Why Was Stormont Dissolved in 1972?

Why was Stormont Dissolved in 1972? Eighty- seven years have passed and partition within Ireland still remains the island’s defining feature. Since the six county country of Northern Ireland was formed under the umbrella organisation of the United Kingdom in 1921, Northern Ireland has experienced two periods of its history that are so extreme in their differences. For the first fifty or so years of Northern Ireland’s existence the situation between both sides of the community, the Protestants and the Catholics was peaceful and there was very little hostility or violence between them. Northern Ireland was essentially governed by peaceful co- existence as the government at Stormont ruled with relative ease. However, towards the late 1960s, the history of Northern Ireland changed, as what was to become the darkest period in the country’s short history, ‘the Troubles’, ensued between the Protestant and Catholic sides of the community and threatened to destroy Northern Ireland. In a period that lasted around thirty years, Northern Ireland became a war zone, characterised by bombings, shootings and sectarian violence as the two communities fought to defend their beliefs and protect one another from the so- called ‘other side’. However it is the first three years of ‘the Troubles’, from 1969- 1972 and the dissolution off Stormont that will be the focus of this essay. The dissolution off Stormont in 1972 ended fifty years of Home Rule in the province and led to over two decades of Direct Rule from Westminster. But why was Stormont dissolved in 1972? In this essay I will answer this question but it is important to note that there is no single reason why. The dissolution off Stormont was a multi- causal event brought about, by what I see, as five key causes; the failures of the Unionist Government to reform and control security; the formation of the Provisional IRA (PIRA) and its escalation of violence; Internment and the subsequent PIRA backlash; the formation of the UDA and its systematic killing programme and finally Bloody Sunday and its aftermath. The failures of the unionist government’s to provide sufficient reform, satisfying to both sides and their failure to control the security situation within Northern Ireland from 1969- 1972 was an important factor in the eventual dissolution of Stormont in 1972. During the latter part of Terence O’Neill’s premiership the failure of unionism was on the cards, even then, as his attempted ‘five oint programme’ of reforms was greeted with scepticism by both unionists and nationalists â€Å"and the Paisleyites were fired by what was seen as a concession to militant pressure†¦while others- as events demonstrated- saw only a mixture of weakness and begrudgery. [1] In February 1969, O’Neill’s failure to secure an indisputable mandate showed that the collapse of unionism was beginning to develop because as he suggested, â€Å"old prejudices were too strong for people to break out of the mould of sectarian politics once and for all,†[ 2] His successor James Chichester- Clark inherited what was a difficult situation, that became worse during the marching season of 1969. The failure of the unionist government to successfully control security and the devastating riots, which spread to Belfast following the annual Apprentice Boy’s demonstration in Derry in August, showed just how incapable they were of protecting the people of Northern Ireland and forced Chichester- Clark to request the support of the British army. This was a humiliation, and it underlined the failure of the Stormont administration to deal with either the political or the policing challenges of the popular uprising that was occurring: the decision added a military dimension to the complete financial dependence of the regime on London, and thus paved the way for direct rule. [3]The army was a last desperate measure and although welcomed by Catholics at the beginning, the GOC Lieutenant- general Sir Ian Freeland warned that â€Å"the Honeymoon period between troops and local people is likely to be short lived†. [4] Indeed it was as Catholics lost faith in the army’s ability to protect them, due to â€Å"the failure to ban the 1970 Orange parades, and the massive arms search and curfew of the Lower Falls Road† and directed their support towards the increasingly more militant PIRA. 5] By bringing in the British army, the Unionist Government aroused â€Å"great fear and passion†¦and many Catholics believed that the Unionists had neither the will nor the capacity to make the changes the British Government proposed†, therefore alienating the Nationalist community and gave fuel to the PIRA’s rise because of its inability to bring in reforms that would have a positive affect on them. 6] Together with an inability of the unionist party to rule itself, as a â€Å"vote of no confidence by the Unionist Party executive in the Government’s law and order policies† illustrated in 1970, these factors showed the weak and futile nature of the unionist Government. Further more, alongside later factors which will be discusse d later in the essay, such as Internment, these unionist failures helped to pave the way for Stormont to be dissolved in 1972. The formation of PIRA in 1970 proved to be a major downfall of Stormont. The nationalist community left alienated and feeling unsafe under the Stormont administration increasingly turned their support to Sean MacStiofain and the PIRA and its military policies allowing it to gain momentum in its aims, â€Å"to provide all possible assistance to’ or people’ in the North, left defenceless against the violence of ‘sectarian bigots† and free the Irish people from British rule. [7] The strategy of PIRA was in three phases, designed to eventually bring about the eventual overthrow of British rule in Northern Ireland. Phase one was of a purely defensive nature, avoiding confrontation with the army and â€Å"providing material, financial and training assistance for Northern PIRA units. †[8] â€Å"As soon as it became feasible and practical, the Provisional IRA would move from a purely defensive position to a phase of ‘combined defence and retaliation. †[9] The final phase, therefore, was â€Å"launching an all- out offensive action against the ‘British occupation system’. †[10] The PIRA came into action after Orange Order parades in June 1970, which Catholics saw as a â€Å"demonstration of Protestant power†. 11] The riots which followed saw the killing of five Protestants by the PIRA. Unfortunately for the people of Northern Ireland, the Falls Road curfew imposed by the Chichester- Clark government following this PIRA involvement only served to increase the paramilitary movement’s support base and lose support for the British army and it led to the escalation of violence within the province. The PIRA’s â€Å"campaign was stepped up from the bombing of economic targets to attacks on British army personnel† and on February 6th 1971 the first member of the regular British army was killed. 12] The violence only escalated further during 1971, as the Stormont administration struggled to cope with the unprecedented ferocity of the PIRA’s violence. â€Å"By July 55 people had died violently; In the first seven months of 1971 there were over 300 explosions and 320 shooting incidents†, which heaped an enormous amount of pressure upon Stormont, that it ultimately was not able to cope with and as we will see later in the essay this led brain Faulkner to undertake what became one of the defining nails in the coffin of Stormont, the introduction of ’Internment’. 13] The aspect that strikes you the most about Internment is the scale on which it was a failure, not to mention just how bias it was. It was a major blunder by the Unionist Government under Brian Faulkner â€Å"because it failed to bring about the seizure of the leading members of the Provisional IRA† simply because it lacked the necessary and relevant intelligence that was needed. â€Å"Internment was entirely one- sided. No attempt was made to arrest loyalist suspects despite the UVF’s record of violence†¦There was not a single person on the army’s list of 452 names who was not an anti- partionist. [14] The result of Internment â€Å"was massive alienation among the minority, and mounting enthusiasm for the PIRA. It exacerbated the levels of political violence within the region as â€Å"from 1 January to 8 August 1971, thirty- four people had been killed†¦but from the introduction of Internment until the end of the year139 people died as a result of political violence. †[15] Internment also underpinned the SDLP’s boycott of Stormont, and therefore destroyed Faulkne r’s very tentative move towards power- sharing. 16] It was a world- wide disaster for unionism. It portrayed unionism as being sectarian and bias and brought the collapse of Stormont into its home straight as PIRA lashed out against it with a ruthless offensive. â€Å"During August 1971 there were 131 bomb attacks, 196 in September and 117 in October. It seemed that the PIRA was making a concerted attempt to destroy Northern Ireland’s economy, with the short- term aim of drawing the security forces away from Catholic enclaves and the long- term objective of forcing Britain to abandon the region. [17] It seemed to be working as the economy was only rising by one percent in 1971 and British opinion was that it was willing to ditch Northern Ireland. The PIRA were it seemed successfully bringing about the British withdrawal from the region. The protestant reaction to this enormous offensive being carried out by the PIRA was to fight fire with fire, as they formed their ow n paramilitary group, the ‘Ulster Defence Association’ (UDA). The formation of the UDA in September 1971 was the crystallisation of the fears of working- class Protestants, who believed that the threat which the PIRA posed was too great and was not being dealt with by Stormont or Westminster. Instead they saw both governments as giving in to Nationalist pressure and giving them too many concessions. Just like Republican paramilitarism, â€Å"the growth of loyalist paramilitarism was related to the increasing levels of violence and the perception that the security forces could not contain violent republicanism. [18] The Unionist community did not feel safe or protected by the Unionist Government under Faulkner, and like Nationalists sought protection from a paramilitary organisation that could fight the PIRA. At the same time, however, the UDA’s formation served to add to the already hostile situation that was raging within Northern Ireland and as a result put another nail into the coffin of the Stormont administration. By now Direct Rul e was inevitable, and it was a question of when not if it would be introduced. The UDA’s formation and systematic outbreak of violence did nothing but heighten the tension between the Protestant and Catholic sides of the religious divide. â€Å"The UDA’s long- term aim was the ‘DEFENCE of ULSTER against ALL who would destroy her’; its short- term aims were the ‘restoration of law and order to every street in N. Ireland,’ to ‘prevent further disintegration of our society,’ and to ‘begin rebuilding our Community both materially and spiritually. †[19]Throughout late 1971 and 1972, when it killed over one hundred Catholics, who were seen as being disloyal to Northern Ireland, the UDA, along with around another forty loyalist paramilitary groups carried out unplanned and usually spontaneous and unjustified attacks upon Catholics in a response to the IRA’s campaign of violence. As a result the violence within the province reached an all time high heading into 1972, widely considered to be the wo rst year of ‘the Troubles’. This violence came to a head on the 30th January 1972, or ‘Bloody Sunday’ as it is known. It was this day and its aftermath that would become the final nail in the coffin of the Stormont administration. By the end of 1971 Northern Ireland was in danger of disintegrating into a state of anarchy due to the failures and â€Å"break- up of the traditional unionist party, the alienation of the SDLP, and the growth of the PIRA and the Protestant paramilitaries. [20] With Northern Ireland entirely reliant upon the security forces of the British Government in 1972, the reality of just how committed it was in the province was beginning to hit Britain. â€Å"The events of Bloody Sunday brought home both the extent of this involvement and the price being paid. †[21] After thirteen people were shot dead by the army in the Bogside area, Nationalist and Catholic Ireland exploded with anger. For the first time, the South ecame emotionally involved in the crisis occurring in the North and indeed it became occasionally violent (the British embassy in Dublin was burnt down on 5th February 1972). The PIRA and the Official IRA (OIRA) began a violent and bloody bombing campaign in both Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, as it bombed â€Å"the officers’ mess of the 16th Parachute Brigade at Aldershot on 23rd February 1972† as well as the crowded Abercorn restaurant in Belfast on 4th March 1972, one of the cruellest of many violent incidents that took place in the country. 22] Such incidents, proved to be the final straw for the British Government, after what had been a disastrous three years for both Stormont and Westminster. Northern Ireland was a war zone, incapable of ruling itself and Britain recognised this, declaring an end to Home Rule on 24th March 1972. Alvin Jackson asks the question, ‘Why did Stormont fail? and although the question might seem irrelevant given what precedes it, it is still important to sum up just why it happen ed and what the main causes were. In his book ‘Ireland 1798- 1998: Politics and War’, Jackson concludes that â€Å"in terms of proximate causes, Stormont failed because it was no longer compatible with the exigencies of British policy , and because it showed no signs of being able to cope with the street violence and organized terror. In the longer term, it had been unable to represent any other than Unionist opinion, and had been at best grudging towards Catholic aspirations. †[23] The Stormont administration under Unionism was quite simply incapable of organising its own security, as its decision to request the support of the British army in 1969 showed, and it was entirely one –sided, as policies such as Internment showed (a policy that had a massive part to play in the failure of torment. Along with these causes, the rise of the UDA and other loyalist paramilitaries and the events of ‘Bloody Sunday’ contributed largely to its failing, by creating more political violence and alienating the Nationalist community further. However, perhaps, â€Å"the underlying cause†¦was Irish Nationalism. †[24] Thomas Hennessey writes that â€Å"the single most disastrous decision that produced the next two and a half decades of conflict was the decision of the PIRA’s Army Council in January 1970 to begin a war- their war- against the British state. [25] In many ways, Hennessey is totally correct, for had it not been for the bombings and killings of the PIRA within Northern Ireland, then Stormont may well have survived because it would not have had to rule a country that was virtually in a civil war, a country that was in effect untenable. ———————– [1] Alvin Jackson, ‘Ireland 1798-1998:Politics and War’ (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 1999) p373 [2] Diarmaid Ferriter, ‘The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000’ (Profile Books Ltd. Great Britain, 2004) p620 [3] Alvin Jackson, ‘Ireland 1798-1998: Politics and War’ (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 1999) p374 [4] Jonathan Bardon, ‘A History of Ulster’ (The Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1992) p672 [5] Thomas Hennessey, ‘A History of Northern Ireland 1920-1996’ (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1997) p174 [6] Hen ry Kelly, ‘How Stormont Fell’ in John Magee, ‘Northern Ireland: Crisis and Conflict’ (Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, London, 1974 ) p121 [7] Thomas Hennessey, ‘A History of Northern Ireland 1920-1996’ (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1997) p173 [8] Ibid p173 9] Ibid p173 [10] Ibidp173 [11] John Whyte, ‘Interpreting Northern Ireland’ (Oxford University Press, New York, 1990) p31 [12] Thomas Hennessey, ‘A History of Northern Ireland 1920-1996’ (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1997) p175 [13] Ibid p193 14] Jonathan Bardon, ‘A History of Ulster’ (The Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1992) p682 [15] Patrick Buckland, ‘A History of Northern Ireland’ (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1981) p156 [16] Alvin Jackson, ‘Ireland 1798-1998: Politics and War’ (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 1999) p376 [17] Jonathan Bardon, ‘A History of Ulster’ (The Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1992) p685 [18] Thomas Hennessey, à ¢â‚¬ËœA History of Northern Ireland 1920-1996’ (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1997) p201 [19] Ibid p201 20] Patrick Buckland, ‘A History of Northern Ireland’ (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1981) p156 [21] Ibid p156 [22] Ibid p157 [23] Alvin Jackson, ‘Ireland 1798-1998: Politics and War’ (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 1999) p376 [24] Thomas Hennessey, ‘Northern Ireland: The Origins of the Troubles’ (Gill and Macmillan Ltd, Dublin, 2005) p385 [25] Ibid p394

Oil and Gas Accounting Test Review

Natural gas, and natural gas liquids which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions Proved Developed Reserves- reserves that can be expected to be recovered through existing wells with existing equipment and operating methods. Proved undeveloped reserves- reserves expected to be recovered by new wells on underlined acreage, or from existing wells where a relatively major expenditure Is required for recompilation Phases Encountered In upstreamOperations Pre-license prospecting Geological evaluation of relatively large areas Mineral right acquisition/contracting Activities related to obtaining from the mineral rights owner the legal rights to explore, develop and produce OLL In a particular area Production sharing contracts- arrangement by which companies obtain rights from the government to explore, develop and produce Exploration Evaluation and apprais al Development Drilling additional wells necessary to produce the commercial reserves, constructing platforms and gas treatment plants, constructing equipment and facilities necessary or getting the oil to the gas for processing and constructing pipelines. Production Extraction and treatment. Closure CHAPTER 4 Pre-license prospecting and nondrying exploration Identifying areas that may contain oil and gas reserves US Successful efforts- G&G costs expensed as Incurred Entry: Db Expense car cash (before or after license calculations) overhead costs with G&G activities Successful efforts- expensed as incurred. Successful Efforts Geological and Geophysical costs must be expensed as incurred. Doesn't matter if costs are Incurred before or after the license Is acquired.G costs and contract counting If operation is conducted under Lease or concession agreement, it is unlikely that the contract would contain provisions that would permit cost recovery of these costs If the operation Is condu cted under a SC or risk service agreement, the contractor may be permitted to recover G related expenditures incurred after license acquisition and possibly G costs Incurred before license acquisition Support equipment and faculties depreciation or operating costs become an exploration, development or production cost, as appropriate. Entries: Db G expense -depreciation Car Accumulated Depreciation Db G expense-operating costs Car Cash Reprocessing Seismic How to account for cost of re-evaluation or reprocessing of the data? If the reprocessing relates to the search for oil then it should be accounted for according to SE provisions regarding prospecting and nondrying exploration costs. If the purpose is to determine how best to develop the reserves in the field, then they should be capitalized as development costs.License acquisition costs Costs of evaluating business environment, signature bonus, negotiating, etc should be capitalized Entry: Db Intangible assets-unproved property Ca r Cash Development and production bonuses If the payment is actually a deferred signing bonus, the appropriate accounting treatment is to capitalize the development bonus as a license acquisition cost. Accrue once the operations are apparently proceeding to the development phase. Entries: To record signature bonus: Db Intangible Assets – unproved property Car Cash To transfer unproved property costs to proved due to commercial discovery: Db Proved property Car unproved property To record accrual of production bonus: Proved property Car production bonus payable To record payment of production bonus: DbProduction bonus payable Car Cash Internal costs relating to acquisition Can allocate capitalized costs to individual licenses acquired, on an acreage basis or an a potential licenses basis Costs of carrying and retaining unproved properties Costs relating to maintaining unproved properties be charged to expense as incurred Ex: delay rentals paid on lease mineral properties until specified work is commenced, property taxes, accounting costs, legal costs Impairment of unproved property Impairment has occurred if there is some indication that the capitalized cost of an unproved property is greater than the future economic benefits expected to be derived from the property. Under SE, loss should be realized. Negative G data and dry holes would typically suggest that part of the property's historical cost has expired and impairment should be recognized Db Impairment expense Car Allowance for impairment FAST permits impairment of individually insignificant properties on a group basis. Apply the impairment percentage to the total cost of the group of individually insignificant unproved properties. This determines the desired balance in the allowance for impairment account. Next the difference between the current balance and the desired balance is recognized as impairment expense.Entry: Impairment Expense Car Allowance for impairment, group basis Abandonment of unp roved property Full abandonment: When an individually significant license area is abandoned, its net capitalized acquisition costs should be charged to surrender and abandonment expense Ex: Db Surrender and abandonment expense (equal to acquisition cost) Db Allowance for impairment (balance) Car unproved property Partial Abandonment or Relinquishment the future economic benefit of the property, then the entire property should be assessed for additional impairment. Unproved property classification An unproved property should be reclassified too proved property status if and when commercial reserves are discovered on the property. Ex: Db Tangible Assets- proved property (acquisition costs) Db Impairment Allowance (balance) Car In tangible assets- unproved property Sales of unproved property If the property was individually significant, a gain or loss should be recognized on the sale.Ex: Db Cash (sale price) Db allowance for impairment (balance) Db/Car(gain or loss) Car unproved proper ty If the property was individually insignificant, a gain would be recognized only if the selling price exceeds the original cost of the property. Loss recognition is not allowed. CHAPTER 5 Accounting for Exploratory Drilling and Appraisal Costs Under SE, general nondrying exploratory costs are to be charged to expense as incurred; exploratory drilling type costs are initially capitalized. Exploratory Well- well drilled to find and produce oil or gas in an unproved area to find a new reservoir in a another reservoir or to extend a known reservoir.Stereographic test well- drilling effort to obtain information pertaining to a specific geological condition. Exploratory type† if drilled in a proved area, â€Å"development type† if drilled in a proved area. Exploration well- well drilled to discover whether oil or gas exists in a previously unproved geological structure Appraisal well- well drill to determine the size, characteristics, and commercial potential of a reservoir by digging an exploratory well. Classifying Drilling costs Separate intangible drilling costs (DC) from equipment costs. IDS deducted in year incurred for US tax law. Equipment costs may be depreciated over 7-10 years. Besides tax purposes, distinction has no significance Targeted DepthWhen evaluating after drilling : if commercial reserves have been discovered, the drilling in progress account balances are transferred to another type of asset account that will be subject to depreciation The first successful exploratory well's cost will be reclassified from an unproved to a proved property account If well is unsuccessful, plug and abandon hole and charges these costs to dry hole expense, net any equipment salvaged from well. If the license area is also relinquished, the net carrying value must be written off. Capitalized G SE- G costs are to be charged to expense as incurred. Current methods may capitalize AD and AD seismic methods used to determine drill sites.Time Limit on explor ation and evaluation or appraisal costs In order for cost to be capitalized in SE, there must be identifiable future benefit. IF an exploratory well has found oil reserves in an area requiring major capital expenditure to be classified as proved. In this case, the cost of drilling the exploratory well shall continue to be carried as an asset as long as 1. The well has found a sufficient quantity of reserves to Justify its completion and 2. Drilling of the additional wells is under way or planned for the near future All other wells, shall not be carried as an asset for more than one year following completion of drilling Post- balance Sheet Period GAP provisions that relate to information about conditions that existed at the financial statements are issued.If well is determined dry, capitalized costs are written off to dry hole expense If commercial reserves are found, the capitalized drilling costs are transferred to the wells and equipment accounts All the capitalized costs of an ex ploratory well are typically reclassified as dry hole expense or as wells ND related equipment Cost approval, budget and monitoring APE- Authorization for expenditure CHAPTER 6 Drilling And Development Costs- US SE Development costs- costs incurred to obtain access to proved reserves and to provide facilities for extracting, treating, gathering and storing the oil and gas. More specifically, development costs, including depreciation and applicable operating costs of support equipment and facilities and other costs incurred to: Gain access to and prepare well locations for drilling, including surveying, draining, road building, etcDrill and equip developmental wells, including costs of platforms Acquire, construct and install production facilities such as lease flow lines, separators, etc Provide improved recovery systems Development well- well drilled within the proved area of an oil or gas reservoir to the depth of a stereographic horizon known to be productive Service well- comple ted for the purpose of supporting production in an existing field. Development type stereographic well- stereographic test well drilled in a proved area Capitalization of Development-Related G Exploration Costs Requires capitalization of G in development activities. Unless it is performed on a development land area but to an unknown structure- expensed. If ad seismic is being used to study the reservoir and perhaps where addition development wells should be drilled, theoretically the cost should be capitalized to the field as development cost.Overhead As a general rule, all G is expensed, however where the company has a defined method for allocation is permitted to capitalize these costs as part of development Capitalization of Depreciation of Equip and Facilities Depending on nature, costs can be expensed or capitalized Capitalization of Financing Costs Capitalization of Interest† requires that a portion of interest costs incurred during the construction phase of assets shoul d be capitalized as a part of the cost of the self-constructed asset. Interest capitalization only applies to qualifying assets: 1 . Assets that are constructed or otherwise produced for an enterprise's own use 2.Assets intended for sale or lease that are constructed or otherwise produced as discrete projects (ships or real estate developments) Amount to interest to capitalize- the portion of interest costs incurred during the period when the asset is being instructed that could have been avoided if the spending on the asset had not been made. Capitalization period shall begin when 3 conditions are met: Expenditures for asset have been made Activities that are necessary to get the asset ready for its intended use are in progress Interest cost is being incurred Sole Risk or Carried Interests If an asset requires a period of time in which to carry out the activities necessary to bring it to that condition and location, the interest cost incurred during that period as a result of expen ditures for the asset is a part of the historical cost of acquiring the asset. CHAPTER 9 Production Costs Costs of labor to operate the wells and related equipment and facilities Repairs and maintenance Materials, supplies, and fuel consumed and services utilized in operating the wells and related equipment and facilities Property taxes and insurance applicable to proved properties and wells and related equipment and facilities Severance taxes Depreciation, depletion and amortization Accounting for Production Costs All costs relating to production activities, including workers costs incurred solely to maintain or increase levels of production from an existing completion interval, shall be charged to expense as incurred.An expenditure that enhances original performance of the well should be capitalized Materials and supplies- capitalize if used in drilling or development. If used in repair or maintenance, they should be expensed. Recompilations- typically involve entering an existing well and deepening or plugging back in order to achieve production in a new formation or a zone in an existing formation. In a currently or previously producing formation or zone should be treated as an expense since the purpose is to restore production without an increase in commercial reserves If the objective is to develop reserves in a new urination or find new reserves, the activity would be new drilling. Drilling costs could be exploratory or development rather than production) Costs should then be capitalized or expensed depending on SE or FCC and on outcome of drilling Taxes (severance or production) should be expensed as production costs Crude Oil Production 1 Barrel = 42 gallons of oil at 60 degrees F API gravity (measure of density) of oil = the higher, the lighter the oil All crude contains BBS&W- basic sediments and water Disposition: outright sales, direct supply, indirect supply, exchanges, prefacers, or oil seed in operations Gas measurement Measurement in Mac is af fected by temperature. , pressure, compressibility, gravity etc Standard pressure is 14. 73 pounds per square inch at 60 degrees Fahrenheit Pre Acquisitions Acquisition Exploratory 0 Development 0 Production List the four Oil & Gas Agreements used on a worldwide basis and describe each one. 1 .US Domestic lease agreement- an oil and gas lease grants to the oil and gas company the right and obligation to operate a property. This includes the right to explore for, develop and produce oil and gas from the property and also obligates the many to pay all costs. (Company is a working interest owner). All costs, all risk. Agreement- encountered in operations outside the united states where the mineral rights owner is the local government. Sometimes the government is involved with a joint working interest. Payment of a bonus by the oil company to the government at the time the contract is signed. Payment of a royalty to the government. Responsible for paying all of the costs incurred in dev eloping. 3.Risk service agreement- oil companies reform workers aimed at restoring or stimulating production including application of current technology to currently producing fields. Bonus to national government at contract signing. Government retains ownership of reserve. Oil company incurs all costs and risks. Operating and capital costs incurred are recovered through payment of operating and capital fees. Government may participate in operations as a working interest owner. 4. Production Sharing contracts- companies obtain the rights from the government to explore for, develop and produce oil and gas. Company pays bonus to national government at contract date. Pays royalties to government. Government maintains ownership of reserves. Companies incur all risk and costs.Company required to spend a predetermined amount of money, which is recoverable from future production. 2. ) Describe the life cycle (Phases) of an Oil & Gas Project. Include the Accounting Treatment (ii. Successful Efforts or Full Cost Pool) for each phase. 1. Pre-license prospecting- geological evaluation of relatively large areas before acquisition of petroleum rights. Analyzing G&G data. Successful Efforts (SE) Method The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FAST) has issued FAST Statement No. 19 dealing with the successful efforts method. Under the SE method, costs incurred in searching for, acquiring, and developing oil and gas reserves are capitalized if they directly result in producing reserves.Costs which are attributable to activities that do not result in finding, acquiring, or developing specific reserves are charged to expense. The cost center for the SE method is a lease, field, or reservoir. The various types of costs are treated under the SE method as follows: 1 . Acquisition Costs: They are capitalized to unproven property until proved reserves are found or until the property is abandoned or impaired (a partial abandonment). If adequate reserves are discovered, the property is reclassified from unproven property to proven property. For tax purposes, acquisition costs are handled the same way except the cost cannot be partially written off as an impairment expense.The property must be abandoned before any cost may be written off. 2. Exploration Costs: They are recorded in two different ways, depending upon the type of costs incurred. A. Nondrying Costs: Examples of these type of costs are geological and geophysical (G & G) costs, costs of carrying and retaining undeveloped properties, and dry hole and bottom hole contributions. These types of costs are expensed as they are incurred. For tax purposes, nondrying costs are capitalized to the applicable b. Drilling Costs: They are treated differently depending on whether the well drilled is classified as an exploratory well or a developmental well. An exploratory well is a well drilled in an unproven area.A developmental well is a well drilled to produce from a proven reservoir. 1) If an exploratory well is a dry hole, the costs incurred in drilling the well are expensed. If the exploratory well is successful, the costs incurred in drilling the well are capitalized to wells and related equipment and facilities. ) The costs incurred in drilling developmental wells are capitalized to related equipment and facilities even if a dry hole is drilled. The costs associated with tangible well equipment and facilities are capitalized, regardless of the type of well drilled. For tax purposes, certain costs associated with such equipment are eligible for treatment as deductible ‘DC.Tax depreciation methods usually allow for a more accelerated rate of depreciation than book or financial depreciation. Also, book depreciation will be computed on 1-1 The developmental dry holes and IDS which are capitalized for book purposes but expensed for tax purposes. Therefore, an M-1 adjustment will be required on the difference between the amount of book and tax depreciation. 3. Production Costs: These c osts are expensed as incurred, which is the same treatment used for tax purposes. It should be noted, however, that many taxpayers erroneously expense overhead attributable to either acquisition or exploration activities as production costs.Overhead attributable to acquisition and exploration costs must be capitalized. 4. Depletion: This usually requires an M-1 adjustment. Although the cost depletion formula is the same for book and tax purposes, the mount for the basis used in the computation of cost depletion will vary due to the difference in capitalization. In addition, many taxpayers will be allowed to use a larger percentage depletion deduction Full Cost Method Under the FCC method, all costs incurred in exploring, acquiring, and developing oil and gas reserves in a cost center are capitalized. 1. Geological and geophysical (G & G) studies, successful and unsuccessful, are capitalized for book and financial purposes.For tax purposes, successful G & G costs are capitalized and unsuccessful G & G costs are expensed. An M-1 adjustment is required for the amount of unsuccessful G & G costs expensed. 2. Delay rental costs are capitalized for book and financial purposes. 3. 4. Exploratory dry hole costs are capitalized for book and financial purposes. For tax purposes, all dry hole costs (exploratory or developmental) are capitalized unless the taxpayer elects to expense them. Since most taxpayers expense these costs for tax purposes, an M-1 adjustment is required. 5. Impaired or abandoned property costs remain capitalized in the cost center for book and financial purposes.For tax purposes, no deduction is allowed unless a property is totally worthless. An M-1 7. General and administrative costs which are not associated with acquisition, exploration, and development activities are expensed. However, overhead that can be associated with acquisition, exploration, and development activities is capitalized. The costs are handled the same way for tax purposes. 8. D epletion usually will require an M-1 adjustment. In many instances, taxpayers may be able to claim a larger percentage depletion deduction in lieu of cost depletion. Even where cost depletion is claimed for book and financial purposes because of the different capitalization rules, the amount of cost depletion allowable will vary.

Reign of God Essay

I have read chapter three in Reign of God in its entirety. In chapter 3, it described about God’s character and the basis of God’s kingdom. Everyone knows that the father of Jesus Christ is God. And God has relation to Jesus identifies him as God to us. So if we want to know God, we need to go to Jesus first. To summarize what is the most important statement in the Bible is â€Å" God is love. † Love is the first and the last word in the biblical portrait of God. Some people may think that love is the most difficult things to learn in our entire life. But God had already told us what love is though the bible. Love is the essence of God’s nature. Love is what it means to be God. To the english word â€Å"love† ,it covers an enormous range of meaning. We use love to describe our attitude toward everything from our favourite food, people that important to us and also things that we treasure. Nowadays, we use love and we say it with no any condition. But is there anyone can able to be uncondition to love others? Maybe yes, but I can sure about that, there are only a few amount of human in the world. However, God can. He love the world that he gave his one and only son to us. This is how God showed his love amoung us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he oved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins† (1 John 4:9-10). God’s love is very powerful and tenacious. It is powerful enough to let him forgive our sins. People often wonder how the same being can be at once a compassionate, forgiving parent and a stern judge og evildoers. Since God’s love is unconditional, so he can accept our sins and give a second chance to amend ourselves.

HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

HRM - Essay Example Focusing on this aspect, the essay discusses about the role of stakeholders in the Indigenous employment program implemented by Rio Tinto. The essay further considers contribution of human resource functions to the implementation of the program along with the witnessed strategic challenges. Stakeholders Involved and Their Roles in Indigenous Employment Program of Rio Tinto Since its establishment, Rio Tinto has strived to increase the number of indigenous employment opportunities in the business operations. It is the vision of Rio Tinto to establish strong regional economies where local communities and the organisation itself perform cooperatively. Indigenous employment program provides several advantages to the business of Rio Tinto as well as the entire community. This program permits native people to involve in the progress of mainstream economy and to get benefited from wealth generation (Rio Tinto plc 2011). For Rio Tinto, the major stakeholders of Indigenous employment program comprise local employees, communities, traditional owners & local government and other organisations such as banks and educational institutions. These stakeholders play a vital part in the Indigenous employment program of Rio Tinto (Rio Tinto plc 2011). Employees are considered as the major stakeholder in the Indigenous employment program. Employing local indigenous people in the business operation is a method of Rio Tinto to distribute the wealth created through its operations. Therefore, involvement of employees helps to provide sustainable economic as well as commercial benefits to the organisation. Rio Tinto also aims to establish mutually beneficial relationship with the traditional owners and the government. Their involvement in the program helps to set forth a shared vision for regional economic growth. The indigenous employment program summarises an opinion for the future and states a mutual acknowledgement of tasks of traditional owners which are related with mining fields. On the other hand, the business of Rio Tinto is related with several agreements and Acts with respect to mine improvements, land accesses and land uses among others. Therefore involvement of the government helps to uplift these agreements and Acts and as a result, provide support to the Indigenous employment program. Furthermore, government and traditional owners also support for the involvement of native people in the workforce of Rio Tinto (Rio Tinto Limited n.d.). Banks and educational institutions also play a vital role in the indigenous employment program. Banks help to provide funding support for the employment program in order to develop the capabilities of indigenous people. Furthermore, in regional areas, the employees require preparation for performing their tasks in the factory. Therefore, involvement of educational institutions helps to establish a beneficial platform by school tutoring and support arrangements. Rio Tinto focuses on an all-inclusive method in order to e nsure that possible indigenous employees are prepared to perform. Contextually, mining operations can be unfamiliar and overpowering for new

What Competitive Strategy Coca Cola Should Adopt to Develop Business Dissertation

What Competitive Strategy Coca Cola Should Adopt to Develop Business Expansion in China - Dissertation Example This fact helps the company in glocalising its products with also reducing its operational costs. In the light of the above fact the paper focuses on evaluating the region of China as a feasible market for beverage and soft drink products rendered by Coca-Cola. China seems to be a growing market for beverage and soft drinks where a larger chunk of the population still depend on the increased consumption of tea as the most liked and supported beverage. However with the development of the economic and social situation of several regions in China there has been growth of middle class consumers demanding westernised products. Thus several soft drink and beverage companies like Coca-Cola are eying China as a potential marketing development zone for their products. The paper in this account tends to conduct a research based on the use of several strategic models to evaluate the marketing position for beverages in China. In addition the paper also focuses on conducting analysis based on interview of both targeted consumers and managers of Coca-Cola to enhance the level of understanding of the parameters through which Coca-Cola can effectively succeed in the Chinese soil. Introduction About Coca-Cola Coca-Cola listed in the New York Stock Exchange stands as the largest beverage producer in the world. The company works on rendering a number of branded drinks that in total amounts to consolidated revenue of around $15 billion. Coca-Cola ranks as number one in the field of beverage and juice production and also ready-to-drink coffee products. The company through its extensive distribution network endeavours to serve consumers along 200 countries thereby gaining the potential to render around 1.8 billion servings on an average basis. Further, the com pany works to enhance on its environment sustainability and social responsibility paradigm to gain an enhanced space in the consumer markets. The company also acts as a significant global employer ranking 10 in the

How Will Astronomy Archives Survive the Data Tsunami Case Study

How Will Astronomy Archives Survive the Data Tsunami - Case Study Example Archives operate within an environment where resources, mostly financial are limited (Chaisson & McMillan, 2011). When the response time for astronomy queries increases, so is the cost of obtaining data from the archives. This impresses on the need to search for further technological techniques, which are more efficient and cost effective. Various performance degradation issues associated with the growing trend are indicated by the archived astronomical data. First, there is growth in the usage of the archived data, increasing the access and queries associated with the archived data sets. This effectively reduces the efficiency of data access, while also increasing the response time involved in queries (Berriman & Groom, 2011). The decreased efficiency and increased response time has the effect of making the study into this field less efficient, thus discouraging the widening of the knowledge base in astronomy. Most significant is the fact that, the growth in archived astronomical da ta increases the demand for such data, encourages the creation of more sophisticated queries and analysis techniques, which in turn increases the storage, computation and database costs (Berriman & Groom, 2011). This serves to make the access to archived astronomical data more expensive for users. Additionally, the increased volume of archived astronomical data means that it is now more accessible, thus influencing the research undertaken in this field, since most researchers are now using the archived data to undertake their research, at the expense of newly acquired data (Chaisson & McMillan, 2011). This practice is detrimental to the growth of astronomy, since new research and enquiries are rarely made, thus making new discoveries and innovations in this field impractical. The effect of this is to limit the knowledge base of the astronomy field, while also enhancing the regurgitation of data and provision of redundant and irrelevant study findings (NRC, 2011). The essence of rese arch is to promote new enquiries and discoveries in certain field, with a view to creating new knowledge, while also enhancing creativity and innovation in solving the problems associated with the field (Berriman & Groom, 2011). With a continued publication of more papers using the archived data sets, the hope of new discoveries and innovations in this field is extinguished. The increased volume of archived astronomy data has also caused performance degradation of various astronomical data institutions such as NASA’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) and Infrared Science Archive (IRSA), through affecting their reporting abilities (Berriman & Groom, 2011). Following these performance degradation issues, a need for alternative archival techniques has risen. One such alternative archival technique is graphical processing units (GPUs), which is a technique developed to enhance the output of an image that occurs on a display device (Berriman & Groom, 2011). Neverthele ss, while this technique is meant to help in reducing the inefficiencies associated with large volumes of archived astronomical data, the technique has proved to be ineffective due to various reasons. First, the technique is only applicable in graphic-like

Child observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Child observation - Essay Example The boy is in a white short-sleeved shirt that has black stains on the breast pocket and beige shorts. The stains are fresh, and they are oily and greasy. The mall is spacious, stocked with different accessories including electronics, toys for children, foodstuffs, oils and perfumes. As the mother passes along the department stocked with toys, the boy scratches and attempts to bite the mother’s hand and she immediately releases him, cursing silently but loud enough for the nearest shop attendant to hear. The boy mischievously glances at his mother, and he dashes across the alley, towards a big yellow toy car. However, as he attempts to retrieve it from a higher shelf, he stumbles and falls, hitting the floor head first, and the nearby toys and accessories fall on his body. His mother quickly goes to his rescue rubbing his head to alleviate the pain from the fall and warns him to stop or else she will not buy him a present. As the mother and son moves along an electronic depart ment, the boy notices a small girl almost his age accompanied by a male adult. The girl is riding a small bicycle and the boy leaves his mother and joins the girl, apparently wanting to snatch the bicycle from her. Observation sheet of the interactions and behaviors observed in the boy Interactions observed comments The most notable interactions are with his mother, and the environment, both within and outside the shopping mall.

Bussiness Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bussiness Law - Essay Example With its exponential growth and the explosion in information and exposure in the world due to it, there was felt a need for an establishment and determination of rules and regulations, and a framework for it to operate within. A committee or a forum was needed to be established that would discuss and lay the framework and the critical and basic issues related to the regulation of the Internet. For this purpose, a convention was held in Athens, Greece, in 2006, called the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), under the UN that laid the grounds for the next convention that was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 12 through 15 of November 2007. Both the conventions established the agenda and objectives of the IGF to be followed internationally. All the stakeholders from all the countries, especially the governments, are encouraged to participate, abide by the regulations and actively involve in their implementation in their countries. This is imperative as Internet crosses all national boundaries and this makes supervision by one body both impossible and inefficient. Four basic and major objectives were laid down in the first convention in Athens, and a fifth was added in the agenda in the second convention in Rio, along with building upon the established four. Basically, all these agendas are based on the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. These objectives are as follows: Access: the Internet is on an ever increasing growth, however, majority of the world population still lives in isolation from this important tool that has the power to radically change the economic and the social conditions of any society. According to reports, out of the total 6 billion people living in the world today, approximately only 1 billion have access to the Internet facility, the remaining five billion people are still on the other side of the digital divide that is so crucial to bridge. The true power of the Internet can only be fully harnessed if it is utilized by the majority of the people worldwide. Up till now, however, only approximately 1.6% of the world population is benefiting from it. This means that the availability of access is the most important and urgent issue facing the forum, and it has to be tackled first. To counteract upon it, certain proposals have been included in the agenda.First off, an effort would have to be made on the international level, invol ving all participating stakeholders, to set up regulatory bodies and to outline legal policies for investment and establishment of infrastructure in this sector. Most of the population that does not have access to the Internet are the local people living in rural areas. These areas pose several problems. The economic standards of people living there are not very high, and so Internet access would have to be made affordable and easy. For this, local access points, or building-out infrastructures (IGF 2007) would have to

French Wine Regions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

French Wine Regions - Essay Example In fact, almost every region of France can boast of commercial wine production, and only five regions on the north coast of the country are not engaged in wine production. Among the most famous regions of wine growing in France are the following ones: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, the Rhone Valley, the Loire Valley, Alsace etc. The Bordeaux region of Aquitaine is among the most famous regions of wine production not only in France but in the entire world as well. The center of the region is the Atlantic port city of Bordeaux. This region is regarded as the heart of red wine production in the country: more than 60 appellations are grown on its territory. Basically, such grapes as Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon are used in the production of red wine. In addition to this, white wine, both dry and sweet, is also produced in the region (Marnie Old and Old Wines LLC, 2005). In Bordeaux, there are two sub-regions of red wine production; they are referred to as â€Å"Right Bank† and â€Å"Left Bank†. The right bank has soil that perfectly suits the early-ripening Merlot grape because of the high content of clay in it. The left bank’s soil rich in gravel is more suitable for Cabernet Sauvignon. One of the main rules of wine production in the region of Bordeaux is varieties blendi ng. Originally, varieties were blended to avoid bad harvests. Today, winemakers also balance flavors of different grapes in one appellation (Marnie Old and Old Wines LLC, 2005). The Burgundy region is situated in the eastern part of France. This region is famous for its both red and white wines. The major grape varieties grown on the territory of Burgundy are Chardonnay (for white Burgundy wines), Pinot Noir (for red Burgundy wines), and Gamay (for Beaujolais). Unlike Bordeaux, Burgundy wines are not the product of varieties blending.

The difference between nonviolent resistance and pacifism Essay

The difference between nonviolent resistance and pacifism - Essay Example lds of human action and interaction. On the other hand, where some who have less understanding of nuance sees that nonviolence is the absence of violence in all its forms and has a unitary meaning, there are those who differentiate among different forms of nonviolence basing the classification of different types on what motivates the actors in nonviolent action, and how those actors behave in the arena of human action (Sharp 41-43). On the other hand, Sohail Hashmi relates pacifism to the actions of Gandhi and makes use of the term Gandhian pacifism to brand the kind of an absence of violence as a means to achieve peace.... thics of pacifist and nonviolent actions and their conceptual formulations have special significance in Islam that warrants making the distinction, for instance (Hashmi and Lee; Sharp). Discussion To take the question into perspective, there are non-Muslim perspectives that make distinctions between nonviolent resistance and what is termed in the literature as modern pacifism. Nonviolent resistance or simply non-resistance refers to the phenomenon where people shun violence and acting to shun all forms of war on the basis of religious beliefs that such actions are disallowed by God on a fundamental level. This is in contrast to modern pacifism, which in comparison has a broader footprint and includes justifications for not going into war and supporting war from non-religious perspectives. Pacifism, as discussed here, is a larger umbrella term of which non-resistance or nonviolent resistance is a part. This distinction allows for a proper discussion, for instance of pacifism in differ ent ideological, political and even religious contexts, with religious here in reference to all kinds of religion, not just Islam and not just Christianity. One can talk for instance of Gandhian pacifist stances, where the roots are political and partly includes references to Gandhi’s Hindu religious leanings and philosophical stance (Sharp 42). On the other hand, in the literature too, there are discussions that interchange the use of pacifism with nonviolence and nonviolent resistance, alluding to the overlaps in the definition and the contexts of use of the two terms. Such is the case in discussions on the political contexts of the attainment of freedom as shifts in the political affairs of states from dictatorships to democratic and free nations. Sharp himself interchanges the use of

Business Forecasting Using eViews Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Forecasting Using eViews - Essay Example Some of their equipment failed in the market and they faced a multi-million-pound lawsuit. This led to a huge deficit in their pension fund. This was the cause of the major fall in their share prices in that period. From the analysis, the prices were performing better from that point onward and rose in an almost steady gradient. This was until the first quarter of 2005 when the share price fell slightly, then another steady rise to mid-2006. Subsequently, there was a drop of the index by about 50. The graph then rises and a number of more falls follow before the end of the sample period. Due to the noise of the graph, trend identification is difficult. A histogram illustrates a slightly clearer representation of the data, this helps with the noise problem. Due to the non-linearity and volatility of financial data, it is difficult to predict the level of the series at each period. The figure below is stationary, which makes it more predictable. It also depicts the first differences in the series. It shows the first differences of the Rolls Royce shares during the period 01/01/2000 and ending 31/12/2007. The differences in this period are stationary relative to their mean; their variance is relatively stable as well. There is a slight increase in the middle of the graph between mid-2002 and mid-2003. The first difference of the logarithms is the returns to share in the financial market. This is the representation of the value. The change or the first difference of Y is c. If the accurate prediction of the consequent references were possible from the series, then the next period would be an increment to the current level to achieve the next level. Reiterations for all higher levels takes place. The constant model expansion yields Financial data are very volatile due to the many factors that affect its behavior. This makes it very unpredictable.  

`The Next Los..` by Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Free

`The Next Los..` by Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Freer, and Peter Dreier Essay Housing and community development advocates in Los Angeles adopted a different approach in the late 1990s. They joined a broad-based coalition in the difficult process of hammering out a multi-issue progressive agenda, and then they worked together to pursue not just housing goals but an array of policy recommendations related to parks and open space, transportation, labor and race relations, and other concerns not typically tackled by people focused on affordable housing. And their approach appeared to work: L.A. subsequently created the nation’s largest municipal affordable housing trust fund and redrew its zoning ordinance to allow multifamily apartments above retail space on the broad boulevards crisscrossing the city. Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Freer and Peter Dreier chart the growth and impact of this coalition in their enlightening recent book, The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle for a Livable City. The authors, scholar-activists from Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, were at the center of the largely successful attempt to bring together a disparate array of activists and organizations in a new civic left. At its most lively, this book provides an intelligent insider’s account of the construction of Progressive Los Angeles Network, or PLAN, and the emergence of a powerful labor-Latino bloc that provides progressive L.A. with much of its heart and soul. But the book offers readers more, including details of a grassroots-driven progressive agenda and a revealing social and political history. This history, including the collapse of the old civic elite, the failure of top-down agenda setting during the 1990s and the collapse of heavy industry, set the stage for a progressive revival in the late 1990s. The authors identify several key actors in this drama, notably Jackie Goldberg, a former city council member and current state legislator, who worked tirelessly to pull together â€Å"various (and sometimes conflicting) strands of the progressive community.† But central to the narrative and to the birth of a muscular progressive movement was the overlapping emergence of a newly militant and Latino-led countywide labor movement with the early achievements of a new generation of Latino political leaders. Aided by longtime Los Angeles political journalist Harold Meyerson (a contributor to one chapter), the authors tell this story well, highlighting the growing importance of service unions to the local labor movement; the bold leadership of Miguel Contreras, head of the county labor federation until his death earlier this year; and the entry of left-wing activists, including former labor organizers Gil Cedillo and Antonio Villaraigosa, into electoral politics. The authors don’t shy away from discussing problems and challenges tied to the centrality of the labor-Latino alliance. They discuss, for example, the chasm between older African American leaders (such as Rep. Maxine Waters) and the new progressive movement, and the continuing battles between nationalists and progressives for leadership in the Latino community. But they are optimistic that alliance-oriented progressive politics can triumph over racial or ethnic nationalism in black and Latino politics. Unfortunately, the authors wrote before this year’s mayoral election provided the municipal left with a new set of challenges and opportunities. In a reversal of the 2001 outcome, Villaraigosa defeated James Hahn, a mainstream Democrat, in a runoff election. Villaraigosa, a long-time champion of the disadvantaged, won in part by building bridges to elements of the black leadership and parts of the white community that had opposed him before. The organized progressive coalition, however, split with the county federation of labor and some activists backing Hahn this time around. The incumbent, a mediocre mayor at best, had delivered on key promises to the union movement, and Contreras and his allies returned the favor. They could not, however, deliver the votes, as large numbers of unionists stuck by Villaraigosa. How effectively the progressive alliance regroups will likely have a major impact on what Villaraigosa is able to accomplish as mayor, and it would be useful to be able to consider the authors’ perspective on these recent developments. Instead, Villaraigosa’s original high-profile bid for mayor provides a centerpiece to the book. The 2001 election drew attention to the growing capacity of Los Angeles’s municipal left. Running with the support of the county federation of labor (Contreras engineered the endorsement by the narrowest of margins); the big janitors, healthcare workers and hotel employees unions; and an array of community organizations, the former speaker of the state Assembly helped shift the city’s policy debate to the left and in favor of previously marginalized populations. After Villaraigosa’s defeat, the city’s progressive movement focused on pursuit of its agenda, moving the city to create the trust fund to finance affordable housing development and to tie approval for major development projects – for example, Phase II of the Staples Center project – to concessions on community benefits such as affordable housing, living-wage jobs, parks and other public amenities. They also joined with the mayor and several of his union supporters in leading the campaign against San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession. Ironically, these very successes would provide the reason for labor and some other members of the coalition to back Hahn in 2005. L.A.’s progressives continued to work together in the wake of defeat because of a networking effort spearheaded by the authors’ Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, a role they downplay here. Acting as a secretariat, the institute helped pull together PLAN, a coalition of labor unions, community groups, environmentalists, clergy, academics and others to meet the challenge of drafting a collective vision for the city’s future. Reflecting on history, the authors write: â€Å"The growth of these movements created a critical mass of activism and support for a new progressive politics in Los Angeles. Missing, however, were the links between the different movements necessary to develop a broader, integrated perspective regarding the policy changes needed to make the region more livable and democratic.† PLAN largely succeeded in crafting a detailed agenda that addresses a range of housing, environmental, transportation and land use, labor, political and economic development issues, and in building a sense of commonality that had been missing in the progressive circles of Los Angeles. PLAN’s institutional future is uncertain, but its impact can still be felt. Last year, for example, many of the groups that were involved in creating PLAN’s agenda worked together to defeat a ballot measure in the overwhelmingly black and Latino L.A. County city of Inglewood that would have exempted a Wal-Mart anchored retail development from established planning and regulatory processes. The Inglewood campaign showed maturing of the progressive coalition in the aftermath of the 2001 election. Most important, it demonstrated the ability of African-American and Latino leaders and activists to bond together on an issue of common concern despite tensions in the recent past. Campaigns such as this suggest that a common agenda and shared vision will, in the end, prove more important to LA’s progressives than short-term electoral differences. Despite the current challenges, Los Angeles offers a strategy for building and institutionalizing a civic left, one that housing advocates and other progressives can learn from, and The Next Los Angeles provides a good starting point for any serious student of forward-looking municipal politics. Los Angeless history is a story of conflicting visions. Most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on L.A. as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, exploited immigrants, and unregulated sprawl. The Next Los Angeles tells a different story: that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice. The authors chronicle efforts of progressive social movements that worked throughout the twentieth century to create a more livable, just, and democratic Los Angeles. These movementswhat the authors call Progressive L.A.have produced a new kind of labor movement, community-oriented environmentalism, and multi-ethnic coalition politics. This book shows how reformers have fought to transform a city characterized by huge economic disparities, concrete-encased rivers, and an endless landscape of subdivisions, freeways, and malls into a progressive model for regions around the country. The Next Los Angeles includes a decade-by-decade historical snapshot of the citys progressive social movements and an in-depth exploration of key trends that are remaking L.A. at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It examines L.A.s changing political landscape, including grassroots initiatives to construct a new agenda for social transformation. At once a history, a policy analysis, and a road map for a progressive future, this book provides an exciting portrayal of a city on the cutting edge of many of the social, economic, and environmental changes sweeping across America. At its most lively, this book provides an intelligent insiders account of the construction of Progressive Los Angeles Network, or PLAN, and the emergence of a powerful labor-Latino bloc that provides progressive L.A. with much of its heart and soul. But the book offers readers more, including details of a grassroots-driving progressive agenda and a revealing social and political history. . . .The authors dont shy away from discussing problems and challenges . . . .A good starting point for any serious student of forward-looking municipal politics.James Goodno, San Francisco Chronicle   Far and away the best single book for understanding the politics of Los Angeles. In light of that citys statewide influence, it is also a must read for those interested in the future of state politics. The books inspiring accounts of grassroots victories is perfect for getting activists in an upbeat mindset for the start of a new year. And that is something we all need.Randy Shaw, Beyondchron.org With this rich account of its community and labor struggles, the city of angelsand apocalypsebecomes the city of hope.Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America   This wonderful book, with its evocations of LAs alternative histories, and its bold templates for social and environmental justice, is proof that the American Left is alive and well, especially in Southern California.Mike Davis, author of Dead Cities   A rare book combining history, analysis, strategy and a platform and it may well be carried out in this decade.Tom Hayden, former State Senator, Los Angeles The authors: Robert Gottlieb is Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Mark Vallianatos is Research Coordinator at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Regina M. Freer is Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College. Peter Dreier is E. P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College. With this rich account of its community and labor struggles, the city of angelsand apocalypsebecomes the city of hope.Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed This wonderful book is proof that the American Left is alive and well, especially in Southern California.Mike Davis, author of Dead Cities An intelligent insiders account of the construction of the Progressive Los Angeles Network, or PLAN, and the emergence of a powerful labor-Latino bloc that provides progressive L.A. with much of its heart and soul. A good starting point for any serious student of forward-looking municipal politics.James Goodno, San Francisco Chronicle Far and away the best single book for understanding the politics of Los Angeles.Randy Shaw, Beyondchron.org While most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on Los Angeles as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, exploited immigrants, and unregulated sprawl, The Next Los Angeles tells a different story: that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice. In a new preface, the authors reflect on the gathering momentum of L.A.s progressive movement, including the 2005 landslide victory of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor. Robert Gottlieb is Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Mark Vallianatos is Research Coordinator at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Regina M. Freer is Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College. Peter Dreier is E. P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College. Works Cited. `The Next Los Angeles` by Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Freer, and Peter Dreier

Post-War Changes to British Society

Post-War Changes to British Society Life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. Discuss this claim. Introduction The welfare state, which was a feature of 1950s Britain was predicated on an optimistic view of the world, and one which anticipated that British social institutions such as the family would remain the same. However, increased technological change, post-war immigration policy and a fluctuating world market brought such certainties into question. Britain rapidly became a more liberal and culturally diverse society and this had implications in almost every area of social life. This paper will examine the view that life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. In doing so it will examine knowledge, particularly religious knowledge, the concept of the family, and the processes of globalization. The Family In the 1950s the institution of the family was seen as one of the best ways of ordering our lives. It was the primary instrument of socialization where children learned the norms and values of the society in which they lived. The transformation of family life and of family forms has been unprecedented in the last thirty years the traditional nuclear family of father, mother and children, has been challenged and in some cases abandoned in favour of other ways of living.[1]Some of these changes have come about as the result of the feminist challenge to patriarchal power and the patriarchal nature of the traditional family. Prior to the Second World War men were the family breadwinners and women stayed at home to look after the children and to tend to the husband’s needs. From the mid-nineteen fifties onwards women started to re-enter the workplace in increasing numbers. This gave women more choices about how they would live their lives, such choices were not available in the ear ly nineteen fifties but the late twentieth century and twenty first centuries are characterized by a diversity of family forms. The nuclear family no longer dominates, now we have step families, lone parent families and cohabiting same sex couples, all existing alongside the nuclear family. Statistics on these different family forms have been used by Conservative Governments to claim that there is a breakdown of the traditional family and this has led to a much wider moral decay in society.[2] There has also been concern over men’s power and role in family life and the implications this may have for social order (Phillips, 1997).[3] Phillips argues that the decline in the family may lead to the death of fatherhood and could have implications for men’s health and their son’s development. It refers not only to changes in the family but to the fact that these changes could also bring about the destruction of the things which hold society together. Feminists on the other hand welcome the change in family forms because they have challenged the patriarchal nature of the nuclear family in the same way as they have challenged the patriarchal nature of religion. Religious Knowledge Prior to the Enlightenment religious knowledge was regarded as authoritative. Religious knowledge is knowledge that is based on revealed truths rather than empirical data or scientific experimentation. Although sometimes science and religion are interested in the same questions such as the history of the world and the nature of humnity[4] The rise in scientific knowledge called the claims of religion into question and the late twentieth century has seen this questioning in the form of a massive decline in Church attendance.[5] In spite of this Armstrong (1999)[6] has said that since the 1970s religion has been high on the agenda in the forms of the Christian Right in America and the tensions between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East. Marx, Durkheim and Weber, the acknowledged fathers of the social sciences, predicted that increased industrialization and new technologies would bring massive social change and that this would result in secularization.[7] Certainly on the surface this appears to be occurring, Church attendance has declined since the 1950s and education and welfare, which were once functions performed by the Church, have been taken over by the state. In addition to this, other forms of knowledge, such as science, appear to have more credibility than religious knowledge.[8] It might be said that religious knowledge remains to the extent that it provides some kind of answers to questions that science has so far failed to answer, such as where we go when we die. Social scientists have defined religion in two ways, the substantive definitions say what religion is while functionalist definitions say what religion does. Emile Durkheim (1912/1965) for example described religion as a sort of social glue which held society together. Durkheim believed that although religion would remain, it would, over time, change its form[9] Thus, because religion served a social function, traditional religious services might be replaced by other traditional gatherings su ch as Thanksgiving in America (Bellah, 1970).[10] Max Weber (1904/1930) on the other hand said that religion gave meaning to people’s actions eg. the Protestant work ethic Weber[11] Weber believed that when people became disenchanted with the supernatural content of religion then religion would die out. Peter Berger (1967) has said of religion that: †¦religion is the audacious attempt to conceive of the entire universe as being humanly significant (Berger, 1967:28).[12] The search for significance spreads across cultures. In the 1950s Britain was still seen as a largely Christian country and the Church of England was the established Church, the official religion. Mass immigration from 1948 onwards has meant that Britain is now a multi-cultural and multi-faith society. At the same time feminists have challenged the masculine bias contained within traditional religious knowledge and say that women’s experiences of religion have been ignored. The secularization thesis holds that religion is dying out but the situation with religious knowledge is not as simple as that, rather the situation is changing, and so traditional beliefs are called into question. This questioning tends to make people more uncertain of the beliefs they hold than might previously have been the case. Such changes are not confined to Britain but appear to be taking place on a global scale. Globalisation Since the 1950s the world has witnessed vast changes in transportation, in technology, communications and agriculture. Increased trade flow between different countries and the spread of capitalism has meant that the borders between nations are not as fixed as they once were and diverse societies are moving closer together.[13] There are differing views on globalization and these can be broadly defined in the following ways. Globalists, argue that we are witnessing changes that are being felt across the world and that increasingly nation states are becoming less autonomous. Internationalists on the other hand do not hold this view, they believe that the global movements we are seeing are not a new phenomenon. Although international activity may appear to have intensified in recent years they argue that in some areas this has strengthened state powers.[14] The third view is that of the transformationalists who say that globalization has created new circumstances which are transforming state powers. Transformationalists say that although the outcome may be uncertain politics can no longer be the preserve of individual nation states. This is because the social and political contexts are changing and this has implications for the way states operate.[15] The information age as personified by the internet, satellite television and mobile phones means that people can communicate across the globe in almost an instant. Global economic changes can affect many different societies, some benefit from this and some end up worse than they were before. This has led Giddens (1999) to say that we are living in a runaway world that is propelled by forces that are beyond our understanding.[16] Held (1995) has argued that nation states are defined by their borders and the forces of globalization are breaching those borders and threatening the autonomy of individual states. Large corporations such as Microsoft control global markets hold considerable power, such power could end up in the hands of a few individuals and would thus become domination (Allen, 2004). Technology has the power to influence the way we see people and places, for example we may no longer have to visit a bank to pay our bills but can do it online. In this way the physical distances between people become unimportant.[17] Globalisation means that wherever we live our lives may be determined by forces that are outside our control. Theorists who take this position see globalization as a threat to different social and cultural histories and to collective and individual action.[18] Globalists argue that attempts to resist the forces of globalization are doomed to failure, rather we should welcome changes such as new technologies which may help to reduce pollution in the world. Internationalists are skeptical about these changes and argue against the idea that there has been a fundamental shift in social relations. They believe that nation states still have the power to order their own economies and determine their own welfare regimes. They do however point to the inequalities that women and unskilled workers may face due to the forces of big business and global capitalism. Transformationalists agree that to some extent nation states have remained autonomous but they also say that the effects of globalization cannot be dismissed. The effects of globalization are uncertain and uneven, they have produced changes in the way we live and these changes need to be studied. They argue that the forms of globalization are not necessarily irreversible but may call for new structures and forms of governance. Conclusion The late twentieth and early twenty first centuries have brought with them vast changes to life in Britain. In the early nineteen fifties people’s futures seemed secure and this security was bolstered by Government claims that the introduction of the welfare state meant that people would be looked after from the cradle to the grave. History shows that this was an over optimistic claim and the notion of full employment on which the welfare state was based has not been realized. In the last thirty years advances in many different areas have drastically changed life for a large percentage of the population. Religion is no longer so authoritative as it once was, and many children are not growing up in traditional families. In addition to these things Britain is now part of the European Union and contact with people of other nations is becoming a normal part of life. The notion of security that existed in the years following the war were based on idealistic visions of the future an d this may be why we now view life as more uncertain. Bibliography Book 3 v2 Book 4 v.2 Book 5 v.2 Armstrong, K 1999 â€Å"Where has God gone† Newsweek 12th July pp 56-7 Bellah, R 1970 Beyond Belief New York, Harper and Row Berger, P. 1967 The Sacred Canopy New York, Doubleday Giddens, A 1999 Runaway World, The BBC Reith Lectures London, BBC Radio 4, BBC Education Phillips, M.. 1997 â€Å"Death of the Dad† The Observer 2nd November 1997 1 Footnotes [1] Book 3 v.2 [2] Book 3 v2 page 68 [3] Phillips, M.. 1997 â€Å"Death of the Dad† The Observer 2nd November 1997 [4] Book 5 vs p.53 [5] Book 5 v.2 [6] Armstrong, K 1999 â€Å"Where has God gone† Newsweek 12th July pp 56-7 [7] The removal of the public functions of religion to the private sphere [8] Book 5 v2 p.52 [9] Ibid p, 57 [10] Bellah, R 1970 Beyond Belief New York, Harper and Row [11]ibid [12] Berger, P. 1967 The Sacred Canopy New York, Doubleday [13] Book 4 v.2 see page 9 [14] Ibid see page 11 [15] ibid [16] Giddens, A 1999 Runaway World, The BBC Reith Lectures London, BBC Radio 4, BBC Education [17] Ibid page 18 [18] Ibid page 21

The Teachings Of Buddha And Buddhism

The Teachings Of Buddha And Buddhism Buddha is the principal figure in the religion of Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses and simple rules, which involve the renouncing of earthly pursuits in order to wholly devote ones self to spiritual work, are believed to have been summarized after his demise and are memorized by his followers. Collections of the teachings attributed to him were originally passed down to generations by oral tradition, and were first committed to writing about 400 years after his death. In other religions such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Hinduism, Buddha is regarded as a prophet and in others, a god. Followers of this religion recognize Buddha as an enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help beings that are not enlightened and are therefore confined to death, rebirth and suffering to achieve nirvana. Nirvana refers to a supreme state which allows one to be free of suffering and selfish or individual existence. Nirvana allows an individual to blow out the fires of hatred, greed and delusion and therefore end the cycle of suffering in the individuals life. The two major branches of Buddhism are Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada, which is the oldest surviving branch, refers to the school of elders, and is widespread in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Mahayana is widely practiced in East Asia and Vajrayana, a subcategory of Mahayana, is recognized as a third branch and is practiced in Tibet and Mongolia. Though Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now seen to spread throughout the world with estimates of around 350-500 million followers worldwide. The core foundation of Buddhist belief and practice are the three treasures or jewels i.e. the three things that Buddhists look toward for guidance and take refuge in, are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The Buddha refers to the historical founder of Buddhism or can be interpreted to mean the highest spiritual potential that exists within nature. The Dharma refers to the teachings of Buddha while the Sangha refers to the community of those individuals who have attained enlightenment, and who may help a practicing Buddhist attain the same. Taking refuge in the triple jewels distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist and traditionally, it has been a declaration and commitment to following the Buddhist path. Other practices in Buddhism may include renouncing conventional living, becoming part of and supporting the monastic community as well as practice of meditation. Even though less than 1% of Americas are Buddhists, it is difficult to overlook the prominence of Buddhism today in American culture. This can mainly be attributed to the media focus on celebrity converts, popular films and the increasing popularity of the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist leader of spiritual officials of the Gelug people, who practice Tibetan Buddhism. Buddhism has expanded through a broad spectrum of American culture, including film, art, literature, and psychology. The history of Buddhism in the United States can be traced back to the Chinese laborers who came to the United States in 1820, to work on the railroads. Henry David Thoreau, an American poet, also played an important role in the popularization of Buddhism with his translation of the Lotus Sutra, a 3rd century Buddhist text. By 1993, there were over 1000 Buddhist temples and monasteries in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. As recent public opinion surveys illustrate, Americans typically seek for new religious expression. Additionally, Americans demonstrated the desire to be different from the living styles offered by conventional religions. According to this same survey, more than 44% of Americans had left their original religions to seek for other religions they thought to be more fulfilling; Buddhism being one of them. Though ambiguous, Buddhisms appeal to the contemporary American society can sometimes be contradictory, with a thin line being between the end of practicing Buddhism as a fashionable and trendy practice, and the beginning of devotional focus on this ancient religion. Buddhism has predictably invaded the American culture with vegetarian restaurants, health food stores and even some movies attributing part of their success to this religion. To many Americans, Buddhism has become an all-encompassing, primary gateway to meaningful life. Buddhist concepts on life and the world are continuously being adopted into the American culture. A good example is Karma which according to the Buddhist teachings, is the force that drives the cycle of actions that produce seeds in an individuals mind that are sure to come true either in this current life or in a subsequent rebirth. The avoidance of unpleasant actions and the nurturing of positive actions is called sila, which can be translated to ethical conduct. According to Buddhist teachings, karma is used to refer to the actions of the mind, body, as well as speech, that originate spring from the psychological intent and which bring a result or consequence. In Theravada Buddhism, since karma is a purely impersonal process that is part of the structure of the universe, there can be no divine deliverance or forgiveness for ones action. However, other forms of Buddhism, such as the Vajrayana, regard the recitation of mantras, a sound, syllable, utterance or a group of words, as a way of cutting off previous negative karma. This concept helps an individual understand that everything that happens to him or her is as a result of their actions and we should therefore struggle to do good deeds. Buddhism rejects the concept of an unchanging or permanent self with an eternal soul as in other religions like Hinduism and Christianity. Instead, Buddhist teachings emphasize on rebirth, the process whereby beings go through a series of lifetimes as one of several possible forms of sentient life, with each running from conception. Rebirth can be understood as the continuation of an ever-changing process which is determined by the laws of reason and karma, or effect, as opposed to that of one life form incarnating from one life to the next. This concept of Buddhism emphasizes on the need for a being to do good while in the current life in order to attract good karma in their subsequent lives. Sentient beings desire pleasure and are averse to pain from their birth to death. In being controlled by these desires, they bring about the cycle of habituated suffering and existence, and produce the causes and conditions of the subsequent rebirth after death. Every rebirth repeats this process in an uncontrolled cycle, which Buddhists try to end by applying the teachings of the Buddha and subsequent Buddhists, as a way of eradicating these causes and conditions. Buddhist teachings accentuate that all the sufferings that any sentient being goes through has causes and solutions. This is especially revealed in the four noble truths which were the first teachings of Buddha after he attained Nirvana. They contain the essence of Buddhas teachings which maintain that life ultimately leads to suffering, which in turn is cause by desire. This is frequently expressed as a deluded clinging to selfhood or a certain sense of existence which we consider to cause happiness or unhappiness. Suffering only ends when desire ends, which can only be achieved by eliminating delusion, thus reaching a liberated state of enlightenment i.e. Nirvana. The only way to reach this state is by following the path and teachings laid out by the Buddha. This concept emphasizes on the renouncing of ones self in order to free his or herself from worldly sufferings. The Middle Way, which is said to have been discovered by the Buddha before his enlightenment, is one of the most important guiding principles of Buddhist practice. It can be defined as a path of moderation, away from the limits of self indulgence and can explain Nirvana, a state in which it becomes clear that al dualities in the world result to nothingness. In order o be liberated from suffering, one develops dispassion for worldly objects which can be achieved by viewing things as characterized by the three marks of existence which are suffering, impermanence and not-self. Impermanence expresses the Buddhist notion that everything is in constant flux and nothing lasts. Therefore, we should not fix our nature to any object or experience. The notion asserts that everything is impermanent, and attachment to anything is futile and only leads to suffering. Suffering, on the other hand, can be equated to misery and according to the Buddhist teachings; it is often as a result of the individuals actions. Not-self, the third mark of existence is an approach for gaining release from suffering. The phenomenon of I or mine, are constructed by the mind and are metaphysical assertions that bind an individual to suffering. By carefully analyzing the continually changing physical and mental constituents of a person or object, one comes to the conclusion that neither a person, nor any individual parts as a whole comprise a self. Nirvana, which can be translated to extinction, allows a being to be freed from suffering and the cycle of involuntary rebirths. In some Buddhist categories, it refers only to the elimination of greed and hate, implying that delusion was still present in an individual who attained nirvana and that one needed to attain bodhi, the awakening of arahants (those who have achieved awakening). This is the only way that an individual attains complete nirvana at the moment of death, the time when the physical body expires. In the Theravada doctrine of Buddhism, a person may arise from the sleep of ignorance and directly realize the true nature of reality. Such people are referred to as arahants and occasionally as buddhas. After numerous lifetimes of religious strivings, arahants reach the end of the cycle of rebirth, and no longer reincarnate as human, animal, ghost, or any other being. In Mahayana, the Buddha is viewed as merely human but as an earthly projection of an endless, omnipresent being beyond range or reach of thought. Moreover, the Buddha, Sangha and Dharma are seen as the eternal Buddha in certain Mahayana sutras. Celestial Buddhas though they no longer exist on the material plane of existence, still aid in the enlightenment of all beings. Devotion and practice are an important part of the Buddhist way of life. Devotional practices include offerings, bowing and chanting. It incorporates states of meditative absorption with liberating cognition. According to Buddhas teachings, meditative states alone are not an end to liberation. Instead, some mental activity must take place, based on the practice of mindful awareness in order to attain complete liberation. In the centuries preceding the Buddha, meditation was a feature of the practice of the yogis. Later on, the Buddha built upon the yogis concern and developed their meditative techniques, though he rejected their theories of liberation. In Buddhism, clear and mindful awareness was to be observed at al times, which was not the case in pre-Buddhist yogic practices. According to the Buddha, religious knowledge or vision was as a result of perfect meditation coupled with the perfection of discipline. The contemporary American culture has heavily borrowed this section of t he Buddhist doctrine by the practice of yoga as a means of liberation. Buddhist ethics, Sila, which is translated to virtuous behavior or morality, is an action involving intentional effort, and is committed through the body, speech or mind. It refers to maintaining the moral purity of word, thought or deed. It involves four conditions; chastity, quiet, calmness, and extinguishment. It is the foundation of meditative or mind cultivation. Observance of these precepts not only promotes the peace of mind for the individual observing them, but also peace in the community, which is external. According to the law of karma, observing these precepts is estimable and it promotes causes which bring about happy and peaceful effects. Buddhas monastic rules are designed to assure a satisfying life and constantly remind his followers that it is the spirit that counts. Buddhist meditation is concerned with transformation of the mind, and using it to explore other phenomena. Zen Buddhism became popular in Japan, Korea and China, and lays special emphasis on meditation and prefers to focus on direct spiritual breakthroughs to truth, unlike other forms of Buddhism which lay emphasis on scriptures. According to the Zen Buddhist teachings, thinking and thought must not be permitted to confine and bind an individual in order to penetrate the realm of the Formless Self. Many Americans have borrowed liberally from the wide variety of Buddhist traditions in an effort to seek a calmer and more satisfying way of life. Though there is tension between the Buddhistss vision of reality which emphasizes on the renouncing of ones self with the American culture which emphasizes on individualism, Buddhism has continued to thrive in America. This could be attributed to the American Buddhists who have developed reciprocity with this faith: as the faith changes them, they have changed the faith also. Historically, wherever Buddhism has spread, it has responded as a dynamic improvement to the emotional needs and customs of the locals. Buddhism has a wide range of spiritual practices and the adoption of its spiritual techniques is especially appealing to some Americans who find activities like meditation and chanting useful in helping to find a path to increasing compassion and wisdom. This is because Buddhism has no devotion to a god or a firm belief in deity, but emphasizes the introspection of ones true nature and kindness to all sentient beings. It is this Buddhism flexibility that allows it to be copied by other religions without significant conflict with the beliefs. Majority of Americans seem to appreciate the fact that Buddhism has managed to escape the depressing history of sectarian violence that has been seen to characterize majority of the Western religions. Instead, Buddhism continues to focus on the affirmation of an individuals potential and teaches that enlightenment is not only achievable but also unavoidable. American culture has also had a positive effect on Buddhism tradition too. The American commitment to feminism can be seen to balance the prejudiced aspects of Asian culture that have permitted the existence of Buddhism over the centuries. With more Americans discovering the value of Buddhist religious practices and the Buddhist way of life, Buddhism is now becoming an accepted path within many religions in the country. Buddhism is being modified to meet the American peoples needs for a socially engaged and democratic form of religious practice. In the American culture, the concept of God has been seen to evolve from that of an omnipresent, omnipotent presence to define various concepts like love, energy or spirit. Despite the continuing evolutions of the Americans conception of God, other religions, such as Buddhism, have not changed significantly. By contrast, Buddhism has changed its major emphasis from theism to spiritual humanism. Core beliefs in Buddhism include finding immortality in the examples that individuals set and the work they do as well as showing love to all other beings. As in does not emphasize on deities, Buddhism helps individuals gain insight on from other religions and cultures and recognize the power within ones self. Through Karma, which though, originally from India is inscribed in Buddhists teachings, individuals learn and understand that they are responsible for what they do and become, both as individuals and as members of a community. By meditation, individuals deeply connect personally with themselves and through prayers and reverence; they acquire purification, or cleansing of their emotional, physical, spiritual and mental parts. Physical cleansing is acquired as the sweat carries out the toxins out from the individuals body while the mental cleansing is achieved from the individual releasing their worries and troubled thoughts to the surrounding. The spiritual cleansing offers a connection to the spirit while emotional cleansing is a combination of al the above. The process of the se cleansings brings an individual to a calmer and more grounded state, leaving them more peaceful with themselves and their lives. In Tibetan Buddhism, the mandala is seen as an aid to meditation and it expresses the intuition of the mysticism in humanity as a diagram of the spiritual life. In Buddhism, it is an image constructed through powerful meditation, discipline, and concentration. It is aimed at finding a balance between the inward and outward conflicting opposites of life in order for individuals to coexist in harmony with nature. The mandala philosophy is based on the fact that one-sidedness, of any nature, can lead to illness, depression, loss of energy flow or stagnation. Many Americans have borrowed mandala, meaning magic circle, from the Buddhist tradition in order to reconcile and harmonize various aspects of their lives. Mandala cannot be brought about by force or will but is a natural, unending process of development which expresses itself in symbols of cosmic and spiritual completeness. In American culture, mandalas occur in dances and artwork, where like snowflakes, mandalas occur in countless forms, with the most common being the cross, flower or star and they have a tendency toward fourfold structures. This fourfold unity reflects the natural division of the universe into four directions, four seasons, four elements as well as the fourfold structure of the soul. Buddhism teachings