...is one of the Chinese New Year customs to clean the house from top to bottom to get rid off all the bad luck gathered in the previous year. And after the New Year comes, you cannot sweep during the first days otherwise all the new luck will sweep away! So one of your Chinese New Year activities will be to... clean your room! Wouldn't want all that accumulated bad luck for another year would you??!! Cleaning house also means settling all your unfinished business to start fresh for the new year: Pay off all your debts, resolve all quarrels with friends, catch up with homework!!! Make some Banners and Decorations Red banners with New Year messages of good luck decorate the main entrance of your house/room. Red is a very lucky color and symbolizes vitality of life and happiness. You can make your own Chinese New Year decorations with bright red paper and markers or a brush if you prefer. Here are some instructions to make your own New Year Banners including the "Lucky Characters" stroke by stroke. | | Preparing the Chinese New Year Banquet On New Year's Day, the families come together to celebrate and everything must be ready for this important fest. Food must be prepared ahead of time, as one of the popular Chinese New Year superstitions dictates that all knives must be put away. Using a knife during the first days of the New Year "cuts off" all the good luck for the coming year. The New Year's feast takes many days to prepare. These are some...
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...Primarily, while America does still provide access to the American Dream, the administering of it to the citizen population is hardly equal and ubiquitous as promised; rather, there is a set of factors that not only provides more opportunities for one to achieve the American Dream, but ultimately decides the outcome of one’s attempts to achieve the American Dream. These factors are wealth, family connections, and luck. The importance of money to not just the American Dream, but to the American population in general, is shown in the poem “Money”, by Dana Gioia. Gioia writes, “Money, the long green, cash, stash, rhino, jack or just plain dough…It greases the palm, feathers a nest, holds heads above water, and makes both ends meet” (Gioia 69). If there exists so many different names for money, it must be important, or at least perceived to be, in today’s society. The latter part of the quote deals with all the things money can do despite it being an inanimate object. Money is required for almost everything in America, thus creating opportunities for those who have it. In America, money is the ultimate...
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...Luck or Opportunity "Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity” is a quote from Oprah Winfrey, a famous American talk show host. The speaker is trying to tell people that good preparation for opportunity is the key to be successful, not luck. Luck is really being ready for something, perhaps unconsciously, so that you recognize it when you see it. When whatever it is comes along, it will seem to be a stroke of luck, but in reality it is not luck at all. It is something you have strived and worked towards, maybe without even knowing it, so that when it presents itself it seems second nature. I agree with Winfrey because I believe that preparation is more important. My agreement is based on the following reasons. The first reason is that opportunity is very transient and rare, so we must grab it whenever we meet it. In my opinion, grabbing opportunity means to get ready and be well-prepared. Take Oprah Winfrey for example. Before she became a well-known national TV host, she worked in a local station for many years and had gone to uncountable interviews. Without her experiences, she could not have gotten the interview for national TV host and become successful. Second, preparation is always advantageous and never harmful to us. Preparation requires motivation, activity and carefulness. Those who most frequently experience outcomes viewed by society as unlucky live lives which exhibit little evidence of motivation, activity and care. When preparing for something...
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...chances were there when your parents’ genetic material mixed to create you? I, for instance, could’ve been blond, tall and smart. Or short and dumb. Or anything. But, somehow, I turned out to be me, out of what appear to be infinite chances of who I could’ve been. And this process follows no logic or intervention from our part: is the work of randomness. The second moment, chronologically, involves our environment. Where we’re born, who our parents are, and the rest of conditions that welcome us to this world are the sort of aspects I include in this side of this pyramidal die. The third and final moment is composed of the things that are choices in our lives. This is also a consequence of luck because the construction of ourselves is the outcome of the decisions we make, which have a luck component. That...
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...The Underestimated Importance of Luck in Crime Solving Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective. It is the most popular form of hardboiled crime fiction and mystery fiction. In the story, the detective uses reasoning to piece together various clues left behind by the perpetrator to form a coherent story of how the murder took place. It is even written down as rules that “the culprit must be determined by logical deductions” and “the means of detecting it (the murder), must be rational and scientific” (Van Dine, 1928). Through the years, three major forms of reasoning have been frequently used to solve the cases- deductive, inductive and abductive. Although these three methods vary in terms of uncertainty involved, a common intuition that can be inferred about gaining knowledge from the rules is that knowledge is true belief that has been acquired in a non-accidental or non-lucky fashion. However, I will be drawing on specifically three types of luck- evidential epistemic luck, content epistemic luck and pure luck, and how luck is often underestimated as a contributing factor towards solving crimes along with reasoning. The first type of luck I will be discussing is evidential epistemic luck, where the detective is lucky to be able to possess certain knowledge in the first place (Pritchard, 2005). The animated series “Detective Conan” follows the adventures of Kudo Shinichi, a teenage...
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...Salomon Brothers (SB), the largest bond dealer in the 1980s. It outlines the business model that SB used to maximize capital in the mortgage bond market. By the mid- 1980’s SB had become the most influential bond dealer in the market. However, there prominence as the top performing bond dealer was short lived and subsequent events led Michael Milken to take over their position as early as 1987. Even though Sb had success and made millions of dollars, Liar’s Poker showed that businesses can’t continue to prosper with a flawed business model. Even though SB’s success was short lived the theme of taking advantage of every opportunity is ongoing throughout the entire book. The driving force that led SB to their success in the early 1980s was pure luck. The mortgage bonds division of SB was set up by Lewie Ranieri, a man who was fascinated with trading anything. However, at the time mortgage bonds were not valuable because people were able to simply borrow from the banks at a steady rate and there was no need for these types of bonds. Thus, the mortgage bond division was unsuccessful when it was first incorporated into SB. It was so unsuccessful that employees became weary of why John Gutfriend continued to finance it. In 1979, when the Feds enacted a law making the interest rate of the markets float, the perception of the mortgage bond market vastly changed. SB began...
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...Part III - The Final Report Later Monday Afternoon Detective Garrison returned to the police headquarters and, after reading the medicals examiners complete report, began the process of writing his own explanation of what happened to the Underhill couple. As he wrote, he thought about all that had happened and began to wonder about the physiology associated with the couple’s death. The level of alcohol found by the medical examiner was high but was not necessarily sufficient to cause their death, but was it a contributing factor? Sam knew that Lasix was used to treat high blood pressure and that both alcohol and heat will reduce blood pressure, but he was unsure about the mechanism. He decided to go to The University of Houston and talk to Rene Volenbach, a physiologist in the biology department. Renee patiently explained her answer to each of the following questions posed by the detective. Questions: 1. How does the body regulate blood pressure? * The body has certain mechanisms that help it keep a stable blood pressure or change it when needed. It contains sensors that monitor blood pressure within the walls of arteries that send input signals to the cardiovascular center which sends output signals to the heart and blood vessels to adjust accordingly. 2. What were the specific effects of the Lasix, hot water, and alcohol on the couple’s blood pressure? * Alcohol and Lasix medication should not be mixed due to the effects of sudden drop in blood pressure...
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...My dad started working at the age of 13, moving lawns and delivering newspapers. When he turned 16, he worked as a car mechanic, which eventually led him to opening his own automotive repair shop. I believe that getting a job as a teenager, builds an important foundation that is beneficial in life. I was just finishing my junior year in high school when I turned sixteen and the first thing I did was to get my driver’s license. Over the summer, I decided to look for a job, however I was unsuccessful. I applied at several places, but never got a response. When senior year came, I still hadn’t found a legitimate job. Sure I had some money from mowing lawns and trimming trees, but I had no real employment practice. Marching Band season had begun,...
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...Outline I. INTRODUCTION A. Graham Greene’s The Destructors and D. H. Lawrence The Rocking-Horse Winner B. Even though Green’s The Destructors and Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner address the same issue, Greene’s story treats the issue of a torrid life differently. II. MAIN BODY A. Setting 1. Graham Greene’s "The Destructors" a. London during post war era b. Area is left with a sense of constant gloominess 2. D. H. Lawrence "The Rocking-Horse Winner" a. London during post war era b. Home seems to be covered with a dark cloud B. Theme 1. Trevor’s family a. Family lives beyond their means. The father was demoted and the mother feels she is better than the neighbors. b. Trevor doesn't want anyone to have more than he does. 2. Paul’s Mother a. Family living well beyond their means. Pleasant house, servants and a nice garden. b. Paul's mother wants money and nothing more. It becomes so intense that all the children can hear is the house whispering. III. CONCLUSION A. Parents sometimes unknowingly place undue burdens on their children. B. Circumstances may be similar however the manner in which they are dealt with can vary greatly. Torrid Lives It’s difficult to know how a child will handle their family’s issues. Graham Greene’s “The Destructor’’ and D. H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner” both take the reader briefly into the lives of two children dealing with their family issues. Greene tells of a child...
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...theFrumiGroup Great by Choice Notes by Frumi Rachel Barr, MBA, PhD. Authors: Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen Publisher: Harper Business Copyright year: 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-212099-1 Authors’ Bios: Jim Collins studies and teaches how great companies endure, specifically – how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies. Having invested nearly a quarter of a century of research into the topic, Jim has authored and co-authored six books that have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. The books include: the classic Built to Last, a fixture on the Business Week bestseller list for more than six years; the international bestseller Good to Great, translated into 35 languages; and How the Mighty Fall, a New York Times bestseller that examines how some great companies destroyed themselves. Morton T. Hansen is a management professor at the University of California, Berkeley (School of Information), and at INSEAD. Formerly a professor at Harvard Business School, Morten holds a PhD. from Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was a Fulbright scholar. He is the author of Collaboration and the winner of the Administrative Science Quarterly Award for exceptional contributions to the field of organization studies. Previously a manager with the Boston Consulting Group, Morten consults and gives talks for companies worldwide. Authors’ Big Thought: Ten years after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with...
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...tell you that they saw an angel or angels that day. Some of kids said this beautiful lady told them to sit near the window. This sighting could have just been due to the stress of the whole standoff or the imagination of kids. The windows being open and that tape being use, could have just made it so some incredible luck happen. Which I believe, was people not being very near the bomb when it went off and the windows being open so the blast didn't cover the children which made it so they survive. The open windows also made it so people could get the children out of there sooner after the bomb blast. But here is what I would called miraculous, the bomb had five blasting caps to it. Only one of them went off. “It has worked properly, the bomb would have blown off the side of the building and many more would have been injured or killed.” A fact that I got off a website about the event. The event has ended up with the name Cokeville Miracle. At least that is what a book is called that was written about it. Being very lucky and what is miraculous depends on a people's view of things. So Whether you think these events I have mention are ether incredible stroke of luck or miraculous is up to you. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cokeville_Elementary_School_hostage_crisis)...
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...In Grand Opening by Jon Hassler, Catherine is a willing, welcoming, and friendly women who does what she believes is good. Catherine tends to be generous to others but will not be used. Catherine does what she believes is the right thing to do and also righteous, but the outcomes are good and bad. First of all, Catherine is a woman willing to do things everyday people are not interested in or even think twice about doing, like having Wallace work for them (though this will bite back later in the story). Catherine, on the other hand, does what she believes is righteous so she is willing to take Wallace in even though Hank is against it. “She told Hank at supper that it was a stroke of luck that, Wallace volunteering to work...
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...POSITIVE ATTITUDE A Positive attitude is very important in the society today as it will really help a lot of people. Many people will be attracted towards a person with a positive attitude. A positive attitude clears the mind. The effect of a positive attitude can lead to a healthier lifestyle. It could also help to solve problems, if society adopted it. There are a large number of benefits by having a positive attitude. By looking at the bright side of life, life becomes filled with light. This light affects not only the individual, but also the whole environment and the people around. There are many benefits to having a positive attitude. Individuals who have a positive attitude will often times attract other people to them. Most of the time people would prefer to spend time with individuals who have a positive attitude. By doing so, an individual can often have a positive influence on the people around them. By improving the individuals disposition, it will have a ripple effect that positively influences everyone in the area. By always being positive around people, a person can always help people. A Positive attitude will enable people to have a unique view of the world and have positive thinking. In the mind of a positive person, everything is possible to achieve, and failure is an option because it allows them to grow. If they face a problem or they make a mistake they often learn something, and recover from it and find a solution to solve it. By learning from mistakes...
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...Le-Tone Wei Why did Stalin emerge as leader of USSR in 1929? In 1924 the USSR’s leader Vladimir Lenin died after continuous strokes. His death triggered the leadership struggle, and Russia urgently needed a successor to continue in guiding the country and proposing policies to run the country. Candidates such as Trotsky and Bukharin were highly regarded and party members believed they were to take over Lenin’s position; Joseph Stalin on the other hand, was perceived as a mediocre and uninteresting party member, he was not thought as a suitable candidate to replace Lenin’s former status. Yet Stalin succeeded in taking power and control over the Soviet party and emerged as the leader of USSR in 1929. This led historians questioning: how and why did he emerge as the leader so unexpectedly? Many people believe that it was his personal skills that gave other factors an advantage. I believe his personal skills is the secondary factor that assisted his emergence; from my perspective, the reason why he became leader is primarily due to luck. Without luck there would less likely be a power struggle, Lenin could have appointed his successor and Stalin would never have become the leader of USSR. However the main cause of his success is still considered to be an exceedingly disputable topic, and I will be examining the different factors behind this topic while suggesting my personal opinions and beliefs. As mentioned before, many people believe that Stalin became the leader of USSR...
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...The Tennis Serve By: Brayden Bennell Harloff 7/8 5/18/2015 What do you need to do to make sure you have a successful tennis serve? Sure practice will help, but truly the secret lies in different muscles in your arms, abs, and most importantly legs. Legs? Why Legs? In this presentation I will show you why and how you can maximize your ability in your serve. To begin with a successful serve, look for a racquet that has a grip that fits the size of your hand, this will maximize grip as well as momentum through the swing of your stroke. The serve is a full body motion, not just an upper body move, if one thing is off the whole serve will be different than expected. I suggest the Babolat Aero Drive tennis racquet for powerful serves, as being one of the heavier performance racquets on the market it will provide more power and control to your shots. You will be amazed with what 10.9 ounces can do for your game. To start I would lift small weights of 5-10 pounds daily in the swing of the serve, this will help strengthen all the muscles you actually use when you serve the ball. Believe it or not, the main muscles in your arm don’t take a part in what makes a powerful serve, it’s the muscles that are hidden and are significantly smaller than the bicep, and tricep. But enough about that, now that you know some tips lets move on to the knowledge and mental aspect of the serve. Your mental game in tennis is more important than anything else, if you don’t believe and get down on yourself...
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