of not merely â€Å"cutting back,† but actually re-thinking the technological processes utilized to achieve the luxuries that we as a so-ciety have become so accustomed to. However, if society resolved to save the world today, the most valued promise of achieving sustainable develop-ment would lie in the following grass-roots efforts which involve: satisfying basic needs, optimum use and protection of the environment, and empowerment of groups and communi-ties.

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 6

Chapter 6 BE OF GOOD CHEER; THEY MIGHT HAVE PUT A TREE UP YOUR BUM The Archangel Raziel found, after some consideration, that he did not care for being run over by a Swedish automobile. As far as things  «dirtside » went, he liked Snickers bars, barbecued pork ribs, and pinochle; he also enjoyed Spider-Man, Days of Our Lives, and Star Wars (although the concept of fictional film eluded the angel and he thought they were all documentaries); and you just couldn't beat raining fire on the Egyptians or smiting the bejeezus out of some Philistines with lightning bolts (Raziel was good with weather), but overall, he could do without missions to Earth, humans and their machines in general, and (now) Volvo station wagons in particular. His broken bones had knit nicely and the deep gouges in his skin were filling in even as he came upon the chapel, but all things considered, he could go a very long time not being run over by a Volvo again and feel just dandy about it. He brushed at the all-weather radial tire print that ran up the front of his black duster and across his angelic face. Licking his lips, he tasted vulcanized rubber, thinking that it wouldn't be bad with hot sauce or perhaps chocolate sprinkles. (There is little variety of flavors in heaven, and an abundance of bland white cake has been served to the heavenly host over the eons, so Raziel had fallen in the habit of tasting things while dirtside, just for the contrast. Once, in the third century B.C., he had consumed the better part of a bucket of camel urine before his friend the Archangel Zoe slapped it out of his hand and informed him that it was, despite the piquant bouquet, nasty.) This wasn't his first Nativity mission. No, in fact, he had been given the assignment of the very first Nativity mission, and due to having stopped on the way to play some pinochle, he'd shown up ten years late, announcing to the prepubescent Son himself that he â€Å"would find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.† Embarrassing? Well, yes. And now, some two thousand years later, he was on another Nativity mission, and he was sure now that he'd found the child, that this one was going to go much more smoothly (for one thing, there were no shepherds to frighten – he'd felt bad about that back then). No, come Christmas Eve the mission would be accomplished, he'd grab a plate of ribs and head back to heaven lickety-split. But first he needed to find the site for the miracle. There were two sheriff's cruisers and an ambulance outside the Barker house when Theo arrived. â€Å"Crowe, where the hell have you been?† the sheriff's deputy was yelling before Theo was even out of the Volvo. The deputy was the second-shift commander; Joe Metz was his name. He had a linebacker frame that he augmented with weight lifting and marathon beer drinking. Theo had encountered him a dozen times in as many years. Their relationship had gone from a mild disregard to an open disrespect – which was pretty much Theo's relationship with everyone in the San Junipero County Sheriff's Department. â€Å"I saw the suspect and made pursuit. I lost him in the woods about a mile east of here.† Theo decided he wasn't going to mention what he'd actually seen. His credibility was thin enough with the sheriff's department. â€Å"Why didn't you call it in? We should have units all over the area.† â€Å"I did. You do.† â€Å"I didn't hear the call go in.† â€Å"I called it in on my cell. My radio's broken.† â€Å"Why don't I know about it?† Theo raised his eyebrows as if to say, Perhaps because you're a big no-necked dumb-ass. At least that's what he hoped the gesture said. Metz looked at the radio on his belt, then turned to disguise his action as he turned a switch. Immediately the voice of the dispatcher came on, calling out for the shift commander. Metz keyed the mike clipped to the epaulet of his uniform shirt and identified himself. Theo stood by, trying not to smile as the dispatcher reported the entire situation again. Theo wasn't worried about the two units that were headed to the woods up by the chapel. He was sure they weren't going to find anyone. Whoever the guy in black was, he had a way of disappearing, and Theo didn't even want to think of the means by which he did it. Theo had gone back to the chapel, where he'd caught a glimpse of the blond man moving through the woods before he was gone again. Theo had called home to make sure that Molly was okay. She was. â€Å"Can I talk to the kid?† Theo asked. â€Å"When the EMTs are done looking at him,† Metz said. â€Å"The mother's on the way. She was out to dinner with the boyfriend in San Junipero. Kid seems okay, just real shaken up, some bruises on his arms where the suspect picked him up, but no other injuries I could see. Kid couldn't say what the guy wanted. There's no property missing.† â€Å"You get a description?† â€Å"The kid keeps giving us names of characters from video games for comparison. What do we know from ‘Mung-fu, the Vanquished'? You get a good look at him?† â€Å"Yeah,† Theo said, forcing a lump out of his throat, â€Å"I'd say Mung-fu is pretty accurate.† â€Å"Don't fuck with me, Crowe.† â€Å"Caucasian, long blond hair, blue eyes, clean-shaven, six foot two, one-eighty, wearing a black duster that goes to the ground. I didn't see his shoes. Dispatch has it all.† Theo kept thinking of the deep gouges in the blond guy's cheeks. He had started to think of him as the â€Å"ghost-bot.† Video games – right. Metz nodded. â€Å"Dispatch says he's on foot. How'd you lose him?† â€Å"The woods are thick up there.† Metz was looking at Theo's belt. â€Å"Where's your weapon, Crowe?† â€Å"I left it in the car. Didn't want to scare the kid.† Without a word, Metz stepped over to Theo's Volvo and opened the passenger-side door. â€Å"Where?† â€Å"Pardon?† â€Å"Where in your unlocked car is your weapon?† Theo felt the last of his energy flow out of him. He just wasn't good at confrontation. â€Å"It's at my house.† Metz smiled now like the bartender had just announced pitchers all around, on the house. â€Å"You know, you might be the perfect guy to go after this suspect, Theo.† Theo hated it when the sheriffs called him by his first name. â€Å"Why's that, Joseph?† â€Å"The kid said he thought the guy might be retarded.† â€Å"I don't get it,† Theo said, trying not to grin. Metz walked away shaking his head. He climbed into his cruiser, then as he was backing past Theo, the passenger window whirred down. â€Å"Write up a report, Crowe. And we need to get a description of this guy to the local schools.† â€Å"It's Christmas break.† â€Å"Dammit, Crowe, they'll be going back to school sometime, won't they?† â€Å"So you don't think your guys will catch him, then?† Without another word Metz whirred up the window and whipped the cruiser out of the driveway as if he'd just received an urgent call. Theo smiled as he walked up to the house. Despite the excitement and terror and outright weirdness of evening, he suddenly felt good. Molly was safe, the kid was safe, the Christmas tree was up at the chapel, and there was just no rush that compared to safely and successfully fucking with a pompous cop. He paused on the top step and considered for a moment that perhaps, after fifteen years in law enforcement himself, he really should have matured past that particular pleasure. Nah. â€Å"Did you ever shoot anybody?† asked Joshua Barker. He was sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen counter. A man in a gray uniform was fussing medical over him. â€Å"No, I'm an EMT,† said the EMT. He ripped the blood-pressure cuff off Josh's arm. â€Å"We help people, we don't shoot them.† â€Å"Did you ever put that blood-pressure thing around someone's neck and pump it till their eyes bugged out?† The EMT looked at Theophilus Crowe, who had just entered the Barkers' kitchen. Theo frowned appropriately. Josh turned his attention to the lanky constable, noting that he had a badge clipped to his belt but no gun. â€Å"You ever shoot anybody?† â€Å"Sure,† Theo said. Josh was impressed. He'd seen Theo around town, and his mom always said hi to him, but he never thought he actually did anything. Not anything cool, anyway. â€Å"None of these guys ever shot anyone.† Josh gestured to the two deputies and the two EMTs stationed around the small kitchen, giving them a look that said the wussies! with the full disdain his soft seven-year-old features could muster. â€Å"You kill the guy?† he asked Theo. â€Å"Yep.† Josh didn't really know where to go now. If he stopped asking questions, he knew that Theo would start asking questions, just like the sheriffs had, and he didn't want to answer any more questions. The blond man had told him not to tell anyone. The sheriff said that the blond man couldn't hurt him, but the sheriff didn't know what Josh knew. â€Å"Your mom is on the way, Josh,† Theo said. â€Å"She'll be here in a few minutes.† â€Å"I know. I talked to her.† To the EMTs and deputies, Theo said, â€Å"Guys, can I talk to Josh alone a minute?† â€Å"We're done here,† the lead medic said, leaving immediately. Both the deputies were young and eager to be asked to do something, even if it was to leave the room. â€Å"We'll be outside writing this up,† said the last one out. â€Å"Sergeant Metz told us to stay until the mother got home.† â€Å"Thanks, guys,† Theo said, surprised at their congeniality. They must not have been on the department long enough to learn to look down on him for being a town constable, an archaic and redundant job, if you asked most area cops. Once they were gone he turned to Josh. â€Å"So tell me about the man who was here.† â€Å"I told those other police.† â€Å"I know. But you need to tell me. What happened. Even the weird stuff you didn't tell them.† Josh didn't like the way Theo seemed to be ready to believe anything. He wasn't being too nice, or talking baby talk like the others. â€Å"There wasn't any weird stuff. I told them.† Josh nodded as he spoke, hoping he'd look more convincing. â€Å"None of that bad touch stuff. I know about that. None of that.† â€Å"I don't mean that kind of stuff, Josh. I mean weird stuff you didn't tell them because it's unbelievable.† Josh really didn't know what to say now. He considered crying, did a test sniffle just to see if he could get things flowing. Theo reached out and took his chin, lifted it so Josh had to look him in the eye. Why did adults do that? Now he'd ask something that would be really hard to lie about. â€Å"What was he doing here, Josh?† Josh shook his head, mostly to get out of Theo's grip, to get away from that adult lie-detector look. â€Å"I don't know. He just came in and grabbed me and then he left.† â€Å"Why did he leave?† â€Å"I don't know, I don't know. I'm just a kid. Because he's crazy or something. Or maybe he's retarded. That's how he talks.† â€Å"I know,† Theo said. â€Å"You do?† He did? Theo leaned in close. â€Å"I saw him, Josh. I talked to him. I know he wasn't like a normal guy.† Josh felt like he'd just taken his first deep breath since he left Sam's house. He didn't like keeping secrets – sneaking home and lying about it would have been enough, but witnessing the murder of Santa, and then that strange blond guy showing up. But if Theo already knew about the blond guy†¦ â€Å"So, so, you saw him glow?† â€Å"Glow? Shit!† Theo stood up and spun around as if he'd been hit in the forehead with a paintball. â€Å"He glowed, too? Shit!† The tall man was moving like a grasshopper locked in a running microwave. Not that Josh would know what that was like, because that would be a cruel thing to do and he would never do something like that, but, you know, someone told him about it once. â€Å"So he glowed?† Theo asked, like he was trying to get this straight. â€Å"No, I didn't mean that.† Josh needed to back out of this. Theo was trippin'. He'd had enough of adults trippin' for one night. Soon his mom would come home to find a bunch of cops in her house and the trip to beat all trips would start. â€Å"I mean he was really mad. You know, like glowing mad.† â€Å"That's not what you meant.† â€Å"It isn't?† â€Å"He really glowed, didn't he?† â€Å"Well, not constantly. Like, for a little while. Then he just stared at me.† â€Å"Why did he leave, Josh?† â€Å"He said he had what he needed now.† â€Å"What was that? What did he take?† â€Å"I don't know.† Josh was beginning to worry about the constable. He looked like he might hurl any second. â€Å"You're sure you want to go with the glowing thing, Constable Crowe? I could be wrong. I'm a kid. We make notoriously unreliable witnesses.† â€Å"Where'd you hear that?† â€Å"CSI.† â€Å"Those guys know everything.† â€Å"They have the coolest stuff.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Theo wistfully. â€Å"You don't get to use cool cop stuff like that, huh?† â€Å"Nope.† Theo was sounding really sad now. â€Å"But you shot a guy, right?† Josh said cheerfully, trying to raise Theo's spirits. â€Å"I was lying. I'm sorry, Josh. I'd better go. Your mom will be home soon. You just tell her everything. She'll look out for you. The deputies will stay with you until she gets here. See ya, kiddo.† Theo ruffled his hair and started out of the kitchen. Josh didn't want to tell her. And he didn't want Theo to go. â€Å"There's something else.† Theo turned and looked back at him. â€Å"Okay, Josh, I'll stick around – ; â€Å"Someone killed Santa Claus tonight,† Josh blurted out. â€Å"Childhood ends too soon, doesn't it, son?† Theo said, putting his hand on Josh's shoulder. If Josh had had a gun, he'd have shot him, but being an unarmed kid, he decided that of all of these adults, the goofy constable might just be the one who would believe what he had seen happen to Santa. The two deputies had come into the house with Josh's mother, Emily Barker. Theo waited until she had hugged most of the breath out of her son, then reassured her that everything was okay and made a quick escape. As he came down the porch steps, he saw something yellow shining by the front tire of his Volvo. He looked back to make sure that neither of the deputies was looking out, then he crouched before the front tire and reached up into the wheel well and pulled out a hank of yellow hair that had caught in the black vinyl dent molding. He quickly shoved it into his shirt pocket and climbed into the car, feeling the hair throbbing against his chest like a living thing. The Warrior Babe of the Outland admitted that she was powerless without her medication and that her life had become unmanageable. Molly checked off the step in Theo's little blue Narcotics Anonymous book. â€Å"Powerless,† she muttered to herself, remembering the time when mutants had chained her to a rock in the den of the behemo-badger in Outland Steel: Kendra's Revenge. If not for the intervention of Selkirk, the rogue sand pirate, her entrails would even now be curing on the salt stalagmites of the badger's cave. â€Å"That would sting, huh?† said the Narrator. â€Å"Shut up, that didn't really happen.† Did it? She remembered it like it did. The Narrator was a problem. The problem, really. If it had just been a little erratic behavior, she might have been able to wing it until the first of the month and go back on her meds without Theo noticing, but when the Narrator showed up, she knew she needed help. She turned to the Narcotics Anonymous book that had been Theo's constant companion when he was battling his pot habit. He talked about working the steps all the time, and how he couldn't have done it without them. She needed to do something to reinforce the rapidly blurring line between Molly Michon, party planner, cookie baker, the retired actress, and Kendra, mutant slayer, head breaker, the warrior temptress. â€Å"‘Step two, † she read. â€Å"‘Come to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. † She thought for a moment and looked out the front window of the cabin for the lights from Theo's car. She really hoped she could get through all twelve steps before he got home. â€Å"Nigoth the Worm God shall be my higher power,† she declared, snatching her broken broadsword from the coffee table and waving it in defiance at the Sony Wega TV that mocked her darkly from the corner. â€Å"In Nigoth's name shall I sally forth, and woe unto any mutant or sand pirate that crosses my path, for his life shall be sacrificed and his bloody balls shall decorate the totem tree of my lodge.† â€Å"And the wicked shall cower before the grandeur of your dirt-striped and well-shaped thighs,† said the Narrator, with robust enthusiasm. â€Å"Goes without saying,† Molly said. â€Å"Okay, step three. ‘Turn your life over to God as you understand Him. â€Å" â€Å"Nigoth requires a sacrifice,† cried the Narrator. â€Å"A limb! Cut it from your body and impale it still twitching upon the worm god's fiery purple horn.† Molly shook her head to rattle the Narrator around a little. â€Å"Dude,† she said. Molly seldom  «duded » anyone. Theo had picked up the word on his patrol of Pine Cove's skateboard park and now used it generally to express incredulity at the audacity of someone's statement or behavior – the correct inflection on the word would convey Doood, please, you've got to be joking or hallucinating, or both, to even suggest such a thing. (Lately Theo had been doing some testing on â€Å"Yo, dat's wack, yo.† But Molly had forbade its use outside of the house, for, as she pointed out, there is little more off-putting than the sound of hip-hop vernacular coming out of the mouth of a white, fortysomething, goony bird of a man. â€Å"Albatross of a man, yo,† Theo had corrected.) Thusly duded, the Narrator bid devotion down. â€Å"A finger, then! The severed finger of a Warrior Babe – â€Å" â€Å"Not a chance,† Molly said. ‘A lock of hair! Nigoth requires – â€Å" â€Å"I was thinking I'd light a candle to symbolize that I'm turning myself over to my higher power.† And to illustrate her sincerity, she took a disposable lighter off the coffee table and lit one of the scented candles she kept on a tray at the table's center. â€Å"A snotty Kleenex, then!† tried the Narrator. But Molly had moved on to step four in the book. â€Å"‘Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself. I have no idea what that means.† â€Å"Well, I'll be fucked in the ear by a blind spider monkey if I get it,† said the Narrator. Molly decided not even to acknowledge the Narrator on that one. After all, if the steps worked like she hoped they would, the Narrator was not going to be around for much longer. She dug into the little blue book in search of clarification. Upon further reading, it appeared that you were supposed to make a list of all the things wrong with your character. â€Å"Put down that you're fucking nuts,† said the Narrator. â€Å"Got it,† Molly said. Then she noticed that the book recommended making a list of resentments. She wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do with them, but in fifteen minutes she had filled three pages with all variety of resentments, including both parents, the IRS, algebra, premature ejaculators, good housekeepers, French automobiles, Italian luggage, lawyers, CD packaging, IQ tests, and the fucktard who wrote the â€Å"Caution, pastry may be hot when heated† warning on the Pop-Tarts box. She paused for a breather and was reading ahead to step five when headlights swept across the yard and raked the front of the cabin. Theo was home. † ‘Step five, † Molly read. â€Å"‘Confess to our higher power and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. â€Å" As Theo came through the door, Molly, her broken broadsword in hand, spun from the cinnamon candle of Nigoth the Worm God and said, â€Å"I confess! I did not file taxes for the years ninety-five through two thousand, I have eaten the radioactive flesh of mutants, and I resent the hell out of you for not having to squat when you pee. â€Å"Hi, honey,† Theo said. â€Å"Shut up, grommet,† said the Warrior Babe. â€Å"So I guess I'm not going to get my Volvo washed?† â€Å"Quiet! I'm confessing over here, ingrate.† â€Å"That's the spirit!† said the Narrator.

Beatles: Impact on Rock N’ Roll

Impact On Rock N’ Roll Perhaps music can be considered to be one of the most universal things in the world. Notably, music since the 1960s have been greatly shaped by one of the most monumental music figures in the history of the world, The Beatles. Before the Beatles became a prominent figure in music, the most popular genres of music were all forms of jazz. The Beatles alone were the main influence in bringing rock n’ roll in the music spotlight and still continue to do so to this day. They were said to â€Å"be even be even bigger then Jesus† to quote the humorous and often controversial John Lennon.The Beatles were a pop-rock band that originally formed in the 1960s. The band was formed in Liverpool, England, with the four main members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The band did not originally have Ringo Starr as its drummer and only added him in 1962 when a conflict arose in the recording studio which called for the dismissing of their pervious drummer. The Beatles came to fame in the UK in November 1962 with their single â€Å"Please Please Me† which reached #2 on the charts there. Three months after the release of their first single the band released their album of the same title.At this time, the band was noticing that their fan base was prominently made of teenaged female fans. As The Beatles became more well-known as the band in the forefront of rock n’ roll, a phrase came about that described them. It was called â€Å"Beatlemania† as the frenzy surrounding the group could only be compared to that of a mania. All the emotions they brought up in many people ran the spectrum. Some would feel extreme love while others found the music very offense and condemned the band. It was this very control that they had over the people that helped boost the band into fame unseen before.Soon after the Beatles’ rise to fame in their own country, their catchy tunes started to spread across the Atlantic Ocean to America. The band’s first US chart-topper was â€Å"I Want to Hold Your Hand. † The song became popular when several popular New York City radio stations began to play it in their evening rotations. Around the same time was when their record company decided that it would be good to start merchandising t he band. It was a huge success. Then in 1964, the Beatles made their first historic visit to America. They were greeted by a mass of fans at the airport. They Beatles had never before experience such a reeting. Along with the mass of fans came the FBI, who closely watched the band. Then they had their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show; a popular pop music show of that time. It was all uphill from there. It would be an understatement to say that The Beatles forever changed music. Everything from live performances to recording techniques to style of fashion and more were historically impacted by this band. They would go on to shape and influe nce millions of band to follow in the many years to come. But not only in their musical craftsmanship did they shape the world, but also in the profound message their music held.Te Beatles set records for live performances. They were the first band to have a concert live at a stadium. Their first stadium concert was at Shea Stadium in New York and a total of 55,600 people attended this historical event in pop culture. To add to the substantial impact of this concert, the tickets to the event sold out in a short 17 minutes. This would become the biggest testament to their iconic status. When the Beatles recorded their music, they looked at their songs quite differently than other contemporary recording artists of that time.At that point in time, most singers were only concerned with releasing singles as opposed to full albums with all good songs. The artists would record one or two chart-topping hits and write and record filler songs for the rest of the album. The Beatles on the othe r hand, would rarely include their singles on their full length albums. This required their standard of song to not be filler, but to be of high quality for all of their fans to listen to. This obviously proved to work for them, because the Beatles became the highest selling band in the history of the music industry.Not only did the Beatles impact music with their influence, they also had a huge influence on the popular fashion styles of the time period. Popular fads that arose with the rising popularity of the Beatles were the â€Å"mop-top† haircut, the wearing of their famous collar-less suits, pointed boots, and John Lennon’s famous rounded glasses, which to this day are commonly referred to as, â€Å"John Lennon’s glasses. †   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The themes in the Beatles songs tended to drift towards the distant dream of peace, love, and happiness.This sparked my interest, because I, along with most others in the world would l ove to be surrounded with only these things. When I listen to the Beatles, I feel happy and sing along and lose any worries I may have had before I started listening. They bring of sense calm and joy which has touched millions throughout the years, all the music has been released. I’ve had a passion for music my whole life, and as a teenager in 2008 to be listening to a band that first gained its popularity in the 1960s, this has to show that they were making music that transcends time and barriers.The Beatles music is commonly linked to politics, freedom, and life in the free world. They mentioned an overthrow of communism in some of their songs such as, â€Å"Back In The USSR† and â€Å"Give Peace a Chance. † In doing this, they achieve a level beyond that of mere recording artists. They helped set some groundwork on how a musician can not only impact music but the society in which they live. And how using their influence is a responsibility entrusted upon the m. At the same time, there were riots that were said to be caused by the Beatles’ music.A British rock fan magazine of that time observed that the reason for the violence was that the Beatles â€Å"symbolized the rebellion of youth. † While these riots are basically the opposite of peace, the Beatles wanted it known that their music was meant to inspire revolution in a mostly positive way. War is a common issue in the United States and the rest of the world. The Beatles music represented the war-free world they wanted to see. They hoped that people would see this and understand. They wanted everyone to â€Å"give peace a chance†, especially considering the turbulent times in which they lived.To this day, songs of this influential band are placed in movie soundtracks, covered by popular artists of the day, and used in commercials and advertisements to represent peace-related issues that correlated with their lyrics. Being such a conscience band, controversy had t o follow. In 1966, John Lennon made a comment on Christianity dying and how â€Å"the Beatles were now bigger then Jesus†. This naturally caused massive backlash with the religious conservatives. They became enraged on how John so careless and callously brushed aside their religion.Almost immediately did the public respond; they burned Beatles albums and even bulldozed them. Under intense pressure from the media and of course the record label John issued a public a apology for the comment in a attempt to calm the people. Even as now as of November 2008, the Vatican has forgiven John for the comments he made, chalking it up as merely â€Å"a boast by a young man grappling with sudden fame†. The Beatles and everything that goes with their franchise has incredible popularity and the world would be a different place without their impact.They helped shape an entire generation of followers. They sang of peace, love, and the psychedelics that had to do with their time. But th e Beatles music cannot be contained in that time. It has spurred onward and lived strong in the old and young of today. Without music, the world falls silent; and without the Beatles’ impact, music would not have been changed forever.Bibliography â€Å"List of best-selling music artists. † Wikipedia. . â€Å"The Beatles' influence on popular culture. † Wikipedia. . â€Å"The Beatles. † Way of Life. .

Values Worth Fighting For essays

Values Worth Fighting For essays When a country goes to war they are fighting to defend what they believe in. Each battle and every victim helps decide how the opponent will have to compromise at the end of the war. But why must they compromise? And how significant is every dead soldier when youre fighting for principle? The values I think that are worth fighting for are freedom, love and pride. These beliefs are inspired by three documents that prove the devotion of Americans to our country- The Gettysburg Address, and war letters sent home from George Rarey and Sullivan Ballou. Freedom is something we have been defending throughout American History. As said by Abraham Lincoln "...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth" (Gettysburg Address, paragraph 1). Freedom as a response to democratic principle is a code thought to bring equality, which is essential to our success as a nation. Lincoln also proposed to dedicate a portion of their battle ground as a resting place for those who gave their lives so that the nation might live (Gettysburg Address, paragraph 4). He respected that those people were fighting for the continuing freedom of the people in our country. In the letter sent from George Rarey to his wife and newest child he was ecstatic and jubilant in knowing that he was now a father. Rarey had a family to dedicate himself to. "Im sort of delirious- today everything is special", he wrote (Rarey, Paragraph 5). And Rarey never made it back to know his son or experience the love of togetherness with your family. However, love is something he was trying to protect. His job was to help make a safer country for his son. And his family and generations from them have prospered from that. Love is something that keeps you motivated to continue fighting, a standard that is the foundation of families, and shared th ...

Proper Punctuation for Parenthetical Phrases

Proper Punctuation for Parenthetical Phrases Proper Punctuation for Parenthetical Phrases Proper Punctuation for Parenthetical Phrases By Mark Nichol Writers often confuse a sentence that contains a parenthetical phrase starting with a conjunction with one that consists of two independent clauses divided by a conjunction, resulting in improper placement of punctuation. Here are a few examples, with discussion and revisions. 1. â€Å"The substance starts off in a higher energy state, and by combining with oxygen, ends up in a lower energy state.† Remove the optional parenthetical phrase â€Å"and by combining with oxygen,† and the resulting grammatically flawed sentence is â€Å"The substance starts off in a higher energy state ends up in a lower energy state.† The conjunction and must precede the first comma to produce the valid construction â€Å"The substance starts off in a higher energy state and ends up in a lower energy state†; therefore, the correctly punctuated revision is â€Å"The substance starts off in a higher energy state and, by combining with oxygen, ends up in a lower energy state.† If the original sentence read, â€Å"The substance starts off in a higher energy state, and when it combines with oxygen, it ends up in a lower energy state,† it would be correct. Here, and begins an independent clause (â€Å"and when it combines with oxygen, it ends up in a lower energy state†) rather than preceding a parenthetical phrase (â€Å"by combining with oxygen†) that is followed by a resumption of the main clause (â€Å"ends up in a lower energy state†). 2. â€Å"Then the answer is given in more detail, with a fuller explanation, and where possible, some illuminating and fun trivia.† When the parenthesis is omitted, the sentence that remains is â€Å"Then the answer is given in more detail, with a fuller explanation, some illuminating and fun trivia.† As in the previous example, the conjunction and is incorrectly thrown out with the rest of the phrase. (This construction also makes â€Å"with a fuller explanation† look like a parenthesis, too, rather than the beginning of a dependent clause.) The parenthesis is â€Å"where possible,† not â€Å"and where possible,† so the second comma must follow, not precede, and: â€Å"Then the answer is given in more detail, with a fuller explanation and, where possible, some illuminating and fun trivia.† 3. â€Å"Deciduous trees decide to cut and run, or in other words, drop all their leaves at once.† Other conjunctions can be misplaced, too: Here, or is mistakenly situated in the parenthetical phrase, resulting in the framing sentence â€Å"Deciduous trees decide to cut and run drop all their leaves at once.† In this case, however, a comma is necessary before or as well as after it, even though the second half of the sentence is not an independent clause. The phrase â€Å"or, in other words, drop all their leaves at once† is an appositive an elaboration that restates another word or phrase to the informal descriptive phrase â€Å"cut and run,† so the proper revision is â€Å"Deciduous trees decide to cut and run, or, in other words, drop all their leaves at once.† (Without the parenthesis, a verbal nudge that the writer is using an amusing turn of phrase, the sentence reads, â€Å"Deciduous trees decide to cut and run, or drop all their leaves at once.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Types and Forms of Humor"Gratitude" or "Gratefulness"?Types of Plots