The Filipino Christmas: A Reflection of One’s Tradition

Christmas is more than just a celebration; for most Filipino-Christians it is a way of welcoming the coming of their savior Jesus Christ. Being in a country were catholic is dominant, church plays a big role when it comes to Christmas, for the nine dawns before Christmas they have something called Simbang Gabi where they attend mass for the nine mornings leading up to Christmas. I think it is believed that if you attend all the masses, you can make a wish. Since it was really early in the morning and a bit chilly Filipinos normally look for something warm to eat and there are vendors selling food such as Puto Bumbong and Bibingka. Simbang Gabi is forever a part of the Filipino Christmas which is distinct from other countries who also celebrates Christmas.Another tradition is the reunion and for young Filipinos, it is the time when most grins are seen, parents are less likely to scold them, school works do not give too much pressure because there’s none, candies and chocolates fill their stomachs, and ninangs and ninongs fnally appear with their heart-warming gifts or aguinaldos, best dresses are worn and new shoes pamper their feet. For the old ones, this is the time when â€Å"thank you† becomes a common expression, sweat shirts and long sleeves which were kept in the deepest part of the closet are finally worn, and friends, both old and new, finally meet for the longest time.Living in a place who has different traditions during Christmas has showed me something very different even though we don’t celebrate it, I learned to be thankful for the family that I have around me during Christmas and I learned that receiving is not everything, it is always better to give.

How Does the Bfg Function?

The BFG is a book about a little girl from an orphanage named Sophie who is lying awake in bed one night and sees a giant walking the streets. She tries to hide once she has seen him but it is too late. He takes her out of her room and runs back to his cave. At first she is worried that he is going to eat her but he is not that type of giant. He is known as the Big Friendly Giant and eats disgusting vegetables that taste like rotting frogs. His main idea of fun is catching dreams and blowing the happy ones into children’s bedrooms at night.The other nine giants however are man eating giants and they go to different countries every night to eat people. They take them from their homes while they are sleeping and eat them. Sophie thinks these other giants need to be stopped but they are a lot bigger and meaner than the BFG. In the end she does come up with a plan to mix up a dream to tell the queen of England what is going on with these giants. Sophie and the BFG create a dream t hat tells the queen all about the bad giants and what they do at night and about her and the good giant.When the queen awakes Sophie is on her windowsill to confirm the dream and to help create a plan of action. After a very interesting breakfast during which the BFG is sitting on a piano piled with other things for his chair and a ping pong table on top of four grandfather clocks for his table then the queen invites the heads of the military in to create a plan. They decide to catch the giants while they are sleeping and carry them off with helicopters.In the end the bad giants are forced to stay in a huge pit and they are fed the disgusting vegetables that the BFG was forced to eat before. The BFG gets a nice huge house next to the castle and Sophie gets a little cottage next to him and the BFG writes a book about his experiences, which as we find out in the end is the BFG, the book we just read. Personal Notes: This is a really fun and quick book. Easy to read and grabs the reade r’s attention. I really liked the parts where Dahl makes up new words for things.I think it creates a sense of wonder in the children. I remember when I used to read his books and they included words that weren’t really words that this was fun. I never mistook them for real words or used them in school, that might make me look funny, but I loved the way he used them just the same. I think that is very applicable in a book about things that don’t really exist, man eating giants, it helps the reader appreciate that these things aren’t real and adds imagination to it.

Academic Study Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Academic Study Skills - Essay Example Most academic work involves building on work that has been done by others. The provision of new insights about the specific area of research contributes to the building on what others in the field have done. To build on someone’s work might involve having to use their ideas to come up with your line of argument to support your new idea. It is in this instant of using someone’s ideas to come up with your point of view that it is important to use references. The use of references ensures that people who have contributed work to a particular field get good credit for their work. Besides, one learns to foster intellectual honesty by giving others credit for their work hence avoiding the vice of plagiarism.What is plagiarism and how can you avoid it?Plagiarism refers to the practice of stealing another person’s ideas or writings and passing them off as your own (Clabaugh & Rozycki, 2001, p. vii). Plagiarism is a fraudulent practice as it involves stealing someone's wo rk and then lying about it. Based on the severe nature of plagiarism, it is necessary to avoid it at all costs.One of the ways to avoid plagiarism is to learn the art of crediting the sources one uses. Whenever one uses phrases, data and other information that they did not come up with themselves, then one should give his sources the credit. To get better at crediting sources, one should analyze their sources critically to know exactly which author did what (Clabaugh & Rozycki, 2001, p. 56).

SLP Time Warp 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SLP Time Warp 3 - Essay Example This paper thus attempts an implementation of the suggested theories, and in this way attempts at discovering the most effective strategy that can be used with the three products (Abbing & van Gessel, 2008). Pricing is largely regarded as a viable marketing strategy that the company can pursue. In this regard, the cost at which product X5 is sold needs an increment since the simulation results proved that the product was still in its growth phase and thus has a greater potential for growth before it attains maturity. On the contrary, the product X7, out of the simulation results, shows that it lies in the pre-growth phase. An increase in its product, though a risky course to take, seems to be the most logical path at the moment in a bid to determine the market reception, as well as acting as a means by which to test its market limits. The third product, the product X6, revealed to be in the maturity phase from the simulation results. Given its relatively impressive market run, it is a wise choice to further push its marginal profit through a slight price increment. The reason for stressing on slight is to avoid a scenario where it is too highly priced making the cost an issue that makes customers opt for competing brands (Beverland, Napoli & Farrelly, 2010). As a marketing procedure, this final strategy takes the combined strategy approach in achieving optimum product performance in terms of sales generation and profits accrued from these sales. In this regard, an implementation of the simulation results taking into account the initial R & D allocation increment (Bivainiene, 2010). Increasing the expenditure allocation of the R & D is done through an increase of that of the product X5, a product in its growth phase, as well as in the introductory phase of the product X7. The projected results out of these changes are as shown below: Year 2012 Product Price $ R&D Allocation % Profits X5 265 33 121, 288, 230 X6 420 34 264, 830, 873 X7 230 33 -22, 254, 435 Total 3 63,864,668 In the succeeding year, the pricing marketing strategy will prove the most logical strategy to be applied. In this strategy, the prices of products X5 and product X7 are reduced in relative margins. The price of the product X6, is however, left constant without any changes made to it. The rationale behind this direction is because the two products, X5 and X7 are relatively weakly established; the strategy to be applied needs to be focused upon two main issues, the increase in sales volumes, and the quick and efficient penetration of the market to establish its niche amongst the more established products in the same category as them (Slotegraaf & Pauwels, 2008). The strategies that call for an increase in the expenditure of the R & D are, however, left to continue. The expected profits changes on the application of the price changes and allocation of the R & D are as reflected below: Year 2013 Product Price $ R&D Allocation % Profits X5 240 35 79, 643, 368 X6 420 28 264, 8 30, 950 X7 180 36 0 Total 344, 474, 318 A thorough application of the strategy is reflective of the continued product success in terms of gaining market ground and penetration. The price reductions were necessary since it is the variable that can be modified as far as the marketing mix is

American Vision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American Vision - Essay Example Tom Cruise may be really interested in his acting that it may seem like he is just playing. But nevertheless, he is paid for it. The teacher on the other hand, may hate what he is doing. As such it may be considered as labor. However, for the purposes of this discussion, let us assume that he loves teaching as much as Tom Cruise loves his acting. Since we have stated that both actor and teaches is both working and loving what their doing, let us compare their earnings. The teacher earns $25,000 in a year. The movie actor could earn $15 million in three weeks. Obviously, being an actor is more lucrative. Hence the question now presented to us is whether or not this inequitable distribution of wealth is just. To answer this question, we must determine the factors that contribute to why each is paid that way. Firstly, we must look at the nature of their work. The work of the teacher has a more lasting and significant effect as it shapes the mind of the children. It is very important that they do their jobs well as the future of the kids and consequently of this nation, lies on their hands. On the other hand, the work of the actor only has an aesthetic and entertainment value. While "The Arts" is important, it is not as crucial as the work of an educator. The influence of the teacher on the lives of their students is direct, immediate and enduring. The teacher has the power to shape an individual, while the actor is not. We can see here that the disparity in their earnings does not depend on the effect of their jobs. Thus, we move on to looking at the skill required to perform their work. The teacher studied for years to be able to do what he is doing. The actor on the other hand, need not attend formal education. But this does not mean that he did not engage in activities to improve his acting skills. An actor may attend workshops or take on smaller roles for smaller pay. An actor may undergo painful cosmetic surgeries, take in cruel criticisms for his work and sacrifice their private lives. Though their efforts may be different, it would be unfair to suppose that, compared to the teacher, the actor worked less to get to where he is now. Thus, it would be safe to assume that they worked just as hard. However, an actor like Tom Cruise does not only depend on his acting skills. Most of his earnings are attributed to the fact that he is who he is. If a producer requires Tom Cruise to star in the movie, no one else can fill that spot. If an advertiser wants Tom Cruise to endorse their product, no one other than Tom Cruise can do the job. As such, the work of Tom Cruise requires a special skill, talent and personality. On the other hand, the job of the teacher is less unique. While it takes a lot of study to become one, as long as one is diligent enough to finish one's studies, get the proper licenses and qualifications, one may become a teacher too. As such, the teacher in our example may be replaced by another teacher with the same qualification. Joseph A. Schumpeter said that competition is a factor that may dictate prices. To apply it in the case presented, Tom Cruise has no competition in his field as there is no other Tom Cruise. This allows him to dictate the price of his service. He can demand as much as $15 million dollars for three weeks work in a movie. On the other hand, our teacher has lots of competition. Even if he is really good in his work, there is only so much that he can demand. Otherwise, he would be replaced by

Inequality and Politics in the United States Essay

Inequality and Politics in the United States - Essay Example The following discussion aims at addressing economic and political inequality and discusses the role of social movements in improving the lives of the poor in society. Some of the important economic challenges facing the United States and other developed economies are the increase in economic inequality. Over the last two decades, no other industrialized country in the world has a bigger gap between wage growth and productivity growth than the U.S. The U.S economic inequality is at historically high levels because there is a great disparity in the way wages and income are distributed. Americans today live in an unequal society characterized by higher gaps in wages, income and wealth. Most poor and middle class households are left out in matters of economic growth and they watch as the GDP, stock markets, productivity and corporate profits rise everyday while their incomes stagnate or grow at a very slow rate (Kenworthy and Smeeding 31). The stock market has risen to 60 percent; the GDP is up by 8 percent nationally while the median house hold income has fallen by 5 percent. From the year 1979 to 2007, the richest 1 percent of the population experienced tripling of incomes while those of the middle households rose only to about 25 percent. Currently, the richest 1 percent claims ownership to over 60 percent of the total wealth while 5 percent of the richest people claim over 60 percent of the total wealth in the United States. The gender and racial gap in wages, incomes and wealth has also widened throughout the period. While racial segregation has reduced in the last ten years, economic segregation has been on the rise. The great recession through 2010/2011 had its negative effects on the U.S. economy. Indeed it has permanently and negatively changed the level of well being as well as the distribution of resources in the whole country. With the nation’s economic growth abruptly halted during the 2008 recession, many workers turned

Business Psychology on Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Psychology on Leadership - Essay Example The trait approach to leadership focuses on the leader, not the followers.   This approach â€Å"emphasizes that having a leader with a certain set of traits is crucial to having effective leadership† (Adam & Eves, n.d).   In this approach, society sees qualities in individuals that they deem worthy characteristics in their leaders, and consequently they install them as their leaders.   The trait approach relies on qualities of a person ranging from the superficial to the intellectual and even to the spiritual.   Physical qualities in a leader could be in the person’s height, general appearance, and grooming.   Less superficial traits such as intelligence, honesty, integrity, and expertise are also qualities that people expect in their leader.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"In the trait approach, effective leadership is defined in terms of the traits of leaders thought to exemplify good leadership†   (Vasu, et.al., 1998, p.98).   This approach equates good leadership wi th desirable traits and qualities (such as those previously mentioned).      The trait approach to leadership focuses on the leader, not the followers.   This approach â€Å"emphasizes that having a leader with a certain set of traits is crucial to having effective leadership† (Adam & Eves, n.d).   In this approach, society sees qualities in individuals that they deem worthy characteristics in their leaders, and consequently they install them as their leaders.   The trait approach relies on qualities of a person ranging from the superficial to the intellectual and even to the spiritual.   Physical qualities in a leader could be in the person’s height, general appearance, and grooming.   Less superficial traits such as intelligence, honesty, integrity, and expertise are also qualities that people expect in their leader.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"In the trait approach, effective leadership is defined in terms of the traits of leaders thought to exemplify good leadershipâ €    (Vasu, et.al., 1998, p.98).   This approach equates good leadership with desirable traits and qualities (such as those previously mentioned).      Behavioural Approach The behavioral approach came about as a response and as an alternative to the trait approach to leadership.   The focus of this approach is the behavior of the leader, not his qualities or traits.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Effective leadership became transformed into what leaders do as opposed to what they are† (Great Visionaries, n.d.).   As a result of this approach, there was a greater emphasis on training leaders to be better in their craft.   In this approach, the leader’s behavior is easier to describe because they are observable actions, as opposed to traits that may be generally characterized and reduced to single word adjectives which are difficult to measure or quantify.   Transformational The transformational approach to leadership makes use of â€Å"’transactions’ as a means of motivating employees to achieve business results† (Gmelin, 2005).