Monday, January 27, 2020

Impact Of Technology On The Music Industry

Impact Of Technology On The Music Industry Music industry has been most significantly affected by such revolution of technology during the past few decades. The most significant innovation in the music industry has undoubtedly been the digitalization of music. Digital music technology has completely changed the underlying dynamics and economics of the music industry. From time to time, this has been an issue of debate and has seen many legal actions and sanctions (Matsuura, nd). Along with innovations in music technology, the issue of piracy has become the single most challenging and threatening problem in the music industry which has from time to time raised serious concerns and warned of the consequences on the industry. Music piracy can be formally defined as any form of duplication along with distribution of music without the formal permission from the entity holding the copyrights to that particular music. Directly interlinked with music piracy is the role of internet and related phenomenon such as file sharing or peer-to-peer sharing (P2P). Internet growth and innovation are largely to be blamed and held responsible for the crisis in the music industry circles that affects its three major players including recording companies, artists and consumers (Patokos, 2008). Not only the music industry is facing losses but the quality of music is also threatened by piracy. According to Hull (1998), the music industry profits from its three major revenue streams: Purchase of recorded music. Broadcasting recorded music. Industry for attending live performances. Here is the music industry vale chain as described in Meisel and Sullivan. (2002). The Music Industry Value Chain Source: Meisel et al. (2002), p.18. We all know how easy it is to gain access to the authentic and copyrighted music through duplicated CDs and file sharing (without paying any royalty to the owners of music) on internet (Bozina, Dumancic and Knezevic, 2007). Research Purpose The major purpose of carrying out this research is the importance of significant technological developments on the music industry circles and the ways in which issues such as copyright, authenticity, illegal production and distribution of music affect the various participants of the music industry circle. It will bring into focus the particular technological changes over the past two decades and evolution that has come to impact the way music is produced and distributed. It will also help the readers understand the legal implications of the issue. Finally the research will investigate the major problem areas that threaten the music industry, particularly emphasizing on the revolution of MP3 technology and Compact Discs and it will conclude with quantitative and qualitative analysis of the relevant variables that influence the revenues of music industry. Research Questions Is the modern music industry suffering from pervasive effects of internet theft, piracy and flouting of copyright rules? How important it is to critically analyse the legal and technological implications of the MP3 technology on the business of music? Importance of Research The issue of piracy needs the special attention of industry and law experts as we cannot let the phenomenon continue to wreck the music business. The MP3 effect influences the sales of music albums, though the law can spur legal actions in favour of ban the MP3 use but it is not a practical solution. On the one end technology eases and improves the production and distribution of music and on the other it should provide the end listeners easy and cheaper access to high quality authentic music. Brief Literature Review Until the 1990, music business was correctly anticipated but soon after this period, the forces shaping the business began to change. The first ever music cassette was introduced in 1963 by PhilipsÂÂ ©. It became a very popular mode of entertainment exploited by the car makers (Morton, 2004). The year of 1979 revolutionized by SonyÂÂ © which the first hand held music player device. It came to be known as Sony WalkmanÂÂ © (Thomas, 2006). Both Philips and Sony collaboratively brought in the most advanced technology (still remains so with more advanced variants such as DVD and Blu-RayÂÂ © technology) called as Compact Discs (CDs) and the players used to play the media known as CD players. By 1988, the CDs became the most popular technology for distributing music in standardized format which became universally accepted by the music industry and CDs outsold Long Playing record albums (LP) (University of Minnesota, 2008). The technology called Digital Audio Tape (DAT) w as introduced by Sony the next year. It remained the most popular recording technology for professionals during the 1990s (Sony GroupÂÂ ©, 2010). The other leader in musical innovation PhilipsÂÂ © launched Digital Compact Cassette to counter SonysÂÂ © DAT technology. SonyÂÂ © released the Mini Disk (MD) in response to DCC. MD provided with professional high quality recording to the professionals (Sony GroupÂÂ ©, 2010). The music was most dramatically distributed on the CDs and hence their use was most widespread. CDs were used by all of the major recording labels due to persistent decrease in the prices of CDs (Sony GroupÂÂ ©, 2010). The following Table 2.2 presents the change in the prices of CDs in the US music market between 1983 and 2006. Table 2.1. Decline in the prices of CDs from 1983 through 2006. Source: RIAA, 2007 The technology called CD- Recordable (CD-R) was introduced in 1990 and it was the first opportunity for the consumers to successfully duplicate the contents of the music albums without compromising on the quality of music and this allowed for piracy to be practised by consumers and other players such as illegal music uploading sites (OMalley, 1998). In US, 288 million CDs were sold only in one year, 1990 (Amoah, 2005). The role of computing and internet technology proved instrumental in spreading the crisis in the music industry. It was only in 1991 that computers came with the technology that played its users to play and listen to music. This development was attributed to Ad Lib and Creative Labs who introduced the technology of sound cards integrated into personal computers during manufacturing stage (Dixon, 2010). It heightened the interest of consumers to reproduce the authentic contents on CDs, CD-Rs and more advanced recording media such as DVDÂÂ © and Blu-RayÂÂ ©. However the real trouble was the introduction of the technology that made it possible to encode music as digital files on the computers, the most critical one was MPEG3 or MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group-1 Audio Layer 3). MP3 was introduced on 26 November 1996 (Belis, 2010). MP3 became so critical because it allowed users to create copies of music albums to near perfection. The fact that MP3 files could be stored on computers and handled as any other file stored on it, the exchange of such music files was facilitated with an extreme ease. With MP3 came the MP3 players to play them on standalone basis. Elger Labs was the first one to develop and commercially release the MP3 player known as MPman and was priced at whopping $250 only to store some eight songs. The revolution in MP3 players was brought about by Creative Labs in the year 2001 when it released an MP Player with much higher storage capability of 6 Gigabytes in comparison to MPman. But this was just a phase of development and it saw the launch of the worlds most foremost technology in MP3 players, it was the release of the device called IPOD by Apple (Menta, 2004). In todays time most of the youth carry an MP3 player and IPOD remains the most favourite among all the options available. The problem would not get aggravated if mp3 files were restricted in the hands of individual users but the use of internet provided a platform that allowed sharing of music through online modes. The pioneer of music sharing technology was a website known as Napster (Patokos, 2008). This was a platform for various internet users for sharing of music files stored on the computers hard drives between the users. This is known as peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing of files. Napster assumed profuse growth in P2P sharing market until it was successfully busted down by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in July 2000 with the help of judicial order (Riedel, 2006). The most recent and devastating innovation in the recent years has been the illegal use of a collection of files known as torrents. These torrents are downloadable through applications known as torrent downloader. There are sites such as Pirate Bay and BT Junkie which provide a collection of torrents downloadable by using applications such as Azureus and ÂÂ µtorrent. The torrent era is most destructive because sharing is not confined to sharing of music files. Such sites are now being used for sharing anything from music files, audio books, movies, software and other miscellaneous files. It has almost become a social networking cult among the youth and value of such networks increases as they become larger and more extensive. While the RIAA was successful in cracking down Napsters services, they have been unsuccessful in preventing the expansion of torrent based programs as mentioned ahead in the report. Since the conception of P2P the sale of physical CDs has been steadily declining every year (Powell and Smith-Doerr, 1994). Table 2.3 clearly represents the huge growth in the digital modes of music access and significant declines in the sales of physical music media. The newer and more devastating impact has been inflicted on music industry by applications like torrent downloaders as such networks differ from Napster like technology because they do not rely on a single centralized server but the download is carried out by a user from various servers or seeding points/seeders. Even the law becomes impotent in such situations because no single entity can be blamed for legal action. Manufacturers Unit Shipments and Retail Dollar Value Data Collection The data for the research will be collected from the Consumer Expenditure Survey tables available from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics. It is an extensive database which provides minute details about the buying habits of the US consumers, their income and various household characteristics. It also provides survey micro data for individual consumers demographic and expenditure patterns (CES, 2010). I will also consult a range of websites for the purpose of collecting information and statistics related to the music industry. Music industry websites- The Nielsen Company, www.soundscan.com, Recording industry Association of America, http://www.riaa.com, Sony Music, http://www.sonymusic.co.uk, Universal, http://www.universalrecords.com, Warner Brothers Music, http://www.warnerbros.com/music. Audio technology sites- Diamond, http://www.diamonthrun.com, Microsoft, http://www.microsoft.com, Music Match, http://www.musicmatch.com, Real Networks, http://www.real.com. Internet industry sites- Amazon, http://www.amazon.com, CD Baby, http://www.cdbaby.com, Emusic, http://www.emusic.com, MPEG, http://www.cselt.it/mpeg/, Napster, http://www.napster.com. Broadcast sites- BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk, Broadcast.com, http://www.broadcast.com, Cyberville Radio, http://www.cyberville.co.uk. Marketing sites- ViralMarketers.com, http://www.viralmarketer.com, Musicpromotion.net, http://www.musicpromotion.net. Another major database that I will gain access to is the comprehensive statistical analysis known as the Shipment Statistics Database available from The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). I will need to contact RIAA through email to inform then regarding them my projects vital features and they will decide whether to permit access to the database. In the event of permission not being granted I will subscribe to it by paying a nominal fee (RIAA, 2010) Methodology This particular research work will focus on utilizing a research model that enables to exploit the benefits of methods such as qualitative analysis through behavioural questionnaire and interviews with the industry experts. Since the research fundamentally proposes that MP3 CDs and internet file sharing technologies impact the sales of original works of music. It is important to keep in mind the argument that such facilities decreased the CDs sales. To effectively deal with this question of importance, I will collect micro-level data from the US Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) available from the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS). It will certainly provide the answer to the debatable question whether file sharing has decreased the CDs sales figures. Similar studies have been carried out by experts such as Liebowitz (2004). I will also examine the connection between ownership of computers by households and figures for expenditures on music. It will help me analyse whether increase in computer ownership increases file sharing by consumers and subsequent decreases CD sales. Thus this study will constitute a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods to answer the mentioned research questions. Is there a solution? The diagram 5.1 below proposes the possible go-ahead for the music industry to survive profitably in the coming future. The first file sharing site, Napster was legally challenged in the court and was finally forced to shut down its illegitimate activity. Source: Bized, (nd).

Saturday, January 18, 2020

History of American Education

Every human infant comes into the world devoid of the faculties characteristic of fully developed human beings. The process of growing up is the process of the development of the child’s faculties. The overwhelmingly important aspect of the growing-up process is mental, the development of mental powers, or perception and reason. Margaret Szasz`s `Education and the American Indian: The Road to Self-Determination Since 1928Margaret Szasz traced the evolution of federal American Indian educational policy during a critical span of time beginning with the Meriam Report in 1928 through the Kennedy Report of 1969 and the consequent passage of the Indian Education Act. These reports which resulted from intensive government sponsored studies of conditions in American Indian life, provided the impetus for important changes in Indian Administration and ultimately influenced a federal policy shift away from the earlier assimilationist ideology toward a culturally pluralistic perspective w hich fostered the possibility of self determination for American Indian nations.In American Indian education from 1928 to 1973 there are two types of studies that have become popular. These are historical monographs on regional or tribal education and general accounts of contemporary Indian schooling. The Meriam report suggested that education should be the primary function of the Indian bureau. It advised that Indian education be geared for all age levels and that it be tied in closely with the community.It encouraged construction of day schools to serve as community centers and proposed extensive reform of boarding schools, including the introduction of Indian culture and revision of the curriculum so that it would be adaptable to local conditions. In addition, the report attacked the physical conditions of the boarding schools, the enrollment of preadolescent children, and the inadequacy of the personnel. It recommended that salaries and standards be raised and that a professiona l educator be appointed Director of Education.(Margaret Connell, 1999)Utilizing archival materials, congressional records, and interviews, Margaret Szasz focuses on those systems of Indian education directly impacted by the federal government and federal policy. The assimilation programs of the Dawes Act era, the reform movements of the New Deal with the accompanying positive attitude toward Indian cultures, the economic impact of World War II and the disastrous termination measures of the early 1950s are analyzed for their effects on education in day schools and the on- and off-reservation boarding schools directed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).She presents the emerging power of â€Å"Self-Determination† from the supportive legislation of the Kennedy/Johnson years and the setbacks of the Reagan era to the present administration, and the resulting growth of yet another genre of education for American Indian people – tribally controlled schools and colleges. Sza sz closes the most recent chapter in American Indian education policy with the story of the rise and expansion of tribally controlled colleges concluding that â€Å"their commitment to community, to students, and to future leadership among tribal peoples suggests that they serve as the hope for the future for American Indians.Szasz closes the most recent chapter in American Indian education policy with the story of the rise and expansion of tribally controlled colleges concluding that â€Å"their commitment to community, to students, and to future leadership among tribal peoples suggests that they serve as the hope for the future for American Indians. † In this work Szasz has shown herself again to be the consummate researcher, presenting a sensitive but objective, comprehensive account of federal American Indian educational policy. Education in United States was segregated upon race.For the most part, African Americans received very little to no education before the civil w ar. In the south where slavery was legal, many states enacted laws which made it a crime for blacks to even be able to read, much less attend school alongside white classmates. After the civil war and emancipation blacks still received little help from the states themselves. The federal government under the radical republications, set up the freedman’s bureau to help educate and protect former slaves and passed several civil rights bills, but neither survived the end of reconstruction in 1877.The idea of equality in America has owed much to its proven ability to get used to varied and often argumentative environments by meaning different things to different minds, and furnishing rival interests with equally satisfying terms of moral reference. All of which throws some doubt on the undeniable character claimed by the Republic's founders for human rights determined forever by the laws of nature. The idea of equality been able to stamp an unmistakable and lasting imprint on soci al institutions.The Great Awakening, within certain very marked restrictions and with correspondingly limited consequences, was probably the first such period after colonial institutions had taken a settled shape. Accordingly it is chronologically the first to appear in the pages that follow; and because it’s religious character merges with the theme of the attitude of the state towards the individual's moral identity, giving the subject an inherent unity which bears on all other aspects of equality, two separate chapters are dedicated to that dilemma.The American Revolution and its consequences composed another period of upheaval. For all the rhetoric and invocations of principle that accompanied the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800, and the policies of Andrew Jackson from the early campaigns for his election through his veto of the Bank bill and other pronouncements to his retirement in 1837, the administrations of these publicly dedicated reformists did little to defle ct the advancing inequalities that characterized the distribution of wealth and all that followed from it.The Jacksonian affirmation could be described in terms of the comparatively new concept of equality of opportunity, an imperfectly digested notion which actually conflicted with other egalitarian precepts, held by some of Jackson's contemporaries to be of even more urgent importance.It was only with the tremendous upheaval wrought by the Civil War, and then after more moderate policies had failed for political reasons that the principle of the equal protection of the laws, with all that it could be held to require in making sure that the laws themselves were genuinely equal, was written into the Constitution and transformed from a common and weak ideal into a optimistic commitment of government. The language of equal protection, however, soon proved to be as flexible as the blurred idea of equal prospect.Soon after achieving the modest and, as it seemed, short-lived triumphs of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, egalitarians lost their grip on American development more completely than ever before. The idea of equality thus revealed over the two hundred years of the nation's independent survival a tenacity which afforded a strange kind of glamour to American claims and pretensions, and a kind of explanation to the offer or threat of social justice which America had always seemed to hold out to the common people in face of the empires, monarchies, priesthoods, and social hierarchies of the Old World.This tenacity of egalitarian principles owed a great deal to the historical structure of American institutions and to the formal and constitutional beginning of the American nation; and in the same way the idea owed much of its strength to the fact that equality had entered into the language of justice in a more explicit and more public manner than in most simultaneous political systems.The movement in this course, through which equality began to define the obligations of government to the people, had its deeper origins in the nineteenth-century America, gained power to affect the character of religious, legal, and political institutions in the middle of the nineteenth century, and emerged in the higher reaches of popular thought as a successor to the idea of the Great Chain of Being. (Pole, 1979) Development of common schools 1820 – 1890The motivation to provide a public school education for all children was twofold. First was the desire to indoctrinate them with religious teachings to assure the continued existence of a devotee and moral populace. A second motivation for providing public education was the need to educate for social, economic, democratic and national reasons. There was a common belief that the democratic representative government would fail unless the state took a real responsibility in educating the children of all people.Common schools at this point were in bad shape, they were poorly attended, and basically taught by whomever available. The direction of education at this time was influenced by the teaching methods of Prussian schools, as developed by Pestalozzi. These schools were opened through all over the state. The shift towards accountability, outcomes, and higher expectations in our schools is leading us in the right direction, although we recognize that schools face legitimate difficulties during this change process.But the response to these challenges should not be to back down on expectations for students with disabilities and those who have been perceived as unable to meet the standards. Policymakers and practitioners must remain committed to the goal of closing the achievement gap for all students. To lessen this commitment would be to return to the days and the mindset that only some students could and deserved to be taught to high standards.We now know that by setting high expectations, and helping students, teachers, administrators, and family members reach those high st andards, we can close the achievement gaps for all students. The educational landscape for students with disabilities is undergoing vast changes. Thanks to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its push for increased access to education for students with disabilities, and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), with its push for improved student outcomes, educators across the U. S.are reexamining their practices to find ways to close the achievement gaps between groups of students. Students with disabilities are a focus of this attention, as schools and states labor to improve their academic outcomes. The Progressive Era 1890 – 1950 The Progressive era has long been noted as an era of national administrative expansion combined with the growth of newer progressive and egalitarian idealism. One would expect this era to be one of great expansion of the central administrative capacity in the area of education as well.Curiously, this outcome is not what we find. To explain this puzzle, we must remind ourselves of what the Federal government had already given the states to promote education rich tracts of land that came to form the endowments that states built upon during this period. By the end of the 19th century and continuing into the early 20th, the development of secondary education for the masses was well underway. Between 1890 and 1920, the US secondary school population grew from 360,000 to over 2.5 million. Educational Equality and its future in America Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, and of the institutions which regulate schooling no less than others. Education policy, just like social policy more generally, should be guided principally by considerations of justice and only secondarily by pragmatic considerations such as what compromises must be made with existing social forces opposed to justice in order to optimize the justice of the existing institutions.The â€Å"equally good provision† for each ind ividual child is the meaning of equality in education. Different readers will interpret â€Å"equally good provision† differently depending on their conception of what constitutes a good education. The equality consists in ensuring that social class background and racial background have no impact at all on achievement and that inequalities of achievement that have a significantly unequal impact on the life prospects of individual children are unjust.Equality led reforms might deploy choice, but they do so only in the service of equality, either because choice will directly produce greater equality or because permitting choice will allow policymakers the political freedom to implement other measures that will produce greater equality. Reference: 1. J R Pole, The pursuit of Equality in American History, University of California Press, 1979 2. Matthew Hirschland, Sven Steinmo, The federal Government and American Education, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2001 3. Margaret Connel l Szasz, Education and the American Indian: The road to self-determination since 1928

Friday, January 10, 2020

Debates over Immigration Restriction

Name: Trent C. Thurman Course: HIST C175 Debates Over Immigration Restriction The term immigration refers to moving from your native country and coming to a foreign land for the purpose of a permanent residence and searching for greener pastures. There are several arguments by scholars about immigration restrictions to the United States. They had several similarities supporting immigration restrictions. Prescott Hall, Robert Ward, Frank Wright, Frank Fetter and John Mitchell all argued supporting the immigration restrictions. Immigrants from countries other than the United States came in plenty during the 1900s. They were strong and worked in industries during the industrialization era developing the United States at a very fast rate. The Native American saw that the immigrants were highly valuable and so encouraged more and more immigrants. This led to a high population increase and a growing economy. As this high influx of immigrants continued, some issues emerged. The immigrants didn’t bring change in political, social economic and educational matters. They were three times as illiterate as the native whites and those living in Massachusetts were twice as illiterate as the natives. They were very illiterate such that they didn’t see a reason for taking their children to school. Immigrant children were three times as criminals as native Americas. It forecasted that a second generation of immigrants was more objectable to degenerate in future. The immigrants took the jobs of Native Americans but at a very low pay which resulted to cheap labor. The immigrants were very unintelligent, had low vitality and poor physique. They made cheap labor to be very common such that it reduced the standard of living of a worker and led to emerges of poor classes, poor homes and very bad personal customs. It led to socio-economic problems which affected education and charitable institutions. Immigrants were not physically and mentally alert and were unfit for job training. Cheap labor was mainly in railroad, large industries, mining, contractors, and grain growers. They were very arrogant and unskilled such that the towns they lived in were of low standards. They worked as domestic servants in rich Native Americans at very low pay. Illiteracy led to alleged evils on political, social and morals standard of living in communities. The overall effects of a high influx of immigrants’ resulted to more negative effects to native America. For America to prosper, they had to improve their own industrial organization, elevate standard of living and limit the number of immigrants by passing a bill restricting immigration. While others argued supporting immigration restrictions to the United States, other scholars argued against the immigrations restrictions. They were Max Kholer, Sulzberger, Willcox, Bailey, Isaac Horwich, Grace Abbot and Jane Adams. They argued claiming that immigration of foreign persons brought a high influx supply of materials of different characters. Immigrants had the free mind to choose on whether to come or not. They had high intelligence, some financial resource and high levels of energy to work. They were industrious, worthy, courageous, family men, liberty- centered and of high integrity. Those arguing for immigration restrictions should remember that the largest employer of external labor was iron and steel industry. Cigar makers had a high numbers of immigrants from Scotland and English Jews. The company that made direct steamship between china and Japan employed external immigrants from china. The Chinese claim to provide materials for constructing railroads, reclaimed swamp, mining, farming, and fruit culture. Immigrants brought up American civilization by working smart and providing intelligent decisions in industrialization sector. They also brought about assimilative influence in the environment, schools, newspapers, political institutions and social places. A census conducted showed that illiteracy wasn’t found in immigrants but the country they came from and mostly affected their children. In the case of labour, increase in demand led to increase in labour supply, so there is no statistical proof of an oversupply of unskilled labour resulting in displacement of Native Americans by the foreign immigrants. America didn’t have a national system of labour exchange that showed how unemployment is misadjusted on supply to demand and oversupply of labour. From my own point of view, I think the better side is being against the immigration restrictions. They should let immigrants come to a foreign land because he/she carries different, multi- cultural skills and information which have a very positive effect on the native people. It leads to understanding and appreciation of culture, abilities, strengths and weakness of one another.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Humorous Quotes on Love and Marriage

Poking fun at love or marriage can be a dangerous proposition when youre making a joke in the presence of your loved one. Humor is like spice: the right amount can make a delicacy out of a bland meal. The key is the right amount. Use a humorous quote to season your words with the right amount of humor. Even then, be prepared to duck, apologize, and eat your words. At least, youll be able to attribute them to someone else. Thyra Smater Winsolow Platonic love is love from the neck up. Lily Tomlin If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question? Woody Allen Love is the answer, but while youre waiting, sex raises some pretty good questions. Unknown Love is telling someone to go to hell and worrying about them getting there safely. Rogers Willson It doesnt much signify whom one marries, for one is sure to find out next morning it was someone else. Edgar Watson Howe A woman might as well propose: her husband will claim she did. John Updike Every marriage tends to consist of an aristocrat and a peasant. Frank Zappa I detest love lyrics. I think one of the causes of bad mental health in the United States is that people have been raised on love lyrics. Bill Cosby For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked. Honorà © de Balzac Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane. Ray Bandy Honeymoon: A short period of doting between dating and debating. Johnny Carson I know youve been married to the same woman for 69 years. That is marvelous. It must be very inexpensive. H. L. Mencken To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia - to mistake an ordinary young man for a Greek god or an ordinary young woman for a goddess. David Bissonette I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste. Beverly Nichols Marriage: a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters written in prose. Henry Louis Mencken Bachelors know more about women than married men; if they didnt, theyd be married too. Helen Rowland When you see what some girls marry, you realize how they must hate to work for a living. Anonymous Theyre almost inseparable. Sometimes it takes ten people to separate them. Anonymous If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? Lord Dewar Love is an ocean of emotions entirely surrounded by expenses. Helen Rowland A man snatches the first kiss, pleads for the second, demands the third, takes the fourth, accepts the fifth†¦ and endures all the rest. Helen Rowland In olden times, sacrifices were made at the altar, a practice which is still very much practiced. Anonymous Love is one long, sweet dream and marriage is the alarm clock.