Rugby And Football Essays - Ball Games, Football Codes, Team Sports

Rugby And Football Rugby and Football The thick, broad-shouldered athlete breathes heavily and grunts with each step as he and his teammates push mightily against the opposition. His arms are locked over his teammates' shoulders, all of their heads down. The two teams are pushing against each other like two moose fighting over territory. He looks down to see the ball, sitting just in front of his feet. If he could just hook it with his foot and heave it to his teammate behind him... This is what every player in a scrum is thinking while they fight each other for possession. Rugby is the true sport of men, because you wear no pads, and it is even more violent than football; however, football requires that you wear pads, thus being the true sport of want-to-be men. The rules of these similar yet vastly different games are extremely complex, so only the basics are necessary to distinguish the better sport. In football, the primary rule is that you must advance the ball forward by throwing it or running with it. Once a player with the ball is downed, the entire team lines up again, and the ball is snapped to the quarterback. The short pause in-between each down may not seem significant, but it definitely takes its toll on the excitement. In rugby, however, the primary rule is that you can only advance the ball by running with, kicking, or passing it. With passing, though, you can only pass the ball backwards or directly to your side, never forward. Like football, you score by running the ball into the endzone or by kicking it through the uprights. Also, you must touch the ball to the ground for it to count, and it is worth five points. When kicking, the ball can be kicked from anywhere spontaneously. If it passes through the uprights, it is worth three points, as in football. The equipment for the two sports is widely different, with football requiring much more. In football, players must wear a large set of pads, covering most of their body, and a masked helmet. The ball is made up of an inflated rubber bladder, surrounded by stitched leather, and it appears ellipsoidal in shape. Most players now wear cleated or spiked shoes, but flat-soles are often worn for artificial turf surfaces. But rugby, being the true sport of men, uses no pads of helmets. In fact the only equipment that are somewhat similar in both games can be found from the ankles down. Players wear a jersey, usually long-sleeved, athletic shorts, and cleated shoes. The ball has an oval shape to it, and is blunter than a football so that it may easily be bounced and dropkicked. The origins of football trace back to ancient Greece when they played a form of football know as harpaston, and the Romans played a similar game, harpastum. In medieval times, another form of football, calcio, flourished in Italy. Most modern versions of football however, originated in England, where a form of the game was known in the 12th century. Rugby is said to have originated when a boy at Rugby School in Rugby, England picked up and carried the ball during a game of football in 1823. Previously, the rules had only allowed the ball to be kicked. As I said before, rugby is the true sport of men. It is the supreme test of strength, endurance, determination, and agility. Whereas in football, the players are so cocky and greedy about how much money they will make during this game, that most of them do not even work their hardest to win, as long as they make a living.

Five Pillars of Islam Essays

Five Pillars of Islam Essays Five Pillars of Islam Essay Five Pillars of Islam Essay Checkpoint: The Five Pillars of Islam What are the central beliefs of Islam, and how are they reflected in the Five Pillars† (McInerney, 2003)? Which of the Five Pillars do you feel would be easiest to fulfill, and which would be the most challenging (McInerney, 2003)? A central belief of Islam is monotheism. This is a belief of only one God, Allah. The believer’s purpose is to serve Allah and live a moral life by following the Five Pillars. Muslims are obligated to follow these Five Pillars in the Qur’an, the holy book to all Muslims. The Five Pillars are faith, prayer, Zakat, the fast, and hajj. All of these Pillars show devotion to Allah. The first of the pillar of Islam is faith or Shahadah. The believer must profess God is the only god and Muhammad is His messenger. Muhammad is not a god but a messenger of God for guidance. The Qur’an requires believers tell others of Islam in order for them to make an intelligent choice. The second pillar is prayer. The believer recites a series of prayers and passages from the Qur’an while kneeling and bowing five times a day while facing Mecca. : When the prayers are recited by a congregation, all stands and bow shoulder to shoulder, without any class distinction. During the prayer, the kneeling and bowing shows submission to Allah. Repeating the prayers is believed to strengthen one’s belief in God’s existence and carry this belief deep into one’s heart and all aspect of external life. Prayer is also used to purify ones heart, develop the mind and conscience, stop evil in a person, and awakening higher aspiration and morality (Fisher, 2005). Zakat, spiritual tithing is the third pillar. At the end of the year the believer donates two and half percent of all their income to the less fortunate. This is done for purification and growth. The belief is to help decrease the inequalities in wealth and prevention of personal greed. Charity is a necessity for Muslims. The fourth pillar is fasting. Although frequent fast are recommended the only fast required is during Ramadan. This is to honor the first revelation of the Qur’an to Muhammad. The believer must abstain from sexual relations, drink, food, and smoking from dusk to dawn during the entire month of Ramadan. Muslim’s lunar calendar is 354 days so Ramadan moves through all seasons. Muslims believe fasting purges the body of impurities and provides clarity and a light body to move and act. It teaches one not to allow anything to enter the mind and heart to distract one away from God. Fasting help controls one body’s desire while mastering the lower emotions of jealousy and anger. The pilgrimage to Mecca, hajj, is the fifth pillar. All Muslims who can financially afford this trip is expected make the trip at least once in their lifetime. The series of symbolic rituals are designed for the believer to experiences a closeness with God like never before. The males dress in special garments not sewn, all looking alike. No distinction is detected. Circling of Ka’ba seven times symbolizes the continual rotation around the One by the angels of all of creation, to the seventh heaven. The pilgrim’s heart should be filled with the remembrance of Allah. The pilgrim visits the sacred field of Arafat. This site is believed to be where Adam and Eve were taught that humans were created exclusively for worshipping God (Fisher, 2005. ) Here prayer is from noon to sunset for the forgiveness of anything that has separated them from God. The central belief of Islam is, monotheism, prayer, tithing, charity, fasting, and visiting Mecca, echoed in the Five Pillars of Islam. Although I am not of the Islam faith, the easiest pillar to follow is Zakat. Charity and tithing is a part of my life. I believe in it with all of my heart. It helps me to stay grounded, not put a high level of importance on materialistic objects, and level headed. I also believe God would approve. God does not want His children to be greedy. God want us to help others. I do believe in one God. However, I don’t believe Muhammad should have all the emphasis shown, a self proclaim messenger. I believe in only one God. Therefore I believe the first pillar would be the hardest. Fisher, M. P. (2005). Living Religions (6th ed. ). Pearson Education: Prentice Hall

The Relationship Between Phenomenal Consciousness And Access Essay - 1

The Relationship Between Phenomenal Consciousness And Access Consciousness - Essay Example An important characteristic of the phenomenon consciousness that warrant noting is that differences in intentional content usually distinguish P- consciousness and makes it to stand out among other related phenomenon. A further attribute is that phenomenon conscious differences often lead to intentional differences (Jackndoff, 1987; Flanagan, 1992). On the other hand (Nagel, 1974), depicts access consciousness differently. According to Ned Block, access consciousness is achieved if it is perched for direct rational controls of thoughts and actions. It is specifically involved in data or information processing, computing, and control of behavior or conduct. Access consciousness is a cluster concept where the ability to do reports is the idea of the cluster which has the smaller weight even though it is often considered the best practical directive to access consciousness. A very important concept that Ned portrays (p, 208), is that phenomenon and access consciousness have been a ground of criticism for the functionalism and behaviorism (Block and Fodor, 1972), however no distinct need for an information generation motive of consciousness to be discussed considering several viewpoints that exist. ii. At particular instances, phenomenon conscious type of state may exists but not links or connections with the access conscious at that same time. This hence brings out the sense that the exemplar phenomenon conscious situations are quite sensational while that of access conscious are propositional attitudes. iii. Access conscious illustrations are representational while phenomenon consciousnesses are phenomenal or exceptional. Access consciousness does not make the needed intellectual demands as one may think but of self-consciousness, and for the identified phenomenal consciousness. The word consciousness presages a wide variety of perceptions and stands for

Logics - Analysis of an Article by Peter Kreeft Essay

Logics - Analysis of an Article by Peter Kreeft - Essay Example Apart from many articles, he has written many books such as The Snakebite Letters, The Philosophy of Jesus, The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims, Prayer: The Great Conversation: Straight Answers to Tough Questions About Prayer etc. The major idea behind this article â€Å"The Apple Argument Against Abortion† is to educate people about the consequences of performing abortion. Peter Kreeft argues against abortion in a philosophical manner throughout this article. He is making in depth analysis of the abortion issue with the help of answering certain questions like Who human are, what are the rights of human, why abortion is wrong etc and topics such as basis of morality, differences between the rights of all people and the rights of some people, arguments from skepticism etc. He also tries to analyze different cases with respect to abortion by taking different combinations such as; The fetus is a person, and we know that The fetus is a person, but we don't know t hat The fetus isn't a person, but we don't know that The fetus isn't a person, and we know that (Kreeft, 2000) Approach This article is mainly analytical in nature. The author tries to avoid the use of any instinctive methods in this article. He has analyzed abortion from various angles. Different dimensions of abortion were beautifully explained in this article. For example, the author took the example of an apple and the understanding of ordinary people about it, to attract the attention of the readers towards the topic. Since the author is a philosopher, a philosophical approach can be visible throughout this article. He explains various dimensions of abortion with the help of comparisons, analogies etc. It is difficult for ordinary people to understand the problems associated with abortion, especially the moral issues. The author tries to explain all those issues in a simple, but comprehensive manner so that anybody who decide to perform abortion may think twice or thrice before doing so, after reading this article. In short, the author succeeded in persuading the readers of this article to argue against abortion. Different kinds of reasoning in the article Inductive, deductive, causal and analogical reasoning techniques were used throughout this article. The following paragraph is an example of an inductive argument present in this article. I have heard it argued that we do not treat any other species in the traditional way — that is, we do not assign equal rights to all mice. Some we kill (those that get into our houses and prove to be pests); others we take good care of and preserve (those that we find useful in laboratory experiments or those we adopt as pets); still others we simply ignore (mice in the wild). The argument concludes that therefore, it is only sentiment or tradition (the two are often confused, as if nothing rational could be passed down by tradition) that assigns rights to all members of our own species (Kreeft, 2000). The above argument is an example of inductive reasoning. It is not necessary that the argument needs to be 100% right to make it as an example of inductive reasoning. It should be noted that cultures like Buddhism or Jainism treats any type of killing - killing of animal or killing of human - as a sin. But cultures like Islam or Christianity do not treat killing of animals as a sin. In short, the above argument may not be conclusive or correct everywhere, but it helps the author to strengthen his arguments

Méliès’s Trip to the Moon Essay Example for Free

Mà ©lià ¨s’s Trip to the Moon Essay The film opens with a gathering of academics in a lecture hall. They have robes, beards and pointed hats. They are standing at first in ranks in the room, five more men join them and are given telescopes by female servants. The leader enters and assumes a position at a blackboard on the left where he draws an image of the Earth and the Moon and a bullet-shaped craft landing on the Moon. They all being discussing or arguing about the project. The technique used for acting is based on what one might see acted out in the theater with no modern cinematography such as close-ups or zooms are used to focus the attention on a particular character. All the characters appear onstage and if there is any focus on a certain action is done through theatrical technique such as the females marching out and handing out telescopes and leaving. When the main character, seeming like a professor comes in the group sort of comes to attention and stand still at first while the professor speaks and draws on the board. One’s attention’s shifts to the group again as they discuss and argue with over-large gesticulations in this silent film without written inter-titles. It is a silent stage drama recorded on film, else it would be mime theatre. The film’s scene changes almost like a shift of scene in the theatre. There is a very fake-looking space capsule that is being worked on and some of the astronauts try out the interior. There is a moment when someone falls into a shallow barrel. Possibly, this was meant to be a comic touch which would be at home later in vaudeville. There is no camera movement. It is as if one had a good seat at the theatre and watching a series of tableaux vivantes. The film owes much more to the stage and picture books than to any already-developed film technique. The subsequent boarding of the space-bullet on the left with the cannon on the right looks especially fake and hand-drawn. There is little aim at a believable set and much over-acting: doffing their hats and so on to an imaginary group of spectators, actually us who are watching the living theater more than a film by today’s standards. After the firing of the cannon, there occurs the use of something like special effects where the Man in the Moon, framed by clouds comes closer to the viewer and has human like expressions which show the space vehicle hitting him in the eye. It is a real human looking like he has whipped cream on his face.

Big Brook :: Personal Narrative Fishing Essays

Big Brook â€Å"When you leave this place, you will always remember the nights fishin’ up on Big Brook,† my father once told me. And to this day I have never forgotten my experiences up on that little tributary of the Namakagon River in northern Wisconsin. My father always dreams of the old days when he would go out with a creel over his shoulder and catch a meal of fish. Work takes too much of his time now, but I remember the times we would go up to Big Brook after work and spend the last hours before the sun set fishing our favorite holes in hopes for a big trout to bite. I remember this now, many years later, but my memories are still perfectly clear. We would get home from work, dad would say, â€Å"Alright, I am goin’ up to Big Brook, if ya wanna come with, I am leavin’ in five.† This was our cue, my brothers and I would drop everything we were doing, grab our rods, and head out to the garden to pick a handful of worms. The garden was always the best spot for the worms; they seemed to love the dark rich soil and always grew the biggest. Even though we dug them every week, there would always seem to be more the next time we went out. When we arrived at the meandering stream, Dad would say, â€Å"Alright, I get the first 100 yards downstream, everything else is open season for you all to fight about.† My brothers would usually get the section just upstream, cause they were bigger, and I didn’t have much say in the matter. So there we were, all the guys in the family on the river, my father heading to his favorite spot, my brothers marching upstream together, and I left to make my way downstream, through the blackberry brush to the beaver pond. When I left the river to walk downstream all the difficulties from the day were left behind. I walked through a grove of aspen, and looking under a clump of brush I saw a cottontail rabbit, but he knew, if he didn’t move I wouldn’t see the little guy; so I passed quietly, in hopes not to scare him. As I walked I would be occasionally wafted with the smell of wild roses, or the smell of fresh air that would blow through the trees.

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Thirty-Five

Initiation night for the newest members of the Vitale Society had arrived at last. The cavernous room was lit only by golden candlelight from long tapers placed around the space and by the fire of high-flaming torches against the wal s. In the flickering light, the animals carved in the wood of the pil ars and arches almost seemed to be moving. Matt, dressed in a dark hooded robe like the other initiates, gazed around proudly. They'd worked hard, and the room looked amazing. At the front of the room, beneath the highest arch, a long table had been placed, draped in a heavy red satin cloth and looking like some kind of altar. In the center of the table sat a huge deep stone bowl, almost like a baptismal font, and around it roses and orchids were set. More flowers had been scattered on the floor, and the scent of the crushed blossoms underfoot was so strong that it was dizzying. The pledges were lined up, evenly spaced, before the altar. As if she'd picked up on his pride at how everything had turned out, Chloe pushed her dark hood back a bit and leaned toward him to mutter, â€Å"Pretty fabulous, huh?† Matt smiled at her. So what if she was dating someone else? He stil liked her. He wanted to stay friends, even if that was al there could be between them. He tugged at his robe self-consciously; the fabric was heavy, and he didn't like the way it blocked his peripheral vision. The current masked members of the Vitale Society wove silently among the pledges, handing out goblets ful of some kind of liquid. Matt sniffed his and smel ed ginger and chamomile as Wellas less familiar scents: so this was where the herbs had been used. He smiled at the girl who gave it to him, but got no response. Her eyes behind the mask slid over him neutral y, and she moved on. Once he was a ful member of the Vitale Society, he would know who these current members were, would see them without their masks. He sipped from his goblet and grimaced: it tasted strange and bitter. The soft rustlings of cloaked figures moving across the floor were silenced as the last of the goblets was handed out and the masked Vitales quietly retreated under the arch behind the altar to watch. Ethan stepped forward, up to the altar, and pushed back his hood. â€Å"Welcome,† he said, holding out his hands to the assembled pledges. â€Å"Welcome to true power at last.† The candlelight flickered over his face, twisting it into something unfamiliar and almost sinister. Matt twitched nervously and took another swal ow of the bitter herbal mixture. â€Å"A toast!† Ethan cal ed. He raised his own goblet, and before him, the pledges raised theirs. He hesitated for a moment, then said, â€Å"To moving beyond the veil and discovering the truth.† Matt raised his goblet and drained it with the other pledges. The mixture left a gritty feeling on his tongue, and he scraped it absently against his teeth. Ethan looked around at the pledges and smiled, locking gazes with one after another. â€Å"You've al worked so hard,† he said affectionately. â€Å"Each of you has reached his or her personal peak of intel igence, strength, and leadership ability now. Together, you are a force to be reckoned with. You have been perfected.† Matt managed to politely restrain himself from rol ing his eyes. It was nice to be praised, of course, but sometimes Ethan was a little too over the top: perfected? Matt doubted it was even possible. It seemed to him that you could always strive to be a little more, or a little less, something. You could always wish to be better. But even if he could, after al , be perfected, he suspected that it would take more than a few obstacle courses and group problem-solving exercises to do it. â€Å"And now it is time to at last discover your purpose,† Ethan continued. â€Å"Time to complete the final stage in your transformation from ordinary students into true avatars of power.† He took a clean and shining silver cup from the altar and dipped it into the deep stone bowl in front of him. â€Å"With every step forward in evolution, there must be some sacrifice. I regret any pain this wil cause you. Be comforted by the knowledge that al suffering is temporary. Anna, step forward.† There was a slight uneasy stirring among the pledges. This talk of suffering and sacrifice was different than Ethan's usual emphasis on honor and power. Matt frowned. Something was wrong here. But Anna, looking tiny in her long robe, walked without hesitation up to the altar and pushed back her hood. â€Å"Drink of me,† Ethan said, handing her the silver cup. Anna blinked uncertainly and then, her eyes on Ethan, tipped back her head and drained the cup. As she handed it back to Ethan, she licked her lips automatical y, and Matt tried to peer more closely at her. In the flickering candlelight, her lips looked unnatural y red and slick. Then Ethan led her around the side of the altar and into his arms. He smiled, and his face twisted, his eyes dilating and his lips pul ing back in a snarl. His teeth looked so long, so sharp. Matt tried to shout a warning but realized with horror that he couldn't move his lips, couldn't draw the breath to cal out. He knew, suddenly, that he had been a fool. Ethan sank his fangs deep into Anna's neck. Matt strained, trying to run toward them, to attack Ethan and throw him away from Anna. But he couldn't move at al . He must be under some kind of compulsion. Or perhaps something in the drink, some magic ingredient, had made them al docile and stil . He watched helplessly as Anna struggled for a few moments, then went limp, her eyes rol ing back in her head. Unceremoniously, Ethan let her body drop to the ground. â€Å"Don't be afraid,† he said kindly, gazing around at the horrified, frozen pledges. â€Å"Al of us† – he gestured toward the silent, masked Vitale behind him – â€Å"went through this initiation recently. You must brace yourself to suffer what is only a smal , temporary death, and then you wil be one of us, a true Vitale. Never growing old, never dying. Powerful forever.† Sharp white teeth and golden eyes shining in the candlelight, Ethan reached out toward the next pledge as Matt struggled again to shout, to fight. Ethan continued, â€Å"Stuart, step forward.† Elena smel ed so good, rich and sweet like an exotic ripe fruit. Damon wanted to simply bury his head in the soft skin at the crook of her neck and just inhale her for a decade or two. Snaking his arm through hers, he pul ed her closer. â€Å"You can't come in with me,† she told him for the second time. â€Å"I might be able to get James to talk to me because it's a question about my parents, but I don't think he'l tel me anything if someone else is there. Whatever the truth is about the Vitale Society and my parents, I think he's embarrassed about it. Or afraid, or †¦ something.† Without paying attention to what she was doing, Elena shifted her grip and held on to Damon's arm more firmly. â€Å"Fine,† Damon said stubbornly. â€Å"I'l wait outside. I won't let him see me. But you're not to walk across campus at night by yourself. It's not safe.† â€Å"Yes, Damon,† Elena said in a convincing imitation of meekness, and rested her head on his shoulder. The lemony scent of her shampoo mixed with the more essential Elena smel of her. Damon sighed with contentment. She cared for him, he knew that, and Stefan had taken himself out of the picture. She was stil young, his princess, and a human heart could heal. Maybe, with Stefan gone, she would final y see how much closer she was, mind and soul, to Damon, how perfectly they fit together. In any case, she was his for now. He lifted his free hand and stroked her head, her silky hair pliant beneath his fingers, and smiled. The professor's house was barely off campus, just across the street from the gilded entrance gates. They'd almost reached the edge of campus when a familiar presence that had been lurking nearby at last came very close. Damon wheeled to scan the shadows, pul ing Elena with him. â€Å"What is it?† Elena said, alarmed. Come out, Damon thought with exasperation, sending his silent message toward the thickest shadows at the base of a crowd of oak trees. You know you can't hide from me. One dark shadow detached itself from the rest, stepping forward on the path. Stefan simply gazed at the ground, shoulders slumped, his hands loose and open by his sides. Elena gasped, a smal hurt sound. Stefan looked terrible, Damon thought, not without sympathy. His face seemed hol ow and strained, his cheekbones more prominent than usual, and Damon would have bet that he wasn't feeding properly. Damon felt a twinge of disquiet. He didn't take pleasure in causing his brother pain. Not anymore. â€Å"Well?† Damon said, raising his eyebrows. Stefan glanced up at him. I don't want to fight with you, Damon, he said silently. So don't, Damon shot back at him, and Stefan's mouth twitched in a half smile of acknowledgment. â€Å"Stefan,† Elena said suddenly, sounding like the word had been jerked out of her. â€Å"Please, Stefan.† Stefan stared down at the path under his feet, not meeting her eyes. â€Å"I sensed you were nearby, Elena, and I felt your anxiety,† he said wearily. â€Å"I thought you might have been in trouble. I'm sorry, I was mistaken. I shouldn't have come.† Elena stiffened, and her long dark lashes fel over her eyes, hiding, Damon was almost sure, the beginnings of tears. A long silence stretched between them. Final y, irritated by the tension, Damon made an effort to ease it. â€Å"So,† he said casual y, â€Å"we broke into the campus security office last night.† Stefan looked up with a flicker of interest. â€Å"Oh? Did you find anything useful?† â€Å"Crime scene photos, but they weren't very helpful,† Damon said, shrugging. â€Å"The folders were marked with black Vs, so we're trying to figure out what that means. Elena's going to talk to her professor about the Vitale Society, see if it could have anything to do with them.† â€Å"The†¦ Vitale Society?† Stefan said hesitantly. Damon waved a hand dismissively. â€Å"A secret society from back in the day when Elena's parents were here,† he said. â€Å"Who knows? It may be nothing.† Drawing a hand across his face, Stefan seemed to be thinking hard. â€Å"Oh, no,† he muttered. Then, looking at Elena for the first time, he asked, â€Å"Where's Matt?† â€Å"Matt?† Elena echoed, startled out of her wistful contemplation of Stefan. â€Å"Um, I think he had some kind of meeting tonight. Footbal stuff, maybe?† â€Å"I have to go,† Stefan said tightly, and was immediately gone. With his enhanced abilities, Damon could hear Stefan's light footsteps racing away. But to Elena, he knew, Stefan had been nothing but a silently vanishing blur. Elena turned to Damon, her face crumpling in what he recognized as a prelude to more tears. â€Å"Why would he fol ow me if he doesn't want to talk to me?† she said, her voice hoarse with sorrow. Damon gritted his teeth. He was trying hard to be patient, to wait for Elena to give him her heart, but she kept thinking of Stefan. â€Å"He told you,† he said, keeping his voice even. â€Å"He wants to make sure you're safe, but he doesn't want to be with you. But I do.† Firmly recapturing her arm with his, he tugged her lightly forward. â€Å"Shal we?†