Darusha’s Network

Build Web Pages from the Top Left Corner Down

• August 30th, 2008

There are two important reasons to build your website from the top left hand corner down.

The first one is that this is the way people (at least in the western world) read pages. They tend to begin at the top and read towards the bottom. And they tend to look at the left column before they look at the right. This is why your web pages should contain the most important headlines and descriptive information near the top.

Some designers fall into the habit of creating a standard “image oriented” header to appear on all the pages within a site, in order to give it a consistent look.

The problem with this is that it wastes the most important web page real estate on non-specific material.

You really want each page to have its own focus, and the best way to do this is to create distinctive information at the top of each page. If you must use a standard header you may consider using a graphic with some technique for customizing the text for each unique page — for instance by leaving a spot for a unique headline.

The second reason is equally important. The Search Engines read your pages from the top left down — since this is the way the code usually appears in your html documents. The Search Engines look for h1 tags near the top in order to determine what the page is about. Then they look for keywords — especially in the top portion of the page in order to reinforce their conclusions about the subject matter of the specific page.

In other words, you should use the top portion of each page to focus on those things that tell the Search Engines what each page is about. The most important components are:

- the “title” tag (the page title that shows up in the title bar of the browser)
- the major headlines h1 and h2
- the first few paragraphs of text
- the names of graphics and the “alt” tags of graphics near the top of the page
- outbound link text

For more web design and traffic generating tips, see the Linknet Web Marketing Resource Library

Rick Hendershot is a marketing consultant, writer, and internet publisher who lives in Conestogo, Ontario, Canada. He publishes several websites and blogs, including The Linknet Network of Websites.

The Expanding Transnational Property Space – Served by Property Index Online

• August 29th, 2008

Find a great portfolio of American properties here!

Despite the fact that the Property Index online service must be rated a young company, they were founded only in March 2007, they were quick to achieve expert status. On closer scrutiny, they are a quite straightforward company focused on offering guidance to every customer looking to sell, buy, rent or let real estate across the world. Their avowal: to help you find squarely what’s desired quick and without pain. Real estate can easily be found just about anywhere these days, undoubtedly the really elite area being property available in America. It should be fairly easy to tick off the ripping property you can purchase in America, one explanation for wanting property here being a combination of the houses and apartments available and the chance to live amid this energetic and strenuous people.

It’s one of the truly favored regions these days, and with the lovely landscape and agreeable sunshine that surrounds you round the clock, how could you ever go wrong. Real estate in America is steeped in history, this part of the world has been and is still home to several indigenous nations. Some 25-30 years back you’d find just a small number of UK citizens who are looking for property in America. Just ask everyone who has emigrated to America and they’ll back it up. Some people would view it as a brief fashion and others view it as a practically a fixation… The people that are intent on repairing to this region may range from young freshly weds keen on a perspective to seniors who are looking to enjoy themselves and chill out.

Note that you may likely encounter a few bugbears when buying property abroad; you’ll have to cover dozens of heterogeneous steps when organizing, paying a visit or actually purchasing. Even if but a single procedure is missed that could initiate great bugbears plus, more important, financial damage. Obviously, as can be presumed with this popular region, property might be high-cost in this destination and that’s simply because of the increasing buyer demand. Despite this clients are definitely fussy in such a location so great in terms of glorious surroundings. It presently has the whole shebang anyone may need, and more.

How to Write an Article for the Web

• August 29th, 2008

Most web-marketing experts tout the power of articles for their ability to create inbound links and enhanced credibility for websites. But what they don’t tell you is… how the heck do you write an article?

You need two important elements for a great article: something to say and the means to say it. First let’s discuss “something to say”, otherwise known as content.

It is impossible to write something of interest to others without good, meaty content. Content comes from your interests and experiences. To generate content you need to look at yourself and your life in a new way. Look for situations in your day which “hit home” in some way. If you are intrigued, frustrated, thrilled, challenged or otherwise awakened, then pursue the topic in greater depth.

As you work and play, have an extra mental circuit running which observes your life. Let’s pretend this circuit is a separate person, the Observer. Now when you go along your way, occasionally become the Observer and try to cultivate a new point of view. The Observer is not mired in your day-to-day struggles. Instead, the Observer watches you struggling, with clear unemotional vision yet with humor and an interest in patterns and themes.

Becoming the Observer will help you discover the interesting parts of your life which you can then bring to your reader. You can develop your golden nuggets of experience further by expressing them aloud to others (or even just to yourself). Through verbalization, you will find additional points of view and experiences of others to enrich your topic.

Then, research your topic by word-searching on your favorite search engine.

Eventually a theme or pattern will emerge. Go a step further and try to create a solution, position or attitude with regard to the theme. This will become your unique “take” on the subject.

Example: A while ago a consultant hired by one of my customers was irritating me by getting visibly excited whenever a small problem or issue appeared on our mutual project. I developed this into a more universal theme and wrote “Beware the Chicken Little Consultant”.

The theme is consultants who use fear tactics. The position taken in the article is that such consultants should be dismissed and their users should educate themselves from less emotional sources. The attitude of the article is lightly humorous and mocking. Calling the consultant “Chicken Little” in the title is an example of this.

So far we have covered how to find and develop content, including arriving at a position and an attitude about the central theme. When you have come this far, start writing immediately.

First, jot down a few sample titles which will help guide you in your writing. Write some key points you want to be sure to cover. Then, get started writing the article.

When you write, imagine that you are sitting by a campfire with a smart and interested friend. You are comfortable and lighthearted. Your unique personality is shining through. You have a lot to share and this excites you. Tell that friend your story. What is the first thing she needs to know? Lay the groundwork step by step. Toss in a wry comment or two but don’t lose the central path.

Tell your story in an order which would be most understandable to your listener. The order might be chronological or logical, building from one point to the next. Keep going until you bring it to a satisfying endpoint.

During this part of the writing, which I affectionately call “puking”, try to refrain from second-guessing your words. You spent much time filling yourself with ideas. Now is the time to puke them all out. There should be a feeling of “flow”. The words should want to come out. Let them. You will feel empty and good when you are finished.

After I “puke”, I do a few quick re-reads and fix obvious problems such as reorganizing the order of certain paragraphs, or making the “person” consistent. This article is written in first(I) and second(you) person. In it, I am talking to you. It could have also been written in third (they) person. Example: “Experienced writers organize their ideas chronologically or logically”.

You can mix the “person” for a lively article. Just be sure it’s not awkward.

Look also for time consistency. Is your story written in the present? This article is written in the present. Things are happening right now. In one portion I refer to an article I wrote in the past, however the analysis of the article was written in the present, because the article still exists.

You can mix past, present and future in your article. Drawing from the past and projecting into the future are powerful presentation methods. In your re-read, make sure that this is being done correctly. Inform your readers without confusing them.

Check to make sure you are consistent with regard to singular and plural. Example of doing it wrong: “We want to inform our readers without confusing her”.

Make sure each idea has its own paragraph. When writing for the web, remember that your article may be displayed in narrow newspaper-like columns. Paragraphs should be short. Avoid paragraphs with more than six sentences. Keep sentences short. If you must have a long sentence, follow it with a short one to perk up the reader and keep her motivated to continue reading.

Here is a big one: cut out all extraneous words. Don’t repeat. Pretend each word is worth $5 and you are paying the tab. When you finish slashing words, go back and do it again. You will be surprised that you had so much filler.

When giving a list of points, do your reader a favor and write the points in a list with numbering or bullets. Don’t make the reader cherry-pick your ideas out of a blob of text.

Avoid reusing words. Keep them varied and fresh.

Check your spelling!

Now that you have done your re-reads, save your work. Leave it alone for a day or two. You need this time to forget what you wrote. Next time when you edit, you will read with fresh eyes. Weaknesses in your article will jump out. Time to clean again.

Now read the article out loud. Speak every word clearly and not too fast. A good article should not only look good on the page, but it should also sound great when performed.

When I arrive at this point, I will typically publish the article on my blog. This is a low risk activity because I can always edit it again later. After 5-7 days, if I can’t find anything else to fix, I will submit the article for syndication. This is the point of no return. Once the article is out there will be no more fixing.

Writers write because they feel a need. When they write, they feel fulfilled. It’s possible that you could be a writer. With effort you can experience the gratification of seeing your words in print and your ideas spread across the internet.

Increase Traffic With Viral Marketing

• August 29th, 2008

Viral Marketing is allowing people to giveaway and use your free product or service in order to multiply your marketing quickly over the internet. The idea behind viral marketing is that you includee your ad with the freebies people giveaway or use. Below are ten high impact viral marketing strategies:

1. Allow people to reprint your articles on their website, in their e-zine, newsletter, magazine or ebooks. Include your resource box and the option for article reprints at the bottom of each article.

2. Allow people to use any of your freebies as free bonuses for products or services they sell. Include your ad on all your freebies.

3. Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own web site. Some people don’t have one. Just include your banner ad at the top of the board.

4. Allow people to sign up for a free web site on your server. Since you are giving away the space, require them to include your banner ad at the top of the site.

5. Allow people to add their link to your free web site directory. Just require that they return a link back to your web site, advertising your directory.

6. Allow people to provide your free online service to their web site, visitors, or e-zine subscribers. They could be free e-mail, e-mail consulting, search engine submissions, etc.

7. Allow people to give away your free software. Just include your business advertisement inside the software program.

8. Allow people to give away your free web design graphics, fonts, templates, etc. Just include your ad on them or require people to link directly to your web site.

9. Allow people to place an advertisement in your free ebook if, in exchange, they give away the ebook to their web visitors or e-zine subscribers.

10. Allow people to give away your free ebook to their visitors. Then, their visitors will also give it away. This will just continue to spread your ad all over the internet.

11. Give away an electronic freebie with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away. This’ll increase your ad exposure and attract people to your web site at the same time.

12. Combine your products or services into one big package deal with other businesses offerings. You could share a web site and advertise the package deal; which means double the traffic.

13. Submit your freebie to the online directories that list your particular item or service for free. If you’re offering a free e-zine, submit it to all the free e-zine directories on the internet.

14. Participate on message boards. Post answers to other people’s questions, ask questions and post appropriate information. Include your signature file at the end of all your postings.

15. Exchange classified or sponsor ads with other free e-zine publishers. If there is a huge subscriber difference between e-zines, one can run more ads to make up for it.

16. Post your ad on free advertising areas on the internet. You can post it on free classified ad sites ,free for all links sites, newsgroups that allow ads ,free yellow page directories, etc.

The Thrill of Adventure in All Seasons

• August 23rd, 2008

The popularity of Adventure & Specialty Travel has been growing rapidly in the recent years. More and more travelers are showing interest in going to exotic places or safaris, in activities such as diving with sharks or swimming with dolphins, riding camels in desert, and so on.

From bird-watching to extreme sports, from walking trips to adventure-flights, sky-diving, from romantic escapes to mountain climbing, from snowboarding to yachting … adventure travel offers travelers the thrill of life in many ways, in all seasons, all around the world!

Haven’t you heard of the skydiving granny in the U.S.? Yes, if you would like to read the story and watch the video of a courageous granny who skydived successfully, just go to MSN.com and write ’skydiving granny’ in the search bar. It is a thrilling experience for an old lady, and for the watchers as well. Adventure attracts people no matter what their ages are.

Thousands of people from around the world rushed to Turkey to watch the total solar eclipse which was best viewed from southern Turkey, on March 29, 2006. Thousands of people, including NASA astronomers, gathered in the 2,000 year old well preserved Roman theater in the seacoast resort of Side, in Southern Turkey, to watch how the shadow of the moon masked the sun. Special eye glasses were given to those thousands of anxious sungazers.

Some 10,000 skygazers witnessed how Venus suddenly appeared when the sun was totally masked by the moon. When the sunshine disappeared the heat from the sun stopped, too, it became chilling and people shivered for a few minutes. A breathtaking bright diamond ring appeared in the dark sky, for a moment.

Finally, when the sun gradually started to shine again, thousands of people cheered, whistled. It was a very happy welcoming to the good old sun after a disappearance of around 4 minutes. While a string quartet was playing classical music, free beer was offered to sungazers. It was really a thrilling experience!

Regardless the fear and risks of terror threats in the recent years, life goes on … People still enjoy whitewater rafting, golfing, hiking, walking, while backpackers searching new places to discover, others are perhaps preparing for their first cruise on a love-boat.

Especially in the peak travel seasons millions of travel agencies, hotels, motels, hostels, bed & breakfasts, restaurants worldwide, are still extremely busy striving to provide their customers with the best possible services, in a way to beat the active competition out there.

Outdoor adventurers enjoy life swimming, snorkeling, diving, sailing, fishing, treasure hunting, surfing, kiting, biking, kayaking, skiing, hot air ballooning; while other groups visiting historic sites admiring the magnificent museums, palaces, ruins of ancient civilizations, temples, and battle fields.

To experience the excitement of climbing Kilimanjaro, or Botswana Wildlife Safari for example, Everest base camp trek, Mont Blanc trek, Outdoor Alaska, Mongolian Wilderness Adventure, to join the Antarctica Cruise or Nile Cruise, to visit the last home of Virgin Mary in Turkey, or to be amongst the Maharajahs, the idea of taking a rail journey, or going to African Safaris attract millions of adventure travelers to tour operators organizing Adventure Tours worldwide.

But, where can you find the best companies offering adventure and/or other travel and tour packages you are interested in? How can you compare their services and prices? Isn’t it a very time consuming effort to search, find, compare and choose the best offer to suit your interests and budget?

The good news is, now this process is much easier than it was 5-10 years ago. Those looking to find the best travel deals, dream vacation packages to suit their personal special interests and budgets can find almost everything they’re looking for at thousands of travel related websites all over the Internet. Online shopping has been rapidly replacing traditional shopping, recently.

That kind of online travel directories and guides are great sources providing travelers with practical information, comparing and shopping opportunities in one website, saving them tremendous amount of time, efforts and money.

You can review, compare, choose the company and the tour package, make your reservations, even purchase your air tickets affordably online, in just minutes, not hours. Save your valuable time, money and efforts.

Happy journey! Enjoy your adventure!!

About the Author: Sevim OR, the owner and operator of several websites since 1997, providing clients with ultimate marketing programs to substantially increase sales, revenues & ROI, offering also no cost affiliate programs to earn big profits, at:
http://www.aall-dreamlands.com
http://www.aaa-advertise.com
http://www.aaa-newswire.com

Protect your self from Anti-Spyware frauds and download a genuine Anti-Spyware program for free

• August 23rd, 2008

There are a lot of different types of Anti-Spyware programs out there. You will not only have to decide whether you want a Spyware blocker or a Spyware remover or a program that combines these two features. You must also decide if your want to pay for the Anti-Spyware program or if you prefer a free program. When it comes to Spyware Removers, some are very expensive, some comes with a small fee and there are also totally free spyware removers available. Most computer users choose to begin with one of the totally free spyware removers available online. Some are lucky enough to find the one of superior totally free spyware removers available on the Internet today, and will stick with this totally free spyware remover. Other chose to upgrade one of the not-so-good but totally free spyware removers available, to an enhanced but more pricy version of the program.

By starting out with one of the totally free spyware removers available online, you can try out several totally free spyware removers to find out which one is most suitable for your. Totally free spyware removers available off-line is hardly ever heard of, since it would be too expensive to distribute them. Instead, the programs available on the market today is found online where you can download them directly to your computer – easy and convenient. Despite the enormous amounts of online advertising about this type of programs online, it can be hard to actually find a totally free spyware remover available online. When you read the fine print, you will usually find out the products marketed as totally free spyware removers available online is actually not at all totally free. Sometimes the program it self will be totally free, but the necessary updates costs a lot of money. Since all spyware removers need to be updated regularly to learn about new types of Spyware, such programs will soon turn out to be not-at-all totally free spyware removers available online. Other programs claims to be totally free spyware removers available online, but are only free during a trial period – sometimes for just a few days. As soon as the trial period is over, you will have to buy one of their not-at-all totally free spyware removers available online. The third kind of bad totally free spyware removers available online are those that are so basic that they offer hardly any protection at all against new and clever Spyware.

You should also be aware, not all sites with totally free spyware removers available online are run by sincere Anti-Spyware companies. When the public knowledge about the potential dangers connected to Spyware programs grew, the computer users started to install spyware removers to combat the Spyware. The companies that gain from Spyware countered this by offering phoney spyware removers available free online. These false totally free spyware removers available online will not at all protect your computer from Spyware. Instead, a lot of them will even install Spyware on your computer and start sending information back to their owner. False totally free spyware removers available online can seem great, but will actually do more harm than good once you have installed them. Always use a critical eye when you check out a web site that offers totally free spyware removers available online. Only download free spyware removers from web sites that you know have a good reputation.

New forms of malicious Spyware and Adware are constantly created and in order to protect your computer from infestations you must choose a high-quality program and keep it updated. Supportcave.com offer a selected number of the very best totally free spyware removers available programs available for immediate online download

Abandoning Artificial Intelligent Old Robotic Models

• August 21st, 2008

What on Earth are we to do with the old android artificial intelligent robots in the future as new models come into existence? We are already worrying about used cell phones, computers and other electronics. Soon when HD TV becomes the standard all the old TVs will also hit the junkyards and landfills. Landfills and dumps, which are already filled. Just imagine as each new rendition and model of android household helpers is upgraded and the old ones are turned off and discarded?

Folks we need a plan of action and one, which makes sense. All robotic engineers need to consider synchronizing parts and making available easy upgrades to memory, motherboards and parts without replacing the basic model. A few movies on Artificial Intelligence have somewhat addressed this issue, yet we have no idea how big the problem may actually get in the future. It could be the biggest single problem in the landfill industry of the past 200 years.

If we consider the issues with today’s computers filling up our landfills with toxic waste;

http://www.texasenvironment.org/news_story.cfm?IID=32

Just think what will happen when the artificially intelligent android and robotic revolution high-tech junk will look like when it piles up? Please Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Prefinished Hardwood Vs. Hardwood Laminate

• August 20th, 2008

Hardwood is a better investment as far as longevity goes. It has a more natural and
polished look uch longer. Even after the hardwood has led a rough life there are
options. You can refinish, or just let the personality be apart of the decore.
Hardwood has a look and a feel that even the best laminate can not replicate. But, it
comes at a price. it is about twice the price of laminate.

Twice the price, you say. Good laminate does look great for a long time. It stands up
to “life” very well. There are many options and colors. Installation is a snap (literally)
to install. If you have kids or have dinner parties where women wear the sharp
heels. laminate may be a better choice.

I am always partial to prefinished hardwood. I have installed hardwood laminate
before. I was not impressed with the “feel” and the “clack” that I heard and felt
walking on it. It looked beautiful though.

The best way to choose between prefinished hardwood and hardwood laminate is
how you will use the room slated for installation. The other is price. It is difficult to
tell the best laminate from hardwood.

Sorry, but even given all the information, my choice is still the prefinished
hardwood.

Mr. Lesslie is the president of greathomeimprovements.com and a
consultant for Department of Energy’s Building America Division for the last 6 years.
He is responsible for all the content and marketing for http://www.greathomeimprovements.com – Great
Home Improvements Start Here!

China!

• August 17th, 2008

The ambivalence of U.S. policy towards China may be perhaps best characterized by the incident of the spy airplane back in 2001. While gathering intelligence off the coast of China, a U.S. Navy EP-3 electronic spy plane, piloted by Lt. Osborn collides in mid-air with a Chinese F-8 and is forced to make an emergency landing at Hainan Island. The Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, is killed in the incident. China charges that the U.S. plane illegally entered Chinese airspace, and detains the 24 U.S. crew members for 11 days. It demands that the U.S. take full responsibility for the incident and issue a full apology. In the end, the United States offers a letter in which it says it is “very sorry” for the loss of the Chinese pilot and “very sorry” that the aircraft landed in China without permission. The damaged U.S. airplane is not returned for three months. Together with the letter of apologies, however, China also gets a U.S. aircraft carrier battlegroup of the Seventh Fleet permanently stationed off the coast of Taiwan.

On the other hand, Chinese ambivalence towards the United States can be perhaps best described by the statement of a Chinese official to a visiting American delegation to Shanghai in 2001: “I surely hope that you and the American economy do well in this global slowdown, because your economic interests and your economic development are critical to the welfare of the people in Shanghai and China.”. This remarks comes at a time while China is intent at stealing U.S. military secrets from Martin Lockheed – and it is caught with both hands in the bag doing so.

And then, of course, American and Chinese joint ambivalence towards the rest of the world must be perhaps encapsulated in the philantropic website maintained at http://www.uschina.org/ where both sides are trying to convince the rest of us in English – and for those who do not get it the first time around, in Chinese – that seldom have there been in the history of humanity two great pals like the Bald Eagle and the Red Dragon. Well … well …

China’s giant leap towards a Western-style, capitalistic economy presents an increasingly urgent set of challenges that must be resolved by the leading elite if they hope to sustain the miraculous economic growth, which has averaged eight percent a year for the past decade. When you consider that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has 1.3 billion people, more than four times the population of the United States, the implications of its radical economic transformation are sobering. In 2004 the Chinese added 1.8 million cars to their roads, bringing the national total to well over 10 million. At recent growth rates, the number could very well double every three to four years. Should car ownership ever match that in the United States (135 million vehicles in 2002), there would be about 600 million cars on China’s roads – more than all the cars in the world today. A statistical comparison between the two giants compiled by the World Resource Institute of the United Nations reveals even more staggering figures:

CHINA vs. UNITED STATES

AREA: 3,705,820 square miles vs. 3,717,796 square miles

POPULATION: 1,288,700,000 vs. 291,500,000

DENSITY per square mile: 348 vs. 78

ENERGY CONSUMPTION per person: 880 Kg/oil per year vs. 7,960 Kg/oil per year

MEAT CONSUMPTION per person: 104 lbs. per year vs. 269 lbs. per year

PAPER CONSUMPTION per person: 73 lbs. per year vs. 730 lbs. per year

AVERAGE NUMBER OF PERSON : 1.1 per room vs. 0.5 per room

WATER USE per person : 116,000 gals. per year vs. 484,500 gals. per year

TV SETS per 1,000 persons: 292 vs. 844

VEHICLES per 1000 persons: 16 vs. 774

Since its onset in 1949 the People’s Republic has gone through a lot, including a famine where 20 million to 30 million people died in the early 1960s; a cultural revolution that went on into a decade; and a skyrocketing national suicide rate as well. Yet, never in the history of the world have so many people been lifted from poverty so rapidly. President Clinton, in one of his last speeches, said that 200 million people in China were lifted from absolute poverty from 1978 to about 1999. That’s equivalent to about two-thirds of the entire population of the United States in twenty years. The economic achievements, therefore, are huge. But so are the problems. The factors of economic instability are many and worry the leadership. In fact, the leading elite justifies some of the repressive political measures precisely because of what they call “the factors of instability.” These factors include a financial and banking system that is basically bankrupt, with bad loans out greater than the real net reserves of the entire banking system.

There are perhaps between 80 million to 100-plus million people that are moving from the countryside on a kind of temporary contract labor into the Chinese cities. And yet a large number of urban unemployed are getting put out of business from non-competitive state enterprises. As a result China has got urban unemployed, rural unemployed coming into the cities, unsound financial system, and general resentment against a regime that has, in the past, grotesquely mismanaged things. And then, of course, there is the widespread problem of corruption that permeates every facet of society.

Indeed, corruption is not a Chinese characteristic per se. It has, however, developed in a world where old, antiquated and inefficient laws are not being replaced fast enough to keep up with the speed of present times, and the vacuum has to be somehow filled. Experts think that on one hand the economic opening will bring more outside influences and in a way more chaos to the country which is not a bad thing in some ways. But, conversely, experts agree that the leadership will try to keep a tight control so that, at the end of the day, there may actually very well be more human rights violations than ever before.

There is also an imbalance of wealth between the thirty-five percent of the population that lives in the cities and the sixty-five percent inhabiting the countryside. There is a system of residence controls. If you are lucky enough to be born in a city – and registered as a city dweller – it is easier for you to get into university. You are in the city, you can work at all the large companies and government agencies in the city. If, conversely, you are registered as a rural person there are very severe restrictions on where you can live and work. And this is actually the biggest human rights problem in China today. You have a majority of this population of 1.3 billion that are, by law, second class citizens. Furthermore, there are the other matters of the more than 20 million people who have no social security net whatsoever to assist taking care of their basic needs, as well as the environmental concerns that the new era of industrialization is bringing up. Of the ten worst polluted cities in the whole world according to the World Environmental Agency, eight are in China. And, finally, the PRC accounts for 23 percent of the global population while supply of fresh water is less than 6 percent.

Yet, the social and economic improvements are huge as anyone who saw China in the ’70’s will confirm. Three decades ago there were no automobiles, no super markets, no highrise buildings. And there were no consumer goods to speak of. It was a Stalinist society, and a very poor Stalinist society at that. So the economic system has totally changed, and the private sector is now the dominant sector of the economy. It didn’t exist at all as late as 1979. The political system has changed as well, albeit not nearly as drastically as the economic system. The China of the twenty-first century is a one-party state without a firm ideological foundation, more similar to Mexico under the PRI than Russia under Stalin. It is certainly difficult today to call China a Communist State, and the regime is no longer the party of workers and peasants. Mao Zedong would be unpleasantly surprised at how things got out of hand. But then, even this political transformation is nothing new to the Chinese. In fact, historically China has often gone through periods of consolidation followed by periods of weakening of the central authority. And the inequality of wealth is just a consequence of it all.

No issue is more pivotal and controversial in the U.S.-China relations than the question of Taiwan. On October 1, 1949 after nearly two decades of civil war, Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong declared victory over the U.S.-supported Nationalists (Kuomintang or KMT) led by Chiang Kai-shek. Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and instituted a new communist system modeled after the U.S.S.R. After his defeat Chiang Kai-shek fled to the Chinese island of Taiwan, then called Formosa, along with two million Nationalist refugees. Taiwan is located about 100 miles off China’s coast. There he established a “provisional” Nationalist capital in Taipei and declared martial law. The Nationalists claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, and set up the same political bodies on Taiwan which had ruled on the mainland. Under Chiang’s authoritarian leadership, the Nationalist government established a successful land reform program during the 1950’s which helped transform the country from an agricultural to a commercial and industrial economic powerhouse.

It is difficult for Westerners to understand why the PRC is so adamant about reunification with Taiwan, until an example is brought up by the Chinese. “Think of California as an island off America’s West Coast and inhabited by Americans but under a different regime. Wouldn’t Washington want to seek reunification ?” The analogy made by Yang Jiechi, Chinese Ambassador to the United States, makes perfect sense. Taiwan is the PRC’s unfinished civil war. They fought a civil war with this Nationalist government. They essentially won. The Nationalists escaped out to an island which the Chinese consider an integral part of China. And then, because of American support and other intervening factors, they never finished their civil war. In terms of the military, the PRC is also developing very rapidly. It is acquiring a modern aircraft and modern battleships. Its naval force and air force are developing so fast that China is now at the forefront of Asia’s military innovations. Ambivalence exists both in the political relations of China and the U.S. with Taiwan as well as between China and the U.S. over Taiwan. China pursues a policy of “One Country – Two Systems” , a policy that is working well with Hong Kong and Macau after their return to the PRC. The United States pursues a strategy aptly called “Strategic Ambiguity”: it recognizes Bejing as the only legitimate government while at all times investing in and supplying weaponry to Taiwan. And Taiwan’s strategy is to court the United States while increasing its trade with the PRC, now amounting to over US $40 billion per year.

It is in this complex context of political and economic balances and counter-balances that the Eagle and the Dragon are eyeballing each others. A context certainly not for the faint of heart. And yet, in the geopolitical situation of Asia the United States and China make a very good team. Both are disdainful of absolutist chieftains the likes of North Korea’s Kim Il Sung, both want peace and relaxation in the region, both are fervent in their plight against terrorism and both are eager to improve trade and cultural exchange with each others. The Chinese – founders of civilization are now meeting and talking to the Americans – spearheads of contemporary society. Two great countries, two great people.

Will the Eagle and the Dragon find a common ground for peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding?

Stay tuned.

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle at http://wwwrealestatechronicle.blogspot.com where you can find the full collection of his articles. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Pai at Scin Boutique Launches Gorgeous Organic Cleanser

• August 14th, 2008

The Camelia and Rose facial cleanser is the newest addition to Pai’s beautiful line of luxurious and nourishing natural skincare products.

This cleanser contains the highest grade, certified organic ingredients. There are no artificial colours or fragrances, no mineral oils, no sulphates and all Pai products are completely paraben free, so you can be assured your body is being cleansed completely naturally!

The Pai natural skincare line is preservative free and uses ingredients so fresh that you can find the sell by date on the bottle! Pai believes that your skin is the number one priority and aims to protect it from the possibly damaging effects of the cheap and convenient chemicals used in other products.

Alongside this great new cleanser, the Pai range offers many other great smelling, looking and nourishing organic products, including Avocado and Jojoba moisturiser for normal skin, Chamomile and Rosehip moisturiser for sensitive skin, Geranium and Thistle moisturiser for combination skin, Macadamia and Rose moisturiser for dry skin, Echium eye cream and Bergamot lip balm.

You can now buy the Camelia and Rose facial cleanser alongside any Pai moisturiser for only £35 when you visit www.Scinboutique.com save 20% and be on the way to beautiful, natural skin.

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