Villagers remain upbeat despite tight cutbacks Essay Example for Free

Villagers remain upbeat despite tight cutbacks Essay Orange County – There was absolutely nothing left to do, 39 year-old Mr. Berger, an office clerk, decided to sell his latest model of LED television he just purchased the other year to a well-off friend, the economic crisis steeply increasing his weekly budget deficit. â€Å"I believe its the high spending we do everyday amid threats from financial meltdown thats taking its toll on us lately,† Mr. Berger said. It is no small irony that while unemployment rate has blown only 9. 5% of the population today against the 10% in the first quarter this year, the figure could not justify how some of the residents continue to lose their jobs. What may add insult to injury is the sharp decrease in prices of U. S. Imports from 0. 5 last month to 1. 3 today, outweighing the July 2009 1. 3% decline (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Mr. Berger is just part of the growing fraction of the figure promising to outnumber those working in a cozy office. Poking his way through a small, rough tenement just a few blocks from his house, he was looking for a viable job that could stand the present economic turmoil. The number of jobless persons for over 27 weeks remained at 6. 8 million, which covers 45. % of the total unemployed citizens all over the country while those who are working part-time involuntarily either because they could not find full-time employment or their working hours were reduced compose another 8. 6 million (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Taking advantage â€Å"I speculate some self-centered politicians are now using the economic crisis as their political tack to keep hold on power. The idea is simply that no single grou p is better equipped to release the plagues from Pandoras box and choke the very things it spawned than the most desperate gang in town. This time making itself the champion of economic crisis,† lamented Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson, 40, was forced to move his family to Mississippi and currently lives here on yet another mortgaged property, something he might lose again should the cutbacks realign sharply upward. It has a leaky roof, a clear sign the family is going through tough times. â€Å"I have no choice but to relocate again,† he said. History repeats itself The economy of the United States of America holds the highest rank in the world, its GDP being estimated to rich a nominal value of $14. 2 trillion last year. The US labor market has been attracting immigrants abroad and holds the largest number of migration rates streaming in. It has nested the biggest stock exchanges, thereby becoming one of the worlds most influential financial markets. But these facts did not prevent the history of the 1930s, the Great Depression, from repeating itself, this time with an equally forceful blow to different sectors. Fearing to see another Great Depression whipping the country, when the fangs of recession appeared to be a serious threat, the government sought many answers to solve economic problems. It took on a course of allowing consumers to spend more by exerting heavily itself or cutting taxes. It fostered rapid growth in the money supply, which also encouraged more spending. It can be recalled that economic woes brought on by the costs of the Vietnam conflict, major price increases, particularly for energy, created a strong fear of inflation. As a result, government put more concentration on controlling inflation than on combating recession by limiting spending and tightening credit. Economic crisis quickly creeps through different places, wherever financial stability gives its way, affecting a not so small portion of the population. The recession in the last two years might have been the worst since the Great Depression but there are no labor forecasts that have to do with the same fate employment suffered during those times. â€Å"Its a pain that we had to cut on our weekly budget and sacrifice our luxuries to prioritize our foremost needs. And were not alone on this, almost everyone in the neighborhood is feeling the effects of the crisis striking them,† Mrs. Cowell said. Mother to four, Mrs. Cowell, 41, had to stop sending Makky, her eldest, to school to give way to the others still studying in high school, an alarming scenario which led to an entirely different behavior acted by his eldest. This is just one of the fall-outs experienced by the family. Economists say the economy might start to flourish by third quarter of the year. However, quick make up of the employment rate may take place later by end of year, the setbacks having been too rough of late. Brian Fabbri, chief North American economist for BNP Paribas, said the efforts of the Obama administration to flood the economy with $800 billion and the buying up of credits along with shoring up of banks by the Federal Reserve may put an end to this. I believe the government can â€Å"I suspect Obama and some allies in Congress can prove themselves to be the powerhouse of stability in one of Americas most trying times, thus, preventing the country from sinking into the utter pits of despair. I hope he will do, having the public behind him,† Mr.  Gardner, 42, said optimistically. â€Å"I would love to see nothing else but a government eager to pluck us out of the groveling depths of global financial meltdown,† he added. Mr. Gardner recalled how he has constantly been a victim of economic failure. He and his soft-spoken wife, Kelly, lived in Ireland for more than a decade only to witness the dwindling economy which forced everybody to go out and look for a greener pasture. â€Å"We felt like nothing awaits us in there, no other choice but to leave Ireland,† he exclaimed. If only the government would take radical reforms and slash in its superfluous spending, perhaps in less than a year the economy would begin to grow again steadily. But if this would remain unmitigated for the next months, it probably may not just end up in burying this country to the pits of despair, it may also lead to bitter strife between the government and the labor force ,† Mr. Gardner foretold. Still upbeat â€Å"With the rate of pace our government is taking on, I guess we can all do pitching in behind someone fired up by the passion of saving his country by restoring economic stability,† Mrs.  Dolloy sh owed optimism. Though affected by the uneasiness associated with realigning home budgets and luxuries, Mrs. Dolloy continues to hold to what she has been hoping as a savior snail that would come someday in the form of stable economy, massive opening of full time jobs, and fairly low commodity prices. Today President Obama boasts that his country shows signs of getting back to its feet in just one year time after a major setback in the last two years.

Censorship :: essays papers

Censorship Censorship is a variety of things from yelling "fire" in a crowded theater to showing sexual intercourse on television. These things aren't all either, there are millions of things we use or see every day that are censored for a reason. The reason can be many but the three most important reasons are for an adult or child^s well being, for the decency of our society and for privacy of each other. All of these things are censored because our lives are influenced by these reasons in one way or another. This will tell you that with out censorship we would live in a world so dirty and irresponsible so indecent and shameful that it could not exist. We pretty much ignore the growth in violence and sexual abuse in our movies and on television. Have they gone away? According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, by the time an average child leaves high school, he or she will have watched the happening of 18,000 murders on television. Prime time says the National Coalition on Television Violence, is filled with degrading sexual material and incidents ^where violence is strongly glamorized or used to excite.^ There have been 85 major studies of the effects of such violence on children. Eighty-four of the eighty- five concluded that it caused an increase in all manner of aggressive behavior, up to and including homicide. What happened to the one study that disagreed? Well, they were paid off by the National Broadcasting Company that just shows how guilty they are of producing violence from television. Another study shows that American children are having sexual intercourse at an average age of 16. If the te! levision was not censored as much as it is today these things would be much worse, our children would be sexual active at very young ages and crime rates would shoot upward. A civilization does not rise in the strength of it^s laws, however. It rises on the strength of its values. What values are we teaching by not having censorship in our society? No its not freedom of speech and its not freedom of the press. It is decency. What all civilized social orders, including our own, have consistently identified as decent, civilized behavior. The real threat to the republic is not what might happen to rights, but what is happening to a

Chinese Music Instruments Essay

In this research paper I will introduce four Chinese music instruments: Chinese drum, Guzheng, Qin and Chinese lute. Chinese drum is still very popular in china for the old generation, and they use drum as an exercise for body training. GuZheng is a Chinese traditional instrument; furthermore, I remember when I was in the secondary, one of my classmate played GuZheng very well. In every public holiday, she will show GuZheng; moreover, it’s really specially. The third one is Qin; we still can see this instrument display in some Chinese drama, but this instrument does not have lots of people know how to play it. Last one is Yu Pipe that is a very ancient Chinese instrument; in addition, I don’t think lots of people heard this before and I cannot find more information about it. So I choose Pipa to instant of Yu Pipe. Pipa is rarely instrument and never see it in western country; however, Pipa is not that rare almost all the classic music group will have the people who play Pipa in the group. History of Chinese Drum The drum occupies a prominent place in Chinese culture. Though the exact origin of the Chinese drum is still subject to debate, ancient literatures show that it is about as old as Chinese history itself. The earliest documentation of its application in ancient China occurs in Oracle Inscriptions (Jiaguwen â€Å"Jiaguwen is an ancient Chinese word, it usually write on animal’s shell†) of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BC), that is, inscriptions carved on tortoise shells and animal bones. As an old and wonderful form of art, the drum finds application in almost every aspect of Chinese social life, including sacrificial and worshiping ceremonies, farming, and warfare, and throughout the centuries it has been imbued with profound cultural implications. The history of the popularization of the Chinese drum is also the history of its continuous borrowing and assimilation of other artistic forms and expressions. During the process, Chinese drum performance arts have undergone a lot of regional as well as ethnic variations. As a result, today they produce different visual impacts and bring to the viewers different senses of beauty some are masculine, giving off a sense of invincible might; some are more delicate with nimble and graceful dancing steps; and there are still others that possess both qualities. This rich array of artistic expressions from the Chinese drum culture gives full expression to the vitality of the Chinese nation. History and Introduction of GuZheng The modern-day guzheng is a plucked, half-tube zither with movable bridges and 21 strings, although it can have anywhere from 15 to 25 strings (a customized version exists with more than 34 strings). the guzheng‘s strings were formerly made of twisted silk, though by the 20th century most players used metal strings (generally steel for the high strings and copper-wound steel for the bass strings). Since the mid-20th century most performers use steel strings flat wound with nylon. The guzheng has a large resonant cavity made from wu tong wood (paulownia tomentosa). Other components may be made from other woods, usually for structural and decorative purposes. For the introduction, the guzheng has existed since the warring states period and became especially popular during the qin dynasty. The ancient guzheng had 12 strings, which gradually evolved into it current forms. Until 1961, the common guzheng had 18 strings. In 1961 xu zhengao together with wang xunzhi introduced the first 21-string guzheng after two years of research and development. In 1961, they also invented the â€Å"s-shaped† left string rest, which was quickly adopted by all guzheng makers and is still used today, whether in the shape of the letter â€Å"s†, â€Å"c†, etc. the 21-string zheng is the most commonly used, but some traditional musicians still use the 16-string, especially along the southeastern coastal provinces of china and in taiwan. The guzheng is tuned to a pentatonic scale; the 16-string zheng is tuned to give three complete octaves, while the 21-string zheng has four complete octaves. Playing styles and performers there are many techniques used in the playing of the guzheng, including basic plucking actions (right or both hands) at the right portion and pressing actions at the left portion (by the left hand to produce pitch ornamentations and vibrato) as well as tremolo (right hand). These techniques of playing the guzheng can create sounds that can evoke the sense of a cascading waterfall, thunder and even the scenic countryside. Plucking is done mainly by the right hand with four plectra (picks) attached to the fingers. Advanced players may use picks attached to the fingers of both hands. Ancient picks were made of ivory and later also from tortoise shell. The guzheng‘s pentatonic scale is tuned to do, re, mi, so and la, but fa and ti can also be produced by pressing the strings to the left of the bridges. Well known pieces for the instrument include yu zhou chang wan (singing at night on fishing boat), gao shan liu shui (high mountains flowing water) and han gong qiu yue (han palace autumn moon). Two broad playing styles (schools) can be identified as northern and southern, although many traditional regional styles still exist. The northern styles are associated with henan and shandong while the southern style is with the chaozhou and hakka regions of eastern guangdong. both gao shan liu shui (high mountains flowing water) and han gong qiu yue (han palace autumn moon) are from the shandong school, while han ya xi shui (winter crows playing in the water) and chu shui lian (lotus blossoms emerging from the water) are major pieces of the chaozhou and Hakka repertories respectively. The GU Qin While the music of the Gu Qin represents Chinese culture at its most historical and refined, its sound can be challenging for Westerners to appreciate on first hearing. Many students are struck If you were to experience it live, you would also wonder how an audience could possibly hear such music, because it is extremely quiet. The qin is one of the most ancient instrument in the world to have remained in continuous use. Known also as guqin ( meaning â€Å"ancient zither†), it is a roughly 51-inch-long rectangular board zither made of paulonia wood painted black, and has seven stings, traditionally of twisted silk, running lengthwise from end to end, without frets or bridges. There is also a series of 11 inlaid mother-of pearl circles along one side marking the acoustical nodes or vibration points for each string. To the player’s left, the strings pass over the end and are tied underneath to two small peg-like feet attached to the instrument’s lower board. At the right end the strings run over a slight ridge that acts as a bridge, then pass through holes to the underside where each is tied to a small wooden peg. The instrument is tuned by twisting these pege to loosen or tighten the string’s tension. The player, seated on a chair with the instrument on a table or frame, plucks the strings with the fingers of the right hand and stop the strings with the fingers of the left hand. History of Pipa The pipa is a plucked Chinese string instrument. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body. It has been played for nearly two thousand years in China, and belongs to the plucked category of instruments. Prototypes of the pipa already existed in China in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC – 206 BC). At that time, there were two types of pipa. One was straight-necked, with a round sound box constructed from lacquered Paulownia wood, and two faces mounted with leather. The other was believed to be inspired by the primitive forms of zheng, konghou, and zou. It also has a straight neck, a round sound box, and also four strings, along with twelve standards of notes. This model was later developed into the instrument known today as the ruan. The modern pipa is closer to the instrument which originated in Persia/Middle-East (where it was called barbat) and was introduced into China beginning in the late Jin Dynasty (265-420 A.D. ). I am not very sure how this instrument works on every rhythm, but I know that song is good. No matter it plays alone or plays with other rhythm, you always can hear its special sound. There are still a lot of different music instrument in this huge world. Although, the instruments are from different place, it place same music and music don’t have different nation. Hopefully, we never lost any music instruments and pass it to the next generation. Music instruments also are culture, and they are important in our life. Work Cited Lency. â€Å"Chinese Drum’ First Stop: Shells and animal bones. † Chinaculture. org Offers 01 October 2004 http://www. chinaculture. org/gb/en_artqa/2006-02/06/content_79017. htm Han, Mei. â€Å"Guzheng. † In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London, 2001). Montreal, Quebec, Canada. â€Å"Pipa’ First Stop: With a wooden plectrum. †  ©2000-2009 Philmultic Management & Productions Inc. http://www. philmultic. com/pipa/ Zha, Fuxi (1958). Cunjian Guqin Qupu Jilan . Beijing: The People’s Music Press. ISBN 7-103-02379-4.

An Analysis of Romanticism of Atala - 1168 Words

Megan Hartley Professor Planer Arts amp; Ideas November 8, 2010 An Analysis of Romanticism of Atala The Romantic Era brings to the mind of an uneducated person of a time of idyllic pleasure, carefree and light. If asked to picture it some may say a damsel in distress rescued by her knight riding in on a white stallion. However, the Romantic Era was more of an era of rebellion as the world moved away from the â€Å"correctness† in literary art and religion. It was an era of artistic movement, in literature, music, and the visual arts, that emphasizes pleasure in the natural world, fascination with the legends of the past and supernatural beings, creativity, imagination, exploration of human emotions, human activities struggling†¦show more content†¦Chactas chooses to follow the Christian ways that Father Aubry has shown them. Atala, struggles with guilt and desolation because she is torn between God, to whom she had consecrated her life previously to fleeing by taking a vow to preserve her chastity, and the love that has gr own between her and Chactas as they have spent time at the mission. She knows that her rebellion, in helping him to escape was not how her family had raised her, yet she feels that was the right thing to do. In trying to think things through further, however, she is unsure what path she should take. Not trusting in her own flesh, Atala takes poison; thinking that the best option would be to end her life so she does not break her vows to God. During the time that Atala is sick, Father Aubry and Chactas find out the real reason behind her illness. Father Aubry counsels Atala that it is possible for one to renounce his or her vows and the Christianity allows for that through grace. However, Chactas is less forgiving and anger takes over his emotions. Chactas love allows him to help Father Aubry care for Atala as she is dying because the poison is too far into her system. After her burial, Chactas heeds Father Aubry’s counsel and departs from the mission. Throughout the entire love story of Atala and Chactas, we can see creativity that Chateaubriand displays. He weaves together the Indian legends of that timeframe; also touching on great stories from authors