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Sunday, August 18, 2019

Pumping Iron: Women and Sports :: Movies Television Film Females Essays

Pumping Iron: Women and Sports Ever since sports has been introduced into our society it has always been gender specific. Today, sports are still gender specific but not as much as before due to the change in social norms. Many people enjoy playing sports. For some it may be the competition, for others it may be for the love of the game. It has been difficult for individuals who enter non-traditional sports for their gender. Women have especially struggled with this matter until the Title 9 was issued. Before Title 9, many women were not allowed to participate in track and other sports that were not considered feminine. During the Victorian Times, women were only allowed to play sports that didn't make them look sweaty, tired or just messy. They had to stick to the norm of being conservative and looking proper. Can you imagine, they had to even wear skirts for baseball and other sports? How can you be comfortable and play well in that kind of an outfit? When it came to tennis, they had to look graceful like a ball erina. The main concern in playing a sport is enjoying it and playing it well. It never had to do anything with being part of a beauty contest. Women were given limitations into what sports they could participate in. However, realistically women were just as good as their counterpart when it came to playing sports in which they were not allowed to play. Being a female and seriously competing in a non-traditional sport is an arduous task. Many individuals question your sexuality, race and class just because you have decided to participate in a non-traditional sport. However, the main fact that is being disregarded here is that everyone has the capability of playing any sport that they want to play. There should not be any boundaries to anything because of gender. It is unfair because there are certain things that are acceptable and unacceptable in society which puts a lot of pressure on people that are into non-traditional sports. The question is, why does being accepted matter so much in society? Why is it so hard to be accepted for something that you want to do? I mean you are not hurting anybody yet you are made to feel guilty for trying to be good in a non-traditional sport. For this essay, I would like to use the movie "Pumping

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Microeconomics in my Life

The role of microeconomics in every person’s life is enormous; therefore, it is very important to study it. The objects of microeconomics surround us all the time. Microeconomics studies the aspects of functioning of all companies, and we deal with various companies throughout our lives. I shop for food and clothes in stores, go to movie theaters to see popular movies, buy stationary at Home Depot, transfer funds through banks. All of these companies function according to certain laws, which are all studied in microeconomics. My favorite brand of car is Toyota, and microeconomics is able to determine what the most efficient volume of production for the company is. It is able to give the managers an answer to the question of what the most efficient combination of their resources should be, i.e., how many employees they should employ, how many materials they should get from suppliers and many other issues. We constantly have to go shopping, and deal with prices which are established according to supply and demand, cost of production and other factors. Whenever the price of tomatoes in the store goes to the roof, we usually see a note in the store that the crops in Florida turned out not as large as it was predicted or that the hurricanes destroyed all of the crops. Even though the same tomatoes cost half the price just a short time ago, we realize that the law of supply and demand has been efficiently applied here. The demand for tomatoes remained the same, but the supply decreased dramatically and thus prices were destined to increase. I also deal with the concept of elasticity all of the time. Companies never make discounts on products the demand for which is inelastic because the volume of sales is going to remain stable anyway. Therefore, there is usually hardly a chance for me to get such products for a lower price. However, I am always a good shopper when it comes to products with high elasticity because companies decrease their prices on such items from time to time to attract more customers. For example, there is always a chance to buy some clothes on sale. I deal with the concept of utility all of the time in my life as well. Some of the products have a high level of utility for me, and I am going to buy them at any price because I am simply unable to live without them. For example, DVD’s of my favorite movies are extremely valuable for me, and I am ready to pay any money to be able to see my favorite actor or actress. At the same time, some items have a very low utility for me, and only low price on such items is able to attract me. I am the type of person who always judges products by their utility for me and not by how fashionable they are. Like every person, I am forced to deal with various market forms, such as perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, or monopolistic competition. In most cases, I see the market of monopolistic competition because there are very many items with slightly different features. The market of the United States has very many companies which produce similar items but try to attract consumers by unique features and by efficient advertising. For example, there are very many producers of cars in the United States. There are also many multinational companies based in the United States which produce cars, for example, Japanese Toyota, Korean Honda and many others. They all produce cars which have quite similar features. All of these manufacturers come up with various models of cars so that they can attract people who like sports cars, who have children, who need to travel in the mountains, or who need fuel-efficient cars. Every manufacturer tries to come up with some unique feature which competitors do not have. To some extent, it is very good for me as a consumer because competitors are fighting for customers and thus they constantly introduce new great deals for us. I am able to fight the model of the car which I want and perhaps even get it at a lower price. I also often deal with oligopolistic competitors. The market of providers of wireless phones is not as large as the car market. There are some major players in it, and I have to choose among the most powerful of them. It was very challenging for me to decide whether to use the services of T-Mobile or Verizon, but I finally made a choice for Verizon. Oligopolistic competitors can be very difficult for analysis because they usually make different steps according to the steps of their competitors. Since there are very few competitors in the market, it is very important for oligopolists to bring their actions in accordance with the actions of the competitors. Oligopolists also often sign various agreements with one another in order to control the market. For example, I often see that when T-Mobile introduces new offers, Verizon follows this company with very similar offers. Since I am a consumer, the knowledge of microeconomics can greatly help me to take a choice in different type of the market. Another concept of microeconomics which I am destined to face is externalities. I often read in newspapers how government does its best to take care of various kinds of externalities. I know many plants which pollute water and atmosphere, and in my opinion, it is very good that government makes such companies pay higher taxes or install purifying systems in order to eliminate the impact of its pollution. In conclusion, it is necessary to say that microeconomics is one of the disciplines the concepts of which can be seen everywhere. The knowledge of these concepts helps me to make smarter choices in life and understand different phenomena better. All of the consumer decisions are being made on the micro level, and that is why it is very important for every person to have a deep knowledge of microeconomic concepts. Bibliography. Baumol, William J., John Panzar, and Robert Willig. Contestable Markets and the Theory of Industry Structure, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1982. Campbell R. McConnell, Stanley L. Brue. Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies. Eleventh Edition. 1996. Curwen Peter, Else Peter. Principles of Microeconomics. Unwin Hyman. 1990. Cullis, J. G. and Jones, P. R. Microeconomics and the public economy: a defence of Leviathan Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1987.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Fundraising Event At St. Therese’s Parish

As part of the 75th anniversary of St. Therese’s Parish, the parish family, together with Monsignor Robert MacArthur has campaigned for a fundraising event that will support the festive celebration of its institution. The fundraising activity will involve the sales of the St. Therese’s 75th Anniversary Cookbook, which is a compilation of approximately 75 favorite and traditional recipes submitted by members of the parish themselves. The St. Therese’s 75th Anniversary Cookbook is a product of the members of the parish who are dedicated to serve the parish in their very own personal way. The cookbook will be sold for only $5. 00 a piece and all proceeds will go to the celebration of St. Therese’s 75th anniversary. The cookbook is dedicated to all former priests, sisters and parishioners who have provided their hard work and commitment to the parish in the early days and years, which in turn developed the foundation of what we now see at St. Therese’s Parish. It is well-known that many hands—and hearts, as well as God’s grace, have molded the current parish. The St. Therese’s 75th Anniversary Cookbook is composed of several sections—appetizers and beverages, salads and dressings, soups and sauces, vegetables, main dishes, breads, desserts, and even canning procedures, that will be very helpful to every home. Each entry has been lovingly written and submitted by parishioners, with their goal of sharing their good home recipes and at the same time helping out in raising funds for the coming joyous event at St. Therese’s. The St. Therese’s 75th Anniversary Cookbook will be available at the parish entrance after Holy Mass and will also be available at the corner grocery store, along Main Street and West Avenue. So hurry up and grab a copy of the St. Therese’s 75th Anniversary Cookbook and be part of the joyful group that is eager to share their oneness with the parish in raising funds for its 75th anniversary celebration!

Culture in Aruba

The people of Aruba come primarily from European, African, and Latin American countries and the culture of the island reflects these varied backgrounds. The language, food, religion, and celebrations on Aruba are composed of a healthy mix of these countries. Aruba is closely tied to Holland because of its long occupation and present partnership in the Netherlands kingdom. The official language is Dutch, which is seen on the street signs, official documents, and many local newspapers. However, many aspects of Aruba’s culture reveal strong influences of contributing cultures, such as the common language Papiamento. Papiamento dates back to the sixteenth century, as a means for African slaves to communicate with their owners. Papiamento reflects the mentality and culture of the many peoples who have inhabited the region, including the Arawak and Carib Indians, African slaves, South American traders, Spanish conquers, Dutch merchants, Portuguese missionaries, and French and English settlers. While grammar is basic, many non-Arubans find its syntax and intonation challenging. Much of Papiamento has been handed down verbally from generation to generation. Its proverbs contain a simply stated wealth of philosophy and insight. Through humor and metaphor, utilizing food, animals, and objects from everyday life, Papiamento lends universal guidance and wisdom. Some popular phrases are â€Å"Bon Dia† for good morning and â€Å"Masha Danki† for thank you. Aruban food is simple in preparation and taste. Mostly grilled without a lot of grease or spice, chicken, fish and vegetables are often accompanied by local vegetables such as corn, broccoli, potatoes or rice. Johnnycakes are fried biscuits prepared with slat fish from Canada and Norway, which are popular in Aruba. Also popular are stews of beef, chicken, and goat, with ingredients of a cucumber called concomber and rice with black beans. Stuffed cheese, called keeshi yena, is a traditional Aruban dish dating back to the days of the Dutch West India Company. It was originally made by hollowing out the round Dutch cheeses and stuffing them with a mixture of chicken, vegetables, and spices. More modern recipes include raisins, grated cheese, breadcrumbs, olives, capers, and gherkins, and beef, fish or shrimp is sometimes used in lieu of chicken. Often eaten in place of bread is a ornmeal pudding similar to polenta. Slaves brought this recipe to the Caribbean from West Africa. Dishes of Asian origin, such as the Nasi Goreng and rijstaffel of Indonesia and the Chinese vegetables bok choy and snow peas, are included on Aruban menus. Desserts in Aruba are rich and sweet. Black cake, or bolo preto, is the Antillean rum and cognac-soaked delicacy of choice at Family events, such as weddings and birthda ys. It takes several weeks to prepare before garnished with white icing and sprinkled with silver candy balls. Other favorite Aruban desserts are sweet and colorful cakes and gelatins. The people of Aruba are predominantly Christian. Roman Catholics make up the majority with 82 percent of the population, while Protestants are second with eight percent. Other religions present on the island include Judaism, Muslim, Hindu and Confucian. There are several churches on the island that have become tourist attractions for their antiquity and beauty. The Santa Anna Church in Noord was built between 1914 and 1919. The neo-gothic wood-carved altar was sculpted by Hendrik van der Geld of the Netherlands and the stained glass windows were created in 1932 by Wilhelm Derix of Germany. Built in 1877, the rectory of this church is the oldest in Aruba. Our Lady of Alto Vista is located on a high plain near the north coast. It is a quaint, simply constructed chapel, which had a clear view of approaching pirate ships from the north. The original structure was built of stone and wood in 1750 and the antique Spanish cross is the oldest work of art in the Netherlands Antilles, except for Indian Artifacts. Carnaval, Aruba’s most exciting celebration, is preceded by weeks of celebration, parades, elections, contests, and parties. Many schools, business’s and organizations dress up in elaborate costumes to compete for coveted titles. At the beginning of the celebration, Aruba’s Prime minister symbolically transfers command of the country to the prince of Carnaval. Tivoli, Aruba’s oldest social club, has produced a dazzling nighttime lighting parade for this event. The Grand Carnaval Parade in San Nicolas begins in the middle of the night and lasts until dawn, and the Oranges tad parade takes place that next day, making for an exhausting weekend for celebratory Arubans. The burning of King Momo, a life-size effigy, marks the nd of Carnaval at midnight on Shrove Tuesday, before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Central figures in Carnaval lore are the beautiful queen and the prince, who is the authoritative figure guiding the parade and later restoring order with his sidekick, pancho. Music is an integral element at Carnaval and most popular are the Caribbean beats of Tumba and Calyps o. The origins of Carnaval are found thousands of years ago. The work is derived from the Latin carne vale, meaning farewell to flesh, signifying the time when many Christians gave up meat and other sacrifices.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Building stone conservation

The construction industry and its activities have an important role to play in socioeconomic development and quality of life. Construction activity accounts for more than 50% of the national outlays. Building Construction costs registered an increase in rates year after year at scales much faster than inflation. It is seen that in view of the increase in cost for basic input materials like steel, cement brick timber and other materials as well as the cost of construction labour, buildings cost increase at around 20% to 30% annually even when inflation is in single digit.Even though income levels of people are by and large brought in line with the levels of inflation through inflation indexed rise in salaries, year after year, housing is moving beyond the reach of the majority of the people. The reducing housing size for various categories in consecutive years in respect of the plinth areas, nature of specifications even with increased income levels would indicate the rapid increase i n cost of construction.The urban population growth has increased to more than 30%, and has made the need for adequate housing for low income people a very important concern for the government. However, the rush to respond to these needs seems to result in a low quality housing that does not adequately match the needs of these people. In countries where construction contributed 3-5% to GDP, an implication for development policy was that unless the construction industry grew faster than the economy as a whole it might constrain national development (Han and Ofori, 2001).The construction industry is a main contributor to the national economy, therefore the more developed the industry is the more the contribution to the economy. Similarly, a developing economy leads to more construction projects and purchasing ower means affordable projects. The interlink relation between the construction industry and the economy makes it clear that development can not occur without the other, although a growing construction industry does not necessarily mean a developing industry nor economy.In fact, the increase in construction prices could cause an artificial indication of the contribution of the construction industry to the GDP and economy. Furthermore the increase in construction costs always occurs faster than the increase in the GDP/capita. Approximate costs generally include mechanical and electrical installations, but exclude furniture, loose or special quipment, and external works. They also exclude fees for professional services and permission fees. The costs shown are appropriate to local specifications and standards.This should be borne in mind when attempting comparisons with similarly described building types in other countries. One of the main barriers to sustainability and sustainable construction will be affordability. The construction industry in developing countries cannot afford to make any dramatic changes but has to start improving the existing technology an d local resources it has. In less than two decades, the construction costs have increased by a considerable rate. This is in respect of the normal types of housing construction.Still higher levels of costs are registered for using better finishes and amenities. The current situation of un- affordability, necessitates the need for using economical solutions and appropriate designs and construction materials which can bring down the cost of construction within the affordability levels of the people, as identified in the Agenda 21 for sustainable construction in Developing Countries which concerns with construction economic efficiency through national and international housing policies that ensure adequate, affordable and sustainable housing.Authors such as Adebayo (2000), McIntosh (2000) and Aboutorabi (2000) has addressed out that the sustainability development of the built environment is significantly linked to affordability, and affordability will remain a key barrier to sustainabi lity. CONCLUSION The development of the construction industry should lead to affordable construction activities and materials, which is one of the main issues of sustainability in the developing countries. It seems that the development of the construction industry to achieve efficiency, quality, affordability and then sustainability is strongly tied to the economy.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Representation of Women in Bollywood

Cinema is meant and believed to entertain. It is a popular media of mass consumption which plays a key role in molding opinions, constructing images and reinforcing dominant cultural values. The representation of women characters in the main stream bollywood movies. Hindi cinema has been a major point of reference for Indian culture in this century. It has shaped and expressed the changing scenario of modern India to an extent. Bollywood cinema has influenced the way in which people perceive various aspects of their own life. Bollywood’s journey is nearly hundred years.Bollywood has been essentially male-centric, leaving a little space for the female counterparts to evolve and grow as performers. In earlier films, they were based on mythology or historic kind, where male were given importance and female were showcased here and there. Now, it’s different. As women in India redefined the status and role in the society, it is seemed to be reflected in the films as well. Bu t up to what extent is it true it should be a healthy practice. There is no reason to think women as sensitive creatures and huddled behind a veil.The way of living of real life women is the inspiration for reel life act. But is it an exact portrayal of what we see in real life? The changes found in the characterization of women in the last decade are vast. WOMEN CENTRIC FILMS During 2002 – 2012, there is a lot of notable women centric films. Women being protagonist is either portrayed as a positive or negative character. But there are also movies like â€Å"JODHA-AKBAR† which is not under this category but the characterization of Jodha, makes us feel that movie is being pulled by her.Likewise, â€Å"ROCKSTAR† the entire movie is scripted on the heroin; but the character of her is negative (i. e. against the social ethics). Women are either portrayed as modern life â€Å"Sati-Savithri’s† or entirely the negative version. But women are hardly portra yed as they are in real life. The movies are made for the audience. Therefore, they portray in such a way , how they could grab the attention of their audience. There is a blind mindset always makes the filmmakers to insists their heroin to dress up in more of glamour kind.The teenagers are also found to be in modern outfits. But, not as they portray in cinema. WOMEN IN REALISTIC FILMS In real life depicted films like â€Å"RAAJNEETHI† , â€Å"SARKAR† , â€Å"SARKAR-RAJ† women are showcased boldly and courageously. In a movie like â€Å"GURU†, the women’s role is soft and subtle. This type of characterizations inspires and develops the respect for women in society. Like wise, movies like â€Å"RAAGINI MMS† should not be encouraged. They should be a ban. As this will definitely have affect on the social dignity of women.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Media Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media Globalisation - Essay Example The usage of facts and figures has been excellent here and the writer has not stepped back in accepting the fact that the Japanese television industry is highly influenced by the American industry. Then the trend of the Japanese television industry has been explained. The trend shifted towards more television shows from movies due to the huge boom in the popularity of television serials (Chun, 2006, p.368). Though American influence was present but since 1980s except some television serials imported from America others haven't fare well in Japan. American movie culture is still quite famous and people enjoy watching movies produced in Hollywood. The fame of television series' led to a decline in the movie audience and this lead to more filmmakers turning towards television industry, which only led to an increase in the popularity of television serials (Blumenthal et al, 2006, p.592). The importance given to a television serial is on the basis of its local touch that is the viewers do n't really care if the serial is a copy from some other television industry what they really care about is the 'Japanese odor' in the serial. The solution to this situation was to import television shows from different industries and run them in Japan adding a local touch, which proved to be quite successful in the end. One of the example of such television show mentioned by the writer here is 'Who wants to be a millionaire'. The success rate of this show in Japan was huge though it was an imported show but the cultural touch relevant to Japan that was given to it proved outstanding. The Japanese version is mostly the same as of the version running in Britain but with some amendments like the appearance of celebrities as challengers. The draw back that this article has here is the mentioning of an international television show being popular when the writer himself mentioned that locally produced television serials are more liked by Japanese people. To level out this effect the write r than discusses a show that was imported from America but failed to make its mark in the Japanese television industry, the name of the program is 'Survivor'. The cultural products that Japan exports are called culturally odorless as they do not depict any cultural theme of the country. It is in this context that the Japanese is called Mukokuseki which means something or someone lacking any nationality. Now the writer directs his attention towards the television serials that are being exported from Japan. The interesting fact here that the writer mentions is the number of programs being exported by Japan is far more than imported. The writer also discusses the point raised by many critics who say that the largest shareholder of Japanese exported programs is animation and cartoons. This point is further supported by the fact that the writer presents, the fact is that animated programs produced in Japanese only consist of 1 percent of the total animated programs being produced by Japan confirming that they are being produced to export. The animation producers do not portray Japanese culture in the cartoons and games because they think that this is better for these programs as they are for export. (Gomery & Hockley, 2006, p.142) By glocalizing, the Japanese are buying highly prominent program formats in the West and then localizing them according to the tastes of the Japanese. The author points that the format business is considered as a highly effective and