Teotihuacan Essay -- essays papers

Teotihuacan The ancient world of Mesoamerica entered a long period of change that soon led to the development a mammoth city that would serve as a regional center for more than 600 years. Beginning in about 1000 B.C. the majority of the people in the Valley of Mexico relocated to one of two primary sites, that of Cuicuilco in the southwest corner and Teotihuacan in the northeast. By about 300 B.C., Cuicuilco dominated the region, but its heyday would soon diminish. (Sabloff 2000, p 60) For the next two hundred years the dominion would begin to shift towards the side of Teotihuacan, a city that would undergo rapid growth never seen before on such a large scale. This was in part due to final demise of Cuicuilco influence from the eruption of Xitli in 50B.C. (Weaver 1981, p 104) This smothered their fields and soon thereafter swallowed the entire site. This was catastrophic because it destroyed their means of survival by wiping out agricultural land, which not only served as a source of subsistence but also as an economic base. Eventually the entire city was covered over, thus ending its years of prestige and aiding the development of its major rival. (Sabloff 2000, p 61) This event transformed Teotihuacan into the central city of the region, and soon masses began to flood in. Within a very short period the population was believed to consist of between 80-90% of the total population of the Valley of Mexico. This fluxuated but by the time of Christ, many were moving into the area again and soon began the construction of this great city. (Weaver 1981, p 189) The reasons for this immigration are unknown but surveys have proven that the city was populated as the countryside was depopulated. This resettlement policy, whether forced or 'encouraged', soon provided the state with enough manpower to bring this center into it excellence. This let the state relocate some of the residents onto the most productive agricultural lands to provide a subsistence base for the community. (Sabloff 1981, p 221) The political advantage of this widespread influence if quite apparent. This would permit the state to have direct control over the urban population as well as those it chose to send out to work in best agricultural lands. Also, most important, this control minimized the threats to the state by eliminating any other strong centers that may rise up against it. The... ...interesting finds, but these were primarily skeletal remains of fish, dogs, deer, waterfowl, and rabbit. The fish bones suggest that these people were exploiting the lakes to the south, as well as the remains of the fowl and turtles. The excavations also uncovered many remains within numerous compounds that suggest a commercial relation as well. One of the most significant was that it had a nearby source of obsidian. (Sabloff 1997, p62) This volcanic rock, found only in the highland areas containing volcanoes, was used primarily to make tools and weapons. This was very valuable at the time and control over the sources would provide great power and source of a valuable trade item. There are two main kinds of obsidian, gray and green. Of the studies preformed on artifacts through modern techniques like trace analysis, numerous sources have been identified in Guatemala and Mexico. The gray was more common and came from more than 15 identified sources. Green obsidian was found to have only one source, Pachuca, Hidalgo, making it much more desirable and proved to be a sign of higher status individuals. (Weaver 1981, p 205) Bibliography: (Weaver 1981, p 205)(Sabloff 1997, p62)

Capital Punishment Essay -- Justice Law Government Morals Ethics Essay

Capital Punishment Should we kill killers is the question to answer regarding the controversial subject of capital punishment. There is strong support for both sides and many people have offered their opinions in writing for all of us to examine. John M. Olin, the Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University, gave us his Pro-Capital Punishment opinion in the Harvard Law Review in 1986. Although his article was written more than a decade ago the argued topics have not changed. In his work The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense Mr. Olin addresses why he feels capital punishment is necessary in our society and across the world. According to Olin retribution is the number one reason for capital punishment. He goes on to say that the retributive notion of punishment in general is that as a foundational matter of justice, criminals deserve punishment and punishment should be equal to the harm done. What counts as â€Å"punishment equal to harm†? Olin refers to lex talionis commonly known as â€Å"an eye for an eye†. This idea was drawn from the Babylonian Law of Hammurabi from the 18th century. It states: If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death. If it kills the son of the owner, then the son of that builder shall be put to death. Besides being totally absurd there are a couple of points to make. First, retribu tion cannot be uniformly applied to every harm committed. What about rapist? Should they be raped? What about those who commit mass murder? How can we make their punishment proportional? The answer is we can not. Killing one person who killed another serves no practical... ...ntly, especially if death is involved, then we need to stop, back up and say â€Å"what is going on here?† Criminals no doubt deserve to be punished, and punished with severity appropriate to the harm they have caused to the innocent. But severity of punishment has its limits, both by justice and basic human dignity. Too many studies have shown that a lengthy sentence of 20 to 30 years of a murderer has been proven to be sufficient. After this period of time most individuals have proven to be constructive, worthy members of society and have lived prosperous lives after being released. I do however; recognize the fact that many individuals should stay in prison for the rest of their lives for the safety of all as well as retribution. For a Nation that is supposed to be founded on Christian morals and beliefs I have to wonder how they justify much of what they do.

Apple’s Financial Analysis Part 2

APPLE’S FINANCIAL ANALYSIS FOR THE YEAR ENDED September 27, 2008 Income Statement: a) Apple Inc uses multi-step income statement format. It organizes its operating section by using functional expense classification. b)There are no unusual items presented in Apple’s income statement. Also the company did not discontinue any of its operations, neither had any changes in accounting principles. The net income for 2008, 2007, and 200 is $4,834, $3,496, and $1,989 respectively. The net income has increased continually in past three years. Net income increased 38. 3% in 2008. Apple’s net income growth for 2007 was 75. 7%. The income statement doesn’t need restating. I also believe that Apple is not managing their earnings. The company’s revenue and earnings per share are undervalued and Apple's financials appear radically weaker than they actually are. It is because in April, 2007 they made a bad decision when announced that Apple will be using what is commonly referred to as the â€Å"subscription method of accounting† for sales of the iPhone where the sales revenue from the iPhone is deferred and recognized over a 24-month period instead of at the point of sale. When disregarding the deferred revenue mechanism of subscription accounting, Apple actually earned $7. 48 in EPS on $38. 041 billion in revenue. That compares to the $5. 36 in EPS on $32. 479 billion in revenue that Apple reported on a GAAP-basis. During 2008, the Company adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (â€Å"FASB†) Financial Interpretation No. (â€Å"FIN†) 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes—an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109. FIN 48 changes the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes by creating a new framework for how companies should recognize, measure, present, and disclose uncertain tax positions in their financial statements. 09/27/08Restated 09/27/09 Net Sales32,47932,479 Cost Of Goods21,33421,334 Gross Profit11,14511,145 Selling & Adminstrative & Depr. & Amort Expenses4,8704,870 Income After Depreciation & Amortization6,2756,275 Non-Operating Income620620 Pretax Income6,8956,895 Income Taxes2,0612,061 Investment Gains/Losses00 Other Income/Charges00 Income From Cont. Operations4,8344,834 Extras & Discontinued Operations00 Net Income4,8344,834 2) Apple Inc recognizes revenue from sales when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, and collection is probable. Revenue from service and support contracts is deferred and recognized ratably over the service coverage periods. Revenue is deferred for the fair value of the specified upgrade rights when offered. i. A/R turnover=Net Sales/Average A/R(net) A/R turnover2007=24,066/1637=14. 70 times A/R turnover2008=32,479/2422=13. 41 times ii. Allowance % A/R=Allowance/ Gross A/R Allowance % A/R2007=47/24,066=0. 0195 Allowance % A/R2008=47/32,479=0. 001445 iii. Average collection period= 365/ A/R turnover (or 365*A/R/Net Sales) Average collection period2007=365/14. 70=24. 82 (every 25 days) Average collection period2008=365/13. 41=27. 22 (every 22 days) The total sales revenues increased consistently for the past years. Net sales increased 43. 86% in 2008 compared with 2007 ($24,006 and $ 32,479 respectively), A/R have increased too by 47. 95% in 2007 compared to 20056 ($1637and $2,422 respectively). The company does not have looser credit policy, since it does not have credit accounts whatsoever. Apple has an ncreasing accounts receivable turnover which is a positive sign – showing the company is successfully executing its credit policies and quickly turning its accounts receivables into cash. The ratios calculated above cannot be taken into account because they do not represent the actual A/R for the company for entire year. 3)Inventory Costing: a)The company uses FIFO in costing its inventory. I believe that the company uses this method, because even though tax expense are higher, since the Cost of Goods Sold decrease by using the lower cost items, the net effect on the net income still result it net increase. The earnings per share also increase, as well as inventory in the balance sheet. If the cost of the inventories exceeds their market value, provisions are made currently for the difference between the cost and the market value. The Company’s inventories consist primarily of finished goods for all periods presented. If they use LIFO the net income would have been higher, it can benefit from tax savings and improve its cash flow. On other hand average cost achieves a net income somewhere in the middle. b)Looking at the vertical analysis of the Income Statement cost of goods sold has decreased to 0. 34% (from 66. 3 % in 2007to 65. 69% in 2008), and net sales increased by $8475. At the same time, looking at the horizontal analysis, while in 2008 COGS increased by nearly 39. 97% compared to 2007, sales increased only by 43. 86%, and in 2007 while GOGS increased by 15. 56%, sales increased by 24. 29%. This, in my opinion indicates inventory stock (50 items), and fast moving inventor y (7days). i. Inventory Turnover=(COGS)/(Ave. Inventory) Inventory Turnover2007= 15,852/(270+346)/2=51. 047? 51 items Inventory Turnover2008= 21,334/(509+346)/2=49. 904? 50 items ii. Gross Profit Percentage=Gross Profit/Net Sales Gross Profit Percentage2007=8,154/24,006=0. 3397? 33. 97% Gross Profit Percentage2008=11,145/32,479=. 3431? 34. 31% iii. Average Days in Inventory=365/Inventory Turnover Average Days in Inventory2007=365/51=7. 16 days Average Days in Inventory2008=365/50=7. 3 days c) Apple is doing extremely well in terms of inventory turnover, which is one of the lowest in the industry only 7days . While a sizable inventory can be important to coping with sudden surges in demand, excessive inventory is wasteful and can exacerbate financial problems if a new product is introduced before old inventory is cleared. Inventory is increased from 346 million in 2007 to 509 million in 2008. Because the sales are increased too, therefore it is an indication of heavy business activities, rather than the problem with sale of existing products. Gross profit margin is flat for year 2007 and 2008 at 34%. 4)Property, plant and equipment: a)Apple Inc uses the straight-line method of depreciation based upon the asset’s estimated useful life. b)Asset Turnover=Net Sales/Ave total assets Asset Turnover2007=24,006/[(25,347+17,205)/2)]=1. 1283 Asset Turnover2008=32,479/[(39,572+25,347)/2]=1. 0006 c)PPE has increased in the last year by $632 million. The company has purchased PPE in 2007 in the amount of $735 million and $1,091 million in 2008. In 2008 Apple declared a loss on disposition of property, plant, and equipment for $22 million, which has increased by $10 million since 2007(12million) 5) Liabilities a)Apple’s liabilities are composed by short-term debt, Accounts Payable, Accrued Expenses, Long-term debt, non-current liabilities. The major current and non-current liabilities accounts for the years of 2007 and 2008 are shown in the table below: September 27, 2008 September 29, 2007_ Current liabilities: Accounts payable $5,520 $4,970 Accrued expenses 8,572 4,310 Total current liabilities 14,092 9,280 Non-current liabilities 4,450 1,535 Total liabilities 18,542 10,815 b)Ratios: i. Debt Ratio=Total Liabilities/Total Assets Debt Ratio2008=18,542/39,572=0. 468564 or 46. 86% ii. Debt to Equity=Total Liabilities/Stockholders Equity Debt to Equity2008=18,542/21,030=. 8817 iii. Times interest earned=Income before income taxes and interest expense/Interest Expense Times interest earned2008=6,275/ 0 c)Ratios for Microsoft’s for year ended 06/30/2008 i. Debt Ratio2008=36,507/72,793=0. 015 or 50. 15% ii. Debt to Equity2008=36,507/ 36,286=1. 0061 iii Times interest earned2006=22,492/0 These ratios are derived from Dillard’s financial statements that can be found on http://www. sec. gov/Archives/edgar/data/789019/000119312508162768/d10k. htm. Looking at Apple’s and Microsoft’s debt ratios, I can say that Microsoft’s debt ratio is 3. 29% higher, or it has 3. 29% more debt compared to its total assets. I think that 50. 15% indicates that Apple’s can be categorized a company of moderate risk level. Comparing Apple’s debt to equity ratio of . 8817% to Microsoft’s ratio of 1. 61%, I can tell that Apple’s are doing well, since it uses $. 88 derived from liability in addition to every $1 of equity in its business, taking advantage of the lower cost of debt for financing projects to relatively more expensive equity financing. Microsoft’s ration is only 0. 1793% lower, which indicates a normal debt ratio for Apple Inc. Comparing Apple’s ratio results to Microsoft’s, gives me the confidence to say that Apple’s liabilities fall into the industry’s average. 6)Stock price a)Yahoo Finance chart PRICE DateOpenHighLowCloseAvg VolAdj Close* Sep-08172. 40173. 50120. 68128. 439,370,800128. 24 Aug-08159. 90180. 45152. 91169. 5323,273,800169. 53 Jul-08164. 23180. 91146. 53158. 9533,096,200158. 95 J un-08188. 60189. 95164. 15167. 4434,281,100167. 44 May-08174. 96192. 24172. 00188. 7532,650,300188. 75 Apr-08146. 30180. 00143. 61173. 9538,841,700173. 95 Mar-08124. 44145. 74118. 00143. 5042,313,100143. 50 Feb-08136. 24136. 59115. 44125. 0246,645,400125. 02 Jan-08199. 27200. 26126. 14135. 3662,108,100135. 36 Dec-07181. 86202. 96176. 99198. 0831,771,400198. 08 Nov-07188. 60192. 68150. 63182. 2246,553,700182. 22 Oct-07154. 63190. 12152. 93189. 9537,438,400189. 95 Sep-07153. 44154. 60152. 75153. 4743,935,800153. 47 b)In my opinion there is a strong positive correlation between the two charts. There are several noticeable changes of Apple’s stock price over the last year. In October,2007 Apple’s stocks increases to $189. 95 from $153. 47in Sept. The increase was due people’ interest to get their hands on Mac OS X Leopard, the newest version of Apple's operating system. After that since markets in general, and tech stocks in particular, were hit hard by poor earnings reports posted by Intel, Apple’s stock price dropped in first weeks of November. In the begging of January 2007 the stock dropped to $126. 14 after Jobs announced iphone sales to date of 4 million, and AT&T said that only 3. 9 million were activated, which means 100,000 iphones still in their Christmas wrapping or more likely unlocked. The company’s stock decline in the first quarter was due to an antitrust suit which has been filed against Apple accusing the company of illegally maintaining a monopoly in the digital music market by failing to support Microsoft’s Windows Media Audio format. In May Stock reached $188. 55 because Apple reported its second quarter earnings, and its revenues of $7. 05 billion and a net profit of $1. 05 billion for the quarter. In second quarter Apple had slightly decreases and increases in stock value. On July 22, 2008 Apple reported its third quarter earnings results. The company earned $7. 46 billion during the quarter, a 37% increase from the same quarter 2007. Last month of the third quarter the company had a down t urn to $ 120. 68 per stock. 7) Final Review I believe that the company has strong results in the industry that it operates. Compared to its direct competition, Apple Inc is doing well. I also believe that Apple Inc is trying to grow, and became a leader in consumer electronics market. Based on my analysis, I agree with the company’s strategy of increasing investment in Research and Development. Specifically, I suggest the sometime down the line after provider contracts are over and equipment and technology costs have gone down Apple should enter the wireless cellular provider arena. This would allow Apple to recoup all profits instead of sharing/splitting profits with the providers. Customer’s buy the hardware/phone at cost rather than the current model of wireless provider subsidized phones at the expense of expensive plans. They should offer a quality engineered, eco-friendly, workplace computer that is economically practical for corporations and large organizations. However due to Apple’s unique designing nitch and brand loyalty we feel they have the ability to capture a portion of the bottom market that has always wished to own an Apple without diluting its luxury products image. Apple Inc would do a lot better if it was not in the declining economic environment as of now. Increasing questions about Jobs' health and lack of transparency into a succession plan are decreasing the company’s stability. Contrary of Wall Street's expectations Apple reports earnings of $1. 61 billion ($1. 78 per share), which was up 2 cents a share from the year earlier period. Revenue also increased from $9. 6 billion to $10. 17 billion. With stock price of $102 â€Å"Apple Inc. shares have catapulted back atop the century mark today after brokerage firm FTN Equity upgraded the stock from â€Å"neutral† to â€Å"buy. â€Å"We now believe investors are more prepared for the Chief Executive taking a smaller role and we have not seen the multiple compression we expected,† wrote analyst Bill Fearnley, Jr. † I believe that by looking at the past performance of Apple, one can derive a future prognosis of Apple’s performance, bound to the industry development. I believe that an investor may want to buy Apple’s shares, since it looks like i t is a strong company, and take advantage of the current low stock prices. I also would recommend to an investor not to invest all of his money in Apple, because of the uncertainty of the market.

St. Augustine Confessions

St. Augustine’s Confessions St. Augustine lived during a period in which the Roman Empire was in deep decline and Christianity was taking root as the official religion. It was a time of great political stress and widespread religious concern. The Confessions reveals much about his formative years, when he strove to overcome his sensual desires, find faith, and understand religious and philosophical doctrines. Augustine treats this autobiography as much more than an opportunity to narrate his life, however, and there is hardly an event mentioned in his autobiography that does not have an accompanying religious or philosophical clarification. St. Augustine’s confessions also provide one with a critical aspect of the Christian Bible. Augustine’s confessions form a work that corresponds closely to its content and achieves what it set out to achieve, which is redemption from sins for Augustine and a revelation for the readers. His writing is basically an idea of the return of creation to God; its aim is to inspire others to actively seek this return and to believe in the creation of God. The relationship St. Augustine has with love and God is undeniably irrevocable due to the fact that he cannot distinguish love and God with out one another. Augustine often experiences darkness, blindness, and confusion while attempting to find truth in God, but he knows that when he eventually finds him his confused heart will be redeemed. Augustine started out in childhood with a state of confusion because he had to live in two different worlds. These two worlds consisted of that of his mother’s (Monica) religious faith and teachings, and the rest of the outside world. The two worlds confused Augustine as a child because his mother praised Christ and Christianity and about the almighty God who helps humans to go to heaven. In the outside world, it was completely nonreligious. The talk was about striving to achieve. In Carthage, while successfully pursuing his studies, he abandoned his Christian moral teachings of his early years and took in a mistress, with whom he lived with for 10 years. Augustine’s relation to his mistress focuses primarily on the problem of restless love, while showing that Augustine had the desire to love and wanted to be loved. Many young men stayed with a woman until the time came to marry them back then. This is what Augustine performed. He states that, â€Å"In those days I lived with a oman, not my lawful wedded wife but a mistress whom I had chosen for no special reason but that my restless passions had alighted on her. But she was the only one and I was faithful to her† (Confessions, IV). This is just one of the many aspects in his life that he considered sinful. Later in his writings, when Augustine talks about his conversation to Neo-Platonism (all actions a re considered good or evil) and then Christianity that he classifies his previous behavior as sinful and regrets many of his previous actions. By the time he converted, he viewed every act in which he put himself ahead of God as sinful. One sin that he mourns greatly and faults himself for is allowing him to be sexually free and having various partners. Although Augustine was regretful for his sin, he also mentions that it was the hardest sin to give up when he was trying to determine if he wanted to convert to Christianity completely. Augustine also attempts to provide another explanation for his previous actions by speculating that his actions were a result of his love for God being somehow misleading; â€Å"To him I was led by thee without my knowledge, that by him I might be led to thee in full knowledge† (Confessions, XIII). One of the biggest struggles that Augustine faced was his belief in God and how God exists. His concern was how we can seek God without really knowing what he is or what we’re exactly looking for. â€Å"Within me I had a dearth of that inner food which thyself, my God—although that dearth caused me no hunger† (Confessions, I). He constantly questions the existence of God and his belief in Him. Asking God to â€Å"come into me†, Augustine again questions what that phrase could really mean when expressed to God. Later on in the writing, Augustine came across a book, in which he referred to as â€Å"books of eloquence† (Confessions, IV), called Hortensius by Cicero. He admired this book very much and its philosophical ways which he proclaims it â€Å"changed my whole attitude and turned my prayers toward thee, O Lord, and gave me new hope and new desires† (Confessions, IV). The reading caused him to reach toward God, even though he had only learned of God seriously through Monica, his mother whom was of Christian faith. It helped him to develop a different outlook on God and take life more seriously. Furthermore, the death of Augustine’s friend made him realize that all love should be rooted in God. His friend became very ill with a fever and eventually passed away. Augustine felt extreme grief and sorrow for his friend’s death. He believes that the main cause of his misery lies in the fact that he loves his friend with the type of love that should have been reserved for God alone. Therefore, he felt that all human love is going to fade unless this love is grounded in the eternal God who never changes and will always remain. While love exists between two souls with whom we want to be with, this type of love will always have a basis from God. Throughout the Confessions, love and wisdom, his desire to love and be loved, are all driving forces for Augustine’s desire to find peace in God. Augustine often experiences darkness, blindness, and confusion while attempting to find peace in God and peace within himself, but he knows that when he eventually finds him his restless heart will be saved. Augustine felt that love might help him have a solid purpose in life and would guide him through his time of conversion. Love is a natural feeling for human race and becomes a necessity for all people. For Augustine, the first love has to be for the love of God. It must come before all others. He states that â€Å"the thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you† (Confessions, I). Holding God as love’s priority, it helped Augustine to shape his life, his mind and his beliefs. He never realized what a big difference it makes in one’s life when it is opened up to love and to love Christ. For Augustine, the answer to his questions and confusion lies in God’s grace. These answers are to the most difficult questions on life and faith. Throughout his writing, there was no time where he had been without love, but he had loved in pieces, hidden, and conflicting ways. He had loved his mother, Monica, from the beginning. He had also loved the name and image of Christ, but was in state of confusion many times therefore doubting his faith and beliefs. Through the Confessions, Augustine leaves himself and his past to praising God and loving him because he felt guilty with himself and his importance of God in his life. He found a place in God that he never imagined could happen. His guilty mind and heart finally found rest in God. Love also played a significant role during his conversion. It helped guide him towards God and Christ in a positive way that influenced the rest of his life. All these various themes of love helped and guided Augustine through his conversion. This formation was the discovery of a new self and the discovery of the new world he sees now through his conversion. The conversion taught him truth and to believe in God. His desire to understand wisdom, which was through the readings by Cicero, brought about a new view for Christ. Though he converted, Augustine’s full connection with the love of Christ was still yet incomplete for him. His mind was not satisfied with any one direction. The most critical and influential form of love that Augustine had was love for God and the love for Christ. It was almost as if he was exposed to a new realm and he opened up his life up to God more and more each day by praising him, telling God how much he loves him now. Augustine states, â€Å"then, O Lord, you laid your most gentle, most merciful finger on my heart and set my thoughts in order, for I began to realize that I believed countless things which I had never seen or which I had taken place when I was not there to see† (Confessions, VI). The Confessions tells a story in the form of a long conversion with God. Through this conversion to Catholic Christianity, Augustine encounters many aspects of love. These forms of love guide him towards an ultimate relationship with God. His restless heart finally finds peace and rest in God after the conversion. Augustine finds many ways in which he can find peace in God. He is genuinely sorry for having turned away from God, the one source of peace and happiness. Augustine is extremely thankful for having been given the opportunity to live with God. Augustine uses love as his gate to God’s grace. All in all, the Confessions can be read as Augustine’s way of redemption from his sins and his revelation of love to God and Christ. Augustine’s transition from a sinner to a faithful Christian was also evidence to God’s greatness. Even though Augustine committed unacceptable sins, it was a good thing for him in that he found the strength to believe and love God. This is because of what he has obtained from analyzing texts, such as Cicero’s writings, and Christian philosophy and the fact that he can truly understand the root causes of his sins that he committed instead of simply implying them based on what a book says.

Jose Rizal’s Retraction Controversy Essay

The debate still continues if Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero, really retracted? This has been the greatest controversy which is most talked about Rizal. He is recognized for the novels he had written during the Spanish period. Because of these courageous acts of rebellion against the said colonizers, he became our National Hero. But what if our national hero, at the last moments of his life retracted everything he had ever said and written? In 1935, a letter was found by Father Manuel Garcia. The said letter contains that Jose Rizal declared himself as a Catholic and that he retracts everything he had said, written, published and did against the Catholic Church. Opinions regarding this issue would not be the same because some may agree and some may not. There so many questions speculating his retraction if in the first place, all of this is what he really fought for. From Fr. Balaguer’s version, Rizal, on the 29th day of December 1896, wrote and signed the retraction papers in front of him and with the other Jesuit priest present at the death cell. Rizal asked for a confession twice and for a rosary from the priest between the two confessions. In Balaguer’s memorandum-record, Rizal asked for a mass and a request for Holy Communion, this was readily approved by the Jesuits and assigned Fr. Villaclara as the officiating priest of the mass inside the cell. He also mentioned that Rizal asked for the image of the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus which he carved when he was just 14. Balaguer described the scene as heart-warming because Rizal kissed the image that he had requested from the Jesuits. While kneeling and surrounded by the religious authorities in the death cell, Rizal read the retraction document. Balaguer also claimed that there was a servant-messenger for Josephine Bracken to prepare for the marriage at the San Ignacio Church where Fr. Simo will conduct the confession and other things needed for the ceremonies, which will be materialized on the morning of the 30th. Lastly, before the execution and in the presence of the Archbishop and the Jesuit superior Reverend Fr. Pio Pi, Rizal kissed the image of the cross presented to him and has a rosary entwined in his hand. But how did Father Balaguer convinced Rizal to be converted into Cathloic before his execution? This is one of the big unanswered questions of today. In addition to this, Rizal wrote a poem entitled â€Å"My Last Farewell† which was written on the eve of his execution, there was a line there saying,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I’ll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen where faith does not kill and where God alone does reign (Rizal, 1896).† With this, he mentioned God in this poem. Before he was executed, he wrote an undated letter to his family when he was in Fort Santiago: â€Å"Bury me in the ground, place a stone and a cross over it. My name, the date of my brith and of my death. Nothing more. If you later wish to surround my grave with a fence, you may do so. No anniversaries. I prefer Paang Bundok.â€Å" Now, what do he mean by this? He wanted a cross over it. He died as a Catholic and was buried inside the sacred grounds of Paco Cemetery. Unfortunately, his instructions were not granted. It was also argued that Rizal retracted in order to save his family from further persecution, to give Josephine Bracken a legal status as his wife and to assure reforms from the Spanish government. Speaking of Josephine as his wife, there was an article from Jose Rizal University that one day of early March 1896; Rizal played a practical joke on Josephine, which frightened her terribly. As a result, she prematurely gave birth to an eight-month baby boy. The baby was very weak and can hardly breathe. With this, Rizal immediately baptized him Francisco in honor of his father. He tried to save the life of his son but all his knowledge and skill as a physician could not save little Francisco. Sorrowfully, Rizal saw his child die three hours after birth then he drew a sketch of his dead son and he buried him under a shady tree near his home. He prayed†: â€Å"Oh, God, I give you another tiny angel. Please bless his soul.† Again, this is one proof that even before the exile in Dapitan, he practiced being a Catholic. On the other hand, the copy of the retraction paper that was allegedly signed by Rizal that was even kept secret and was only published in newspapers. It was said that the paper was lost when Rizal’s family requested for the original copy. Are the Jesuits too irresponsible for not knowing the importance of the document? Or was it just hidden? But 39 years later, the original copy was found in the archdiocesan archives. Ricardo Pascual Ph. D, who was given permission by the Archbishop Nozaleda to test the document and later concluded in his book, â€Å"Rizal beyond the Grave† that the papers shown was a falsification. The common contradiction of this argument was either Father Balaguer or Father Pi had made errors in reproducing another copy of the original. The manuscript was also allegedly  misplaced from 1922 – 1935. Trinidad challenged the Jesuits to show to her the manuscripts so that she could validate that it was Rizal’s handwriting and signature. With this, finding out that there were several copies of it, some may imitate Rizal’s handwriting and signature. Another proof that Rizal did not retract is that when Father Balaguer claimed that Jose and Josephine, however, there were no marriage certificate or public record shown that could prove Father Balaguer’s accounts. In addition, he performed the ceremony between 6:00 – 6:15 AM of December 30, 1896 with the presence of one of the Rizal’s sisters but Rizal family denied that none of them were there and Dr. Jose Rizal was martyred at 7:03 AM. Also, nobody had reported that Bracken was in the area of Fort Santiago in the morning of the execution. Consider also the three priests (Fr. Jose Villaclara, Fr. Estanislao March, and Fr. Vicente Balaguer) to negotiate the expanse of the walk to give spiritual care to the condemned Dr. Jose Rizal, why is it that, only Fr. Balaguer stated that there was a wedding? Furthermore, where were Fr. Villaclara and Fr. March to verify the manifestation of a marriage ceremony? Or was there really even one at all? Showing the two sides, where do you stand? Do you believe that Rizal really abjured or not? It’s up to you but this controversy should not eradicate Rizal’s works for our country. He awakened our knowledge of nationalism and patriotism. Jose Rizal’s writings helped in motivating the Filipinos to fight for our freedom against the Spanish colonizers and inspired a lot of Filipino revolutionaries to stand up for a cost. In my opinion, I still believe that his contributions to our country are far greater than the issue brought by this letter. I stick to his advocacy that war is not the solution for independence. If you’re going to ask me if he really retract, I would say yes, because he really wanted to have peace and to stop the chaos during that time, he abjured everything due to the pressure to his family and became a Catholic. I stated earlier that he has some requests to his family for his burial that there should be a cross over his grave, with this, he died as a Catholic and his family, on the 11th day after his death, was informed that early of the next day, a mass was to be celebrated for the eternal rest of his soul. Adding to this, he experienced hardships in writing his third novel entitled â€Å"Makamisa† because he is not fluent in  Filipino language. How could he state: â€Å"A man who doesn’t love his native language, is worse than all animals and a smelly fish.†, if he, himself, can’t apply it. And let’s understand that he retracted for the sake of his family’s persecution and wanted a reform for our country against the Spanish government. I’m sure all of us really love our family and will do such extraordinary things just to save them and would love to have peace on earth. But all this and more will retract nothing from his greatness as a Filipino.

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