The Work And History Of Green Day Music Essay

The Work And History Of Green Day Music Essay Its something unpredictable, but in the end its right. I hope you had the time of your life. Most people have heard this song on the radio at some point or another as it gets played frequently. This is one of Green Days biggest hits called Good Riddance, from the album Nimrod. Every Green Day fan at some point must have wondered how Green Day went from being a local band filling tiny clubs with a few hundred fans to an international best-selling band filling huge stadiums for their shows. It sure wasnt an easy road. Things were tough in the beginning. They never gave up even though they were hardly making any money for a few years. Green Day had a huge influence on music throughout the 90s, so heres their story. Billie Joe Armstrong was born on February 17, 1972. His father Andy Armstrong played drums in a jazz band and was a truck driver to make money. Five year old Billie Joe began singing in childrens hospitals and old peoples homes to keep them company. He was already developing his musical abilities at such a young age. This marked his entrance into the world of music. Later that year, he recorded his first studio song called Looking for Love. Right before Andy passed away, he bought young Billie a 1956 Fender Stratocaster copy made by Fernandez. This really sparked an interest in the promising musician-to-come. He called this guitar Blue, and he played it till it could be played no more. He really wore this guitar down, and later had copies of it created so he could still use his trademark guitar while playing shows. Next, came along Mike Dirnt on May 4, 1972. His mother was a heroin addict that had separated from his father, so he was adopted soon after birth. He was born with an enlarged mitral valve in his heart, which would cause him to have panic attacks and nervousness later in life. One night, his mother brought home a new guy and he was to be Mikes new step-dad. They never hit it off until Mikes mom moved away. But his sted-dad passed away when Mike was 17, so he moved back in with his mother. Mike was a tall, skinny, energetic kid and was also a class clown. He met Billie Joe in 1983 at school, and the two hit it off because they had a similar sense of humor. They bonded over their love for The Ramones. Mike had been messing around on the guitar, but then switched over to bass. He and Billie Joe wrote their first song together called Best Thing in Town. Both came from very poor families, and they had barely any money to afford records or instruments. The only way for them to hear music w as to play it. So Mike saved up for a bass. Tre Cool was born on December 9, 1972. His dad had flown helicopters in Vietnam. Wanting to get away from civilization, his dad moved them near the town Willets up in the mountains where their closest neighbor was a mile away. Turns out this neighbor would be a huge influence on Tre Cool. Larry Livermore, a punk rock fan, magazine writer, and musician would let Tre Cool hangout at his house and listen to his records. One of Larrys friends had moved to Brazil and left his drum set at Larrys house. Tre Cool started to play it occasionally and became interested in drumming to punk rock right away. Eventually, Larry recruited Tre to play drums and a local named Kain Kong to play bass. They formed the punk band called The Lookouts. They released their debut 12/cassette single, One Planet One People, on Larrys newly created Lookout! Records. They went on to record a few more albums/eps with Tre on drums. During April 1986, a venue was discovered at 924 Gilman Street, which was a run-down industrial area. Many local punks helped clean up the venue and begin turning it into a real venue; not some run-down abandoned building. After passing the health, safety, and fire inspections, it held its very first show on December 31, 1986. This venue quickly became the staple for many punk bands. A lot of punk bands that made it big in the 1990s started playing shows at Gilman Street. One of these bands was the precursor to Green Day, Sweet Children. Sweet Children formed sometime during 1987. It consisted of Billie Joe, Mike, and they recruited a drummer by the name of John Kiffmeyer, aka Al Sobrante. After a few practices, they played their first show in 1987 at the side lounge at Rods Hickory Pit to about 30 friends and a few patrons wondering what the noise was. The show went over well, and Rod sold enough ribs to invite the band back for a second show. Afterwards, they began playing shows wherever there was a power supply- house parties, garages, and at school. It was at one of these shows that the band first met Larry Livermore. Sweet Children played in front of five people, but they played their hearts out which drew Larrys attention. On November 26, 1988, Sweet Children had their first gig at Gilman Street. They were so well-received that they played again on January 1, 1989, and a third time on February 11, 1989, supporting Chrimpshrine at the bands last show ever. They played their fourth show at Gilman in 3 months on February 24, but this time they were second on the bill, as opposed to opening. In early 1989, Sweet Children went into a local studio and recorded four tracks. Displeased with their current name, they played their last show as Sweet Children on April 1, and changed it to Green Day shortly afterwards. The name was inspired by a remark made by the character Ernie on Sesame Street. They released their first single in April 1989 on Lookout! Records. It was entitled 1,000 Hours, and they released in under their new name Green Day. On March 20, 1989, Operation Ivy played their final show and Green Day also played this show as the first with their new name. Billie Joe had enough of home life by 1989, and he moved out to join Mike living in an abandoned building on West 7th and Peralta, located in West Oakland. He also dropped out of school on February 16, 1990; the day before his 18th birthday. This was a good career move for Billie Joe because it allowed him to focus all his attention to Green Day. After seeing the success of 1,000 Hours, Larry Livermore signed Green Day to Lookout! Records. On December 29, 1989, Green Day entered the studio to begin recording their first full-length and the recording started at 4:30 p.m. By January 2nd, the album was mixed and mastered. The total cost was $675 for the studio time. To test how well the album would do, Larry recorded another single called Slappy, and released that sometime in 1990. It was generally well-received and built their fan base even further and solidified the idea of releasing their first full-length. Early in 1990, Green Days first full-length was released on vinyl, cassette, and CD. The name was 39/Smooth. It was pulled from the band constantly saying smooth. Also, it was Billie Joes brothers 39th birthday and he jokingly mentioned that they should add this somewhere in the title. Billie Joe had one goal in 1990: keeping the band going at all costs. He concentrated on booking a 45-date US tour for the band, and he managed to do so. As soon as Mike graduated school, they left for the tour. On the inlay of the Slappy EP, it read the following: To raise spending money for the tour, Mike shucked clams, Billie Joe flipped pizzas, and John drove a diaper truckà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ During this tour, Billie Joe met a girl in Minnesota named Adrienne, and he fell for her pretty fast. He booked a few tours afterwards around seeing her. While they were touring in Minneapolis, they went into a local studio and recorded four songs for an EP in a low-budget and quick manner. Sweet Children EP was r eleased on Minneapoliss Skene! in late 1990. During July 1990, the Lookouts played their final show. They decided to call it quits because they simply lived too far away from each other to schedule practices. But they also left behind IV, a four track single that featured Billie Joe on lead guitar and backing vocals, which was released in January 1991. Al Sobrante decided to quit Green Day in autumn 1990 in order to go to college full time. Dave EC from Filth and the Wynona Ryders filled in on the drums for a few weeks, but he quit on his own. Finally in November 1990, the two asked Tre Cool to play drums for them. He agreed, and the line-up for Green Day was finally solidified. He fit right in the band with his quirky sense of humor and his energy. They embarked on their first US tour with Tre in 1991. One night after a New Orleans show, they returned to their van only to find that someone had broken in and stolen their money and most of their possessions. Even after that, the band drove through the night to get to their next show in Auburn, Alabama, where fans donated clothes and money to the young band members. On that first tour with Tre, they were supposedly approached by IRS Records, a major record label. But with some self-restraint on Mikes part, they turned down the offer because they knew that the label would have screwed them over in the end. They entered the studio for the first time with their new drummer Tre Cool in 1991. Thanks to the small-time success of their previous album, they had a larger budget, $2,000. Recordings were split between two short sessions in May and September of 1991 with producer/engineer Andy Ernst helping, a total of four days of recording. That autumn, they bought plane tickets to Europe and flew over, while each band member was still only 19. They funded the trip from their modest royalty checks from their Lookout! releases and any U.S. touring profits to pay for basic necessities such as airfare and van hire. Using equipment borrowed from other bands every single night, they played sixty-four shows over the span of three months. We snuck copies of our records over by hand to sell, recalls Mike. To get our own T-shirts made we had to sneak over the photo negative and get a screen made in Germany so we could print them as and when we needed to. Then we had our amp heads, which were hell-heavy to carry. Mine lasted a week and Billies a total of one day. In Denmark if they like you they throw beer at you, so that was very much. Our instruments were toast. There would be anywhere between 50 and 500 people in places like Germany, Poland, and Spain. If they were lucky, theyd get paid above their guarantee of $170, but some shows theyd only get paid with some beer or communal chili. On December 17, 1991, Green Day received the first finished copies of their sophomore album. They decided the show they were playing in Southampton was going to double as a Kerplunk! release party. January 17, 1992 marked the official release of their second album. It was released by Lookout! on CD, vinyl, and cassette. For their next tour in support of Kerplunk!, Tres father bought a former mobile library. He ripped out the interiors and installed bunks, equipment racks, and the odd attempt at home comfort and also, for a while at least, became their new designated driver. In August 1992, at a show at Gilman, Green Day brought out a couple of new tunes. Longview and Better Not Come Around (which was the early version of When I Come Around) received great reactions from the crowd, and the songs sounded like their best and tightest material to date. After touring without management, they decided this needed to change. They contacted Cahnman Management, a company run by two attorneys, Elliot Cahn and Jeff Saltzman, who had previously worked with Primus, the Melvins, and Mudhoney and had impressed Green Day. So they hired them for the job. Immediately, their managers began approaching major record labels, tempting them with a band who sold over 50,000 albums based on just raw talent alone. The members of the band were all living together in the basement of a large, ramshackle, student-dominated Victorian house at 2243 Ashby Street, which was just down the block from the pristine entrance to the esteemed University of Berkeley. They were getting many calls from major record labels, who heard that this young cult had now sold a total of 60,000 copies of their cheaply recorded independent releases and wanted this band to sign to their roster. Warner Bros., Geffen, Sony and everybodys mother wanted to sign us, said Tre, but we held off for quite a long time. Why? Because David Geffens money was paying for us to go to Disneyland. We kind of milked them. We wanted to hold out until we got complete artistic control. We wanted to be the bosses and not let somebody else tell us what to do. Of course, the first offer is bull****, the second slightly less, the third still kind of sucksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦we thought F*** this, its our lives. Its like getting married or something. This would all change when they met Rob Cavallo of Reprise Records, a subsidiary label of Warner Brothers. He was different than all the other higher ups; he actually played guitar and came from a musical background. Also, he had worked with other punk bands such as Jawbreaker and the Muffs, and this had sparked Green Days interest. The way he got through to them was he brought his guitar and joined them in jamming, then later went out for ice cream with them. It was that day that he convinced them to join the roster. Finally in April 1993, they signed to Warner Bros./Reprise for an initial deal of five albums, with the plan that Cavallo would produce their major label debut. Also, they made sure that Lookout! would still own the rights to their first two albums, the idea being that the indie labels support would earn them money even if Green Day was no longer with them, a move which has paid off very well for Livermore and Co. over the past 10 years. Although Lookout! had just lost their most profitable band, the combined sales of 39/Smooth and Kerplunk! had reached the one million mark by the close of 1995, so they were still making money off Green Day. They played their last two shows at Gilman Street that year, never to look back. While recording their next album Dookie, they had a much larger budget and more time to lay down tracks in the studio. When the album was completed, they played a bunch of dates over the summer with Bad Religion on their Recipe for Hate tour. Dookie was finally released on January 11, 1994. The lead single from the album was Longview. It quickly topped the Billboard Modern Rock chart. Billie Joe was the first in the band to get married. He tied the knot with his long-time lover Adrienne in a quick ceremony in July. The next day, his wife revealed that she had been feeling somewhat different recently, so they stopped to pick up a pregnancy test. A few minutes later, the newlyweds discovered they were about to become parents. The same year, Green Days popularity was on the rise. They were asked to replace the opening band the Boredoms in Lollapalooza 1994. Another huge deal for them was when they were asked to play Woodstock 94, as a late addition. This was a day to go down in history. They arrived in upstate New York on August 11, and it had been raining continuously. The ground was completely churned up and all mud. As they began playing songs, the crowd went nuts and began flinging clumps of dirt and mud everywhere. Billie Joe caught the first clod and put it in his mouth. Eventually, he took off his pants as the crowd went even wilder. Fans began climbing on stage to get closer, and soon a riot broke out. The band had to be hauled away in a helicopter to escape the crazed fans. The summer of 1994 was a busy time for them. Their music video for Longview had been nominated by the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards at the Metropolitan City Opera House for Best Group Video and Best Alternative Video. The next night they had a show in Ohio. The whole summer consisted of flying all over the US from show to show, night after night. Their next big stint was a show in September set up by a Boston radio station that attracted about 100,000 people. Within minutes of hitting the stage, the crowd had surged forward and knocked over safety barriers and havoc broke out. They were concerned that the entire lighting rig was going to come down, so the promoter pulled the plug. This just made the crowd riot even harder and spill out onto the streets of downtown Boston. The night concluded with 60 arrests and dozens of injuries. A very respectable thing to do, the band had a policy that door prices were to be kept affordable with a ceiling price of $20, even though they could charge much more. Sometimes shows even went as low as $5, and their official t-shirts cost a maximum of $10. They were still receiving much controversy from the punk community though. People were claiming that they had sold out when they signed to a major record label and that they had compromised their music. Sometime in 1994, someone was so opposed to Green Day signing that they wrote Billie Joe Must Die on a wall at 924 Gilman Street. One night, a fan asked Billie Joe Whats punk? He then kicked over a garbage can and exclaimed, Thats punk! So the fan kicked over a garbage can too and replied, Thats punk? And Billie Joe then replied, No, thats trendy. Billie Joe still knew what punk was and still had it in him, even though his band was selling millions of albums and quickly becoming the hottest band of the 1990s. They had lived the lifestyle of true punks for many years before they struck it big. One would think that their dedicated fans would be happy for them being successful after sticking it out through the tough times; going through years of having no money. If anyone deserved to make it huge, it was definitely Green Day. Since its release, Dookie has sold over 16 million copies worldwide and is the bands top selling album. They have sold over 65 million copies worldwide and are undeniably one of the biggest rock bands there are today. If it wasnt for their music, the whole music scene might be a lot different than it is today. Punk wouldnt have taken the mainstream spotlight in the 1990s, and most punk bands that formed around the same time as Green Day wouldnt have made it as big as they did. Green Day single-handedly changed the direction of music in the 1990s.

AIDS/HIV Research :: essays research papers

This study used content analysis to identify dominant AIDS-HIV themes in the manifest news content of AP, Reuters, AFP, ITAR-TASS, and IPS. A systematic random sample of AIDS-HIV stories disseminated by the five wire services between May 1991 and May 1997 (both months included) was obtained. This decade was selected because several empirical studies of coverage in the 1980s have been conducted; however, few studies examine the 1990s. The decision to examine the print news media was driven by the nature of the issue being explored. Previous research indicated (Nelkin, 1991; Stroman & Seltzer, 1989) that when it comes to complex and ambiguous issues (e.g., AIDS-HIV), print news provides more in-depth information than broadcast news. News consumers tend to consult print news for the details, whereas broadcast news provides the broad strokes. For instance, the Princeton Survey Research Associates (1996) study of AIDS coverage by the U.S. media found that the print media accorded more analytical coverage when compared to broadcast offerings. Full texts of all the stories in the sample were downloaded from the online LEXIS-NEXIS news and information database service.(n7) With a random starting point, every fifth story in the universe was selected to obtain a 20% sample. The story was the unit of analysis. The sample comprised a total of 635 stories. Following is the breakdown of these stories according to wire services: Reuters = 287, AFP = 155, AP = 78, ITAR-TASS = 34, and IPS = 81 (N = 635). Detailed coding categories were developed. The Princeton Survey Research Associates (1996) content analysis of AIDS-HIV coverage by the U.S. news media guided the formation of some of the categories. The world region category was guided by the Mayo and Pasadeos (1991) study of the international focus of U.S. business magazines. Following are the main categories that were used to code each story. Detailed operational definitions were developed for each category. Straightforward categories such as date, length of story, wire, and so forth are not included: 1. Dateline-world region: The choices available were: North America (United States and Canada), Central America and the Caribbean, Latin America, Western Europe (including Turkey and Greece), Eastern Europe, Russia and former Soviet republics, China, the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa (including South Africa), developing Asia (mostly South and some Southeast Asia), developed Asia (mostly East and Southeast Asia), Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific Islands), global, the United Nations and other similar global organizations, and other/none.

Moral Struggle in Great Expectations

Moral Struggles of Great Expectations Pip is the main character of the novel desires to fulfil his expectations and the world he lives in does not gladly provide an easy way to his dream. Joe is his brother-in-law and his angry sister’s husband who treats Pip much better than her, just because he happens to have a bog heart. In the beginning of the novel, prior to Pip being exposed to the world he feels that he can satisfy his expectations, Joe and Pip are equals – the humbleness and loyalty that Joe displays are often similar to that of a child. Joe is comfortable with who he is and while he desires to learn from Pip once he becomes educated, he does not seek to be anything other than what he is. This, ideally, would have been a priceless lesson for Pip to learn, as it would have spared Pip from losing himself in a complex and corrupt world. Sadly, yet pivotally to the intrigue of the plot, it is only once Pip realises the error in his ways that he can see the true gentleman in Joe. Interestingly, it is something he identifies early on when he comments that â€Å"[I] was looking up to Joe in my heart† (49). This is not simply an affection of love, yet one of admiration and respect. It is once Joe repays Pip’s debts, and leaves to save Pip the ‘embarrassment’ of associating with him, that Pip realises the quality of Joe’s character. Joe embodies the true gentleman; while not of class, his character is class, and he continually displays qualities of loyalty and fidelity that Pip believes can be embodied by outward displays of wealth and education. Pip learns from Joe – albeit in hindsight and through his own personal crises – that wealth and class are not fundamental to being a gentleman. Mr Jaggers, the attorney of Pip’s mysterious benefactor and a ruthless and respected man in society, represents what Pip could become in the society he loses himself in. His standing as a gentleman is not based in the quality of his character (as he is a portrayed as a defence lawyer, interacting with dubious suspects on a daily basis with a fierce and powerful manner) but in the fearful respect he commands in society. So complex is Mr Jagger’s character that he is able to command respect from Pip, despite that he â€Å"hardly knew what to make of Mr Jagger’s manner. Wemmick suggests that Mr Jaggers would â€Å"take it as a compliment† to know that Pip felt that way. (196) It is clear, however, that Pip admires Mr Jaggers, as is evident in Chapter 20 of the novel. Pip is privy to Mr Jaggers' mannerisms when dealing with clients. Pip, despite being introduced to Mr Jaggers’ character in this manner, is clearly infatuated with his power and status an d accepts him as a gentleman. Ironically, Mr Jaggers’ was not born into wealth either, but rather worked his way up to his position of power. Pip ignores this fact, and it is only after he learns the truth about his journey to becoming a gentleman that he realises that Mr Jaggers does not represent a true gentleman either. He is yet another representation of how wealth and power are in fact far removed from being a gentleman. The irony is that Mr Jaggers’ true character is never hidden from Pip, and thus so great are his expectations, that he is blinded to the blatant truth about a true gentleman’s role in society. The character Abel Magwitch (initially referred to as the convict, and only revealed as Pip’s benefactor as the climax of the novel) is not only the catalyst to a growth into manhood and morality for Pip, but the character from whom Pip learns the most from during their interaction. As the convict, Magwitch is nothing but a source of latent fear for Pip. The intrigue surrounding the identity of the benefactor and the assumptions the reader makes compliments the idea that he is a source of fear, and nothing else. At the climax of the novel, when it is revealed to Pip that it is Abel Magwitch, a convict and fugitive, who has bestowed his new riches on the boy who tried to help him years previously, Pip’s expectations and belief in the gentleman he thinks he is, is shattered. As Pip believes his benefactor was Miss Havisham, and that she has been grooming him for Estella, and to become a true gentleman, he never questions the validity of his essence as a gentleman. Upon learning that the source of his education and wealth – and ultimately his status as a gentleman – is in fact a convict, his identity is crushed. It is to his horror that the source of his status as a gentleman is the absolute antithesis of a gentleman in his eyes. Pip thus has to come to terms with the idea that it is not the outward appearance of a man that determines his character. This is also echoed in Chapter 5 of the novel, when Magwitch/the convict confesses to stealing food from Mrs Joe to save Pip from being implicated. Pip has to accept that the class he was trying to distance himself from embodies something to aspire to. Towards the end of the novel, Pip displays his growth as he reflects that in Magwitch he â€Å"only saw a man who had meant to be my benefactor, and who had felt affectionately gratefully and generously towards me with great constancy through a series of years. I only saw in him a much better man than I had been to Joe. (440) Thus Pip identifies himself as less of a gentleman than that of Joe and Magwitch, illustrating that he has come full circle, to acknowledging his faults in his perception of his status as a gentleman due to his wealth and education. Herbert represents who Pip could become. Despite his lack of wealth initially, he is every inch a gentleman and upon receiving money at the request of Pip, he starts his own law firm and builds a successful career for himself, thus fulfilling the desires that Pip believed he strove for. Pip chooses to misuse the wealth that is bestowed upon him, and it is after Pip learns the valuable lessons from Joe, Jaggers and Magwitch, that he realises that Herbert is the gentleman he aspires to become. While the irony of the source of Herbert’s wealth being indirectly from Pip is not unclear and certainly not unimportant, is it Pip’s realisation that it is not the source of wealth and status that makes one a gentleman, but the manner in which one’s character is displayed in the consequences of one’s actions. Pip learns to assume responsibility from his destiny from the success of Herbert. It is evident that valuable lessons about the character displayed in actions are prevalent in Great Expectations. Joe, Jaggers, Magwitch and Herbert (albeit not as forcefully) offer insight into the quality of one’s character as an internal embodiment of class. Jaggers fails to impress, whereas Magwitch and Joe display varying yet quintessential attributes of gentlemen. Herbert is the opposite pole to Jaggers, representing what Pip can become by embodying gentlemanly characteristics, rather than trying to live like one. Pip learns various aspects of the same intrinsic lesson from all these characters: that is it not the quality of the life of the man, but the quality of the man, that speaks of his character. Pip loses this sense during the course of the novel, and it is the interaction with these characters that gradually return him to a path of fulfilling his greatest expectations and dreams.

The Big Bang Essay

The Big Bang Essay The Big Bang Essay Before our universe was created there was something that had happened to have created the universe. The big bang theory was a major part of why the universe was created. There are so many things that had to be contributed to the big bang theory. We don’t really know what will happen to our universe in the future but we can make predictions about it and we can use evidence and justifications to predict what will happen. The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation about how the universe began. At its simplest, it talks about the universe as we know it starting with a small singularity, then inflating over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know today. Because current instruments don't allow astronomers to peer back at the universe's birth, much of what we understand about the Big Bang Theory comes from mathematical theory and models. Astronomers can, however, see the "echo" of the expansion through a phenomenon known as the cosmic microwave background. The phrase "Big Bang Theory" has been popular among astrophysicists for decades, but it hit the mainstream in 2007 when a comedy show with the same name premiered on CBS. The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain what happened at the very beginning of our universe. Discoveries in astronomy and physics have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that our universe did in fact have a beginning. Prior to that moment there was nothing; during a nd after that moment there was something: our universe. The big bang theory is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment. There are many misconceptions surrounding the Big Bang theory. For example, we tend to imagine a giant explosion. Experts however say that there was no explosion; there was (and continues to be) an expansion. Rather than imagining a balloon popping and releasing its contents, imagine a balloon expanding: an infinitesimally small balloon expanding to the size of our current universe. Another misconception is that we tend to image the singularity as a little fireball appearing somewhere in space. According to the many experts however, space didn't exist prior to the Big Bang. Back in the late '60s and early '70s, when men first walked upon the moon, "three British astrophysicists, Steven Hawking, George Ellis, and Roger Penrose turned their attention to the Theory of Relativity and its implications regarding our notions of time. In 1968 and 1970, they published papers in which they extended Einstein's Theory of General Relativity to include measurements of time and space. According to their calculations, time and space had a finite beginning that corresponded to the origin of matter and energy. I also know that there was a Big Bang is the fact that as things are moving closer to you the waves get compressed and as they are moving away from you the waves get stretched out. With light the shorter waves are the blue and the longer ones are the red and the further away a galaxy is the more red shifted it is indicating that the galaxies are all moving away from each other indicating that the universe was once much smaller and that at one time it was a singularity, which expanded until it got to the size it is today. We may still be far from answering the question â€Å"what is the future for our universe† but we are at least able to predict certain possibilities. In our current view of the Universe there are 2 possible futures from studies. One possibility is that the Universe will come to an end in the opposite of a Big Bang called The Big Crunch. There is enough matter in the Universe eventually gravitational forces will

The Byzantine Roman Emperor Justinian

The Byzantine Roman Emperor Justinian Name: (At birth) Petrus Sabbatius; Flavius Petrus Sabbatius JustinianusBirthplace: ThraceDates: c.482, at Tauresium - 565Ruled: April 1, 527 (jointly with his uncle Justin until August 1) - November 14, 565Wife: Theodora Justinian was a Christian emperor of the Roman Empire on the cusp between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Justinian is sometimes called The Last of the Romans. In Byzantine Matters, Averil Cameron writes that Edward Gibbon didnt know if Justinian belonged in the category of the Roman emperors who had come before or the Greek kings of the Byzantine Empire who came after him. History remembers Emperor Justinian for his reorganization of the government of the Roman Empire and his codification of the laws, the Codex Justinianus, in A.D. 534. Justinian Family Data An Illyrian, Justinian was born Petrus Sabbatius in A.D. 483 in Tauresium, Dardania (Yugoslavia), a Latin-speaking area of the Empire. Justinians childless uncle became the Roman Emperor Justin I in A.D. 518. He adopted Justinian either before or after he became emperor; hence the name Justinianus. Justinians own birth-based status in society was not high enough to command respect without the imperial office, and his wifes position was even worse. Justinians wife, Theodora, was the daughter of a bear-keeper father who became bear-keeper to the Blues (relevant to the Nika Revolts, below), an acrobat mother, and she herself is considered to have been a courtesan. The DIR article on Justinian says Procopius claims Justinians aunt, Empress Euphemia, by marriage, so disapproved the marriage that Justinian waited until she died (before 524) before even starting to deal with the legal impediments to the marriage. Death Justinian died on November 14, 565, in Constantinople. Career Justinian became Caesar in 525. On April 4, 527, Justin made Justinian his co-emperor and gave him the rank of Augustus. Justinians wife Theodora received the rank of Augusta. Then, when Justin died on August 1, 527, Justinian went from joint to sole emperor. Persian Wars and Belisarius Justinian inherited conflict with the Persians. His commander Belisarius obtained a peace treaty in 531. The truce was broken in 540 and so Belisarius was again sent off to deal with it. Justinian also dispatched Belisarius to settle problems in Africa and Europe. Belisarius could do little against the Ostrogoths in Italy. Religious Controversy The religious position of the Monophysites (whom Justinians wife, Empress Theodora, supported) conflicted with the accepted Christian doctrine from the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451). Justinian was unable to do anything to resolve the differences. He even alienated the pope in Rome, creating a schism. Justinian expelled teachers of paganism from the Academy in Athens, closing the schools of Athens, in 529. In 564, Justinian adopted the heresy of Aphthartodocetism and tried to impose it. Before the matter was resolved, Justinian died, in 565. Nika Riots However improbable it may seem, this event was born of extreme sports fanaticism and corruption. Justinian and Theodora were Blues fans. Despite fan loyalty, they attempted to reduce the influence of both teams, but too late. The Blue and Green teams created a disturbance in the Hippodrome on June 10, 532. Seven ringleaders were executed, but one of each side survived and became a rallying point that integrated fans of both teams. They and their fans began shouting Nika Victory in the Hippodrome. Now a mob, they appointed a new emperor. Justinians military leaders prevailed and slaughtered 30,000 rioters. Building Projects The damage caused to Constantinople by the Nika Revolt paved the way for Constantines building project, according to DIR Justinian, by James Allan Evans. Procopius book On Buildings [De aedificiis] describes Justinians building projects that included aqueducts and bridges, monasteries, orphanages, hostels, and the Hagia Sophia, which still stands in Constantinople/Istanbul.

Lockheed Martin Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Lockheed Martin Corporation - Essay Example The operations of the corporation are divided into different segments comprising electronic systems (27%), aeronautics (27%), information systems and global solutions (27%) and space systems (19%). Today, US government contracts account for much of the corporation’s revenue while foreign government contracts also make up a substantial share of the revenue. On the other hand, orders from commercial clients only make up a mere 2 % of the total revenue the corporation nets in a year. In 1996, the corporation finalized the plans to acquire Lorad Corporation which subsequently became part of the Corporation at a cost of $9.1 billion. Like any other global corporation engaging thousands of employees across the world, Lockheed is certainly faced with a myriad of challenges that normally define business operations in the present world. One of the greatest challenges facing the corporation is the need to address employee concerns and effectively tackle the aspects of employee and indus trial relations without many problems like is always the case. On certain instances the corporation has had to face the challenge of striking workers and go slow as employees complained about various aspects relating to their operations in the organization (Terris, 2010). In that regard, the aspect of dealing with these employee concerns has been one of the greatest employee challenges affecting the organization. Like most workers in the industry, most of Lockheed’s workers are unionized under the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers and are always part and parcel of the activities steered by the association. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is a worker organization which draws its origin in 1888 when a group of nineteen machinists came together and formed the Order of the United Machinists and Mechanical Engineers. With time, the small organization grew up in membership and adopted the present name. The organization h as had a turbulent history characterized by the growth of labor movements in the twentieth century. The growth of the union went in tandem with the development of the transport industry throughout the years as more and more workers became employed in the industry. During its formation, the organization was generally a secret affair given that employers of the time were very critical and hostile toward organized labor movements. However, the Order rapidly spread beyond its formation zone of Georgia and was soon a recognized affair in the United States. Much of the growth in the membership of the union was mostly evidenced during the World Wars when workers in the transport industry increased owing to the increased demand of vehicles and airplanes. In the course of the 1970s, the union was segmented into several divisions dealing with specific issues affecting the members. These included civil right, organizing, older workers and retired workers and women. At a convection held in 1984 in Seattle, Washington, the delegates voted and decided to use the Placid Harbor Education Center in order to train and educate the members of the union. In 1998, the center was renamed to the Winpisinger Education and Technology Center in order to recognize and honor the late President of the union. Throughout history, the union has always addressed the issues affecting

Marketing outline of a selected organisation Assignment

Marketing outline of a selected organisation - Assignment Example Marketing strategy takes into consideration a thorough analysis of external and internal environments. Marketing mix modelling is a key factor during scanning of internal environment. This aspect even includes analysis of strategic constraints and its overall performance. The external environmental factors mainly comprises of target market analysis, customer analysis, competitor analysis along with evaluation of external environmental factors such as political, economic, legal, social and technological. Marketing strategies designed by an organization usually differs from another organization. These strategies are highly dependent on particular business scenario. Real life marketing needs to focus on external environmental conditions, market opportunity, uncertainties, and optimum utilization of available resources. In this study wide array of marketing concepts shall be applied on a UK based organization called Tesco. Tesco is a renowned multinational general merchandise and grocery retailer based in United Kingdom. The company has its retail stores located across 12 countries and is regarded as UK’s grocery market leader. Across the globe Tesco is considered to be second largest retailer in terms of revenue margins. The organization was founded in 1919 and since then it has implemented best marketing strategies. There are widespread aspects which are followed while designing its marketing strategy. Firstly different products or services of Tesco possesses specific target market segment. Their overall positioning strategy states that the firm is focused towards offering quality products at reasonable price. This marketing concept has enabled the company to remain competitive in the market place. In recent scenario the company has diversified into many areas like books, petrol, furniture, clothing, toys, electronics, financial services, internet, telecom, etc. This kind of diversification has supported the company to acquire greater percentage of