Aeneas and Fate

My life was full of despair and remorse. The only thing Ihad to look forward to was the quest for the land thatwould become the famous Roman Empire. During my life, I wasbut a pawn of the gods in the effort to secure thisdestiny. Occasionally there were happy times but mostly Ihad been filled with suffering, the victim of circumstanceafter circumstance, and my family was also made to suffer.I am Aeneas, a great Trojan warrior and king, and unable todeter the unhappiness that Fate had brought upon me. After the great war we fought against the Greeks, over awoman, I was forced to leave. In my dreams and by mymother's will, my family had to leave Troy in order for theTrojans and their gods to live. Against my will I left thebattle and collected my family, including my father whoneeded added encouragement from the gods above on Olympus,and we departed that land we had always called home. Inthat process, I lost my loving wife, Cruesa, to thosemurdering Greeks. I tried to retrieve her but her wish aswell was for me to continue on my journey with our son,Ascanius, to ensure the population of the Trojan people ina distant land. With my son, my father, and the rest of the survivorswilling to follow me to a new land, I went over themountains and set sail for Italy. The first place wevisited was the great island of Sicily, with its "famousking of Trojan blood, Acestes", where we were welcomed andinvited to stay on to make this place our home (VirgilI:169-170). It was during this visit that I lost my father,Anchises. We politely declined this offer and again set sail. Littledid we know Juno, having known of the future Romedestroying her favorite city of Carthage, set up a storm totry to avert our passage to what would become our newhomeland and was temporarily successful. I did end up inCarthage and, oh, the beauty of the Queen. Dido, a woman tobe admired, had lost the love of her life by her brother'shand and was able to go on and begin the framework of avery successful city. She had, however, sworn never to loveagain but was guided by the goddesses, Juno and Venus (mymother) to give her heart to me. I returned her love fully,but reminded by the god Mercury that my destiny awaited inanother land, was forced against my will to leave Dido'sside which caused her death. Towards my destiny I then moved, and after a dream visitedby my father, I landed on Italian soil and consulted TheSibyl to take me to the world of the shades. There I sawmany of my comrades and Dido, who was still so angry shewould not speak to me, and finally what my father intended:the Great Romans that were to come of my ancestry. As thesettlement of Italy begins, a war breaks out and I wasvisited by my mother who is bearing gifts of armor to keepme safe from harm. Her husband, Vulcan, hand crafted thearmor and the shield on which I finally was able to see whyall the anguish I had endured was necessary. There on theshield was the entire story of the Rome to come and mydescendants that would ensure its existence and maintainits power for generations. I married Lavinia, after having to battle and defeat Turnuswhich was not an easy task with Juno on his side. I livedwith war and trouble and died before my time, as Dido bidme as her death wish after I left her, but it was all forthe greater good. Our Trojan ways were eventuallyincorporated into the Latin culture also granted to Dido bythe gods, but that was just one more sacrifice to be made.Although not mortally by his side, I was able to see my sonand his descendants go on to found the city of Rome and thegreat Roman Empire. I was immortalized and able to see thehappenings as foretold to me by my father and on the shieldcarefully crafted by Vulcan and I was, probably for thefirst time, able to be happy with Fate. Bibliography Virgil, The Aeneid. The Norton Anthology of WorldMasterpieces. Vol. 1. 6th ed. Ed. Maynard Mack, BernardM.W. Knox, John C. McGallaird, P.M. Pasinetti, Howard E.Hugo, Patricia Meyer Spacks, Rene Wellek, Kenneth Douglas,and Sarah Lawall. New York: W.W. Norton, 1992. 841-917.Bloom, Harold, ed. Virgil: Modern Critical Views. New York:Chelsea House Publishers. 1986.

America: The Most Popular Girl in School

The United Stated is currently the most influential country on theface of the earth. Not only concerning the issues of money and businessbut also our choices of music clothes and recreational activities. Often times people think of countries such as Japan and China asbeing completely different. We think they have strange dress and oddcustoms, they are thought to have a completely different culture thanours. You will find that that is incorrect, the ir cultures are actuallyvery similar to ours. Because of the amount of clothing, food and otherproducts that we ship out of this country every day our culture has nochoice but to ooze out of our borders onto foreign soil. For example youcould walk i nto a modern Japanese society expecting a bunch of old peoplekneeling on dirt floors wearing kimonos and drinking green tea butactually find a society of youths wearing Levi jeans, trendy clothes,listening to American pop-rock music, and eating Big Mac s that they justbought from down the street at their local McDonalds. You could also finda group of people watching a football game and gossiping about the newmovie with "that really hot American chick in it". Of course allcountries have different h olidays and traditions, they eat differentfoods and have customs that seem strange to us but more and more theirways seem to be becoming like those of us here in the United States ofAmerica. The question asks if I think that the influence of our "popculture" will continue. I think that that all depends on weather or notwe remain the worlds "super power" in the future. I think that the reasonthat we are imitated by other countries is bec ause of our wealth andpower. It is sort of like the United States is the most popular girl inschool. She has a bunch of followers who dress like her, do their hairlike her and claim to like the same music and movies as her. But nomatter how hard th ey try they can never quite keep up to her everchanging style. Much like the patterns of the countries that try toimitate the U.S. If you look closely at these cultures you will noticethat the clothes that they wear were the clothes that we wore ten yearsago and I wouldn't be surprised if they are groovin' to the sounds of theeighties as we speak. I often wonder why we haven't picked up much of any othercountries culture. Sure, there have been fads like the Macarena and theon going like for foods such as tacos and chop suey, but every thing isalways somehow Americanized. I suppose it's beca use we are sopreoccupied with our own appearances and our countries image that we don'thave time to stop and look around. Or maybe its the fact that we aretrying to convince ourselves that everybody wants to be like us and thatis how it will always b e. No matter what happens though, there is always a new popular girlthat everybody wants to be like. Her power dies down and the followersfind some one else to imitate. I think that sooner or later, maybe not inmy lifetime, that the awe of the United S tates will die down along withthe influence and the power on other countries and they will find someoneelse to follow or maybe they will gain the power and self respect to betheir own nation, to not pay attention to what everybody else is doing andmay be people will start to follow them.

Lindsay Morgan Lohan Biography

Lindsay Morgan Lohan was born in New York City, on 2nd July 1986, to Dina and Michael Lohan. Her mum is a former Radio City Rockette & her father was in the pasta business after making enough, he went to Hollywood financing independent films. She is the eldest of four siblings. Lohan has been studying dancing and singing since age 4 & a model since age 3, Lohan has the distinction of being the first red-headed child to be signed by the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency. Her freckled face is familiar from more than sixty television commercials including spots for The Gap, Jello, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s. At seventeen, Lindsay Lohan (Anna in "Freaky Friday") has already appeared on the cover of “Vanity Fair,” having been featured as part of the prestigious magazine’s “It’s Totally Raining Teens” July spread. She won the dual role of the two sisters in "The Parent Trap" after a six-month casting search in the United States, Canada, and Britain. She's also stars in Disney’s “Confessions of A Teenage Drama Queen.” Lohan was featured in the long-running role of Alli Fowler on the daytime drama “Another World,” as well as on “Guiding Light.” On television, she starred in two movies for Disney—the Wonderful World of Disney’s “Life-Size,” with Tyra Banks, and Disney Channel’s original “Get a Clue” — and in the sitcom “Bette.” Lohan’s first pop single, “Ultimate,” appears on the soundtrack of “Freaky Friday.” She will also perform on the soundtrack of “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.” A straight 'A' student at her local school, Lindsay excels at math and science. She also enjoys gymnastics, swimming, ice skating, roller blading, singing, biking, reading, writing, and playing with her siblings.

Jennifer Jones Biography (1919-)

Actress. Born Phyllis Flora Isley (professionally known as Jennifer Jones), on March 2, 1919, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jones studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where she met and married aspiring actor Robert Walker in 1939. Shortly after, she won a six-month contract from Republic Pictures and moved to California. In 1944, Jones divorced Walker. Around the same time, she met Hollywood mogul David O. Selznick, who saw promise in Jones’ work and signed her to a personal contract. Selznick and Jones were married from 1945 until his death in 1965.
In general, Jones’ professional and personal involvement with Selznick has been given a prominence that has colored assessments of her distinctive contribution to 1940s cinema. Interestingly, the central issue is not that Jones lacked talent or screen presence. The longstanding criticism is that Selznick, because of his commitment to Jones, had no critical distance and, with King Vidor's Duel in the Sun (1946), tried to fashion an erotic identity for her, making Jones into a ridiculous creation. Previously, her screen persona was as an innocent child/woman, an image established by her first starring role in Henry King's The Song of Bernadette (1943). She had also given an intense and emotionally charged performance as a girl making the transition from youth to maturity in John Cromwell's Since You Went Away (1944).

As the sensual half-breed Pearl in Duel in the Sun, Jones succeeded in giving an audaciously conceived performance employing a degree of physical gesture having more in common with silent-screen acting technique than with the naturalistic behavioral mannerisms associated with the sound cinema. In addition, while her physical presence is intended to be provocative, she does not allow her physicality to undermine the complex psychological dimensions of the character. Duel in the Sun is thus a remarkable achievement but, like her performance, it has often been misinterpreted as degrading to female sexuality. Though conceived on a lesser scale, Ruby Gentry (1952) is equally successful in dealing with the same themes, and again Jones's sensuality is central to the expression of those concerns.

From the beginning, the screen persona of Jones was imbued with a degree of hysteria, and in Vincente Minnelli's underrated Madame Bovary (1949) this characteristic erupts with particular impact. Minnelli, a director very sensitive to the various aspects of Jones' sensibility, including her romantic indulgence, encourages her to give a subtle performance without relinquishing the extravagant conception the character has of her identity. These same elements might have been as fully articulated in the Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger version of The Wild Heart (1952), but unfortunately Selznick's reworking of their footage does not present a rounded characterization.

No matter with what coloration one paints the envied Selznick-Jones collaboration, her status as melodramatic princess of the 1940s is indisputable. If adjectives such as ethereal and luminous became excess baggage with the passage of time, these qualities were responsible for Jones' realizing the evocative fantasy of Portrait of Jennie (1948), the fortunes fools romance of Love Letters (1945), and the valentine to homefront frustration in Since You Went Away (1944)—projects in which this actress's breathtaking vulnerability aroused the audience's protectiveness. If Selznick overproduced Portrait of Jennie, he stayed out of William Wyler's way long enough for Jones to hold her own against Laurence Olivier with her superb characterization of an unwittingly destructive demimonde in the underappreciated Carrie (1952).

Jones’ career flourished in the 1950s, with the unexpected box-office bonanza Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), followed by Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) and The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957). Deftly imbricating the complexities in Jones' persona with F. Scott Fitzgerald themes, the flawed Tender Is the Night (1962) is the last film to resurrect her patented fragility to good effect. Afterwards, the neurotic mannerisms consume her performances in the unworthy The Idol (1966) and the cheesy Angel, Angel Down We Go (1970).

Ron(ald William) Howard

Born in Duncan, OK, actor and director Ron Howard gained fame as a child actor on such TV shows as Happy Days (1973?80). He made his directorial debut with Grand Theft Auto (1977), and went on to great success with suchBorn in Duncan, OK, actor and director Ron Howard gained fame as a child actor on such TV shows as Happy Days (1973?80). He made his directorial debut with Grand Theft Auto (1977), and went on to great success with such films as A Beautiful Mind films as A Beautiful Mind

Tourism

In truth, the attributes of tourism have changed rapidly during the
twentieth century. Today, it is virtually impossible even to avoid the
effect that the tourism industry has on the world. On the following
lines I shall in an explaining voice treat the subject of tourism and I
wager you'll find it rather interesting. First and for most; Why do we
become tourists? What is this incredible force which drives us to leave
the safe shelter of our homes to travel to places some times thousands
of miles from our native lands? Well, in order to answer that, we need
to find out the benefits of tourism. It's usually us people from the
richer countries in the west that travel abroad as tourists. This
became possible during the early twentieth century, when the industrial
revolution had reached most western countries in a big way, and the
governments had begun to get more and more democratic. They started to
have governmental foundings with the intention of giving people who
worked in different sectors their wages in sp Although, most Americans
would probably not be so negative about it. The American Dream that
influences their society speaks for the strength of the individual.
That is, if you really want to be rich, you can be, as long as you're
not afraid of working hard. So, people obviously like being tourists,
and the even more obvious reasons for that can be the need for
something different to occur in ones life, not always being stuck in
the same old tracks, over and over again. Or, that we need to relax,
which you apparently can't do at home, only abroad. One classic reason
for tourism is of course that it is a social benefit; You'll get a lot
of attention from people back home both before and after the journey,
which indeed can be just as much, if not more of a pleasure then the
holiday itself. Tourism, according to the Department of National
Heritage, apparently outnumbers most any other line of business, from
construction industry to raising cattle. Today, it is more or less well
known to people that tourism has grown to massive proportions, being
almost the largest industry in the world. This of course brings along
with it heaps of problems, connected to the fact that where there is
money to be earned (and thus power to be controlled), man has neither
moral nor restrictions to prevent her from doing just about all she can
to exploit that source of wealth. In the compendium, there is an
article from the Morning Star that talks about how people in the 70s
considered the tourism a "harmless way to transfer wealth from the
north to the third world". Today there are evidence which speaks of a
terminal degeneration over the last 20 years, where the tourism
industry and tourists weakens third world countries standard as unique
territories into being merely "attractive spots", without either
culture nor sense of dignified nationalism. Another problem is the vast
prostitution, which follow in the steps of tourism like a swarm of
dragonflies around a heap of treasure. In the Philippines for example,
it is estimated that 60000 children are active prostitutes. Due to
this, dreams are shattered for many families as they see their children
fall victim to drugs and its consequences, thus breaking down the will
and spirit of the countries inhabitants, as they every day go to the
backdoor of the hotels to serve the very people who might be the ones
to rape their offspring. Du Tourism - 1, 2,
3

René Descartes

René Descartes was born on March 31, 1596 in La Haye,
Touraine. He was the son of a minor nobleman, and belonged
to an intellectual family. His mother died of tuberculosis
a few days after he was born. He inherited the disease from
her, and was continually sick throughout his infancy. The
only one who cared for him was his nurse, who gave him
warmth and nourishment from her body.(Durant pg.456
,Philosophy) He eventually came back to life, and perhaps
that is why he was named Rene, which means Renatus,
"reborn".

His early education began at the Jesuit school of La
Fleche in Anjou. Roman Catholicism was a strong influence
in his life. Upon graduating from school, he studied law at
the University of Poitiers, graduating in 1616. However, he
never practiced law, and in 1618 he entered the army of
Prince Maurice of Nassau at Breda in the Netherlands. His
intention was t have a military career. Here he had a
vision that encouraged him to focuses on a life of
learning, education and intellect. Descartes served in a
few armies, but his attention quickly turned to mathematics
and philosophy, to which he devoted the rest of his life.

Descartes lived in France for four years where he studied
philosophy and optics, and returned back to the
Netherlands. It was during his first year back in the
Netherlands that he wrote his first major work, Essais
Philosophiques. The work contained four parts: an essay on
geometry, one on optics, a third on meteors, and a fourth
titled Discors de la Methode, which described his
philosophical speculations. His other works include
Meditations on First Philosophy 1641, and The Principles of
Philosophy 1644, which was dedicated to Princess Elizabeth
Stuart of Bohemia., with whom Descartes had formed a deep
friendship. (Durant pg.456 Philosophy) In 1649 Descartes
was invited to the court of Queen Christina of Sweden in
Stockholm, to join an elite circle of intellectuals which
would instruct the queen in philosophy. Descartes died on
February 1, 1650 of pneumonia, which was caused by the
rigors of the Northern Swedish climate, and the rigorous
schedule demanded by the queen.(Durant pg. 398
Civilization)

Descartes has been labeled the father of modern
philosophy.(Barrett pg. 53) He is classified as a dualist
because he claimed that the world consisted of two sorts of
basic substance- matter and spirit. Matter is the physical
universe, which our bodies are part of . Spirit is the
human mind, which interacts with the body, but can, in
principle, exist without it. Descartes theories were called
and refered to as Occasionalism. Descartes believed matter
could be understood through certain concepts that he
borrowed from geometry and his theories of motion.
Descartes invented the Cartesian Coordinate System, and
analytic geometry both of which are the fore ground for
more complex physics and math. In Descartes view, the whole
world, including it's laws and even the truths of
mathematics, was created by God. He believed that
everything functioned according to God. Descartes thought
of God as resembling the mind in that both God and the mind
think but have no physical being. But he believed God is
unlike the mind in that God is infinite and does not depend
on his existence from some other creator. This problem of
whether mental entities are different in nature from
physical entities continues to be a primary concern of
philosophers and phycologists. (Bell pg. 51)

In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes first
considered the strongest reasons that might be used to show
that he could never be certain of anything. These so called
"skeptical" arguments included the idea that perhaps he
might be dreaming, so that nothing he seemed to perceive
would be real. In another argument, Descartes reflected
that perhaps God or some evil spirit was constantly
tricking his mind, causing him to believe what was false.
Descartes responded to these arguments by saying that even
if he were dreaming, or constantly deceived, he could at
least be certain that he had thoughts, and therefore
existed as a thinking being. This, he wrote, was a "clear
and distinct" perception of the mind. Nothing could make
him doubt it. From this Descartes created the famous Latin
phrase "cogito ergo sum", which means "I think therefore I
am". Descartes then argued that he could also clearly and
distinctly perceive that an infinitely powerful and good
God exists. This God would not let Descartes be deceived.
According to Descartes, one cannot be certain of one's
reasoning unless one is certain good exists. To Descartes
this is why the physical world existed. Descartes also
believed that self evident truths could not be found
through the senses, they were innate. This is called
rationalism. Rationalism, as stated by Webster, is the
formation of opinions by relying upon reason alone.
(Randall pg.45)

In Descartes Discours on Method, I found two particularly
interesting quotes. The first one was; "For to be possessed
of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is
rightly to apply it". (Descartes Discours on Method pg.2)
This makes perfect sense to me. Just to be smart is not
enough, you must constantly be using your knowledge, and
always striving to gain more. If people state that they're
knowledgeable Descartes would responded by saying; "O.K.,
prove it." This quote showed Descartes in a more realistic,
human-like picture. The second quote in Descartes Discours
on Method is:

For it occurred to me that I should find much more truth in
the reasoning of each individual with reference to the
affairs in which he is personally interested, and the
issues of which must presently punish him if he has judged
amiss, than those conducted by a man of letters in his
study, regarding speculative matters that are of no
practical moment, and followed by no consequences to
himself.( Barrett pg.14)

One thing this quote tells me is that you learn more by
doing and experiencing then just by being lectured or
reading out of a book, especially if it is something you
are interested in. I also feel that this quote means that
you should study things that are practical and have
relevance to you. Of course there are things we all must
study, but why should an arts major have to sit through a
class of chemistry. For one to have great knowledge there
must be a strong desire of relevance to that knowledge.

Before his time, philosophy had been dominated by the
method of Scholasticism, which was entirely based on
comparing and contrasting the views of recognized
intellectuals. Rejecting this method, Descartes stated, "In
our search for the direct road to truth, we should busy
ourselves with no object about which we cannot attain a
certitude equal to that of the demonstration of arithmetic
and geometry." (Bell pg. 67)

Clear connections can be drawn between the philosophies of
Descartes and Socrates. Descartes clearly follows the
Socratic tradition. Both believe that our senses are not
good indicators of truth and reason. They lie to us, and
conceal the truth. Our senses cannot confirm empirical
data. Descartes believed that just by thinking we are
confirming what our senses tell us. Socrates and Descartes
both believed that we should find our truths and reasons in
other things. Descartes believed we could find them in
geometry and math, not our senses. Just by thinking we are
attaining the highest knowledge possible.

Abraham of Chaldea

The following is a narrative description on the life and times of one of
the most powerful characters in the Old Testament. Abraham was indeed a
man of God in a time where few men believed in the One true God. Through
many triumphs and errors, he always

returned to God to lead him back to his calling. His dedication resulted
in great promises from God that were eventually fulfilled and affect each
of our lives today. His story is our story.

Abraham was a native of Chaldea, and a ninth generation descendant of
Shem, the son of Noah. He was born on the southern tip of the Tigris and
Uuphrates rivers in the city of Ur around 2161BC.1 Before his name was
changed to Abraham, his name was Abram.

When Abram was about seventy years of age he moved with his family to
live in Haran. The reason he moved was because "The God of glory appeared
to our father Abram when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
and said to him, "Depart from your
country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you."
2

While in Haran, Abram's father died and God spoke to him again saying, "Go
forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's
house, to the land which I will show you." 3 He obeyed and left Haran with
his brother Nahor's family and his Nephew Lot without really knowing where
he was going. At this time, God did not reveal to him he was going to
Canaan. God only told him "the land which I will show you." 4 When he did
arrive in Canaan, he camped in the plains of Moreh, between the mountains
of Ebal and Cerizim. It was here he was given the second promise from God
that his seed would possess this land. Abram built "an altar there to the
Lord who had appeared to him" 5 He then moved to the mountainous district
between Bethel and Ai. Here, he built another altar to Jehovah.

Throughout the story of Abram, he consistently went back to Bethel to make
amends with God. All of God's children should have a similar alter they
should go to when praising God. This could be the front of your church,
but should be in public. 6 Archeology has since proved that Bethel is the
modern village of Baytin. 7 When in this area, a famine struck forcing
Abram to move southward toward Egypt. God talked to Abram on the mountain
East of Bethel where he built an alter unto the Lord. Each person should
have their own personal alter to go before God, this should also be done
in public.

When he did get to Egypt, Abram told his first recorded lie. Because his
wife Sarah was beautiful, he feared she would lusted by after the
Egyptians and endanger his life. He also knew the Pharaoh was also
concerned of Abram's presence along with other Hyksos in the region. 8
Abram persuaded Sarah to pass herself off as his sister. This lie could
probably be considered a lighter shade of gray considering Sarah was his
half sister, having the same father but a different mother. 9 When the
Egyptians saw how beautiful she was, they took her to Pharaoh's harem. As
a consequence, God plagued Pharaoh & his house. When the Pharaoh found
out Sarah was Abram's wife, he sent him and his clan out of Egypt to fend
for themselves in the famished land. Because

Abram told this lie, God allowed this to happen. Abram went out of Egypt
and returned to Bethel the second time to call on the name of the Lord.
While in Bethel, both Lot's and Abram's livestock could not be supported
by the land, and strife began between their herdsmen. Abram gave Lot his
first choice of where he wanted to settle. Instead of choosing the
unknown territory toward Canaan, Lot chose the easy way out and went East
to Jordan near the populated city of Sodom. The motif of scripture for
this story is simple. Abram gave more than he took. He let Lot take what
he wanted and left it to God to bless him with what was left. Lot's
mistake was he stopped growing in God's faith and stagnated. He soon
found out that everything is not as it seems. If one only takes, but does
not give, it soon gets them into trouble. On the other hand, Abram was
rewarded with a third blessing for his faith. God reiterated His promise
to give him the land of Canaan and a posterity as numerous as the dust of
the earth. So Abram moved his clan and camped near Hebron where he built
another altar to Jehovah.

In the mean time, Lot got himself in the middle of a war between rivaling
Babylonian kings in the area. As a result, the kings of Sodom and
Gomorrah fell and their cities were spoiled. Lot and his goods were also
carried off. When Abram heard of this, he immediately armed his
dependents, 318 men, and some of his neighbors. They overtook and
defeated the kings at Dan, near the springs of Jordan. To accomplish
this, Abram must have been a military genius. After Abram freed Lot, you
would think he would have learnt his lesson, but he returned with his
family to live in Sodom.

When Abram was returning, the king of Sodom came out to meet him at the
King's Valley along with Melchizedek, king of Salem and "priest of the
most high God." 10 Melchizedek brought him bread and wine, and blessed him
by saying, "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and
earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine
enemies into thy hand." 11 Hebrew tradition says that Melchizedek was
Shem, son of Noah and survivor of the flood This tradition believes he was
still alive at the time and the earth's oldest living man. Others think
that Melchizedek was an Angel or the Messiah himself. 12 In return, Abram
presented Melchizedek a tenth of all he had. This is the first mention of
tithing, and is still used as a guideline today. The king of Sodom
attempted to give Abram the spoils of the war, but he refused. Abram told
the king, "I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and
earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or your, lest you
should say, "I have made Abram rich." I will take nothing but what the
young men have eaten." 13

After this episode, The Lord rewarded Abram for his faithfulness and came
to him in a vision. God said, "Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward." 14 In response, Abram asked how this could be
since he did not have any children.

God proceeded to encourage Abram through a distinct and detailed
repetition of former promises He had made and by a solemn covenant
contracted between himself and God. God told him his seed should be as
numerous as the stars of heaven, that his posterity should grow up into a
nation under foreign bondage, and that after four hundred years they
should come up and possess the land in which he sojourned.

After living in Canaan for ten years, Sarai went to Abram and said, " The
Lord has prevented me from bearing children." 15 As she was seventy-five
years of age, she followed contemporary custom and allowed Abram to
impregnate Hagar, 16 her Egyptian handm

aid. After this, Sarai got jealous of Hargar and told Abram that Hargar
was looking at her with contempt. Abram told Sarai that Hargar was under
her authority, and she could to with her as she pleased. Sarai
subsequently dealt so harshly with Hagar tha t she fled. But an angel of
the Lord appeared to her in the wilderness and convinced her to return to
Sarai and submit herself to her. The angel told her she was pregnant and
would give birth to a son who would greatly multiply her descendants. The
ang el told her to call the name of this child Ishmael.

Thirteen years later, when Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him and
changed his name from Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. In a token to
consummate the covenant, God commanded that Abraham, all males of his
tribe and male descendants of his be circumcised. God also renewed his
covenant to Abraham through the angles by assured him that Sarah, then
ninety years old, would bear a child from his loins. Abraham laughed at
this and questioned how an old man like himself could impregnate a 90 year

old woman. Abraham said, "O that Ishmael might live in thy sight!" 17 God
assured him Ishmael would make him fruitful also and make a great nation
of him. But God told him that Sarah would indeed bear him a son and he
should call his name Isaac. God said he would establish a covenant with
Isaac and all his descendants. After this meeting with conversation with
God, Abraham obeyed him and all males were circumcised.

After this covenant, Abraham was visited by three travelers. One of these
travelers was the "Angel of Jehovah" and two others were attending angels.
18 These angels proceeded to reiterate to Abraham the promise of a son by
Sarah. Sarah was listening at the tent door and laughed to herself
thinking of how preposterous it was for a woman and man of their age to
actually have sex, let alone for her to conceive a child. The angels knew
of this laughter and asked why she had done so. Sarah denied it, but the
Lord said through the angels "No, but you did laugh." 19 These angels then
left and set out toward Sodom. As Abraham was walking with them for a
part of the way, God chose to disclose to him the destruction he had in
mind for Sodom and Gomorrah. At this time, God allowed Abraham to
negotiated with Him over destroying the cities if any righteous people
were found living their. As it was, no righteous people lived in these
cities, not even Lot and his family. The next morning, Abraham got up
early in the morning and saw the fate of the cities as smoke rose "up as
the smoke of a furnace. 20 When Abraham was one hundred years old, and
Sarah ninety, Isaac was born. Abraham circumcised Isaac when he was eight
days old as commanded. Subsequently, during a feast on the day Isaac was
weaned, Sarah saw Ishmael and Hagar mocking her. This infuriated her so
much that she insisted to Abraham they be sent away. Abraham reluctantly
consented after God told him that not only would his descendants be
numerous through Isaac, but also Ishmael. Abraham gave Hagar bread and
water and sent her off. God subsequently kept Hagar from leaving Ishmael
to die when all food and water was gone. An angel of God called to her
from heaven and told her a great nation would rise from Ishmael. This
great nation would be the Arabs. God opened her eyes and she saw a well
of water and gave her son a drink. Ishmael eventually grew up in the
wilderness of Paran, and became an expert archer. The dispute of who
received the promise of Canaan, Isaac or Ishmael, still broils the hatred
between the Jews and Arabs today.

The Jews believe Isaac was given the promise of Canaan, and the Arabs
believe Ishmael inherited this promise.

After this, God tested Abraham by commanding him to go to Mt. Moriah and
offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. This was a great test of Abraham's faith,
because Isaac's death would nullify all the promises God gave to Abraham
concerning Isaac. Abraham probably decided to obey, because "he
considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead." 21 Abraham
rose early in the morning, cut wood for the burnt offering, and set off
for the mountains near Moriah with two of his servants and Isaac. On the
third day of their journey, Abraham saw the place God told him to go to.
He told his servants he and his son would go on without them to worship
and then return. When Isaac asked Abraham where was the lamb for the
burnt offering, Abraham told him that God would provide the lamb Himself.
Abraham proceeded to build the altar and secured on top of it. As he was
about to slay Isaac with a knife, the angel of the Lord called to him from
heaven and said, " Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the lad, for
now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son from
me." 22 Abraham stopped, looked up, and saw a ram caught in a thicket by
his horns. He took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead
of his son. This test of Abraham 's faith is a Type of Christ. This is
because Abraham can be considered like God when he was willing to
sacrificed his only son on the cross. Also, Isaac was a young man as was
Jesus and adult Ram was offered in Isaac's place. Abraham called the name
o f this sacrificial place "The Lord Will Provide." 23 After this, the
angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time and said, "Because you have
done this, I will indeed bless you. I will Multiply you descendants as
the stars of heaven and as the sand o n the seashore. They shall possess
the gate of their enemies, and all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed by them, because you have obeyed my voice.". After this event,
Abraham returned to his servants and with them went to Beer-sheba where
Abraham dwelt. 24

The next event recorded in Abraham's life is the death of Sarah at 127
years of age. She died near Hebron in the land of Canaan. Abraham buried
her in a cave he cleverly purchased from the Hittites n the field of
Machpelah.

The next significant act of Abraham was to procure a suitable wife for
Isaac. He commanded his eldest servant to go to Haran, where Abraham's
brother Nahor lived to get Isaac's wife. The servant went to Haran with
many camels and gifts. When he got to Haran, he made the camels kneel
down by a well during the evening. He did
this because he knew the women of the city would come out at that time to
get water from the well. He then prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, God of my
master Abraham, grant me success today, I pray thee, and show steadfast
love to my master, I am standing by
the spring, and the daughters of the city are coming out to draw water.
Let the maiden to whom I shall say, "Pray let down your jar that I may
drink, "and who shall say, "Drink, and I will water your camels"--let her
be the one whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac". 25 Before he
had finished this prayer, Rebekah, a beautiful virgin, and granddaughter
of Nahor, came out with her water jar upon her shoulder. When she had
filled her jar with water, the servant ran to meet her and asked her for a
drink. Rebekah quickly let down her jar and told him she would draw water
for his camels also. After the camels finished drinking, the servant gave
her gold ring and two bracele ts and asked her who her father was. Rebekah
said she was the daughter of Nahor and ran to show her family the jewelry.
After some convincing by the servant who told the family it was God's will
for Rebekah to return with him, they let her go. She retur ned with the
servant and married Isaac.

Abraham died when he was 175 years old and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael
in the cave of Machpelah around 1986 BC with his wife Sarah. After
Abraham's death, God blessed Isaac as promised.

SUMMARY

Abraham was truly a man of God. Although he still had his human
frailties, he ultimately trusted in God and always came back to Him for
forgiveness and guidance. His spiritual experience with God was
indicative of four specific areas in which his faith

was tested. First, he gave up his country and kindred; second, he broke
off with his nephew, Lot; thirdly, he abandoned his plans for Ishmael to
be his hope for his ultimate heritage, and fourth, he was willing to
sacrifice his son Isaac. 26 In the end,

God rewarded Abraham by fulfilling the four great promises He made to
him: 1) Great nations would come from him. 2) God would bless and
prosper him. 3) Sarah would give him a child named Isaac. 4) His
generations would produce the savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Praise God for the lessons he has given us through the life of Abraham. I
stand in awe thinking that not only will I be able to meet Abraham in
heaven, but also our Lord who guided him throughout.

BIBLIOGRRAPHY

* J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archaeology (Wm. B. Eerdmands Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan)

* Henry H. Halley, Bible Handbook, 1951

* National Geographic Society, Everyday Life in Bible Times

* Samuel J. Schultz, The Old Testament Speaks (Harper & Row, Publishers)

* John H. Tullock, The Old Testament Story (Prentice-Hall, Inc.)

* The Reader's Digest Bible Illustrated Edition (Reader's Digest Associated Limited)

* The Holy Bible, King James Version (The World Publishing Company)

* The New Ungers's Bible Dictionary (Moody Press)
1 Ungers, pg. 12
2 King James, Acts 7:2-3
3 King James, Gen. 12:1
4 King James, Gen. 12:1
5 King James, Gen. 12:6-7
6 Class Lecture, Jon Randles
7 Everyday life in Bible Times, pg. 89
8 Class Lecture, Jon Randles
9 King James, Gen. 20:12
10 King James, Gen. 14:17
11 King James, Gen. 14:19-20
12 Halley, pg. 95
13 Reader's Digest Bible, pg. 35
14 King James, 15:1
15 Reader's Digest Bible, pg. 35
16 Unger's, pg. 13
17 Reader's Digest Bible, pg. 36
18 Unger's, pg. 13
19 Reader's Digest Bible, pg. 37
20 King James, Gen. 19:28
21 Heb. 11:19
22 Reader's Digest Bible, pg. 40
23 Unger's, pg. 14
24 Reader's Digest Bible, pg. 40
25 Reader's Digest Bible, pg. 40-41
26 Ungers's, pg. 14

The Advantages of Stupidity

Most people say being stupid will lead no where. They
claim that it is the worst possible condition in which to
spend one's life, and if possible, it should be completely
avoided. They would even suggest if the symptoms of
stupidity are caught in the early stages, it could easily be
treated by a surgeon. The most effective method used to do
this is the chainsaw technique, later described in volume
two. Yet, perhaps if people took a closer look at some
of the advantages stupidity had to offer, they wouldn't have
such a negative attitude toward it. After reading this
paper, one will understand the advantages of stupidity.

Admittedly, stupidity has certain disadvantages. Life isn't
a bowl of cherries. And being stupid doesn't make it any
fruitier. Being stupid can annoy even the most sensitive
people. If one acts stupid, and does it in the wrong crowd,
like a group of adults, it will seem more immature than
funny. If one is forced to act stupid while dealing with
lower life forms, for example, high school teachers, one may
encounter barriers such as cruelty and insensitivity, with
the utterance of statements like, "Think with your head
straight!" or, "You have a brain, use it." Yet these are
all true, there are still many advantages to stupidity.

The first advantage is very easy to understand. Stupid
people are never asked to do a lot. Many have noticed that
people tend to steer away from someone they feel may be
stupid. This is for a very good reason. The stupidity
which they posses makes a name for themselves, a name which
can be very difficult to shake. Possibly, it is a word
which describes the working habits of the person, such as
"crappy". Yet, this creates a positive situation for the
stupid person. They will have a lot of free time on their
hands for more of lifes truly meaningful pleasures. Some of
these activities are combing facial hair, and counting the
pixels on a Sony TV. Now, there has been a rumour going
around that suggests that stupid people have low
expectations. This is true. They are so stupid that they
don't realize great from O.K. They could have a Sanyo
cordless phone, but would probably choose instead a Pierre
Cardin alarm clock telephone, because it comes free with
their sensamatic folding bed. And someone with the
"advantage" of stupidity might have a hard time doing
certain tasks, or setting things up. Yet this isn't all
bad. For example, if a stupid person leaves the chore, and
comes back to it later, no one will be able to understand
it. Would they get fired from their job? No. For the very
simple reason that no one would understand their work except
for them. The job would have to be given back to the stupid
person, perhaps with a higher salary, or someone would do it
for them, leaving them with even more free time!

Free time is great for brainstorming (Admittedly this seems
to be a bad choice of words!). Yet the ideas stupid people
create tend to be original. For example, when was the last
time someone stupid said something, and made one think about
it? It seems that people are always talking about someone
elses dumb idea. An example of such an idea would be, "How
many stories will that english teacher drop before having a
stroke?" This would suggest that stupid people may have the
upper hand when it comes to thinking up original ideas. In
fact, the next time someone wants an original idea for
something, they should try talking to their local, community
stupid person. The reason for this is that while a stupid
person thinks with his head, he does not do so an organized
manner. This is why they have so much creativity. By
thinking in this fashion, their ideas have a natural
tendency to flow more easily, without the interruptions
which occur from the editing of thoughts that logical people
would have normally. Thus if someone else should say to
one, "That was a stupid idea!" one should merely look that
person straight in the eye, and say, "Thank-you!" This also
means that the claim, "Stupid minds think alike." is not
true. All stupid minds have different ideas, each idea
being original.

One of the final advantages of stupidity is that stupid
people are always remembered, even after graduation day. It
has been noticed how a quiet person is always hard to
detect, and often remains anonymous. There is a very good
reason for this. The mind has a hard time keeping quiet
people in its memory track. But it is much easier and
pleasing for the mind to remember someone really stupid.
Anyways, when was the last time one laughed at an idiot in
ones grade 12 class? When was the last time one laughed at
the little kid at the back of the room? The evidence here
proves how stupid people last longer in someones thoughts.
The largest advantage which arises from stupidity is that it
takes up 2/3 of DNA storage space, which is excellent for
keeping stupidity in the family.

Thus, stupidity clearly has many advantages, as long as
someone is smart enough to use them! It is important to
understand that stupid people are like all other humans
physically. Yet, because of the difference between smart
and stupid people, smart human beings should give them some
breathing space. Teachers can learn that someone graced
with stupidity, deserves more respect. After all, they are
special

Death of an Innocent

I went to a party mom, I remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mom, so I drank soda instead.

I really felt proud inside, Mom, the way you said I would.
I didn't drink and drive, Mom, even though the others said I should.

I know I did the right thing, Mom, I know you were always right.
Now the party is finally ending, Mom ,as everyone is driving out of
sight.

As I got into my car, Mom, but as I pulled out into the road
the other car didn't see me, Mom, and now I'm the one who will pay.

I'm lying here dying, Mom. I wish you'd get here soon.
How cold this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon.

There is blood all around me, Mom, and most of it is mine.
I hear the medic say, Mom, I'll die in a short time.

I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear I didn't drink.
It was the others, Mom. The others didn't think.

He was probably as the same party as I.
The only difference is he drank and I will die.

Why do people drink, Mom? It can ruin your whole life.
I'm feeling sharp pains now. Pains just like a knife.

The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, and I don't think it's fair.
I'm lying here dying and all he can do is stare.

Tell my brother not to cry, Mom. Tell Daddy to be brave.
And when I go to heaven, Mom, put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave.

Someone should have told him, Mom, not to drink and drive.
If only they had told him, Mom, I would still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter, Mom, I'm becoming very scared.
Please don't cry for me, Mom.When I needed you, you were always there.

I have one last question, Mom, before I say good-bye.
I didn't drink and drive, so why am I the one to die?

Barack Obama Biography (1961-)

Born: August 4, 1961 (Hawaii)
Lives in: Chicago, Illinois
Zodiac Sign: Leo
Height: 6' 1" (1.87m)
Family: Married wife Michelle in 1992, 2 daughters Malia and Sasha
Parents: Barack Obama, Sr. (from Kenya) and Ann Dunham (from Kansas)
Religion: United Church of Christ
Drives a: Ford Escape hybrid, Chrysler 300C
Education:
- Graduated: Columbia University (1983) - Major: Political Science
- Law Degree from Harvard (1991) - Major: J.D. - Magna Cum Laude
- Attended: Occidental College
Career: U.S. Senator from Illinois sworn in January 4, 2005
Government Committees:
- Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
- Foreign Relations Committee
- Veterans Affairs Committee
- 2005 and 2006: served on the Environment and Public Works Committee
Books:
- Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995)
- The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006)
- It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina (2006)



Barack Obama is the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois and a Democratic candidate for president in 2008.



Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Although reared among Muslims, Obama, Sr., became an atheist at some point.



Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he signed up for service in World War II and marched across Europe in Patton's army. Dunham's mother went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved to Hawaii.


RELATED WORKS
1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
2006 The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
2006 It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Kim Novak Biography (1933– )

Marilyn Pauline Novak

Film actress, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She made her screen debut in The French Line (1954), then starred in The Pushover (1954), and soon became a leading box-office attraction of the 1950s - perhaps the last of the ‘sex goddesses’ produced by the Hollywood star system. Her films include The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), Pal Joey (1957), Vertigo (1958), The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), and The Mirror Crack'd (1980). She was largely absent from the screen in the 1980s, following her marriage, but still takes occasional roles, as in Liebestraum (1991).

Eileen Farrell Biography (1920–2002 )

Soprano, born in Willimantic, Connecticut, USA. Her rich, hearty voice made her a popular radio performer in the early 1940s, and from there she moved on to serious recitals. From 1958 she sang with the San Francisco Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and in the 1960s with the Metropolitan Opera. Later she taught at colleges in Indiana and Maine. She approved her distinction as one of the few serious opera singers who also enjoyed success singing and recording popular and jazz music. Her autobiography, Can't Help Singing appeared in 1999.

Stockard Channing Biography (1944-)

Actress. Born Susan Williams Antonia Stockard on February 13, 1944 in New York City. The daughter of a shipping magnate, Channing's acting career has been marked by incredible highs and lows. She attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she majored in American history and literature and graduated summa cum laude in 1965. After graduation, she joined Boston's experimental Theater Company. Her first break came in a starring role in a Los Angeles production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, but true recognition didn't arrive until 1985 when she won a Tony for her Broadway performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.
In 1971, Channing made her feature film debut in The Hospital. Her first major film role came two years later when she starred in The Fortune with Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. And in 1978, she landed the memorable supporting role of Rizzo, one of the Pink Ladies in the film adaptation of the musical Grease. Throughout the 1970s, she continued to make appearances on television, and even starred in two short-lived sitcoms: Stockard Channing in Just Friends and The Stockard Channing Show.

By 1980, with her film career at a standstill, Channing turned her energies once again to theater. But she made her comeback in 1993 when she was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her performance as a formidable Upper East Side matron in Six Degrees of Separation; she also won a Tony nomination when she performed the role on stage. Throughout the 1990s she continued working on stage and film, and joined the cast of NBC's political drama The West Wing in 1999. Her portrayal of First Lady Abby Bartlett earned her an Emmy award in 2002. That same year, she won an Emmy for her supporting role in the television movie The Matthew Shepard Story.

Channing has been married and divorced four times: to business executive Walter Channing Jr. from 1963 to 1967; to actor Paul Schmidt from 1970 to 1976; to screenwriter David Debin from 1976 to 1980; and to businessman David Rawle from 1980 to 1988. She is currently seeing gaffer and director of photography Daniel Gillham.

Abraham Lincoln Biography (1809–65)

US statesman and 16th president (1861–5), born near Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA. Born in a log cabin to a modest farm family, he moved early with his family to Indiana. His mother died in 1818 and his stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston, provided a fine model who inspired the ambitious but unschooled boy to discipline and educate himself. The Lincolns moved to Illinois (1830) and, after twice sailing a flatboat to New Orleans, he settled in New Salem, IL where he pursued workaday jobs while studying law on his own. In the 1832 Black Hawk War he served as a volunteer but saw no action. In 1835 he entered the Illinois state legislature as a Whig, and after unremarkable service he left the legislature (1841). In 1837 he began a law practice in Springfield, IL, and in 1842 married Mary Todd of a prominent Springfield family. His position as a prominent Whig in Illinois took him to the US House of Representatives (1847–9), where he again had a lacklustre record despite his opposition to the war in Mexico.
Back in Springfield, he gradually began to prosper as a lawyer, often representing business interests, but his eloquently stated if moderate anti-slavery views gained him increasing attention. This came to a head during his unsuccessful race (1858) for the US Senate against Stephen A Douglas, who led the Democratic accommodation to slave interests. The historic debates between the two men secured Lincoln a national following, which led to his becoming the presidential nominee of the new anti-slavery Republican Party in 1860. Although he received only 40% of the popular vote, due to a split in the Democratic Party, Lincoln won a majority of the Electoral College votes. Although he had stated his willingness to tolerate slavery where it currently existed, his election precipitated the secession of Southern states and the formation of the Confederacy.

In the years of civil war that followed, the inxperienced Lincoln proved to be one of the most extraordinary leaders, both political and moral, the USA has ever seen. First defining the war as being fought over secession rather than slavery, he oversaw the creation of the Union army. When the political time was right he announced the Emancipation Proclamation (Sep 1862), thereby interpreting the war as a crusade against slavery, and later oversaw the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) which legally ended slavery. With his immortal Gettysburg Address (Nov 1863), he further defined the war as the struggle for preservation of the democratic idea which he called ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’.

Meanwhile, he took a direct interest in the conduct of the war, hiring and firing generals, getting daily reports from the battlefields, and visiting the troops in the front lines. All this time he had also to mediate between the pressures of radical and conservative elements of the North, using an astute combination of suppression and conciliation, and barely surviving the election in 1864. Having seen the victory of the Union forces (Apr 1865), he was beginning to plan a generous reconstruction policy when he was shot by Southern fanatic John Wilkes Booth. He died the next day and his body was taken by train from Washington to be buried in Springfield, IL, as the nation he had refounded mourned their ‘Father Abraham’. Master of both a Biblical eloquence and a homespun vernacular, a natural at combining practical politics with moral principles, in only four years as president he had established why he is one of the few Americans who truly ‘belong to the ages’.

George Stephanopoulos Biography

George Stephanopoulos Biography (1961-)



Former presidential advisor. Born February 10, 1961, in Fall River, Massachusetts. The son of first-generation Greek American parents, Stephanopoulos grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Columbia University and in 1983 won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he received a master's degree in theology.
Stephanopoulos began his career in Washington, DC as an aide to Ohio Congressman Ed Feighan. He later served as Feighan's chief of staff before leaving to work on the doomed 1988 presidential campaign of a fellow Greek-American liberal Democrat, Michael Dukakis. He returned to Washington in 1989 and landed a job as the executive floor assistant to then-House majority leader Dick Gephardt. In 1991, Stephanopoulos signed on with the Democratic presidential campaign of Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, as Clinton's deputy campaign manager for communications. After Clinton's victory in 1992, Stephanopoulos became one of the new president's most trusted aides; during Clinton's first term, Stephanopoulos served as the senior advisor to the president for policy andstrategy. He was involved in the development of majorpolicy initiatives during Clinton's first term, most notably crime legislation, affirmative action, and the notoriously unsuccessful health care plan spearheaded by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Shortly after Clinton's reelection in 1996, Stephanopoulos resigned from Clinton's team, citing stress, fatigue, and depression. After his resignation, Stephanopoulos moved to New York City, where he works as a professor of government at Columbia University and a politicalcommentator and analyst for ABC News. In 1999, he published a book about his experience working with Clinton, entitled All Too Human: A Political Education.

In November 2001, Stephanopoulos married actress Alexandra Wentworth. Their daughter, Elliott Anastasia Wentworth Stephanopoulos, was born on September 9, 2002.

Sophie Tucker Biography (1884–1966)

originally Sonia Abuza, néeKalish

Singer and entertainer, born in Russia. Brought to the USA as a child, she first performed in vaudeville in blackface, singing ragtime melodies. She almost stole the show in the Ziegfield Follies of 1909 and returned as a star to vaudeville, abandoning blackface but continuing in the African-American style. She helped popularize songs of black composers such as Eubie Blake, and was also known for her racy songs. She enjoyed great success on tour to England (1922) and went on to appear in several stage and film musicals, but was especially known as a nightclub singer. In her later years she billed herself as ‘The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas’.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Biography (1961-)

Actress. Born January 13, 1961 in New York City. The great-great granddaughter of businessman Leopold Louis-Dreyfus, who founded the international Louis Dreyfus Group. After studying drama at Northwestern University, Louis-Dreyfus began her acting career in nearby Chicago at the Practical Theatre Company and with the prestigious Second City comedy troupe. After moving to New York, she was cast as a regular on Saturday Night Live in 1982, where she showcased her comedic talents for the next two seasons.

In 1986, Julia Louis-Dreyfus launched her film career, appearing in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters and Soul Man. But it was her portrayal of the fabulously flawed and cynical Elaine Benes on NBC's hit sitcom Seinfeld that launched Louis-Dreyfus to stardom. The New Yorkcentric comedy, also costarring Jason Alexander and Michael Richards, was created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David and ran for nine seasons (1989-1998). Though the role of Elaine was not part of the show's original concept, NBC producers insisted that Seinfeld needed a feminine perspective. She earned a Golden Globe in 1993 and an Emmy in 1996 for her performance.

During breaks from Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus continued to make films, with uneven results. These included Jack the Bear (1993), Rob Reiner's North (1994), Father's Day with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, and Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry (1997). And in 1998, she lent her voice for the role of Princess Atta in the computer-animated feature A Bug's Life.

In 2002, Julia Louis-Dreyfus starred in her own NBC sitcom called Watching Ellie. Despite a promising debut, the real-time comedy featuring Louis-Dreyfus as a Los Angeles lounge singer took a dive in the ratings and was canceled midway through its first season. A revamped version of the show returned to NBC's prime time lineup for spring 2003, but it failed to find an audience.


Undaunted, Julia Louis-Dreyfus returned to television with a new sitcom, New Adventures of Old Christine, in 2006. She stars as Christine, a divorced mother of one, navigating the ups and downs of parenting, dating, and running a business. The show’s title is drawn from the fact that her former husband gets involved with a younger woman who shares her first name and becomes known as “New Christine.” Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2006 for her work on the show.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is married to actor and producer Brad Hall. The couple met at Northwestern University and married in 1987. Their son, Henry, was born in 1992.

Howard Stern Biography (1954– )

Radio disc jockey and television talk-show host. Born Howard Allen Stern on January 12, 1954 in New York City. He studied at Boston University, where he became involved with college radio, then took various deejay jobs, eventually basing himself in New York City (from 1982). He has built a reputation as a ‘shock jock’, developing a flamboyant style and explicit programme content, in various ‘Howard Stern’ shows on radio and television during the 1990s, which has brought him fines and controversy as well as a huge public audience. His best-selling book Private Parts (1993) was later issued as a recording and filmed (both 1997).

In 2005, Stern signed a $500 million deal with Sirius Satellite Radio. He began broadcasting exclusively on the subscription-based radio service on January 9, 2006.

Teenagers

Teen Age describes a period of child-growth that extends
from the thirteenth to the nineteenth year. It corresponds
generally to the period of development known as
adolescence, which may begin before the age of 13 and
extend well beyond the age of 19.

Adolescence actually begins with puberty, a period during
which the child matures physically. Adolescence ends at
some indefinite point called maturity, or adulthood. Adults
have certain special characteristics that adolescents
usually lack. These include emotional and economic
independence; acceptance of responsibility; a sense of
self-identity or individuality; and a goal, or set of
values, that adults try to reach. But the chief factor of
adulthood is physical maturity, which is generally
completed between the ages of 20 and 23.

The teen ager undergoes other great changes that tend to
confuse him/her. Physical changes sometimes upset him
emotionally. Intellectually, he/she begins to question
social, moral, and religious ideas that he had previously
received without question from his parents and society.

The teen ager also strives for the independence, freedom,
and responsibility of an adult. This often leads to
conflicts between the teen ager and his/her parents, and to
conflicts within the teen ager him/herself. Too often
adults ignore, ridicule, or misunderstand the teen ager's
drive toward adulthood.

The teen ager may be divided into three separate categories
ranging from the radical to conservative. The "radical"
teen ager may be best described as one going to all
extremes to try and prove something that nobody else can
really understand. Punks, stoners, new- wavers, skaters,
surfers, and other similar people fall into this category.
The "moderate" group of the teen ager may best be described
as the classic teen ager, or really a teen ager who
epitomizes most of the qualities of a "normal" teen ager.
This category comprises the widest range of people and
could definitely be sub-divided within itself. This
particular category of teen ager is slightly vague as it
can range from teenagers such as "jocks" to "brains". The
last of these categories, the "conservative" teen ager
describes the class of teen agers who follow the rules and
teachings of the adult world without a complaint or
rejection. One will most likely find a "conservative" teen
in the front of the classroom trying to get as close to the
teacher's desk as possible. One will find that this person
is usually quite timid and quiet the majority of the time.

Parents are the greatest single influence in the life of an
adolescent. Whether the teen ager successfully makes the
transition form childhood to adulthood depends mostly on
them. Parents must constantly strive to understand their
growing youngsters. Parents themselves must make certain
adjustments so that the teen ager can fulfill his/her need
for independence and social development. They must provide
a secure and happy home where the teen ager can find
acceptance of himself and his friends.

Teen agers must be prepared to meet many more problems than
those already discussed. They must develop moral and
ethical standards, and learn how to apply them. They must
learn how to study and how to succeed scholastically,
especially if they plan on going to college. They must also
learn how to use leisure time constrictively they must
develop wholesome attitudes toward other persons.
Adolescence is the proving ground for these future
responsibilities, and thus becomes one of the most
important periods in a person's life. The adolescent needs
the help of parents, school, and community.

Nancy Lopez Biography (1957– )

Athlete, professional golfer. Born on January 6, 1957, in Torrence, California. With guidance from her father, Lopez began playing golf as a child. She won the New Mexico Women's Amateur tournament at the age of 12 and went on to win several amateur titles.

Becoming a professional golfer while in college, Lopez won Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards in 1978. During the course of her career, she received the Player of the Year Award four times and had 48 victories, three of them in major tournaments.

In recent years, Lopez has been honored for her role in the sport. She won the 2003 Billie Jean King Contribution Award from the Women's Sports Foundation and is the first woman to receive the Frances Ouimet Award for Lifelong Contributions to Golf.

Married to former professional baseball player Ray Knight since 1982, Lopez has three daughters

The Forbidden Word

A young man lives in a place where the word "I" does not
have meaning. It is a society where there are no
individuals. It is, however, a place where one strives to
serve one's brothers. Equality 7-2521 was taught from birth
that individuality did not exist. It is a crazed society
where the only form of government is collectivism.

Equality, at age 21, has absolutely no freedom. He is a
strong, tall young man who stands about six feet. However,
in this society, anyone who is six feet tall is considered
to be evil. His dream of going to the House of Scholars is
lost and he is sent to the Hose of Street Sweepers instead.
Here the rules are very strict. He is not allowed to laugh
or sing for any reason. These are only a few of the
hardships that Equality has had to face in this mixed up
society. His troubles get greater and greater until finally
he does something about it.

All through his life, Equality thinks he is not capable of
accomplishing anything. As time passes, he discovers that
he is capable of doing many things by himself and more
importantly that he is an individual. When it appears that
he is in an endless tunnel, he discovers a light. This
provides him with the confidence that he is able to do
things. Other experiences, such as falling in love with
Liberty and seeing his reflection in the pond also help him
to believe in himself as a strong individual. Equality
later realizes that he has committed sins as he was growing
up. He thinks by showing his invention to the House of
Scholars that he would be forgiven for his wrongdoings. He
hopes to show his invention to society and find a way into
the House of the Scholars. He also wants to prove that
being tall does not make one an evil individual. He feels
that he has sinned because he was sent to the Palace of
Corrective Detention when he did not reveal where he had
been. He wishes to be forgiven for being sent there. Even
though entering the tunnel is against the law, he feels
that he is going to discover things that would improve the
society that he is living in.

Equality tries to get the House of Scholars to accept him
for the last time. He finds out when and where they are
going to meet and devises a plan. He decides to escape from
the Palace of Corrective Detention and go to where the
meeting is being held. He arrives at the Council of
Scholars and the members look at him in astonishment. They
are afraid at first because they do not know exactly what
Equality is presenting to them. After they realize what it
is that Equality is showing them, they are very insulted
that a mere street sweeper was belittling their
intelligence as Council members.

Upon hearing that his idea is rejected, he leaps out the
window and runs to the Uncharted Forest where no man
survives. He finds out that Liberty has followed him into
the forest. They come together and find an abandoned house.
They enter it and see things that they have never seen
before. They find clothes, 2 beds in one room, and one
thing that shocked them the most, a mirror. After looking
into the mirror, Equality now knows for sure that he is an
individual. He now understands that the word "I" that he
had learned from the manuscripts of the Unmentionable Times
has meaning. He knows that he lives for himself and not for
others. He realizes that he is his own self and he
determines his own fate. He then changes his name to
Prometheus in honor of a Greek God who stole the light of
the 600's and gave it to man. Prometheus had suffered just
as Equality had, and Equality admired him very much and
chose his name to be his own. Liberty also changed her
name. Equality gave her the name Gaea after the Greek
Goddess who was the mother of earth and all the God's. Gaea
becomes pregnant and they both decide to raise their child
as an individual and to never let it experience the
hardships they had faced in the crazed society of
Collectivism.

Equality makes it his duty to rescue the other friends he
had left behind. He feels that they deserve the same
freedom that he is now experiencing. He plans to "save all
men and women whose spirit has not been killed within them
and suffer under the yoke of brothers." Equality wants to
bring his friends to his fortress and start a community
wherein the dreadful word "I" will never again be
forbidden..

Sir Isaac Newton Biography (1642–1727)

Physicist and mathematician, born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. He studied at Cambridge. In 1665–6 the fall of an apple is said to have suggested the train of thought that led to the law of gravitation. He studied the nature of light, concluding that white light is a mixture of colours which can be separated by refraction, and devised the first reflecting telescope. He became professor of mathematics at Cambridge in 1669, where he resumed his work on gravitation, expounded finally in his famous Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). In 1696 he was appointed warden of the Mint, and was master of the Mint from 1699 until his death. He also sat in parliament on two occasions, was elected president of the Royal Society in 1703, and was knighted in 1705. During his life he was involved in many controversies, notably with Leibniz over the question of priority in the discovery of calculus.

Charles (Sherwood) Stratton Biography (1838–83)

Midget showman, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. He stopped growing at six months of age, and stayed 63 cm/25 in until his teens, eventually reaching 101 cm/40 in. Barnum displayed him in his museum, from the age of five, under the name of General Tom Thumb, and he became famous throughout the USA and Europe. In 1863 his marriage to Lavinia Warren (1841–1919), also a midget, was widely publicized.

Victor Borge Biography (1909–2000)

Entertainer and pianist, born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, and in Vienna and Berlin. He made his debut as a pianist in 1926, and as a revue actor in 1933. From 1940 he worked in the USA for radio, television, and theatre, and performed with leading symphony orchestras on worldwide tours from 1956. He was best known for his comedy sketches combining music and narrative. With Robert Sherman he wrote the books My Favorite Intermissions (1971) and Victor Borge's My Favorite Comedies in Music (1980).

J(ohn) R(onald) R(euel) Tolkien Biography (1892–1973)

Philologist and writer, born in Bloemfontein, EC South Africa. He studied in Birmingham and at Oxford, where he became professor of Anglo-Saxon (1925–45) and Merton professor of English language and literature (1945–59). His scholarly works include Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1936). His expertise in Anglo-Saxon literature, particularly saga and folklore, and his interest in mediaeval languages led to his books about a fantasy world in which the beings have their own language and mythology, notably The Hobbit (1937), which developed from bedtime stories written for his children. The same characters appear in The Lord of the Rings (3 vols, 1954–5, filmed 2001–3), a longer and more ambitious work in which he creates a history and mythology for a past time known as ‘Middle Earth’. The Silmarillion (1977) was published posthumously, as was Unfinished Tales (1980).

Mel Gibson Biography (1956-)

Actor, director, producer. Born on January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, New York. Gibson was the sixth of 11 children born to Hutton and Ann Gibson, who were Roman Catholics of Irish descent. Shortly after the onset of the Vietnam War, Hutton Gibson relocated his family to Australia for fear that his sons would be drafted into battle. Mel spent the remainder of his childhood in Sydney, where he attended an all-boys Catholic high school.
After Gibson's high school graduation, he considered becoming a chef or journalist. However, when his sister submitted an application on his behalf to The National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, he decided to audition. Without any prior acting experience, he was accepted and enrolled in the drama school. While there, he made his stage debut in a production of Romeo and Juliet, and his screen debut in the low-budget film Summer City (1977). Upon his graduation that year, Gibson joined the Southern Australian Theater Company, where he appeared in the title roles of classical productions, such as Oedipus and Henry IV.

After conquering the stage, Gibson tried his hand at television, landing his first role on the Australian series The Sullivans. In 1979, Gibson graduated to mainstream cinema with his role as a futuristic warrior in Mad Max, and as a mentally retarded man in love with Piper Laurie in Tim, for which he earned his first Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award for Best Actor. Furthermore, Mad Max became the biggest commercial success of any Australian film, grossing over $100 million worldwide.

Gibson received his second AFI Award for Best Actor for his performance as a patriotic idealist in Peter Weir’s World War I drama Gallipoli (1981). Later that year, he reprised his role as the leather-clad hero in Mad Max 2 (1981). The film was released in the U.S. as The Road Warrior in 1982, and its success established Gibson as an international star. His second collaboration with Weir, The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), featured the actor in his first romantic lead alongside Sigourney Weaver.

Gibson’s American film debut in The River (1984) was considered a success. The film earned four Oscar nominations, including a Best Actress nod for Sissy Spacek. In 1985, he returned to Australia to complete the Mad Max trilogy in the less impressive Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, which co-starred singer Tina Turner. Later that year, Gibson's popularity was confirmed when he was featured on the cover of People magazine as the first ever "Sexiest Man Alive."

After a brief hiatus, Gibson returned to the screen with the blockbuster hit Lethal Weapon (1987), playing volatile cop, Martin Riggs, opposite Danny Glover's by-the-book character, Roger Murtaugh. The success of Lethal Weapon inspired three sequels - Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), all of which featured Glover and Gibson in their respective roles as good cop and bad cop.