mark and luke paper

mark and luke paper mark and luke paper Religion 200 9/23/2013 Mark and Luke Reflection Paper In the Access Bible there are many stories included in the New Testament. The stories of Mark and Luke are similar stories written about Jesus. Mark and Luke both talk about the birth and death of Jesus Christ. They also talk about the stories of Easter and Christmas. Although, the book Luke is based on Mark the stories are altered from one another in some way. In the book of Mark, it starts off talking about John the Baptizer. People from all over Jerusalem went to get baptized so their sins were forgiven. When he baptized Jesus he recognized him as him being the son of God. After Jesus was baptized, he went out to the wilderness where he was tested by Satan for forty days. Jesus then goes and performs miracles and heals people. Eventually Jesus and his ministry reach the ruler of Galilee, King Herod Antipas who was against the work that Jesus was performing. The priest also did not like his works and eventually arrested him. The Roman governor agre es that they can crucify him. After being killed Jesus appears to resurrect from the dead. I find this story interesting because Jesus was the son of God and performed many miracles however, still some people failed to see that he was the son of God. They instead thought he was a threat to the Christian religion. I also, think that it’s weird that Jesus can perform some miracles, but not others. I feel that since he was the son of God that God would have saved him from being crucified. Although the book of Mark and Luke are similar they start off in different ways. The book of Luke begins with the birth of John and Jesus. First, it explains how Zechariah and Elizabeth had been trying to conceive a child and were unable to do so. One day an angel named Gabriel came to Zechariah and told him his wife was going to conceive a baby. However, Zechariah did not have a lot of faith in the news that was given to him. Since he did not trust Gabriel’s word, the angel made it so h e could not speak until their child was born. The angel then visited the Virgin Mary and told her she was going to give birth to the son of God. After Jesus was born he was presented at the temple the Jewish prophets, Simeon and Anna knew he was sanctity of Christ. This book also included John baptizing Jesus and the unsuccessful test by Satan. After returning he begins his ministry by preaching about God and performing miracles. Some things emphasized in this book but not the other was Jesus’s forgiveness to sinners, the Passover and the explanation to the disciples that giving is better than receiving. Just like the book of Mark Jesus was crucified and resurrected. However, the story of resurrection is not the same in each book. I think it is interesting that people can tell

Statistical Measures of Unemployment

Statistical Measures of Unemployment Most data regarding unemployment in the United States is collected and reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS divides unemployment into six categories (known as U1 through U6), but these categories dont line up directly with the way that economists categorize unemployment. U1 through U6 are defined as follows: U1 Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longerU2 Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary workU3 Percentage of labor force who are without jobs and have looked for work in the last four weeks (note that this is the officially reported unemployment rate)U4 U3 plus the percent of the labor force that counts as discouraged workers, i.e. people who would like to work but have stopped looking because they are convinced that they cant find jobsU5 U4 plus the percent of the labor force that count as marginally attached or loosely attached workers, i.e. people who would theoretically like to work but havent looked for work within the past four weeksU6 U5 plus the percent of the labor force that counts as underemployed, i.e. part-time workers who would like to work more but cant find full-time jobs Technically speaking, the statistics for U4 through U6 are calculated by adding discouraged workers and marginally attached workers into the labor force as appropriate. (Underemployed workers are always counted in the labor force.) In addition, the BLS defines discouraged workers as a subset of marginally attached workers but is careful not to double count them in the statistics. You can see the definitions directly from the BLS. While U3 is the main officially reported figure, looking at all of the measures together can provide a broader and more nuanced view of what is happening in the labor market.

Documantry on Congo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Documantry on Congo - Essay Example Throughout the Congo, families were held as hostages, and the families would be subjected to death-causing hunger, in the case that the working members did not cooperate in producing sufficient wild rubber. Further, the hands of the children held as captive were chopped off as punishment to the parents, in the case that they delivered the rubber late (Bate, Elie and Roger). The King is accused of killing more than 10 million people during his era of exploitation. This paper will explore the lessons taught by the documentary and also explore the classes of people that played a central role during the colonial era. The documentary gives an account showing that the colonialists went to Africa among other colonial nations, not for the good of the citizens of the colonized countries, but for their selfish interests of making more wealth for themselves and their countries (Bate, Elie and Roger). This reality is very evident from the experiences of the Congolese, during the 1880s, noting that they were subjected to forced labor and slavery at their own country. The selfish interests of the colonialist Belgium are evident from the death of the millions of the people that did not work towards meeting the rubber hunger of the King. Further, to conceal his plans and his strategies of exploiting the people of Congo, the king acted as a prototype of colonialists, by hiding under the veil of protecting Africans from slave trade (Bate, Elie and Roger). Unfortunately, it turned out that his system and model of slavery was much worse than that of the Arabs; it included the brutal treatment of the Congolese. For example, the documentary cites that the hands of the children, whose parents could not deliver rubber as expected, were chopped off. Therefore, the colonial operations of King Leopold II, which were similar to those of many other colonial nations, show that the colonialists went to Africa and other

TAXATION POLICY AND TAX REFORMS IN VIETNAM Assignment

TAXATION POLICY AND TAX REFORMS IN VIETNAM - Assignment Example The taxation policy of an economy has a major impact on its economic condition. Understanding the taxation policy of a country helps in assessing the role of income taxes on the economic growth. Countries constantly engage in debate to strike the right balance of taxes for the planned economies progress (Miller, & Oats, 2009). Economic analysts suggest that economic policies are very important for the growth of an economy. Taxes are important sources of finance for the governments. Governments implement combination of direct and indirect based to generate effective results and higher revenues for meeting capital and public revenue expenditure (Jones, Rhoades-Catanach, & Lemler, 2010). The governments which have more opportunities for generating finance from revenues of public enterprises besides tax implementation attempt to design the lenient taxation policies which attain effective results. Vietnam was a developing economy and it had shown dramatic development over the years. This dramatic growth of the country with the passage of time is centrally attributed to its economic policies. One major component of these is the taxation reforms. ECONOMIC OBJECTIVES AND TAXATION STRUCTURE OF VIETNAM After the war in 1954-1975, Vietnam adopted a market oriented strategy for development. The process of the reforms was initiated during the mid 1980’s. Before these reforms were proposed, the state was playing a very important role in the economic development of the country. The government’s revenue collection from the enterprises was linked to profit sharing with the organizations. For achieving the objectives of efficiency in government organization, it was mandated for the managers to abide the directives and the policies proposed by the state. This was aimed at improving the performance of the economic performance of the government and private enterprise in local and international market (Yui, n.d.). New legislations were enacted and the promulgations of the company law were also implemented. The changes were made to the foreign Investment Law, Private Enterprise Law and the Company law. During this time the first phase of the reform was implemented. At this time th e government was in dire need of implementing the policies and overcoming the economic challenges such as controlling the effect of hyper inflation. Implementations of the policies were forced with reforms in the import and export taxes, special consumption taxes and profit taxes etc. The enterprises that were non state owned were levied with registration tax, excise tax and agricultural taxes. This in result had direct impact on the FDI and increased the overall productivity of the economy. These reforms were considered for contribution in the economic improvements and these practices made the tax system more transparent. The overall series of measures of growth contributed to the economic development significantly and growth of the Vietnam economy over the years. Through these reforms the overall growth in the revenue of the economy increased by more than five times. The report here after focuses on the reform in the taxation policies of the Vietnam (Yui, n.d.). REFORMS IN THE TAX ATION POLICY OF VIETNAM The taxation system plays a very important and critical role in structuring the macroeconomic conditions of the economy. . The initial measures mentioned above had significant impact on the economy of Vietnam. It contributed towards the success of Vietnam with its social and economic developm

Battle of Thermopylae Essay Example for Free

Battle of Thermopylae Essay 300 is a fictionalized depiction of the 460 B. C. Battle of Thermopylae. Adapted from Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300, director Zack Snyder evidently aimed for this cinematic spectacle as historical as the Spartan’s glory. Led by King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), the 300 best Spartan soldiers fought to death against the Persian King Xerxes’ (Rodrigo Santoro) campaign of ruling the world of men, save the last one named Dilios (David Wenham) who lived to proclaim the glory of the 300 and of course, recount the story from the birth of King Leonidas to the rigors of a Spartan soldier’s life. Through this narrative technique, we are brought to the world of grotesque-faced warriors, beautiful and cursed oracles, sex orgy, 460 B. C. political evil and gigantic fantastical beasts that made the whole movie an action historical fantasy instead of a classroom historical documentary. Created by CGI visual effects technology, the movie is an image duplication of the original comic book. The unworldly creatures came to life, a mere number of casts looked a hundred thousand or so, the amazing panoramic dark clouds added much drama to the dark scenes and the rain of gores and blood were clearly meant for action suckers rather than the sandal supporters. Indeed, human slaughter never looked so pretty. But you do not need to be a comic book or a computer animation fan to admire this cinematic landmark. The cinematography is what grabs your attention in a different way as Gladiator or Lord of the Rings or Troy ever did. Although I have to add that incorporating some of the said movies’ best shots like the Gladiator’s sunny wheat field scene, the olliphant-like creatures from LotR and the bird’s eye view battalion shots from Troy, gave us some moments sort of deja vu but over-all, Snyder did his homework pretty well in making this 460 B. C battle unbelievably believable. From the angles to the color schemes, the 300 movie looked like a technically polished storyboard. Every frame is beautiful and every panel is a cinematic feast. Unlike the technically benchmarking combat between Hector and Achilles in Troy, the combats in 300 are taken NOT from a vantage point of a spectator, but from an eye level of somebody who belongs in the battle†¦ somebody who moves in the battle. Filled with slow motion shots, the frame almost freezes to give a further zoom of the amazing sequences. The effect? Well, the audience were brought face-to-face to the thrill of the Battle of Thermopylae than they could ever imagine. The way the film flowed gave us a comic book feel to almost every scene but freed us from the eye candy gloss of the comic book. The chained giant Persians, the leprosy looking elders and warriors, the outrageously choreographed combats and the spear-causing blood showers looked wildly more spectacular than what paint brushes or video game film-making could ever do. The irony of the special effects’ impact on creating a scene of the past while setting a cinematic future gained 300 its wider acceptance. The incredible visuals were bloody mad and ferocious, which is exactly what that era is all about and what our era tries to relive, technically. We know how this is made. Shots were indoors against a blue screen and the backgrounds were added using CGI techniques. (Movie buffs get the hang of this technique after Twilight produced an exclusive documentary of the CGI behind their movie). Lacking of an all star casts and expensive shooting locations, we can say that the movie’s visual effects stole the spotlight. Even Gerard Butler’s commanding voice will not be given that much awe without the tiny acoustic touch. However, the visual techniques which so prodigiously employed didn’t just become the movie’s success but as well the movies failing. Having it overpower the substance made critics less indulged and more complaining. Many said that whatever the movie tremendously have in style, it lacks in human emotions and thus fall short in portraying the historical Battle of Thermopylae as a human history, not an epic from another world. Save Queen Gorgo’s (Lena Headey) shot to rally support for her husband, all those battle speeches sounded vain for lacking frame supports. But then again, the R rating could well make us understand that it’s the bloody, violent stunts that made us pay for the two-hour beautifully-generated tortures. To quote King Leonidas, â€Å"a new age has come, a new freedom†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I guess, we just have to embrace it.

The Theme of Carelessness in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

The Theme of Carelessness in The Great Gatsby      Ã‚   The idea of carelessness plays an important role in The Great Gatsby. Daisy, Tom, Jordan, Gatsby and Nick were all careless at some points throughout the book.   Daisy and Tom were careless about their relationship, their money, and many of their daily activities.   Gatsby was also unconcerned with his money. Jordan was blasà © about the way she treated other people.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . . ."(189)   This was an accurate description of the way Tom and Daisy acted.   They were constantly neglectful of the way they behaved and when they realized they were wrong, they would retreat back to their money.   It was always other people that had to pay for Tom and Daisy's careless mistakes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Daisy also admitted that she was careless in a dialogue with Nick.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "I am careful."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "No, you're not"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Well, other people are," she said lightly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "What's that got to do with it?"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "They'll keep out of my way," she insisted. "It takes two to make an accident."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Suppose you meet somebody just as careless as yourself."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "I hope I never will," she answered.   "I hate careless people."(63)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   She quickly responded to Nick that she doesn't need to be careful. Daisy implied that it is the other person's responsibility to be mindful of her. She also said that she hates careless people right after she admitted that she was careless.   Daisy was indifferent about her relationship with Tom.   She knew that her husband was having an affair with another women but Daisy did not do anything about it.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tom was careless in a much more obvious way.   He was brutal as well as destructive.   Tom felt that he could do anything he wanted and get away with it. He would never admit that he was dispassionate because he was egotistical.   Tom was careless in his relationship with Daisy, his wife, and Myrtle Wilson, his lover.   He allowed Gatsby to win his wife's love.

Do You Exist Because You Think, or Do You Think Because You Exist, or Neither? Essay

In order to consider â€Å"I exist because I think† or †I think because I exist†, I would define the â€Å"I exist because I think† as â€Å"I think† is the cause of â€Å"I exist†. This implies â€Å"I think† appear before â€Å"I exist† and cause â€Å"I exist† to happen. In the other side, â€Å"I think because I exist† would be â€Å"I exist† is the cause of â€Å"I think†. This implies â€Å"I exist† appear before â€Å"I think† and cause â€Å"I think† to happen. In terms of logic, I would say â€Å"I think because I exist â€Å" is more appropriate. It is because I must exist first, therefore I can think of my existence. Things about me or myself are impossible to happen before my existence and cause my existence. In the following paper, I would like to explain why â€Å"I exist because I think† is false and explain â€Å"I think because I exist† is true. Let me first explain why ‘I exist because I think’ is false. If ‘I exist because I think’ is true, every time when I think I exist and when I do not think, I do not exist. As I mentioned, â€Å"Think† seems to be the cause of my existence in this case. How can my thinking exist before my existence and cause my existence. Therefore, I must exist first, then I can think about â€Å"I exist† or not. In fact, every minute whatever I am conscious or not, I am existing in this world, If my body physically is existing. For example, a person whose body functionally works but loss his conscious. He is still alive but he cannot think, we cannot say he is inexistent, because he is not dead. In other word, I can exist without â€Å"I think†, but â€Å"I think† cannot be without I exist. Furthermore, as Descartes said â€Å"I think, therefore I am† to prove the indubitable truth of self-existence. He suggested that every time when we doubt that â€Å"I† exist or not, we can absolute certain that â€Å"I† am existing by this act. Then he said that the evil genius could not deceive us â€Å"I exist† because before the evil genius’s deception, â€Å"I† must exist first, then I can be deceived in some way by the evil genius. So â€Å"I exist† is indubitable truth. Similarly, to say â€Å"I think because I exist† is true, The first criterion is I ust exist first. Therefore, I can think about my existence. So â€Å"I think† must base on â€Å"I exist†. In contrast, if â€Å"I exist† is based on â€Å"I think†, this is impossible that â€Å"I think† appear before â€Å"I exist†. How can my mind and thinking exist dependently? Although some scientists may argue that brain wave w hat we call ghosts can exist after life, they may be the other forms of human thought â€Å"I think† appearing without â€Å"I exist†. However, who have seen ghost in this world? At least until today no one can prove ghosts exist in this world. So â€Å"I think† is not the cause that I can exist. However, â€Å"I exist† is the cause of I can think. To conclude, â€Å"I think† cannot exist without â€Å"I exist†. It should be â€Å"I exist† first then â€Å"I think† â€Å"I exist†. As the following diagram shows: If it is â€Å"I exist because I think†, it would be missing I exist in the first place, as below diagram shows: Nothing can exist before itself, so before I think, I must exist. In other word, â€Å"I exist† does not dependent on â€Å"I think†, but â€Å"I think† do dependent on â€Å"I exist†. Therefore, â€Å"I think because I exist† is true.