Tang Dynasty Essays - Tang Dynasty, Dynasties In Chinese History

Tang Dynasty Essays - Tang Dynasty, Dynasties In Chinese History Tang Dynasty The fall of the Sui in the early 17th century led to a new power, one that revolutionized the social and empirical structure. At its height, the Tang Empire stretched from what is now Manchuria in the northeast into what is now Vietnam in the southwest. Building on the reunification of northern China and the southern China by the Sui dynasty. The Tang Empire established a strong, centralized state system, which brought together the aristocratic clans of all regions, finally ended four centuries of division between northern and southern China. The Tang dynasty was a time of great prosperity, many religions such Buddhism, and Daoism (Taoism), and the literature, scholarship, and arts of the Confucian flourished. The Tangs capital took place in Changan, which became one of the richest and most populous cities in the world, with two million people living there. The Tang dynasty was the time of great inventions, great poets, technologies, which not only influenced China itself in the futu re, but Asia as a whole. Although Li Yuan founded this incredibly long-lived powerful dynasty, ruled as Emperor as Gaozu, but the real powers were in the hands of his son, Li Shih-min. Who later came to power, and assumed the title Tai-tsung. He was an energetic emperor and was determined to solve the internal problems that had destroyed past dynasties. He recreated the Chinese government. At the top of the hierarchy was the emperor; below his were three administrations; Council of the state, Military Affairs, and the Censorate. The most import of these three administrations was the council of the state, which drafted policy, reviewed policy, and implemented policy. The military affairs directed the military under the control of the emperor. The censorate watched over the government and government officials to prevent misgoverning, and corruption. This System that Tai-tsung had brilliantly came up with, led to the result of the central state system working more efficient than ever. The political greatness of the Tang Empire was due in majority to the group of Confucian scholars that advises the Emperor. These scholars were chosen through an indiscriminate civil service examination. The test meant as a competition to bring the among all the most talented people into the government. Past dynasties was due to their reliance on aristocratic families, nobles, and warlords. China flourished in part due to the new economic and trading ties with different regions. Trade was possible because the Tang maintained a good foreign relation. The emperor and his court kept close attention to the power and possible threat of nomadic non-Chinese tribes along the northern border. During the 640s and the 650s, the Tang Empire established its dominance over the Turkish tribes in the north and west and the central Asia. In the 670s China once again gained control over the Tibetan peoples in Turfan. The Tang Empire traded with, India, Middle East, and Byzantium in the west. This was possible because the Tang maintained relative peace among the different races that traded along the Silk Road. Foreign merchants were welcomed in Changan. Foreign religions such and Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity, and Zoroastrianism, were allowed by the Tang to built churches in Changan. Foreign merchants from Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, came by sea to the port of Canton. Then travel north to a large trading city at the southern end of the Grand Canal, and then proceeded along the canal to Changan. The trading ties with India brought Buddhism to china and gave it a place in Chinese culture. One of the most important institutions in the Tang society were the Buddhist temples, which succeeded in their independence from government attempts to control them. The Buddhist Monasteries played many important roles in the Chinese society. Many held amounts of tax-free lands, which led it to be the most important economic institution in a local community. When there were problems, the Monasteries were the place to go for help. Farmers in need of money, or grain for planting borrowed from the monasteries; travelers lodged at the monasteries, local children went to the monasteries to learnt to read. Chinese pilgrims, and foreign monks brought doctrines and texts form India and central Asia to China to be translated. Monks from Japan, Korea,

What is Early Decision Should You Do It

What is Early Decision Should You Do It SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you've heard the term early decision in college admissions, you've probably heard it with the word "binding." What exactly does binding early decision mean, and why do schools offer it? This guide will clear up all your questions around early decision, from what it means to how it works. To begin, what is early decision and what makes it different than other college application options? As you may know, Early Decision applications are typically due in November, much earlier than regular decision deadlines. You get to know early on if you'll be going to the college you apply to. But there's something really special about ED college admissions. What's Unique About Early Decision? Early decision, unlike regular decision or evenearly action, involves abinding agreement of enrollment.When you apply, you sign a contract agreeing to enroll in the school if you get accepted. Since this contract's a big commitment, you'll also need a parent and your school counselor on board to sign it, too. Because it's binding, you should only apply ED if you're completely, absolutely, positively sure you want to attend the school. You should havestrong, concrete reasons for wanting to go there, like the high quality of the program you want to major in (rather than the high quality of the cafeteria food). You can only apply to one school early decision (for obvious reasons). If you're accepted, not only will yousend your deposit soon after you get accepted, but you're also obligated to withdraw any other applications you made to other schools. If you, like the majority of students, will be applying for financial aid, then you might be asking one big question right about now. How can you agree to enroll in a schoolbefore getting to see your financial aid offer? Fair concern, and one that early decision, unfortunately, doesn't provide for. Some schools claim to meet all demonstrated financial need, and it may be possible to negotiate with the financial aid office if your offer isn't what you hoped it would be. For the most part, though, early decision asks you tosign the contract regardless of financial aid.This condition makes ED an application option that's just not available for every student. Apart from the fact that it involves a binding contract, you also want to learn what your deadlines are for early decision. Fun (if somewhat confusing) fact:not all early decision deadlines are actually early!Read on to find out what I mean. Is early decision binding? Yes. But it may or may not have an "early" deadline. When Are the Deadlines for Early Decision? Most early decision deadlines are in the fall. The most common ED deadline isNovember 1.Usually, you'll hear back a month or two later, like in mid-December. You might receive one of three responses:accepted, denied, or deferred.If your application gets deferred to the regular applicant pool, then you're no longer bound to the ED contract and can apply wherever you want (at that point, probably under regular decision deadlines). Some schools also offer a second, later ED deadline in January. This later deadline, which is still binding, is calledEarly Decision II.If you decide you want more time to work on your application and apply ED II, then you'll hear back from your school sometime in February. There's along list of schoolsthat offer early decision. For the purposes of this guide, I'll just list some of the most popular ones. Schools with Early Decision Some schools with aNovember early decision deadlineare Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, and the University of Pennsylvania. Their deadlines are all November 1, except for Johns Hopkins with its November 2 deadline. These schools don't offer ED II. Some colleges that offerboth ED I with a November deadline and ED II with a January deadlineare American University, Boston University, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Colby Pomona, Smith, Vanderbilt, and Wesleyan. The ED II for most of these schools is January 1 or January 15. While these schools offer two options for early decision, neither deadline is flexible. You still have to get all your materials in bythe stated date. So what else besides the enrollment agreement do you need to submit to apply early decision? How Do You Apply Early Decision? Applying early decision is pretty much the same as applying regular decision. The one addition is the enrollment agreement thatyou, your counselor, and one of your parents must sign.A large number of early decision schools use the Common Application, and this form, plus everything else you need, can be foundthere. If your school uses its own application, then the contract will be found on their individual online portal. Either way, you'll fill out your application, provide your test scores, paste your personal essay, and invite one or tworecommendersto upload letters. Make sure to send yourofficial score reportfrom your College Board or ACT account, since self-reporting won't be sufficient by itself. Similarly, you'll need to request that your school send your official transcript as a record of all your high school grades up to that point. Applying ED can have a lot of perks for you as an applicant. You finish applying to your dream school early and hear back months before regular notification whether or not you got in. Butwhy do colleges offer this option?What's in it for them? ED gives colleges an accurate sense of their yield, or of how many accepted students will enroll. Why Do Colleges Offer Early Decision? Early decision is an appealing option to colleges for a few reasons. For one, itspreads out the application review process. Instead of reading thousands of applications all in one or two months, early decision deadlines space out the process between the fall and the winter. For smaller schools with fewer resources and less staff, this can be extremely helpful. A second reason that early decision is useful to colleges is that it gives them a more precise idea of how many accepted students will end up enrolling. Under regular decision, admissions committees offer more spots than they have available, since only a certain percentage of applicants will end up taking those spots. With early decision, though, all ED applicants agree to enroll if accepted. Therefore,colleges gain a clear sense of their ultimate yield, or of how many accepted students will attend the school. Finally, early decision is attractive to colleges because early decision candidates tend to besome of the most qualified candidates.Students who are prepared to commit to a college have done their research and have a strong sense of their goals and purpose. Those who apply in November are usually organized and prepared. Most students don't apply early to a reach school; instead, they apply early if their grades and scores are at least on target with the school's expectations. Some colleges, likeHarvardand the University of Virginia, spoke out against early decision and early action, nothing that early admissions tend to favor students from higher SES backgrounds. They argued that early admissions predominantly benefit white, wealthy students with greater "cultural capital" and access to early college counseling. While this may be true, especially with early decision since it's binding, other colleges didn't follow suit. Harvard and UVA have since reintroduced early action, likely for the very reason mentioned above. They weremissing out on the qualified and competitive students who apply early.Some schools have switched from early decision to early action to address this financial concern, but plenty of schools do still offer early decision for students able to apply this way. Clearly, early decision has some advantages for colleges, but what about for you as an applicant? Do you have a better chance of getting accepted if you apply ED? Does Applying Early Decision Give You an Advantage? Besides receiving your admissions decision earlier than normal, does applying early decision give you any other advantages? Some people think it does, because there's evidence ofhigher early decision acceptance ratesthan regular decision acceptance rates. Compared to regular decision candidates, usually a larger fraction of early decision applicants get in. Does this mean that you have a better chance of getting in as an ED applicant? Not necessarily. It could simply reflect the fact that a higher percentage of ED candidates were qualified, whereas a lot of regular decision applicants applied to the school as a reach and didn't realistically expect to get in. On the other hand, applying ED could impress admissions officers. It shows howcommitted you to a school and excited you are about going there.As discussed above, schools benefit from gaining a more accurate sense of their yield and of course, are looking for the most qualified applicants. If you show that you're both qualified and committed to attending, then you may gain an upper hand as an ED candidate. Overall,sending the strongest application you can should be your top priority.If your school only has a November ED deadline and that feels like a rush, then you'd probably benefit from taking a few extra months to prepare and maybe take the SAT or ACT again. If you do feel prepared and want to apply ED, make sure first to give thought tothe following questions. Are You Sure the College is Your Number One Choice? Is your heart set on attending this college? If you answered no, then early decision probably isn't for you. If you're set on a certain school, then that's a good foundation to start considering early decision. If you do have a school in mind, you shoulddefine your reasons for wanting to attend.Does the school have a program you want to study and an environment that suits you? Make sure you've done research into the school's academics, social scene, and culture to ensure it's the right fit for you. Learn whether your school has the opportunities that will help you grow and succeed over the next four years. Visit campus, speak with students, faculty, or admissions officers, and gain a strong sense of what college life would be like. Applying early decision on a whim or because you feel pressure that you should are not good reasons to apply ED. You also should take pause if you're someone who changes your mind a lot. You should sign a binding contract to enroll becauseyou're sure that you want to go to that school if you get accepted.Once you've answered this question, you want to think abouthow prepared you areto put together your application. Are You Ready to Apply Early Decision? If your school offers the later Early Decision II deadline in January, then you don't have to worry too much about a change in timing. However, if your school only offers the early decision deadline in November, then you want tomake sure you're organized and ready to go in time for the early deadline. As I mentioned above, your top priority should be sending off the best application you can. Even if a school accepts more ED applicants than RD applicants, applying ED won't magically make your application appear any stronger. To make an early deadline, you want to push your planning back a few months. For instance, September or October would probably be your last opportunity to take the ACT or SAT. Ideally, you'd have your test scores all finalized by senior year. You could take your test in the spring of sophomore year, fall of junior year, and spring of junior year to have three opportunities to test, with a fourth "just in case" testing date in the fall in senior year. Make sure to considerhow many test dates you want to leave yourself to achieve your target scores if you're trying to make a November deadline. In terms of yourrecommendations, you want to ask your teachersat least a month in advance.You could also ask your junior year teachers at the end of junior year. You also want to make time to meet with your school counselor and request official documents from your guidance office, like your school transcript, at least a month in advance of deadlines. Finally,work on your personal essay over the summer, giving yourself a few months to revise through several drafts before reaching its final form. Since the personal essay's a very important piece of your application that takes time to brainstorm and write, you want to start planning it a long time before your November deadline. I mentioned that early decision candidates tend to be some of the most competitive, so you want to plan early and submit the most impressive application you can. If you'd benefit from waiting a few more months, then it may make sense to wait for regular decision deadlines (or Early Decision II, if your school offers it). If you start planning your tests, rec letters, and personal essay early, then you'll be prepared to apply early. Then you can relax a little before any regular deadlines since you'll have gathered all the important pieces of your application! Let's say you do have a dream school and you feel prepared to apply by the early decision deadline. You still have one more question to ask yourself:how much does financial aid play into your decision of where to go to college? Are You Concerned About Financial Aid? Does the amount offinancial aidyou receive make or break your decision of where to attend college? If so, then early decision might be a tough option. Unlike early action or regular decision, youcan't compare financial aid offers before deciding where to go.Early decision requires you to agree to enroll regardless of themoneyyou're offered. If you absolutely can't make college tuition work, no one is going to throw you in jail for breaking an early decision agreement. However, breaking the contract would be a rare and unwelcome occurrence, and it's possible that other colleges could find out. To prevent this stressful situation from taking place, you shouldthink about this question before you apply early decision. On the other hand, don't automatically assume you can't apply early decision because you need financial aid.Speak to people in the financial aid office of your school of interest about how they meet demonstrated need.You might be able to gain a clear sense of what your financial aid package will be, allowing you to still make the binding agreement based on this information. In closing, let's go over the most important points to remember about applying early decision to college. To Sum Up... Early decision is an application option for studentsready to make a binding agreement to their dream school.If you're accepted early decision to a school, you will enroll there. If your application is deferred to the regular applicant pool, then you're no longer bound to that agreement and can apply to other schools. Some schools offer an Early Decision II deadline in January in addition to the Early Decision I deadline in November. This can be helpful if you want to communicate your enthusiasm about a school by applying ED, but could use a few more months to put together your application. Applying ED can be a great option if you prepare early. If all goes according to plan, you could have your college plans all finalized by December of your senior year! What's Next? Now that you know all about how early decision works and how to plan for it, check out thiscomplete list of deadlines for all the schools with early decision.Deadlines for both Early Decision I and Early Decision II are included. Are you also considering early action?This guide has thefull list of schools with early action and their deadlines. Feeling concerned about getting everything done in time?This guide givesawesome advice for understanding what makes you procrastinate and learning how to overcome it.While it's geared towards studying for the SAT or ACT, its strategies can also be applied to your schoolwork or the college process. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Revolution and Popular War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Revolution and Popular War - Essay Example "Everything that we did was for our children so that they could learn to read, so they could have a better life, then we, with this idea, participated in the Revolution. With the idea that they were going to learn to read, that they were going to learn many things that they didnt know, with this we integrated in the process of the Revolution," Ser Madre en Nicaragua (Being a Mother in Nicaragua) The need to foster better lives saw women form self help groups and organisations such as child care and community service. It is also recorded that women also joined armies and vigilant groups to modulate the strife being accosted on the males. During and after the Sandinista war, it was quite a struggle in terms of economic index. The Nicaragua states generally had US$ 1.6 billion, of which was payable in a time span of not less than five years. The government formed bodies of workers union to bolster the overall GDP of the state so that the foreign debt would be paid. Apparently, the government partnered with the private sector to ensure that more investment be generated. They were responsible for renegotiating the foreign debt and channelling foreign economic aid through the state-owned International Reconstruction Fund (Fondo Internacional de Reconstruction--FIR). The new government received bilateral and multinational financial assistance and also rescheduled the national foreign debt on advantageous terms. Pledging food for the poor, the junta made restructuring the economy its highest priority. . Workers in organisations also put in extra adjustments by putting in longer hours in offices to get more work down and improve on the daily accountability of finances. Immediately after the revolution, the FSLN also developed mass organizations representing most popular interest groups in Nicaragua. The most significant of these included the Sandinista Workers Federation (Central Sandinista de Trabajadores--CST) representing

Family Variations and Implications to Children Essay

Family Variations and Implications to Children - Essay Example Therefore, the economic, social, and cultural background of a family has a great impact on the behaviors and the upbringing of a child in the community. Children from single parenting portray different characteristics from children with two parents, with the gender of the child being a factor in determining how the family structure and relationships affect children in particular families. Wright & Chrysalis (2007, 16) argue that the rapidly changing family dynamics result in varying characteristics and behaviors in children, indicating that the structure of a family has a direct impact on the upbringing of a child. Therefore, children adopt behaviors and characteristics that mirror the family cultural and economic backgrounds, and family structures in the society. In this report, the various effects of family structures and their effects on children influenced by the social, economic, and cultural factors will be investigated. Berthoud (2) further notes that in black families, the issue of extended family is more profound, and may include grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, among others. Generally, research in most U.K families portrays most traditional family structures are more stable compared to the current marriage structures, which include single parenting and cohabitation forms of marriages (Mooney, Oliver & Smith 2009, 3). Children in stable marriages portray healthy and stable development psychologically, mentally and are in most cases protected from vices experienced by children in the other two forms of marriages (Mooney, Oliver & Smith 2009, 3). Such children are likely to be morally responsible according to stable upbringing, or the favorable atmosphere in these families; they have to learn their cultural orientations and the expected code of behaviors in the society.  

Children and Adoption Act Legislation Evaluation

Children and Adoption Act Legislation Evaluation Looking at ‘The Children and Adoption Act’ identify and trace the development of the policy in its present format Introduction In 2005 the Children and Adoption Act was created in response to a green paper entitled Parental Separation: Children’s Needs and Parents’ Responsibilities (2004). This new bill addresses issues both in the realm of contact between children and separated parents, and foreign adoption issues. However, for the purposes of this essay the researcher will focus on the issues of contact, as these are the most pressing and widely talked about aspects of the bill. Firstly, we will outline the major points of this legislation. As a response to the green paper and an update on both the 2002 Making Contact Work report and the 1989 Children Act, the Children and Adoption Act (2005) aims to address certain key issues of contact between separated or divorced parents and children. The major part of the legislation deals with new processes and powers given to courts when issuing and enforcing contact orders. Firstly, a new initiative known as ‘contact activity directions’ is now available to the courts. These directions allow the court to help promote contact between non-resident parents and children through various courses or counselling. For example, by going for psychiatric or physical treatment to improve the likelihood of cooperation between children and the separated parents. Additional powers granted to the courts are also an important part of this bill. The court now has added power to monitor contact and to report back to the court about the maintenance of such orders. Further, the court now needs to attach a notice of warning to contact orders stating the consequences of a breach of the order. Family assistance orders can now be issued in more than just exceptional circumstances, allowing for a greater opportunity to develop cooperation and contact arrangements. The way in which a breach of a contact order can be punished has also changed. In the past, options open to the court were to put the parent in breach in prison or fine them an amount of money, transfer residence of the children to the other parent, or do nothing. These options were often inadequate or not available in all cases, and so the laws have been changed. A parent in breach of a contact order can now face what is known as an ‘enforcement order’ which can be applied for by either parent or the children concerned. This enforcement order will invoke a requirement for unpaid work on the offender, meaning they will have to carry out a certain amount of duties or work for no fee – much like community service. The court needs to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person is failing or has failed to comply, and that the making of an order is necessary to secure compliance with the order. Once an order is initiated, a Children and Family Court Advisory a nd Support Service (CAFCASS) officer will monitor the situation and report back to the court about compliance. If breach occurs again then the order can be extended or increased as the court sees fit. Another way in which a breach can be punished by the court is through compensation to the other party for financial loss suffered as a consequence of the breach. This is meant to be compensation rather than a punitive payment, and is based upon the financial situation of the offender as well as the needs of the child. These are the main areas of interest in the new Children and Adoption Act in terms of contact, and will be discussed in detail throughout the rest of the essay. In order to do this, the reasoning and objectives behind this new bill first need to be look at. The three main objectives are as follows: To promote and stimulate contact activity between children and non-resident parents To improve the monitoring of compliance with contact orders and reduce delays in complying with these orders. To give the courts increased powers to punish breaches of contact orders that punish the offender and result in compliance rather than harming the welfare of the child. These objectives are in response to a number of issues raised over the last few years. Of these issues, the most notable is the bias towards mothers in terms of contact, with the majority of mothers being the resident parent after separation. Many examples of fathers being denied contact by mothers are documented, and some of these will be discussed later in the essay. The main aim of this essay is to compare the current Children and Adoption Bill to previous legislation, and whether or not it manages to meet its objectives and address the issues that have caused controversy over the last 15 years. The researcher aims to show that whilst this new legislation does go some way to improving the previous situation and improving the chances of contact between children and non-resident parents, it still lacks gender specific policies to deal with the socio-cultural bias towards mothers in parental disputes over contact. Comparisons with previous legislation The original legislation put in place to deal with issues of parental separation and child contact were outlined in the 1989 Children Act. The major problems with this legislation were that it didn’t give enough powers to courts to enforce compliance of contact orders, and that contact was not generally promoted outside of the orders. This resulted in many orders being breached and lengthy delays in getting breached orders enforced. The powers open to the courts meant that many non-resident parents, usually fathers, were unable to see their children due to mothers denying access. Another problem is that the 1989 Act gave parental responsibility automatically to the mother if the parents were not married at the time of the child’s birth, and the father had to apply for responsibility if an agreement could not be reached with the mother. Basically, the rights of a non-married father were fairly limited under this bill. Also, there was a severe lack of monitoring in terms of compliance with the bill and the general contact situation. This left the door open for unfounded allegations by mothers against the fathers in order to stop or delay contact. Even those fathers that clearly established themselves as fit to have contact often found they were unable to obtain contact in the face of hostility from the resident parent. Even with court intervention, not much could often be done. The options open to the court were to put the mother in prison, fine the mother, hand over residence to the father or do nothing. Prison and monetary sanctions were often not practical as they harmed the welfare of the child, and residence passing to the father was not always possible if their residence was unsuitable for the child. In many cases, a severely non-compliant mother would face no penalties for breaching the contact order, and so the father would be unable to see the child at all. Although it wasn’t always the case that the father lost out, even when he was able to get contact there were often large delays and extreme stress involved to do so, and the situation could change. Examples of just how difficult it was for the courts to make decisions about contact under this legislation can be seen in the following two case examples. 1 Family Law Reform 1279 (2004). In S (A Child) (Contact : Promoting Relationship with Absent Parent). The appeals court looked at a father appeal against the dismissal of an application for direct contact with his daughter, aged six. There had been separation between parents five years previously, and voluntary arrangements that had worked in the beginning had since broken down. The child was reluctant to have contact, mainly due to the mother’s extreme reluctance to make any form of contact work, and there were unproven allegations of domestic violence by the mother against the father. The president of the FLR put the dilemma as follows: â€Å"If a mother is truly recalcitrant, the court can commit to prison for contempt or fine the mother. Most mothers do not have enough money to pay a significant fine and this sanction is seldom used, particularly since she is the primary carer of the child. Equally the sanction of prison for mothers who refuse to allow contact is a heavy one and may well be a self-defeating one†¦At this stage also the court may have the evidence that the continuing efforts to persuade the mother to agree to contact are having a disproportionately adverse effect upon the child whose welfare is paramount and the court may find it necessary, however reluctantly, to stop trying to promote contact. That is a very sad situation but may be necessary for a short or for a longer time if the welfare of the child requires it†. In this case, she granted the appeal to allow the parties to jointly instruct a consultant child psychiatrist to asses the family and the contact prospects. Although this is in some way positive, it doesn’t help the father see his child at all, and delays contact even further. This next case of 1 FLR 1226 (2004) D (A Child) (Intractable Contact Dispute : Publicity) shows even further the problems that occur for fathers when the mother denies access. The mother had in this case had not allowed the father to see his daughter at all for 2.5 years, and it was clear this situation was not going to change. Munby J concluded that the father would have to abandon his contact application because the mother was clearly not going to change her mind, and there was very little the courts could do to change this situation. He said: â€Å"There are no simple solutions. And it is idle to imagine that even the best system can overcome all problems. The bitter truth is that there will always be some contact cases so intractable that they will defeat even the best and most committed attempts of judges. But that is no reason for not taking steps — urgent steps — to improve the system as best we can†. This was clearly a injustice, and many pressure groups have formed over the years to combat such issues and greatly improve the rights of fathers in these proceedings. This has come about due to such cases as well as the clear desire of modern fathers to be more involved in the lives and upbringing of their children (O’Brien Shemilt, 2003). Two of the main groups around today are Families Need Fathers and Fathers For Justice (see websites www.fnf.org.uk and www.fathers-4-justice.org/home/index.html). Families Need Fathers have tried to combat these issues by appealing for change, and are the largest such charity in the UK. Fathers For Justice are quite different in their approach, and have staged aggressive protests over recent years involving climbing up buildings dressed as superheroes and often getting arrested for their troubles. However, their controversial protests have divided the community on these issues, with many believing their actions show real passion whilst others believing their reckless behaviour does nothing for the cause and simply damages the reputations of other fathers (Kelly, 2006). Although these groups vary radically in their ways of tackling the issues, their existence clearly shows the desire for change. The previously mentioned cases and increasing coverage in the media led to the 2002 review of policy in the 2002 report by the Children’s Act Sub-Committee to the Lord Chancellor entitled Making Contact Work. Many of the issues raised in cases and through the work of pressure groups came to the fore in this report, including the issues of giving courts more power, reducing delays, promoting contact and increasing monitoring facilities so that contact orders are maintained. This report set the foundation for the 2004 Green paper and the subsequent Children and Adoption Act in 2005. The benefits of this act will be looked at next. Benefits of the Children and Adoption Act The Children and Adoption Act (2005) has been seen as a possible breakthrough in the fight against inequality for non-resident parents, and a step towards better contact once separation has occurred. In general terms, the Act is an acknowledgement that previous laws were inadequate in terms of contact orders and rights for non-resident parents in the face of non-compliance from resident parents. The first major benefit of this act is the new powers to promote contact through the use of contact direction activities. Previously, a non-compliant resident parent might feel that the non-resident parent is unfit or unsuitable to be allowed contact with the child or children. However, contact direction activities allow the resident parent to get reassurances that the non-resident parent is altering their behaviour and improving through various treatments and counselling. This can help promote contact and allow the parties involved to work towards an amicable solution. If this does not work, then the consequences of breaching the contact order are far clearer than they were before. Although non-compliant resident parents generally knew the consequences previously, they were not as firm as they are now or as enforceable. The new laws regarding punishment for breach are also a big improvement on the previous penalties of fines and imprisonment. The unpaid work punishment via an enforcement order is much more workable, and provides real consequences for the non-compliant parent as well as reducing the harm to the child. The further punishment of compensation is also better than a fine, as this money still stays within the parent unit and the financial situation and welfare of the child are taken into account. However, perhaps the most important benefit associated with this new bill is the increased monitoring facilities on offer, allowing for quicker decisions and a reduction in delays for non-resident parents. Through monitoring by CAFCASS and court officials, evidence regarding allegations made against parents can be quickly obtained and the status of compliance with the contact order can also be monitored. This acts as a deterrent against making unfounded allegations and breaching the contact order, and also allows for speedy reestablishment of contact should the order be broken. Overall, the Children and Adoption Act (2005) represents a definite improvement on previous legislation. Despite this, there are still many issues that are not resolved, especially in terms of gender bias. The next section will deal with these specific issues and how they relate to the new bill. Gender Issues Not Dealt With Although the bill is seen as an improvement on the 1989 legislation, it has still come in for much criticism for not dealing with the gender issues that are at the heart of debate on contact law. The new Children and Adoption Act does make it easier for contact laws to be enforced, but shies away from issues of gender bias that have been the major cause for concern for many people. The law still fails to deal with the major issue of gender bias towards mothers due to the large percentage of mothers who are the resident parents after separation, and the general socio-cultural bias in favour of the importance of mothers for children. It has also been noted by the aforementioned pressure groups that mothers often obstruct or at the very least fail to encourage contact for the non-resident father. It is believed that a more adequate solution to the problem would be to give an automatic 50:50 division to parents, thereby eliminating gender bias altogether. Although this is a very good idea in principle, in practical terms it is unlikely to work because of the possibly unsuitability of one parent in such situations, and so a 50:50 split might not be in the best interests of the children involved. Although it is generally accepted that the bias is still towards mothers, there is some evidence to suggest that the gender bias goes both ways, and is more a bias towards the non-resident parent than a gender specific issue. In Kielty (2005), the views a small sample of non-resident mothers in the UK, who now number over 130,000, are taken into account. It shows that although many of the non-resident mothers have a good relationship with their children and still have contact, that some are denied access due to the reluctance of the resident father to allow contact. In these cases, it has been no easier for the mothers to gain access than it has for the typical non-resident fathers. This study further shows how the Children and Adoption Act fails to deal with all aspects of the gender bias in contact cases, and due to the much higher number of non-resident fathers than non-resident mothers, the legislation can be seen as much more favourable to mothers than it is to fathers. One thing that was also made clear in the Kielty (2006) study and Sobolewski and King (2005) study is that these gender bias issues can be overcome, but only if the parents have a good relationship and are willing to work together. In the Kielty (2006) study, the mothers who generally had contact with their children were the ones who had voluntarily become the non-resident parent, and had a good level of cooperation with their ex-partners. The same was true in the Sobolewski and King (2005) study, where it found that high levels of parental cooperation allowed for increased levels of contact and less of a need for court proceedings. However, the study also found that cooperation after separation was fairly uncommon, with 66% of mothers saying the father of their child had no influence on the child’s upbringing. It is clear that more needs to be done than the current legislation allows for, and although the objectives of giving more power to the courts, reducing delays and improving monitoring have been met, the issues of gender bias and cooperation still need much work. The findings of this essay will now be concluded, and there will also be a look at what the future holds for parental contact legislation. Conclusions It is clear that the problems of the 1989 Children Act seen in various case examples, and the continued campaigning and media coverage of pressure groups have helped to shape the Children and Adoption Act of 2005. In many ways, this bill is a huge step forward in the fight to establish equality of contact with children for resident and non-resident parents after separation. There is a great improvement in the powers of the court to enforce the contact orders, and much more workable punishments for breaches. Also, monitoring has been improved with the cooperation of CAFCASS and so delays in getting contact orders and allegations analysed are being reduced. Also, the ability to promote contact through contact direction activities is a definite step in the right direction. It can be said that the three main objectives of increasing court powers, improving promotion of contact and improve contact order monitoring have all been achieved. However, there are still some major issues that have not been dealt with, namely the gender bias still in place against fathers. With so many more non-resident fathers than non-resident mothers, and the increased likelihood of mothers to deny access to fathers, the legislation still does not give fathers the equal rights to see their children that they deserve. In a bid to address this, the government is now trying to focus on improving cooperation between separated parents so as to ease conflict and reduce the problems of bias in the legislation. One way that this is being done is through pilot family resolution projects (Samuel, 2006). These pilot schemes have had a fairly low turnout, but have shown that agreements can be reached through an improvement in mutual parent understanding and cooperation. However, there is still a long way to go to make this scheme workable, and so far results are not much better than for in-court conciliation. The gender bias issue definitely needs to be dealt with through future legislation or more effective means of improving cooperation between parents. Also, the involvement of the children in this process is key, especially those older children. Their needs and opinions should be of paramount importance when deciding the outcome of contact disputes. The current legislation is definitely an improvement, but there is still much to be done if fathers are to have the same rights of contact as mothers after parental separation. Bibliography Clarke, C., Falconer, Hewitt, P. (2004) Parental Separation: Childrens Needs and Parents Responsibilities Green Paper, The Stationery Office, London Connolly, J., Kellet, J., Notley, C., Swift, L. and Trinder, L. (2006) Making contact happen or making contact work? The process and outcomes of in-court conciliation. Department for Constitutional Affairs Research Unit, London Department for Education and Skills DfES (2005) Children and Adoption Bill (HL) Explanatory Notes http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmbills/096/eii/06096x-.htm Edwards, J. (2006) Enforcement of Contact Orders A New Era? in Family Law. Vol. 36 pi 25- 130 ePolitix (2006) Children and Adoption Bill [HL] http://www.epolitix.com/EN/Legislauon/200505/9483aedc-eaac-4cla-be3a-4aOdcalOb330.htm Families Need Fathers FNF (2005) Parental Responsibility http://www.fnf.org.uk/pro.htm Fathers 4 Justice (2005) Fathers 4 Justice Campaign Objectives http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/campaign objectives/indexhtm Fathers 4 Justice (2005) Fathers 4 Justice Press Articles http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/press articles/index.htm Fawcett Society (2006) Family Courts Fact sheet http://www.fawcettsocietv.org.uk/documents/Family%20courts%20factsheet.doc (Accessed May 2006) Kelly, L. (2006) Real dads failed by clowns of F4J Opinion in The Sun. 21 January 2006 Kielty, S. (2005) Mothers are Non-resident Parents Too: A Consideration of Mothers Perspectives on Non-residential Parenting in The Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. Vol 27 No.l p 1-16 O’Brien, M. Shemilt, I. (2003) Working Fathers: Earning and Caring, EOC Research Discussion Series, Equal Opportunities Commission, Manchester. OPSI (1989) The Children Act 1989 (c.41) http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/actsl989/Ukpga19890041 en 3.htm Samuel, M. (2006) Special Report on Family Resolution Schemes http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2006/03/10/53165/special-report-on-family-resolution-schemes.html Sarler, C (1991) Act of kindness for the children: Childrens Act in The Sunday Times. London, 13 October 1991 Wall, J (2005) Enforcement of Contact Orders in Family Law. Vol 35 p 26-32 Sobolewski, J. and King, V. (2005) The Importance of the Coparental Relationship for Non-resident Fathers ties to Children in The Journal of Marriage and Family. Vol 67 p 1196-1212

Economics for Sa

The balance-of-payments (BOP) accounts of a country record the payments and receipts of the people of the country in their transactions with people of other countries. If all transactions are included , the payments and receipts of each country must be equal. I. E. Net Exports (NIX) always equal Net Capital Outflow (NCO). Although this is rarely the case. The BOP statement divides international transactions into three accounts: the current account, the change in reserve assets/capital account and the financial account.The current account and financial account are impacted by export/import of odds and services. Every international transaction results in a credit and a debit. Transaction that causes money to leave a country is a debit. Q: How many economists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Eight. One to screw it in and seven to hold everything else constant. Source: http://enter. Mac. AC. UK/ Joke. HTML When the US purchases South African diamonds, the AS Current Account will h ave a credit and the US current account a debit.However AS will have a surplus of Dollars and so will purchase US assets example US Bonds. This transaction will be recorded in the financial account in the balance of payments. If South Africa buys US Dollars or any other foreign currency as an asset, then this is also recorded in the financial account. 2. 2. 1 Net Capital Flows If South Africa buys more US assets I. E. Invests more in the foreign market than what foreign markets invest in South Africa, then South Africa has a POSITIVE net capital outflow.According to our example in the Market for AS Diamonds in the US , if South Africa has a trade surplus or current account surplus with the US then it will have POSITIVE net capital outflow as it will use the surplus of US dollars to purchase US assets. 2. 2. 2 South Africans Current Account Deficit Please refer to Diagram 4 in the Appendix. A current account deficit meaner that a country is importing more goods and services than it e xports. This is an indication that an economy is â€Å"investing more than it is saving† and is borrowing from other economies to finance its spending.We are an emerging/developing economy so we borrow in order to produce more BUT our current account deficit is growing – and this is concerning. This is an indication that our economy is â€Å"unbalanced† and the governments' efforts to redress this imbalance can be seen as they try to grow our local manufacturing industry. The deficits have been among the main reasons for the recent rand weakness as investors worry about South Africans ability to finance them. We will now examine developments in the foreign exchange markets and how they have impacted South Africa. 3.Please refer to diagram 9 for the historical trend of the last 5 years of the Sara's exchange rate against the USED, YUAN, GAP and EURO. Economists can supply it on demand. Source: http://enter. Mac. AC. UK/Joke. HTML You can immediately notice that t he Rand (CAR) is rapidly moving between peaks and roughs. This meaner that the Rand is not stable I. E. It is volatile. This is because South Africa is considered an emerging market. Any sudden change politically or globally will result in investors investing in more stable economies like the US (USED) or United Kingdom (GAP).We have greater † financial volatility because we swing between economic prosperity and economic decline. † The USED, GAP and Euro (RUE) are currencies of the most stable economies in the world and are predictable and considered a ‘safe bet' by investors. Their currencies float freely. China however pegs TTS currency to the USED and deliberately keeps the YUAN weaker than the USED so that it can encourage exports of its goods and services. Please refer to Diagram 5&6. From Mid 2010 we see a consolidation or recovery of most countries from the 2008 Global Recession.This is due to the 2010 FIFE World Cup that created positive sentiment toward AS . This also created investor confidence which led to steady Direct Foreign Investment. This event was an ideal marketing platform for the tourism sector in AS. We see a peak in tourism during the World Cup. (Diagram AAA) This growth culminated at the end of 2010 (Diagram b), this reign interest increased the demand for AS goods and services which in turn increased the demand for the CAR which caused an appreciation of the CAR against foreign currencies.

How a Space Elevator Would Work

A space elevator is a proposed transportation system connecting the Earths surface to space. The elevator would allow vehicles to travel to orbit or space without the use of rockets. While elevator travel wouldnt be faster than rocket travel, it would be much less expensive and could be used continuously to transport cargo and possibly passengers. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky first described a space elevator in 1895. Tsiolkovksy proposed building a tower from the surface up to geostationary orbit, essentially making an incredibly tall building. The problem with his idea was that the structure would be crushed by all the weight above it. Modern concepts of space elevators are based on a different principle — tension. The elevator would be built using a cable attached at one end to the Earths surface and to a massive counterweight at the other end, above geostationary orbit (35,786 km). Gravity would pull downward on the cable, while centrifugal force from the orbiting counterweight would pull upward. The opposing forces would reduce the stress on the elevator, compared with building a tower to space. While a normal elevator uses moving cables to pull a platform  up and down, the space elevator would rely on devices called crawlers, climbers, or lifters that travel  along a stationary cable or ribbon. In other words, the elevator would move on the cable. Multiple climbers would need to be traveling in both directions to offset vibrations from the Coriolis force acting on their motion. Parts of a Space Elevator The setup for the elevator would be something like this: A massive station, captured asteroid, or group of climbers would be positioned higher than geostationary orbit. Because the tension on the cable would be at its maximum at the orbital position, the cable would be thickest there, tapering toward the Earths surface. Most likely, the cable would either be deployed from space or constructed in multiple sections, moving down to Earth. Climbers would move up and down the cable on rollers, held in place by friction. Power could be supplied by existing technology, such as wireless energy transfer, solar power, and/or stored nuclear energy. The connection point at the surface could be a mobile platform in the ocean, offering security for the elevator and flexibility for avoiding obstacles. Travel on a space elevator would not be fast! The travel time from one end to the other would be several days to a month. To put the distance in perspective, if the climber moved at 300 km/hr (190 mph), it would take five days to reach geosynchronous orbit. Because climbers have to work in concert with others on the cable to make it stable, its likely progress would be much slower. Challenges Yet to Be Overcome The biggest obstacle to space elevator construction is the lack of a material with high enough tensile strength  and  elasticity and low enough density to build the cable or ribbon. So far, the strongest materials for the cable would be diamond nanothreads (first synthesized in 2014) or  carbon nanotubules. These materials have yet to be synthesized to sufficient length or tensile strength to density ratio. The covalent chemical bonds connecting carbon atoms in carbon or diamond nanotubes can only withstand so much stress before unzipping or tearing apart. Scientists calculate the strain the bonds can support, confirming that while it might be possible to one day construct a ribbon long enough to stretch from the Earth to geostationary orbit, it wouldnt be able to sustain additional stress from the environment, vibrations, and climbers. Vibrations and wobble are a serious consideration. The cable would be susceptible to pressure from the solar wind, harmonics (i.e., like a really long violin string), lightning strikes, and wobble from the Coriolis force. One solution would be to control the movement of crawlers to compensate for some of the effects. Another problem is that the space between geostationary orbit and the Earths surface is littered with space junk and debris. Solutions include cleaning up near-Earth space or making the orbital counterweight able to dodge obstacles. Other issues include corrosion, micrometeorite impacts, and the effects of the Van Allen radiation belts (a problem for both materials and organisms). The magnitude of the challenges coupled with the development of reusable rockets, like those developed by SpaceX, have diminished interest in space elevators, but that doesnt mean the elevator idea is dead. Space Elevators Arent Just for Earth A suitable material for an Earth-based space elevator has yet to be developed, but existing materials are strong enough to support a space elevator on the Moon, other moons, Mars, or asteroids. Mars has about a third the gravity of Earth, yet rotates at about the same rate, so a Martian space elevator would be much shorter than one built on Earth. An elevator on Mars would have to address the low orbit of the moon Phobos, which intersects the Martian equator regularly. The complication for a lunar elevator, on the other hand, is that the Moon doesnt rotate quickly enough to offer a stationary orbit point. However, the Lagrangian points could be used instead. Even though a lunar elevator would be 50,000 km long on the near side of the Moon and even longer on its far side, the lower gravity makes construction feasible. A Martian elevator could provide ongoing transport outside of the planets gravity well, while a lunar elevator could be used to send materials from the Moon to a locatio n readily reached by Earth. When Will a Space Elevator Be Built? Numerous companies have proposed plans for space elevators. Feasibility studies indicate an elevator wont be built until (a) a material is discovered that can support the tension for an Earth elevator or (b) theres a need for an elevator on the Moon or Mars. While its probable the conditions will be met in the 21st century, adding a space elevator ride to your bucket list might be premature. Recommended Reading Landis, Geoffrey A. Cafarelli, Craig (1999). Presented as paper IAF-95-V.4.07, 46th International Astronautics Federation Congress, Oslo Norway, October 2–6, 1995. The Tsiolkovski Tower Reexamined.  Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.  52: 175–180.  Cohen, Stephen S.; Misra, Arun K. (2009). The effect of climber transit on the space elevator dynamics.  Acta Astronautica.  64  (5–6): 538–553.  Fitzgerald, M., Swan, P., Penny, R. Swan, C. Space Elevator Architectures and Roadmaps, Lulu.com Publishers 2015