Families and Young Children What Constitutes Effective Parental Discipline

Families and Young Children What Constitutes Effective Parental Discipline Foundation Good order in youngsters is consistently the longing of each parent and thus; guardians must know and learn methodologies that establish great control among their children.Advertising We will compose a custom report test on Families and Young Children: What Constitutes Effective Parental Discipline? explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More In prompting guardians about viability, techniques for ingraining discipline in their kids the connection between the guardians and the kids, significance of good practices and outcomes of awful practices are of extraordinary concern (Carey, 2003). The word discipline is received from a Greek word discipline, which can be deciphered as educating or training. The beginning times of a child’s improvement are fundamental in the advancement of a kid discipline and any qualities that a youngster gains at this phase of improvement will be reflected in their adulthood (Powers, 1990). The reason for this examination hence wa s to research how guardians can be viable in training their kids. The examination along these lines was an examination on the viability of the different techniques that can be applied in imparting discipline among youngsters (Kohlberg, 1992). In this examination, the examination was completed among youngsters beneath the young. What's more, the fundamental point of the examination was to research the adequacy of the various methodologies that are taken by guardians in training their youngsters. Great connection among guardians and their youngsters is a compelling strategy for advancing great order among kids (Papalia, 2006). Great conduct among kids requires an exertion from both the kid and the guardians and therefore remunerating alluring conduct isn't just significant in empowering great conduct yet it very well may be a successful apparatus for imparting discipline among kids. Discipline for awful conduct has consistently been believed to be an answer for terrible conduct among kids. Be that as it may, flogging isn't a powerful technique for restraining youngsters (pound Wolfe, 2008).Advertising Looking for report on training? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Synthesis The connection among guardians and their youngsters is a powerful apparatus of advancing great conduct. Kids can't be compelled to have great conduct and in this manner empowering great conduct among youngsters gets powerful in advancing great practices. Great connection between the youngster and the guardians guarantees offspring of their security and henceforth advance their conduct (Wallis, 2003). Compensating kids for good conduct is a successful methodology of urging kids to act well (Sears Maccoby 1976). The guardians or watchmen must put forth an attempt in the advancement of good conduct among kids and consequently remunerating youngsters for their great conduct is a technique that has been known to work. Albeit rebuffing you ngsters for the errors they submit has been applied by numerous guardians, as a technique for advancing great conduct among kids the truth of the matter is that this strategy isn't powerful. Proceeded with utilization of this strategy will likewise advance awful conduct among youngsters. As a matter of fact, it will solidify their reaction to any exertion implied at advancing great conduct that is it will make kids defy the power and their folks. Whipping is probably the greatest error that guardians can make as a strategy for advancing great practices among youngsters (McCord, 1996). Strategy During the examination, a few strategies were applied to gather and dissect the information with the primary point of creating a far reaching report on kids conduct. The subjects of the examination were guardians, youngsters beneath young and medical attendants allocated with the job of dealing with kids in kids homes and homes of individual guardians. The examination was isolated into two sec tions where the primary investigation was to concentrate on reaction from kids and the subsequent part was to concentrate on the parent’s side of the story. In this investigation, the information assortment apparatuses that were applied were surveys, meets and direct perception. These devices were applied on the two periods of the examination as per their reasonableness. In the main period of the examination, guardians and sitters were given surveys, which they were relied upon to fill and hand back to the field questioners inside one day.Advertising We will compose a custom report test on Families and Young Children: What Constitutes Effective Parental Discipline? explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The surveys utilized had organized inquiry where some were open-finished inquiries while others were shut finished inquiries. These inquiries were planned so that they could give us adequate data that was required in the examination. The inquiries in the polls were structured such that they tended to the interests of both the guardians and the kids. The inquiries in this way enquired about the strategies that guardians and gatekeepers believe are compelling in advancing great conduct among kids. The inquiries likewise examined on how kids see the order estimates applied by their folks and watchmen (Pantley, 2007). Perception was likewise another powerful apparatus that was utilized in the examination. During the examination, our hands on work delegates should choose a contextual analysis, which should be a home or a child care focus. The agents at that point went through around one day in this chose place and did a perception on the conduct of youngsters and on their reaction from different disciplinary estimates that were applied by their watchmen. The field agent additionally saw on the connection between the youngster and the parent or the watchman when a kid was rebuffed or was engaged with terrible conduct. The utilization of optiona l assets was additionally applied as a technique for discovering thoughts regarding the examination issue. The auxiliary sources used to discover the data that were required in the investigation were books, magazines, and diaries, which were acquired from the library assets. Every individual from our gathering was included effectively in recognizing and finding these recourses (Wendkos-Olds, 2006). In the examination, the information gathered was recorded in tables and different boundaries were appointed by the exploration discoveries. The information was then examined utilizing measurable programming SPSS to assess mean, middle and the difference. Results In the investigation, the discoveries were that kids who had great relationship or the individuals who accepting their folks as their companions had great practices. Guardians who didn't have great connection with their kids utilized unseemly techniques to teach their kids. Kids who were compensated for acceptable practices by the ir folks or watchmen would be wise to practices than the individuals who were not remunerated. Youngsters who were continually rebuffed for a specific awful conduct were bound to rehash a similar mix-up than the individuals who got advising. Guardians who applied flogging as a technique for managing youngsters who got out of hand didn't have great connection with their kids when contrasted with the individuals who didn't rebuff their kids. Youngsters feared discipline. Guardians utilize whipping on their youngsters as the last other option. Conversations Good connection among youngsters and their folks or watchmen is a known powerful strategy that can be applied in advancing great practices among kids. In the investigation, there was an immediate connection between's acceptable conduct in kids and solid connection among kids and their folks (Salkind, 2006).Advertising Searching for report on instruction? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More The motivation behind why youngsters who have great relations with their folks carried on well is on the grounds that such kids trusted in their folks and they had faith in their folks as their aides and coaches (MacDonald, 2000). In the examination, it was discovered that youngsters who were remunerated for acceptable practices are probably going to carry on gravely later on (Sears Maccoby, 1976). Youngsters learn through impersonations and hence, remunerating kids for good practices are a motivating force that has been known to work. Then again, youngsters who needed motivator for good conduct didn't see the explanation behind proceeding with great conduct and at long last; they acted seriously (Straus Donnelly, 2001). Albeit most guardians and watchmen have the possibility that whipping is a device for demoralizing terrible conduct in kids it doesn't work in the long haul. In a report discharged as of late less that, 59% of pediatricians suggest it (McCormick, 1992). Kids who are continually rebuffed for submitting a specific slip-up become used to the discipline and in this way toward the end they quit reacting to the discipline and get rowdy continually (Garmezy Rutter, 2003). End Good conduct in kids is a significant factor in their turn of events and in building solid connection among them and their youngsters. Rebuffing youngsters for awful conduct is a transient arrangement or strategy for managing awful conduct among kids. Despite the fact that building up great connection among guardians and their kids don't have quick outcomes it is a decent strategy for guaranteeing great conduct among youngsters in the long haul. References Carey, S. (2003). The entire youngster: Rrestoring marvel to the specialty of child rearing. Oxford. Rowman Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Garmezy, N., Rutter, M. (2003). Stress, adapting, and improvement in kids. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Kohlberg, L. (1992). Improvement of good character and good belief system. New York, NY: R ussell-Sage Foundation. MacDonald, A. (2000). P

Corporate Rivalry and Market Power †Free Samples to Students

Question: Talk about the Corporate Rivalry and Market Power. Answer: Presentation: The flight business is profoundly serious and makes the requirement for industry players to receive viable methodologies to stay serious and accomplish the ideal destinations. With the ascent in the quantity of carriers, rivalry keeps on developing to make the requirement for aircrafts to build up vital situations to accomplish their general goals (Abeyratne, 2014). Concentrating on client care quality is one of the key parts of the avionics business that altogether holds and pull in new clients just as adequately tending to rivalry issues (Tsiakis, 2015). NZIA is likewise a minimal effort bearer situated in Auckland and works booked traveler administrations utilizing 10 rented Airbus A330-200 airplane which has an all-economy lodge setup. The case exhibits that the aircraft is anything but a full-administration arrange bearer expanding the chance of encountering rivalry in the market; henceforth the need to make another vital concentration and vital situating to extend the present c ourses and item offering to accomplish benefits and market streamlining (Bruce, 2011). The situational examination of NZIA presents understanding on the vital target of the carrier, the armada, and system inclusion to improve comprehension of the serious position and the given courses. Furthermore, the situational investigation will concentrate on the future course open doors for the aircraft which can help in the drawn out presentation or achievement of the association just as the market patterns and items. NZIA Strategic Objective As indicated by the case, NZIA is definitely not a full-administration arrange transporter which is one of the key angle restricting its capacity to augment benefits or achievement in the business. Thusly, the key goal of the aircraft includes turning into a full-administration arrange bearer which includes concentrating on expanded traveler flights instead of the planned as it were. The key goal is likewise founded on growing the current courses so as to situate the carrier in the serious business. The key goal depends on improving the capacity of the carrier to advance new market open doors just as expanding the organization's gainfulness. Moreover, the key target will see the organization grow its courses and item offering so as to build the general number of travelers and increase a serious situation in the market (Mahadevan, 2009). As indicated by the case situation, NZIA is a minimal effort bearer and has been recently founded on working booked traveler administrations which restricted their armada number and system. As of now, NZIA gives its traveler administrations utilizing 10 rented Airbus A330-200 airplane which has an all-economy lodge setup and a limit of 260 seats. The aircraft's system in both household and global courses includes Auckland-Sydney, Christchurch-Sydney, Auckland-Cook Islands, Auckland-Nadi, Auckland-Noumea, Wellington-Sydney, and Auckland-Wellington-Christchurch. The armada and system for the carrier are restricted dependent on the possibility that the organization just worked as booked traveler administrations. Be that as it may, in the accomplishment of the new vital target, the aircraft will undoubtedly expand the armada number so as to satisfy the developing need and rivalry in the market just as accomplish the ideal benefits. The aircraft should likewise extend the system spread to improve the odds of serving travelers from various territories just as augmenting the benefits. Rivalry on Given Routes As prior distinguished, the avionics business is one of the most serious which makes the requirement for carriers to have remarkable administrations of item contributions to fulfill the contending needs. Rivalry is a key test that will be experienced by NZIA in given courses inferable from the presence of other key players in the business (Ireland, Hoskisson Hitt, 2012). In such manner, NZIA ought to receive item separation technique and administration quality so as to address the contending requests just as accomplish the ideal goals (Odoni, 2015). For instance, NZIA can give pre-flight and in-flight administrations to upgrade the traveler's understanding just as fulfillment which can altogether help address the contending requests. NZIA can likewise present in-flight diversion, seat design and menu's which additionally assume a huge job in improving client experience and maintenance with the organization. NZIA works in courses with key contenders which makes the need to play out a market overview before setting up new courses so as to improve the profits on speculations. The organization can likewise concentrate on less serious markets or courses so as to upgrade the odds of accomplishing its destinations (Couto, Plansky Caglar, 2017). One of the key pieces of accomplishing the key target of the organization includes the procurement of another armada of 20 Boeing B787-8 or Boeing B787-9 which are basic and essentially utilized by contenders. Including the armada upgrades NZIA capacity to convey countless travelers and burden just as extend its system just as improving the aircraft's item advertising. NZIA improved armada upgrades the capacity to contend on any new courses as far as burden and goal just as the recurrence of the movement in all the goals. The planned extra airplane engages the aircraft to accomplish its vital target just as oversee rivalry from new and existing players. Also, the possibility that, the organization isn't moderately introducing the idea that its accomplished in the market and have improved capacities to accomplish its targets in the extended system and increment benefit (Papatheodorou, 2006). NZIA has key development openings principally by growing its courses which upgrades the odds of accomplishing its vital targets just as overseeing rivalry. The expansion in the armada number and development of the item offering by the organization improves the odds of development. A portion of things to come course openings that can help NZIA accomplish its vital destinations incorporate Auckland-Hong kong (9142.68 km), Auckland-Singapore (8420 km), Auckland-Los Angeles (10,477 km), Auckland-Kuala Lumpur which would be accomplished by an organization with other territorial carriers to help in accomplishing the goals. Other key future course open doors for the organization incorporates Auckland-Beijing (10,386 km), Auckland-Delhi (12,843 km), Auckland Tokyo, and Auckland-Seoul. Making progress later on course openings is additionally subject to a boundless organization with carriers from various districts to upgrade the capacity of NZIA viably arriving at its ideal goals. Also, the ai rcraft is required to change its travel air terminal which is situated in Auckland so as to upgrade its ability to serve travelers from various locales just as decrease the operational expenses while improving the profits on ventures. Market Trends Products The present market patterns and items exhibit key parts of separation while the patterns include the ascent of innovation in the business. NZIA is relied upon to embrace the new patterns in the business so as to adequately address traveler issues and fulfillment. One of the key issues that are basic to the accomplishment of the carriers includes the capacity to accomplish consumer loyalty which upgrades the capacity of the aircrafts to hold and pull in more clients (Pycraft, 2000). So as to stay important, NZIA is required to be adaptable to the market patterns, for example, the consideration of web based booking, request in extravagance administrations or arrangement of contract administrations. With respect to item, NZIA can improve its item contributions to upgrade the traveler's understanding and fulfillment in the aircraft. NZIA can concentrate on in-flight benefits for all travelers independent of their group of movement, giving ordinary offers and prize projects. The present m arket pattern in the flight business includes redistributing administrations which advance the odds of aircrafts diminishing their operational expenses just as improving their proficiency (Young, 2009). For instance, NZIA can re-appropriate administrations, for example, support or flight booking which upgrades the odds of the carrier concentrating on administration arrangement to clients just in this way improved odds of consumer loyalty. The thought of current market patterns and items advances the capacity of the aircrafts to accomplish development in existing and new markets because of the appropriation of the market-centered plan of action. The aeronautics business in Australia is likewise evaluated to have developed by a critical rate since 2005. The chart presents the development in incomes showing the market pattern and open doors for NZIA. In 2009 the incomes were around $9.7 Bn where $5.9 billion were from household flights while $3.8 billion came about because of fare exercises. By 2016, the industry pattern exhibited development to $12Bn-$16 Bn. The diagram exhibits the interest and all out winning which has improved throughout the years making the requirement for NZIA to participate in full help transporter. The subsequent figure shows the development in residential travel which exhibits key open doors for NZIA in the market. References Abeyratne, R. I. R. 2014.Aviation and environmental change: looking for a worldwide market based measure. Cham: Springer Bruce, P. J. 2011.Understanding dynamic procedures in aircraft tasks control. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate. Couto, V., Plansky, J., Caglar, D. 2017.Fit for development: A manual for vital cost cutting, rebuilding, and restoration. Ireland, R. D., Hoskisson, R. E., Hitt, M. A. 2012.Understanding business system: Concepts in addition to. Bricklayer, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.p Mahadevan, B. 2009.Operations administration: Theory and practice. New Delhi: Published by Dorling Kindersley (India), licensees of Pearson Education in South Asia. Odoni, A. 2015.The worldwide aircraft

Future Librarians Pro-Literacy Everything in Between

Future Librarians Pro-Literacy Everything in Between (0) Chancellor:     “You are obsolete, Mr.Wordsworth!” Mr. Wordsworth:    â€œA lie.  No man is obsolete!” Chancellor:    â€œYou have no function, Mr.Wordsworth. Youre an anachronism, like a ghost from another time.” â€"From “The Obsolete Man” episode of the Twilight Zone, written by Rod Serling The above dialogue excerpt is from an episode of the Twilight Zone (TZ) that aired on June 21, 1961 called The Obsolete Man. It is a conversation between Mr. Romney Wordsworth and the Chancellor discussing the reasons for his “liquidation”â€"Mr. Wordsworth is a librarian, and therefore obsolete. This episode of TZ interested me well before I even had the foggiest notion that Library Science existed. I have been watching TZ for as long as I can remember and even as a kid I could not understand what a librarian could possibly do that might even be considered obsolete. Fast forward to the recent past and and our present, rife with library closures, alternative facts, funding cuts and the MakerSpace craze, and people (including librarians) are left wondering what happens next. Where do we go from here?  What is the future of libraries? Reading is the foundation of libraries.  Without reading, there is no need for them to exist. Once upon a time In my mind, I can still follow the exact path I took in my elementary school library to find my favorite book. Through the door, a right after the first set of tables, through the alcove, bottom shelf on the left. There were the Dare Wright Lonely Doll books. My favorite was Edith Big Bad Bill, a story about Edith and Little Bear encountering a rather violent, bad guy, Bill. I chose this same book time after time.       Although it is out of print, I picked up a copy of Edith and Big Bad Bill on eBay and looking at it as an adult, I can see exactly why this was the book I sought out. I was a ‘lonely doll,’ of sorts, and I had a ‘bad guy’ in my life as well. Only he was my father. At the end of this book, everything is sorted out for Edith and things go back to normal. I did not know this at the time, but things would not go back to normal for me for many years. This book gave me hope that they could. Sitting on the floor of the library at P.S. 30, a reader was born. When children are given the chance to freely come to books of their own volition, amazing things will happen. Mrs. LiBassi introduced me to E.B White in 2nd grade by reading aloud Charlotte’s Web. My mother bought me my own copy so I could follow along with her and when we finished as a class, I reread it independently. Then I read and reread Trumpet of the Swan. Stuart Little was next.  Then books about mice, and pigs, and spiders and goslings and anything else I connected with the characters and themes in his books. By third grade I was hooked on words.  I read every single Roald Dahl book available to me at the library and then read them again.  Having three older sisters, I read all of Carolyn Haywood and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. I then read my mother’s books; The Life and Times of Heidi Abramowitz by Joan Rivers being my favorite; and my father’s magazines and newspapers. I relished reading for the sake of reading.   The library, for many, is the first exposure to this magic. It was magic yesterday. It is today and it will be tomorrow as well. In that, I am securely sure. For kids, this magic can serve as the jumping off point to boundless learning. The Pleasure Hypothesis FVR No conversation about reading for pleasure would be complete without discussing the seminal work of Dr. Stephen Krashen in Free Voluntary Reading (FVR).  According to Krashen, “There is massive evidence that self-selected reading, or reading what you want to read, is responsible for most of our literacy developmentIn fact, it is impossible to develop high levels of literacy without being a dedicated reader, and dedicated readers rarely have serious problems in reading and writing.”   The research on literacy and language development in Krashen’s eyes, points in the direction of the Pleasure Hypothesis: What is good for language and literacy development is perceived to be pleasant.  Several studies and case histories have been done and the results of these studies are consistent with the view that reading results in language and literacy development.   There is a fantastic TED Ed lesson created by Gordon Powell that features a video of Dr. Krashen speaking on the Power of Reading.  Krashen is a wonderful speaker and in the video he discusses the one word that will bring lower level readers to higher level readers. The one word that could develop academic literacy. The one word that could bring people to the highest levels of literacy.  And that one word is reading.   Krashen argues that FVR is the foundation for developing passion for reading, for making connections for deeper engagement with curriculum and for developing vocabulary and the knowledge of the disciplinary/technical language of each subject’s curriculum. FVR involves reading for reading’s sake without book reports, quizzes or responses. Practical Response on the Future of Libraries While the rate of people that read for pleasure has been increasing, demands to be literate are swelling at a faster rate. Up until recent times, we have been living with overwhelming information scarcity. I read a quote by Google’s Eric Schmidt on TechCrunch that said every two days the human race creates as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization to the year 2003. Think about that for a second! Relatively 2,000 years worth of data compiled every TWO days. It is no wonder why there is such a 21st century misunderstanding about the the purpose of libraries!   Because we are living in a period of such staggering information glut cluttered with fake news, alternative facts, and active measures campaigns, perhaps the answer to combat this sad reality is going back to basics and acquiring critical thinking rather than just learning about it. I believe the central way to accomplish this is through reading fiction. Because of the future, words are more important than ever and our familiarity with those words and ability to comprehend and use them is critical.   Reading fiction improves brain connectivity and function, as well as increases Theory of Mind (ToM). ToM is the ability to attribute mental states (like beliefs or intentions) to oneself and others, as well as understanding that others have beliefs and intentions that are different from one’s own. In this way, fiction allows the reader to flex their imagination in a way that is similar to the visualization of a muscle memory in sports. Cognitive Psychologist Keith Oatley likens the brain to a supercomputer running a simulation game when we read fiction. We are allowed to enter the mind of the protagonist and see the world through his eyes and think his thoughts. We are him. The details we know about him, learned through his words and the words of other characters and the narrator, we readers analyze and piece together another world through words that changes us mentally after the simulation is over. The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an e xperience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are stimulated. Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication. In this way, critical thinking is synonymous with fiction reading. Reading fiction widely can build ‘algorithms’ through critical thinking better than Facebook ever could write, and can allay the efforts of nefarious campaigns or clickbait come-ons. If we have learned nothing from the 2016 Elections, we are now all too aware of how fake-news is made to mislead us in order to gain financially or politically, often with sensationalist, exaggerated, or patently false headlines that grab attention.   The real educational challenge for school librarians in the future is teaching students the skills that make them careful and thorough researchers. For clarification, ‘research’ is not only done in schools and universities by students and researchers. Google defines research as “the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.” Research is a human skill. I could very easily change out the terms “fiction reading” and “critical thinking” for the term “research,” and the definition would still ring true. So why are we attempting to reinvent the wheel of our future role here, people?       The Magic of Books I’d like to shift focus onto Neil Gaiman and his view that our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. I feel that his knowledge and belief system as an author perfectly dovetails with Krashen’s research findings. I was forever changed when I read an article in the Guardian that featured a lecture Gaiman gave in 2013 to The Reading Agency, a London Based charity whose mission is to inspire people to read more, encourage them to share their enjoyment of reading and celebrate the difference that reading makes to all our lives. I have not been so affected by someone’s words as they pertain to my profession as I was having read Gaiman’s lecture.   I like that this piece deals specifically with the future. Fiction, according to Gaiman has two uses. First, fiction is a “gateway drug to reading.” What a wonderfully enlightening analogy, and so very true. The drive and motivation to know what happens next, to visualize, to question, to infer themes and motivations are all very real. These are the skills necessary in critical thinking.  Says Gaiman, the simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. That means, at its simplest, finding books they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them.     Second, reading for pleasure builds empathy and social skills. I love how Gaiman describes the difference between seeing a movie vs. reading a book. With prose fiction, the reader uses 26 letters and a few punctuation marks, and using one’s own imagination, a new world is created filled with people, places and things. Reading fiction helps the reader to see the world through others’ eyes and allows us to be someone else, if only for a moment, and when it is all over, we readers are changed. Gaiman describes empathy as a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals. It lets people know that the world does not have to be like this. Things can be different.   Libraries, and school libraries in particular are about freedom and equity. Libraries level the playing field between the haves and the have-nots. It is widely known that there is a correlation between children from poverty and reading scores. In a study of factors that best predicted reading scores from The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the factors of poverty, a Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) program, and the presence of a school librarian were isolated. Poverty has a strong factor with a negative effect. The presence of a school librarian was a very strong, positive factor in predicting reading scores and its effect was nearly as strong as the effect of poverty.   According to Krashen this suggests that supplying books in a school library can mitigate the effects of poverty on reading comprehension scores. The majority of public school students in the United States are in poverty. I work in a school whose population is 100% free and reduced lunch. My students are ‘my kids’ and their reading life is very important to me. But for the school library, my kids’ access to books would be zero. In my school of 570, I circulated 15,000 books this year.  No Accelerated Reader, either. That is an average of 26 books per child. Allow me to mention that reading scores in my school have been rising steadily over these past few years. I am not taking full credit for these gains but I know that what the library offers accounts for a solid part of them.   The “Future-Readyifying” of Libraries Reading has become buried under Makerspaces, 3D printers, gadgets, and people’s visions of the ‘future of libraries’ so much so that I believe we have lost sight of our purpose as librarians and the field of school librarianship as a whole. I say that the best way to become more digitally literate is by becoming more literate. The Future Ready Initiative was launched in November 2014 by the White House Office of Educational Technology. “Future Ready” is a ubiquitous term these days it seems. I think it is important to think about the future but also to examine those who are defining the future for educational purposes. Enter nonprofit Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE). The mission of AEE is “to promote high school transformation to make it possible for every child to graduate prepared for postsecondary learning and success in life.” AEE is funded through grants from The Bill and Melinda Gates and Macarthur Foundations as well as other corporate and private donations. Future Ready Schools is a registered trademark of the Alliance for Excellent Education. In 2015, the Alliance created a separate project under its umbrella called Future Ready Schools (FRS) to help school districts develop comprehensive plans to achieve successful student learning outcomes. Also in 2015, the American Association of School Librarians announced their decision to join the coalition for Future Ready Schools. Future Ready Librarians is an expansion of the Future Ready initiative aimed at raising awareness among district and school leaders about the valuable role librarians can play in supporting the Future Ready goals of their school and district.   Although outside the scope of this article, I think this story from the L.A. Times about the failure of philanthropists in setting the public school agenda is timely and worth a read. Some of my knowledge of Future Ready Libraries has come from their Facebook group, Future Ready Librarians (FRL). I will not speak to the content on this page since posts are third-party and may not necessarily reflect the views and mission of Future Ready Schools. I will however speak to the public group photo that is used for this page. Being owner and admin of many groups on Facebook, I understand the importance of those 801 x 250 pixels. This image must convey your group’s intention, purpose, validity, and value in one glance. The FRL picture depicts a group of 8 children and, perhaps their teacher. They are lounging on the floor and each is totally engrossed in a device, not interacting with one another at all. Directly behind them are bookcases packed with books shelved museum-neat. Behind them. Backs to the books. A picture is worth 1,000 words.         I feel strongly that some fundamental research about reading was ignored in a rush to conform to the Future Ready agenda. The FRL framework is lacking a major component. If we assume that the libraries of the future actively value reading and literacy development and their continuous improvement over time, we school librarians have to actively engage with the body of research and scholarship around reading and literacy development. I also feel strongly in the professionalism and ability to discern and adjust to current trends in education and librarianship that I and my school librarian colleagues posses. We are a very swift bunch and we take to change rather well. I can speak for myself and many colleagues nationwide that are Future Ready Librarians today in 2017.     The FRL framework on its own is admirable. I do appreciate the developers’ interpretation of the future and I do see value in forecasting the future. But the future is tomorrow. Not some nebulous point down the track. We librarians should be on the frontlines of the digital transformation of learning but no matter what transformation happens, reading will be as important 100 years from now as it is today. There will be no “future ready librarians” of any kind if we continue to ignore the foundational assumption about libraries in favor of the newest gimmick and fad. If READING is not part of the Future Ready equation, there is no “future” in “Future Ready Libraries,”  that is the bottom line. I am NOT anti-MakerSpace. I am NOT anti-technology. I am pro-literacy. I do not feel that we cannot have all three. Quite the opposite. I know we can be all-inclusive because I have a MakerSpace and use technology on a daily basis to facilitate understanding. I am a proponent of gaming in the library and have regular Roblox tournaments and Minecraft building sessions.  But everything I do has its roots in the pure definition of the library: to provide access to books (whatever their format) and advocate for free voluntary reading. Everything is secondary to that.   As formats change in the future so will my job description but my convictions and what is in my professional psyche will not. I do not foresee ever being obsolete because I am confident in myself and the collective body of school librarians and library scholars to ensure that the school library of the future is one based on solid research in reading. Let us move forward into the future, but not with our backs to the books. Let’s instead get back to books and we will reap the fruits of our labor in a very verdant future. Future Ready Librarians embrace change. For change to take place there has to be a beginning, and change does not necessarily minimize the beginning. For future ready librarians, that beginning is reading and literacy development. In maintaining that beginning, we are able to meaningfully respond to change and what the future brings.       A full list of all references can be found linked here. They were created using EasyBib citation tools, which are available in MLA format, APA format, and many other citation styles.

Biography of Queen Min, Korean Empress

Queen Min (October 19, 1851–October 8, 1895), also known as Empress Myeongseong, was an important figure in Koreas Joseon Dynasty. She was married to Gojong, the first ruler of the Korean Empire. Queen Min was highly involved in her husbands government; she was assassinated in 1895 after the Japanese determined that she was a threat to their control of the Korean Peninsula. Fast Facts: Queen Min Known For: As the wife of Gojong, the Emperor of Korea, Queen Min played a major role in Korean affairs.Also Known As: Empress MyeongseongBorn: October 19, 1851 in Yeoju,  Kingdom of JoseonDied: October 8, 1895 in Seoul, Kingdom of JoseonSpouse: Gojong, Emperor of KoreaChildren: Sunjong Early Life On October 19, 1851, Min Chi-rok and an unnamed wife had a baby girl. The childs given name has not been recorded. As members of the noble Yeoheung Min clan, the family was well-connected with Koreas royal family. Although the little girl was an orphan by the age of 8, she went on to become the first wife of the young King Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty. Koreas child-king Gojong actually served as a figurehead for his father and regent, the Taewongun. It was the Taewongun who selected the Min orphan as the future queen, presumably because she did not have the strong family support that could threaten the ascendancy of his own political allies. Marriage The bride was 16 years old and King Gojong was only 15 when they married in March 1866. A slight and slender girl, the bride could not support the weight of the heavy wig she had to wear at the ceremony, so a special attendant helped hold it in place. The girl, small but clever and independent-minded, became Queen Consort of Korea. Typically, queen consorts concerned themselves with setting fashions for the noble women of the realm, hosting tea parties, and gossiping. Queen Min, however, had no interest in these pastimes. Instead, she read widely about history, science, politics, philosophy, and religion, giving herself the kind of education ordinarily reserved for men. Politics and Family Soon, the Taewongun realized that he had chosen his daughter-in-law unwisely. Her serious program of study concerned him, prompting him to quip, She evidently aspires to be a doctor of letters; look out for her. Before long, Queen Min and her father-in-law would be sworn enemies. The Taewongun moved to weaken the queens power at court by giving his son a royal consort, who soon bore King Gojong a son of his own. Queen Min proved unable to have a child until she was 20 years old, five years after the marriage. That child, a son, tragically died three days after he was born. The queen and the shamans (mudang) she called in to consult blamed the Taewongun for the babys death. They claimed that he had poisoned the boy with a ginseng emetic treatment. From that moment on, Queen Min vowed to avenge her childs death. Family Feud Queen Min began by appointing members of the Min clan to a number of high court offices. The queen also enlisted the support of her weak-willed husband, who was legally an adult by this time but still allowed his father to rule the country. She also won over the kings younger brother (whom the Taewongun called the dolt). Most significantly, she had King Gojong appoint a Confucian scholar named Cho Ik-Hyon to the court; the highly influential Cho declared that the king should rule in his own name, even going so far as to declare that the Taewongun was without virtue. In response, the Taewongun sent assassins to kill Cho, who fled into exile. However, Chos words bolstered the 22-year-old kings position sufficiently so that on November 5, 1873, King Gojong announced that henceforth he would rule in his own right. That same afternoon, somebody—likely Queen Min—had the Taewonguns entrance to the palace bricked shut. The following week, a mysterious explosion and fire rocked the queens sleeping chamber, but the queen and her attendants were not hurt. A few days later, an anonymous parcel delivered to the queens cousin exploded, killing him and his mother. Queen Min was certain that the Taewongun was behind this attack, but she could not prove it. Trouble With Japan Within a year of King Gojongs accession to the throne, representatives of Meiji Japan appeared in Seoul to demand that the Koreans pay tribute. Korea had long been a tributary of Qing China (as had Japan, off and on), but considered itself of equal rank with Japan, so the king contemptuously rejected their demand. The Koreans mocked the Japanese emissaries for wearing western-style clothing, saying they were no longer even true Japanese, and then deported them. Japan would not be so lightly put off, however. In 1874, the Japanese returned once more. Although Queen Min urged her husband to reject them again, the king decided to sign a trade treaty with the Meiji Emperors representatives in order to avoid trouble. With this foothold in place, Japan then sailed a gunship called Unyo into the restricted area around the southern island of Ganghwa, prompting the Korean shore defenses to open fire. Using the Unyo incident as a pretext, Japan sent a fleet of six naval vessels into Korean waters. Under the threat of force, Gojong once again folded; Queen Min was unable to prevent his capitulation. The kings representatives signed the Ganghwa Treaty, which was modeled on the Kanagawa Treaty that the United States had imposed on Japan following Commodore Matthew Perrys 1854 arrival in Tokyo Bay. (Meiji Japan was an astonishingly quick study on the subject of imperial domination.) Under the terms of the Ganghwa Treaty, Japan got access to five Korean ports and all Korean waters, special trading status, and extraterritorial rights for Japanese citizens in Korea. This meant that Japanese accused of crimes in Korea could only be tried under Japanese law—they were immune to local laws. The Koreans gained absolutely nothing from this treaty, which signaled the beginning of the end of Korean independence. Despite Queen Mins best efforts, the Japanese would dominate Korea until 1945. Imo Incident In the period after the Ganghwa incident, Queen Min spearheaded a reorganization and modernization of Koreas military. She also reached out to China, Russia, and the other western powers in hopes of playing them off against the Japanese in order to protect Korean sovereignty. Although the other major powers were happy to sign unequal trade treaties with Korea, none would commit to defending the Hermit Kingdom from Japanese expansionism. In 1882, Queen Min faced a rebellion by old-guard military officers who felt threatened by her reforms and by the opening of Korea to foreign powers. Known as the Imo Incident, the uprising temporarily ousted Gojong and Min from the palace, returning the Taewongun to power. Dozens of Queen Mins relatives and supporters were executed, and foreign representatives were expelled from the capital. King Gojongs ambassadors to China appealed for assistance, and 4,500 Chinese troops then marched into Seoul and arrested the Taewongun. They transported him to Beijing to be tried for treason; Queen Min and King Gojong returned to the Gyeongbukgung Palace and reversed all of the Taewonguns orders. Unbeknownst to Queen Min, the Japanese ambassadors in Seoul strong-armed Gojong into signing the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1882. Korea agreed to pay restitution for the Japanese lives and property lost in the Imo Incident, and also to allow Japanese troops into Seoul so they could guard the Japanese Embassy. Alarmed by this new imposition, Queen Min once again reached out to Qin China, granting them trading access to ports still closed to Japan, and requesting that Chinese and German officers head her modernizing army. She also sent a fact-finding mission to the United States, headed by Min Yeong-ik of her Yeoheung Min clan. The mission even dined with American President Chester A. Arthur. Tonghak Rebellion In 1894, Korean peasants and village officials rose up against the Joseon government because of the crushing tax burdens imposed upon them. Like the Boxer Rebellion, which was beginning to brew in Qing China, the Tonghak or Eastern Learning movement in Korea was anti-foreigner. One popular slogan was Drive out the Japanese dwarfs and the Western barbarians. As the rebels took provincial towns and capitals  and marched toward Seoul, Queen Min urged her husband to ask Beijing for aid. China responded on June 6, 1894, by sending in almost 2,500 soldiers to reinforce Seouls defenses. Japan expressed its outrage (real or feigned) at this land-grab by China  and sent 4,500 troops to Incheon, over the protests of Queen Min and King Gojong. Although the Tonghak Rebellion was over within a week, Japan and China did not withdraw their forces. As the two Asian powers troops stared one another down and the Korean royals called for both sides to withdraw, British-sponsored negotiations failed. On July 23, 1894, Japanese troops marched into Seoul and captured King Gojong and Queen Min. On August 1, China and Japan declared war on one another, fighting for control of Korea. Sino-Japanese War Although Qing China deployed 630,000 troops to Korea in the Sino-Japanese War, as opposed to just 240,000 Japanese, the modern Meiji army and navy quickly crushed the Chinese forces. On April 17, 1895, China signed the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki, which recognized that Korea was no longer a tributary state of the Qing empire. It also granted the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands to Japan, and agreed to pay a war indemnity of 200 million silver taels to the Meiji government. As many as 100,000 of Koreas peasants had risen up late in 1894 to attack the Japanese as well, but they were slaughtered. Internationally, Korea was no longer a vassal state of the failing Qing; its ancient enemy, Japan, was now fully in charge. Queen Min was devastated. Appeal to Russia Japan quickly wrote a new constitution for Korea  and stocked its parliament with pro-Japanese Koreans. A large number of Japanese troops remained stationed indefinitely in Korea. Desperate for an ally to help unlock Japans stranglehold on her country, Queen Min turned to the other emerging power in the Far East—Russia. She met with Russian emissaries, invited Russian students and engineers to Seoul, and did her best to stoke Russian concerns about the rising Japanese power. Japans agents and officials in Seoul, well aware of Queen Mins appeals to Russia, countered by approaching her old nemesis and father-in-law, the Taewongun. Although he hated the Japanese, the Taewongun detested Queen Min even more  and agreed to help them get rid of her once and for all. Assassination In the fall of 1895, Japanese ambassador to Korea Miura Goro formulated a plan to assassinate Queen Min, a plan that he named Operation Fox Hunt. Early in the morning of October 8, 1895, a group of 50 Japanese and Korean assassins launched their assault on Gyeongbokgung Palace. They seized King Gojong but did not harm him. Then they attacked the queen consorts sleeping quarters, dragging her out along with three or four of her attendants. The assassins questioned the women to make sure that they had Queen Min, then slashed them with swords before stripping and raping them. The Japanese displayed the queens dead body to several other foreigners in the area—including the Russians  so they knew their ally was dead—and then carried her body to the forest outside the palace walls. There, the assassins doused Queen Mins body with kerosene and burned it, scattering her ashes. Legacy In the aftermath of Queen Mins murder, Japan denied involvement while also pushing King Gojong to posthumously strip her of her royal rank. For once, he refused to bow to their pressure. An international outcry about Japans killing of a foreign sovereign forced the Meiji government to stage show-trials, but only minor participants were convicted. Ambassador Miura Goro was acquitted for a lack of evidence. In 1897, Gojong ordered a careful search of the woods where his queens body had been burned, which turned up a single finger bone. He organized an elaborate funeral for this relic of his wife, featuring 5,000 soldiers, thousands of lanterns and scrolls enumerating Queen Mins virtues, and giant wooden horses to transport her in the afterlife. The queen consort also received the posthumous title of Empress Myeongseong. In the following years, Japan would defeat Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) and formally annex the Korean Peninsula in 1910, ending the Joseon dynastys rule. Korea would remain under Japans control until the Japanese defeat in World War II. Sources Bong Lee. The Unfinished War: Korea. New York: Algora Publishing, 2003.Kim Chun-Gil. The History of Korea. ABC-CLIO, 2005Palais, James B. Politics and Policy in Traditional Korea. Harvard University Press, 1975.Seth, Michael J. A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present. Rowman Littlefield, 2010.

Organizational behavior - 1577 Words

Organizational Behavior: An Analysis of Helm Fire and Rescue Company Introduction Organizational Behavior is referred to as the study of individuals and their relative behavior subject to the existing organizational environment. The concept applies in a diverse workplace setting in different ways and had diverse impacts to the organization. Organizational behavior field includes communication, sociology, psychology, and management. The concept is subject to both internal and external factors affecting the organization. The formula for success in business as noted by Millstein et al. (1998, p.7) requires two elements including the external environment and the individual. Major scholars have also noted that removing one of these values is†¦show more content†¦The findings provided from the analysis indicated that a Helm fire and rescue service was an effective organization though in some of the departments, it required improvements. Francis and Fred (2009, p.69-76) was of the view that management must continuously be the main element palpating the pulse of the specific organization and at all times know their opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses. They noted that four cardinal contributors to a success within an organization are the way in which that particular organization is governed, the way it attains and establishes its goals and objectives, its strategies to promote ethics, and if the strategic maintenance of aspects that reflect a healthy organization. To effect change and allow for full operations to take place at Helm fire and rescue services management has been the key element of consideration. Helm fire and Rescue Company has its mission as being effectively saving property, lives and the environment. The strategies implemented to accomplish this mission, and the identified values are subject to management (Millstein et al 1998, p.7). 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How to Survive the 1st Week of College Free Essays

How can you survive the first week of college Do you ever find yourself anxious, nervous, and afraid of the first week of college? Well, you shouldn’t be. College is the best time you will have during your life time and shouldn’t be wasted especially the first week which is the most energetic time. To survive the first week of you college, all you need to do is have proper hygiene, quickly accommodate yourself with new friends, including peers and teachers, and lastly you should adapt yourself to your new environment. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Survive the 1st Week of College or any similar topic only for you Order Now Do you like people that come to school with morning breathe, sweat, and look as if they’ve been up for five days straight? A clean person is a healthy person. Without good hygiene you will have a bad first impression. It is important for a student to take care of themselves by properly taking a refreshing bath, so that all the sweat accumulated over night can be washed away and you could feel refreshed and rejuvenated. It is also a good practice to come to college with your teeth brushed and your breath smelling fresh and new just like your body after a shower. This will let your peers know that you are properly cleansed and are ready to presume with the educational process. They will also like to be around you for your fresh and new smell. You should not only have proper hygiene but you should also accommodate yourself with new and reliable friends. You should not only make friends with your peers but also with teachers. This will help you to socialize and widen the amount of friends you currently have. Moreover, they will get you out of harsh and intense situations such as a quarrel or argument. Befriending teachers is very useful because they could help you to understand the work better and give you easy learning methods. College provides stress daily; therefore, could bring down your mental focus and also bring down your grades which will then affect your GPA. However, with good companions this will not happen because they will brighten up your day and take away your stress. Your new friends, including peers and teachers will then be your new family during college hours. You guys will be looking out and taking care for one another. Basically, you should always make new friends during your first week of college because in the longer run you will need their help for support and encouragement. Secondly, not only should you have and show good hygiene and make new friends but you should also adapt with your new surroundings. You should learn and adapt to your surroundings as soon as possible so that you can become familiar and comfortable in your new environment. This will help you to easily maneuver your way through the structure of your college. Furthermore, knowing your surroundings is essential so you can prevent getting going astray and having to ask directions. Knowing your surrounding is a good way not to get into trouble, you do not want to find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. In short, the first week of college can be easily survived by have proper hygiene, finding and accommodate yourself with new friends, and lastly adapting yourself with your new environment. You do not want to show a bad first impression, you do need the help of new friends which include classmates and teachers, and you surely have to learn and intertwined yourself with your new surroundings so that it becomes a part of you. These steps will greatly impact your first week in college and make it more comfortable for you to overcome your anxious, nervous and scared feeling. How to cite How to Survive the 1st Week of College, Papers

To what extent was the United States responsible for the collapse of the Grand Alliance at the end of the Second World War Essay Example

To what extent was the United States responsible for the collapse of the Grand Alliance at the end of the Second World War Paper The Grand Alliance was the term given to the co-operative mutual assistance relationship between the western powers, especially the United States and Britain, and the Soviet Union, which was formed to engineer the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. For the duration of the conflict, relations between these nations were fairly good: the Americans supplied billions of dollars worth of war material to the USSR under the Lend-Lease arrangement (though with little enthusiasm: the first shipments did not arrive until late 19421), the Allies made attempts to co-ordinate their military activity, and all were agreed on the common understanding that defeating Hitlers Germany was essential for world peace and international security. Propaganda photographs of American and Soviet troops exchanging handshakes over the ruins of a defeated Third Reich gave every impression that the era of antipathy and hatred between nations was over, and that a new order of peace and prosperity would be built on the back of a crushed swastika. 2 In reality however, by the end of the war the alliance was falling apart. Even before Germany had been defeated, major chasms were opening between the allied powers, and after the war concluded these divisions only widened. The exact date by which the alliance had totally collapsed can be disputed, but it would be uncontroversial to assert that this date can fall no later than the end of the Berlin blockade in May 1949. All semblances of co-operation disappeared, and the world was plunged into a four decade-long confrontation of nuclear proportions, the Cold War. We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent was the United States responsible for the collapse of the Grand Alliance at the end of the Second World War specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent was the United States responsible for the collapse of the Grand Alliance at the end of the Second World War specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent was the United States responsible for the collapse of the Grand Alliance at the end of the Second World War specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It has been argued that the actions of the United States were primarily responsible for the alliances collapse, that the foreign economic policy of America after 1945 represented an attempt to expand its influence into the already-agreed-upon Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe, or certainly nothing less ambitious than a drive to revitalise west European economies, the better to use them as allies and buffers in a showdown with communism. The Marshall Plan refers to the economic initiative launched by the United States on June 5th, 1947, to assist European economies in recovering from the devastation of World War Two. Though the sums of money involved fell short of the $17bn4 which the Truman administration had initially requested, the amount of aid given between 1948-52 eventually amounted to over $13bn, around 1. 3% of total US economic output during the same period. After some flirtations with accepting Marshall dollars from the Americans, Soviet authorities rejected the assistance both for themselves and their satellite regimes in what Arthur Schlesinger calls the point of no return for US-Soviet relations during the postwar period, in July 1947. Undoubtedly the plan had a political motivation as well as an economic and compassionate one: concerns were rife that if west European countries, especially France and Italy, were allowed to collapse in the aftermath of the war, then communist parties within those countries would win support and possibly even general elections (see below); the Marshall plan was in part intended to end the social discontent on which communist theory thrives, and also to demonstrate to Europeans the ability of capitalism to satisfy their basic needs. The United States was fairly open about this aim: General Marshall himself stated that one of the goals of the initiative was, the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. 7 The Soviets believed that the Americans intended to undermine the USSRs attempts to construct centrally planned economies in eastern Europe, or, in the event that they were refused access to these countries, to build up western Europe as a strong opponent of communism. Soviet spokesperson at the UN Andrei Vyshinsky spoke for the Stalin regime when he told the assembled diplomats: [T]his plan is an attempt to split Europe into two camps , to complete the formation of a bloc of several European countries hostile to the interests of the democratic countries of Eastern Europe and most particularly to the interests of the Soviet Union. 8 (italics original). Some historians since have been sympathetic to this view; W. A. Williams argues that the postwar atmosphere degenerated into hostility in large part because of American insistence on an open-door policy of total free trade between nations, rather than, offer[ing] the Soviet Union a settlement based on other, less grandiose, terms. 9 However, this argument is predicated on the assumption that eastern Europe was already in economic isolation from the west, whereas in fact this was a state of affairs forcibly created by the USSR. Therefore, if the Marshall Plan did increase postwar tensions this was only because of the actions already taken by the Soviet Union; without communist domination of east Europe, a plan to revive shattered economies in former warzones would not have had the degenerative effect on international relations which it evidently did have. In this sense, the Marshall Plan was a response to the Soviet aggression which had caused Cold War tensions to increase, rather than an ipso facto cause of antipathy itself. There are other examples given of where the west was responsible for an increase in superpower hostility following 1945 however. One episode deserves special mention: US interference in the Italian general election of 1948. American and British officials were concerned that in the war-ravaged countries of France and Italy, economic hardship might result in communist parties coming to power through free elections; by 1946 such organisations already seemed poised to become the largest single political forces within those countries. 0 These worries quickly disappeared in the case of France, but when an election was scheduled for April 18th 1948 in Italy, the Italian communist party, at two million members the largest outside of the Soviet bloc, was poised certainly to win a large enough share of the vote to make it impossible to keep them out of a governing coalition, and possibly an outright majority. The United States decided to intervene. A massive letter-writing campaign was organised, resulting in some ten million letters being sent by Italian-Americans to relatives in Italy arguing against a vote for the communists, and the CIA in conjunction with the Catholic Church ran a huge anti-Marxist propaganda campaign. In addition, some $2-3 million was distributed by the CIA to various anti-communist political parties in Italy. When election day came the communists were humiliated, their share of the vote halved from what they had achieved in the 1946 local elections. 1 This is not the place to discuss whether American actions were justified, but undoubtedly the precedent set by the Italian effort, and its resounding success, resulted afterwards in the United States being far more willing to engage in anti-Soviet activities elsewhere, and this case is therefore cited as an instance where the actions of America contributed to the breakup of the Grand Alliance. Another reason sometimes given is the American monopoly on nucl ear weapons in the aftermath of World War Two. On July 16th 1945, the largest man-made explosion in history took place at the Alamogordo test site in New Mexico,12 and the United States was immediately catapulted into a position of total military superiority. Though the Soviet Union had ended the war with colossal conventional armed forces, the atomic bombings of Japan in August of that year left the Russians in no doubt that their on-paper ally had become indisputably the most powerful military force in the history of the world. It has therefore been argued that this obvious fact caused Stalin and his government to feel threatened and bullied by the United States, and that this was the reason for the antagonistic nature of postwar negotiations. Williams again writes: Particularly after the atom bomb was created and used, the attitude of the United States left the Soviets with but one real option: either acquiesce in American proposals or be confronted with American power and hostility. 13 Undoubtedly the US was sometimes guilty of flaunting its nuclear dominance: American officials evidently thought that the Paris Peace Conference of July 1946 would be far more productive were it to be immediately preceded by two nuclear weapons tests. 14 On the other hand, it is quite possible that considerations of American nuclear power did not factor significantly into Soviet thinking. At the Potsdam conference (July-August 1945), more than one western official observed Stalins surprising calmness, even nonchalance, when told by President Truman that the US was in possession of a new weapon of unusual destructive force. Only later did it transpire that not only did the USSR have an atomic weapons programme dating back to 1942 but that, due to the laxness of the Manhattan Projects managers respecting its wartime ally,15 the Soviets had spies passing nuclear secrets to Moscows scientists. 6 Stalin was therefore fully aware that the United States monopoly on atomic weapons would be only temporary, and therefore that this need not be factored into long-term Soviet strategic thinking. Furthermore, the aggressive actions taken by the USSR in the postwar period (see below) show no signs of restraint by Russian leaders on account of the destructive capability of the Americans nuclear arsenal. The Berlin Blockade (June 1948-May 1949) took place and concluded before the Soviets successfully tested a nuclear bomb of their own on August 29th 1949. 7 The USSRs leaders seem to have calculated, probably correctly, that the United States wanted to avoid war with the Soviet Union at almost any cost; after August 1949 this only became more true as MAD thinking began to gain widespread acceptance. The more orthodox interpretation of the postwar period is that the alliance collapsed primarily because of the actions taken by the Soviet Union after the defeat of Germany, especially concerning the areas of Europe occupied by soldiers of the Red Army. At the Yalta conference in February 1945, only months away from the defeat of Germany, major disputes arose over the fate of European nations such as Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia which had been liberated from German control by the troops of the Soviet Union. The western leaders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, wanted Stalin to conduct free and fair elections with the aim of establishing self-governing sovereign entities, but were under no illusions that the Soviet leader intended to turn them into friendly buffer states, and probably totalitarian one-party regimes at that. With respect to Poland especially, Stalin had already shown his contempt for national democracy movements by allowing the Wehrmacht to crush the Warsaw uprising in August-October 1944, and had a pro-Soviet puppet government ready and waiting to take over from the German authorities. 18 Previous Soviet treatment of Finland and the Baltic states gave every indication needed of how Stalin would react to attempts made at installing democracy in other countries. Section V pledged all of the allied powers, including the Soviet Union, to the earliest possible establishment through free elections of Governments responsive to the will of the people, and asserted the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live. 19 It does not need to be repeated that Stalin never had any intentions of carrying out the requirements of this passage. Immediately after the war the leaders of national communist parties, many of whom had spent the pre-war and wartime years in exile in Moscow and had long been subdued under Stalins whip, began their gradual accumulation of power. Invariably, the communists would contest a free-ish election under the auspices of the Red Army, win a minority of the vote (as little as 17% in Hungary and never more than 38%, in Czechoslovakia), and then agree to take part in a coalition government. Under pressure from Stalin, their rivals would agree to give communists control of ministries of justice and of the interior, which would then be used to disappear political opponents. In Poland the Soviet puppets methods were less subtle: a massive campaign of violence and intimidation preceded the first postwar elections in 1947, and the communists claimed 80% of the vote. 20 Despite assertions by some historians that western leaders handed over Eastern Europe to the Soviets at Yalta, short of a full-scale war with the USSR there was little if anything Roosevelt and Churchill could have done to prevent Stalin from turning eastern European countries into satellite states. Nevertheless, the dictators flagrant violations of the USSRs promises at Yalta created a chasm between the former Allies even before V-E Day, and is therefore frequently cited as the primary reason for the collapse of the Grand Alliance. As Roosevelts biographer Conrad Black has written, The issue of whether the British and Americans (and Frances) foremost ally would be Germany or Russia would be determined by whether Stalin could resist the temptation of enslaving Eastern Europe. 21