Saturday, March 7, 2020

Why Race Matters in the Amanda Knox Case

Why Race Matters in the Amanda Knox Case Given the popularity true crime series covering O.J. Simpson, JonBenà ©t Ramsey, and Steven Avery have recently enjoyed, it’s no surprise that Netflix released the documentary â€Å"Amanda Knox† on Sept. 30 to enormous fanfare. The program stands out from others on Knox- the U.S. exchange student in Italy  accused of killing her British roommate  in 2007- in that it is largely told from her perspective. Teasers for the film show Knox sans makeup with a severely cut bob. Her features are now angular, the round cheeks that led the European press to call her â€Å"angel face† gone.   â€Å"Either Im a psychopath in sheeps clothing or I am you,† she says sternly. But the documentary only pretends to be interested in pinpointing the real Knox. The omission of information that reflects badly on her makes that clear throughout. Whether she’s guilty or innocent was never the most compelling aspect of her case, anyway- the culture clash, the false accusation of a black man for the crime, the slut-shaming and the idea that U.S. courts are somehow superior to Italian courts- are what drew in people from across the globe. Nearly a decade after Meredith Kercher’s murder, my questions about the case are unchanged. Would the press have given Knox as much attention if she’d been a student of color accused of killing her roommate abroad? Would Kercher, born to an English father and an Indian mother, have garnered more press had she been a blonde like Natalee Holloway?  People of color make up a disproportionate amount of crime victims and those falsely convicted of crimes, but they do not generally become celebrities like Knox and other whites, such as Avery, Ryan Ferguson and the West Memphis Three have.   The Central Park Five, the group of black and Latino teens wrongly convicted of attacking a white woman jogging in 1989, are the exception to the rule. Their conviction was the subject of a 2012 Ken Burns documentary. But from the outset, the public widely believed they were guilty. Donald Trump even referred to them as â€Å"animals† and took out a newspaper ad calling for their executions. When the real attacker confessed, Trump refused to apologize for his previous comments. In contrast, when he heard about Knox’s murder case, he offered to help her, demonstrating how an accused person’s race and gender affect public perception of her guilt or innocence. Reflecting on the Knox case in the age of Black Lives Matter makes it rather comical that Americans argued that the U.S. legal system was more just than the Italian counterpart. Only a few days after Knox’s 2009 conviction for killing Kercher, I wrote about my concerns with media coverage of the case for the now-defunct Racialicious blog. The conviction was later overturned, but my observations about Knox’s defenders remain relevant today as the Netflix documentary shines a spotlight on her case once more. Here’s what I had to say:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  * * * I first heard the name Amanda Knox nearly a year ago. As someone who, like Knox, traveled to Europe to study abroad, even visiting Italy during my time there, I sympathized with the young Seattle woman charged with killing her roommate while an exchange student in Perugia, Italy. Numerous articles portray the University of Washington student as an innocent wrongly targeted by a corrupt Italian prosecutor and victimized by Italians who were misogynistic and anti-American. Despite my sympathy for Knox- found guilty of murdering Meredith Kercher by an Italian jury Dec. 4- I take issue with the articles written in her defense. They reveal that America’s ideas about white womanhood have changed little since the 19th century, the whiteness of Italians remains tenuous and black men continue to make convenient crime scapegoats. I’ve no idea if Amanda Knox is innocent or guilty of the charges leveled at her- a jury’s already deemed her the latter- but some American journalists decided that she was innocent long before a verdict was reached. What’s disturbing about some of these journalists is that Knox’s race, gender, and class background played central roles in why they considered her innocent. Moreover, in defending Knox, their xenophobic and arguably â€Å"racist† feelings about Italy came to light. New York Times columnist Timothy Egan is a case in point. He wrote about Knox for the Times both in June and just before the jury issued its verdict in the case. â€Å"All trials are about narrative,† Egan remarked in the summer. â€Å"In Seattle, where I live, I see a familiar kind of Northwestern girl in Amanda Knox, and all the stretching, the funny faces, the neo-hippie touches are benign. In Italy, they see a devil, someone without remorse, inappropriate in her reactions.† What makes these â€Å"touches† benign- simply the fact that, to Egan, Knox was â€Å"a familiar kind of Northwestern girl?†Ã‚  While waiting to be interrogated, Knox reportedly did cartwheels. Egan chalks this up to Knox being an athlete. But if Donovan McNabb or LeBron James were being investigated for murder and did cartwheels during an interrogation, would their behavior be taken as that of a benign athlete or make them look unfeeling and flippant? Egan attempts to undermine Italy by making it appear as if sinister Italians were angling to punish this girl who not only reminds him of numerous girls from the Pacific Northwest but also of his own daughter. Yet, non-Italian friends of British murder victim Meredith Kercher considered Knox’s behavior to be strange as well, counteracting Egan’s attempts to discredit Italian sensibilities. â€Å"While I was [at the police station] I found Amanda’s behavior very strange. She had no emotion while everyone else was upset,† Kercher’s friend Robyn Butterworth testified in court. And when another friend reportedly remarked that she hoped Kercher hadn’t suffered much, Butterworth recalled Knox replying, â€Å"What do you think? She f___ing bled to death.† At that point, Butterworth said, the way Kercher died hadn’t been released. Amy Frost, another friend of Kercher, testified about Knox and Knox’s boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito. â€Å"Their behavior at the police station seemed, to me, really inappropriate,† Frost said. â€Å"They sat opposite each other, Amanda put her feet up on Raffaele’s legs and made faces at him. Everyone cried except Amanda and Raffaele. I never saw them crying. They were kissing each other.† Egan could have written a defense of Knox that focused on the fact that there was virtually no physical evidence of her having been at the crime scene and what little there was came under dispute because it was collected more than a month after the murder and, thus, thought to be contaminated. Instead, he chose to characterize Italy as a nation of backward, inane people. â€Å"As this week’s closing arguments showed once again, the case has very little to do with actual evidence and much to do with the ancient Italian code of saving face,† Egan wrote on  Dec. 2. Just as Egan chose not to explain why Knox’s odd antics during her interrogation were benign, he doesn’t explain why â€Å"saving face† is an â€Å"ancient Italian code.† It’s seemingly so just because he declares it to be. In the same editorial, he discusses the Italian jury much in the same way whites have traditionally discussed people of color, such as Haitian practitioners of Vodou, Puerto Rican practitioners of Santeria, Native American medicine men or African â€Å"witch doctors.† â€Å"Their verdict is not supposed to be about medieval superstitions, sexual projections, Satan fantasies or the honor of a prosecution team,† Egan writes. Egan implies Italy’s legal system is filled with people who can’t be trusted to make rational decisions, a matter of crucial importance when the future of a young American white woman is at stake. How horrible that Amanda Knox’s fate is in the hands of these crazy Italians? These people still believe in superstitions and Satan, for heaven’s sake! The way Egan and Knox’s own relatives described Italians reminded me that Americans haven’t always regarded Italians as white. This makes undermining the rationality and trustworthiness of the Italian people and court system go largely unquestioned. In a book called Are Italians White?, Louise DeSalvo writes about discrimination Italian immigrants to America faced. â€Å"I learned†¦that Italian-Americans were lynched in the South; that they were incarcerated during World War II. †¦I later learned that Italian men who worked on the railroad earned less money for their work than ‘whites’; that they slept in filthy, vermin-infested boxcars; that they were denied water, though they were given wine to drink (for it made them tractable)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some of the comments about Italians in the Knox case certainly seem like throwbacks to a time when Italians weren’t viewed as white. I have a hard time imagining that if Knox had been tried in England, consistent efforts would be made to discredit the British judicial system. To make matters worse, while American xenophobia is being aimed at Italy, American supporters of Knox are painting Italy as anti-American. Former prosecutor John Q. Kelly even used racialized language when discussing Knox’s plight, likening treatment of her to â€Å"a public lynching.† Isn’t this how racism works today? People who exhibit clearly racist attitudes and behaviors accuse President Obama of being anti-white or blame Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for perpetuating racism rather than historic, institutionalized white supremacy. After Knox was found guilty of murder, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell stated, â€Å"I have serious questions about the Italian justice system and whether anti-Americanism tainted this trial.† This argument of anti-Americanism falls apart considering that Italian national Raffaele Sollecito was also found guilty of murder. Are we to believe that an Italian jury would sacrifice one of its own to spite America? The problematic racial overtones in the reporting of the case not only involve Italians but black men. Following her November 2007 arrest, Knox wrote to police that bar owner Patrick Lumumba killed Kercher. â€Å"In these flashbacks that I’m having, I see Patrik [sic] as the murderer, but the way the truth feels in my mind, there is no way for me to have known because I don’t remember FOR SURE if I was at my house that night.† Because of Knox’s repeated insinuations that Lumumba murdered Kercher, he spent two weeks in jail. Police ended up releasing him because he had a solid alibi. Lumumba sued Knox for defamation and won. While Egan has mentioned that Knox mistakenly linked Lumumba to Kercher’s murder, he quickly let her off the hook for it, as did a commenter at women’s Web site Jezebel who remarked: â€Å"I don’t judge her for that at all. She was held in an Italian prison, questioned for days, and encouraged to ‘confess.’† But to ignore Knox’s transgression on this front is to ignore the history of sympathetic (but guilty) white Americans fingering black men for crimes the men never committed. In 1989, for instance, Charles Stuart shot and killed his pregnant wife, Carol, but told police that a black man was responsible. Two years later, Susan Smith murdered her young sons but told police initially that a black man had carjacked her and kidnapped the boys. Although Knox said that she fingered Lumumba for the crime under duress, her doing so casts suspicion on her and shouldn’t be overlooked by those who find it hard to believe that a pretty American coed is capable of murder. Another black man, Rudy Guede from the Ivory Coast, was convicted of killing Kercher before Knox and Sollecito were, but evidence suggested that more than one assailant was involved in Kercher’s demise.  If authorities believe that Guede didn’t act alone, why is it difficult to believe that Knox also played a role in Kercher’s murder? After all, Knox gave inconsistent statements about her whereabouts the evening of Kercher’s death and did not call police after reportedly finding the door to her home wide open and blood on the floor. To boot, her lover, Sollecito, bought two bottles of bleach the morning after Kercher’s death allegedly to clean up the crime scene, where police found his bloody footprints as well as Knoxâ €™s. These facts hardly reflect well on Knox, so I’m willing to consider her guilt as well as her innocence. Perhaps her use of hashish the night of Kercher’s death clouded her memory. But those who refuse to consider that Knox is guilty, all the while attacking the Italian justice system, remind me of those who struggled to believe that Lizzie Borden hacked her parents to death in 1892. â€Å"The horrific ax murders of Andrew Borden and his third wife, Abby, would have been shocking in any age, but in the early 1890s they were unthinkable,† writes Denise M. Clark in Crime Magazine. â€Å"Equally unthinkable was who wielded the ax that butchered them†¦The idea that the murderer could possibly be†¦Lizzie took days to register with the police – despite overwhelming physical and circumstantial evidence that pointed only at her†¦.What would end up saving her was the remarkable violence of the murders: The murders were simply too grisly to have been committed by a woman of her upbringing.† Isn’t this the argument that Egan makes when he described Knox as a benign hippie type from the Pacific Northwest? Knox, we’re told, worked multiple jobs to save up money to study abroad. She excelled in athletics and academics  alike. Girls like her don’t commit murder, many Americans believe. And if she were tried stateside, perhaps she would have gotten off as Lizzie Borden did. But apparently, Italians aren’t burdened by the cultural baggage that weighs down America. White and female and from a good family don’t equal innocent.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

None Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

None - Assignment Example Many people believe that a hero is a person with extraordinary skills that tend to be slightly higher than the ordinary people. This is a perception that has killed many dreams, as people are not confident of their efforts and ability to respond to certain tasks. As per my perception, a hero is a persistent and determine person. Actually, anyone is possession of the two attributes is fit to be called a hero in any societal setting. This is because heroes are always determined and persistent towards achieving their goals despite the challenges that they face. The success of most politicians has always depended on various things including excellent communication skills, political background and influence from the ruling government. It has been proven that several successful political leaders have entirely relied on the support they have from the ruling government to cling into power. However, it is essential to appreciate that excellent communication skills plays an important role in an individual’s political success. For instance, a political aspirant whose main intention is to create change within the society should be capable of influencing his supporters through good communication. Over the past years, there have been numerous opposing views concerning president Barrack Obama’s political achievements. Many people believe that he is not a politician by nature, but rather a good public speaker. The paper will try and validate the hypothesis that United States’ president, Barrack Obama, used his communication skills to accomplish his political dream. This study is essential because it will provide rational answers to the opposing views hence people will have a viable platform to defend their opinions. Voters will also use this information to address the problem of leadership vacuum in their countries by only supporting politicians who can efficiently present their problems to the government through excellent communication. According to

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Developing a business plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Developing a business plan - Assignment Example The other way is to increase labor and expertise in handling the needs of our clients better. The product logistics and quality controls will be essential in defining the way these products take place. A vertical retail presence in crucial catalogues and e-commerce avenues will be pursued. Advertisement by creating a buzz about this new brand will be made especially amongst opinion leaders based on a combination of product placement and public relations. To achieve this, the needed abilities are good technological backgrounds. The goal is to have a system that enhances customer experiences through the acknowledgement of feedback from the users. The company is also leveraging on its current technology that ensures it can use its services to benefits its clients and provide a solution to their needs. The capabilities lacking are in mass production, which could hinder the number of outlets served. The current number requires an adjustment (Rumelt, 2011). The products are ladies’ creams for both day and night. They will be produced at our manufacturing plant and sold by representatives across the board in both retail and wholesale shops. The goal is to create a wide supply chain team to ensure the products reach out to the largest audience. The sellers will be getting a commission when dealing directly with the company, while those in retail will get lower prices to ensure they profit from stocking our products. The development processes are unique in that they encompass the utility of the ideals of modern technology combine with appropriate understanding of biological attributes of the human body. The production takes place at a facility that follows the required criterion that assures the client of a quality product. The marketing aspect takes place on both new and traditional media, with the new media taking the highest form. This is because most of the targeted clients use these forms of media for communication and information. Products are

Monday, January 27, 2020

Comparing The Faiths Of Deism And Puritanism Philosophy Essay

Comparing The Faiths Of Deism And Puritanism Philosophy Essay The 18th century and the age of the enlightenment was a period in American history which saw a proliferation of many new scientific ideas as well as an increase in religious tolerance. During this time many intellectuals explored new possibilities and interpretations of religion that were sometimes quite contradictory to the Puritanism that had been the standard religious practice since Puritans first settled the New England region. Deism, which was quite radical in contrast to the Puritan faith, came about during this time, and Benjamin Franklin, a famous enlightenment figure and a founding father of America, was one of its first spokespersons. The Deist doctrine he wrote as a 19 year old preaches a starkly different message from the writings of famous Puritans such as Mary Rowlandson, Michael Wigglesworth, and John Winthrop. While their works paint a portrait of God as a severe, demanding creator and man as a sinful, wild beast who must be restricted in his actions, Franklins piece on Deism portrays a more benevolent God who has released man into the universe to pursue his own goals without fear of Gods interference and wrath. It is these ideas of Gods intent and the nature of man which set these two religious philosophies and their writings apart.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Puritan understanding of God as a vengeful and commanding ruler of men is one that dominates the writings of all of the most famous and widely read Puritan authors of the 17th and 18th centuries. Michael Wigglesworths poem The Day of Doom is particularly useful in highlighting this belief as its content focuses on Christs return to earth on Judgement day and how he deals with the sinners. He opens the poem with the quotes The Mountains smoak, the Hills are shook, the Earth is rent and torn, and Straightaway appears (they seet with tears) the Son of God most dread, (Wigglesworth, 3.) From the first lines of the poem there is a sense of helplessness and despair in the face of an angry God who is going to judge and punish his subjects on his terms. The descriptions of Gods destruction of the physical earth demonstrates his awesome power, and the use of the word dread to describe peoples perception of God is very telling of the Puritan bel ief. Even though they dread his second coming and his vengeance, they have a profound respect for his power and submit themselves to his will. The poem goes on to describe who is going to hell and why, and this passage serves to demonstrate the strict qualifications for getting into heaven that the Puritans believe God employs in his judgement of souls. Children who are too young to read the bible, Native Americans, and the mentally challenged are all unworthy of heaven in the eyes of God because they lack the ability to understand the Puritan faith (Wigglesworth, 4.) Along with these people unwelcome in Gods kingdom are all non-believers, sinners, and anyone who is simply not predestined to be saved by God. These harsh qualifications preached by Wigglesworth and other Puritans to a very accepting public are all strong testaments to the harsh nature of the Puritans God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In contrast to the harsh God of Puritanism, Deism preaches that God is a benevolent, all knowing creator who does not find evil to punish in the world of men and can for the most part leave them to their own devices. Franklin outlines this idea at the beginning of his doctrine on Deism, A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain, with the idea that If [God] is all-powerful, there can be nothing either existing or acting in the Universe against or without his Consent; and what he consents to must be good, because he is good; therefore Evil doth not exist. (Franklin 26.) This statement is radically different from the Puritan system of belief because it eliminates the existence of evil and therefore demonstrates a more pleasant interpretation of God. Rather than stressing the need for Gods constant exertion of authority over humankind and its evils through interference and punishment, Franklin asserts that since God made every thing and knows everything, there is no reason for him to even bother with the trivial affairs of humans, much less reprimand them. This is a very Deist concept of a God who is less involved in the daily business of man. The common Deist perception of God, which embodies this image of a wise and somewhat removed God, is often illustrated by the image of God as a clockmaker who has set the universe into motion to play out without his influence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The idea of Gods constant interference in the lives of men, which Franklin refutes as unnecessary because Gods has already predetermined the fate of the entire universe and its inhabitants, is another cornerstone of the Puritan belief system. One of the best examples of this idea in Puritan writing is Mary Rowlandsons A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson which describes the destruction of her town at the hands of a band of Native Americans and her subsequent captivity among them. This work gives a slightly more benevolent description of God as her protector through these hardships, but her easy acceptance and rationalization of the massacre as Gods will and punishment still alludes to the harsh nature of God and highlights his interferences in the lives of Puritans. One of the most telling quotes of the account, which Rowlandson uses to sum up her beliefs, comes in the final paragraph when she says, yet I se e when God calls a person to any thing, and through never so many difficulties, yet he is fully able to carry them through, and make them see and say they have been gainers thereby, (Rowlandson, 20.) Rowlandson cites Gods hand throughout the piece in every aspect of her captivity, and in this conclusion she makes it quite clear that it was God who put her through the terrors of these tribulations. The idea of God carrying her through her troubles and making her see and say that she is better for the experience not only indicates that God is responsible for what happened, but that he was actively focused on her for every instant of her captivity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The nature of man is another key point of disagreement between the two religious beliefs, and the Puritan stance views man as a beastly creature whose primitive instincts must be controlled by the authority of God. John Winthrops famous essay On Political Authority and Liberty, which is both a description of Gods intent of how the people should be ruled and a pitch to be reelected as governor,   gives examples of this belief in mans unruly nature. Winthrop makes a point of driving home exactly how God feels about mans more primal, natural liberties when he says, This [kind of liberty] is that great enemy of truth and peace, that wild beast, which all of the ordinances of God are bent against, to restrain and subdue it. (Winthrop 1.) The kind of liberty that he is alluding to is mans freedom in nature to do whatever he wants. According to Winthrop, this freedom, which man shares with all beasts and other creatures leads to chaos and must be controlled. This concept of the natural evil in men and the fact that God must constantly restrain men pervades Puritan doctrine and directly carries over to the Puritan style of governing that stresses adherence to authority figures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unlike the Puritan idea of mans evil nature and his need to be controlled, Deism states that mans nature is inherently good and that control over his actions is unnecessary. Franklins writings illustrate this idea when he says, If a Creature is made by God, it must depend upon God, and receive all its Power from Him; with which Power the Creature can do nothing contrary to the Will of God because God is Almighty; what is not contrary to [Gods] Will, must be agreeable to it; what is agreeable to it, must be good, because He is good; therefore a Creature can do nothing but what is good, (Franklin, 27.) In this quote Franklin asserts his belief that since the all-good and almighty creator made man and gave him his nature and abilities, man must be naturally good. He also makes the point that all of mans actions are actions of which God made him able; therefore, man can make no natural action which is not inherently good. This idea of man as g ood from the start clearly breaks from the general Christian and especially Puritan belief of original sin, and this stark difference demonstrates the progressive nature of Deisms. The idea that man is inherently good removes the need for overbearing authority and allows for man to rule himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The overwhelming differences in the beliefs of Deism and Puritanism on the subjects of God and the nature of man illustrate a clear break in the religious ideas of 18th century America. The contrast between Franklins writings and those of his Puritan predecessors demonstrates the shift from the nearly uniform belief in religion of the 17th century to a more progressive atmosphere in the time which Franklin writes. The Deist beliefs of the goodness in God and man explore an alternative to the strict Puritan faith, and in both Franklins time and today they serve as a mode of beliefs which fit the understanding of many religious Americans.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Game and Dynamically Generated World

Minecraft: A World at Your Mercy By If you're one of those people who quite likes computer games, but finds the endless mayhem and slaughter a bit unseemly, there is another option: putting imaginary things on top of other imaginary things. There are no scores, no obvious goals to aim for, no point at which you can punch the air and say that you've triumphed; you simply move around a randomly and dynamically generated world, collecting objects and building things. All at your leisure.Does that sound sufficiently exciting? Well, Minecraft allows you to do just that; it may have been billed as the â€Å"coolest game you've never heard of†, says Senior Emily Marchese, but it has about as much in common with Call Of Duty or Angry Birds as hopscotch or basket weaving. It's created by Markus â€Å"Notch† Persson, developed by a very small team, but has had more than 12 million people buy the 20 dollar game. But what exactly do you accomplish playing Minecraft?Head over to You Tube, where home-produced videos of Minecraft creations litter the top 10 most popular videos each month, and you'll find such delights as a 1:1 scale model of the USS Enterprise, roller-coasters, reconstructions of the Titanic and much else. FHS Alumni, Soham Roy gives us a few examples of what he thinks are his greatest accomplishments in Minecraft: â€Å"I have created a pyramid out of water, pushed Haroon Ahmad into a pit of lava, and tamed a gigantic pack of wolves to rip into the flesh of my enemi†¦I mean, to cuddle and play fetch. † How you make these structures is much like how you make things in real life. You need tools and resources. You use the wood from trees to make tools and then you mine underground and start looking through caves for resources. As you go deeper you’ll find rarer resources which you can upgrade your tools with or make structures with. And when you have the resources you need, like Legos, you start putting them all together and star t making anything your heart desires.You can also set up servers and create a massive world with your friends. Junior, Mike Salzarulo is one of the many students to own a minecraft server here at Freedom. â€Å"You can do anything you want. If you wanna be a nomad and travel the world you can do that. You can be like me and just set up camp and make a town with all your friends. I made a huge castle with them. † The comparisons with Lego have provoked a debate over whether Minecraft is even a game at all; maybe it should be considered more as a lowly â€Å"toy†?But when the sun sets over your Minecraft world every hour or so and darkness creeps in, monsters (or â€Å"mobs†) emerge – and if you're not tucked up safely within your construction – your game may well be swiftly curtailed. The different types of mobs include spiders, zombies, and skeletons that are equipped with bows. The two most infamous mobs in the game are the endermen and the creepe rs. The endermen are passive and non-hostile and sometimes cute creatures that only attack you if you look directly at them.And finally, the creepers are the most feared of all Minecraft mobs, because if you get too close they make a hissing sound and then explode. The explosion decimates everything around you. So be careful when you look out the window of your house made out of diamond, a creeper might be trying to creep on you. Minecraft is still being made and the full version will be out in November, but will then cost $30. If you buy the game now, not only will you be able save $10, but you’ll also be able to get your hands on the game that has everyone either sitting on their computer all day or designing buildings on graph paper.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

An Essay

Even though Romans is not a complete worldview r a Christian worldview it certainly directs us in the right way of how we should view the world. What does Romans inform us regarding Creation When we look at Romans chapter 8: 19-25, believe here Paul is talking about Adam and Jesus. Everybody thinks that God knows everything going to happen, and the truth is I believe he knows. The one thing I really believe that God knows everything, but he does give us free choice and maybe just one time he's hoping he doesn't know that were going to, and maybe instead of choosing the wrong we would choose Him.The curse is Adam when he first mined not just for his self but also for every birth from then on. Jesus then comes as the sacrificial sheep. One man to curse all of mankind and one man to save all Of mankind. Natural Creation There is no doubt about finding God's creation in Romans. In chapter 1:20-21 proves of his existence and power, verse 20 states that since the creation of the world God' s invisible quality -his eternal power and divine nature. God has no doubt that this is his creation and God is always made himself available to us. God created verse man and woman to have a natural relationship, which man and woman.Man started to make idols out of gold, of birds and animals and reptiles. Man's heart was not in the right place for the creator it was for sinful lust, since their heart was not right with God and instead had all this unnatural lusts God let it happen. Men started having sex with men and even their women was having sex with other women. Their acts were unnatural from one God one God wanted of the most one man one woman until the end of time. Sins in Roman Sin is mention several times in Romans, Paul tells us that we all have sin and we all fall short of the glory of God.Paul also explained to us that through the away no one will be saved, but the law lets us recognize what sin is. 6:23 tells us that that the punishment for sin is death. Whereas if we el ect to serve Jesus, we are promised eternal life. This is a condition that cannot be fixed by any man, that only Jesus dying on the cross for us was the only way we as mortal humans and sinful by nature could be saved. Salvation In Romans Paul talked to us about salvation and the only way that we could ever be saved with salvation was through Jesus dying on the cross for us.We know that Jesus was a descendent of David, and the one thing that he as supposed to do was to be the sacrificial sheep for our sins. So without Jesus we would never found salvation because we were not covered under the first covenant, but under the new covenant we were accepted because Jesus gave his life for us. So this was the nature and mission of Jesus Christ and justification by faith is believing and Jesus the son of God. Because of our faith and our believe Christ the moment that we accepted Jesus we were given the Holy Spirit which would sanctify us and give us empowerment to do the things that Jesus d id himself.Eschatology In Romans 5:20 we see were Paul is saying that because of the law being added was so that basically trespasses might increase. You would think of Paul is against on is that we have no hope, but he is also that were sin increases grace will increase also. God has new mercies for us every day in new Hope always be there no matter what we've done we can go and repented God because Jesus made a way for us to live that one day we may have eternal life. When we look at Romans 8:18-25 Paul is telling us that we should not compare are suffering to the glory that will be ours when the time moms.The glory Will be greater than any suffering we have ever been subject to. Romans 13:11-14 Paul is telling us that our Christian worldview and the obedience that we have Jesus through our faith one day we will be victorious against Satan, death and sin Ethics In Romans 8:8-21 we will find that Paul bases the ethics on love. In verse eight Paul is telling us that no matter what w e do we need to do it cheerfully, delicately and we need to show mercy follows is all up in nine telling us that love must be since. That anything evil we should hate, we should cling to what is good.And the next versus is instructed how we should, and we should never commit adultery we should always respect with love. Chapter 8 sums up the things that we should do we love and not be afraid to do them. Theology There are several verses in here were Paul talks about God even though his letter is non-about God its more about justification. When we look at 1:17 here Paul is trying to tell us that there is a righteousness that is revealed from God. Paul states it is from first to last the righteousness will live by faith.

Friday, January 3, 2020

A Brief Note On The American Civil War - 920 Words

One consequence of the American Civil war is that it was the largest catastrophe in American history. â€Å"Approximately one in four soldiers that went to war never returned home.† There weren’t any cemeteries, burial details or messengers of loss. The army didn’t have the mechanisms needed to handle the amount of deaths the nation was gonna experience. It was the bloodiest conflict and there had been an unprecedented violence of battles such as Gettysburg, Shiloh and Antietam. â€Å"The Civil war was America’s costliest war, with 623,000 dead, with approximately 33,000 from Pennsylvania.† The wounded individuals were amputees that struggled to overcome the perceptions of disabled as less than members of society. There was a lot of diseases during the civil war. â€Å"The worst out the bunch was by far Dysentery.† It had gotten around 45,00 deaths in the union army and 50,000 in the Confederate army. Contaminated water had caused the diseas e. In those days, hygiene wasn’t a big issue. Another major killer was typhoid. This was also a result of contaminated water or food. It had killed 30,000 confederate and 35,00 union troops. Another consequence during the civil war was the economy. â€Å"Of all the disadvantages the Confederacy experienced during the Civil War, its lack of a sound currency was particularly damaging.† There was limited resources available with more than $1 million in hard currency or specie which the confederacy relied mainly on for printed money. It went down rapidly inShow MoreRelatedA Brief Note On The American Civil War1540 Words   |  7 Pages The American Civil War is the bloodiest war in American history, claiming the lives of 720,00 solider and an indeterminable number of civilians. But these four years were a larger battle for survival against a third unseen enemy: disease. A battle that took two out of three soldiers from disease; most commonly pneumonia, dysentery, typhoid, tuberculosis, smallpox and malaria. 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