Assignment for Business Economics and Finance Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For Business Economics and Finance - Assignment Example 4). There are of course several accounting specialties and each of them is important in their own characteristics (Bonner et al. 2006). 2. Case of Halfords A. Identify the main accounting books that can be used by Halfords to records transactions. Halfords is a company that buys and sells bicycles. The main financial statements that can be used by organizations to record is financial condition, especially business organizations are the balance sheet, income statement, and the statement of cash flows (Stice et al. 2004). The balance sheet â€Å"reports, as of a certain point in time, the resources of a company (the assets), the obligations (the liabilities), and the net differences between its assets and liabilities, which represents the equity of its owners† (Stice et al. 2004, p. 10). The balance sheet addresses two fundaments information: what it owns and what it owes (Stice et al. 2004). The income statement â€Å"reports, for a certain interval, the net assets generated t hrough business operations (revenues), the net assets consumed (expenses) and the difference, which is called net income† (Stice et al. 2004, p. 10). ... 2004, p. 11). Stice et al. (2004, p. 11) pointed out that the â€Å"statement of cash flows is the most objective of the financial statements because it is somewhat insulated from the accounting estimates and judgment needed to prepare a balance sheet and an income statement.† Meanwhile, â€Å"accounting statements and judgments are outline in the notes to the financial statements† (Stice et al. 2004, p. 11). â€Å"The notes contain supplemental information as well as information about items not included in the financial statements† (Stice et al. 2004, p. 11). Stice et al. (2004, p. 11) pointed out that â€Å"each financial statement routinely carries the following warning at the bottom of the statements: ‘The notes to the financial statements are integral part of this statement.† B. Describe the usual transactions recorded by this company The usual transactions recorded by a company engaged in buying and selling a merchandise like in the buying and selling of bicycles in which Halfords is engaged cover buying the merchandise to sell, maintaining and monitoring the inventory of the merchandise, recording assets and liabilities, recording sales and revenues, payments for overheads like the rent for the store space and the city services involved, and payment of taxes. 3. In a press release, Halfords explained that its income statement for 2011 will show a loss. A. What is the meaning of this loss? Statements of loss are determined by the assumptions adopted in the financial statement. It is important to stress that losses are profit are based on the firm of operations as recorded by the accountants serving the firm. For instance, it may happen that the Halfords would be reflecting a loss but because the bicycles that are sold were purchased from a manufacturing firm

Wildlife & conservation statistics Essay Example for Free

Wildlife conservation statistics Essay Extinction of Species †¢ Every 20 minutes, the world adds another 3,500 human lives but loses one or more entire species of animal or plant life at least 27,000 species per year. (Source: PBS) †¢ At the present rates of extinction, as many as 20% of the worlds 7-15 million species could be gone in the next 30 years. This rate of extinction has been unprecedented since the disappearance of dinosaurs 65 million years ago (Source: WWF). Habitat Destruction (Source: Animal Alliance, unless stated otherwise) †¢ Human population reached 1 billion by 1800. Over 6 billion by 2000. Conservative estimates predict that our population will reach 9 billion people by 2050 (Source: Population Reference Bureau). †¢ The hourly destruction of an estimated 240 acres of natural habitat is directly attributable to the growth in human populations. †¢ 80% of the decline in biological diversity is caused by habitat destruction. Plight of Rhinos (Source: International Rhino Foundation) †¢ Of the dozens of species of rhino that once roamed the earth, only 5 now exist. †¢ Where there were once over 100,000 black rhinos on the plains of Africa, there are now only 2,707 on the entire continent. †¢ The staggering decimation of the rhino population is due to poaching, to satisfy the demand for the horn for use in Eastern traditional medicines and as dagger handles. †¢ Prices up to US$40,000 a kilo have been recorded for the much prized rhino horn more than 5 times the price of gold. The African Elephant (Source: CITES) †¢ 5 -10 million African elephants existed in 1930. Less than 1% of that number (approximately 600,000) remained when they were added to the international list of the most endangered species in 1989. †¢ Demand for ivory combined with loss of habitat from human settlement led to these huge declines in population. African Wild Dog (Source: American Museum of Natural History) †¢ Listed as one of the worlds most endangered canids, and the most endangered predator in Africa, there are now only between 4,000-5,000 African wild dogs in the wild. †¢ A century ago, African wild dog packs numbering a hundred or more animals could be seen roaming the Serengeti Plains. Today, pack size averages about 10, and the total population on the Serengeti is probably less than 60 dogs. †¢ Due to their large home ranges, African wild dogs are particularly vulnerable to habitat destruction. †¢ They are widely regarded as pests, and poisoned, shot, trapped and snared in many areas. †¢ Their most serious threat, though, is introduced diseases. Burgeoning human populations have brought the African wild dogs into frequent contact with domestic dogs, many of which carry canine distemper and rabies. The African Lion (Source: Enkosini Wildlife Sanctuary) †¢ The African lions numbers are diminishing rapidly due to habitat destruction, persecution by livestock farmers outside of protected areas, and human greed. 10,000-15,000 free-roaming African lions remain, down from 50,000 a decade ago. †¢ The willingness of Asians and Westerners to pay handsomely for lion head trophies combined with the urgent need for revenue among African locals means that these great predators are increasingly hunted for sport. †¢ Trophy hunting not only depletes the population of the African lion, but threatens its gene pool as well. Killing the dominant male of a pride (normally the target of a trophy hunt) sets off a chain of instinctive behavior in which the subsequent dominant male kills all the young of the previous male (6-8 estimated deaths result from each male shot). Cheetahs (Source: The Cheetah Spot) †¢ In 1900 there were about 100,000 cheetah worldwide present estimates place their number at 10,000 -15,000 with about one tenth of those living in captivity. †¢ Throughout recorded history a cheetah pelt was a badge of wealth for its human owner. The animal was killed for its skin by some and captured for its hunting skills by others. More recently, increasing human populations have squeezed cheetahs and their prey from their natural habitats. Definitions †¢ Poaching is the illegal hunting, capture, or collecting of wildlife. Snaring is a common form of subsistence poaching and can lead to the maiming of many animals not intended for consumption. (Source: Bagheera: Glossary of terms ) †¢ Canned hunts are commercial hunts, which take place on private land under circumstances that virtually assure the hunter of success. The animal is often fenced in, or has been habituated to eating at a feeding station at the same time every day. Canned hunts are prevalent in the United States and South Africa. (Source: Animalunderworld. com).

The Us Containment Policy History Essay

The Us Containment Policy History Essay Power extension has always been a subject that fascinated me. There are countless ways in which groups of individuals can maintain interests of their communities and protect them from possible threats. This phenomenon has been known to the humanity ever since the first human got off the tree and straightened up. The more sophisticated tools we started using, the more dangerous the threat has become. First armies were created, followed up by intelligence services and counter-intelligence services investigating threats both foreign and domestic. By means of diplomacy, diversion, espionage, and violence mighty rulers were trying to guarantee national security by influencing the circumstances on different levels think of Vaticans interference in French politics via Cardinal Richelieu or Charlemagnes orders to execute thousands and convert the others forcefully into Christianity during the Saxon Wars. This concept remained unchanged for centuries and reached its peak in the 20th century, materializing in three terrifying wars of which one is also known as the Cold War. For me as a person interested in power extension is the latter an episode that cannot be overemphasized. For this reason I decided to devote my PWS to it. However, originally intending to write as much as possible about the Cold War and the mutual American and Russian relations precisely, I had to delimit the subject in order to comply with the quantitative requirements laid upon me. By means of a selection I chose the aspect of the Cold War which I found by far the most interesting, namely the basic assumptions of the post-war American politicians of how to prevent the communism from spreading, also known as the containment policy (derived from contain to keep something under control), and the political and military actions of the American Administration in which these communism-countering ideas can be recognized. In my paper, being as a matter of fact a written work of reference based on numerous sources, I will try to answer the question of how successful the containment policy invented and applied by the American policymakers in the years 1945-1949 turned out to be and to what degree it prevented the communism from spreading. Despite the subject concerns a short period of five years there is much to be written. It is never easy when it comes to explaining political decisions and therefore it is highly necessary to mention the underlying grounds, of which the gradual development led to the measures in question. So will my paper begin with the description of the primary reasons resulting in the introduction of the containment policy. Having described the latter I will focus on what I personally consider as the core of my work a summary of deductions concerning the Soviet post-war point of view written down by a high-rank diplomat working in the American Embassy in Moscow. The summary to be found in chapter 3 depicts concisely the direction that was to be given to the American foreign policy in response to the Soviet spreading ambitions. Theory and planning, however, are often not sufficient to bring the expected change. Real action is also required and so it must be addressed to in my paper in order to make the story complete. Chapter 4 will outline the efforts the US policymakers made as far as the application of the containment policy on the European political arena is considered. A careful and critical reader will find amongst lines the answer on how successful the containment proved to be. The chapter also leaves an open path for those who will attempt to imagine what the current world would look like if there were no communism-countering measures or individuals ready to devote their life to protection of democratic values. I find it necessary to mention that I wanted this PWS to be a challenge and some sort of test of my language skills since I am not a native speaker of English and my level of it is far from proficiency. I didnt choose the easiest way out which was writing this paper in Dutch a language I am much more familiar with. Instead I decided to use the opportunity to learn English vocabulary and grammatical constructions which I might not have memorized if I hadnt written it in the way I had. Before you continue reading I truly want you to know that it is not my intention to lay any idealistic beliefs upon you. On the contrary, I hope my paper will help you understand the past, which is after all necessary in order to live consciously in the present and create a future not based on ignorance of not knowing what the events taking place are caused by. Enjoy your journey back in time! Chapter 2: What were the primary reasons for the mutual distrust resulting in the introduction of the containment policy? The first section of this paper will throw some light on the background of the containment policy and, as a matter of fact, The Cold War itself. A proper comprehension of this part is necessary in order to answer the main question. After the very last tanks ceased firing and the Second World War ended, many realized how terribly destructive the war had been. It had materialized in thousands of destroyed cities and generations of young men who lost their lives in combat, not to mention civilians and their continuous fear for their lives. Many of the survivors were looking brightly at the future which was expected to bring about precious peace and prosperity. Unfortunately, only a few were aware of the threat that was about to arise. The Teheran Conference To be fully able to give a constructive answer to the question in the title we have to go back in time to 1943, from November 28 up to December 1 to be precise. The Teheran Summit was the first of the conferences held between all the members of the Big Three, giving shape to those that were about to be held within the next years. Allied leaders representing the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union pulled together in the Capital of their ally, Iran, to discuss measures that were necessary to overpower the common enemy. Apart from setting up a strategy that included synchronized operations to be undertaken from multiple directions, the Big Three agreed that they shall seek the cooperation and active participation of all nations, large and small, whose peoples in heart and mind are dedicated, as are our own peoples, to the elimination of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance[1]. This encouraging press release was definitely an important sign of taking a step forward into creating some kind of an international organization that would avoid imperfections of its predecessor, The League of Nations. Preventing aggressive tendencies of any sort would be its major goal. Next to the certainty of participation of the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom in the project the question of any role that China and France should play came up. Odds enough the Chinese politicians had not been informed about the proposed understanding at that point of time as result of their disability to form a stable government. Thanks to the Churchills telegram sent to Roosevelt we can surely as shooting state that the British Head of State was more than willing to ignore his early reluctance concerning China if the American president kept pushing on their engagement. As regard to France, it is believed that Roosevelts strong antipathy towards De Gaulle might have been a factor why Frances involvement was not taken seriously at that point of negotiations. After all, the maintenance of peace by controlling, disarming, preventing from rearming in secret and, if necessary, a blockage against a country and its bombardment seemed to be accepted by each of the Heads of State. A press release saying We await the day, when all nations of the world will live peacefully, free of tyranny, according to their national needs and conscience [1] gave a deceptive impression of a complete cooperation. The question of resetting Polish boundaries, brought up by the Russian delegation (consisting of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Defence Minister Klimentii Voroshilov), wasnt solved so easily. It was to become one of the most difficult discussion points which would dominate the Yalta Conference and caused first dents in the mutual trust between the Soviet Union and the other two allies. The Yalta Conference The second meeting of all three members of the Great Alliance was announced in January 1945. It became quite obvious that the issue of boundaries couldnt remain unresolved any longer after the Russian forces had entered on Polish soil nearly a year before on January, 2. The necessary solution was hoped to be found, as stated by Churchill, in the worst place in the world [2] Crimean Yalta. It must be mentioned that each of the participants of the summit held between February 4 and 11 was in the first place, quite logically, trying to maintain the interests of their own country. For the sake of this thesis the main bottlenecks connected to prospective mutual relations will be worked out in detail. These three completely different approaches can be summarized as follows: Winston Churchill mainly interested in the European arena and the French role in the occupation of Germany Franklin Delano Roosevelt agreement on the Far East and setting up a sort of organization of united nations Marshall Stalin the Polish question being a matter of great importance for the Soviet Union. Furthermore an interest in becoming a sphere of influence where the Soviet superiority would be accepted. The compromise about the United Nations came more easily than Roosevelt had ever expected. The deadlock on the voting procedure of the United Nations, about the right of veto to be precise, had been overcome and the number of Soviet republics, which were to participate, had been decreased from sixteen to at least two. Stalins postulates narrowed down to the issue of setting the Polish eastern frontiers at the Curzon Line a demarcation line that was proposed at the Paris Peace Conference as the eastern boundary of Poland excluding the city of Lvov with its huge percentage of Polish citizens. [3] The extremely complicated negotiations between the three Heads of State and both Polish governments (one in-exile and the second set up by the Russians) led to the adoption of the controversial Curzon Line. Stalins spreading intentions, except for the plausible argument of necessity to possess one more ice-free harbour, were perfectly described by Marshall Stalin himself to Ernest Evin, the British Foreign Secretary, saying: The United Kingdom had India and the Indian Ocean in her sphere of interest; the United States China and Japan; the USSR had nothing To guarantee the freedom of elections and establishment of democracy according to Western terms, the Big Three ratified the Joint Declaration on Liberated Europe that promised peoples liberated from the domination of Nazi Germany and the peoples of the former Axis satellite states of Europe to solve by democratic means their pressing political and economic problems'[4]. Nevertheless, the declaration above mentioned turned out to be completely meaningless as history has shown. Due to its conditional implementation and lack of binding commitments there was no legal force upon signatories to maintain the agreement. However, no violations of the Yalta agreements by Stalin were suspected at this point of time, as stated by Churchill. The impression I brought back from the Crimea, and from all my other contacts, is that Marshal Stalin and the Soviet leaders wish to live in honourable friendship and equality with the Western democracies. I feel also that their word is their bond. I know of no government which stands to its obligations, even in its own despite, more solidly than the Russian Soviet Government. I decline absolutely to embark here on a discussion about Russian good faith. It is quite evident that these matters touch the whole future of the world. [5] According to Professor Arthur Schlesinger signing the declaration by Stalin was a diplomatic blunder which became obvious just a month after the Big Three gathered in Yalta. The meetings, which were supposed to determine the best Polish democratic leader, eventually proved to be an excellent way for Soviet secret police to reach the prominent members of the former Polish resistance and make them disappear, despite the promised Soviet guarantee of immunity. It didnt take a long time before Churchills initially credulous account of the agreement transformed into the opposite conviction. By 13 March he sent a telegraph to Roosevelt with a statement that the Heads of State were in the presence of a great failure and an utter breakdown of what was settled at Yalta [6]. Twelve days later the British prime minister described the situation on the West-East border as an iron curtain, which is slowly descending. The following quotation illustrates just how dramatically the developments in the European arena were becoming. If the German people lay down their weapons, the Soviets, according to the agreement between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, would occupy all of East and Southeast Europe along with the greater part of the Reich. An iron curtain would fall over this enormous territory controlled by the Soviet Union, behind which nations would be slaughtered.'[7] In the meanwhile the messages exchanged between Stalin and Roosevelt, who were increasingly becoming the two bigger players in the Big Three, were full of mutual accusations of jeopardizing the vulnerable accord. The Potsdam Conference The Polish matter reached a dead end. How things developed couldnt be witnessed by Roosevelt, who died on 12 April 1945. His successor, Harry Truman, once vice-president under Roosevelt, was expected to continue the policy towards the Soviet Union initialized by Roosevelt. However, it became obvious from the beginning that the mild approach, continuously applied by his predecessor, wasnt Trumans favourite style of work. The Potsdam Conference, lasting from July 17 to August 2, aside of being a permanent confirmation of previously made agreements, became Trumans first significant opportunity to influence the US-USSR relationship, mainly because of its nuclear undertone. The US presidents decision not to fully inform Stalin about the rapid progress concerning the construction of an atomic weapon correctly delineates the prospective Trumans policy of hostility and inscrutability towards The Soviet Union. A mentioning of a new weapon of unusual destructive force [8] did not specially bot her Stalin, who was already in 1943 informed about an atomic weapon allegedly built in the West. Russian atomic project did not accelerate until Japan was bombed twice in September 1945. The order, given by Marshal Stalin to Igor Kurchatov, a leading Russian physicist, sounded more or less The balance has been destroyed. Provide the bomb (* No firm evidence of this record has remained until now but the sense of the message is kept unchanged). Chapter 3: What was the containment policy based on? In this paragraph I will briefly describe the major political events that gave shape to what is now understood as the containment policy. President Harry Truman, despite being known of his unyielding personality, lacked experience in foreign affairs and could hardly do without a number of political analysts. These happened to be influenced by the opinions of George F. Kennan (to be seen on the right hand), the prominent USSR specialist in the State Department and the charge daffaires at the American Embassy in Moscow, whose role in the process of the containment policy coming into life cant be over-emphasized. On February 22, 1946 he sent a long analysis of Soviet post-war outlook to his colleagues in the Capitol in Washington. https://blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/files/mt/images/kennan.jpg The so-called Long Telegram, of which the most relevant points are summarized below, became one of the major documents that the containment policy was based on. George F. Kennan [9] A brief characteristic of the Soviet point of view, according to the propaganda machine -The geographical and political surrounding of the USSR by capitalistic nations will eventually result in a battle for the economical leadership in the world, which will be also crucial for the fate of socialism/communism and capitalism. -Any actions, activities and happenings abroad which seem to correspond with the Soviet interests to a certain degree should be supported. In the long run the differences between capitalist countries will become too powerful to be overcome in a peaceful manner. No opportunity may be missed to turn the internal conflict into a communistic revolution. The background of the mentality The premises do not represent the point of view of an average Russian. The ordinary citizen, on the contrary to what is stated by the officials, is more than willing to contact the outside world and live peacefully. It must be kept in mind that the party is the villain The basic assumptions of the Russian propaganda machine pre-date the World War II, which makes it irrelevant and nothing more than incorrect (spoken in terms of 1940s). The premises are as much as necessary for the Russian party in order to deter Soviet citizens coming in contact with technically and economically more advanced West which might prove the fallibility of the communism/socialism. Steps that will be undertaken on the official (diplomatic) level -Increasing the outsiders perception of strength of the Soviet military arsenal and industrial development as much as social cohesion is a significant part of the national policy. On the other hand attempts will be made to conceal imperfections and weaknesses of the system. The efforts to extend Soviet political power will materialize themselves into territorial claims on the official level only after finishing unofficial preparations. Soviet participation in international organizations (as United Nations) serves only the pragmatic purposes of expanding the Soviet political influence on the international arena and reducing operational ability of others. United Nations are not seen as an instrument for a stable and peaceful world society based on interests of all nations. Even on the official level the Soviet Union will attempt to sabotage the relations between Western states and their (former) colonies in order to clear the path for the Soviet participation in policymaking. -Soviet politicians, while being abroad, will be urged to follow the strict diplomatic protocol with emphasis laid on good manners in order to increase the impression of the Soviet prestige. Suspected activities on the unofficial level, i.e. on level for which the Soviet administrations do not take responsibility I feel obliged to remark on the incredible importance of the following section. The contained statements are these that the Truman Administration (and any other following until the end of 1980s) had mostly to deal with. Actions on the unofficial level will be first of all directed to foreign organizations, movements, societies and governments that are regarded as susceptible for, what the party asserted, the Russian sense of nationalism and Marx ideas of equality. The left-wing activists, officially members of Western Labour Parties, were encouraged to work on underground lines and were intensively instructed by politicians in Moscow. A diversity of organizations and associations, such as racial, feministic or religious societies, is highly exposed to penetration. Even the subdivisions of the Orthodox Church located abroad are at risk of being penetrated. George Kennan states that organizations above mentioned will be solely used in fields of their expertise, e.g. influential orthodox activists would jeopardize any thinkable actions of Protestant politicians. Further explanations follow: Increasing industrial and social unrest and stimulation of all possible forms of disunity will result in undermining operational potential of the western states and breaking off the national confidence. In countries forced into colonial relationships outstandingly cruel actions will be undertaken to destroy relatively good relations with (former) mother countries. Simultaneously extreme left-wing parties will be preparing for not necessarily legal taking-over of political power. -Governments obviously not agreeing with the Soviet foreign policy will be kept under pressure in order to cause their eventual removal from office. Every imaginable activity will be undertaken in order to provoke the most powerful Western states against each other. Conclusions for the US Government Soviet power, not schematic in character, doesnt work by strict plans and doesnt take unnecessary hazards. It is extremely responsive to logic or force and therefore it can easily pull back and mostly does when facing a strong opposition. So, quoting Kennan, if the adversary has sufficient force and makes clear his readiness to use it, he rarely has to do so. [9] The next point the author makes has to do with the Western degree of cohesion, firmness and muster. Success of the Soviet Union, as for being the weaker force, depends to some extent on the mentioned factor. Another factor that is relatively easy to deal with is the Soviet propaganda. The destructive and generally negative character of it can be opposed by a sort of intelligent and constructive programmes. In the conclusion the author states that a calm and unprovoked recognition of the hypothetically dangerous movements must be the governments very first step. Furthermore the public education should play a bigger role. The fear of unknown can be overcome by informing the citizens about the Russian reality. After all it would result in improvement of social cohesion and make the society less vulnerable to threats from both outside and inside. Finally Kennan brings up the significance of formulating a constructive and positive picture of the sort of world the US policy makers would like to see. It is not enough to urge people to develop political processes similar to our own. Many foreign peoples, in Europe at least, are tired and frightened by experiences of past, and are less interested in abstract freedom than in security. They are seeking guidance rather than responsibilities. We should be better able than Russians to give them this. And unless we do, Russians certainly will. [10] The reaction of the Russians wasnt immediate. Nearly seven months later, on September the 27, the Soviet Ambassador to United States, Nikolai Novikov, sent a note to the highest officials of the Soviet Union that was nothing but an analysis of the Kennans Long Telegram and the US post-war foreign policy towards the Soviet Union in general. These became accessible for outsiders after the publication in Foreign Affairs magazine of the so-called X Article in July 1947, being as a matter of fact an adjusted version of the original analysis of Kennans. Novikov concluded that the American outlook is predominantly characterized by the drift towards the worlds supremacy and as well economical as military leadership. Amongst others he stated that the plans of establishing more than 480 naval bases, American mainland signalize intense intentions of hostility towards the Soviet Union. By the end of 1946 the political situation between the US and the SU reached its lowest point since the end of the Second World War. Western politicians were little by little abandoning their hope for the cooperation with the Russians and the Kennans prophecy was slowly becoming the reality. How the US officials reacted and what measures they took in order to deter foreign government representatives from embracing communism will be properly described in the following paragraph. Chapter 4: What efforts did the US government make to materialize the containment policy and with what result? The Truman Doctrine The Truman Administration received multiple signals from its British Ally about the gradually increasing difficulties of His Majestys Government to provide on-going financial help to Greece and Turkey the two states the United Kingdom had been supporting for years and which found themselves standing on the edge of a democratic collapse. In an official note dating to February 21, 1947 British informed Washington of their inability to support the mentioned states and requested for a takeover of their economical obligations. Trumans reaction came into history as the Truman Doctrine. In his speech to a joint session of Congress of March 12, he emphasized the moral obligation of the American state to provide assistance to the peoples of Greece and Turkey in order to establish a democracy and restore the authority of the government. In regard to Greece the President stated that the British aid issued in the preceding years wasnt sufficient to supply the weak and not able to operate indepe ndently army and fight communist insurgents dislocating the Greek state. Turkey, on the contrary, didnt need financial assistance so desperately at that point of time. Nevertheless due to a historic background of Greece and Turkey being stubborn rivals for decades it was necessary to split the money equally in order to avoid future claims of injustice or, even worse, anti-Western tensions. Truman concluded that the US Government was the only institution in the world able to prevent Greece and Turkey from becoming what the totalitarian states in the period of the Second World War were regimes of minorities getting their path clear by means of violence and suppression. I find it interesting to mention that the presidential Congress speech is also known as the Trumans containment speech. Clark Clifford (Trumans advisor), asked in 1972 about the nickname, said: we were concerned about preventing Soviet control of larger areas of the world than they already controlled [11]. Although the word containment wasnt even said once by Truman in his speech, the measures supposed by him concentrated on opposing the activities mentioned in the fourth point of Kennans Long Telegram namely the actions of the Soviet party conducted on unofficial level. Greek communist freedom fighters were not powered by Marxs ideals but by Stalins money and military arsenal. As result of it the most of the $338 million sent by the United States to Greece was spent on military equipment. The concept of supporting European nations economically, drafted in March 1947 and perfectly outlined by the President Truman in his Congress speech, was just a momentary restoration programme, which had to prevent Greece and Turkey from falling into the hands of communism. How this financial aid, meant only for the time being, transformed into a long-term supportive programme will be depicted in the following section. Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan, although originally not intended to be a part of the containment policy as stated in the May 23 report of the Policy Planning Staff, became a significant step forward taken by the American Administration, influence and actions of which were gradually becoming more visible on the international political arena. The Policy Planning Staff (PPS), created by George Kennan at the request of the Secretary of State George C. Marshall, was given the task of, taking a long term, strategic view of global trends and framing recommendations for the Secretary of State to advance U.S. interests and American values.'[12] In the context of the European Recovery Program, as the so-called Marshall Plan was officially known, it came down to investigating multiple possibilities of supporting financially the European communities in order to solve their war-caused economical problems and bring them to the level of self-sufficiency. To avoid sceptical publicity criticizing Americans for th eir interventionism in European affairs, aid would be exclusively launched if the formal initiative came from Europe. Besides it was required that the program would evolve on the Old Continent and that its leaders would take the fundamental responsibility for it, while the US would limit themselves to a supportive program of such an undertaking by financial means. Knowing the tensions between the US and the Soviet Union, Kennan and the other members of the PPS didnt want the European Recovery Program (ERP) to be a reason for the further isolation of East from West. Although speculating on Soviet reluctance, the inventors of the Marshall Plan included in their project the participation of the Eastern nations in an early stage. By leaving the door open the American policymakers could verify the Soviet attitude towards the plan, which eventually would give proof of their good or bad faith. Kennan and his co-workers were convinced that this offer would not remain without response, since economical co-operation of Soviet satellite countries with the US would result in weakening of Soviet control in these states. On June 5 1947 the first signals concerning the Marshall Plan were sent out to the outside world. The Harvard speech of Secretary Marshall, being an announcement of conditions and proposals above mentioned, didnt meet much of approvement at the other side of the Iron Curtain. Already after a couple of multipartite conferences the Soviet delegation under wings of Molotov turned down the negotiations. According to the diary notes of Vincent Auriol, the French president at that time, Molotov said amongst other things that the project would divide Europe [13] which testified the bad faith of the Soviet party. The September speech of Soviet deputy foreign minister Andrei Vyshinsky to the United Nations General Assembly was its final confirmation. He stated that the Marshall Plan was a firm violation of the 11 December 1946 resolution of the United Nation, which declared that distribution of economic resources by a state may not be used as an instrument of political pressure. According to Vishinsky the Russian government saw the European Recovery Project as an attempt to put European states in American sphere of influence and to intervene in their internal affairs. In Soviet opinion the plan would result in splitting Europe into two antagonistic blocs, of which the Western one, led by the United States, would develop a certain hostility towards democratically ruled Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union in particular. The splitting up of the Russians gave the American politicians an opportunity to give the aid programme a hoped-for direction. As stated by Michael J. Hogan, an adviser to the US Department of State, the Marshall Plan was about to become a protective measure to counter the Soviet threat and serve as an extension of the containment policy [14]. Â  Unlike Soviet satellite states, which dropped off under pressure of the Soviet Union, the sixteen Western neighbours gathered at a conference in Paris, which lasted from July 12 up to September 22, and was intended to give shape to the financial requests that would be presented to the Americans. Unfortunately due to disunity of the European leaders concerning the final amount that would be asked for and their unwillingness to shift part of political responsibilities to a collectively created international body, which was known as the Committee of European Economic Cooperation (CEEC), Kennan and his Policy Planning Staff did not receive an acceptable report. There are a huge number of details concerning the Marshall Plan being brought to life, which I would like to work out narrowly. Unfortunately I have to limit

Hersheys Food Corporation :: essays research papers

The Hershey Food Corporation is a very successful and quality business. Many products are manufactured by this corporation. Most relating, but not limited to chocolate. The corporation plays a role in deciding where products are produced. Hershey’s has expanded to both Canada and Mexico, which calls for many corporate decisions. There are an amazing amount of products associated with Hershey. These include Jolly Ranchers, Hershey Kisses, Hershey drink mixes, the entire line of Reese’s products as well as good old fashion chocolate bars. These products serve in the candy/snack foods division of sales. Society could do without them... but why would we want to?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hershey’s takes advantage of many different types of advertising. Television commercials and ads are very common. Sponsorships is also another very common way Hershey advertises. Hershey sponsors everything from ice skating shows, to racecars. The Hershey Food Corporation is very competitive so they need this type of advertising. However, the only other major corporation to compete with is Mars. The chocolate industry is diffidently not pure competition. Mars and Hershey’s form an oligopoly. Hershey’s has so many different kind of products that they have a lot of competition. The company has branched out to where they’re not only competing against other chocolates but also for fruit candies, and baking chocolate and chocolate drinks as well. The fact that so many products are offered, extends the corporation to different divisions. Mexico and Canada have manufacturing plants. Seventeen manufacturing plants include Hershey, Pa (Hershey p lant, Reese plant, West Hershey plant0, Hazleton, PA, Lancaster, PA, Memphis, Tenn., Naugatuck, Conn., New Brunswick, NJ, Oakedale, CA, Palmyra, PA, Reading, PA, Robinson, Ill., Stuarts Draft, VA, Wheatridge, CO, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Quebec, Smiths Falls, Ontario, and Guadalajara, Mexico.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As successful as Hershey’s is, some factors have influenced set backs for the company. Devaluation in Brazil, Russia’s economic collapse, restructuring in China and the Asian financial crisis. World economics effect the Hershey’s company as well. Another closer to home setback occurred with a pasta divestiture. Evidently they tried a new venture in the pasta industry, but sold it because it just wasn’t making enough money.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mr. Hershey treated his employees exceptionally well, ever since he first opened his business. His personal philosophy revolved around sharing wealth with others and helping who he could. Even in the Great Depression he employed as many people as he could. His business helped support an entire town, built around his factory.

International Mother Language Day Essay

UNESCO’s declaration of 21st February as the International Mother Language Day has brought fresh glory and prestige to Bangladesh which is making significant strides towards peace, progress and prosperity at home and discharging international obligations abroad. After 1952, the people of Bangladesh have been observing every year the 21st day of February as their glorious and unforgettable Language Martyrs Day. What happened on 21st February 1952 is widely known. Still let us very briefly recount the fateful happenings of that day and the circumstances that led to and followed them. In August 1947, a new state called Pakistan, comprising two far-flung wings in the west and east, separated by 1600 kilometers of foreign territory, emerged on the world map. The ideological basis of that strange phenomenon was the absurd and pernicious two nation theory of Mr. Jinnah that ignored such basic elements as language and culture and considered religion as a bond strong and sufficient enough to transform a people into a nation. The language of the people of eastern wing of Pakistan, and they were the majority, was Bangla. It had a rich tradition of literature of over a thousand years. The Bangalees also had a highly developed culture that had little in common with the culture of the people of western wing of Pakistan. The Bangalees love for and attachment to their language and culture were great and when in 1952 the neo-colonial, power-hungry, arrogant rulers of Pakistan declared that ‘Urdu and Urdu alone would be the state language of Pakistan, they sowed the seed of its future disintegration. The people of the then East Pakistan, particularly the students, rose in angry protest against the vicious undemocratic designs of the government. Those designs really amounted to the destruction of Bangla language and culture and imposition of the language and culture of the people of western wing on the people of eastern wing. The reaction was strong and spontaneous. The government decided to quell protests by brute force. The police opened  fire on 21st February 1952 on unarmed peaceful protesters, most of whom were students, resulting in the death, among others, of Rafiq, Barkat, Jabbar and Salam. As the news of those deaths spread, the entire people of the eastern wing felt greatly involved emotionally. Those who lost their lives to uphold the prestige defend the rights of their mother-language became hallowed martyrs. [Barkat] [Rafiq] [Saifur] Their sacrifice at once tragic glorious and the indignation of the people against an autocratic government had far reaching effect. 21st February became a symbol and attained mythic properties, it nourished the concepts of democracy and secularism. It also contributed significantly to the flowering of Bangalee nationalism. It led to the dawning of the realization in the minds of the Bangalees that they constituted a separate nation and their destiny lay not with Pakistan but elsewhere as an independent country. The subsequent democratic mass movements of the late fifties, throughout the sixties and the seventies, and finally the struggle for independence and the war of liberation owed a great deal to 21st February. From 1953 onwards, starting from 21st February 1953, the immortal 21st February has been observed as a great national event all over Bangladesh, and also beyond the frontiers of Bangladesh: in several places of India, UK, USA, Canada and elsewhere, wherever there is a sizeable concentration of Bangla speaking people. Yet so long, it has been mainly a national event of Bangladesh. But with the declaration of 21st February as the International Mother Language Day, it has transcended the national borders of Bangladesh and acquired an international significance and a global dimension. International Mother Language Day is particularly significant in the sense that it has a cultural importance. From now on, 21st February – so long observed in Bangladesh as the Bangla Language Martyrs’ Day – will be observed here simultaneously as the Bangla Language Martyrs’ Day and the International Mother Language Day. And in nearly 200 countries of the world, various peoples speaking various languages and belonging to various national cultures will observe 21st February as the International Mother Language Day. They will naturally celebrate their own mother languages, but while doing so, it is more than likely that they will refer to Bangladesh and the Language Movement launched by her people that reached a climactic point on 21st February 1952. The declaration made by the UNESCO in November 1999 designating 21st February as the International Mother Language Day has placed Bangladesh on the cultural map of the world with a highly positive image. We, people of Bangladesh, should now do all that we can to further develop our mother language Bangla in all branches of knowledge so that it can play a worthy role in the community of world languages. We shall love, cherish and promote Bangla, our own mother language, but we shall not indulged in any kind of chauvinism. While devotedly serving our own language, we shall respect the languages of all the peoples of the world make 21st February – The International Mother Language Day – a great day, to be observed worldwide in the new century and the millennium that we have recently stepped into. Long live 21st February the International Mother Language Day!

Literary Analysis “The Lesson” Essay

The predominant theme in â€Å"The Lesson† composed by Toni Cade Bambara is creating an understanding to adolescents of all the opportunities life has to offer; a lesson on social class and having a choice which society you choose to live in. Miss. Moore who takes on the responsibility to educate the young ones has intentions of more than just taking the children to the store for amusement. Miss Moore’s informal lessons are aimed at educating the neighborhood children  about how their lives differ from those of rich white children, nonetheless Miss Moore wants the children to see they can live the life of the rich and high society. An essential element that adds to the depth and enhances a reader’s comprehension of â€Å"The Lesson† is the author’s use of symbolism throughout the story. Sylvia, the narrator of the story, is a born leader. She is used to being in charge of what the rest of her friends think and do. Sylvia resents the appearance of Miss Moore in her life. Miss Moore is a new kind of black woman. She has no first name but is always addressed with her title. She has â€Å"nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup†(Bambara 98). The neighbors are not quite sure how to respond to her, which is illustrated by the way Sylvia describes her as someone to laugh at, â€Å"the way we did at the junk man,† (Bambara 98) who is considered arrogant and acting above his place. Sylvia also describes Miss Moore in terms of being an unpleasant obstacle, like the winos â€Å"who cluttered up our parks and pissed on our handball walls†(Bambara 98). Clearly the author shows the extent of which Sylvia dislikes Miss Moore. Although the people in the neighborhood are unsure of Miss Moore the parents of the children allow her to take them on an outing. Miss Moore, the children’s self appointed mentor, takes it upon herself to further their education during the summer months. She feels this is her civic duty because she is educated. She used F. A. O. Schwarz, a very expensive toy store, to teach them a lesson and inspire them to strive for success and attempt to better themselves and their situations. The extreme differences between the children’s neighborhood and the neighborhood of the toy store are first illustrated by the fact that the white people on Fifth Avenue wear furs and stockings even on a hot summer’s day. â€Å"Then we check out that we on Fifth Avenue and everybody dressed up in stockings. One lady in a fur coat, hot as it is†(Bambara 99). The children are thrown off balance in this neighborhood, as if it were a foreign country where even the approach to temperature is different. To Miss Moore, education is the key to more money and improved social conditions. To Sylvia, being educated means seeing things as they are. Sylvia and Miss Moore both have a considerable amount of pride. Sylvia thinks Miss Moore shows disrespect when she describes their neighborhood as a slum and their families as poor. Bambara has indicated that Sylvia’s family is striving for better conditions through the mention of the piano rental. Miss Moore views the children’s acceptance of their economic condition as ignorance and their ignorance as disrespect for their race. Miss Moore wants to change this attitude and encourages the children to demand more from the society that keeps them down. By the end of the story, both of these characters have made their points. Sylvia realizes that she feels in competition not only with Miss Moore, but also with her good friend Sugar, who is ready to slide back into their usual behavior after having had some surprising insights about the day. Rather than accompany Sugar, Sylvia decides to go her own way and makes a promise to herself that no one will get ahead of her in the future. Miss Moore’s character, with her emphasis on education, is the symbol of one way to fight the usual, fatalistic acceptance of economic conditions by the poor â€Å"The Lesson† is a wonderful work of fiction because of its use of language, humanistic theme, and symbolism. Work Cited Introduction to Literature, Wayne County Community College Edition, by Ed. Kathleen Shine Cain, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Janice Neuleib, Stanley Orr, Paige Reynolds, and Stephen Ruffus: The publication of Toni Cade Bambara. â€Å"The Lesson† 2011. 98-104. Print.