English Lesson 15 Essay: Historical Sanctions in the Psalms

Write 500 words on this topic: “How important is the concept of historical sanctions in the Psalms?”

The book of Psalms is considered the longest book in the Bible, with 150 chapters. Most of them are written by King David of Israel, to be recited as songs and poems. A few of the psalms are written by other authors, like Moses and King Solomon, so this book has been written over centuries. The main theme of the Psalms is praise. In fact, a more accurate name for this book would be “praises”, as that is the Hebrew title. The psalms use a lot of symbolic language, so sometimes it’s not clear that a psalm is historical. Historical sanctions are a theme throughout the psalms.

A sanction can be negative or positive, like a punishment or an oath.

It’s shown that historical sanctions are predictable. God’s people will always be able to trust in him. Throughout history, God will destroy evil, and He will bring negative sanctions upon the unrighteous. Here is an example.

In Psalm 2, kings rebel against God and his anointed. God punishes them:

The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath…”

So, another historical sanction is that the righteous shall be given an inheritance. In other words, God’s people will be blessed. In psalms Psalm 33:12, it says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

The focus of many of the psalms is ethics. There are descriptions of how a righteous person should live and act. In psalm 15, David describes the virtues of a good person.

Psalm 51 is a prayer of repentance. It is believed that David wrote this psalm after committing adultery. This is another example of how the psalms have history in them. It says that people are born with evil in their hearts, and God can forgive sinners if they repent.

Psalm 50 states that God is the judge of both the righteous and the wicked.

In psalm 53, written by David; God laments the folly and wickedness of the people who do not seek Him. “The fool says in his heart, There is no God.” God promises to scatter the bones of the wicked, and people of Israel will rejoice.

Psalm 103 says that God is forgiving and slow to anger. It promises that he has grace and compassion for His people- those who believe in Him.

David often calls upon God for protection from his enemies, and for guidance. He calls God his shield. “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.” (28:7)

Conclusion

The Psalms can be both historical and ethical, therefore, historical sanctions are an important theme. David relies on God, and prays to him for deliverance from his enemies. They state that God is trustworthy, and his law is perfect. The nations who follow him will be blessed, and he will judge righteously. He is a merciful God.

Business Lesson 20 Essay: My Favorite Product-based Company

Write a 250 word essay on your favorite product-based company.

There are two main types of companies; product-based, and service-based. As the names suggest, a product-based company sells products. And a service-based company carries out a service for the customer, like lawn mowing, or providing internet.

One of my favorite product-based companies is the Disney Store. I have some great memories as a child, going to the mall and heading straight for the ‘magical’ store full of my favorite characters. Of course, I still love to look around there. I can always find a unique coffee mug or cute tee shirt. Disney movies and amusement parks are well-loved by many fans, and have a huge following. The stores sell mainly exclusive merchandise.

The first Disney Store was opened in Glendale California, 1987. Since then, they’ve opened an impressive 387 stores around the globe. It is a product-based “retail-tainment” store. Well, it’s technically just a retail store. But through ambiance, design, and interactive activities, the stores create an entertaining element that reflects the Disney theme parks. For example, the stores always have Disney movies to watch and songs playing. They often have events for children (and fans of all ages). There are usually sections of the store with different themes and decorations. This creates a great customer experience. And it’s easier to sell products when people browse longer.

Around 2004, the stores weren’t doing so well. Disney started to license the store to other retail companies like the Children’s Place. When Disney bought Pixar back in 2006, Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, was a shareholder of Pixar. Jobs helped redesign the new stores, in a fun, innovative way.

A store website was created in 2007. They’ve since rebranded it as ShopDisney.

New, innovative, and interactive stores have been growing like never before. Almost every store has some form of digital display. While the Disney Store still has room for improvement, it helped pioneer the idea of “retail entertainment”.

A business lesson to learn from the Disney store, is that great retail is not just about a customer buying a product. It’s also about the experience.

Biology Lesson 20 Essay

Answer ONE of the questions below in an essay of about 150-250 words (you may write a longer essay, if you wish). Be sure to include facts and details from the past 4 (or more) lessons, as this will help you remember and understand them better.

Post your essay on your blog, and post a link to your essay in the Biology forum.

Someone sneaks up behind you and shouts, “Boo!” For a few seconds your heart beats faster. You did not run or do any physical activity that would increase your heart rate. What caused your heart to beat so fast?

This is thanks to sensors on your cells, called receptors. Cells receive chemical signals from their receptors that tell them about all sorts of information. This includes what their nearby cells are doing, what actions they need to take, materials to produce, and more.

Specifically, a type of receptors known as GPCR’s. These G-Protein coupled receptors do many different things, but in this case, they activate your “Fight or Flight” response. This response occurs when your brain senses that you’re in danger. When your body switches into ‘flight’ mode to run away (or ‘fight’ mode, to defend yourself), it needs a way to tell all your cells that something is happening. G-proteins are activated by a signal from the receptor, to start a reaction in your cells.

In response to this sudden stress, the pituitary gland sends hormones to your adrenal gland. Then, the adrenal gland releases a group of hormones, called catecholamines. This includes epinephrine– more commonly known as adrenaline. If you’ve ever been on a roller coaster, you’ll know what a sudden release of adrenaline feels like! The hormones tells your body to react instantly:

Your body will start pumping lots of blood to your muscles and increase your heart rate, while your liver breaks down glucose and releases sugar into the blood stream. Your lungs expand, so that your respiration rate can speed up– all so that you get more energy to fight, or run away as fast as possible.

Western Civilization Lesson 20 Essay: Socrates and Plato Questions

Week 4 writing assignment Answer two of the following: (there were three options, I chose the two below.)

1. What was the disagreement Socrates had with the Sophists?

Socrates was a philosopher that lived during the 5th century. He was against the Sophist’s view of moral relativity. Their nonchalant teaching that you could simply believe and do whatever you wish, disturbed him. Sophists didn’t even agree with each other. You would pay a Sophist to teach you, but Socrates lectured for free. He argues that while he sought the truth, the Sophists were just entertainers who would try to deceive their audience.

His belief was that a good life consists of the pursuit of knowledge. Socrates was ultimately punished for “corrupting” the students of Athens- the Sophists must have had enough humiliation from him. He was tried in court and found guilty of impiety, then sentenced to death.

3. What qualities does Plato’s ideal monarch — the “philosopher-king” — possess?

In Plato’s ideal civilization, there are 3 classes in a city-state. These classes are Artisans, Auxiliaries, and Guardians. He also calls the Guardians “philosoper-kings”. The Artisans do all the common work, like farming, the Auxiliaries would protect the state and serve in war, and the philosopher-kings would be in charge of the entire state. They would be the most educated of classes, but their education would be heavily censored to keep them from immorality and evil. Plato would even ban the works of Homer, because they portray the Greek gods as immoral. They would be experts in “The Forms”. In short, the Forms are permanent, abstract ideas separate from out material world. For example, if dogs ceased to exist, the “form of dog” would not change. Though Plato discussed the form of virtues, not dogs. He based the classes off of his idea of the soul. Each virtue of the soul would reflect one of the classes in the city. Guardians represent the virtues of wisdom and justice.

Men and women would have the same education and could both be Guardians. Guardians could not have personal relationships. Marriage, and producing children, in the class of the philosopher-kings would be controlled. Their children were raised in state nurseries, away from the parents. Plato believed that this would be for the best, because if the Guardians didn’t know their families, they could rule fairly and without favoritism.

This heavily controlled civilization would seem horrifying to most people, but Plato thought his idea of a monarchy was perfect. It might work in theory, but in real life, it would probably end up like the society in a dystopian novel.

English Lesson 10 Essay: Ethics of Noah

Write 500 words on this: “What was the importance of ethics and sanctions in the story of Noah and the Flood?” This could include God’s attitude toward sin, God’s covenant law with mankind, or Noah’s view of family ethics.

The Flood

The story of Noah and the flood contains many symbols; including negative sanctions, covenants, grace, and peace.

God looked upon his people and realized that they had turned against him. They had become so wicked and corrupt, that He vowed to wipe them out with a flood. He didn’t do this out of anger, in fact, He grieved over this decision. There was one man that He spared, Noah, along with his family. Noah had three sons, and their names were Ham, Shem, and Japheth. They are important later on in Genesis. “Noah found grace in the eyes of God,” by following God his whole life and obeying His commandments. God gives an inheritance to those who keep his laws. He told Noah that He was going to destroy the people because of their violence and sin. He then ordered Noah to build an ark using specific directions and then bring different species of animals with him and his family. They stayed in the ark while it rained for forty days and forty nights.

After 150 days, the waters began receding. Noah began to send out a raven, and then a dove. The raven came back with nothing each time, but eventually, the dove returned with an olive leaf. The olive leaf was a sign of peace, to tell Noah that the flood was over and he was free to leave the ark and rebuild. God also created a rainbow as a permanent sign of his oath towards Noah and humanity: he would never repeat this flood. This is what God promised:

“I will never again curse the ground because of humans, even though from birth their hearts are set on nothing but evil. I will never again kill every living creature as I have just done.” -Genesis 8:21

After the Flood

After Noah and his family had settled, Noah planted a vineyard. One day he got drunk from his wine and fell asleep, unclothed, in his tent. Ham went to his tent and saw his nakedness. Instead of keeping it a secret, he went to tell his brothers. Shem and Japheth wanted to help their father and covered him without disturbing his privacy like Ham did. They did this by putting a robe over their shoulders and walking backwards to drop it on him. Noah later awoke and found out what had happened. He was greatly offended with Ham for this violation.

He cursed Ham’s family, saying that Ham’s son Canaan’s descendants will be the servants of Shem’s family. Ham’s other sons, Cush and Mizraim, were not servants. Since there is not much context, it’s hard to explain why one of Ham’s sons was cursed, but not the others. These verses have been wrongly interpreted for centuries as a justification for enslaving Africans, but the theme of the story was family hierarchy and punishment, not race.

Western Civilization Lesson 15 Essay: The Odyssey Questions

Answer two of the following questions.

1. Read Homer’s description of the Cyclopes (plural) in Book 9 of The Odyssey. Would you describe them as having a civilization? Why or why not?

No, they did not. From the just a short segment of the Odyssey, the reader can see how uncivilized they are. Odysseus, the hero of this story, describes them as lawless and inhuman. They grew no crops, but lived off wild grain, and wild grapes which they made into wine. Each cyclops had their own flock of goats and sheep which they would use for meat and cheese making. They didn’t have ships in order to travel or trade with other countries. Neighboring cyclopes ignored each other. They had no moral laws, assemblies, or government. In short, The Cyclopes did not have any form of civilization. They were simply wild, monstrous shepherds.

2. What happens between the Cyclops and Odysseus and his men? How does the story end?

He and men went ashore to the land of the Cyclopes to camp.

He went with a few of his best men to explore the land and to see if the Cyclopes were savage, or hospitable. They found a cave full of animal pens and racks of fine cheeses. They stole some cheese to eat and sacrifice. This cave belonged to the cyclops named Polyphemus.

While they were eating, the cyclops came in and closed the cave with a giant bolder that served as the door. At first he treated the men like visitors, asking them where they came from. But after talking to Odysseus he became angry, so he ate up two of the men and fell asleep.

The next morning, the cyclops went on with his day with the men still stuck in his cave. Odysseus thought of a plan. He and a few of his men were to carve the Polyphemus’s shepherd staff into a spike and bore it through his eye when he slept. When the cyclops came back, Odysseus offered him wine so that he would get drunk enough to fall asleep. The cyclops had asked Odysseus what his name was, so Odysseus said it was Noman. After eating two more people, the cyclops fell asleep long enough for them to stab his eye. Polyphemus shouted so loudly that all the cyclopes living nearby heard, and were curious enough to come find out what had happened. Polyphemus told them that ‘Noman’ was attacking him. Of course, all the other cyclopes decided he was crazy and left.

Odysseus and his men disguised themselves as sheep and went out with his flock. Once they had left the cave, they herded the sheep towards their ship. The blinded cyclops followed them to the edge of the island. As they set sail, Odysseus began to taunt him.

The Cyclops threw giant rocks at their ship, but missed. Then he cursed Ulysses, asking the god Neptune to make his journey home harder.

After a very narrow escape, and losing all of his companions along the way, Odysseus sailed back to Ithaca. When he came home he saw what had happened to his wife, Penelope, and son. His house was full of suitors who wanted to marry Penelope. They tried to convince her that Odysseus was dead and not coming back for her. She refused to believe them. Contrary to Greek customs, where hospitality is taken very seriously, the suitors would not leave. Odysseus arrived, secretly reunited with Penelope, and killed every one of the suitors. Odysseus’ journey lasted a total of 20 years: 10 years in the Trojan war and then a 10 year journey to his homeland.

Business Lesson 15 Essay: The 5 Step Sale

Write a 250 word essay on Harry Browne’s 5-point sales process.

There are a lot of myths about making sales. You don’t need to be pushy or manipulative to be a success. You don’t even have to be good at talking to people! Just follow Harry Browne’s 5 easy steps to a great sale:

#1: Discover your customer’s motivation.

Motivation means more than just the product, it’s what the product (or service) will achieve for your customer. Don’t bother trying to sell something to the wrong person, they should actually be looking for the type of product you offer in the first place. Ask questions to find out what people are looking for. Get the customer talking about what they’ve been missing and what they want.

#2: Summarize the Motivation.

Once you’ve found out if you have what the customer is looking for, it’s time to summarize what they’ve told you. Ask the customer if they agree with you about what they want, and if they do, present your product.

#3: Present your product or service to the customer.

Remember to talk about your product focusing on the customer’s needs and wants, instead of every single feature you offer. For example, If they’re interested in the safety of your trampoline for their children, they won’t care as too much that it comes in different colors.

#4: Answer Questions.

This is a very simple step, and often won’t even be necessary. Answer their questions and overcome objections. Listen, agree, and suggest.

#5: Close the sale

The customer will sometimes close the sale for you, but you should ask in most cases. In other words, this is the “call to action” step, where you and the customer will write up contracts, collect payments, and finish the transaction.

If you follow these steps, sales will be easy and profitable, and you’ll get loyal, satisfied customers.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies (Gluten Free Recipe)

I love this recipe! I’ve made it 3 times already. It’s based off of a chocolate chip cookies from King Arthur flour, but I changed it up a bit.

• Recipe here. (Not mine, I just made some changes.)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/3 cups Gluten free all purpose flour (The BEST gluten free flour recipe!)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of macadamia nuts

Directions from King Arthur Flour Website: (with changes)

1. Beat the butter, sugars, vanilla and salt till fluffy.
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl midway through to make sure everything is well combined.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
4. Beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then blend in the white chocolate chips and nuts. Again, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to be sure everything is well blended.
5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes in the freezer or 1 hour in the fridge.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets, or line with parchment.
7. Scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Leave space between the cookies so they can spread.
8. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes and allow to cool.

* The image belongs to me! (cozyoubliette.wordpress.com)

Business Lesson 10 Essay: Franchise or Independent Business?

Write a 250 word essay comparing the franchise model against going independent and “doing your own thing.”

Franchise

With a franchise, once you pay the fees, much of the work is done for you. The company has already taken care of marketing, branding, and helps you train employees. They can even help you find a location. It’s usually a low risk investment, but you also have to share your profits with the franchisers.

It can be really expensive to start a franchises in some cases: Starting a McDonald’s begins at 1,000,000 dollars. If you want to have a smaller, less expensive franchise, you’d still need to have at least $20,000. It really depends what type of franchise you want.

Independent Company

In most cases, creating your own business comes with a lower initial cost, but more work and planning on your part. There can also be higher risks. Fortunately, when it comes to an online business, like selling a product, you don’t have much to lose.

I personally like the idea of starting an independent business more than franchise. If you have an independent business, you can be as innovative as you like with your product or service. You can control every aspect of your business (after government fees and regulations and such.) You can start small as just a hobby or side job if you want to.

Which is better for you?

It depends how much money you’re willing to spend, and what works better with your lifestyle. If you don’t have at least 210,000 on hand to pay the franchise fees (not to mention supplies, or a location), it would be better to start a small independent business. But if you have the money but don’t have time to work on your own company, you should consider a franchise.

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