Free Essays on JBC

In reading Albert Nolan’s Jesus before Christianity, I received a lot of insight about how life was in Jesus’ time and how we still reflect some of this history to the present. Before reading Nolan’s book, I never really understood any of the history behind Jesus. All I knew is that people generally portray him as a good man who only wants the best for everybody. I was very excited when I read the chapters about how Jesus felt about the poor and the oppressed and how he believes in forgiveness. I can say that I was born into the middle class of society just as Jesus was. Even though you can technically say that I am a middle class Samaritan, there have been many points in my life where we were on the brink of poverty. Money has been tight, food has been scarce, and not having shelter was not too far away. I have always been brought up to be happy for what I have because there is always someone out there who has far less then I have and would give anything to have what I have. I have been blessed with parents who would do and give anything for me. When reading the chapter on the poor and oppressed, it didn’t seem so far off from what we see today. We generally link those without homes, prostitutes, the hungry, and the people who are just lazy as being oppressed. In Jesus’ time, the blind, crippled, tax collectors, lepers, and sinners were also categorized with being oppressed and poor. It is no surprise to me that Jesus had compassion for those who were oppressed. Although Jesus did come from the middle class, he associated himself with the lower class and identified himself with them. I think that he was one of the first people who used his gut feeling of compassion. I commend him on not going with the crowd and being his own person; doing what he felt was morally right. I was however, completely shocked and dismayed when I read that the crippled and clinically ill were considered oppressed and worthless. Its one t... Free Essays on JBC Free Essays on JBC In reading Albert Nolan’s Jesus before Christianity, I received a lot of insight about how life was in Jesus’ time and how we still reflect some of this history to the present. Before reading Nolan’s book, I never really understood any of the history behind Jesus. All I knew is that people generally portray him as a good man who only wants the best for everybody. I was very excited when I read the chapters about how Jesus felt about the poor and the oppressed and how he believes in forgiveness. I can say that I was born into the middle class of society just as Jesus was. Even though you can technically say that I am a middle class Samaritan, there have been many points in my life where we were on the brink of poverty. Money has been tight, food has been scarce, and not having shelter was not too far away. I have always been brought up to be happy for what I have because there is always someone out there who has far less then I have and would give anything to have what I have. I have been blessed with parents who would do and give anything for me. When reading the chapter on the poor and oppressed, it didn’t seem so far off from what we see today. We generally link those without homes, prostitutes, the hungry, and the people who are just lazy as being oppressed. In Jesus’ time, the blind, crippled, tax collectors, lepers, and sinners were also categorized with being oppressed and poor. It is no surprise to me that Jesus had compassion for those who were oppressed. Although Jesus did come from the middle class, he associated himself with the lower class and identified himself with them. I think that he was one of the first people who used his gut feeling of compassion. I commend him on not going with the crowd and being his own person; doing what he felt was morally right. I was however, completely shocked and dismayed when I read that the crippled and clinically ill were considered oppressed and worthless. Its one t...

Black Friday Stats on Shoppers, Spending, and Purchases

Black Friday Stats on Shoppers, Spending, and Purchases In 2016, more than 154 million people in the U.S. shopped in stores and online over  the Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey commissioned by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Thats more than 60 percent of the nations total population of adults. The NRF data indicates that nearly 100 million people shopped in stores over the holiday weekend while 108 million shopped online, and some, of course, did both. The NRF survey results show that Black Friday shopping appeals more to Millennials- adults aged 18 to 34 years- than it does to others. They were more likely to shop over the holiday weekend, and they were more likely to shop for themselves (doing more of their shopping online than in person). And they say that baseball is the ultimate American pastime?  In a consumerist culture, its shopping. How Much We  Spent The average shopper spent about $290  dollars over the three-day period, according to NRF, down ten dollars from 2015. ShopperTrak estimates that this resulted in $12.1 billion dollars spent over Thursday and Friday, with the majority of it, $10 million, spent on Black Friday. According to Adobe Insights, $5.2 billion was spent online during this two-day period. According to Mindshare, online sales for the four-day period of November 24-27 broke records, with total spending of $9.36 billion, which represents more than a 16 percent increase over 2015. Shoppers spent more online than ever on  Black Friday, at more than $3 billion. Not to be outdone, Cyber Monday broke previous records as well, with consumers spending $3.4 billion in one day, according to Adobe Insights. This was not only a 12 percent increase over Cyber Monday 2015, it is also a figure that makes Cyber Monday 2016 the most lucrative online retail day in history. Who Spent the Most Contrary to the stereotypical image of women as shopaholics, it was actually men who spent the most on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Mindshare reported prior to the shopping events that men surveyed anticipated spending nearly 69% more than the average woman, or $417 compared to $247. Mindshares survey also showed that it was older adults, those aged 35-54 who intended to spend the most of any age group, at an average of $356 per person. Millennials, however, were right behind them at a projected $338. This level of spending among Millennials, considerably higher than the average for all shoppers, might strike some as curious, or even selfish, given that they were more likely to shop for themselves than other age groups.  Its worth noting that Millennials have struggled financially during early adulthood in ways that previous generations have not, thanks in part to the Great Recession and to the ever-soaring mountain of student debt. Due in large part to these and other economic factors, Millennial adults are more likely to live at home with their parents than any other previous generation of young adults since 1880.  For these reasons, its quite likely that many among this age group use the opportunity of Black Friday discounts to purchase necessities or minor luxuries that they cant otherwise afford. How  and When They Shopped Though many  likely think of Black Friday and the entire Thanksgiving weekend as a frenzy of shoppers battling for deals at big box stores across the country, NRF data show that more people actually shopped online than in-store this year. Over the holiday weekend, online shopping was at its peak on Black Friday, until, of course, Cyber Monday rolled around. The vast majority of in-store shopping took place on Black Friday too, but again, bucking the stereotypical image, most people did not line up early or camp out for Thanksgiving or Black Friday deals. Only a small fraction of shoppers did this, and it turns out that they are more likely to men and to be Millennials. Mindshare notes that both groups were looking for specific deals on these days, and that they expected the in-store deals to be better than those found online. Where They Shopped and What They Bought The NRF found that more than half who went out to shop over the holiday weekend visited a department store like Macys and Nordstrom, and more than a third shopped at discount stores like Walmart or Target. Slightly less than a third visited an electronics store, and about 28 percent shopped at a store for clothing or accessories. One in four holiday shoppers visited a grocery store or supermarket. The NRF reported  that clothing and accessories led as the most popular gift items among those surveyed, with toys in second place. Electronics, books, CDs, DVDs, videos and video games, and gift cards rounded out the most common items that shoppers intended to buy as gifts. Online shoppers flocked to electronics items, including Samsung 4K televisions, Apples iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini, Microsofts Xbox One, and Sonys Playstation 4, according to Adobe Insights. Likely an indication of why men planned to spend more than women during the holiday shopping extravaganza, Mindshare reported that men were more likely than women to buy big-ticket items, including cars and auto parts, electronics, and video games. Women, on the other hand, reported plans to buy clothing and other fashion items, electronics, and toys. Among the toys sold online during Cyber Monday, Adobe Insights reported that Lego sets were the most popular item,  followed by Shopkins, Nerf, Barbie, and Little Live Pets. Why They Went Unsurprisingly, the NRF-commissioned survey found that half of all in-store shoppers said they had gone out on Thanksgiving and the subsequent days because the deals were too good to pass up. And it was women, more so than men, who were motivated to shop by a desire to find the best deals and discounts, according to Mindshare. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to be out shopping for specific items. The vast majority of those polled by NRF- about 3-in-4- shopped in order to buy gifts for others. Interestingly, from a sociological standpoint, NRF found that a third of in-store shoppers reported that they shopped because it was tradition, and  a quarter said they did it because it gave them something to do over the holiday weekend. And that, folks, is the very definition of consumerism.

Homicide Investigation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Homicide Investigation - Essay Example The corresponding homicide rates, which compare the total number of homicides to population figures, indicate that in 1960 there were 5.1 murders for every 100,000 U.S. citizens. By 1993, the rate had risen to 9.5.1 (Regini). Homicide certainly is a chief social problem in a society where violence is prevalent. The dramatic rate increase enthuse law enforcement efforts to intensify methodical homicide investigation. Traditional techniques reinforced and fortified with technological advancements and modern approaches aim to foster the progress of complex homicide cases. This subject matter appeals to me for the reason that I intend to pursue this line of work upon graduation. It is my conviction that this endeavor is a noble profession that is valuable and significant to society. Although homicide is distressing and tragic in nature, the pursuit of justice for the victims and surviving families is definitely a dignified career. That objective alone establishes a sufficient motivation for me to go through this challenge. Some may view homicide investigation as stressful, demanding and non-lucrative occupation. Nevertheless, there is no better reward than to be regarded as someone of service to the community wherein we and our loved ones are living in. I am aware that being a professional homicide investigator carries with it a great responsibility and requires utmost devotion and determination. It is my aspiration to gain knowledge and expertise in investigative strategies to become a successful homicide investigator. RESEARCH The Law of Homicide has the most complex degree (grading) system of any area in Criminal Law (The Law). In order to properly exercise practical scientific homicide investigation, it is imperative to first be familiar with the definition of homicide itself. Primitive legal codes defined homicide as taking the life of a human being and included suicide. As the legal system evolved, suicide was excluded and homicide became "the killing of one person by another." (Allen and Simonsen 1998, p. 615). Generally, if a person is accountable for the death of another person, that is classified as homicide. There was even a controversy whether abortion can be deemed as homicide: The differentiation between abortion and homicide has not always been so clear-cut. Some people consider a fetus to be a human being from the moment of conception, whereas others are more liberal in their beliefs. The debate over the line between human being and nonhuman being, with regard to abortion, is a continuous issue, but the U.S. Supreme Court's January 1973 Roe v. Wade decision eliminated the act, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy, from the definition of homicide. At the start of the twenty-first century, forty states and the District of Columbia prohibited (except in rare circumstances) abortions after the fetus becomes viable (i.e., capable of surviving outside the mother on its own)-generally after the twenty-seventh

On the Front Lines Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

On the Front Lines - Research Paper Example This leads to area of research that had been conducted by this study, concerning the major developments of Christianity in India. This conduct will explain the nature of Christianity, and later on will depict the primitive and contemporary settings of India in the light of Christianity. 2. Christianity Christianity is delved in from the belief of the sole savior Jesus Christ. It has influenced the universe since 6BC--the birth of Jesus Christ up to date. The story of Christianity commences in the birth, life and death of God the Son. He is Jesus Christ, the one who was raised in Nazareth. 2 However, the death and resurrection of Jesus is more significant than His birth. This suggests that the notion of celebration of Christmas was held 400 years before it took over.3 From then, the next 200 years had opened the notion of Christmas that was developed through the veneration of Mary and the three wise men.4 The latter is being explained in this context because Christianity focuses on th ese significant happenings of the life of Jesus Christ. The life of Jesus is the salient factor that can view as the foundation of belief of Christians. Through His life, many significant notions can be cherished and be emulated for a greater purpose in life. Furthermore, over the years, Christianity has faced many challenges, including some creeds, such as Hindus and Muslims, 5 and the challengers Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Galvin. 6 The Bible had been questioned and its vernacular locus became a centric issue. Most significantly, the emergence of doctrines concerning the relationship of God and humanity also had created ambiguity of belief for other Christians. 7 As the result, the Western nations devalue the prominence of religion because they perceive that religion is no longer significant. This is the result of the proliferating number of creeds, which creates ambiguities in the perception of the public. As the world takes the pace of growth each day, Christianity has been delving favorable feedback to the encounters and responses of emerging community concerns and challenges made by some established beliefs, such as communism, materialism, and atheism. However risky the challenges are, Christianity has still able to combat with a decline in Western nations and is incremental in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.8 Moreover, there was a prediction that Christianity would vanish in the years to come. Such theory has been upheld by erstwhile Beatle John Lennon when he delineated in 1966 that â€Å"Christianity will go.† 9 As the world progresses, many pundits have come to support the notion of Lennon. Despite the detrimental number of Christian populace in the modern setting, it must be precise that such prediction is unfounded. As what Blainey delineates: â€Å"Christianity has repeatedly been reinvented. Every religious revival is a reflection of a previous state of decline; but no revival and perhaps no decline is permanent.† 10 3 . The Indian Setting Primitive. Christianity was finally named in India when in the 14th century Syrian traders went through the course of Kerala.11 The transition was assisted by foreign contract, which comprised Christian traders. 12 From then on, another clusters in the shadow of the Europeans arrived in

Utilitarianism The Pursuit Of Happiness Philosophy Essay

Utilitarianism The Pursuit Of Happiness Philosophy Essay The phrase life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, enshrined in the founding documents of the United States, was derived from John Locke. Lockes formulation, however, was life, liberty, and property. In choosing the broader formulation pursuit of happiness, the framers were certainly not drawing from John Stuart Mill, since they wrote many decades before he did. They were writing and thinking in the same philosophical tradition, which goes ultimately back to Aristotle. Mill, however, has given us in Utilitarianism the most concise, analytical interpretation of this concept. What is meant by happiness, and what justifies regarding it as the goal either of a political system or of a system of ethical philosophy? In everyday usage, we use it most often in the sense of being pleased (Im happy you could come), or of general well-being (Happy Birthday!). It has pleasant connotations, but not, in everyday usage, particularly lofty ones. One might expect moral philosophy, or even political philosophy and statecraft, to seek some more profound goal. Mill, however, constructs his approach to moral philosophy from the bottom up. He starts from the premise that we naturally seek out pleasant experiences, and try to avoid pain or unpleasant experiences. At first glance this might appear to be an invitation to mere hedonism, eat, drink, and be merry. However, human experience shows that pleasant experiences are not limited to the material. We enjoy music, for example, and friendship, and seek these things out. Indeed, we often find satisfaction in experiences that mi ght well be arduous and even unpleasant, such as running a marathon. Even the effort of living up to a system of values carries its satisfactions (7-8). The sum total of these satisfactions and pleasures, or dissatisfactions and miseries, though the course of a lifetime constitutes our overall happiness or unhappiness (3-4). Happiness is therefore the good life not in the narrow sense of a house in the suburbs, convenient to a golf course (though not excluding these things), but in the broadest sense of a satisfying and joyous human existence. This, suggests Mill, is our goal in life, not imposed on us by some moral authority or power, but as a consequence of our human nature. Moreover, the pursuit of happiness extends even as a purely practical matter beyond our own condition of life to the condition of the society in which we live. Even if our motives are entirely selfish, for example, we have a vested interest in a society in which, for example, theft and robbery are not the general because we do not wish to be robbed or stolen from. (Even a professional thief benefits from not being a victim of theft as well.) The same practical principle can be extended to vices and virtues in general: We are all better off for living in a society where virtues are general practiced (31-32). However, what produces the general condition of a society but the behavior of the people who make it up. A burglar may benefit from living in a society where people do not lock their doors, but his behavior makes society less likely to display such mutual trust. If we wish to live in a virtuous society, therefore, it is in our interest to practice the virtues ourselves. What goes around, after all, comes around. Indeed, Mill speaks of a contagion of sympathy, a sort of virtuous cycle (the opposite of a vicious cycle) in which the practice of virtue encourages virtue in others, and improves the condition of life for all. This implicitly is what the founding fathers had in mind. A free society does not seek to impose virtue by fiat, but depends on the general practice of virtue to sustain itself. By aiding in the pursuit of happiness by others, we improve our own chances of pursuing it. A contemporary issue on which Mills propositions might shed light is the controversy over gay marriage. Many people, perhaps most people, have found the idea strange or shocking when first presented. Some fear that it would destroy marriage. However, it is hard to see how permitting gays to marry detracts from marriages between men and women. Their marriages are unchanged. What permitting gay marriage does is permit a new satisfaction a further pursuit of happiness for gay couples. Moreover, by recognizing such couples, it encourages gay individuals to seek stable relationships, improving the condition of society as well as their own lives. Thus, the pursuit of happiness, combined with Mills analysis of how ethical principles can be built up from our knowledge of human existence, casts a powerful light on how we can interpret social issues and their possible resolution. Source Cited Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1979. (Original publication 1861.)

Giant Pool of Money

In the story presented on the thematically. Org describes the process and the behavior patterns of parties involved. Mike Francis, Moody, and Standard and Poor represent the lending or investors side. When Mike Francis devised the mortgage backed securities which gave birth to Cods Investors jumped onto these securities based on AAA ratings given to these securities by rating agencies such as Moody, and Standard and Poor. These rating agencies did collect lot of data which were barely few years old. They did not have enough relevant and good quality data and collected data was simply to enough.These rating agencies used their preexisting theory – houses don't lose value In America – to Interpret the evidences that the performance of these securities were AAA (Heath, et al. 1998). Individuals use their preexisting theories to Interpret the evidence (Heath, et al. 1998) is a bias which played a major role here. The investors from the global pool of money jumped in with al l guns for these securities. As demand grew more and more these mortgages were bought and more and more securities were created to investors. The entire process showed a confirmation bias.People who took risky adjustable loans to buy houses which they really could not afford were essentially following other people. Since most of the people were buying houses by taking these loans, it made sense for other to replicate the act. Calling explains, In his book Influence Since and Practice (5th edition), this behavior as â€Å"the principle of social proof†. This principle states that we determine what Is correct by finding out what other people this Is correct (Lund et al. , 2007). Before 2000 most of people with low Income and low credit score were not able to afford buying the kind f house they bought during the period after 2000.In the radio program â€Å"Giant Pool of Money†, case of Clarence Nathan is presented. Clarence works 3 jobs, did not made good income and had b ad credit rating. â€Å"l wouldn't lend to myself† said Clarence. Even then he took the loan because everyone else was talking these kinds of loans and in fact the loan was made available to him. Even the behavior of investors, banks, and Wall Street followed the same pattern. Early on, investment banks were not interested in risky mortgages but when one bank started buying hose supreme mortgages others Jumped in. It was acceptable to invest in supreme mortgages.

The Legacy Of Abraham Lincoln - 1044 Words

Abraham Lincoln was a great president and did a lot of great things for this country that have impacted us to this day. He was born on February 12, 1809. Growing up on the farms of Kentucky and Indiana. As a kid he always wanted to have a great education and had a passion for books. His mom encouraged him to pursue his dreams to learn but his dad was against it. His mom died when he was nine and his stepmom continued what his mom did and encouraged him to pursue with his education. Lincoln moved to New Salem he worked as a shopkeeper and postmaster. He soon was involved with politics and was a supporters of the Whig Party. Lincoln was not the only one that opposed the spread of slavery to the territories. Henry Clay and Daniel†¦show more content†¦He was a congressman and unpopular in Illinois because of his strong stance with the war with Mexico. He returned to Springfield in 1849. Douglas was a leading Democrat in congress and pushed through the passage of the Ka nsas-Nebraska Act (1854). This act declared that voters of each territory had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave free. On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went in from of a large crowd in Peoria, denouncing slavery and it s extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence. In March 1861 he was inaugurated in seven southern sates and seeded into Confederate States of America after being Union. Lincoln ordered a fleet of Union ships to supply South Carolina s Fort Sumter in April. The Confederates fired on the Union and the fort. This was the beginning of the Civil War. After a defeat in the battle of Bull Run, Lincoln called for 500,000 more troops. He learned quickly about the war in the beginning and had better strategies and tactics. He had a better understanding on commanders. Union victory of Antietam on September 22, 1862 made the president very confident enough to reshape the cause of the war from union to abolishing slavery. On January 1, 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This stated that if you were held as a slave henceforward shall be free.