James Brown in 1960s America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

James Brown in 1960s America - Essay Example It is in large part a testament to his adaptability and creative genius that Brown’s music evolved through the ‘60’s with such apparent ease. Building on his musical roots in African-American jazz and blues, Brown reached out to a broader and increasingly-eclectic audience as the decade unfolded. Whereas his music had at first been performed for and pitched to a predominately black market, by the mid-‘60’s his hits were to be found on the pop as well as R&B charts. Evidence of his broad appeal and ability to appropriate new elements into his music is clearly heralded in his 1965 hit single Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag: Come here mama, and dig this crazy scene; He’s not too fancy, but his line is pretty clean. He ain’t no drag. Papa’s got a brand new bag. Listed among â€Å"Papa’s† new tricks was a series of new dance moves that were sweeping the nation and scandalizing parents—among them, the jerk, the fly, the monkey, and the mashed potato. Since very little art is produced in isolation, it is impossible to evaluate Brown’s music and his influence on the American music scene without also looking closely at the tumultuous changes that were straining the cultural fabric of 1960’s America. Much has been written about this remarkable decade and of the social movements that characterized it. In the short span of those ten years, Americans made their first flights into space, took dramatic strides toward ending segregation, became mired in a costly and unpopular war in Vietnam, and assassinated four of their most visionary leaders.

DiscussionAnalyzing Cost of Capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DiscussionAnalyzing Cost of Capital - Essay Example In order to reduce this and attain an optimum capital structure the firm needs to determine the combinations of equity and debt that minimize the W.A.C.C. The effective use of that capital should also be considered, as there would be no need of accumulating large amounts of capital without necessary considerations of the projects that are supposed to be undertaken. The company should also consider the cost of raising the particular capital that it deems appropriate. This is measured by the marginal cost of capital. . To obtain finance a company will pay implicit costs which are commonly known as floatation costs (Rosemary, 2012). These include: Underwriting commission, Brokerage costs, cost of printing a prospectus, Commission costs, legal fees, audit costs, cost of printing share certificates, advertising costs etc. For debt there are legal fees, valuation costs (i.e. security, audit fees, Bankers commission etc.). The company needs to determine the combination of capital items that will minimize to a large extent the marginal cost of capital (M.C.C). The company also needs to consider leverage. This is the amount of debt used to finance a firm’s assets. A firm with significantly more debt than equity is considered to be more leveraged. A high degree of leverage increases the financial risk the company faces, as it may not be able to refinance such debt, leading to insolvency (Rosemary, 2012). An optimum capital structure needs has lower amounts of financial risk and sustainable levels of

Oracle Bone Essay Example for Free

Oracle Bone Essay Religion in Shang Dynasty Religious practice has always been an essential part of Chinese Culture. Even in the period of the Three Augusts and Five Kings, religious practices occurred. However, it is not until the Shang Dynasty when actually records of spiritual communication were founded. Oracle Bones were recorded of communication between human and spirits. The ritual of cracking oracle bones told what ancient Chinese concerned the most the relationship between spirits and nature. The intricate Oracle Bones not only reveal the religious aspect of the Shang Dynasty, but also relate the cultural and olitical system in ancient China. During the Shang Dynasty, Kings were granted the power to communicate with spirits. Mostly importantly, spirits informed kings about the unknowns. When Shang kings have questions regarding the future and their relationship with spirits, they assigned priests and shamans to become medium between human and spirits. When shamans were asked to foretell for the king, they drill hollows in shells and apply red- hot poker to these shells. They believed this ritual would attract spirits who were nearby to answer kings questions asked by shamans. Shamans main task was to nterpret spirits respond through the different cracks on shells. These kinds of predictions were said to be legitimate the kings were the ultimate representative of the spirit. Most of the time, kings requested to perform oracle bones divination to learn from spirits regarding the success of harvest, outcomes of battles, and schedule of sacrifices to spirits. For example, the King asked: Will Di order rain sufficient for harvest? (Eno 46). During earlier years of Shang Dynasty, the outcomes of harvests were more important to the people. Nevertheless, by the end of the Shang Dynasty, a large portion of divinations were performed to know the schedule and proper scarifications to spirits and ancestors. There were scarifications everyday for different ancestors and spirits according the results of divinations accumulated overtime. After oracle bone divinations were performed, kings would perform sacrifice to the assigned spirit at a specify time with appropriate goods. When an oracle divination indicated a negative answer from spirits, for instance defeat in battles, kings would then sacrifice to spirits hoping for spirits help to change the result. Shamans would slaughter animals and/or humans according to spirits preference. The result of appeasing spirits could lead spirits to provide extra helps for the people. On the other hand, if the king sacrifice the perfect quality and quantity of goods to a specify spirit but the king did not get his preference; kings could temporarily stop sacrificing to this spirit until the effect of previous scarifications were shown. Therefore, human scarification and spirits effectiveness created an economy between human and heaven. This economy applied more on the loyal level than the family level. During Shang Dynasty, family could only sacrifice to their own linage of ancestry. It was a crime to sacrifice to other linage of ancestries because only the king had this power. Family often sacrificed to hope ancestors would bless the family to have male children which can extend the family-tree. Thus, only the royal family had the Shang king can communicate and sacrifice to all linage of ancestries, which include Shen (natural deities), royal ancestors, and cultural heros. People in Shang Dynasty worship the greatest spirit Di (Tian). Yet Di do not receive any sacrifice ompare to other spirits. Tian, which is said to be equivalent to Di, was so powerful that other spirits could never match their power with D. Di was a significant factor of Shang peoples religious believe that was indicated in the oracle bones but Tian was not indicted in any evidences at all. On the other hand, Shang people viewed Shen as the power of nature, including power of earth, river, mountains, rain, thunder, and the power of directions, etc. in the early stage of Shang Dynasty, oracle bones divinations were directly performed to communicate with Shen to foretell harvest esults. Shen, unlike Di, did take sacrifice in order approve kings requests. For example, king asked, Shall we call upon Que to sacrifice a hound by fire to Cloud? (Eno 48). Thus, Shen was the second highly respected power after D. Shang kings also sacrifice to spirits of their royal ancestors, including parents, grandparents, forebears of ruling king, relatives. These spirits were located inside the royal familys palace, and their tablets were put together with other ancestors of the same family. Kings worshiped his linage of ancestors to hope they would bring fortune to the royal amily and the countries. When the current king died, he became part of his linage. Oracle bones divinations were use to communicate with royal ancestor spirits: Should we protect the kings eyes against Grandmother Ji? (Eno 49). Current kings Other families only sacrifice to their own linage as well. This ancestor worship ritual was established during the Shang Dynasty and is still performing in modern Chinese culture. Finally, kings also sacrificed to ancient cultural heroes, yet they were the less prominent group of spirits. Thus, religion practices in Shang Dynasty were an essential part of Chinese ultural before and in todays society. The use of oracle bones to predict future allowed reader to date the first actual evidence of Chinese religion. The written records left by Shang Dynasty created a clear picture of the cultural and politic aspects of ancient China as well. The relationship between human and spirits remains to be a significant part of Chinese peoples religious belief. I grew up practicing ancestor worship. Work Cited Eno, Robert. Deities and Ancestors in Early Oracle Inscriptions. Religions Of China In Practice. Donald S. Lopez Jr. New Jersey: Princeton University press. 41-51

Napoleon Essay -- essays research papers

Guidance to Freedom or Just Another Tyrant?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When most people think of Napoleon Bonaparte they think of either a tyrant emperor or a brilliant war strategist. Maybe both are right but in whatever conclusion any person comes to, they will know he was a small man who accomplished many great things. Napoleon conquered countries and developed a mass empire, which led to his celebrity like fame. He was a man that respected cultures and every religion and even cried when his men died on the battlefield. Bonaparte was an amazing person who drove himself with great ambition to become one of the greatest leaders ever in history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In life every great leader has had their own story to tell. Napoleon was born a Corsican, at Ajaccio, in 1769. He had seven brothers and sisters and he was also a descendent from the Florentine nobility. He moved to France and started school at the age of nine. At school he was picked on because of his Italian accent and because of his influent French. When he turned sixteen he joined the French artillery and became a lieutenant in a short period of time. Napoleon spent the next seven years reading the works of philosophers and educating himself in military matters, by studying the campaigns of great military leaders of the past. He then became a general and then in 1795 was appointed to stop an uprising in Paris and seceded in doing so. After stopping the uprising he was then given the position of commander in chief of the interior French army in Italy. In 1799 he was elected as the First Consul of France because the people were sick of the directory. He rose up in power in the military and also politically. He then formed his own empire and won many battles with his brilliance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bonaparte was an intelligent man with an extrodinary memory, while staying very open minded toward other people’s beliefs. As Vox states â€Å"When he had an hour for diversion, he not infrequently employed it in looking over a book of logarithms [†¦]. So retentive was his memory of numbers, that sums over which he had once glanced his eye were in his mind ever after (69).† If I lived in his empire I would at least respect Napoleon for his brilliance, his ability to memorize information, and his will to learn more. Although, Napoleon still had his flaws. He was still only human ... ...gh his extremely successful Italian campaigns, his revolutionary changes in the French government and battles against the Third Coalition Napoleon gave France total domination over Western Europe. France then became a great nation because of Napoleon’s brilliance and achievements as a leader. Works Citied Blair, Victor. Napoleon, The Man, Encapsulated. 10 Dec. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Britt, Alber Sidney. The Wars of Napoleon. New Jersey: Avery Publishing Group Inc.,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1985 Holtman, Robert. Napoleonic Propaganda. New York: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1969 Holtman, Robert. The Napoleonic Revolution. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1967 Markham, Felix. Napoleon and the Awakening of Europe. London: The English   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Universities Press Ltd., 1954 Miller, Tom. Before Brumaire: Napoleon’s Development as a Ruler. 10 Dec. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Naylor, John. Waterloo. London: Pan Books Ltd., 1960 Vance, Thomas. The Lost Voices of Napoleonic Historians. 10 Dec. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Vox, Maximilien. Napoleon. New York: Grove Press Inc., 1960

Education: Banking or Problem Posing? Essay -- essays research papers

Education: Banking or Problem Posing? Richard Rodriguez and Paolo Freire write of education as the core factor in one’s life. They feel that education itself lends people to either â€Å"achieve† greatness or fall into the majority of â€Å"bankers.† â€Å"The Achievement of Desire† by Rodriguez and â€Å"The Banking Concept of Education† by Freire greatly resemble each other; however, they also differ on some points. Despite their differences, both texts come to the same conclusion – education makes a person who he/she can become. Rodriguez and Freire both state that education is vital for success. Rodriguez writes that he is the way he is because of his education. Rodriguez came from a working class Mexican family. When he was introduced to education, he became ashamed of this and chose to change his path from falling into the same social status. Rodriguez is known as he is today because of his ability to step back; out of the present situation or environment and reflect on it almost immediately. Rodriguez agrees that banking does nothing to better education or society itself. If no new ideas are ever surfaced, then progress will never occur. He was the same as everyone else until he started to analyze texts and paraphrase more than just summarize. This made him the â€Å"scholarship boy† that he was. By learning to use his education wisely and make connections between different texts, he heightened his intelligence. A key element that Rodriguez and Freire both speak of is banking education. Fre...

Sabah Issue

The armed intrusion into Sabah by Sulu terrorists is a blow to the progress of the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), says BIMP-EAGA Malaysia Business Council chairman Datuk Roselan Johar Mohamed. Expressing profound dismay over the incident, he called on BIMP-EAGA member countries to go back to the original status quo, focusing more on accelerating economic development in the four countries in a safe and conducive manner.Quoting the age-old saying â€Å"we cannot negotiate if you are pointing a gun at me†, Roselan said that it was true in the context of the sub-regional grouping, which was launched in 1994. â€Å"We must all retract and go back to the drawing board, rethink and revisit our strategy and go back to the negotiating table,† he told Bernama.Roselan was commenting on the recent statement by Former Philippines’ President Fidel Ramos with regard to the standoff in Lahad Datu in the east coast of Sabah , that the BIMP-EAGA should be revived by the countries concerned as the grouping was the key to improve the people’s conditions in south Philippines, Borneo Island and adjacent areas. â€Å"The BIMP-EAGA is the win-win strategy if we are looking from the perspective of a better, more prosperous, more peaceful, more harmonious and more sustainable future for all peoples,† Ramos was quoted as saying.Ramos said the potentials of the BIMP-EAGA were so great that even foreign local governments such as Australia’s Northern Territory and Western Australia states had joined the grouping as associates. Ramos said that during his administration, he tried to set up a corporation that would develop the BIMP-EAGA sub-region. The company is to be jointly run by Malaysia, the Sulu Sultanate’s heirs and private sector partners.The company’s revenue can substitute the annual RM5,300 as the rent to the sultanate’s heirs, Ramos said. In this respect, Roselan acknowledged Ramos’ role in the establisment of BIMP-EAGA, saying that the Former Philippines’ President was both vocal and wise when he initiated the BIMP-EAGA concept together with Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Joy of My Life

Joy of My Life Shirley Evans English 121 Professor Jen Miller January 20, 2013 Joy of My Life I never considered myself blessed in anything, or knew the purpose of my life, until the birth of my grandson. Robert is my first grandchild and greatest blessing God has given me, and the center of my universe for which I give thanks every day. His life started with difficulties, but his unquenchable elan has brought joy to those who meet him. Robert entered my life on Monday, February 23, 2009 at 2:28 in the afternoon; weighing 2lbs. 4 ounces and measuring 16 inches long. He arrived two months premature, and reminded me of a baby doll with wrinkled skin covering his tiny arms and legs. Set below perfectly arched blonde eyebrows were eyes so dark as to appear black, and opened wide to make them look enormous. A conical shaped head covered with platinum blonde hair made his sunken cheeks stand out; giving him the appearance of an alien. I fell in love the instant I saw him and my love grows immeasurably with every passing day. Robert developed at a rapid pace despite being born prematurely.During a stay with us one weekend, I laid him on his back atop a blanket spread on the floor for him to roll on. He rolled onto his stomach raising his head up; arms swinging out at his sides with legs kicking trying to crawl. He reminded me of a turtle poking out of its shell, slowly inching his way off the blanket. To this day my daughter still calls him turtle after witnessing his attempt to crawl. Once he learns to walk, there is no holding him back; he joyfully goes through life with smiles on his face and laughter in his voice.Robert is growing to be a precocious child who quickly turns independent. He stands proud with arms akimbo as he proclaims he can dress himself, and I settle back into my chair to watch him put his arms in the sleeves of his shirt, and tuck his shirt tails into his jeans. I am shocked to realize how quickly he is growing as he struggles with fastening his jeans, but is quite adamant in doing it himself; he asks for help with his belt only after trying to buckle it on his own. One of the things I enjoyed teaching Robert was bedtime prayers.I have shown him how to interlace his fingers and clasp his hands together. Closing our eyes as we bowed our heads together, I recited his prayers as he repeated after me. He no longer allows me to say prayers with him, and he does not know all of the words yet, but ends his prayer blessing everyone he loves in the sweetest tiniest voice. He looks up at me with a smile on his angelic face and says â€Å"now it is your turn grandma. † Pictures of Robert depict how cute he is, but in person he leaves you with a more accurate portrait of how adorable he actually is.Robert brings smiles and happiness to everyone he meets with his robust attitude. Sporting a child sized black Stetson cowboy hat perched atop his blonde head, down to feet encased with green and yellow John Deere boots, he exudes im pish joy. He will nonchalantly say he is not my little man, but everyone’s little man. I do not argue with his statement as it is true. Robert loves everyone in his life and they love him. People say the greatest joy of being a grandparent is spoiling the child then sending them home.I am no exception to this rule, although I never want to send him home. Time speeds by like a blink of an eye when I have him, and it feels like he just arrived when it is time for him to leave. It fills my heart close to bursting when he sees me and comes running with his arms stretched wide to throw his petite frame into my arms to hug my neck screaming â€Å"grandma! † The joy he brings to my life is truly a blessing from God above, and one I treasure more than life itself. I contemplate if having my son, who helped create my joy called Robert, has been the purpose for my life.