Speaker Notes of Innovation and Sustainable Business

Question: Talk about the Speaker Notes of Innovation and Sustainable Business. Answer: Presentation: Business maintainability alludes the model of business and the choice of supervisor with respect to monetary, social and ecological concern. Maintainable organizations centers around budgetary estimation of organization, deal with their activities and their effects on advertise, put endeavors to roll out positive improvement in the association and attempt to feel great to their representatives. They make arrangement for long terms and fashion for successful relationship with representatives. Enhancing for supportability characterizes the necessary change in the association purposefully with the goal that association can become further effectively while making changes in the association natural and social worth is being thought of. Plan of action is a procedure which improves the incomes of the organization. It is a sort of portrayal which mirrors the subtleties of financing. It is being taken being used by all size of organizations since it simply the best approach to show the curren t circumstance and give data with respect to potential changes. Plan of action as a framework is powerful. It contains two components in it that is configuration subject and structure components. Both are playing out their job to improve the business. Configuration topic alludes the integral or efficiencies while with regards to plan components, the method of rewarding the business, structure and substance are included. It allows to the director to make changes in plan of action according to the prerequisites of the business. Static plan of action is a period invariant model. It offers inclination to the need of the clients by utilizing assets of firm fittingly. It is the model which centers around money related and non-fiscal the two terms while making system. The arrangement of figuring of static view is balance. It is the methodology which permits business to settle on choice rapidly in regards to changing in plan of action. It is truly justifiable methodology. Different plans of action contains in it. The significant focal point of dynamic perspective on plan of action is to procure benefit for the transient premise. The quality of dynamic perspective on plan of action is profoundly versatile which characterizes that members roll out quick improvements even in the state of low dormancy. The structure square of plan of action contains 9 components. Clients are being focused by this model and separated according to their prerequisites. Circulation channel is the method of correspondence. Offer alludes the total viewpoint of administrations and results of the firm. Client relationship alludes the association of different fragments. Key exercises contain dealing with the clients, upkeep, assortment and selling. Secret weapons characterizes the trust and disavowal, ability of pioneering and calculated and the board expertise. Accomplice organize alludes the concurrence with different organizations. Cost structure is the money related term of business and it incorporates forthright speculation, work cost and compensation of the establishment. The income stream mirrors the more income by utilizing the different income streams. It is significant for the business to reconfigure the worth chain on an ideal opportunity to time. Changes ought to be made on the need of the clients. Market limits have been obscured if changes in esteem chain doesn't make according to necessity. The chart of significant worth system is distinctive for each industry. Worth creation through plan of action makes the business great. It centers around the client relationship since clients are the focal point of deduction for the business. Worth creation is ordered into two terms that is explicit and essential. Estimation of clients ought to be done in a suitable way. It is exceptionally useful for a particular model. It is significant for the business to begin the business by thinking about the clients compassion. Alongside esteem creation, esteem allocation is significant in light of the fact that it is the medium to acquire the preferred position the organization. End: The article of Itami and Nishino alludes the order of plan of action that is benefit model and business framework. Benefit model consider as the presumption of acquiring more benefit in certain time. Business framework focuses on the client and deals with their need by offering great types of assistance and items. It offers inclination to the dynamic methodology. To make supportability in the business it urges business to create items at the degree of between house too and alludes a well keep up business framework. This article expounds the plan of action in effeceint way. Google and Toyota two fundamental model dependent on this plan of action has been expounded by this model which give legitimate comprehension towards both sort of part benefit model and business framework. The procedure of advancement through plan of action is extremely testing task. It is the type of transformational yet it tends to be undermine for the firm if the utilization of development process inadequately. The nature of development process is that produces new qualities and thoughts for the clients. It finds the more open doors for development.

Room Switch Light Control Using Visitor Counter free essay sample

Division of Electronics and correspondence Engineering MINI PROJECT REPORT 2011 CERTIFICATE Certified that this undertaking report â€Å"AUTOMATIC ROOM LIGHT CONTROLLER WITH BIDIRECTIONAL VISITOR COUNTER† is the real work of ? SHILPA VINOD† who completed the undertaking work under my watch. Leader OF THE DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER 4 Acknowledgment Before we get into the main part of things, we present our wholehearted commendations, with higher respects and warm gratitude to the whole gang, who were the bone behind the ligaments of this venture. We give all magnificence and respect to Almighty God whose gifts and help made this undertaking a triumph. We wish to communicate our true gratitude to our Principal, Dr. C. E. Krishnan, for giving a chance to embrace this undertaking. We thusly recognize our true gratitude to Prof. Arumuga Samy, our H. O. D. for his significant comments and oversight in finishing this task work effectively. Additionally we might want to communicate our vast thanks and appreciation to Mr. Deepak P. , Mr. Mahesh P S, Mr. Vishnu, Lecturers in ECE Dept. for their significant direction and recommendations in the entire course of our scaled down undertaking action. It would be out of line in the event that we don't make reference to the important commitment and opportune co-activity reached out by staff individuals from our dept. We might want to thank our Institution without which this task would have been a far off the real world. We additionally stretch out our sincere gratitude to our family and well wishers. Not the least, however the most, we are appreciative to all the sixth semester understudies of this foundation, our dearest allies for the motivation and the co-activity they have appeared at all degrees of our work. 5 ABSTRACT This Project ? Programmed Room Light Controller with Bidirectional Visitor Counter? s a dependable circuit that assumes control over the undertaking of controlling the room lights also us tallying number of people/guests in the room precisely. At the point when someone goes into the room then the counter is augmented by one and the light in the room will be turned ON and when any one leaves the room then the cou nter is decremented by one. The light will be just turned OFF until all the people in the room go out. The complete number of people inside the room is likewise shown on the seven section shows. The microcontroller does the above activity. It gets the signs from the sensors, and this sign is worked heavily influenced by programming which is put away in ROM. Microcontroller AT89S52 persistently screen the Infrared Receivers. At the point when any article go through the IR Receivers then the IR Rays falling on the collectors are hindered. This block is detected by the Microcontroller. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER NO. Cover sheet NO. Rundown OF FIGURES 1. Square Diagram of Circuit 2. Transmission Circuit 3. Collector Circuit 10 13 15 19 20 22 23 24 25 35 4. Infrared Sensor 5. Square Diagram of TSOP 1738 6. Application Circuit 7. Clock IC (555) 8. LTS 542 (7-Segment Display) 9. LM7805 (Voltage Regulator) 10. Transfer Circuit 11. Stream Chart 12. Circuit Diagram in PCB 1. 2. Presentation BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION 2. 1 Power Supply 2. 2 Enter and Exit Circuits 2. 3 89S52 Microcontroller 2. 4 Relay Driver Circuit 9 11 12 3. CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION 3. 1 Transmission Circuit 3. 2 Receiver circuit 13 15 7 4. 5. Rundown OF COMPONENTS DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPONENTS USED 5. 1 Microcontroller AT89S52 5. 2 TSOP1738 5. 3 555 (TIMER IC) 5. 4 LTS 542 5. 5 LM7805 5. 6 Relay Circuit 16 17 19 20 22 23 24 6. Stream CHART 25 7. PROGRAM 26 8. PCB FABRICATION 30 9. End 36 10. Reference index 37 8 INTRODUCTION Project title is ? Programmed ROOM LIGHT CONTROLLER WITH BIDIRECTIONAL VISITOR COUNTER?. The goal of this task is to make a controller based model to check number of people visiting specific room and as needs be light up the room. Here we can utilize sensor and can know present number of people. In today’s world, there is a nonstop requirement for programmed machines. With the expansion in way of life, there is a need to keep moving for creating circuits that would facilitate the intricacy of life. Additionally if at all one needs to know the quantity of individuals present in room so as not to have clog, this circuit ends up being useful. 9 BLOCK DIAGRAM ENTER SENSOR SIGNAL CONDITIONING EXIT SENSOR SIGNAL CONDITIONING A T 8 9 S 5 2 RELAY DRIVER LIGHT POWER SUPPLY 7-SEGMENT DISPLAY 10 BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION The fundamental square graph of the bidirectional guest counter with programmed light controller is appeared in the above figure. Basically this square outline comprises of the accompanying fundamental squares. 1. Force Supply 2. Section and Exit sensor circuit 3. AT89S52 miniaturized scale controller 4. Transfer driver circuit 1. Force Supply:Here we utilized +12V and +5V dc power gracefully. The primary capacity of this square is to give the necessary measure of voltage to basic circuits. +12V is given to hand-off driver. To get the +5V dc power flexibly we have utilized here IC 7805, which gives the +5V dc directed force gracefully. 2. Enter and Exit Circuits:This is one of the primary piece of our task. The fundamental aim of this square is to detect the individual. For detecting the individual we are utilizing a TSOP 1738 sensor. By utilizing this sensor and its related circuit chart we can check the quantity of people. 11 3. 9S52 Microcontroller:It is a low-power, superior CMOS 8-piece microcontroller with 8KB of Flash Programmable and Erasable Read Only Memory (PEROM). The gadget is produced utilizing Atmel’s high-thickness nonvolatile memory innovation and is perfect with the MCS-51TM guidance set and pin out. The on-chip Flash permits the program memory to be reinvent ed in-framework or by an ordinary nonvolatile memory developer. By consolidating an adaptable 8-piece CPU with Flash on a solid chip, the Atmel AT89S52 is a ground-breaking Microcontroller, which gives a profoundly adaptable and financially savvy answer for some installed control applications. . Transfer Driver Circuit:This square can possibly drive the different controlled gadgets. In this square mostly we are utilizing the transistor and the transfers. One transfer driver circuit we are utilizing to control the light. Yield signal from AT89S52 is given to the base of the transistor, which empowers the specific transfer, along these lines, suitable gadget is chosen and which plays out its allocated work. 12 CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION There are two fundamental pieces of the circuits. 1. Transmission Circuit (Infrared LEDs) 2. Recipient Circuit (Sensors) 1. Transmission Circuit: 13 This circuit outline shows how a 555 clock IC, designed to work as a fundamental astable multivibrator. The astable multivibrator produces a square wave, the time of which is dictated by the circuit outside to IC 555. The astable multivibrator doesn't require any outside trigger to change the condition of the yield. Thus the name free running oscillator. The time during which the yield is either high or low is dictated by the two resistors and a capacitor which are remotely associated with the 555 clock. IR Transmission circuit is utilized to produce the balanced 36 kHz IR signal. The IC555 in the transmitter side is to produce 36 kHz square wave. Modify the preset in the transmitter to get a 38 kHz signal at the o/p. At that point you point it over the sensor and its o/p will go low when it detects the IR sign of 38 kHz. 14 2. Collector Circuit: Fig. 3. 4 Receiver circuit The IR transmitter will discharge adjusted 38 kHz IR signal and at the beneficiary we use TSOP1738 (Infrared Sensor). The yield goes high when there is an interference and it return back to low after the timespan controlled by the capacitor and resistor in the circuit I. e. around 1 second. CL100 is to trigger the IC555 which is designed as monostable multivibrator. Information is given to the Port 1 of the microcontroller. Port 0 is utilized for the 7-Segment show reason. Port 2 is utilized for the Relay Turn On and Turn off Purpose. LTS 542 (Common Anode) is utilized for 7-Segment show and that time Relay will get voltage and activated, so light will get voltage and it will turn on and when counter will be 00 and around then Relay will be killed. Reset catch will reset the microcontroller 15 LIST OF COMPONENTS ? Microcontroller †AT89S52 ? IC †7805 ? Sensor †TSOP 1738 (Infrared Sensor) ? Transformer †12-0-12, 500 mA ? Preset †4. 7K ? Plate capacitor †104,33pF ? Reset button switch ? Rectifier diode †IN4148 ? Transistor †BC 547, 2N2222 ? 7-Segment Display 16 DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPONENTS USED 1. Microcontroller AT89S52: The AT89S52 is a low-power, superior CMOS 8-piece microcontroller with 8K bytes of in-framework programmable Flash memory. The gadget is made utilizing Atmel’s high-thickness nonvolatile memory innovation and is perfect with the Industry-standard 80C51 guidance set and pin out. The on-chip Flash permits the program memory to be reinvented insystem or by a customary nonvolatile memory master language structure. By consolidating an adaptable 8-piece CPU with in-framework programmable Flash on a solid chip, the Atmel AT89S52 is an amazing microcontroller which gives an exceptionally adaptable and financially savvy answer for some implanted control applications. The AT89S52 gives the accompanying standard highlights: 8K bytes of Flash, 256 bytes of RAM, 32 I/O lines, Watchdog clock, two information pointers, three 16-piece clock/counters, a six-vector two-level intrude on design, a full duplex sequential port, on-chip oscillator, and clock hardware. What's more, the AT89S52 is structured with static rationale for activity down to zero recurrence and supports two programming selectable force sparing modes. The Idle Mode stops the CPU while permitting the RAM, clock/counters, sequential port, and intrude on framework to keep working. The Power-down mode spares the RAM substance however freezes the oscillator, debilitating all other chip capacities

Whats Really Happening When You Have a Freudian Slip

What's Really Happening When You Have a Freudian Slip History and Biographies Print Whats Really Happening When You Have a Freudian Slip By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Updated on September 27, 2019 Fabrice Lerouge / Getty Images More in Psychology History and Biographies Psychotherapy Basics Student Resources Theories Phobias Emotions Sleep and Dreaming A Freudian slip is a verbal or memory mistake that is believed to be linked to the unconscious mind. These slips supposedly reveal the real secret thoughts and feelings that people hold. Typical examples include an individual calling his or her spouse by an exs name, saying the wrong word, or even misinterpreting a written or spoken word. How Freudian Slips Reveal the Unconscious It was the famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud who described a variety of different types and examples of Freudian slips in his 1901 book The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. Almost invariably I discover a disturbing influence from something outside of the intended speech, he wrote. The disturbing element is a single unconscious thought, which comes to light through the special blunder. According to Freud, these errors reveal unconscious thoughts, beliefs, or wishes. Two factors seem to play a part in bringing to consciousness the substitutive names: first, the effort of attention, and second, and inner determinant which adheres to the psychic material, Freud suggested in his book. Besides the simple forgetting of proper names there is another forgetting which is motivated by repression, Freud explained. According to Freud, unacceptable thoughts or beliefs are withheld from conscious awareness, and these slip help reveal what is hidden in the unconscious. Modern Takes on Freudian Slips The term is popularly used today in a humorous way when a person makes a mistake in speech. In these situations, observers often suggest (in a comic way) that the error reveals some hidden emotion on the part of the speaker. While Freud imparted a great deal of hidden meaning in these errors, verbal mistakes are simply an inevitable part of life. In an article for Psychology Today, writer Jena Pincott suggested that people make one to two errors for every 1,000 words they say. This amount to somewhere between 7 and 22 verbal slip-ups during the average day, depending on how much a person talks. Some of these errors might indeed reveal unconscious thoughts and feelings, but in other cases, they are simply cases of misremembering language errors and other mistakes. A few studies have supported Freuds idea that unconscious or even suppressed thoughts can increase the likelihood of verbal errors. Motley and Bears (1979) found that people who thought they might receive an electric shock were more likely to make shock-related verbal mistakes. Those who were near an attractive female experimenter were also more likely to mistake nonsense phrases for words related to beautiful women. In one classic experiment, Harvard psychologist Daniel Wegner asked participants to engage in a stream-of-consciousness verbalization for five minutes. People just talked about whatever passed through their minds for a brief period. The catch was that Wegner asked them not to think about a white bear. Whenever they did think about a white bear, they were supposed to ring a bell. What Wegner found was that those who had been asked not to think about a white bear thought of it an average of once per minute. Based on these findings, Wegner developed what he referred to as a theory of ironic process to explain why suppressing certain thoughts can be so difficult. While certain parts of the brain suppress the hidden thoughts, another part of our minds occasionally checks in to make sure that we are still not thinking about it--ironically bringing the very thoughts we are trying to keep hidden to the forefront of our minds. In many cases, the harder we try not to think of something, the more frequently it springs to mind. And the more often we think of something, the more likely we are to express it verbally. The Original Freudian Slip Freud based his idea on his work with a young man who misquoted a Latin phrase from The Aeneid. The young man had dropped one of the Latin words when he repeated it to Freud, which the psychoanalyst believed that dropping the word offered a revealing look into the young mans unconscious mind. Through free association, Freud determined that the word reminded the young man of blood, which he believed was linked to a pregnancy scare the man had experienced with his girlfriend. Freud suggested that the man had blocked out the word because it reminded him of this negative experience. Examples of Freudian Slips in Popular Culture You’ve probably heard plenty of amusing slips of the tongue in your own life. Think about the time your biology teacher accidentally uttered orgasm instead of organism (much too amusing your class). Or the time you accidentally told someone you were “Sad to meet you!” instead of “Glad to meet you!” Verbal gaffes also provide plenty of amusement when spoken by famous figures, especially when such moments are captured on film. Here are just a few modern examples of famous Freudian slips: During a Vatican sermon in 2014, Pope Francis accidentally used the Italian word cazzo (which translates to F***) instead of caso (which means example). The Pope quickly corrected himself, but not before the slip posted on dozens of websites, blogs, and YouTube videos.During a televised speech on education, Senator Ted Kennedy meant to say that Our national interest ought to be to encourage the best and brightest. Instead, Kennedy accidentally said breast - his hands even cupping the air as he said the word. While he quickly corrected his gaffe and continued, the slip of the tongue seemed revealing considering his hand gestures and the familys reputation for womanizing.At a Washington D.C. dinner party, Condoleezza Rice, then National Security Advisor to President Bush stated, “As I was telling my husbâ€"as I was telling President Bush.” The Freudian slip seemed to reveal perhaps some hidden feelings the unmarried Rice might hold toward her boss.When actress Amanda Seyfried appea red on the Today show to promote the film Ted 2, announcer Willie Geist accidentally described her as titsy rather than ditzy. Besides simply being an amusing slip, the comment perhaps revealed what was really on his mind.

Catch 22 By Joseph Heller - 1149 Words

AP English: Major Works Data Sheet Olivia DeNoto Title: Catch 22 Author: Joseph Heller Date of Publication: 1961 Genre: satire Biographical information about the author Created the term â€Å"Catch 22† Flew 60 combat mission in world war II Born in Brooklyn, new York Born May 1 1923 Historical information about period of publication Kennedy is inaugurated US breaks diplomatic relations with Britain Berlin wall is built by east Germany Vietnam war is taking place Characteristics of the genre concerned with ethical reform uses sarcasm, irony, and ridicule to make fun of human flaws is used to make changes in status quo using mockery Plot summary John Yossarian is a bombardier in world war II that believes everyone is trying to kill him. His only goal is to stay alive and in doing so fakes an illness to avoid flying missions. The missions the men fly put all of their lives in jeopardy time and time again and as the novel progresses we find that the purpose for the missions is to take good aerial of the explosions. Yossarian is haunted by the memory of his snowden who died in yossarians arms. Yossarians squadron gets bombed by the mess hall officer and his men are forced to participate in a deadly mission in order to make the commanding officers look good. Throughout the novel the term Catch 22 is used. It is a paradoxical law that uses circular reasoning to trap the characters inShow MoreRelated`` Catch 22, By Joseph Heller1788 Words   |  8 PagesDispute has always surrounded the justification for wars, especially the debate of whether soldiers’ lives are being lost for necessary causes. Unlike other war novels, Jos eph Heller criticizes the cruel bureaucracy within the military, influenced by his own experiences as a bombardier in World War II. In Heller’s satirical novel, Catch-22, he defines the infuriating, contradictory processes the military uses to run its soldiers’ lives and control their fates through his use of satirical dark humor, literaryRead MoreCatch-22, by Joseph Heller1354 Words   |  6 PagesCatch 22 is a story about the different personalities that can be involved in a war. Out of all the different archetypes, the three I’ve chosen are John Yossarian, Albert Tappman, and Milo Minderbinder, although, not in that order. The first character being analyzed is Yossarian, the unwilling hero of this book. Although the book labels Yossarian as the main character, he constantly tries to coward out of going to battle. The second character that will be described is Milo Minderbinder, the archetypicalRead MoreCatch 22 By Joseph Heller1247 Words   |  5 Pagesenv ironment created in the novel Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. In the novel, Heller depicts a WWII army base on the island of Pianosa containing self-interested soldiers, each with their own abnormalities. These soldiers have to complete a certain amount of missions in order to be sent home, however, once the soldiers get near the total number required, the higher ranked officials raise the number of required missions, making it impossible to be released. As a result, Heller argues that figurative and literalRead MoreCatch 22 By Joseph Heller1677 Words   |  7 Pages Joseph Heller was born in New York on May 1, 1923. Heller flew 60 combat missions as a bombardier in World War II and was presented with a Presidential Unit Citation and an Air Medal for his service in Mediterranean Theatre before being discharged in 1945. After his military discharge, Heller studied at Oxford and Columbia, married Shirley Held, and became an English professor at Pennsylvania State College. During this time Heller began to compose his most well-known novel, Catch-22. AfterRead MoreCatch 22 By Joseph Heller1203 Words   |  5 PagesThe book I read was Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. The book was published in 1961(Heller Joseph, Catch-22, copyright page). At the time of release it received nominations for best book of the year (1962 National Book Awards Winners and Finalists, The National Book Foundation.). The author s purpose with his book was to provide interesting commentary on war how ugly and crazy war can be but told in a humorous and satirical fashion. He also showed how it could drive people to insanity. HistoricallyRead MoreCatch 22 by Joseph Heller1649 Words   |  7 PagesJournal Entry 3 and 4: Motive of the Novel and Intended Messages: †¢ I found there to be numerous motives that Heller was striving to achieve. The first being to slander the name of war and those involved, this on its’ own is not a difficult thing to do, however he did it in a way that really diminished on the intelligence of those involved high up; Cornel Cathcart is made out to be a neurotic who constantly doubted his own command and was constantly getting â€Å"black eyes† from his superiors as a resultRead MoreCatch 22 by Joseph Heller526 Words   |  2 Pages Catch 22 is a novel by Joseph Heller based on his own experiences as a U.S. bombardier during World War II. The book revolves around the character a border line crazy character named Yossarian who is a U.S. bombardier stationed on a small island off the coast of Italy during World War II. This book is filled with nonsensical situations that Yossarian is set into and strange people Yossarian meets. The main conflict is between Yossarian and the Catch 22. Catch 22, not only being the title, it isRead MoreSummary Of Catch 22 By Joseph Heller1900 Words   |  8 Pagesin Catch-22. Yossarian constantly endeavors to stay alive throughout the entire novel, such as moving the bomb line past Bologna, screaming at McWatt directions to avoid hitting any flack, or ultimately refusing to fly any more missions. Joseph Heller continues the theme of survival not only for Yossarian, but also for characters such as the Chaplain, or Milo, who may not have their lives on the line, but are still struggling to keep their heads above water at some point in the novel. Catch-22 -Read MoreJoseph Heller s Catch 221328 Words   |  6 PagesJoseph Heller’s Catch-22 embodies the idea of the corrupt selfishness of the military system that dehumanizes the men of it’s ranks. Often, the bureaucratically inclined superior officers focus only on personal advancement. In doing so, they eliminate any shred of humanity of the men who serve under them. Ultimately, each commanding officer demonstrates a complete lack of moral judgment that considers only their own personal agenda at the cost of the common soldier. Heller’s treatment of a corruptRead More Catch-22 by Joseph Heller783 Words   |  3 PagesCaptain Yossarian, in the novel Catch-22. Although surrounded by constant bloodshed and war, Yossarian does not understand the significance of life until his tail gunner, Snowden, is killed on a mission. Through Snowden’s death, the novel’s main themes of the absurdity of language, life, and bureaucracy are illuminated. Snowden’s tragic death portrays the inefficacy of words. In gory scene of Snowden’s death, Captain Yossarian is left to console â€Å"the small tail gunner† (Heller, 446). He repetitively uses

Soc101 Refection Paper. Department Of Economic Social

SOC101 REFECTION PAPER DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC SOCIAL SCIENCES BRAC UNIVERSITY Submitted to: Meheri Tamanna Senior Lecturer BRAC University Submitted by: Group members: ID: 1. Arnisha Khandakar - 2. Ferdousi Rahman - 15201004 3. Tanzia Ahmed - 4. Jdgh 5. Dghd ‘Made in Bangladesh’ is an episode from the CBC TV series, ‘The Fifth Estate’ that attempts to investigate the tragic Rana Plaza accident. The crew led by Mark Kelley and ex-designer for Walmart, Sujit Sennik discovers a ledger pulled from the rubble that they use to piece together clues of how the supply chain for Canadian retailers work. From the information available, they figured out that the fast fashion industry was well-aware that they†¦show more content†¦In the race to the bottom, as Mark promptly points out, when price is a priority, workers’ safety is not. However, due to wide unemployment and lack of alternatives in Bangladesh, the workers are ready to work for wages that are next-to-nothing. These workers or proletariats, according to Karl Marx, who have nothing to offer but their labor, are boldly exploited by the bourgeoisie, the owners, to accumulate profits for themselves, disregarding the poor condition of the workers. It al so agrees with the conflict view that offshoring leads to further global inequality and the case in question clearly provides an empirical evidence for the argument. Barry however deserves appraisal because unlike his competitor giants, he cares about his workers, paying them three times the minimum wage and checking up on them every few months. In the document,when the CEO of Joe Fresh, Joe Mimran was interviewed about their responsibility in the Rana Plaza tragedy, he mentions how they can be a force of good for development of countries such as Bangladesh through their globalization scheme and shows little concern for the workers that died in the tragedy. He is also well-aware of the less stringent environmental standards in Bangladesh and how toxic pollutants from the factories are dumped into rivers – but again, he shows little concern for that. Although it is true that the garment industry has

Charlie Fish Free Essays

The wife did nothing. I would say that he is the protagonist in the story, because he is doing nothing wrong, the only thing he does is to think evil thoughts. The protagonist is usually the â€Å"good† guy in the story and the main character. We will write a custom essay sample on Charlie Fish or any similar topic only for you Order Now I wouldn’t say he is good, because he have intentions to kill his wife, but in the end it ‘s her who is the antagonist and let him die. D: Typical for the crime genre is that there often is a crime or someone who breaks the law. For example the woman in the story is breaking the law by not helping her husband, and as it says on the last line â€Å"l fall to the floor. My wife Just sits there, watching. † The main character is often a police officer(the good guy) or a criminal(the bad gay), in our story you could say the main character is both. He’s a bad guy inside, but â€Å"behave† on the outside. The tension also plays a major role and there is also often plot twist in the crime genre. In the story we as readers had an idea that he non will kill his wife, but in the end it is her who kills him, it’s called a plot twist and the tension is built up. I think It’s a good story, because the excitement Is built up and It does not end as expected. The author manages to build something up, although the story Is so short. Charlie Fish By Cannonaded â€Å"Death by Scrabble† by Charlie Fish is a story a husband and his wife. It’s the hottest angry at his wife, so angry that he would beat his wife to death. He is Just waiting for he right time. The words they put down on the board, begins to happen in reality. When he puts the word â€Å"QUAKE† down, and she thereafter put â€Å"DEATH†, it all starts to shake and the man gets a piece stuck in his throat, which he had hidden in his intentions to kill his wife, but in the end it’s her who is the antagonist and let him I think it’s a good story, because the excitement is built up and it does not end as expected. The author manages to build something up, although the story is so short. How to cite Charlie Fish, Papers

Contribution of the Small Business Sector to the Uk Economy free essay sample

What can be defined as a small business depends on various factors of which two are vital: the industry segment and market in which the business runs. There have been many attempts to define the small business. For example the Bolton Committee (1971) came to conclusion that there should be: †¢statistical definition the size is important factor (number of employees and annual turnover or value of assets), and †¢economic definition qualitative measure of small business. This is explained more in detail in the Table 1 and Table 2 on the next page. Table 1 – Bolton’s statistical definition of small business The Statistical definitions Manufacturing200 employees or less Construction, mining and quarrying25 employees or less Retail and miscellaneous servicesTurnover of ? 50 000 or less Motor tradesTurnover of ? 100 000 or less Wholesale TradesTurnover of ? 200 000 or less Road transport5 vehicles or less CateringAll excluding multiple and brewery managed houses Source: Deakins, D. and Freel, M. (2003) Entrepreneurship and small firms Table 2 – Bolton’s economic definition of small business The Economic definition Small firms are those which: 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Contribution of the Small Business Sector to the Uk Economy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Have a relatively small share of their market place 2. Are managed by owners or part-owners in a personalised way, and not through the medium of formalised management structure 3. Are independent, in the sense of not being part of a large enterprise Source: Deakins, D. and Freel, M. (2003) Entrepreneurship and small firms European Commission (EC) considers any entity regardless of its legal form but engaged in economic activity to be an enterprise, Deakins and Freel (2003). To overcome issues around identifying a definition for small business in particular, EC has decided to use the phrase small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs), and it includes micro enterprise, small enterprise and medium enterprise altogether. To be classed as SME business must have less than 250 employees and must meet one of other two factors: †¢Annual revenue (turnover) must not exceed 50 million euro, or †¢Annual balance sheet total must not exceed 43 million euro. This is to ensure that all SMEs get fair treatment independent on the environment and type of the economy they operate in. More in detail the new definition from 2005 by European Union is explained in Table 3. Table 3 – EU SMEs definition Source: Storey, D. J. and Greene, F. J. (2010) Small Business and Entrepreneurship UK generally accepts the EU definition from 2005 and to be in line with it Euro values are converted to Sterling Pound. The Companies Act 2006 however, for the need of accounting requirements, has its own definition (sections 382 and 465), UCL (2012). According to this a medium size company has 250 employees or less, with turnover of ? 25. 9 million or less and balance sheet total of under ? 12. million, where as a small company has 50 members of staff or less, with annual turnover of ? 6. 5million or less and balance sheet total of no more than ? 3. 26 million. There is no mention of micro size business in this. There is also a definition that divides small and medium businesses relating to Value Added Taxation (VAT) registration, as every company must be registered for VAT if the y meet a threshold. This is a relative measure of business population as it is sensitive to changes of thresholds. For the UK it is currently at ? 77 000, the highest registration threshold in the EU, Seely (2012). Many other definitions of SMEs can be found as many different organisations and bodies in the UK come up with their own definitions to suit their purposes. Different countries also have their own definitions: in USA and Canada small business can have up to 500 employees, in Germany limit is 255 employees, while in Belgium it is 100 employees. Overall, everybody agrees that SMEs are companies whose employee headcount or annual turnover falls below certain threshold, as well as that it must be autonomous. In 1924 Census of Production data started being published periodically and this is considered to be the oldest reliable source of statistical information on SMEs. This data was very much imperfect mainly for the reason that it was referring only to the manufacturing sector, Storey and Green (2010). Earliest records show that 45 per cent of employment within the manufacturing segment was coming from small business establishments. In 1960s and 1970s it decreased to only 30 per cent. Reasons are of political nature. There was an evident dominance by large firms of the economy during the mid and late twentieth century. Large factories were the main suppliers of resources needed during and after World War 1 and World War 2 because of the fact that mass-production carries lower costs. In the 1960s there was a growth of socialism and labour party found it was easier to politically control larger businesses and nationalised industries than small ones, so there wasn’t much room for SMEs to develop in those circumstances, Carter and Jones-Evans (2012). For about two decades 60 per cent of manufacturing was covered by government committees running large business establishments. It was believed that large businesses were the future and that small companies will fade away with time. Things started to change a little bit when United Kingdom joined the European Community in 1973, as Government power was somewhat restricted by European policies. Big changes, however, started to happen with Thatcher’s Government (1979-1991), when previously nationalised industries were privatised again. It was the first Government in the UK to promote self-employment and, consequently, increase in self-employment was noted, Storey and Green (2010). Other reasons, apart from the political support, were big development of new technologies in 1980s, evolution of service sector and increase of competitiveness, which altogether contributed to the restructure in labour market and changes in business practice. The number of small and medium enterprises increased from 2. 3 million in 1979 to 4. 8 million at the beginning of 2012, Carter and Jones-Evans (2012). Although the Government doesn’t develop small businesses, entrepreneurs do, it has got a reflective effect on how they operate and their opportunities to rise and develop further. Carter and Jones-Evans (2012) mention three key magnitudes of government role: †¢Government acts as a regulator (standardizes legal forms, sets rules and limits as well as regulations of customer protection, licensing and environment related issues), †¢Government acts as economic agent (controls taxes, charges, debts and spends), †¢Government acts as strategic planner and promoter (offers grants, loans, support and guidance). USA was first to recognise the extent of the importance of SMEs and it is believed this is the exact reason for the higher development of their economy comparing to other parts of the world. UK and Europe are trying to follow footsteps of the USA and they are making efforts to encourage entrepreneurship. The first EU document that recognised entrepreneurship as the driver of the economy was The Green-Paper in 1984, ec. europa. eu (2012). Ever since there was a growing interest in this subject and it is becoming more of priority to ensure means and support for people willing to get involved as a way for unemployment to be reduced. Different policies are established to promote entrepreneurship. There are many established organisations in the current environment offering their services for this purpose throughout the UK. The major national financial package available to small businesses and offered by Government is the Small Firm Loan Guarantee Scheme (SFLGS), which was started in 1983 but became more significant in late 2000s. Enterprise Allowance Scheme and Business Start-up Scheme were also set up in 1980s, Carter and Jones-Evans (2012). UK Business Angels is another strong association of now days running in the UK that offers funds in early stages of setting-up a business through external third party investments. But obtaining funds isn’t the main concern that people who decide to set-up their own business have, as many surveys on SMEs revealed. They are more worried about the economic stability and this is what they want the Government to ensure, Storey (1994). Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) comes to place here, as their primary purpose is to create the best conditions for the growth of private sector, BIS (2012). General aim of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is to explore on the national level the extents of the connection between the economic growth and entrepreneurship. There are expressions of growing interest by GEM in the importance of women’s enterprise. The data from UK’s Annual Population and Labour Force Surveys is historical evidence that there has always been around half of self-employed women comparing to the number of self-employed man, Storey and Green (2010). Table 4 contains extracted cells from the Annual Population Survey published by Office for National Statistics, NOMISweb (2012), for the purpose of this report, relating to self-employment by gender. Table 4 – Self-employment by the gender, Annual Population Survey 2012, NOMISResource: NOMIS website, (2012) It shows that there is only 5. 6 per cent of self-employed women comparing to 13. per cent of men in 2012, which is even less than in past. This topic has received very little attention until the 1980s. Since then, more and more research is being done to try and understand the circumstances surrounding this matter, with the hope that it would produce results in a higher rate of start-ups by women. Another interesting fact is that even with all the effor ts that the Government is doing to educate and target young people to get involved, the proportion of over 45 year old self-employed people has increased instead, Storey and Green (2010). Table 5 shows that small and medium enterprises accounted for 99. 9 per cent of total 4. 8 million private businesses, while employing 59. 1per cent of people out of 23. 9 million in private sector and generating a turnover of ? 1 500 billion, which is about the half of the total private sector’s revenue (48. 8 per cent precisely). 99. 2 per cent of these businesses had less than 50 employees. It is very important to highlight that 74. 2 per cent of private companies had 0 employees and consisted of owner only (3. 6 million out of 4. 8 million businesses), White (2012). Self-employment is a massive factor and big opportunity for creating new jobs and more attention should be appointed to that direction. The private sector has increased by 38. 6 per cent coming up to its highest level since year 2000 when the comparable data started to be recorded. The number of SMEs in this period has increased by 38. 7 per cent giving them all the recognition for the improvement, while the number of large enterprises decreased by 10. 2 per cent for the same time. These figures prove the great role they have in the economy’s growth as they take most of the credit for the progress of the private sector, White (2012). Only 44. 7 per cent of businesses are registered for VAT, more than half aren’t as their turnover is less than ? 77 000 a year, Seely (2012). Disadvantages for SMEs are, because of their size, they have no influence on the environment and very much depend on it, which is why they are surrounded by a very high element of risk of market failure. On their own they can’t have an impact on the Government policies. They specialise on a high level in certain products or services and have a close connection with their customers, as they rest principally on local loyalty. Most often they are run by their owners who are more focused on a short term endurance and cash, so they must be able to be flexible and respond quickly to changes. Fees for setting-up a business are not little. On rare occasions they are funded by external equity, because of much higher interest rates they are required to pay comparing to large companies, so the most common funds used are owner’s savings and short term loans. Because of it, there is a general concern that their restricted means may slow down their expansion as they might have less contact with new technologies and innovations. Therefore, it becomes more and more Government’s priority to give them guidance and financial support. As mentioned earlier, there are many organisations in the UK offering this kind of service to encourage starting own business and reduce the unemployment to ensure economic, social and political security. SME’S BY THE REGIONS IN THE UK The entrepreneurship policy has got a large domain that incorporates activity at a few elevations of government, from local to national to international level, Huggins and Williams (2009). As a culture is seen to be a central role to development of local entrepreneurship, it isn’t a surprise that there are substantial differences in economic performance across regions within nations. The subnational level is an important dimension for SMEs in particular, because they are very neatly related to the local environment and the community, which they critically depend on. Different regions have different culture, therefore have different needs, as well as different resources, possibilities and opportunities. Space, place and local environment play a big part. This is where difference in regional and local business start-up rates and the rate of success of those businesses comes from. This is considered to be a positive factor as it encourages competition between the regions, and competitiveness is the important element for economy growth. Regions compete by achieving high levels of innovation and upgrading and developing new business ideas. Business population estimates (BPE) for the UK and regions, statistical release by BIS (2012), suggests that out of estimated 4. 8 million private sector businesses in the UK at the beginning of the year 2012, 86. per cent were in England (around 4. 2 million). Table 6 – Number of businesses in the UK private sector, by UK region and country, start of 2012 (figures representing thousands). Source: White, S. (2012) Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2012 The information presented in Table 6 has been extracted out of BPE 2012 and it shows that London alone had 806 000 businesses leading the way with 16. 7 per cent of total number in the UK. South East had the next largest number, accounting for 15. 7 per cent of total, while North East had the lowest share of businesses in England. Northern Ireland with 114 000 was at the bottom of UK’s league. A big variation of entrepreneurship on local levels is detectable. Interesting thing to mention, Storey and Green (2010) collected statistical data which shows that positions of mentioned regions were pretty much static over a 30 year period, with London always being at the top and the North East always at the bottom. One of the reasons for some locations gaining competitive advantage over others and growing at a faster rate is that not all locations manage to change in line with changes in the economy. Also, successful cities are more attractive for innovative people who are seeking for an opportunity, and this helps further growth of already developed region. Competitiveness varies depending on different drivers of growth, but it is seen to be the key for the entrepreneurship, Sautet and Kirzner (2006). SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Although there is no a single definition used to describe them, the Small and Medium Enterprises in the UK are considered to be the ones with less than 250 employees. This report highlighted evident indications of enormous importance of SMEs to the UK’s economy through historical evidence and current facts from statistical data. They present 99. 9 per cent of total number of businesses in private sector, while employing nearly 60 per cent of private sector’s staff and taking nearly a half of its annual revenue at the same time. They can be fragile, as they are in more danger of market failure than large companies and very dependable on immediate environment, but that didn’t prevent their growth with numbers doubling over the past 30 years. They are drivers of the competition, innovation and the economy development and they are seen to be a solution for the growth of the economy and source of new job creation. Many factors were mentioned that affect SMEs in both good and bad ways, but overall the clear message is that they do need a lot of Government’s help. Many organisations and associations now days are available to ensure support and guidance they require, some of them are named earlier in the report. Local differences encourage competition between regions and this contributes to growth of the entrepreneurship. But there is uncertainty that comes from the economic instability day to day and high fees and charges they need to pay. As the way forward the Government should find a way to inspire more women and younger population in general to use their skills in a productive manner and start their own business, because there lays a big opportunity. It should also look in maybe changing some policies to reduce costs of starting-up businesses and find ways to release more resources and grants to make the process easier for people who have potential and want to do it, but simply can’t afford it.

Untitled Essay Research Paper In the Heart free essay sample

Untitled Essay, Research Paper In the Heart of Darkness, it is really easy to bury what is existent and what is civilized. The studs that Marlow negotiations approximately, to repair his boat, are really symbolic of his demand to go riveted to world. Marlow feels that he is stealing into savageness from what he sees around him. In the narrative, The Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, there is a all right line between civilisation and savageness and Marlow needs the studs to assist him happen himself in his ain psyche or where his ain world is. The tusk is another object that causes savageness. The people are seeking to happen this tusk, but they are merely acquiring themselves deeper into the Heart of Darkness, deeper into savageness, and further off from civilisation. Marlow is in the Hear of Darkness. Nothing in it is civilized. It is merely natural for a individual to get down turning towards savageness if he or she is surrounded by it. We will write a custom essay sample on Untitled Essay Research Paper In the Heart or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is why Marlow speaks about the studs. He says, # 8220 ; What I truly wanted was studs, by Eden! Rivets. To acquire on with the work-to halt the hole. Studs I wanted. # 8221 ; He doesn # 8217 ; t really want studs for his boat. He wants studs for hello s life to maybe salvage whatever sanity he has left. The nightmares and the things he sees are making him lose touch with reality. Mr. Kurtz is a perfect example of losing touch with reality. He is insane from being in the Heart of Darkness. He is a very intelligent man, a â€Å"universal genius.† He is just no longer civilized. Marlow says, â€Å"and rivets were what really Mr. Kurtz wanted, if he had only known it.† If Mr. Kurtz had the rivets, he would have been able to leave the Heart of Darkness and escape from the savagery and insanity, which had taken over him later in the story. The ivory also causes savagery. Ivory symbolizes the only sanity that is in all the darkness. It causes people to kill animals and people just so they can have a sense of reality, but all it does is make them more savage. â€Å"The only real feeling was a desire to get appointed to a trading post where ivory was to be had.† Marlow has a desire to have some light in the middle of darkness. He has a desire for civilization. As one can see, the rivets and the ivory both cause savagery and insanity. These objects determine what side of that fine line Marlow stands in.

Managing Decisions Essay

Managing Decisions Essay Managing Decisions Essay Contents Explanation of the Business Proposal 2 Business Objectives 2 Market Analysis 2 Financial Viability 3 Competitor Analysis 3 Operational Aspects 4 Identification of the Factors Influencing the Viability of your Business Proposal 5 Influence Diagram 5 Analysis of the Decision Making Methods 6 Influence Diagram 6 Project Management and use of Project Plans 6 Financial Modelling 7 Sensitivity Analysis 7 Conclusion 8 Appendices 9 Explanation of the Business Proposal The business opportunity we chose was 'Monster Sandwich' - a small sandwich business operating from mobile trailers, targeting the local (Sheffield) student market, also providing drinks and snacks to complement the sandwiches we sell. We chose this idea due to the knowledge and experience the group shared in the small and medium business sector, we saw a gap in the market for mobile trading and we believed it would suit our style of operating and team work. We're all students living in Sheffield and visit cafà ©s and delis on a regular basis as well as purchasing meal deals from the local supermarkets. Business Objectives Our short term objectives include capturing a proportion of the student market in Sheffield and hopefully gain market share in Sheffield's sandwich market. This will include selling sandwiches in and around the city centre at the majority of student-orientated areas. Medium term objectives are to establish our business in the market and gain a loyal customer base across Sheffield and the main areas of operation including both Hallam and University campuses. Hopefully we will be able to cater for more exclusive events such as Tramlines in the summer, increasing our brand image. Long term objectives are to acquire another Van and expand the staff numbers, as well as competing heavily with the smaller cafà ©s for market share and operating in a number of new locations. Our staff base would have to increase if we acquired another van, this would allow us to exploit the locational advantage further, such as trading across 3 areas 12am-3am. Market Analysis Our target market will be the local student population, offering them a healthy and filling meal at a low price. We will have meal deals on daily as well as specials available for them. There are over 30,000 students in Sheffield and the main locations they visit are in and around the city centre as well as both Universities, so our mobile vans will be able to tap into the high level of potential demand. Also, as there is little loyalty from students towards businesses such as Sainsbury's or Subway we will be able to gain sales by just having the prime location at heavily demanded times; 9am lectures, 12pm-2pm, 4pm-6pm and 12am-3am. We will be positioned in the main areas across the two University campuses; City (Howard Street), Collegiate (Collegiate Crescent), University of Sheffield (Ranmoor and Endcliffe Student villages), as well as City Hall, West Street, Carver Street and outside Leadmill and Plug (Night clubs). This will be key to our business opportunity, as we will be in coordination with the students' daily routine and possibly, eating habits. Advertisement is crucial for all new businesses, particularly among students as they are bombarded with adverts for "new and improved" business ideas daily. We must stand out and have an immediate impact; advertise heavily to fresher's (First Years) as these are the easiest to influence as well as international students and other undergraduates. The more they are aware of the business, its prices, products and promotions, the more likely they will spread this information by word-of-mouth, which is an asset to any business. Financial Viability When looking at the financial viability of the business opportunity we all agreed to place  £5,000 of our own savings into Monster Sandwich, totalling  £20,000. Also, to secure a bank loan of  £5,000 each which would give us  £40,000 to start up the business across two

Juvenile crime prevention Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Juvenile crime prevention - Assignment Example LifeSkills ® Training is a classroom-based prevention program which is aimed at reducing the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and drugs by young people aged 11-18 (Crime Solutions, 2014). The program is appropriate for both genders. The content of the program meets the demands of white population only. The content of the program has several important aims. It promotes healthy lifestyle, teaches student social and personal skills which can be helpful and provides a good background for social resistance to unhealthy behavior. The program has 5 components which include self-improvement, coping with anxiety, decision-making, social skills training and cognitive components. Stress on these 5 components influences young people complexly. After the program cigarette, alcohol and drug use among students drops. They become aware about the consequences of their actions and can resist peer-pressure which is common in any community (Crime Solutions, 2014). The National Health Promotion Associat es   provides appropriate training for all people who want to participate in this program in their community.   Positive outcomes of the program make it very popular in different educational establishments for youth. These two programs are different in their content, target audience and strategies. LifeSkills ® increases awareness among youth and teaches them t make right choices in their lives. Both programs are proved to be effective in juvenile justice for crime and delinquency prevention (Crime Solutions, 2014).

Theories of White Collar Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theories of White Collar Crime - Essay Example Objectives of white-collar crime are considered as financial gain and organizational success. White-collar crime is committed by persons in high social positions who do so as part of their jobs. They do not involve violence and mostly are money related, and this may include embezzlement, business fraud, and bribery. The theory of conflict theory looks at the types of crime committed by two classes’ in the society. Members of the elite are more likely to commit such crimes as compared to the working class who are more likely o commit crimes like robbery, assault, and murder (Clinard, 2010). White-collar crimes are usually had to prosecute and catch and sometimes hard to identify. White-collar criminals use their power to avoid prosecution. People in power make rules and laws to benefit themselves. The conflict theory in relation to deviance when such people are accused of such crime they usually have the means and power to hire accountants ,lawyers, and people to help them avoid prosecution and may be referred to as deviant. The society itself believes that all laws are fair and are applied fairly, and, therefore, the society does not dwell on the fact that such laws can be unfairly applied, or it might be just. The differential association is a theory that deals with a white-collar crime that explains that behaviors are based on association and interaction with others. Edwin Sutherland proposed this theory (Friedrichs, 2009). This means that through interaction with other people learn values, motives and techniques that form criminal is behavior. It predicts that individuals can choose a criminal path when law abiding is lesser than law-breaking when it comes to rules. However, this theory fails to note that even with association and interaction people can be independent, individually motivated, and rational and, therefore, can avoid criminal behavior. The rational choice theory explains on both

Partnership Relations Between Ukraine And Eu Politics Essay

Partnership Relations Between Ukraine And Eu Politics Essay Year of 1993 can be considered as the beginning of the partnership relations between Ukraine and the EU, when Ukrainian parliament Verchovna Rada in its resolution On (over) main directions of Ukraines foreign policy stated that longer-term view of foreign policy of Ukraine is accession to the EU. Nevertheless, this goal stood out as one of several quite contradictory decisions on the list at the time, when Verchovna Rada conducted a multidirectional international foreign policy. Over the following years came into effect several agreements between Ukraine and the EU, in particular on (over) the sale of various kinds of goods (metal products, textiles) and on (over) the cooperation in the nuclear industry. Of particular significance is the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation, which Ukraine has signed (was signed by) with the EU as one of the first of the CIS (The Commonwealth of Independent States) countries on 14 June 1994. Though there were a number of inconsistencies in fulfil lment its obligations from the Ukrainian side, which greatly complicated the negotiatation process for further economic integration between the two sides, it is also clear that the agreement has fulfilled its role to start building constructive relations between EU and Ukraine, creating a fundamentally new type of cooperation. Nine years later, in May 2002, President L.Kuschma, during his annual address to Parliament stated objectives, aimed to bring Ukraine closer to European community. Ambitions looked as follows(ing): In 2003-2004, to sign an agreement with the EU associate membership and negotiate a free trade zone; In 2004-2007, Ukraine has to implement all the necessary procedures for the entry into force of the agreement on associate membership; In 2005-2007, Ukraine needs to create a Customs Union with the EU; In 2007-2011 Ukraine is to fulfill the conditions required for EU accession. At the same time Ukraine has appealed to the European Union to grant it the status of associate member. Instead Ukraine has been offered the status of neighbor EU, a more detailed explanation of which appeared almost a year later. Basic principles of the new neighborhood policy were set out in the directive of the Commission and Council of the European Union to the European Parliament Wider Europe Neighbourhood: A new dimension to our relations with eastern and southern neighbors. The aim of the new European Neighborhood Policy was to provide a framework for the development of new relations with the countries bordering the EU, which would in the immediate perspectives of which do not include (à Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ тут ц¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ Ñ‚Ã Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ µ à Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒâ€˜Ã‚ Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ µ) prospects of membership or participation in the institutions of the Union. Policy Action Plan Neighborhood was implemented based on an analysis of achievements and failures in the relationship between the two parties. It could be described in another way as an integration without Europeanization. However incomplete, this was a diplomatic foundation upon which the fostering of the constructive relationship gave a start to more constructive relationship. Ukraine, together with other countries, such as Georgia, Armenia, Azerbajian, Moldova, belong to the East Subgroup, with EU aspiration (à Ã‚ ³Ãƒ Ã‚ ´Ãƒ Ã‚ µ à Ã‚ ³Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ³Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ »?). Aspirations, however, cannot outbalance notable disparity in rates of development in a number of branches. Thus, the level and characteristics of economic development of Ukraine imposed (and still do) significant restrictions on the integration capabilities of Ukraine. Economic perspective Unconditional obstacle to Ukraines EU membership remains a huge gap in economic development of Ukraine and European countries. Indicator of living standards in Ukraine (officially, the indicator of standard of living, composed from data on life expectancy, education and per-capita GNI), even taking into account purchasing power parity (PPP, which is an expression of the idea that if ignoring transaction costs, identical good will have the same prices on various markets), is approximately 15% of the EU average. The share of Ukraines foreign trade EU is very small, and justified by the small size of the Ukrainian economy. In 2001, Ukraines share in EU imports amounted to 0,4% and 0,5% in its exports and that is given that the export accounted for 70% of Ukrainian GDP and the rate of exports per capita is about 5% of the EU average. Political situation Viktor Yanukovych became the 4th President of Independent Ukraine in February 2010. On February 7 2010 Janukowitsh defeated his main rival and fierce political opponent of many years Julia Timoshenko. Juschenko was defeated in the first round of election in January, when won less than total of 6 per cent of votes. Janukowitsch is an openly pro-russian president, comes from the Russian- speaking part of Ukraine and is well-known to be strongly supported by a number of pro-russian businessmen and Russian clans in this presidential campaign.The lost of trust of Ukrainian people in Viktor Juschenko was evident. Viktor Juschenko, the former Head of National Bank, in December 2004, during Orange Revolution has become the 3rd President of independent Ukraine with 51.9 per cent of votes ( debates are still ongoing, whether in his presidential campaign he was financially heavily supported by the US government, which is, as speculated, amounted to millions of US dollars). His attemps to bring Ukraine into NATO brought opposition from the majority of Ukrainians. The other crude misdirection was to make Russia, in the media, at least, a fierce enemy, which was and is a crude (Ñ‚Ã Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ²Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ ³Ãƒ Ã‚ ¸Ãƒâ€˜Ã‚ ) strategical mistake, not only economically but also socially, if taken into account that the biggest minority in Ukraine are Russians. His attempt to alienate Ukraine from its neighbor was unthinkable in the country where roughly 50 per cent of indigenous population consider Russian as their mother tongue and enthusiastically consume made-in-Russia media products. It should not be denied that to a certain extent this brotherhood is purposely played up by the media, but the influence of Russian culture on Ukrainian mentality simply should not be dismissed. Eventually he was a president of a handful of pro-western group of intelligentsia, which is a minority in a predominantly rural Ukraine. In addition, political ly ugly split between Juschenko and Timoshenko, when the Head of BYT refused to play a second violin, sped up the downfall of his influence on the hearts and minds of Ukrainian folk. The tensions in his camp were continuous, public and eventually destructive for his political career. The weakness in his position was already obvious when during the Parlamental elections Jutshenko Party won less that 14 per cent of votes. Dissapointment in Orange Revolution fostered a collapse of the Orange coalition in July 2006, resulting in the appearance of a new AntiCrisis Coalition, composed of the Party of Regions, led by V.Janukovych, the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communist Party of Ukraine. Their agenda offered significant changes to the presidential one, as in domestic projects as well as in the foreign affairs policy, though eventually the signing of a Manifesto of National Unity still took place between the opposing parties. This document ratified the Ukraine intention to continue integration talks with the EU and to co-operate with NATO. At the same time, its implementation remained problematic as the anti-crises coalition was making attempts to evade the implementation of certain points of the Manifesto (e.g. co-operation with NATO). Questions arose and during interpretation of certain statements of Manifesto by different parties. Agreements between Ukraine and the EU. Ukraine is currently considered as a key partner with the European Neighbourhood policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership, which are there to ensure that the whole of the EU is committed to deeper relations with all our neighbours and at the same time to develop tailor-made relations with each country. In March 2007 EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was launched to replace the previous Partnershp and Cooperation Agreement, the aim of which is to establish deep and comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU, following Ukraines accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO, an organization that intent/ds to supervise and liberalize international trade) in May 2008). The question remains how long Kiew will need to wait for a full Agreement, which in its turn depends how swiftly Kiew will accept and fulfill its obligations set in the ENP Action Plans, which as stated by the ENP can happen only from the involvement of both the government and the civil society organisations. The role of civ il society organizations, in their part, consists of identifying priorities for action and in promoting and monitoring the implementation of ENP Action Plans. Though EU considers civil society organizations as important players in establishment transparency and systematization, the question remains whether Ukrainian legislature can ensure independent functioning of these non-government organizations and protection from manipulative pressure by Government or other interested players. Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) is currently the legal framework of EU-Ukraine relations, which provides a framework for political dialogue, sets the principal common objectives in terms of promotion of trade and investment, sustainable development, economic, social, financial, civil, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation, legal approximation and support to Ukraines efforts to consolidate its democracy and to develop its economy. PCA, on its part, set up a framework, which consists of Co-operation Council, consisting of the members of the Government of Ukraine on the one hand and of the members of the EU Council and of the European Commission on the other, as well as co-operation Committee, which are to meet regularly to monitor the progress in implementing economic/trade chapters of the EU-Ukraine Action Plan. The head Committee consists of a number of sub-committees. Another significant committee to mention is the Parliamentary Co-operation Committee (PCC), consisting of the members of the Ukrainian Parliament and the European Parliament and meets twice a year. Among other agreements on cooperation are Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine establishing a framework for the participation of Ukraine in the European Union crisis management operations, as well as the Agreement on cooperation in science and technology between the European Community and Ukraine , Agreements between the European Community and Ukraine on certain aspects of air services, agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Civil Satellite Navigation, Visa Facilitation and Readmission agreements. Another field of cooperation worth mentioning is Black Sea Synergy Joint Statement, signed in Kiev in 2008 between EU and the Black Sea Foreign Affairs Ministers in order to stimulate democratic and economic reforms, support stability and promote development, facilitate projects in areas of common concern, open up opportunities and challenges through coordinated action in a regional framework, and encourage the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the region. Another important field of cooperation is in the sphere of natural gas and oil. Ukrainian Naftogaz is already a member of several international organizations such Gas Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the European Energy Forum, and the International Gas Union. In May 2010 Naftogaz began the procedure of accession to Eurogas, the European Union of the Natural Gas Industry as an associated member. On 21 May at the meeting in Berlin, Germany Chairman of the Naftogaz of Ukraine Board of Directors Yevhen Bak ulin and Eurogas President Domenico Dispenza signed the Memorandum of Understanding, concerning cooperation in energy sphere. Based on this Memorandum a Joint Declaration was signed on 23 March 2009 during joint EU-Ukraine International Conference for Modernization of Gas Transportation System of Ukraine. A technical coordination group was created to realize provisions of the Joint Declaration. This group is comprised of experts from Naftogaz of Ukraine, SE Ukrtransgaz, and experts from the European Commission and international financial organizations (EIB, EBRD, and WB). Naftogaz of Ukraine received technical assistance within the framework of the à Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ Ã‚ Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬  S/INOGATE program financed by the European Union. The main goal of this program is to increase security of transit and supply of energy resources to European consumers by fostering regional integration of oil and gas pipeline systems. On 24 September 2010 Ukraine joined the European Energy Community, the significance of which was underlined by the European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger as to help Ukraine to have access to a pan-European energy market, based on the principles of solidarity and transparency, since for the Community, Ukraine is an important new member and security of supply further improved.The energy Community entered into force on 1 July 2006. The goal of the European Energy Community is to liberalize their energy markets and implement key EU legal acts in the area of electricity, gas, environment and renewable energy. Another point of cooperation is the European Parliament Resolution of 25 Novermber 2010 on Ukraine. Overall, the resolution can be said to have taken a soft stand recent violation of local elections and characterized them as largely quiet, though not setting new democratic standards, even though certain partied of the EP, such as European Peoples Party (EPP) proposed originally to regognize the elections in Ukraine as unfree, unfair and undemocratic. The resolution was also lenient on describing problems associated with the implementation of democratic freedoms, especially the freedom of speech, even though called to investigate the role of the SBU in connection with the interference in the democratic process. Other comments and suggestions, proposed by the EP, concerned mainly the continuation of the reforms. The EP insisted on a comprehensive amendment to the Constitution, the Election Code and the Public Information Act. Significantly, in the resolution it was firstly stated that in accordance with Article 49 of the Agreement on the European Union, Ukraine can apply for membership in the EU, which is in itself is a progress in the relationship. The EP also announced its support of the annulment of the visa regime between Ukraine and the EU in the future. Ukraine urged the EP in its part to cancel Schengen visa fees for Ukrainian citizens in the nearest future and institute visa-free travel during Euro 2012. Some Ukrainian officials blatantly cheered the document, not only because the Ukrainian Governent received from the EP a recognition of the prospects of the EU membership, but also the right to file an application to the EU. But not all. Former Vice Premier H,Nemyria described the resolution and the uttered support by the EP of Ukraine as a slap in the face, which alienated the country even further from the EU. Not everbody agrees on the interpretation of the resolution, but nevertheless its significance is undisputable, even though the split in the EP between its parties as to what position the EP should take in regard to Ukraine remain. Among the spheres of cooperation is Education, which stresses the importance of increasing cooperation on youth and student exchanges and the development of scholarship programmes which will enable Ukrainians to become acquainted with the European Union and its Member States. As well as calls on the Ukrainian authorities to step up efforts to fight corruption; expects, in this regard, that positive political statements will be matched by decisive action in combating corruption at all levels, on the basis of political impartiality; calls for the establishment of a level playing field for business and for application of the same rules to domestic and foreign investors; in that connection, deplores the over-involvement of big business in political life , Highlights Ukraines pivotal role in the European Unions energy security; emphasises the importance of stepping up cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in the field of energy; calls on Ukraine to implement its commitments arising out o f the Joint Declaration of the EU-Ukraine International Investment Conference on the Modernisation of Ukraines Gas Transit System; calls for further agreements to be concluded between the EU and Ukraine aimed at securing energy supplies for both sides, including a reliable and diversified transit system for oil and gas; emphasises that if Ukraine is to have a modern gas transit system, it requires transparent, efficient and high-quality transit services through a modernised gas transportation network, and also, among others Calls on the Ukrainian Government to bring the legislation on media freedom into line with OSCE standards; decisive action in this regard would strengthen Ukraines credibility as OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office for 2013. On the whole the resolution outlines some common points of cooperation and offers nothings specific. The more significant are practical steps and concrete agreements, for example, in the area of Free Trade. Minister of Economy V. Piatnitski, after a recent round of negotionations between the economic delegations of Ukraine and the EU, is moderately pessimistic about the prospects for approval of the agreement on free trade area (FTA) any time soon, as European Commision has basically blocked for now Ukrainian access to European market in energy and transport (Mirror of week, 16.10). Ukrainian side has characterized the conditions as not very favourable for Ukraine, except in the area of internation marine traffic, but where Ukraine has really no substantial resources. From the Piatniskis words Ukraine has a great potential in the areas of power transmission, ground transportation, which is making it increasingly competitive. The fact that these markets are closed to Ukraine for now is a serious question. The EU wants to oblige Ukraine to accept and subsidize the mechanism of compensation for unforeseen situations in the field of energy, such as disruptions in gas supplies. They are very concerned about the security of energy transit through Ukraine, the occurrence of situations of force majeure, the fault of one party (in this case meaning(s) the Ukraine), and therefore offer the expedited dispute settlement mechanism, a compensation mechanism, built on the fact that any amount corresponding to the equivalent of potential losses is deposited outside of Ukraine. That is, we are depositing some money, and if something suddenly happens to our fault, it is written off unconditionally. It turns out that the state must assume full responsibility for them. Accession of Ukraine to the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would have led to an immediate cessation of talks on free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU, because as a member of the Customs Union, Ukraine would be able to sign any agreements on free trade with the EU. And however there are no ongoing negations at present between Ukraine and the Customs Unions, it still remains potentially a point of tensions in negotiation between Ukraine and the EU. Some important conclusions to be made from this recent round of negations can be stated as following: 1. The European Commission continues to consider Ukraine as mere objects of trade and economic expansion and little concerned about the consequences of those decisions imposed on Ukraine. In this case, European experts are strictly concerned with getting benefits for domestic producers of goods and services and does not take into account the perspectives of development of Ukrainian economy, which in principle is quite natural for economic talks. 2. The EU merely sees Ukraine as a component in the politics of the Eastern Partnership. At present there are no targeted specific programs to adapt Ukrainian economy to the EU standards, except for some minor technical assistance in some economical areas. The priority of the EU is for Ukraine to completely adapt its economic legislation to the EU standards in sectors of transportation, energy and services, which Ukraine cannot do, if merely for technical reasons. 3. the FTA with the EU imposes all kinds of quotas, limiting the volume of Ukrainian exports. The size of tariff has been already agreed upon on nearly 95 per cent of the goods. European Commission calls on complete abolition of all export duties. It need to be pointed out, that 70% of the total EU trade occurs among the countries of its community, and among them there are about 100 preferential agreements, which account for 29,5% of trade and to which Ukraine will have no relationship. At the same time, the Ukrainian share of trade is bordering on 1%, while trade with the EU accounts for 30% of Ukraines foreign trade. 4. Entry into force of the FTA between the EU and Ukraine will inevitably be accompanied by an ultimatum, demanding the termination of all other free trade agreements with Russia and other CIS countries. This withdrawal is a doubtlessly a precondition for ratification of the Association Agreement with the EU. The notable example is Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which in their time, at the request of the European Commission denounced the free trade agreement with Ukraine on the eve of their accession to the EU. The biggest difference, however, is that Ukraine is certainly not entering the European Union in the foreseeable future. Therefore, its can be predicted based on these negotiations that Ukraine would not rush into any premature agreements, for the sake of some illusory closeness with the EU. Ukrainian-Russian relations There are|is a number of other problems which need to be balanced out before talks of|over the EU integration can continue. Importantly, it is the Ukraine-Russia relationship, resolutions of geographical differences and gas/oil transition. Firstly, the dispute on the Kerch Strait (connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsual in the west from the Taman Peninsula in the East) must be resolved. Secondly, there are tensions regarding the Russian South Stream gas transition and how this pipeline is being constructed to bypass the territory of Ukraine, and how, possibly, it is used in order to put a pressure on the Ukrainian Government. President Janukovych spoke of a way of blackmail from Russian government and though it has begun before we came to power, it is a challenge which needs to be met and dealt with.The priority of Ukraine now is to prove that Ukraine is, notwithstanding, a reliable transit country, which means modernization of the pipelines, among others, with the financial help of the EU. According to V.Janukovych both Russia and Europe have an access to the management of Ukrainian gas transportation system. Modernization will allow them to become shareholders. Thirdly, is the prospect of joining the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and Khazakhstan. Official position of present Ukrainian government does not give a straightforward answer, stressing that Ukraine might consider joining the Customs Union, if he|it sees for himself the obvious benefits and if it is clearly in the nations interests. Furthermore, to joint the Union, certain ammendmends to the Constitution must be made, which are possible only if the idea will find support of 300 deputies in the Parliament. Overall, the chance of gathering 300 votes is not convincing, to seriously speculate the adherence to the Union at present. In the recently signed decree by the President V. Janukovych (The Decree à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾- 1119/2010 of 10.12.2010), among other instructions to enhance the level of defense and the financial stability of the country, are also a number of statements, urging to facilitate an Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraiine, including the creation of deep and comprehensive free trade area agreements with the CIS, Canada and other prospective trading partners and identifying priority area of cooperation between Ukraine and NATO. Another major event is the recent 14th Summit EU-Ukraine which has taken place recently on the 22.11.2010. The main points of discussing were the adoption of the Action Plan for launching of a smooth transition to a visa-free regime. Action Plan, adopted specifically for Ukraine, define the criteria to be fulfilled by Ukraine and specifies measures that can be taken by the EU to liberalize visa regime for Ukrainian citizens, traveling into the EU countries. The most realistic part of this plan concerns the abolition of visas , which will allow Ukrainian citizens to travel to the EU for up to three months without a visa and pay visa fees. European Commission President (à Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒâ€˜Ã‚ ?) Barroso on the possible timing of the abolition of visas à Ã‚ ³Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ³Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ » no specific answer. Estimated EU representatives, in the case of Ukraines implementation of all requirements, theoretically it can be expected in 2012 President V. Janukovych reiterated that the EU membership remains a strategic goal and that Ukraine has taken a firm course towards European integration, especially, since through the efforts of its government, Ukraine has resumed economic growth. GDP growth was over 5%, industrial production over 11%. While the EU president G.van Rompuy noted the high intensity of dialogue between Ukraine and the EU in 2010, emphasizing the Ukraine is a strategically important partner for the EU and that the parties are waiting for an early conclusion of negotiations on the conclusion of viable and working Association Agreement. In his turn, the European commission Pressident Jose Manuel Barroso expressed his expectation that the Association Agreement between EU and Ukraine will be completed by mid-2011. We would like to see progress on the agenda of democratic reform in Ukraine it is important for open and democratic society. Briefly, Ukraines implementation of the Action Plan involves the following steps: 1. The introduction of biometric passports, which contain a special chip containing information about its owner (photo, fingerprints, voice sample, a snapshot of the iris) ц¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ·Ãƒ Ã‚ ° ц¦Ãƒ Ã‚ µÃƒâ€˜Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒâ€˜Ã‚ , à Ã‚ ·Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒ Ã‚ µÃƒ Ã‚ ¼ Ñ Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ´Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾?. On the 17 Novermber 2010 The Cabinet of Ukraine adopted the Resolution on the introduction of biometric passports. 2. Creation of a single Institution to control migration. Until now, migration issues were in the competence of the border guards and Ministry of Internal Affairs. 3. Transfering the existing database on population registry into electronic form, which will contain data about every citizen in a comprehensive electronic format. 4. Settlement of external borders disputes, including the demarcation of land borders with Russia, Belarus and Moldova. 5. Solving the problems relating to illegal immigration (in the framework of the agreement with the EU on readmission, which obliges Ukraine to ensure the repatriation of illegal migrants from third countries who have got into the EU via Ukraine). 8. A new agreement between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and Europol. Ukrainian side should inform Europol of all criminal cases of interest to Europol. Among others important conditions are also a reform of the Judicial System to European standards and reducing corruption. As a conclusion to his recent round of negations can be said that overall it was constructive, though without big promises. Perhaps, most importantly that the EU does not consider Janukovychs regime dictatorial or overtly antidemocratic, like in Belarus, for example, and is ready, at its own rate, to cooperate, without putting too much pressure on Ukraine or taking drastic measure to advance its course, like using force or bluntly blocking certain procedures. In any case, the EU would be wise not to exert pressure on Ukraine, if only not to force Ukraine to turn to its neighbor Russia for increased assistance and cooperation, which the EU tries to avoid by all costs. Conclusion I (à Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ à Ã‚ ·Ãƒ Ã‚ ´Ãƒ Ã‚ µÃƒâ€˜Ã‚ Ãƒâ€˜Ã…’ Ñâ‚ ¬Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ·Ãƒ Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã‚ µ à Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ µ we à Ã‚ ´Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ »Ãƒ Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾ à Ã‚ ±Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã…’, à Ã‚ ºÃƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ º à Ã‚ ² à Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒâ€˜Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒ Ã‚ ½Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒ Ã‚ ¹ Ñâ‚ ¬Ãƒ Ã‚ °Ãƒ Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã‚ ¾Ãƒâ€˜Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ Ã‚ µ?) would like to abstain from any overhasty conclusions regarding EU-Ukraine relationship. Firstly, it is the overexpansion of the EU and its seeming incapability to sustain and support all its members. Some believe that Europeans have lost their keenness, became impassive as to further expansion. There are tensions within the EU in many spheres, the most prominent recently is the giving a huge financial aid to proclaimed financially insolvent Greece. Many experts predict that Portugal will be the next to follow. Official stance on expansion was expressed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as following: The enlargement of the EU from 15 to 27 members within a few yearsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦has required great efforts. As a result the CDU prefers a phase of consolidation, during which a consolidation of the European Unions values and institutions should take priority over further EU enlargement. Roughly 50 per cent of Germans oppose Ukrainian membership into the EU, for example. Besides, there are a number of countries that are ahead of the Ukraine. Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey are officially filed for the candidacy and the negotiations talks on there entrance are already being discussed for some time. Among other countries with the EU aspirations are Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Economical crises made Iceland to apply for membership, following devastating collapse of its economy and banking system. Whether Ukraine in this situation has a valid chance and can compete in urgency with other states-candidates is questionable. Also, to reiterate, the EU would not rush with promises unless Ukraine start fulfulling its promises to undertake democratic reforms in accordance with the EU rules, put together legislature, banking system, boost the economy, adopt anti-corruption measures and put them successfully into practice and many more. It seems Ukraine has years of tough work ahead to adapt to the EU standards. The last but not the least is normalization of relationship with Russian within the framework of the EU. As it is known, for historical, economical, political reasons, Russia is not welcoming tight relations between Ukraine and the EU, seeing, firstly, the threat to its integrity. More painful for Russia is the possible entering of Ukraine into NATO. Become Ukraine a part of the EU, it would most certainly distance Ukraine from its north-eastern partner with dire consequences in economical/political agreements and Russia tries to avoid it by all costs or at least slow down the process, since Ukraine i s, among others, is situated at an important strategic part of Eastern Europe. And that is not to mention Chernomorsky Fleet of the Russian Federation stationed in the Crimea Peninsula and Russian gas/oil, aimed for the EU, 80 per cent of those export travel through the pipeless across Ukrainian territory. If Ukraine enters the EU, it would not be so simple for Russia to exert its pressure on Ukraine and dictate its terms. These are issues that cannot be easily resolved. But perhaps even more vital question is wether Ukrainian people welcome this expansion, if we consider that political desisions are made for the benefit of its people and not merely to satisfy the interests of a handful of politians and businessmen with aspirations? Certainly, there is not enough information in Ukrainian mass media about the EU. It can also be explained that ukrainian journalists simply are not adequately educated about the EU, which by large create this information gap in the country. On the news domestic affa

Battlefield of the Mind

â€Å"Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind† Author: Joyce Meyer Reviewer: Lisa Hutson I believe many times in the Christian and especially in the Pentecostal realm, we tend to do things in the name of Christ because we â€Å"felt† like it was from the Holy Spirit and instead of determining that by lining it up with the Bible, the living word of God, we tend to trust that our â€Å"feelings† are correct. But what happens when those feelings steam from negative, confused, judgemental or passive thinking?I never realized until I read this book that the majority of the bad decisions I have made in my life were decisions I made based on present feelings and that those feelings came from faulty or negative thinking. After I read this book, I understood that it is the things that I think about constantly that are the things that soak up my life. If those thoughts are positive, I will reap positive benefits. If those thoughts are negative, I will reap negativity but it is all in how I think. There are three life lessons that I have learned to incorporate into my daily life in order to live a Christ filled life.When I tend to go through those â€Å"wilderness mentalities†, I have learned to always do my best to be positive, to regularly meditate on the Word of God, and to be thankful at all times. Explaining the importance of being positive, Meyer tells us the mind is a battlefield. After reading 2 Corinthians 10;4,5, Meyer says that we are engaged in a war, our enemy is Satan and that our minds are the battlefield. The devil works diligently to set up strongholds in our mind and he does it through strategy and deceit and that he takes his time to work out his plan (16-17).In order to prevent the devil’s lies from penetrating our minds, we must defend them. You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind. Your life will not get straightened out until your mind does (27-28). Positive minds produce positive lives. Negative minds produce negative lives. Positive thoughts are always full of faith and hope. Negative thoughts are always full of fear and doubt (41). What really struck me about this concept is how Meyer tells us that thinking positive isn’t ignoring the negative, but it is believing that God is bigger than you and your situation and that all things will work together for good as His word promises.I am generally a happy person. I laugh at everything, I like making other people laugh and having good conversations. However, when negative things do arise, I tend to get angry or seclude myself. If I am having a disagreement with a co-worker or an argument with my parents, I will just refuse to talk to them. When the Holy Spirit brings them to my memory, I let negative thoughts produce even more feelings of strife and it takes a long time to get over it. I remember one time last semester when I was so upset with my mother that I refused to talk to her for almost four months!Learn ing to be positive does not mean that the negative situation did not happen but it simply means that we believe that God will heal it or bring good from it. It means forgiving even if we don’t forget but allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our attitudes so that we do not become weighed down by our situations. Meditating on God’s word is another huge lesson I have learned from this book. I believe that my biggest mistake early on in my walk with the Lord was not reading His word for myself. I became a christian at the age of fourteen and filled with the Holy Spirit by the age of sixteen.However, I would rather go on Wednesday nights and hear my youth pastor tell me what the Bible said instead of reading it myself. When I tried to read on my own, I often became very confused and frustrated and gave up. I let other people tell me how to live instead of searching it out myself. I continued this all through high school and finally during my senior year I had a very hurtful situation occur between myself and another family in the church. Since I wasn’t solid in my faith and relationship with the Lord, I let it tear me down significantly and I stayed out the church for about a year and a half.I let another’s faith become my own and when they failed me, I equated that with God failing me. â€Å"This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. † Joshua 1:8 The Bible tells us that if we want to be a success and prosper in all of our dealings, we must meditate on the Word of God day and night.The Word of God teaches us what we should spend our time thinking about (57). Meditation in this context means to spend a lot of time pondering and thinking on the ways of God, His instructions and His teachings (57). In my situation , I had let sermons, Sunday school, and people in the church mold my faith and thought process instead of spending time myself thinking about the Word. I thought about the Word while I was sitting in church but outside of that, I had not really let it sink in. Now, I am making a significant effort to seek the scriptures myself.Of course, I am involved in church again but I am also making an effort during my own time to spend quality time with the Lord, in prayer and in His word, allowing Him to mold me into what He has created me to be. The last thing that â€Å"The Battlefield of the Mind† has taught me is to be thankful at all times. How can the devil control us if we are going to be joyful and thankful no matter what our circumstances are? â€Å"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. † Psalm 34:1We can be a blessing to the Lord by letting His praise continually be in our thoughts and mouths (162). Be a grateful person, one f illed with gratitude not only toward God, but also toward people (163). Expressing appreciation is not only good for the other person but it is good for us, because it releases joy in us. Meditate daily on all the things you have to be thankful for. Rehearse them to the Lord in prayer, and as you do you will find your heart filling up with life and light (163). During my teenage years, my family went through a financial crisis. We lost our home and our vehicles.I spent my junior year of high school with my parents living out of a garage that we made into a make-shift home. I remembered crying myself to sleep many nights in that garage. I was embarrassed about our situation, angry at my parents for getting us in this mess, and confused that the Lord could let this happen to us. After about fifteen months in that garage, things finally began to turn around. We were able to sell our property and the garage, move into a rental property and get decent vehicles to drive instead of the old sixties model truck my dad had bought for three hundred dollars during the crisis.I remember being so grateful for that new rental property. It was an old yellow brick home, but it was wonderful to me. I had a room with real walls! I spent all of my savings on making my own bedroom beautiful with new paint, picture frames and curtains. It was through that situation that I truly learned how to be grateful. My parents and I have come a long way from that old garage but I still have a picture of that old garage in a frame in my room at home. Sometimes even now, I find myself being selfish and ungrateful for my many blessings.I think everyone does. However, that memory always shows me how far the Lord has brought me and how much farther He can take me as long as I stay faithful. â€Å"Battlefield of the Mind† by Joyce Meyer has many solid lessons that have taught me a lot about how to live victorious in Christ. As a young Pentecostal believer, I always thought everything was spi ritually supernatural. If God wanted me to think a certain way, He would just zap it into my head. However, as I grow in my relationship with Him, I realize He is not going to spoon feed me forever.He wants me to seek Him. If I put His lessons and teachings into practice, I will live victoriously. Being positive, meditating on His word and always being thankful to Him and to the people around me are just a few ways I can make my life a living sacrifice to Him. However, its really not even a sacrifice, for the blessings and benefits I receive from these practices far out weight the negatives. I learn more and more about myself and about my Heavenly father as I delve deeper into His word.His word is what empowers my positive attitude and reminds me to be grateful not only for His sacrifice but also for the many blessings He bestows on my life daily. I loved this book. I’m sure I will keep it around to read occasionally and remind myself to get my mind in order! Thinking produce s feelings and feelings behaviors and if I’m not happy with any certain behaviors, I must stem it back to what I spend my time thinking about. My mind is the battlefield and when it is renewed in Christ, I will be able to battle the enemy with confidence, perseverance, and power.