Laos Facts, History, and More

Laos Facts, History, and More Capital: Vientiane, 853,000 population Major cities: Savannakhet, 120,000; Pakse, 80,000; Luang Phrabang, 50,000; Thakhek, 35,000 Government Laos has a single-party communist government, in which the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is the only legal political party. An eleven-member Politburo and a 61-member Central Committee make all laws and policies for the country. Since 1992, these policies have been rubber-stamped by an elected National Assembly, now boasting 132 members, all belonging to the LPRP. The head of state in Laos is the General Secretary and President, Choummaly Sayasone. Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong is the head of government. Population The Republic of Laos has approximately 6.5 million citizens, who are often divided according to altitude into lowland, Midland, and upland Laotians. The largest ethnic group is the Lao, who live mainly in the lowlands and makeup approximately 60% of the population. Other important groups include the Khmou, at 11%; the Hmong, at 8%; and more than 100 smaller ethnic groups that total about 20% of the population and comprise the so-called highland or mountain tribes. Ethnic Vietnamese also make up two percent. Languages Lao is the official language of Laos. It is a tonal language from the Tai language group that also includes Thai and the Shan language of Burma. Other local languages include Khmu, Hmong, Vietnamese and over 100 more. Major foreign languages in use are French, the colonial language, and English. Religion The predominant religion in Laos is Theravada Buddhism, which accounts for 67% of the population. About 30% also practice animism, in some cases alongside Buddhism. There are small populations of Christians (1.5%), Bahai and Muslims. Officially, of course, communist Laos is an atheistic state. Geography Laos has a total area of 236,800 square kilometers (91,429 square miles). It is the only land-locked country in Southeast Asia. Laos borders on Thailand to the southwest, Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Cambodia to the south, and Vietnam to the east. The modern western border is marked by the Mekong River, the regions major arterial river. There are two major plains in Laos, the Plain of Jars and the Plain of Vientiane. Otherwise, the country is mountainous, with only about four percent being arable land. The highest point in Laos is Phou Bia, at 2,819 meters (9,249 feet). The lowest point is the Mekong River at 70 meters (230 feet). Climate The climate of Laos is tropical and monsoonal. It has a rainy season from May to November, and a dry season from November to April. During the rains, an average of 1714 mm (67.5 inches) of precipitation falls. The average temperature is 26.5 °C (80 °F). Average temperatures over the year range from 34 °C (93 °F) in April to 17 °C (63 °F) in January. Economy Although the economy of Laos has grown at a healthy six to seven percent annually almost every year since 1986  when the communist government loosened central economic control and allowed private enterprise. Nonetheless, more than 75% of the workforce is employed in agriculture, despite the fact that only 4% of the land is arable. While the unemployment rate is only 2.5%, approximately 26% of the population live below the poverty line. Laoss primary export items are raw materials rather than manufactured goods: wood, coffee, tin, copper, and gold. The currency of Laos is the kip. As of July 2012, the exchange rate was $1 US 7,979 kip. History of Laos The early history of Laos is not well-recorded. Archaeological evidence suggests that humans inhabited what is now Laos at least 46,000 years ago, and that complex agricultural society existed there by about 4,000 BCE. Around 1,500 BCE, bronze-producing cultures developed, with complicated funeral customs including the use of burial jars such as those on the Plain of Jars. By 700 BCE, people in what is now Laos were manufacturing iron tools  and had cultural and trade contacts with the Chinese and Indians. In the fourth to eighth centuries CE, people on the banks of the Mekong River organized themselves into Muang, walled cities or petty kingdoms. The Muang were ruled by leaders who paid tribute to more powerful states around them. Populations included the Mon people of the Dvaravati kingdom and proto-Khmer peoples, as well as forebears of the mountain tribes. During this period, animism and Hinduism slowly mixed or gave way to Theravada Buddhism. The 1200s CE saw the arrival of ethnic Tai people, who developed small tribal states centered on semi-divine kings. In 1354, the kingdom of Lan Xang united the area that is now Laos, ruling until 1707, when the kingdom split into three. The successor states were Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak, all of which were tributaries of Siam. Vientiane also paid tribute to Vietnam.   In 1763, the Burmese invaded Laos, also conquering Ayutthaya (in Siam). A Siamese army under Taksin routed the Burmese in 1778, placing what is now Laos under more direct Siamese control. However, Annam (Vietnam) took power over Laos in 1795, holding it as a vassal until 1828. Laoss two powerful neighbors ended up fighting the Siamese-Vietnamese War of 1831-34 over control of the country. By 1850, the local rulers in Laos had to pay tribute to Siam, China, and Vietnam, although Siam exerted the most influence.   This complicated web of tributary relationships did not suit the French, who were accustomed to the European Westphalian system of nation-states with fixed borders. Having already seized control of Vietnam, the French next wanted to take Siam. As a preliminary step, they used Laoss tributary status with Vietnam as a pretext to seize Laos in 1890, with the intent of continuing on to Bangkok. However, the British wanted to preserve Siam as a buffer between French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) and the British colony of Burma (Myanmar).  Siam remained independent, while Laos fell under French imperialism. The French Protectorate of Laos lasted from its formal establishment in 1893 to 1950, when it was granted independence in name but not in fact by France. True independence came in 1954  when France withdrew after its humiliating defeat by the Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu. Throughout the colonial era, France more or less neglected Laos, focusing on the more accessible colonies of Vietnam and Cambodia instead. At the Geneva Conference of 1954, the representatives of the Laotian government and of Laoss communist army, the Pathet Lao, acted more as observers than participants. As a sort of afterthought, Laos has designated a neutral country with a multi-party coalition government including Pathet Lao members. The Pathet Lao was supposed to disband as a military organization, but it refused to do so.  Just as troubling, the United States refused to ratify the Geneva Convention, afraid that communist governments in Southeast Asia would prove to correct the Domino Theory of spreading communism. Between independence and 1975, Laos was embroiled in a civil war that overlapped with the Vietnam War (American War). The famous Ho Chi Minh Trail, a vital supply line for the North Vietnamese, ran through Laos.  As the US war effort in Vietnam faltered and failed, the Pathet Lao gained an advantage over its non-communist foes in Laos. It gained control of the entire country in August  1975. Since then, Laos has been a communist nation with close ties to neighboring Vietnam and, to a lesser degree, China.

Financial markets Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial markets - Coursework Example An asset manager while creating a portfolio diversifies the total investment into an optimal mix of asset class with an aim of either to increase return or reduce risk, so as to create a balanced portfolio. Traditionally asset managers allocated a structure of 45% of assets were invested in equities, 25% in bonds, 15% in property and 15% in cash, based on the client’s need of asset classes which would provide long term capital appreciation for the level of risk that the client is willing to undertake. As per the offered portfolio, 45% of assets were invested in equity which generated high return with high amount of risk, 25% in bonds which generated constant return with reduced risk, 15% in property or real estate which generated substantial amount of return with substantial risk, and 15% in cash or money market instruments which generated constant promised return with low risk. Thus it can be said that the portfolio offered by the asset manager as on one way generated return to the client with low risk as well as paved the way to earn higher return if high risk is undertaken. Thus with an aim to diversify risk and attain balanced returns this balanced portfolio could be achieved. ... + ((PA * ?A) = (50% * 0) + (50% * 10%) = 5% (ii) Expected Return of Mutual Fund F (E(RMF)) = 20% Expected return of stock A (E(RA)) = 15% Risk free rate of return (RF) = 5% Investment in risk free security (PF) = ? Investment in stock A (PA) = ? It is known that, (E(RMF)) = (PF * (RF)) + (PA * E(RA)) Or, 20% = (PF * 5%) + (PA * 15%) So as to increase return, investment in Stock A needs to be increased since it gives higher return than the risk free security. Even if 90% of the total investment is invested in stock A and 10% invested in risk free security, still the Expected return of 20% cannot be reached, as the expected return in that case would be 13.5 + 0.5 = 14%. If we refer to Markowitz portfolio theory so as find the proportion of investment in the portfolio we need to find the correlation coefficient (rAF) of the portfolio. rAF= CovAF / ?F* ?A Where, Covariance of the assets (CovAF) = P* ([(RF) - E(RF)]* [(RA) - E(RA)]) In the absence of the value of E(RF) and (RA) in the pro blem, E(RF) is considered to be 5% as equal to (RF), and 10% as the value of E(RA). Therefore, (CovAF) = 50% ([0.05-0.05]*[0.10-0.10]), which is equal to 0. Therefore, rAF = 0/ 0*0.10, which is also equal to 0. As per Markowitz, If rAF=0, PF = ?A 2/ (?A 2 + ?F 2) PA = ?F 2/ (?A 2 + ?F 2) Therefore, PF = 0.102/ (0.102 + 0) = 1 PA = 0/ (0.102 + 0) = 0 So, (E(RMF)) = (1 * 0.05) + ( 0*0.15 ) = 0.05 = 5% But as the investor wants maximum return so he may choose to invest fully in Stock A which would generate a return of 15%, which is greater than 5%. Thus, it is found that 20% return cannot be generated from the portfolio. (iii) As discussed earlier the portfolio cannot achieve an expected return of 20% so standard deviation of such a portfolio cannot be found. Reference Marling, H. and

CAUSAL ANALYSIS ESSAY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CAUSAL ANALYSIS - Essay Example It seemed like a trend among my peers to get married a few years after completing high school. My best friend and classmate in high school got married a few months after we had cleared high school. I was tempted to take the same path but took a different path eventually. I knew I needed to join college but also knew that I could study online. I met Jenny in junior high in my first year; she perfectly fitted what I termed as the girl of my dreams. We were in the same class but not the same stream. We were both chosen to represent our school in an inter-school competition. I am a generally introverted and so I decided to sit alone at the back of the bus. For most of the trip, I pondered about different things and tried to think of what the future held for me. At some point, I dosed off only to be woken up by this beautiful girl standing besides me. I thought I was dreaming at first as I raised my head for a split moment before and dosing off again. She went ahead and sat next to me and nudged me to wake up. I eventually did and she introduced herself to me. Through out the trip we engage in a positive and constructive chat. Jenny was every man’s or should I say every boy’s dream in school; she was a smart, sharp, eloquent, beautiful, and hardworking. She seemed to know everything about everything. She was outgoing and a favorite of every teacher for her intelligence. Many of the boys in school had tried to befriend her but felt belittled by her smartness and level of intelligence. Although everyone in school thought we were dating, it never got into my head that I was engaged in a serious relationship. Gradually, I realized we had so much in common and my reserved nature gradually became more accommodative of her. We had a normal relationship with normal challenges for a long time until one day she brought up the subject of marriage. Not that we had never discussed the subject before†¦ she only brought up the subject without mincing words. We made a

Alcohol Abuse Essay Example for Free

Alcohol Abuse Essay Drinking is: fun, makes me more sociable, makes me more relaxed, helps me forget all my problems and lastly, everyone drinks (attention). More than likely a lot of you have heard someone say these thing or even say these things yourself when it comes to drinking (connection). When in fact there is a lot more to drinking alcohol than you think (importance). Growing up I was surrounded by someone who did heavy drinking in my home, and for the past week of researching my topic I now know the toll alcohol take on people first hand (credibility). That is why after my presentation, I want my audience to know three main disadvantages of alcohol abuse which are: impairs judgment, harm the body, and may cause death (thesis). Body: According to drugfreeworld.org, â€Å"Alcohol is best understood as a drug that reduces a person’s ability to think rationally and distorts his or her judgment† (Foundation for a Drug-Free World, 2006–2013). In other words, Alcohol can make a person do things, and take chances they normally wouldn’t while sober (you factor). An example of this would be: becoming violent, experimenting with drugs, having unprotected sex, or drinking and driving. In a community- based study, Pernanen found that, â€Å"42 percent of violent crimes reported to the police involved alcohol† (statistic). In the Chicago tribune there was an article about a Lombard man Adam B. Hearn, 33, he was sentenced 6  ½ years for aggravated battery. His toxic reported stated that he was heavily intoxicated. Hearn said. â€Å"I made a horrible decision and I’m sick about it† (Ward, 2012). Now that I have talked about how alcohol abuse impairs your judgment, Listen to the ways alcohol abuse harms the body (signpost). Studies stated from Jack E. Henningfield, states that â€Å"when someone has an alcoholic drink, the stomach absorbs about 20 percent of the alcohol, and the remaining 80 percent is absorbed by the small intestine† (Henning field, 2008). In other words majority of alcohol is absorbed in your small intestine. (You factor). After being absorbed the alcohol enters the blood stream, where the liver breaks down 90 percent of the alcohol in a process called oxidation. Once all the alcohol is broken down it passes directly from the digestive tract to the brain. By Alcohol being a depressant it blocks some of the messages trying to get to the brain from neurons. Such as: altering a person perception, movement, vision, hearing, and emotions. This is why people who over use alcohol may stagger, lose coordination, or slur speech. Alcohol can also have harm on your outer appearance. Alcohol abuse can: cause ageneses to skin, brittle hair, crackled lips, increase the outbreak of acne and increase the blood flow to skin as well, making someone sweat and look fused. Alcohol can also cause the reduction of blood flow to the muscles. This can cause server muscles cramps. Alcohol abuse does not just harm outer appearances it can also harm you internally. The liver is known to suffering the most damage, since it is the foundation in the alcoholic elimination process. The main condition is Cirrhosis of the liver. Heartburn and stomach ulcers can also result in alcohol abuse. Other links have been made that it can cause cancer of the mouth, stomach and intestines. A much known condition to the body that alcohol abuse forms is alcohol poising. Alcohol poisoning can cause the body to violently vomit, experience extreme sleepiness, go unconscious, difficulty breathing, low blood sugar, and seizure. Furthermore, it is important to know the harm alcohol does to the body, to prevent more serious conditions that can lead to death (sign post). As indicated by Jack E. Henningfield in his book Alcohol Addiction: Not Worth the Buzz, â€Å"Each year, approximately 100,000 deaths can be attributed to drinking-either directly or indirectly† (Henningfield, 2008). This does not simply mean that 100,000 died just from taking a drink but from the poor decision that come from being drunk and from the harm that alcohol causes to the body (you factor). It is a fact that more than half of car accidents and twenty five percent of suicides are somehow linked to the use of alcohol (Henningfield, 2008). When you think about it these are all deaths that are avoidable if people would have chosen to drink less. Every year people die from alcohol abuse; many do not know the disadvantages of drinking alcohol and that is why I chose to do this research. Conclusion: Today I informed you all of the three main disadvantages of drinking too much alcohol which are: impairs your judgment, harms your body, and may cause death (summary). Now that you all know more about the disadvantages of drinking alcohol please take them into consideration (action). So the next time you are having a drink, or getting in the car with a drunk driver, ask yourselves, who is in control (ending)?

personal experience :: essays research papers

Personal experience Speech   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We had just gotten back from a very disappointing game. I don’t remember what the score was but we got buts kicked pretty good. So there are a number of us hanging around talking afterwards and we all decided that we needed to get some beer and go hangout somewhere and try and forget about the beating we had just gotten in the game earlier that night. We all chipped in and one of the guys made a beer run. When he got back we decided that it wasn’t a good idea to stick around the stadium and drink so we were trying to figure out someplace to go and chill. Then Dave chimes in that his family had just moved from their home a couple weeks earlier and the place was still empty and he still had his key. It sounded like a pretty good place to go to the rest of us so we jumped in our cars and headed on over to Dave’s old house. We pull up to the place and Dave jumps out goes and unlocks the door for us. We all get inside and start playen some music an d drinking and haven a good ‘ol time. So we’re all having a pretty good time until after a while Dave, the guy whose place it was, starts throwing bottles around and trashing the place. My friends and I saw this and knew something was up so we all decided to split. After we left it wasn’t to late yet so some of us take a little joyride around town before we head home. Well, when we got back to school the following Monday we thought it was going to be just another day at school but later in the morning the cops show up. One by one all of us who had been at the party end up getting called down to the front office and are questioned by the cops. 5 guys ended up getting arrested that day (I wasn’t one of them). It turns out that the house we went to that night wasn’t actually Dave’s. His Family had just been renting the house and had been evicted from it a couple weeks earlier.

The Great Cat Massacre Review

The Great Cat Massacre entails understanding history differently. It is the story of vengeance of some ill fed journeymen at the face of their bourgeoisie master’s attitude. The pranksters carry out their master plan by killing the Cats and then staging a mock trial. What the author point outs is the humor that they share at the face of this cruelty and he urges the reader to understand the Rabelaian humor contextualizing the event against the backdrop of the peasant society of the Ancien Regime.Darnton shows why they chose the cats and how cats are metaphoric in western linguistic and cultural tradition. He brilliantly depicts the relation Cats bare with female sexuality, witchcraft, routine slangs and so on. The killing of cats is not just a frenzy killing that came out of a berserk reaction against the bourgeoisie, but it was metaphorically ravaging the bourgeoisie master whom they cannot reach out for physically at least. In the analysis of folklores of the Red Riding Hoo d or the La Renarde Darnton believes that these folklores help us understanding the pulse of the peasant society of France.He gives an entire overview of the French peasantry and the hardships they endured following, which he gives a fascinating folktale of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which includes a number of shape shifting charisma of the man and the devil following the eventual victory of man and the author follows that this reflected the essential idea of fighting over scarce resources. The use of culture here is â€Å"strictly in the Geertzian sense, as expressed, for example, in The Interpretation of Cultures as â€Å"an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic form by means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes towards life.†Under what conditions can a historian legitimately make use of a definition of this sort? What attitude does it imply vis-a-vis texts that give access to the â€Å"symbolic forms† that functioned in ancient societies? Is it sufficient to the founding of a new way of writing cultural history†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Chartier) While methodologically of course, Darnton shows us a newer archive, and there is nothing that could be said against it but on the other hand can the folktales be used transparently as a clean glass to interrogate the complexities of the peasant society? The killing of the Cats as a symbolic ritual and what it meant to the peasants is only speculated by Darnton, thus the job of the historian being that of the speculator is the historian only an astrologer of the past?The killing of the cats might be just without the baggage of the symbolic element that the cats carried as Darnton argues. It is possible that Cats did had immense importance as Darnton shows since Sorcery was a theme recurrent but I am merely speculating that it might not similar to the speculating exercise Darn ton himself does.

Improving Intercultural Communication Skills By Learning...

Globalization is credited for reasons the world we know now is unified and having cross-cultural relations. Technology, trade, business and services require inter-cultural communication and not knowing the strategies and aspects of different cultural communications will lead to many problems. Some of which my book mentions are ethnocentrism, stereotyping and prejudice. Having these problems a society would not get along with one another and misunderstanding can devastate relationships. As I mention earlier, different approaches can be used to develop intercultural communications, these skills can help you avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and misinterpretations due to ineffective communication. We can anticipate frustration, tension and decreased productivity. Improving intercultural communication skills by learning about other peoples cultures, behaviors and communication styles; unlock the potential for a creative and dynamic cross-cultural environment plus for keeping the relat ionship undamaged. From my daily life experience, I am friends and co-worker with different people from different cultural groups. Of course I have things in common with these people, but that does not stop me from relating beyond into understanding and trying to learn about their culture. From the book and my own, I have put together some ways of improving inter-cultural communication. First and foremost, giving emphasis to other cultures is an aspect that involves one putting him or herselfShow MoreRelatedHow I Can Improve Communication883 Words   |  4 PagesCan Improve Communication Well how do I go about improving myself in communication competence? Communication in relationships could make or break that relationship. 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