Charles De Gaulle

Charles De Gaulle At the culmination of the Second World War, several nations in Europe were devastated politically, socially, and economically because of the attack on Germany. The European countries were in pieces and a good number of people perceived that they would not recuperate from such an extensive damage.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Charles De Gaulle specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nevertheless, in the midst of these trying times in anticipation for a brighter future, a number of nations in Europe made great efforts to recover and restore power. During this time, a person by the name of Charles de Gaulle took the mantle to lead the nation of France. De Gaulle envisioned his country to become identified as a great global power. He intended to lead the French people into their new blossoming future. He was seen as being at the forefront during his country’s engagement in the Second World War. However, he disappointe dly turned down the offer of gaining government authority in the 1940’s. At last, in 1958, he regained his position with the hope of establishing his country’s autonomy and reinstating its influence in the world, but his intentions were not fully realized. Early life and influences On November 23, 1890, in the northern industrial city of Lille, a man named Charles de Gaulle was born to a nationalist, traditionalist, but quite socially progressive catholic bourgeois family (Blumberg, p.58; Simkin, para.1 ). He was the second of five children of Henri de Gaulle. De Gaulle’s father, Henri, was a teacher of philosophy and literature at a Jesuit college. He ultimately established his own school. Henri was also a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, wherein the Prussians disappointedly conquered what the French considered as the strongest army at that time. This humiliating defeat made a great impact to the life of the patriotic Henri. He swore to retaliate and regain the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. Henry’s attitude profoundly influenced the lives of his sons. Therefore, he brought them up to act as the instruments of accomplishing his revenge mission and the reinstatement of their country as the supreme power in Europe. From childhood, the parents of Charles de Gaulle taught him a lot about the history of his country. One of de Gaulle’s great-great-grandparents, Jean Baptiste de Gaulle, served as a counselor to the king while his grandfather, Julien Phillippe de Gaulle authored a book about the history of Paris.Advertising Looking for essay on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On his tenth birthday, Charles was given this book as a present. He greatly treasured this book and read it many times. Charles de Gaulle was also dedicated to the publications made by Julien Phillippe’s wife, Josephine Marie. One of the literary works by Josephine, The liberator of Ireland, greatly inspired the young man’s life. This book gave him a demonstration of a man’s struggle against religious or political discrimination. He emulated this example in his own life. Possibly the main influence on de Gaulle’s character can be attributed to his uncle, who was also called Charles de Gaulle. He authored a book on the subject of the Celts. The book called for the unification of the Breton, Scots, Irish, and Welsh people. Military Career De Gaulle did not go to a polytechnic college; he started his military career in 1909 on admission to the elite military academy of Saint-Cyr because of the passion he had for his home country. One of his classmates at the school was Alphonse Juin who later played a pivotal role in the French army. After spending four years at the French military school, he reported to Henri Philippe Petain. Petain first became his hero and later one of his key opponents (In the First World War, P etain became the idol of Verdun, but during the Second World War he gave in to Hitler and cooperated with the Germans while de Gaulle was marshalling his country for freedom). During the dreadful Battle of Verdun in March 1916, captain de Gaulle was seriously injured. He was left for the dead on the combat zone. The Germans then took him as a prisoner of war. De Gaulle made at least five fruitless efforts to break away from prison. He was then put under solitary confinement in a retaliation camp. When the war ended, de Gaulle made his way to a general-staff academy. At the academy, he hurt his military career by continuous disapprovals from his superiors. He wrote a number of publications on the idea of reorganizing the military. He disagreed with the static concept illustrated by Maginot Line and advocated for the use of armored divisions. His superiors ignored his claims. However, the Germans read his works and implemented his ideas to come up with a successful strategy referred t o as blitzkrieg, or lightening war. They used this military strategy to conquer the French forces in 1940.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Charles De Gaulle specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When France was defeated, de Gaulle, who was then a difficult to understand brigadier general, did not give in to the enemy forces. He escaped to Britain since he had the conviction that it was impossible for the British to capitulate and that the Americans would eventually be victorious. On June 18, 1940, he made a motivating broadcast on BBC radio that earned him global attention (Pedley, p.2). In the address, he maintained that his country had only lost a battle, not a war, and encouraged his fellow citizens to avoid giving in to the Germans. De Gaulle’s early political life When the invasion by Hitler’s forces subsidized, de Gaulle had no serious competitors for the leadership of his country and he was collectiv ely chosen by the French Parliament to be the country’s premier in 1944. Previously, he had intensely fought against the Germans, and now he painstakingly shielded his country against the influences of his strong allies. De Gaulle once said that the Germans, who were destined for defeat, did not frighten him but that he was only frightened by his allies’ alleged domination of Europe after the war. After one year of being in power, de Gaulle started to disagree with most of the politicians in his country. De Gaulle regarded himself as the matchless liberator of his country and looked down on other political leaders as petty, dishonest, and self-centered meddlers. Therefore, in January 1946, sickened by politics, he resigned from his position. He then recoiled into a sulking silence to ponder about the future of his country. In 1947, he resurfaced as the opposition leader under what was termed as â€Å"The Rally of the French People.† Although he claimed that the Rally was not a political party but a national movement, it emerged as the greatest single political force in France. However, it did not attain majority status. De Gaulle still looked down on the country’s political system and left political life again in 1955. Life as a president As de Gaulle foresaw, The Fourth Republic of France fell short of meeting the requirements of the citizens of France. In 1958, due to popular demand, he was reinstated to power as the president of France (Jackson, p. 70). As the leader of the country, he opposed every move to engage France in coalitions. He fought against the establishment of the United States of Europe, the entrance of Britain into the Common Market, the paying of French dues to the United Nations, and engagement of French forces in the Atlantic Alliance integrated armies. He also came against Soviet oppression of Eastern Europe, liberated France’s colonies, and assisted the Vietnamese in resisting invention by the American s.Advertising Looking for essay on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More De Gaulle recorded immense achievements during his earlier years as president. However, when his period in office was culminating, his country was almost friendless and experienced economic difficulties. He reigned for eleven years and the French people soon started feeling the pinch of his firm hand. In April 1969, he resigned from office after the defeat of his plan for reorganizing the Senate and the regions of France and Georges Pompidou, one of his preferred lieutenants, was chosen as his successor. From then on, De Gaulle stayed away from politics until his death on November 9, 1970. Conclusion Charles de Gaulle was a leader of the French society who fiercely struggled to restore his country so that it could be identified as a global power. The efforts and decisions he made may not have been at all times right, but from his point of view, they were important for realizing his objectives. Even though he never achieved his vision of France, he made significant contributions to e nsure that his country is recognized as a global power. Blumberg, Arnold. Great leaders, great tyrants: contemporary views of world rulers who made history. Wesport: Greenwood Press, 1995. Print. Jackson, Julian. Charles de Gaulle. London: Haus Publishing Limited, 2003. Print. Pedley, Alan. As mighty as the sword: a study of the writings of Charles de Gaulle. Exeter: Elm Bank Publications, 1996. Print. Simkin, John. â€Å"Charles de Gaulle.† Spartacus Educational. n.d. Web.

Brooklyn Bridge Disaster

Brooklyn Bridge Disaster The walkway of the  Brooklyn Bridge was the site of a shocking disaster on May 30, 1883, only  a week after it opened to the public. With businesses closed for a patriotic holiday,  crowds had flocked to the bridges promenade, the highest vantage point in New York City at the time. Near the Manhattan  side of the great bridge a pedestrian bottleneck  became tightly packed, and the shoving of the crowd  sent people toppling down a short flight of stairs. People screamed. The crowd panicked, fearful that the entire structure was in danger of collapsing into the river. The crush of people on  the walkway became intense. Workmen  putting finishing touches on the bridge  raced along trusses to the scene and began tearing down railings to alleviate the crowding. People picked up babies and children and tried to pass them overhead, out of the crowd. Within just a few minutes the frenzy  had passed. But 12 people had been crushed to death. Hundreds more were injured, many seriously. The deadly stampede placed a dark cloud over  what had been a celebratory first week for the bridge. Detailed accounts of the mayhem on the bridge became a sensation in the highly competitive world of New York City newspapers. As the citys papers were still congregated in the neighborhood of Park Row, only blocks from the Manhattan end of the bridge, the story could not have been more local. The Scene on the Bridge The bridge had officially opened on Thursday, May 24, 1883. Traffic during the first weekend was very heavy, as sightseers flocked to enjoy the novelty of strolling  hundreds of feet above  the East River. The New York Tribune, on Monday, May 28, 1883, printed a front page story indicating that the bridge might have become too popular. It ominously mentioned that bridge workers, at one point on Sunday afternoon, feared a riot. The pedestrian promenade was popular on the Brooklyn Bridge. Getty Images Decoration Day, the precursor to Memorial Day fell that  Wednesday, May 30, 1883. After morning rain, the day turned very pleasant. The New York Sun, on the front page of the next days edition, described the scene: When the rain was over yesterday afternoon the Brooklyn Bridge, which had its crowds in the morning, but had become comparatively open again, began to threaten a blockade. With the hundreds who came down town to the New York gates were hundreds of men in the uniform of the Grand Army of the Republic. Most of the people strolled over to Brooklyn, and then turned back without leaving the bridge. Thousands were coming over from Brooklyn, returning from cemeteries where soldiers graves had been decorated, or taking advantage of the holiday to see the bridge. There were not so many on the bridge as on the day after the opening, or on the following Sunday, but they seemed inclined to loiter. There would be an open space of from fifty to one hundred feet, and then a dense jam. Problems became intense at the top of a nine-foot high flight of stairs built into the walkway, near the point at which the main suspension cables passed by the promenade on the Manhattan side of the bridge. The pressing of the crowd pushed some people down the stairs.   Did You Know? Predictions of the Brooklyn Bridges collapse had been common. In 1876, at about the halfway point of its construction, the chief mechanic of the bridge crossed between the Brooklyn and Manhattan towers on a cable to publicly demonstrate confidence in the bridges design. Somebody shouted out that there was danger, reported  the New York Sun. And the impression prevailed that the bridge was giving way beneath the crowd. The newspaper mentioned,  A woman held her baby over the trestle work and begged someone to take it. The situation had turned desperate. From the New York Sun: At last, with a single shriek that cut through the clamor of thousands of voices, a young girl lost her footing, and fell down the lower flight of steps. She lay for a moment, and then raised herself on her hands, and would have got up. But in another moment she was buried under the bodies of others who fell over the steps after her. She was dead when they got her out more than half an hour afterward. Men sprang upon the rails at the side and waved the crowds back from both the New York and Brooklyn sides. But the people continued to crowd on toward the steps. No police were in sight. Men in the crowd lifted their children above their heads to save them from the crush. People were still paying their pennies at both gates and swarming in. Within minutes the frantic scene had calmed. Soldiers, who had been parading near the bridge in  Decoration Day commemorations, rushed to the scene.  The New York Sun described the aftermath: A company of the Twelfth New York Regiment worked hard at dragging them out. Twenty-five seemed to be nearly dead. They were laid along the north and south sides of the pathway, and the people from Brooklyn passed on between them. Men and women turned faint at the sight of the swollen and blood-stained faces of the dead. Four men, a lad, six women, and a girl of 15 were quite dead, or died in a few moments. They had been found at the bottom of the heap. The police stopped grocers wagons coming from Brooklyn, and, carrying the bodies of the wounded and climbing down the planks to the road, laid them in the wagons, and told the drivers to hurry to the Chambers Street Hospital. Six bodies were laid in one wagon. The drivers whipped up their horses and drove with full speed to the hospital. Newspaper accounts of the dead and wounded were heartbreaking. The New York Sun described how one young couples afternoon stroll on the bridge turned tragic: Sarah Hennessey was married on Easter, and was walking on the bridge with her husband when the crowd closed in upon them. Her husband injured his left arm a week ago, and clung to his wife with his right hand. A little girl fell in front of him, and he was thrown upon his knees and kicked and bruised. Then his wife was torn from him, and he saw her trampled upon and killed. When he got off the bridge he searched for his wife and found her in the hospital. According to a report in the New York Tribune of May 31, 1883, Sarah Hennessey had been married to her husband John Hennessey for seven weeks. She was 22 years old. They had lived in Brooklyn. Rumors of the disaster spread quickly through the city. The New York Tribune reported:  An hour after the accident it was told in the vicinity of Madison Square that 25 persons were killed and hundreds wounded, and at 42nd Street that the bridge had fallen down and 1,500 had lost their lives. In the days and weeks following the disaster the blame for the tragedy was directed at the management of the bridge. The bridge had its own small police force, and officials of the bridge company were criticized for failing to place policeman at strategic place to keep crowds dispersed. It became standard practice  for uniformed officers on the bridge to keep people moving along, and the Decoration Day tragedy was never repeated. The fear  that the bridge was in danger of collapsing was, of course, completely unfounded. The Brooklyn Bridge has been renovated to some extent, and the original trolley track was removed in the late 1940s and the roadways changed to accommodate more automobiles. But the walkway still stretches down the middle of the bridge and is still in use. The bridge is crossed every  day by thousands of pedestrians, and the promenade with striking views that drew revelers in May 1883 is still an attraction for tourists today.

Strategic analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strategic analysis - Essay Example In an organization it’s impossible to control everything therefore chaos must be expected therefore managers must expect opposition from other parties in the organization. They must be able to act democratically and be able to control their anger and emotions in order to deal with diverse reactions in the organization. Chaos also brings the attention of the top management about need to look at the issue at hands (Churchill, 1965). A dynamic system is a system that involves two parties that are in disagreement and require an external interference e.g. chaos in an organization that might require interference by the police agency. A leader can achieve order out of chaos through taking time and understand the major causes of chaos. This is through listening to the parties that are involved in the chaos together with their line of argument. This would work towards deciding on the side to take in order to solve the standoff. These parties also play a major role in giving the leader a possible solution to the chaos. It also gives the leader a variety of strategies that he/she can use in coming up with a lasting solution to the problem. Poor decision by the leader can aggravate the problem as both parties would be unsatisfied by the leader’s decision (Churchill,

Compensation and Benefits support Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compensation and Benefits support - Essay Example The strategic compensation plan of an organization certainly plays an important role to woo competent resource. Competitive price tags will attract experienced employees to come and join the organization. Hence, employees having better qualification and experience can be of great help in meeting the set revenue targets besides establishing the credibility of the organization in the market (Balkin & Gomez†Mejia 157). The strategic compensation plan for employees should be based on pay for performance. How can be a visionary and non-visionary person treated alike? As far as the sales employees are concerned, they should be given commission on their total sales. Reward system in an organization is a source of motivation for the employees to pursue their goals. Thinking of hard working by the employees without hoping for a reward is very difficult (Balkin & Gomez†Mejia 158). Retention of valuable resource amounts a hard nut to crack if it is not supported by the monetary benefits. There is an adage that â€Å"happy laborers work more†. To keep employees of repute for a longer period of time, it is utmost important for HRM to compensate them through increase in salary, promotion and cash performance reward so that they may not jump into other companies for better career prospects. If aforementioned measures are implemented in letter and in spirit, experienced workforce will think twice before going out in searching of another job opportunity (Armstrong 72). Competitive compensation and benefits are the key elements to attract the best talent available in the job market. Further, organizations that offer insurance covered health policy and guaranteed paid vacation are the hotcakes for the lucrative job hunters. It should be the focal point of HRM of any corporate entity in their compensation policy. Mentioned benefits should be linked with the increased profitability of the company and the performance of the employees as well

Surrealism Art Essay Example for Free

Surrealism Art Essay Surrealism is an international art movement, which draws from the depths of the subconscious mind and explores the human psyche. Frenchman Andre Breton, who described Surrealism as ‘pure automatism by which it is intended to express the true function of thought’, championed surrealism in the late 1920s’. In this period of time, the world was inflicted with the two major wars, that filled humanity with horror and unimaginable terror. Some artists of this period were chosen illustrate these horrors by representing a psychedelic of images from the human mind or to seek an altered reality, which created the intellectual playground to these artists, as it aroused the philosophical argument of what is real and un-real. Surrealism is characterised by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter, using a fascination with the subconscious mind. It is a type of Fantasy art that defines a psychological element, attempting to create artworks that explore the artists’ perception of their dreams, fears and imaginings. In turn, Surrealist artists attempt to represent their visions, by Looking through and creating an altered reality. This period of art dominated the art world during the period just before the Second World War, but still is current in the Postmodern world, continuing to flourish in its subjective approach to representing the imagination. â€Å"Surrealism! What is surrealism? In my opinion. It is above all a reawakening of the poetic idea in art, the reintroduction of a subject but in a particular sense, that of strange and illogical. † (Paul Delvaux) This quote is relevant when referring to the artist James Gleeson, as he explores the depths of the human subconscious mind, while creating his own imaginative world. He achieves this through the juxtaposition of seascapes with living organisms, self-portraits from the human fertile mind and the horror of social concerns through distorted imagery. Gleeson works mainly within a subjective context, where highly emotive paintings are drawn from the inner self . Gleeson paints to understand the difficulties faced with the stress and questions unknown in the modern world. James Gleeson is known as one of Australia’s major painter and important poetic art critic. In his long-lasting career that blossomed from the late 1930’s to the 1960’s, Gleeson wrote the first text in Australia that defined the meaning of Surrealism, and was known as Australia’s leading Surrealist artist.. While working within a subjective context, influenced by Salvador Dali, Gleeson’s overriding concept behind his work is that ‘humanity is driven by the subconscious mind’. Gleeson preferred to work in artificial light and avoided working in sunlight so that he was to paint his dreams and surreal landscapes in a more imaginative way. While the application of painting oil on canvas with luxurious textures of paint with a mixture of translucent glazes and rich encrustations, attracts his viewers, Gleeson’s works inspires the imagination of the viewer. In relevance to the quote ‘the reintroduction of a subject in a particular sense’ Gleeson’s works encourage his viewers to look through and beyond Surrealist’s artists concept of what is reality, and not only, the imagination of the subconscious mind. Gleeson presents his viewers with a number of observations so vivid in concentration, in order to tap into our own secret fears; the fear of the unknown. â€Å"We inhabit the corrosive littoral of habit† is presented with geological features of by a secluded beach. In which a man’s facial features and woman’s naked torso dissolve, revealing hollowness inside the figures. It was painted in 1940, just after joined Sydney’s Contemporary Art Society, where Gleeson became fascinated with the writings of famous psychologists, for which became major intellectual influences for his works. â€Å"We inhabit the corrosive littoral of habit† is in a traditional subjective context, with a historical form, as Gleeson’s metaphor for the dissolving figures in this piece, represents the corrosion of the world and the human mind between the world wars. Gleeson, like in almost all of his pieces, uses the method of abstraction to increase the sense of his altered reality and reawaken his audience to his subject matter. He has achieved this through his geometric composition of shapes, for which the placing of the objects is deliberate, yet absurd. The large scaled landscape and close up confrontation of figures attract the viewer. He has used a saturated balance of colours as a visual sensation for his viewers, heightening a realistic feel, but destroying it with the corroded figures. This is a direct relationship in the work between Gleeson’s subjective context as well as the terror of his historical outlook. This painting is an example of how Gleeson encourages his viewers to look through the painting and into the depths behind his altered reality of the horrors of war and the human fertile mind. We inhabit the corrosive littoral of Habit 1940 oil on canvas 40. 7 x 51. 3 cm National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Anonymous gift, 1941  © Courtesy of the artist In Gleeson’s piece â€Å"The Arrival of Implacable gifts,† he quotes that ‘The sea deposits all these things that were longed for, that turn out to be things that blind us or even destroy us’. Gleeson’s underlining message lies with the reintroduction of a subject in a particular sense of what draws from the subconscious mind for depicting reality. While a seascape rocky shore is represented, it is juxtaposed with human-like organisms presented in this artwork. This painting was painted in 1985, oil on canvas, in the stage where Gleeson had moved to making large scale ‘Psychoscape’ paintings. These workings had been a way of showing liquid, solid and air coming together directly implying the interface between the conscious and subconscious mind. â€Å"The arrival of implacable gifts† represents a range of distorted rocks, monsters and shells in a twisting state of metamorphosis. The imagery of this painting is abstractly beautiful yet horrific, denoting a feeling of uncertainty for the viewers, and promotes a dialogue with the unimaginable. He achieves this through the use of variance in contrasting colours of earthy tones. The deep space of softened green clouds hovering over the horizon juxtaposed with the swarming mass of rocks and monsters, of diluted earthy reds and browns, allowing his audiences eyes to drift throughout the painting into the imagination of the viewer. He has used a rhythmic texture in the piece; helping to heighten and guide the surrealistic feeling of a dreamlike scenario. Instead of engaging his viewers to look at or in the painting, he creates a strange and illogical scenario to reawaken his audience to look through his altered reality. The Arrival of Implacable Gifts 1985 oil on canvas 198 x 245 cm Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney  © Gleeson/OKeefe Foundation My Body of Work has and will continue to explore the concept of looking through. Studying the altered realities of dreams, fears and imaginative has helped shaped my artist practice. Through James Gleeson’s outstanding talent of juxtaposing symbolic objects with the use of rhythmic texture, contrasting colours and abstracted landscapes, Gleeson has effectively helped influence in shaping my body of work. The use of juxtaposing objects with landscapes through the representing of these images with a range of gentle contrasting colours and translucent layering also has heightened the altered reality feeling in my works. The wide use of abstraction has also been an effective tool when creating more emotive works for my Body of Work. This has been a Direct influence from Gleeson, and he continues to inspire people all around the world with his outstanding reintroduction of a subject with the use of Surrealistic techniques. Gleeson has reawakened my views of Surrealism, to help paint from the subconscious mind and see way beyond what is seen with your eyes, but what lies within the imagination. â€Å"Surrealism is a word that is applied to those forms of creative art which are evolved, not from the conscious mind, but from the deeper sense of the subconscious†. (James Gleeson) The subjective context denotes works that strongly reflect artist’s experiences, imaginings, feelings and psychological experience. For Gleeson, his artworks tends to explore his mood and imagery of the darker aspects of the world. Exploring the subconscious mind, and for that an altered reality in his eyes; Gleeson’s work is considered so significant because he allows his artworks to have an emotional impact on his viewers. In relevance to the quote; â€Å"Surrealism! What is surrealism? In my opinion. It is above all a reawakening of the poetic idea in art, the reintroduction of a subject but in a particular sense, that of strange and illogical. † (Paul Delvaux), James Gleeson works with his poetic side to create a reintroduction to his altered realities for his viewers. References Art Gallery of New South Whales. (2000). James Gleeson- The arrival of unplaceable gifts. Retrieved 08 15, 2013, from New South Whales Art Gallery: http://www. artgallery. nsw. gov. au/collection/works/225/1985 Donald WIlliams, C. S. (1970). Art Now- Contemporary Art. McGraw-Hill Book Company. Israel, L. (2000). Senior Artwise. Jacaranda.  http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/gleeson3.html

The Dutchman: A Dramatic Expression of the Relationship Between Whites

Amiri Baraka’s The Dutchman would be considered a historical allegory that could be understood as this poetic and dramatic expression of the relationship between whites and blacks throughout the existence of the United States. These patterns of history are symbolically acted out by the two characters Lula and Clay; Lula represents white America and Clay seems to stand for the modern day Uncle Tom, who has over time been shaped by white America and this slave mentality. The beginning Stage directions seem to form this poem in it of itself. The first line establishes the mythic qualities of the play. â€Å"In the flying underbelly of the city. Steaming hot and summer on top, outside. Underground. The subway heaped in modern myth.† (1086) The â€Å"flying underbelly† is the metaphor for the Flying Dutchman, which is foreshadowing the almost doomed area. Also Baraka puts a lot of emphasis on the word the underground which seems to foreshadow the below surface intentions of the play right at the beginning. Then the â€Å"modern myth† suggests that the play will act as a myth for the patterns of White America. This mythical quality that resonates throughout the play is further established by the stage properties of Lula. She carries onto the subway these paper books which symbolize the written culture of white America; this written culture certainly resonates throughout the history of blacks and whites. During the beginning of the Jim Crow laws, the blacks had to take literacy tests to be able to vote, so Lula walking in with paper books represents the forced literacy on blacks in the United States. Another stage property that Lula has is her sunglasses which she moves around from time to time. This symbolizes her disguise of friends... ...Clay had been the victim throughout the entire play, absorbing Lula’s insults and laughing them off, but with his monologue he has become the chronicler. Lula’s stereotype of Clay is finally proven wrong at the end of the play. â€Å"If I’m a middle class fake white man, let me be. And let me be in the way that I want†¦ Safe with my words, and no deaths, clean, hard thoughts, urging me to new conquests.† () Here Baraka shows that even though Clay was sucked in by Lula’s sexual temptations, he never was never fooled into thinking that she or metaphorically white America would ever accept him. Works Cited Baraka, Amiri. "The Myth of 'Negro Literature'." Within the Circle. Ed. Angelyn Mitchell. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1994. 165-171. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/666803/amiri_barakas_use_of_imagery_metaphor_pg4.html?cat=9

The Attributes of a High Quality Accounting Standard

What are the attributes of a high quality accounting standard? Globalization is a fact of life in today’s worldwide economy. They are many barriers to achieving a true global market; one of these barriers has to do with accounting standards or the presentation of accounting information. Various users have diverse needs for financial information. Companies in different parts of the world had their own methods in preparing their financial statements. Trying to compare the accounting rules of these different companies would have been difficult.As a result, accounting bodies were created in order to standardize the accounting principles in order to avoid any difficulties in the future and make these methods comparable and uniform. As a result, this is how accounting standards were evolved. There are two major standard setting bodies in the world. These are the U. S Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) – the standard they created is called the US GAAP (Generally Accept ed Accounting Principles). American companies create statements that follow the US GAAP and the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) – the standard they create is IAS or IFRS.As far back as 1967 the Accountants International Study Group (AISG) began a foundation to publish papers on important topics. This led to an agreement in March 1973 to establish an international body writing accounting standards for international use. This is how International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) came into existence. The objectives of the committee were to formulate and publish, in the public interest, standards to be observed in the presentation of financials statements and to promote worldwide acceptance.Also to work generally for the improvement and harmonization of regulation accounting standards and procedures relating to the presentation of the financial statements. The IASC survived for 27 years, until 2001 when the organization was restructured and the International A ccounting Standards Board (IASB) replaced the IASC, and that any standards to be published after that would follow a series known as the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).Some of the Characteristics of high quality accounting standards: †¢Transparency: The information presented should be to be economically significant and an investor should be able to tell what is happening at the company by looking at the financial statement. †¢ Comparability: The information provided should have common framework to enable review, analysis and interpretation of financial information across entities, countries and regions. The information should also allow an investor to compare the financial results for this year versus last year or the year before that within the given company. Credibility: With standard the companies produce financial reports that disclose similar results, which gains credibility. There is Uniformity in financial reports. †¢Discipline: Mandatory ac counts impose systematic on going regulations – others can rely on information for making loan, credit and investment decisions Financial information should be as useful as possible for many different types of users for example investors, analysts, tax authorities and many more.An investor who wants to understand what is going on at a company will be able to look at the financial statement and come to a decision or develop an understanding of the company. Financial statements also allow an investor to compare across different companies; if they are looking to invest to two companies ideally, they should be able to look at the financial statement of the two companies and make a comparison. Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) has 30 standards and International Accounting Standards (IAS) has 41 standards.FRS 15 and IAS 16 have to do with Plant Property and Equipment (PPE). The accounting standard FRS 15- PPE ensures that tangible fixed assets, with the exception of investment pr operties, are accounted for in a consistent manner. In order to recognize the PPE in IAS 16 as an asset, it will have to receive the risks and rewards of the ownership transferred to the company and expect future economic benefits, for instance revenue. The cost of the asset must also be reliably measured. These two conditions apply for both initial cost and subsequent cost.Some assets that don’t bring future economical benefits still qualify for recognition as an asset. For instance assets that are required by law for safety or environmental reason to operate other resources. In relation to subsequent cost, some assets require regular major inspection, over hauling, replacement of major parts. All these should be included in the carrying amount of an item although incurred subsequently. This principle has conditions that are mandated worldwide which includes high quality standard by allowing fixed assets between any companies.An item of PPE qualifying for recognition shall b e measured on the cost basis, which is purchase price and any directly attributable cost for example delivery, legal fees and any sort of testing cost that might occur. If they are any expected removal costs at the end of the ownership or before disposal of the assets, the company may be obliged to account for the removal costs. You normally find that this will occur toxic industries. High quality standards come into play in this section by allowing the results to be credible.If the rules were not set out world wide, then the final amount for different companies would differ, as some might include the attributable cost and some not. Subsequently there are options on how to measure the PPE, one of them is that you can use cost model or the revaluation model. If a company use’s the revaluation model, it should revalue it regularly. Depreciation is the reduction values of the asset due to wear and tear, normally done over time, or on a use basis.The three things a company needs for depreciation is depreciable amount, useful economic life of the asset, and this is either based on time or usually based on the amount of units it is going to produce. Lastly, the company will have to apply it on a systematic basis, by basing it on units produced, a diminishing value or on a straight-line basis. Sometimes components of the asset can depreciate separately. Derecognizing an asset is usually because that company has disposed of it, sold it or realized there is no future economic benefit left in the asset.Any gain or loss where the asset is derecognized is sent to the statement of comprehension income, not as revenue but as a sale of PPE. For investorsto make a decision to invest in a company, they would need high quality accounting standards to compare and decide which company to invest in, whether it may be in China or the UK. High quality accounting standards play a big role in all companies world wide, they provide useful, relevant information where the standard s are comparable and result in full disclosure. Without them investors would not be able to make their decisions.

Mindful Eating Essay

Mindful Eating can be understood as eating with full awareness about what you are eating, where and what is going on around you while eating. Today, in this busy life of ours, we are unable to have mindful eating, and rather we do mindless eating, i.e. simply eating, without paying much attention to food and the happenings nearby. Mindful eating is all about paying attention to our food and cherish the moment. According to mindful eating, we shall notice our food, its colour, its flavour, its aroma and enjoy our food to the maximum. Multi-tasking while eating, that is watching T.V, reading newspaper, talking etc. leads to mindless eating and thus leads to overeating. In order to practice mindful eating, some of the following points are to be taken into consideration- * Notice your Food, i.e notice its aroma, its texture, its flavour. * Avoid Multi-tasking while eating. * Take small bites and chew your food properly. (32-times) * Eat only half of your stomach. Don’t eat for a stomach full! * Eat only when you are hungry, don’t wait to exaggerate your hunger! * Have Good and heavy Brunch and a light dinner. * Don’t drink water immediately after having food, wait for at least 20 mins. * Always eat in groups, but avoid talking while having food. * Cherish your Food. Mindful living helps you in cherishing every moment of your life and stay happy. Mindful eating is the first step one can take towards mindful living.

Factors Contributing to Premarital Sexual Behaviours Essay Example

Factors Contributing to Premarital Sexual Behaviours Essay Example Factors Contributing to Premarital Sexual Behaviours Essay Factors Contributing to Premarital Sexual Behaviours Essay I am grateful for helping me make the study comprehensive by giving in-depth personal information. My English Tutor I would like to thank her for the helpful advices and her help on distributing the questionnaires. My Mother I would like to thank her for helping me with the printing and layout of the study.  Ã‚   Transcript It came to my awareness that there is an increasing trend of sexual intercourse experience among teenagers in recent years. And the problem of teenage pregnancy has become a growing cause of concern of Hong Kong people. According to a survey done by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service in 2007, over half of the respondents have sex for the first time at the age of 14, and 83% of the respondents accept sexual intercourse. These data reflects that teenagers sex concepts are getting open and premarital sex is gaining popular acceptance. Under information explosion, I dread more and more teenagers will be exposed to pornographic or other harmful materials, driving them to have premarital sex, ultimately results in teenage pregnancy and bring intergenerational suffering. Worse still, sex today is still a taboo issue. People tend to avoid talking about it because it seems negative and they think it is embarrassing to share the experience, fearing that others may look down upon them. I therefore want to find out why teenagers accept or engage in premarital sexual behaviors by giving out questionnaires where respondents are anonymous and their privacy thoughts can be protected. Then by the end of the project, based on the reasons why some teenagers accept or engage in premarital sex and why some do not, I could give suggestions to different on ways to promote sexual abstinence. : The objectives of the study are as follows: ?To find out why teenagers accept or engage in premarital sexual behaviors ?To understand why some teenagers refrain from premarital sexual behaviors ?To make use of reasons for teenagers to refrain from premarital sexual behaviors to suggest ways to promote sexual abstinence ?To see what ways can be adopted by different stakeholders to promote sexual abstinence ?To see in what ways the sex education curriculum can be improved To raise teenagers awareness on the issue 3. 1. Questionnaire The target respondents are teenagers aged 12-19. 00 responses were collected by simple random sampling. The questionnaire consists of four parts. The first part seeks to understand respondents background and to know whether or not they accept or engage in premarital sexual behaviors. The second part asks the respondents why do not they accept and engage in premarital sexual behaviors. The third part asks others why they accept or engage in the behaviors. The final part asks how sexual abstinence can be effectively promoted to them. Limitations and Respective Solutions I put my questionnaire online to enable easy access. Yet some reflected to me that they could not understand the English. I then translated my questionnaire into Chinese so more could understand what I am trying to ask. I created an event on Backbone to invite my friends fill out my questionnaire. I get many responses, yet most respondents are within my social circle. This makes the study not credible as it cannot reflect what different teenagers in society think. To make my study more representative, I left 40 copies at my English tutors home, and each of her student did it. Lastly, the length of the questionnaire may make respondents feel tedious. Also, the data collected may not be detailed or in-depth enough. Thus, the questionnaire encompasses mainly multiple choice questions. And interviews were carried out to obtain detailed responses. Also, sex is a taboo issue. Some may not be willing to disclose what they think. So, the data collected is anonymous. 3. 2. Interviews The data collection process includes three interviews. Detailed and in-depth first- hand information was obtained. Interviewee 1 is a 15-year-old Christian girl who refrains from premarital sexual behaviors. She was interviewed so that I could understand how religious values can be used to promote sexual abstinence. Interviewee 2 is a 17-year-old boy who is from a broken family, dropped out since he as 13, and engages in premarital sexual behaviors since he was 14. I would like to use his perspective to understand why some marginal youth engage in premarital sexual behavior, and how we could promote sexual abstinence to them. Interviewee 3 is a teacher who has an 18-year-old son. I want to see if adults have some misconceptions on why teenagers engage in sexual behavior and on their roles in promoting sexual abstinence. These three persons have different education, economic and religious background. So, I can comprehensively understand what are the factors for teenagers engagement in premarital sexual behaviors. Limitations and Respective Solutions Teenagers may not have enough understanding about why they engage or accept premarital sex. They may overlook some reasons for their rejection or acceptance of premarital sexual behaviors. Therefore, the data collected maybe biased and subjective. Also, the questions I asked may not be comprehensive enough to look into the issue objectively and all-roundly. Lastly, the three interviewees could not represent all teenagers. To make the interviews more representative of teenagers in Hong Kong, three interviewees from different backgrounds were chosen. And the subjective information could be complemented by past studies and questionnaires. Premarital sex refers to intercourse before marriage. The Youth Sexuality Study reveals an increasing trend of sexual intercourse among Form 3 to Form 7 students. And according to a surveys whose targets population is youth-at-risk under the age of 18, over half of the respondents had their first intercourse when they were 14. These data shows a growing prevalence of premarital sex, and has alarmed the public about this pressing issue. Considerable factors were found to have contributed to the issue. First, insufficient parental sex education perceivably cause premarital sex. Amber Madison wrote in her book that many parents think teens friends influence their decisions to have sex the most, so they did n ot talk about sex with their kids. A study points out that nearly 98% of the interviewed parents indicated that they should be the primary source of sex-related information for their kids, yet only 24% of thought this was actually happening. From these, researchers concluded that parents often underestimate the importance of their role in educating adolescents about sex. Then, family background have far-reaching influence ones attitude towards sex. Ms. Lee Way Ski, the chief social worker of Youth Outreach pointed out that part of the girls who were casual in sex was from problem families. And Alai March-Eyres, the Chief Executive of Mothers Choice, pointed out many of the girls who Mothers Choice has been serving in the past 25 years are from poor, and often broken families. They thirsted for love, which they could not feel from their families. They then obtained care through hugs or kisses. Gradually they were willing to have sex with boys. Alai March-Eyres from Mothers Choice suggested that parents of some teens do not have time to provide them with the support they need. Some even have to shift from home to home between relatives and family friends. They then feel that they do not have much love in their lives, and end up in looking for love and support elsewhere. Edison Chain, who had a pornographic scandal in 2008 illustrates the idea. His parents The Youth Sexuality Study, Family Planning Association, 2006 2 The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, 2008 3 Amber Madison, Talking Sex with Your Kids, 2010 4 Journal of Adolescent Health, January 2011 Post-ass Accept Sex before Friendship in order to get along with friends, Hong Kong Economic Times, 9th July, 2012 6 A much-needed lifeline for pregnant teens, South China Morning Post, 3rd December, 2012 7 Sex Photo Scandal? Complicated Family Background, Edison Chain Got Perverted concealed their broken marriage until it was unveiled when he was 14. Being deceived, and to seek love, Edison had sex for the first time. The collapse of family values can drive one to have premarital sex. Peer pressure can drive one to have premarital sex. A seniors at a high school in America addressed that peer pressure sakes it almost impossible to stop having sex. Adolescents dread being thought to be outdated. They follow their friends to have sex so as to gain recognition and fit into the crowd. The lack of interpersonal skills can lead adolescents to have premarital sex. It is revealed that some girls longed to get into boys social circles. Sacrificing their purity, they had sexual intercourse with those boys. Tam Chunk Hoi, Chief President of Youth Outreach pointed out that those teen girls did not have many friends. Having sex was the quickest and easiest way to get close to boys, yet he girls did not know the boys were taking advantage of them. Pop culture is potent to affect ones decision about sex. A researches reveals that teens that had high exposure* to sexually degrading lyrics were more likely to have sexual intercourse. The song California Girlsl Using by Kathy Perry consists of lyrics like sex on the beach, and this behavior is considered what a hot girl should be doing in the song. The meaning of another song, Inferior Animal12 (#5) sung by Season Chain depicts a guy falls in love with a girl Just because of his desire for her body. These lyrics infuse adolescents with wrong values. Yet, broadcast containing sexual content can arouse teens awareness of their sexual behavior. A researches shows that over 67% of males and 79% of females agree that watching a TV show or a character they like dealing with teenage pregnancy makes them think more about their own risk about causing a pregnancy or getting pregnant. The overall effect of the media on teenagers attitudes about sex has long been an issue of concern for parents and health care professionals as the media have both positive and negative impacts on adolescents. 8 Alexis Ware, A Teenagers Thoughts: Pregnancy, Abortion, Sex and Peer Pressure, All Before Age! , Empowered Peace, September 27, 2010 9 Post-ass Accept Sex before Friendship in order to get along with friends, Hong Kong Economic Times, 9th July, 2012 10 Brian A, Primacy et al, Exposure to Sexual Lyrics and Sexual Experience among Urban Adolescents, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, April 2009 exposure was calculated by multiplying each respondents hours of music exposure by the percentage of his/her favorite artists songs that contained sexually degrading lyrics) Lyricisms. Mom/lyrics/k/Kathy_Perry/California_girls. HTML 12 typesetting. Mom/lynch/360/Eà §BADà ¥Eà §E 13 NatEnB CamEign AY Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Evaluating the Impact of MTVs 16 and Pregnant on Mats Viewers Attitudes About Teen Pregnancy, Science Says, October 2010 Physical immaturity can activate adolescents sexually. Miriam Grossman wrote in his book14 that young minds,book are responsible for reasoning, suppression of impulses, and weighing the pros and cons of ones decision, are not fully developed. And under stimulating or intense conditions, teens decisions are more likely to be shortsighted and driven by emotion. So apart from the circumstances they face, their underdeveloped minds also contribute to their premarital sexual activities. Quests for love and self-esteem are also forces driving teenagers to have sex. 1 5 According to the experience of Alia Marwah-Eyres, the CAlai MarchiEyres Mothers Choice, most girls on crisis pregnancy are not naughty, but are Just desperate for love. These girls do not have someone to tell them that their lives have values, and that they worth it. This results in low self-esteem, driving them to have sex. Upon completion of the literature review, it is felt that there are some knowledge aps because most sourcesAPSom the US. It is uncertain if what influences Hong Kong teens are the same. Other factors like government policy, movies and clubbing culture may also motivate our adolescents to have sex. Due to the existing unknowns about factors contributing to premarital sex, it is decided to compare the above factors with what Hong Kong teenagers think. Also, we all know that all sexual contacts carry risks.Ã'‚ Pregnancy and the infection of STDs harm both physical Studsmental health of teenagers. Unfortunately there is hardly a comprehensive programme for all stakehprogrammer promoting sexual abstinence. So, there is a need for finding ways to promote sexual abstinence. Miriam Grossman, mfoure Teaching My Chiluniform The Truth About Sex Education, Heritage Foundation, August 2010 15 December, 2012 5. 1 Personal Information Gender Male Female 53% Fig. l Gender distribution ofLthe respondents There are more female respondents than male respondents. 3% of the respondents are male, while the other 47% are female. Age 33% 25% 12-14 years old 15-17 years old 18-19 years old 42% Fig. 2 Age distribution of the respondents Most respondents are aged between 15 and 17. They account for 42%. And 33% of he respondents are aged 18 to 19, while a quarter of them are at the age of 12 to 14. Education Background Primary Education 2% Junior Secondary Education 6% Senior Secondary 26% Sub-degree or Higher Dilpoma YiJtn or IVE FigDilemmacHajji BacEVEound of the Respondents The respondents are of various education backgrounds. Nearly half of them are on or have finished their senior secondary education. About a quarter of respondents are junior secondary students. 10% of the respondents have only completed their primary education, while 10% are holds or is studying for a degree. Lastly, 2% of the respondents graduate from YiJin or IVE. Do you accHajjiremaEVEal sexual behaviours? Yes (Female)behaviorse) Yes (Male) 27% 36% No (Male) Fig. 4 Respondents acceptance for premarital sexual behaviours The percentagbehaviorsaccepting premarital sexual behaviours is higher thabehaviorsgirls by 10%. 6 respondents do not accept premarital sexual behaviours, while 44 resbehaviorsccept. There are more respondents who accept premarital sexual behaviours than who do nbehaviorsu ever had any sexual experiences? 8% 35% 45% No(Male) Respondents sexual experiences 80% of the respondents do not have any sexual experience. The proportion of boys ho have engaged in premarital sexual behaviours. The percentabehaviors having sexual experience is 50% higher than that of girls. 5. Reason for acceptance or engagement in premarital sexual behaviours What are the behaviors reasons for your acceptance for premarital sexual behaviours? Stable Relatbehaviorss okay if I use a condom. My parents set the examples. It enhances intimacy between my lover and l. Sex gives me love which I cant get from family. My friends do it. It is a culture. Its trendy! Movies portrait them! Its fun! 20 25 35 45 Fig. 6 Reasons for respondents acceptance for premarital sexual behaviours There re totabehaviorsand 17 girls, making up a total of 44 respondents accepting premarital sexual behaviours. More than 90% of them think sex can enhance the intimacy between their lover and them. More than 88% of the 44 accept the behaviours because they behaviorscan use condoms. Almost 70% of the 44 accept the behaviour because they tbehavior can obtain care and love from the sexual experience. About 34% of the 44 regard the portrayal of premarital sexual behaviours in movies andbehaviorsends engagement in the behaviours as overridingbehaviorsor the acceptance for premarital sexual behaviours. behaviors

Global Warming and the Risk of Flooding in Tuvalu

Global Warming and the Risk of Flooding in Tuvalu Tuvalu is a tiny island country located in Oceania about halfway between the state of Hawaii and the nation of Australia. It consists of five coral atolls and four reef islands but none are more than 15 feet (5 meters) above sea level. Tuvalu has one of the worlds smallest economies and has recently been featured in the news as it is becoming increasingly threatened by global warming and rising sea levels. Basic Facts Population: 11,147 (July 2018 estimate) Capital: Funafuti (also Tuvalus largest city) Area: 10 square miles (26 sq km) Coastline: 15 miles (24 km) Official Languages: Tuvaluan and English Ethnic Groups: 96% Polynesian, 4% Other History of Tuvalu The islands of Tuvalu were first inhabited by Polynesian settlers from Samoa and/or Tonga and they were left largely untouched by Europeans until the 19th century. In 1826, the whole island group became known to Europeans and was mapped. By the 1860s, labor recruiters began arriving on the islands and removing its inhabitants either by force and/or bribe to work on sugar plantations in Fiji and Australia. Between 1850 and 1880, the population of the islands fell from 20,000 to just 3,000. As a result of its decline in population, the British government annexed the islands in 1892. At this time, the islands became known as the Ellice Islands and in 1915-1916, the islands were formally taken over by the British and formed a part of the colony called Gilbert and Ellice Islands. In 1975, the Ellice Islands separated from the Gilbert Islands due to hostilities between the Micronesian Gilbertese and the Polynesian Tuvaluans. Once the islands separated, they became known officially as Tuvalu. The name Tuvalu means eight islands and although there are nine islands comprising the country today, only eight were initially inhabited so the ninth is not included in its name. Tuvalu was granted full independence on September 30, 1978, but is still a part of the British Commonwealth today. In addition, Tuvalu grew in 1979 when the U.S. gave the country four islands that had been U.S. territories and in 2000, it joined the United Nations. Economy of Tuvalu Today Tuvalu has the distinction of being one of the smallest economies in the world. This is because the coral atolls on which its people are populated have extremely poor soils. Therefore, the country has no known mineral exports and it is largely unable to produce agricultural exports, making it dependent on imported goods. In addition, its remote location means tourism and the related service industries are mainly non-existent. Subsistence farming is practiced in Tuvalu and to produce the largest agricultural yield possible, pits are dug out of the coral. The most widely grown crops in Tuvalu are taro and coconut. In addition, copra (the dried flesh of a coconut used in making coconut oil) is a major part of Tuvalus economy. Fishing has also played an historic role in Tuvalus economy because the islands have a maritime exclusive economic zone of 500,000 square miles (1.2 million sq km) and because the region is a rich fishing ground, the country gains revenue from fees paid by other countries such as the U.S. wanting to fish in the region. Geography and Climate of Tuvalu Tuvalu is one of the  smallest countries on Earth.  It is in Oceania south of Kiribati and halfway between Australia and Hawaii. Its terrain consists of low lying, narrow coral atolls and reefs and it is spread over nine islands which stretch for just 360 miles (579 km). Tuvalus lowest point is the Pacific Ocean at sea level and the highest is an unnamed location on the island of Niulakita at only 15 feet (4.6 m). The largest city in Tuvalu is Funafuti with a population of 5,300 as of 2003. Six of the nine islands comprising Tuvalu have lagoons open to the ocean, while two have landlocked regions and one has no lagoons. In addition, none of the islands have any streams or rivers and because they are coral atolls, there is no drinkable ground water. Therefore, all of the water used by Tuvalus people is gathered via catchment systems and is kept in storage facilities. Tuvalus climate is tropical and is moderated by easterly trade winds from March to November. It has a heavy rain season with westerly winds from November to March and although tropical storms are rare, the islands are prone to flooding with high tides and changes in sea level. Tuvalu, Global Warming, and Rising Sea Levels Recently, Tuvalu has gained significant media attention worldwide because its low-lying land is so susceptible to rising sea levels. The beaches surrounding the atolls are sinking due to erosion caused by waves and this is exacerbated by rising sea levels. In addition, because the sea level is rising on the islands, Tuvaluans must continually deal with their homes flooding, as well as soil salination. Soil salination is a problem because it is making it difficult to get clean drinking water and is harming crops as they cannot grow with the saltier water. As a result, the country is becoming more and more dependent on foreign imports. The issue of rising sea levels has been a concern for Tuvalu since 1997 when the country began a campaign to show the need to control greenhouse gas emissions, reduce global warming and protect the future of low lying countries. In more recent years though, the flooding and soil salination have become such a problem in Tuvalu that the government there has made plans to evacuate the entire population to other countries as it is believed that Tuvalu will be completely submerged by the end of the 21st century. Resources and Further Reading Central Intelligence Agency. (2010, April 22). CIA The World Factbook Tuvalu.Infoplease.com. (n.d.) Tuvalu: History, Geography, Government, and Culture - Infoplease.com.United States Department of State. (2010, February). Tuvalu (02/10).

International trading blocks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International trading blocks - Essay Example TRIAD refers to three regional free-trade blocs which include NAFTA (USA, Mexico and Canada), EU (27 nations primarily located in Europe) and ASEAN (10 Asian countries). These are also grouped around some common currencies (the euro, the yen and the dollar) According to Fan Zhai (2006) by 2005 in Asia, there were 18 bilateral trade agreements and at least 30 new preferential trade agreements. The graph below is a glimpse of different regional trade agreements in Asia. Recent trends Trade diplomacy is now a part of the relationship that a country shares with another. After the establishment of WTO, 20 PTAs are formed on average on yearly basis. However one can notice the decline in regional cooperation, as cross-regional agreements are increasing in number. According to Heydon Ken (2010) over half of the world’s trade is through preferential trade agreements. Countries that get involved in these trade agreements have preference for speed and responsiveness. Bilateral agreements are preferred over multilateral agreements due to ease of enforcement and require less negotiation. Zhai (2006) reports that the new PTAs in Asia agree on more that tariff and non-tariff policies, rather they include provisions on nvestment liberalization, services, assistance in trade and technical and economic collaboration. The graph below shows the drastic rate at which the number of PTAs are increasing. Benefits of PTAs The foremost reason for creating a PTA is to gain concessions in trade with member countries. Being in a PTA implies that the member countries will get preference over other non-member countries. This removal of barriers of trade has a number of inherent benefits. These can be in several forms, such as: Economies of scale In countries that are located nearby each other, having preference can also benefit through lower transportation costs. Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement (JESPA) is an agreement in which both the nations have promised coordination in technology, regulatory, e-commerce, media and broadcasting, and human resources. This will benefit the multinational companies in both the countries because they can take benefit of economies of scale at regional level. Tax benefits Countries in PTA agree to trade with member countries at low tariffs, but do not abolish them; this reduces the cost of trade. The loss of tax revenue from import duties can be made up by more trade and more taxes from increased activity in the country. More trade Integration of international markets through reduction in tariffs and other barriers have led to reduction in the cost of trade. Thus countries can now concentrate on their production facilities only and produce those goods in larger quantities in which they have absolute or comparative advantage. More trade is expected to raise the standard of living of people in countries. Hub and Spoke structure The hub and spoke structure works in a way that several smaller vehicles (spoke), remain indi vidually managed but pool their assets to contribute to a central investment vehicle (hub). So the well established businesses become the hub and can give a few countries preferential treatment to a few