The History of the Electric Telegraph and Telegraphy

The electric telegraph is a now outdated communication system that transmitted electric signals over wires from location to location and then translated into a message. The non-electric telegraph was invented by Claude Chappe in 1794. His system was visual and used semaphore, a flag-based alphabet, and depended on a line of sight for communication. The optical telegraph was later replaced by the electric telegraph, which is the focus of this article. In 1809, a crude telegraph was invented in Bavaria by Samuel Soemmering. He used 35 wires with gold electrodes in water.  At the receiving end,  the message was read 2,000 feet away  by the amount of gas produced by electrolysis. In 1828, the first telegraph in the USA was invented by Harrison Dyar, who sent electrical sparks through a chemically treated paper tape to burn dots and dashes. Electromagnet In 1825, British inventor William Sturgeon (1783-1850) introduced an invention that laid the foundation  for a large scale revolution in electronic communications: the electromagnet. Sturgeon demonstrated the power of the electromagnet by lifting nine pounds with a seven-ounce piece of iron wrapped with wires through which the current of a single cell battery was sent. However, the true power of the electromagnet comes from its role in the creation of countless inventions to come. The Emergence of Telegraph Systems   In 1830, an American named  Joseph Henry (1797-1878) demonstrated the potential of William Sturgeons electromagnet for long-distance communication by sending an electronic current over one mile of wire to activate an electromagnet, causing a bell to strike. In 1837, British physicists  William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph using the same principle of electromagnetism. However, it was Samuel Morse (1791-1872) who successfully exploited the electromagnet and bettered Henrys invention. Morse started by making sketches of a magnetized magnet based on Henrys work. Eventually, he invented a telegraph system that was a practical and commercial success. Samuel Morse While teaching arts and design at New York University in 1835, Morse proved that signals could be transmitted by wire. He used pulses of current to deflect an electromagnet, which moved a marker to produce written codes on a strip of paper. This  led to the invention of Morse Code. The following year, the device was modified to emboss the paper with dots and dashes. He gave a public demonstration in 1838, but it wasnt until five years later that Congress, reflecting public apathy, awarded him  $30,000 to construct an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles. Six years later, members of Congress witnessed the transmission of messages over part of the telegraph line. Before the line had reached Baltimore, the Whig party held its national convention there  and nominated Henry Clay  on  May 1, 1844. The news was hand-carried to Annapolis Junction, between Washington and Baltimore, where Morses partner Alfred Vail wired it to the capitol. This was the first news dispatched via an electric telegraph. What Hath God Wrought? The message  What hath God wrought? sent by Morse Code from the old Supreme Court chamber in the United States capitol to his partner in Baltimore officially opened the completed line on May 24, 1844. Morse allowed Annie Ellsworth, the young daughter of a friend, to choose the words of the message and she selected a verse from Numbers XXIII, 23: What hath God wrought? to be recorded onto paper tape. Morses early system produced a paper copy with raised dots and dashes, which were translated later by an operator. The Telegraph Spreads Samuel Morse and his associates obtained private funds to extend their line to Philadelphia and New York. Small telegraph companies, meanwhile began functioning in the East, South, and Midwest. Dispatching trains by telegraph started in 1851, the same year that Western Union began its business. Western Union built its first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861, mainly along railroad rights-of-way. In 1881, the Postal Telegraph System entered the field for economic reasons and later merged with Western Union in 1943. The original Morse telegraph printed code on tape. However, in the United States, the operation developed into a process in which messages were sent by key and received by ear. A trained Morse operator could transmit 40 to 50 words per minute. Automatic transmission, introduced in 1914, handled more than twice that number. In 1900, Canadian Fredrick Creed invented the Creed Telegraph System,  a way to convert Morse code to text. Multiplex Telegraph, Teleprinters, Other Advancements In 1913, Western Union developed multiplexing, which made it possible to transmit eight messages simultaneously over a single wire (four in each direction). Teleprinter machines came into use around  1925 and in 1936 Varioplex was introduced. This enabled a single wire to carry 72 transmissions at the same time (36 in each direction). Two years later, Western Union introduced the first of its automatic facsimile devices. In 1959, Western Union inaugurated TELEX, which enabled subscribers to the teleprinter service to dial each other directly. Telephone Rivals the Telegraph Until 1877, all rapid long-distance communication depended upon the telegraph. That year, a rival technology developed that would again change the face of communication:  the telephone. By 1879, patent litigation between Western Union and the infant telephone system  ended in an agreement that largely separated the two services. While Samuel Morse is best known as the inventor of the telegraph, he is also esteemed for his contributions to American portraiture. His painting is characterized by delicate technique and vigorous honesty and insight into the character of his subjects.

My Campus Interview Project Mark Conway Of The College...

For my campus interview project I interviewed Mark Conway of the College of Saint Benedict Literary Arts Institute. Mark has a long history with CSBSJU he father went to school at Saint Johns University. As Mark got older and was ready to go to college he followed in his dads footsteps and he to enrolled at Saint Johns University. Shortly after graduating from Saint Johns University Mark worked nine years at Minnesota Public Radio, which was founded in Collegeville Minnesota. Mark has been a CSBSJU employee for twenty-six years. He’s been at the Literary Arts Institute for eighteen years. As special fact about Mark is he actually founded and created the Literary Arts Institute. The more I talked to Mark the more I understood how passionate he is about the Literary Arts Institute along with CSBSJU. The purpose of the literary Arts Institute is to foster creative writing, publishing, and interaction between students and writers. Mark has been apart of the efforts to bring well-recognized authors and writers to our campuses. Along with writing reading is also promoted. The Literary Arts Institute has its own studio in this studio students can get introduced to the artistry of fine letterpress. At the end of our interview Mark took me down there and it is quite astonishing. The studio had a printing machine that was over a hundred years old. Being the creator and director of an organization is not a simple task. Mark does a variety of things within the Literary ArtsShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesSingapore Taipei Tokyo Editorial Director: Sally Yagan Director of Editorial Services: Ashley Santora Acquisitions Editor: Brian Mickelson Editorial Project Manager: Sarah Holle Editorial Assistant: Ashlee Bradbury VP Director of Marketing: Patrice Lumumba Jones Senior Marketing Manager: Nikki Ayana Jones Senior Managing Editor: Judy Leale Production Project Manager: Becca Groves Senior Operations Supervisor: Arnold Vila Operations Specialist: Cathleen Petersen Senior Art Director: Janet Slowik Art

Joseph Andrew Free Essays

â€Å"Joseph Andrews† as a Picaresque Novel ________________________________________________ What is a picaresque novel? The term picaresque has been derived from the Spanish word picaro which means a rogue or a villain. Originally, a type of romance that dealt with rogues or villains was called picaresque. A picaresque novel presented , in an extravagant style, a series of adventures , and misadventures , mostly on the highways . We will write a custom essay sample on Joseph Andrew or any similar topic only for you Order Now The earliest examples of the picaresque novel are Lizaritle de Tormes and Guzman de Alfarachi. Fielding was considerably influenced by Gil Blass and Don Quixote. In fact there are marked resemblance between Joseph Andrews and Don Quixote. Parson Adam is clearly a Quixotic figure. The Picaresque element in the novel is introduced in Book 1 chapter 10 with Joseph setting out on his journey in the moonlight. From here onwards to the end of Book 111, it follows the picaresque tradition closely. Joseph soon gets robbed and is thrown into a ditch , stripped and half dead. The stage – coach episode provides Fielding with an opportunity to expose their hypocrisy and callousness of the respected people. Joseph and Parson Adams run into the picaresque journey that began with satirical exposure of the society assumes a partially humors tone. In a part of the book 1 and the middle two Books where the picaresque motif is followed, Fielding brings his major characters in contact with different strata of society- country squires, divines and philosophers , lawyers and surgeons , landladies , beggars and highway men- and exposes the contemporary social evils as well as human follies and foibles of a more general nature. Finally , the rambling or destructive narrative of Joseph Andrews also enforces the picaresque motif of the novel. Fielding employs here a very lose plot, for his purpose is the depiction of the society and the plot is not given much importance. How does Fielding as a satirist project his moral vision? / Discuss Joseph Andrews as a social document. Fielding is considered to be the pioneer of the realistic novel in England. Defoe’s novels, apparently grounded in reality , are romantic in spirit. In fact, Fielding based all his novels on actual experience. In â€Å"Joseph Andrews†, Fielding presents a very realistic picture of the life of the English countryside in the first half of the 18th century. The first thing that strikes us about the society is its extra- ordinary callousness, even downright cruelty. Most of the members are selfish, insensible and hard- hearted. The stage-coach episode where Joseph , half killed and stripped naked by robbers , is reluctantly rescued by the passengers in the stage coach, but receives no sympathy or comfort from any except the poor postilion, full brings out this callous temper. The surgeon refuses to leave his bed to attend Joseph just because he has no means of paying HIS FEE. Mrs. Tow-Wouse forbids her husband to lend him a shirt . Parson Trulliber can’t afford even 14 shillings to assist Parson Adams; on the contrary , he accuses him of being a vagabond. Lawyer Scout is of the opinion that there are far too many poor, and that we’ we ought to have an Act to hang or transport half of them. The novel also depicts the wide gulf that seems to separate the high people from the low people. The distinction between these two groups is quite rigid. Lady Booby refers to her country neighbors as brutes. She grossly insults Adams on his insistence on publishing the banns of marriage. These high class people show utter disregard of the rights and interests of the poor people. For example, Lady Booby is not concerned whether pr not servants get their wages in time. How to cite Joseph Andrew, Essay examples

Bacteria Essay Research Paper BacteriaBacteria are one free essay sample

Bacteria Essay, Research Paper Bacterias Bacterias are one celled beings that are found about everyplace. Bacteria live in dirt, air, H2O and nutrient. They besides live in and on workss and animate beings. Bacterias can be found on our organic structures in topographic points such as our olfactory organs, oral cavities and bowels. Most bacteria step from 0.3 to 2.0 micrometers in diameter. This means that bacteriums can merely be seen through a powerful microscope. Bacteriology is the survey of bacteriums. Some sorts of bacteriums are helpful. Other sorts of bacteriums can do serious disease. Bacteriologist survey harmful bacteriums to find how they cause disease so that vaccinums can be developed. Certain sorts of bacteriums are helpful to worlds. Bacteria aid in digestion in both worlds and certain animate beings such as cowss and Equus caballuss. Bacteria aid interrupt down nutrient and besides furnishes vitamins. Bacterias are of import in certain sorts of nutrients such as acetum and certain types of cheese and in sauerkraut. Bacteria can besides assist to break up dead beings and animate being wastes into chemical elements. Certain sorts of bacteriums are harmful to worlds, animate beings and workss. Some sorts of bacteriums can do diseases in human existences. These diseases include TB, typhoid febrility, meningitis, leprosy, cholera and certain types of Page 2 pneumonia. Bacteria can besides do diseases in animate beings such as splenic fever. Plant diseases caused by bacteriums are fire blight ( in pear and apple trees ) Citrus canker, tomato and murphy wilt. These harvest diseases can ensue in enormous fiscal losingss for husbandmans worldwide. Bacteria reproduction is mostly nonsexual. Most bacteria reproduction is by fission which is a procedure of cell division in which one bacteria splits into two new 1s. Fission may happen every 15 to 20 proceedingss under peculiarly favourable conditions of temperature, wet and nutrient supply. Within an estimated 24 hours, a cholera bacteria could bring forth an tremendous figure of offspring weighing more than 2,000 metric dozenss. This is merely theoretically possible because there would non be about adequate infinite and nutrient for this big figure of offspring. There are many parts of a bacterium cell. About all bacteriums have a protective bed called the cell wall. The cell wall besides gives the cell it s form and enables it to populate in a broad scope of environments. Another portion of the cell is the capsule. The capsule is a slimed bed outside the cell wall. The capsule protects the cell by doing the cell resistant to chemicals that can ache it. All bacteriums have a cell Page 3 membrane, an elastic, bag like construction merely inside the cell wall. Small molecules of nutrient enter the cell through pores in the membrane. Inside the membrane is cytoplasm, a soft gelatin like substance. The cytol contains many chemicals called enzymes, which help construct cell parts and interrupt down nutrient. Like all living things, bacteriums cells contain DNA ( deoxyribonucleic acid ) which controls the cells growing, reproduction and all other activities. The Deoxyribonucleic acid can be found in the karyon organic structure in all beings except blue- green algae. Deoxyribonucleic acid is besides in the karyon, a portion of the cell separated from the cytol by a membrane. There are four types of bacterium cells. Scientist normally divide bacteriums into four groups harmonizing to the form of the bacteriums. Round bacterium are called coccus. Rod shaped bacteriums are called B. The type of bacteriums that looks like set rods are called vibrios. Spirillum is the type of bacteriums that is shaped like a coiling. Two are more bacteriums can associate together and these combinations are described by utilizing different prefixes. Some of the prefixes are: diplo ( brace ) , staphylo ( bunch ) and strepto ( concatenation ) . An illustration of linked bacterium is streptococci which is circular bacteriums that are linked together. Page 4 Most bacterial diseases can be prevented by vaccinums. Vaccines are made in different ways depending on what sort of bacterium causes the disease. There are three chief types of vaccinums. One type is made from unrecorded bacteriums. The 2nd type is made from killed bacteriums. The 3rd type of vaccinum is made from inactivated toxicants produced by the bacteriums. Certain infective bacteriums become harmless after they h ave been grown for a piece in the research lab. When these harmless life bacteriums are injected into animate beings the animate beings become immune to the disease caused by the strain of bacteriums. In the United States, most vaccinums that are used to forestall TB contain life but harmless bacteriums. Killed bacteriums of certain strains can be used for vaccinums. Most Americans are vaccinated against whacking cough with bacteriums that has been killed with heat or chemicals. Certain bacterium cause serious diseases because they produce powerful toxins. Vaccines to forestall some of these diseases can be prepared by turning the bacterium in the Laboratory, insulating the toxins they produce, and demobilizing the toxins with heat or chemicals. Most Americans are vaccinated against diphtheria and lockjaw with vaccinums made of inactivated toxins. Some bacteriums can be controlled in ways other Page 5 than inoculations. Modern methods of handling sewerage, continuing nutrient, and sublimating H2O have reduced the spread of certain bacterial diseases. Bacteria has an interesting history. Simple signifiers of bacteriums were likely some of the first life things on Earth. Dodos of bacteriums have been found that are more than three billion old ages old. Some scientists believe that multi celled beings bit by bit developed from certain bacteriums. Anton new wave Leeuwenhoek was the first scientist to see bacteriums in 1676. He was a Dutch scientist. Back so, scientists believed that bacteriums came from nonliving things. Scientists believed this until Louis Pasteur showed that merely populating things can bring forth other populating things. Louis Pasteur made many of import finds in bacteriology. Scientists continue to do of import finds today. The following stage of this study will be a scientific discipline experiment utilizing bacteriums. Page 6 Science Fair Project on Bacteria Problem: Bacteria is everyplace in our school. What should we utilize to clean Lake Travis Middle School? Statement: Which is the best merchandise to utilize to clean our school? Hypothesis: I think Mr. Clean will be the best merchandise to clean our school. Materials: The stuffs used for this undertaking were: prepared petri dishes, toothpicks, Sn can, foil, Lysol, Mr. Clean and paper towels. Procedure: Put about 10 toothpicks in a can and cover it with aluminium foil. Put the can in the oven and bake it for one hr at 250 grades. This is to sterilise the toothpicks. Let the toothpicks and can to chill. Scrape the toothpick on normally touched surfaces in the school such as the bathroom door grip and the library door Page 7 grip. Then rub the toothpick on the prepared surface in the petri dish. I let the bacterium bunchs grow for two hebdomads. I so cut 10 half circles of paper towels the same size as the petri dish. I soaked five of the half circles in Lysol and five of the half circles in Mr. Clean. One half circle was placed in each petri dish. I so let the paper towel remain in the petri dish for two hebdomads. I would look into the paper towels to see if they needed to be re-moisten and I would re-moisten them if needed. At the terminal of the two hebdomad period, I so examined the petri dishes to see which merchandise killed the bacteriums the best. Consequence: Both of the merchandises killed the bacterium, nevertheless, Lysol appears to hold a greater consequence on killing the bacterium. Decision: In reading the list of ingredients on both the Lysol and Mr. Clean container, I found that Mr Clean contains Cleaning agents ( nonionized and anionic wetting agents ) Page 8 quality control agents, aroma, colorant and H2O. The Lysol label provinces that Lysol contains 2.70 % Alkyl 50 % C14, 40 % C12, 10 % C16 ) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides, and 97.3 % Inert Ingredients. The followers is a treatment of the ingredients found in Lysol. When hydrochloric acid is added to ammonium hydrated oxide it produces a solution called ammonium chloride. Another name for benzine is benzol. Benzol is frequently used in detergents. The ingredient dimethyl in the Lysol is formed from methyl alcohol which is frequently used as a dissolver to fade out other substances. The ingredients in the Lysol seemed to be stronger in killing bacteriums than the ingredients in Mr. Clean.

A Profile of Barry Goldwater - “Mr. Conservative”

A Profile of Barry Goldwater - â€Å"Mr. Conservative† Barry Goldwater was a 5-term US Senator from Arizona and the Republican nominee for president in 1964. Mr. Conservative Barry Goldwater and the Genesis of the Conservative Movement In the 1950s, Barry Morris Goldwater emerged as the nation’s leading conservative politician. It was Goldwater, along with his growing legion of â€Å"Goldwater Conservatives,† who brought the concepts of small government, free enterprise, and a strong national defense into the national public debate. These were the original planks of the conservative movement and remain the heart of the movement today. Beginnings Goldwater entered politics in 1949, when he won a seat as a Phoenix city councilman. Three years later, in 1952, he became a US Senator for Arizona. For nearly a decade, he helped redefine the Republican Party, assembling it into the party of the conservatives. In the late 1950s, Goldwater became closely associated with the anti-Communist movement and was an avid supporter of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Goldwater stuck with McCarthy until the bitter end and was one of only 22 members of Congress who refused to censure him. Goldwater supported desegregation and civil rights to varying degrees. He got himself into political hot water, however, with his opposition to legislation that would eventually turn into the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Goldwater was a passionate Constitutionalist, who had supported the NAACP and had backed previous versions of civil rights legislation, but he opposed the 1964 bill because he believed it violated states’ rights to self-govern. His opposition earned him political support from conservative southern Democrats, but he was detested as a â€Å"racist† by many blacks and minorities. Presidential Aspirations Goldwater’s rising popularity in the South in the early 1960s helped him win a tough bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1964. Goldwater had been looking forward to running an issue-oriented campaign against his friend and political rival, President John F. Kennedy. An avid pilot, Goldwater had planned to fly around the country with Kennedy, in what the two men believed would be a revival of the old whistle-stop campaign debates. Kennedys Death Goldwater was devastated when those plans were cut short by Kennedy’s death in late 1963, and he mourned the president’s passing profoundly. Nevertheless, he won the Republican nomination in 1964, setting up a showdown with Kennedy’s vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, who he despised and would later accuse of â€Å"using every dirty trick in the book.† Introducing ... Mr. Conservative During the Republican National Convention in 1964, Goldwater gave perhaps the most conservative acceptance speech ever uttered when he said, â€Å"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.† This statement prompted one member of the press to exclaim, â€Å"My God, Goldwater is running as Goldwater!† The Campaign Goldwater was not prepared for the brutal campaign tactics of the vice president. Johnson’s philosophy was to run as though he were 20 points behind, and he did just that, crucifying the Arizona Senator in a series of vicious television ads. Comments Goldwater made during the previous ten years were taken out of context and used against him. For example, he had once told members of the press that he sometimes thought the country would be better off if the entire Eastern Seaboard were sawed off and floated out to sea. The Johnson campaign ran an ad showing a wooden model of the United States in a tub of water with a saw hacking off the Eastern states. The Effectiveness of Negative Campaigning Perhaps the most damning and personally offensive ad to Goldwater was the one called â€Å"Daisy,† which showed a young girl counting flower petals as a male voice counted down from ten to one. At the end of the ad, the girl’s face was frozen as images of nuclear war played in the shadows and a voice extolled Goldwater, implying he would launch a nuclear attack if elected. Many consider these ads to be the beginnings of the modern negative campaign period which continues to this day. Goldwater lost in a landslide, and Republicans lost many seats in Congress, setting the conservative movement back significantly. Goldwater won his seat in the Senate again in 1968 and continued to earn respect from his political peers on Capitol Hill. Nixon In 1973, Goldwater had a significant hand in the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. The day before Nixon resigned, Goldwater told the president that if he stayed in office, Goldwater’s vote would be in favor of impeachment. The conversation coined the term â€Å"Goldwater moment,† which is still used today to describe the moment a group of the president’s fellow party members vote against him or publicly take a position opposite him. Reagan In 1980, Ronald Reagan won a crushing defeat over incumbent Jimmy Carter and columnist George Will called it a victory for conservatives, saying Goldwater had actually won the 1964 election, â€Å"†¦ it just took 16 years to count the votes.† The New Liberal The election would eventually mark the decline of Goldwater’s conservative influence as the social conservatives and the Religious Right began to slowly take over the movement. Goldwater vociferously opposed their two top issues, abortion and gay rights. His views came to be regarded as more â€Å"Libertarian† than conservative, and Goldwater later admitted with wonder that he and his ilk were the â€Å"new liberals of the Republican party.† Goldwater died in 1998 at the age of 89.

Sustainable road policy The WritePass Journal

Sustainable road policyï » ¿ 1. Introduction Sustainable road policyï » ¿ ). According to Calle et al. (2012) the use of biofuels can impact negatively on the environment because it increases greenhouse emissions in other ways, such as non-carbon aircraft emissions and the feedstock production process. Furthermore, this could lead to a potential increase in the price of foodstuffs due to this process using a greater amount of land to produce biojetfuel (Tietenberg, 2000). 2.1.3. Vision Two This vision for walking and cycling concentrated on urban areas. The economic dimension is clearly addressed so that it considers the enhancement of mobility through improving mass transport, increasing freightage transport efficiency, and constructing separate routes for both bicycles and pedestrians. This also includes supporting and encouraging commercial markets to provide pedestrian electronic tools, and electric-powered bikes and vans. Despite the benefit to human’s health and fitness, walking and cycling causes a significant reduction in travel and congestion costs which leads to an increase in productivity by reducing wastage time. Additionally, a massive reduction in road accident costs can be noticed by allocating dedicated routes for pedestrian and bicycles, based on a reduction in conflict points between bicycles, pedestrians and cars; each conflict point is responsible of   the occurrence of a crash in any time and, thus, economic improvement (BCBC, 2009). Social sustainability is vastly addressed in this vision. These will be achieved by applying the equality principle, social consolidation enhancement, public health promotion, and providing high social insurance within that future city which is espoused by this vision. However, it provides the typical social environment inclusion of required needs such as a higher socialised, better communicated, polite and cooperative people which is associated with highest safety levels and health quality. This also suggests roads which have lower car use, dedicate more space for children, and supply all required facilities for walking and cycling. In addition to this is the use of advanced technology in traffic systems, such as automatic vehicle speed reduction system (Tight et al., 2011). This vision addresses the environment dimension by making a reduction in air pollution which leads to a reduction in CO2 emission as well as less transportation noise due to low car use and a greater dependence on walking and cycling. This also includes less land use, the use of eco-friendly cars and imposing strong car use restrictions. As well as this, the walking and cycling and other non-motorized modes are defined as environmental modes due to their compatibility with clean air and that they generate no noise pollution (COUNCIL, 2007). 2.2. Transport problems Area 2.2.1. Developing Countries According to Gwilliam (2003), developing countries differ from developed countries with respect to of transportation. These differences are characterised by faster population growth, fast urban growth, car ownership, traffic congestion, environmental problems, and road accident and security issues. Movement problems added to the lack of road network quality and traffic management make it very difficult to compare and examine. The Green Highway and Vision Two for walking and cycling were placed to the UK situation to address the majority of the above-mentioned issues with a high efficiency, although it cannot be applied in the developing countries with the same efficiency. However, the â€Å"holistic approach [to] improving overall transport† has appeared as a global vision and can address the mobility of urban areas in developing countries. In this vision, the cities are categorized to four kinds, for instance, for addressing finance issues it suggests the participating of bot h private and public sectors. 2.2.2 Climate Change The greenhouse emissions which are from transportation sectors are estimated about 24% globally, and it will increase 2.1% annually (Wright and Fulton, 2005). The CO2 emission was separately estimated to be about 22% in 2012 and was recognized as a main cause of climate change (IEA, 2012). However, addressing climate change can be seen in all three visions in different approaches, but vision two is the more effective because of its preference of the non-motorised modes such as walking, cycling and using eco-friendly mass transportation modes. The Green Highway vision aims to adopt the highway design code with the impacts of climate change instead of carbon cutting. Furthermore, the Mobility vision tends to reduce future greenhouse gas emission depending on the technology use with the presence of all transport modes. 2.2.3. Equity, social impacts and inclusion The equity is considered to be a significant aspect due to its extensive influence by any transportation planning decision. However, it can be more effectively addressed through vision two, rather than other visions, because it is focused on increasing the concept of social sustainability (BCDC, 2009). Moreover, public transport accessibility, cycling and walking is crucial to make society more active, but in the mobility vision the economic improvement is taken into consideration depending on the sophisticated transportation mode technology. In addition to this, the equity improvement can be achieved by providing equal mobility. 2.2.4.   Resource use, waste and global pollution Resource use is a potential option in vision two through low car use as well as greater dependence on walking and cycling. In turn this makes a significant reduction in the consumption and use of resources, such as car manufacturing or backup materials, and this leads to the reduction of waste resulting from scrap. However, the Green Highway vision addresses this issue through the high efficiency resources consumption and full attention to recycling concept application. Moreover, the Mobility vision encourages aircrafts and vehicles markets to depend on alternative fuel and observe that this may lead to an increase in resource consumption, such as compound materials which are used in the aircraft manufacturing. However, the potential for recycling carbon fibre has been was found (Job, 2010). Conversely, other modes need mass use of resources as well as the technological advancement, and ultimately, global pollution is inevitable. 2.2.5. Biodiversity The Green Highway vision concerns the addressing of biodiversity conservation through constructing of wild movement green bridges and tunnels, and water ponds. However, the Mobility vision has an adverse impact on biodiversity due to its dependence on using the largest land area to provide biojetfuel as an alternative future energy (Kojima and Johnson, 2006). Furthermore, biodiversity has not been influenced by the vision two for concentration on improving road network infrastructure in urban areas. 2.2.6. Energy Security According to DECC (2012), the transport sector contributed about 38% of total energy consumption in 2011. The Green Highway vision can impact positively in the reduction of energy consumption to some extent through focusing on road infrastructure improvement and implementing recycling materials interns to reduce energy consumption by implementing recycling and minimizing the road distance. However, in the Mobility vision, the energy security is addressed efficiently by introducing alternative fuels such as biofuel to replace fossil fuel which leads to energy security effectively (Kojima and Johnson, 2006). In the scope of foodstuffs and climate change, decreasing it seems not compatible and the increasing desire and the biofuel’s wide spread will pose a risk to food security and climate change (Field et al., 2008). Additionally, in vision two the focus on walking and cycling as well as lower car use plays a significant role in energy security; moreover, the aircraft and electr ic bicycle manufacturing require energy. 2.2.7.  Safety Safety is an issue that is directly related to public life. However, this issue has not been considered in the Green Highway vision. Nevertheless, the safety is addressed in vision two through the use of alternative biofuels which are characterised by low carbon emission as well as zero vision which address safety through reducing the accidents number to close to zero. Furthermore, safety is addressed more efficiently through the use of technology that reduces vehicle speed automatically and allocates segregated lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. 2.2.8.   Landscape and heritage The Green Highway vision damages landscape and heritage because of their adversely influence on the transportation infrastructure improvement process (Seiler, 2001). Though, in the Mobility vision the largest land use is to provide the requiring energy and may adversely impact the landscape. However, in vision two, improving the transportation infrastructure is based on the existing reality; therefore it does not impact on the landscape. 2.2.9. Noise The Green Highway vision addresses noise through the use of noise barriers and a defeatist road surface. However, the Mobility vision addresses noise reduction through the use electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and aircraft with superior aerodynamics deployment. Furthermore, vision two contributes to the reduction of noise through low car use, walking and cycling and using electric modes. 2.2.10. Air pollution The Green Highway vision addresses air pollution to some degree, but not directly. However, the Mobility vision addresses this issue interactively through low carbon emission from transportation, using electric vehicles, hybrids, eco-friendly ships and aircrafts. In addition to this, it is significantly addressed by vision two through low car use, depending on walking and cycling. 2.2.11. Severance and pedestrian issues The Green Highway vision does not address severance and pedestrian safety. However, there is full attention given to public safety in the Mobility vision through pollution reduction and low carbon mobility. Moreover, vision two addresses this issue more effectively through improving pedestrian and cyclist’s mobility by allocating separate lanes for their movement and low car use. 2.3. Feasibility, global transportation issues, barriers 2.3.1. Green Highway Vision Undoubtedly, the Green Highway vision introduces an eco-design to be applied to enhance the transportation infrastructure, but it is not active to the high degree of addressing all sustainable dimensions. Good road quality brings more car use which causes environment deterioration. However, the role of advanced technology in the road performance improvement is also not considered in this vision. For example, using connected vehicles which provide the driver with all information about weather, traffic volume, road, and alerting in case the existence of problems as well as electric priority lane that charges moving vehicles automatically (Krick, 2011). In addition to this, a number of Green Highway projects with additional principles to the environmental aspect are applied in some countries such as Sweden and Norway. Consequently, until 2030 the effectiveness of this vision will expire and will not be feasible. 2.3.2 Mobility Vision Due to the presence of some features, this vision seems infeasible. However, it relies on incorporating advanced technology in transportation modes which causes a significant reduction in greenhouse emissions and requires a multi-energy source to improve the environment dimension. Moreover, the encouraging travel, car ownership, results in urbanisation, increasing congestion, increasing resource consumption and land take. Furthermore, greater battery energy consumption results in pollution in the stations and reduces the importance of eco-friendly car use. Nevertheless, technology is considered as a barrier in front of relevant authorities to decide on other dimensions (Banister, 2005). However biofuel seems inefficient due to its expected adverse impacts on the security of food and the hydrogen energy cost   is estimated to be four times as much as current fuel (ibid, 2005). Albeit, due to dealing with sustainability dimensions lopsidedly as well as developing countries drawbacks in terms of their understanding and point of view towards sustainability concept countries issues, this shows unfeasibility of the vision. 2.3.3. Vision Two There is an intensive relationship between urban transportation and its impacts on the environment due to it being directly related to life quality. The main target of vision two is life quality improvement through car use avoidance, in contrast to walking and cycling prominent. Currently, the car is a common travel mode, and the average distance travelled in a car has risen by 75% between 1980 and 2008 (DfT, 2009). Accordingly, to achieve a   reduction in car use is very difficult and there are a lot of barriers because it relates to the citizens’ freedoms. Therefore it is not easy to accept and to digest such a step and to give-up car ownership. However, the contradiction and non-cooperation between the institutions related to the case and difficulties in legal measures application would be another significant barrier (Banister, 2005). Moreover, causing scandalous damage to car manufacture would only serve to increase the rate of people without jobs as well as the walking and cycling leads to space strictures, and cities extension because of long distance and the lack of network quality, with harsh weather. Even though there is potential to dispose of these barriers by using technological means and strictly roads policies applying, this vision seems more efficient and applicable than others; foregoing the drawbacks, due to its compatibility to improve the tree mentioned sustainability dimensions in cities and towns. References Anair, D., Mahmassani, A. (2012) State of charge: electric vehicles’ global warming emissions and fuel-cost savings across the United States.  Union of Concerned Scientists Report. [Online] www. ucsusa. org/assets/ documents/clean_vehicles/electric-carglobal-warming-emissions-report. pdf. [Accessed November 22nd 2013] Banister, D. (2005) Unsustainable transport: City transport in the new century.   Oxfordshire: Routledge publication. BCBC (2009) Walking and Cycling Strategy. Borough:Bridgend County Borough Council. [online] www. Bridgend.gov.uk [Accessed   November 29th 2013]. Calle, F. R. Teelucksingh, S. Thran, D. and Seiffert, M. (2012)The potential and role of biofuels in commercial air transport-biojetfuel. London: Imperial College London IEA Bioenergy. [online] www.bioenergytrade.org//T40-Biojetfuel-Report-Sept2012.pdf [Accessed   November 27th 2013]. Colantonio, A. (2007) Social Sustainability: An Exploratory Analysis of its Definition, Assessment. Methods, Metrics and Tools Measuring Social Sustainability: Best Practice from Urban Renewal in the EU. 2007/01: EIBURS Working Paper Series. Oxford Brookes University.   [online] oisd.brookes.ac.uk/sustainable/Social Sustainability_Metrics_and_T [Accessed   November 26th 2013]. COUNCIL, P. D. (2007) Walking and Cycling Strategy. [online] hume.vic.gov.au/files/82cb922e-849b-432b-b4d1-9e0e00afba15/CW225WalkingandCyclingStrategy.pdf [Accessed November 26th   2013] DECC (2012) Overall energy consumption in the UK since 1970. Department of Energy and Climate Change. URN Publication: 12D/289. [online] www.decc.gov.uk//decc//energy-consumption/2324-overall-ener [Accessed November 26th 2013]. DfT (2009) Transport trends. London: Department for Transport. [online] http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100406130654/dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/trends/current/ [Accessed November 24th 2013]. Field, C. B. Campbell, E. and Lobell, D. B. (2008) Biomass energy: the scale of the potential resource. Trends in Ecology Evolution, Volume 23, Issue 2, 65-72. [online] sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534708000098 [Accessed November 30th 2012]. Gwilliam, K. (2003) Urban transport in developing countries. [online] Transport Reviews, 23(2), 197-216. [online] tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01441640309893#.Umwm7XCb55g [Accessed November 20th 2013] HA (2003) Vision 2030 Final report: An investigation into the long-term challenges and opportunities for the UK’s strategic highway network. Highways agency. WSP Civils. [online] Ltd.transportvisions.org.uk/documents/documents.htm [Accessed   December 5th 2013]. IEA Statistics (2012) CO2 emissions from fuel consumption: Highlights. Paris: International Energy Agency, 2011 Edition. [online] www.iea.org//CO2emissionfromfuelcombustionHIGHLIGHTS.pdf   [Accessed   December 2nd 2012]. Job, S. (2010) Composite recycling: summary of recent research and development. Materials KTN Reports. [online] www.compositesuk.co.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=LXN [Accessed   December 4th2012]. Kirk, B., Eng, P. (2011) Connected vehicles: an executive overview of the status and trends.  Globis Consulting, November,  21. [online] globisconsulting.ca/Connected_Vehicles_Globis_rpt.pdf [Accessed November 24th  Ã‚   2013] Kojima, M., Johnson, T. (2005) Potential for biofuels for transport in developing countries. [online]cabdirect.org/abstracts/20093014861.html;jsessionid=25D728151573397D1B099BB26B4D6DF1   [Accessed November 23rd 2013] Marks, D. H. (2002) The Evolving Role of Systems Analysis in Process and Methods in Large-Scale Public Socio-Technical Systems. In  Proceedings of the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) Internal Symposium  (pp. 251-266). [online] http://esd.mit.edu/WPS/internal-symposium/esd-wp-2003-01.08.pdf Polese, M. and Stren, R,. (Eds.), (2000) The Social Sustainability of Cities: Diversity and the Management of Change. Toronto:University of Toronto Press. Schwaab, J.A. and Thielmann, S. (2001) Economic instruments for sustainable road transport: an overview for policy makers in developing countries. Eschborn: GTZ publication. [online] lnweb90.worldbank.org//Economic_Instruments_for_Sustainable_[Accessed December 2nd 2013]. Seiler, A. (2001) Ecological effects of roads: A review. Riddarhyttan: University of Agricultural Sciences, S-73091. [online] idd00s4z.eresmas.net/doc/transp/ecoeffectsonroads.pdf [Accessed December 2rd December 2013]. Tietenberg, T. H., Lewis, L. (2000)  Environmental and natural resource economics  (pp. 86-98). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. [online]   dandelon.com/servlet/download/attachments/dandelon/ids/AT00182C23C6746888AE0C12570840044C6CE.pdf Tight, M. Timms, P. Banister, D. Bowmaker, J. Copas, J. Day, A. Drinkwater, D. Givoni, M. Gà ¼hnemann, A. Lawler, M. Macmillen, J. Miles, A. Moore, N. Newton, R. Ngoduy, D. Ormerod, M. O’Sullivan, M. Watling, D. (2011). Visions for a walking and cycling focussed urban transport system. Journal of Transport Geography 19, 1580–1589. Transport Policy Advisory Services, (2010) Challenges of urban transport in developing countries- a summary. [online] sutp.org/ins-pol-supporting-docs?download=391:challenges-of-urban-transport-in-developing-countries-a-summary [accessed November 20th 2013] WBCDE (2009) Vision 2050: The new Agenda for Business. Geneva: World Business Council on Sustainable Development. [online] wbcsd.org/vision2050.aspx. Wright, L., Fulton, L. (2005). Climate change mitigation and transport in developing nations.  Transport Reviews,  25(6), pp. 691-717. [online] http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/messages/downloadsexceeded.html [Accessed November 26th   2013]

How satisfactorily do the elements of state practice and opinio juris Essay

How satisfactorily do the elements of state practice and opinio juris explain the process of customary international law formation - Essay Example Therefore this essay shows that though there is a distinction between state practice and opinio juris but the element of both these (i.e. state practice and opinio juris) assists in the formation of customary international law. The actions are the state practice whereas the statements are opinio juris. Hence, custom can be formed by the actions only when these actions are came with a juncture of the action’s legality. Opinio juris relates statements of belief instead of real beliefs.3 In addition to this, opinio juris is presented by the resolutions and pacts as both of these are the statements regarding the activity’s lawfulness, instead of cases of that action. The information used for this essay is taken from different websites by using the search engines. In this essay we will first assess customary international law and then we will discuss how does state practice and opinio juris are used for the formation of customary international law. In general, it is accepted that two components that are necessary for the presence of customary international law are state practice and an impression that this practice is mandatory, allowed or prohibited, based on the type of the regulation, as a question of law (opinio juris). According to international justice court â€Å"It is naturally self-evident that the object of customary international law is to be searched mainly in the state’s real practice and opinio juris.†4 After the assessment of customary international we continue our essay and start assessing the one of the element of customary international law i.e. state practice. For this purpose the source the use is the book name â€Å"Legal Personality in International Law,† written by Roland Portmann. The content related to the state practice taken from this book is discussed below; To assess the state practice, it has to be considered whether

Taylor Swift perfume report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Taylor Swift perfume report - Essay Example A product is any object which has a distinctive tangible existence. When applied in marketing however, the meaning of product takes in varied form. The product â€Å"may be a good, service or just an idea†4. For this paper, the product which is the subject for discussion is Taylor Swift perfume Wonderstruck. It is manufactured by Elizabeth Arden and is personally endorsed by the famous folk singer Taylor Swift who also bears her name as the namesake of the perfume. The perfume is created by Swift herself with perfumer Olivier Gillotin of Givaudan and is inspired by Swift’s favorite memories and scents, and it features notes of freesia, apple blossom, raspberry, vanilla, honeysuckle, white hibiscus, amber, sandalwood and peach. The packaging includes an antiqued gold Moravian star, a dove and bird cage charms5. The perfume is designed for consumer use and is branded after the singer to encourage easy patronage from the singer’s fans. Given that the product is a personal choice and personally made by Taylor Swift herself (with perfumer Olivier Gillotin of Givaudan), consumers will not accept any other brand because the identification of the perfume to the singer cannot be assigned to another brand. There are several ways where a company determines the price its products. One of the most common pricing methods is the internal accounting based pricing where profit is added as a mark-up in addition to its manufacturing cost6. Projected profit may be added as a ratio to cost or target profit is determined beforehand before determining pricing. Pricing is critical because under a perfect competitive market, price can determine demand; a higher price can discourage demand while a lower price can stimulate demand making a business enterprise more competitive in the market7. In the Taylor Swift Wonderstruck Perfume for Women, the pricing method employed is the value based pricing. â€Å"Value based pricing is tied to the customer’s

Franciscan Values in Cardinal Stritch University Essay

Franciscan Values in Cardinal Stritch University - Essay Example Therefore, the Cardinal Stritch University offers a course in Franciscan values that are intended to better human beliefs and actions in the best interest of mankind. The fundamental purpose of delivering this knowledge is to make people love and respect one another. People sharing similar values become affiliated to one another and become united. The multicultural faculty and learners expand the horizons of the university beyond limits. The university offers indiscriminate and unbiased teaching to people belonging to all classes. The values emphasize upon maintaining the environmental health and safety. The Franciscan values discourage violence by resolving interpersonal clashes. Through this course, Cardinal Stritch University becomes home to disabled and socially excluded people where they can acquire similar lifestyle as others. People from all ethnic backgrounds are able to benefit from the course. The university intends to develop increased communication links and hence better understanding between teachers and students. The course aims at addressing issues related to sustainable development and ensuring environmental health and safety by developing and implementing such programs. The course is also intended to play a big role in eliminating inter-racial conflicts and spread love, peace, and harmony between people belonging to different races and cultures. Critiques may argue that learning manners in such a formal programme as that offered by the Cardinal Stritch University is a waste of time and may question the justification of such courses. However, a deep analysis of the course suggests that it is a comprehensive course of Franciscan values and has the potential to bring positive results for the society. The course on Franciscan values offered by the Cardinal Stritch University provides a comprehensive understanding of these values.

Implied PPP of the Dollar and Actual Exchange Rate

Implied PPP of the Dollar and Actual Exchange Rate Ques.: The Economist publishes every year the prices of a standard BigMac around the world. Find the BigMac prices for the USA, France, and South Korea and the corresponding (average annual) nominal exchange rates in 2006 and 2009. Calculate for each of these countries the implied PPP of the dollar 2006 and 2009 and compare this to the actual exchange rates. Can you explain the differences in implied PPP of the dollar and the nominal exchange rates? The Economists Big Mac index is an informal index sometimes used to judge whether current exchange rates between different currencies are justified and currencies are at their correct exchange rate, though it is not intended to be a precise predictor of currency movements. Now commonly known as burgernomics, it is based on the theory of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). PPP is the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount of goods in all countries. It suggests that a long term equilibrium will adjust exchange rates such that the purchasing power or cost of traded goods and services in different countries will be the same. It is based on thelaw of one price: in ideally efficient markets, identical goods should have only one price. The Big Mac index uses the prices of McDonalds Big Mac hamburger, which is produced in about 120 countries. It assumes that the Big Mac is a similar product in each economy, wherever produced, and it is made with identical specification, thus it should have the same price everywhere. The following tables compare the Big Mac prices, nominal exchange rates and the Implied PPP for USA, France and South Korea for the year 2006 and 2009. Comparing actual exchange rates with PPPs indicates whether a currency is under- or over- valued. A countrys currency is said to be overvalued if the implied PPP is greater than the market exchange rate and it is said to be undervalued if the implied PPP is less that the market exchange rate. In accordance with the above explanation, Euro is overvalued both in 2006 and 2009 i.e. the implied PPP is more than the nominal exchange rate. The Euro has appreciated in 2009 as compared to 2006, but the nominal exchange rate should come down by about 28%(for 2009) and 19%(for 2006)to equalise with the implied PPP and thus holding the law of one price true. Whereas, the South Korean Won is undervalued both in 2006 and 2009, as implied PPP is less than the nominal exchange rate. We notice that the Won has depreciated in 2009 as compared to 2006, but the nominal exchange rate should go up by 26%(for 2009) and 17%(for 2006)to equalise with the implied PPP. The under/over valuation of Euro and South Korean Won for 2006 and 2009 is shown below: There is a difference between the nominal exchange rate and the implied PPP of the dollar as calculated using Big Mac prices. This difference can be attributed to several factors. The difference can arise largely due to factors affecting either: The implied PPP by Big Mac index Or Nominal Exchange Rate Firstly, the difference arises because the actual prices of Big Macs are not same everywhere. Many of the inputs of a Big Mac cannot be traded internationally, thus the prices of these goods may diverge substantially between countries. This effects the PPP but not the nominal exchange rate because comparisons on a purchasing-power parity (PPP) basis take account of the variations in prices of the same goods in different countries. Unlike comparisons at market exchange rates, PPP reflects the real purchasing power of each countrys residents. The Big Mac index is most useful for assessing the exchange rates of countries with similar incomes per head. It is quite natural for average prices to be lower in poorer countries than in developed ones. Non tradable inputs like labour services and property rent generally differ and are particularly cheap in poorer countries. This gives a big cost advantage in production of these goods and services. PPPs are therefore a more reliable way to derive exchange rate than market exchange rates, because cheaper prices mean that money goes further. The prevailing rates of taxes also lead to a difference in input prices and the selling price of a same commodity in different regions. The PPP model assumes that the real value placed on goods is same in different countries. But in reality, what is considered a luxury in some places might be a necessity in others. The PPP method does not take this into consideration. On the other hand, the factors which effect the nominal exchange rate are price level of the two countries in question, inflation rates, the real exchange rate etc. There factors might not always affect the PPP, thus there is a difference between the two. The above points explain the differences between implied PPP and nominal exchange rate. The believers of PPP have based their views largely on arguments relating to international goods arbitrage, which leads to equilibrium but this is not always the case. Thus Big Mac index is not a perfect measure of exchange rate. References: www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory www.economist.com/markets/bigmac Big Mac IndexA Dictionary of Finance and Banking. Ed Jonathan Law and John Smullen. Oxford University Press, 2008.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Big Mac IndexA Dictionary of Business and Management. Ed. Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2009.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. purchasing power parityA Dictionary of Business and Management. Ed. Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2009.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. purchasing power parity theory of exchange ratesThe Handbook of International Financial Terms. Peter Moles and Nicholas Terry. Oxford University Press 1997.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Economist; 7/18/2009, Vol. 392 Issue 8640, p74 Economist; 5/27/2006, Vol. 379 Issue 8479, p74 Economist; 6/23/2007, Vol. 383 Issue 8534, p86-86. Economist; 6/5/2004, Vol. 371 Issue 8378, p98-98. Economist; 04/11/98, Vol. 346 Issue 8063. Strauss, Jack. Southern Economic Journal.Stillwater: Yr 1995. Vol. 61, Iss. 4 Mankiw and Taylor (2008), Macroeconomics

Contrast of Irony and Style in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour Essay

Contrast of Irony and Style in Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin's use of irony in her short story, "The Story of an Hour," stands in direct contrast to the subtle manner in which she tells the story. Strong use of irony in a short story yields more honesty in a character. She achieves this quality by immediately setting the premise, that Mrs. Mallard's fragile health would ultimately lead to her demise, upon receiving the news of her husband's death. Before an immediate assumption can be made about Mrs. Mallard, Chopin begins to start another path. This divergence is apparent at the point of the story where Mrs. Mallard's reaction is anticipated, yet, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance" (170). Mrs. Mallard does indeed grieve the loss of her husband, but, "When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone" (170). Chopin discharges the inner feelings of her character simultaneously with those that are expected of her. For many people, an event of such significance as the death of a loved one, would be considered their darkest day. An individual's loss may lead to a bitter and pessimistic view of their world, finding fault with anything within even the most glorious of days. Paragraph five is vivid with pleasant imagery, as "new spring life," and "delicious breath of rain," become symbolic of Mrs. Mallard's release of her inner feelings. Hardly the reaction one might have expected. There are new hopes and aspirations ahead of her, not the direct opposite as one would assume. Yet, Mrs. Mallard is fearful of the feelings overcoming her, as if repressing a dirty thought. As if hearing the voice of society... ... the entire story, as Chopin writes: And yet she loved him ---sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! (171) This paragraph could not be anymore honest than it already is. It is plain to see how this short story challenged the thinking at the time. Great writers are the ones that have the foresight, and chutzpah to challenge the establishment. To break down the harmful norms dictated by a select few. Maybe the great irony lies in how many people felt the same way as Mrs. Mallard, but did not seize the opportunity. It is perhaps more shocking to see how far society has come, only to see how far it has left to go. Works Cited: Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. (1894). 31 Apr. 2003. Contrast of Irony and Style in Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour Essay Contrast of Irony and Style in Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin's use of irony in her short story, "The Story of an Hour," stands in direct contrast to the subtle manner in which she tells the story. Strong use of irony in a short story yields more honesty in a character. She achieves this quality by immediately setting the premise, that Mrs. Mallard's fragile health would ultimately lead to her demise, upon receiving the news of her husband's death. Before an immediate assumption can be made about Mrs. Mallard, Chopin begins to start another path. This divergence is apparent at the point of the story where Mrs. Mallard's reaction is anticipated, yet, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance" (170). Mrs. Mallard does indeed grieve the loss of her husband, but, "When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone" (170). Chopin discharges the inner feelings of her character simultaneously with those that are expected of her. For many people, an event of such significance as the death of a loved one, would be considered their darkest day. An individual's loss may lead to a bitter and pessimistic view of their world, finding fault with anything within even the most glorious of days. Paragraph five is vivid with pleasant imagery, as "new spring life," and "delicious breath of rain," become symbolic of Mrs. Mallard's release of her inner feelings. Hardly the reaction one might have expected. There are new hopes and aspirations ahead of her, not the direct opposite as one would assume. Yet, Mrs. Mallard is fearful of the feelings overcoming her, as if repressing a dirty thought. As if hearing the voice of society... ... the entire story, as Chopin writes: And yet she loved him ---sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! (171) This paragraph could not be anymore honest than it already is. It is plain to see how this short story challenged the thinking at the time. Great writers are the ones that have the foresight, and chutzpah to challenge the establishment. To break down the harmful norms dictated by a select few. Maybe the great irony lies in how many people felt the same way as Mrs. Mallard, but did not seize the opportunity. It is perhaps more shocking to see how far society has come, only to see how far it has left to go. Works Cited: Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. (1894). 31 Apr. 2003.

Scientific advancement: Morality Changed by Research

Scientific advancement benefits society: stem cells researches, creation of the Internet and various technologies have substantially facilitated human life and daily performance. However, as we are approaching the limits of human scientific knowledge, new scientific discoveries put us into the whirl of moral and ethical debates.In many instances, scientific advancement has given place to ethical dilemmas and has urged society to com/morality-and-moral-values/">re-think moral values. Scientific advancement makes us re-evaluate our ethical standards and beliefs, and adjust our moral norms to the needs of scientific progress.Scientific advancement: Morality Changed by ResearchScience has for long been considered a virtuous â€Å"value-neutral† activity (O’Hear 29). Science represented the constant desire of people to find the truth, and to ground this truth on scientific proofs and facts. However, science cannot remain distanced from morality and ethical values.The discove ry of stem cells is the example of how science impacts our ethical and moral beliefs. Stem cells research has generated the arduous debate on whether it is moral to kill an embryo. For many religious sects, embryo represents a human life and its destruction is equaled to murder. For the majority of scientists, stem cells research opens new horizons in treating life altering diseases.Fong writes that many scientists consider immoral to allow â€Å"select groups to decide which scientific advancements are to be explored, and which are to be discarded†. To decide, whether we support or reject stem cells research, we should thoughtfully re-consider our personal values.Stem cells research is just the most recent and the brightest example of the way scientific advancement changes our values. The Internet vs. privacy, video games vs. violence are included into the list of the most relevant ethical issues. Aristotle said that â€Å"all men, by nature, desire to know† (Johnson 2).Current scientific advancement has turned the desire for knowledge into the desire for â€Å"moral knowledge†. Science is becoming closer to ethics and morality. Scientists are compelled to weigh all possible moral and ethical consequences of their researches beforehand.For example, stem cells researchers look for the methods of generating stem cells without destroying an embryo (Fong). We participate in these processes through personal re-evaluation of scientific discoveries.Scientific advancement benefits society, but these benefits make moral dilemmas even more difficult and insolvable.The most significant scientific discoveries turn into the most debatable ones, and divide society into the two large camps of those who judge immoral scientific approaches, and those who benefit from the recent scientific researches.For example, the development of weapons of mass destruction has benefited those who live in aggressive military areas, but has also put humanity under the ris ks of self-destruction. Philosophers and religious leaders claim that â€Å"the sirens of science are dulling our moral sensibilities with the bewitching illusion of immortality† (Johnson 2).For many, scientific advancement remains the sign of the social spiritual and moral degradation. For those who have already lost the hope to be cured, defended, or informed, scientific advancement gives a chance for long and full living.Those who oppose to scientific advancement and view it as threatening to moral stability of society, may change their views as soon as they appear in different circumstances (e.g. face a life threatening state, participate in a military conflict, or need to use the informational benefits of the Internet).This is why the balance of forces in such dilemmas is very vulnerable and is subject to changes. As a result, we watch how our values shift under the impact of scientific progress, and how our most precious views and beliefs are being shrunk by the speedy and sometimes threatening scientific advancement.On the one hand, scientific advancement shifts our beliefs and values. On the other hand, the major portion of scientific ethical dilemmas is caused by the lack of scientific knowledge. There is no agreement on whether an embryo should be considered a live person, because we do not have scientific facts to prove or refute this assumption.We argue whether the development of arms threatens society, because we do not have scientific means of neutralizing the effects of such arms on people. We cannot decide whether Internet is good for people, or whether it undermines the principles of personal privacy, because we lack scientific methods of protecting this privacy (Givens).Scientific advancement is a positive and useful process; it makes our lives more convenient, and provides the grounds for re-evaluating our attitudes and beliefs. O’Hear writes, that â€Å"we are forced to contemplate issues that previous generations neither con ceived of nor could imagine† (37).It is an unavoidable scientific and social progress. Evidently, current scientific advancement has become more moral than ever before, as scientists constantly re-consider the morality of their discoveries. Society finds itself in the continuous process of re-evaluating values and standards, and adjusting them to the changing scientific needs.ConclusionScientific advancement makes our existence â€Å"more convenient† but generates social disagreement on whether certain scientific discoveries are moral or ethical. Scientific advancement creates new subjects for moral and ethical dilemmas.Our ethical values follow the scientific progress, and not vice versa. We shift our values to adjust them to the new scientific opportunities, but these opportunities are also driven by our growing social needs. Re-thinking values is continuous process, and is the inevitable product of the current scientific advancement.Works CitedFong, K. â€Å"Stem Ce ll Advancement Touted, But Doubts About Effectiveness and QuestionsAbout Ethics Raised.† 2006. The Stanford Daily. 24 April 2008. http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2006/8/31/stemCellAdvancementToutedButDoubtsAboutEffectivenessAndQuestionsAboutEthicsRaisedGivens, B. â€Å"Public Records on the Internet: The Privacy Dilemma.† 2006. Privacy RightsClearinghouse. 24 April 2008. http://www.cfp2002.org/proceedings/proceedings/givens.pdfJohnson, D. â€Å"Whispers of Immortality.† London Daily Telegraph, 8 April 2000, p. 2.O'Hear, A. After Progress: Finding the Old Way Forward. Bloomsbury USA, 2000.

Free Essays on An Event A Book Or Movie That Affected My Life

Is there really such a thing as an event, movie or a book that could really change or affect somebody’s life? The answer will definetly be yes! My story began five years ago from a simple blood test I had to do. Being a volleyball player like all the other athletes i had to carry with me a health ID card to every game. To publish that ID card I had to go through a series of tests to confirm that I was healthy, in which one was the blood testing. I then discovered that my blood type was rhesus O negative and that was impossible since my parents were both rhesus A positive. I knew from my biology class that a chance for a child of both parents with blood type Rhesus A to have a Rhesus O was one in a billion. Could I have been that one in a billion child? I started asking questions to my parents but the answers I was getting weren’t satisfactory. So I decided to look and find for my birth certificate. After days of research I finally found it at the private clinic I was born. Until then it was no surprise to me that my parents weren’t really my birth parents. I ‘ve been adopted at the age of one month. It my sound crazy that I wasn’t surprise but I knew that something was wrong since I got my blood test results. At that point I had to search for my birth parents! It wasn’t very hard finding them since my real parents were very near by. My godmother and my godfather! My adopted parents explained to me that due to a health problem they couldn’t have kids. My â€Å"mum† was desperate for a child so her best friend, my godmother, decided to give to her the next baby she would give birth to. And that was me! Now how my life changed? Well I decided to stay with my adopted parents since they are the ones that raised me and I have no complains about the way they have been treating me. I love them like being my biological parents. As for my real parents, they are like my second family. I c... Free Essays on An Event A Book Or Movie That Affected My Life Free Essays on An Event A Book Or Movie That Affected My Life Is there really such a thing as an event, movie or a book that could really change or affect somebody’s life? The answer will definetly be yes! My story began five years ago from a simple blood test I had to do. Being a volleyball player like all the other athletes i had to carry with me a health ID card to every game. To publish that ID card I had to go through a series of tests to confirm that I was healthy, in which one was the blood testing. I then discovered that my blood type was rhesus O negative and that was impossible since my parents were both rhesus A positive. I knew from my biology class that a chance for a child of both parents with blood type Rhesus A to have a Rhesus O was one in a billion. Could I have been that one in a billion child? I started asking questions to my parents but the answers I was getting weren’t satisfactory. So I decided to look and find for my birth certificate. After days of research I finally found it at the private clinic I was born. Until then it was no surprise to me that my parents weren’t really my birth parents. I ‘ve been adopted at the age of one month. It my sound crazy that I wasn’t surprise but I knew that something was wrong since I got my blood test results. At that point I had to search for my birth parents! It wasn’t very hard finding them since my real parents were very near by. My godmother and my godfather! My adopted parents explained to me that due to a health problem they couldn’t have kids. My â€Å"mum† was desperate for a child so her best friend, my godmother, decided to give to her the next baby she would give birth to. And that was me! Now how my life changed? Well I decided to stay with my adopted parents since they are the ones that raised me and I have no complains about the way they have been treating me. I love them like being my biological parents. As for my real parents, they are like my second family. I c...

Free Essays on The Black Shrike

A Man for Megan 1. GENRE - The genre of this book would be considered science fiction. 2. THEME – The message of this book would be to find your true love and not to be with some one just because you can or for he or she to be with you to raise a family and have a regular life. Instead, to find someone who makes you happy and will be committed to you in every way possible forever and not have any doubts about it. Examples: 1. Was that the reason her hands clenched and her breath seemed to go faint every time she was in his presence? Never, not with Elliot, not with any man or woman, had she felt such greed to be with someone. 2. For a minute she considered telling Elliot the truth. He was, after all her fiancà ©, the man she was going to share the rest of her life with. Certainly her deserved to know the truth. 3. Megan stared out the windshield. â€Å"I never expected Elliot to love me. I only expected him not to leave me.† 3. CHARACTERS – 1.A) One of the main characters in the story is Megan. Megan is a young woman who is currently engaged to a man named Elliot. Megan had long brown hair and is a mellow type of women who basis her opinions on facts. She is an ordinary woman with an ordinary life. B) Some of them obstacles that Megan had to overcome was putting up with Elliot’s mother. Elliot’s mother (Delores) hated Megan. Example: 1. â€Å"Every time she looks at me, I feel like my shirt is buttoned the wrong way or I forgot to zipper my pants† 2. â€Å"Kimberly, Harriet’s daughter, was Elliot’s girlfriend for years and years, but then, he probably told you all about that.† Megan kept smiling. â€Å"You probably even know her. Tall girl with long, blond hair, homecoming queen, class president, class valedictorian. Wait a minute I have her and Elliot’s picture when they were crowned the royal couple at the senior prom.† C) Throughout the book Megan changed by growing apart from her fia... Free Essays on The Black Shrike Free Essays on The Black Shrike A Man for Megan 1. GENRE - The genre of this book would be considered science fiction. 2. THEME – The message of this book would be to find your true love and not to be with some one just because you can or for he or she to be with you to raise a family and have a regular life. Instead, to find someone who makes you happy and will be committed to you in every way possible forever and not have any doubts about it. Examples: 1. Was that the reason her hands clenched and her breath seemed to go faint every time she was in his presence? Never, not with Elliot, not with any man or woman, had she felt such greed to be with someone. 2. For a minute she considered telling Elliot the truth. He was, after all her fiancà ©, the man she was going to share the rest of her life with. Certainly her deserved to know the truth. 3. Megan stared out the windshield. â€Å"I never expected Elliot to love me. I only expected him not to leave me.† 3. CHARACTERS – 1.A) One of the main characters in the story is Megan. Megan is a young woman who is currently engaged to a man named Elliot. Megan had long brown hair and is a mellow type of women who basis her opinions on facts. She is an ordinary woman with an ordinary life. B) Some of them obstacles that Megan had to overcome was putting up with Elliot’s mother. Elliot’s mother (Delores) hated Megan. Example: 1. â€Å"Every time she looks at me, I feel like my shirt is buttoned the wrong way or I forgot to zipper my pants† 2. â€Å"Kimberly, Harriet’s daughter, was Elliot’s girlfriend for years and years, but then, he probably told you all about that.† Megan kept smiling. â€Å"You probably even know her. Tall girl with long, blond hair, homecoming queen, class president, class valedictorian. Wait a minute I have her and Elliot’s picture when they were crowned the royal couple at the senior prom.† C) Throughout the book Megan changed by growing apart from her fia...

Vmware assignment (virtual servers) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vmware (virtual servers) - Assignment Example Question 25: The best disaster recovery for VMware is by making use of back-up process on the servers and replication of virtual machines in the network. This can be best deployed using storage where NAS is deployed for VMs and Servers in the network (Muller 123). Question 26: vMotion works by encapsulating VMs on shared storage and then the enclustered VMs allow multiple installations on an ESX server. The memory and execution state of the VMs is transferred to high speed network. This is done by copying memory and system states of the ESX server. To allow identity of the VMs, networks used by the VMs are also virtualized by the ESX server (Wolf 84). This transfer (vMotion) takes very few seconds. Question 27: A snapshot presents a complete copy of a virtual machine at any time and all the changes made. While a clone is the exact copy of the virtual machine during the cloning process. Any changes made on the parent of the clone are not reflected in the clone. Therefore using snapshots provide better functionality than clones. Question 28: Fault Tolerance in VMware works through the use of a technique known as Record/Reply. This technique provides continuous availability to the virtual machine in case the host fails. This works whereby if a VM goes down it is restarted in another host and the secondary host now becomes the primary host while a secondary host is being looked for (Muller

Diversity for the 21st Century Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Diversity for the 21st Century - Research Paper Example Therefore, diversity plays a significant role in the success of firms and the entire sector as a whole. As a result of globalization, the concept of diversity significantly influences how organization conduct their business and daily activities. However, with diversity comes great conflicts and miscommunication as organizations benefit numerous individuals seem to be disadvantaged. As a result, numerous issues prevail in the American society including inequality due to gender, discrimination, and underpay and income disparities (Daly, 1998). The necessity for cultural competence has been seen in various events in the American society, which emphasizes for understanding cultural, social, language, and social nuances of different families and people. A specific event sis the civil rights movements from the 1950s, whereby African Americans, lesbians and gays, individuals characterized by disabilities as well and other various communities such as minority groups. This event informed the American society of distinct identities and long history characterizing these groups. Consequently, the other event is the increasing rate of new immigrants into the country. The new immigrants have distinct political, religious, language, and cultural backgrounds. The displacement of these individuals and the background associated with them and melding these aspects together with elements of experiences, history, and expectations of the American culture and diverse populations results in a diverse society (Daly, 1998). Due to the prevalent diversity in the American society, individuals tend to bring different views, innovations, approaches, and experiences into various sectors in the society. In the country, more than 75% of big companies focus on diversity as a means for strategic advantage as well as business leverage. However, with the diversity in the American society, various issues

BUSINESS PLAN, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BUSINESS PLAN, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES - Essay Example To assist in achieving these goals and objectives, I need to prepare appropriate funds to financial higher education, as well as the proper state of mind, determination and enthusiasm to pursue this career. Part 1: Career Goals 1. Competencies: What are the competencies I need to develop? To prepare myself for the career, I need to develop competencies in the following areas: healthcare operations management; patient or consumer focus; political, legal and ethical concerns; financial and economic issues; and medical and physician relationships (Shewchuck, O’Connor and Fine, 2005). 2. How will I develop: What steps will I take to clarify my developmental needs? I should focus on prioritizing academic requirements to comply with the required degree for the career path I planned. I must incorporate professional experience in working in the public health environment to evaluate and appraise the requirements and resources and match my qualifications to the demands of the profession . 3.

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay Example for Free

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay A. Introduction of Viet Nam Vietnam is approximately 331688 km2 in area and occupied the eastern coast of the Southeast Asian peninsula. The northern part of the country part consists mostly of highlands and the Red River Delta. The south is divided into coastal lowlands and extensive forests. Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety of topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably from place to place. During the winter or dry season (November to April), the monsoon wind blowing from the northwest brings considerably moisture. Consequently the winter season in most parts of the country is dry. Major Vietnamese cities include Hanoi in the north, Da Nang in the mid coastal region, and Ho Chi Minh City (formally known as Saigon) to the south. Vietnam has considerable energy resources such as oil, gas and coal and its 41,000 km long waterways provide the basis for hydropower. The country is rich in minerals such as bauxite, iron ore, lead, gold, precious stones, tin, chromate, anthracite, granite, marble, clay, white sand and graphite. In addition, Vietnam has a considerable fresh and saltwater fauna, dense tropical forestry resources and it possesses great agricultural potential. The history of Vietnam, reference to the Geneva Accord signed in 1954. The accord ended French colonial rule, and the country was partitioned into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh and the Republic of Vietnam in the South. The capitals were Hanoi for the North and Saigon for the South. Fights led by Ho Chi Minh to unite the country started in 1959 and lasted until 1975. Hanoi became the capital of the country whilst Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Following reunification, the Vietnamese government’s initial plan was to manage the economy via methods of central planning. Based on experiences gained during the 1976-1980 five years plan, subsequent central plans introduced more relaxed policies with respect to agricultural collectives, State Owned Enterprises and allowed more scope for private initiatives. These measures were instrumental in elevating poverty.  Growth rates during the early 80’s were higher than during the 1976-1980 five year pl an, however it became evident that further policy shift were necessary to enable the Vietnam economy to perform closer to its potential. Economic reform was the key point of discussion at the Sixth National Party Congress held in December 1986. The process then initiated of moving from a centrally planned economy to an open, socialist-oriented and multi-sector market economy known as Doi Moi (renovation). In 1992, the National Assembly revised the post-unification constitution to better reflect the aspirations articulated in the Doi Moi process. Economic performance since 1986 has justified the policy of relaxation of central control, the challenge faced by Vietnam has been the maintenance of rapid economic growth and integration into the global economy. B. â€Å"P.E.S.T.L.E† REPORT ON VIET NAM 1. Politics The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a single-party state. Its current state constitution, which replaced the 1975 constitution in April 1992, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in all organs of government, politics and society. In 2011, Viet Nam held the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party, in which happened the Election of the Party Central Committee for the new term. Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong was elected to be the General Secretary. After the Congress, there happened the fist Congress of the Parliament, term 13th, in which Mr. Nguyen Sinh Hung was elected to be the President of the Parliament, Mr. Truong Tan Sang the President of the Country, and Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung was elected to continue the position of Prime Minister. This Congress also issued 4 degrees: first, approving the State Budget, second, agreeing on the program of building laws and ordinances in2012, third, beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establ ishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution, and finally, the degree on the issuance of certain additional tax measures to remove difficulties for enterprises and individuals, contributing to economic development in 2011. In 2011, the disputes over the East Sea was the main cause of some changes in relations between Vietnam and some important countries in the world, especially the  Vietnam China and Viet Nam U.S. Tension in the East Sea has escalated due to Chinas provocative acts in May, 2011. Then happened many anti-Chinese protests in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city. In this context, the relation between Viet Nam and the U.S was proclaimed to be elevated to strategic partnership.4 And late 2011, the tensions in the Vietnam-China relations down to the visit by the senior officials of the two countries. In terms of politically domestic policy, the government kept a political stability, and showed some positive signs. For example, the freedom of the press seemed to be extended. In addition, the government was also more aware of its limitations and of the policy mistakes. Concretely, at the Fourth Conference of the Party Central Committee (XI), Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong said: ―Besides the achievements, the Party building work still has many limitations and shortcomings, weaknesses, even spanning multiple defects; these limitations would reduce peoples trust in the Party; if not corrected, they will be the challenge for leadership of the Party and the survival of the regime. 2. Economy The year of 2011 was important for the economy of Viet Nam because this is the first year in the latest Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2011-2020), with the goal of becoming an industrialized and modern economy by 2020. This strategy goes on to identify the country’s key priorities to meet this ambitious target: stabilize the economy, build world-class infrastructure, create a skilled labor force, and strengthen market-based institutions. According to Vietnam Development Report (VDR) 2012, meeting these aspirations will not be easy. In fact, the country has experienced bouts of macroeconomic turbulence in recent years—double-digit inflation, depreciating currency, capital flight, and loss of international reserves—eroding investor confidence. Besides, rapid growth has revealed new structural problems. The quality and sustainability of growth remain a source of concern, given the resource-intensive pattern of growth, high levels of environmental degradation, lack of diversification and value addition in exports, and the declining contribution of productivity to growth. Vietnam’s competitiveness is under threat because the power  generation has not kept pace with demand, logistical costs and real estate prices have climbed, and skill shortages are becoming more widespread. And these difficulties strongly existed in 2011. Concretely, the inflation in 2011 was 18.13%; the growth of GDP has slowed (5,89%). Domestic and international gold price gap increased. The Corruption index 2011 from Transparency International ranked Viet Nam at the position 112. This shows that Viet Nam has been faced one of the most difficult challenges of economic development. In terms of financial, according to the document of World Bank, in 2011, foreign direct investment inflows (to Viet Nam) continued at a steady pace, although new commitments declined. International reserves increased in the first half of the year while the Vietnamese dong benefitted from a period of relative calm. In the last quarter of the year, however, exchange rate fluctuations increased due to volatility in gold prices, deepening uncertainties and the seasonal increase in demand for foreign currency as the year end approaches. With approximate 9 billion U.S. dollars, the amount of money coming from overseas Vietnamese was one of the biggest sources of foreign currency in 2011. This amount is equivalent to the amount of FDI. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japanese are the countries that contributed the biggest investment to Viet Nam in 2011. Hai Duong, Ho Chi Minh city, and Ha Noi are three places that has been most invested in recent time. The sectors that most attract the attention of foreign investors are processing industry, electricity supply, and accommodation and dining service. However, according to the analysis of a chief economist, Dr. Allan Pham, though facing the difficulties as mentioned above, the economy is coming to a better prospect in 2012, especially with a certain success in the fight against inflation of the country (the inflation has been trending down since the 4th quarter of 2011). Following is the figure of the selected macro indicators of the economy in recent years: Key Indicators 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 GDP growth (%) 8.5 6.2 5.3 6.78 5.8 6.0 CPI (%) 12.6 23 6.52 11.75 18.0 12-14 Trade deficit (USD) 12.5 17.8 12.2 12.4 12.1 13.3 Exports (USD) 48.4 62.5 56.6 71.6 80.2 86.5 Imports (USD) 60.8 80.3 68.8 84.0 92.4 99.8 FDI commitments (USD) 21.3 66.5 21.5 18.6 15.0 18.0 FDI disbursement (USD) 8.0 11.5 10.0 11.0 12.0 12.5 Credit growth (%) 54 21 37.7 27.6 15 18 SBV Base rate 8.2 8.5 8.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 Deposit rate (%) 7.0-8.0 7.0-8.5 9.5-10.5 10.0- 11.0 14 12.0 Lending rate (%) 10.0-12.0 10-12.5 10.5-12 13.0-13.5 18-20 14-16 USD/VND (bank rate) 16,016 17,468 18,600 19,500 21,500 22,500 Foreign Affairs At present, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 168 countries, and it has economic and trading relations with about 165 countries. Vietnam joined the United Nations in 1977. Vietnam became an official member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995, and has concluded a cooperation agreement with the European Community. Relationships with multi-national financial institutions such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been re-established. Viet Nam has been participating in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (â€Å"AFTA†) since 1996 and became a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in 1998. Vietnam became an official member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 January 2007. In January 2008, the country started a two year term as an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Vietnam signed the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United Sta tes in 2000. Besides aspects of international trade, the BTA covers a variety of other areas, including intellectual property rights, trade in services, development of investment relations, business  facilitation and the obligation to ensure transparency of laws and regulations. The BTA essentially constitutes a commitment by both countries to open their markets to each other. Intellectual Property In recent years, the Government has taken various measures to increase the legal protection of intellectual property and has created an environment of respect for intellectual property as compared to other neighboring countries. Intellectual property rights are protected by the Civil Code (1995 and 2005), the Law on Intellectual Property (2005) and a host of subordinate legislation. Vietnam is a long-time signatory to the Paris Convention, the Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registration, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (â€Å"PCT†) and became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1976. On 27 June 1997, Vietnam entered into an Agreement on copyrights with the US. According to the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, Vietnam is under the obligation to adhere to the Berne Convention. The National Office of Intellectual Property (â€Å"NOIP†) is the authority responsible for the registration of industrial property and for the resolutio n of disputes with regard to industrial property in the first instance. Foreign organizations and individuals seeking to register their industrial ownership should file their applications through an authorized agent, who will transfer their application to the NOIP. The Office of Copyright Protection under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism has also been established and is responsible for the protection of copyright. Works may be registered with the Office of Copyright Protection; however, registration is not a prerequisite for copyright protection. Currently, patents are protected for a period of 20 years. A certificate of utility solutions may be granted for 10 years. A certificate of industrial design is granted for 5 years and may be renewed every 5 years. However, the total effective period of a certificate cannot exceed 15 years. Certificates of trademarks are granted for 10 years with no restrictions on the number of renewals. Investment Guarantees The Government of Vietnam guarantees fair treatment for investors. Capital and other legal assets of investors will not be expropriated or confiscated by law or administrative measures and businesses with foreign-invested  capital will not be nationalized. Foreign investors are allowed to remit abroad investment capital and profits, loan principal and interest, and other legal proceeds and assets. Expatriates working for businesses with foreign-invested capital or for a business cooperation contract are permitted to remit their income abroad. The Vietnam government respects intellectual and industrial property rights and the interests of foreign investors relating to technology transfers into Vietnam. Economic Risks Global Finance Crisis is the hottest issues that people discuss most in this few years. The global financial crisis that started from the United States raises a very broad impact to Vietnam. Inflation Inflation has been in double digits since 2007 and peaking at 28% in August 2008. The fiscal deficit accounted for 4.5-5% GDP in 2008 while trade deficit reached US$17.5 billion (or over 20% of GDP), a level that signals vulnerability to a sudden drop in external demand (Figure 2). A high rate of investment combined with a sizeable fiscal deficit resulted in rapid growth in aggregate demand in the first half of 2008. Massive capital inflows generated asset price inflation, especially in real estate and land prices. Export Decline Vietnamese exports have suffered the strongest negative impact. With economic problems in the US, EU and Japan, which together account for more than 60% of Vietnamese exports, Vietnam saw a significant decline in export revenues. Vietnam’s export revenues fell 6.5% in November 2008 and a further 24% drop in January 2009 (year-on-year) (Figure 3). Orders for manufactured exports including garments, footwear and furniture dropped quickly, while seafood5 producers are also under pressure. The decline of orders has caused great difficulties for exporting companies, many of them are at risk of closing down.6 Vietnamese exports’ growth is forecasted to decline from 30% in 2008 to 13% in 2009. Unemployment Unemployment has worsened. At February 28, 2009, 66,700 workers (out of 45 million workers) lost their jobs in 2008 with national unemployment rate of 4.65%. Thus, it is estimated that over 80,000 workers lost their jobs  nationwide in 2008. The latest forecast of Vietnam Labor and Employment Agency estimates the figure to hit 400,000 nationwide in 2009. Job cuts are rising especially in big cities11 with industrial, processing and exporting zones. The situation may worsen in 2009 with an unemployment rate of 5% and at a projected economic growth of 6.5%. High unemployment has already affected domestic demand and consumers’ sentiment in Vietnam, which are bearish in recent months. 3. Socio-Culture 3.1 Education Viet Nams population enjoys a relatively high standard of education. In fact, Confucian ethics has strongly influenced upon Vietnamese’s viewpoint of social values, and education has always been considered as one of the best values that a person should desire to achieve. Nowadays, education has been still considered as one of the most important issues that the country has to pay great attention. Recently, at the 11th Party Congress, the government is determined to develop a national education policy as one of the priorities of the country. As a result, the country has gained big success in education. Concretely, according to the 2009 Census results, there are only nearly four million people who have never attended school (5.0% of the total population aged 5 years and over) and as compared with the 1999 Census this number has decreased 5% (6.9 million people, account for 10.0% of population aged 5 and over). This shows the significant progress of Vietnam’s education sect or in minimizing the number of people who never go to school. The official figures also point out that the literacy rate for the population aged 15 years and over increased by 3.7% (from 90.3% in 1999 to 94.0% in 2009). The female literacy rate increased 4.9%, while the male literacy rate increased 2.2%, significantly narrowing the literacy rate gap between men and women. Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City are three provinces having the highest literacy rate (97.9%) while Lai Chau has the lowest (59.4%). This data shows that the literacy rate was not only increased quite rapidly but also express successes of Vietnam’s gender equality work in the education sector.13 Certainly, besides such successes, Vietnamese education system also has faced many challenges,  including poor infrastructure, lack of equipment and teaching materials, low wages precipitating an acute shortage of skilled teachers and academic staff, a relatively poor linkage of higher education with research, production and employment, and some contradictions of the system. As the analysis of RFA, the situation of education in Viet Nam in 2011 had some notable points as following: There were three positive points of the education in Vietnam in 2011. The first point is the plan of reducing the load of textbooks from primary to secondary school of the Ministry of Education and Training. The second is the plan of achieving universal preschool education for children of 5 years old. In this plan, the Ministry of Education will build public kindergartens for children at age 5 in the mountainous areas; and the poor students will be exempt from tuition fees, with the plan of over 95% of children enroll in 2 sessions / day by 2015. And the third is the policy of training and vocational training in poor areas such as the Highlands. On the contrary, there were also many crucially negative points of the education in 2011. First of all, there was the imbalance in enrollment in universities and colleges between students with practical needs. The sectors of social sciences, agriculture, forestry and fishery were registered by only 2.5% of exam registration records (while Vie tnam has up to 70% of the population are farmers). And the sectors in demand such as business, tourism had to be encountered the difference between training and recruitment practices; and this leads to the fact that graduates get difficulty to find job. Secondly, teacher’s salary does not meet their living when inflation is high; and this leads to some problems: the teachers could not focus on their business as they had to find extra jobs, or to open extra classes. Thirdly, there has existed the problem of the degradation in social ethics of many students, due to lack of paying attention on humanity teaching, which can be proved by many cases of students committed violent guilty or crime. 3.2 Human Resource The national average population in 2011 estimated 87.84 million, up by 1.04% compared to 2010, including male population 43.47 million, (49.5%), and female population 44.37 million, (50.5%). Urban population is 26.88 million,  (30.6%); rural population is 60.96 million (69.4 %). According to the official report, the population structure by age in Vietnam is in a positive change. The population in the working age is 46,48 million, increased 0,12% compared to 2010. The proportion of workers in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries declined from 48.7% in 2010 to 48.0% in 2011; in industry and construction rose from 21.7% to 22.4%; and in the services maintained at 29.6%. The unemployment rate in the working age was 2.27% in 2011, of which the urban areas account for 3.6%, the rural areas 1.71%. This is the period of the country with advantages in labor force, also known as the demographic window period, which began in 2003 and may last from 30 to 50 years. This is considered as a bi g advantage for the industrialization and modernization of the country, if it takes advantage of the superiority Vietnamese on the labor force. 3.3 Traffic: Conditions And Problems Highway system The road system consists of over 200,000 km network including over 10,000 bridges. However road conditions are not ideal, less than half of the national highways have two lanes or more. In addition, road congestion is increasing in major cities. In recent years, the Government has mobilized a significantly large amount of capital to upgrade the highway system with financial support from international lending agencies. Railway The rail network consists of about 2,600 km of single–track line covering several routes. There are about 260 stations in the network. The longest and most important route is the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City line, which stretches for 1,730 km. This line is now serviced by an express train, which makes the journey in approximately 29.5 hours. The lines connecting Vietnam to China were re-opened a few years ago. Inland Waterways Often overlooked by foreign investors, the inland waterway system offers a cheap and flexible mode of transport. Vietnam has more than 2,300 rivers and canals with total length of 198.000 km. Currently, the inland waterway has a system of over 61,000 km. The two major inland waterway systems serve as major transportation outlets. The first major inland waterway system is in  the Red River area in the north which stretches for approximately 2,500 km. Along this system there are five main ports, of which Hanoi is the largest. The second major inland waterway extends 4,500 km along the Mekong River and its tributaries in the South and boasts about 30 ports, including Ho Chi Minh City. The larger river vessels are tug-drawn barges. Official estimates put the fleet capacity at about 420,000 tons with speeds ranging from 2 to over 20 km an hour. Smaller, wooden barges are mostly privately owned. Ports Vietnam has eleven major seaports. Ho Chi Minh City serves most of the South and now boasts modern container loading facilities. Just a few hours’ drive from Hanoi, Hai Phong serves much of the North. Given the rapid rise in trade volume, increasing port capacity is a national priority. Airports and Civil Aviation There are three international airports: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang. Currently, the Government has significantly upgraded international airports to handle the increase in the volume of traffic associated with Vietnams invigorated economy. A new international terminal of the Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, capable of handling up to 10 million passengers a year was opened in December 2007. Noi Bai airport in Hanoi was upgraded, enlarged and completed for operation in 2002, construction of a second terminal is expected to start in October 2008 and completed in two years. Four new international airports are planned to be constructed in Phu Quoc, Dong Nai, Lao Cai and Quang Ninh provinces. Preparations for the new Long Thanh International Airport, 40 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province is underway. The airport is scheduled to open in 2010 and by 2015 it will be further expanded to reach an annual transportation capacity of 80 to 100 million passengers, becoming one of the biggest airports in the region. In addition, there are 16 other domestic airports around the country. Culture and Social Vietnam is a country located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a culturally rich country whose distinct history played a role in the development of the modern day state. Vietnamese practices of Confucianism and showing reverence towards ancestors are evidence of China’s historical influence on Vietnamese  society. Vietnam became an independent state in the tenth century but was colonized by the French in the mid 1800s. Vietnam gained independence in the mid twentieth century but still retains traces of French culture which are visible in the way people communicate verbally and nonverbally. Though Vietnam has struggled over the past century through colonial rule, the Vietnam War and recent economic upheavals, it is now rebuilding itself to be able to compete on a global scale. Having a comprehensive understanding of Vietnam’s unique cultural values and traditions can allow the company to develop strong and successful business relationships with Vietnamese counterparts. Language Vietnamese is the official language, although there are distinct northern, central and southern dialects and accents. It is a tonal language, with each syllable; there are six different tones that can be used, which change the definition and it often makes it difficult for foreigners to pick up the language. There are other languages spoken as well such as Chinese, Khmer, Cham and other languages spoken by tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions. Although there are some similarities to Southeast Asian languages, such as Chinese, Vietnamese is thought to be a separate language group, although a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family. In written form, Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and accent marks to show tones. This system of writing called â€Å"quoc ngu†, was created by Catholic missionaries in the 17th century to translate the scriptures. Eventually this system, particularly after World War I, replaced one using Chinese characters (chu nom), which had been the u nofficial written form used for centuries. Non-verbal communication For certain feelings, Vietnamese people favor non-verbal communication. Vietnamese do not express feeling of thankfulness of apology in verbal communication, but non-verbal through silence or a smile. The proper respectful behavior is to avoid eye contact when talking to person who is not equal status or of the same gender. The smile is another non-verbal symbol conveying the feeling of respect in Vietnamese culture. It is used as an expression of apology, or as expression of embarrassment. For the Vietnamese a smile is a proper response in most situation in which verbal expression is not necessary, or appropriate. Confucianism The teachings of Confucius influence the Vietnamese describe the position of the individual in Vietnamese society. Confucian teachings emphasize the importance of relationships, responsibility and obligation. This philosophy is still a vital component of Vietnamese society and is prevalent in Vietnamese business culture in conserving the harmony of the collective good. The basic tenets are based upon five different relationships: Ruler and subject Husband and wife Parents and children Brothers and sisters Friends Hierarchy As like other group-oriented societies, Vietnam hierarchical structures are very much based upon age and status. This derives from Confucianism, which emphasizes social order. Everyone is seen as having a distinct place and role within the hierarchical structure, be it the family or workplace. An obvious example is seen in social situations where the oldest person in a group is greeted or served first. Within the family the head would be responsible for making decisions and approving marriages. Therefore companies that want to invest in Vietnam are made sense to give more authority to local managers to control the subordinates. The organization structure can be designed as hierarchical, with power derived from prestige, force, and inheritance. Collectivism Vietnam is a collectivist society in which the needs of the group are often placed over the individual. Family and community concerns will almost always come before business or individual needs. Family in particular plays an important role in Vietnamese society. You will notice that close ties between extended families and communities can have a major influence on individual behavior and oftentimes there are multiple generations living under one roof. For this reason, the company of the investor can pay more attention to their employees’ family members for example provide free medical treatment, childcare leave, family trips, etc. This can increase the employees’ loyalty to the company. Besides, in order to increase efficiency of Vietnamese employees, the company should assign tasks to them by group rather than individual. Religion Religion in Vietnam is closely related to the history of Vietnam and most importantly the culture of Vietnam. The earliest established religions in Vietnam were Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism (called the ‘triple religion’). These religions have been co-existing in the country for centuries and mixed well with the Vietnamese tradition of ancestor worship. This special mix explains why the Vietnamese people find it hard to say exactly which religion the belong to. They usually classify themselves as non-religious, despite visiting religious temples several times every year. At the year 2006, the major religious affiliations amongst Vietnam born people were Buddhism (58.6%), Catholics (22.1%), other (4.6%), and no religion (11.03%). From the data, we were found that Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism have greatly affected the Vietnamese’s behavior. The foreign investors should take note there are quite a large number of vegetarian in Vietnam, because of th e Buddhism religion. Food of Vietnamese Food is a very important part of Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese not only enjoy eating but believe eating good food can bring harmony and closeness to the family and relationships. The types of foods are chosen to bring luck and these vary from province to province. Buying daily for fresh food is essential for all Vietnamese cooking. In general, Vietnamese people are not as concerned about nutrition as Westerner. They are more concerned with the quality of the foods. Concepts of Time Like most Asians, the Vietnamese have a more extended concept of time than that of most Americans. The agrarian nature of their traditional society focuses on seasons rather than days or weeks. And this tradition is reinforced by the Confucian tradition of respect for earlier generations. Americans measure time by the clock, Vietnamese by the monsoon. Although this is changing somewhat, Vietnamese can still be expected to take a longer view of time and be suspicious of the need for urgency in making decisions  or culminating a business deal. Patience remains the ultimate Confucian virtue in personal life as well as in business. Personal Relationships In Vietnam, propriety and courtesy play a major role in personal relationships. Vietnamese are generally more interpersonally formal than are Americans. This formality decreases the uncertainty surrounding interpersonal contacts in Vietnamese society and is carried over into the business realm for the same reasons. During initial meetings with Vietnamese officials, you can expect little real business to be accomplished. The Vietnamese will concentrate on getting to know youyour background, your expertise, your character. In their high-context communication culture, they will depend heavily on non-verbal clues to assess meaning. By becoming acquainted and establishing a personal relationship with you, they are merely trying to understand you better. Vietnamese society is comprised of an interconnected network of personal relationships, all of which carry obligations on both sides. These mutual obligations are the underpinnings of social order in Vietnam, so they are taken very serious ly. Americans need to understand and be sensitive to the serious nature of what may seem to them to be casual business relations. Failure to do so could easily result in a loss of trust or credibility, with obvious implications for longer-term relationships. 4. Technology In terms of technology, Viet Nam is a rapidly developing country. The year 2011 was the beginning of the strategic plan of economic and social development, period 2011-2020, in which infrastructural building is considered as one of main targets. With this plan, the country has been building many expressways and will let the local transport network be eventually upgraded to meet the requirements of rural industrialization and modernization, and connect itself with the national system. In addition, the above plan also includes a project which will work to narrow its scientific and technological gap with the world in some key fields by 2020. To launch this project, the Government will give top priority to enhancing the competence of scientists and related managers while encouraging the organization of training courses partnered with foreign competent partners. According to the project, the Government will focus on scientific and technological renovation to sharpen the competitive edge of local products and assisting businesses to purchase patents in some prioritized areas: biotechnology, information technology, new materials technology Nano technology , manufacturing technology and automation. 5. Legislation The communist party-controlled government of Vietnam has ruled under four state constitutions. The first was promulgated in 1946, the second in 1959, the third in 1980, and the current in 1992 (amended in 2001). Significantly, each bore the mark of its time. On paper, all these constitutions seem to establish a solid democracy. In fact, the purpose of the 1946 constitution was essentially to provide the communist regime with freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. The second constitution was explicitly communist in character. Its preamble described the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a peoples democratic state led by the working class, and the document provided for a nominal separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The 1980 Constitution concentrates power in a newly established Council of State much like the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, endowing it nominally with both legislative and executive powers. Many functions of the legi slature remain the same as under the 1959 document, but others have been transferred to the executive branch or assigned to both branches concurrently. The executive branch appears strengthened overall, having gained a second major executive body, the Council of State, and the importance of the National Assembly appears to have been reduced accordingly. The role of the Council of Ministers, while appearing on paper to have been subordinated to the new Council of State, in practice retained its former primacy. Having inherited the previous constitutions with substantial and basic changes, on the one hand, the 1992 Constitution continues reaffirming the basic principles in the constitutional history of Vietnam. First, it reiterates the target of socialist construction in Vietnam and the popular nature of the State. Second, the 1992 Constitution continues affirming the Communist Party of Vietnam’s leadership over the State and the society.  Third, it continues affirming the mechanism of State powers performed by the people through the National Assembly and the People’s Councils, the organization and operation of the State under the principle of concentrated powers; the concentration of State powers uniformly into the National Assembly with the division of responsibility among State bodies for the exercise of the legislative power, executive power and judicial power. On the other hand, the 1992 Constitution sees big changes: Vietnam decided to take economic renewal as the cent ral task, First, building the multi-sector and multi-ownership market economy along the socialist orientation. open-door policy and international economic integration. In reality, however, final authority on all matters rested with the Political Bureau; especially, the guarantees provided by the constitutions for freedom of speech, the press, and assembly has been never intended to be carried out. The constitutions eventually show its limitations since Vietnam has joined the stream of globalization, especially in the field of human rights and land-ownership law. In a report made public at the Conference on the Rule of law for human rights in the ASEAN region held by the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN (HRRCA) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 30 April 2011, Mr. Vo Van Ai, President of Que Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights called on Vietnam to urgently reform its legal system and bring domestic legislation into line with international human rights laws. Mr. Vo Van Ai declared: ―36 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the rule of law exists only in theory in Vietnam. The government has incorporated human rights into its 1992 Constitution. Yet it has also adopted a whole arsenal of Laws, Decrees, Ordinances and Decisions which restrict or even nullify the exercise of these rights, in total violation of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam adhered in 1982â€â€". At the beginning of the New Year 2012 (Jan 1, 2012), there happened The Tien Lang land withdrawal case: in Tien Lang district (on the outskirts of Haiphong, a port city east of Hanoi) a fish farmer, Doan Van Vuong, and his family had resisted a large force moving in to enforce an eviction order. With an improvised mine and muskets bought on the black market, they’d wounded two soldiers and four policemen, including the local police chief. Prime  Minister Nguyen Tan Dung himself had to meet the Haiphong City authorities to resolve the case; and finally came to the conclusion on Feb 2 that the Haiphong government was absolutely wrong in the case; and he ordered the Haiphong City authorities to review their wrong works as and repair the situation. This case is just one among so many cases that show matters association with the land law. And this shocked case has raised the question of reforming the land law, which has been ambiguously claimed by the constitution as ―land is possessed by the whole peopleâ€â€". Mr. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, comments that ―it’s possible to see the recent incident at Tien Lang as a climactic demonstration of the faults in our Land Law and how it is implemented at the local level. A good farmer, pure, simple and hardworking, who’s driven to defend his right to his land with home-made weapons – what misery! Everybody believes that there’s such a thing as justice and that the law ensures it. Certainly that’s what the farmers who built the fish ponds at Tien Lang believed. They went to the court expecting fair play, but the simple truths they understood proved elusive. The hopelessness of their situati on drove them to take desperate measures. As mentioned above, the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party held in 2011 issued four degrees; and one of them is beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution. This is urgent and necessary for the development of the country. 6. Environment Viet Nam is blessed by the nature, with a great ecological and hydrological diversity. The country is made up of equatorial lowlands, high, temperate plateaus and cooler mountainous areas. It lies in the inter-tropical zone and local conditions vary from frosty winters in the far northern hills to the year-round subequatorial warmth of the Mekong Delta. At sea level, the mean annual temperature is about 27 °C in the south, falling to about 21 °C in the far north. Geographically, it stretches over 1600km (1000mi) along the eastern coast of the Indochinese Peninsula; and has two main cultivated areas, that are the Red River Delta (15,000 sq km/5400 sq mi) in the north  and the Mekong Delta (60,000 sq km/23,400 sq mi) in the south. Vietnam also has diverse wildlife, with rare and precious fauna such as elephants, rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, black bear, snub-nosed monkey, crocodile and turtle. Forest area accounts for 2% of total forests in East Asia and Pacific. Fish catch is amon g the 10 highest countries in the world, with 1,451,800 tons per year. However, as the report of the World Bank on the environment in Viet Nam, ―Rapid economic growth in Vietnam over the last ten years, and its associated industrialization, urbanization, as well as increased exploitation of natural resources, has created significant pressures for the environment.â€â€"35 For example, the diverse wildlife is in precipitous decline because of the destruction of habitats, illegal hunting and pollution. In fact, Viet Nam Rhino was officially extinct in 2011. One of the most obvious examples for illustrating the environmental pollution is the phenomenon of getting narrowed of the lakes in Ha Noi. According to the Hanoi Construction Department, there are 111 ponds and lakes in Hanoi which cover a total area of 1165 hectares. The total area of lakes has decreased sharply during the urbanization, while a lot of them have disappeared. It is estimated that 80% of the lakesides have got polluted, 71% of lakes have suffered from pollution, 26% of the lakes still do not have embankments, while 8% of lakes have partial embankments. Environmentalists have called on to take urgent actions to protect the remaining lakes, or they would also disappear one day. Vietnam is among the countries that can be seriously affected by climate change. And the fact shows that the increasing deterioration of environmental conditions is emerging as a barrier to growth and development in recent years. In fact, according to the General Statistics Office, domestic natur al disasters occurred in 2011 has made 257 people dead and missing, 267 wounded; nearly 1.2 thousand houses collapsed and swept away; 391.8 thousand houses were submerged or damaged; more than 760 km of dykes, and the 680 km road motorized traffic bursts, landslides; 867 power poles broken or poured; nearly 54,000 hectares of rice and vegetables has been lost; more than 330,000 hectares of rice crops were flooded or damaged. Total value of damage caused by natural disasters in 2011 was estimated at over 10 trillion VND. Thus, this is really a big challenge of the country; and it needs a national and urgent action to prevent an ecological and hydrological catastrophe. C. BRIEF CONCLUSION With the aforementioned analysis of ―P.E.S.T.L.Eâ€â€", we see that in 2011, on the one hand, Viet Nam constantly attempted to keep its strategic plan of development, and also has obtained some important goals; on the other hand, the country had to face many difficulties and challenges which came both from outside and from inside. In my opinion, there are some main issues that the government should pay great attention in the coming years: reforming the education system, fighting against corruption (especially, promoting fiscal transparency and the public availability of economic data and information), reforming the state-owned sectors, amending laws, narrowing the gap between the Kinh, the Hoa and the ethnic minority groups, and improving environmental conditions.