Human evolution Essay Example for Free

Human evolution Essay Australopithecus apheresis separated humans directly from other primates because they walked upright. There is a huge evolutionary connection between brain size and bipedalism, Australopithecus and our other ancestors brain size was increased because of a change in their diets. Before, our relatives were strict herbivores until they became bipedal and ate meat because it was more available. Which meant that our early ancestors had to run to catch there food, thus increased their brain size because their brains were used eating vegetables. Natural selection has played an important role human evolution. Mutations and natural selections such as change in pigmentation and bacteria inside our body have to help us survive. Random mutations occur in our DNA that can befit, harm or do nothing. Natural selection happens in evolution to help our ancestors to adapt their surroundings. For instance, humans lost their body hair to free themselves of external parasites that infest fur. Over the time of evolution our ancestors body lost what it didnt need and kept what it need. As our ancestors started to move bipedal their body naturally selected to devolve there opposable toe. This was an advantage because our ancestors could run faster and have better alignment with their skeleton. Other natural selection happened over the time of evolution that devolved bodys and evolved bodies. The discovery of controlling of fire was the rising point of human evolution and culture, fires helped humans cook food and gives them comfort. According to James, Steven a Professional form the university of Chicago, the first clam for the earliest evidence of a controlled fire was by a member of a homo that dates back from 1. 7 million years ago. There is justified evidence that early humans behaviour and diet changed when they learned to control fire. The discovery of fire by early human let them say active in night-time hours. A professor from Harvard university claims as early human used fire for cooking food it also expanded and developed their brains because they were allowing more complex carbohydrates in to their bodies. Eating cooked food let our ancestors have more time for them because they were no longer trying to chew on a hard plant allay trying to gain calories from it. When our ancestors starts to cook their food their teeth, jaws, digestive traps and sexual consistencys started to shrink, all of these changes stated happening about 1. 8 million years ago, additionally this is more evident on the Homo erectus. As food became less of a concern to early human, weapons became more sophisticated. When early humans starts using tool evolution helped advance the development and size of their brains. Evolution gave our ancestors an advantage over chimpanzee, muscles that that chimpanzees lack. Humans have thicker fingers with wider heads, making it easier for humans to hold on to objects and throw them more accurately compared to chimpanzees hands. Although, hominid the australopithecine had small sized brains compared to the chimpanzee, they tried very often to cut through tough animal skin to take the meat of the bones, but this makes sense because the australopithecine was still a tree climbing animal. The great advance in stone tools happened around the time of the Homo erectus. The Homo erectus was the first of our ancestors to carry tools around, instead of dropping them after using them, like the australopithecines. Plus, the Homo erectus brain had grown over the time of evolution to three times the size on contrast to the australopithecines. As tools use evolved, communication and language was generated. As our ancestors more and more tools, their hands were occupied while they were hunting and couldnt use gesture so they evolved communication. In order for the early humans to survive, they need to co-operate. For instance, the group was sleeping and on human was chosen to stay awake and wants to wake the group up because a woolly mammoth was rear the group, that individual would need to explain what he wants the group to comprehend. The theory of Evolution is a justified and straightforward; it has been extensively studied and supported by all modern science. Creationism in my opinion on the other hand is completely a bunch of lies, faith does not give you answers, and it only asks you to stop asking question. There is no possible way to test creationism, there for believers accept it as the truth. DNA proves that all cells on earth are someway genetically related, for instance humans are 99. 8 the same genetic code as chimpanzees. Evolution happened over millions and millions of year. Creationism states that someone was told to searching out our planet for 8. 7 million place them aboard to Noahs ark. In my opinion I believe evolution didnt over night or the human race was created in one day by a supernatural being because it has been proving with our technology and our discoverys of fossil records that evolution happen because of natural selections. Creationism is for people that dont care about anthropology, sociology and phycology. People that believe in evolution usually are people that dont want go to church and believe in god. Religion celebrates death while evolution celebrates life.

Pressure on Women for Perfect Bodies

Pressure on Women for Perfect Bodies Society, a word used to describe a group of people in a opinionated state. Judging   and basing a theory on one another and showing hate on the way someone looks and appears. This has caused both Boys and girls to feel pressured for the positive attention of others, online and in person . all people want is to feel wanted and accepted so they will do anything to be appreciated or praised because of their clothes, luxuries, and most importantly body types. However guys arent as pressured to have better bodies than girls. Girls are put to shame and called names and bullied to the extent of death because of the unrealistic picture of perfect. What is the ideal weight? the question is thrown in the air and tossed around. No one knows the right answer but girls feel insecure and self conscious about how others view them leading to eating disorders which   have been a common effect caused by the image of perfect the internet has drilled in peoples heads. Unfortunately things are only getting worse girls weighing under 150 pounds and under the age of   20 are going into hospitals, and getting help from psychiatrists because of unhealthy eating habits and drug abuse to lose weight . all because of fear of getting bigger or   uglier   to look like someone that the individual looks up to most, as a idol. Whats most surprising is that, to some fans, those photos werent alarming, but inspiring. I admire her, wrote one 19-year-old girl about Mary-Kates increasingly gaunt appearance on a teen Web sites message board devoted to eating disorders. The girl had cut out the skinniest pictures of Mary-Kate, she wrote, and pasted them in my journal, because that is what I am striving to look like.(   pressure to be perfect  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   ) Many girls see photos of models and famous skinny girls showing their bones and on the verge of anorexia as inspirational and something they strive to look like only because they are famous and looked up to by many. These thought and actions of Eating disorders are not only affecting your physical appearance but also your mental stability.Whats a person to think? Perfect images of perfect celebrities are everywhere. Its enough to make anyone feel insecure or envious( pretty unreal ) Not only are images of most liked celebrities everywhere you look on instagram or the internet but they are engraved in your mind.When you pass a mirror you dont see beauty you see the negatives and silently compare yourself to some complete stranger. In your eyes they   have a perfect body and a way about them you strive to be instead of being happy with you rself. There is no ideal weight or size and girls so young shouldnt be worrying about such a minor thing so early in life and extreme dieting . These issues are leading to depression and self doubt, confidence is fading and so is happiness in all girls anorexia is glamorized and girls are falsely labeled. In todays generation no one can honestly trust the way someone looks. So much is done to a single picture or video of stars, airbrush effects are done before a photo shoot session or filming and tons of editing for that look of perfection. Its proven that more than half of the films have some type of post production altering done.Most kids such as Leah expect catalog and magazine models to be airbrushed to perfection. But many kids dont realize that movie and television actors can be altered during postproduction. In the last few years, technology has made it possible for editors to change a stars smile, hair and body after the movie has been filmed. We call it beauty work, says Richard E. Greenberg (pressure to be perfect, celebrities have lots of help to make them look flawless)The quote provides proof that alterations ar e done so you arent seeing the real stars so its all fake they dont seriously look like that so why strive to be something non existent . the pressure of perfect bodies come from the feeling of competition to stand out, until then depression and loss of confidence   are increased. Despite models best efforts, many still dont look good enough for the industry. One hundred percent of fashion photos are retouched, said Brad Adams, a New York City photographer whose retouching service works with advertising agencies. Usually the eyes and teeth are whitened, makeup and skin problems corrected, and hair cleaned up. Models are already thin, but Ive done jobs where even skinny models are made to look skinnier.(pretty unreal)Girls dont think about the time money and editing done to everything now days. The image of perfect still sticks in their minds and makes young people depressed and not appreciate their natural bodies.If movie makers can make up humans imagine what they can do to the real people. Seeing these things hurts you and your body image , you see yourself as less of a person because of a group of peoples opinion on perfect bodies. No one knows what perfection really is different cultures seek perfect in different ways. ultimately your body image has a lot to do with your mind not your body which leads back to confidence and self doubt. Girls health concerns and desire to have a perfect body has made extreme increases in request of plastic surgery before the age of 18. The problem is your body isnt even done growing yet and it brings up concerns about your future and how it will affect you later on in life. A teen girls idea of perfection is a thin waist big butt and larger breast, plastic surgery seems to be the go to solution of the present generations. Its became a huge issue in debate of asking for plastic surgery as gifts and incentives just to be satisfied with how you feel about yourself.Most board-certified plastic surgeons say they usually wont perform implant surgery on girls under 18 unless one breast is much smaller than the other. Girls finishing high school, though, often request-and get-implants as graduation gifts. (pressure to be perfect) Thankfully plastic surgeons are realizing how insane the demand of younger generations wanting plastic surgery has become that they have put limitations and restri ctions on the usage and availability to girls under the age of 18. Alot more then just implants are taking place.Teens are having other cosmetic procedures, such as botox injections and eyelid surgery, in greater numbers too. But plastic surgery carries risks, particularly for teens. Their bodies are not done transforming and changing, says Dr. Lawrence Bass, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City. Its like building a house on quicksand-the foundation isnt stable.( pressure to be perfect) Both quotes provide solid examples of just how extreme the pressure to have a perfect body has impacted young girls and just how willing they are to go through surgery to fix their self esteem.   Making surgery such a easy fix and escape to a problem has caused addiction and health problems along your of growth. A perfect body is a prized possession to many teen girls that means more than life itself, having a bigger butt or bigger breast doesnt make you any better of a person , there is no need in having to stand out. Individuals from all over believe that females have more pressure than males to have the ideal body.Girls get made fun of more about what they look like each year and more are proven to be taking weight loss pills at such a young age. Unhealthy as that is its better than surgery. Many young girls starting in middle school get called names and made fun of but brush it off and dont let it get to them. However after hearing the same stuff for so long you begin to believe what you hear leading to trying out pills to speed up your metabolism.Girls seem particularly prone to body-image issues. When I was younger, it was harder because I wanted to fit in so much, admitted Natalie, 17, of Humphrey, Neb. Erika from Scottsdale added, Im in cheer, and most of my friends want to lose weight. She says she has dieted before and goes to the gym several times a week. Meanwhile, her classmate, Aliraza, 15, says he has never really worried about his looks. Im pretty sure girls have a lot more pressure when it comes to appearance. (pretty unreal) Guys dont start worrying about their bodies till later on in life when they really start looking for a significant other. while girls start worrying about their appearance when they start seeing things they dont like about themselves or when someone has something you dont. Fitting in means a lot a girls if a perfect body will achieve that than what will stop you. Some experts say boys are starting to face the pressures long placed on girls, as buff, bare men proliferate in pop culture. ( a guy thing too )   .Although girls arent the only ones feeling the pressure its more so drawn into girls to strive to be perfect and have a nice body to attract men. Most men dont get made fun of because of their bodies because they dont care as much as a girl does until later in life.Its not about the body, its just a mental issue. A issue that has been a problem for too long numbers have increased of weight loss pills taken by nearly 15% since 2000. Which may not seem like a lot , but thats one in every six females in the world are taking these pills to maintain a image of perfect. Society has ruined the mental health of women worldwide just because of a perfect body A Lot of change has happened to the mental and physical health of females of all ages since the year 2000. Females strive to have attention and be recognized for a perfect body so bad that things have went to the extreme of surgery at such a young age, taking weight loss pills and having depression issues.psychiatrist have gotten involved in teenages comparing themselves to celebrities and developing eating disorders. Girls are pressured most to have perfect bodies at such a young age it will forever be a issue until people learn to appreciate how unique each individual is made. Works Cited Alpert, Emily. A Guy Thing Too. Los Angeles Times, 14 Jun 2013, pp. A.1. SIRS Discoverer, http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com. Beau, Emilie L. Looking Perfect. Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL), 24 Aug 2006, SIRS Discoverer, http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com. Mehta, Julie. Pretty Unreal. Current Health 2 (Vol.31, No.5), Jan 2005, pp. 15+. SIRS Discoverer, http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com. Wulff, Jennifer. Pressure to Be Perfect Vol. 62 No. 4. PEOPLE.com. Time Inc, 26 July 2004. Web. 13 Feb. 2017

Global Music :: Art

Global Music The global perspective of music: we live in an increasingly smaller â€Å"global village.† With advance in worldwide transportation and communication and with increasingly mobile societies, it seems not only appropriate but also necessary to develop a global perspective of music. A global perspective of music is a sense of the lifestyles, traditions, values and the music of several nations and cultures throughout the world. An awareness of the diversity within our national boundaries that has contributed significantly and beneficially to the cultural richness of our land. The diversity of musical styles that exist in the United States includes Western European â€Å"classical† music (art music) and a number of â€Å"popular† music styles derived largely from Western European ways of making music. These styles include pop, folk, country, and rock. Other styles, including jazz, blues, and various ethnic music, are the result of a blending of cultures and traditions. All these styles constitute an important part of music in American society, styles that constitute â€Å"American music.† The ethnic diversity: part of the cultural richness of our nation is derived from its ethnic diversity and its large number of ethnic groups. Immigrant groups may have partially assimilated into the mainstream of our society while retaining the songs, dances, instruments, languages (at least accent and inflection), fashion, food, and lifestyles of their native cultures. In many cases, the merging of cultural traditions has formed new styles and modes of behavior. For example, jazz evolved in the early twentieth century. Music is vocal or instrumental sounds having melody, rhythm, or harmony. Also, music is sound that you want to hear as music, sound that is not organized in some fashion typically cannot be called music. Yet the roar of a waterfall, the sound of rain falling on a tent or the chirping of birds can sense but as pleasing, and these perhaps as musical, sounds. In fact, the sounds of birds, water, and whales and other sounds of nature have been taped and used in â€Å"organized† music. Conversely, all sorts of drum, cymbals, and gongs; harsh dissonant harmonics; and abstract, totally unsingable melodies have been organized into music. Artistic qualities of Music: music maybe folk art, high art, or at any place in this continuum. Much music has attributes of both. High art includes the classical music of the Western European cultivated tradition. It also includes the classical music of other cultures.

Sci-fI Films Essay -- essays research papers

In this essay I am going to discuss about the topic: â€Å"Science fiction often plays off the real against the artificial, either in the form of humans versus non-human (androids, cyborgs, synthetics), or the world versus the non-world (cyberspace, inner-space, intentional space)†. I have chosen the films â€Å"The Matrix† and â€Å"Bicentennial Man† An explosion in information access and exchange is fueling the Information Superhighway that was created as a result of the computer revolution. If technology has truly become a god, then cyberspace is definitely its bible. Its scope is endless; its breadth enormous. Although the foundation of cyberspace, the computer, definitely serves to dehumanize culture, the Information Superhighway itself does not. If anything, cyberspace is re-humanizing the computer revolution. The World Wide Web, through pictures and graphics, has added personality and more personal contact to a technology that for years was ‘just the facts.’ Although the statement might be made that this is a pseudo-rehumanization that masks true human characteristics with digital ones, this is at least a step in the right direction. Something that removes the human qualities or attributes from culture can be said to dehumanize it. This technology destroys our view of truth and meaning. The basic presupposition of the Information Superhighway is that it contains information on any subject and can answer any question. It causes people to search places other than God for direction, truth, and meaning. Involvement with the technology serves to replace our involvement with reality. There is a tendency for people to start thinking of themselves and others in terms of their online personalities. Many people develop a whole other life on-line and some even end up being unable to separate their on-line identity from their real one. Recent movies such as The Matrix and Bicentennial Man serve to further blur this already fuzzy line. Bicentennial Man, directed by Chris Columbus (US, 1999), is based on a story Isaac Asimov wrote in 1975 and like many of his stories, it deals with the enigma of a machine with the intelligence of a man, but without the rights or the feelings. As we might expect the film presents Asimov's concept of the intelligent robot, a concept that, like Asimov himself, pre-dates the modern world of personal computers, video games, the Internet, 'e... ...housand years ago. If the portrayal of intelligent machines in films teaches us anything, it is that it is fortunate that such machines do not yet exist. It is fortunate that is, for the machines, because all the evidence would indicate that we are not yet ready to treat them as fellow persons. Fortunate too for us perhaps, because when they became smart enough to mount a successful rebellion they might make us pay for their oppression (Mitchell 2003). Reference: 1. Edwards, D A, ‘The Matrix’, The Matrix: An Ideological Analysis, viewed 5 June 2005, http://fiffdimension.tripod.com/matrix.htm1. 2. Menor F 2000, The Matrix(1999), viewed 7 June 2005, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/ 3. Mitchell, D 2003, What s it like to be a Robot?, viewed 7 June 2005, http://www.zenonic.demon.co.uk/zenorobot.htm 4. Setzer V W 2002, AI - Artificial Intelligence or Automated Imbecility, viewed 7 June 2005, http://www.transintelligence.org/articles/Artificial%20Intelligence.htm 5. The Matrix 1999, motion picture, Prod. Joel Silver. Dir. The Wachowski Brothers. Perf. Laurence Fishburne, and Keanu Reeves 6. www.duke.edu/~djs12/Lit%20Theory/ Lit%20Theory%20-%20The%20Matrix.doc

Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale: Novel and Film Essay -- Compare

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale: Novel and Film The Handmaid's Tale, a science-fiction novel written by Margaret Atwood, focuses on women's rights and what could happen to them in the future. This novel was later made into a movie in 1990. As with most cases of books made into movies, there are some similarities and differences between the novel and the film. Overall the film tends to stay on the same track as the book with a few minor details changed, and only two major differences. Atwood sets the story not too far into the future, and the women have lost almost all of their rights. The original government was overthrown and taken over by Christian religious fundamentalists that believed that society was corrupt and women were not taking advantage of their "biological duties." The society now is women staying at home, servants, or "Unwomen", who are the women who are declared infertile and did not have any social status. The "Unwomen" are sent to the "colonies," which are toxic waste sites, to work, and the life expectancy there is less than three years. The main character, Offred (Kate was her real name), is a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. Handmaids are the few fertile women left in the United States, and are sent to households and become pregnant by the man of the house and are trained for giving birth at the "Red Center." Offred is sent to a house of a powerful Commander. The Commander also has a Wife that lives in the house. The other servants in t he house are Rita and Cora, the Marthas who do the cooking and housework, and Nick the chauffer, who later becomes Offred's lover. Offred is allowed to leave the house once a day to run grocery errands with a walking friend, Ofglen, who is another handmaid. Off... ...h the arranged marriages and Handmaids. He also says, "Sometimes when you try to make things better, it's not better for everyone." In the movie, the reasoning is approached the same type of way. Offred tries to ask the Commander about why the government changed and he replies Nobody knew how to feel anything anymore...about respect, reverence, values you can feel in your heart, or in your case, your womb. What the Commander says here is almost the same as what he says in the book: some women could not fulfill their destinies because of how society had become corrupted. Generally, the film follows the storyline of Atwood's book quite well other than a few exceptions. The changes the movie made probably do work better just because of the fact that it is a movie. Some things are better explained in books than they could ever be explained in a movie.

Case Study Gamestop Digital Firm Essay

1.  «GameStop » Digital Firm – Overview In my research I would like to point out gaming industry as a very profitable e-commerce sphere and as an example present a company named  «GameStop ».  «GameStop » was originally founded in 1984 in United States of America, as a small software retailer in Texas region. In 2009,  «GameStop » took a major step by initiating a digital growth strategy that incorporated a Nov. acquisition of Jolt Online Gaming, an Ireland-based publisher of free-to-play titles. In 2011, the company again carried out on its digital expansion strategy, obtaining streaming technology company â€Å"Spawn Labs† and digital sharing service â€Å"Impulse†. At the moment the company operates around 6,700 retail shops around the world and is commited to distribute great video games to customers, despite of how and where they play.  «GameStop » is ranked as one of the world’s largest multichannel game retailer. This organization offers consumers the most up to date hardware, game accessories for next generation video game systems and the PC. In addition, their buy, sell, trade politics creates value for customers while recycling products no longer being played. The motivation on why and to which extent the chosen firm is considered to be digitally operated is due to the fact, that  «GameStop » reported $290 million in sales from its â€Å"digital offerings,† which it said was up 61% year-over-year. That total, which includes sales of subscription cards for online video game services like Xbox Live, as well as PC downloads, still pales in contrast to the company’s general sales, which were around $9.47 billion. 2. Data stored in  «GameStop » database. CRUD model. Data that is stored in  «GameStop »Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s database contains following information: * Partners and contracts –gaming industry companies that sell their products throught the website * Projects – game concepts, ideas and future development. * Financial records – transactions between customers, partners etc. * Employee records – human resource information. * User/Buyer records – recordings of customers information, their transactions and searchings throughout the website. * Branch records – data about shops and servers that are located in other countries. The part that could be used to power a database enabled website of â€Å"GameStop† may contain following data: financial records, projects, partners and contracts, because through these data company is gaining most of its profit and opportunities for future development. Financial records, contracts and employee records are better to stay internal as they refer more to confidentiallity and most probably it is not needed to be shown on the website. On the Table 1, main users that have certain rights in â€Å"GameStop† are shown. It is necessary to point out the top management, it has all rights that could be engaged in the company’s database, in comparison with guest users, who has the right to read only. Employees have the right to create, read, update. IT technologists are provided with the same rights and gamers who a registered in the website are able to read and update information on the website of â€Å"GameStop†. 3. Two possible computer crimes affecting  «GameStop » digital company. Protection strategies. Two computer crimes could be identified affecting  «GameStop » company. The first and the most dangerous crime that could be pointed out is theft of identity. The second computer crime is Theft of Data. I would like to put emphasis on the fist computer crime – theft of identity. This crime could cause following security threats for the company, which is intrusion by hackers, phishing, spyware and social engineering. Hackers could intrude into the computer network of  «GameStop » and harm the content provided by the web site. Phishing is another threat that can occur; users might receive fake emails that seam to come from the company and try to capture private information about a specific account. Information about users might be secretly gathered while they are surfing the website, that would be a type of malware – spyware. Although the spyware does not specially suppose to to be dangerous for user, because cookies are used to remember infromation automatically by a brwoser and make it easier for customer to login into the website. Social engineering is a possible threat that is represented as shoulder surfing in this case. Someone can stand behind a user and secretly look at the password that he/she is typing. In order to protect its database,  «GameStop » various kinds of strategies and software: * Passwords – a strong 8 characters password that contains not only symbols, but also numbers and head letters. It is also necessary to change it once a month. * Firewall – a standard protection that combines hardware and software, that acts as a filter between private network and external computers. * Antivirus/Antispyware – a software that checks computers for presence of malware and viruses and often elimates it. * VPN – virtual private networks provide a secure channel through the Internet for transmitting messages and data using a private network. * Data Encryption – secure socket layer (SSL) manages secure transmission of transactins through the Internet. * Awareness – employees and users have to be aware of all possible dangers that can occur when using the database. Trainings for employees and warnings for users have to be in place. 4. Sources – http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/01/the-most-successful-digital-companies/13/ – http://www.gamestop.com/

Dating and the Single Parent Essay

Summary In the book Dating and the Single Parent Ron Deal walks the single parent through the process of dating again. This book is broken into three sections. Section one has five chapters and is titled â€Å"Getting Past the Butterflies and Warm Fuzzes.† In the beginning Deal starts with â€Å"Dating in a Crowd: Dating with Purpose.† (29) With this in mind the reader begins to understand you will be dating the entire family. Deal describes different types of daters, and warns the reader against the â€Å"Consumer daters who want guarantees† (44) about the dates. These consumer daters want the dates to be their all in all and meet their every need. Deal also describes the thought of â€Å"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall; Am I Ready to Date? (47) This section describes â€Å"the impact loss has on you, and your willingness to surrender to God’s direction regarding divorce and remarriage.† (58) While determining if you are ready to date; Deal lists the readiness factors: can you handle being alone, trusting in God, looking at past issues, and asking the questions like, â€Å"What in my past can I not shake?† This is getting yourself and kids ready for dating. While thinking of fear as the main hurdle in beginning to date, Deal suggests you not â€Å"sidestep† (83) your fear but â€Å"acknowledge it.† (83) Not only your fear but how to handle the kids’ fears and concerns in the dating world. Deal explains â€Å"When a parent dates, kids feel the shift in direction away from them and the family; this ignites their fear of more loss.† (98) The second section of the book is called â€Å"Going Fishing† (115) and talks about finding love. â€Å"Finding love in all the right places †¦and in all the wrong ways† (117) talks about defining the  relationship or the DTR; there are three ways to look at relationships; we need to learn when to yield, stop or run with yellow, red and green lights. â€Å"Going deeper† (163) reminds us to think of where we are in life. Deal states â€Å"Single people need that perspective so that won’t overvalue getting married, and married people need that perspective so they won’t lose sight of their purpose in being together.† (165) â€Å"Marital Commitment and Stepfamily Preparation† (181) is the topic of the third section of the book. It is about getting re-engaged and making decisions about getting married. Guidelines are given about what things to look for such as commitment and trust issues, how to be open with the children (young and adult). Some key steps in how to become a blended family are listed. Deal suggests exercises on how to be introduced, recognize loss in your child, planning the wedding and including the children, and telling the ex. This book takes you through the processes of wanting to date again, dating, and choosing the right type of person to date. The next steps are about the engagement, telling families and children you’re getting married and creating a happily blended family. Potential Use for Christian Couples The chapter on â€Å"Yellow Light. Red Light. Green Light.† (141) is a chapter that most pastors need to share with their clients in the premarital counseling. This chapter and the concepts to be taught and learned can save couples from a lot of pain down the road and give additional skills for making a marriage more compatible. â€Å"Yellow lights saying slow down† (143) warm that things are great for now, however when you get married and the honeymoon is over rough times are coming. When you are trying to carefully blend families you need to make sure no one has on â€Å"rose-colored glasses† (145) or is ignoring the bumps in the road that will turn in to mountains later on if not dealt with before the couple gets married. A counselor needs to advise a couple to slow down if â€Å"loneliness or desperation† (146) are detected in the counseling sessions. This could indicate an underlying problem that will come out later in the marriage. The person with one of these disorders may demand that the other person in the relationship try to be their all in all, and no one can be everything to someone. Counselors should consider a postponement of a marriage if one of the clients comes in with any character traits like: â€Å"quick temper, intimidating, anger  reactions, chemical or physical abuse, can’t say no, constantly blaming others, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, problems staying calm, financial problems, disengagement with family, hiding previous relationships, or diagnosed personality disorder.† (147-148) If a person has experienced or is experiencing one of these challenges, this counselor will strongly suggest that it is dealt with before the marriage takes place. One of these problems will cause too much stress for most marriages to overcome. Deal suggests there are red stoplights. If you â€Å"have extreme differences in parenting styles† (151) you need to stop dating. This counselor would agree. Raising children is a very hard job when you agree; however, when you disagree children tend to play one parent off the other causing conflict between the parents. You need to remember you are not only marrying the person, but also the children. Another red light could be the ex-spouse. If he/she causes constant trouble, you will be in constant turmoil in the new marriage and will need to consider canceling your plans to marry. Deal suggests other red flags such as cohabitation. This counselor would agree with Deal that cohabitation leans toward persons â€Å"who have negative attitudes toward marriage, increase their divorce risk by 50%, are less sexually trustworthy, have lower religious commitment, and are tempted to slide into marriage.† (154) Cohabitation is not biblical, in Genesis 2:24 gives us the standard for all marriages and in Matthew 19:5 Jesus tells us marriage is a legal and binding relationship. The â€Å"green light† (159) means everything is good and you can proceed with the dating or marriage plans. In the â€Å"green light† stage you can define your relationship. At this point Deal suggests you can share your relationship with your children. This also is the stage during which it is suggested you take the â€Å"Couple Checkup† (169). There are two advantages to doing it in this stage: first â€Å"it provides you and your partner an objective X ray of your relationship health.† (169) Second â€Å"learning about your weaknesses helps you as a couple target specific ways to improve.† (169) This counselor will encourage couples in the red light zone to take a break and consider not dating any longer. If they are in the yellow light zone this counselor will encourage them to consider looking deeply at what the problems are and working through them before proceeding with the relationship. In the green light zone this counselor will encourage them to be willing to talk about issues when they arise, to be willing to  talk about them, and to work on a compromise. Deal states: â€Å"Confidence calms the heart and reduces anxiety†. (194) This counselor could not agree more, and knowing where you stand in a relationship is the most important element. Solidifying the relationship so both persons know how each other feels and what to expect keeps the green light going. Telling the children if you have children will be important. A plan needs to be made about how to tell them and expect the unexpected. One needs to expect them to be happy and for them to be angry about the decision. Letting the children know what will happen will help them through the fear and anger. Deal does not go into depth about what to do if the families do not want this marriage. What if the families do not like the person you want to marry? This counselor agrees the spouse that was married to the ex ought to tell him/her before the wedding day. Once the wedding day has taken place often times the children are going to be stressed out by this and misbehave. Deal suggests often times when things settle down from the wedding the child parent relationship will work itself out. This is a relationship neither party has had to handle before and it will be new challenges to both the parent and the child. Deal encourages parents to have a united front with the children. (206) If they do not have a â€Å"unified team everything will begin to crumble.† (207) Critique Deal speaks about â€Å"commitment and trust† (187) issues with couples. He explains that marriage is complicated and requires a couple to not be selfish. â€Å"God in his infinite wisdom ask each person to make a covenant that binds them together throughout life,† (187) or â€Å"until death do us part.† (187) Elwell states in the time of Christ a man could â€Å"divorce his wife for the most trivial of reasons† (347) from the â€Å"Hillelite Pharisees.† (347) This would suggest that if you take the side of the Hillelite Pharisees, our no fault divorce laws have been around for centuries. It is a delicate dance to get someone to commit to marriage to you when you are ready to commit to marriage and they will not. Deal gives several ideas: â€Å"Patiently continue dating, wrestle with your impatience, identify any specific concerns, give time for the hesitant person to find resolution, and at some point, the higher desire person will grow weary of waiting.† (188) Deal does later in the book suggest a time line of five years is a reasonable time to wait on  someone. If you have waited for five years and they still have not made a decision but you love them and cannot imagine life without that person do you walk away? Would it not be like a divorce? This counselor would not suggest anyone stay with someone for more than the five years unless they can make a decision to marry or not to marry. Deal speaks about crockpots and blenders in the chapter about â€Å"Preparing for a Good Blend.† The crockpots are those couples who move slowly with low heat,† (208) while the blender couples are those who â€Å"move quickly with high velocity.† (208) Deal states: â€Å"It is far wiser to adopt the crockpot cooking style.† (208) Otherwise slow and study is a much better way to blend a family than trying to quickly trying to force them to be a blended family. In this chapter he gives ideas about how to create stepfamilies. He says: â€Å"Younger children under the age of five may require far less time to soften toward stepparents than those between the ages of ten and fifteen years. Also, on occasion, a stubborn ingredient may resist softening and retain a sour taste. In either case, keep cooking.† This counselor would whole heartedly agree with his wisdom. The younger children are when stepparents arrive into their life, the easier it is to accept t hem. Deal also gives ideas about how to handle situations like: â€Å"getting married, calling a stepfather Daddy, combining holidays and other special-day traditions, and taking pictures as a family.† (209-210) With statistics saying that â€Å"fifty percent of first marriages fail and sixty percent of second marriages fail† (smartmarriages.com) this counselor believes Deal has made great recommendations in his book about how to blend families. Blended families will take work and Deal says that many times in this book. This book is an easy read with thought provoking topics. Some of the topics have a different way of looking at them than traditional thoughts. This book is a must read if you are thinking of remarrying or marrying someone who has been married before. References Deal, R. (2012). Dating and the single parent. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishing. Eller, W. (2001). Evangelical dictionary of theology. 2n ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Marano, H. E., Divorced? Don’t even think of remarrying until you read this. www.smartmarriages.com. Accessed November 8, 2014.