Posts tagged "20"

Voices Can Change the World

Voice talent Dave Christi runs an organization comprising of professional voice talent working towards bringing awareness and an end to one of the worlds most evil atrocities, genocide, particularly, the genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

A genocide literally means that an entire group of people, or, in many cases, the majority of a population, is annihilated without just cause. The motives behind these genocides often revolve around religion, politics and ethnicity with hate as the catalyst.

Genocide is defined as: The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

You may recall the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. At the time, Canadian Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire was in the then war-torn Rwanda with a UN peacekeeping mission. While he was there, he heard that there was going to be a genocide. In this country, there are two distinct groups of people, the Hutu people and the Tutsi people, the latter being the minority and also considered the aristocracy.

To give you an extremely brief summary of what happened, the Tutsi people suffered a genocide at the hands of the Hutu while the world turned a blind eye. Between April 6th and July 16th 1994, over 800,000 Tutsi men, women, and children along with moderate Hutus were slaughtered over a period of 100 days – a massacre which has been likened to a modern Reign of Terror.

I happened to have the opportunity to attend a moving presentation a couple of years ago that screened a documentary about the Rwandan genocide in London. Major Brent Beardsley, who served as the personal staff officer to LGen Romeo Dallaire in Rwanda, was there to share what he saw of the massacre first hand and how if the UN had only continued to provide support to their peacekeepers, the genocide may have been stopped.

Several survivors from the genocide were there and spoke that evening, many of whom were the only living members of their family, letting us as Canadians know how much it meant to them that Romeo Dallaire and his troops did not pull out or abandon them when the United Nations and the rest of the world did.

Romeo Dallaire and his troops defied the UN in order to defend the people of Rwanda, and the battle they fought has made the term genocide very real.

The question Romeo Dallaire asks is “Are all humans human? Or… are some humans more human than others?”

What is going on in Darfur is eerily familiar… it is a genocide.

In our human history, we have seen genocides before Darfur and Rwanda, although, sometimes they are known by other names. Remember what happened to the Jewish people during World War II? The Holocaust, as termed by the British government, is a genocide. Millions of Jewish people were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime.

History repeats itself, but as we also know of history, we can learn from it to change the world. While it is true that not everyone can be at ground zero, there are things that you can still do from home.

When I heard about what Dave Christi had started, my heart broke for the people of Darfur and I wanted to see his purpose and the mission of his colleagues uplifted and shared with you.

I was fortunate to have an interview with Dave earlier this week.

Stephanie: What inspired you to start this project?

Dave Christi: A while ago, I happened upon an article online about a recent trip that a celebrity had taken to Darfur. Then another person on another trip. Then another and another. I wondered, “What’s going on in Darfur?” I always knew that there were problems in Africa, but I never knew to what extent. A quick Internet search later, I found more information.

I was horrified. Not just by the atrocities happening there, but by my own ignorance of the gravity of the situation. I couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t heard more about this on mainstream national news outlets.

I petitioned my congressman and signed the petition to the president and so on, but I didn’t feel like I was doing enough. I don’t have sacks of cash lying around, so I decided to donate my talents as a voiceover artist and copywriter. Then, I figured there may be one or two other voiceover talents that would like to contribute in the same way.

Stephanie: Do you offer services to charitable organizations directly, or do they need to find you first and ask?

Dave: The website and concept are both still in their infancy. My vision is to offer voiceover services to non-profits that may need a PSA read, or a presentation narrated.

Also, since I am a writer, I am putting together a series of PSAs for radio. As far as I can tell, there is a serious LACK of media coverage of this genocide. I’ll be contacting human rights organizations to ask them what we can do to help.

Stephanie: How many people are involved with the project?

Dave: This is the truly amazing part. I made this project public when I had the first PSA script written. That was on Monday, December 11. Just a few days later and I have over 20 voiceover talents who have helped on the PSA and many more that have expressed an interest in donating their voices for future projects.

I am now looking for others that can help with administration.

Stephanie: Do you have a mission statement?

Dave: Not an official statement, but the mission is 3-fold:

1. Donating voiceover work to non-profits who raise money/awareness for the crisis in Darfur.

2. Drive website traffic through our website to sites that accept donations.

3. Creating effective PSA’s to distribute to radio stations to help raise public awareness of the crisis in Darfur.

Stephanie: Do you have a blog to promote your project?

Dave: The entire website is setup on blogging software. I found this the easiest way to organize the fluid content of the site. So, yes, a blog is in place.

Stephanie: What is the demand for a service like yours?

Dave: I feel the demand could be quite great. Like any “for-profit” business, charities need to market themselves. This means they need voice work. UNLIKE a “for-profit” business, charities don’t have large marketing budgets. Every penny they have to spend is one less penny that goes toward their cause. If an organization like ours can lower their bottom line just a bit, I feel like we’ve been successful.

Stephanie: What does a typical client of your service look like?

Dave: Right now there is just one focus. Darfur. I am running the organization as a one man show right now. If I’m successful with charities that help Darfur, then I’d like to expand to domestic children’s charities.

Stephanie: Do you have a case study on hand that people could relate to?

Dave: The only case study I have right now is my own. The abuse of human rights in Darfur as been going on since 2003. Why was I unaware until the end of 2006? Why is it that my local and national media saw fit to educate me on every tedious detail of TomKat’s relationship, yet the stories of the suffering of the Darfuri people go unaired and unpublished?

Stephanie: How would someone go about getting a talent to record their message? Can clients pick their preferred voice from your base of volunteer talent or do talent view opportunities and respond if interested?

Dave: Right now I am collecting names of those interested in donating and I’m still researching charities that would need work done. Come to think of it, Voices.com has a lot of experience in getting voices and people who need voices together.

Stephanie: What qualifies to be recorded for free through your service? Are there any restrictions?

Dave: I want to ensure that the charities that use Voices for a Change are legitimate. In the US, that would simply mean faxing a copy of their 501(c)(3) to us before they would be given access to our services. The other requirement is that their charitable efforts go toward delivering relief to, raising public awareness for, and encouraging media and government response for the genocide in Darfur.

Stephanie: How can people get involved?

Dave: Even those who do not wish to donate their voices may still help the people of Darfur. Talk to your congressman. Talk to your local media. Talk to your friends. Be A Witness said it very well; “You can’t stop a genocide if you don’t know about it.”

Stephanie: Thank you Dave for your time and for sharing this mission with us at Voices.

Dave: Thank you for the opportunity.

Stephanie Ciccarelli
http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/voices-can-change-the-world-97280.html

World Of Warcraft Gold

WoW gold is necessary to buy supplies to further your trade skills. For example, if you decided to train in either alchemy or leatherworking, you will require items to make spells and armor. You can either train in a complementary gathering skill such as herbalism and skinning or use your World of Warcraft gold to purchase the necessary supplies from others.

Newer players, however, face a steep curve in trying to acquire World of Warcraft gold. Low-level monsters, like those that you will face for the first 20 or so levels, may occasionally drop a piece of silver. More often than not, however, they will drop copper or no WOW money at all. Similarly, you need to invest days of play in order to build up your trade skills to the point that you can use them to make fast gold.

At all levels of the game, there are strategies that some players and guides will advocate for making WOW gold. If your character’s level is between 20 and 30, you may try engaging in linen cloth farming in Westfall or search for cat figurines in North Darkshore to quickly make WOW gold. As your character’s level increases, there are more activities in which you can engage to make WOW gold, such as going after elite monsters.

While seeking out WOW gold through methods that do not progress the story may seem boring, there are many reasons why it is necessary. If you want to buy a mount for your character, you will need hundreds of pieces of WOW gold. More powerful weapons and armor are also particularly costly, and essential for later in the game.

Whether it’s to purchase a set of armor that will increase your strength and stamina or to buy a mount so that you can travel across the continents quickly, buying World of Warcraft gold lets you focus on the particular parts of the game that you most enjoy. If you like PvP combat but need to buy items to complete a quest, you can purchase WOW gold and buy what you need from other players. You can also try powerleveling services as a means of generating WOW gold within the game.

You can also use your World of Warcraft gold to purchase and repair your weapons and armor. Over the course of battles, your armor will become damaged, and the amount of damage that the components can receive is based on their durability. If the durability of an item reaches zero, that item will no longer be of use to you. In the case of armor, you will no longer receive the protection that it would normally afford you.

If you do not want to spend your time gathering herbs and creating potions, you can pay World of Warcraft gold to other players in the auction house. Many upper-level players who have large stashes of WOW gold will not bother to gather ingredients, as it is often more time efficient for them simply to pay a premium to other players for finished products. Regardless of your level, you can acquire World of Warcraft gold from gold providers so that you can buy the items you need to progress through the game at the speed you desire.

Donny Fonseca
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/world-of-warcraft-gold-68438.html

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE Pt. VI

• WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LAWYER AND A BARRISTER?

A lawyer is a person who practises law; one who conducts lawsuits for clients or advises clients of their legal rights and obligations. A barrister is a legal practitioner whose main function is to practice advocacy in court. They often have less interaction with clients. Barristers spend their working hours in chambers where they prepare their cases.

• WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT THE KEW GARDEN?

Kew Gardens in Thames, London is best known for being the home of the Royal Botanical Gardens (now a world heritage site). Other points of interest-include the Kew Palace and the National Archives (previously known as the Public Records Office) The Kew Gardens is special because it is an important international botanical research and education institution with a staff of over 700 people.

• WHAT IS THE ‘COOL BIZ’ CAMPAIGN?

This is a campaign introduced by Japan. In order, to save energy, it asks office goers and politicians to remove their ties and jackets to minimise the use of air conditioners and thereby reduce consumption of electricity and also the emission of greenhouse gases. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel who is currently visiting Japan to discuss, among other things, ways to tackle global warming, had a taste of the ‘cool biz’ campaign when the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe informed her that his entourage wouldn’t be wearing their ties to adhere to the ‘cool biz’ campaign.

• WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM POCKET MONEY?

Before the advent of pockets in shirts and trousers, money was kept in bags and sachets. Later, a smart tailor made a pocket on a garment and it became so useful, further innovations made a pocket suitable to safely keep money From then on, money kept in pockets for expenses came to known as pocket money

• WHAT IS ENTABLATURE?

It is the horizontal upper part of a wall or storey of a building designed on the principles of classical architecture. It is usually supported on columns, and consists of  three parts. These are the architrave, the lowermost part; the frieze, the decorative band in the middle; and the cornice, the crowning ornamental projection. Entablature was originally conceived by Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect.

• WHICH IS THE WORLD’S FIRST AIR SHOW?

The world’s first air show was the International Air Meet held at Rheims, Franceheld in 1909. India’s first air show, AVIA-93 was held in December, 1993 in Bangalore. The world’s biggest air show was the  47th Paris Air Show. However, the world’s largest military air show  the RoyalInternational Air Tattoo (RAF Fairford, United Kingdom), held annually in July.

• WHAT IS A CIRCUIT FILTER?

A circuit filter is used in trading of shares in stock exchange. It’s applied to all the shares, to supposedly safeguard the interest of general investors from the extreme volatilities in markets by preventing any unexpected fall or rise of share price in a single day beyond a limit. If the limit is crossed by any of the shares in a single trading day it is frozen for trade.

• WHAT IS THE GINI COEFFICIENT?

The Gini Coefficient is a measure of inequality of income distribution or inequality of wealth distribution. It is defined as a ratio with values between 0 and 1: the numerator is the area between the Lorenz curve of the distribution and the uniform distribution line; the denominator is the area under the uniform distribution line. Thus, a low Gini Coefficient indicates more equal income or wealth distribution, while a high Gini Coefficient indicates more unequal distribution.

• WHAT IS THE TRIPLE FINGER SALUTE?

The three-finger salute is used by members of Scouts and Guides organisations around the world when greeting other Scouts and Guides and at some ceremonies. The salute is made with the palm face out, the thumb holding down the little finger, and the fingertips on the brow. In computer parlance, the triplefmger salute refers to describe the three-key sequence — Alt + Ctrl + Del — developed by David Bradley This term became popular after IBM PC compatible users continually hold down these keys each time their computers froze or had other problems.

• WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS THE WELL-COME COLLECTION?

The Wellcome Collection traces The development of medicine through history and spanning several cultures. Located in central London, it is a combination of exhibitions, libraries and cafes where people can learn more about the development of medicine. Part of the Well-come Trust, it was founded by Sir Henry Wellcome, a pharmacist, entrepreneur, philanthropist and collector, who garnered  a unique collection of articles relating to medicine and health. Recently, a British heart transplant patient, Jennifer Sutton, donated her old heart to the Well-come Collection, after receving a new one.

• WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE BAUDHAYAN THEOREM?

Baushayan Sulv Sutra (1000 BC) is today known as the Pythogorus theorem, which states that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. In Baudhayan theorem, this has been expressed as follows: in a Deerghchatursh (triangle), the chetra (square) of rajju (hypotenuse) is equal to the sum of squares of the parshvamani (base) and triyangmani (perpendicular line). It is amazing to note that the pythagorus theorem was known in our country as far back as 1000 BC.

• WHY IS THE NUMBER 1 NOT CONSIDERED A PRIME NUMBER THOUGH IT FITS THE DEFINITION?

The number 1, in fact, does not fit the definition of a prime number. A positive integer is called a prime number only if there are exactly two divisors of that number. Since 1 has exactly one divisor (which is 1 itself), it does not fit this definition. Another equivalent definition of a prime number is this prime number’s only positive divisor should be less than 1 and itself. Again, 1 does not fit this definition either— there are no positive divisors of 1 which are less that 1.

• WHICH NATION HAS THE SMALLEST ARMY IN THE WORLD?

Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, has the smallest army. This army of 110 men, is also known as the Swiss Guard. Last year, the Vatican celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Swiss Guard. The celebration commemorated the 150 Swiss Helvetian mercenaries who came to Rome to serve Pope Julius II, on January 22,1506. The mercenaries covered a distance of 723 km in 27 days to enter Rome from Bellinzona, Switzerland. Swiss Helvetian mercenaries, famous for their courage, die-hard attitude and loyalty to their employers, were part of the regular armies of various countries at that time. As allies of the Pope, they helped to shape Italy’s destiny and thus they were granted the title ^Defenders of the Church’s freedom’ by the Pope. During the Sack of Rome on May 6, 1527, the Swiss Guard, comprising 189 personnel at that time, resisted a Spanish attack on Rome and the Vatican. But they had to retreat after suffering heavy casualties. Only 42 men survived the attack. However, the Guard was able to ensure Pope Clement VII’s escape to safety.

• WHERE WAS WINE FIRST MADE?

Wine is the fermented juice of grapes. Probably, the first people to make wine were Persian farmers living near the Caspian Sea. The Egyptians learned how to make wine from them as long back as 3000 BC. In the fourth century BC., the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great carried grapevines and the knowledge of wine-making to Central Asia. Roman invaders probably took vines to northern France and Germany in later centuries. Wine was common in the everyday lives of the early Greeks and Romans. It was important to their religious ceremonies. The God of wine was called Bacchus by the Romans and Dionysus by the Greeks.

• WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARXISM AND SOCIALISM?

Socialism is a modern doctrine and is Western in origin, emerging with the development of industrial capitalism at the start of the nineteenth century. Socialism denotes a broad system of ideas. Marxism is a materialistic conception of history which seeks to explain the development of all societies and furthermore, make predictions about future social change. Marxists consider the material world, nature and society as constantly moving. Whereas, the socialists emphasise the organic unity of society. Marxists consider the material world as an integrated whole in which all things and phenomena are interconnected and interdependent. Whereas, socialists believe in equality and abolition of private enterprise. Marxism provides a scientific explanation of nature and society and hence, was a powerful instrument for revolutionary transformation. The society envisaged by socialists rests on certain values: redistribution of wealth to get rid of inequality, cooperative production to get rid of selfish competitors and new patterns of work and education to promote the growth of well-rounded individuals.

• WHAT IS A HYPERCUBE?

Hypercube is the generalization in n-dimensions of a square in two dimensions and a cube in three dimensions. A square has four vertices (22), a cube, 8 vertices (23). Similarly, an n-dimensional hypercube has 2n vertices. In the famous painting ‘Christus Hypercubus’, Salvador Dali depicted Christ crucified on an unfolded four-dimensional hypercube. Examining the shadow of a cube reveals a square within a square. Similarly, the shadow of a four-dimensional hypercube will be a cube within a cube.

• WHY IS THE ALPHABET WRITTEN IN A SPECIFIC ORDER?

The alphabet has often been described as an arbitrary collection of symbols representing an arbitrary collection of sounds. Its order is equally random. The word alphabet comes from alpha and beta, the first two words in the Greek alphabet.

• WHAT IS STEAMING DISTANCE?

Steaming distance is the shortest distance between two ports, which a ship traverses while sailing from one port to another. It need not be along a straight line as, due to various physical and political constraints, it may not be always be desirable to sail along a straight route.

• WHICH IS THE OLDEST CIVILIZATION IN THE WORLD?

This has long been a subject of much debate and to this day no one is absolutely sure which is the oldest civilisation. This is mostly because people cannot agree on the definition of the word civilisation. The most common definition of the word is ‘an advanced state of development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of writing, and complex political and social institutions’. Mesopotamia is considered as the most likely answer to the question, based on archaeological evidence and the above definition. It is believed that Mesopotamian history starts from the emergence of urban societies in Southern Iraq in the 4th millennium.

• HOW IS A COUNTRY’S GDP MEASURED?

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. GDP is customarily reported on an annual basis. It is the nation’s broadest gauge of economic health. It includes all of private and public consumption, government outlays, investments and exports and imports that occur within a defined territory The most common approach to measuring GDP is the expenditure method: GDP = consumption + investment (govern- ment spending) + (exports – imports). Another way of measuring GDP is to measure the total income payable in the GDP income accounts. This should provide the same figure as the expenditure method. Another formula is: GDP = rent + interests + profits + statistical adjustments (like corporate income taxes, dividends, undistributed corpo-1 rate profits) + wages.

• WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF TOULOUSE?

University of Toulouse is one of the oldest universities of France and is located in Toulouse, a city in Southern France on the banks of the Garonne river. It was founded in 1229 AD as a result of the Paris Treaty marking the end of the battle between the Roman Catholic Church and its opponents. Foulques de Toulouse, the then bishop of Toulouse, played a major role in the setting up of the university. Now, the university has an enrolment exceeding 1,00,000, and is the second largest university in France. The sixteenth century philosopher and astronomer Bruno and the Chemistry Nobel Laureate Sabatier, and the artist Dulac were some of its most illustrious faculty members.

• IN ANCIENT TIMES, WHY WERE PIGEONS USED FOR SENDING MESSAGES?

Pigeons were used for sending messages not only in ancient times, but as recently as early the 1900s, during World War I. A particular breed of pigeons called homing pigeons are specially suited for carrying messages, because they possess the uncanny ability of flying back to their home over long distances at high speeds. According to some reports, a homing pigeon flew back to its home after flying over 1600 miles at the peak speed of 60 miles per hour. Exactly how such birds navigate themselves is still not clear. Scientists hypothesise that the pigeon uses a variety of sources like the direction of the Sun, Earth’s magnetism, and odours associated with different places for finding its direction. Before the advent of telegraph, telephone and radio, using pigeons for sending messages was quite popular among the military, newspapers, and stock brokers. Such a messaging system was known as pigeon post.

• WHAT IS AN ATLAS CALLED SO?

Atlas is the term used to refer to a collection of maps, printed in a set order: world map, maps of the continents, each followed by maps of the several regions within that continent, and with an alphabetical gazetteer or list of place names, giving coordinates for various places, rivers, regions etc. The first use of the term atlas dates back to 1595 with the publication in Duisburg of the Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi Et Fabricati Figura by Gerard Mercator (1512-94). It was named after King Atlas, a mythical King of Mauretania in Libya, who was, according to legend, a wise philosopher, mathematician and astronomer and who supposedly made the first celestial globe. However, the more widely known Atlas is a figure from Greek mythology He is the son of the Titan lapetus and Clymene^or Asia), and brother of Prometheus. Atlas was punished by Zeus and made to bear the weight of the heavens and Earth on his back.

• WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM ‘RULE OF THUMB’ ?

One theory about the phrase’s origin lies in the misplaced public belief that the English law allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick measuring no longer than his thumb. There was actually no such English law enacted at any time. This phrase has been in circulation since the 17th century This phrase commonly refers to any means of estimation based on a practical and ready method but not on scientific measurement. Another theory concerning the phrase’s origin involves the numerous ways in which thumbs have been used for estimation. Some examples are — measurement of distance based on an estimated inch which is about the length of a thumb; judging the alignment or distance of an object by holding the thumb at eye level etc.

• WHAT IS RED CORNER NOTICE?

Certain requests used by Interpol are sent in the forms of notices. The colour of each notice determines the type of information being sent or received by Interpol and its members. A red corner notice is issued at the request of a country’s law enforcement authority. The requesting country asks for a red notice to be issued when a criminal evades arrest and escapes from the country.

• WHICH IS THE SMALLEST AND LARGEST CITY IN THE WORLD BY AREA AND POPULATION?

The largest city in the world by population is Tokyo with over 35 million people. It was the world’s most populous urban area between 1965 and 1970. However, despite Japan’s declining population, it is still growing. The smallest city in the world by population is Hum. It has a population of only 23 people. It is a tiny town in the central part of Istria, North-West Croatia, 7 km from Roh, 14 km South-East of Buzet on a hill above the Mirna Valley The largest city in the world by area is Hulun Buir, encompassing 263,953 km. The smallest city in the world by area is Vatican City with an area of 44 hectares (108.7 acre). It is a landlocked sovereign city state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. It is officially called State of the Vatican City.

• WILL CREATING TWO TIME ZONES FOR INDIA SAVE ENERGY?

There is no statistical evidence of two time zones being economically beneficial other than restoring a sense of normalcy to the area that follows its local meridian time zone. India geographically extends from 68 degrees East to 97 degrees East (29 degrees) from Gujarat to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, thereby encompassing two time zones. However, it has adopted the Allahabad meridian of 72 degrees, which makes it convenient for the railways, airlines and media. This leads to weird experiences for travelers from Central India who visit the North-Eastern states which receive daylight before 5 am. This entails an extra cost to the economy in terms of industrial arid office lighting spent in these regions, since daybreak here doesn’t coincide with the rest of the country. Also, there tends to be more traffic when it is dark.

• IS IT TRUE THAT CREATING TWO TIME ZONES FOR INDIA WILL SAVE ENERGY?

The Indian Standard Time is based on the meridian at 82 1/2 degrees East, which is 5 1/2 hours ahead of the Greenwich meridian. India’s geographical middle lies at 82 1/2 degrees East, which was incorrectly mentioned as 72 degrees East.

• WHAT IS SECURITISATION?

Securitisation is the process through which existing assets or future cash flows are converted into marketable securities. Those assets or cash flows are, inherently, not marketable. There are two types of securitisation — assetbacked securitisation and futureflows securitisation. Some of the assets that can be securitised are loans and future cash flows like credit card payments, car rentals or any other form of future receivables. Securitisation is common in the US and Europe, but in India it is in a nascent stage.

• WHEN AND WHERE WAS THE NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED?

Acta Diurna’ was the first news paper published in Rome, around 59 BC. In 1605, the first printed weekly newspaper to be published in Antwerp was called Relation. Johann Carolus (1575-1634) was the publisher of the Relation aller Furnemmen und gedenckwurdigen Historien (Collection of all Distinguished and Commemorable News). The ^Relation’ is recognized by the World Association of Newspapers, as well as many authors, as the world’s first newspaper. The German Relation was published in Strasbourg, which had the status of an imperial free city in the holy Roman empire of the German nation.

• WHEN WAS THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES?

The Battle of Los Angeles took place during the night of February 24/25, 1942 in Los Angeles, California. The battle involved heavy firing of anti-aircraft shells by the US forces aimed at several mysterious flying objects reportedly sighted in the sky over Los Angeles. These objects were thought to be Japanese military aircraft. However, even till today, their identity has not convincingly established. Even though six civilians lost their lives in the bombardment, there was no evidence that the firing destroyed any flying object. The firing was preceded by a blackout and Sounding of air raid sirens. Now, many believe that the battle was the result of a false alarm, triggered by weather balloons, or Japanese blimps. Some even think the source of the alarm could be a flying object of extraterrestrial origin.

• WHO IS LADY JUSTICE?

The origin may be Themis, a Greek mythological goddess, who advised Zeus after his purge of the old pantheon. A daughter of Themis and Zeus, Dike, known as a goddess of justice but not divine justice, presided over the apportionment of things among mortals, the protection of individuals and the social and political order. At times, Dike is said to be the same as (or is confused with) Astraea. Astraea is also a daughter of Themis and Zeus and is known as a goddess of justice. In western tradition, Lady Justice sometimes wears a blindfold and carries a sword and scales. She symbolises the fair and equal administration of the law, without corruption, avarice, prejudice, or favour.

• WHO DESIGNED THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL?

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. is a United States presidential memorial built to honour its 16th President Abraham Lincoln. The architect is Henry Bacon (an American Beaux-Arts architect), the sculptor is Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the murals inside is Jules Guerin. The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large, seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln.

• WHICH COUNTRY HAS THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF UNIVERSITIES?

According to UNESCO, India tops the list with 8,407 universities. It’s followed by the United States  (5,759), Argentina (1,705) and Spain (1,415).

• WHO ARE HOBOS?

Hobos is an American word which refers to homeless people wandering about in search of work. In earlier days, hobos were supposed to move around by hopping from one freight train to another, just to save the cost of transportation. Hobos and hobo culture began in mid-19fh century, when the ending of the Civil War caused severe unemployment in the US and several people left their homes and started moving about the whole country in search of jobs. A similar phenomenon happened during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Although the term owes its origin to the above phenomena, it is used today to refer to a tramp in general, an aimless traveller not necessarily looking for work. There are several theories related to how the word hobo got coined: some say the word has been derived from the phrase hopping box cars, and some others that it is a shortened version of the rail-road greeting ‘Ho Beau,’ popular in the 19th century

• WHICH CONTINENT HAS THE MOST NUMBER OF PORTS?

With over 1,000 ports, Europe is perhaps the continent with most number of ports. The UK alone has over 200 ports and European ports handle about 3.5 billion tones of cargo.

• WHY IS A SANDLOT USED AS A PLAYING AREA FOR CHILDREN?

A sandlot refers to a vacant lot used by children to play games, mostly unorganised ones. Unlike a playground specifically created for certain games, sandlots perhaps developed as informal spaces which children made use of to serve as makeshift playgrounds. In the US, sandlot baseball refers to an advanced version of the game played by teams not affiliated with either the Major or Minor leagues in the country

• WHO ARE WING WALKERS?

Wing walkers are those who walk on wings of an airplane in flight. Recently, a wing walker hung from a 450 Stearman aircraft when it was in flight. This stunt was performed as part of the Flying Circus Air Show in Bealeton, Virginia.

• WHAT ARE P-NOTES?

P-Notes are financial instruments that facilitate investment in Indian securities by foreign investors or hedge funds that are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Indian brokerage houses buy the securities on behalf of these foreign investors and hedge funds and issue P-Notes to them. Any dividends or capital gains collected from the underlying securities will keep going back to the foreign investors and hedge funds. The value of P-Notes is determined on the basis of shares listed on the stock exchanges.

• WHY IS THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA REFERRED TO AS A RAINBOW NATION?

The Republic of South Africa is referred to as a Rainbow Nation to describe the unity of various cultural, racial or ethnic groups in the country during the postapartheid era (after 1994) compared to the earlier divisiveness based on skin colour. This phrase was coined by the then Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, and later used by Nelson Mandela, the first President of the Republic of South Africa elected in the first polls conducted after apartheid rule officially ended. In some South African cultures, the rainbow is always associated with hope and a bright future. Incidentally, the South African Hag also has six rainbow-like colours.

• WHO IS THE SECOND ASIAN AFTER RABINDRANATH TAGORE TO WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE?

Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888-1970) of Israel shared the 1966 Nobel Prize for Literature with Nelly Leonie Sachs (1891-1970), a GermanSwedish poet. This was 53 years after Tagore won the prize in 1913. The first Asian after Tagore to win it solo was Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972), a Japanese novelist, in 1968.

• WHICH IS THE WORLD’S FIRST POST OFFICE?

Although the origins of the postal system date back to antiquity, the British Postal Museum claims the oldest functioning post office in the world is on High Street in Sanquhar, Scotland. According to the museum, this post office has functioned continuously since 1712 AD. Sanquhar is a quiet, insignificant town, but in its heyday, its residents included many influential aristocrats, who must have played a significant role in having the first post office located there. Those days, horses and stage coaches would carry mail.

• WHAT IS A CALLIOPE?

It is a musical instrument with a loud, shrill sound that’s audible miles away It is used to attract attention at circuses and fairs. It was invented in the United States around 1850 by A S Denny and patented in 1855 by Joshua C Stoddard. It consists of a boiler which forces steam through a set of whistle pipes. Either a keyboard or a pinned cylinder (like that of a barrel organ or music box) controls the entry of steam into the pipes.

• • Calliope was one of the nine muses in Greek mythology. Her name means beautiful voiced and she was the daughter of Zeus (God of sky and thunder) and Mnemosyne (Goddess of memory). She is the muse of epic poetry and eloquence. She was the oldest and wisest of the muses as well as the most assertive. She is often represented as a stately young woman whose brow is crowned with gold, while in some legends, she is seen with a writing tablet, scroll, or book in her hand and wearing a gold crown. She is best known as the inspiration for Homer’s Miad and the Odyssey.
• WHY IS SUN TEMPLE, KONARK CALLED THE ‘BLACK PAGODA?

Today, the Sun Temple, a magnificent pagoda, is located 2 km from the sea but, in olden times, it was much closer. So, the temple was used as a navigational point by European sailors. They referred to it as the ‘Black Pagoda’ due to its dark colour and its magnetic power that drew ships into the shore and caused shipwrecks.

• WHEN WAS THE SICAB HORSE SHOW FIRST HELD?

In 1980, the first Sicab (Salon Internacional del Caballo) was organised in Seville. The following year, it took place in Madrid. Today, there are more than 200 horse shows a year dedicated exclusively to the Purebred Spanish Horse.

• WHEN WERE CHOPSTICKS FIRST USED?

Chopsticks were made over 5,000 years ago in China. The earliest version of chopsticks were plain sticks or branches from trees which were used to retrieve food from fire. The teachings of Confucius forbade followers to use knives at the dining table, which further increased the popularity of chopsticks in Eastern Asia. Today, chopsticks are no longer confined to culinary purposes. Japan has even launched a bra called ‘My Chopsticks Bra’ which is made from recycled chopsticks. This would reduce the decimation of entire forests to manufacture chopsticks.

• WHAT IS A ‘BREATHING FABRIC’?

A ‘breathing fabric’ is designed to prevent the wearer from getting too hot or cold by adjusting itself to both the internal and external temperatures. The textile is made up of a layer of thin spikes of wool, or another water-absorbent material that opens up when it’s made wet by the wearer’s sweat. When the layer dries out, the spikes automatically close up again. A second layer underneath protects the wearer from the rain.

• WHAT IS A TITANIUM TOOTHBRUSH?

Titanium toothbrushes, which were invented in Japan and now are being exported to the US, might help do away with toothpaste. One variety of the toothbrush uses titanium dioxide, which causes an electrochemical reaction while brushing and this helps remove plaque. The other type uses titanium bristles that last for several years.

• WHY IS SATURN ASSOCIATED WITH AGRICULTURE?

In Roman mythology, Saturn is regarded as the god of agriculture. He is usually depicted holding a scythe to harvest land. Farmers in ancient Rome believed that Saturn had the power to bring a good harvest and if made angry could destroy it. In order to receive his blessings, they held a festival named Saturnalia. According to another myth, Saturn established the Golden Age in Rome. He introduced agriculture to his people by teaching them how to farm the land.

• WHAT CAUSES THE HEILIGENSCHEIN EFFECT? WHO DISCOVERED IT?

If an observer stands on dew-covered grass with his or her back turned towards the early morning sun, the observer is likely to observe a faint glow around the shadow of his or her head on the grass. Such a faint glow is called Heiligenschein, and the above optical phenomenon, the Heiligenschein effect. It occurs because the dew droplets act as tiny lenses focusing both the sunlight falling on the surface on which the shadow is cast, and the light that is back-scattered by the surface. In general, when a long shadow is cast on certain irregular surfaces with specific optical characteristics, the above effect occurs. Although Heiligenschein must have been known for a long time, it was first described in writing by the Italian sculptor and painter Benevenuto Cellini (1500-1571). Sometimes it’s called the Cellinis halo. In German, Heiligenschein means holy glow.

• WHAT ARE THE OLEFINS?

An alkene, olefin or olefine is a class of highly reactive unsaturated hydrocarbons, recovered from petroleum, with at least one carbon-carbon double bond. The simplest alkenes, with only one double bond and no other functional groups, form a homologous series of hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n, eg. Ethylene (ethane), propylene (propene), butylenes (butene) and so on. The olefins are widely used for making synthetic fibres.

• WHO BROKE THE SOUND BARRIER?

Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14,1947. He flew a plane faster than the velocity of the sun and broke the sound barrier which caused explosive vibrations over the atmosphere.

• WHAT IS THE MONTY HALL PROBLEM?

The Monty Hall problem talks about a situation where there are three closed doors —a goat lies behind two and a car behind the third. A person is asked to select a door (which is not opened immediately). Instead, one of the two unchosen doors are opened and the content is revealed, which incidentally turns out to be a goat. The person is now asked whether he would like to switch his choice to the other unopened door. This gets him thinking. Will changing his choice increase the possibility of winning the car? Common knowledge lets us assume that since now there are two closed doors (one with a goat and the other with a car), chances of winning a car if either of the doors are chosen is 1/2. Hence, it really isn’t a winning situation to motivate a person to change the choice. However, what one needs to remember is the fact that when the person initially made the choice, all three doors were closed and the probability of having a goat behind a closed -toor was 2/3. Now that we already know of ie door that has a goat behind it, chances f winning the door with the car if the peron decides to change his initial choice is /3, which is higher than what he would am if he refuses to change his decision.

• WHO INVENTED THE HELICOPTER?

French inventor Launoy and Bienvenue created a toy with rotary wings which could take off vertically and fly The term helicopter was later coined by French writer Ponton D’Amecot: helico for spiral and pter for wing. It was only in 1907 that the first helicopter was piloted by PaulCornu, who also created the model. The 100th anniversary of the helicopter’s first flight was celebrated on November 13,2007.

• WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE LAUGHING BUDDHA?

Hotel or Pu-Tai is better known as the Laughing Buddha. The image of Hotel is based on a Chinese Zen monk who lived over 1000 years ago. Many regarded him a future Buddha because of his benevolent nature. It was due to his large protruding stomach and smile that he came to be known as the Laughing Buddha; His image graces many temples, restaurants and homes in China and Japan. Legend has it that if one rubs the Laughing Buddha’s great belly, it brings wealth, good luck and prosperity

• WHAT ARE BLUELAWS AND WHY THEY ARE CALLED SO?

A bluelaw is enacted by the people of the Dominion of New Haven. These laws in the United States and Canada are designed to enforce moral standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest. They came to be known as bluelaws because they were supposedly printed on blue paper. Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence to support this assertion.

• WHO IS CREDITED WITH HAVING THE HIGHEST IQ?

Marilyn vos Savant is an American magazine columnist, author, lecturer and playwright who rose to fame through her listing in the Guinness Book of World Records under the Highest IQ category, with a score of 228. She wrote for acolumn called Ask Marilyn in a magazine in which she answers questions from readers on a variety of subjects.

• WHICH IS THE WORLD’S FIRST COURIER SERVICE?

Overseas Courier Service, the world’s first courier service providing firm, was established in 1957 by a consortium of major newspaper publishers in Tokyo as a global, overnight delivery system for time-sensitive business publications. It was the first such private international network, dedicated entirely to overseas air-speed shipping.

• WHY IS LAS VEGAS CALLED SO?

Las Vegas was named by Spaniards in the Antonio Armijo Party, who used the water in the area while heading along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. In the 1800s, areas of the Las Vegas Valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas or meadows (vegas in Spanish) and hence the name Las Vegas.

• WHO INVENTED THE CLOCK?

The earliest way of telling the time was by looking at the progress of the shadow cast by a twig stuck up-right in the ground. Round about 1300 BC, this was developed by the inhabitants of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia into the sundial. The sundial served for a thousand years until the invention of the clepsydra, or water clock. This was the first clock with moving parts. The mechanical clock was not invented until the 13th century and it was driven by weights. The spring-driven clock was invented sometime around 1450 AD.

• WHO INVENTED THE CLOCK?

The primitive type of clock was invented by Henry de Wick in 1368. He installed it on the tower of the castle of the king of France. Using the technique of a pendulum, the clock was developed by French engineer Hyudhence in 1639. Electricity was deployed in the clock by Alexander Ben around 1840-50.

• WHO ARE ‘THE LITTLE EMPERORS’?

They refer to obese little boys in China without any siblings. They are heavily doted on by their parents and grandparents, who feed them calorie-laden candies and fast food. As a result, obesity has become a problem amongst Chinese teenagers. It’s also seen as a fallout of the strict population policy of China which restricts couples from having more than one child, because of which parents and relatives tend to spoil their children with fatty foods.

• WHAT WERE GULAG CAMPS?

The Gulag, a system of forced labour camps in the former USSR, was first established in 1919 under the Cheka, its secret police. Prisoners included murderers, thieves, and other common criminals along with political and religious dissenters. The Gulag, whose camps were located mainly in remote regions of Siberia and the far North of USSR made significant contributions to the Soviet economy in the period of Joseph Stalin. Conditions in the camps were extremely harsh. After Stalin died in 1953, the Gulag population was reduced significantly, and condition of inmates somewhat improved.

• WHO IS CHE GUEVARA?

Ernesto Che Guevara was a Cuban revolutionary leader. Though communism may have lost its fire, he remains the symbol of rebellion and the alluring zeal of revolution. By the time Ernesto Guevara, known to us as Che, was murdered in the jungles of Bolivia in October 1967, he was already a legend, not only in Latin America but also around the world. His fearless last words, reportedly, were “Shoot, coward, you’re only going to kill a man”.

• WHO IS CHE GUEVARA?

Though a comrade of Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution, Ernesto Che Guevara was actually from Argentina, not Cuba. His nickname ‘Che’ (loosely translates as ‘yaar’ in India) is an Argentinian slang.

• WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF JAZZ MUSIC?

Jazz originated among the Black people in New Orleans in the late 19th century and is characterized by syncopated rhythms and improvisation. It has since developed various styles. Jazz originally drew on Ragtime, Gospel, Black spiritual songs, West African rhythms, and European harmonies. The term jazz originated in southern United States (it is first recorded in 1909, applied to a type of ragtime dance), and it is tempting to speculate that its ancestor crossed the Atlantic on the slave ships from Africa. In the absence of any certain origin, various colourful alternative theories have been put forward, for instance, the name jazz came from the nickname of a certain Jasbo Brown, an itinerant musician along the banks of the Mississippi.

• WHAT IS AGENT ORANGE?

Agent Orange is a defoliant herbicide mixture used during the Vietnam War to destroy forests in Vietnam. The United States sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange over forests in Vietnam, and as a result, members of the armed forces were exposed to it. Agent Orange, named as such due to the orange colour of its storage drums, is a 50:50 mixture of the butyl esters of 2, 4-D and 2,4,5-T. It is probable that damage to humans would be due to the highly toxic impurity dioxin present in Agent Orange.

• HOW OLD IS THE JERUSALEM OLD CITY?

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities of the world, having a history that begins in the fourth millennium BC. There was a mention of the city even in the Egyptian texts that belonged to 20th century BC. David was the first Jewish king to conquer the city of Jerusalem in 1007 BC and adopt it as his capital. Over the next several centuries, the city has been conquered and ruled by several different groups of people and countries, and has become a holy city for Jews, Muslims and Christians. Today, it is under the control of Israel and happens to be Israel’s largest city. What has been the city of Jerusalem until 1860s, is the 0.9 square kilometre walled portion inside the modern city of Jerusalem. The walled portion is called the old city today. The old city is divided into four quarters, Armenian, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish, and houses many important shrines.

• WHO IS KNOWN AS A MATHLETE?

Just as athletes participate in athletic events, matheletes are those who compete in mathematics competitions. The word is a trademark of MathCount Foundation. Recently, a French mathlete named Alexis Lemaire calculated the 13th root of a 200-digit number in just over 70 seconds. By doing so, he beat his own previous record of 72.4 seconds at an event in London’s Science Museum.

• WHAT IS A MOM-AND-POP SHOP?

A mom-and-pop shop is a colloquial expression for a single-family operated business with few or no employees other than the owners. Sometimes, fewer than ten employees work in these small or micro businesses. People who speak of mom-and-pop businesses often refer to the unique perspective offered by patronizing a family business. Some encourage the unknown experience of entering a mom-and-pop establishment over franchise businesses, which typically offer comparable stores and similar consumer experiences, regardless of location. For example, mom-and-pop businesses are often highlighted in travel guides, because going to a business owned and operated by a family allows a traveller to fully experience and understand the people of another culture.

• WHO INVENTED CHEWING GUM?

Thomas Adams, a rubber scientist, invented chewing gum. He was working with a substance called chicle, a gum prepared from the latex of the saphodila tree, a tropical evergreen plant. By chance, he popped a small piece of chicle into his mouth and chewed it casually to while away time. Suddenly, it occurred to him that others may derive pleasure from chewing chicle, which is, even today, a chief ingredient in chewing gum.

• WHICH IS THE LONGEST ACRONYM IN USE?

Adcomsubordcomphibspac is the longest English acronym. It’s a navy term which stands for Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command.

• WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FRESCO AND A MURAL?

A mural is any large painting on a wall, ceiling or any other large structure. There are many techniques used to make them. A fresco, executed using water-soluble paints on wet or dry limestone, is one of the techniques and probably the most popular. A primary characteristic of a fresco is that the paintings, though often done in parts, are generally related by a common thread. For example, the frescoes on the walls and ceilings of Ajanta caves in India (6th century) depict the Jataka tales — stories from Buddha’s life.

• WHAT DOES THE WORD ‘WOOT’ MEAN?

If lay persons say ‘yay’, then hardcore gamers would say ‘wOOt’. This phrase, an expression of joy by on-line gamers, has been selected as the word of the year by the US dictionary publisher Merriam Webster.

• WHAT IS THE NYQUIST RATE?

In data communication, the sampling theorem states that a continuous signal can be completely represented in its sampled form and recovered from the sampled form if the sampling frequency f is equal to 2W, where W is the maximum frequency of that continuous signal. This minimum sampling rate of 2W samples per second for a signal having maximum frequency of W is called the Nyquist Rate.

• WHAT IS THE PHOBIA OF ALIENS CALLED?

Fear or dislike of foreigners or aliens is called xenophobia. The word xenophobia is a combination of two Greek words — xenos (foreigners) and phobos (fear). When a majority of people in a country suffer from xenophobia, the phobia can lead to mass expulsion of people of foreign origin, or banning of certain foreign cultural elements. Xenophobia is different from racism, although often both words are used interchangeably Racism implies a hatred of people of other races, irrespective of whether they belong to one’s own country, whereas xenophobia implies hatred of people of other countries or regions. In science fiction, xenophobia refers to fear of extraterrestrial beings. Scientists explain xenophobia as a defence mechanism evolved in humans in response to the need to win in inter-group competition in society and Nature.

• WHAT IS THE GUDERMANNIAN FUNCTION?

The Gudermannian function, named after Christoph Gudermann (1798 -1852), relates to the circular and hyperbolic trigonometric functions without using complex numbers.

• HOW IS A BARGE DIFFERENT FROM A REGULAR BOAT?

The word originally referred to any small boat; the modern meaning arose around 1480. A barge is a flatbottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Most barges are not self-propelled and need to be moved by tugboats or towboats. Barges on canals contended with the railways in the early industrial revolution but were outclassed when it came to carrying high-value items due to the higher speed, falling costs, and route flexibility of rail transport. A boat is a watercraft designed to float on, and provide transport over water.

• WHAT’S THE GREEN GOLD PROJECT?

The Green Gold or Oro Verde project seeks to ensure the safety of miners and also protect them from exploitation. A jewellery shop in Chichester, England along with miners in a cooperative in Choco in North-East Colombia and the Fair Trade Foundation embarked on this project which promotes the purchase of green gold or jewellery which isn’t created by putting labourers through hardships.

• WHAT IS THE ANTARCTICA TREATY?

The Antarctica Treaty, signed in 1959, was a path-breaking agreement among countries of the world. There are certain regions located beyond the sovereign jurisdiction of any country of the world. Therefore, they require common governance by the international community These are known as ‘res communis humanitatis’ or Global Commons. It includes not only Antarctica but also the ocean floor and outer space. According to the treaty, Antarctica’s environment and ecosystem will be protected. Since 1959, activities in the area have been limited to scientific research and development, fishing and tourism. Even these limited activities have not prevented this region from being degraded by waste, for example, oil spills. The expansion of the treaty was Antarctic Environmental Protocol of 1991.

• WHAT IS A PAGODA?

A pagoda, in South-east Asia, is a cone-shaped monumental structure built in memory of the Buddha. But in the Far East, a pagoda is a tower-like, multi-storeyed structure of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with a Buddhist temple complex. The pagoda is derived from the stupa of ancient India, which was a dome-shaped commemorative monument, usually erected over the remains or relics of a holy man or king.

• WHY DOES FEBRUARY HAVE 28 DAYS, AND JULY AND AUGUST, 31 DAYS?

According to a popular legend, July was named after Julius Caesar and hence it had 31 days. Later, when Augustus Caesar took over the Roman Empire, he wanted August, the month named after him, to have 31 days as well. Hence, the two extra days were taken from February, which was then left with 28 days. However, some historians d.on’t agree with this reasoning. They believe February always had 28 days ever since the time of King Numa Pompilius. He decided that a year would have 355 days, the length of 12 lunar cycles. Back then, even numbers were considered unlucky So, he created seven months with 29 days, and four with 31. Since he now needed one short even-numbered month, he chose February, as it was considered the least favourite month for it arrived during the middle of winter. And hence, it was given only 28 days.

• WHAT IS RICE WINE?

Rice wine is made from fermenting freshly steamed glutinous rice. Most rice wines are low in alcohol content, light in colour, noncarbonated and have a sweet flavour. Rice wine is categorized according to the degree to which rice is polished. It does not usually improve with age and should be preferably consumed within one year of bottling.

• WHY WAS THE NEW AMSTERDAM COLONY ESTABLISHED?

New Amsterdam was established by Dutch colonisers in 1624 in what is known today as New York city The town of New Amsterdam became a city in 1653 when it received municipal rights and was reincorporated as New York city in June 1665. The town was founded on the southern tip of Manhattan island as the most optimal place for permanent settlement by the Dutch West India Company and was strategically located on the south of the Hudson river. The location was best suited to defend the integrity of the New Netherlands province and was entrusted to safeguard the West India Company’s exclusive access to New Netherlands’ other two estuaries — the Delaware river and Connecticut river.

• WHICH WAS THE FIRST WAR FOUGHT IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND?

If we define war as a large-scale violent conflict between two states employing the military, the earliest recorded wars might have taken place between various city states in the Mesopotamian region during the period 3,000-2,300 BC in the Bronze Age. The first recorded evidence of such a war was the one between the two city states Lagash and Umma, estimated to have taken place in 2525 BC. From the stone slabs bearing inscriptions related to the war, it could be inferred that the war employed professional soldiers wearing helmets who moved on chariots. The weapons employed were maces and swords.

• WHERE DOES SANTA CLAUS LIVE?

The original Santa Claus lived nowhere near the North Pole. If the 4th century bishop known as Saint Nicholas of Myra — the inspiration for Santa Claus — existed at all, he lived in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey Santa Claus is a corruption of the Dutch name Sinte Klaas for St Nicholas, the patron saint of children and unmarried girls. Tradition says he gave bags of gold to three daughters from a noble, but poor family as their dowries, thus saving them from a life of prostitution. As the legends developed in the Netherlands, the three bags of gold were replaced by a bulging sack of presents which Santa Claus distributed to children on December 6, St Nicholas’ feast day Later, this custom caught on to other parts of the world, to give gifts to good people and punish the bad.

• WHAT IS THE SEEHECK EFFECT?

The principle of the thermocouple was first described by Seebeck in 1821. Seebeck discovered that when wires of two dissimilar metals were joined together to form a circuit of at least two junctions, a current would flow when the junctions were at different temperatures. This phenomenon, called the Seebeck Effect, is the basis upon which thermocouples are designed.

• WHAT IS FOUR-DIMENSIONAL CINEMA?

What we normally see today in theatres are two-dimensional movies with multi-channel sound. In three-dimensional movies, viewers are required to wear special glasses which create 3-D images of objects in the movie. Chhota Chetan and Shiva Ka Insaaf were such movies released two decades ago. Fourth dimension in a movie creates an overall different experience. In addition to the effects of 3-D features, viewers can experience the movies through other senses like sight, sound, odour, touch and also have personal remote control. Viewers are seated in special seats which have bass shockers and other special fittings which make them a part of the complete 4-D experience.

• WHAT IS BOW SHOCK?

In aerodynamics, bow shock is a normal shock that occurs in front of an object within a supersonic flow. Unlike an oblique shock, the bow shock is not attached to the tip, off the object in the flow. Oblique shock angles are limited in formation based on the corner angle and upstream Mach number. When these limitations are exceeded, a bow shock occurs instead of an oblique shock. Therefore, bow shocks are often seen forming around blunt objects. In astrophysics, bow shock is a boundary between a magnetosphere and an ambient medium. For stars, this is typically the boundary between their stellar wind and the interstellar medium. In a planetary magnetosphere, the bow shock is the boundary at which the solar wind abruptly drops because of its approach to the magnetopause.

• WHAT IS ASSUMPTION DAY?

Assumption Day is, according to the Roman Catholic church, the day on which the Blessed Virgin Mary was, along with her body and soul, accepted (or ‘assumed’) in heaven. It is usually celebrated on August 15 by Roman Catholics. In some parts of the world, Assumption Day is a public holiday; in some parts it is a day of solemnity and prayers, whereas in some other parts, it is a day of feasting and festivities. Although in the early days of Christianity some held that it was not certain how the Virgin Mary’s life ended, from the 5th century AD onwards, Christians believed that the Virgin Mary did not actually suffer a physical death and that she passed into heaven with her physical body and soul on Assumption Day The above day was officially recognised through a Dogma by the Church only in 1950. The Assumption has also been a subject of Christian art for several centuries.

• WHAT IS HEIRLOOM GARDENING?

An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, or (especially in the UK) heirloom vegetable is an open-pollinated cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but not used in modern large-scale agriculture. Since most popular heirloom plants are vegetables, the term heirloom vegetable is often used instead. The trend of growing heirloom plants in gardens has been growing in popularity in the United States and Europe over the last decade. This is called heirloom gardening. Some examples are heirloom tomato, forbidden rice and Bhutanese red rice.

• WHAT IS DIES IRAE?

Dies Irae literally means day of wrath. The mediaeval Christians were preoccupied with the end of the world; they anticipated the Last Judgement, followed by the millennium. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West there was a revival of the belief in the end of time. The year 1000 likewise excited mythological speculation, as did famines, plagues, and earthquakes. Most influential were the views of the visionary Joachim of Fiore. He divided history into several ages and said that 1260 would be the fulfilment of the Age of the Spirit, which had begun with St Benedict. At that time, mankind could expect a new revelation, the coming of the anti-Christ, and the last days of wrath. This myth, written down at the behest of the Papacy, exerted a potent influence on mediaeval thought, and in its vision of a future world where the Holy Roman Empire and the Church of Rome would give place to a free community of perfected beings who have no need of clergy or sacraments or scripture, it anticipated modern millennial theories.

• HOW MANY COUNTRIES DOES THE DNIEPER FLOW THROUGH?

Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are the three countries through which Europe’s third-longest river flows. It originates in the south-west of Moscow and flows through Smolensk (Russia), Mogilev (Belarus), Kiev (capital of Ukraine), Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson (Ukraine) and empties into the Black Sea.

• WHAT IS ANTHROPOCENE EPOCH?

The current geological epoch we live in is called Holocene, which began around 9600 BC. However, considering the way humans have altered the course of the Earth scientists suggest that the epoch be renamed anthropocene. Nobel-prize winning chemist Paul Crutzen coined this term in a casual remark in 2002, while talking about how the Earth was entering a new epoch due to increasing human population and economic activity However, other scientists want this word to refer to the human impact upon the planet.

• WHAT IS ANTI-DUMPING DUTY?

If any company exports a product at a price lower than what it normally charges in its home market, then it is dumping the product. Opinions differ as to whether or not this is unfair competition, but many countries take action against dumping by imposing anti-dumping duty Thus, anti-dumping duty is an extra import duty on a particular product from a particular country in order to bring its prices closer to the normal value of that product in the country it is imported to. It is done to protect its own industry from predatory pricing. The World Trade Organisation does not prohibit antidumping policies and allows any country to take anti-dumping action against the countries which violate the principles of General Agreement on Trade and Tariff.

• WHAT IS A CASCADE EFFECT?

An unforseen chain of events due to an act affecting a system, much like how a waterfall cascades down, is called cascade effect. Cascade effects are commonly visualised in tree structures called event trees.

• WHAT IS LAPIS LAZULI?

Lapis Lazuli is an intense blue semiprecious stone. It has been mined for 6,500 years in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. It has lazurite as the main component. It’s used in jewellery, mosaics, architecture and as a pigment called ultramarine in tempera paintings. It was used by Assyrians and Babylonians for seals, as an eyeshadow by Cleopatra and Romans believed it to be an aphrodisiac. It was thought to keep limbs healthy and free the soul from error, envy and fear.

• WHAT ARE MAGIC BULLETS IN PHARMACEUTICAL TERMS?

In pharmaceutical terms, magic bullets are those drugs which attack the affected organ/cells and not the healthy ones. For example, the medicine for blood cancer I — called Glivec — is known to be a magic bullet as it attacks only those cells which are affected by the disease and not the healthy or surrounding cells.

• WHAT IS THE ‘ART OF MOVING’?

‘The art of moving’ or Parkour involves moving from one point to another as quickly and efficiently as possible. It entails overcoming obstacles using the power of the human body and is practised in several urban areas the world over. Recently, members of the Du Yize Parkour Club of Beijing showed their prowess at the Forbidden City

• WHAT ARE POLAR COORDINATES?

It is a system of coordinates in Geometry whereby the position of a point, say P, in a plane can be determined with reference to a fixed point called origin, denoted by 0, and a predetermined direction represented by a ray OA. The measure of length OP, denoted by r, and the measure of the angle that OP makes with OA, generally denoted by a Greek letter theta, are called polar coordinates of P and, P is called the graph of r and theta. One pair of values of r and theta corresponds to only one point in the plane and one point in the plane corresponds to only one pair of the values of r and theta.

• WHAT ARE SLATS?

These are thin narrow flat strips made of wood or metal, which are used as an auxiliary air foil at the leading edge of the wing of an aeroplane.

• WHEN AND WHERE DID JALLIKATTU ORIGINATE?

Jallikattu, which is bull-baiting or bull fighting, is an ancient Tamilian tradition. There are several rock paintings, more than 3,500 years old, at remote Karikkiyur village in the Nilgiri district in Tamil Nadu that show men chasing bulls. Another single painting discovered in a cave at Kalluthu Mettupatti, about 35 km west of Madurai, between Madurai and Dindigul, shows a lone man trying to control a bull, Researchers estimate that this painting, done in white kaolin, is about 1,500 years old.

• WHAT’S THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM ‘TOP DOG’?

‘Top dog’ means one who is dominant or victorious. When wooden planks were sawn by hand, two men did the job using a two-handed saw. The senior man took the top handle, standing on the wood, and the junior took the bottom, in the saw-pit below. The irons that were used to hold the wood were called dogs and that the bottom position was much more uncomfortable. The term ‘top dog’ originated from this practice.

• WHICH IS THE FIRST ART GALLERY?

The term art gallery refers to two different kinds of places: 1. A place which exhibits items of art (an art museum), and 2. A place which sells art items. The oldest art museum is supposed to be housed in the Cosquer Caves, the under-water caves, near Marseilles. The caves consist of finger tracings, impressions of painted hands, and painted and engraved figures of animals. The oldest works in these caves were estimated to have been created 29,000 years ago. Art galleries that exhibit and sell works of art on a large scale have been in existence since the 17th century AD. Most of the oldest art auction houses that exist today in Europe have been founded in the first half of the 18th century Viennabased auction house Dorothium, which claims to be the oldest art auction house of the world, was founded in 1707, and Sothebys, the oldest and largest art auction house of England, was founded in 1744.

• WHAT ARE TEXTONYMS?

They refer to the new language developed by cellphone-addicted teenagers, based on predictive text on their handsets. They are also known as adaptonyms or cellodromes. Using predictive text, the first alternative to certain keywords are used in textonyms.

• WHAT ARE BANKURA HORSES?

The vibrant tradition of folk art in West Bengal’s Bankura district includes a variety of clay handicrafts. The district’s most famous product is the Bankura Horse, a very stylised figure with a long neck and elongated ears, in warm terracotta colours. Artisans have used the same techniques of hollow clay moulding and firing for generations. Sizes vary from minute, palm-sized to gigantic creations over 1 metre high. The horses are votive figures and are usually kept or placed in front of local deities.

• WHO WAS THE FIRST INDIAN TO BE KNIGHTED?

Queen Victoria founded The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in 1861, which was an order of chivalry, meant to be given to viceroys of India, nawabs and princes for their meritorious service and loyalty to the British empire. The people admitted to this order were called knights. In the year of its founding, Nawab Sikandar Begum Sahiba, Nawab Begum of Bhopal was made the Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India (GCSI). La

Mr. Ashok Sharma
http://www.articlesbase.com/interviews-articles/general-knowledge-pt-vi-955585.html

WeAreChange Confronts Tyranny

Luke Rudkowski of Wearechange.org schools pittsburgh police on their duty to the constitution and thier oath. Police use LRAD sound cannons and tear gas on peaceful protesters.

Special thanks to WeAreChange (youtuber)

Keep focused, Keep loving, Keep working hard!

Duration : 0:10:46

Read more…

Churchill’s During World War II and Its Aftermath

The growing rapacity of German gluttony forced Hitler to take over Austria in 1938 and threaten Czechoslovakia. In Britain this produced a national crisis which resulted in Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s meeting Hitler in September 1938 at Berchtesgaden. Chamberlain returned from the meeting announcing ‘peace in our time’ which was abruptly smashed when Hitler invaded Prague in March 1939. Soon after given Western weakness and hesitation to work with the Soviet Union Stalin formed a pact with the Nazi’s guaranteeing Russian security and the partitioning of Eastern Europe between the Bear and the Hun. There was nothing to stop Hitler from destroying Poland and then turning his malevolence towards the West.

Public anger which had exploded after the subjugation of Prague had forced Chamberlain to give the improvident pledge to guarantee Poland’s security. Militarily and rationally this was an impossibility. The British did not possess a large enough standing army to lend help to Poland to stem a German advance and the logistics of transferring military relief to Poland was never calculated. Only the Navy was possessed war making power and there was little the Navy could do to defend Poland. She was invaded on the first of September and the Second World War began. Churchill was immediately recalled into power as First Lord of the Admiralty – the very same post he had assumed control of 25 years previous on the eve of the First World War.

From day one of the war Churchill was the true Leader of Britain. Chamberlain was defeatist and broken hearted remarking bitterly how his life’s work was now tragically sundered. He did not have the capability to rouse a nation and persevere to the bitter end. Winston as Naval War Lord was not only attacking the enemy on the seas but combating defeatist elements at home and trying to prod the blind neutral nations into action. Only Churchill could utter with true conviction and spirit, “Now we have begun; now we are going on; now with the help of God, and with the conviction that we are the defenders of Civilisation and Freedom, we are going on, and we are going on to the end.”

The Royal Navy was the only strong force that Britain possessed and from the opening bell the naval squads were on the offensive. Churchill worked at least an 18 hour day. Plans were drawn for a blockade of the German coast, convoy arrangements were made; mine-sweeping was instituted, enemy raiders harassed and submarines sunk. By the end of 1939 the Royal Navy had sunk half of all German submarines. However the war was only in its infancy. Great battles loomed.

On May 10 1940 the Germans began their vicious assault on the West. The Hun streamed into Holland and Belgium. That night the King of England sent for Churchill and asked him to form a government. Thus began the creation of the Churchill legend and his enshrinement into history. The story of the British war effort under Churchill falls into two distinct categories – the struggle to survive and the establishment of the alliance with the USA and Russia and the ultimate destruction of Germany and Japan.

The battle to survive covers the twelve or so months that Britain fought Germany completely alone in 1940-1. This period covered the dazzlingly quick disappearance of France under the heel of the Gestapo in June of 1940 to the German attack on Russia in June of 1941. This grim year brought horrible highlights; the partition of France, the formation of the pro-Nazi French Vichy government, the battle of Britain, the blitz on London, the beginning of the North African desert war, the defeat of Greece, and the British Commando raids along the Norwegian and French coasts.

It was during this sombre episodic current of ruin that Churchill became the most inspirational Leader of the Western world in the 20th century. He portrayed the towering, implacable fierceness of a proud nation, and of liberty, and expressed every free man’s tenacity to fight in words that no other could have summoned forth. Winston’s knowledge of military matters and his close operational vigilance over all affair animated and excited the British war effort with a boldness that astonished. British prestige in this desperate hour reached its highest ever pitch. The world over prayed for its salvation and success.

The immense energy and illimitable skill that throbbed and turned in his heart and mind was at last released from its bondage and given full scope of use. Churchill no longer knew the frustration of ideas that could not be brought alive, vitality that could not be expended, or ingenious approaches that could not be tested. The supreme challenge was met by a man of supreme stature. The Government was turned upside down. Routine was destroyed. Twenty four activity the rule with Churchill as the master organiser. All knew their place and role. Churchill immediately established a small War Cabinet to make effective and quick decisions. At first the membership was four which grew during the war to seven. This tiny all powerful directing force was supported by sixty or seventy other ministers of all parties who formed the core membership of the Coalition government but responsible only for their own departments. As Churchill pointed out, it was only the members of the War Cabinet, “who had the right to have their heads cut off on Tower Hill if we did not win.”

Never before in modern history did one man have so much power. Churchill was everywhere. He not only controlled the government but the operational side of the conflict as well. He was not only the King’s First Minister but Leader of the House of Commons and, even more important Minister of Defence also. The military Chiefs of Staff instead of reporting to their own ministries reported instead directly to Churchill. The Joint Planning Committee – a body of professional staff officers of all three services – worked under Churchill as part of the Ministry of Defence rather than under the Chiefs of Staff. Thus by permission of the War Cabinet and Parliament Churchill became the penultimate democratic Leader.

No one can study Churchill’s part in the war without being staggered by the colossal output of interests, dictation’s, orders, speeches, broadcasts, plans, promotions and prunings. In military matters he covered an almost incomprehensible range of activity. When Britain stood alone and the nation was bracing itself for the storm of invasion Churchill was racing about the government demanding attack plans, offensive action and targets of British incursions. He demanded the end of the passive war. Thus the commando raids were born. He participated during the war in every operational plan and strategy demanding full technical elaboration’s and missives to be sent to his attention. “During the war,” the American General Eisenhower later testified, “Churchill maintained such close contact with all operations as to make him a virtual member of the British Chiefs of Staff; I cannot remember any major discussion with them in which he did not participate.”

Churchill’s power was dependent upon the War Cabinet. It is a tribute to his skill of persuasion that unlike Roosevelt or Stalin, who were by their constitutions absolute military leaders of their nation, Churchill exercised his authority only by the permission of the War Cabinet who were willing to grant this authority only so long as Winston commanded the confidence of Parliament. Much of Parliament’s confidence was bolstered by Churchill’s impassioned, humanised and soaring orations. No man or women in the British Commonwealth who heard on June 4 1940 that France was being devoured by the German beast, will forget the tingling of emotion and courage when Churchill uttered in a strange, hoarse voice: “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever he cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle until in God’s good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

Another Leader may have uttered, “We will do what is necessary to win this war and persevere in its struggle until it is won. This government believes in the ultimate ability of our nation to come through to victory.” Or something to that effect. Very few would have evinced the crescendo of emotional “We shall’s” in a peroration. Churchill gave the roar to the British lion and heart to the British public. Romance, history, philosophy and leadership all running in the cloud-burst of Churchill’s speeches and leadership of the war effort. But though he carried his role with pride, prompt execution and relish in no way implies a cold heart or an acceptance of war’s carnage. The suffering that he saw, and he saw a lot with his own eyes as he inspected damage through Britain, on more than one occasion pushed him into tears. When Churchill saw a small shop in ruins and wondered out loud to his private secretary the anguish that the owner must feel to have his whole life exploded and ruptured so completely, he became so visibly upset that he resolved at that moment to compensate all damaged property with state payments. Thus the policy of war damage for private assets came into effect. If Churchill enjoyed the waging of war he certainly suffered from the anguish it induced and endeavoured to share its destruction with the common man and woman.

The second phase of the war lasted from the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7 1941 until the end of the war. Until 1944 the British and Russian armies bore the brunt of the struggle against the demented German race. From early 1944 onwards the Americans assumed a greater share and responsibility of the war effort and began to relegate the British to a supporting role in the drive to victory. Roosevelt and Churchill met nine times during the war establishing a strong if short lived friendship. The Americans including Roosevelt were incorrectly convinced that Churchill and the British wanted to expand their Empire.

This calamitous suspicion allowed the Russians more freedom in Eastern Europe than the British would ever have tolerated. As early as 1943 with victory a matter of time and logistics Churchill implored the American leadership not to let Soviet ambition run unimpeded in Eastern Europe. The American reply was incredibly purblind and vague. It appears in scouring the documents and American communiqués that they trusted the Soviets to behave themselves more than their close allies the British ! Eisenhower and many of his chiefs remarked in letters and in meetings that they could not understand why the British constantly mixed politics and military affairs.

To the British this represented reality and the best hope to avoid another world war with the Soviets after the defeat of Germany. Churchill and his advisors even preached that upon the war’s closing everything necessary should be attempted to revive Germany as a bulwark against the pending Soviet menace. The Americans felt that such targets as Prague, Berlin and Vienna were unnecessary military ventures that would endanger the lives of their men. If the Soviets wanted to shed more life in attacking these seemingly remote locations than the Americans were content to let them. The British just shook their heads in dismay unable to impress the Americans with their superior logic. Victory was attained but it set the stage for the Cold War.

The fact that the British survived the early years of the war when Germany swept all before it and that the British evaded a complete national disaster at Dunkirk and defeated the Nazi’s in the air during the Battle of Britain, issued during the remainder of the war and for a short period after it, an inflated sense of self destiny and strength and even an isolationist mentality. The collective suffering and emotional agony endured by the entire British nation also gave express an imbued spirit of egalitarianism. The depth of this communal desire was the most profound in British history and exercised a new faith in social planning and cohesion. During Churchill’s premiership in the war the most celebrated social reconstruction document of the period was the report by William Beveridge which outlined a radical scheme of comprehensive social security, financed from central taxation. This new state aided social plan included maternity benefits, child allowances, universal health and unemployment insurance, old age pension and death benefits – an entire cradle to grave policy. From 1940-45 Britain moved more rapidly to the left than at any time in history a move marked by the important positions Labour ministers occupied in the war government.

At the end of World War II in 1945, Britain was still one of the Big 3 powers, indeed it was ranked as a great power, an illusion that held until about 1963. The British still had their empire in 1945 and in the ensuing years they could still produce great artists and Nobel prize winners, but much to the chagrin of Churchill and the leadership class British glory was long past. The rapid decolonisation of most of its empire — India, Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka — and parts of Africa shedded from British finance much unneeded expense and worry, and solidified Britain’s secondary role in world affairs subordinate to the USA and Russia.

Success in conflict notwithstanding the British electorate in the 1945 general election shockingly kicked Churchill and the Conservatives from office by an overwhelming share. For the third time the Labour party was called forth to govern. Churchill after leading the democracies to attain the supreme glories and garlands of success instantly found himself shorn of privilege and casted into opposition. It was a role he obviously did not appreciate. For Churchill defeat was only explained by the plain fact that people believed his government to be a war council, unprepared for the extended restructuring of society that peace demanded. Labour presented a sharper and more intelligent platform and catalogue of change. The Conservatives were quite content to rest upon Churchill’s name and ignore the organisation and deliverance of a viable alternative to the Labour programme.

Whilst Churchill harried the Labour government and began the rebuilding of the Conservative party to respond to public and peace-time pressure he began the personal memoirs of the great struggle and in the absence of anything else offered by the other leaders – Stalin, Roosevelt, Truman, or Hitler – Churchill was able to dictate on the best terms and in the most convincing language possible, his and Britannia’s exalted position in the struggle against evil. It was an incomparable success, ensuring that in times forward, historians would favourably compare the works of Thucydides and those of Churchill. Both men represented and recorded their times and events on an unparalleled scale.

What Churchill was able to offer the reader was a glimpse into the details of history’s most horrible man-made disaster. The wicked folly of the conflict was evident at the war’s end. Whole nations lay in ruins. Towns, cities, industrial plants and transportation facilities were erased. Food and life essentials were unavailable to great migratory populations. Cynicism and disillusionment in Europe and elsewhere bred the shift to the political left. Marxism replaced Fascism as an acceptable form of social order. Communism erupting from poverty, spread like an open wound across Asia and Europe. With the complete eradication of Nagasaki and Hiroshima the nuclear age dawned. Moral questionings loudly divided those in the West over the usage of weapons of such finality – especially against a prostrate Japan. Dropping two bombs three days apart on a nation that was in the process of trying to negotiate an exit from the war seemed to many morally reprehensible. It was an inauspicious beginning to the scientific era.

The United States and Russia emerged from the rubble of the war as opponents. Russia was mauled and mutilated by the war with over 20 million dead and whole sections of her country raped. The USA stood at war’s end possessing a massive ego and the greatest economic supremacy in history. The big two were joined by the little third – Great Britain – and the three during the war and after drove the discussions regarding the build up of the United Nations. Most vexing to the Allies in the construction of the United Nations Assembly was whether members were obliged to surrender part or all of their own independence to the new body in order to maintain peace. How would it be possible to invest such a supranational body with enough force to enforce decisions ? How would the large powers relate to the smaller in the decision making of such a forum ? At Moscow in 1943 the Big Three resolved many of these issues and in Washington in 1944, joined by China, hammered out the shape of the new international body. At the Yalta conference in 1945, the Big Three came to terms on the matter of securing for each of the major powers the right to veto decisions of the new international body. This allowed the creation of the UNO charter at San Francisco in April 1945 which clearly identified the principles and responsibilities of the new organisation. Fifty one founding nations signed the document and in September 1945 the UNO opened its headquarters in New York.

Comprising the UNO were principally the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat. Most power resided in the Security Council which was given the task of maintaining the peace. Five permanent members sit in the council; the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China and France and six other nations are elected for two year terms as non-permanent members. The permanent members retained veto power with all resolutions needing the consent of the five permanent nations before passing.

In contrast to the Security Council the UNO General Assembly was shaped by all the member states each wielding one nation one vote rights. International problems are to be solved in an open forum and mandates need to be passed by majority vote. This effectively gives the smaller nations more voice in international affairs. The Secretariat acting as the permanent secretary of the UNO concerned itself with internal operations with its Secretary General the highest profiled member of the UNO, exerting wide diplomatic powers emanating from the prestige of the office.

Thus the founding of the UNO was an expression of hope by the survivors of the Second World War. Quickly this vision was marred and jaded by political ineptitude and quivering resolve by the UNO in major affairs. There was little effective work during the Cold War that could be resoundingly accomplished. This war which was contested by two sides that viewed the other as monolithic or controlling inimical forces, could never have been settled via diplomatic channels. The mental straitjackets of both sides; with the Soviet Union believing that the capitalist West controlled by a few monied financiers who desired the destruction of communism and especially the Soviet Union and which would never grant the Russians fair credit in defeating Hitler; and the West believing that Russia controlled the communistic movement world-wide and that communism and especially Russia wanted to overthrow the better functioning liberal states, could only end with the breakdown of one of the combatants. The demise of Marxism gave spring to the hope of a liberal-democratic world.

The major events since 1945 can be summarised in a short list;
- The Collapse of Communism
- The Triumph of Capitalism
- The beginning of the High Tech Era
- The Decline of the USA and the re-emergence of Europe, Japan and China
- The Fragmentation of parts of the world into tribes
- Ecological dislocation
- Growing disparity between the have and have-not nations
- Emerging militant Islamism
- Questioning over the role of the UNO

The most momentous and important event however has been the spread of globalism. Economically, morally, and spiritually people are viewing themselves regardless of race, kin, geography or circumstance as belonging to the entire human race and not a limited defined tribe. Though tribalism in some areas of the world is taking hold even within these identified units a greater consciousness is emanating out to the rest of the globe that though distinct there resides a desire and need to be integrated into a global framework. Economics, peace and ecological salvation commonsensically dictate this. So do the various images from space capturing a small blue ball in the surroundings of space. Somehow this humbles even the largest of egos. So even as, in some parts of the world, balkanisation is shattering mature states, the pieces will still be forced to bond not only together but somehow they will need to align themselves to the greater puzzle that resides outside their narrow borders. It is only by collective effort that the solutioning of poverty, ecological rapine, and the stoppage of war can be peacefully effected.

Churchill died just after the Cuban missile crisis during a bitter period of Cold War strife, which almost pushed the world into a nuclear confrontation. Though he felt certain of liberal-democracy’s triumph he did not see the maturity of his concept. And though he sustained an undying faith in the ability of man to overcome his worst problems we can be sure that without using the leadership skills presented through his example we will have a very difficult time indeed.

C. Read
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/churchills-during-world-war-ii-and-its-aftermath-700338.html

Anti Poverty

Anti Poverty in USA

                          Even the wealthiest nation in the world like the United States does not escape the problem of poverty. This paper takes a critical look at poverty and anti-poverty policies in the United States. In this paper, I have argued that poverty is caused by several factors. This paper also discusses the liberal and conservative perspectives for reducing poverty in America. The conservatives have focused on individual factors such as wide wage gaps, breakdown of family, racial factors and other reasons while the liberals have focused on the structural transformation of the American economy to explain the persistence of poverty.  Since 1960, both the federal and state governments have been responding with policies that address the problem with mixed results. In this paper, I have analyzed the policies and have also recommended the possible ways to deal with this intractable nature of poverty.

                   According to Sen (1981), ‘the poor are those people whose consumption standards fall short of the norms, or whose income lie below that line’. The word "poverty" suggests destitution, an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. Over thirty-six million Americans live below the official U.S. poverty line (Blank, 2007). This means a family of three earns less than less than $ 16,000 or a single individual earns $10,300 per annum (Blank, 2007, p. 17). Millions more struggle each month to pay for basic necessities, or run out of savings when they lose jobs or face health emergencies. Job cuts, high rates of unemployment, foreclosures and high food and gas prices continue to stimulate policy formulation designed to improve the condition of the poor.

                     Poverty is integrally associated with misery and suffering. The lost potential of children in poor households and the lower productivity and earnings of poor adults are all intertwined with poor health, increased crime and broken neighborhoods. Childhood poverty typically leads to poor health care and high crime neighborhoods. Persistent childhood poverty is estimated to cost the United States $500 billion each year, or about 4% of the nation’s gross domestic product (Blank, 2007, p.1).

                    One in eight Americans lives in poverty and poverty in the United States is far higher than in many developed nations (Rebecca Blank, 2007, p1). Inequality has reached record high. The richest 1 percent of Americans in 2005 held the largest share of the nation’s income (19%) since 1929 (Rebecca Blank, 2007, p. 2). At the same time the poorest 20% of Americans held only 3.4% of the nation’s income (Rebecca Blank, 2007, p.2).

                    Colorado in spite of being surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains and experiencing a cool, mountain climate has many homeless people. Scholars have identified that, a growing number of single parent households, a shortage of jobs for lower wage workers and a low rate of high school graduation have contributed to the growth of poverty in Colorado. The Colorado poverty rate has increased from 9.2% in 2000-2001 to 10.6% in 2005-2006 while the poverty rate of United States has increased from 11.5% in 2000-2001 to 12.5 % in 2005-2006 (Center on Law and Policy, 2006, p.1).  Most of these ill-fated poor people suffer from mental and health problems. 

Causes of Poverty

                        Policy analysts are trying to explore numerous perceived direct and indirect causes of poverty in the United States to formulate effective policies to alleviate poverty. The work of scholars such as Corley (2003), Sowell ( 2004), Iceland (2006), Jencks (1992), James Tobin (1993) and others have shown that the intractable nature of poverty is a result of not any one factor but of the interaction of a variety of causes. The breakdown of family and other social causes as well as the structural changes in the economy, have all contributed to society’s failure to eradicate poverty inspite of ardent efforts by policy analysts.

                   Individual Explanation of poverty mainly stresses the attitudinal or motivational factors and human capital factors. Thus lack of motivation among indigents causes poverty. Generous welfare programs sometimes affect the mind-set of recipients and they prefer to stay at home and enjoy the benefits rather than work outside. Murray (1984) argues that individuals prefer to remain on welfare because of insufficient motivation to come out from public welfare programs.

                  Formulation and proliferation of policies to alleviate poverty has been a major concern of the United States Government since 1960. Educational attainment is necessary to get a high paying job. Elementary school education, as well as lack of adequate skills and motivation among indigents to come out of the situation is the major causes of poverty. People well equipped with technical skills get high salaried jobs while people who are school drop outs get low pay on an hourly basis. During the 1960s when the then- President of United States Lyndon Johnson began to implement the United States ‘war on poverty’, he placed great emphasis on education (Jencks, 1992). The Lyndon Johnson administration even invested in programs like Head Start and occupational training to upgrade the skills of the poor and also to prevent future generations from working in low-paying jobs. Scholars like Sowell (2004) and Corley (2003) have emphasized individual level factors as the central causes of poverty. They argue that a person’s compensation is based on his or her educational qualification and marketable skills. Sowell (2004) argues that the lack of appropriate skills has affected the ability of many indigents to climb out of poverty. He also argues that there has been an increase in the poverty rate of unskilled Americans, who have lost jobs to Asian immigrants. Corley (2003) also supports the above argument and regards ‘lack of educational attainment’ as one of the entrenched sources of poverty. Low quality education from poorly funded inner-city schools results in few marketable skills which leads to low-wage jobs and other miseries associated with it such as less ability to pay for housing, food, clothing, medical care, bad neighborhoods, funding problems for schools, and increased risk of serious illness (Corley, 2003). 

                          Many scholars have argued that structural changes are the primary reason for the persistence of poverty in the United States. Structuralists emphasize issues such as joblessness, discrimination in education, institutional racism and economic transformations in explaining the causes of poverty. Scholars argue that the inability to provide decent paying jobs for some American families and the ineffectiveness of American public policy to reduce poverty are basically the result of structural failures and processes. Poverty is rooted in the structure of American society. Rank, 2004 supports the above view and argues that lack of human capital tends to place individuals in a vulnerable state when events and crises occur. The incidence of these events like loss of a job, family break-up and ill-health often result in poverty. These ill-fated people unable to handle these situations often end up in paying more. Scholars also argue that the acquisition of human capital is strongly influenced by the impact of social class on this process (Rank, 2004). Apart from poor family, race and gender also play a role in the acquisition of human capital (Mark Robert Rank, 2004).

                          Globalization, the expansion of credit markets leading to greater indebtness and foreclosures leading to recession in 2008 all point to the growth of poverty.  Iceland (2006) primarily focused on economic factors and has argued that poverty is also the product of deindustrialization. As the U.S. shifts from a manufacturing, industrial society to a service-oriented, high-tech society, many of the blue-collar jobs that required little education but paid well are disappearing or are being outsourced. Rural areas, such as Appalachia, suffer losses of mining jobs, and cities such as Detroit lose many manufacturing jobs to automation or overseas factories. Some people are unable to follow the jobs or commute to work are left in neighborhoods without employment or tax-basis to support needed social functions, such as schools, public transportation, police departments, and so forth. Others simply cannot find jobs because of the shift towards a service-based economy; in economic terms these people are structurally unemployed due to the changing skills needed. Tobin (1993) supports the above viewpoint and emphasizes on the disappearance of jobs in the 1900s as the main reason for the country’s failure to eradicate poverty. Recent employment data shows that the US housing slump and the crisis in America’s credit markets are threatening to increase poverty levels. Isidore (2008) mentions that the job losses  are widespread, with the battered construction sector losing 51,000 jobs and manufacturing employment falling by 48,000 in the year 2008 . Retail employment dropped by 12,000 jobs, and business and professional service employers cut staff by 35,000. The unemployment rate jumped to 6.1% in September from 4.9 % in January (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008).

                         Kelso (1994), argues that over the last forty years, there has been a major shift of American firms first to the west and then to the south. Part of this shift was due to the rise of the Cold War and the decision of the government to enlarge U.S. military power (kelso, 1994). He argues that as America elected to invest more in defense and in the aerospace industry, cities like Seattle and Los Angeles on the West Coast began to boom while the growth of a high technology and information based technology led to the growing affluence of California and the San Francisco Bay area. Later with the expansion of inter-state highway system and growth of jobs, markets were created in the south.

                         Iceland (2006) also argues that although the service sector of the economy has generated millions of jobs, but again polarized earning distribution based on educational attainment separates better paying jobs from poorer paying jobs. He supports a Marxian analysis of class conflict and exploitation and emphasizes on business owners favor hiring inexpensive labor to maximize profit. This also accounts for the inflow of cheap labor to the United States from Mexico and other countries. Greater access to credit has put cars, computers, credit cards, and even homes within reach for many more of the working poor. But this remaking of the marketplace for low-income consumers has a dark side. Roubini notes that, "Having access to credit should be helping low-income individuals, but instead of becoming an opportunity for upward social and economic mobility, it becomes a debt trap for many trying to move up (Grow and Epstein, 2007).

                          Inspite of public assistance and wide initiatives taken by both Federal and State governments, poverty still exists. Meticulous analysis of the situation and effective formulation of policies is needed to solve the problem of poverty in the United States. Scholars like Rank (2004), Blank (2007) and others have shown that the United States Government spends fewer funds addressed towards poverty than any other industrialized country. Thus a major structural failure is found at the political level (Rank, 2004). Most European countries provide a wide range of insurance programs, unemployment assistance, and wide universal health coverage along with considerable support for child care (Rank, 2004). Such social programs are far more generous than those in the United States (Rank, 2004). While, low-income families in the United States work more than those in other countries, they are still not able to make up for lower governmental income support relative to their European counterparts (Blank, 2007, 141-142).

                          The gross disparities among impoverished people in the United States along racial lines have led many scholars to speculate that institutional racism is responsible for much of the poverty in the United States. Racial discrimination in employment and   education contribute to the growth of poverty. Some scholars like Massey and Denton (1993) interpret the statistics in terms of institutional racism while others like Kelso (1994) interpret the statistics as evidence of deficiencies and suffering of blacks.   In spite of efforts to remove racism, slavery and Jim Crow segregation, Massey and Denton (1993) argue that racial segregation still exists and that the fundamental cause of poverty among African Americans is segregation. They argue that segregation has created and perpetuated a black underclass by limiting educational and employment opportunities. Massey and Denton (1993) have shown that Blacks were shown homes in racially mixed areas or areas adjacent to predominantly black areas.

                           Also, changing patterns of family formation are more pronounced among racial and ethnic groups. Family patterns are also one of the causes of poverty in the United States. There is a wide gender gap in wages. In 2004 the median income of FTYR male workers was $40,798, compared to $31,223 for FTYR female workers (DeNavas-Walt et al, 2005) Pearce (1978) argues that ‘poverty is rapidly becoming a female problem’. Iceland (2006) supports this statement and showed that in 2000, the female poverty rate (12.5%) was 26% higher than the male poverty rate (9.9%) (Iceland, 2006). According to Iceland, women have fewer economic resources than men, and they are more likely to be the head of single- parent families. It also leads to the greater likehood that single, divorced or widowed women will be poorer than their male counterparts because of less social security income or other retirement income in addition to higher female life expectancies. Women’s lower wages, lower retirement benefits and the increasing number of single mothers have led some scholars to talk about the “Feminization of Poverty.”

Federal policies

                       After the Second World War, by 1963, creation of jobs by President John F. Kennedy’s tax policies could not remove the problem of poverty. Poverty was still recognized as a major national problem. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty led to a host of programs that included Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and others. These entitlements eventually consumed half the federal budget and could not alleviate poverty. The U.S. economy had been devastated by the recession of 1979-83 when the United Statess manufacturing infrastructure was shattered by the Federal Reserve’s skyrocketing interest rates causing unemployment to shoot up by sixty-five percent in four years (Cook, 2007). By the end of the 1980s the economy was in another recession, leading to the election of Bill Clinton who in 1992 replaced the incumbent George H.W. Bush. The investment boom of the 1990s was fueled by foreign capital lured in by the Treasury’s strong dollar policies. Jobs were created as the dot.com bubble expanded, trade barriers fell, and utility trading giants like Enron took off. NAFTA was enacted to promote free trade, welfare-to-work brought low-income women into the job market, and the Earned Income Tax Credit was extended. The party ended when the stock market crashed in December 2000 and millions of people lost their retirement savings and other investments. Recession was returning even as George W. Bush was being declared president by the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2000. The economic crisis deepened after the September 11, 2001 attacks when $1.4 trillion in wealth vanished during the worst five days of the stock market since the Great Depression (Cook, 2007). Cook (2007) argues that today, poverty is becoming a national catastrophe. Cook (2007) argues that from 2002 through 2006 the economy was floated by the housing bubble, with many lower income people getting into homes of their own through the proliferation of sub prime mortgages. With the financial woes in late 2008, many American citizens are left with inflated home prices and no way to pay for them.

                      The 1960’s policy initiatives and declaration of ‘unconditional war on poverty’ by the then president Lyndon Johnson marked a discrete change in the federal government’s willingness to intervene for the purpose of improving the economic situation of poor Americans. Despite the billions of dollars spent on programs like CETA (Comprehensive Employment Training Act), The Manpower Development and Training Act, Head Start, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the government efforts to deal with the origins of poverty have met with minimal success. During this period, implementation of the Social Security old-age program insured virtually all retired workers against the risk of outliving their savings. The Social Security Act of 1935 sought to protect the incomes of those who did not work because of age or a poor economy by establishing a federal framework for unemployment insurance, old-age benefits, and assistance to women. In early 1964, the two most pressing priorities of President Johnson’s antipoverty agenda involved passing a massive tax cut designed to stimulate the economy and organizing a task force to shape the ‘War on Poverty’. The Economic opportunity Act (EOA) signed by Johnson created a long list of programs designed to help individuals develop marketable skills, political power, and civic aptitude. But this anti-poverty legislation oversaw other programs like Community Action Program, Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start (1965), Legal Services (1965) which were not included in its framework. While extensive programs like the Food Stamp Program, Medicare for elderly, Medicaid applied to qualified poor residents, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for poor students overshadowed the EOA. The Higher Education Act eased the financial burdens of millions of college students. The Civil Rights Act opened up new spaces in the American marketplace, while the Voting Rights Act did the same for the political marketplace. The Fair Housing Act established an important base of law to combat housing discrimination. As a result the EOA slowly lost importance. Again, Murray (1984) argues that welfare benefits had soared so high so as to make living in poverty a meaningful option for the poor. Even Burton (1992) has supported the above viewpoint and argues that the programs have done more to cause poverty than to alleviate it.

                          When Nixon assumed power, he tried to deal with poverty in a more direct way than emphasizing social programs. . Although President Nixon expressed dislike for much of the War on Poverty, his administration responded to public pressure by maintaining most programs and by expanding the welfare state through the liberalization of the Food Stamp program, the indexing of Social Security to inflation, and the passage of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for disabled Americans (Rank, 2004). The Nixon administration also endorsed a “New Federalism” in which the federal government shifted more authority over social welfare enterprises to state and local governments. His plan to implement the ‘Family Assistance Plan’ (FAP) consisted of various income provisions, work provisions, and training provisions for those below the poverty line (Rank, 2004). It failed to pass the Senate much like the ‘Programs for Better Jobs and Income’ initiated by President Carter in later years.                                       Welfare reform continued as a focus of federal policy debates even after the legislative defeat of FAP. Even though a cash ‘Negative income Tax’ (NIT) for all poor persons never passed, the Food Stamp program provided a national benefit in food coupons that varied by family size, regardless of state of residence or living arrangements or marital status. The number of AFDC recipients increased from about 6 million to 11 million and the number of food stamp recipients, from about 1 million to 19 million during the Nixon administration (Danziger, 1999, p. 8). Danziger (1999) also argues that as higher cash and in-kind benefits became available to a larger percentage of poor people, the work disincentives and high budgetary costs of welfare programs were increasingly challenged. The public and policy makers came to view increased welfare recipients as evidence that the programs were subsidizing dependency and encouraging idleness.

                        Despite the failure to enact a guaranteed income program, both the number of recipients and the amount of money spent on welfare programs increased substantially during the 1970’s (Rank, 2004). Rank (2004) has given an overview of Reagan’s policies and noted that Reagan emphasized individual action unhampered by government interference, rejected the social engineering of the 1960’s and also supported federalism, that is, returning power to the states rather than centralizing them within the federal government. Reagan tried to address the problem and set the tone for welfare reform that occurred in 1990 during his successor’s administration. The Reagan administration thought eligibility for welfare benefits had increased so much, that many persons who were not “truly needy” were receiving benefits. The Reagan Administration opposed simultaneous receipt of wages and welfare benefits. Rather, it proposed that welfare become a safety net, providing cash assistance only for those unable to secure jobs.

                    The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), enacted in 1975, provides families of the working poor with a refundable income tax credit (i.e., the family receives a payment from the Internal Revenue Service if the credit due exceeds the income tax owed). Thus the EITC raises the effective wage of low-income families, is available to both one- and two-parent families, and does not require them to apply for welfare. The maximum EITC for a poor family was $400 in 1975 and rose to $550 by 1986 (Danziger, 1999, p. 14). The 1986 Tax Reform Act increased the EITC so that by 1990 a low-income working parent received a maximum credit of $953 (Danziger, 1999, p. 14). The number of families receiving credits increased from between 5 and 7.5 million families a year between 1975 and 1986 to more than 11 million by 1988 (Danziger, 1999, p. 14). Danziger, 1999 argues that as the expanded EITC supplements low earnings, it became easier for policy makers to emphasize welfare reform policies that could place recipients into any job, rather than training them for “good jobs.” Thus he argues that if a nonworking recipient took a low-wage job, a substantial EITC could make work pay as much as a higher-wage job would have paid in the absence of an EITC.

                         The Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988 expanded the scope of the AFDC program for two-parent families, instituted transitional child care and Medicaid for recipients leaving welfare for work, and added funds and required states to establish programs to move greater numbers of welfare recipients into employment. When the welfare rolls jumped in the late-1980s and early-1990s, from about 11 to about 14 million recipients, dissatisfaction with welfare again increased ( Danziger, 1999).    

                        President Nixon identified the two main economic problems, inflation and unemployment, that justify the need for economic recovery to the American worker. Reagan has emphasized despair caused by unemployment combined with high inflation. Reagan’s rhetorical construction of welfare recipients and the welfare system was aimed at reducing anxiety among Americans caused by increasing taxes, inflation and the continuous fear of losing jobs. To end this victimization, Reagan proposed a plan for economic recovery (Rank, 2004). Apart from cutting government spending, specifically spending on social programs, Reagan also proposed to have State governments assume control of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and the food stamps program in exchange for the Federal Government control of Medicaid. Although this proposal failed to reach the Congressional floor, his presentation of the proposal to exchange AFDC and food stamp program with Medicaid made poverty a local concern (Mark Robert Rank, 2004).  

                       Liberals and conservatives still disagreed on other goals of welfare-to-work programs. Liberals thought welfare reform should expand opportunities for welfare mothers to receive training and work experiences that would help them raise their families’ living standards by working more and at higher wages. Conservatives emphasized work requirements, obligations welfare mothers owed in return for government support whether or not their families’ incomes increased (Mead, 1992). 

                       In later years President Clinton’s approach also emphasized empowerment as a way of helping welfare recipients and to accumulate more savings without being penalized and expanding the earned income tax credit (Blank, 2007). By the mid-1990s, the focus of policy concern shifted from fighting poverty to reducing welfare dependence. President Clinton’s signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (the PRWORA) ended the entitlement to cash assistance and dramatically changed the nature of the social safety net. The Act created the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program (TANF). TANF began on July 1, 1997, provides cash assistance to indigent American families with dependent children through the United States Department of Health and Human Services (The Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty, 2007).  Danziger, 1999 argues that each state can now decide which families to assist, subject only to a requirement that they receive “fair and equitable treatment.”  In instituting a block grant program, the PRWORA granted states the ability to design their own systems, as long as states met a set of basic federal requirements. The bill’s emphasis on ending welfare as an entitlement program, places a lifetime limit of five years on benefits paid by federal funds, and also aims to encourage two-parent families and discourages out-of-wedlock births. In granting states wider latitude for designing their own programs, some states have decided to place additional requirements on recipients. Although the law placed a time limit for benefits supported by federal funds of no more than 2 consecutive years and no more than 5 years over a lifetime, some states have enacted more stringent limits. All states, however, have allowed exceptions with the intent of not punishing children because their parents have gone over the time limit. Federal requirements have ensured some measure of uniformity across states, but the block grant approach has led individual states to distribute federal money in different ways. Certain states more actively encourage education, others use the money to help fund private enterprises helping job seekers. The PRWORA offers no opportunity to work in exchange for welfare benefits when a recipient reaches her lifetime limit of 60 months of federally-supported cash assistance. But the reform has certain limits. States may not use federal block grant funds to provide more than a cumulative lifetime total of 60 months of cash assistance to any welfare recipient, no matter how willing she might be to work for her benefits, and they have the option to set shorter time limits. States can grant exceptions to the lifetime limit and continue to use federal funds for up to 20 percent of the caseload. The extent of work expectations has also been increased. Single-parent recipients with no children under age one will be expected to work at least 30 hours per week by FY 2002 in order to maintain eligibility for cash assistance (Danziger, 1999, p 20). States can require participation in work or work-related activities regardless of the age of the youngest child. Thus PRWORA emerged from research that sought both to reduce poverty and welfare dependency (Danziger, 1999).  In the 1990s, following Clinton’s call to “end welfare as we know it,” policy makers escalated their demands for recipients to work and reduced government obligations toward and funds to serve them (Danziger, 1999).

                     When Bush took office in 2001, the U.S. was experiencing a national surplus, unemployment and poverty had been on the decline for years, and the economy was booming. Now, almost six years later, poverty is on the rise, healthcare coverage is on the decline, and the country is faced with the largest national deficit in history. Lower middle class families are slowly slipping below the poverty line and the poorest are becoming even more destitute. Most of these families are headed by women.

                      President Bush has extended the TANF. There has been a general economic stimulus policy initiative during the Bush administration but nothing targeting low income Americans has been enacted. President Bush signed the economic stimulus package (H.R. 5140) into law with the hope that it will provide a much-needed boost to the lagging economy. The package includes tax rebates for individuals, tax breaks for businesses, and a temporary increase of the Federal Housing Administration loans from $417,000 to $729,750 (White House report, 2008). More than 130 million people are expected to get tax rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 per household for individuals earning $75,000 or less and couples earning up to $150,000 (White House report, 2008). While the stimulus package will provide much needed financial help to millions of people, it fails to target those most in need as it will not include an extension of unemployment benefits, energy assistance, food stamp benefits, or fiscal relief to states for Medicaid.                       

                  From the above analysis, the question arises whether poor are responsible for their own condition. The above analysis implies that recipients become dependent and lethargic due to vast welfare measures. Scholars such as Murray (1984) and Kilty and Segal (2006) have emphasized on individual factors. They argue that welfare measures and lack of spirit and motivation among indigents contribute poverty. Danziger, 1999 argues that during the Nixon era increased welfare measures encouraged idleness. Kilty and Segal, 2006 also argues that poor people can come out into a state of self-sufficiency from dependency by learning proper work attitude and skills. Kilty and Segal, 2006 argue the importance of welfare reform and a ‘tough love’ approach would ultimately help the poor by making them conscious of their condition and forcing them to take their own responsibility. Bill Clinton’s emphasis on ‘personal responsibility’ and measures to ‘end welfare as we know it’ in 1992 all supports the above argument.

                     Due to the implementation of TANF, the numbers of people on welfare have decreased. As a result more funds are accumulated. In 1996 the number of ADFC recipients was 12,644,076 while in 2001, the number of TANF recipients was 5,91, 811 and the poverty rate also reduced from 13.7 to 11.3 ( Kilty and Segal, 2006) and while in 2008 it is 1,628,422  ( US Dept of Health and Human Services). The share of single mothers on welfare (based on administrative caseload counts divided by population numbers) rose from 38 percent in 1969 to 48 percent in 1980, but had fallen to 30 percent by 1998 ( Kilty and Segal, 2006). These caseload changes are widespread, with every state in the country experiencing substantial caseload decline. This decline has been widely hailed by politicians as an indication that policies designed to reduce dependence on public assistance and move less-skilled adults into the labor market have been extremely effective ( Blank, 2007). But however Blank argues that declines in welfare do not affect the poverty rate. The poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, increasing slightly from its level of 12.3 percent in 2006. The poverty rate increased for four straight years from 2000 to 2004. In 2007, the poverty rate was 1.2 percentage points higher than it was in 2000 (Blank, 2007).     

States welfare initiatives

                      Most states took a significant decision about reform, and this decision was sensible in light of state goals and experience. A few states did not seriously make reform policy. New York was so deeply divided that it took no serious decisions about AFDC (Mead, 2002). Alabama and Missouri were pushed into reform by federal action and appeared to have little welfare policy of their own (Mead, 2002). In several other Southern states (Florida, North Carolina), policymaking appeared to be casual and personalized, with the governor or legislators offering reform plans with, apparently, little inquiry or evidence behind them( Mead, 2002) . Texas policymaking was incoherent as the state claimed to pursue work first but based its policy on an experimental program and focused far more on education and training (Mead, 2002). States have always emphasized on reform. But sometimes lower contribution towards these plans result in total failure of the program. Mead (2002) argues that in Florida and Georgia, however, officialdom was dragged into reform but showed little commitment to it. In Arizona and California, the agency or major localities had been heavily committed to a skills-oriented approach to welfare and resisted the shift toward work first. In Texas, welfare reform was a lower priority to administrators than rebuilding non-welfare employment programs and other initiatives. In Colorado and New Jersey, local agencies had a history of defiance toward the state government, and this prevented them from fully endorsing reforms decided in the capital. Mead (2002) argues that inspite of establishment of Employment Service (ES), a federally-funded job placement agency, and training programs under the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), poverty rate did not improve. After national welfare work programs were first enacted in 1967, the ES engaged in welfare practices. But because the ES’s routine stressed serving job seekers who came to it voluntarily, it generally performed poorly with welfare clients (Mead, 2002). These jobseekers came to it on a mandatory basis, as a condition of receiving aid. To succeed with them, the agency had to enforce work but also support employment with special services. The ES often found both these roles uncongenial (Mead, 2002). The ES was denoted to the role of contractor to welfare and later in 1988 the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) merged the ES, JTPA, and other non-welfare work programs. But this merging also created confusion. The problems included lack of clear procedures to refer clients to WIA, to serve them there, or to report results back to welfare. The states that lacked coordination and inadequate management information systems (MIS) were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee.      

                         Colorado’s public reform has been associated with decline in poverty rate. By the close of 2000, Colorado’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.6 percent, personal income showed steady gains, state welfare cases declined dramatically, and State legislators wrestled with an estimated $833 million revenue surplus (Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, 2001). But inspite of all the above facts poverty still persists as expenses like child care, out-of-pocket medical expenses and geo-graphic differences in housing costs increased. The increases occurred even after adjusting for income support such as tax relief, food stamps and school lunch programs, housing subsidies and energy assistance. A report published in 2001 by the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute determined that a single parent with two small children living in Denver County would need to earn an annual salary of approximately $39,924 in order to meet their basic needs such as housing, food, health care, childcare and transportation without public or private assistance. Even child poverty rate is high in Colorado. About 180,000 children, 15.7 percent of the state total was living in poverty in Colorado in 2006, a 73 percent increase since 2000 (Frosch, 2008). The state of Colorado purchases childcare for income eligible families through the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP). The state allows individual counties to set the purchase price of childcare and make payments to providers from a combination of parental fees and federal, state and county funds. However, the Colorado Office of Resource and Referral Agencies (CORRA) found in a 2001 study that the average county payment fell below 75 percent of market value (Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, 2001, pp 9). As a result counties forced providers to subsidize the cost of service to low-income families, which many were simply unwilling to do when limited slots could be filled with families that could afford to pay full rates. Other providers that chose not to simply refuse service to CCCAP families saved money by limiting the number of children on CCCAP that they would accept, cutting programs, or reducing workers’ wages. All of these actions limited availability and sacrificed quality of care to low-income children. Poverty still exists in Colorado despite initiatives to alleviate poverty as too many working families lives with incomes below the poverty line and more families earn wages simply too low to afford their basic needs. The Colorado government started the Common Good Caucus in 2007 to develop a 2009 agenda, emphasizing on K-12 education and determined to bring technologies out of the laboratory and into the marketplace by investing $4.5 million dollars in bioscience industry, supporting the Clean Energy fund to reduce high family utility costs , creating the Colorado Solar Incentive Program with $2 million to provide rebates for photovoltaic and solar thermal systems to help Coloradans join the new energy economy and cut their utility bills ( State Rep. Kerr Andy, 2008). Poor people cannot pay the full cost of heating and lighting their homes. Governments and social service agencies have long assisted low-income ratepayers in paying their bills through such programs as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), charitable fuel funds, levelized billing, discounts, home weatherization, energy efficiency, energy usage education and debt management. If all Americans live in weatherized and energy efficient homes and have the income to pay their full share of utility bills, all other ratepayers would save nearly $6 billion in poverty costs, including fuel assistance, lifeline and other rate assistance, weatherization and efficiency costs, the costs of late payments and service disconnections (Oppenheim and MacGregor, 2007).      

Recommendations  

              From the above analysis it is clear that poverty remains pervasive due to the economic system, social stratification and welfare measures. According to Iceland (2003) on one hand, economic growth and technological changes contribute to increase in wages and overall standard of living. Economic growth accompanied by rising education levels improves the condition of people. On the other hand, the market economy often exerts a contrary effect on poverty levels (Iceland, 2003). To maximize profits, businesses usually seek to pay low wage to workers which increase inequality and poverty. Again policy may increase or decrease the harmful effects of inequality. Combining the factors emphasized by both liberals and conservatives, poverty is multifaceted. I believe that a strong national effort would alleviate poverty. Employment opportunities for all so that that worker and their families can avoid poverty, meet basic needs and save for the future. Increasing hourly wages would definitely improve the condition of these people. A smaller share of unemployed low-wage workers, receive unemployment insurance benefits. I believe that states (with federal help) should reform “monetary eligibility” rules that screen out low-wage workers, broaden eligibility for part-time workers and workers who have lost employment as a result of compelling family circumstances. Workers should use this period of unemployment and the money received from the Unemployment Insurance System and upgrade their skills and qualifications. Thus adults should have opportunities throughout their lives to connect to work, get more education, and live in a good neighborhood and move up in the workforce.

                         Child care assistance to low-income families and emphasis on K 12 education would definitely reduce the rate of poverty in the United States.                          Low-income youth hardly attend college than their higher income peers. Pell Grants play a crucial role for lower-income students. Simplification of the Pell grant application process, and encouragement of institutions to do more to raise student completion rates would definitely improve the condition. Expansion of Pell Grants would make higher education accessible to residents of each state. The states at the same time should also develop strategies to make postsecondary education affordable for all residents. Expansion of the Saver’s Credit would encourage saving for education, homeownership, and retirement. As a result all Americans would have assets that would allow them to weather periods of volatility and to have the resources that may be essential for upward economic mobility. Apart from Saver’s credit, expansion of Earned Income Tax Credit would raise incomes and helps families build assets. Thus there should be opportunity for all so that children grow up in conditions that maximize their opportunities for success.

References:

Blank Rebecca (2007); Poverty to Prosperity; Center for American task force on Poverty;

www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/pdf/poverty_report.pdf – Similar pages

Colorado Statewide Homeless Count (2007), School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado, denver.www.dola.state.co.us/cdh/Publications/Winter_2007_Statewide_PIT.pdf – Similar pages

Cook Richard (2007), Poverty in America

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5905 – 61k – Cached – Similar pages

Corley Mary Ann (2003); Poverty, Racism and Literacy; ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education

Danziger Sheldon (1999), Welfare Reform Policy from Nixon to Clinton, Institute for  for Social Research, University of Michigan.

De Navas-Walt, et al., “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2005.

Diana Pearce Diana Pearce (1978) "The Feminization of Poverty: Women, Work, and Welfare," Urban and Social Change Review.

Iceland John (2006); Poverty in America; University of California Press

Isidore Chris (2008); the Trillion-Dollar Mortgage Bomb,

money.cnn.com/2008/04/21/news/economy/fannie_freddie/?postversion=2008042103 – 66k –

James Tobin (1993); Poverty in Relation to macroeconomic Trends, Cycles and Policies; Cowles foundation discussion paper.

Garima Dasgupta
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/anti-poverty-688499.html

Cma-cgm: Jacques Saadé, Désespéré, Menace…

Traduction libre de l’article du quotidien égyptien

« Al Moujaz » du 13 novembre 2006

Des échauffourées au procès

de l’affaire des conteneurs de Damiette

Les avocats de Jacques Saadé menacent…

• Des provocations et des insultes de la part de la partie de Jacques Saadé.

• Maintien des détentions de Massad et les autres prévenus avec insitance sur la poursuite des fugitifs…

• Les avocats de certains prévenus clament la recherche des vrais intéressés après que leurs clients ont reconnu la corruption.

Les infractions commises par le Président de la ligne maritime française (CMA CGM), Jacques Saadé, n’en finissent pas. Après la série de scandales auxquels, Jacques Saadé fait face, allant des deux ports de Damiette et de Lattaquié, en dévoilant d’autres implications de grandes envergures dans d’autres ports arabes et internationaux, l’audience publique consacrée au jugement de l’ex-directeur Général de la société des Conteneurs de Damiette, Ali Massaad avec 6 autres prévenus, ne fait que démasquer la façon dont les responsables de la ligne française se comportent vis-à-vis de la partie adverse et notamment les avocats libanais représentés par Maître Antoine Kozah.

Maître Kozah déclare avoir été insulté à sa sortie de la 5ème chambre au 3ème étage du tribunal du Nord du Caire. Il rajoute qu’ un des avocats de Jacques Saadé, Khaled Aino, appartenant au Cabinet d’avocats Al Dib, qui défend la CMA CGM et Jacques Saadé, lui a proféré des menaces et a tenté de le frapper en présence d’un grand nombre de témoins. L’avocat libanais s’est alors précipité à l’intérieur de la Salle d’audience, mais, hélas, le procureur général et le conseiller Ahmad Refaatl’ avaient déjà quitté. . Par la suite l’équipe d’avocats libanais est sortie du Tribunal sous protection des forces de l’ordre qui témoignent de cette attaque dont ils ont fait l’objet dans l’enceinte même de la cour de justice égyptienne. Des milieux avertis et informés sur l’affaire de Damiette, s’étonnent du comportement indélicat de l’avocat de Jacques Saadé au tribunal, un fait que plusieurs considèrent comme étant un signe de débâcle totale de l’équipe de défense de Jacques Saadé, qui essai d’écarter son implication et lui épargner ses retombées. Jacques Saadé pour sa part, d’après certaines informations, a ordonné parait-il, à un de ses collaborateurs, Fadi Issa, de s’installer au Caire ayant pour mission de restructurer la société en Égypte, dans une ultime tentative de redorer son blason après la mauvaise réputation conséquente aux affaires de corruption, de pots de vin et d’atteinte aux fonds publics du port de Damiette.

Les avocats déclarent qu’il faut démasquer celui à qui profite le crime.

En retour à l’audience du tribunal, la situation est restée inchangée. La détention de Ali Massaad et les autres prévenus continue, et l’intensification des opérations de recherches des fugitifs. L’affaire a été transférée à un autre district du Tribunal. En marge du procès, l’avocat égyptien, Rafic Mohamad Rachad, le conseiller des 3ème et 7ème inculpés, déclare que ses clients ont reconnus les faits mais que d’après la loi égyptienne il bénéficient de circonstances atténuantes car après tout ceux ne sont que des employés qui n’ont pas l’autorité pour distribuer des sommes aussi importantes en pots de vins, et il insiste sur le fait de tout mettre en œuvre pour démasquer les vrais bénéficiaires de cette affaire.

Le Jeudi 9 Novembre à 11 heures, Ali Massaad fait son entrée au tribunal, habillé en Blanc, évoquant son innocence devant la Cour, mais malgré sa persistance à nier les faits qui lui sont reprochés, la reconduction du procès et son maintient en détention ont été ordonnés. Les épisodes dans cette affaire ne sont pas encore au point de s’arrêter, compte tenu de la position de Ali Massad qui ne reconnaît pas les faits alors que les autres inculpés sont passés aux aveux dévoilant ainsi leurs rôles dans la corruption dont Ali Maassad avait touchée.

A la cour pénale du Caire, une deuxième audience a eu lieu dans le procès du scandale des conteneurs du port de Damiette ». Les enquêtes avaient révélé d’importantes opérations de falsifications, corruptions et de vols s’élevant à quelques millions de dollars dans une complicité avérée entre la société française (CMA CGM) et les anciens responsables de la société égyptienne du port de Damiette, dont certains parmi eux sont toujours en arrestations provisoires, sur ordonnance du Président Ahmad Rifaat. Ali Massaad, allias « Al Bey », le principal inculpé devrait répondre de trois chefs d’accusations dont les plus importants seraient l’obtention de pots de vin de la part de la société étrangère, avoir faillit aux obligations et devoirs de sa mission et avoir dilapidé des fonds publics.

Suites aux enquêtes conduites par Le Procureur Général Wadih Hanna An Nached , et à la découverte de pièces et de preuves rajoutées à celles dévoilées par la commission de contrôle administratif, Ali Massaad Saad avec 6 autres inculpés ont été déférés par devant la cour pénale.

Un des faits les plus étonnants que la commission d’enquête administrative a pu mettre en évidence, c’est que le Président de la société de Damiette recevait des pots de vin de la société CMA-CGM, des documents le prouvant ont été saisie au siège de la société en Egypte. Le plus surprenant encore c’est que malgré les efforts déployés par le Président de la société de Damiette pour que la ligne maritime française atteigne les 70 000 Conteneurs par an pour justifier l’application du barème de facturation de la 3ème colonne, toutes ces tentatives sont restées vaines, ce qui a précipité le démasquage de la corruption.

Les investigations de la commission de contrôle administratif ont révélé une modification des barèmes tarifaires (Système de colonnes de prix) des prestations de transport et de manutention appliquées pour la facturation de la ligne maritime française, engendrant une baisse dès que le flux dépasserait les 70 000 conteneurs transités par an. L’enquête arrive à la conclusion que le Président du Conseil d’administration de la société des conteneurs de Damiette était directement derrière cette manipulation. Suite à un accord conclus avec les responsables de la ligne maritime française, à l’occasion d’une visite qu’il a effectué à Marseille, siège de la société française, là il a modifié illicitement la date de prise d’effet de cet accord ce qui a permis à Ali Massaad (en détention) d’octroyer à la ligne maritime française un délai supplémentaire lui permettant ainsi d’atteindre les 70 000 conteneurs et de bénéficier de la 3ème colonne tarifaire dont les prix sont préférentiels, entraînant ainsi une perte de plus de 20 millions de dollars au préjudice du trésor égyptien et en faveur de la société maritime française. Cette Commission a dévoilé aussi que Ali Massad le Président du Conseil d’administration de la société des conteneurs de Damiette percevait depuis 1997 une indemnité mensuelle de 3000 dollars à titre de pots de vin de la CMA CGM à l’époque ou il était directeur du secteur maritime dans la société. Cette somme a été ramenée à 3500 dollars par mois après son accession à la fonction de Président du Conseil d’administration de cette même société. En dehors de cette corruption Ali Massaad avait encaissé la somme de 8425 dollars en couverture de ses frais de voyage au siège de la société française à Marseille des fonds de la société en Egypte, malgré que la CMA CGM avait pris en charge tous les frais de ce voyage.

Par ailleurs, L’autre surprise fut que Ali Massaad Saad avait réclamé 50 000 dollars pour la modification de la date du contrat et que cette somme après négociation, a été ramenée à 30 000 dollars. Cette négociation a eu lieu avec le troisième accusé, le directeur général de la ligne maritime française en Egypte et le directeur financier de la société française, et que cette somme a été entièrement réglé a Ali Massaad par le directeur de la succursale de Damiette de la CMA CGM.

Le rapport du comité tri partite constitué par des experts du ministère la Justice, des finances publiques et des ressources illégales, lors de son évaluation du nombre exacte de conteneurs appartenant à la ligne française ayant circulé a constaté que le chiffre n’atteignait pas les 70.000 permettant l’application du tarif préférentiel de la 3ème tranche, mais malgré ce fait la société française a pu profiter des tarifs bas, grâce à la complicité de Ali Massaad Le Président de la société des conteneurs de Damiette.

D’après ce rapport la CMA CGM aurait pu faire des économies de l’ordre de 5.53190 dollars qu’elle aurait du payé à la société de Damiette et que jusqu’à la date de la découverte de ce préjudice la perte de la société nationale de Damiette dépassait les 3 millions de dollars.

La commission a également dévoilé d’autres infractions graves commises par le directeur de la société Damiette, notamment des sommes de 15.500 Dollars et 21.639 Livres égyptiennes, avaient été décaissé de la trésorerie de la société par ailleurs le directeur financier, le deuxième inculpé, avait détourné 10.600 dollars et 3.500 livres égyptiennes sans aucun justificatif. Le rapport en question a certifié que des dépenses des caisses de la société française sous la rubrique « récompenses de Damiette » arrivent à un total de 38.150 dollars, et une somme dépensée pour le compte du « Bey » (alias Ali Massaad) de 38500 dollars. Les dates de ses dépenses coïncident avec le début des infractions commises par les 7 inculpés.

L’affaire a été appelé localement « La Grande Affaire de corruption des conteneurs de Damiette », et « Damiette Gate », dans le reste du Monde. Dès la première audience trois des six accusés, le troisième, le cinquième et le sixième ont reconnu avoir eu un rôle dans les pots de vins reçus par Ali Massaad, alors que ce dernier persiste à nier tout ce qu’on lui reproche.

Les six accusés , Ali Massaad, Président du Conseil d’Administration de la Société des conteneurs de Damiette, Jihad Anis Dagher employé à la Société Leader Group, Nabil Elie Bassil directeur financier et administratif régional de la société leader Group (Filiale de la CMA CGM), Mostapha Mohamad Khalil Abdel Menhem, directeur de la succursale de Damiette, Jamal Abdel Razek Adbdel Sadek et Ahmad Mahmoud Ahmad Yacoub ont été déféré par le Procureur Général des affaires Financières par devant la cour pénale, dont la deuxième audience était fixée à jeudi dernier 9 Novembre.

D’après des informations frappantes, le successeur d’Ali Masaad, à la tête de la Société des conteneurs de Damiette, suivrait le même chemin de corruption que son prédécesseur ce qui a amené le Procureur Général à ouvrir une deuxième enquête portant sur la période d’après Ali Massaad. Mais cette enquête a été remise à une date ultérieure suite au congé judiciaire et à la promotion du Procureur Wadih Hanna Nached. Cette affaire tombe sous la compétence de 2 autorités le procureur Général des affaires financière et la Cour pénale.

En attendant le dénouement de cette affaire, l’accusé principal restera en détention provisoire, et le dossier dans tous ses aspects, égyptiens, libanais et français suscite beaucoup d’intérêts.

La presse égyptienne révèle qu’il ne s’agit pas là d’un premier cas de corruption dans le secteur du Transport Maritime en Egypte. Or l’ancien Procureur Général Maher Abdel Wahed avait déjà ordonné au Président du Conseil d’administration de la société Damiette, Ali Massaad, son assignation à résidence et son interdiction de disposer de ses biens propres jusqu’à l’achèvement des investigations et cette interdiction a été notifié à la banque centrale d’Egypte, la direction des finances et le cadastre.

L’enquête a été ouverte par le Procureur Général suite à une déclaration du président de l’organe Central de Comptabilité concernant les relevés de comptes de la société appartenant à la société Holding de transport terrestre et maritime présidée par le Général Mohamad Youssof, déjà inculpé dans l’affaire de détournement du Bateau « Salem 2 » dans le port d’Alexandrie. Le Président de la cour d’Appel district du Caire du Sud, Ahmad Khalifé avait fixé au 29 mai dernier l’audience sous la présidence Adel Joumaa de pour se prononcer sur l’ordonnance du Procureur Général. Les investigations avaient révélé un complot entre l’ingénieur Ali Massaad et des responsables de la ligne Maritime étrangère, qui a entraîné la signature d’un accord aux termes duquel la compagnie étrangère pouvait obtenir des remises exceptionnelles au préjudice de la Société publique Damiette atteignant 5,5 millions de dollars.

Ce scandale préoccupe, et l’opinion publique égyptienne et le milieu politique à la fois, car il arrive après les affaires de la direction des transports, la Banque du Caire et le vol de fer et métaux. L’instruction a fait la preuve sur l’existence d’un complot entre le premier inculpé, Ali Massaad Saad et le Président de la ligne Maritime française, qui a entraîné dans un premier temps la disparition de quelques 6 millions de dollars des caisses du trésor Egyptien. Lors d’une perquisition au domicile de l’inculpé, il s’est avéré qu’il percevait depuis des années, régulièrement, des pots de vins pour son compte personnel en provenance de France.

Dans un rebondissement surprenant, l’instruction a révélé que les responsables de la Ligne maritime internationale dont le siège social est situé en France, à Marseille, ont remboursé un montant de 3,1 million de dollars par chèque bancaire à l’ordre de la Société Damiette dans le cadre d’un compromis visant a étouffé l’affaire, après que le Procureur Général avait déclenché les poursuites judiciaires à l’encontre de cette société et procédé à la saisie des biens de Ali Massaad. Ce chèque n’a pas mis fin aux poursuites engagées, mais il a fait découvrir un autre aspect de l’affaire mettant en évidence l’implication directe de la Société française dans la corruption de fonctionnaires égyptiens.

Malgré le démenti de la CMA-CGM de tout rapport avec cette corruption et sa déclaration qu’une enquête interne est en cour en collaboration avec les autorités égyptiennes, le journal le Sunday Express a révélé que La CMA-CGM présidée par Jacques Saadé , versait déjà plus de 10 000 Dollars par mois à Ali Massaad, et avait tenté de rembourser 3,1 millions de dollars comme indemnité pour le port Egyptien de Damiette.

Jacques Saadé déclare au même journal, que les prévenus ont été payées par le bureau en Egypte et qu’il n’y a pas eu de transfert par le siège français et que sa société ouvre une enquête interne à ce sujet avec l’aide des autorités égyptiennes et que plusieurs cadres ont été entendus y compris le responsable comptable.

Le Sunday Express, explique que la situation est extrêmement sérieuse et l’inquiétude envahie plusieurs autres pays et notamment les Etat Unis. Or des pressions politiques ont fait de sorte que la CMA CGM fut interdite de prendre les parts de la Compagnie anglaise P&O dans le port américain de DUBAI DP WORLD, pour des raisons de sécurités, et que les autorités américaines mènent une enquête à propos de cette affaire.

D’autres informations survenues en marge des investigations secrètes, indiquent que plusieurs points dans cette affaire demeurent obscurs. Le point le plus important qui a été révélé jusqu’à présent c’est le faux contrat, qui fait l’objet principal de l’enquête, et qui portait la signature de Farid Salem, Directeur Général de la CMA-CGM et en l’occurrence le beau frère du Président Jacques Saadé.

Le Journal Al Ahram du 26 mai 2006, indique que les investigations des services de contrôle financiers, font apparaître que le principal accusé recevait régulièrement des sommes importantes en contre partie de ces infractions.. L’ex Procureur Général Wadih Hanna Nached avait lancé des mandats de perquisition dans les locaux de la ligne Maritime en question (CMA-CGM) à Alexandrie qui ont aboutis à la saisie de nombreuses preuves attestant de transferts de sommes importantes des comptes de cette société en faveur de l’accusé.

Le Magazine Rose El Youssof » publie une longue enquête sur ce dossier. Dans ce dossier on déclare que le Président de la société Damiette est propriétaire de 2 grands palace dans la ville de Damiette sur les bords du Nil, sans oublier les dizaines de propriétés et 3 villas dans le village touristique de Yasmina à Port Said en plus des 5 hectares de terrain agricole dans la même ville, tout cela ajouté aux 20 millions de livres égyptiennes sur des comptes bancaires en son nom propre et ceux de son épouse et ses enfants, et un certain nombre de comptes à l’étranger dont l’inventaire n’était pas encore connu. Par ailleurs, ajoute l’article, Ali Massaad avait un prête-nom, « Le Bey », à l’ordre duquel les chèques reçus étaient libellés.

Les enquêtes ont révélé aussi que le nombre de conteneurs que la CMA-CGM avait fait transiter par le port de Damiette, ne dépassait pas les 70 000 sur les 12 derniers mois permettant à la société française de bénéficier de remises de près de 5,5 millions de dollars. Ce qui les a poussé à faire modifier illicitement le contrat avec la Société Damiette en versant des pots de vins en plus des rétributions mensuelles octroyées à Ali Massaad en récompense.

Rose al Youssof ajoute que Ali Massaad prétend avoir amasser sa fortune en Arabie Séoudite là ou il a travaillé pendant 12 ans et à Bahrein pendant 5 ans. Mais il n’était pas en mesure de présenter des preuves le disculpant. L’étrange aussi, c’est qu’il a comparu devant la cour qui a ordonné la saisie de ses biens et ceux de son épouse, portant des vêtements de très mauvaise qualité, dans une tentative de dissimuler sa fortune. Etonnant encore, le cabinet d’avocats qui assure sa défense est l’un des plus grands cabinets spécialisés dans les affaires maritimes, Cabinet Ad Dib, et qui s’occupe des affaires de Mamdouh Ismaeel le propriétaire des « Navires de la Mort ».

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L’enquête avance dans l’espoir de faire la lumière sur d’autres points dans ce dossier complexe. Une forte probabilité existe pour que le Procureur Général lance des poursuites contre les réels bénéficiaires de ce complot, ce point rajoutera un élément de surprise au conflit autour de la propriété de cette société, et serre encore plus l’étau autour du président de la ligne maritime française au tribunal.

Une nouvelle affaire en Syrie

Malgré le caractère spectaculaire et surprenant de l’affaire des conteneurs de Damiette d’autre affaires n’en demeurent pas moins surprenantes, que se soit dans le port syrien de Lattaquié, en France ou au Etats-Unis, ce qui a rendu les infraction de la ligne maritime française, un fin appât pour les média égyptiens, arabes ou internationaux.

Les dernières informations font actuellement la une de la presse arabe. Il s’agit d’un nouveau scandale impliquant Jacques Saadé dans le port de Lattaquié ressemblant au détail prés à celui de Damiette en Egypte, et qui dégage des odeurs nauséabondes de corruption, de pots de vin et de faux.

Boursat wa Asswak, un magazine syrien, fait état dans son dernier numéro d’un scandale dans le port de Lattaquié similaire à celui d’Egypte et qu’une plainte judiciaire a été déposée par un citoyen en Syrie à l’encontre de Jacques Saadé l’accusant de falsification de documents et de fraudes dans le but d’une mainmise sur les fonds publics. Les faits se passaient par le biais d’émission de faux manifestes indiquant que les « Nolis » sont acquittés à l’étranger et non en Syrie et ce contrairement à la réalité. Ce montage est fait dans le but de frauder la fiscalité en Syrie en se soustrayant à la réglementation en vigueur en terme d’impositions dues à l’Etat syrien.

D’après ce magazine cette plainte déposée à Lattaquié par devant le 1er Juge d’Instruction avait subitement été classée avant la date d’audience prévue.

Quelque temps après, la Société CGM CMA avait réclamé à la Société des Agences Maritime à Lattaquié la restitution de la somme de 500.000 (cinq cents mille dollars américains) sous prétexte que les « Nolis » avaient été perçus à Lattaquié et étaient donc dus à la ligne maritime et devaient faire l’objet d’un remboursement. Par ce fait la Société des Agences Maritimes a enquêté sur ce dossier et a pu se rendre compte de l’ampleur des fraudes dans cette affaire. Une plainte pénale fut présentée à l’encontre de Abed Mounayer, Directeur de la Société CGM CMA à Lattaquié. Mais le dossier a été classé une deuxième fois par le juge d’instruction après avoir entendu Abed Mounayar qui d’après le magazine, est devenu l’associé de Jacques Saadé. Abed Mounayer a été remis en liberté avant même la date de l’audience du 31 octobre 2006, Malgré le fait que la Société des Agences Maritime à Lattaquié au cours de sa plainte, des documents rejetant les allégations de la ligne maritime CGM CMA. Les échanges de correspondances émises par le siège social à Marseille ont révélé que les nolis avaient été réglés à l’extérieur et ce contrairement aux connaissements et qu’il n’y avait plus lieu de les percevoir à Lattaquié. Alors qu’en réalité ces montants avaient été perçus en Syrie avec la complicité de certains employés de la Société des Agences Maritimes et de la Société CGM CMA dirigée par Abed Mounayer à Lattaquié.

Entre Damiette et Lattaquié, de nombreuses questions se posent sur l’ampleur et les ramifications des manœuvres opérées par la CMA CGM et sur l’éventualité que d’autres ports arabes et internationaux dans le monde soient atteints.

A Damas, le procès contre Jacques Saadé entamé par son frère Johnny par devant la cour supérieur de cassation, pour falsification d’une procuration pour le partage d’un bien familial à Lattaquié, avec la complicité de l’avocat libanais Choucry El Khoury, qui aurait agit pour le compte de Jacques Saadé. Ce faux et usage de faux étaient au préjudice de son frère Johnny Saadé. La justice syrienne à l’époque, s’était opposée à se partage, et l’affaire s’était transformée en affaire pénale par devant le juge d’instruction à Lattaquié et le procureur général poursuit Jacques Saadé et Choucri El Khoury pour le délit de falsification de documents officiels. L’affaire prend son court.

En résumé, cette affaire de Damiette devient un ensemble d’autres affaires qui se déplaçant comme des « Conteneurs à problèmes » de capitale en capitale de pays arabe ou étrangers à un autre. De fortes présomption pour que des éléments nouveaux ressurgissent dans les prochains jours, mettant encore plus Jacques Saadé en difficultés, car il demeure presque impossible pour lui de se sortir indemne de ces combat judiciaires.

D’autres Scandales

Le site Internet ‘www.mistralholding.com, appartenant à la société de Johnny Saadé, Mistral Holding sal, contient une quantité énormes de documents, rapports et de pièces judiciaires maîtresses qui expliquent le conflit entre les deux frères. Ce conflit qui a été suivit par la presse libanaise, arabe et internationale avec beaucoup d’intérêts. Parmi ces documents un rapport de 9 pages établi par les experts financiers Antoine Gaudino avec la collaboration de Philippe Carrié , passe en revue les circonstances internes à la société CMA qui ont déclenché ce conflit.

On peut lire à travers les passages de ce rapport que le conflit entre les 2 frères Saadé en tant que principaux actionnaires du groupe CMA-CGM est repris par les média grâce aux déclarations de Jacques Saadé comme étant essentiellement un conflit familial, mais Johnny qui possédait 48,41 % des actions de la CMA accuse son frère de dissimulation d’informations en règle générale concernant la gestion de la société et plus précisément sur toutes les opérations montées par Jacques tant en France qu’à l’étranger.

En réalité, l’origine du conflit remonte à l’absence de transparence quant à l’acquisition de la CGM par la CMA et la tentative de Jacques Saadé de s’accaparer du contrôle total du groupe à son profit personnel. L’enquête préliminaire entamée par Gaudino le 29 Août 1997 à la demande de la Société Mistral holding, révèle que le système de gestion adopté par Jacques Saadé pour la CMA suscite les craintes de son frère, en tant que principal actionnaire, sur l’avenir de la Société.

En approfondissant l’enquête, plusieurs infractions fiscales et autres ont été découvertes lesquelles représentent en partie la nature de la discorde entre les frères. Nous pouvons faire un arrêt sur les principales phases historiques du conflit qui se résument ainsi :

1. La société anonyme CMA (Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement) a été constituée par les frères Johnny et Jacques Saadé, le 8 septembre 1986 et immatriculée au RCS de Marseille, le 8 avril 1987, sous le numéro 340 353 911. Le capital initial ressortait à 250.000 F. Il devait, à la suite d’augmentations successives en 1986, 1987 et 1993 et sur autorisation d’une AGE en date de 26 mai 1994, s’élever, en fin de compte, à hauteur de 60.000.000 F représentés par 600.000 actions d’une valeur nominale de 100 F.

A cette dernière date, d’après le registre des mouvements de titres de la CMA, les actions étaient principalement réparties entre les trois sociétés libanaises qui étaient : Merit SAL 48,41 %, propriété de Jacques Saadé, Mistral holding 48,.41 % propriété de Johnny Saadé,

Les actions intitulées « Famille Jacques Saadé», au nombre de six, étaient détenues par M. Jacques Saadé, son épouse Mme Nayla Salem,sa fille Tania, son fils Rodolphe, son beau-frère M. Farid Salem et M. Tristan Vieljeux.

Les trois sociétés actionnaires relevant du droit libanais, sont toutes immatriculées au RCS de Beyrouth et domiciliées dans ladite ville, à la même adresse

La Société Rodolphe Saadé & Co ressort être une sociétés détenue par Jacques et Johnny Saadé, chacun pour 50% des titres, respectivement au travers de MERIT SAL et MISTRAL HOLDING SAL.

2. CGM (Compagnie Générale Maritime), SA au Capital de 1.275.948.600 F ; et immatriculée au RCS de Nanterre sous le numéro 562 024 422 ; était transférée du secteur public au secteur privé, Par arrêté ministériel du 21 octobre 1996.

Le capital de la CGM était réparti de la façon suivante :

90 % des actions revenaient à la CMA SA, 6% au nom de Jacques Saadé personnellement et 4% réparties sur 3 autres actionnaires.

3. Pour finir Le groupe CMA CGM avait obtenu suite à la privatisation 96 % des actions de la CGM alors que les 4% des actions restantes étaient détenues par 3 autres actionnaires, et la part de Jacques Saadé a atteint 51 % alors que celle de Johnny à travers Mistral holding ne dépassait pas les 49,9%.

4. Les premières constatations soulèvent d’ores et déjà un certain nombre d’anomalies notamment les plus importantes seraient sur les tenues d’Assemblées.

Une assemblée générale extraordinaire s’était tenue au siège de la CMA, le 12 décembre 1996, sans que MISTRAL HOLDING SAL n’ait eu la possibilité d’y participer.

Or cette assemblée avait pour ordre du jour l’autorisation à donner au conseil d’administration d’augmenter le capital social, en une ou plusieurs fois. Cette autorisation portait sur une durée de 5 ans et prévoyait ainsi d’élever le capital de la CMA, de 60 000 000 F au montant maximum de 135 000 000 F.

Le rapport ajoute que, Jusqu’à la date du 12 décembre 1996, la direction de la CMA avait constamment convoqué MISTRAL HOLDING SAL par courrier express remis par la Société DHL en le doublant d’une télécopie. Face aux important délais d’acheminement du courrier au Liban. D’une manière inhabituelle, la convocation pour l’Assemblée Générale Extraordinaire du 12 décembre 1996 était envoyée, le 26 Novembre 1996, à MISTRAL HOLDING SAL par voie de lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception.

Tout était donc organisé pour empêcher Johnny Saadé, d’être informé à temps et par voie de conséquence de participer aux prises de décisions importantes dont le vote pour l’augmentation du capital.

C’est dans ce contexte que Johnny Saadé a saisi le Tribunal de Commerce de Marseille, qui désigna le 23 décembre 1996 un huissier de justice avec mission de se faire communiquer tous les documents relatifs aux conseils d’administration et assemblées générales tenues par la CMA.

A la suite de cette décision, M. Johnny Saadé a pu relever des diverses irrégularités. Quatre conseils d’administrations s’étaient tenus les 7 Juin, 20 septembres, 14 et 15 novembre 1996, sans que MISTRAL HOLDING SAL, à ait été convoquée tandis que sur les procès-verbaux était portée la mention « absent et excusé ».

Une assemblée générale était tenue le 27 mars 1997 pour annuler l’augmentation de capital décidée à l’assemblée générale du 12 décembre 1996,.

Cette annulation n’effaçait pas pour autant les anomalies découlant des transferts d’actions, par conséquent, à la majorité acquise au profit de Jacques Saadé en la faisant passer de 48,41 % à 50,001 %.

5. Des anomalies sont également constatées au niveau de la présentation des bilans. Or, dans l’offre de la reprise de la CGM du 3 octobre 1996, il, ressortait de ces bilans que la CMA jouissait d’une situation financière solide et avait conforté ses capitaux propres atteignant 700 MF, et le projet de reprise de la CGM permettait un retour de l’équilibre financier de cette dernière dès 1999.

Mais les constatations faites sur la nature de certaines écritures comptables, remettaient sérieusement en cause le niveau des fonds propres qui étaient largement inférieurs à la réalité. Ces fonds propres étaient nettement inférieurs aux 200.000.000 millions, et enfin l’opération de reprise de la CGM était une affaire juteuse dont Jacques Saadé s’est réservé la totalité du pactole au détriment de son frère Johnny.

Le rapport Gaudino évoque aussi le fait, chiffre et documents à l’appui, que les bilans présentés étaient faux et ne reflétaient pas les vérités comptables de la CMA, ce qui mettait en danger l’avenir de cette société et portait préjudice aux intérêts de Johnny Saadé, le principal actionnaire.

Le rapport résume en substance que Jacques Saadé avait mis en minorité son frère Johnny par étapes successives et avec préméditation en préparation de l’opération de reprise de la CGM à son profit personnel et plus tard toutes les tentatives de Jacques Saadé pour « la fuite en avant » était dans l’espoir de s’épargner les poursuites judiciaires qui s’aggravaient de jour en jour.

Un arrêt sur l’évolution de ce conflit : la réouverture d’une enquête financière au tribunal de Paris portant sur les infractions comptables et les fraudes fiscales commises par la gestion de Jacques Saadé du groupe CMA-CGM. D’autres sources informations indiquent que les tribunaux égyptiens, enquêtent actuellement sur un dossier de corruption d’envergure touchant le Port de Damiette depuis les années 90 et tentent de déterminer l’importance de ces corruptions opérées par des représentants de la ligne française pour le compte de la direction à Marseille en collaboration avec la complicité d’agents locaux, En attendant les suites des évènements, le directeur du Port de Damiette demeure en détention provisoire.

Suite aux plaintes déposées par Mistral holding, les tribunaux Parisiens lancent une information judiciaire concernant des faux bilans de la CMA-CGM L’enquête a été confiée à deux magistrats célèbres dans le milieu français. Le but de cette enquête serait de faire la lumière sur des éventuelles fraudes fiscales et des dissimulations aggravées de ces bénéfices réels remontant à la date de la signature d’une convention mettant fin au conflit entre les frères Jacques et Johnny Saadé.

Préparé par la section des enquêtes

Businessurgent
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/cmacgm-jacques-saad-dsespr-menace-85367.html

Learn the Top Reasons Behind Poor Performance & Availability With Microsoft Exchange

As a professional, your clients know they can depend on you, and that you are there for them. But what happens when your technology is not there for you? Imagine you are on the phone with your client, telling him with great pride that at long last the document he has been waiting for is complete. While you chat, you attach the document to an email, send it off…and wait.

And wait. The email is no longer in your outbox and not in his inbox. You double-check the email address, and as the conversation becomes more and more awkward, you assure the client that the document really does exist and there really was an email sent. He is frustrated and you are at a complete loss. You decide you cannot wait any longer and switch to your personal Hotmail account to resend the document, which may or may not work immediately either. The result is wasted time, and if you switched email systems, you no longer have a cohesive record of the exchange.

Your system administrator will list a number of reasons why this incident happened, reasons that are beyond his control:

• Junk mail folders
• Anti-virus systems
• User errors
• Bottlenecks in the Internet that day

The real reasons may actually run much deeper, which means that this lost email will not be an isolated incident.

Lost Emails Mean Lost Opportunities

Consumers, accustomed to fast responses through websites, are quickly losing their tolerance for slow email responses. Evidence of this can be seen through a recent study by the WAV Group, who claims in the real estate industry, the first agent to respond to a customer email inquiry has a 73% chance of securing the business. The third to respond has virtually no chance.[1] Similarly, a study conducted by Vodafone released in December of 2008 estimates that lost opportunities due to failures to reply promptly to email messages cost businesses approximately $27,000 a year.[2]

What about email that goes missing entirely? This summer Apple Corp admitted to “losing” 10% of their MobileMe subscribers email between July 16th and July 18th.[3] A wave of blog posts have popped up as a result of this problem, with subscribers making claims of everything from lost job opportunities to lost business. We tend to view email as a low cost service, yet clearly when it fails, the costs can be startling. Apple would only remark that the problem was due to a “serious issue.” So what exactly does happen to these wayward email messages, delayed or lost?

The truth is there are dozens of potential reasons for email delivery delays and errors. With complex business-grade email systems, like Microsoft® Exchange and Lotus Notes, there are many ways to build and configure a system. Some conform to the highest standards, while others barely meet the minimum requirements. With very little effort, you can determine whether your system had been adequately configured to suit your needs.

High Availability

As the name implies, High Availability is a system or network that is operational, or available, with a high degree of certainty and frequency. Ceryx, a Hosted Exchange provider, has made high-availability one of their primary focuses. With data centers in New York and Toronto, they have developed various technologies to replicate all messaging data in real-time and can fail over to the secondary facility in the event of catastrophe, allowing them to provide a real 100% SLA. While most providers tend to choose between high availability and high performance, all of Ceryx’s Microsoft Exchange deployments have been built to meet the highest standard of availability uptime without sacrificing performance.

One benchmark for testing an application provider’s performance is to log in to the webmail application and switch from the email view to the calendar view. Pick a folder with lots of messages in it and try sorting by “sender” and then clicking through the various pages. If there is a noticeable delay between these actions then your application provider’s performance may not be adequate.

A system’s availability is determined by numerous factors, each of which is examined below.

Architecture

Delays are often a result of high server RPC latency. RPC, or Remote Procedure Call, is how the Outlook client or the Outlook Web Access client (OWA) communicates with the Exchanger servers. RPC latency refers to the delay between initiating a request and its completion. RPC latency, as seen from the client, is a combination of networking latency and server latency. For good performance, the Microsoft guideline is 50ms average latency on the mailbox servers.[4] If mailbox server RPC latency averages much higher than this, the desktop user can experience “pop-ups” and warnings about problems with the connection from Outlook to the Exchange server. In the background, inbound and outbound email is not being processed as the system tries to catch up with other requests. Excessive “pop-ups” can become more than just an irritant; they can slow down a PC to the point of being unusable while Outlook tries to establish a connection to the server.

Ceryx aims to maintain an RPC rate 20ms or less. To do this, they have avoided the tendency of many providers who built their systems with less expensive virtualized environments and network attached storage. Instead Ceryx has invested in server clusters and high-end SANs (Storage Area Networks) at each of their data centers. SANs provide disk access performance, as well as redundancy through RAID configurations and fibre channel connectivity to the mailbox servers.

Many providers, in an effort to reduce costs, combine the Client Access Server and the Hub Transport Server (servers used to facilitate email delivery) on a single physical machine. This dual role can introduce latency at times of peak usage and throttle the ability to handle large outbound mail queues. Ceryx has engineered the Hub Transport role to ensure message queues can be quickly cleared even during periods of heavy load. By combining multiple, dedicated physical Hub Transport servers with the built-in round-robin load balancing capabilities of Exchange 2007, messages are quickly distributed to their destination on the internet. For legitimate email, hardware load balancing is used to ensure optimal performance of the critical Hub Transport role, which processes every single message that passes through the system.

Monitoring

Most hardware load balancing configurations can achieve both high performance and high availability; however, to sustain high performance and high availability – with a dynamic system like a Hosted Exchange deployment, where usage and load can vary dramatically – you must have an advanced monitoring system and the processes in place to scale the system in response to constantly changing variables.

Some providers install generic monitoring packages that tend to monitor every single metric available, whether the metrics provide meaningful insight to system performance or not. With Ceryx, every aspect of the environment from key metrics around SAN queue length through to standard metrics like CPU utilization and memory usage are closely monitored, trended, and understood. This information is used to develop highly accurate forecasting and scheduled system scaling. Any provider who has not invested in such monitoring tools and resources will just react to spikes in usage and load. Ceryx plans for them.

Breathing Room

Another major reason for email delays and poor performance can again be attributed to basic economics. A “store” is the unique databases for storing messaging data. With Microsoft Exchange 2007 Enterprise, there is a limit of 50 stores per server, with a Microsoft recommended limit of 200 GB for each store. Some providers will try to maximize the number of customers they can support by pushing these limits. Ceryx does the opposite. Ceryx maintains a maximum of 50 GB per store – one quarter of the maximum – in order to deliver the best raw database performance and protect against data corruption, common with larger stores. With these hard restrictions in place, it’s difficult to imagine how some providers – who offer mailboxes up to 4GB – are able to run a sustainable business and maintain high performance and availability.

IOPS

Economics may also drive another cause of poor performance: IOPS, a measurement of the number of times data can be written and read to disk per second, can vary widely per system. With Microsoft Exchange, IOPS capacity is directly related to performance and a heavy user can use up to 1 IOPS under certain circumstances. Each disk has a maximum number of IOPS it can support, so a careful ratio of users per array of disks is essential to maintain decent performance.

Ceryx is careful to maintain a generous ratio of IOPS per user based on real-world metrics monitored from its large user base, taking into consideration peak activities times and not just daily averages.

Routing Issues

To be fair, email delays and errors may occur outside your environment. In the scenario where your colleague was eagerly sitting and waiting for an email to arrive, it may have got stuck somewhere “in the cloud” – somewhere in between both of your email environments.

On a pre-sales and support level, Ceryx has developed a number of troubleshooting tools to help identify potential routing issues. As with any application “hosted in the cloud,” bandwidth is an important consideration when trying to ensure a positive end-users experience. Microsoft Exchange, which consumes 3 KB of a client’s internet connection per active user, is no different. Ceryx has developed a tool that simulates a series of network connections to determine if the client has adequate bandwidth to support their user base. Through this exercise they have discovered that – with any client moving from an on-premise environment to a hosted environment – any increase in bandwidth required is partially offset by decommissioning and offloading SMTP traffic, external connections spam traffic and attacks.

Spam/Anti-Virus

Of course the most notorious place a message gets “stuck” or delayed is in a provider’s anti-virus and spam filtering system. Ceryx runs seven different anti-virus products in its environment to ensure system health and email hygiene. That level of protection could potentially cripple an ordinary system that wasn’t built for high performance; however, Ceryx has not only sized their solution with the performance hit associated with anti-virus scanning in mind, but also closely monitors its environment to ensure email delivery is never compromised by spam and anti-virus filtering.

Beware of any provider who either ignores this potential performance hit or, worse yet, removes backend anti-virus all together. Removing anti-virus may appear to be a good way to control costs, as high-end solutions can be very expensive, but removing them allows viruses in, and once in, are often hard to then find, never mind remove. Ceryx’s system scans incoming and outgoing messages as well as messages in the store on a scheduled basis. A regular scan of mailbox databases is just as important as gateway anti-virus to reduce the instance of catastrophic failure.

Mobility

The benefits and usability of the Ceryx architecture can be measured not only on the desktop level but for mobile users as well, who share the same highly optimized and redundant environment. Ceryx also maintains fully-replicated BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Servers) in both its environments to maintain maximum mobility uptime as well. Forum Oilfield Services, out of Houston Texas, currently has 600 employees using the Ceryx Hosted Exchange solution, with almost 100 mobile users.

Beware of “Bargains”

Unfortunately the market is crowded with Hosted Exchange providers who are not as concerned about delivering a dependable and resilient solution as they are about keeping their costs low and selling high volumes of mailboxes. Providers that offer 3 or 4 GB mailboxes are ignoring the commonly held understanding that mailboxes of this size do not perform well and are highly susceptible to data corruption. That corruption is not limited to just the user in question, but can impact all users on that store, potentially even the entire server.

These providers can only offer mailboxes of this size at a bargain price if they compromise on some other expense – dedicated servers, SANs, anti-virus solutions or a fully redundant architecture. Of course the much greater expense is the lost productivity and opportunity that results from using a solution that was designed with the primary goal of meeting the lowest possible price point to compete with free solutions in the market, and not delivering Enterprise performance and availability.

Ask all potential vendors for the following:

• Customer references
  (Quiz the references about any down-time they may have experienced)
• The SLA
  Have a close look at the financial penalties if high availability is not maintained. Professional hosting providers, confident in their systems ability to maintain high availability, will include clearly worded conditions in their SLA around the exact fees that will be paid to a customer should they not maintain an acceptable level of up-time.

How Do You Measure Up?

A lost or delayed email could be viewed as a nuisance or as a warning. Purchasing decisions need to be fiscally responsible, but often, seemingly bargain solutions can have a devastating and costly effect in the long run.

So how does your system measure up? Using Ceryx as a control, measure the speed, versatility, and resilience of your system.

Ceryx

SLA: 100%
Latency: < 20 ms
GB / Store: 50 GB / Store
IOPS per User: High
Bandwidth Sizing Tools: Yes
Spam / Anti-Virus: Gateway + Mailbox Server, Integrated
Mobile Device Access: Redundant BlackBerry, ActiveSync
 
Ceryx customers share the belief that their data is their companies most valued asset. As the most used collaboration tool in business, an individual Microsoft Exchange account typically contains a blueprint of an employee’s tenure: their schedule, correspondence (and commitments), contacts, contracts and much more. Ceryx customers trust that this real-time journal is safe, available and always accessible.

Footnotes:
[1] The Wav Group: Gaining an Edge in Real Estate with Smartphones http://wavgroup.com
[2] The Open Press: http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=42004
[3] Apple Support Forum: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1953
[4] Microsoft Exchange Team Blog: http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2005/09/28/411674.aspx
[5] Microsoft TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738147.aspx

John Carthy
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/learn-the-top-reasons-behind-poor-performance-availability-with-microsoft-exchange-751535.html

How can Obama claim Gov. reform on corruption when he was second on line to benefit for Fannie May?

"Any action we take must be focused not on the whims of lobbyists and special interests worried about their bonuses and hourly fees, but on whether it will strengthen our economy and help struggling homeowners," Obama told reporters after a campaign stop in Indiana. Isn’t this hypocrisy at it’s best! Why are dem’s screaming Bush and don’t look at the corruption within there own party.

Very true. Not only is Obama 2nd behind Dodd in receiving contributions over $100k from Fannie May employees, he did it in < 3 years! On that same list, McCain is 300 something for total contributions over 20 years, having taken less than a 1/6th of what Obama did over many many more years. Obama is a classic politician, no more, no less.

And FYI, the top 4 on that list of contributions from Fannie May is 1) Dodd, 2) Obama, 3) Kerry, 4) Clinton…..that’s the fact Jack.

Cma-cgm: Jacques Saade’s Involvement in “damietta Gate”

Free translation of the article published in the egyptian daily « Massaeyat » of October 17th 2006

Jacques Saade’s involvement in “Damietta Gate”

New developments in the case of the Damietta company next November

The General Prosecutor launches new investigations in relation to public funds and other irregularities perpetrated after the arrest of Ali Massaad

The appearance of the accused and the lifting of the sequestrations are the main issues of this case

This case locally known as the “great corruption case of the Damietta Containers” and internationally named the “Damietta Gate” has shaken the Egyptian, Arab and international public opinion.

From the first audience, three of the six accused confessed, the third, the fifth and the sixth and acknowledged having been involved in the briberies paid to Ali Massaad, whereas the latter denied at the beginning the whole matter.

The six accused, Ali Massaad, chairman of the board of directors of the Damietta Container Company, Jihad Anis Dagher, employee of Leader Company, Nabil Elie Bassil, CMA-CGM regional Finance and administrative director, Mostapha Mohamad Khalil Abdel Monhem, Director of the Damietta subsidiary, Jamal Abdel Razek Abdel Sadek and Ahmad Mahmoud Ahmad Yacoub have been referred to the Penal Court by the General Prosecutor (financial section), and the second hearing is set for November 9th for a contradictory debate and confrontation with the prosecution’s witnesses who will appear before the court for corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

The most surprising aspect of this case it seems is that Ali Massaad’s successor as head of the Damietta Container Company is following the same methods as his predecessor, a matter which compelled the General Prosecutor to launch a second investigation pertaining to the period following Ali Massaad’s management of the company. This investigation has been postponed following the juridical holidays and the promotion of prosecutor Wadih Hanna Nached.

Ali Massaad, known as the “Bey”, is now in prison.

This case is about corruption, account manipulations, financial fraud and a plot between the Damietta Container Company and French company CMA-CGM presided by Lebanese national Jacques Saade whose corporate headquarters are in Marseille. The file that is being dealt with by the Court of State Financial Security in Egypt pertains to the misappropriation of funds that could reach up to 20 million dollars.

The main accused is being held in temporary custody while awaiting the outcome of this case.

This case is of major interest in its Egyptian, Lebanese and French ramifications.

The Egyptian media has released important pieces of information revealing that this is not an isolated corruption matter in the shipping sector in Egypt. The former General Prosecutor Maher Abdel Wahed has already ordered the chairman of the board of directors of the Damietta Container Company, Ali Massaad, to be placed in custody and his personal assets seized until the end of the investigation; the latter decision has been notified to the Central Bank of Egypt, the Finance Directorate and the land registry.

The General Prosecutor opened an investigation following a declaration presented by the president of the Central Accounting Agency regarding the statements of accounts pertaining to the company owned by the holding company for land and shipping transport presided by the General Mohammad Youssof already indicted in the case of the seizure of the “Salem 2” vessel in the port of Alexandria. The president of the Court of Appeal of the district of South Cairo, Adel Joumaa had set the next hearing to last May 29th in order to take a decision as to the verdict of the General Prosecutor.

The investigations have revealed a plot between engineer Ali Massaad and the managers of the foreign shipping company regarding the signature of an agreement according to which the foreigh company could benefit from exceptional rebates to the detriment of the Damietta Public Company that could reach up to 5,5 million dollars.

This scandal is worrying Egyptian public opinion as well as the political scene, as it happens to occur after other scandals such as the one related to the Directorate of Transport, the Bank of Cairo and the robbery of steal and other metals.

The investigations have proven the existence of a plot between the first accused Ali Massaad Saad and the President of the foreign shipping company, which resulted in the disappearance of 6 million dollars from the Egyptian treasury. It has been established, following the house search, that the accused regularly received briberies from France.

In a surprising rebounce, the investigation revealed that the managers of the international shipping company based in Marseille (France) reimbursed the amount of 3,1 million dollars by bankers cheque to the Damietta Company following a compromise aimed at smothering the case, after that the General Prosecutor started a legal action against this company and seized the assets of Ali Massaad. This payment did not put an end to the legal actions but led to the discovery of another aspect of this case namely the direct involvement of the French company in corrupting Egyptian officials.

Despite CMA-CGM’s denial of any involvement in this corruption case declaring that an internal investigation is underway in coordination with the Egyptian authorities, the Sunday Express newspaper revealed that CMA-CGM presided by Jacques Saade, paid 10,000 dollars per month to Massaad, and has reimbursed as reparation 3.1 million dollars to the Egyptian port of Damietta.

In a statement made by Jacques Saade to the same newspaper, he mentioned that these people were paid by the CMA’s Egyptian subsidiary, that no transfers were made by the French head office and that his company was investigating in coordination with the Egyptian authorities. Various managers were heard including the accountancy manager.

According to the Sunday Express, this is an extremely serious situation and other countries, including the United States, are being worried. It seems that political pressures have been exerted in order to prevent CMA-CGM from acquiring from the English company P&O its shares in the American port of Dubai for security reasons. The American authorities are undertaking an investigation regarding this matter.

Other pieces of information collected in parallel to the secret investigation indicated that many points in this case were still not clear. The most important element that has been discovered until now is the false contract -which is the main aspect of the investigation- signed by Farid Salem, CMA-CGM general manager and brother-in-law of Jacques Saade.

It has been revealed that Abdel Razek is the financial manager of CMA-CGM in Egypt, presided by Jacques Saade, as indicated by the social security registers.

All the evidence indicates that the financial offenses have been perpetrated by the chairman of the Damietta Company, in addition to the irregularities within the contract signed with the shipping line in Marseille.

In an Al-Ahram article of May 26th 2006, it seems, according to the investigations undertaken by the financial control services [official body], the principal accused perceived important amounts on a regular basis in exchange for those irregularities. The former General Prosecutor Wadih Hanna Nached issued search-warrants in the offices of the said shipping company (CMA-CGM) in Alexandria, which resulted in the seizure of numerous pieces of evidence confirming the transfer of important amounts from the accounts of the latter company in favor of the accused.

According to the “magazine Rose El Youssof” that published the result of a long investigation on the subject, the chairman of the Damietta Company is the owner of two palaces in the city of Damietta on the river Nile as well as a dozen estates and three villas in the touristic village of Yasmina in Port Said, in addition to five hectares of agricultural land in the latter city, 20 million Egyptian pounds deposited in bank accounts in his name, his wife’s and children’s and a number of bank accounts abroad which inventory is not yet known.

It was mentioned in the article that Ali Massaad had a nickname, “the Bey”, to the order of whom checks were drawn up.

The investigations revealed that the number of containers CMA-CGM sent in transit through the port of Damietta, did not exceed 70,000 teus for the last 12 months allowing the French company to benefit from rebates of the amount of 5,5 million dollars. This led them to illegally modify the contract with the Damietta Company by paying briberies in addition to the monthly remuneration of Ali Massaad.

Rose El Youssof added that Ali Massaad pretended that he made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, where he worked for 12 years, and in Bahrein, where he worked 5 years; but was not able to keep the evidence that would clear him.

A surprising aspect is that he appeared before the court, which ordered the seizure of his assets and his wife’s, wearing bad quality clothes, in an attempt to conceal his wealth. The most astonishing is that the law firm handling his defense is one of the major firms specialized in shipping matters in Egypt.

The investigation is moving forward with the hope to shed light on other thorny aspects of this case. There is a strong probability that the General Prosecutor would prosecute Jacques Saade, chairman of CMA-CGM; one more element that adds up to the conflict as to the ownership of this company and increases the legal stranglehold around Jacques Saade.

Damietta “Gate” to date is the last link in a series of legal proceedings facing Jacques Saade.

If this case is taking an official aspect in Egypt given that it involves a number of irregularities, corruptions and misappropriation of public funds, other legal proceedings have been launched in many countries in which the conflict between the brothers Jacques and Johnny Saade is raging around the ownership of CMA-CGM, the first shipping company in France and the third worldwide.

Six years after the signature of a contract on September 16th 2006 between the two parties aimed at ending the conflict but which deprived Johnny Saade of his legitimate rights due to a deceitful set-up, new facts could reveal unexpected developments in the coming months very probably in favor of the latter.

The internet site www.mistralholding.com owned by Johnny Saade’s company Mistral Holding s.a.l., contains a huge amount of documents, compromising reports and legal evidence, that explains in detail the conflict between the two brothers which is being reported at the top of the news in the Lebanese, arab and international press. Among these documents a report issued by the financial expert Antoine Gaudino explaining the circumstances that led to the said conflict.

One can read in the report that the conflict between the two Saade brothers as the major shareholders of the CMA-CGM Group is mentioned by the media as a family feud due to Jacques Saade’s statements, but Johnny, who owns 48.44% of CMA’s shares accuses his brother of hiding information in general and more specifically regarding transactions initiated by Jacques Saade in France and elsewhere.

The conflict actually starts by the lack of transparency during the acquisition of CGM by CMA, and Jacques Saade’s attempt at controlling the group for his sole personal benefit.

The preliminary investigations undertaken by Gaudino on August 29th 1997 at the request of Mistral holding, revealed that the management system established by Jacques Saade on behalf of CMA made Johnny Saade fearful, as major shareholder, of the company’s future.

With further investigations, various fiscal irregularities and others have been discovered, and are part of the conflict between the brothers.

The main historical stages of this conflict are the following:

The Limited company CMA (Compagnie Maritime d’Affretement) was created by brothers Johnny and Jacques Saade on September 8th 1986 and registered at the RCS of Marseille on April 8th 1987 under number 340 353 911.

The initial capital was FFr.250,000. It was to be increased following various share capital increases in 1986, 1987 and 1993 as well as on May 26th 1994 further to an extraordinary general assembly to reach FFr. 60,000,000 divided in 600,000 shares with a nominal value of FFr.100.

At the latter date and according to the shareholders’ registry, the shares were distributed between three Lebanese companies: Merit s.a.l., owned by Jacques Saade, 48.41%; Mistral Holding s.a.l., owned by Johnny Saade, 48.41%.

The six shares attributed to the “Jacques Saade Family” are held by Mr. Jacques Saade, his spouse Mrs Nayla Salem, his daughter Tania, his son Rodolphe, his brother-in-law Mr. Farid Salem and Mr.Tristan Vieljeux.

The three Lebanese companies are all registered at the Beirut registrar of Companies and domiciled in the same city and the same address.The company Rodolphe Saade & Co is owned by Jacques Saade and Johnny Saade, 50% of the shares each, respectively through Merit s.a.l. and Mistral Holding s.a.l.

CGM s.a. (Compagnie Generale maritime), with a capital of FFr. 1,275,948,600 and registered at the RCS of Nanterre under number 562 024 422, has been transferred by the French government to the private sector by ministerial decision on October 21st 1996.

The capital of CGM is distributed as follows: 90% of the shares came to be held by CMA, 6% personally by Jacques Saade and 4% between three other shareholders.

CMA got 96% of the CGM shares whereas the 4% remaining were held by three other shareholders; and Jacques Saade’s stake reached 51% whereas Johnny’s, through Mistral holding, did not reach 49.9%.

The first findings revealed a certain number of irregularities, the most important of which related to general assembly meetings.

An extraordinary general assembly was held at CMA head offices on December 12th 1996 without letting Mistral Holding s.a.l. have the opportunity to participate. This assembly was aimed at granting the board of directors the right to increase the share capital, in one or many times. This authorization to the board of directors was valid for a period of five years and aimed at increasing CMA’s capital from FFr. 60,000,000 to a maximum of FFr. 135,000,000.

The report added that until December 12th 1996 CMA’s management has always convened Mistral holding s.a.l. by rapid courier (DHL) and simultaneously by fax, given postage delays to Lebanon. In an unusual manner, the convening to the extraordinary general assembly meeting of December 12th 1996 was sent to Mistral Holding s.a.l. on November 26th 1996 by recommended letter with acknowledgement of receipt.

Everything was done in order to prevent Johnny Saade to be informed in due time and therefore to participate to the main decisions to be taken including the share capital increase.

It is within the above-mentionned context that Johnny Saade seized the Tribunal of Commerce of Marseille who designated on December 23rd 1996 a judicial “huissier’ in order to get the documents pertaining to general assemblies and board of directors held by CMA.

Following this judicial decision, Mr Johnny Saade was able to raise various irregularities. Four Board of Directors meetings were held on June 7th, September 20th and November 14th & 15th 1996 without Mistral Holding s.a.l. being ever convened whereas the minutes of meetings stipulated that Mistral Holding s.a.l. was “absent and excused”.

A general assembly was held on March 27th 1997 in cancellation of the share capital increase decided by the general assembly of December 12th 1996.

This did not however erase the irregularities due to the share transfers and the acquired majority to the benefit of Jacques Saade which jumped from 48,41% to 50,001%.

Irregularities were noticed regarding the presentation of balance sheets. It appears from CMA’s balance sheets in the offer for the acquisition of the CGM of October 3rd 1996, that CMA was in good financial health, that it increased its shareholders’ equity funds, reaching FFr. 700 million and the CGM acquisition project would allow the financial rehabilitation of the latter no later than 1999.

The findings made on certain accounting entries called in question the validity of the level of CMA’s shareholders’ equity which were lower than the reality. These shareholders’ equity funds were much lower than the FFr. 200 millions and CGM’s takeover was a juicy business deal that Jacques Saade wanted to keep for himself to the detriment of his brother Johnny.

This report mentioned, backed by the necessary documents and figures, that the filed balance sheets were false and did not reflect the truth about CMA’s accounts, a matter that was to jeopardize the future of the company and the interests of Johnny Saade, its main shareholder.

This report mentionned that Jacques Saade made his brother Johnny become a minority shareholder through successive steps and by premeditation in order to prepare the acquisition of CGM to his sole personal benefit; the report also summarized the various attempts of Jacques Saade to escape legal proceedings which were accumulating every day.

Of importance in this conflict is the re-opening of a financial investigation by the Paris Tribunal regarding the accounting irregularities and fiscal fraud perpetrated by Jacques Saade in managing CMA-CGM.

Other information indicate that Egyptian courts of law are entangled in an important corruption file involving the Port of Damietta since the 90s and are attempting to determine the scale of corruption involving the representatives of the French shipping line on behalf of their managers in France. While awaiting new developments, the director of the Port of Damietta has in the meantime been arrested.

On another level and following the penal lawsuit filed by Mistral Holding, Paris Tribunals (France) have launched legal investigation regarding the CMA-CGM balances sheets that are allegedly false. The investigation has been entrusted to two prominent magistrates in France. The aim of this investigation is to shed light on the possible fiscal fraud and concealment of the real profits, a matter that goes back to the signature of the contract that has put an end to the conflict between brothers Jacques and Johnny Saade.

Finally, we can add to this multi-faceted judicial file that is surrounding Jacques Saade, a matter that is worrying investigators near the General Prosecutor of Lattakia in Syria. It involves the falsification of official documents, the use of false documents and usurpation of legal capacity, involving Choucri el Khoury that seems to have acted on behalf of Jacques Saade.

andrew barns
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/cmacgm-jacques-saades-involvement-in-damietta-gate-80435.html