holidays

Peter Singer tries to make a very convincing argument on the actions of people in the world. Singer says the amounts of people living in affluent nations are duty bound to help those who are less fortune in other nations or their own nation. I agree with Singers assumption that suffering and death is bad. I also agree that if we are able to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing something that is moral important to us, we should do so. I do not, however, agree the ideas that Singer deduces from this. He says we ought to give money to people suffer up to the point where we can still be secure, and that we ought not to spend on items that are not for basic needs.

From these conclusions I disagree with Singer. I feel that he would be opposed to Thanksgiving because of the amount of money spent on this occasion. Even though the amount of money for this holiday might be relatively low compared to other holidays, I feel he would disagree with our traditional ways of celebrating it.

I feel that Thanksgiving and the traditions that go along with it are moral. Thanksgiving is a time were we give thanks for having food and shelter. We should not feel that we are immoral people because we have food and are thankful for it. Singer feels that the money spent on the turkey and all of the fixings would be better off spent on starving people. I agree with Singer that if we had extravagant meals like this often or at least more than a couple a times a year then he is right, we should give this money away.

Although I also feel that since this is a one time of year activity and that we do not indulge ourselves in meals similar to this everyday then there is no need for that money to be donated to others. This may sound shocking, but I feel that celebrations like this are what keep some people in our society going in their tough times, and that people need to indulge and treat themselves occasionally. If this was a common or everyday celebration then I would say, never should we be spending this much indulging ourselves when we can be helping others. People who spend enormous amounts of money indulging themselves should take that money and donate it, but not those who do these kinds of actions scarcely.

Another argument I make for the good of the traditional Thanksgiving celebration is that it is part of our society and culture. It unite people and makes people feel like they have to give thanks for all that they have. For if everyone was on the same level in life, no one would feel the need to give thanks to God. I conclude with the statement that the economy is also a reason we need to not give large amounts savings away. For if everyone was eventually on the same level there would be no need for certain jobs and missions of charities, and those people would have to go into an already struggling economy right now and try to find a job, and could end up in the same suffering situation as the person they were trying to help.

Before I get down to my presentation I want to introduce myself better and tell you a little bit about me. I was born on a beautiful Monday in 1984 in the city of Puebla. I live with my mom, sister, and my handsome one-year-old son. I’m a single mother trying to do the best I can for my son, however, I get a lot of help from my family, especially from my mom  I also have a boyfriend. We love each other very much and plan to get married in the near future. He is always there for me, as I’m always there for him too, and I think that’s what makes our relationship so special. Even if we’re far away from each other, we both know we can count on one another. Respect and trust are the main aspects for us, but it isn’t always easy, especially when you live in different places. He’s very protective of me, and gets jealous very easily, but it always comes to the bottom part, which is how much we love each other. We call and write each other every day. Because he’s in college outside the country, we only get to see each other on vacations and some holidays.  I love holidays, as I’m sure many people do, but my favorite one has to be Christmas…which is what I’ve decided to make my presentation about. Christmas to me is a celebration that includes spending quality time with my family and loved ones, decorating the entire house, inside and out, and shopping for the people I love. Doing this with the people I love is what means the most to me. Spending Christmas with my family is very important to me. We usually gather and celebrate at my grandparent’s house. We spend the day cooking, baking cookies, and preparing a big Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

Decorating for Christmas is so much fun. My grandfather always draws a new background scenery, for the Nativity scene, that he displays every year. He, my uncles, brother-in-law and my boyfriend start with the decorations for the outside of the house. Every year, my grandparents add a little more to the outside decorations. My mom, grandmother, aunts, sister, the children and myself decorate the inside of the house. My grandmother has so many indoor decorations that they cannot all possibly be displayed. We try to change the decorations that we put out every year. The men finish up just about the same time as we women and then it is time to decorate the tree together. This is the part I love the most. The tree is always real, and always decorated with as many lights as possible. Most of the ornaments have been collected over the years and are very old. They have become real family treasures. We all have a favorite one that we each put on the tree.

I am not usually a shopper, but during the Christmas season, I actually enjoy shopping. I rarely go into department stores, but during the Christmas season, I love to shop. The stores are so beautifully decorated and very festive. I can easily get carried away, with spending so much money. I must admit the thought of spending too much money hardly comes to mind. I can just picture the look on the faces of my family and that brings me so much joy. Some gifts I have picked out and purchased months ahead of time, either through catalogs or shopping a little early when stores have sales. Others I struggle to decide what gift to purchase, even up to the very last minute possible. One thing is for certain, by the time my shopping is done, I am exhausted but happy and excited about Christmas. I feel so fortunate, to have my family throughout the year, but especially at Christmas time. When I can show my family and the people who are close to me just how much I love them and what exactly they mean to me. That is so very important to me. Christmas for me is about being with my loved ones, sharing a day loving each other, and showing each other exactly how we all feel.

It was the 3rd of August 2002 and we were going on the annual camping holiday with the scouts, after a whole year’s planning and waiting excitedly hoping it would live up to the greatness of our last few camps. There was me, Oliver, Clutz, Pookie, Callem, David and Damien who was also known as Ginger Monkey. We named Damien Ginger Monkey after he had climbed a gigantic tree in the church yard without any struggle; the ginger bit came from the colour of his hair. We arrived at Waddecarr around 10am. Waddecarr is about 20 miles from Blackpool.

On arrival first impressions were not good, the place was waterlogged and nothing could be seen for trees and a big stone lodge. Beyond the lodge were limestone paths’ leading off from the car park and a river was flowing freely in the distance. The air was quite cold and slight dew hung to the grass. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and there wasn’t a breeze. We left our tents and other belongings in the land rover and minibus and went to find our site. The site was a large one. The ground was all freshly cut grass and there was a small limestone path running by.

At the back of the site was a row of trees in front of a small ditch in which a small stream lied. To the left of the site was a small wooden building with a small door which was open and to the right was more trees. The DB tent was planned to be placed next to the trees at the back, on the left we were to have the leaders’ sleeping and eating tents and on the right our sleeping and eating tents. A DB tent is where we keep all the equipment and food for the week. The DB tent was the biggest, so we put this up first.

It took 15 men to lift up the tent while a little scout went running round shoving each bottom pole into the ones being held by people. When the DB tent was up we stared at it for a while then split from the leaders to put up our own two tents and the leaders put up theirs. We had the tent with all the broken pegs and strings which fell down six times before we had it erected fully. The tents were done after four hours and we were very bored of looking at each other, which wasn’t a pretty site, so we went looking for a bit of totty round the camp site.

Totty is just a word we use for good looking females because it’s easier to say. We found some totty but we had a problem because we were all too chicken to talk to them, I think it’s a fear of rejection thing, so we sent the no fear zoo animal, Ginger Monkey in to talk to them. Ginger Monkey’s a bit special, he’ll talk to anyone, even himself or a tree. Anyway he did well so we rewarded him by petting him like we would pet a dog or a cat but some of the petting was too hard and he fell to the ground.

Twist is quite over weight and he fell on Ginger Monkey while he was on the floor which must have hurt considering he size of Twist and the noise that Ginger Monkey made when Twist rolled over onto his arm. Ginger Monkey made a big scene and screamed like a little girl and started throwing a paddy like he was having a fit on the floor. We dragged Damien by his wrists and dragged him back to our site through mud and puddles because of the embarrassment this child had caused us. When we arrived back he was filthy and he smelled like a wet dog. We had tea in the cooking tent while Ginger Monkey ate his on the grass looking at the trees.

After tea there was the task everybody hates… washing up. This really did suck when you were washing pans, about 20 mess tins, plates, knifes and forks. Ginger Monkey was washing in one bowl and Callem was rinsing in another. I didn’t trust Ginger Monkey at a job like washing up so I volunteered to help wash up to check if they were doing right. Ginger Monkey was complaining about his arm that Twist had rolled on and was refusing to do anymore washing up, so I grabbed the arm and stuck it in the water. Ginger Monkey let out a big cry and went running towards the path.

What Ginger Monkey didn’t know was me, Clutz and Twist had put a piece of rope around our site to stop kids running through and Ginger Monkey ran straight into the rope which was at his neck height. The rope stopped him running and took him to the floor. Ginger Monkey lay still on the floor for a while until someone ran over to see if he was alright. Me, Twist and Clutz were laughing our hearts out at this moment but stopped when he didn’t move. Was he dead? We should be so lucky. He got up when everyone ran over and looked at us over his little gold glasses with evil eyes. If looks could kill, I wouldn’t be here today writing this story.

Nobody knew Ginger Monkey’s arm was broken yet, so we carried on as normal, sitting around chatting and playing stupid games which weren’t even fun but we did them anyways’ before going to bed at around 11pm. That night Twist, Clutz, Pookie and I went on a little walk around the site while everyone was asleep before retiring to our sleeping tent and chatting some more. After a while everything was quiet because some old guy had told us to be quiet and Twist said he could feel something warm and wet on the bottom of his feet which made me and Clutz crack up with laughter but Twist looked worried.

I took a look at Twist’s feet and saw Ginger Monkey there licking his feet. Twist kicked Ginger Monkey hard to stop him licking his feet but Ginger Monkey bit his big toe. Oliver screamed and woke everyone up. We threw Ginger Monkey out of the tent in his sleeping bag into the sludge and pouring rain to sleep out there. Later that morning around 3am Twist needed the toilet so he stepped outside the tent forgetting all about Ginger Monkey and peed on his head. Ginger Monkey never moved and just opened his mouth, Twist by this time realised Ginger Monkey was there and started aiming at his mouth.

This was day one of Waddecarr 2002 Camp. What did the rest of the week have in store for us? We had fun throughout the week with all the activities which led to Pookie accidentally nearly shooting himself with a rifle, Gary Ward nearly drowning in Blackpool swimming baths, pulling Pookie’s shorts down in front of a few good looking girls, Twist rolling down the beach taking out an old lady, me and Clutz pulled two sexy ladies on the next site and some other scouts tied Twist to a fallen tree over the river. This was a really good scout camp after all. I can’t wait for next year.

General Introduction The Parties have become a major player In politics In the late nineteenth century. The functioning of political regimes is deeply committed to the existence of these political parties that did not exist in the eighteenth century and were still embryonic in the early nineteenth century. In the totalitarian, one-party organizing manipulation. This explains the importance of parties in this type of regime.

The importance of parties is also true In pluralist democracies because there Is a democratic competition : intention between political parties that compete for the conquest of Institutions and power. As the parties have a monopoly of electoral offer, they effectively control all elected offices, this means that the party has a virtual monopoly on the selection of leaders. For all these reasons, if we want to understand how liberal democracies work, one must understand how a political party works. What is a political party?

A political party is an organized association that brings together citizens united by a common Ideology or philosophy, which she seeks fulfillment , with the goal of inquest and exercise of power. This Is an organization In the service of an Idea. The political environment is not the same everywhere. It may give a different country to another characteristic of a locality to another. These characteristics result in particular the diversity of political parties, but also systems of parties that are not uniform. In France, the role of political parties has been enshrined in the Constitution of 1 958 (art. 4), which since 1999 also gives their mission Is to promote equal access for women and men to electoral mandates and elective functions. Law f 11 March 1988 on the financing of political parties said they form and pursue their activities freely, they are endowed with legal personality and can take legal action. ) The French political system can often seem bewildering and difficult to follow. Compared to Britain or the ASSAI, France seems to have a plethora of political parties.

Politicians, supposedly of the political right, may be heard defending positions more often held by political parties of the left in many other countries, and In recent French history, a good proportion of the economic liberation’s that has taken place In France has been pushed through by governments of the left. ‘-Type of political parties In a country, political parties are not all identical. Several factors can help to distinguish the number and quality of members, voting, discipline or schools of thought.

Depending on each element, we will have several types of parties. The most common distinction In political science remains that which Is established by Maurice Diverge between Mass Party and Cadre Party. We must therefore distinguish different types of parties: A- The Cadre Party The Cadre Party was born in the nineteenth century. The Cadre Party it’s a parties they are parties of notables (resulting in a first time, the bourgeoisie or aristocracy) and traditionally are right or center. Example: the Radical Party in France.

The first parties were historically Cadre Parties. It was Initially parliamentary groups together the reputation, prestige, and sometimes money. All these parties remain poorly structured. The authority is exercised within the party executive is both personal and decentralized. It normally operates at the district and national bodies cadre parties are little more than the Juxtaposition of local influences. B- The Mass Party The Mass Party was born in the early twentieth century with the development of Socialism and Communism.

Their goal is the transformation of society and the creation of a new social order. For this, they rely on a structured and hierarchical organization and a large number of members and ensuring financial autonomy and supervision of party voters ; Example: the Socialist Party in France Unlike Cadre Parties, which are created spontaneously, Mass Parties were the result of a conscious . Notable party executives are reluctant to defend extreme positions, specially if they are contrary to their interest.

These considerations explain the emergence in the late nineteenth century Mass Parties and the fact that the first of them were socialist parties. Two objectives necessitate the creation of a Mass Party: compensation by the number of low social influence of the proletariat and educational purposes. The operation of the Mass Party rigorously apply democratic principles. Members are similar to the electorate. They elect delegates to the congress who meet regularly and take the most important decisions: adoption and amendment of the statutes, election management bodies.

Last February, I experienced something new: a party with my friends. My birthday parties were usually just family and maybe one friend, but
this time I got to invite several friends. Lupe arrived first. She and I have been growing apart for a while, so it was awkward with just her there. I talked to her for a few minutes, then the others got there. When everyone had just arrived, we hung out in the hallway at first
because it was a little awkward. My mom had hired a girl to do our nails, so when she arrived we all went into the living room where she

got started on our nails. At that point, everyone started having fun.

I hadn’t seen, Lara or Duu’aa in a while; I got to catch up with them then, which I very much enjoyed. Lara is often stressed out. That
night, however, she was in a very good mood so we had fun just talking. I hadn’t seen Duu’aa in over a year, so I was very excited
that she was coming. I was happy to see her and Lara and just talk them. The conversations themselves weren’t anything special; it was
just seeing two friends I’d missed that made me so happy. Ashley had drunk too much coffee earlier that day, so she was very hyper.

This made the party more fun, because she kept laughing at everything, which made me laugh. That was the most fun I had in as long as I can remember. Nothing could bother me that night. I don’t have much of a social life; despite this being my sixteenth birthday party, it was the first time I’d had lots of friends over and it put me in the best mood I remember ever being in. This experience reminds me of what God said in Genesis: “It is not good for man to be alone.” To me this says that I need to become closer to my friends, because I long for deeper friendships.

This party is a wonderful memory to me. I thought I held on to it because I felt so happy that night, but looking back now, I realize that it’s
more than that. I held on to this memory because it was a time that I had a taste of something I want so badly- lots of close friends. Grandma says that because I never went to school, I never learned how to make friends. I think she’s right about that. However, while I never
gained social skills that other kids have gained from going to school, I gained something much more precious- a solid foundation in my Catholic faith.

Being raised in a strong Catholic Christian environment, I was sheltered from many bad influences. I do wonder what would have happened if I had gone to public school, but I am grateful to my parents that I wasn’t. It would probably have been much easier for Mom to put my
siblings and I in school and let others take care of us during the  day, but she didn’t do that. She loved us enough to sacrifice the time that many other mothers have to themselves during the school day and to sacrifice in many other ways also. She continues to do so
everyday.

‘Tis the season of gift-giving, extra family time, sweet treats and a joyous feeling floating through the air. All good things, except when those holiday staples result in increased time-off requests, less focused employees and Cyber Monday internet browsing not related to work. It’s possible to keep the holiday spirit alive while also ensuring that business runs without a hitch through the fall and winter months. Business owners and managers — consider implementing these four best practices in order to negate the annual holiday holdup.

Assign accountability.

Increasing the level of responsibility an employee has provides a greater sense of ownership. The more accountability one has, the more motivated they are to produce their best work. Promoting this concept is especially important during the holiday season in order to ensure that work doesn’t fall off the grid as people itch to leave the office early or get distracted by those online holiday sales. Particularly for millennial workers, showing them that is a surefire way for them to take full responsibility of designated projects, therefore preventing them from succumbing to cold-induced laziness. Knowing that staff members feel accountable for their work also allows for greater peace of mind when business owners travel to see family and friends during the holidays.

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Let go.

On the flip side, for some entrepreneurs, letting go of control can be intimidating — a blow to the ego. According to Aaron Skonnard, president and CEO of Pluralsight, the best leaders are those who provide experienced and reliable employees with full autonomy, which also allows for greater growth potential. The key here is to “abandon the one-man band syndrome” and to work with people who are actually more skilled than the founder in certain areas. Even the smartest entrepreneurs have their shortcomings, so trust in employees is paramount.

Modern office environments are also moving towards the trend of hiring virtual assistants in order to optimize operations and maintain a competitive advantage. There’s a misconception that virtual assistants are brought in to replace staff, but that’s not the case. As the workplace evolves, there should still be a central team of key people, with virtual assistants augmenting the team. Some entrepreneurs are finding that it makes less sense to employ a ton of people who are not individually efficient, and more sense to have a core team and then entrust the rest to on-demand skilled workers in the areas where help is required. 

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Delegating to trusted employees and/or virtual assistants also gives business owners the gift of time back. Whether it’s having the bandwidth to work on a creative idea they’ve been playing with, taking an overdue vacation or just being able to disconnect for a weekend to enjoy their family’s company, passing the torch is a vital step in keeping the momentum going. In a business owner’s absence, they must set clear goals for their employees to meet, provide them with the necessary tools to work independently, equally and fairly delegate and plan check-ins upon their return.

Indulge employee distractions and foster fun.

As online holiday shopping sales become unavoidable — as well as the looming task of buying gifts for everyone on your list — employees will inevitably be distracted from work. In fact,  that the internet is the biggest distraction for their employees. In the same vein as “if you can’t beat them join them,” consider providing staff with an unexpected reward like indulging them with an hour of uninterrupted online shopping time during their lunch break on Cyber Monday. The idea behind providing employees with this free time is that inevitable online shopping distraction will ideally be contained to only this designated period during the work day, with potential consequences if not abided by. Another option on a simpler level is to hold a contest where the winner receives a gift card that they can use for their holiday purchases.

In order to combat the stuck-inside winter blues, infuse some fun into the workplace environment. Offer periodic office lunches, host a holiday party or organize a gift exchange so that employees can get to know each other on a personal level, in turn promoting a stronger team. A found that work friendships can boost employee satisfaction by 50 percent, and people with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to engage fully in their work. That’s argument enough to not just plan an office holiday party, but get excited about it!

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At the end of the day, nothing can fully combat Monday to Friday daydreaming of holiday parties and Christmas morning with the family. However, it’s important that business owners consider these tactics in order to ensure that business runs at peak efficiency all 12 months of the year. By assigning accountability, conveying a trusting relationship and embracing the lighthearted spirit of the season, staff will be more inclined to put their best work and best selves forward, in turn keeping business momentum moving and giving entrepreneurs the ability to step away, reboot and have a happy holiday themselves. 

Tara Heubel Eng 101 Section 1130 Essay 2 Final draft Tis the Season For most people the holiday season is a very happy time. It is a time for laughter and rejoicing. It is during the holiday season that we begin to see and hear from loved ones that may not always be in touch. Friends and family from everywhere begin to make contact during this time of year in hopes to send merry wishes for the year and year to come. However not all people are overcome with the “holiday spirit,” but are rather plagued with the feeling of sadness and loneliness.

This small group of people struggle through the holiday season. There are many different variables that may lead to this frustration during this time of year. No matter what the reason may be for feeling so down, the fact remains that for these individuals the holidays cause serious depression. With all the celebrating that takes place during the holidays host and hostesses may just be the most underrated people working hard to make the holiday celebration a great success!

Unless you are the yearly host of a holiday get together, you really have no idea about the burden and stress that can be placed on the person who is coordinating the celebration. There are people to invite, food to purchase and prepare, decorations to hang, presents to wrap, and an atmosphere to set. The host of the party is usually preparing for the main event several months ahead of time, that is if he or she is smart, to be sure that nothing is forgotten. After all, there won’t be another party like this one till next year.

If the party goes well it will be talked about all year long and people will be excited to return for future celebrations! This is ideally what every host is hoping to achieve. The perfect celebration! Every year the media portrays holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years as even bigger and bigger events. They run an unlimited amount of advertisements portraying perfect celebrations with the perfect decorations and the perfect meal. Every home is filled with laughing faces and happy hearts. It is as if you have stepped right into a Norman Rockwell painting!

People are compelled to be wearing the perfect outfit. They hope to give and to receive the perfect gift. They anticipate eating the perfect holiday feast with all the wonderful side dishes and rows of lavish desserts, pies, and cookies! It should not go unmentioned that all this striving for perfection is the perfect recipe for holiday depression and stress. With all this emphasis placed on the perfect celebration; God forbid you make a mistake! Lets just think about it for a second, have you ever been to the grocery store or any shopping environment for that matter during the holidays?

It is nothing short of mass chaos! There are gangs of last minute shoppers and frustrated consumers tearing through what is left of seasonal or holiday items. To be such a supposed jolly time of year, there are many, many angry people shopping. With everyone feeling the stress of this time of year it seems to bring out a darker side of us in the form of what I like to call “shopping rage. ” People are frantically searching for last minute gift ideas or perhaps they just realized they had forgotten something detrimental for their feast or decor.

Another popular reason for spending hours of wasted stress filled time is due to finding the right attire to model during the get together. This outfit rarely gets worn ever again after the four or five hours you’ve had it on it ends up in the back of the closet never to be seen again. This is of course after you have spent three hours finding it, trying on several combinations of red, green, black, and gold. Making sure to match and pull together every last article of clothing from the jewelry to the shoes and everything in between.

About One hundred and fifty dollars later you have the perfect outfit that you will never wear again! Wanting things to work out perfectly, becomes an obsession for the individual who is burdened with the responsibility of executing the most memorable celebration. Only in a perfect world does everything always work out as planned. In this world however, there are just too many opportunities for something not to work out as planned so mistakes and accidents should be expected. Not everyone is able to accept this truth though.

Some people end up spending so much time worrying about doing everything so right that they end up missing out on the “good stuff” like the time spent with loved ones. These people spend the whole holiday depressed and stressed out about meeting out materialistic cultures ideal standards for the holiday celebrations. With all the celebrating and gift giving, and decorating and throwing parties and preparing grand meals, and everything else that is associated with the holidays does anyone ever stop to ponder the incre`dible amount of money that is dumped by the millions every year into generating the “holiday season? I am sure it comes as no surprise that most people save all year long just to be prepared for this time of year. Everywhere you look during this time of year there are advertisements, one after another, urging people to spend, spend, SPEND! These ads always seem to suggest that if you don’t have an over the top lavish party that is even bigger and better than the last, then you have failed as a human to do what was expected of you during the holidays. There is truly something lost in all this misinterpreted meaning of the holidays.

I mean when did celebrating time with the ones you love become such “BIG BUSINESS? ” For far too many people the holiday season brings about serious depression caused by the inability for these people to afford the ridiculous things that they feel must be purchased in order to have a “proper” celebration especially if they have children. Parents always want their kids to have the best of the best and they want to buy them whatever gift it is that they have wanted and asked for all year long! However, people who don’t have enough money to get these things are struck with a great deal of depression.

These same people may not have enough money to purchase everything society says we need for an extravagant meal or over the top decorations and parties. For all of these things have nothing at all to do with the true meaning of the holidays, still somehow far too much importance has been placed on materialistic things. No matter what the reason may be for a person felling the strain of holiday blues weighing them down, the fact remains that the holiday season can cause a great deal of sadness and depression for many different people.