How Does Fashion Influence the Lives of Students?

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This is an era of fashion and fashion is very influential to our lives. In fact, it adds diversity to our lives by offering an aspect of enthusiasm to strive for something new and different, otherwise it would be a monotonous life if we were supposed to dress up and act in the same manner.

Fashion is an expression of a distinctive style particularly in clothing, footwear, accessories or makeup. It belongs to the style of doing something, looking different and dealing with others. It encircles a wide range of categorization like behavior, speech, actions, manners and lifestyle. There is much intellectual discussion over fashion and clothing and their importance within present day society. Fashion and clothing can be defined as many things that hold our society together. Fashion can be defined as an existing norm or style of dress, manners and way of socializing, whereas clothing is defined as garments collectively. If fashion and clothing were eliminated from our lives there would be no room for individuality and the world’s population would be the same. There also would be a loss of the distinctions between social classes, which was much defined in the 18th century but is still present today. The eradication of fashion and clothing would also change the dynamics of the social world and social relationships.

Mod, short form of ‘modern’, refers to a youth lifestyle that came out from London during 1960s and quickly spread to other parts of the world. Being fashionable is not only desirable but also satisfying. It is very usual that the young students get attracted to fashion the most and start following the trends instantly so fashion influences our youth strongly. Fashion continually has an impact on the society. It affects our views and attitude towards social culture. We introduce new ways of lifestyle through fashion and create awareness within ourselves to reinstate a new line of customs. It is a leading social statement for students to make an outside appearance to their social circle. Malcolm Barnard says in his book Fashion as Communication, “Fashion and clothing have always been explained as forms of communication” (39). Students use fashion to exchange their feelings and beliefs. They use fashion as a way of social contact with reference to scrutiny for all sorts of people. Fashion is a way of communication to convey with the world what their personality really says.

The decade of 1920 is called the Age of Flaming Youth because of its wild and jazzy expression. In this period the energy of youth was set free in a new way and no style seemed too ridiculous to become a high fashion. Our world has globalized. Celebrities play very important role in the lives of youth. Students look up to their favorite icons to keep themselves up to date. While watching television or using internet, they can easily be attracted by a variety of fashionable concepts. Moreover, the students idealize their favorite celebrities and they always have a desire to look like them so they do their best to imitate the appearance and lifestyle of their idols. They are trying to grasp all the existing fashion from their society to enhance their personality. Whenever they socialize, they talk about new things which could be adapted. They use non-natural way of expression, speech and mannerism in their routine lives which is relatively artificial.

In my point of view, there are two categories i.e. positive and negative impact of fashion on students.

The fashion in our society has a lot of negative impact on students. They only think about new fashion and this result in spending of a large amount of money. Therefore, they are not able to become aware of other important needs of life. It always distracts them from studies. Once a style or fashion gets in a trend, it is instantly chased by student community regardless of the fact that how much hassle it leads to. On the other hand they are caught in the confusion of fashion due to impact of society. To follow a certain fashion, one has to adopt some actions and to do so some students go beyond their limits just to attract their surroundings. Eventually they become hopeless instead of being ingenious and suffered from depression for being within fashion. On the other hand, it is also a thought that the money spending on Fashion could be spent for various other purposes like charity and helping the poor.

Fashion creates an inaccessible standard for students. They all want to be attractive and glamorous like the celebrities on television or in magazines hence they spend a lot of time and money just to build up a good impression on people around them. However, they fail to make a statement most of the time that leads to a low self esteem. It also creates a clash of thoughts between them and their friends that may lead to jealousy factor and as a result ruin their relationship with friends. Students start judging people by their outlook appearance and those who cannot spend sufficient amount on their outward look, eventually become persecuted which decreased their confidence level to certain extent.

Students who give more concentration to fashion are generally least conscious about their studies. They think that by adopting certain fashion trends, they will achieve certain distinction among the peers therefore they start giving less importance to their academic careers.

There are some positive points of being fashionable as well. For instance, when teenagers feel good because of the way they look, it gives a high sense of worth and confidence in their personalities. Moreover they feel more independent and acceptable in a social context. If students follow a certain trend, it facilitates them to recognize their own personalities by meeting different people from the society with the same interests and sense of style. Wearing trendy clothes shows a person’s status. People assume a person more progressive if he is wearing fashionable clothes. Malcolm Barnard says in his book Fashion as Communication, “Fashion and clothing have always been explained as forms of communication”

Students eventually come to know that it’s not good for them to follow or imitate others all the time. Instead, they should learn how to be innovative and make their own sense of style. That helps them to be more strong, independent and imaginative. Fashion is the name of expressing oneself.It proves that the people have liberty to feel comfortable about themselves and that results in a more successful and prosperous society.

Fashion is a form of art and because art is beneficial to society so same goes for fashion as well.Fashion is a big reason for companies to invest more into the expansion of latest clothing, trends, and better living. We cannot disagree with the fact that fashion has a significant place on the life of every student. At times, it can be the source of things that make the life more pleasant. On the other hand, it can be destructive for the lives of certain people. So it’s better to keep yourself modernized with fashion but if it is damaging your academic performance by any mean, you should keep yourself away from that. Generally, fashion can be entertaining, exciting and harmless. Fashion is a money making method that can provide employment to thousands of people.

There should be stability in the lives of students while pursuing fashion. They should be aware of the fact that the fashion within limits is admirable but when the limits are crossed, they have to face many problems. Their prime responsibility is to fill up themselves with the asset of knowledge instead of running after the wildness of deceptive fashion world. There should be a right balance between being fashionable and getting away from our roots. Students should know the fact that they have maximum time to indulge themselves to the world of lavishness after they completed their studies.So they should give their utmost devotion to education presently for time and tide waits for none.

Being trendy and fashionable is just our own wish, no one can force us to do it and it’s our own decision that how much and what type of fashion we prefer according to place and requirement. Though this time of 21st century in Pakistan mostly people are affected by glamorous world and style of fashion but still they have not forgotten our traditions and culture which is the priority and symbol of our country.

Shopping Mall Leasing Strategies for Real Estate Brokers

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The leasing of a shopping mall is a specific strategy relative to the location, the property type, the customer demographic, and the landlord. All factors come together to contribute towards a successful leasing outcome and tenancy mix.

It should be said that a successful leasing strategy will contribute towards the greater the benefit of the property. More customers will be encouraged to visit the property and purchase goods or services. On that basis retail leasing is quite special.

Here are some tips to help you with leasing a retail mall in today’s property market:

  1. Understand the vacancy factors that apply to the precinct or location. An excessive number of vacant tenancies will have an impact on market rentals and incentives. Check out the factors of supply and demand that apply within the region. Look for any new property developments that could have an impact on tenant movement and market rentals.

  2. Understand the types of incentives that can be offered by the landlord to attract tenants. Also understand the requirements of tenants when it comes to incentives in today’s market. Any vacancy that you have available for lease needs to be matched to the prevailing market conditions. That will include the rental types, and the incentives offered. The landlord needs to adjust to the prevailing market conditions. Get some details of comparable rentals and other properties nearby to help the landlord understand the packaging of their vacant tenancy.

  3. It should be said that a lease incentive cost should be recovered through the rental structure over the lease term. In other words, any money that is lost or offset in the incentive availability should be recovered by rental growth and escalation across the lease term. You can do this calculation through an assumption of market rentals and a discount cash flow calculation. The net present value of the deal can be compared across the duration of the lease.

  4. Successful leasing executives usually have a substantial database of retail tenants to contact. Any new leasing opportunity can be offered through the database to targeted tenants, anchor tenants, retail specialists, franchise groups, and other industry professionals. Any vacancy can be directly marketed to these groups through cold calling, direct contact, e-mail marketing, and direct mail.

  5. It is acceptable and normal to market a vacant tenancy through the generic media. That will involve newspaper advertising, and Internet listing. There are costs associated with that marketing activity and the landlord should contribute towards those costs.

  6. Most successful leasing transactions occur through the involvement of the leasing executive and direct marketing to the right people. I go back to the point that the database for each broker or agent is quite important to converting more commissions and listings.

It should be noted that any quality property in a good location will create good inbound enquiries. If you are selective with your property appointments and vacant tenancies, you will create more churn and activity in property leasing.

Governments, Terrorism and Fake News

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“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Unfortunately, these days those words and goals are still not implemented and probably never will be. There are too many interests involved in establishing such an ideal government. Too much ego, prejudice, and economic, social and many other and conflicting interests are involved in the basic ingredients for melding such a government. Maybe it should be like this in the name of democracy and freedom of choice; maybe the people don’t deserve such an ideal government.

The major problem is generating the desired balance among all those ideals and desires. The two extreme possibilities are a government with too much power and a weak, divided government that is unable to make crucial decisions. A government or an organization with enough resources can do almost anything. Not only that, they can even publicly justify their actions in the name of preserving and protecting the democracy. They will support their actions, which may be illegal, immoral or even criminal in the name of justice, for the people and nation. To balance between a completely open society where everything is transparent, visible and known to everybody and a closed society where certain actions and information are known to few is a very difficult task. “People don’t have to know everything,” may have justification in certain cases. Polls have already proved that the mood of people can be easily manipulated and change directions with time, events and publicity.

Governments can, if they wish, eliminate certain groups or individuals who, in their opinion, oppose and are hostile to their policies. The elimination of a terrorist or a political opponent is as easy to achieve as it is easy to hide from the public. The death or disappearance of such people is explained under categories such as natural causes, accidents, mental hospitalization or death during emergency surgery.

All agencies, unofficial and official, such as the CIA, MI5/6, KGB and the Mossad, were and will be doing “it” in the name of national security. The popular public reason may be: “In order to protect, preserve or even enforce Democracy.” In certain cases those actions might be truly justified; the problem is where to set the limit. Many people have disappeared worldwide in the name of national security.

The reason of national security for not disclosing certain information or imprisoning an undesired subject is used too often by many countries and organizations.

Governments operate mainly at three levels. While level one is the clean and white level of activities, reserved for heads of states and highly exposed political figures, level two is the gray area. This is an unethical area of activity which smells bad but is still legal. Killing, eliminating, removing and falsifying are part of level three. Normally, “we the people” are exposed to level one and occasionally to level two, but rarely to level three.

At level three, I can mention for example, Gerald Bull, the Canadian engineer who developed the Babylon or “super-gun” long-range artillery for the Iraqi government. Bull was assassinated in Brussels, Belgium in March 1990.

It is quite interesting to note the language evolution with regard to using politically correct terminologies. The word-laundering is quite fascinating. Terms such as “Terrorists” or “freedom fighters,” “guerrillas”, “political assassination” or “removing from power” all depends on which side you ask or talk to.

The USA is a super-power with worldwide presence and intervention. In general, they are a stabilizing factor. Many Americans don’t understand the importance of their support for certain countries and at the same time many supported countries simply hate their presence.

To better understand the above, try to imagine a world without the U.S. involvement. Let’s assume that the U.S. is not a super-power or they evolved from an Empire to a regular Republic interested mainly in their internal affairs.

What would the world look like without U.S. intervention?

Oil is one of the major energy resources of most modern countries. Oil was one of the main reasons for wars and the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. It was not a territorial dispute; it was about oil. The Americans are one of the largest oil consumers, so it is obvious why the U.S. was interested in assisting Kuwait.

However, this is not the whole picture. The U.S. involvement all over the world is not only for oil and monetary interests. Most people believe that there are other reasons. In the era of a globalized economy, world stability is essential and according to the Chaos theory, even a small problem in the Middle-East, for example, can generate a chain reaction which affects the U.S. in many areas. Most people believe that the global American intervention is also because they care. They care about establishing and maintaining Democracies and enabling freedom for everybody everywhere possible. Obviously there are other reasons and interests; so what are they?

China is becoming a major player in the world arena. They are the second largest oil consumers. The route of oil to China is secured and enabled by the U.S. Navy. China’s long term goal might be to be equal the U.S. and they can achieve it.

Without the U.S., Taiwan would cease to exist as a Democracy and may be annexed to mainland China. Without the U.S., Japan would have to get nuclear capabilities if they wanted to remain independent. They have had a continuing dispute with China since 1937, and the Chinese will never forget the Japanese invasion. The U.S. assisted Iran indirectly by eliminating Saddam Hussein, who had fought Iran over a border dispute for eight years. Saddam Hussein was interested in making Iraq an influential power in the Persian Gulf region. He invaded Iran not only because of the long history of border disputes, but also to enlarge Iraq’s oil reserves. Europe wants and needs oil, but they are not willing to pay the full price to get it. They hate the American presence and will not acknowledge that without the U.S., they wouldn’t get the oil they need.

Europe’s attitude toward Israel is extremely hypocritical. They have a short memory; however what unites Europe against Israel or the Jews is Anti-Semitism.

Since March 2003 when Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Turkey’s Prime Minister, their policy toward Israel has changed. Erdogan was unhappy with Israel’s reaction to Hezbollah’s kidnapping of soldiers in 2006; he was critical when Israel conducted the Gaza War; he asked to inspect Israel’s nuclear facilities under IAEA inspection; and he has criticized Israel for its many defensive actions.

The tension between the countries has escalated following the Gaza flotilla raid.

The question is what his motives are and if he has a hidden agenda that may explain his overzealous attention to Israel. His reactions have gained Turkey influence and sympathy among his Arab neighbors. Particularly, he may have gained certain advantages among his domestic political parties. His special collaborative attention and meetings with Syria and Iran should worry the West and particularly Israel.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK, founded in 1978, is a Kurdish organization which fights against Turkey. Their goal is to establish an independent Kurdish state.

There is a claim by Germany that the Turkish military has used chemical weapons against members of the PKK.

Lebanon is a puppet country controlled by Syria and Iran. Hezbollah or “The Party of God” is a Shi’a Islamic organization involved in Lebanese politics, supported by Syria and Iran. Actually, they are viewed by most of the world as a terrorist organization.

Their forces are trained and organized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Their main goal is to eliminate the colonial entity in Lebanon and to establish an Islamic regime.

To achieve that, the Iranians with their supporters all are united under the hatred towards Israel and their desire to eliminate the Zionist entity from the region.

A top secret CIA document released on April 2004 lists the many possible suspects for the assassination of Elie Hobeika, former Lebanese Forces Commander.

Possible culprits include fellow Christians, other members of the Lebanese elite, Palestinians and Israelis.

According to a Western news agency, a previously unknown anti-Syrian group, “Lebanese for a Free and Independent Lebanon.” has claimed responsibility. The claim may be associated with rightwing Maronite Christians, who bore a grudge against Hobeika because he betrayed the Lebanese Forces and the Israelis by switching allegiance to the Syrians in the mid-80. Hobeika also was active in Christian infighting during Lebanon’s civil war.

Palestinians despise Hobeika because he allegedly directed the massacre of approximately 1,000 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla in 1992.

An Israeli commission in 1983 accused Hobeika of carrying out the massacre and held then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon indirectly responsible for the attack.

Many Lebanese suspect Israeli involvement because Hobeika had said he would testify against Sharon if the Belgians went forward with a trial accusing Sharon of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in Sabra and Shatilla.

A Belgian court next month will rule on whether a judicial investigation into Sharon’s role can proceed.

President Lahud claims Hobeika was killed to stop him from testifying, according to press reports, a sentiment echoed by other government officials.

There is no direct evidence of Israeli involvement in the assassination, but highlighting an Israeli connection could help the Lebanese avoid the internal friction that would arise if a Lebanese group were blamed.

Anybody who thinks that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is over territories is totally wrong.

Israelis are willing to give back certain territories and make peace in exchange for a piece of paper… Unfortunately, based on history, those signed agreements have a very short life time. In the volatile region of the Middle-East Israel will face many difficulties without U.S. support. In the 1980s Soviet military forces in Afghanistan faced a different type of war than they had experienced in the past. The resistance forces fighting them were the mujahedeen.

The Makhtab Al-Khidamat (MAK) was founded by Osama Bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam, which led to the establishment of Al-Qaeda in 1988. At the end of the Soviet occupation they wanted to extend and justify their operations, so they tried to include other Islamic causes. It is quite obvious that Al-Qaeda benefited from the U.S. funding and training given to the Afghan mujahedeen fighting the Soviet invasion.

There are many Al-Qaeda cells which are operative worldwide. Without united cooperation they will continue their terrorist operations including their attempt to get nuclear related weapons.

Download The Best MP3 Player Music

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If you are a big fan of music and need to get access to some of the latest songs on your MP3 player, then now you can download them through the internet.

MP3 players are hip and trendy!

Technology has been developing at a faster pace than ever before and ushered in a new revolution with some of the most innovative products.MP3 players are one such creation that has vastly contributed to the growing popularity of small music devices with vast capabilities of storing files in digital format. The unique advantage of MP3 players is that you can easily carry them anywhere and listen to your favorite songs using Bluetooth devices or a headset.

Besides, it is light-weight and has good storage capacity and comes in different memory sizes. It is the best way to download music using the music sites available on the internet. You can find plenty of interesting music sites on the internet, from where you can download songs to your MP3 player The fees charged by the MP3 music download sites are quite economical and affordable. You need to check for sites that are authentic and genuine and offer good quality music so that there is no threat of any virus or spyware for your MP3 player.

Download music to your MP3 player

The first thing that you need for downloading music to your MP3 player is a good computer which has a USB connection. Besides that you may require some cables for making a connection and also software for downloading purposes. You can follow the simple steps given in the manual for downloading music to your MP3 player as most of them work in a similar fashion.

However, the simplest way would be to just download and transfer all the files to your detachable disk drive and then use the copy paste option. This works well if you are using a computer having USB connectivity. The computer also requires software for recognition of your MP3 player when it is put into the USB drive. If you are using a different computer and do not have the required software, then it is possible to get it on the internet as well.

Some handy tips for downloading music for MP3 player

-Make sure you download music only from internet music sites that carry high ratings which are legally permissible. These sites should have a good collection of songs and if possible, look out for sites that offer free music download trial versions.

-Always remember to download music files from websites that are compatible with your MP3 player device so that you do not waste all your time and effort on something that may not yield good results.

Why Women Love Fashion Accessories

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With the development of society, people spent more and more time on their physical appearance. Young girls and modern ladies both are conscious of fashion trends in every season and year, even in every single day. Accordingly, fashion accessories have become a way of life for most modern ladies because everyone is eager to stand out in the crowd.

Fashion accessories are those items that are in the same step with your clothing style as well as enhancing people’s fashion taste. It ranges widely from earrings, bracelets, scarves to rings and watches and so on.

As for reasons why women are fond of fashion accessories, have you ever considered about it? In my mind, there are 4 reasons I’d like to share.

Above all, right fashion accessories prove that you are updated with the fashion trends. That is to say, to some extent, they are signature of bearers’ fashion tastes. Any fashion lovers hate to be called out of style. If you are a true fashionable person, you must be very sensitive to style in popularity. Then you will not wear wrong ones.

They show its social status of owners as well. Rich people and celebrities prefer to ones produced by famous fashion companies, which are obviously not affordable for ordinary people. Meanwhile, when many common people can’t afford luxury ones, they love to make them by themselves with their wild imagination. Though these accessories share different values in business but both illustrate fashion attitudes.

As what is mentioned above, wearing right accessories make your style complete. There are various occasions for people to attend. It is not enough to wear fine clothes only. Glamorous stuffs really can make you look complete and appeal to others.

Apart from three reasons I shared above, the last but less important one is that fashion accessories show your personality. Nowadays, people love to show their special traits by what they eat, what they wear and so on because everyone wants to be different and unique. You may wear the same stylish dress with your friends. However, a piece of fashion stuffs tells you from them. Taking the way to wear a scarf for example, someone follows the traditional way to tie it around necklaces, someone prefer to use it as a headband. Moreover creative person will make it as belt to decorate their dress or tie it to ornament handbags. In short, different strategies to tie scarves not only show their fashion attitudes but manifest their various personalities.

In a word, fashion accessories are the best friends of ladies. No one can deny passions women put on them and fierce attractions they bring.

The History and Advantages of Comparison Shopping

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People have been shopping for thousands of years. With the growth and expansion of the internet, today the art of comparison shopping has become a normal part of the shopping experience. This is when consumers shop at different sellers for prices, options, services… etc. Because of its many advantages, comparison shopping is not a new trend. The history of it and how it evolved to the popular activity we see today is quite an interesting story.

Through their archeological investigations, researchers have discovered that comparison shopping can be dated as far back as 1400 BC. It took place when Christopher Columbus arrived in the new world. He provided a variety of goods that the Natives browsed and compared before they made their selection. In the 1840’s, trading posts were established where Native people and others traded goods. The process involved browsing and comparing the goods before they chose the best item.

In the 1900’s, people in Europe browsed the papers for special deals on advertised items. During the 1960s and 70s people would drive from store to store to compare items and prices. In the 1980’s, more people were going to malls where they could easily walk from store to store looking for deals. In the 1990s, store fliers and advertising inserts were put in newspapers so that people could look through them to see which retailer was offering the best deal. Then, the development of the Internet resulted in the tremendous growth of comparison shopping.

The creation of search engines in 1996 allowed people to find and locate shopping sites. From 1999 onward, programmers were creating unique ways to comparison shop such as the “FIVE-STAR” rating system that is used to grade products and services. In 2002, social networking sites were developed and in the last few years consumers have been rating products and services on these sites. Between 2003 and 2006, websites were created for the purpose of giving consumers the ability to use a search comparison tool.

Today, the internet has made it easy for everyone to comparison shop for the highest quality product or service at the best price. There are comparison sites dedicated to just about every type of product and service such as hotels, insurance, flights, gas prices, cruises, mortgages, and so much more. Comparison shopping is a powerful marketing strategy that is popular with both consumers and sellers.

There are many advantages that include: you will get exactly what you want at a price you can afford, shopping is stress-free especially if you shop like this online because you will not have to deal with long lines at the cash register, you will receive unbiased opinions, and you will save a lot of money on high quality goods. It has come a long way since 1400 BC. Since that time, there have many developments that allow everyone to find exactly what they want. There is no doubt that comparison shopping has made shopping much easier and more enjoyable and it has saved consumers a ton of money.

Blind Luck

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To Get Started:

Duck hunting is one of many passions that I enjoy, but out of all of them it is the most complex and time-consuming to do correctly. While it may seem easy from watching T.V. there are many minor details that if not done well can absolutely ruin a hunt or worse ruin a season. The hunters season starts about three months in advance of the legal hunting season. The hunters job during that time is to get an idea of where the ducks or geese will be flying. It’s a mixture of past season knowledge and also observing the local ducks that are already there for the year. You want to be on the ‘X” in order to have the best chance during the season.

Location Is Key:

Once you have established a few places where you think they will be you have to set up your blind. This is where you will be sitting the early mornings waiting on the birds to fly in. It needs to give good coverage for the amount of hunters you plan on having. Each person will need adequate room to safely manoeuver a shotgun around in a hunting situation. It also needs to have a dry area to store things like shells, calls, and blind bag which can hold anything from bug spray to a cell phone. After the essential are taken care of extra equipment can be moved in for more comfort. We usually have cushioned chairs and a grill to cook hot breakfast in the morning. The blind needs to be in a position the ducks will feel comfortable landing in. Shotguns have a very limited range so the closer to the action, the better.

Getting Their Attention:

Once you know where the ducks are and you are well hidden its time to get them to come to you. The two main ways of getting them to fly to you are duck/geese decoys and calls. The decoys make it look like ducks are already there and it’s a safe place. The more movement and life you give the spread the more realistic it seems and the more success you will have. The second and more important tactic is calls. Ducks make a lot of noise while they are sitting on the water and if you want to be realistic then you have to replicate that. Every duck makes a different noise and so you have to be specific to each species as they fly in. The calls give a vocal call that tells them to come in even if they can’t see the decoys. But if you don’t practice with your call technique it can scare every duck away for a square mile so that is something that needs attention in the preseason.

The Hunt:

This is the time that all the hard work pays off. It’s a magical moment of outdoors, fellowship with friends, and life lessons learned from elders. It’s not only a way of providing food for your family, but it is a way to connect with so many people around your community that share the same passion. Taking someone on a hunt for the first time is such a positive influence in that person’s life and gives valuable morals that they will take with them for the rest of their life. Now its time to implicate calling technique, decoy placement, and marksmanship. Even with all those things present sometimes you just need some Blind Luck.

A Quick History Of The Phantom Of The Opera

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The Phantom of the Opera is perhaps most well-known for its stage adaptation, which comes in the form of a musical. It is one of the most popular musicals of all time, and any Broadway fan has most likely seen it at some point. It is the longest-running Broadway show of all time, having been performed thousands upon thousands of times.

The novel was published in France in 1909, and translated to English 2 years later. It was met with little to no success. However, it gradually caught on over the years as word spread, and eventually it became hugely popular, prompting all sorts of adaptations. There have been countless movies, television series, book spin-offs, stage adaptations, comic strips, and other odes to the original novel.

The most famous stage adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera is the 1986 Broadway musical. It was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with writers Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart contributing lyrics.

The musical closely follows the events of the book. The main character, Christine Daae, is a singer in the Opera Garnier in Paris. As she spends time in the opera house, she becomes the obsession of the titular Phantom. The tale that unfolds is dramatic, dark, and extremely memorable.

The musical has been extremely successful. At first the outlook was somewhat rocky due to poor critical reception. However, the musical has gotten enough attendance to show constantly since 1986. Profits are estimated at around 3.3 Billion USD, with over 80 million attendees.

So if you have an interest in Broadway musicals, you should definitely try to find a showing of the Phantom of the Opera near you. It is not just a great story – it is also a piece of Broadway history. So see this infamous play, and find out what all the fuss is about.

Sustainable Fashion – The Many Contradictions

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In many ways the words sustainable and fashion don’t really sit together well. I have heard sustainable fashion described as both oxymoronic and a contradiction and perhaps this is true. Is it really possible for the fashion industry to become sustainable?

Part of the problem with the term sustainable fashion is that ‘fashion’ is often used to describe constantly changing trends and even associated with ‘fast fashion’, the term used to describe the low cost or affordable clothing that is quickly made to respond to the latest trend often being worn only once or twice before being discarded. The ethical and environmental implications of this type of clothing are well recognised with valuable resources being wasted and workers in the supply chain being mistreated to ensure low cost clothing that is quickly produced. Despite the many negative connotations that the word fashion may have, if you take it as more of a general word used to describe clothing, then it is almost possible to have sustainable fashion, although perhaps not completely because the manufacture of any clothing will have some impact on the environment even if relatively small.

With confusion even over the name of the product, it is not really surprising that most shoppers can’t be bothered with sustainable fashion and instead prefer just stick with the fashion brands that they know despite knowing that they often operate in unsustainable and unethical ways. But the contradiction over the name ‘sustainable fashion’ is only the beginning. There are so many other contradictions and plenty of confusion associated with it.

Take for example vegan fashion. Being vegan is generally considered to an ethical and sustainable way of living, not only reducing the suffering caused to animals in the farming system but reducing the carbon footprint and pollution caused by farming. It may therefore come as a shock to some that vegan fashion is not necessarily the most ethical and sustainable option. Vegan shoes may be made without the use of any animal products but that does not mean that they have been made in ethical factories or using sustainable materials in fact the synthetic materials used instead of leather are often damaging to the environment in their own way. If you want to be absolutely sure that your vegan shoes or handbags are completely ethical and sustainable, you will need to search for a brand that pays attention to all of these issues.

Next on the list of contradiction and confusion surrounding sustainable fashion is the concept of ethical fashion. Many ethical fashion brands support various good causes around the world and empower people to create a sustainable livelihood. However in order to support these great causes, it does involve buying clothes, perhaps clothes that we don’t really need or possibly are not made from sustainable fabrics. The more we buy, the more we help these great causes but also the more we consume. Collections labelled as sustainable may be made from eco-friendly fabrics but this is no guarantee that they have been manufactured in an ethical way. In this situation we are left with the difficult task of deciding what is most important in terms of sustainability economic and social or environmental. Ethical fashion is often made in countries far away; this is another contrast to the locally made fashion which is often considered to be more sustainable because of the environmental impact of its transportation. Second hand and vintage clothing again offer a dilemma, whilst they are probably the most sustainable option, they do little to alleviate poverty around the world, although in this case shopping in charity shops could be the answer to reducing both environmental impact and supporting a worthwhile cause.

The subject of sustainable fashion is a complex one and the confusion surrounding it is sometimes used by brands to green wash consumers by using the terms ‘eco’ and ‘sustainable’ to describe clothing or collections that may help in one way but not another. In order to combat scepticism and distrust of sustainable fashion, there needs to be a clear and easy to understand way of labelling and describing products. The word sustainable fashion is general enough to mean just about anything when used by clever marketers causing confusion amongst consumers. The term sustainable also just doesn’t really excite those looking to buy fashion.

There are however plenty of innovative fashion brands out there that are pioneering new ways of working in terms of ethics and sustainability; There just needs to be a way of communicating this to customers in a simple and easy to understand way.

Biblical Entrepreneurship – Kingdom Influence in the Marketplace

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The last section of biblical entrepreneurship we must discuss is influence. Influence is the foundation of power. External power is cultivated by increasing your influence with people and industries. As biblical entrepreneurs, we must use our influence to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom, to encourage ethical practices within our industries, and to promote a righteous lifestyle within individuals.

How does a person create influence? It is a by- product of trust. Trust is created when people believe that you have their best interest in mind when you are encouraging, correcting and making decisions. Trust is also developed when others see that you are consistent in your words and deeds. Integrity and having others’ best interest in mind produces trustworthiness. You must be worthy of receiving people’s trust.

Another component of influence is wealth. A person that has wealth and assets has the ability to influence governments, industries, and people. The Bible declares in Ecclesiastes 10:19 that “money answereth all things”. A biblical entrepreneur has the capability to have her wealth to speak for her within the marketplace to promote righteous business practice. Ecclesiastes 7:12 also proclaims that “money is a defense”. Biblical entrepreneurship encourages paying employees descent wages therefore defending the enterprise’s reputation in the eyes of consumers, employees, and government officials.

Now let us deal with empowering people to transform their lives in order to become righteous individuals. Biblical entrepreneurs are trailblazers and standard bearers of being holy within their industry. Christians within the global marketplace are to model godly character in all transactions. Their deeds will be able to testify that righteousness is the only way. Biblical entrepreneurs must display a lifestyle of holiness so they can spread the Gospel of the Kingdom to those whom they interact with. As believers in Christ, our characters must line up with our words if we are to be effective in spreading the Gospel. The purpose of creating influence is to promote the good news about King Jesus coming to earth with his kingdom so people’s lives can be changed.

Jesus the Christ used His influence to change the religious climate within the Roman empire. Jesus’ ministry changed millions of lives by displaying a new standard known as Kingdom Authority and Righteous. Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom instead of doctrines of traditions. The Gospel of the Kingdom transforms lives and man made doctrines keeps people in bondage. To be a biblical entrepreneur we must use our influence to change the standard within our industries by living Kingdom principles.