...Billy Joel decided he wanted to learn to play the violin for his next set of concerts. He called a violin salesman in New York and asked if he had any for sale. The salesman stated he had a Stradivarius and a Guarnerius (two famous brands of violins) and offered to sell them to Billy for $80,000 and $24,000, respectively. Billy agreed, over the phone, to purchase the violins from the salesman and told him he would be in town the next week to pick them up. Billy didn't show up for two months, and when he entered the store, the salesman wasn't there. His wife, Margaret, was there in the store, however, and she had full knowledge of the deal cut between her husband and Billy. (She'd heard her husband whining, complaining, and wailing about Billy not showing up for the last 2 months – and she was really sick of hearing about it.) Billy asked to see the violins, and Margaret showed him both of them. Billy stated he would agree to pay $65,000 for both of them, and Margaret, knowing that they were counterfeits and only worth $2,000 AND realizing that their house was about to go into foreclosure, agreed to the reduction in price and sold Billy the two violins for $65,000. She gave him a bill of sale that she wrote out on a note pad on the counter, which said, "Paid in full. Strativarus and Granruius violans. $65,000. Chk # 4301 Billy Joel. Salesperson: Margaret Madoff." The notepad was one she had brought home from their last vacation to Las Vegas and was from The Flamingo hotel there...
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...Joel Osteen is a televangelist, author, and preacher. His net worth is $40 million. How he earned it Preaching Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church, Houston, Texas. Their church broadcast has grown and can now be seen in more than 100 countries. He had a church salary of $200,000. He stopped taking a salary from his church when his first book became a best-seller. The church has a budget of $70 million annually. In 2006, he was listed among the 10 most fascinating people by Barbara Walters. He was also recognized as the most inspiring Christian in the US. Joel Osteen’s TV ministry has over 7 million views every week. Note that he never asks for money on his broadcasts. Around 43,500 people attend the 5 services each Sunday. The collections at services net an estimated $43 million every year. Over 1 million people listen to Joel’s sermons through downloading the ministry’s video and audio podcasts. The podcasts are absolutely free....
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...Jean Louise “Scout” Finch - The narrator and protagonist of the story. Scout lives with her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their black cook, Calpurnia, in Maycomb. She is intelligent and, by the standards of her time and place, a tomboy. Scout has a combative streak and a basic faith in the goodness of the people in her community. As the novel progresses, this faith is tested by the hatred and prejudice that emerge during Tom Robinson’s trial. Scout eventually develops a more grown-up perspective that enables her to appreciate human goodness without ignoring human evil. Atticus Finch - Scout and Jem’s father, a lawyer in Maycomb descended from an old local family. A widower with a dry sense of humor, Atticus has instilled in his children his strong sense of morality and justice. He is one of the few residents of Maycomb committed to racial equality. When he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man charged with raping a white woman, he exposes himself and his family to the anger of the white community. With his strongly held convictions, wisdom, and empathy, Atticus functions as the novel’s moral backbone. Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch - Scout’s brother and constant playmate at the beginning of the story. Jem is something of a typical American boy, refusing to back down from dares and fantasizing about playing football. Four years older than Scout, he gradually separates himself from her games, but he remains her close companion and protector throughout the novel. Jem...
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...Joel Robuchon When you think about or read about the past 40 years of French culinary history there’s a few names that flood the search pages with information such as Ducasse, Haeberlin and Robuchon. One thing that stands out when these three names are looked at is that they have all earned through hard work and very long hours three Michelin stars and deservingly so. With there yearning to offer the best and most delicate dishes these chefs strive to conquer the culinary word. I will be focusing on Paul Robuchon and all that he has achived for almost 50 years. What if Chef Robuchon would never had pursued the culinary field? His original plan had not been of the long hours of a culinary professional but was to study at a seminary. He started to help the nuns out in the kitchen where he found his true calling. It was 1960 when he was only 15; he decided that from the seminary he would go to work as an apprentice at hotel-restaurant Relais de Poitiers. That’s where it all started. “He stayed at the Relais de Poitiers for three years and then became a Compagnon du Tour de France. This was essentially an apprenticeship which moved him around France. Working with different chefs enabled him to learn a vast variety of techniques and gain experience with regional ingredients. If an apprenticeship program like that were in existence in America today, a young chef could sharpen his skills with the likes of Eric Ripert , Jose Andres, Grant Achatz and Alice Waters. What a way to learn...
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...gone through he’s fallen in love. There were many of them in his life and he wanted to always remember them. Every thirty years he has to get a new identity, although his first name was always the same. Joel. He was a man who, if was a normal human, would look at though he were in his 40’s, short black hair, stubble on his cheeks and chin, and a laugh that every love he had ever had, enjoyed. Every time he got married, they had a portrait taken. As time progressed he had photos. He kept every single one of them. He remembered his first love. She was a young woman with blonde hair and a stable lifestyle. The year was 1839 and her name was Kara. She had lovely eyes and a soft voice that Joel loved to listen to when they were alone at night. Her voice as well as her fingers running through his hair would always help him get to sleep....
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...Playing Music for Mind & Body (LAE1) When the notion of playing music in a band is brought up, often times it conjures up images of the lewd and crude rock star lifestyle. At least, this is what we’ve come to expect to see from the media. But what most people don’t realize is that playing music can have a significant positive impact on an individual’s health, mental well-being and even IQ. A study from the New York Academy of Sciences takes aim at finding a link between musical training and increased intelligence. The study revealed an increase in grey matter in the brains’ of musicians as opposed to their non-musician counterparts. Researchers feel that this notable increase is in part due to the repetition that takes place during rehearsals which improves cognition and memory. So does learning to play music make a person smarter? Glenn Schellenberg, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, gives a resounding yes. His research into music and its cognitive abilities indicate short-term as well as long-term benefits. Mr. Schellenberg’s research goes on to point out an increase in participant’s IQ scores after only a couple of learning sessions. But music training has more in store than just intelligence benefits. According to a recent study conducted by The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), a person playing a musical instrument is less likely to feel depressed and more likely to feel healthy. The study goes...
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...Billy Joel in his song “We Didn't Start The Fire” claims that the current generation, as of the time the song was written, did not, in fact, start the fire. Thought the song many events are listed until the chorus comes along again to remind the listener the they did not start the fire. The “fire” in this song that Billy Joel speaks of are crazy and shocking events to the world not only being generally harmful to the public but events that changed how people viewed things. The songs repetition of not starting the fire, the lengthy lines used for verses that completely list events, and the the listing of events as opposed to common verses in an average song shows how they did not start the fire and the fire had been going on for generations...
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...When you think about the saying “there’s no place like home’’ the first thing that comes to mind is the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz’’. Well in “There’s No Place Like Home’’ written by Joel Kotkin he talks about a new popular trend known as “localism’’. Joel Kotkin’s assertion of localism is that people are beginning to like to stay at home rather than moving from one place to another. He describes it as being rooted more in your community. He even goes on to say that the longer that people live in their homes or communities that they begin to identify more with those places, which helps local businesses and other institutions thrive. I agree with some of Joel Kotkin ideas of localism for instance I am very much rooted within the city I live in but I am very nomadic. In my twenty-one years of life I have never moved outside of the city limits. Joel Kotkin stated in his essay that people are wanting to stay at home more to stay close to their relatives, friends, local clubs, religious places of worship and just familiar surroundings. One of the main factors that keeps me rooted in Kansas City is my mother. My mother is at an age to where she is comfortable with the city she’s in so instead of her leaving the place she knows and calls home she would rather stay here in Kansas City and just move every so often. As an only boy I feel like it is my duty to always be near my mother and as close to her as possible she is the driving force for the reason I am so rooted or as...
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...Growth Stocks vs. Value Stocks Thomas Anderton MBA 570 Professor Scott Growth stocks generally come from companies of high quality and who are considered successful. Investors expect the earnings of these companies to keep growing above the market average. If an investor were to analyze the companies with growth stock they would notice that these stocks have high price to earnings ratios and high price to book ratios. The price to earnings ratio shows the market price per share divided by the earnings. In order to have a high ratio generally the market price per share is high. Value stocks are the exact opposite of growth stock in terms of their price per earnings ratio and their price to book ratio, which means they generally have low ratios. These companies are generally expected by investors to increase in value when the rest of the market recognizes their potential. According to Bryan Rich of Forbes, “Value stocks are stocks with the lowest P/E, price to book, price to sales and price to cash flow. Other twists on value investing are simply looking at the lowest priced stocks in a major index or stocks with the highest dividend yield in a major index” (Rich, 2016). To some investors, growth stocks may seem to be expensive and at times overhauled, which could cause them to invest in value stocks. Investors may chase value stock because they don’t have as much money to invest as other investors who choose growth stocks. Some investors may choose to invest in growth...
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... | | | |Investment Portfolio Creation | |using | | | |Investment Philosophy – of Joel Greenblatt’s | |[pic] | | | | | | | |August 20th , 2011 ...
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...Book Review: The Little Book That Still Beats the Market The book is written in the first person point of view of the author, Joel Greenblatt. He talks about the various elements and basics of finance in a much different light as compared to how a common, every day finance specialist would normally explain it. He breaks it down into a level wherein even young kids could understand, making it relatable to people of all ages. Having such a complex topic being discussed in the most simple way possible makes it that much more intriguing to read through, especially that it touches on different techniques on how one could better manage and make their own money. He starts off with a simple story and continues on with many more of them. However, what makes it so difficult to put down this book is that these stories serve as simple analogies of what had before seemed like a complex idea in the finance world. Not only do these stories make it more entertaining and easier to understand the basics of finance, but they are also very informative, practical and relatable. In addition to these series of funny and simple tales is the discussion of a heavy but gentle load of information that all build up to the revealing of the magic formula. This formula, as explained by Greenblatt, is one that has been repeatedly proven to beat the market thus, helping a number of people become better investors. There were many insights I was able to gain from reading this book. These insights were not...
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...Walmart and Sustainability. That pairing of terms elicits strong reactions, usually falling into roughly three camps: The "oxymoron" camp, who believe Walmart's business model of overdriven underpaid factory workers pumping out cheap goods into thousand-mile supply chains that feed a consumption-based society inherently and unavoidably conflicts with sustainability. The "salvation" camp, who welcome Walmart using its market muscle as a "bully pulpit" to push sustainability advances from the top down -- which arguably produces more change quicker than grassroots, bottom-up sustainability initiatives. And then there's the rest of us, who see truth in both of these two contradictory ideas (with a nod to this maxim from F. Scott Fitzgerald.) I include myself, because I lived in this schizophrenia for almost a year while I wrote Walmart's first sustainability report in 2007, keenly skeptical of the Goliath's conversion to the religion of sustainability, and cautiously hopeful of the promise of grander conversions that Walmart's change of heart heralded. I continue to straddle both sides. Now, two years later, Walmart just unveiled its Sustainable Product Index, which provides fuel for both fires. In a nutshell, the index (which has been in development for over a year) poses 15 questions in four broad categories (energy and climate; material efficiency; natural resources; and people and community) to 100,000 of its suppliers worldwide, with a future goal of translating the data...
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...Delegation: Thailand Forum: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee The Question of: Measures to Protect and Promote the Rights of Children Living and Working on the Streets Thailand believes that it is crucial that measures are taken to protect and promote the rights of children living and working on the streets. Thailand has recognized that 0.0002% of the street children on a global basis are from Thailand. Thailand also believes that there is an increasing amount of street children due to poverty, natural calamities and the economic crises that has had a large impact on Thailand. Thailand will now emphasize on these major issues. First-off Homelessness, more than 60,000 children are living in the nine refugee camps along the Myanmar border of Thailand. Almost 7,400 of them are separated from their parents. Secondly, Natural calamities. Secondly, The Tsunami that took place in Thailand in 2004 killed 5,395 people which lead to1,480 children being orphaned and on the streets. This overwhelming flow also destroyed 4,806 houses, another clear example that proves the fact that children can end up on streets in such a sad manner. Thirdly, The Economic Crisis. This Crisis that took place in 1997 had a massive impact on Thailand as result of The Prime Minister back in 1997 Mr. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh who refused to devalue the thai baht. This not only halted Thailand’s booming economy but lead to the disaster of the decade. Thailand Laid off approximately 600,000 foreign workers...
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...Sean Ruhlman Ms. Rooney ENC-1101 19 November, 2013 Ethical Relativism At what point do we need to refocus our priorities as a civilization? Ethical relativism can best be understood by focusing on the juxtaposition of the benefits of biotechnological advancements in the food industry with the synergetic natural relationship of all living organisms. The argument supporting our technologically enhanced farming is often overlooked by the idealists of our society vying for the end of world hunger. Is it realistic to believe that without these processed foods which make up over two thirds of the world’s diet; the population would be remotely similar in size to that of a population using non-biologically engineered or enhanced foods? Has our society grown to such magnitudes merely as a result of our ability to produce food as quickly and efficiently as we currently do? At what point will humanity’s demand, exceed the Earth’s carrying capacity? This then raises the question of morality. Is it ethically right to turn our backs and deny a portion of our ever-growing population the ability to eat knowing we are beginning to challenge global sustainability? Arguably, it is reasonable to assume that if you were to take away our overly processed, biologically re-engineered foods in order to reach equilibrium, there would be a proportionate loss of human life. This however, may be the only way to ensure humanity’s survival. This is where ethical relativity has to be decided as a...
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...After watching the YouTube video about the semi-famous c Joel Rifkin, I thought the only reason why Rifkin did that interview and allowed the Neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Amon to analyze his brain was because he would be able to share with the world what he did and they would prolong his prison sentence. I don’t believe that he was truly sorry for what he did to those 17 women, in his eyes those women were nothing more than prostitutes and he believed that no one loved them or even cared if they ended up died. There is no way a human being could cut up another person and there is no way a human being could take a women’s head off then put all the body pieces into their own car and act like nothing happened. Even if Joel Rifkin frontal cortex was...
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