Wednesday, July 31, 2019

An Educational Counseling Research Proposal Essay

Abstract Educational counseling and guidance on the basis of the effects brought about by the media on the learner is essential in the proper development of personality and behavior. Due to the fact that learning process can be measured by the behavior exhibited by an individual, it can be considered as the main indication in the research conducted. The aim of the research is to determine the possible effects of the entertainment media such as television and computers on the development of aggressive behavior of the learner. Upon the determination of such data seek possible methods of guidance. Effect can be studied based on the results of a quantitative educational research that covers 100 students, 6 to 16 years old both male and female, undertaken through survey research. Introduction There are different ways of learning which can be used and applied in educational process. The knowledge on the effective learning techniques can be considered as an essential factor to be able to attain the goals of education. The different types of learning process guide the educators on the most effective ways of attaining the goals which is learning. Included in the types of learning techniques are the behavioral influences brought about by the different factors in the society. One of the most influential factors in the development of the learner is the media. In the behaviorist point of view in lined with the scientific study of Pavlov and Skinner that behavior is a measurable concept in learning process (Griffin, Holford, and Jarvis, 2003). Thus, on the perception of the effects of media on the learner, one of the ways in the determination of the influencing effects of the mass media is through the behavior being shown by the learner. This is similar to the target learning process. Anderson and Collins (1988) have pointed out that television has an impact not only in children’s pre-pubescent behavior but can also affect adolescent behavior. The main goal of the study is to determine the effects of the media on the behavior of the learner and ultimately present educational counseling methods suitable to manage behavioral problems that are developed, particularly aggressive behavior. There is growing concern regarding increasing aggression and violent behavior among children and adolescents this past decade and media is has been one of the factors being Juvenile delinquency has been increasing progressively not only in number but also in gravity (Snieckute, 2004) The shall be undertaken through the synergy of the library-based and the observation and experimental research that will focus on the effects of the media such as television and related information tools on the development of the different aspects of the personality of the individual. The research is in-lined with the possible behavioral problems that can be expressed by the individuals under study. The study of the development of aggressiveness and violent actions as an effect of media in the development of the personality and behavior of the learner is important due to the fact that majority of he study surmised that the media is one of the major causes of the problems in behavior of the learner as a whole. More children are gaining access and are being exposed to media without or with deficient parental supervision and depend on television as their primary form of entertainment and information (Walma van der Molen & van der Voort, 1999) This is due to the fact that observation and imitation of the situations in the surroundings is also an effective informal teacher not only cognitively but most especially on the behavioral aspect (Sylwester, 2005). Thus, the behavior of an individual can be both an influential factor that teaches other people and at the same time an indication of the person’s learning. To establish the effects of the media to the learner, researches conducted prior to this study will be surveyed and assessed. The background study will enable the establishment of concepts, prevailing theories and other current research investigations on the influence of media as part of the experimental study, an in-depth analysis of the results of the research survey will be one of the primary objectives The purpose of the study is to be able to determine the validity of television exposure as a major cause of the development of aggressive behavior among children. The objective will be achieved through the research both library-based and qualitative data gathering on the behavior influences of the group. The results of previous studies will be assessed and incorporated into the current research to establish the degree of influence of television to aggression in children. The proposed paper aims to answer the following key questions: †¢ Why is there concern regarding the development of aggressive behavior among juveniles or minors specifically ages 6 to 16 years old in relation to the exposure to media? †¢ What television practices or programming are critical in influencing behavior among juveniles or minors specifically ages 6 to 16 years old? †¢ What are the long term implications to the individuals and society of the development of early aggressive behavior among the test group? In line with the aim to test the hypothesis that the violence presented by the media specifically the television has significant effects on the development of the behavior of the children that can cause concern to educational guidance as well as regarding the detrimental effects of the media such as television to the behavior of the learner, theories on the psychological and behavioral norms serves as the bases for the divergence of attitudes and for the identification of deviant behavior that can cause alarm and leads to actions related to educational counseling. Review of Related Literature The proposed study is on the basis of the behaviorist approach to education. In this principle, learning can be measured by the observable traits and behaviors of the individual. The behaviorist point of view depicts the importance of expression of a person in the determination of a successful learning process. One of the most important is the process of conditioning that can be applied through the process (Griffin, Holford, and Jarvis, 2003). Another key concept that is related to the course of this study is the theories on conditioning. Conditioning that can be explained as the exposure to different affective factors in the environment that can affect both the cognitive and behavioral aspects of development. In the study of Sylwester (2005), it was discussed that learning is greatly affected by the emotions and attention capacity of an individual. In this case it can be identified that young children become more attracted to the television and the computer rather than any forms and tools of learning. According to Walma van der Molen and van der Voort (1999), children today retain more information form television viewing compared to reading. A critical concept presented in the study is the theory that television is catering more to the fact that children tend to be attracted to â€Å"changing environments† and more suited to the learning styles (visual and aural), a competency that Media has as strength (American Association of School Administrators, 1991; â€Å"Learning Styles†, 2006). The main concern that arises in relation to the behavioral influences brought about by these types of influences is the fact that television and computer games can present violence that can be imitated by the children and are subject to very little control within most homes. Based on the same study, it was presented that due to the fact that the development is composed of both the physiological and behavioral, education can also cause development of the brain (Sylwester, 2005). The study presented a scientific and physiological approach on the changes associated with the influences of the media to the children. The television and other forms of media were presented with fair treatment, presenting both the perceived advantages and disadvantages were presented. Based on the study conducted by Barker and Petley (2001), concern regarding media content is in relation to the behavior of the children is based on the effects of the programs shown in the television especially those that show violence. Although many studies have expressed such notion, based on the study, there is no convincing evidence that points and measures the interrelationship between the two. The researches argue that violence in the televisions has no direct relationship to the changes in behavior of an individual. The access to computer and the internet was surmised to have a very influential role in the development of the children. Like television, the internet and computers have provided new opportunities and realities for learning and education. Also included in the benefits that can be incurred is the development of children are cognitive improvement and communication skills. On the other hand, such freedom to be able to access the computer can greatly effect the possible behavior of the learners when exposed to violence, pornographic materials and other factors that has negative effects (Cleon and Cho, 2005). One of the conventional studies on the effects of media was presented by Johnson (2005). Based on this study, the computer games can bring about the development of analytical skills of children. The skills that can be developed are the problem-solving and logical skills. Various methodologies that can be applied in the course of the study as well flexibility of reference can be utilized. However, a systematic research should be employed to assess and analyze in the involvement and the effects of the media on the knowledge acquisition and cognitive skills of the children (Livingstone, 2004) Procedures To be able to achieve the projected results of the study, different procedure are needed to be employed. The target of the research to be conducted is to determine the effects that can be attributed to the forms of media such as the television and computers. This can be achieved through the employment of the synergy of the different methods of research. Included in the attainment of the educational research there are essential steps that are taken into consideration. The limitations of the study, the planning phase of the research process, and the decision on the most effective research technique to be undertaken are the primary considerations (Cohen, Manion, and Morrison, 2000). †¢ Document/ Study Research The library-cased research focuses on the studies conducted by contemporary researchers on the basis of concepts presented. This can be considered as the qualitative part of the research process that will be the basis of the analysis on the experimental study that will be undertaken (Cohen, Manion, and Morrison, 2000). An online research or related document will serve as another reference assessment method but also as a benchmark of the research to be conducted. Comparison and Contrast of existing and recently conducted researches will be assessed for their implications. †¢ The Experimental Research The experimental part of the research have two main objective: to assess the degree of aggressive behavior that can be attributed to exposure to television and computer games and to determine the specific content, elements or features that can be directly related to aggressive behavior. o Participants The inclusion criteria in the study are the minor students and learners that are between 6 to 16 years old. These are individuals that are exposed to the television and computer technology. ï‚ § Demography †¢ Equal distribution of male and females †¢ Age range is between 6-16 years of age †¢ Currently enrolled in public schools that incorporate television and computers into their curricula †¢ Participants must have access both to computer gaming or entertainment and television †¢ Have significant exposure to television and computer entertainment, minimum of 1 hour daily exposure or total of 7 hours exposure in a week. ï‚ § Psychographics †¢ Must not be pre-diagnosed with any atypical behavioral conditions †¢ View television and computers as primary sources of information, entertainment or distraction †¢ Has no strong opinion regarding the influence of television and computers to his behavior o Number The ideal number of subjects that will be used in the study is 100 randomly selected from the individuals that are chosen on the basis of the inclusion criteria such as age and the exposure to the television or computer. o Instrumentation The study will make use of the survey process specifically questionnaires for the determination of the opinions of the parents on the exposure of the children to the specified forms of media. The objective is to quantify the responses given by the sample population. The method targets the characteristic or issue of interest by soliciting answers through directed questions. Responses are recorded, measured, organized and analysed to be able to come up with the output. o Sampling Process The primary step required is the preparation of the questionnaires that is needed to elicit from the subjects information necessary to accomplish the objectives of the study. Questionnaire will be made to meet closely readability levels as needed by respondents. Randomization will be employed to be able to acquire the quality of the research results. Data gathering will follow validation of responses until number or samples needed are reached. o Validation and valuation The validity can be achieved though the validation techniques employed in the statistical sampling of random samples. Respondent’s validation will be done using demographic and psychographic criteria. Response validation will be indicated through successful accomplishment of survey forms. Valuation of sampling will be conducted through statistical analysis. Correlation analysis and significance testing will be conducted to establish the actual influence levels of television and computer to aggressive behavior and their impact to aggressiveness as a behavior respectively. †¢ Ethical Considerations The aims and the objective of the survey research are not to implicate any form of media to crimes or delinquencies but to be able to assess the viability of the theories on their influence to aggressive behavior developed by children. To be able to undertake such projects permission is sought from the sample population as well as their understanding of the objectives and procedure of the study. Consent from the parents or guardians and all other pertinent authorities must be acquired to facilitate the validity of the study as well as protect the interest of the participants. Results Results of the preliminary investigation showed the possible ways to determine the reasons for the concern of the public regarding the behavioral problems that is encountered. The preliminary research presents the overview of the possible justification of concern on the development of aggressive behavior of the children. The integration of contextual library-based and survey research will be presented to determine the validity of hypotheses and its pursuit as a further study. Discussion Based on the gathered data from initial research that was undertaken, a larger part of the population perceive the media as having as a negative influence only on behavior instead of it being a direct cause of behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Literature that showed the television, computer and other electronic visual media can contribute to learning, social orientation and perceptions but are not reflective or indicative of behavior for individuals The concern on the level of exposure to violence and pornography without the guidance of responsible educators, parents and guardians of young children Is considered as the most critical and urgent. Although there is cause for public concern regarding its content and control, the lobby is for responsible programming and reviews rather that greater restriction of limitation of access. References American Association of School Administrators (1991). Learning Styles: Putting Research and Common Sense into Practice. Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators Anderson, D., & Collins, P. (1988). The impact on children’s education: Television’s influence on cognitive development. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Barker, M. and Petley, J (2001). Ill Effects: The Media/Violence Debate. New York: Routledge. Cleon, HJ and Cho, CH. (2005) Children’s Exposure to Negative Internet Content: Effects of Family Context. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 49 (4), p. 488. Cohen, L. Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2000). Research Methods in Education. London: Routledge. Davis, J. (2002) Types of research methods. Psychological Research Methods 2. Retrieved on October 1, 2006 from http://www.naropa.edu/faculty/johndavis/prm2/types1.html. Griffin, C., Holford, J. & Jarvis, P. (2003). The Theory & Practice of Learning. London: Kogan Page. Johnson, S. (2005). Everything bad is good for you: How today’s popular culture is actually making us smarter. New York: Riverhead Books. Livingstone, S. (2004) A commentary on the research evidence regarding the effects of food promotion on children. Prepared for the Research Department of the Office of Communication, Department of Media and Communication. London: London School of Economics and Political Science. Snieckute, Marija (2004). Juvenile delinquency and the Family. Retrieved on October 1, 2006 from http://www.sociumas.lt/Eng/Nr16/nepilnameciai.asp Sylwester, R. (2005). How to explain a brain: An educator’s handbook of brain terms and cognitive process. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Walma van der Molen, Juliette H. and van der Voort Tom H.A (1999). Children Remember More from Television Than Reading. Retrieved on October 1, 2006 from http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/articles/child_behavior/kidsntv.htm Appendix 1. Age _________ 2. Sex _________ 3. Are you married? _________ 4. Do you have children? _________ 5. Do you have school children? _________ (Refers to school children age 6 – 16 years old only) 6. Are they watching TV almost everyday? _________ 7. How many hours spent in watching TV everyday? _________ 8. Having hard time in stopping them to watch TV? _________ 9. Do they sleep late at night because of TV? _________ 10. Are they committing invalid absences frequently? _________ 12. Do you think too much time in watching TV is the cause of this? _________ 13. Do you think their grades are good, maintained and not going down? ________ 14. Did they normally pass all the subjects? _________ 15. Do you get feedback that they are sleepy in the class session? _________ 16. Do they prefer TV than basketball or other sports? _________

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony government was able to be, at least partially, simultaneously theocratic, democratic, oligarchic, and authoritarian. It was able to be partly theocratic because of the doctrine of the covenant, which stated that the whole purpose of government was to enforce God’s laws. God’s laws applied to everyone, even nonbelievers. Everyone also had to pay taxes for the government-supported church. This meant that religious leaders held enormous power in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They were able to effectively control who was admitted to the church by conducting public interrogations of people who claimed to have experienced conversion. The last reason it was partially theocratic was one of the main governors, John Winthrop, believed he had a â€Å"calling† from God to lead the Massachusetts colony. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was partially democratic for a couple of reasons. First, the freemen elected the governor and his associates each year. The freemen also voted for a representative assembly called the General Court. The Colony was also partly an oligarchy. It was an oligarchy because only Puritans could be freemen and were eligible to vote. Puritans were even more limited because religious leaders could control who was admitted into the church. Finally, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was partially authoritarian. This was partially because many of the residents were Puritans. Puritans shared in the â€Å"Protestant Ethic†, which involved serious commitment to work and to engagement in worldly pursuits. Everyone was held to these standards because of this. Everyone was expected to do this, even if they weren’t Puritan.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Business economics (for firm) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business economics (for firm) - Essay Example The traditional theory of firm states that the same principles underlie each decision taken within a firm and that the decision is influenced by who takes it, thus the theory abstracts from the peculiarities of the persons taking the decisions and from the organizational structure in which they were. Therefore according to the traditional theory of firm whenever a firm manager or board of directors of the firm, then as far as the theory takes decisions is concerned that person is the firm for the purposes of that decision. According to devine1985 he reinstated the traditional theory of firm, he viewed participatory economy system as a process in which the value and interest of people in a process of decision making through negotiation and cooperation. Extra-firm firm is concerned with the implication of generalized participation outside the firm for the process and criteria that determine which of the entrepreneurial or innovation output of firms are successful. Baumol's sales revenue maximizing model. Williasm Baumol developed the sales maximizing model he argues that firms attempts to maximize the revenue obtained from sales with or without a profit constraint. This is motivated by managers in a firm belief that their salaries are related to the size of the firm. This approach was developed by cyert and March in 1963. ... with the implication of generalized participation outside the firm for the process and criteria that determine which of the entrepreneurial or innovation output of firms are successful. Question 3 Baumol's sales revenue maximizing model. Williasm Baumol developed the sales maximizing model he argues that firms attempts to maximize the revenue obtained from sales with or without a profit constraint. This is motivated by managers in a firm belief that their salaries are related to the size of the firm. The diagram below demonstrates a firm's total cost curve. Total revenue curve and the profit curve. Total revenue curve and the profit curve. Cost & Revenue Total Revenue At point 'P' where total cost curve intersect total revenue curve. The profit value is zero. Where TC = TR then profits are equal to zero. Managers of a firm may be interest in maximizing variables other than profits. The diagram below shows a firms attempts to maximize sales revenue subject to a minimum profit and a firm not subjected to a profit constrain. A firm producing at point Qo maximizes profit this is the point where the profit curve is at it maximum. A firm that has no profit constraint in its production will produce at pointy Q3. A firm with a minimum profit constraint will produce at point Q2, where the minimum profit line interest the profit curve. Section B Behavioural Approach of a Firm This approach was developed by cyert and March in 1963. It emphasizes on explaining how decisions are taken within a firm. This approach is an alternative of the -profit maximization theory. According to Baumol (1959), he suggests that managers would seek to maximize their own utility, managers interests are served by maximizing sales after achieving a

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Capstone Experience (Business Metrics) 2 Assignment

Capstone Experience (Business Metrics) 2 - Assignment Example Current ratio helps in calculating the firm’s ability to pay its short-term liabilities. It is calculated by dividing the current liabilities with the current assets (Mowen, Hansen, & Heitger, 2011). Using the on time delivery indicator to predict stock-out helps in measuring the operational efficiency of the business unit (Bidgoli, 2010). This follows from the derivation of information that ensures that the unit maintains sufficient stock for its operations. The gross operating profit per available room measures the competitiveness of the unit. This follows from the use of the rates to give measures that can maximize profitability of the unit. The current ratio seeks to measure the decision-making capacity. It gives insight into the prevailing financial situation, thus prompting appropriate actions to safeguard financial stability. The business unit seeks to maintain good relations with creditors. Therefore, the current ratio helps the business unit to preserve the trust of the organization’s creditors, by showing when there is need to negotiate with them on payment. The gross operating profit per available room assists the business in seeking a competitive edge in its operations. More to these, the stock-out predictor aligns to the unit’s strategy of promoting customer satisfaction (Stair & Reynolds,

Saturday, July 27, 2019

A strategic review of Hard Rock Caf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A strategic review of Hard Rock Caf - Essay Example Strategic group analysis for Hard Rock Cafà © will help in evaluating the firms with similar features, competing on same basis or following similar strategies. Three major direct competitions have been analysed, namely Planet Hollywood International Inc, The Johnny Rockets Group and Landry’s Inc. The value chain analysis of Hard Rock Cafà © has helped in making strategies for better value creation for customers. A SAF analysis was done to identify potential problems, highlight their impact on winning execution and make sure that strategies are properly implemented. VRIN analysis helped in evaluating the core competencies of Hard Rock Cafà ©. The various components of the VRIN were further broken down into smaller components and the competency level of each of these components were further analysed. At last, various suggestions were put forward. The final recommendation chosen after the analysis was to expand in new and emerging markets. Founded in the year 1971, Hard Rock Cafà © (HRD) is one of the finest chains of theme restaurants. It was started by Peter Morton and Issac Tigrett in London as a fast food and coffee joint (Hard Rock, 2014a). Over the years, Hard Rock Cafà © has successfully established itself as a pioneer in theme restaurants. After its successful global expansion into various nations, the retail chain diversified into many new business segments, including hotels, dining restaurants and casinos. In the year 2007, Hard Rock Cafà © was taken over by Seminole Tribe of Florida and the headquarters were shifted to Orland, Florida. As present, there are about 175 Hard Rock Cafà © s located across 53 countries (Hard Rock, 2014b). An analysis of product life cycle of Hard Rock Cafà © will help in understanding the present condition of the retail brand, in terms of its position in theme restaurants industry. Currently,

Evaluate the impact of Fairtrade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evaluate the impact of Fairtrade - Essay Example Alternative trade organizations that are based on philosophies of well being of environment, and also social justice are creating new channels for marketing and trade alongside conventional agricultural export sectors. Social responsibility and ethics have become an important factor in consumer marketing which provides an organization with competitive advantage with respect to its competitors. The changes that are brought about by fair trade have to be looked at first to analyze the impacts of fair trade. One has to consider in this regard the changes that were not possible without the existence of fair trade. When the existence of fair trade benefits farmers, they start to control a significant part of the production chain and also employ workers. When farmers who are certified by fair trade employ workers, those workers have a high standard of living and a working condition that is considered better. If workers have a standard of living that is considered better, they will invest more money in their children’s education. Favourable economic opportunities are provided by fair trade to small farming families such that they also get the opportunity to join manufacturing organizations and produce products with market specifications. These farmers are considered to enjoy higher and stable incomes as compared to those farmers that sell in the conventional market. Buyers pay a stable minimum price known as fair trade price to cover the sustainable cost of production. There also exists opportunity for pre-financing and also contracts for long term planning. It also has an increased access to the export markets (Bassett, 2010, pp. 44-49). The fair trade price is considered to have a lot of significance when in the volatile world the prices of commodities and products fall below the cost of production. Importers tend to import the products of fair trade in their respective countries for further processing of such products and to sell those products themselves or

Friday, July 26, 2019

Finance and Accounting Dissertation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Finance and Accounting Dissertation - Essay Example Activity Based Costing (ABC) is a managerial accounting system which determines the cost of activities without distortion and provides management with relevant and timely information. It does not represent just a new set of overhead allocation rules or techniques to value inventory. ABC represents a way to look at operating costs and provides methods to dissect the underlying activities, which cause costs to exist† (Dunn 1891). The problem here, which is to be solved, is â€Å"Does the activity based costing play a vital part in financial performance†. For this purpose we have to know about the relevance of activity based costing. Here an example is given to know the difference about the activity based costing and conventional costing. E.g. Assume that Product A and Product B are manufactured by the same company. Product A is a low volume item and new one, it requires particular activities such as additional testing, special engineering, and some machine setups because i t is ordered in less quantities. Product B is a big volume product produced constantly and needs little concentration and does not require the particular actions. â€Å"If this business makes use of conventional costing, they assign or assign every expense to goods on the basis of the amount of machine hours. This will effect in small expenses rate due to Product A, since it do not contain numerous machine hours. Though, it performs order loads of testing, engineering and setup actions. The Product B will be owed a huge quantity of expenses owing to every device hours, except it insist small expenses action and no special attention† (Emerging Issues in Cost and Management Accounting n.d). The result will create a serious miscalculation of both products’ real price of manufacturing expenses. This costing will raise above this situation by transferring expenses on above the one action that is., the machine hours will not only be the activity, all other activities are tak en into consideration while costing the product. Background of the Study: Activity based costing will recognize the cost of additional testing, machine setups, special engineering and other activities that cause the costs. These activities consumed the resources of the company. So in activity based costing, they will calculate the cost of resources used in these activities and the product cost will be fixed accordingly. The cost of activity is assigned only to the product which demands the activities, which means the cost of special engineering, additional testing will not assign to the product B. Aims and Objectives: Here, the objective of the study is to understand â€Å"does the activity base costing play a vital part in financial performance†. Obviously, there are reasons to say that activity based costing plays a vital part in financial performance of organizations. But before stating it, we need to critically analyze the financial performances reports and compare the fi nancial performance of activity based costing and conventional costing methods. From the above examples itself, we can understand how the activity based costing is an advantage for the organization. The real cause of costs is recognized and it is added to the product cost. This method eliminates the chances of miscalculations and hence gives additional profit to the organization. But activity based costing also have some problems like; some costs are complex to allocate during this

Thursday, July 25, 2019

What is ethnicity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

What is ethnicity - Essay Example Certainly, they often co-exist and it is hardly uncommon that the latter be invoked by the former but, both contemporary and historical events evidence the fact that nationalism can be independent from the nation.2 Not only may feelings of nationalism precede the geo-political realization of the nation, as in the case of Palestine or Kurdistan but it often survives the demise of the nation, as in the case of Armenia, to name but one example. While some scholars have disputed the separation between nationalism and the nation, others have maintained it to be an undeniable reality which is influenced by the ethnic roots of nationalism. Pending the presentation of definitions for both the nation and nationalism, through reference to several examples, this essay will show that nationalism is more ethnic-based than it is nation-based. Some political scientists maintain that nationalism and the nation are inseparable contrasts, wherein the one cannot exist without the other. This is precisely the argument forwarded by Seymour (1999), a political scholar. As he argues, defining the concept of nationalism without first defining that of the nation is nothing other than a futile and impossible undertaking. The nation must first be defined and to this end, Seymour proposes the following definition: "a sovereign state founded upon the will of the people," and an area which a people of specific ethnic origin claims to be theirs and are prepared to defend this claim against any aggression.3 The nation, in other words, is defined in specific geopolitical terms and refers to a well-defined geographic space. That space invokes nationalism, or feelings of pride, often even defensiveness when real or imagined threats are perceived. When invoked by real or imagined threats, whether internal, as in emanating from within that spac e, or external, as in emerging from without it, nationalism tends to assume an ethnic undertone. In such instance, the nationalism becomes ethno-nationalism, leading to the redefinition of the nation in ethnic terms.4 The implication here is that not only are the concepts of the nation and nationalism inextricably linked but that the invocation of nationalist sentiments, of nationalism, is dependant upon the existence of the nation. Should one reflect upon Seymour's definition and argument, however, one will find that it is somewhat self-contradictory. On the one hand, it maintains that nationalism can only be invoked by the nation, following which it proceeds to define the nation as a concrete geopolitical entity. On the other hand, however, it argues that when the nation, that concrete geopolitical entity, is exposed to threat, not only does nationalism become ethno-nationalism but that the nation itself is redefined along ethnic lines. The implication here is that the core of nationalism is not the nation but is ethnicity which, at the same time, is the center-force of the nation. This is precisely the argument forwarded by May, Modood and Squires (2005). As may be inferred from their argument, nations are formed by ethnic communities and are founded upon ethnicity, wherein nationalism becomes the celebration of a particular ethnic or religious group and the nation the space which protects and sustains this g roup. 5 Israel is a case in point. As Yiftachel (2006) points out, Jewish nationalism, sometimes referred to as Zionism, preceded formation of the Jewish nation and, indeed, the nation was predicated upon pre-existing nationalism6 and not, as Seymour (1999) argues,

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

North Korea faces an ongoing food and humanitarian crisis. As a State Essay

North Korea faces an ongoing food and humanitarian crisis. As a State Department planner, outline the political pros and cons - Essay Example Hopefully this will give an indication to the regime that the American government has a vested interest in the welfare of the people regardless of the political differences and the relationship between the two countries. Assistance to North Korea can in the long run eliminate the threat of nuclear power by the country. The February 2007 agreement between the USA and North Korea in the denuclearization process within the six-party framework should offer some glimmer of hope to the USA. The rewards given to North Korea such as promises of food and energy support should work towards an eventual change in behavior. Although North Korea is still continuing with their nuclear program the six-party talks and tangible support and promises should be consistent. In January 2009 North Korea hinted that it would curtail its nuclear program if there was an establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the USA, among other stipulations. The ultimate objective of assistance to North Korea should be for the basic human rights reasons. Humanitarian aid should be targeted at the suffering population rather than trying to create an impression on the political leaders. Aid is valuable from the western viewpoint of human rights but should not be expected to change the policies of Kim Jong While on the one hand humanitarian aid will and should benefit the people, it can also unfortunately create some advantage for the ruling regime. The totalitarian nature of the regime makes it possible for any international body to have a direct responsibility on the distribution of aid. Depending on the type of aid this can be manipulated by the political directorate and giving them more strength and power instead of providing relief for the population. History has shown that an increase of humanitarian aid to the country has not deterred the hostilities and attacks on human rights of the citizens. The

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Write ur own ending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Write ur own ending - Essay Example Lucy and Susan were rather scared as the Lion was going astray and was losing conscious. All of a sudden, the sky went all dark, and strange dark clouds took over the entire mansion and soon, the entire scenery was found covered in darkness. Cold Chilly wind started blowing and suddenly, the trees started turning pale. Aslan, the Lion, was now feeling weak and stale, and soon after he started mumbling, ‘Water! I need some Water’. Poor Lucy and Susan were more confused than frightened, questions rambling inside their minds. ‘Susan, you`ve turned blue, what is happening to you?’ exclaimed Lucy. A tear drop fell from the eyes of frightened Susan, which instantly turned into ice. At this moment, Lucy realized that their bodies were losing temperature and they were suddenly turning into ice. Aslan, the Lion, was already lying on the floor, turning into ice slowly and gradually, as if his body is being trapped into a container made out of ice. Lucy and Susan ran up to Aslan, trying to wake him up. Lucy slowly rubbed the paws and face of Aslan, hoping he would be relieved. Though unconscious, Aslan slowly gathered the power to speak as he looked into the eyes of both Lucy and Susan, turn by turn, ‘Return to your land, the witch`s spell has gone stronger than ever’ he said with much wretchedness. ‘Soon, you`ll both turn into ice statues and would never be able to return’. †˜What? We can`t leave you here, if we abandon Narnia, no one will ever be able to rescue the statues ever’ said Susan. ‘And what about Edmund, we haven`t found him yet’ cried Lucy. ‘Aslan is right. Both of you must return to where you belong before it`s too late’ exclaimed Edmund, appearing from nowhere. Unlike the surroundings, and the condition in which Lucy and Susan were, freezing and dying of the chilly winds, Edmund was joyous and healthy, in fact he looked better than he had ever looked.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Creative Writing - Whangamata Beach Essay Example for Free

Creative Writing Whangamata Beach Essay As I gaze over my photo album I pause on a particular photo. Its dark but I can just make out the shadowy figures posing in the background, the murky night enclosing itself around them. Brightly coloured flames shoot up from the wood in front of them; I can still feel that warmth of the fire. I search my mind trying to place the exact details of that night only they blur and condense until there are only specs of a memory. That photo always brings me back to one place, Whangamata. Looking up to the sky, glimmering with brightly illuminated stars I breathe in only to have my lungs become coated with the thick sea salt that travels up the sandy banks of the beach every time a wave begins to crash down on the shore. I reach for my camera which has been swallowed up by the surrounding sand. Brushing it off I focus it on everyones shadowy faces. They all gather around, they huddle to try fit into the screen of the camera. Taking the photo I hear the shutter click, lying back I close my eyes. The heat of the blazing fire penetrates my skin as I sink into the sand. I think about all the complications Ill have when I get back to Auckland. As I sigh, I position my head on a piece of drift wood. Aiming my stare towards my friends I see them singing and dancing around the fire. Lazily I smile at them when they begin to call my name. Youre no fun! Erin shouts as I stick my tongue out at her in mock response. After a while more people begin to join me beside the fire, their bodies tired from the erratic movement of tonights adventures. Rose begins to hush everyone and as it quietens a clearer noise is audible. Laughter and shouting from the distance booms and echoes around us. Everyone turns to give each other puzzled looks. This is our spot, how could anyone find us here? I squint trying to make out who they are but the blackness of midnight is too dark and hazy. Hidden from my eyesight for a while, shadowy silhouettes eventually emerge from the dimness behind the fire. A group of people were making their way towards us, shouting. One by one our group stood up, I was the last to stand but the first to approach them. Erin ran to catch up with me, linking her arm through mine when she reaches me. Her icy skin gives me goose bumps; I rub my arms to stay warm. Thunder rumbles in the distance as the cool offshore breeze begins to whip my hair lightly backwards and forwards. When we reach the intruders I speak, Im Kayleigh, this is Erin and theyre our friends I motioned towards everybody standing around the fire. The group standing before me smiled. Can we sit with you for a while; weve been walking for hours the boy closest to me asks huskily. I nod in reply. Instead of

Individual Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Individual Responsibility Essay So this is the deal: society today frowns on giving the individual responsibility. We are governed by a set of rules that limits the ability of any individual to make a choice, because we believe that the individual will make the wrong choice, for either himself, others, or both. For example, take traffic rules. Rules such as stopping at stop signs and not running red lights should be entirely optional. A cop should not have jurisdiction or the responsibility to enforce such rules; they should merely be considered as social recommendations. You are recommended to stop here, but you may proceed without stopping at your own risk. Sitting at a red light when no traffic is coming makes one feel like a fool and a cog. Why do we sit there, comfortable in our upholstered seats, staring at a red light waiting for the green when we can obviously see that there is no cross-traffic and that it is safe to cross? Because we are scared that we will get a ticket. Why are we scared that we will get a ticket? Because we are scared of what others may think when they find out that we got a ticket for running a red light. Because we will be ostracized by our peers, and considered an unsafe driver. Because we are scared that it will go on the infamous, anonymous record and that we will be scarred for life as if with a scarlet letter. Why do we respect the record? Why do we place such value in not even making a single mistake if we can help it? Because society values its existence as a whole over the existence of individuals. Individuals are valued only so far as how they can contribute to the creation and maintenance of a society, and beyond that, all their individual needs must be satisfied on their own. We choose to restrict the choices that individuals can make because we dont believe that they will make the right choice, whatever that may be. As a result, we feel demeaned and stupid, sitting at a red light at 2am, waiting to cross as the city sleeps. In New York they apparently run red lights en masse, even in the presence of cops, but Ive never experienced this directly so I dont know for sure. In any case, it is time for individuals to take responsibility for their own actions, and for society to risk losing a few more individuals for the sake of maintaining individual identity. And without individual identity, the individual will no longer wish to be a part of a society that treats him like a suckling child. How can you expect to have any self-respect if you work everyday in a job where you dont make decisions, but decisions are made for you by a few words in a manual? Where people value not what you believe and say, but what happens to be written? I guess talk is cheap, but whos to say that writing isnt? When employers watch their employees with video cameras, when employers cannot even trust their employees to not steal from a cash register that they are operating, something must be wrong. Either the employee isnt getting paid enough to work, or the job shouldnt exist in the first place. By not showing trust, youre only asking for an even more disgruntled worker to rob you. And look at the options that an individual has in society today. You have two basic options. Option One: Spend your life in school educating yourself for a job that you dont really want to buy the stuff you dont really need to pass the time until you retire to pass the time until you die. Uh-huh. Tell that to a kid when theyre growing up, and theyll call you crazy. And we think the people who opt-out, such as homeless people, constitute societys insane. But wait, there is hope. Option Two: Understanding this sad fate, you instead sue a large corporation, such as McDonalds, for causing your child to be fat or for causing your own heart disease. You threaten to file a class-action lawsuit that will rival the Big Tobacco suit, costing McDonalds billions of dollars if you win or millions in lawyer fees if you dont. But you also give them the option to settle quietly out of court for an undisclosed sum worth several million. Being a financially-focused business, McDonalds will of course choose to settle. In effect, by threatening to sue and destroy McDonalds reputation, you have earned yourself a living that, if well-managed, could last you a lifetime. And you feel little guilt because McDonalds is not your neighbor whom you see everyday but some faceless corporation consisting of thousands of employees that would rather work elsewhere. Even though what youve done amounts to extortion, blackmail. And McDonalds has chosen business over ethics, without missing a beat. If youre smart, you choose option two. If youre ethical, you choose option one. If youre smart and ethical, you choose a third option, yet to be conceived. But right now, option two seems like the definite way to go. In fact, society recommends it, because of course your childs obesity or your heart disease could not have been in any way under your control as your responsibility, because you, the consumer, are not to be trusted with something as important as RESPONSIBILITY. Who knows, you just might hurt someone. And thus, we have a cycle of lack of responsibility that is self-perpetuating. Society doesnt think we can take care of ourselves, we begin to believe this, and then we act on it to benefit ourselves. Because we really can take care of ourselves, no matter what restrictions society places on us. Our most recent outlet has been litigation; in fact, if you want to get a safe job today, become a lawyer. Just dont expect to succeed if you actually have morals and care about the cases you fight. Just be a shrewd businessman. And dont feel bad when you do the wrong thing, knowing full well that the right thing is going to cost you. After all, you can work for the plaintiff for free; just be sure to ask for a 30% cut of whatever McDonalds gives them. Why do we make a society where doing the right thing is expensive? Who designed this damn thing anyway? Its design by committee, and hence the design sucks

Sunday, July 21, 2019

PESTEL Analysis of Tesco

PESTEL Analysis of Tesco Table of Contents PESTEL Analysis Political Economic Social Technology Environmental Legal Review of Tesco PLC References PESTEL Analysis Political The UK government has recently adopted a tax measure that affected Tesco. In 2011 the UK government increased the VAT rate from 17.5% to 20% with the aim to increase government revenue by  £13 billion per year (BBC, 2011, n. p.). Crossley et al. (2009, p. 3) contend that an increase in the VAT rate leads to lower customer spending. Therefore, an increase in the VAT rate negatively affected the sales revenue generated by Tesco. Sales revenue is the key source of income of the organisation and thus it holds a substantial effect on profits (Atrill, 2009, p. 33). The UK government has also proposed to adopt a fat tax with the aim to control obesity and limit the medical problems associated with it (The Guardian, 2011, n. p.). Such measure can adversely affect the sales revenue of certain products retailed by Tesco. Tesco is responding to such a threat. Indeed, in 2014 Tesco launched a brand new healthy food range (Tesco, 2014, n. p.). Economic The UK economy is showing positive signs of recovery from the financial crises. Higher economic growth rate was forecasted and the gross domestic product was estimated to be 2.7% higher than the pre-crises peak (BBC, 2014, n. p.). A growth in economy is a positive sign for Tesco because it results in a growth in the supermarket industry, which is the main industry in which Tesco operates. When there is an economic recession, which is the opposite of economic growth the rate of unemployment increases. This results in lower disposable income in the hands of the British people. Therefore, customers will decrease spending and will shift to products of a lower price (Mankiw, 2012, p. 97).Therefore, recovery from the economic recession stimulates revenue growth for Tesco. Social The number of elderly people is increasing in the UK due to the baby boom generation. In the past years there was a decrease in the birth-rate and an increase in the life expectancy of people (Independent, 2010, n. p.). This led to a shift in the tastes of individuals which should be taken into account by Tesco. For example, the adoption of online shopping by Tesco for grocery products is an approach that takes into consideration the mobility issues that elderly people face. Eastmen and Iyer (2004, p. 208) examined the perception of elderly people to the use of the Internet. These scholars found that elderly people view the Internet favourably and are willing to use it. This research also suggested that elderly people with a high income are generally more in favour to the use of the Internet and are interested to acquire products online (Eastmen and Iyer, 2004, p. 208). Therefore, Tesco has positively responded to this social change. The literature says that the customers opinion of an organisation can quickly change due to changes in the quality and price of the companys products, shopping service provided to customers and competitive moves (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010, p. 163-165). This highlights the importance that the corporate strategies should be responsive to the business environment. For example, in 2013 Tesco was accused of the horsemeat scandal. Horse-related puns were identified in Tescos burgers and the organisation was accused of not providing the good quality products claimed in their advertising campaigns (Pratley, 2013, n. p.). This scandal affected negatively the perception of customers on Tesco, which resulted in a decline in sales (Neate and Moulds, 2013, n. p.). Tesco needs to respond to such scandal, which adversely affected its image. Technology Technology is critical for the supply chain management of Tesco. Retailers like Tesco develop supply chain management systems in order to attain competitive advantages and enhance cost efficiency (Tan, 2001, p. 41). Johnson et al. (2005, pp. 132 133) posit that the most effective competitive advantages are those that are difficult to imitate by competitors.These are reflected in the core competencies of the organisation (Johnson et al., 2005, pp. 132 133). Tesco needs to be very attentive to technological advancements because these may be an opportunity for the firm. For example, mobile technology helped to improve Tescos distribution service because customers can selected their preferred wine through their mobile (Tomlinson and Evans, 2005, n. p.). The management of Tesco needs to be attentive for disruptive technologies, which occur frequently in retailing. For example, the introduction of e-grocers led to a disruptive wave in the supermarket industry (Wessel and Christensen, 2012, p. 7). Disruptive technologies result from an innovation in technology that is initially incapable of reaching the performance of the present technology. Therefore, customers value the present technology more than this new technology. However, a niche in the market arises where the disruptive technology is more convenient to customers. Therefore, such technology will appear unattractive to large well established organisations, like Tesco. On the contrary small firms will regard a disruptive technology as an opportunity to enhance the market share (CIMA, 2009, pp. 1 2). These small firms will utilise the technology in order to meet the standards of performance expected by the bulk of the market (CIMA, 2009, p. 2). Therefore, over time the disruptive technology will increase in popularity and will be more valuable to customers than the present technology (CIMA, 2009, p. 2). This will thus negatively affect organisations that have not used this technological opportunity. Environmental In the press substantial emphasis is made on global warming and the consequences associated with it. For example, the increase in average temperature is leading to a melting of the Arctic ice and it is envisaged that by 2040 there will be an ice-free summer (National Geographic, 2007, n. p.). Such facts are leading to higher emphasis on environmental sustainability. Tesco is adopting a number of measures that are aimed to protect the environment. For example, Tesco is committed to diminish the consumption of energy and utilisation of greenhouse gases (Tesco, 2014c). Management claimed that when they are doing store adjustments they are taking into account such environmental factors. For example, in Thailand the organisation has invested  £3.1 million on 49 stores in order to provide energy savings of approximately  £2 million (Tesco, 2014, c, pp. 44 45). Legal There are a number of laws that affect Tesco because the organisation markets a wide number of products and services. For example, as regards the agricultural products the UK government is reforming the common agricultural policy. The government is revising the way direct subsidies will be allocated to farmers (Gov.uk, 2014, n. p.). Such measures can lead to lower subsidies, which affect the ability of farmers to meet the agricultural standards set by Tesco and the prices agreed with organisations engaged in the supermarket industry. Winnett (2012, n. p.) contends that significant fines can be imposed on firms like Tesco if such organisations force agricultural suppliers to sell at a price which is lower than costs. Tesco is also engaged in financial services products like credit cards, savings, loans and mortgages (Tesco, 2014a, n. p.). The Financial Services Act (2012) was recently implemented in the UK (Noked, 2013, n. p.). Three new governing bodies resulted from this act, which consist of the Financial Policy Committee, the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority (Noked, 2013, n. p.). The Prudential Regulatory Authority adopts a micro-perspective and is responsible that organisations engaged in financial services products operate in adherence to relevant regulations (Noked, 2013, n. p.). The Prudential Regulatory Authority seeks to decrease the negative effects arising from disruption to the continuity of financial services, which may be influenced by the way financial services organisations operate or their failure (Noked, 2013, n. p.). Review of Tesco PLC Tesco is facing serious threats that are weakening the leadership in the supermarket industry that the organisation holds in the UK. Furthermore, the financial health of competitive firms is better than that of Tesco. Tesco needs to respond to these threats and utilise its main strength, which consists of a strong brand name in order to sustain its competitive advantages. References ACCA F7 (2009) Financial Reporting: The Complete Text. Berkshire: Kaplan Publishing. Atrill, P. (2009) Financial Management for Decision Makers. Fifth Edition. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. BBC (2014a) Tesco Turns Stale as Competitors Freshen up Ideas [online]. Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29310445 [Accessed 2 October 2014]. BBC (2014) UK Economy Grew 0.9% in Second Quarter, says ONS [online]. Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29422267 [Accessed 1 October 2014]. BBC (2011) VAT Rate Rises from 17.5% to 20% (online). Available from: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-12099638 [Accessed 1 October 2014]. Bokaie, J. (2008) Tesco Finest Hits  £1.2bn Sales to Become Top Grocery Brand, Marketing Magazine [online]. Available from: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/803672/tesco-finest-hits-12bn-sales-become-top-grocery-brand [Accessed 2 October 2014]. Brealey, A. R., Myers, C. S. and Allen, F. (2011) Principles of Corporate Finance. Tenth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. CIMA (2009) A Strategic Approach to Disruptive Technologies [online]. Available from: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/cid_dispap_strategic_approach_disruptive_technologies_nov09.pdf [Accessed 1 October 2014]. Crossley, T. F., Low, H. and Wakefield, M. (2009) The Economics of a Temporary VAT Cut. Fiscal Studies, 30(1), 3-16. Eastmen, K. J. and Iyer, R. (2004) The Elderlys Uses and Attitudes towards the Internet. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 21(3), 208-220. Eiteman, K. D., Stonehill, I. A. and Moffett, H. M. (1999) Multinational Business Finance. Eighth Edition. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Gov.uk (2014) Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy to Ensure a Fair Deal for Farmers, Consumers and Taxpayers [online]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reforming-the-common-agricultural-policy-to-ensure-a-fair-deal-for-farmers-consumers-and-taxpayers [Accessed 2 October 2014]. Huang, Y. and Huddleston, P. (2009) Retailer Premium Own-Brands: Creating Customer Loyalty through Own-Brand Products Advantage. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 37(11), 975-992. Hunger, J. D. and Wheelen, L. T. (2000) Strategic Management. Seventh Edition. London: Prentice Hall. Independent (2010) Will the Baby-Boomers Bankrupt Britain? [online]. Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/will-the-babyboomers-bankrupt-britain-1936027.html [Accessed 1 October 2014]. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. Seventh Edition. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Kaplan, S. R. and Norton, P. D. (1996) The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. Watertown: Harvard Business Press. Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2010) Principles of Marketing. Thirteenth Edition. London: Prentice Hall. Mankiw, N. G. (2012) Principles of Economics. Sixth Edition. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Matsa, A. D. (2011) Competition and Product Quality in the Supermarket Industry. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 26(9), 2375-2410. McKenzie, W. (2003) Using and Interpreting Company Accounts. Third Edition. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Meyer-Waarden, L. and Benavent, C. (2009) Grocery Retail Loyalty Program Effects: Self-Selection or Purchase Behaviour Change? Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 37(3), 345-358. National Geographic (2007) Global Warming Fast Facts [online]. Available from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming.html [Accessed 7 October 2014]. Neate, R. and Moulds, J. (2013) Tesco Sales Stumble on Horsemeat Scandal, The Guardian [online]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jun/05/tesco-sales-fall-horsemeat-scandal [Accessed 1 October 2014]. Neville, S. (2013) Tesco is still UKs Top Retail Brand despite Horsemeat Scandal, says Report, The Guardian [online]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/mar/19/tesco-retail-brand-horsemeat-scandal [Accessed 2 October 2014]. Noked, N. (2013) Financial Services Act 2012: A New UK Financial Regulatory Framework, The Harvard Law School [online]. Available from: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/2013/03/24/financial-services-act-2012-a-new-uk-financial-regulatory-framework/ [Accessed 2 October 2014]. Pike, R. and Neale, B. (2003) Corporate Finance and Investment: Decisions and Strategies. Fourth Edition. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Poulter, S. (2014) Price War at the Checkout: Rival Supermarkets Forced to Fight Back after Morrisons Slash  £1 Billion off the Cost of Basic Food, Daily Mail [online]. Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2579920/Morrisons-vows-Lidl-Aldi-slashing-prices.html [Accessed 3 October 2014]. Pratley, N. (2013) Tesco and the Horsemeat Scandal: Answers Needed Quickly, The Guardian [online]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2013/jan/16/tesco-horsemeat-scandal-reaction?guni=Article:in%20body%20link [Accessed 1 October 2014]. Reuters (2014) Financials: Tesco PLC (TSCO.L) [online]. Available from: http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/financialHighlights?symbol=TSCO.L [Accessed 2 October 2014]. Tan, C. K. (2001) A Framework of Supply Chain Management Literature. European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 7, 39-48. Tesco (2014b) Annual Report and Financial Statements 2014 [online]. Available from: http://www.tescoplc.com/files/pdf/reports/ar14/download_annual_report.pdf [Accessed 3 October 2014]. Tesco (2014 c) Environment [online]. Available from: http://www.tesco.com/csr/downloads/pdf6.pdf [Accessed 7 October 2014]. Tesco (2014a) Tesco Bank [online]. Available from: http://www.tescobank.com/home/home.html [Accessed 2 October 2014]. Tesco (2014) Tesco Launches Brand New Healthy Food Range for People on the go [online]. Available from: http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=17newsid=1005 [Accessed 1 October 2014]. Tomlinson, H. and Evans, R. (2005) Tesco Stocks up on Inside Knowledge of Shoppers Lives, The Guardian [online]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/sep/20/freedomofinformation.supermarkets [Accessed 1 October 2014]. The Guardian (2011) UK could Introduce Fat Tax, says David Cameron [online]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/oct/04/uk-obesity-tax-david-cameron [Accessed 1 October 2014]. Wessel, M. and Christensen, M. C. (2012) Surviving Disruption. Harvard Business Review, 90(12), 56-64. Winnett, R. (2012) Supermarkets Face Large Fines for Abusing Farmers, The Telegraph [online]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/supermarkets/9720989/Supermarkets-face-large-fines-for-abusing-farmers.html [Accessed 2 October 2014]. Wood, S. and McCarthy, D. (2014) The UK Food Retail Race for Space and Market Saturation: A Contemporary Review. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 24(2), 121-144. Other Essays on Tesco Other essays available on the Tesco organisations are: Tesco SWOT Analysis Tesco Business analysis Tesco is one of the leading supermarkets Tesco Strategy analysis Tesco Changing Business Environment Tesco Fresh Veg Supply Chain Management

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Carl Rogers :: essays research papers fc

Eventually I am going to briefly explain the important parts of these chapters because I need to take up some room and I am not quite sure about what to write. So here is a little description of what, like it or not, this paper is going to contain. I’ll start of with my thoughts and feelings about the structure and uniqueness of The Clinical Treatment of the Problem Child, then get into the actual body of the book and talk about what I thought was interesting and what I think is still used today. Of course using my petite knowledge about the psychology of today and modern-day institutions and therapy. After that I am going to delve into Way of Life and do the same thing. The Way of Life section will probably be considerably shorter because of my limited interested in the book and my blatant laziness. Plus we had to have two sources and I decided to pick the two books that he wrote near the beginning of his career and near the end.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were a few stylistic things about the book that impressed me enough to include them into this paper. First off, it was written in 1939 when the study of psychology was in its infancy. At the end of every chapter or section throughout the book there is a bibliography showing every source that was cited. I think this is a very clever way to let people know that there is a science behind psychology and it is not all blind conjecture. I think that was very insightful and very much a slap in the face to everyone that didn’t believe in psychology (of course if they put no stock in psychology they would not have read the book, but hey he tried). Preface   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The primary purpose of this volume is to describe and discuss the variety of treatment skills actually used in clinical work. These ‘ways of practice,’ which have been evolving over a score of years, are set forth in organized fashion, in hope that their presentation will lead to a better understanding of treatment techniques and a more critical consideration of their use.† This guy seems to genuinely want to establish psychology as a science and I think it is neat how easily he can simultaneously write to an audience of professionals in their field to someone like me with absolutely no background in psychology.

Friday, July 19, 2019

The Alamo Essay -- History Historical Mexican Essays

The Alamo The events that began on February 23, 1836 have roots that span as far back as 1808. This exploration into the events and carnage that took place before, during and after the Alamo will only go back to the events immediately leading up to the Alamo. Mainly the frame of mind the Mexican government had regarding the Texas settlers and the reasons leading to the confrontation at the Alamo.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In times before the confrontation at the Alamo, the Mexican government welcomed settlers into Texas. The motive behind Mexico’s act was to create a buffer zone between Mexican settlements and the Indians. Settlers were able to come to Texas as long as they promised to convert to Catholicism and become Mexican citizens among other stipulations. Moreover, Mexico had further problems, the most noticeable was Mexico’ s financial standing. The independence movement that freed Mexico from Spain also left Mexico â€Å"dead broke;† furthermore, they had no real way of watching or parenting the fledgling Texas. Hence, Texas became accustom to doing things without Mexico interfering. Soon after Mexico opened the door to Texas the population of settlers grew to make up 75 per cent of the whole population. This could be seen as a bad thing to the Mexican government because if Texas became entirely made up of settlers what was to stop Texas from breaking a way from Mexico for good. To add to the pressure pot the settlers were illegally trading, and engaging in illegal slavery, among other illegal acts. According to Walter Lord the American Settlers refused to pay any form of tax, in fact according to Lord’s figures only 1,665 pesos where collected from Texas in Two years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These factors and many more including America herself showing interest in Texas, led Mexico to institute a restriction of the number of settlers allowed into Texas. In addition, â€Å"Mexico suspended all unfilled colonization contracts, and required passports issued by Mexican Consulate at their place of residence,† these policies alone angered the settlers who have been accustomed to a lazie fair approach. In addition troops were now being used to see that the laws were enforced and obeyed. As Myers points out: The North Americans had reason to protest. They had gone through the bad years when fields had to be chopped out of the woods and when an Indian raid was commoner that a square meal. An... ...nd bloody tiger to name a few. Many Americans had been opposed to the Texas cause, but no longer were they thinking about that, now they were thinking about revenge. Mexicans had slain American citizens and this had to be avenged in the mind of most Americans. The call to arms had now been rung, â€Å"Remember the Alamo.† The Alamo had been a total loss on the field of physical war fair, but on the playing ground of the mind the Alamo had seized the minds and hearts of every American and sympathizer alike, to rally to its call. So in the end I believe the Alamo was a total victory for the settlers cause. Works Cited General Antonio Lopez De Santa-Anna, D. Ramon Martinez Caro, General Vicente Filisola,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  General Jose Urrea, and General Jose Maria Tornel; Translated by Carlos Castaneda.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Mexican Side of the Texas Revolution. Dallas.: P.L. Turner Company,1956 General Miguel Sanchez Lamego; Translated by Consuelo Velasco. The Siege and Taking of The   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alamo. New Mexico.: Sunstone Press, 1968. Lord, Walter. A Time to Stand. Lincolon.: University of Nebraska Press.: 1978. Matovina, Timothy. The Alamo Remembered. Austin.: University of Texas Press.: 1995.

Analysis of Characters from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy E

Analysis of Characters from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy A young Scot who arrives in Casterbridge at about the same time as Susan and Elizabeth-Jane, Donald Farfrae becomes Michael Henchard’s business manager. He quickly becomes Henchard’s only trusted friend and, later, his adversary in both business and love. Hardy draws Farfrae as Henchard’s counterpart in every way. He is physically small, polite and charming, careful and controlled, forward thinking, and methodical. Whereas Henchard propels his fate through moments of rash behavior, Farfrae is cool and calculating in all he does. Although his personality is friendly and engaging, Farfrae maintains a certain detachment from people and events, always considering the possible consequences of his decisions and actions before he makes them. As a result, his path through life is as smooth as Henchard’s is rough. Farfrae initiates a relationship with Henchard by providing information that is a great help to Henchard in solving a business problem and by refusing Henchard’s offer of payment for the information. Henchard is so grateful and impressed that he talks Farfrae into abandoning his plans to go to America and convinces him to take a job as Henchard’s business manager. Because Farfrae is more organized and methodical than Henchard, the business prospers under his management. Farfrae is ambitious enough to eventually go into business for himself, though, and this enrages Henchard even though Farfrae, in his typically principled way, tries to minimize competition between the two firms. Farfrae courts Elizabeth-Jane and even hints that he would marry her if he were in a financial position to do so, but when he meets the newly wealth... ...ng woman who, like Henchard, suffers several reversals of fortune and ends badly. Henchard has an affair with her before Susan arrives in Casterbridge, and this affair ruins Lucetta’s reputation. To try to repair the damage, Henchard, thinking that Susan is probably dead, offers to marry Lucetta. Before the marriage takes place, though, Susan returns, and Henchard must call off the wedding. After Susan dies, Lucetta inherits wealth, and Henchard renews his interest in her. Lucetta is more interested in Farfrae, though, and marries him. When Lucetta’s old letters to Henchard become public, the scandal of their affair returns to haunt them both, and Lucetta is so distraught by this that she suffers a seizure and dies. Farfrae soon realizes that Lucetta was not a good match for him and that, had she lived, their marriage would not have been happy. Themes

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Valley of the Immortals

SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Table of Contents: The Jade Tower! 3 The Secret Entrance to the â€Å"Valley of the Immortals†! 5 Mysterious Mountain People! 8 A Lost Oasis of Advanced Spiritual Culture! 11 Eyewitness Reports of Shambhala! 12 Trans-Himalayan Stonehenge! 14 More Strange Phenomena in Tibet ! 16 The Mystery of the Magical Sceptre! 18 The Shambhala Triangle! 21 Journey to the Sacred Kingdom! 22 Subterranean Vaults in the Himalayas! 25 The White Pyramid and The Shambhala Triangle! 28 â€Å"The Tibetan Roswell†! 0 The Crystal Cave of the Nagas! 32 Dead Alien Found Alive!! 35 Russian Scientists View an Ethereal Solar System! 36 The Laboratories of Shambhala! 37 Conclusion! 40 by Tony Bushby  © June 2009 – 2011 Website: http://www. vatileaks. com www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS The Jade Tower In Tibetan scriptures and in Far Eastern tradition , there is an ancient and widespread belief in a Secret Kingdom of Wise Men living in seclusion in inaccessible mountainous parts of Asia. Orientalists call this mysterious place Chang Shambhala, or Northern Shambhala (sometimes spelled Shamballa).Tibetan monks insist that there is an enigmatic valley of great beauty, surrounded by a circle of snowy mountains extending from northern Tibet. -into Mongolia, that is inaccessible to travellers without experienced or mystical guidance. It is said in tradition that this hidden land is unreachable except to initiates or persons dedicated to the spiritual resurrection of mankind. Its centre is highlighted by the famous Jade Tower that stands in an ancient city which monks claim is heated by warm water rising from underground streams, and the steam generated rises into the atmosphere to form a natural temperature inversion.This valley is not seen from the air because the phenomenon produces a high, light, misty cover that conceals the underl ying landscape. Various exploratory teams journeying in the Himalayas claimed to have camped by hot thermal springs that nourished rich vegetation in areas outside of which there was nothing but desolation, rock and ice. Like the Tibetans, Russians and Chinese,. the people of India also believe in the reality of an abode of perfect men and women which they call the Kalapa (sometimes Katapa) of Shambhala, who live-in the constant presence of otherworldly energies.Professor Nicholas K. Roerich, an eminent Russian author, painter and explorer (1874-1947) spent ? ve years from 1923 to 1928 trekking through all seven Tibetan prefectures. He wrote in his book Himalayas – Abode of Light (N. K; Roerich, Nalanda Publications, Bombay, l947) that this secret valley is beyond great lakes and the snow-covered peaks of the highest mountains in the world. It seems that Professor Roerich actually reached Sharnbhala, and for this reason his www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTAL S ooks and paintings were thoroughly analysed for this article, as were the works of his son, Dr GeorgeRoerich (1902-1960), an outstanding orientalist, philologist, art critic and ethnographer with degrees from Harvard and the Sorbonne. The Roerich family lived in the Kulu Valley of northern India, in close proximity to the border of western Tibet, and from there organised several major expeditions into unexplored areas of the Tibetan Plateau, the highest land on Earth. These expeditions were manned by dozens of Norwegian, Sherpa, Tibetan, Mongol and Chinese assistants, and at times their missions endured for many months.Another renowned researcher, Andrew Tomas, author of Shambhala: Oasis of Light (Sphere Books, London, 1977), spent many years in Tibet, where he learned that the realm of Shambhala is situated in a valley sheltered on every side by mighty snowy ranges and that its residents retreat into huge subterranean catacombs. These and other explorers of Asia have written abou t unsuspected valleys lost amidst colossal snowy mountains on the Tibetan Plateau, said to lie hidden somewhere in the vast reaches of the Himalayas.The Bhagavata Purana and the Sanskrit encyclopaedia Vachaspattya locate Shambhala on the northern side of the Himalayas at the foot of Mount Meru, where many believe that the temporal and the eternal meet. A more de? ned location is shown on a 17th-century map published in 1830 in Antwerp by Csoma de Koros, an Hungarian philologist who had spent four years in a Buddhist monastery in Tibet. He gave Shambhala's geographical bearings as between 45 and 50 degrees north latitude beyond Lake Manus Hu, approx. 100 kilometres east of the village of Karamay.Remarkably, another old monastic document, sighted by Russian explorer Nikolai M. Prjevalgky (1839-1888), de? nes the longitude of Shambhala as at 88 degrees (N. M. www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Prjevalsky, Mongolia, London, 1876, translated by Boris Fereng, p. 63). Th ese two coordinates locate the domain of Shambhala as slightly east of the Altai Mountains, a major mountain system in Central Asia, peaking at 4,506 metres (14,783 feet), and precisely where the Poerich expeditions trekked on several occasions.The Secret Entrance to the â€Å"Valley of the Immortals† For millennia, the peoples of Asia have believed this forbidden territory to be well guarded, accessible only to the pure of heart. But the questions to be addressed are: who are the people that live in this secluded area†¦ and what is their nature? Tibetan legend insists that this secret place is inhabited by â€Å"Silent Sentinels†oformerly ordinary men and women who received a â€Å"passport† to Shambhala because of their spiritual progression.Andrew Tomas presents impressive evidence from Tibetan sources in ancient monastic libraries that he was privileged to access, and his ? ndings help us learn more about this enlightened colony: The Brotherhood of Sham bhala is presided over by a small hierarchy of superior beings sometimes alluded to as Mahatmas, which in Sanskrit means â€Å"the great-souled ones†. They are superhuman beings with preternatural powers who have completed their evolution on this planet but remain with humanity in order to facilitate its spiritual progress †¦ he life- span of their bodies is almost inde? nite because the Wheel of Rebirth has stopped for them. (Andrew Tomas, Shambhala: Oasis of Light, op. cit. , pp. 43-44, passim) In other words, they are Immortal Beings – and from what is known about this galaxy of illumined peoples, the concept of reincarnation is an essential part of their philosophy. Tibetan manuscripts add that â€Å"from time immemorial, a dynasty of wise rulers of celestial origin has ruled the Kingdom of Shambhala and preserved the priceless legacy of Kalachakra, the mystic science of Esoteric www. atileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Buddhism† (Giuseppe T ucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls, Rome, 1949, vol. 1). After seven years in Tibet and China, German author Hartwig Hausdorf wrote in his book Die weisse Pyramide (â€Å"The White Pyramid†) that the Elders of Shambhala â€Å"are not entirely of this world; they smack more of an Alien Mind.. .a species that the Universal Mind has placed on our Earth† (Hartwig Hausdorf, Die Weisse Pyramide, republished in English by New Paradigm Books, Florida, 1998, pp. 92, 102, passim).Since time immemorial, Tibetans and other Asian races have believed that in their midst lived sages who had liberated themselves from death and wandered the Earth and the Universe at will in a physical body. Ancients called them â€Å"holy immortals† and claimed that they had developed a series of alchemical! â€Å"elixirs of deathlessness†,! i n c l u d i n g powdered jade mixed with cinnabar that they drank to help prepare their bodies for the state of hsien – material immortality in a n etherealised body. The now-called Mahatma Letters to A. P.Sinnett were written between 1880 and 1885 by Mallatmas who were said to have actually inhabited Shambhala itself, and thus they represent a ? rst-hand source about the realm from within the closed circle of the Sages of the East themselves. (Alfred Percy Sinnett [1840-19211 was the British editor of the English daily newspaper, the Pioneer, in Allahabad, India, where he lived from 1879 to 1889, and who was privileged to be, admitted into the Himalayan Brotherhood of High Yogis. ) From this correspondence, Sinnett wrote The Occult World (1881) and Esoteric Buddhism (1883), both of which had a major in? ence in generating public interest in Theosophy. The replies and explanations given by the Shambhalan Mahatmas to Sinnett's questions were embodied in their letters and published in 1923 as The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett. (The original letters from the Mahatmas are www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS p reserved in the British Library and can be viewed by special permission in the Department of Rare Manuscripts. ) The picture of this mysterious kingdom comes further into focus after a study of the writings of the Mahatmas, who were believed to be a class of people with prophetic abilities.In one letter to Sinnett in 1881, the author, the venerable Mahatma Morya, an eastern initiate of Rajput birth, describes the imposing secret entrance into the Valley of the Immortals: At a certain spot not to be mentioned to outsiders, there is a chasm spanned by a frail bridge of woven grasses and with a raging torrent beneath. The bravest member of your Alpine clubs would scarcely dare to venture the passage, for it hangs like a spider's web and seems to be rotten and impassable. Yet it is not; and he who dares the trail and succeeds†¦ s he will if it is right that he should be permitted.. .comes into a gorge of surpassing beauty of scenery, to one of our places and to some of our people, of which and whom there is no note or minute among European geographers. At a stone's throw from the old lamasery stands the old Tower within whose bosom have gestated generations! of! B o d h i s a t t v a s [compassionate persons whose essence is perfect knowledge]. (Passport to Shambhala, published by the West Siberia Geographical Society, 1923, Letter 18, p. 1, English translation by Professor Vladimir Andrei Vasiliu, 1933 [includes a complete collection of The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnettj) The dwellers of various villages in Tibet have claimed that none can pass certain areas without a permit: Mahatma Morya added to the intrigue: You have already heard from reliable travellers how guides refuse to lead them in certain directions. They would rather let themselves be killed than lead you forward. So, if a reckless traveller nevertheless goes forward, a mountain landslide begins to rumble before him.If the traveller surmounts this obstacle, then a shower of stones will carry www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS him away, for the unwelcome one shall not attain his destination. (op. cit. , Letter 18, p. 32) People and animals are known to have unnaturally trembled on approaching certain localities in that area, as if bombarded by invisible rays. An unnamed 19th- century Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, â€Å"†¦ at one stage travelled the long journey from Lhasa to Mongolia and at one place on the route people and animals in his caravan began to quiver for no apparent reason.The Dalai Lama explained the phenomena by saying that the party was crossing part of the forbidden zone of Shambhala whose psychic vibration was too high for the travellers† (N. K. Roerich, Heart of Asia, Roerich Museum Press, New York, 1930; also Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, op. cit. , p. 54). The Russian explorer N. M. Prjevalsky and the German linguist and historian A. H. Francke record in their books the strange behaviour of natives who could not be forced under any condition to enter certain districts in northern Tibet (N. M. Prjevalsky, Mongolia, op cit. , p. 01; A. H. Francke, A History of Western Tibet, Partridge and Co. , London, 1907). A Russian member of one of Roerich's expeditions personally told Andrew Tomas that their group had the same experience in the depths of Asia, where, for no apparent reason, assistants in the expedition refused to proceed further at one spot in northern Tibet. The Russian himself admitted that he could not understand why he did not feel like riding any further, saying that it was â€Å"weird and inexplicable†, a feeling that he did not wish to experience again (Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, op. it. , p. 58). Mysterious Mountain People In Turfan, Sinkiang, western China, Roerich expedition members listened to an intriguing story of a tall, dark- haired woman wearing an earnest expression on her face who regularly came out of the deep caverns to help the needy, her deeds instilling great respect among the populace throughout the entire Asiatic region. www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS â€Å"Riders vanishing with torches into subterranean passages were also mentioned† (Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, op. cit. , p. 9), as were eyewitness reports of brightly clad, crowned lamas (supposedly from Shambhala) seen seated in palanquins, each carried by four men. Roerich indicates that tall, slim, white-skinned people had been seen disappearing into rock galleries upon the approach of strangers. Later, when his expedition was crossing the Karakoram Pass, Roerich relates that he was informed by a native guide that tall, white-clad men and women had been seen on occasions appearing from secret entrances in that area, and sometimes travellers were helped by these mysterious mountain people.In the early 1900s, the Statesman newspaper in India published a story about a British major who had seen a tall, lightly clad man with long hair leaning on a high bow and scanning the valley. Noticing the major, the man jumped down a vertical slope and disappeared. The natives calmly said to Roerich, â€Å"He had seen one of the snowmen who guard the sacred land† (N. K. Roerich, Heart of Asia, op. cit. ). In one of his paintings, Roerich portrays a Snow Maiden amidst rocks and snow, also holding a bow. In spite of the glaciers and the apparent cold conditions, she is lightly clad as if protected from the cold by a warm aura.Roerich adds: In the foothills of the Himalayas are many caves, and it is said that from these caves subterranean passages proceed for below Kinchinjunga. Some have even seen the stone door which has never been opened because the date has not arrived. The deep passages proceed to the splendid valley. (N. K. Roerich, Himalayas – Abode of Light, op. cit. , cited in Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, op. cit. , p. 39) Professor Roerich's reference de? nes the â€Å"splendid valley† of the â€Å"Immortals†. Early in his long journey, Roerich came www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS cross pilgrims who told him: â€Å"Behind those mountains live holy men and women who are saving humanity through Wisdom; many have tried to see them but failed †¦ somehow as soon as they go over the ridge, they lose their way† (N. K. Roerich, Heart of Asia, op. cit. ; also Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, p. 59, passim). â€Å"Yet Nicholas Roerich went into that territory on a pony. He remained absent for a few days and, when he returned, Asiatics prostrated themselves at his feet, exclaiming that he was a ‘god', for no man could have penetrated the frontier of Shambhala without divine credential† (Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, op. it. , p. 58). Maybe there was a reason for Roerich's unrestricted entry into the forbidden enclave, for the Mahatmas assured Sinnett: â€Å"†¦ [those whom we] desire to know will ? nd us at the very frontiers† (Passport to Shambhala, op. cit. , L etter 15, p. 131). Roerich's remarks to a lama (religious teacher) in Tibet suggest ? rst-hand knowledge of his reaching Shambhala: â€Å"We ourselves have seen a white frontier post of one of the three posts of Shambhala† (N. K. Roerich, Himalayas, op. cit. ).Apart from searching for the home of the Mahatmas, the purpose of one of Roerich's expeditions across Tibet and Xinjiang to Altai in 1928 is not made entirely clear in his diary, but it appears to have been related to the return of a small section of a sacred Cosmic Stone to its rightful home in the Jade Tower in the centre of Shambhala. â€Å"This fragment was last sent to Europe to aid in the establishment of the League of Nations which, though ending in failure, was so desirable after the First World War† (J. Saint-Hilaire, On Eastern Crossroads, New York, 1930, cited by Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, op. cit. , p. 63).This fragment was said to be part of a much larger Cosmic Stone, and it seems that Roerich was a p redestined carrier to return it to Shambhala. www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS A Lost Oasis of Advanced Spiritual Culture The folklore of old Russia also points to the reality of a community of inspired men and women at a place in the heart of Asia, called Belovodye, in Russian-the Land of the Living Gods. In the annual Journal of the Russian Geographical Society for 1903, there is an article titled â€Å"The Journey of Ural Cossacks into the Belovodye Kingdom†, written by an explorer named Koroleko.Likewise, in October 1916 the West Siberia Geographical Society published an account by Belosliudov, a Russian historian, titled â€Å"To the History of Belovodye†. Published as they were by scienti? c bodies, both of these articles are of great interest because they reveal a strong tradition that still circulates among â€Å"old believers† in Russia, one that maintains that Belovodye is a secret earthly paradise existing somewhere in the area of far southwestern Siberia. These two articles lend support to our basic theme of a hidden, sacred kingdom somewhere around the northernmost regions of Tibet, a kingdom of ancient high wisdom.The traditional tale about the extraordinary, reclusive people of an ancient civilisation in this hidden land was relayed by a mysterious native sage to Russian psychiatrist and author Dr Olga Kharitidi during her stay in remote Siberia: Their main achievements had been in developing the inner dimensions of the mind; their entire society possessed a beautiful spiritual intensity that in modern materialist culture is experienced only by a few. They possessed incredible psychological wisdom. They were able to control their personal experience of time, and they had learnt to communicate telepathically over great distances.They had great skills in projecting the future, and their social structure was the most effective that ever existed. (Dr Olga Kharitidi, Entering the Circle, Harper San Francisco, 1996) www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS But one law of the Valley of the Immortals forever remains in force, that being that â€Å"the unwanted shall not reach† it (Road to Shambhala, a rare 18th-century Tibetan book written by the third Panchen Lama or â€Å"Great Scholar† (1738-1780), translation by Cheng Yuan, 1901). Only those who have heard â€Å"Kalagiya, the call to Shambhala sent on the wind† (ibid. or by telepathic communication from the Great Masters can ever hope to arrive safely in the â€Å"Valley of the Wisest People on Earth† (L. C. Hamamoto, The Soul Doctrine, Lhasa, translation by C. Chan, 1916p. 67). Eyewitness Reports of Shambhala During the ? rst century CE, Apollonius, a highly regarded and charismatic Greek sage, received â€Å"the call† and travelled to Shambhala. He had earlier received â€Å"directions† and knew exactly where to ? nd what was then called the ‘Abode of the Sages† (A. P . Sinnett, Esoteric Buddhism, London, 1903 reprint from the 1883 original).Apollonius was born at Tyana in Capt'adocia in the third year of this era and died in 98 CE. He was named after the Greek god Apollo, and the populace fondly called him â€Å"the son of God† (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed. , vol. 10, â€Å"Apollonius†). He taught the doctrine of the â€Å"Inner Life† (ibid. ), went barefoot, wore his hair long, cultivated a beard and clothed himself in white linen garments. On his travels he took an Assyrian scribe called Damis, who documented Apollonius' sayings and deeds in a daily diary. It was from Damis' collection of 97 codices that the remarkable stories of Apollonius' life experiences were preserved.Around 200 CE, Empress Julia Domna, second wife of the British-born Roman Emperor Septimus Severus (emperor from 193 to 211 CE), exhibited such an interest in the momentous events in Apollonius' life that she commissioned the Greek scribe and sophis t, Flavius Philostratus (C. 170 www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS c. 245 CE), to write the biography, which he called The Life of Apollonius of Tyana. From these records, we learn that Apollonius stayed in the Trans-Himalayan country for many months (Philostratus, The Life of Apollonus of Tyana, Loeb Classical Library, London, 1912, eight books in two volumes, translated by F.C. Conybeare; note that the upcoming Apollonius quotes are drawn from Book 3, which is almost entirely devoted to his journey to northern Tibet). Upon Apollonius' arrival in â€Å"a city under the mountain called Paraca† (ibid. ), he presented a letter to the then king, Hiarchas (larchas in some translations, meaning â€Å"Holy Ruler†), and was surprised to learn that its contents were already known to the king. Apollonius turned to Damis and said, â€Å"We have reached men who are unfeignedly wise, for they seem to have the gift of foreknowledge' (ibid. ).During his time ther e, he witnessed incredible things such as wells in the ground projecting vertical beams of brilliant bluish light. He also talked with amazement about what he called pantarbes, or luminous stones, that could be activated to radiate so much light that night could be turned into day at will. The scienti? c and mental achievements of the inhabitants of this lost city impressed Apollonius so much that he only nodded his head when King Hiarchas said to him, â€Å"Ask us whatever you like, for you ? nd yourself among people who know everything† (ibid. ).Apollonius enquired as to who they thought themselves to be, and King Hiarchas replied, â€Å"We consider ourselves to be gods† (ibid. ). Not only did Apollonius see the people of Shambhala utilise the power of the Sun, but†¦. he saw them levitating themselves two cubits [approx. one metre] high from the ground, not for the sake of miraculous display, for they disdain any such ambition; but they regard any rites they per form, in thus quitting earth and walking with the Sun, as acts of homage acceptable to the God. (Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, op. cit. , Book 3) www. vatileaks. comSHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Parallel phenomena were reported in the 20th century by renowned orientalist, author and the ? rst western female lama, Madame Alexandra David-NEel (1868-1969), thus supporting the ancient records of Philostratus. She describes Shambhala as a realm â€Å"not moored in time or space as we are; Shambhala is here today and gone tomorrow† (Alexandra David-Neel, Magic and Mystery in Tibet,! Dover Publications, New York, 1971, ? rst published in 1929); Of the inhabitants of Shambha! a Apollonius said they Were living upon the earth and yet not on it and forti? ed without forti? ations and possessing nothing yet having the riches of all men† (Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, op. cit. , Book 3). As for the ideology of the inhabitants King Hiarchas prof essed a cosmic philosophy according to which the Universe is a living thing† (ibid. ). The Mahatma Letters stresses the fact that they are not atheists or agnostics but pantheists in the widest sense of the word, believing that God and the Universe are ultimately identical. Their concept of cosmic evolution is the basis of why the idea of reincarnation is a major part of the philosophy of the Guardians of Mankind.Trans-Himalayan Stonehenge In 1923, and at an altitude of 4,572 metres (15,000 feet) in his Trans-Himalayan journey, Roerich was stunned to see three long straight rows of tall, vertically standing, inscribed stones distinguished from the surrounding environment by their peculiar shape and design. This huge stone complex ended with a large circle of standing stones with three menhirs in its centre. He described the structure as a combination of Stonehenge in England and Carnac in the ancient Celtic world of Brittany, sites that he had visited previously.His caravan wa s destined to stop overnight near this stone enigma, but he stayed for three www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS days and discovered four additional rows of vertical stone formations in surrounding areas. Amazed by what he was witnessing, Roerkh asked his Tibetan guides, â€Å"Pray tell me, who set these stones? † He was told: â€Å"Nobody knows †¦ but this district from ancient times has been called Doring the place of the sacred standing stones. Our Ancients say that an unknown people passed here a long time ago; they stopped for several generations but it did not become their permanent abode† (N.K. Roerich, Himalayas, op cit. , passim). Roerich marvelled at the fact that travelling through the heights of the Trans- Himalayas he came across â€Å"the embodiments of Stonehenge and Carnac† (ibid. ). This painting by Roerich, titled The Black Gobi, shows a few of hundreds of ancient inscribed vertical standing stones on the barren heights o f the Himalayas near the Gobi Desert.  © Nicholas Roerich, 1928; private collection (Note: Beautiful reproductions of many of Roerich's paintings can be purchased from the Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York; visit http://www. oerich. org. ) www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS More Strange Phenomena in Tibet Peculiar happenings have occurred in this vast territory, and some of those events reveal the presence of superior spiritual beings. Madame Alexandra David-Neel, in her book The Superhuman Life of Gesar of Ling (published by Claude Kendall, New York, translation by Violet Sydney, 1934, ? rst published in 1931), relates a personal and curious episode that took place in the small town of Jyekundo, located in a desolate district in northeastern Tibet.While there, she met a Tibetan lama who had the reputation of occasionally disappearing into a snowcapped mountain region where no villages existed and where a person could easily starve or quickly freeze to death. In evitably he would return to civilisation after some time, and in reply to curious questions he would only say that he had been with â€Å"gods in the mountains† (ibid. ). One day, Madame David-Neel half-seriously asked the lama if, on his next trip, he would present a small gift of a bunch of Chinese paper ? owers to â€Å"the Ruler of the Mountains† (ibid. . Some months later, returning from his journey into that mysterious domain, he handed the French savant a souvenir given to him by that very person. It was a beautiful blue ? ower that blooms in southern Tibet in July. David-NEel was stunned, saying that in Jyekundo at that time the temperature was 20 degrees below zero, the river was covered with a layer of ice two metres deep and the ground was frozen solid. â€Å"Where did you get this from? † she asked in amazement. The lama answered, â€Å"Maybe from a warm valley in the north' (ibid. ).Roerich also recorded a series of extraordinary supernatural happe nings, one being the sudden appearance of Rigden Jyope (or Djapo), the Ruler of Shambhala. It is said that when he entered a particular lamaist temple, the candles all suddenly lit themselves. Roerich relayed this story: There was a case of a sudden appearance of an exquisite www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS perfume, as if from temple incense, right in the heart of the Gobi with the stony desert extending for hundreds of kilometres in all directions.Not a single temple of hut was in sight and yet all the members of the expedition experienced the scent in their nostrils at the same time. This had happened on several occasions and there was absolutley nothing to explain it. (Quoted in Andrew Thomas, Shambhala, op. cit. , p. 57) In the dark of numerous nights, Roerich saw vivid ? ashes of vertical pillars of white light streaking into the sky. â€Å"What is happening? † he asked his lama guides. They answered, â€Å"These are the rays from the Tower of Sham bhala† (N. K. Roerich, Himalayas, op. cit. , explaining that the beams were purposely directed upwards from a large, triangular-shaped, glowing stoneothe so-called Chintamani Stoneothat sat atop the Jade Tower. They told him it possessed occult properties capable of giving telepathic inner, guidance and effecting a transformation of consciousness in those in contact with it. The astonishing thing about this tradition is that the Chintamani Stone is said to have been brought to Earth â€Å"on a winged horse [a lung-ta] by messengers of the gods from a solar system in the constellation of Orion (Dr Walter Y.Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the Great! Liberation, Oxford University Press, 1954), www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS This painting, titled Command of Rigden Djapo, like many of Roerich? s works contains concealed messages, Note the darkened fuselage of a sleek aircraft angled upwards, complete with a vertical tail section (left of picture). In the to p left corner, he subtly depicts pyramidal structures, maybe references to the 100 or so pyramids now known to exist in northern Asia. Nicholas Roerich 1926-27 private collection, MoscowIt seems that there was more than one of these strange and â€Å"Precious Stones† (ibid. ), for, according to ancient lamaist lore, three of these pyramidal capstones were brought to Earth and set up in various locations wherever a spiritual mission vital to humanity was established. A suggestion is that one was on the summit of the Great Pyramid at Giza, another on the Jade Tower of Shambhala, and the third may now be under the sea in a place we know as Atlantis. The Mystery of the Magical Sceptre In Tibet, it is traditionally held that in the year 331 CE a chest â€Å"came from the sky† (Andrew Tomas, Shambhala, op. it. , caption in photographs section), in which were found four sacred objects. Among them was a magical ! g o l d e n r o d called a dorge, said to have extraordinary sup ernatural capabilities. Fabulous accounts of-this rod have been circulating in Tibet for centuries, and silver, brass and iron replicas are found in most Tibetan lamaseries today. It is www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS believed that it emanated a brilliant radiance during special religious ceremonies, and in the hands of the King of Shambhala it was capable of focusing and manipulating potent cosmic forces.It is said that it also had the power of casting thunderbolts and burning holes in clouds. Many years after the discovery of the casket, ? ve strangers suddenly appeared before the then King of Shambhala, Thotho-ri Nytan-tsan, and instructed him on the proper use of the objects in the casket. Perculiar Craft over the Himalayas Mahatma Morya called Shamhala :the city of Science† (Passport to Shambhala, op. cit. , Letter 62, p. 101), and that makes it appropriate to examine the poissibility that this colony (or colonies) of a superior culture possesses an advanced technology.! ww. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS That the inhabitants of this enigmatic settlement are scienceconscious can be established from a story relayed by Roerich about a lama who was returning to his lamasery after a long trip from an outlying community. In a narrow secret subterranean passage, the lama met two men carrying a thoroughbred sheep, and they told him the animal was for scienti? c breeding in the Valley of the Immortals (N. K. Roerich, Altai-Himalaya: A Travel Diary, Arun Press, Brook? eld, CT, 1983, ? st published in 1929). In another account of Central Asia, titled Beasts, Men and Gods, researcher and author Dr Ferdinand Ossendowski records some fascinating facts, and his documentation is as intriguing to read as that of Nicholas Roerich, Alexandra David-Neel and Andrew Tomas. A Mongol lama told Dr Ossendowski not only about an extensive tunnel system under the Himalayas but of â€Å"strange vehicles that rushed through them at extre mely high speed† (Ferdinand Ossendowski, Beasts, Men and Gods, E. P. Dutton & Co. , New York, 1922).To speak of machines moving rapidly underground is to suggest a technological achievement of a high calibre in a time that appears to precede our! current understanding of complex machinery by centuries. This tradition originated long before the western world developed any sort of technology. There is a similar rumour that subterranean vehicles once operated under the Giza Plateau (10thcentury Arabic traditions). We should consider the possibility that maybe Shambhala and the Great Pyramid are connected by a tunnel system. In his travels through Tibet, Roerich read old lamaist texts that spoke of â€Å"iron serpents which devour space with ? e and smoke† and â€Å"inhabitants of the distant stars† (N. K. Roerich, Heart of Asia, op. cit. ). Also, incredible sightings of fastmoving airships in the zone of Shambhala are numerous. This report from Roerich's diary descr ibes what happened as www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS his expedition was advancing in the vicinity of the Karakoram Mountains: On August ? fthosomething remarkable! We were in our camp in the Kukunor district not far from the Humboldt Chain. In the morning about half-past nine some of our caravaneers noticed a remarkably big black eagle ? ying over us.Seven of us began to watch this unusual bird. At this same moment another of our caravaneers remarked, ‘There is something far above the bird. ‘ And he shouted in his astonishment. We all saw, in a direction from north to south, something big and shiny re? ecting like the sun, like a huge oval moving at great speed. Crossing our camp this thing changed in its direction from south to southwest. And we saw how it disappeared in the intense blue sky. We even had time to take our ? eld glasses and saw quite distinctly an oval form with shiny surface, one side of which was brilliant from the sun. N. K. Roer ich, Altai-Himalaya, op. cit. ) Roerich's sighting was some two decades before pilot Kenneth Arnold ? led his famous report of a formation of silver, circular, metallic craft skipping across the sky near Mount Rainier in Washington, USA, which resulted in the coining of the term â€Å"? ying saucers†. Only an aircraft of unknown type could have performed the abrupt aerial manoeuvres recorded in Roerich's diary. At the sight of the disc in the sky, one of the lamas with the expedition calmly said to Roerich: â€Å"This is the sign of Shambhala †¦ ou are guarded by the Immortals of Shambhala †¦ did you notice the direction in which this sphere moved[? ] †¦ you must follow the same direction† (N. K. Roerich, Heart of Asia, op. cit. , passim). The Shambhala Triangle In our search for the mysterious â€Å"Valley of the Immortals†, the second part of our story identi? es the location of Roerich's â€Å"three posts of Shambhala† which form a †Å"Shambhala Triangle†, an area of captivating events that include the recent discovery of interstellar tragedy records and sightings of clusters of pyramids in Tibet. ww. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Journey to the Sacred Kingdom The genera! populace living in the sky-brushing land of Asia, aptly called the Roof of the World, has been acutely conscious of the verity of Shambhala for centuries now. The belief in a secret Kingdom of People has lived on throughout the ages, and the existence of Shambhala is further supported by a 1,000-year-old record. It comes to us from a Russian source, found in 1893 in a manuscript at the VyshenskioUspenski hermitage near Shatsk in Tambov Province.Called â€Å"The Saga of Belovodye† (Belovodye is Russian for Shambhala, or Land of the Living Gods), the story, appeared in the 4 April 1949 edition of Novaya Zarya (â€Å"New Dawn†), a Russian newspaper in San Francisco. It relays the account of a young Slavic mon k named Sergius, who spent several years in a monastery on Mount Athos in northern Greece, beside the Aegean Sea. The ill health of his father caused him to return to Kiev, and some time after his arrival Sergius, then nearing 30 years of age, obtained an audience with Prince Vladimir the Great (956-1015 CE).His purpose was to relay to him what he had learnt in the monastic library about a mysterious land in the East where virtue and lustice prevailed (The Saga of Belovodye Novaya Zarya, ibid. ). Prince Vladimir was so fascinated by the story of the legendary land that in the year 987 he appointed Sergius leader of a large expeditionary party that he equipped and dispatched in search of this Asiatic wonderland. The prince's advisers estimated the. 6,000-mile (9,660-km) round journey would take three years, but decades passed without a word from the expedition.The people of Kiev believed that all members of the team had perished; but in 1043 an old man appeared in Kiev, declaring him self to be the monk Sergius whom Vladimir the Great had sent in search of the Valley of the Immortals some 56 years earlier. The essence of his story was duly recorded and preserved among the mystics of a Russian monastery, and it was that document that was found in 1893. www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Father Sergius said that at the end of the second year of their dif? ult journey, many people and animals in the group had died, either of extreme weather conditions or from attacks by wolves and bears. In one desolate territory, their party came across a pile of skeletons of men, horses, camels and donkeys and they were so terri? ed that they refused to go any further. Only two of the party agreed to continue with Sergius, and at the end of the third year of travel these two companions were left in a village because of their failing health. Father Sergius himself had reached the limit of endurance but was determined to complete his journey or die.Rumours he hea rd from the people of various regions through which he passed indicated that such a fabulous land as Shambhala did exist and that he was heading in the right direction. He employed another guide who assured him that he could take him closer to the Sacred Kingdom, which the locals called â€Å"the Forbidden Land.. .the Land of Living Gods and the Land of Wonders† (â€Å"The Saga of Belovodye†, ibid. ). Three months later, Father Sergius reached the borders of Shambhala. At a particular point, his only remaining guide refused to proceed further, frightened of the invisible guardians of the snowy mountains.Sergius was still unafraid of death and full of faith in the existence of a community of holy people that he had set out to ? nd. Besides, he was too exhausted to turn back. After another few days of lonely trekking, he was suddenly accosted by two strangers who made themselves understood to him, even though they spoke an unknown language. Thereupon Sergius was taken to a village where, after recuperating, he was given a job in a monastic-type establishment collating manuscripts.Later he was moved to an underground cavern lit by a peculiar light that aroused his wonder, â€Å"illuminating everything, dispelling darkness and shadows so that all appeared very even and gentle† (â€Å"The Saga of Belovodye†, ibid. ). Later, Sergius was moved to a nearby location where he was accepted as a brother. www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS As the months and years passed, the Slavic monk gained great spiritual knowledge. He was intensely happy that at last he had found patient, compassionate, all-seeing wise people who worked for the bene? t of mankind.He learned that, invisibly, they observed everything that was taking place in the outside world and were concerned about growing forces of evil on Earth. Father Sergius also learned that a number of people from various countries had endeavoured to enter this domain, but without s uccess. The inhabitants observed a strict law whereby only seven persons in a century could visit their abode. Six would return to the outside world with secret knowledge, and one would remain to live in Shambhala without ageing, for time stood still in the clockwork of his genes. Before his return to Kiev, Father'Sergius lived his ? al years teaching wisdom in a cavern system that was later developed into the Monastery of the Caves. It seems that those six people, like Sergius, became outside coworkers of Shambhala, making up a small outer circle of wisdombearers. One, â€Å"an associate co-worker of the Mahatmas, Brahma lyoti of Delhi, [had] been in constant contact with the super-beings in the Himalayas who manage the world by the power of thought† (Anne Marshall, Hunting the Guru in India, Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1963). It is also said that â€Å"over the centuries, small numbers of Tibetan sages [from the Valley of the Immortals? were responsible for setting up the White Mystery Schools of the East and West† (Albert Mackey, MD, A Concise History of Freemasonry, McClure Publishing, Philadelphia, 1917 ed. , â€Å"Origins† entry). Enlightened souls from Shambhala are considered to be â€Å"apostles from the Valley of the Immortals†, for those â€Å"messengers are directly guided by the Mahatmas and intended for a certain part of the world at a given time in history† (Sergy C. Tatyana, Crimson Snow-heaps in the Himalayas, Lvovich Publishing, Moscow, 1925, translation by Larissa M. Vasiler, p. 97). www. vatileaks. comSHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS According to Tibetan lore, signi? cant records of Shambhala and its inhabitants were once in existence. They were published in several volumes of the Yung-Lo ta-tien, the largest encyclopaedia in the world, which preserved a mass of ancient knowledge including a collection of ancient yeti sightings (yeti means â€Å"magical creature† in Tibetan). This magni? cent tome , compiled in the 15th century, was composed of 50 million handwritten Chinese characters bound in 11,095 volumes. Once housed in the Yuan Ming Yuan, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, it mostly perished when he palace was partially destroyed by British and French forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War. Today, only 370 volumes survive, scattered in libraries throughout the world. When we see how much has been lost of the cultural heritage of older civilisations, we shouldn't ? nd it hard to imagine that there may have been many earlier â€Å"high† civilisations about which little is known, Shambhala being one. Subterranean Vaults in the Himalayas Legends of hidden underground libraries, treasures and exquisite artefacts connected to Shambhala are persistently spoken of in Asia and are described as secret storehouses of ancient knowledge.Earlier civilisations saw ? t to preserve something of the science and arts of cultures then vanishing through natural catastrophe or war or for other reasons otherworldly or unfathomable. Tibetan tradition af? rms that â€Å"time capsules† and precious silk-bound volumes are hidden in the innermost recesses of the â€Å"divine† Mt Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the Himalayas. Nicholas Roerich learned that a stone door leads to what he called â€Å"the Five Sacred Treasures of the Great Snow†, and his guides advised him against attempting to entei into the chambers â€Å"because everything divulged before the destined date results in untold harm† (N.K. Roerich www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Himalayas – Abode of Light, Nalanda Publications Bombay, 1947). In the Altai Mountains, Roerich also learned that the Himalayan foothills have concealed entrances leading to subterranean passages and chambers deep below the surface, where mysterious artefacts and exotic treasures have been stored from the beginning of world history. Roerich was also told of a secre t underground storehouse on the Karakoram Pass in the Himalayas at an elevation of 19,500 feet (5,944 metres).His chief guide advised him that great treasures were preserved under the snowy ridge, and he remarked that even the lowly ones among the populace know of vast caverns that hold ancient artefacts. He enquired whether Roerich was aware of books in the outer world that record the location of these subterranean vaults. The wise old courier had spent years in the mountains and he questioned Roerich as to why foreigners, who claim to know so much, could not ? d the obvious entrances to underground palaces on the Karakoram Pass. During his 12 years in northern Tibet in the mid-1800s, Chinese explorer ha Chun-Pingwa spoke with Buddhist monks who claimed that in a secluded part of the Altyn Tagh Ridge there exists a vast network of underground galleries and museums housing a collection of several million breathtaking artefacts, protected by ever-watchful caretakers.In his memoir, Ji a wrote about a subterranean museum that holds miscellaneous objets d'art depicting the evolution of mankind on this planet over the course of thousands of years (ha Chun-Pingwa, The Land of No Grass and No Water, The Great Liberation Publishing House, Lhasa, Tibet, 1917; extracts translated for Tony Bushby by Wendy Shin Liu, Jiangwan Town, Shanghai, China, 2009). He described the entrance! to this particular series of chambers as being to the left of a deep gorge containing a small cluster of unimpressive houses that mark the site of what may be the world's greatest museum. www. atileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Jia was not the only one to have described this collection. â€Å"It is secure from intrusion, and nothing will disturb its age-old collected works †¦ the entrances are concealed, and vaults with manuscripts and artefacts lie deep within the bowels of the earth† (Fundamental Promises, a Chinese Buddhist manuscript c. 1820, author unknown; translati on by Ti-tzang, 1911, pp. 79-81, passim; original housed in the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, India). â€Å"A local resident said that at our bazaar, the people of this area come out with. trange, very ancient money, and nobody could evenremember when such money was in usage here† (Sergy C. Tatyana, Crimson Snow-heaps in the Himalayas, op. cit. , P. 231). Author Andrew Tomas was of the opinion that â€Å"all these secret places are connected with the mystery of Shambhala† (A. Tomas, Shambhala: Oasis of Light, Sphere Books, London, 1977, p. 53). Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891), the Russian-born traveller and mystic who founded the Theosophical Society in 1875, alluded to the existence of Shambhala; giving it currency for western enthusiasts of the occult.She claimed that sages of the East are in a position to release to the world ancient documents that will upset the opinions of historians. She saw a number of secret repositories in nor thern India, and wrote that initiated yogis know of a vast network of underground libraries that expands out from cave temples right across northern Tibet. Vatican archives preserve, rare reports from early- 19thcentury missionaries which record that, in times of crisis, leaders of various countries sent deputations into the Himalayas to seek advice from the â€Å"Genii in the Mountains† (Catholic Encyclopedia, Pecci Edition, vol. i, p. 299). However, these documents do not reveal where the representatives went. An undated manuscript written by Monseigneur Delaplace around 120 years ago supports the belief of sages of Central www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Asia that people with special knowledge live in inaccessible and exclusive parts of the Himalayas (Annales de la Propagation de la Foi, translation ‘by Pierre L. Josselin, 1929; extract cited in A. Tomas, Shambhala,'op. cit. , p. 28). The Tibetan epic of Ghessar Khan foresaw the opening of certa in hidden halls of records at a time â€Å"when steel ships ? in the sky†, and Madame Blavatsky opined that some hidden manuscripts would be subtly and intentionally released in â€Å"a spiritually richer future† (The Theosophist, July 1912). Great is the Tibetan belief in an illumined subterranean people, who on occasion have been seen with torches in the dark. Roerich told of â€Å"a man of great appearance who arrived in Tibet from Siberia with his caravaneers and proudly stated, ‘I shall prove to you that the tale about the subterranean people is not: a fantasy. I shall lead you to the entrances of their subterranean kingdoms† (N. K. Roerich, Flame in Chalice, Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York, 1929).Whether or not he did is not recorded in Rberich's books. Through all of Asia, through all the deserts, and from the oceans to the Urals, wondrous traditions of holy people living in mysterious underground cities exist. And while many pages of the story of man's life on this planet have been torn out by the hand of Time, these ancient traditions do attest to the reality of secret treasures and depositories of rare writings stored in isolation that record knowledge from time immemorial. The White Pyramid and The Shambhala Triangle In an attachment to a rare 18th-century Tibetan book Road to Shambhala (written by he third Panchen Lama [1738-17801, translation by Cheng Yuan, 1901), intriguing references are made to a winged humanoid race which once lived in Tibet and subsequently â€Å"destroyed itself†. This same document also records the existence of numerous pyramidal structures in various locations across the Roof of the World, www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS unknown to the western world. Some of these edi? ces are described as â€Å"fabulous†, and â€Å"multicoloured† versions were set amongst dozens of other pyramids (ibid. ). The reality of pyramidal clusters in the Himalayas was con? rm ed in more recent times, the ? st available report being that of American trader Fred Meyer Schroder, who in 1912 accidentally stumbled upon a giant pyramid surrounded by smaller structures. Amazed, he asked his Buddhist monk-guide what they represented and was told that 5,000-year-old lamaist documents not only contain information about the purpose of these pyramids but reveal that they were immensely old when the records were written. If this dating were ever con? rmed, the Himalayan pyramids would be older than the accepted dating of the Giza pyramids. Some 33 years later, another remarkable pyramid was sighted that seems to have embarrassed the scholarly world.In the northern spring of 1945, US Air Force pilot James Gaussman was ? ying an aircraft from China to India across Tibet when he was forced to reduce altitude because of an engine malfunction. He reportedly said: I ? ew around a mountain and then we came to a valley. Directly below us was a gigantic white pyramid. It look ed like it was from a fairy tale. The pyramid was draped in shimmering white. It could have been metal, or a form of stone. It was white on all sides. What was most curious about it was its capstone; a large piece of precious gem-like material. I was deeply moved by the colossal size of the thing. Hartwig Hausdorf, Die Weisse Pyramide [â€Å"The White Pyramid†], republished in English as The Chinese Roswell, New Paradigm Books, Florida, 1998, p. 112) Gaussman believed that this pyramid exceeded 1,000 feet (-305 metres) in height, more than double that of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Gaussman's photographs were never published, but a black and white picture of an earthen www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS pyramid near Xian, the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, was presented to the media in 1990 as the â€Å"gigantic white pyramid† that Gaussman supposedly photographed 45 years earlier. However, Gaussman's ? ght path was some 500 miles (805 kilometre s) northwest of the published pyramid photo, and one suspects that this particular image was released by Chinese authorities to keep the existence of the White Pyramid secret from western knowledge. In 1947, two years after Gaussman's sighting, another US aviator, Maurice Sheahan, ? ying southwest over Shaanxi Province, also espied a gigantic white pyramid. Several US newspapers, including the New York Times (28 March 1947), published accounts of his sighting. In Himalayas – Abode of Light, Roerich spoke of three â€Å"frontier posts of Shambhala† that suggest a triangularshaped area de? ing the precincts of this mysterious kingdom. The location of these boundary markers' is unknown, but when a triangle is created at the same angles as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt (51 degrees 51 minutes), starting at around 50 degrees north latitude and using longitude 88 degrees as the western (base) boundary, it intersects with Gaussman's 1945 ? ight path near where he sighted the gigantic white pyramid. Using the southwest continuation of his ? ight path, the southern â€Å"frontier post† is determined at its intersection with longitude 88 degrees.Within this isolated triangle, some surprising events are known to have happened – and probably the most fascinating is the so-called â€Å"Tibetan Roswell†. â€Å"The Tibetan Roswell† In the ? rst week of January 1938, a scienti? c expedition led by Chinese archaeologist Chi Pu Tel penetrated deep into mountainous regions of BaianKara-Ula, somewhere near where the Yangtze and Mekong rivers begin their long, meandering course southward. There they discovered a cave system with graves aligned in parallel rows, undisturbed for millennia. These graves were without headstones or epitaphs, but on the cave walls were www. atileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS drawings of ? gures with elongated heads as well as depictions of planets. Archaeologists excavated the graves and found s keletons with abnormally large skulls and tiny bodies less than four feet (1. 22 metres) in length. On the cavern ? oor, half-buried in dust, they found the ? rst of 716 strange stone discs, each with a hole in its centre and resembling a long-playing gramophone record. Each disc was incised with grooves spiralling out to the perimeter which were found to be composed of closely written characters that spelled out a message.Later, in 1962, four scientists led by Japanese professor Tsum Urn Nui of Beijing's Academy of Prehistory announced that they had ? nally decoded the discs. They revealed that the discs told of the crash landing of an alien spacecraft some 12,000 years ago. It seems that the crew survived, but the craft was too badly damaged to be able to ? y again. After encountering numerous dif? culties in making the spectacular results public knowledge, Professor Tsum Urn Nui resigned his position and returned to Japan. However, the scienti? community of the Soviet Union did n ot reject his report, and the results of further testing using an oscillograph supported Professor Tsum Urn Nui's dramatic ? ndings. www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS The Crystal Cave of the Nagas A passage in the opening pages of the Mahabharata states that this epic was written â€Å"in a beautiful valley at the foot of Mount Meru†. That valley is said to be Sharnbhala. It would be fair to conclude that the world's longest epic was originally written in the scriptoriums of the Immortals and then became the foundation of major Eastern understandings.Tradition maintains that Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and Lao Tzu (c. 600 BCE), founder of Taoism, both visited the Valley of the Immortals. The Bon priests of Tibet admit that they received their faith from this same stream of philosophy (Baikal magazine [USSR], no. 3, 1969). The Bon faith the oldest spiritual tradition in Tibet, developed! from a manuscript the priests called â€Å"The First Scripture. . . the True teaching†¦ the tradition is of Eternal Wisdom†¦ that came from the â€Å"Immortals of Shambhala† (L. C. Hamamoto, The Soul Doctrine, Lhasa, translation by C. Chan, 1916, pp. 97-99, passim). www. vatileaks. comSHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Another ancient Tibetan book also had its origin in the Himalayas. Called the Bardo Thodol in Tibetan, it is known in the western world as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and it is traditionally read aloud to dying persons to help them attain liberation of the soul after death. Tradition maintains that this extraordinary writing originated with a race called the Nagas, and lamaist records indicate that eight members of this race were associated with meetings with the King of Shambhala. In Tibetan understanding, they are noted for their profound wisdom, and the existence of the Nagas is ? mly established in the ancient lore of northern India. It is said that the Nagas have human faces of great beauty, serpentine body f eatures and the ability to ? y when they emerge from Patala, the Netherworid. Prince Arjuna, Lord Krishna's disciple, is alleged to have visited and conversed with the Nagas. According to tradition, it is said that they live in the Palace of the Serpents in fabulous subterranean abodes illuminated by crystals and precious stones. Roerich called one of his paintings The Lake of the Nagas (1932), and another shows a Naga sitting on an island in a northern Tibetan lake east of the Altai Mountains.This locates the Nagas in The Shambhala Triangle. Some ancient authors claim that the Nagas (male) and Naginis (female) originally â€Å"intermarried with humans, mostly with great kings, queens and sages or humans of great spirituality† (Iamblichus, On the Mysteries, particularly those of the Egyptians, Chaldeans and the Assyrians, fourth century; also referenced in Passport to Shambhala, West Siberia Geographical Society, 1923, English translation by Professor Vladimir Andrei Vasiliu, 1933, p. 174).It is also said that selected people have had the privilege of entering the vast caves of the Nagas, connected by tunnels like an anthill, stretching hundreds of kilometres inside the mountain ranges across northern India and deep into northern Tibet. www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Roerich's paintings total in the hundreds, and some are of locations in Russia, Mongolia, Egypt and elsewhere. There is something mysterious about the way he handles perspectives and atmospheres that appears to indicate other dimensions and alien orders of being, or at least gateways or portals leading to such.Those fantastic inscribed stones in lonely upland areas; Lao Tzu on the back of a water buffalo heading west into an avenue of arched trees; a massive book some two metres thick, lying open with a person standing on a timber block looking down upon its pages; a human skull of immense size; his subtle depiction of pyramids in the background of several of his pain tingsoall of these suggest that Roerich was revealing obscure information in painted ciphers.Maybe he was honouring the â€Å"Oath of Shambhala†, that being an agreement forbidding visitors to reveal openly what they saw or learned while in the Valley of the Immortals (Passport to Shambhala, op. cit. , p. 189). Roerich called this painting Most Sacred (Treasure of the Mountain). In it, he shows huge crystals dwar? ng humans clustered together in the upper left of the picture.  © Nicholas Roerich, 1933; (Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York; visit http://www. roerich. org. ) www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Dead Alien Found Alive!An American drugs and arms dealer, John Spencer, a resident of China in the years following World War 1 inadvertently found himself in a lamaist monastery at Tuerin in southwestern Mongolia. He had collapsed of exhaustion on a mountain track while ? eeing authorities in China, and was found by monks who took him to their monastery to recover.. At that same time, the monks were hosting another visiting American, William Thompson, a scholar who was studying Far Eastern religious beliefs in their library. A few days later, the recuperating John Spencer was exploring external areas of the monastery when he came upon a set of weather-beaten teps leading down to a small metal door. He opened it and entered into a spacious, brightly coloured, I2-sided room. The walls were decorated with drawings of heavenly constellations, celestial bodies and zodiac signs. In wonderment, Spencer ran his hand over the surface of a wall, and unexpectedly a nearby panel noiselessly opened inwards, revealing a dark tunnel beyond. He noticed a pale green light at a distance, and advanced into the gloom. After several minutes, Spencer reached the end of the tunnel and entered a large cavern, brilliant with an eerie green light.Along the length of one wall were 30 cof? ns, neatly laid out side by side in a long row. Thinking that they may contain jewellery or treasure, Spencer started opening the cof? ns, and in the ? rst three he found corpses of monks wearing garb similar to that of his monastic helpers. As Hartwig Hausdorf reported: â€Å"In the fourth lay a woman in men's clothing; in the ? fth a man who he guessed was from India, and who wore a red silk jacket †¦ in the third to-last, there lay, perfectly preserved and clothed in white linen, the body of a male; in the next-to-last cof? there rested the body of a female whose ethnic origins he couldn't quite determine† (Die Weisse Pyramide, republished as The www. vatileaks. com SHAMBHALA VALLEY OF THE IMMORTALS Chinese Roswell, op cit. , p. 61 passim). Remarkably, the corpses showed no sigm of decomposition, and Spencer reasoned that the cof? ns had been there a long time. insert picture: Roerich called this painting Most Sacred (Treasure of the Mountain). In it, he shows huge crystals dwar? ng humans clustered together in the upper left of the pic ture. 0 Nicholas Roerich, 1933 (Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York, http:// www. oerich. org) Failing to ? nd any treasure, Spencer ? nally reached the last cof? n and lifted the lid. To his amazement, he looked down upon a small creature dressed in shimmering silver clothing. Its large head was a silvery colour, with huge closed eyelids, no mouth and a short stub of a nose. When he bent down to touch the corpse, its huge opal-shaped eyes suddenly opened and glared at him, emitting a piercing green light that blinded the would-be tomb robber. Spencer slammed the lid shut and ran petri? ed from the cavern, tearing his clothing on protruding rock walls in his panic to depart.He reentered the monastery proper, and was told by a high- ranking lama that the creature he saw was an ef? gy of ‘a great master who had come from the stars† (ibid. ). The lama tried to convince him that he had only imagined that the creature was alive, but Spencer never doubted the reality of his weir d encounter. Startled, he related his experience to William Thompson, who subsequently published details in an American periodical, Adventure, some time after his return to the USA. A few days later, Spencer left the monastery and disappeared without trace. He was never heard of again.Russian Scientists View an Ethereal Solar System â€Å"In subterranean Tibet,† a bearded guide told Roerich in 1928, â€Å"many great treasures of Wisdom are buried; when released, one very old cache of scienti? c artifacts will stun the world† (N. K. Roerich, Flame in Chalice. ,op. cit. ). www. vatileak