Financial Health of Target Corp.

Financial Health of Target Corp. Free Online Research Papers The corporation I chose to look at is Target Corporation. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This company is better known for its Target and Super Target retail stores across the U.S. which you can see from a good distance due to their very impressionable logo- a large red bull’s eye symbol. Target Corporation operates general merchandise and food discount stores in the United States. The company offers household essentials, including electronics, music, computer software, and toys; apparel and accessories, jewelry, and shoes; home furnishings and decor consisting of furniture, lighting, and kitchenware, as well as seasonal merchandise; and food and pet supplies primarily under Target and Super Target trademarks. It also sells its merchandise under private-label brands, including Archer Farms, Archer Farms Simply Balanced, Boots Barkley, Choxie, Circo, Durabuilt, Embark, Gilligan OMalley, Kaori, Market Pantry, Play Wonder, Room Essentials, Smith Hawken, Sutton and Dodge, Target Home, Xhilaration as well as many other well known brands. Target Corporation also operates in-store amenities, such as Target Cafe, Target Clinic, Target Pharmacy, and Target Photo, as well as leased or licensed departments, including Optical, Pizza Hut, Portrait Studio, and Starbucks. The company markets its products through its network of distribution centers as well as through its online shopping site, Target.com. As of June 2, 2010, it operated 1,740 stores in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Target Corporation also offers credit cards such as a Target Visa and the Target Card to qualified guests. Over the years Target has become the second largest retailer in the United States coming in just behind Wal-Mart. The company is rated number 28 on the Fortune 500 as of 2009. After reviewing the financial data for Target Corp., it is obvious as to why. Since Target and Super Target stores offer such a wide variety of merchandise it gives the company the upper leg so to speak when it comes to profits compared to a specialty store. Target stores offer not only the necessities such as food, toiletries and clothing at a discounted price but also non necessity â€Å"comfort items† such as household merchandise and jewelry so even when the economy takes a hit and customers aren’t spending as much, they will still come to the store for their necessities which will mean the company is still bringing in profit. The 2009 financial results in both of the business segments were affected by the challenging economy in which the company operated. In light of that environment, performance in the Retail Segment was remarkable, as the segment generated the highest EBIT in the Corporations history, in a year when comparable-store sales declined 2.5 percent. In the Credit Card Segment, disciplined management led to a 29.4 percent increase in segment profit in a year when Targets average investment in the portfolio declined about 32 percent, representing a near-doubling of segment pretax return on invested capital. The financial results for the second quarter of 2010 reflect better than expected earnings from both the Retail and Credit Card Segments. Performance in the Retail Segment reflects increased sales of 3.8 percent over the comparable prior year period due to the contribution from new stores and a 1.7 percent comparable-store increase. The company essentially maintained EBIT margin rates in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the prior year. In the Credit Card Segment, the company seems to have achieved a significant increase in profit primarily due to reduction in bad debt expense. This is extremely important for a company to do in any economy but considering they were able to do this in the current declining economy is a very good sign that they will surpass previous year’s numbers in the future. This shows that not only did Target Corp. do remarkably better than some of their competition but also beat their record breaking numbers of the previous year. In a declining market this is exceptional. Cash flow provided by operations was $1,828 million and $2,051 million for the six months ended July 31, 2010 and August 1, 2009, respectively. Target Corp. opened 3 new stores in the first half of 2010, all in the second quarter. In the first half of 2009, Target Corp. opened 50 new stores (37 stores net of 8 relocations and 5 closing), including 23 new stores in the second quarter of 2009. During the first half of 2010, they remodeled 211 stores under the current store remodel program, significantly more than the 15 stores they remodeled in the first half of 2009. The current outlook for Target Corp. is promising, following a recessionary year in 2009. After looking at the assessment it is evident that the inventories have increased relative to cash and marketable securities in the current asset section, and there has been a decrease in the company’s liabilities and debt. These developments were traced primarily to policies and financing needs related to new store openings. This is very promising news for the company because it means that they are selling the same if not more of their inventory, their costs are coming down and they are able to pay back their debt even with the economy the way it is and the opening of many new stores. (I have included Target Corp.’s financial statements at end of report) According to Target Corp. SEC report 10-K sales percentages, sales in household essentials has gone up from 22% to 23% from the previous year, sales in apparel and accessories has remained the same at 20%, sales in home furnishings and dà ©cor has gone down from 21% to 19% and sales in food and pet supplies has gone up from 15% to 16% from the previous year. This for the most part is very good news since the economy has been declining and reports show that Target Corp.’s sales have not been affected that much with many departments’ sales increasing. As with any company there is rivalry and competition. With Target Corp. being rated number 2 in the country in discount retail stores they have overcome a big feat already but there is a lot they need to do to stay at the top. In the case of Target Corp. competition is intense. A number of factors support this such as the presence of several businesses that operate in the retailing industry and targeting similar audiences. The main rivals of Target Corp. are Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Kmart Corp., Kroger, and Costco Wholesale Corp. All of these competitors produce similar products as well as offer some of the same services to consumers. In comparison to Target Corp.’s main competition, it shows that Target Corp is rated number 2 in Dividend Yield at 1.90% while Wal-Mart is rated number 1 at 2.20%. Statements also show that Target Corp. is also rated number 2 in Market Capitalization with $38.6 B with Wal-Mart ahead at number 1 with $194.6B and ahead of Costco Wholesale Corp. who i s at number 3 with $28.6B. This is a good sign because even though they are number 2 in rankings, Wal-mart is a much bigger company and yet Target Corp. has managed to come in number 2 in rankings with a $10 B lead in Market Capitalization on Costco Wholesale Corp. It seems that Target Corp. is doing well in comparison to its competitors with an upward trend in revenue, sales, earnings per share, net earnings as well as EBIT. Reports also show that Target has surpassed Wal-Mart in many areas. Target Corp.’s gross profit margin was 29.49% which exceeded Wal-Mart’s 24.78% in 2010. Target also maintained the same Earnings per share as their main rival Wal-Mart which was 8.95%. Every year regardless of the economy, Target Corp. continues to upward. To combat competition, Target Corp. has ventured in online-based actions using there own website, internet advertising, partnership and even merger and acquisition. From www.target.com as corporate domain in e-commerce, the corporation maintains a team called Target direct who owns and oversees the e-commerce initiatives. Using this as their official corporate website, the corporation’s current position to the online marketplace is comparatively competitive. Its performance specifically to the online marketing is high. As a result of the stiff competition among the retailers in the U.S., Target Corp. implemented several expansions of its store outlets and distribution centers to extend the corporation’s marketing. Partnership, merging and acquisition are among the strategic actions that the management is taking into practice to fight competition. This is a way to expand their market and distribution coverage. Among the partnership and cooperation engagements that they had are American Online on strategic alliance and Amazon.com in customer service. In June of 2000, AOL and Target Corp. rollout a marketing campaign and established the multi-year strategic alliance and joint marketing and promotion initiatives. This campaign featured a â€Å"special edition CD-ROM of the AOL service with co-branded features and packaging† being offered in more than 900 Target Corp. outlets nationwide. These CD-ROM’s are offered in Target stores still to this day. In addition, AOL members who use the service in any Target Corp. outlet is entitled to a 10% discount on products bought via target.com. Further more, target.com was made available in the shop@AOL online shopping destinations and other ar eas across AOL. Today, Target Corp. is highly competitive and striving to go along with its competitors regardless of external conditions like the world economy. The management of Target Corp. is continuously creating innovative marketing solutions that may be perfect in its online shopping operation. These innovations are always directed to satisfactory, convenient, and customer-oriented service. It is very important to constantly compare Target Corp. with its competitors as well as look at trend analysis to help determine how the company is doing now against competitors, how it has done in the past and to determine how the company may do in the future. The analysis of a variables past value changes to determine if a trend exists and, if so, what the trend indicates. A technical analyst may graph a stocks price throughout a period of time to determine whether a trend has been established. Analysts often attempt to determine if trends exist for a firms earnings per share. A steady increase in earning’s profit share could indicate that investors and consumers alike are still interested in the company whereas a decrease in the company’s earnings per share could mean a decrease in interested parties and a hint that they are interested somewhere else which could mean the company would have to change a few things to regain their interest. Summary of Target Corp. Current financial performance: Target Corp. makes great strides in remaining one of the top two discount retail stores in the country. Reports show Target Corp.’s revenue to continue in an upward trend regardless of the world’s economy. Reports also show sales increasing in an upward trend from year to year. Reports also show Target Corp.s cash ratio deteriorated from 2008 to 2009 but then improved from 2009 to 2010 not reaching 2008 level. This could be due to the deterioration in the economy and the surplus of new stores being opened around the country in 2009. There appears to be no major problem with the firm’s short-term liquidity position at the present time. Target Corp. has managed to reduce their long term debt since last year to even lower amounts than in 2008. Their Current Assets has increased since 2009 but has not quite reached the 2008 amount. There has also been a steady increase in Accounts payable over the past three years but they have managed to keep in a steady downward tr end in total liabilities. This means even though they are paying more out, they have managed to lower their debt and increase their current assets which could be to the increase in stores and increase in sales. In general Target Corp. seems to be a sound credit risk with attractive investment potential. The management of inventories, a continuation of effective cost controls, a continuation of marketable advertising by management and careful timing of further expansion will be critically important to the company’s future success. All in all Target Corp. seems to be showing great growth despite the declining economy and is predicted to continue to do so in the future. Below are financial highlights for Target Corp. Profitability Profit Margin: 4.09% Operating Margin: 7.52% Management Effectiveness Return on Assets: 7.12% Return on Equity: 18.23% Income Statement Revenue: 66.58B Revenue Per Share: 89.53 Qtrly Revenue Growth: 3.10% Gross Profit: 19.77B EBITDA: 7.09B Net Income Avl to Commom: 2.72B Diluted EPS: 3.64 Qtrly Earnings Growth: 14.30% Balance Sheet Total Cash: 1.56B Total Cash Per Share: 2.17 Total Debt: 16.62B Total Debt/Equity: 108.84 Current Ratio: 1.71 Book Value Per Share: 21.13 Cash Flow Statement Operating Cash Flow: 5.66B Levered Free Cash Flow: 4.12B Following is Target Corp. Balance Sheet for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 (collected from Yahoo! Finance) Period Ending Jan 30, 2010 Jan 31, 2009 Feb 2, 2008 Assets Current Assets Cash And Cash Equivalents 2,200,000 864,000 2,450,000 Short Term Investments Net Receivables 6,966,000 8,084,000 9,207,000 Inventory 7,179,000 6,705,000 6,780,000 Other Current Assets 2,079,000 1,835,000 469,000 Total Current Assets 18,424,000 17,488,000 18,906,000 Long Term Investments 163,000 215,000 Property Plant and Equipment 25,280,000 25,756,000 24,095,000 Goodwill 60,000 208,000 Intangible Assets 171,000 Accumulated Amortization Other Assets 829,000 862,000 1,136,000 Deferred Long Term Asset Charges Total Assets 44,533,000 44,106,000 44,560,000 Liabilities Current Liabilities Accounts Payable 9,631,000 9,250,000 7,880,000 Short/Current Long Term Debt 796,000 1,262,000 1,964,000 Other Current Liabilities 900,000 1,938,000 Total Current Liabilities 11,327,000 10,512,000 11,782,000 Long Term Debt 15,118,000 17,490,000 15,126,000 Other Liabilities 1,906,000 1,937,000 1,389,000 Deferred Long Term Liability Charges 835,000 455,000 956,000 Minority Interest Negative Goodwill Total Liabilities 29,186,000 30,394,000 29,253,000 Stockholders Equity Misc Stocks Options Warrants Redeemable Preferred Stock Preferred Stock Common Stock 62,000 63,000 68,000 Retained Earnings 12,947,000 11,443,000 12,761,000 Treasury Stock Capital Surplus 2,919,000 2,762,000 2,656,000 Other Stockholder Equity (581,000) (556,000) (178,000) Total Stockholder Equity 15,347,000 13,712,000 15,307,000 Net Tangible Assets $15,347,000 $13,712,000 $15,099,000 Following is Target Corp. Income Statement for years 2008, 2009, 2010 View: Annual Data | Quarterly Data All numbers in thousands Period Ending Jan 30, 2010 Jan 31, 2009 Feb 2, 2008 Total Revenue 65,357,000 64,948,000 63,367,000 Cost of Revenue 45,583,000 45,766,000 41,895,000 Gross Profit 19,774,000 19,182,000 21,472,000 Operating Expenses Research Development Selling General and Administrative 13,078,000 12,954,000 14,541,000 Non Recurring Others 2,023,000 1,826,000 1,659,000 Total Operating Expenses Operating Income or Loss 4,673,000 4,402,000 5,272,000 Income from Continuing Operations Total Other Income/Expenses Net (94,000) (139,000) 22,000 Earnings Before Interest And Taxes 4,579,000 4,263,000 5,294,000 Interest Expense 707,000 727,000 669,000 Income Before Tax 3,872,000 3,536,000 4,625,000 Income Tax Expense 1,384,000 1,322,000 1,776,000 Minority Interest Net Income From Continuing Ops 2,488,000 2,214,000 2,849,000 Non-recurring Events Discontinued Operations Extraordinary Items Effect Of Accounting Changes Other Items Net Income 2,488,000 2,214,000 2,849,000 Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments References Target Corp. (2010). 2010 Summary Annual Report. Retrieved September 29, 2010, From http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=TGT Target Corp. Company Overview and Investor outlook. Retrieved September 29, 2010, From http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId Fraser, L. M., Ormiston, A. (2007). Understanding financial statements (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Research Papers on Financial Health of Target Corp.Marketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceThe Project Managment Office SystemGenetic EngineeringRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andDefinition of Export Quotas

Banana peelings, ipil-ipil leaves and minera

Shining your shoes can be a messy process that includes chemical laden roducts; it also stains your hands and also has a harsh odor that never seems to leave your shoes. Commercial shoe polish have many chemicals which can affect our health like turpentine; especially our respiratory system. It is very essential to our daily lives, because it makes us presentable and neat in every way. But now, you can leave all that behind. This shoe polish is great to use for a quick and easy buffer for your favorite pair of shoes. You can easily make a natural yet inexpensive shoe polish that also works like commercial ones. In this experiment, we intend to make a t will be fast, easy and leaves no mess or any unpleasant odor. Polishing your shoes with this kind of shoe polish is a great way to reduce waste. You can have polished shoes without damaging your health neither the environment, leaving behind zero packaging waste. Using natural shoe polish as your shoe polish is cheaper and is more efficient than the other kinds of shoe polish. It is eco-friendly and is safe to use. Statement of the Problem: Is it possible to make a shoe polish out of banana peelings, Ipil-ipil leaves and baby oil? What is the component of each that consider them as one of the ingredient in making this shoe polish? Objectives To help the community in eco-waste management. To make a natural and affordable shoe polish that is comparable to commercially produced ones. To make banana peelings, ipil-ipil leaves and baby oil beneficial by using it as the main ingredient in making a shoe polish. Hypotheses We can make a shoe polish out of banana peelings, ipil-ipil leaves and baby oil because it all has this oil which can help the shoes to shine. Banana peelings have a slimy texture inside. It has this watery and oily content which can make the shoe to shine. It is also rich in potassium and potassium is great in leather. Baby oil from the ame itself, oil. It is known for its slippery texture and shiny appearance thats why it gives shine to the shoe. Ipil-ipil leaves have an extract which can get when it is pounded. And that extract helps the shoes to shine and maintain its quality. Significance of the study The study aimed to produce a cheaper and good quality shoe polish which is comparable to commercial produced ones. It is also eco-friendly and beneficial for eco-waste management program in the community. Background of the study: Banana is the common name for an edible fruit produced by several kinds of large herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. Bananas are said to be an excellent source of vitamin 86, soluble fiber, vitamin C, manganese, potassium. The peel has numerous long and thin strings. The fruit has been descried as leathery berry. Potassium was said to use to tan the leather. Banana peels have 30-40% tannin content. Potassium is used to treat and blacken the leather. Banana contains potassium that maintains the quality of the shoes. It has its own oil which is being sipped by the leather shoes making it shiny. Ipil-ipil is a small tree growing up 8 meters high. Leaves are compound, 15 to 25 centimeters long, with hairy rachis. Pinnae are 8 to 16, and 5 to 8 centimeters long. Leaflets are 20 to 30, linear oblong, and 7 to 12 millimeters long. Heads are solitary, at the axils of the leaves, long-peduncled, globose, and 2 to 5 centimeters in diameter, with many flowers. Flowers are whitish, in dense globue heads, 2 to 3 centimeters in diameter. Fruit is an oblong or linear pod, strap-shaped, 12 to 18 centimeters long, 1. 4 to 2 Mineral oil is a basic straight chain hydrocarbon and comes is various grades defined by the carbon atom count, which ranges from 18 to 30 carbon atoms. Mineral oil used in shoe products has a molecular composition of about C25H52 (25 annot have a pH value. In fact mineral oil is considered to be occlusive (a stop to moisture), whereas triglyceride base

Research into the Software Required to support a True Distributed Essay

Research into the Software Required to support a True Distributed Computer System - Essay Example and Lau, F., 1999. Special issue on software support for distributed computing. Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing - Special issue on software support for distributed computing, 59(2), pp.101-06. 19 Introduction Ever-increasing competition and quick developments in information and communication systems, technologies, and a great deal of proliferation of low-cost workstations and PCs have offered a broad avenue for distributed computing to develop into a conventional computing structure and arrangement. At present, distributed computing is no longer limited to literature and advanced research laboratories; however, it is now easily in reach of a huge community of technology producers and clients. In fact, the transformation of status would not have been possible if there were not considerable endeavours that technology and communication researchers have offered for the development of essential supporting application, distributed OS, remote procedure calls, network file syst ems, OO (object oriented) middleware and message passing interfaces (Ahmad and Lau, 1999). In addition, the arrival of the WWW (World Wide Web) and high speed broadband Internet connections have as well put fuel to such kind of technology transformation. Presently, the Internet has turned out to be one of the biggest distributed systems. Currently, it is being utilized by the majority of people to resolve very complicated and challenging issues such as â€Å"search† to discover the biggest prime number, intended for space intelligence, and to break the RC5 block encrypted cipher, etc. In this scenario, a lot of huge and worldwide distributed systems are in progress to develop a huge â€Å"Globe system.† This Global system will offer an excellent support for resolving global issues (Ahmad and Lau, 1999). This essay discusses the software required to support a true distributed computer system. This research will provide a detailed overview of true distributed computing e nvironment that is a necessity to develop and use appropriate co-operating subsystems. Distributed Computing Environment: An overview The distributed environment is in some sense overcoming the limitations of traditional computing offering independence from the Personal Computers (PCs) to the golden or dark period of the mainframe. In the past, computers were single user machines with minimum storage capacities. Hence, the appearance of time-sharing machines and operating systems provided excellent opportunities to people all around the world. In fact, it allowed them to make use of the same hardware framework to support several people working simultaneously or cooperating with each other. Additionally, with the arrival of wide area networks (WANs), this cooperation further extended across the world and up till now simply needs a few central points of integrity control and management (Trireme, 2004; Nemeth and Sunderam, 2002). In addition, the arrival of the workstations took the pe ople right back to single user machi

Critical Commentary on 'The Coming of the White People' Essay

Critical Commentary on 'The Coming of the White People' - Essay Example As Harris reports, the Bolivian people love to believe that the decisive periods are ‘before the Spanish, colonial rule, and the republican period’ (ibid). According to Harris (1995), this Euro-centric history of most colonial nations had its origin from the concepts of rationality and order associated with the European modernism and consequent self-image Europeans developed. This high self-image had a very serious impact on the cultures and places they conquered. One such reason is that it is the coming of the colonial government that made many colonies understand the importance of written documents. For example, the scholar points out that works like ‘Europe and the people without history’ are totally centered around the way the coming of Europeans brought the previously autonomous populations into the European world system (ibid). Another point as put forward by Harris is that the process of colonisation had the same effect on both the Europeans and the c olonies. In other words, the same has been mythologised in both the places. It is pointed out by Harris that Columbus was a great mythologist who knew very well how to prepare influential interpretations of the voyages he made. Moreover, such explorers like Thomas Cook and Columbus associated their explorations with the achievement of a new spirit associated with either Enlightenment or Renaissance. One can see that this claim gains support from Obeysekere (1997, p. 79). Moreover, the works tries to identify the way many colonies consider Europeans as god-like figures. The first argument put forward by the scholar is that in many cases, it was the self-image of the Europeans themselves that was reflected in their own reflections of history. For example, the scholar points out the story behind the way Captain Cook was considered as god by Hawaiians. While European historians still love to proclaim that Hawaiians identified Cook with their deity Lono, it becomes evident from other acc ounts that Europeans were predisposed to the belief that they would be treated as gods by the natives. For example, even during the voyage, Columbus speculated that the new people might treat them as gods. Thus, even when Cook was killed by the natives, the same kind of European interest in depicting themselves as god-like figures came into play. In fact, this version of history is enforced by the Europeans on the world because at that point of time, written documents were almost entirely the provenance of Europeans. This point is supported by Sahlins (1995, p. 9). Very similar cases are reported by the scholar (Harris, 1995) in the case of Mexico and the encounter of Pizarro with King Atahualpa. In the first instance, Cortes’ arrival in Mexico was considered as the fulfillment of a prophecy related to the return of god Quetzalcoatl. It is point out by the scholar that evidently, Cortes made use of this prophecy and actively encouraged it to become a myth. In fact, very simil ar was the case of King Atahualpa. When the Spanish came under the leadership of Pizarro, the king Atahualpa felt that Viracocha had come. Admittedly it is even now common in that part of the world. While some historians like Sarmiento (1572) report that the king and his people considered Pizarro as Viracocha, people like Acosta (1590) go one step further ahead and claim that the natives called the Spanish Viracochas because they believed they

A Man?s Vision Of Love: :: essays research papers fc

A Man’s Vision of Love: An Examination of William Broyles Jr.’s Esquire Article â€Å"Why Men Love War†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Men love war because it allows them to look serious. Because they imagine it is the one thing that stops women laughing at them. In it they can reduce women to the status of objects. This is the great distinction between the sexes. Men see objects, women see the relationship between objects. Whether the objects need each other, love each other, match each other. It is an extra dimension of feeling we men are without and one that makes war abhorrent to all real women - and absurd. I will tell you what war is. War is a psychosis caused by an inability to see relationships. Our relationship with our fellow men. Our relationship with out economic and historical situation. And above all our relationship to nothingness. To death.† John Fowles in The Magus A Man’s Vision of Love: An Examination of William Broyles Jr.’s Esquire Article â€Å"Why Men Love War†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The fact that war is both beautiful as well as nauseating is a great ambiguity for men. In his article for Esquire magazine in 1985 William Broyles Jr attempts to articulate this ambiguity while being rather unclear himself. On the one hand Broyles says that men do not long for the classic male experience of going to war, while on the other hand he says that men who return know that they have delved into an area of their soul which most men are never able to. Broyles says that men love war for many reasons some obvious and some obviously disturbing. Many books support this notion while few stray far from the admission of love. I believe that most sources indicate that men do in fact love war in a general masculine way. I also believe that the sources that do not admit to this love of war do not because of the author’s unique, face-to-face experience with war’s most severe atrocities. I feel that the sources, while few in number can faithfully account for the average soldier in any war in the twentieth century, which Broyles applies his argument to.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stories of combat provide a way of coping with a fundamental tension of war: although the act of killing another person in battle may invoke a wave of nauseous distress, it may also incite intense feelings of pleasure. William Broyles was one of many combat soldiers who articulated this ambiguity.

Devil in the White City Book Summary Essay

The Devil in the White City, written by Eric Larson, is a gripping novel of two polar opposite men during the building of the World’s Fair in Chicago. It surrounds two characters, both extremely talented at their ‘craft’ and perfectly depicts the rush for industrialization in this time. It follows the lives of Daniel H. Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, and Henry H. Holmes, a serial killer who built a hotel turned torture chamber complete with a dissection table, gas chamber, and crematorium. This story is so interesting because it details true life events and uses real life characters such as Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Meshing these two characters together enhances the intensity of the story and truly shows the effect of the building of the World’s Fair on Chicago in late 1880 and early 1890. The book begins in 1890, when Chicago is a candidate to hold the World’s Fair, or the World’s Columbian Exposition, meant to commemorate Columus’ arriving in America. Daniel Burnham was responsible for building the White City. He overcame multiple crushing obstacles and personal tragedies to make the Fair the magical, awe-inspiring event that it was. He brought together some of the greatest architects of the Gilded Age such as Charles McKim, George Post, Richard Hunt, Frederick Law Olmsted, and others, and convinced them of the importance of the Fair. Burnham somehow got them to work together to achieve what many considered to be an impossible project in an astonishingly short amount of time. The result of their strenuous hard work ended in a beautiful even that brought almost 40 million people to the city of Chicago and transformed the shoreline of Chicago forever. A few miles away, in the suburb of Englewood, a different kind of story was unfolding. Dr. H. H. Holmes had built a boarding house turned torture chamber on one full city block. Holmes was described as a handsome, blue-eyed charmer who had away with women. He would seduce, mesmerize, and intrigue them, all the way up until the pint at where he killed them. He had many ways of torture and death, such as smothering them with ether-soaked rags, of locking them in an air tight chamber and releasing poisonous gas into them. After killing his victims, Holmes would often dissect them; removing their skin, selling their skeletons to be used in medical school. He truly was the worst victim, due to his sociopathic mind that prayed on the vulnerable and found a certain unexplainable joy in the art of killing.

More Ready Than You Realize The Power Of Everyday...

When we think of evangelism, we tend to have a few big names, like Billy Graham, D L Moody, George Whitefield, and John Sung. Our mindset immediately goes to â€Å"They are powerful Christians used by God, but I am just a common believer†. Later we will arrive at a conclusion: I can never be good at evangelism. Gradually, we lost the courage to even trying evangelism. Thankfully, Brian McLaren provided another perspective in the book â€Å"More Ready than You Realize: The Power of Everyday Conversations†. Fresh, rediscovered strategy was presented clearly in this book. Starting from the beginning, McLaren defined the good evangelists and the good evangelism. He defined good evangelists as people who felt sent by God to engage others in good†¦show more content†¦But many times people are convinced by our love and acceptance, not by our logical teachings. I like the idea that McLaren presented as â€Å"Sometimes belonging must precede believing† (1035/2485). Christians should build a community with faith. Love and commitment to Jesus Christ. The seekers do not need to have the same faith, but still are welcome to be with us, to belong here, to experience what we’re about (1035/2485). Too often, our church has become a social club with a heaven tickets. Non-believers feel awkward and not welcomed in the church because everyone talks only to friends. As McLaren states, if people can belong long enough to observe how God is alive among us, if people can belong long enough to see authentic love among us, if they can belong long enough to see whatever good exists in our lives as individuals and as a community, they can come to believe (1050/2485). This kind of environment is really seeker-friendly. The event and process theory is also a great one. In Christian circles, we tend to have an evangelistic meeting, invite a keynote speaker, and then count the hands lifted after the altar calling. It is a modern way of doing evangelism. For some people, they can recall such an event that they accepted Jesus as Savior. For others like me, it took a long process. I cannot define a specific moment that I became a Christian. I like the idea of