Global Logistics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Logistics - Assignment Example Now the main reason behind this feasibility study is that an optimum route and port has to be selected for the transport and shipment of goods from factory and port to the warehouse at Jabel Ali. Also the transportation cost has to be kept in mind so that it doesn’t put load on the cost of the product. The transportation vehicles, their cost and size has to be aligned with the size of the lot produced and the cost incurred in transporting goods to the port in the longer run. This measure will be calculated by comparing lot size, minimum expenditure and time that will be incurred in transportation of material as time is the most critical factor in many cases. Also there are various type of options available during logistics and shipments of goods and various costs incurred with these. The main reason for mentioning this is that the new Factories have been established in territories which are new for the company and the company is not familiar with working of transportation, shi pment and labor costs of these regions. For this survey of these regions has to be done so that a tentative cost structure could be drafted. On formulation of this cost structure further measures will be taken to select an optimum line up or partners so the process of collection of goods from the manufacturing site to its transportation to port through logistic partners and then shipment to the distribution through freight forwarding partners is cost effective and has optimum time line. PROCEDURES (selection of Partners) : Next a suitable selection of trustful Freight forwarders will be done who shall transport the goods from India and Brazil. Now the selection shall involve various steps which shall be quite critical in finding the most suitable freight forwarder. First phase shall include pooling of such forwarders who have a reputable name in the industry and are capable enough to ship the given amount of container each week so that no delay is faced and no risk of inventory stoc k out is faced at the warehouse in Jabel Ali. Now this phase shall give us an opportunity to gather contact with forwarders which shall be useful in future and we’ll have a thorough idea of the market rates. In the next phase the forwarders will be requested to submit their bids for contract. These bids will be thoroughly checked and the one best suited to company’s policy shall be short listed. The criteria for short listing will not be only limited to the best rates given to us but actually the freight forwarding companies who have more inclination to make us their clients rather than just try to get this order. Third phase shall require short listing of the companies and terms will be dealt with them to form long term strategic alliance which shall be mutually beneficial for our company and the forwarding partner. Final phase will be to decide the most trustworthy and beneficial company to partner with. After final agreements and terms are settled the chosen forward er is given contract of forwarding the containers and in return the company promises us the best service. SELECTION OF PORT The selection of port shall be quite critical as it’ll decide the time required to ship container from source to destination i.e. from India and Sao Paolo to Jabel Ali. The main reason behind this step being the most critical is that even if every process i.e. production, logistics etc are following proper schedule but the port selected is a little far away than it’

The Factors Affecting Auditor Independence Accounting Essay

The Factors Affecting Auditor Independence Accounting Essay The issue of auditor independence is a crucial element and very important for the audit profession. This concept has been discussed widely and many definitions have been presented in literature. Independence refers to the auditors ability to present his opinion about the reliability of financial statements honestly and impartially away from his interest or the pressure of clients  [1]  (Ahmad, 1985). Literature has contemplated two standards for assessing auditor independence. Mautz sharaf(1961), who are among the pioneers in the study on auditors independence have developed a concept of independence with two components: practitioner-independence (independence in fact) and profession-independence (independence in appearance). The Public Oversight Board emphasized that the members of Certified Public Accountant firms should protect the profession by being independence both in fact and in appearance (Lowe et al, 1999). Independence in fact refers to the mental attitude of the auditor characterized by the integrity and the objective approach to the audit process. Also, the practitioner independence requires the auditor to be free from personal interest and susceptibility to excessive pressure  [2]  ( Moizer Sutton, 1997). However, since this mental process is unobservable and auditors also have incentives to violate their independence through satisfying their clients so as to maintain the economic bonding to the client  [3]  (DeAngelo, 1981), there is a need for the auditors to be perceived as independent(named independence in appearance) from the management team who prepares the financial statements. Orren (1997) states that independence in fact refers to the actual, objective relationship between auditing firms and their clients whereas independence in appearance is the subjective stated of that relationship as perceived by the clients and the third parties. Church and Zhang, (2002) argue that independence in fact is necessary to enhance the reliability of financial statements. On other hand, independence in appearance is necessary to promote public confidence such that users will rely on audited financial statements. Securities and Exchange Commission, 1979 asserts: The [auditor independence] issue is both one of appearance and of fact; if public confidence in the integrity of financial reporting is to be maintained, it is of the utmost importance that public confidence in the objectivity of independent auditors be similarly maintained. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (Public Oversight Board, 1979): While it is, of course, essential that an auditor preserve his objectivity and integrity from his own viewpoint, commonly called independence in fact, it is also important that the auditor appear independent to all users of the financial information he provides. This latter concept is an essential ingredient to the value of the audit function because users of audit reports must be able to rely on the independent auditor. The need for Auditors independence Independence is an important auditing standard because the auditor adds justification and credibility to financial statement even when there are no material misstatements or omissions in the financial statements prepared by management (okolie 2007). The author Gupta (1999) is of opinion that is auditor is not independent of management; his opinion would mean nothing to shareholders, prospective investors, bankers, government agencies, and others who are concerned with the financial statements of a company. The author Ezeipe(2004) describes the concept of auditors independence in three dimensions  [4]  : Programme independence: Sometimes client manager have the intention to restrict or modify the procedures that the auditor want to perform. Thus auditors should always remain free from interference of client managers. Reporting Independence: The auditor should never let any feelings of loyalty towards the client to affect his work. He must fully and fairly disclose his obligations. Management are never allowed to pressurize the auditor. Investigative Independence: The auditor should have access to all necessary materials required on the content of an audit. For example, the auditor must have access to books and records; also active co-operation from management personnel during audit examination is required (salehi 2009). Factors affecting auditor independence In theory, there are many factors that affect independence of an auditor and these factors which have been studied can be: The effects of gifts The purchase of discounts arrangement The audit firm size The provision of management advisory services by the audit firm The client financial condition The nature of conflict issue The audit firms tenure The degree of competition in the audit services market The size of the audit fees The audit committee Practising non-audit services by auditors In this study, only factors such as the provision of non audit services, the audit firm size, the audit firms tenure, the degree of competition in the audit services market, the size of audit fees and non audit fees and the audit committee will be analysed and whether these factors will impair or enhance auditors independence. The provision of non audit services by auditors Audit failures  [5]  reported in the past have affected the profession of auditor worldwide because the interests of shareholders and stockholders have not been safeguarded. This problem has arisen as a result of the provision of non-audit services (Salehi and Moradi 2010). Non- audit services can be any services other than audit that an auditor provides to an audit client. Over the late 20th century, demand for business expert services has increased, wattington and Pany (2001) identified the different range of services which are offered by auditors to private and public sectors and these non-audit services include: training, services for payroll, risk management advice, mergers and acquisition, taxation, public offering, portfolio monitoring, recruitment and human resources and corporate governance. An auditor needs to pay much attention when both audit and non-audit services are provided to the same client, because these non-audit services may threaten the independence of auditor. Although there are market-based incentives for auditors to remain independent, there are also forces that potentially threaten auditor independence. Specifically, the SEC is concerned about two effects of non-audit services. One is a fear that non-audit service fees make auditors financially dependent on their clients, and hence less willing to stand up to management pressure for fear of losing their business  [6]  . The other is that the consulting nature of many non-audit services puts auditors in managerial roles, potentially threatening their objectivity about the transactions they audit. Auditors services relationship raises two types of independence concerns. First, the more the auditor has at stake in its dealing with the audit client, particularly when the non-audit services relationship has the potential to generate significant revenues on top of the audit relationship. Second, certain types of non-audit services, when provided by the auditor, create inherent conflicts that are incompatible with objectivity. In the United States, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 implemented a ban on nine non-audit services which include: Bookkeeping and other services related to the audit clients accounting records or financial statements. Financial information systems design and implementation Appraisal or valuation services and fairness opinions Actuarial services Internal audit services Management functions Human resources Broker-dealer services Legal services Ojo (2009) suggested that the provision of non- audit services by audit firms does not necessarily affect auditor independence. However, where the fees generated from non-audit services are relatively high (in proportion to the audit fees earned by such accounting firms), this creates a situation whereby the auditors independence is likely to be compromised since the auditor may be denied profitable contracts  [7]  where he gives a qualified opinion on the financial statement being audited. Proponents of the provision of audit services argue that synergies of knowledge spill over and audit efficiency arise from providing both audit and non- audit services. Nevertheless, following the collapses, auditing profession as a whole has been affected and changes were proposed to ensure that audit firms reduce their over-reliance on NAS (The Star, 2002). In order to ensure the independence of auditors and to protect the interest of investors, the accounting profession in most countries has come up with a code of ethics that spells out guidelines for auditors competency and independence. Audit committee An audit committee consists of a selected number of members of a companys board of directors whose main duties are to help auditors remain independent of management (Arens at al, 1999), that is, committee should support the auditor instead of management in different audit disputes. Braiotta (1999) and Goldman (1974) maintained that audit committees could monitor the financial reporting process and provide recommendations in the selection of auditors, negotiation of fees and termination of external auditors, which would ultimately diminish managements power over the auditor. Thus, the audit committee is anticipated to ensure that the firm has sufficient internal controls, proper accounting policies, and independent external auditors that will prevent the incidence of fraud and promote high quality and timely financial statements. The members who participate in the audit committee can be non-executive directors, corporate managers, academicians and retired partners of CPA firms (Knapp, 1987). In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman, Levitt (2000) pointed out that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦qualified, committed, independent and tough-minded audit committees represent the most reliable guardians of the public interest SEC requires Audit Committees to evaluate the independence of the companys external auditor when deciding whether or not to hire the auditor for providing non-audit services. In so doing, Audit Committees also are encouraged to consider how the auditor provided non-audit services may improve audit quality and enhance auditor independence. Size of audit firm  [8]   The size of audit firm is an essential characteristic that reflects auditor independence. Auditor reputation is directly associated with audit quality. Large audit firms will make sure to provide an independent quality audit service as the larger audit firms tend to have better research facilities and efficient financial resources, more advanced technology and more skilled employees who will be able to undertake large company audits compare to smaller audit firms. Large audit firms have larger client portfolios which enable them to resist management pressures whereas small firms provide personalised services as their client portfolios are limited and they have to succumb to management requirements (Lys and Watts, 1994). The issue of maintaining auditor independence is more crucial for smaller firms than larger firms. Pearson (1980) found the larger size of audit firms will enhance auditors independence, because, smaller firms would experience more difficulty in resisting client pressures in situations of conflict. As a result, the information content of audit reports certified by large firms is considered to be more and reliable than those of smaller audit firms  [9]  (Titman and Trueman, 1986). However, as pointed out by Goldman Barlev (1974), it cannot be concluded that large CPA firms are more resistant to pressures from their clients. This is so because the few court cases which challenge the assumption that CPA firms acted independently indicate that there is no guarantee that large CPA firm has the ability to resist pressures from clients, as happened with Arthur Andersen and Enron  [10]  . Level of competition in audit service industry Competition  [11]  has been identified as an external factor affecting auditor independence (Shockley 1981). Many firms which operate in an intensely competitive environment may have difficulty remaining independent as the client can easily acquire services of another auditor. The  [12]  AICP Cohen Commission (1978) in its report affirms that there are excessive competitions among public accounting firms and this excessive competition among different firms has been consistently identified as a factor threatening auditor independence  [13]  (Farmer et al., 1987). . Shockley (1981) had found that audit firms operating in an environment characterized by a high level of competition for audit clients would have a greater risk of decreasing their audit independence than where audit firms operated in a low-competition environment. However as suggested by Linberg and Beck (2004), Competition in the audit market makes the auditor more careful and concerned with the audit assurance level in their services. Tenure of an audit firm serving the needs of a given client An audit firms tenure refers to the length of time required to fill the audit needs of a given client. A lengthy association between a company and an accounting firm is likely to result a close identification of the firm with the interests of its clients, thus an independent action by the accounting firm become difficult. (U.S. Senate 1976). The author Mautz Sharaf (1961) added that after a long association, less rigorous audit actions, complacency and confidence in the client may arise. However, long auditor tenure may lead to a cozy relationship between the client and the auditor ad this may impair auditor independence due to a decrease in the auditors due-diligence and also becomes more prepared to turn a blind eye to inappropriate managerial actions. On the other hand, long auditor tenure is beneficial as auditors gain expertise in the field they audit and may reduce the auditors ability to detect irregularities or material misstatements (Gul et al., 2009) Size of audit and non audit fees The IFACs Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (1996, para 8.7) propose that client size which is measured from size of fees could raise doubts as independence of auditor is concerned. The EFAA (October, 1998, p.4) clearly states that, the (total) fee from one client should not exceed a certain percentage of the total turnover of the audit firm. In cases of accounting scandals (for example Enron and WorldCom), the audit firm appeared to be in collusion with the management in hiding fraudulent activities. The major factor behind such reservation was the amount that the auditors received as non-audit fees from these clients. Anderson, the auditor for Enron, received US dollar 27 million as non audit fees in addition to US dollar 23 million as audit fees. The fact that the accounting firm received more than half of its Enron revenue from NAS gives an appearance of a lack of independence in the audit (Flaming 2002). In addition, the fees for non-audit services has also increased substantially and are more profitable than fees from audit services, thus strengthening the economic bond and substantially lead to impairment of AI . The regulatory bodies in the U.S. like the SEC, the POB and the AICPA emphasized that significant high non audit fees can negatively affect auditor independence and also impair auditor decision-making, when those decisions involve a substantial amount of professional judgment. In Malaysia the MIA By-Law (Section B-1.98 on Professional Independence) has emphasized that if the total fees (arising from assurance and non-assurance services) generated by one assurance client or its related entities exceed 15% of the firms total fees in each year over two consecutive financial periods, financial dependency shall be considered to exist, in which case, a self-interest threat to independence is created. In such event, the only course of action is to refuse to perform or withdraw from the assurance engagement. This 15% criterion has also been the level generally used by the ICAEW and Australia at which auditors have to consider their independent position.

Physics of the Compound Bow :: physics weapon bow archery

A Brief History of the Bow * Arrowheads have been found in Africa that date back as far as 25,000 to 50,000 B.C. * Throughout the next few tens of thousands of years, humans had PLENTY of time to refine their techniques. Fire-hardening arrow heads, fletching arrow shafts to improve their flight characteristics, "tillering" bows so that the upper and lower limbs had the same bend radius, etc. All of these improvements helped increase the efficiency and accuracy of the bow and arrow, and helped humans to survive and advance throughout the ages. * One major advance was the creation of composite bows. Around 2,800 B.C. people began blending different materials together to create better bows. The Egyptians of these times had long composite bows capable of shooting an arrow up to 400 yards! * As you can see, the bow has been around a long while. It wasn't until recently, however, that the actual design of the bow itself was changed. In fact, this ingenious modification happened about forty years ago... The Compound Bow * On December 30th, 1969, Holless Wilbur Allen was granted the patent that would change archery forever. * The invention of the compound bow was just the beginning. As with the invention of the original bow and arrow, time and ingenuity would take the basic concept to new heights. However, the modern understanding of physics, coupled with advanced materials and construction techniques, has greatly increased the pace at which advances are made. * Using cams on one or both limbs of a bow allowed for an increased draw weight in the middle of the draw and a reduced weight at full draw. Archers firing traditional recurve bows encounter the highest resistance and draw weight at full draw. This means less time sighting in on a target before fatigue sets in, due to the strain of holding the bow at full draw. Compound bows, on the other hand, use a cam system which places the most resistance about 2/3 of the way through the drawstroke. At full draw, the compound bow reduces the tension in the bowstring by as much as 75-80%, allowing an archer to remain in position and more carefully sight in on a target.

Disastrous Date

There was this time I went out on a blind date. OK, not totally blind, because I'd met this guy on the Internet, and had sort of seen pictures. But this is back in the day when Internet dating only first kicked off and digital cameras weren't what they are now. Anyway, you get the picture – the photos weren't that clear. I thought it was a bit weird that when we were corresponding the guy kept on asking how tall I was, making a real big deal out of it. In one email he said he even got out a measuring tape to convert (I only knew in cm's and he only knew in feet).Well my question was answered when I arrived (a bit late) at the fancy restaurant he had booked for us – he was tiny. OK, not that I have a problem with short guys, but I'm short for a woman, and he wasn't much taller. That and the fact that the guy was old enough to be my grandfather – early 60's at least – I was in my early 20's. In emails prior to meeting up he'd said he was older, but didn't gi ve out any specifics. I quite like older men, so it wasn't really something on the forefront of my mind, and I just assumed he'd be in the age category I had specified in my profile criteria.Well, let me just say this, there's older men and then there's just old. And this also has a lot to do with how much a guy looks after himself, his dress sense, his outlook on life etc. Dinner was long, drawn out and awkward as hell. We had zero things in common and the guy was really boring and from a totally different world and generation to me. He also had this habit of making a sort of ‘hmmmm' sound when he looked at me across the table which was totally creepy. I'm not sure if it was a nervous tick or if he thought it was a sexy kind of thing to do.At one point I had a brief vision of those small old hands touching my bare skin and I wanted to run out of there screaming. If a friend had told me this I would have said to her, why didn't you just leave? And the thing is it was such a fa ncy place, with the whole three courses, plus little things here and there from the chef, that it just didn't feel right to up and leave after the starters. Also, although we were unsuited to each other, this guy had clearly gone through some trouble to book a nice place and make it special, and I felt it would have been rude to just leave him stranded there.Finally dinner came to an end and I couldn't wait to beat it out of there. Outside he hailed a taxi for me and said in the same weirdly creepy old guy trying to be sexy voice, â€Å"You know, I don't have to be up early tomorrow morning, unless of course you want to be my alarm clock? † To which I replied (nervously laughing), â€Å"You know, unfortunately I do – have to be up early that is, maybe next time. † Before beating a hasty retreat. I guess I didn't come off much better in the date either, because I didn't hear from him after that.

Stand By Me

In the film the four main characters are, Chris, who is the tough one, Teddy, who is the daring one, Gordie, Who's the sensitive one and Vern, whos just stupid because he asks stupid questions. They hear that a kid has been killed by a train and they've gone to lookfor him. The story is about them growing up and becoming more mature, Friendship, Bullying and an adventure(themes). The Night scene takes place towards the end of the film. They are all smoking around the campfire talking about daft things such as what is Goofy?(the Disney character). This scene is important because it shows their friendship and how they are all close friends, asking Gordie to tell them a story because they all believe he is a really good story teller/writer. The night scene opens with a shot of the moon and then calmly moves down and into the woods to were they are all smoking around the campfire. There is no music at the start of the scene, but there is music towards the end of the scene (once they have finished talking some music comes on, the music is 50's because it makes you feel as if the film is set in the fifties. There are sounds of birds and crickets (wildlife) at the start which makes you feel as if its real life. The Gang ask Gordie to tell them a story, so he tells them a story about a boy called Lardass, who enters a pie eating competition, he doesn't want to win the competition he just wants revenge. Lardass is a overweight kid who is very unpopular, his brother and sister even call him Lardass (Lardass is his nickname). Before the competition he drinks a bottle of castor oil and one raw egg, this is all to do with his revenge. Halfway through the competition his plan had started to work, he was sick all over the champion of last year, then the champion was sick all over another person. Not until the smell reached the crowd did his plan really work, when the smell hit the crowd every body was being sick over everybody. Verns reaction to the story was that of stupidity, when he asks Gordie if Lardass had to pay to get in the competition. Teddy didn't like the ending probably because it didn't have anything to do with fighting or killing. He says the ending should be that Lardass goes home, shoots his dad then joins the Texas Rangers. Teddy thinks like that because deep down inside he hates his dad and that's what he would do to his dad. Chris thought the ending was brilliant, as he was being very supportive and also saying it was brilliant. The story relates to the gang, as they are all outcasts like Lardass. You can also tell the story related to them because it was set in a very similar town to theirs. You could see the story as if it was on the television, physically seeing the story made you feel as if it was going into Gordies imagination. Once they had finished talking about the ending of the story, Chris turned on the radio which was playing fifties music, the music was fifties to remind you what year the film was set in, it also set the scene, gradually fading away as they start to talk. They show their friendship by talking to one another about daft things, such as what is Goofy. The camera fades from one person to another, it doesn't let you hear the whole conversation, it just keeps changing subject. It also shows the friendship with camera shots around the campfire, looking cosy and warm. The mood of the scene changes when they hear the noises of the wildlife, at first only Vern showed that he was scared. Teddy was scaring Vern even more by saying it was the ghost of the dead boy. Teddy was saying that he wanted to look for the kids ghost and then all of a sudden a big howl echoed in the woods, at this point everybody was scared. Vern showed that he was the wimp of the gang by whispering â€Å"I think we should stand guard†. They gang approve of his comment and Teddy is first to stand guard, he was acting as if he was in a War of some sort. When Vern was guarding he was really scared, pointing the gun at every noise he heard. Gordie and Chris were talking because Gordie had a nightmare about his brothers funeral. His nightmare was that his dad whispered into his ear â€Å"It should have been you†.

The History of Lighting and Lamps

The History of Lighting and Lamps The first lamp was invented around 70,000 BC. A hollow rock, shell or other natural found object was filled with moss or similar material that was soaked with animal fat and ignited. Humans began imitating the natural shapes with manmade pottery, alabaster, and metal lamps. Wicks were later added to control the rate of burning. Around the 7th century BC, the Greeks began making terracotta lamps to replace handheld torches. The word lamp is derived from the Greek word lampas, meaning torch. Oil Lamps In the 18th century, the central burner was invented, a major improvement in lamp design. The fuel source was now tightly enclosed in metal, and an adjustable metal tube was used to control the intensity of the fuel burning and intensity of the light. Around the same time, small glass chimneys were added to lamps to both protect the flame and control the flow of air to the flame. Ami Argand, a Swiss chemist is credited with first developing the principle of using an oil lamp with a hollow circular wick surrounded by a glass chimney in 1783. Lighting Fuels Early lighting fuels consisted of olive oil, beeswax, fish oil, whale oil, sesame oil, nut oil, and similar substances. These were the most commonly used fuels until the late 18th century. However, the ancient Chinese collected natural gas in skins that were used for illumination. In 1859, drilling for petroleum oil began and the kerosene (a petroleum derivative) lamp grew popular, first introduced in 1853 in Germany. Coal and natural gas lamps were also becoming wide-spread. Coal gas was first used as a lighting fuel as early as 1784. Gas Lights In 1792, the first commercial use of gas lighting began when William Murdoch used coal gas for lighting his house in Redruth, Cornwall. German inventor Freidrich Winzer (Winsor) was the first person to patent coal gas lighting in 1804 and a thermolampe using gas distilled from wood was patented in 1799. David Melville received the first U.S. gas light patent in 1810. Early in the 19th century, most cities in the United States and Europe had streets that were gaslight. Gas lighting for streets gave way to low-pressure sodium and high-pressure mercury lighting in the 1930s and the development of the electric lighting at the turn of the 19th century replaced gas lighting in homes. Electric Arc Lamps Sir Humphrey Davy  of England invented the first electric carbon arc lamp in 1801. A carbon arc lamp works by hooking two carbon rods to a source of  electricity. With the other ends of the rods spaced at the right distance, electrical current will flow through an arc of vaporizing carbon creating an intense white light. All arc lamps use current running through different kinds of gas plasma. A.E. Becquerel of France theorized about the fluorescent lamp in 1857. Low-pressure arc lights use a big tube of low-pressure gas plasma and include fluorescent lights and neon signs. First Electric Incandescent Lamps Sir Joseph Swann  of England and  Thomas Edison  both invented the first electric incandescent lamps during the 1870s. Incandescent light bulbs work in this way: electricity flows through the filament that is inside the bulb; the filament has resistance to the electricity; the resistance makes the filament heat to a high temperature; the heated filament then radiates light. All incandescent lamps work by using a physical filament. Thomas A. Edisons  lamp became the first commercially successful incandescent lamp (circa 1879). Edison received U.S. Patent 223,898 for his incandescent lamp in 1880. Incandescent lamps are still in regular use in our homes, today. Lightbulbs Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Alva Edison did not invent the first lightbulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. For example, two inventors that patented the incandescent light bulb before Thomas Edison did were Henry Woodward and Matthew Evan. According to the National Research Council of Canada: Henry Woodward of Toronto, who along with Matthew Evans patented a light bulb in 1875. Unfortunately, the two entrepreneurs could not raise the financing to commercialize their invention. The enterprising American Thomas Edison, who had been working on the same idea, bought the rights to their patent. Capital was not a problem for Edison: he had the backing of a syndicate of industrial interests with $50,000 to invest - a sizable sum at the time. Using lower current, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, Edison successfully demonstrated the light bulb in 1879 and, as they say, the rest is history. Suffice it to say,  light bulbs  developed over a period of time. First Street Lamps Charles F. Brush  of the United States invented the carbon arc street lamp in 1879. Gas Discharge or Vapor Lamps American, Peter Cooper Hewitt patented the mercury vapor lamp in 1901. This was an arc lamp that used mercury vapor enclosed in a glass bulb. Mercury vapor lamps were the forerunners to  fluorescent lamps. High-pressure arc lights use a small bulb of high-pressure gas and include mercury vapor lamps, high-pressure sodium arc lamps, and metal halide arc lamps. Neon Signs Georges Claude of France invented the  neon lamp  in 1911. Tungsten Filaments Replace Carbon Filaments American,  Irving Langmuir  invented an electric gas-filled tungsten lamp in 1915. This was an incandescent lamp that used tungsten rather than carbon or other metals as a filament inside the lightbulb and became the standard. Earlier lamps with carbon filaments were both inefficient and fragile and were soon replaced by tungsten filament lamps after their invention. Fluorescent Lamps Friedrich Meyer, Hans Spanner, and Edmund Germer patented a  fluorescent lamp  in 1927. One difference between mercury vapor and fluorescent lamps is that fluorescent bulbs are coated on the inside to increase efficiency. At first, beryllium was used as a coating however, beryllium was too toxic and was replaced with safer florescent chemicals. Halogen Lights U.S. Patent 2,883,571 was granted to Elmer Fridrich and Emmett Wiley for a tungsten halogen lamp - an improved type of incandescent lamp - in 1959. A better halogen light lamp was invented in 1960 by General Electric engineer Fredrick Moby. Moby was granted U.S. Patent 3,243,634 for his tungsten halogen A-lamp that could fit into a standard light bulb socket. During the early 1970s, General Electric research engineers invented improved ways to manufacture tungsten halogen lamps. In 1962, General Electric patented an arc lamp called a Multi Vapor Metal Halide lamp.

Bio potential amplifier and its purpose essays

Bio potential amplifier and its purpose essays Amplifiers are an important part of the modern instrumentation systems for measuring bio potentials. Such measurements involve voltages that are often at low levels,have high source impedances,or both. Amplifiers are required to increase signal strength while maintaining high fidelity. Amplifiers that have been designed specifically for this type of processing are known as biopotential amplifiers. The essential function of a biopotential amplifier is to take a weak electrical signal of biological origin( eg: brain)and increase its amplitude so that it can be further processed, recorded or displayed. The input circuit of a biopotential amplifier must also provide protection to the organism being studied. Any current or potential appearing across the amplifier input terminals is capable of affecting the biological potential being measured. (Here in our project we have considered the processing part of the above mentioned system ensuring that a good isolation is achieved between the patient part and the power supply part of the circuit.) In clinical systems electric currents produced by the bio potential amplifier and seen at its input terminals can result in microshocks or macroshocks in the patient being studied-a situation that can have grave consequences.To avoid these problems the amplifier should have isolation and protection circuitry, so that the current through the electrode circuit can be kept at safe levels and any artefact generated by such current can be minimized. The other basic requirements of the biopotential amplifiers are : 1) The output impedance of the amplifier must be low with respect to the load impedance and the amplifier must be capable of supplying the power required by the load. 2) Must operate in that portion of the frequency spectrum in which the biopotentials they amplify exists. 3) They make quick calibration possible. EEG requires an amplifier with a frequency respons...

Pituitary Gland - Function and Hormone Production

Pituitary Gland - Function and Hormone Production The pituitary gland is a small endocrine organ that controls a multitude of important functions in the body. It is divided into an anterior lobe, intermediate zone, and posterior lobe, all of which are involved in either  hormone production or hormone secretion.  The pituitary gland is termed the Master Gland because it directs other  organs  and endocrine glands to either suppress or induce hormone production. Key Takeaways: Pituitary Gland The pituitary gland is called the Master Gland because it directs a multitude of endocrine functions in the body. It regulates hormone activity in other endocrine glands and organs.Pituitary activity is regulated by hormones of the hypothalamus, a brain region connected to the pituitary by the pituitary stalk.The pituitary is composed of an anterior and posterior lobe with an intermediate region between the two.Hormones of the anterior pituitary include adrenocorticotropin hormones (ACTH), growth hormone (GH), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin (PRL), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).Hormones stored by the posterior pituitary include antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin.Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) is an intermediate pituitary hormone. Hypothalamus-Pituitary Complex The pituitary gland and hypothalamus are closely connected both structurally and functionally. The hypothalamus is an important brain structure that has both nervous system and endocrine system function. It serves as a link between the two systems translating nervous system messages into endocrine hormones. The posterior pituitary is composed of axons that extend from the neurons of the hypothalamus. The posterior pituitary also stores hypothalmic hormones.  Blood vessel connections between the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary allow hypothalamic hormones to control anterior pituitary hormone production and secretion. The hypothalamus-pituitary complex serves to maintain homeostasis by monitoring and adjusting physiological processes through hormone secretion. Pituitary Function The pituitary gland is involved in several functions of the body including: Growth hormone productionProduction of hormones that act on other endocrine glandsProduction of hormones that act on the muscles and the kidneysEndocrine function regulationStorage of hormones produced by the hypothalamus Location Directionally, the pituitary gland is located in the middle of the base of the brain, inferior to the hypothalamus. It is nestled  within  a depression in the sphenoid bone of the skull called the sella turcica. The  pituitary gland extends from and is connected to the hypothalamus by a stalk-like structure called the infundibulum, or pituitary stalk. Pituitary Hormones The posterior pituitary lobe does not produce hormones but stores hormones produced by the hypothalamus. Posterior pituitary hormones include antidiuretic hormone and oxytocin. The anterior pituitary lobe produces six hormones that are either stimulated or inhibited by hypothalamic hormone secretion. The intermediate pituitary zone produces and secretes melanocyte-stimulating hormone. This image shows hormones of the pituitary and their affected organs. ttsz /iStock / Getty Images Plus Anterior Pituitary Hormones Adrenocorticotropin (ACTH):  stimulates the adrenal glands to produce the stress hormone cortisol.Growth Hormone:  stimulates growth of tissues and bone, as well as the breakdown of fat.Luteinizing Hormone (LH):  stimulates male and female gonads to release sex hormones, testosterone in men and estrogens and progesterone in women.Follicle-stimulating Hormone (FSH):  promotes the production of male and female gametes (sperm and ova).Prolactin (PRL):  stimulates breast development and milk production in women.Thyroid-stimulating Hormone (TSH):  stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones. Posterior Pituitary Hormones Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH): helps maintain water balance by decreasing water loss in urine.Oxytocin - promotes lactation, maternal behavior, social bonding, and sexual arousal. Intermediate Pituitary Hormones Melanocyte-stimulating Hormone (MSH): promotes melanin production in skin cells called melanocytes.  This induces skin darkening. Pituitary Disorders Pituitary disorders result in the disruption of normal pituitary function and the proper functioning of target organs of pituitary hormones. These disorders are most commonly the result of tumors, which cause the pituitary to produce either not enough or too much of a hormone. In hypopituitarism, the pituitary produces low levels of hormones. The insufficiency of pituitary hormone production causes a deficiency in the production of hormones in other glands. For example, a deficiency in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) production can result in an under-active thyroid gland. Lack of thyroid hormone production slows down normal body functions. Symptoms that may arise include weight gain, weakness, constipation, and depression. Insufficient levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) production by the pituitary results in under-active adrenal glands. Adrenal gland hormones are important for maintaining vital body functions such as blood pressure control and water balance. This conditio n is also known as Addisons disease and can be fatal if not treated. In hyperpituitarism, the pituitary is overactive producing hormones in excess. An overproduction of growth hormone may result in acromegaly in adults. This condition results in excessive growth of bones and tissues in the hands, feet, and face. In children, overproduction of growth hormone may result in gigantism. Overproduction of ACTH causes the adrenal glands to produce too much cortisol, which results in problems related to metabolism regulation. Overproduction of the pituitary hormone TSH may result in  hyperthyroidism, or the overproduction of thyroid hormones. An overactive thyroid produces symptoms such as nervousness, weight loss, irregular heartbeat, and fatigue. Sources Acromegaly. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1 Apr. 2012, www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/endocrine-diseases/acromegaly.Pituitary Gland. Hormone Health Network, Endocrine Society, www.hormone.org/your-health-and-hormones/glands-and-hormones-a-to-z/glands/pituitary-gland.

See assignment criteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See assignment criteria - Essay Example Lando Calrissian, of Alderaan Security Solutions Ltd., claims that companies must implement the latest and most advanced technologies to protect client data and that the European Union’s Electronic Signature Directive not only puts electronic signatures on equal footing with physical ones, but also assigns responsibility for the technology underpinning electronic signatures. I believe Lando Calrissian is wrong in his assessment that companies must implement the latest and most advanced technologies to protect client data, but I do agree that the Electronic Signature Directive puts electronic signatures on equal footing with physical ones and that it also assigns responsibility for the technologies that electronic signatures employ. The statement made by Lando Calrissian regarding the requirement for companies to deploy the latest and most advanced technologies to protect confidential client data is misguided. Indeed, his argument is based entirely on the premise that not only is technology infallible, but that all security breaches can be avoided. Between power and network outages, maintenance downtime and natural events, it is utterly impossible to maintain or guarantee perpetual 100% integrity of an online data warehouse due to its reliance on a distributed physical infrastructure. Moreover, with new virtual security threats emerging on a daily basis, the depreciating cost of processing power and the pervasiveness of high-speed networks, unlawfully gaining access to a secured remote computer system is only a question of skill, time and opportunity. Since The Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data 1995 art 17 establishes that only the deployment of appropriate security instruments sufficient to maintain an adequate level of security are required, it is clear that legislation only expects companies to accomplish their due diligence in attempting to maintain the integrity of their cli ents’ confidential data. Therefore, it would probably be most responsible of companies to i) delegate their IT security to consulting firms and to ii) insure themselves against the risk of data security breaches, rather than engage in the technological rat race of unremitting software transition and constant security infrastructure turnover. I do agree with Lando Calrissian’s statement that the Electronic Signature Directive puts electronic signatures on equal footing with physical signatures. Indeed, a physical signature not only signifies consent of the signatory to the subject matter, it also provides a crude form of verifiability of the signatory’s identity. This time-honored practice is vulnerable to forgery with minimal skill and to usurpation of identity and misrepresentation of intent, since the legitimate signature of the signatory is not always readily known to the other contracting party. On the other hand, electronic signatures using paired public an d private keys as implied by the Community Framework for Electronic Signatures 1999 art 2 deliver a more robust and reliable voucher of the signatory’s identity. In fact, electronic signatures of this type require far more advanced skills to forge than physical signatures do, skills not readily accessible to most individuals. Furthermore, given the high-speed data cross-referencing infrastructure already deployed whereby the identity of a signatory can be rapidly validated with distant third

Outsourcing with pros and cons Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Outsourcing with pros and cons - Research Paper Example There are several reasons why many firms utilize outsourcing of their services, such as enhanced efficiency, cost reductions, increased flexibility and focus on core competencies. Outsourcing offers many benefits, although clearly with many caveats. The loss of skilled, expert staff is expected with outsourcing. Other risks involved with outsourcing include: loss of innovation, creativity, and flexibility and loss of control, continuity, and cooperation. However, these risk associated with outsourcing can be controlled and minimized if executed effectively. The immediate challenge facing organizations is how to make an informed offshore outsourcing decision that maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risks. An effective way to achieve the goal is to inquire how decision-makers comprehend and evaluate the factors affecting their offshore outsourcing decision. Abstract Outsourcing allows organization to reduce cost and concentrate on its core competences and to improve its activit ies. Although, outsourcing is an attractive strategy bounded by appealing benefits but it also contains some significant risks. However, these risk associated with outsourcing can be controlled and minimized if executed effectively. The immediate challenge facing organizations is how to make an informed offshore outsourcing decision that maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risks. An effective way to achieve the goal is to inquire how decision-makers comprehend and evaluate the factors affecting their offshore outsourcing decision. Abstract Outsourcing allows organization to reduce cost and concentrate on its core competences and to improve its activities. Although, outsourcing is an attractive strategy bounded by appealing benefits but it also contains some significant risks. However, these risk associated with outsourcing can be controlled and minimized if executed effectively. The immediate challenge facing organizations is how to make an informed offshore outsourcing deci sion that maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risks. An effective way to achieve the goal is to inquire how decision-makers comprehend and evaluate the factors affecting their offshore outsourcing decision. Outsourcing with Pros and Cons Introduction Outsourcing has become one of the most important management activities in recent years (Bromage, 2000). To outsource or not to outsource is one of the questions managers are increasingly asking themselves (Gunn, 2003). It is necessary to examine the degree of outsourcing and its pros and cons. The author posits that outsourcing is very beneficial to the growth of a company as it allows organization to reduce cost and to concentrate on its core competences and improve its activities. Outsourcing Outsourcing, as it applies to manufactured goods, is the practice of moving production to an outside supplier. Companies send this work to other domestic facilities or offshore. The outsourced activities can be thought of as new intermedi ate inputs or completed imports, shifting the entire production function done at home (Robert and Gordon, 1999). The outsourcing firm can then experience a reduction in the amount of labor required to continue operation. Outsourcing is a practice being used increasingly by organizations in order to combat the competitive forces within the global manufacturing sector. According to Michael Corbett, Firms extensively â€Å"use outsourcing everyday to improve the products and services they provide customers†¦. More than 90 percent of companies state it is an important part of their overall business strategy.†(Corbett, 2004: p. 3) Pros of Outsourcing Cost Savings Cost savings is the most important and most commonly cited reason for outsourcing. According to Burmahl (2001) cost savings is among the top reason to outsource. Cost-savings calculations encompass fixed costs, which include capital and administrative overhead; variable costs, which include specific supplies, service s, and labor cost for all personnel

Maths Coursework Investigating Borders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Maths Coursework Investigating Borders - Essay Example Here we observe that the second row gives the number of white squares added at each level, and the third row is a constant, that is, 4. Now we will first find the formula for the white squares and after that the formula for the total squares. Subtracting from the total squares the number of white squares we will get the number of black squares. Let us find the pattern in counting all the squares. In Pattern 1 we can see first two rows contain 1+3=4 squares. If we consider the last two rows then they also contain 1+3=4 squares. We are counting the three squares in the middle row two times so we have to subtract them from the total to get the total number of squares in the pattern. So we get In Pattern 2 the first three rows contain 1+3+5=9 squares. Similarly the last three rows contain 9 squares. We are counting the five squares in the middle row two times so we have to subtract them to get the total number of squares in the pattern. So we

Discussion Questions Week 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discussion Questions Week 3 - Essay Example enter into the contract is important since it can help to protect either party in the case of a disagreement, as well as to ensure that the agreement is carried out as planned. The legal competence of each party is important so that the contract can be enforceable in a court of law if the need arises. According to J. Rank (2008, pg. 1), a bilateral contract is, â€Å"An agreement formed by an exchange of a promise in which the promise of one party is consideration supporting the promise of the other party. A bilateral contract is distinguishable from a unilateral contract, a promise made by one party in exchange for the performance of some act by the other party. The party to a unilateral contract whose performance is sought is not obligated to act, but if he or she does, the party that made the promise is bound to comply with the terms of the agreement. In a bilateral contract both parties are bound by their exchange of promises.† There are a number of examples that could constitute each type of contract. For instance, consider first the bilateral contract. An example of a bilateral contract that an individual could encounter would include a contract in which an individual purchasing a car agrees to purchase the vehicle if and only if the car dealership agrees to fix a dent in the car before it is delivered. If either party fails to keep up his or her end of the bargain, the contract is breached. An example of a unilateral contract could be a lease. In this case, the individual agrees to stay at a property for a certain length of time, but the property owners promise nothing. According to the Department of Justice (2008, pg. 1), â€Å"All contracts may be oral, except such as are specially required by statute to be in writing. Where a contract, which is required by law to be in writing, is prevented from being put in writing by the fraud of a party thereto, any other party is by such fraud led to believe that it is in writing, and acts upon such belief to

Questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Questionnaire - Essay Example All fully engaged employees have a deep rooted bond with the organization and they develop feelings of loyalty, control, trust and empowerment at work. Such personnel are able to identify vital business opportunities required for growth and have the willpower of committing value added personal and emotional energies mandatory for excelling in the professional life (Sanders, 2012). For the organization, employee engagement is a crucial element as it enhances its efficiency which increases the customer satisfaction, lowers the employee turnover and boosts the productivity rate (ADP Research Institute, 2012). The questionnaire is designed to get your viewpoint about the organization’s working conditions. You are required to give honest, true and fair opinion about the following statements. In front of each statement, select the box which is an indication of your opinion related to the statement. The main purpose of all of these questions is to get an insight about the employee’s feeling about the work and value within the organization. With the help of this questionnaire, the company will be able to determine the effectiveness of employee engagement within the business and monitor the results over a period of time. ADP Research Institute. (2012). Employee satisfaction vs. Employee engagement: Are they the same thing? Retrieved February 24, 2014 from

No topic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

No topic - Assignment Example A crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong and the outcome greatly impacts their lives. To turn a potentially bad crucial conversation into a productive one, one would first need to consult their heart about what they want to achieve and what they don’t want. Everyone involved should have all the right motives and try as much as possible to stick to the goals of the conversation. Secondly, there is the aspect of taking safe steps, such that when the rest of the people involved in the dialogue resort to violence or silence, one should pull out of the discussion and only return when it is safe. Only then can one continue with the matter being discussed. Thirdly, it is important for one to master their stories. They should be in control of their story as they narrate it, and be able to understand their emotions and manage them in the best way during the course of the discussion. The fourth step i s to ensure that you stay your path when you are convinced you are right. Exploring other people’s paths may also prove useful as a way of eliciting feedback. The last step is to take action. Information interviews serve a number of purposes. One of the purposes of information interviews is that of fact-finding; seeking to find as much information relevant to a situation being studied as possible. An information interview can only be said to have succeeded if an environment or a climate is created in which the people being interviewed can volunteer information. In essence, nobody should be coerced into saying anything or providing any information they may not be will to share. The questions of an information interview should be made simple in terms of language use and content. The questions should be precise. The questions shouldn’t put the interviewee in a situation where they struggle to figure out what any

Questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Questionnaire - Essay Example All fully engaged employees have a deep rooted bond with the organization and they develop feelings of loyalty, control, trust and empowerment at work. Such personnel are able to identify vital business opportunities required for growth and have the willpower of committing value added personal and emotional energies mandatory for excelling in the professional life (Sanders, 2012). For the organization, employee engagement is a crucial element as it enhances its efficiency which increases the customer satisfaction, lowers the employee turnover and boosts the productivity rate (ADP Research Institute, 2012). The questionnaire is designed to get your viewpoint about the organization’s working conditions. You are required to give honest, true and fair opinion about the following statements. In front of each statement, select the box which is an indication of your opinion related to the statement. The main purpose of all of these questions is to get an insight about the employee’s feeling about the work and value within the organization. With the help of this questionnaire, the company will be able to determine the effectiveness of employee engagement within the business and monitor the results over a period of time. ADP Research Institute. (2012). Employee satisfaction vs. Employee engagement: Are they the same thing? Retrieved February 24, 2014 from

Organizational Theory Design and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organizational Theory Design and Change - Essay Example Supervisors and managers define the goals and hold meeting with the employees regarding the amount of effort and budget needed to accomplish those goals. The managers take care of every employee individually and listen to their problems. Dealing with customers with efficiency and skilfully is an important part of my workplace culture. All the employees share a set standard of rules and respect each other’s privacy. Their good behavior is not only a source of competitive advantage but also increases organizational effectiveness by enhancing its reputation in the market. The deadlines are met efficiently because the projects’ tasks are distributed among the team members properly. The best thing with my workplace culture is that the employees use technology based tools to communicate with each other and the supervisors, and also with the consumers and the stakeholders. This increases trust between all the parties. Hence, the overall culture at my organization is very frien dly, healthy and motivating which keeps the employees working hard enough to achieve the organizational goals and objectives, and increase productivity.

Non-discrimination GATT Law

Non-discrimination GATT Law Non-discrimination is a cornerstone of GATT law Introduction The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is a treaty to which the U.S. and many other countries are signatories. Its purpose is to free international trade and reduce tariffs. GATT has been revised several times; each revision is called a round. The latest is the Uruguay Round of GATT requires signatories to protect intellectual property and provide similar protection of intellectual property owned by nationals and foreigners. Adherence by the U.S. to GATT has brought about numerous changes to the U.S. Patent System that brings U.S. patent law into closer harmony with the patent systems of other countries. (Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC, 1993). The GATT established trade principles that continue to be applied today. The most important trade principle was non-discrimination with regard to the treatment of trade in goods among countries. Article 1 of the GATT, states that any advantage given by a contracting party to a product of another country, must be extended unconditionally to a like product of all other contracting parties. The above article is the most favoured nation principle. A second rule of non-discrimination is national treatment, the principle that imported and domestic goods should be treated equally. Although non-discrimination is a cornerstone of the GATT, some exceptions are allowed. For example, custom unions, free-trade areas, and special treatment for developing countries are permitted. (Fergusson, 2007). Another principle is the open and fair application of any trade barriers. Tariffs were the most common and visible form of trade barrier at the time the GATT was established. (Fergusson, 2007). Tariffs are bound or set at maximum levels, and not to increase above the negotiated level. In general, quantitative restrictions such as quotas were not allowed, since tariffs were much easier to identify and to eventually reduce. The paper will focus on the most favoured principles and the national treatment principles. Studies and researches will be presented to evaluate the cornerstone of GATT law which is non-discrimination. Definition of Terms GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Like Products or Likeness having the same characteristics. The term applies to the products of different countries being exported and imported. The purpose of defining â€Å"Like Products† is to create a criterion by which likeness to be measured. One must described the individual criteria with some care, and after that it is possible to talk about degrees of likeness within the boundaries of those criteria or characteristics. Discrimination in economic, the definition is less favourable treatment of goods from one foreign country vis a vis the goods of another foreign country. Brief History of GATT Law After World War II a new order came in about trading. The Breton Woods Conference1 in 1944, created the International Monetary Fund2 nd the World Bank for economic restructuring and development in Western Europe. The General Agreement on Trade and Tariff was created at the first session of the Preparatory Committee of UN Conference on Trade and Employment in 1946. (Williams, 2006). The GATTs initial purpose was to negotiate tariff concessions among members and to establish a code of conduct and procedures for the resolution of trade disputes by negotiation. Successive negotiations (called rounds) have also focussed on the code of conduct for no tariff barriers. The GATT was founded on the principles of non discrimination and multilateralism in international trade. Non discrimination is expressed via unconditional Most Favoured Nation status for all contracting parties. By this convention if the tariff on imports from one country is decreased, the tariff on all imports of the same goo ds from other GATT members must be reduced. (Williams, 2006). The debacle of the 1930s led to a reassessment, realignment and restructuring of the world economy. The result of the reassessment was that tariff wars were destructive to all parties, it should not be allowed to happen again and a more coherent framework was needed. (Williams, 2006). Conventional wisdom attributes much of the prosperity that occurred in the global economy since the 1 officially known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference was a gathering of delegates from 44 nations that met from July 1 to 22, 1944 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to agree upon a series of new rules for the post-WWII international monetary system. 2 oversee the worlds monetary and exchange rate systems 1940s to the existence of the GATT. In particular, the GATT is lauded for the dramatic increase in world trade and (until the mid 1980s) the absence of any serious trade friction. Beginning in 1986, the Uruguay Round negotiations included the areas of tariffs, services and intellectual property. Over seven years of negotiations, the GATT agreements evolved into their current state. The Uruguay Round concluded in 1994 with numerous agreements to reduce trade barriers and institute more enforceable world trade rules. One of the major results of the Uruguay Round was the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which officially began operations on January 1, 1995. The WTO is a multilateral organization with the mandate to establish enforceable trade rules, to act as a dispute settlement body and to provide a forum for further negotiations into reducing trade barriers. According to the WTO website, there are 147 WTO member countries and observer countries. 3 Beginning in 2001 and proceeding through at least 2005, the Doha Agenda represents the current round of negotiations. The Most Favoured Nation Treatment (MFN) During the first years of International Trade, Most Favoured Nation status was usually used on a dual party, state to state basis. Generally bilateral, in the late 19th and early 20th century unilateral most favoured nation clauses were imposed on Asian nations by the more powerful Western countries. One particular example of most favoured nation status is the Treaty of Nanking as part of the series of unequal 3the complete list of members is available in the WTO website. treaties. It was implemented in the aftermath of the First Opium War between Great Britain and China Qing Dynasty involving the Hong Kong islands. Most favoured nation relationships contrast with reciprocal relationships, since in reciprocal relationships a particular privilege granted by one party only extends to other parties who reciprocate that privilege, rather than to all parties with which it has a most favoured nation agreement. The Most Favoured Nation Treatment or National Trade Relation is an obligation to treat activities of a particular foreign country or its citizens at least as favourably as it treats the activities of any other country. MFN is the policy of non-discrimination in trade that provides to all trading partners the same customs and tariff treatment given to other favoured nations. The phrase most favoured maybe interpreted as especially favourable treatment but the concept of GATT is equal treatment to other party which is most favored. In the GATT the MFN obligation calls for each contracting party to grant to every other contracting party the most favourable treatment that it grants to any country with respect to imports and exports of products. (Abimbola, 2005). Article 1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade states that â€Å" with respect customs duties and charges of any kind imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation or imposed on the international transfer of payments for imports or exports and with respect to the method of levying such duties and charges, and with respect to all rules and formalities in connection with importation and exportation and with respect to all matters referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article III, any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity granted by any contracting party to any product originating in or destined for any other country shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to other like product originating in or destined for the territories of all other contracting parties.† This clause speaks of MFN treatments fro â€Å"like products†. A 1982 GATT panel found in favour of Brazil that Spain had not lived up to GATT MFN obligation when it subdivided its cu stoms classification of coffee and applied a much higher duty on those types of coffee imported from Brazil. The panel stated that the coffees were so nearly the same that they were â€Å"like products†, and that this must be treated non discriminatorily even though no tariffs were binding by Spain on the product. GATT Article XIII stipulates that quantitative restrictions or tariff quotas on any product must be administered in a non-discriminatory fashion regarding like products, and that in administering import restrictions and tariff quotas, WTO Members shall aim to allocate shares close to that which might be expected in their absence. Article XIII provides for most-favoured-nation treatment in the administration of quantitative restrictions, and supplements the disciplines under Article I. The MFN principle has been expanded and it includes not only importation and exportation of gods but it also includes foreign investments and trade in services. (Abimbola,2005). In Bilateral Investment Treaties4 (BIT) over 1800 BITs (Abimbola, 2005) were compared with about 500 only a decade ago. In the treaties 4 the aspect of foreign investments can be found in BIT. each state generally undertakes to admit, in accordance with its laws and regulations, investments from other state. Also in the treaties are the Covered Investment, it guarantee not only national treatment, but also most favoured nation (MFN) treatment. The BIT also undertake to allow the investor the free transfer abroad of capital, profits and other sums that are related to the investment. It prohibits the expropriation of investments except in the public interest and against prompt, adequate and effective compensation. (Stevens, 2001). Exceptions to the Most Favoured Nation Rule There are some exceptions to the Most Favoured Nation rule, among them are as follows: a) Regional Integration (GATT Article XXIV). Regional integration liberalizes trade among countries within the region, while allowing trade barriers with countries outside the region. GATT Article XXIV provides that regional integration may be allowed as an exception to the Most Favoured Nation rule only if the following conditions are met. First, tariffs and other barriers to trade must be eliminated with respect to substantially all trade within the region. Second, the tariffs and other barriers to trade applied to outside countries must not be higher or more restrictive than they were prior to establishment of regional integration. Regional integration has a vast impact on the world economy today and is the subject of frequent debate in a variety of forums, including the WTO Committee on Regional Trade Agreements. b) Generalized System of Preferences The Generalized System of Preferences or â€Å"GSP† is a system that grants products originating in developing countries lower tariff rates than those normally enjoyed under Most Favoured Nation status as a special measure granted to developing countries in order to increase their export earnings and promote their development. c) Non- Application of Multilateral Trade Agreements between Particular Member States (WTO Article XIII) The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization provides that this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreement in Annexes 1 and 2 shall not apply as between any Member and any other Member, when either of the following conditions are met: a) at the time the WTO went into force, Article XXXV of GATT 1947 had been invoked earlier and was effective as between original Members of the WTO which were contracting parties to GATT 1947. b) Between a Member and another Member which has acceded under Article XII only if the Member not consenting to the application has so notified the Ministerial Conference before the approval of the agreement on the terms of accession by the Ministerial Conference. d) Other Exceptions Other exceptions to the Most-Favoured-Nation principle include Article XXIV:3 regarding frontier traffic with adjacent countries, and Article I:2 regarding historical preferences which were in force at the signing of the GATT. General exceptions to the GATT that may be applied to the Most-Favoured-Nation principle include Article XX regarding General Exceptions for measures necessary to protect public morals, life and health, etc., and Article XXI regarding Security Exceptions. It is also possible to obtain a waiver to constitute an exception to the Most-Favoured-Nation principle. Under WTO Article IX:3, countries may, with the agreement of other contracting parties, waive their obligations under the agreement. National Treatment Principle National treatment stands alongside MFN treatment as one of the central principles of the WTO Agreement. Under the national treatment rule, the members must not accord discriminatory appropriate treatment between imports and like domestic products. GATT Article III requires that WTO members provide national treatment to all other members. Article III:1 stipulates the general principle that members must not apply internal taxes or other internal charges, laws, regulations and requirements affecting imported or domestic products so as to afford protection to domestic production. In relation to internal taxes or other internal charges, Article III:2 stipulates that WTO standards shall not apply standards higher than those imposed on domestic products between imported goods and â€Å"like† domestic goods, or between imported goods and a directly competitive and substitutable product. With regards to article III:4 provides that member shall accord imported products treatment no les s favourable than that accorded to â€Å"like products† of national origin. National treatment is a principle in customary international law vital to many treaty regimes. In National treatment, if a particular right, benefit or privilege is granted by a state to its own citizen, then it must be also granted to the citizen of other states while they are in the country. It is stated in the international agreements that a state must provide equal treatment to those citizen of other states that are participating in the agreement. Exceptions to National Treatment Rule Although National Treatment is a basic principle, GATT still provides exceptions as follows: Government Procurement GATT article III:8 a) permits governments to purchase domestic products preferentially, making government procurement one of the exceptions to the national treatment rule. This exception is permitted because WTO members recognize the role of government procurement in national policy. While the GATT made government procurement an exception to the national treatment rule, the Agreement on Government Procurement resulting from the Uruguay Round mandates signatories to offer national treatment in their government procurement. The national treatment rule applies only between those who have acceded to the Agreement on Government Procurement, and for others, the traditional exception is still in force. Domestic Subsidies GATT Article III:8 (b) allows for the payment of subsidies exclusively to domestic producers as an exception to the national treatment rule, under the condition that it is not in violation of other provisions in Article III and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing measures. The reason for this exception is that subsidies are recognized to be an effective policy tool, and is recognized to be basically within the latitude of domestic policy authorities. However, because subsidies may have a negative effect on trade, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures imposes strict disciplines on the use of subsidies. GATT Articles XVIII:C Members in the early stages of development can raise their standard of living by promoting the establishment of infant industries, but this may require government support and the goal may not be realistically attainable with measures that conform to the GATT. In such cases, countries can use the provisions of GATT Article XVIII:C to notify WTO members and initiate consultations. After the consultations are completed under certain restrictions, these countries are then allowed to take measures that are inconsistent with GATT provisions excluding Articles, I, II and XIII. The GATT article XVIII:C procedure allows both border measures and violations of the national treatment obligations in order to promote domestic infant industries. Other Exceptions to National Treatment Exceptions peculiar to national treatment include the exception on screen quotas of cinematographic films under Article III:10 and Article IV. The provisions of GATT Article XX on general exceptions, Article XXI on security exceptions and WTO Article IX on waivers also apply to the national treatment rule. Problems on Trade Policies and Measures National treatment as well as MFN is invoked in WTO disputes. National treatment principle is usually invoked in conjunction with other provisions regarding MFN, quantitative restrictions, TRIMs and standards and conformity assessment. Among the countries that are having problems in trades are the United States, Korea, Indonesia and Brazil. Conclusion Under the WTO agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Grant someone a special favour (such as a lower customs duty rate for one of their products) and you have to do the same for all other WTO members. Most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment. It is so important that it is the first article of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which governs trade in goods. MFN is also a priority in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) (Article 2) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), although in each agreement the principle is handled slightly differently. Together, those three agreements cover all three main areas of trade handled by the WTO (World Trade Organization). Some exceptions are allowed. For example, countries can set up a free trade agreement that applies only to goods traded within the group — discriminating against goods from outside. Or they can give developing countries special access to their markets. Or a country can raise barriers against products that are considered to be traded unfairly from specific countries. And in services, countries are allowed, in limited circumstances, to discriminate. But the agreements only permit these exceptions under strict conditions. In general, MFN means that every time a country lowers a trade barrier or opens up a market, it has to do so for the same goods or services from all its trading partners — whether rich or poor, weak or strong. 2. National treatment: Treating foreigners and locals equally. Imported and locally-produced goods should be treated equally — at least after the foreign goods have entered the market. The same should apply to foreign and domestic services, and to foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents. This principle of â€Å"national treatment† (giving others the same treatment as ones own nationals) is also found in all the three main WTO agreements (Article 3 of GATT, Article 17 of GATS and Article 3 of TRIPS), although once again the principle is handled slightly differently in each of these. National treatment only applies once a product, service or item of intellectual property has entered the market. Therefore, charging customs duty on an import is not a violation of national treatment even if locally-produced products are not charged an equivalent tax. While this is generally viewed as a desirable principle, in custom it conversely means that a state can deprive foreigners of anything of which it deprives its own citizens. An opposing principle calls for an international minimum standard of justice (a sort of basic due process) that would provide a base floor for the protection of rights and of access to judicial process. The conflict between national treatment and minimum standards has mainly played out between industrialized and developing nations, in the context of expropriations. Many developing nations, having the power to take control over the property of their own citizens, wished to exercise it over the property of aliens as well. Though support for national treatment was expressed in several controversial (and legally nonbinding) United Nations General Assembly resolutions, the issue of expropriations is almost universally handled through treaties with other states and contracts with private entities, rather than through reliance upon international custom. National treatment is an integral part of many World Trade Organization agreements. Reference: Abimbola, FO., 2005, The Most Favoured Nation Principle http://primesolicitors.com/papers/website_resource_3.pdf?PHPSESSID=0fb5d787e50d5e25a3253641c6fe4405 http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/legal_e.htm#GATT94 Fergusson, I. May 2007 CRS Report for Congress- The World Trade Organization: Williams, M. A, 2006 Brief History of GATT and NAFTA Womens Alternative Economic Network, http://www.greens.org/s-r/06/06-15.html The Bretton Woods Conference, 1944 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/98681.htm http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/gatt.html http://www.worldtradelaw.net/articles/hudeclikeproduct.pdf http://www.law.columbia.edu/library/Research_Guides/internat_law/trade_guide#general_intro Stevens, M., September, 2001, Experience in Arbitrations under the ICSID Rules pursuant to Bilateral Investment Treaties, Vol. 29, No. 8 Page 377. Chapter 2 : National Treatment Principle http://www.meti.go.jp/english/report/downloadfiles/gCT0002e.pdf

The Age of The Renaissance :: The Renaissance

The Middle Ages is considered by many historians a time period of ignorance, where little or no advancements took place. The church was the center of attention, and instead of a philosophical view of the world, beliefs were centered around superstitions. On the other hand, the rebirth of education and advancements that followed the Middle Ages and was labeled as the Renaissance. There have been arguments as to whether the Renaissance is actually a separate time period, or instead, just a high point of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance was definitely a distinct era. Inspiration from the ancient Greek and Roman people led to humanism beliefs and encouraged man to become multi-talented. Therefore, the Renaissance man, a man who excelled in many areas, became prominent. Also, the ideals of the people changed, and religion no longer ruled their lives. Advancements in all aspects of life virtually improved. Thus, many aspects lead to the change from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, a ti me period that was undoubtedly distinct from the Middle Ages. During the Renaissance, ideas and beliefs changed greatly. Humanism, a crucial movement to the Renaissance, stressed secular ideas and beliefs and the importance of advocating human’s ideas and values. The movement drew inspiration from the ancient Greek and Roman people. Therefore, classical education began to circulate once again (document 1). The people of the Middle Ages had great amounts of ignorance and believed in faith and false ideas while focusing on childish possessions, but during the Renaissance these ignorant beliefs disappeared and humanism took its place (document 2). The church was no longer the center of life for many and some lost interest in the traditional beliefs that the church was preaching. Yet, it was still an important aspect. The church had lost large amounts of power and wealth due to the humanism movement because people became less reliable on the church and could think and follow ideals on their own. But, the church was rapidly changing during this time period also, because religion was focused on wealth and the money it could obtain (document 5). Instead, many supported the idea that the people who held secular beliefs should be ruled by noblemen that were scholarly, highly educated, and not only concerned with goods (document 5). Entirely new ideas and beliefs began to circulate during the Renaissance, and the church lost much of its great influence.

Continuous Sexual Trajectory Essay -- Essays Papers

Continuous Sexual Trajectory In his Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Freud works inductively towards a theory of the (sexual) mind. The lectures consider years of psychoanalytic experience and try to fit them into a framework, in the process always slightly altering both the data and the theory. His primary interest lies in the competitive interplay of libido - the pleasure seeking unconscious part of the mind - and the ego - the rational and socially constituted character who internalizes norms and tries to tame the libido. The pleasure that the libido presses for is firstly sexual, but for Freud this expansive term indicates any kind of pleasure derived from physical contact. Working from these terms, he tries to consider the relationship between the normal, the neurotic and the perverted. Freud defines the pervert as one who lives out her or his desires for sexual pleasure despite the desires’ deviance from societal norms, and despite the fact that they do not lead to heterosex ual sex (377). The neurotic, on the other hand, shows symptoms created by the active and ongoing conflict between the ego’s demands and the libido’s desires (466). The question then becomes how this deviance relates to â€Å"normal† and why subjects become deviant. Ultimately, Freud’s attempt to establish a trajectory of human development taking the subject from childhood sexuality to adult life founders on the faulty basis of a presumed continuity. In order to explain his experiences as a psychoanalyst with patients and their myriad bizarre symptoms, Freud infers the structure of human development in general, with a focus on the sexual life of children. For adults to be sexual beings with particular symptoms, fix... ...man development grounded in an inferred childhood sexuality that is itself somewhat questionable. The circularity of his method, by itself, certainly does not prove it wrong. He could indeed be correct in the assumptions he makes, and thus their reappearance in and as his conclusions could be for the best. However, that the argument leaves so much space for alternate routes for the origin of what are labeled forms of deviance does at least indicate its incomplete correctness, if not its complete incorrectness. The important question becomes, as it began whether his thoroughly political reading of the nature of the sexualized individual is useful, as opposed to â€Å"True†. When the conclusions he reaches from this troubled theory contradict our sense of justice and reason, it may well be prudent to assume error lies in his ratiocinations rather than in our own agenda.

Ernest Hemmingway Research Paper

Steven Glansberg English Comp II Research Paper 3/28/12 Every writer has his or her own unique style of writing. Writing is such a personal matter that authors have no choice but to get creative. One of the most famous, classic American writers and journalists was Ernest Hemmingway. Ernest Hemmingway had one of the most unique writing styles of all time. His distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement, influenced 20th-century fiction, as did his life of adventure and public image.Ernest Hemingway's fictional style of writing was successful due to the fact that the characters he presented exhibited authenticity that resonated with his audience. He created characters that would directly relate and grow upon the audience of his work. Ernest Miller Hemmingway was born on July 21st, 1899. He was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. Hemmingway led a normal life and after his high school graduation he worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. After that job he left for the Italian front where he became an ambulance driver during World War I.Unfortunately Hemmingway was seriously injured during his duty and returned home to the states in less than a year. This over-seas experience during war would later be the basis for his novel â€Å"A Farewell to Arms. † Ernest Hemmingway did most of his literary work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s. His career in writing ended shortly after he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. In his career Hemmingway published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction work.An additional three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Hemmingway’s first novel was â€Å"The Sun Also Rises†. The New York Times wrote on this novel saying, â€Å"It was a truly gripping story, told in a lean, hard, athletic narrative prose that puts most literary English to shame and also no amount of analysis can convey the quality of this novel. † This novel was written in a spare, tightly written prose, which Hemmingway was notorious for. Hemmingway had one of the most distinct styles of writing in all of iterature. Many literature analysts believe that his writing style was influenced by his time spent in World War I. It is also thought that while at war Hemmingway lost his faith in the central institutions of Western civilization. Hemmingway created his own style of writing that reacted against the â€Å"elaborate style† of 19th century writers. By creating a style in which meaning is established through dialogue, through action, and silence he was able to create a fiction in which nothing crucial is stated explicitly. He said everything while keeping â€Å"under the radar† per say.That is how the Iceberg Theory came into place with Hemmingway’s writing style. The Iceberg Theory, also know as the Theory of Omission, was a theory that was all about how Hemmingway kept the he facts floating above the â€Å"water† but keeps the supporting structure and symbolism operate out-of-sight just like the structural view of an iceberg. In other words the meaning of a piece is not immediately evident, because the crux of the story lies below the surface, just as most of the mass of a real iceberg similarly lies beneath the surface.In Hemmingway’s novel â€Å"The Art of the Short Story,† he explains, â€Å"A few things I have found to be true. If you leave out important things or events that you know about, the story is strengthened. If you leave or skip something because you do not know it, the story will be worthless. The test of any story is how very good the stuff that you, not your editors, omit. † Hemmingway clearly states that by leaving out obvious facts, you unintentionally strengthen your writing by making your audience think and ask questions about certain topics that you wanted to focus on in the first place.A famous p iece of writing by Hemmingway that clearly supports the Iceberg Theory was â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea. † This novel centers upon Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. The plot of this story consists of the aging fisherman Santiago that sails out to see, catches a great white marlin, but then struggles all the way back to shore fighting off sharks to the point where he ends up with nothing but the carcass of the marlin.This story doesn’t seem like it has any literary significance on the surface but if you read between the lines you find out that this novel is a meditation upon youth and age. Even though the protagonist, Santiago, spends little or no time thinking of those terms you can see that the details point towards a struggle between ages. Another story that also has an underlying reflection upon the struggle between ages is â€Å"A Clean Well Lighted Place. † In this novel there is an internal st ruggle between the young and the older waiter in a restaurant.The struggle between characters in this novel is that the younger waiter thinks that he know more about life and love than the older waiter. Hemmingway doesn’t have the younger waiter come out and directly say he knows more than the older waiter for a specific reason. By not making the younger waiter say that he strengthens that topic because then his audience is now asking themselves questions about the young and old waiter’s feud. In this story Hemmingway used a large portion of dialogue.The reason for this is to create a constant back and forth motion between the two waiters. With this constant back and forth it is much easier to make a comparison between the two waiters. Hemmingway also did something very unique in this story. He used Spanish language in this story to even further the excellence of his language use. Ernest Hemmingway’s writing style can never be recreated or copied by anyone. He k new how to get the most from the least in his writing. He mastered the art of pruning language. Getting ever last drop of language genius out.No one knew how to multiply intensities as well as he did or knew how to tell nothing but the truth in a way that allowed for telling more than the truth. Unfortunately Ernest Hemmingway committed suicide in the summer of 1961. Even though he is gone his literary legacy lives on through his works still being read and used all around the world. His unique style of writing and his very interesting way of leaving out a topic that was important in order to strengthen his argument will be a great example for other writers even as the years pass.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Epilogue

Epilogue The angel took the book from him, then went out the door and across the hall, where he knocked on the door. â€Å"He's finished,† the angel said to someone in the room. â€Å"What, you're leaving? I can just go?† asked Levi who was called Biff. The door across the hall opened, and there stood another angel, this one seeming to have more a female aspect than Raziel. She too held a book. She stepped into the hall to reveal a woman standing behind her, wearing jeans and a green cotton blouse. Her hair was long and straight, dark with reddish highlights, and her eyes were crystal blue and seemed to glow in contrast to her dark skin. â€Å"Maggie,† said Levi. â€Å"Hi, Biff.† â€Å"Maggie finished her Gospel weeks ago,† said Raziel. â€Å"Really?† The Magdalene smiled. â€Å"Well, I didn't have as much to write as you did. I didn't see you guys for sixteen years.† â€Å"Oh, right.† â€Å"It is the will of the Son that you two go out together into this new world,† said the female angel. Levi went across the hall and took her in his arms. They kissed for a long time until the angels began to clear their throats and murmur â€Å"Get a room† under their breaths. They held each other at arm's length. Levi said, â€Å"Maggie, is this going to be like it always was? You know, you're with me, and you love me and everything, but it's only because you can't have Josh?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"That's so pathetic.† â€Å"You don't want to be together?† â€Å"No, I want to, it's just pathetic.† â€Å"I have money,† she said. â€Å"They gave me money.† â€Å"That's good.† â€Å"Go,† said Raziel, losing his patience. â€Å"Go, go, go. Go away.† He pointed down the hallway. They started walking down the hallway, arm in arm, tentatively, looking back at the angels every few steps, until at last they looked back and the angels were gone. â€Å"You should have stuck around,† the Magdalene said. â€Å"I couldn't. It hurt too much.† â€Å"He came back.† â€Å"I know, I read about it.† â€Å"He was sad because of what you had done.† â€Å"Yeah, so was I.† â€Å"The others were angry with you. They said that you had the greatest reason to believe.† â€Å"That why they edited me out of their Gospels?† â€Å"Good guess,† she said. They stepped into the elevator and the Magdalene pushed the button for the lobby. â€Å"By the way, it was Hallowed,† she said. â€Å"What was Hallowed?† â€Å"The H. His middle name. It was Hallowed. It's a family name, remember, ‘Our father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.'† â€Å"Damn, I would have guessed Harvey,† Biff said. Afterword Teaching Yoga to an Elephant And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. JOHN 21:25 Can you really teach yoga to an elephant? Well no, you can't, but we're talking about Jesus here. Nobody knows what he could do. The book you've just read is a story. I made it up. It is not designed to change anyone's beliefs or worldview, unless after reading it you've decided to be kinder to your fellow humans (which is okay), or you decide you really would like to try to teach yoga to an elephant, in which case, please get videotape. I researched Lamb, I really did, but there is no doubt I could have spent decades researching and still managed to be inaccurate. (It's a talent, what can I say?) While I've made some attempt to paint an accurate picture of the world in which Christ lived, I changed things for my own convenience, and sometimes, obviously, there was no way of knowing what conditions really existed in the years 1 through 33. The available written history about the peasant class, society, and the practice of Judaism in the first century in Galilee degenerates quickly into theory. The role of the Pharisees in peasant society, the Hellenistic influence, the influence of an international city like Joppa nearby: who knows how these things would have affected Christ as a boy? Some historians postulate that Yeshua of Nazareth would have been little more than an ignorant hillbilly, while others say that because of the proximity of Sepphoris and Joppa, he could have been exposed to Greek and Roman culture from an early age. I chose the latter because it makes for a more interesting story. The historical life of Jesus, beyond a couple of references by Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century, and the odd mention by Roman historians, is again mostly speculation. What we can know today of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is included in the four slim Gospels found in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. For those readers who know the Gospels (bear with me), you know that Matthew and Luke are the only two to mention Christ's birth, while Mark and John cover only the ministry part of Jesus' life. The wise men are mentioned only in one short passage in Matthew, and the shepherds are mentioned only in Luke. The slaughter of the innocents and the fleeing into Egypt are mentioned only in Matthew. In short, Jesus' infancy is a jumble, but the chronicle of his childhood is worse. Of the time from Jesus' birth to when he began his ministry in his thirties, the Bible gives us only one scene: Luke tells us of Jesus teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem at age twel ve. Other than that, we have a thirty-year hole in the life of the most influential human being to ever walk the face of the earth. With Lamb, in my own goofy way, I attempted to fill that hole in history, but again, I am not trying to present history as it might really have been, I'm simply telling stories. Some of the historical elements of Lamb are uncomfortable to work the modern mind around. The precocious sexuality comes to mind. That Maggie would have been betrothed by twelve and married by thirteen is almost certain from what we know of Jewish society in the first century, as are the facts that a Jewish boy of the time would have been learning his trade by age ten, would be betrothed at thirteen, and would be married by fourteen. Trying to create empathy for the adult roles of those whom we, today, would consider children, was of no small concern to me when I was writing that section of the book, but it may be the one section where the sexuality of the characters is not historically out of place. The average peasant in Galilee would have been lucky to live to the age of forty, so perhaps the children, by necessity, reached sexual maturity earlier than they would under less harsh conditions. Although there are, I'm sure, many historical inaccuracies and improbabilities in this book, the most blatant that I have knowingly indulged is in the section where Biff and Joshua visit Gaspar in the mountains of China. While Gautama Buddha did indeed live and teach some five hundred years before the birth of Christ, and while his teachings were widespread in India by the time our heroes could have made it to the East, Buddhism didn't make it into China for almost five hundred years after Christ's death. The martial arts would not be developed by Buddhist monks until after that, but to remain historically accurate, I would have had to leave out an important question that I felt needed to be addressed, which is, â€Å"What if Jesus had known kung fu?† The life of Gaspar, as described in Lamb (the nine years in the cave, etc.), is drawn from the legends of the life of the Buddhist patriarch Bodhidharma, the man who is said to have taken Buddhism to China around A.D. 500. Bodhidharma (or Daruma) is credited with the school of Buddhism that we know today as Zen. Buddhist legend does not mention Bodhidharma encountering a yeti, but they do have him cutting his eyelids off to avoid falling asleep and having them sprout into tea plants which later monks would brew to keep awake during meditation (which I left out), so I traded that story in on an abominable snowman and Biff's theory of natural selection. Seemed fair. Bodhidharma is also said to have invented and taught kung fu to the famous Shao Lin monks to condition them for the rigorous regimen of meditation he prescribed. Most of the details of the festival of Kali, including the sacrifices and mutilations, come from Joseph Campbell's Oriental Mythology, from his Masks of God series. Campbell cites eyewitness accounts of the bloody ritual from nineteenth-century British soldiers and states that even today over eight hundred goats are beheaded for the festival of Kali in Calcutta. (Anyone who had trouble with this passage, please write to Campbell in his current incarnation.) The cited verses from the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita are actual translations of those revered writings. The verses from the Kama Sutra are completely from my imagination, but you'll find weirder stuff in the actual book. Theologically, I made certain assumptions about who Jesus was, mainly that he was who the Gospels say he was. While I used the Gospels heavily for reference, and there are a couple of references to the Acts of the Apostles (specifically the giving of the gift of tongues, without which Biff could not have told the story in modern American idiom), I tried not to draw on the rest of the New Testament, specifically the letters of Paul, Peter, James, and John, as well as Revelations, all written years after the Crucifixion (as were the Gospels). These missives eventually went on to define Christianity, but no matter what you may think of them, you have to agree that Jesus would not have been aware of them, or the events in them, or certainly the consequences of their teaching, so they had no place in this story. Joshua and Biff, as Jewish boys, would, however, have been familiar with the books of the Old Testament, the first five of which made up the base of their faith, the Torah, and th e rest which were referred to by people of the time as Prophets and Writings, so I referred to these when I felt it was appropriate. As I understand it, however, the Talmud and most of the Midrash (illustrative stories explaining the law of God) had not yet been formulated and agreed upon, so they were not used as a reference for Lamb. From the Gnostic Gospels (a set of manuscripts found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, but which actually may have been written earlier than the canonized Gospels) I've drawn only slightly on the Gospel of Thomas, a book of Christ's sayings, because it fit well with the Buddhist point of view (many of the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas are also found in Mark). The other Gnostic Gospels were either too fragmentary, or frankly, just plain creepy (the Infancy Gospel of Thomas describes Jesus, at age six, using his supernatural powers to murder a group of children because they tease him. Sort of Carrie Goes to Nazareth. Even I had to pass.) Lamb is peppered throughout with biblical references, both real and made-up (i.e., Biff quotes liberally from nonexistent books of the Bible such as Dalmatians, Excretions, and Amphibians). My editor and I discussed the merit of footnoting these references and decided that footnotes would detract from the flow of the story. The problem arises, however, that if the reader knows the Bible well enough to recognize the real references, there's a good chance that he or she has decided not to read this book. Our final decision – well, my final decision, my editor wasn't really consulted on this because he might have said no – was to advise those who are not familiar with the Bible to find someone who is, sit them down, read them the passages in question, then say, â€Å"That one real? How 'bout that one?† If you don't know someone who is familiar with the Bible, just wait, someone will come to your door eventually. Keep extra copies of Lamb on hand so they can take one with them. Another problem with telling a story that has been told so many times is that people are looking for elements with which they are familiar. Although I've glossed over many events that are chronicled in the Gospels, there are numerous elements which many people think are there, which simply are not. One is that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. She's always portrayed that way in movies, but it doesn't ever say that she is in the Bible. She is mentioned by name eleven times in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Luke, Mark). Most references to her talk about her preparation for the burial of Jesus, and then being the first witness of his resurrection. It also says that Jesus cured her of evil spirits. No whore references, period. There are â€Å"Marys† without surnames all over the Gospels, and some of them, I suspect, may refer to the Magdalene, specifically the Mary who, soon before his death, anoints Jesus' feet with expensive ointment and wipes them with her hair, certainly one of the most tender moments in the Gospels and the primary basis for my rendering of Maggie's character. We know from letters that many of the leaders of the early church were women, but in first-century Israel, a woman who struck out on her own without a husband was not only considered uppity, but was very likely referred to as a harlot (as was a woman who was divorced). That could be where the myth originated. Another Gospel misassumption is that the three wise men were kings, or, in fact, that there were even three of them. We make that assumption because there are three gifts given to the Christ child. Their names are never mentioned. The names Balthasar, Gaspar, and Melchior come to us from Christian tradition written hundreds of years after the time of Christ. We assume that Joseph of Nazareth, Jesus' stepfather, dies before the Crucifixion, yet it is never stated in the Gospels. He just may not have been involved. We make assumptions based on what we have been fed over the years at Christmas pageants and passion plays, but often, although inspired by faith, that material is little more than what you have just read: the product of someone's imagination. The Gospels do not agree on the order of the events that happen during the ministry, from Jesus' baptism by John to the Crucifixion, so I arranged events from all the Gospels in what seemed a logical, chronological order, while adding t hose elements that allow Biff's participation in the story. There are, of course, elements of the Gospels which I left out in the interest of brevity, but you can always find them in the Gospels if you want. My sending Joshua and Biff to the East was motivated purely by story, not by basis in the Gospel or historical evidence. While there are indeed astounding similarities between the teachings of Jesus and those of Buddha (not to mention those of Lao-tzu, Confucius, and the Hindu religion, all which seem to have included some version of the Golden Rule), it's more likely that these stem from what I believe to be logical and moral conclusions that any person in search of what is right would come to, e.g.: that the preferable way to treat one another is with love and kindness; that pursuit of material gain is ultimately empty when measured against eternity; and that somehow, as human beings, we are all connected spiritually. While historians and theologians don't completely rule out the possibility that Christ may have traveled to the East, they seem to agree that he could have formulated the teachings we find in the Gospels with no more influence than the rabbinical teachings in Galilee and Judea. But what fun would that have been? Finally, this story was set in a dire time, a deadly serious time, and the world of the first-century Jew under the rule of the Romans would not have been one that easily inspired mirth. It's more than a small anachronism that I portray Joshua having and making fun, yet somehow, I like to think that while he carried out his sacred mission, Jesus of Nazareth might have enjoyed a sense of irony and the company of a wisecracking buddy. This story is not and never was meant to challenge anyone's faith; however, if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, one may have a bit more praying to do. My thanks to the many people who helped in the research and writing of this book, especially those who were generous enough to share their beliefs without judgment or condemnation. Many thanks to Neil Levy, Mark Joseph, Professor William â€Å"Sundog† Bersley, Ray Sanders, and John â€Å"The Heretic† Campbell for their advice on religion, philosophy, and history. To Charlee Rodgers for putting up with the fits, starts, whining, and hubris of the process, as well as to Dee Dee Leichtfuss for readings and comments. Special thanks to Orly Elbaz, who was my tour guide through Israel and who showed infinite patience in answering my nitpicky historical questions. Also to my agent, Nick Ellison, and my editor, Tom Dupree, for their patience, tolerance, and advice. Christopher Moore BIG SUR, CALIFORNIA NOVEMBER 2000