text:
Privacy & Cookie Policy
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Our Privacy & Cookies Policy reflects our respect for your privacy. It explains how we use any information we collect about you and describes the procedures we put in place to protect your privacy.
Who We Are
Highland Park is ultimately owned by The Edrington Group Limited, a private limited company (registered in Scotland No. 36374), and our registered office is at The Edrington Group, 2500 Great Western Road, Glasgow G15 6RW.
The Information We Collect and Process
We only collect and process the information that you choose to provide us with when you fill in registration forms on our website. This includes joining our Inner Circle or placing an order via our online shop. If you contact us for other reasons, we may also keep a record of that correspondence.
We collect your age and date of birth to verify that you are of legal age to visit our website. We also collect details of your visits to our website including (but not limited to) traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data.
When you visit our website, we automatically receive your IP address (a unique identifier for your computer or other devices you use to visit us online) however this is statistical data and does not identify you as an individual.
By providing any personal information to us, you fully understand and consent to the transfer of this personal information to, and the collection and processing of such information in, other countries or territories. Any such transfer and processing by us will be in accordance with this Privacy & Cookies Policy.
Information that you provide by filling in registration forms on our site. This includes information provided where you have subscribed to our newsletter service or where you have requested further services from us.
Your age / date of birth which we collect to verify that you are of legal purchase age to visit our sites.
If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
Details of your visits to our site including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, whether this is required for our own billing purposes or otherwise and the resources that you access.
IP addresses – when you visit our site, we will automatically receive your IP address, a unique identifier for your computer or other access device. This is statistical data and does not identify you as an individual.
Here's how we use the personal information you provide:
- to ensure that our web content is presented in the most efficient way for you and your computer;
- to provide you with information, products or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you (but only when you've given your consent to be contacted for such purposes) such as promotional emails about new products or special offers;
- to carry out any obligations arising from contracts entered into between us; and
- to allow you to participate in interactive features on our website, when you choose to do so.
Please note that we may share your information with third parties whom we engage to provide services to you (for example, order fulfilment). We ensure that third parties comply with data protection legislation in relation to the processing of your personal information.
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your express permission or are required by law to do so.
We're allowed to disclose your personal information to any members of The Edrington Group, including subsidiary companies.
And we are also allowed to disclose your personal information to third parties for the following reasons only:
- in the event that we sell or buy any business or assets (in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective buyer or seller of that business or those assets);
- if The Edrington Group (or substantially all of its assets) is acquired by a third party (in which case personal data held about our customers will be one of the transferred assets);
- if we have a duty to comply with any legal obligation or to protect the rights, property or safety of The Edrington Group, our customers or others (this includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction).
If you've given us your consent, we may notify you by post or email about promotions, special offers or new additions to our range. If you'd like to receive this kind of communication, please visit the Inner Circle section of our website (www.highlandparkwhisky.com/innercircle) and join up.
Other members of The Edrington Group may also contact you by post, phone or email to tell you about promotions or services which may be of interest to you – or to give you information about upcoming events, promotions or other activities – but only when you have previously given consent for them to do so.
Third parties will only contact you if you have provided your consent when registering your details with Highland Park. If at any time you wish to withdraw your consent for Highland Park or third parties to contact you, please let us know via firstname.lastname@example.com
Cookies are small files that are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you browse certain websites. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive. If you'd like to find out more about cookies and how they work, please visit allaboutcookies.org.
By using our website, you agreed that we can place the following cookies on your device:
Type of Cookie
Category & Description
"Age Gate" Cookie
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We use the Age Gate Cookie to verify both your country and age to confirm that you are old enough to view our site content.
"Shopping Basket" Cookie
Strictly Necessary Cookies. This type of cookie is essential to enable you to move around the website and use its features.
We store a generated shopping basket to allow the products you select to be added to the shopping basket and then purchased.
Google Analytics
Performance Cookies
This analytical tool allows us to track which parts of our site you visit and also tells us which websites you came from to get to our website.
All information collected by this cookie is aggregated and is therefore anonymous.
Functionality Cookie
Functionality Cookie
At your request we may place a cookie to remember your preferences so that you do not need to re-enter your details (country/age and language).
Links to other social networking sites
Third Party Cookies
To provide you with a quick link to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, we embed external cookies from third parties within our website. You can view the cookie usage policy of these third parties on their own websites.
All information collected by this cookie is aggregated and is therefore anonymous.
Opting out
You can, of course, choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept them but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer – do bear in mind that this may prevent you from enjoying our website to the full. (And, if you'd like to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all the websites you visit, go to tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout)
We're committed to ensuring that the information you give us is secure. To prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we've put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and make secure the information we collect. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. So although we'll do our best to protect your personal data, we can't guarantee the security of the data you transmit to your site – as such, any transmission is at your own risk.
Data protections legislation gives you the right to access information held about you and your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the legislation.
If you'd like a copy of the information we hold about you, please write to:
Website Enquiry, Highland Park, 100 Queen Street, Glasgow G1 3DN, Scotland.
And if you believe that any of the information we hold about you is either incorrect or incomplete, please write to us at the same address, or email us at email@example.com as soon as possible. We will correct or update your information as quickly as possible.
The Highland Park website (www.highlandparkwhisky.com) is protected by copyright and, unless otherwise stated, all the contents of this website are the copyright of Highland Distillers Limited. Permission is only given for the downloading and temporary storage of one or more of this website's pages for the purpose of viewing on a personal computer or other device. The reproduction, permanent storage or re-transmission of any of the contents of this website is prohibited, without the prior written consent of Highland Distillers Limited. For permission to reproduce any of the contents of this website, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com
Any links to third party websites from this website are provided solely for your convenience. We have no control over the content of those websites and accordingly make no representation or endorsement of their content to you. We haven't tested the content, software, features or links found on those third party sites and don't give any representation regarding their quality, safety, suitability or reliability.
Please note that telephone and other connection charges may apply to your use of this website. For details of such charges, please contact your phone company and/or internet service provider directly.
The information contained in this website may include opinions or views which, unless expressly stated otherwise, are not those of The Edrington Group Limited.
This website is not guaranteed to be free from any malware and we strongly recommend that you check for this before downloading it to your computer equipment.
The information and contents of this website are designed to comply with Scots law. This means that the website shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Scots law and all parties irrevocably submit to the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts. If anything on this website is construed as being contrary to the laws applicable in other countries, then the website is not intended to be accessed by persons from that country – any persons, therefore, who are subject to such laws shall not be entitled to purchase our products unless they can satisfy us that such a purchase would be lawful.
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided on this website is correct at the time of writing, it's not possible to provide any guarantee of accuracy. The Edrington Group does not accept responsibility for, or liability to, any person who has suffered loss or damage as a consequence of relying on this information. You should make appropriate enquiries and satisfy yourself regarding the validity of any information before relying on it or taking actions based on it and, by so doing, you accept that your reliance or actions are at your own risk.
If you any questions about this Privacy & Cookies Policy, or any of your dealings with this website, please email Highland Park at email@example.com


text:
If you are searching to assist yourself or somebody you know fighting with drug addiction in Keizer, OR, SoberAssistance.com maintains a large Internet database of safe and affordable facilities, as well as myriad other options. We can assist you in finding addiction treatment clinics for a wide variety of addictions to Adderall, crack cocaine or other addictive substance or alcohol. Search for a perfect rehab facility in Keizer now, and set out on the road to clean living.
Showing 0 from 0 Items

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|December 6, 2019
A. Executive summary
The most remarkable event in the period under consideration was the Accra Conference in Ghana, held June to August 2003. With the help of international support, President Charles Taylor was forced into exile in Nigeria and national elections were postponed. The three warring factions, representatives of political parties and civil society organizations agreed on a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to shape the process over the following two years. CPA aims include: bringing an end to the war, paving the path for democratic general and presidential elections scheduled for October 2005, developing a power-sharing formula for a National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), introducing a program of disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration (referred to as DDRR) for fighters of all warring factions, introducing the rule of law and human rights and taking the first steps toward economic, social, educational and physical reconstruction. An elected chairman and vice chairman are responsible for implementing the program.
At present, it is difficult to assess progress in the transformation toward democracy and a socially integrated market economy. The NTGLs key task is to create the conditions for improved development of the political and economic framework. Thanks to the support of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and a United Nations Military Mission in Liberia, progress has been observed as hostilities have waned and improvements made in stateness, political participation, rule of law and consensus-building. However, further progress will depend on elections with democratic legitimacy, the political will of responsible leaders, continuing external support and political pressure exerted by the international community.
With the help of the IMF and World Bank, the NTGL began in 2003 a medium-term Results-Focused Transitional Framework (RFTF). The frameworks key elements include a cash-based budget, first steps toward the liberalization of trade and price-building for the main import commodities (petroleum products, rice), public administration reform and the enhancement of revenue collection supported through a reorganization of public finances and financial institutions. A growth in GDP and the stabilization of the exchange rate between the U.S. and Liberian dollar are the first positive results of economic reform. Nevertheless, Liberia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and in need of further support and assistance from international financial institutions to continue on the path toward a market-based economy. At the time of this writing, predicting progress in transformation remains difficult. The NTGL has yet to demonstrate the political will to initiate change; the U.N. Secretary Generals Special Representative in Liberia described the NTGL in 2004 as a coalition of the unwilling.
B. History and characteristics of transformation
A 1980 coup led by Samuel Doe ended over a century of dominance by Americo-Liberians, descendents of former slaves who returned to Liberia after 1822. The dissolution of the state accelerated in the wake of the 1980 coup; Liberia returned to presidential rule with a bicameral parliament in 1986. Following the suppression of an overthrow attempt, Samuel Doe entrenched his power by exploiting ethnic tension and exercising repression with a security apparatus led by members of his Krahn ethnic group from the Northeast.
When the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) launched a civil war at the end of 1989, the corrupt kleptocracy of the second republic collapsed within a few months. A rapid reaction ECOWAS force failed to establish peace. When a final attempt to resolve the issue of power through military means ended with the destruction of the capital city Monrovia in April 1996, all parties of the conflict agreed to elections. The NPFL won in 1997, and Charles Taylor was inaugurated as president. The new government faced the challenge of exhaustive reconstruction in all areas of Liberian political, economic and social life.
Production and infrastructure destroyed by war and a criminal economy were to be revived via a process of transformation toward a market economy. Specific steps included rebuilding infrastructure, reviving agricultural and export production, and creating the conditions necessary for foreign investment. The civil wars effect on Liberias economy was severe; the last remaining intact iron ore mines were irreparably destroyed by war and the production of raw rubber significantly restricted. The production of other agricultural export goods, such as coffee and cacao, rose again, however. With the assistance of foreign companies, the NPFL and Charles Taylor had already turned tropical wood and diamond smuggling from Sierra Leone into major sources of income during the civil war.
Since the end of the civil war, Liberia has not been able to create the conditions needed to develop democracy and a market economy. The fact that no fundamental process of renewal ensued is attributable to the politics of President Taylor, who suppressed the development of democracy and obstructed or thwarted economic reforms to consolidate his own power and tap new sources of personal wealth. Taylors aggressive policy of supporting warlords and rebels in neighboring states has destabilized much of West Africa both politically and militarily.
During the first half of 2003, Liberias political and economic framework deteriorated considerably. Supported by Guinea and with tacit consent of the U.S. government, the northwestern-based military faction Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) pushed south and reached the area surrounding Monrovia by mid 2003.
The Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) in the Southeast pressed on timber concessions, primarily the Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and the port of Buchanan. With backing by the Côte dIvoire government, MODEL helped to reduce the influence of the two rebel movements in western Côte dIvoire, the Popular Movement of the Ivorian Great West (MPIGO) and Movement for Justice and Peace (MPC). Taylor, who sought political destabilization in the region, had supported these groups.
Taylors political position in Monrovia weakened further when the U.N. Security Council issued resolution 1478 in May 2003. The resolution added banned the export of timber and imposed sanctions against all warring factions for exporting diamonds and importing arms. When LURD, still backed up by Guinea, began attacking Monrovia, ECOWAS and the U.S. government took up diplomatic initiatives to change the state of affairs in Liberia. ECOWAS and member states of an International Contact Group (Liberia) brokered a truce between the warring factions and pledged an international conference in Accra.
All Liberian actors (government, warring factions, political parties, civil society organizations) as well as regional and international states and institutions participated in this attempt to find a lasting solution to civil war in Liberia. Taylor himself was placed under pressure by the issue of a warrant by the U.N.-supported Special Court of Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Finally, Taylor was forced to accept the Nigerien President Obasanjos offer of asylum as a necessary precondition for the installment of a National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL). The participants of the conference agreed upon a power-sharing formula, which included the election of a chairman, vice chairman and a National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA). A road map with several tasks was established to direct the transition period toward general and presidential elections in October 2005. Tasks included security sector reform, establishing a truth and reconciliation commission and a time schedule for elections.
Security has improved under the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), as has the protection of freedom of expression and association. However, peace process targets have been severely undermined by a general lack of funds and facilities to rehabilitate and reintegrate former soldiers. Also, the lack of paid employment opportunities also poses a great challenge. The NTGL and Chairman Bryant have been criticized for unprofessionalism in state affairs, corruption and for pursuing their own interests rather than the accepted goals of the CPA.
C. Assessment
1. Democracy
Liberia is in a transition period following an era of autocratic, almost warlord-like rule and a civil war. The NTGL is presently in charge of preparing for general elections and guaranteeing safer living conditions, reviving the economy and enforcing the rule of law. It is uncertain whether it will succeed in setting conditions for democratic renewal, even if elections are held on time.
1.1. Stateness
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of August 2003 put an end to the second phase of the civil war. Without an army and national police, the NTGL has been unable to provide security, especially in interior parts of the country that were most affected by war. Although concentrated in Monrovia, only the UNMIL forces guarantee a relatively stable security situation. The international force is too weak to execute effective border control or prevent former combatants from harassing inhabitants in more remote areas. Since the UNMIL has no mandate to act as police, it is not able to prevent criminal acts and sporadic outbreaks of violence in Monrovia and other cities. Peace remains fragile in Liberia.
General rights of citizenship for blacks are not disputed, although there are significant differences between the rights and entitlements of citizens.
Liberia still carries the identity of a Christian nation, but it is a secular state. During past decades war and armed strife have had religious overtones, with Christians against Muslims. The present ethnic tensions between returning Mandingo and Dan and Mano in Nimba, between Mandingo and Lorma in Lofa and Bong counties are rooted in power plays and popular sentiments that are vulnerable to political exploitation.
The NTGL was established as an instrument to function within existing executive, legislative, judicial, and administrative structures of the state. Additional committees and commissions were set up, not to fundamentally change structures and procedures, but to propose and initiate reforms under difficult constraints. Major challenges include checking the widely deplored practice of incumbents in office pursuing personal gains, and fundamentally altering financial and working procedures of the state ministries, public corporations and autonomous agencies. Finding sufficiently educated professional personnel for the administration has also been difficult.
1.2. Political Participation
As the Accra talks began, general elections that had been scheduled for the fall of 2003 were suspended. One of the main tasks of the NTGL is to pave the way for elections in 2005. A newly instituted National Elections Commission (NEC) has published electoral guidelines. A multitude of new parties has emerged in addition to the existing ones and a dozen or more independent candidates have publicly announced their intention to run for the presidency. Most of the parties have no permanent structures or intra-party democratic procedures, and their programs have never been debated and adopted. The NTLA tried to amend the constitution and demanded a census before the delineation of constituencies. As this would most probably have delayed the elections, this initiative was stopped by veto of the Chairman under massive pressure from the U.S. government, which insisted on an election date of October.
There is not much time left for the electioneering process, which is also suffering from a lack of funding. Like the CPA, it is highly unlikely that the 2005 elections will fundamentally change the current political practices. Veto powers will also curtail the power of the legislature, and former members of the warring factions commanding substantial influence but without legitimate political representation could wind up in the new legislature or government.
Presently, unrestricted freedom of association and of assembly exists in principle according to the agreed on transitional process. Freedom House considered press freedom not free in 2003, with a value of 75, and a rank of 165th. However, considering the proliferation of print media, unrestricted freedom of opinion and of the press have clearly improved. During the electioneering campaign, access of registered parties and presidential aspirants to all parts of the country will be as important as the fair distribution of short wave transmitter licenses to reach the rural population. Slight improvement has been observed in this area since 2004.
1.3. Rule of law
In Liberia, presidents have traditionally wielded autocratic powers. Since the coup d´état of 1980, Presidents Doe and Taylor backed their rule with army and security services, manipulating the legislature and judiciary more or less at their will. The position of Gyude Bryant as Chairman of the NTGL differs from that of his predecessors. He was elected at the Accra Conference for a relatively short period of time. Filling the positions of ministers, heads of public corporations, and autonomous agencies was left to the main parties to the CPA. As such, the Chairmans influence on the ministries is limited, enhancing the powers of the incumbent ministers and directors of state agencies.
This process does not engender reform, as the incumbents enrich themselves and sustain the command structures of their supposedly disbanded organizations. The Chairman of the NTGL nominates chairmen, chairwomen and members of the commissions, which have to be approved by the NTLA. However, the executive branch seems to dominate the legislature as before, especially since the legislature is not democratically elected. Persistent allegations have been made that legislators sell their services for cash.
Judicial structures need to be rehabilitated and reinstituted. New members of the Supreme Court have been appointed. On the whole, there are not enough professionally educated judges to fill the needed positions and to ensure proper procedures according to the law.
A year after his inauguration, the Chairman of the NTGL criticized a number of irresponsible and corrupt officials who were undermining the reconstruction process by acting for their own interests. Although some charges of corruption and misuse of public property were made, one cannot speak of adequate prosecution according to rule of law.
In principal, civil rights are not restricted under the transitional process. Although the NTGL tries to guarantee basic civil and political rights, civil rights still enjoy very limited protection, especially with regard to past injustices and atrocities during the civil war.
1.4. Stability of democratic institutions
After 14 years of civil war, Liberia now has the opportunity to develop a better understanding of democracy, to reform state institutions and to design procedures and mechanisms to ensure their effective performance. The Governance Reform Commission (GRC) has been mandated to review programs for the promotion of good governance, to develop public sector management reforms, and to ensure transparency and accountability of governance in all government institutions and activities. It is the GRCs mandate to support decentralization of power in the government, broad-based political participation, and to maintain a national and regional balance in political appointments without compromising quality and integrity. It is hoped that these reforms will create an environment that will attract direct investment by the private sector.
The Commission must monitor, assess and report on the implementation and impact of activities undertaken in order to encourage the practice of good governance in Liberia. In short, it is mandated to demand and recommend fundamental changes in the culture and values of governmental practices. Critical observers are convinced that fulfilling this mandate is unrealistic, since the Commission lacks the means to enforce the necessary reforms, such as limiting the power of the future president or decentralizing the governmental and administrative systems.
The main actors of the former warring parties, which were dissolved and then became free to convert into political entities, do not seem to have as much interest in democratic legitimacy and procedures as in remaining in power as long as possible. The participating political parties are eager not to loose their influence in the coming elections. While civil society organizations may promote democratic values and political conscience for the electoral public, they are weak and without adequate funding.
1.5. Political and social integration
The party system is extremely fragmented. Implementation of the electoral guidelines is expected to reduce the number of would-be parties and self-declared presidential candidates. Some additional established parties, who previously participated in elections in 1985 and 1997 and were present as opposition throughout the military dictatorship and second phase of the civil war, are considering cooperating in the election. It remains to be seen whether the National Patriotic Party of former President Taylor, which won absolute majorities in both houses of the legislature in 1997, will maintain its influence. None of the three parties that ruled Liberia prior to the NPP have since regained power.
Interest groups will have to be reorganized after long years of civil war and insecurity. Their traditional weakness, explained only partly by the extant political culture, is not to be under-emphasized. The business community is segmented and dominated by Lebanese. It pays rent to political patrons as a legacy of the open door policy. Unions, associations of professionals and workers, religious organizations and other civil society organizations most of them engaged in human rights are weak but regaining a public presence, voicing comments and demands as part of the transition process.
Old and new voluntary associations at the county, district and community levels are expressing concern regarding the critical living conditions including housing, subsistence agriculture, reconstruction of roads, return of refugees, job opportunities or the future security situation after the end of the DDRR program.
There is no survey data available but the bulk of the urban and rural population is occupied with problems of basic survival and everyday life (reconstruction of houses, tools and seeds for subsistence production, jobs, reintegration of refugees and former combatants, the reopening of schools and clinics and the functioning of the administration) rather than with the democratization of state and politics. There is widespread fear that the transition process may fail and military activity will start again. People long for peace and a sustainable future and are prepared to support a democratic process if they can be convinced that elections and a new government will improve their economic and social situation. Considerable unease is developing that NTGL and UNMIL, as well as the U.S., are neglecting steps to implant sustainable democratizing order.
Self-organization is severely hampered mainly by the extreme poverty and the low level of trust not only of individuals but also in the political order and the state institutions. Various consensus-building measures and a nation-wide discussion on necessary political reform would be required. These would have to include measures of reconciliation after the trauma of military dictatorship and civil war in order to prevent any relapse into violent struggle. The measures would also have to promote the constructive potential on all levels of society. One decisive factor of social integration will be the extent to which ethnic traditions destroyed in the past can be revitalized on local levels during the reconstruction process.
2. Market economy
Liberias economy is ruined. Iron ore and cash crop production, geared for export, has stopped since the beginning of the civil war. Only rubber has been continually produced and exported. Timber production had achieved high growth rates from the beginning of Taylors presidency, but it soon became evident that exports of diamonds and timber were the core activities of the former warlord economy. Decline in exports were heightened after the sanctions passed by the U.N. Security Council in 2001 and 2003. The export of timber has led to unimaginable degradation of the environment.
2.1. Level of socioeconomic development
The estimated unemployment rate is 80 85%. No exact data are available on important social indicators such as the Human Poverty Index, Gender Development Index, or the United Nations Education Index. However, the United Nations estimates that 80% of the population lives on less than $1 a day and some 85% of the population is illiterate. Most Liberians do not participate in the market economy; the informal economy seems to be quite active where possible. There is paid employment in the state institutions; approximately 60,000 persons consume 52% of state budget resources. There is some trade with relief organizations and NGOs, and rubber plantations and the logging industry produce for the local market.
Several hundred thousand people live as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in camps in and around Monrovia or as refugees in neighboring countries. They depend on international help, petty trading or on the subsistence sector. Production in the extractive industry could be increased if the ban on diamonds and timber were lifted and the production of cash crops could be resumed. Rumors of new investments in the iron ore industry have not been substantiated as of this writing. New prospecting for offshore oil and minerals (gold) has not yielded any results yet. Liberia must to develop its productive capacities and a functioning market economy from the bottom up.
2.2. Organization of the market and competition
The institutional framework for market competition is very weak and only present in segments of the economy. The informal sector is large and substantial. Only few commodities are left for market competition, the most important being rice, petroleum products and cement.
The formation of monopolies is regulated only occasionally at best. The Liberian Petroleum and Refining Company (LPRC) as an autonomous agency has the monopoly of importing and distributing petroleum products, whereas the rice imports are still dominated by two main suppliers. In 2004 the LPRC formulated requirements for importers that make access to the market difficult for Liberian capital. Like its predecessors, the NTGL has yet to meet the requirements of the IMF to fully liberalize the prices for rice, cement and petroleum products. Instead, there has been an increase in consumer prices with the approval of the NTGL. A special commission was instituted at the end of 2004 to investigate the pricing situation and to make suggestions for an appropriate price for imported rice (butter rice) but has not come to any definite recommendations at the beginning of 2005.
The ban on timber exports seems to have halted the operations of the logging companies. A United Nations report dated December 2004 stated that pit sawing is increasing as the domestic demand grows and recommended the prolongation of the sanctions. Diamond mining, although forbidden, occurs on a very low level, but there has been no evidence of diamond smuggling out of the country. Liberia is working to meet the requirements of the Kimberley Process, but still lacks the experts and administrative procedures to qualify for acknowledgement and the lifting of sanctions.
Due to scandals and mismanagement, the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) has not fulfilled its tasks as a national bank, such as banking supervision, capital requirements, and supplying local currency. The commercial banking system has been weakened by the liquidation of two banks and does not function well enough to support the commercial sector.
2.3. Currency and price stability
Liberia recognizes two currencies as legal tender, the Liberian dollar and the U.S. dollar. The CBL has aimed at a stable exchange rate. There is a fiscal danger of constraints by the U.S. dollar dominant in the urban and the import/export sector, whereas the demand for the Liberian dollar has been increasing since the cessation of military hostilities and the restoration of economic activities in rural areas.
Currency and price stabilization processes are being supervised by the CBL with international assistance. In cooperation with the IMF and external partners, the NTGL is working on a macroeconomic and budgetary framework for the fiscal years 2004-2005. Continuing the RFTF plan of late 2003, further steps towards cornerstones of a macroeconomic and financial reform have been defined: a cash-based balanced budget without domestic financing, careful and improved revenue collection, sound budget preparation and management, and controlled expenditure management. Targets comprise an increase in U.S. dollar fiscal reserves and sufficient supply of funds to the commercial sector and production activities with Liberian dollars, thus laying the foundations for further fiscal and monetary actions. At the end of 2004, the IMF Staff Monitored Program ran into serious difficulties because cash-based budget requirements were consistently ignored.
2.4. Private property
The acquisition of property and property rights are guaranteed under the constitution. Yet, there is no real overview of current land occupancy and ownership relationships in the country due to historical and political reasons that gave settlers and their descendants rights but denied such rights to indigenes and to the long period of military dictatorship and civil war. The majority of the population depends on land use for subsistence production. Tropical timber and raw rubber are produced while coffee and cacao are grown mainly by small landowners or as a part of subsistence production.
As there is no institutional security of property relations there may be tensions about contested property, possibly resulting from confiscations or sales of private property in the course of the last 25 years and reassertion of claims by former owners. At present, there is insufficient information on those agencies most likely to privatize.
2.5. Welfare regime
There is no public welfare system of government payments or payments by social insurance providers to alleviate risks such as illness, old age, or unemployment. The government of Liberia has no pension scheme. The National Social Security and Welfare Corporation created under President Tolbert in the 1970s is bankrupt. Rudimentary health care services are free of charge except for a small fee. Tuition is required to attend government or private schools. Most Liberians still depend upon familial support systems, including members abroad, and grassroots aid networks. Hundreds of thousands are in danger of falling into long-term dependence on international aid simply to survive.
There are no institutions to compensate for social inequality. The problems are manifold. On the basis of widespread poverty a variety of vulnerable and impoverished groups have to be reintegrated into normal daily life: refugees and IDPs, former combatants including a substantial number of child soldiers, injured, amputated, and traumatized victims of the civil war. A considerable number of children have not attended school at all or only sporadically and have not enjoyed any health care services as has the adult population. There will be little consideration of gender equality or compensation schemes when it comes to the distribution of new working opportunities. Traditionally, considerable numbers of women have been present in higher positions of the administration and the government.
2.6. Economic performance
In recent years the growth of the GDP has been dependent on fluctuating macroeconomic developments and events. From 2000 to 2002 Liberia enjoyed growth, but in 2003 it fell by about 30%. The main reason was the rapid expansion of the logging industry, but also increased subsistence production. The logging industrys export value surpassed the rubber producing industry, which became second, and stayed over 50% between 2001 and 2003. With the United Nations sanctions on timber, the export value fell dramatically as did the GDP, which recovered again after the influx of relief since the beginning of the NTGL.
Unemployment, however, has been on the rise in recent years, from an estimated 70% of the workforce in 2002, to current estimates of 80 85%. In accordance with IMF suggestions, the NTGL tries to pay the government employees on a regular basis, but is anxious to avoid paying salary arrears before the current payroll is cleared. Liberias population, with an estimated GDP per capita of about $171 per annum, is one of the poorest in the world.
2.7. Sustainability
In Liberian urban society, environmental consciousness is not very developed. Traditionally, ethnic societies were highly conscious of the need to protect the environment. Ecological concerns were completely ignored during the civil war and the period of Taylors rule between 1997 and 2003. Although there are laws to enforce reforestation, these were never implemented as far as the logging companies in the Southeast and Northwest were concerned. Since 2003 environmental activist organizations have had an uphill battle to influence to influence the NTGL to preserve the Sapo National Forest and to demarcate and establish additional national parks.
During the civil war most schools and other institutions of learning were destroyed and have to be rebuilt. Investments in this area have to be coordinated with the demands for social and physical infrastructure (health services, roads, market places, water and energy supplies). With the help of international NGOs, church organizations and private initiatives the whole educational system gradually has to be rehabilitated, but less than half of school-aged children remain unschooled and there are high drop out rates.
3. Management
3.1. Level of difficulty
The CPA demands the formulation and implementation of programs for the moral, social and physical reconstruction of Liberian society. The NTGL has had to start from extremely poor conditions and is facing massive problems. The high level of unemployment, returning refugees and IDPs constitute daily challenges of securing mere physical survival. The state and economy are lacking sufficiently skilled and experienced personnel after the flight of a considerable number of the educated labor force with technical skills. This lack is aggravated by the fact that learning capacities remained underdeveloped during the civil war. Educational facilities were abandoned and destroyed. Only the rubber and logging industries consistently employed a labor force. The physical infrastructure (highways, roads, market places) were destroyed or not maintained; many places are inaccessible by car. This makes it difficult for the rural population to resume subsistence agriculture and cash crop production, and also hampers the return of the rural refugee population. Although figures of HIV/AIDS incidence seem to be rising, the disease does not constitute as great a problem as in southern Africa. The prevalence was 5.9% in 2003.
However weak, there is a tradition of civil society protest, which has its roots in the 1970s. It was maintained during military rule in the 1980s, mainly by Liberian exiles fugitives from abroad, and was active during the civil war and the time of Charles Taylors rule. Today, a number of indigenous NGOs with civil and religious backgrounds are helping to maintain and to develop self-sustaining capacities. Half a dozen or more civil rights groups and the press are critically watching the implementation of the CPA. In particular, the conditions of physical existence in urban and rural centers, corruption, nepotism and professional weaknesses are carefully recorded and published; appropriate procedures for prosecution are demanded. These are, however, mainly activities of a small segment of the urban educated class, which has an interest in democracy, the rule of law and human rights as the future foundations of Liberian politics.
There are sharp cleavages between the former warring factions as well as within them. There is also strife between groups of the factions and the population and between various ethnic groups. Political leaders and warring factions have sought to mobilize these differences not only during the civil war, but also from the period of the military dictatorship in the 1980s. The cleavages partly cut across social and religious allegiances and constitute a potentially explosive mixture. They cannot be subdued either by the appeal to Liberian stateness, which has failed to develop during the past. Conflicts are also intensified by religious sentiments. Presently it seems unclear how the deep frictions between the population of the Poro societies in the northwestern Lofa County and the Mandingo, which were identified with the warring factions Ulimo-K during the first period and LURD during the later period of the civil war, can be overcome and reconciled. The same holds true for Nimba County where efforts for the return of the Mandingo are being undertaken. Further steps have to be taken to heal the wounds of ethnic persecutions and massacres between the Dan and Krahn. One of the most burning issues is the reintegration of former fighters in the rural communities or, if this turns out to be impossible, into urban society by means of education and employment. This has the effect of intensifying the competition within the workforce.
3.2. Steering capability
Incumbents in leading positions in various departments of state offices will have to be committed and reform-oriented in order to accomplish the common goals of the CPA, as the NTGL and NTLA are not elected bodies and have been acting in a manner that caused the state to collapse in the first place. The distribution of power positions among the competing factions and the wish of many individuals for maximum gains as compensation for years of fighting constitute dangers to the effective implementation of the political and economic programs. The latter has to be developed with the help of the IMF, the World Bank, and to be supervised by the United Nations and the International Contact Group (Liberia). The NTGL is not accountable to the international donor community, but depends on it, given that its capacity to mobilize resources from domestic sources is severely limited. Infrastructure maintenance, primary and secondary education and health care are provided only when financed by donors.
Although the Chairman of the NTGL has openly admitted the weaknesses and failures of the NTGL and the administration, he seems to be either unwilling or too weak, as suspected by observers, to stop or even reduce misappropriation and corruption. On the lower level of government and administration there seems to be even more reluctance to abide by goals for the common good and a common tendency to pursue individual or clientelist ones. The bulk of the population seems to have lost trust in state institutions and political parties, if they even had any before.
The power-sharing formula which establishes the political personnel, combined with corruption, misuse of property and the short period of time until the October elections, do not allow flexibility in pursuing the political and economic goals set in the CPA. One cannot expect that the present incumbents of political power will discontinue their ways in which they have been working, be they for personal gains or for a new beginning of a common future. The generic model on which the CPA is based disingenuously assumes that antagonists and looters become democrats by the mere act of signing a peace agreement.
3.3. Resource efficiency
The government uses only some of its resources efficiently. Part of the problem is that the elites seem to consume state resources themselves. The core action of the NTGL was to implement the RFTF for the first half of 2004, and that was supposed to serve as a basis for a full macroeconomic and budget framework for the fiscal year 2004-2005. The budget is cash based and financed by the revenues of the Maritime Program, customs and internal sales taxes. The IMF, technically assisting the NTGL, required the formulation of priorities: a functioning budgetary process, the increase of revenue collections, the increase of exchange assets by the CBL, the augmentation of exchange reserves and the stabilization of the exchange rate between the U.S. and Liberian dollar. Expenditures of the meager resources were to be directed at the reconstruction of the executive and legislative institutions, the judiciary and the administration, social services projects and a minimum payment to the IMF.
The government frequently fails to coordinate conflicting objectives. The main goals of the NTGL are the implementation of macroeconomic, fiscal and monetary reforms in order to keep widening the scope of governmental activities and to create better conditions for a successor government. Additional measures like balancing domestic arrears or rehabilitating the health and educational systems to promote the process of consolidation have to be postponed until government revenues can be increased. This is expected to be achieved by the slow recovery of the agricultural production outside the plantations and possibly by the lifting of the sanctions on timber exports. Therefore, the press and IMF fiercely criticized the government for spending $2.5 million on cars in mid-2004, which was financed by domestic borrowings. This expenditure was perceived as a relapse into previous behavior, which supposedly had changed.
The NTGL is taking measures to stop corruption at all levels of the government and administration, but it has to resist the interests of members of the former warring factions that are now in government positions. It is risking violent counter attacks of those who get accused of wrongdoing. Presently, there are some inquiries and court procedures on corruption and theft of public property. Some have ended with acquittals, others with dismissals. The RFTF was presented to the donor conference held in February 2004. The NTGL was granted about $520 million, about $440 million for infrastructural measures and about $80 million for emergency help. Only about 70% of the sum was handed over at the end of the year due to growing reluctance of the donors to secure the promised amount, citing corruption in the NTGL as well as inability to establish national priorities. A World Bank statement at the beginning of 2005 criticized lack of anti-corruption action and transparency in finances as well as insufficient progress in institution building and good governance.
3.4. Consensus-building
The actors of the Accra Conference agreed to cooperate for the establishment of democracy on the basis of political pluralism and respect for fundamental human rights and it was tacitly understood that developing a marked-based economy should attain socioeconomic well-being. Fourteen important ministries of 21 total ministries and 13 of 22 public corporations were granted to the warring factions. After more than one year in office, their genuine commitment to the promotion of democracy is seriously doubted. The LURD dissolved as a rebel movement, but has not been transformed into a political party. Instead it was involved in fierce internal conflict. There are no signs for a process of party transformation of MODEL either. The party of former President Taylor, the National Patriotic Party (NPP), is in a process of disintegration and is loosing ground.
Given the questionable commitment of the present government to political and economic transformation members of the transitional government might be looked upon as potential anti-democratic veto players. While the political elites of the former warring factions occupy high-level positions, the bulk of the former combatants are the losers, as could be expected. Disgruntled ex-fighters have harassed the population in rural areas or engaged in violent actions in Monrovia and other towns. The issue whether they will be danger to the democratic process, i.e. will resume fighting if somebody organizes them again, depends on the presence of the UNMIL forces and the success of the rehabilitation and reintegration efforts. With the RR portion of the DDRR process experiencing funding difficulties, it is not obvious that reintegration will succeed. There are serious doubts whether most of the political parties are able or designed to develop intra-party democratic structures as they have been formed around political or otherwise publicly known personalities with varying degrees of charisma.
The power sharing formula of the CPA must be considered as a structural means to prevent political cleavages from escalating into open conflicts. Many of this temporary political elite will disappear from the scene after the elections, but most of them are unlikely to resort to violent actions.
The main supporters of democratization will be the media and the civil society organizations in pursuing their tasks to critically supervise the activities of all government branches and to encourage the public to the meaning of good governance, transparency and accountability. Recent research findings indicate that there is no trust in governmental institutions beyond the most basic level of township or village leaders. The politics of the chairman and of a number of ministers in the NTGL, the behavior of managers of the public corporations and autonomous agencies and the corrupt practices of leading members of the NTLA are not increasing trust among the population.
Civil society organizations and political parties played a role in the Accra process. A couple of autonomous agencies and newly instituted commissions were allocated to them. Civil society representatives are active in pursuing the political goals of the CPA and are criticizing the slow pace and the meager results of the governments efforts.
One of the most delicate challenges is to reconcile actors and victims of a decade of violence. The CPA provided for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Before January 2005, only discussions on how to proceed and to define the scope of its mission had taken place. Funding has been another major problem. Reconciliation will be a long process, but it has not started yet.
3.5. International cooperation
The Accra Conference had been made possible by international initiative and the assistance of institutions and states. Establishing a transitional government and securing the DDRR process would have been impossible without the energetic drive and help of ECOWAS, UNMIL and Ghana, Nigeria, the United States and the European Union, among others. Under these circumstances, IMF and World Bank have resumed business with the NTGL, which was willing to accept recommendations, consider requirements and follow external advice. In February 2003, an international donor conference expressed the political will to stop West African security threats and resulted in an expression of willingness to support Liberia.
There have been, however, constraints and shortcomings, differing assessments, subsequent exchanges of critical views, and mutual blaming for the slow progress. In late 2004 the personal representative of the U.N. General Secretary, Jacques Klein, criticized the NTGL for the prevalence of corruption in ministries and autonomous agencies. He blamed the chairman for a lack of will to become active against malpractices and to set the path for the elections in October 2005. The IMF, despite positive statements, ascertained signs of extra-budgetary expenses characteristic of the style of previous governments.
The major differences between the U.N. Security Council and the NTGL are due to the decision not to lift the ban on exports of diamonds and timber, on the import of arms and the travel restrictions of a number of Liberians associated with the former government. In December 2004, a U.N. panel of experts recommended the extension of the sanctions, arguing that the NTGL had not fulfilled the proper implementation of the Kimberley Process and that reforms of the Forest Development Authority (FDA) were needed to secure proper expenditure of expected incomes from later timber exports. The NTGL has complained about the loss of income, which would have been urgently needed to increase the state budget and to extend the scope of action for the restoration of the infrastructure. It seems these sensitive questions will not be solved before the scheduled elections.
One of the most important issues for regional peace, military and political security and economic recovery is the settling of differences between Liberia and its immediate neighbors Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast. While first preparations have been made for the return of refugees there are refugees from Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast in Liberia, too and of former fighters, no border security could be established yet. There is some insecurity about the LURD, which may be hiding weapons in their former retreat areas in Guinea. The regional security between the four West African countries depends on the presence of UNMIL in Liberia and British and French troops in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, respectively.
4. Trend of development
Since the end of Charles Taylors rule Liberia has entered a transition period. There are two alternative scenarios concerning the success of the NTGL in fulfilling the tasks as defined in the CPA: either the forthcoming elections will be one further step in an ongoing reconstruction process, or violent conflict will continue.
4.1. Democratic development
Although some of the main political goals have partly been achieved since the Accra Conference, in general there has been a decline in stateness between 2000 and 2004. The NTGL has succeeded in ending the fighting between the warring parties and the dissolution of the factions with international help. To a large extent, peace is guaranteed due to the presence of about 15,000 UNMIL forces. A DDRR program was established, and more than 100,000 fighters turned themselves in. Only about 30,000 weapons, mostly light, were delivered. In addition, the program has run short of funds, which amounts to compromising its overall success, especially since it is doubted that all weapons, especially the heavier ones, were delivered. NTGL and NTLA are not the results from general elections. They represent the will of the assembled factions, parties and organization in Accra. Their political actions will be measured against standards of the rule of law, human rights and the success of the elections in October 2005.
There are increasing indications that the NTGL has not promoted constitutional legality and the separation of powers decisively. In particular, it has neither supported the autonomy of the judiciary, nor has it achieved more transparency and accountability of its own actions. One has to take into account, however, that the NTGL has taken over a corrupt, inefficient and unaccountable state apparatus. The new incumbents have not shown much interest in fundamentally changing things in the short time of two years and with only limited financial means at their disposal.
4.2. Market economy development
Given the lack of data, any assessment requires considerable caution. Overall, however, Liberia has not made any progress in economic transformation during the period (2000-2004) but remains at an inadequate level. Gains after the beginning of the peace process in 2003 are countered by negative developments before.
The readiness of both the political elite and the population to participate in political discourse and abandon violence will depend on economic progress. The NTGL has reluctantly taken first steps towards a reorientation of economic policies, a cash-based budget, the liberalization of trade and pricing of the most important import commodities, a reorganization of public finances and financial institutions and some administration reforms. The RFTF is yet to be developed into a full-scale macroeconomic program, advised and monitored by the IMF and the World Bank, to consolidate the domestic economy and the financial administration.
Positive results are the growth of the GDP, a stabilization of the exchange rate between Liberian and U.S. dollar and the resumption of relations with the international financial institutions. The quantitative data of past years reflect the changing priorities of a warlord-like economy (diamond smuggling, timber export) and the results of political interventions (United Nations sanctions on exports, international donor aid after the cessation of hostilities and the CPA). It is unpredictable whether these trends will continue if assistance by international donors recedes. Liberias political and economic future is on the verge without any clear positive direction.
Liberia is in a transition period after an era of autocratic, almost warlord-like rule and a civil war. The NTGL is presently in charge of preparing general elections and of warranting safer living conditions, reanimating the economy and enforcing the rule of law. It is uncertain whether it will succeed to set conditions for democratic renewal, even in the case of the timely implementation of the elections.
Development of macroeconomic fundamentals (2000-2004)
Source: IMF Report 03/275, September 2003, IMF Report 04/408, December 2004, IMF PIN 04, 135, December 3, 2004, other sources; 1 estimated, 2 estimated for the first half of the year 2004.
D. Strategic perspective
Liberia is dependent upon the political and financial support of the international donor community, the United States, the European Union, ECOWAS and other bilateral partners to carry out elections in October 2005 and lay the foundation for market-based economic development. Post-election development toward democracy and a market economy is unlikely to remain constant; the need for intensive support over an extended period is near certain.
There are several threats to transition over the mid-term range. Stability of the peace process will be impacted by developments in the neighboring countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Côte dIvoire. It remains unclear whether the elections will result in a clear majority rule and a stable legislature. As of yet, the NTGL has failed at two of its main tasks, namely to facilitate transparency and accountability in the present government and develop public trust in democratic institutions and procedures. The power of the presidency was one of the key structural factors allowing for the former autocratic regime to take hold and the subsequent derailment of the political process into violent civil war.
However, the office of the presidency is unlikely to be restricted by planned reforms, as no reform proposal has singled out this structural defect. Large segments of the population and the political elite count on a strong personality as president. It appears too early to replace this deep-rooted expectation with the decentralization of power and strengthening of democratic institutions, e.g. the legislature and judiciary. Failed elections however, could unleash a coup d´état, the resurgence of civil war, violent regional anarchy or all three simultaneously.
Predicting the future of democratic development is as difficult as assessing potentials of economic recovery and consolidation. Economically, the NTGLs success will be measured by the conditions (i.e. reconstruction of logistics and trade) it can provide to facilitate the recovery of agricultural subsistence and cash crop production, the rehabilitation of educational and health care institutions, and its ability to provide sufficient jobs for refugees, manage internally displaced persons and re-integrate child soldiers and former fighters. Liberia will need massive international financial and advisory support to continue on the way toward a market-based economy, administration reform, and to reorganize public finances and financial institutions. The international community has high expectations with respect to the NTGL. The continuation of financial assistance will depend on the NTGLs progressand that of the future governmentin guaranteeing financial transparency, government and administrative accountability, effectively organizing the separation of powers, and in enforcing the rule of law and human rights.
|©2004 Bertelsmann Stiftung


text:
Monday, March 21, 2016
What America Thinks: Voters Still Down on Congress
In the heat of the presidential election, voters haven't forgotten about Congress—though maybe they wish they had. How do they feel about Congress these days? We decided to find out what America thinks.
Likely U.S. Voters continue to give Congress dismal marks for its performance. There was a brief glimmer of hopefulness when Republicans took control of the Senate as well as the House last year, but then Congress' numbers fell back to the levels seen during the Nancy Pelosi era of Democratic control. Now GOP voters are just as unhappy with the Republican-led Congress as everyone else is. That unhappiness, in fact, is one of the key reasons outsider candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are the surprise leaders in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.
Two-out-of-three voters are angry at the current policies of the federal government, but even more (84%) are angry at Congress. Voters want Congress to work together more with President Obama and are more likely to blame the congressional GOP for the gridlock. But they also don't want the president doing anything that Congress hasn't signed off on.
It doesn't help that voters in both political parties still smell corruption on Capitol Hill: 61% think most representatives in Congress are willing to sell their vote for either cash or a campaign contribution and suspect that their own local representative already has.
Control of the House is likely to remain in GOP hands this November, but control of the Senate could be up for grabs. These negative voter attitudes suggest anything could happen.
For Rasmussen Reports, I'm Alex Boyer. Remember, if it's in the news, it's in our polls.


text: In the spring of 1621, the pilgrims planted their first crops in Patuxet's abandoned fields. While they had limited success with wheat and barley, their corn crop proved very successful, thanks to Squanto who taught them how to plant corn in hills, using fish as a fertilizer. This was just one of many incidents of God's providence in the founding of this Country. CWA's Executive Director, George Tryfiates, has more on this amazing story. Click here to listen.


text:
Need an instant raw food snacks fix? For raw foodists, cooking time is the least of their worries. You can prepare snacks and eat it straight up. Whether it's for a morning snack, afternoon or late night snacking, preparation is easy and instantaneous. This is especially useful for busy people. Like every smart raw foodist, you can plan your raw food snacks ahead. This way, you can just grab and go.
As a raw foodist, snacking is guilt-free. Why? Because you only snack on some of the purest foods in the planet and you know you're feeding your body (and soul) with just the good stuff. There are a lot of commercially available organic live food bars that you can get a hold of. They are useful when you really don't have time to even prepare. My favorite is the brand Raw Revolution brand organic live food bar. They come in several flavors including chocolate and cashew, and chocolate and coconut. They come in a single serving size, and the nutritional value is: Calories 280, Fat 18 grams, Carbohydrates 28 grams, and Protein 8 grams. They also have 4 grams of fiber and 8% of the daily value (DV) of Vitamin C, 6% of your calcium needs and a whopping 20% of your iron DV.
If you enjoy the taste of banana bread, then 100% organic and raw Banana "Bread" Flax Bar from Go Raw is definitely worth a try. This raw snack is healthier than any regular banana bread because it is uncooked and most of its nutrients are preserved. The bar also contains flax seeds which are an excellent source of fiber and Omega-3. A serving size contains 5 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbohydrates (5 grams are from fiber) and 4 grams of protein. Another thing to rave about is the flavor--outstanding! And the cherry on top--all these in just 120 calories!
Another way of getting a raw food snacks is by making it yourself. For a homemade snack, I take 1/3 cup of uncooked oatmeal, 1/3 cup of raw cacao powder and 1/2 teaspoon of stevia powder. I mix in a small bowl with 1/4 cup of water. I put this in the refrigerator for about 4 hours. Then, later when I am in the mood for a tasty energy snack, my chocolate oatmeal is ready!
If you're craving for something crunchy and salty, fresh seaweeds mixed with onions and tomatoes and shredded turnips are great to snack on. It is nutritious and easy to prepare.
There are other homemade raw snacks that you can make. Raw food is gaining popularity that recipes and commercially made raw snacks are just right at your fingertips. So what are you waiting for? Snack raw and live raw!
Raw Food Lunch
Raw Food Desserts
From Raw Food Snacks To Raw Food Meals
Raw Food Repair Home Page


text:
Every year, The Oscars honor the motion picture industry, giving out prestigious golden statues to the people behind the most celebrated movies of the year. The selection of categories is broad enough to ensure that all genres, from introspective dramas to grandiose summer blockbusters, can win awards in various fields. Transformers may never net a Best Actor prize for its stars, but it's always a frontrunner for Best Visual Effects, Sound Editing, and other technical awards.
When it comes to the Academy Award for Best Picture, only one film per year can be crowned the winner (technically, there could be a tie, but such an event has never occurred in this category). For this list, we're going to take a look back on the twenty most recent winners of the Best Picture Oscar and see how they stack up against one another. Here are The Last 20 Best Picture Oscar Winners, Ranked.
20 Crash
All of the films on this list are classics, fully earning their nominations and victories... Even Crash. Today, Crash's Best Picture win is seen as a fluke, a safe choice. The clear frontrunner in the 2006 Best Picture race was the cowboy-themed romantic drama, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. It's since been speculated that Brokeback Mountain's overtly gay themes and subsequent controversy turned the more prudish Academy voters towards Crash.
To its credit, Crash is still an engrossing ride, a deep and daring dive into the disparate sides of racism in America, as told via a series of interconnected melodramas and a broad ensemble cast. It's a film which swallows the viewer whole before violently spitting them out. Sure, it sometimes slips into an annoyingly patronizing tone, and that bit with the blank rounds in the gun is just silly, but it remains a fine film that's still relevant in 2017. Of course, it's no Good Night, and Good Luck, and even director Paul Haggis has said that he didn't consider it to be the best film of the year. In any case, it's by no means a "bad movie;" people who make such accusations are likely just trying to be daring and edgy by taking potshots at an easy target.
19 Shakespeare in Love
The Best Picture nominees in 1999 included a wide range of contenders: Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line told two incredibly different World War II stories, while Life is Beautiful followed a father (Roberto Benigni) imprisoned in a Nazi-run concentration camp, struggling to hide the horrors of the Holocaust from his young son. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love traveled further back in time, to the reign of Elizabeth I of England.
Perhaps the other nominees split the vote in an even fashion, allowing Shakespeare in Love to sweep not just the Best Picture race, but damn near the entire Oscars. The film was nominated for a staggering thirteen Academy Awards, and took home seven, including Best Actress for Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench (who, incidentally, was playing the same historical figure, Elizabeth I, for whom Cate Blanchett was nominated for Best Actress).
Like Crash, Shakespeare in Love is a great film, a veritable love letter to Elizabethan culture. However, between the bottled-up fears of righteous American heroes in Saving Private Ryan and the selfless sacrifices of Holocaust victims in Life is Beautiful, Shakespeare in Love just seems mild and quaint by comparison, if not still exceptionally well-made and wholly enjoyable. Is SiL better than Saving Private Ryan and Life is Beautiful? That's the thing about trophies and qualitative juxtapositions, including this very list – it's all subjective.
18 American Beauty
In real life, a plastic bag blowing in the wind is litter, and littering is a crime. Garbage is a sign that a neighborhood is filthy and the locals need to do a better job of taking care of their environment. In American Beauty, a plastic bag blowing in the wind is a sign that... Beauty is all around us? That's a fine message, but director Sam Mendes chose a dumb image to express the sentiment.
Like Crash, American Beauty is another film with a fantastic ensemble cast (Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, Wes Bentley) whose Best Picture worthiness is hotly contested. In this case, Hollywood offered up such heavy-hitting contenders as The Green Mile and The Insider, both of which lost out to Kevin Spacey trying to hook up with his daughter's high school friends.
To its credit, American Beauty is a provocative film; even today, the very mention of the movie can incite arguments and debates over its quality, themes, and imagery. To that end, the movie earns praise for being a messy look at realistic people going through their own crises. The Academy often errs on the side of safety, opting to pick movies which pat their own back (Argo, Birdman, The Artist), and American Beauty is notable for winning the top honor while not playing by those rules.
17 A Beautiful Mind
Biopics can be troublesome films, because they can often ignore history in favor of telling their own story. Ron Howard's 2002 Best Picture winner, A Beautiful Mind, earned its fair share of flak for taking a great many liberties with the real-life story of mathematician John Nash, played by Russell Crowe. It also came under fire for casting white actress Jennifer Connolly as Nash's wife, Alicia, when the real Alicia Nash, while fairly light-skinned, was a Latina woman from El Salvador.
Regardless of these deviations from history, A Beautiful Mind is a tremendous film, one of those intimate dramas which plays like a grandiose epic. As Nash's mental state deteriorates and the true extent of his schizophrenia is revealed, the viewer is pulled along a surprisingly fast-paced and visually engaging ride, courtesy of Ron Howard's uniquely stylized (and underrated) direction. As for Russell Crowe's breathtaking performance as Nash, many fans speculate that the only reason he didn't win the Best Actor prize was because he had just won for Gladiator the previous year, and it was Denzel Washington's turn to take home the gold for Training Day, after having been passed up numerous times in the past.
16 The Artist
The Academy Awards exist purely to celebrate the medium of film (or digital video, but that's a conversation for another time), so of course, they have a soft spot for movies about movies. Nowhere was this more evident than in 2012, when The Artist beat out The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, and The Help to be named the Best Picture of the year.
The Artist was filmed in black and white in a classic 4:3 aspect ratio, and without sound. Whether the move was integral to rooting the film in its subject matter and setting (the end of the silent movie era) or if it was a shameless gimmick and cry for attention remains sharply debated to this day. Whatever the case, the film makes strong use of its uniquely retro visual palette; despite its complete lack of color, The Artist is one of the most visually gripping Best Picture winners ever. Plus, it was the breakout role for Uggie the dog, who became a surprise cultural icon for a brief period in the 2011-12 era.
15 The English Patient
"Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already!" Yeah, there was definitely some backlash after the spectacular success of what detractors enjoy calling "the most boring war movie ever made." The English Patient won nine out of the twelve Oscars for which it was nominated, including the prized Best Picture award.
Perhaps it is due to the melodramatic plot, or even the legendary Seinfeld episode in which Elaine expresses her passionately unrelenting distaste for the film, but The English Patient now has a reputation for being undeserving of its widespread critical acclaim and numerous Oscar wins. The increasing prestige of Fargo (which was also nominated in 1997) may also be playing a role in the ambivalence of modern audiences towards The English Patient. Regardless, there's no denying the veritable masterclass in acting on display in this film, which was also nominated for three of the four major acting awards: Ralph Fiennes, Kristen Scott Thomas, and Juliette Binoche all received nods for their work on the movie, with Binoche even scoring a surprise victory over the perceived frontrunner, Lauren Bacall in The Mirror Has Two Faces.
14 Chicago
It's not just Hollywood actors, Broadway stars, and starving artists; everybody's in showbiz. Such is the story of Chicago, 2003's winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film used the glitz and glamour of the musical genre to lay bare the broken state of the criminal justice system and the media sensationalizing the life-or-death stakes of a murder trial.
Chicago was the consummate crowd-pleaser which helped to spark a resurgence of the live-action Hollywood musical, a genre which had been all but dead until this film (and Moulin Rouge! before it) brought it back from the brink. One of this year's frontrunners for best picture is La La Land, another musical which hearkens back to Hollywood's golden age, this time telling a more modern coming-of-adulthood story. The Academy loves that type of nostalgic genre throwback, as seen by films like The Artist and Gladiator (but we'll get to the latter in a bit.)
13 Argo
If Hollywood loves two things, its movies celebrating Hollywood and casting white actors in non-white roles. With Argo, they did both; of course it was going to win Best Picture. Nine different films were nominated in 2013, and that year contained one of the strongest lineups ever. Django Unchained and Zero Dark Thirty were too controversial to ever stand a chance in the most precious category, but the rest were strong contenders; Les Misèrables was a musical (see Chicago, above), Life of Pi had a visual language unlike anything else in the field, and Amour is just a massive achievement in acting and writing.
Argo's win came as a huge surprise, especially after the controversy about the film making it seem like America was the only country who made an effort to save the hostages in Iran, when, in real life, people from Canada, New Zealand, and England all played (arguably) more pivotal roles in saving the hostages.
Then, of course, there's the casting of Ben Affleck as the American-born and English-speaking, but decidedly ethnic, Tony Mendez. Note to Hollywood: throwing a beard on an actor doesn't make them look like they're half-Mexican; it makes them look racist. America's greatest strength is its ethnic diversity, and for Affleck to pretend that Americans have to be white is simply unacceptable in the 21st century. Argo is an excellent thriller, which is why it's #13 on this list, but its flaws are glaring and unforgivable.
12 Gladiator
Just as Chicago was a throwback to Hollywood's Golden Age, 2001's Best Picture winner, Gladiator, brought audiences back to the epic films of the 1950s. The imagery in Gladiator is evocative of that seen in all-time classics like Ben-Hur, King of Kings, and Spartacus, with its swords and sandals sensibilities, massive scale, and grand battle sequences.
Ridley Scott was nominated for a Best Director award, but lost out to Traffic's Steven Soderbergh. Meanwhile, Russell Crowe won the Best Actor prize for his role as -- to paraphrase the film's iconic tagline -- the general who became a slave who became a gladiator who defied an empire.
There's so much going on in Gladiator. On one level, it's an exceedingly masculine actioner, with strong, sweaty guys beating the snot out of each other. More than that, it's an examination of a once-great society on the brink of disaster, rife with political corruption and increasingly discontent masses.
11 Titanic
James Cameron knows how to push people's buttons. Titanic was the highest-grossing movie of all time by a wide margin until it was usurped by its own successor, Cameron's long-awaited follow-up film, 2009's Avatar. Cameron's movies succeed because they tell straightforward stories which can be enjoyed by moviegoers of all ages and intellectual interest, and Titanic is perhaps the strongest example of Cameron's scientific understanding of how to captivate an audience.
Of course, being a massively popular film, the backlash against Titanic was equally as massive. Detractors throw shade on the film for being manipulative of the audience's emotions, as if that's not the goal of a romantic drama where 1,500 people die at the end. Even among the staunchest of haters, there's no denying that Titanic is a technical accomplishment, a directorial triumph, and one of the most important films of the 1990s. No, it's not as good as L.A. Confidential, but what is?
10 Birdman
Speaking of grand technical achievements which are accused of lacking in anything remotely resembling substance, 2015's Best Picture Winner was Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu. The finished film gives the impression that the entire movie occurs in one, uninterrupted take, which is visually engaging, if maybe just a bit gimmicky. It appears that Birdman was made with the explicit goal of gunning for a Best Picture Oscar, and Hollywood was happy to oblige.
The film relies on the viewer having inside knowledge, or at least being somewhat aware of, the inner workings of actors, their egos, their agents, and their managers. Birdman is to Hollywood insiders what This Is Spinal Tap is to rock musicians. This surely helped it during the Oscar race, where it ran against such varied and more worldly titles as Selma, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game, and American Sniper.
9 The Hurt Locker
2010 saw Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker beat out ex-husband James Cameron's Avatar for Best Picture. (Bigelow was also the first and only woman to date to win for Best Director.) While her film was praised by critics for being an unflinchingly realistic depiction of wartime drama and tension, many real-life veterans disputed this claim, suggesting that the film is based more in fantasy than in real-life military procedure.
The thing about movies is that perception is reality, and movies aren't real. Scenes are carefully crafted to appear believable to the audience, and the same is true of a film's script. The Hurt Locker is not based on a true story, and nearly every element of the film's portrayal of the high-stakes world of explosives ordinance disposal is riddled with factual inaccuracies. Watching this movie with an army veteran is like watching Armageddon with a scientist; they will poke holes in literally every single scene. Whether that enhances one's movie-watching experience or ruins it depends on the viewer.
Despite this disconnect from the real-life experience of going to war in the Middle East, The Hurt Locker is still a visceral film. It's not real, and it's apparently not realistic, but it feels so brutally authentic that it's impossible not to be sucked in by its incredible tension and message -- how war can change a normal man into the kind of person who simply does not fit into civilian life after everything he's been through.
8 The King's Speech
2011 was an especially tight race. The King's Speech (directed by Tom Hooper) ultimately took home the gold, but other frontrunners included such instant classics as 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, and the Coen Brothers' remake of True Grit.
The King's Speech seems like a safe choice on paper. After all, it's a period piece based on a true story, the man who would become the United Kingdom's King George VI having to overcome a unique adversity on his road to greatness. However, it's slowly revealed that this is, in fact, an incredibly important story in the history of global civilization. Seemingly benign quirks can have a tremendous impact on the development of an individual, and The King's Speech tells his story with enough humor, drama, and powerful acting (including having Geoffrey Rush's character be a former actor, natch) to have fully earned the prestige of being called 2011's Best Picture.
7 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
It's generally accepted that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's sweeping victory during the 2004 Academy Awards was in recognition of the accomplishments of the entire trilogy, but this admission isn't to say that Return of the King isn't a crowning achievement on its own. It swept all eleven Oscar categories for which it was nominated, including Best Director, Best Score, Best Costume Design, and a slew of other awards. All in all, it's one of the most celebrated movies of all time, and its 11 Oscars are the most of any film ever, tied with Titanic and Ben-Hur.
The grand finale of the Lord of the Rings saga is the culmination of the previous two movies and the perfect ending to the sprawling trilogy. The theatrical cut of Return of the King runs at nearly 3.5 hours (and the extended home video cut is just over four hours in length), but it genuinely doesn't feel that long due to its fast pace, grandiose adventure, and the knowledge that this is it, the end of the road. There's something magical about a trilogy with a concise beginning, middle, and end, and the follow-through to see it done correctly. The Lord of the Rings is right up there with the original Star Wars trilogy in that it managed to perfectly succeed in this herculean task, only to ruin it with a generally derided prequel trilogy. Maybe JJ Abrams will come around in a few years to adapt The Silmarillion.
6 Spotlight
Few were surprised when Spotlight took home the top price at the 2016 Oscars; this most recent of Best Picture winners was the clear frontrunner from the beginning, and will only continue to grow in relevance as the role of the media as watchdogs over powerful institutions is increasingly challenged in 2017 and beyond.
In addition to being a topical story about abuse by powerful figures, Spotlight is also simply a great movie, with a stellar cast and breakneck pacing. Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams were both nominated for their roles in the film, though they lost out to Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl, respectively. It came as a shock to many when Michael Keaton failed to score a Best Actor nod as the sternly focused leader of the Spotlight Team. Perhaps it was not flashy enough for the Academy; great newspapermen are a great many things, but they are seldom flashy.
5 The Departed
Martin Scorsese has directed some of the greatest films of all time, but an Oscar, for either Best Picture or Best Director, has long eluded him. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas... All were nominated in both categories, but it just wasn't happening. In 2007, when The Departed won both categories, the fan reaction was mixed. They were happy he won, disappointed that it took so long, and perturbed that his victories came from The Departed, a film which is nobody's favorite Scorsese joint.
The thing is, the film is excellent, and it deserves its place right next to the above-mentioned films. While the backlash against The Departed was strong out of the gate, audiences have since warmed up to the gangster epic. The cast is perfect (Jack Nicholson! Martin Sheen! Leonardo DiCaprio! Matt Damon!), and Scorsese's direction is supreme, delivering some of the most violent scenes in his career (which is saying something) with the stylishly unconcerned wisdom of a nihilistic elder statesman. This is definitely one worth revisiting.
4 Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood is a Hollywood legend with two Oscars for Best Director under his belt. The second of these came from Million Dollar Baby, the 2004 boxing film for which he also served as producer, co-star, and musical composer. Million Dollar Baby was one of the most talked-about films of the year, a redemption story of an aged trainer and a dogged young contender with something to prove.
Things proceed like a grittier version of Rocky until the unprecedented final act, which switches gears to something else entirely. Though not without controversy over its ending, Million Dollar Baby shines because it tells a difficult story without romanticizing or glossing over any of the rough details. In addition to Best Picture and Best Director, the film also won Oscars in 2005 for Best Actress (Hillary Swank) and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman). Among the film's other nominations, Eastwood himself earned a nod for Best Actor, but lost out to Jamie Foxx in Ray.
3 12 Years a Slave
2014's Best Picture winner, 12 Years a Slave, is tough to watch, but it's important task of displaying the truth of the American South in the pre-Civil War era should not be overlooked. It's almost embarrassing that it needs to be stated, but slavery is bad, and it's the single biggest shame of the United States by a considerable margin. Still, there are lawmakers, men of power, who don't understand, or who choose not to acknowledge, that regarding human beings as property is inherently wrong.
Director Steve McQueen (not that one) hit the nail on the head with 12 Years a Slave, the true story of a free black man, Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. There's no upside to being a slave. There is no #NotAllSlaveOwners argument to be made, and this film lays bare that truth with an uncompromising look at a man who is reduced to something significantly less, simply because of the color of his skin. It's a brutal film which should be watched in a safe space, but also one which should be watched, period.
2 Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle's unique take on the classic underdog story earned the top honors at the 2009 Oscars, besting such competitors as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, and Frost/Nixon. This celebration of/homage to Bollywood culture resonated with audiences on a global scale. Dev Patel plays Jamal Malik, an eighteen-year-old competitor on India's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, who is accused of cheating. After all, how can some street rat know the answers to these difficult trivia questions?
Through a series of flashbacks and endearing (or reductive, depending on who one asks) Bollywood clichès, the audience learns about Jamal's youth and upbringing, and how he came to learn the answers to the various trivia questions. Slumdog Millionaire bounces back and forth between trite and profound, tap dancing between seriousness and whimsy like Fred Astaire in his prime, and the film has an infectious energy which is simply impossible to resist.
1 No Country for Old Men
Some filmmakers are so prolific that it's nigh-impossible to choose a single film as one's personal favorite. How can one choose a favorite Scorsese film? Or Spielberg? Or Soderbergh? The Coen Brothers are in the same boat. From Fargo to True Grit, The Big Lebowski to Barton Fink, there's no shortage of Coen Brothers classics from which to choose. It also helps that their output transcends any single genre, often jumping between comedy, drama, romance, and everything in between.
While it's so hard to choose a favorite, a strong case can be made for No Country for Old Men, a nihilistic neo-noir western based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. The Coens have a knack for grim humor, but No Country is simply bleak beyond compare, and what little dark comedy exists is of the pitch black variety. Somehow, it comes together in a deeply engrossing potboiler which is profound in its abhorrence of profundity. The film effortlessly deconstructs the very notion of symbolism and artistic themes, the building blocks of fiction itself.
What do you think? What are your favorite Best Picture winners? Are Titanic and Birdman overrated? Are the Academy Awards just a glorified meat parade, to paraphrase the great George C. Scott? Sound off in the comments!


text:
Video Rental System (TeleHome Video)
2nd yr. BSCS of STI Tanauan
Made by the Group of Rea Arao, Haydee Plaza, Learni Landicho, Cheyserr Maliari, Roland Mercado...
Propose Thesis nila sa Subject nilang Visual Basic Programming
Note: Due to the size or complexity of this submission, the author has submitted it as a .zip file to shorten your download time. After downloading it, you will need a program like Winzip to decompress it.
Virus note: All files are scanned once-a-day by SourceCodester.com for viruses, but new viruses come out every day, so no prevention program can catch 100% of them.
1. Re-scan downloaded files using your personal virus checker before using it.
2. NEVER, EVER run compiled files (.exe's, .ocx's, .dll's etc.)--only run source code.
Alyssa (not verified)
Sat, 08/24/2013 - 10:34
Anonymous (not verified)
Mon, 01/24/2011 - 13:41
database password
Mon, 10/18/2010 - 17:38
RE: Name Password
username : Admin
password : Admin
[email protected]
Cp# - 09197740420
How do you make password to be case sensitive that mean if user use lowercase must also use the same case during login process
Anonymous (not verified)
Thu, 10/14/2010 - 06:50
What's the username and password?
Would you kindly let me know what the username and password is as I would like to see all the forms designed. It would be a big help. Thanks.


text:
LAHORE: The Pakistan Baitul Maal (PBM) on Saturday announced a fund of Rs 5 million for the welfare of deserving lawyers and their families. PBM Managing Director Zamrud Khan announced this at a ceremony held by the Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) in his honour. Khan, also a lawyer, informed the audience that Rs 37 million were distributed among the deserving lawyers and their families last year. He asked the PbBC to give recommendations for the effective distribution of funds and also help the Malakand lawyers. Khan said PBM was giving Rs 25,000 per year to disabled persons and Rs 36,000 per year to thalassaemia patients in the country.
Source: Daily Times