All Terrain Thinking

A Compendium of things I think are Important

Generally Speaking, Think on this...

Black Market

The black market is the sector of economic activity involving illegal economic dealings, typically the buying and selling of merchandise illegally. The goods may be themselves illegal, such as the sale of prohibited weapons or the illegal drug trade; the merchandise may be stolen; or the merchandise may be otherwise legal goods sold illicitly to avoid tax payments or licensing requirements, such as cigarettes or unregistered firearms. It is so called because "black economy" or "black market" affairs are conducted outside the law, and so are necessarily conducted "in the dark", out of the sight of the law.

Black markets are said to develop when the state places restrictions on the production or provision of goods and services that come into conflict with market demands. These markets prosper, then, when state restrictions are heavy, such as during prohibition or rationing. However, black markets are normally present in any given economy.

Black market price

As a result of an increase in government restrictions, black market prices for the relevant products will rise, as said restrictions represent a decrease in supply and an increase in risk on the part of the suppliers, sellers, and any and all middlemen. According to the theory of supply and demand, a decrease in supply—making the product more scarce —will increase prices, other things being equal. Similarly, increased enforcement of restrictions will increase prices for the same reason. Goods acquired illegally can take one of two price levels. They may be less expensive than (legal) market prices because the supplier did not incur the normal costs of production or pay the usual taxes. Alternatively, illegally supplied products may be more expensive than normal prices, because the product in question is difficult to acquire and may not be available legally. In the former case, however, most people are likely to continue to purchase the products in question from legal suppliers, for a number of reasons:

- The consumer may feel that the black market supplier conducts business immorally (although this criticism can extend to legal suppliers too).

- The consumer may—justifiably—trust legal suppliers more, as they are both easier to contact in case of faults in the product and easier to hold accountable.

- In some countries, it is a criminal offense to handle stolen goods, a factor which will discourage buyers. In the latter case of a black market for goods which are simply unavailable through legal channels, black markets will thrive if consumer demand nonetheless continues. In the case of the legal prohibition of a product that large segments of the society view as harmless in spite of its legal status, such as under alcohol prohibition in the United States, the black market will prosper, and the black marketeers often reinvest profits in a widely diversified array of illegal activity well beyond the original "harmless" item. Black market prices can be reduced by removing the relevant legal restrictions, thus increasing supply. People who advocate this may believe that governments should recognize fewer crimes in order to focus law enforcement effort on the most treatable dangers to society. However, this can be seen by some people as the equivalent of legalizing crime in order to reduce the number of "official" criminals—in other words, a concession that in their view only makes matters worse. Alternatively, the government could attempt to decrease demand. However, this is economically out of fashion and not as simple a process as decreasing supply.

Examples of black markets

The Prohibition period in the early twentieth century in the United States is a classic example of black market activity. Many organized crime groups took advantage of the lucrative opportunities in the resulting black market in banned alcohol production and sales. Since much of the populace did not view drinking alcohol as a particularly harmful activity that ought to be legally banned, illegal speakeasies prospered, and organizations such as the Mafia grew tremendously more powerful through their black market activities distributing alcohol.

Another classic example is Burma under the rule of Ne Win. Under his "Burmese Way to Socialism", the country became one of the poorest in the world, and only the black market and rampant smuggling supplied the people's needs.

Nowadays in many countries, it is argued a "war on drugs" has created a similar effect for drugs such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine. Despite ongoing law enforcement efforts to intercept illegal drug supplies, demand remains high, encouraging organized criminal groups to ensure their availability. While law enforcement efforts often capture distributors of illegal drugs, the high demand for such drugs ensures that black market prices will simply rise in response to the decrease in supply—encouraging new distributors to enter the market in a perpetual cycle. Similarly, since prostitution is illegal in many places and yet market demand for the services of prostitutes remains high, a black market usually develops.

Black markets can also form near when neighboring jurisdictions have substantially different tax rates on similar products. Products that are commonly smuggled to fuel these black markets include alcohol and tobacco.

Black markets flourish in most countries during wartime. The rationing and price controls enforced in many countries during World War II encouraged widespread black market activity. Due to severe shortages of consumer goods, black markets thrived in communist Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Illegal drug trade

In jurisdictions where legislation restricts or prohibits the sale of certain popular drugs, it is common for an illegal drugs trade to develop. For example, the United States Congress has identified a number of controlled substances which each have corresponding illegal drug trades. For some drugs, large-scale drug production is not located where those drugs are illegal — rather, those drugs are smuggled into the region for illegal trade. Other drugs are often produced locally either because they can be grown surreptitiously or manufactured with common ingredients.

Regardless of the source, high demand for illegal drugs on the black market leads to the formation of complex illegitimate production, smuggling, and distribution networks that span national borders and generate billions of dollars of revenue.

Soft drugs

Many people do not find the hard/soft drug distinction useful, as it is the drug users' behavior that is the most important determinate of harm, not the choice of drug: all drugs can be harmful if misused. A more useful distinction ranks drugs according to their toxicity and addictive potential. However, the legal treatment of drugs still seems influenced by perception rather than fact, so this article will group the discussion accordingly.

"Soft" drugs are generally drugs which are perceived to have less potential for causing physical or mental health damage to the user than "hard" drugs. History may play a part in a society's perception of what is a soft drug; for example alcohol and tobacco are both very addictive and known to cause health issues, but are legally traded in many more juridictions than other soft drugs. Occasional attempts to make alcohol and tobacco illegal have lead to situations such as the United States Prohibition period, which are instructive to study regarding how illegal trade immediately organized around the controlled substances. Conversely, changing societal views have led to suggestions of further decriminalizing other soft drugs.

For the purpose of this article, the following drugs will be considered soft drugs:
- Anabolic steroids
- Cannabis<
- Ecstasy (MDMA)
- Ketamine
- LSD
- GHB
- PCP
- Psilocybin mushrooms

Anabolic steroids trade

Illegal use of anabolic steroids, a class of hormones, is primarily to improve the muscular system of the human body for either increased performance (for example by athletes) or better bodybuilding results.

Anabolic steroids are not known to be chemically addictive, but can be psychologically addictive for people with body dysmorphic disorders.

The societal and health risks of regular anabolic steroid use is debatable, but a few jurisdictions (the US, Canada and Sweden) now consider anabolic steroids controlled substances; in the US it is a Schedule III controlled substance because it is a low abuse risk, has legitimate medical uses, and is has low physical dependency effects. Furthermore, the US Congress passed the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 2004 to further clarify which related substances were considered controlled.

Many international sports organizations, and now (after intense government pressure) most American professional sports organizations, are taking increasingly tougher stands against athletes who use anabolic steroids as performance enhancing drugs. While this will presumably decrease the illegal trade related to athletes, there is still a very high demand for anabolic steroids from amateur bodybuilders.

Anabolic steroid production

Anabolic steroids need sophisticated pharmaceutical processes and equipment to produce, so are generally produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies.

In the 1990s most of the US producers such as Ciba, Searle and Syntex stopped making and marketing anabolic steroids within the US. However, in many other regions, particularly Eastern Europe, they are still produced in quantity. Europe an anabolic steroids are the source of most medical grade anabolic steroids sold illegally in North America.

However, anabolic steroids are still in wider use for veterinary purposes, and many illegal anabolic steroids are actually veterinary grade.

All the usual problems with illegal drug trades, including substitutions, cutting, diluting, and faking affect illegal anabolic steroids so that when it reaches distribution the quality may be questionable or possibly dangerous.

Anabolic steroid trafficking

Since the anabolic steroids are produced in different countries than in which they are distributed, they must be smuggled across international borders. Like most significant smuggling operations, sophisticated organized crime is involved, often in conjunction with other smuggling efforts (including other illegal drugs).

Unlike cannabis and heroin, there have not been many high profile cases of individual smugglers of anabolic steroids being caught.

Anabolic steroid distribution

The majority of illegal anabolic steroids are distributed by interested parties (i.e. bodybuilders and athletes who themselves are users), rather than organized crime gangs.

The anabolic steroids are often dealt by contacts made at fitness centers and on athletic teams. Steroid users are fairly easy to recognize and therefore initial contact is generally easy.

Anabolic steroids can be distributed in either pill or injectible forms. The pills look like any other medical pills, but have the drawback that metabolising them is known to cause liver damage. Injectible steroids are generally distributed in vials, either a type that needs to be broken open or with rubber stoppers through which the needle draws the fluid. Pill form needs to be taken about every few days and injectible steroids need to be injected about once per week to maintain full effectiveness. Injections are intramuscular, not intraveneous.

Cannabis trade

Marijuana and hasheesh are the main drug forms of cannabis, while hemp is the main industrial form.

Cannabis use is primarily recreational. Because it typically gives users a state of relaxation and non-aggression, it has been considered as a peace drug, especially among the hippie culture. Proponents for legalization of cannibis claim that its use benefits users and society.

However, long-term, regular use of cannabis is known to create health problems, for eample lung disorders due to the smoking).

Furthermore, because it is easy to produce, illegal trade in cannabis is highly profitable and therefore attracts serious criminal organizations.

Cannabis production

Cannabis is a plant and therefore production is relatively easy. The main distinction in production is whether it is grown indoors or outdoors.

Indoor cannabis production usually takes the form of "grow-ops" (i.e. growing operations) which are often suburban houses that are modified to become hydroponic hothouses. This often entails s tealing electricity to power the grow lights and irrigation systems, and the heat and moisture often ruin the house as a living quarters. Immigrant families are often given housing at grow-ops in order to give the appearance of normalcy to the house to avoid reporting by neighbors. Law enforcement trying to detect grow-ops often look for unusual electricity consumption and also will use thermal imaging of rooftops to see if the house is hotter than expected. A collateral problem to grow-ops is that they are often done in rented houses, ruining the property of the landlords.

Outdoor cannabis production is typically done in plots that are hidden in forested or jungled remote areas. The forest services in many juridictions known for cannibis cultivation have active programs scanning for cannabis plots. In some cases the plots are so large that controlled fires are used to destroy the crop.

Once harvested, the cannibis is separated (into leaves, stems, seeds and buds) and cured to create smokable marijuana, or pressed to create hasheeh.

Cannabis Terms related to production

- Indoor is cannabis grown indoors. Sometimes pronounced "indoe", sounding much like the Latin endo-, which has a similar meaning when spoken as "indoe-weed". As a rule of thumb, indoor weed is (usually) better quality than outdoor because of the protection it gets inside, though there are obviously exceptions as this depends on a number of factors.
- Outdoor, sometimes pronounced "outdoe" or instead called exo- or ecto- (to contrast with endo), is cannabis that has been grown outdoors. Although it is almost always lower quality than indoor, some extremely potent strains in this class do exist, such as those grown in southern Mexico and Central America, as well as the famed Alaskan thunderfuck, which is grown in 24-hour natural sunlight.
- Hydro, also called hydroponic, is a separate method of growing, where the plants are grown in water and a medium routinely flushed with nutrients.
- Aeroponics, a relatively recent and perhaps still somewhat experimental hydroponic cultivation method in which no medium is used and the roots are directly exposed to water and nutrients. Some growers use fish aquariums housing feeder fish, whose waste provides the necessary nutrients. This technique is still very uncommon.
- Organic simply refers to the use of organic growing methods (including fertilizer, medium, and pest-control), which can also be used for hydroponic set-ups. If inorganic pesticides were used during the flowering phase of the plant's life cycle, then the smoked buds will sometimes pop and crackle, emitting bursts of sparks due to the chemicals present in the pesticides.

Cannabis wholesaling

Wholesale market for cannabis exists on a variety of levels. Typically a "wholesale" purchase would consist of anything more than a quarter-pound (113.4g). However, legal definitions of "possession with intent to distribute" vary considerably between jurisdictions — in some places, much smaller quantities of marijuana or simply having marijuana in more than one container may constitute legal intent to distribute, with concomitantly increased legal penalties. Due to the existence of different strains and different degrees of potency, along with varying degrees of anti-drug law enforcement in different jurisdictions, the wholesale price of marijuana varies widely. For example, it is not unheard of for low-potency Mexican "schwag" to be purchased in multi-ton quantities. These type of purchases are executed by large poly-drug criminal organizations that work with other national and international crime cartels. It is not uncommon for these crime cartels to employ a professional smuggler to assist with packing and shipping the contraband. The importers of these drugs tend to be associated with violence and often import other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. In the United States, the Mexico-US border is usually the source for these large wholesale transactions. Higher-grade marijuana tends to trade on a much smaller scale due to the nature of the product — higher potency means that less must be smoked to achieve the desired effects. Where a pound of schwag can sell for $500 wholesale, high grade marijuana can fetch up to $4,400 per pound. High grade marijuana typically originates in small scale domestic indoor and outdoor growing operations. High-grade marijuana is also imported into the United States on a small scale from Canada or in some rare instances from the tropics and Mexico. Of course, some zealous traffickers will bring multi-ton shipments of this product over the border as well. Many of these large traffickers are also associated with other much harder drugs, violence, and gangs. The typical indoor grower usually tends to be an otherwise law-abiding citizen who would not consider violence or strong arm tactics in marijuana dealing. In the majority of cases, a local grower will give cannabis to "distributors". Each distributor will take between a quarter ounce and one pound and then divide it up and sell it to street-sellers. Because it costs very little to grow cannabis, and because the distributors are generally personal friends of the grower, any money made from this is almost 100% profit. Distributors can afford to distribute to sellers for as little as a dollar a gram, but typically charge half street value. The grower takes the most sizable cut of the money, but the particulars and percentages vary depending on local market conditions, the individuals involved, and whatever agreement they come to. It is not unheard of for the grower to keep all the monetary profit and pay his distributors in cannabis (although in this case the assumption often exists that the distributors are keeping a small amount of the money for themselves without the grower's direct knowledge). Law enforcement attention to these "lesser" wholesaling transactions is typically reduced; most law enforcement concern is over large-scale wholesaling and cartels.

Cannabis trafficking

Certain types of cannabis that are unique to a particular area, such as Maui-wowie, hula-bud, may be shipped great distances due to popularity and demand.

On the United States' Pacific coast, a cannabis "superhighway" of sorts exists, along which most exotic strains are traded, anti-cannabis laws are relatively relaxed or are not as actively enforced, and large numbers of growers reside.

At the northernmost end of this "highway" is Alaska, where northern lights and Alaskan thunderfuck are produced. Further south is British Columbia, home of the famous BC bud, which comes in a wide array of qualities and forms, the most desired of which is the hydrochronic, or hydroponically grown chronic. South of British Columbia is Washington, which is the home of the annual Hempfest, has an extremely high number of local growers, and imports massive quantities of hydrochronic from British Columbia, Maui-wowie and hula-bud from Hawaii, Thai-sticks from Thailand, yellow cab from Idaho, northern lights and thunderfuck from Alaska via British Columbia, and red-hair bud from southern Mexico via California and Oregon. Washington is also famous for its chemo-bud grown at the University of Washington. South of Washington is California, where consumption of cannabis is likely as high (per-capita) as in Washington, and is thus a major player in cannabis trade. At the southernmost end is Mexico, which, although known mainly for its low-quality "dirt weed", facilitates the trade of highly potent strains from southern Mexico and Central America into the United States.

Along this "superhighway", major cities such as Vancouver, BC, Tacoma, San Francisco, and Los Angeles offer the lowest prices for the greatest quantities of cannabis, whilst Tacoma, San Francisco, and L.A. offer the greatest variety of exotic strains. These exotic strains become increasingly rare and expensive when one moves into the smaller surrounding towns. Away from the west coast as a whole, the cost of even low-quality or "schwag" cannabis may be double what one would pay for good-quality cannabis in, for instance, Washington.

Cannabis trade jargon

Note that while this is relatively standard jargon, any of these terms may have related, sometimes more specific, sometimes more generic, and very often overlapping meanings in both regional jargons and slang. Each of these terms also has a stunningly large array of slang synonyms. While the vernaculars of stoners vary greatly from region to region and group to group, and range from simplistic and poorly defined slang to locale- or clique-specific jargons with enormous vocabularies and even more greatly stratified, complex terminologies with more specific and exacting definitions, the terms outlined below are almost universally understood, albeit generic and necessarily somewhat ambiguous.

Psilocybin Mushroom trade

he trade of Psilocybin containing mushrooms (virtually always psilocybe cubensis) is a profitable, but less common one. While Psilocybin mushrooms can be found in the wild, this is not the typical method through which they are acquired, especially for sale. This method is highly inefficient and very few people are confident enough to be able to positively indentify them and even fewer are actually right. The people who sell Psilocybin mushrooms typically grow the mushrooms themselves, which is why they are less commonly found, but highly profitable as it is generally 100% profit for the seller or a seller and growing partner splitting profits 50% each.

Mushroom Types

There are several types of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, including:
- Psilocybe cubensis
- Psilocybe azurescens
- Psilocybe cyanescens
- Psilocybe mexicana
- Psilocybe subcubensis

Psilocybe cubensis is the most common, therefore popular, strain, perpetuated by its recommendation in most methods, including the PF Tek method, as being a relatively easy-starting strain.

Mushroom production

Personal growing of mushrooms is extremely easy, thanks to the legal status of spores and mycelium (varies in different countries and states). One can purchase kits through the mail or internet that include everything one needs for personal growing. These grow kits are often used by amateurs, producing only enough for personal use and sharing with some friends. These amateur growers typically go on to create "Flushes" (When mushrooms cover the entire grow surface. Typically one container will grow 2-3 flushes before needing fresh mycelium containing material.) which produce 1 lb or more of dried mushrooms. The skills required for this profitable method of growing are generally learned in the amateur growing phase. The most common reason for failure at any scale is contamination of the material and containers that are to be innoculated by spores. The most common grow method is known as the PF Tek method, most other methods are based on this method which has been circulating on the internet for several years. The creator of this method is known as PF Tek and used to sell supplies and spore syringes, however PF Tek has since bowed out of this.

Most of the supplies needed for mushroom cultivation (mason jars, petri dishes, scalpels, rye) can be easily obtained from many stores. Amateurs who actually take the time to research mushroom cultivation would not need to start off with a grow kit and can easily make their own grow space.

Alcohol

In a few predominately countries, such as Saudi Arabia, alcohol is strictly forbidden by law. Many drinks such as absinthe are, or were until recently illegal to sell in many European countries. Absinthe remains illegal in the USA.

In the USA, there still are communities (called "dry" counties) with a ban of the sale of alcohol. Almost one-half of Mississippi's counties are dry. It is also illegal to transport unopened bottles of alcohol across any dry county line in the state.

Tobacco trade

The illegal trade of tobacco is motivated primarily by increasingly heavy taxation. When tobacco products such as name-brand cigarettes are traded illegally, the cost is as little as one third that of retail price due to the lack of taxes being piled on as the product is sold from manufacturer to buyer to retailer. Meanwhile, the sale of tobacco, legal or not, seems motivated almost entirely by addiction, with social/recreational motives being the cause of initial consumption.

Hard drugs

'Hard drugs' are generally drugs considered to create a high degree of physical dependence (i.e. addiction) or considered to be a serious detriment to society or personal health.

Illegal supply of these so called hard drugs is driven mainly by the economics of drug prohibition coupled with the addiction of their users, with huge profit margins available due to the collision of high demand for the drugs with harsh laws that attempt to prohibit their supply and use. The vast profits on offer mean that the trade is run by highly organized and often violent criminal organizations.

For the purposes of this article, the following drugs will be discussed as hard drugs:
- Cocaine
- Heroin and Opium
- Methamphetamine

Cocaine trade

Because of the extensive processing it undergoes during preparation and its highly addictive nature, cocaine is generally treated as a hard drug, with severe penalties for possession and trafficking. Demand remains high, and consequently black market cocaine is quite expensive. Unprocessed cocaine, such as coca leaves is occasionally bought and sold, but this is exceedingly rare as it is much easier and more profitable to conceal and smuggle the concentrated processed form. Therefore, powdered cocaine (its usual form) is described here.

Most cocaine is smuggled in large quantities in trucks, boats, or small airplanes. Smaller gangs will often send out a mule, often a young woman, with kilos of cocaine strapped to her waist or legs or hidden in her bags. If she gets through without being caught, the gangs will reap most of the profits. If she is caught however, gangs will sever all links and she will usually stand trial for trafficking by herself. Colombia still produces around 75% of the world's cocaine.

Cocaine production

Cocaine comes from the coca plant. The leaves are stripped from the plants and dried, then crushed into a paste, commonly using cement mix (containing sodium carbonate), lime and water. This then allows extraction of the cocaine alkaloid into kerosene. The resulting water immiscible solvent (kerosene) acts to extract water insoluble cocaine alkaloids from the mixture. The plant leaves are usually agitated by stomping on them or, occasionally by using a so-called agitation machine. The cocaine alkaloids and kerosene mostly separates from the water and leaves, and then needs to be strained.

The alkaloids should be extracted from the kerosene by adding a dilute hydrochloric or sulfuric acid mix then strained again. Potassium permanganate is usually added then the mix should be allowed sit for 4-6 hours. The paste is usually further strained and ammonia added. A dubious precipitate will be formed, known as cocaine base.

The base is dried and converted to cocaine hydrochloride (HCl) by soaking it in acetone and straining it. Adding diluted hydrochloric acid or Ether (cutting) should cause a precipitate to form which is usually dried under heat lamps, resulting in concentrated cocaine hydrochloride.

Cocaine trafficking

Organized criminal gangs operating on a large scale dominate the cocaine trade. Most cocaine is grown and processed in South America, particularly in Colombia and Peru, and smuggled into the United States and Europe, where it is sold at huge markups.

Cocaine distribution

DRAFT SECTION (To be written)

Cocaine is often adulterated or "cut" with a variety of substances prior to sale. Common adulterants include Mannitol, a sugar based baby laxative, Benzocaine to cause a numbing effect, Methylphenidate or (ritalin) -- a drug which when taken by way of insufflation, mimics many of the euphoric and "speedy" effects that are attributed to cocaine.

Purity of cocaine varies widely over a range of approximately 10 to 90 percent - with larger quantities generally being more pure, and smaller quantities generally being less pure.

Crack Cocaine trade

Crack cocaine in the United States is usually more prevalent in lower income urban communities which are often predominantly Hispanic or African-American. This is largely due to the way a drug is marketed rather than its specific effects. Crack cocaine is often sold in $5 hits, a piece of which will fit into a small glass vial (pipe). The small amounts and low price make crack an easy sell in crowded poor neighborhoods.

Crack is more addictive and more dangerous than normal powder cocaine because when it is smoked it delivers a stronger high because it reachs the blood stream quicker. Powder cocaine does not burn well and cannot be efficiently smoked, whereas crack cocaine can easily be absorbed through the mucus membranes in the nose. This has to do with the structure of the molecule and whether a hydrochloride bond is present or not. In the cases where it is not present the cocaine is known as under slang as freebase. Almost every drug can exist in either a salt form (as in with a hydrochloride bond) or a freebase form, but only freebase cocaine takes the slang name.

True freebase cocaine is difficult to manufacture and involves explosive chemicals to process. Before the 1980s it was the only form of 'rock' cocaine. Crack in contrast is safely and easily made and is manufactured from imported powdered cocaine usually in small batches by urban dealers. Using a simple process involving baking soda and water the dealers can make a rough 'freebase' of the cocaine. Because baking soda is added in the process crack cocaine is actually less pure' whereas a true freebase is more pure.

Crack cocaine is associated with street gangs that distribute it; the money earned from its sale is used for, but not limited to, the following: drug-wars, illegal firearms, and turf-wars.

Processing

To be written

Street selling

To be written

Heroin and opium trade

Opium is the dried latex resin of the opium poppy. Most of the world's illegal opium has been grown in Afghanistan and the Golden Triangle region of southeast Asia for a long time. Although, in recent years, a growing amount comes from Latin America, particularly from Mexico and Colombia (in the latter country it has displaced to some extent the cocaine trade because it is easier to refine into a marketable product, heroin, and production has also taken root in the Caucasus Mountains.

The legal production of opium for the variety of opiate-based products used by the medical market is more than 50% of global opium production and takes place mostly in Tasmania and India. In these countries, it is used strictly in its natural form, which contains a number of active ingredients. It is smoked, eaten, or prepared as a drink to produce the opiate effects. It is also widely used as local medicine in its native countries; the resin requires minimal processing involving boiling in water, filtering, and drying. Illicit trade in opium is relatively rare, since major smuggling organizations prefer to further refine opium into heroin. A given quantity of heroin is worth much more than an equivalent amount of opium; therefore trade in opium is comparatively rare, since heroin is much more profitable.

Heroin is manufactured through the chemical processing of opium, and smuggled into the United States and Europe. Purity levels vary greatly by region with, for the most part, Northeastern cities having the most pure heroin in America. According to a recently released report by the DEA, Elizabeth and Newark, New Jersey, have the purest street grade heroin in the country.

Heroin and opium trafficking

To be written

Heroin and opium distribution

To be written

Methamphetamine trade

Since the early 1970s, outlaw motorcycle clubs such as The Hells Angels, The Pagansand the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang have been active in the manufacture of crystal methamphetamine in North America. However, in the last two decades they have been joined by large scale operations based in Mexico and Asia, and small scale meth labs which have popped up throughout North America, which often create environmental hazards for those living near them dueto the amount of toxic chemicals used in methamphetamine production. The proliferation of small scale meth labs began in California, then spread to the rest of the Western United States, and from therespreading to the midwest and now throughout almost all of the country, paralleling the epidemic in meth abuse which currently is taking place in all sections of the United States except for the Northeast, as well as spreading into most of Canada. A wide variety of groups are involved in the distribution of methamphetamine, from the aforementioned prison gangs and motorcycle gangs to street gangs, traditional organized crime operations, and impromptu small level networks made up of users. The government of North Korea is said to promote the manufacture of crystal meth, and allegedly plays a role in distribution networks throughout Asia as well as those in Australia and even in North America. Regardless, meth trafficking is not exclusively dominated by cartels along the lines of Colombia's cocaine cartels or Pakistan's heroin cartels....

Methamphetamine production

To be written

Methamphetamine trafficking

To be written

Methamphetamine distribution

To be written ----

Because of physical dependence, the high cost of illegal addictive drugs is one of the major causes of crime. Some estimates placed the value of the global trade in illegal drugs at around four hundred billion U.S. dollars in the year 2000.

Major consumer countries include the United States and European nations, although consumption is world-wide.

As with legal commerce, the illegal drug trade is multi-layered and often multi-national, with layers of manufacturers, processors, distributors, wholesalers and retailers. Financing is also important, generally involving money laundering to hide the source of the illegal profits. All of these are made more complex by their illegality, but the normal laws of economics still apply, with the efforts of law enforcement regarded by the drug trade as an extra business cost.

The drug trade is a very fragmented industry with the most popular product, cannabis, being grown locally by many individuals with little collaboration. Similarly, drugs like LSD with very low profit margins are sold more for philanthropic reasons than for profit. The main organized drug cartels deal with cocaine, heroin, and MDMA, and it is these that are the primary focus of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Largely manufactured drugs also induce the foundation of satellite organizations that supply some of the needed chemical precursors. In places where alcohol is illegal, such as Saudi Arabia, it may also be the subject of illegal trading. In the United States during Prohibition, trade in alcohol was dominated by the Cosa Nostra.

Some prescription drugs are also available by illegal means, eliminating the need to manufacture and process the drugs. Prescription opiates for example, are sometimes much stronger than heroin found on the street. They are sold primarily via stolen or unscrupulous prescriptions sold by illegitimate medical practices and occasionally from Internet sale. However, it is much easier to control traffic in prescription drugs than in illegal drugs because the source can often be readily found and neutralized.

Legal Drugs like tobacco can be the subject of smuggling and illegal trading if the taxes are high enough to make it profitable.

Because disputes cannot be resolved through legal means, participants at every level of the illegal drugs industry are liable to compete with one another through violence. Some of the largest and most violent drug trafficking organizations are known as drug cartels. For this (and other reasons, namely the inability for governments to control, regulate and tax distribution), many have argued that the illegality of popular drugs worsens the problems around these substances.

The most well known recent groups were the Cali and Medellín cartels in Colombia and the Juarez, Tijuana and Tamaulipas cartels in Mexico.

Manufacturing and processing

Illegal drugs can be broken down into two major classes: those extracted from plants, and those synthesized from chemical precursors. For the first class, such as marijuana and cocaine, the growing area is important, and substantial farming is needed for mass production. For the second class, such as MDMA and methamphetamine, access to chemical precursors is most important.

Major drug farming and manufacturing countries include
- Colombia and other Latin American countries for mainly cocaine
- the Asian Golden Triangle of border areas of Thailand, Burma and Laos for opium.
- The United States for Methamphetamine
- Afghanistan and border areas of Pakistan

Synthetic illegal drugs can either be manufactured in the country of consumption, or abroad.

For the most part, the manufacturing of botanically-based drugs consists of several layers which may be isolated or conglomerated: growing and harvesting, initial botanical processing, chemical processing, and final processing.

The initial botanical processing prepares the plant for chemical processing, by cutting, drying if applicable, separating parts with a low concentration, and etc. The chemical processing extracts the drug, and the final processing sizes it, provides assurance of quality, packages it, and may convert it to another form (such as crack from cocaine).

Of course, there is a lot of transportation that goes into it, as well. The botanical extracts must be conveyed to the...

Distribution and wholesaling

There are two primary means of distribution: a hierarchy and a hub-and-spoke layout. A hierarchical arrangement includes the manufacturer who uses his own men to smuggle, wholesale and store, and distribute the narcotics. A hub-and-spoke layout takes advantage of local gangs and other localized criminal organizations. The cartel is at the center, with satellite organizations that may provide certain services to the manufacturer, and then there is a plurality of distinct groups, each with its own chain.

Smuggling is typically accomplished via small boats and yachts, air vehicles, and by gangs paid with a chunk of the merchandise.

Wholesalers routinely accept the materials from the smugglers (often more than one and of varying types), cut it, and sell it to the distribution chain or chains. For the most part, wholesalers are not individual people. It is typically an expansional endeavor by already-established rogue enterprises, such as Mafias and, rarely, gangs. The more experienced instances may re-manufacture the wares to increase (or decrease, because profit comes from cutting) the purity, mixing it (a few may fabricate amalgamated, specialty products at fleeced prices), or altering the chemical composition of the material (such as freebasing cocaine). Wholesalers may also manufacture and disseminate general contraband, including non-narcotic controlled substances (like date rape drugs), paraphernalia, and any panoptic, high-demand item that they may receive.

Distribution may traverse a selectively chosen group of cartel employees who purchase from a wholesaler and utilize a prominent population of "mules," or it may encompass a heavy chain of users who are selling to finance their own use.
- to be written -- topics include:
- smuggling
- →opium smuggling against laws of China in 19th century, w/regard to Howqua, Forbes family, Cabot, Perkins family, Russell and Company, Opium War
- security problems similar to distribution of other high-value materials
- and hence gang-on-gang crime

Retail selling

Availability of Controlled Substances Over the Internet "No Prescription Websites" (NPWs) offer to sell controlled substances without a valid prescription. NPWs were first recognized by the U.S. Justice Department in 1999, indicating that such sites had been operating at least through the late 1990s. NPWs enable dealers and users to complete transactions without direct contact. While many NPWs accept credit cards, others only accept cash thereby further reducing any papertrail. Many NPWs are hosted in countries in which specific categories of controlled substances are locally legal (e.g. prescription opioids in Mexico), but because of the global nature of the internet, NPWs are able to do business with customers around the globe. In addition to prescription opioids, stimulants, steroids and sedatives, marijuana seeds are also readily available, while marijuana generally is only advertised in chat rooms and forums. To date, no websites have been found offering to sell heroin, methamphetamines, or cocaine - but all other categories of drugs are readily available online.

Punishments in various countries

U.S. Justice Department") warns passengers disembarking in Taiwan of the potential consequences.]] To be written

Australia

There is a movement in Australia to make some narcotics decriminalised, particularly marijuana, the possession of such, in most states being a non-convictable offence (the definition of what constitutes possession differs however). Heroin trials have been tried in various states with mixed results.

As a result of the decriminalisation, the punishments for drug use and drug dealing in Australia are typically very small, with many convicted small-time drug dealers not having to spend any time in jail.

There is an associated pro-drugs culture amongst a minority of the youth of Australia. The popular national youth radio station, Triple J radio often refers to drug use with a neutral sentiment, rarely discouraging their use. Many take this neutrality as an encouragement to use drugs, and a feeling of drug abuse being acceptable in Australia.

The Netherlands/Holland

In the Netherlands, marijuana and other soft drugs are fully decriminalised in small quantities. Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is still illegal, mostly to satisfy the country's agreements with the United Nations. Coffee shops are tolerated across the country, and pay taxes like any other business for their sale of "coffee", although distribution is a grey area that the authorities would rather not go into as it's not decriminalised. The majority are found in Amsterdam and cater mainly for the large tourist trade; the local consumption rate is far lower than in the US.

Similarly to the rest of the European Union member states and American democracies, controlled drugs are illegal in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, illegal narcotics are consumed worldwide, causing concern in the international community. According to the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP, 2001) results in their World Drug Report estimate 'that the extent of drug abuse in the world involves about 180 million people, which represents 3% of the global population. The majority of drug users (80%) used cannabis, followed by amphetamine-type stimulants such as methamphetamine, amphetamine and substances of the ecstasy group (16%), cocaine (8%), heroin (5%) and other opiates (2%)'.

The administrative bodies responsible for enforcing the drug policies include the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, and the Ministry of Finance. It is important to note that local authorities also shape local policy, within the national framework. The prohibition policy is heavily influenced by the international community (through the United Nations), especially the neighboring states of France and Germany, which pressure the kingdom to be more strict, for they are directly affected through the illegal trafficking of narcotics coming from the Netherlands.

Legally, possession, manufacturing, trafficking, importation and exportation are forbidden. Nonetheless, it is not an offense to use drugs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2003). There are different penalties involved when breaking the law, which may include a monetary fine, imprisonment, or both. To apply the law, the government differentiates between soft and hard drugs. Soft drugs are considered to produce less harm to both the individual and society, these being used mainly for homeopathic and recreational purposes. This category encompasses cannabis (nederwiet), hashish and some fungi. Hard drugs are considered to cause considerable personal harm through addiction and physical detriment, as well as nuisance to society, by increasing crime and deteriorating families. Cocaine, heroine and ecstasy belong to this category.

Along with these two categories, there is a pyramid of priory when it comes to prosecution by law enforcement agencies. The handling and trade of hard drugs is on the zenith, being a joint target not only by the Netherlands, but also by the international community. This can be punished by maximum sentences of twelve years of imprisonment and/or a fine of up to €45.000. The second priority is given to the production and trade of soft drugs. Deviation from the AHOJ-G criteria for coffee shops may result in up to four years of imprisonment and/or a fine of €45.000. This point will be further explained in the next paragraph. The third priority focuses on hard drugs users. Unlike other countries, consumers are not considered criminals. This label would bring negative repercussions to the individual, and it would keep users from seeking help. The state aims to rehabilitate users and prevent others from becoming addicted. However, disturbance to society cased by this consumption can result in one year of prison and/or €11.250. Lastly, individuals possessing more than five grams for personal consumption, or disturbing the public, can go to prison for one month and/or be fined €2.250. There are of course varying rules within this categories, for example the amount possessed, the role played in the transaction, and the intent of the goods.

As regards coffee shops, the line between law and practice thins. A coffee shop is a heavily controlled business establishment where individuals can purchase a personal dose of soft drugs in the form of joints, pastry, drinks, and packages. In theory illegal, these shops must abide by governmental and local regulations, as well as meet the AHOJ-G criteria, an acronym for: No Advertising, Hard drugs, Nuisance of any kind, Jongens (minors), and a limit of five grams per transaction. Additionally, the maximum stock at any time is five hundred grams. Local governments may impose additional rules, such as closing times, zones (coffee shops may not be close to schools), and parking restrictions. The rationale behind coffee shops is to keep citizens away from the harmful hard drugs scene, bringing them to a safe, social, and regulated environment.

When analyzing the Dutch model, both disadvantages and advantages can be drawn when comparing the results with other countries. On a moral argument, tolerating soft drugs can be seen as the defeat of the government against hedonism. Additionally, decades of growing and perfecting cannabis and hashish has resulted in increased levels of the active stimulant tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as levels have doubled, making the derived products more powerful. At that rate, soft drugs could eventually become hard drugs.

On the other side, Gedoogbeleid has considerable advantages, making it the most successful policy in the post-industrial world. To begin, this tolerance did not result in hordes of young Dutch queuing in coffee shops after school. Though there was a slight increase of use at the beginning, the rates balanced out a couple years afterwards. The presence of coffee shops does not translate in public urge for experimentation. In fact, most people that did not consume drugs before the enhancement of the policy continue not to use them.

Tolerating soft drugs also leads to a more cohesive society, where everyone is represented, even those who decide to use drugs as a recreational item, just like Heineken, a pseudo-symbol of national pride, is widely consumed and exported around the EU and the world. Having users as part of the public sphere also aids the government to conduct studies on the medical and psychosocial consequences of drugs, allowing it to draft improved policies, and serve as an example to the world, as well as aiding those who need professional help, which would hesitate less to seek help if there is no stigma associated with their practice. Eliminating the taboo element associated with illegality, many curious consumers would not even ponder soft drugs as a source of deviance. Incorporating drugs in the market economy also entitles the government to regulate doses and the contents of the products, further reducing potential harm to individuals. The dangers of the underground market are also highly reduced by condoning small-scale trade, making the establishments more accessible to the public.

When compared to other countries, Dutch drug consumption falls in the European average at six per cent regular use (twenty-one per cent at some point in life), and considerably lower than the Anglo-Saxon countries headed by the United States with an eight per cent recurring use (thirty-four at some point in life). Experts have come to the conclusion that the policies applied do not play a striking role in these statistics, though there is debate over this issue (CEDRO, 2004).

It would be hypocritical to accept that the government pretends to maintain the well-being of its citizens by prohibiting drugs, for it is widely known that substances such as cigarettes and alcohol pose a much higher risk factor to the consumer, resulting in cancer, addiction, liver problems, as well as other predicaments. A move of the Dutch government towards the right, in addition to increased international pressure, endanger the current gedoogpolicy, and its future is uncertain. The number of coffee shops (one third of them located in Amsterdam) has decreased by roughly one fifth and is expected to further decrease, as local governments tighten regulations. There is however some hope that the political climate could change, as some countries such as Germany have decriminalized the personal use of soft drugs for recreational and medicinal purposes.

National drug use prevalence in the Netherlands, 1997 and 2001 (weighted percentages) Drug 1997Lifetime 2001Lifetime 1997Last year 2001Last year 1997Last month 2001Last month Tobacco 67.9 66.4 38.1 34.1 34.3 30.2 Alcohol 90.2 91.6 82.5 83.8 73.3 75.1 Hypnotics 17.4 18.5 8.5 9.5 5.5 6.4 Sedatives 19.6 16.3 8.2 7.6 4.9 5.0 Cannabis 15.6 17.0 4.5 5.0 2.5 3.0 Inhalants 0.5 0.8 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.1 Cocaine 2.1 2.9 0.6 0.9 0.2 0.4 Amphetamines 1.9 2.6 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.2 Ecstasy 1.9 2.9 0.7 1.2 0.3 0.5 Hallucinogens 1.8 1.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 Mushrooms 1.6 2.6 0.6 0.5 0.1 0.1 Opiates all 11.7 8.2 4.2 2.6 1.0 1.0 Codeine 7.3 5.0 2.6 1.9 0.9 0.7 Heroin 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 Difficult drugs 4.1 4.9 1.2 1.8 0.5 0.8 Other 5.2 5.3 10.6 11.1 17.8 18.2 Total sample 1997 21,959 Total sample 2001 17,655 Difficult drugs are cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy, hallucinogens, heroin. Source: The Centre for Drug Research, (CEDRO), University of Amsterdam

Indonesia

Indonesia carries a maximum penalty of death for drug dealing, and a maximum of 15 years prison for drug use. In practise, this is rarely carried out against Indonesian citizens, however they have controversially executed many overseas tourists to the country.

In 2004, Australian citizen Schappelle Corby was convicted of smuggling 5 kilograms of marijuana in to Bali, a crime that carried a maximum penalty of death. Her trial reached the verdict of guilty with a punishment of 20 years imprisonment. Corby claimed to be an unwitting drug mule.

Australian citizens The Bali Nine were caught smuggling heroin and each face the death penalty.

In August 2005, Australian model Michelle Leslie was arrested with two Ecstasy pills. She pleaded guilty to possession and in November 2005 was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment, which she was deemed to have already served, and was released from prison immediately upon her admission of guilt on the charge of possession.

See also

- Arguments for and against drug prohibition
- Counterfeit drug
- Drug paraphernalia
- Legal issues of cannabis
- List of famous drug smugglers
- Money laundering
- Narco-capitalism
- Prohibition (drugs)
- Recreational drug use
- War on Drugs

External links

- [http://www.geopium.org Geopium: Geopolitics of Illicit Drugs in Asia]
- [http://www.geopium.org/Chouvy-JIR-DEC2005-Moroccos_smuggling_rackets_hashish_people_and_contraband.html] A recent publication on hashish production and trafficking

Cigarette

A cigarette is a small paper-wrapped cylinder (generally less than 120mm in length and 10mm in diameter) of cured and shredded or cut tobacco leaves. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder for the purpose of inhalation of its smoke from the filtered end, inserted in the mouth. The term, as commonly used, typically refers to a tobacco cigarette, but can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cannabis.

A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its smaller size, use of processed leaf, and paper wrapping; cigars are typically composed entirely of whole leaf tobacco. Cigarettes were largely unknown in the English-speaking world before the Crimean War, when British soldiers began emulating their Ottoman Turkish comrades, who resorted to rolling their tobacco with newsprint.

Manufacture and ingredients

In practice, commercial cigarettes and cigarette tobaccos rarely contain pure tobacco. Manufacturers often use a tremendous variety of additives for a number of purposes, including maintaining blend consistency, improving perceived blend quality, as preservatives and even completely changing the organoleptic qualities of the tobacco smoke. While this is true for many brands of cigarettes, in Canada, the major cigarette brands all contain 100% natural virginia leaf - No Additives. Some cigarettes (known as kreteks, clove cigarettes, or simply cloves) have cloves blended with the tobacco. This is done to enhance the smoker's pleasure by numbing the mouth and lungs and providing a mild euphoric effect. Lower-quality clove cigarettes simply have a clove essence added to the tobacco.

In addition to additives, cigarette tobaccos, especially lower-quality blends, are often highly physically processed. During the original processing of leaf for cigarettes, the leaves are deveined, and the lamina is shredded or cut. Since the leaf is relatively dry at this point, these processes result in a significant amount of tobacco dust. Manufacturing operations have developed procedures for collecting this dust and remaking it into usable material (known as reconstituted sheet tobacco).

The removed leaf midveins, which are unsuitable for use in cigarettes in their natural state, were historically discarded or spread on fields, because of their high nitrogen content. Procedures have been developed, however, to "expand" the stems, and process them for inclusion in the cigarette blends. All these procedures allow cigarette manufacturers to produce as many cigarettes as possible using the least amount of raw materials as possible.

The most common usage of the cigarette is tobacco smoke delivery. The second most common usage of the cigarette is for marijuana smoke delivery. The hand rolled cigarette is the most common form of marijuana cigarette. Marijuana users will usually twist the ends of the cigarette to prevent fine cut marijuana buds from falling out. Tobacco users who roll their own cigarettes, however, will usually not twist the cigarette at the ends; hand rolling tobacco is made in strands so it doesn't have a tendency to fall out.

Some cigarette smokers roll their own cigarettes by wrapping loose cured tobacco in paper; most, however, purchase machine-made commercially available brands, generally sold in small cardboard packages of 10 or 20 cigarettes in the United States and UK or 25 in Canada. Commercial cigarettes usually contain a cellulose acetate or cotton filter through which the smoker inhales the cigarette's smoke; the filter serves to cool and somewhat clean the smoke.

Recently, cigarette rolling machines are also becoming popular. One can purchase tobacco in pouches or cans, usually at half the price of what one would pay for the same amount pre-rolled. One can get a rolling machine that makes filterless, or "straight" cigarettes, or one can purchase a machine that packs the tobacco into a pre-rolled form with a filter. These filtered papers usually come in boxes of 200, while unfiltered papers will come in packs ranging from 12 to 64, and some contain even more.

Sale

Rolling papers

Before the Second World War many manufacturers gave away collectible cards, one in each packet of cigarettes. This practice was discontinued to save paper during the war, and was never generally reintroduced. On April 1, 1970 President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette advertisements on television in the United States starting on January 2, 1971. However, some tobacco companies attempted to circumvent the ban by marketing new brands of cigarettes as "little cigars;" examples included Tijuana Smalls, which came out almost immediately after the ban took effect, and Backwoods Smokes, which hit the market in the winter of 1973-1974 and whose ads used the slogan, "How can anything that looks so wild taste so mild?"

The sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors under 18 is now prohibited by law in all fifty states of the United States. In Alabama, Alaska and Utah the statutory age is 19, and legislation was pending as of 2004 in some other states, including California and New Jersey, to raise the age to 19, or even 21 in some cases. In Massachusetts, parents and guardians are allowed to give cigarettes to minors, but sales to minors are prohibited.

Legislation was successfully passed on Long Island (New York) to raise the legal age in Suffolk county to 19, effective January 1st, 2005.

Similar laws exist in many other countries as well. In Canada, most of the provinces require smokers to be 19 years of age to purchase cigarettes (except for Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, where the age is 18). However, the minimum age only concerns the purchase of tobacco, not use.

Alberta, however, does have a law which prohibits the possession or use of tobacco products by all persons under 18, punishable by a $100 fine. Australia has a nation-wide ban on the selling of all tobacco products to people under 18.

In the UK, cigarettes can legally be sold only to people aged 16 and over. However it is not illegal for people under this age to buy (or attempt to buy) cigarettes, so only the retailer is breaking the law by selling to under 16s.

However, while bans stand in most countries for sales to minors, it is still common for merchants to disregard such laws as they are tough to enforce. Often the profits from selling cigarettes to minors illegally are much greater than the fines paid out in very infrequent times when they are caught. Some police departments in the United States occasionally send a clearly underage child into a store where cigarettes are sold, and have the child attempt to purchase cigarettes. If the vendor sells them to the minor, the store is issued a fine. This is by far the most common way in which cigarette vendors are caught when they sell cigarettes to minors.

Online cigarette stores

Online stores have recently appeared that offer foreign cigarettes to internet buyers. As many jurisdictions place high taxes on tobacco sales, these could be seen as an effort to avoid paying duty or taxes.

Some online cigarette stores exist to sell tax-free cigarettes inside one's own country of residence as well. The legality of these stores is being questioned currently in the United States. Federal lawmakers contend that these stores are clear tax evasions. Recently in Michigan, several online stores have been subpoenaed by the state for the names and addresses of customers. The state has reportedly been sending out fines for each package purchased, contending tax evasion over Michigan's $2-a-pack law.

This same action has [http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul05/342254.asp also taken place] in Wisconsin after the Wisconsin Department of Revenue received a list of several thousand buyers in that state from an online cigarette merchant. However, the effort to collect on the taxes from the listed residents was [http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul05/342847.asp stopped by order] of Governor Jim Doyle a few days later.

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have all refused to allow online cigarette stores to accept payment by credit-card.

Health effects

Smoking has been linked to lung cancer by many medical research institutions throughout the world (through the use of observational studies). Recent findings by the World Health Organization suggest that U.S. white male smokers have an 8% chance of acquiring lung cancer at some point in their lives, as opposed to the 2% chance of acquiring lung cancer among U.S. white male non-smokers. However, moderate cigarette smoking (<2 cigarettes daily) as well as second-hand smoke inhalation show no increase in lung cancer rates among U.S. white males in all credited observational studies.

Certain other lung disorders, like emphysema, are also linked to cigarette smoking. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage and underweight infants. Smoking also increases the chance of heart attacks and a variety of cancers. Long-term smokers tend to look older than nonsmokers of the same age, because smoking can increase wrinkling in the skin.

Nicotine, the stimulant and active ingredient in cigarettes, is highly addictive. Children and pets may be poisoned from eating cigarettes or cigarette butts.

Inhalation of toxic to carcinogenic components of tobacco smoke, like radon and radium-226, is understood to cause lung cancer. Much of the farmland used to grow tobacco in the United States is contaminated with radioactive material as a result of using phosphate-rich fertilizers. Studies by Winters et al., in the New England Journal of Medicine (1982), found that skeletons of cigarette smokers contained deposits of lead-210 and polonium-210, two isotopes formed by radioactive decay of radium found in the soil where tobacco plants are grown.

For many years the tobacco industry presented research of its own in an attempt to counter emerging medical research about the addictive nature and adverse health effects of cigarettes. According to [http://stic.neu.edu/MN/6MMMEMO.HTM a 1994 prosecution memo] written by Congressman Martin Meehan to former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, many of these studies were found to be flawed due to their strong bias and poor methodology. A 2001 peer-reviewed [http://www.smokefreeforhealth.org/studies/YachBialous.htm] article in the American Journal of Public Health] correctly accuses tobacco companies of using front groups and biased studies to downplay the health risks of smoking and secondhand smoke.

Many countries and jurisdictions have instituted public smoking bans. In [http://newyork.sierraclub.org/nyc/spring_03_6.htm New York City], smoking is forbidden in almost all workplaces, although not enforced in some small neighborhood bars. In the USA, smoking is being banned in restaurants and bars. States from California to Delaware have adopted such a ban, causing much controversy between smokers, non-smokers, workers, and owners. Such bans are least popular in Southern states of the USA, such as Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, where tobacco continues to be a large part of the economy. In other states, these bans are extremely popular and seen as long overdue. Often smoking is allowed on the street (though in Delaware you must be 250 feet away from any public building), but in many locations of Japan it is against the law. In 2004, smoking was outlawed in all public buildings in the state of Maine. The 2004 ban on smoking in bars and resturaunts in New Zealand met with initial resentment from some bar owners, but was widely welcomed by the public at large. In many parts of the world tobacco advertising and even sponsorship of sporting events is not allowed. The ban on tobacco sponsorship in the EU in 2005 has prompted the Formula One Management to look for races in areas that allow the heavily tobacco sponsored teams to display their livery, and has also lead to some of the more popular races on the calendar being cancelled in favour of more tobacco friendly markets.

Contents of a cigarette

The leaves of the tobacco plant are first dried to make cigarettes, and then treated with a variety of chemicals, and many additional ingredients are added. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic.

The amounts of these ingredients can vary widely from one brand or type of cigarette to the next. This is especially true of the tar and nicotine content, the range of which is so extreme that an entire carton of some brands of cigarettes (e.g., Carlton) might contain less tar and/or nicotine than a single cigarette of a "full flavor" brand.

Consumption

Approximately 5.5 trillion cigarettes are produced globally each year by the tobacco industry, smoked by over 1.1 billion people.

Smoking Prevalence by Gender
	PERCENT SMOKING
REGION	MEN	WOMEN
Africa	29	4
Americas	35	22
Eastern Mediterranean	35	4
Europe	46	26
South-East Asia	44	4
Western Pacific	60	8
(2000, World Health Organization estimates)

Turkey has a higher percentage of adults who smoke than any other country; 60% of the population are smokers.

Turkey

History

The use of tobacco in cigarette form is a relatively recent invention, becoming increasingly popular after the Crimean War. This was helped by the development of certain types of tobaccos that are suitable for cigarette use. During World War I and World War II, cigarettes were rationed to soldiers. During the second half of the 20th century, the adverse health effects of cigarettes started to become widely known and severe health warnings became commonplace on cigarette packets.

The advent of the Internet revealed the prevalence of capnolagnia, a sexual fetish in which one gains gratification from watching others smoke, usually women smoking cigarettes.

Slang terms for cigarettes

Cigarettes have accumulated a variety of nicknames such as "smokes", "butts", "square" (from the shape of the box), "cigs", "ciggies", "stogs", "stogies", "snouts", "tabs" (especially in NE England), "loosey" (a single cigarette), "bogeys", "boges", "darts", "straights" (for factory rolled ones), "dugans" (especially in NYC), "hairy rags", "hausersticks", "jacks", "grits" and "fags" (the term "fag" is used more commonly in the United Kingdom; in the United States, it is primarily a derogatory term for a male homosexual). Cigarettes have also attracted somewhat fatalistic nicknames related to their effect on the smoker's health, such as "coffin nails", "cancer sticks" or "gaspers". In Australia, cigarettes are sometimes called "Doogans" or "Durries". A relatively new term emerged with the release of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones after a main character was offered a " death stick" in a nightclub. Cigarettes are also known in New Zealand as "rollies" for the self-rolled cigarettes and "tailies" for the factory rolled.

Brands

(links often show other meanings of the name, in many cases including that which the brand is named after)

New Zealand

Most popular brands, worldwide

#Marlboro (see also Don Tennant) #Hongtashan #Mild Seven

Other brands

Main article: Cigarette brands
- Belomorkanal
- Benson & Hedges
- Basic
- Camel
- Carlton
- Chesterfield
- Consulate
- Davidoff
- Doral
- Ducados
- Death
- Derby
- Dunhill
- Djarum
- Eclipse
- Embassy
- Fortuna
- Gauloises
- Gauloises Blondes
- Golden Beach
- Gold Flake
- KOOL
- L&M
- Lambert & Butler
- Lark
- Lucky Strike
- Mayfair
- Medallion
- Mocne
- Moors
- Nat Sherman
- Natural American Spirit
- Next
- Newport
- Old Gold
- Pall Mall
- Parliament
- Prince
- Português
- R6
- Richmond
- Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc.
- Roxy
- Salem
- SG
- Silk Cut
- Superkings
- Viceroy
- Virginia Slims
- Winfield
- Winston

External links

- [http://airspace.bc.ca/ - Action on Smoking and Health]
- [http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/search/index.htm US Center for Disease Control - Smoking and Health Database]
- [http://www.globalink.org GLOBALink]
- [http://www.ingcat.org INGCAT - International Non Governmental Coalition Against Tobacco]
- [http://www.ncth.ca National Clearinghouse on Tobacco and Health - Canada]
- [http://www.srnt.org Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco]
- [http://www.tobacco.org Tobacco.org - Tobacco News & Information]
- [http://www.tobaccopedia.org TOBACCOpedia] Category:Tobacco th:บุหรีà¹

State

This article discusses states as sovereign political entities; for other meanings, see state (disambiguation).

A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. Recognition of the state's claim to independence by other states, enabling it to enter into international agreements, is often important to the establishment of its statehood, although some theories do not make this a requirement - for instance, the Montevideo Convention. The "state" can also be defined in terms of domestic conditions, specifically, as conceptualized by Max Weber, "a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory." [http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/xweb.htm] The exact meaning of this definition depends on what is understood by "legitimate". For more information see government.

Introduction

The word "state" in contemporary parlance often means the "Westphalian state", in reference to the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. In this sense, the modern state is an entity that enjoys extensive autonomy in its domestic economic and social policy, largely free from interference from other states and powers. A number of modern commentators have claimed that we are experiencing the decline of the Westphalian state as the principal actor of the international system, pointing to economic, cultural, political, and technological changes in the world, such as globalization and the emergence of regional and supernational groupings such as the European Union.

The term "state" is also used to describe subnational territorial divisions within a federal system, as in the case of the United States of America. See state (law) and state (non-sovereign).

In common speech, the terms country, nation and state are casually used as synonyms but in a more strict usage they are distinguished:
- country is the geographical area.
- nation designates a people (however, national and international both confusingly refer as well to matters pertaining to what are strictly states, as in "national capital", "international law").
- state refers to the government, and an entity in international law.

Currently, the entire land surface of the Earth is divided among the territories of the roughly two hundred states now existing, with the special case of Antarctica, a variety of disputed territories, and a number of areas where state power exists in theory, but not in practice (the most significant of these being Somalia and Iraq).

Etymology

The word "state" originates from the medieval state or throne upon which the head of state (usually a monarch) would sit. By process of metonymy, the word state became used to refer to both the head of state and the power entity he represented (though the former meaning has fallen out of use). A similar association of terms can today be seen in the practice of referring to government buildings as having authority, for example "The White House today released a press statement..."

Formation of the state

The birth of the state, in the broadest sense of the word, coincides with the rise of civilization. For most of the existence of the human species, people lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers. That lifestyle began to change with the invention of agriculture around the 9th millennium BC. The practice of agriculture made it necessary for human beings to build permanent settlements and spend most of their lives in close proximity to the land they cultivated. Thus, control over land became an issue for the first time. To express that control, various forms of property rights developed, with people claiming different kinds of rights over various areas of land. Disagreements over the nature and extent of such claims of ownership degenerated into violence and the first "wars".

In some parts of the world, notably Mesopotamia and the Nile valley, natural conditions favoured the concentration of land ownership in few hands. Eventually, a small group of people found themselves owning the land on which many other people worked for a living. This control over the land meant control over the people whose livelihoods depended on the land; thus, the first primitive states arose. These states were usually despotic and unstable, with the ruler(s) holding absolute power over their subjects until some other ruler(s) displaced them. Since there were no laws and no infrastructure, and since power was exercised arbitrarily, some political theorists and historians do not consider such early forms of despotic rule to have been states in the proper sense of the word; they are sometimes called proto-states.

One of the earliest known sets of laws, the Code of Hammurabi, has been dated to ca. 1700 BC. It was around this time that the concept of law - one of the foundations of the modern state - began to appear. But the rulers of the Ancient Near East had a long tradition of holding absolute power and claiming the status of god-kings (see hydraulic despotism). Thus, laws limiting the power of monarchs did not develop very far in that region.

The city-states of Ancient Greece were the first to establish states whose powers were clearly defined in laws (even if the laws themselves could usually be changed quite easily). Also, notably, the idea of democracy was born in ancient Athens (see Athenian democracy).

Many institutions of the modern state (especially in Western Europe and areas once dominated by Western-European empires) can trace their origins back to Ancient Rome, which inherited the political traditions of the Greeks and developed them further (particularly the rule of law, albeit in incomplete form). However, the Roman Republic gave way to the Roman Empire - which, in turn, created the concept of universal empire: the idea that the entire world was (or should be) under the authority of one single legitimate state.

The fall of the Roman Empire and the Great Migrations changed the character of European politics. The "barbarian" (i.e., non-Roman) kingdoms and chieftains that followed the Roman Empire were ephemeral and transitory and bore little resemblance to the modern state. Even the kingdom of Charlemagne was fleeting; without the tradition of primogeniture, it dissolved into three smaller kingdoms with the Treaty of Verdun in 843. These kingdoms were treated more as land holdings by the royalty that ruled them. Once again, the state became little more than an expression of the ruler's private ownership of a certain area of land.

The lack of a real successor to the Roman Empire in Western Europe created a power vacuum. The kingdoms of Western Europe were besieged by invaders on the frontiers - first, the Muslim invasions from the south, then a series of new migrations from the east and finally the Viking invasions from the north. At the same time, the various kingdoms (and smaller political units) were often involved in wars with each other over territory and succession.

The solution that evolved out of these affairs was decidedly opposed to the system of independent states and temporary alliances that dominate the modern international system. Religion, which had rarely been a factor in the power calculations of Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, became the cornerstone of an extremely loose pan-European defensive bloc under the aegis of the Catholic Church. This system produced an extensive framework of institutions - sometimes called " feudalism" - that regulated internal conflict and enabled Western Europe to confront exterior threats, even while no individual secular entity was truly independent in the sense of the modern state.

This system asserted itself abroad in the form of the Crusades as the Middle Ages progressed. In 1302, Pope Boniface VIII stated that the political powers of Christendom exercised their prerogatives "at the command and sufferance of the priest." This limited the power of kings, who were obliged to pledge their ultimate allegiance to the Pope.

The Holy Roman Empire, one of the strongest medieval authorities, emerged as a competitor to Papal power under Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who invaded Italy to press his claims to secular authority in the mid-12th century. The weakening of the papacy was a major theme of the Middle Ages; the Western Schism in the later 14th century, a dispute over papal succession, was exploited by secular authorities and contributed to their growing power. The emergence of large, stable land holdings by single dynasties - for instance, France and Castile - enabled them to take a more active and independent role than their traditionally subsidiary role in the earlier middle ages.

This shift to more independent, more secular actors would become a major point of controversy in Early Modern Europe. The great dynasties of Europe dramatically consolidated power by the beginning of the 16th century; additionally, the external threats to Europe had considerably lessened. The Reformation was to have a powerful impact on the structure of European politics; the dispute was not only theological, but also threatened the very fabric of the ancient political institutions of feudalism. The bloody conflicts that followed, blending the religious and political, pitted those who asserted the authority of the Pope (and in Germany, the Holy Roman Emperor) against those who asserted the authority of secular authorities and their sovereign ability to make internal policy, particularly when that policy reflected religious affiliation, Roman Catholic or Protestant.

These conflicts culminated in the Thirty Years' War of the 17th century. In 1648, the powers of Europe signed the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the religious violence for purely political motives and the Church was stripped of temporal power - even though religion continued to play a political role as the foundation of the divine right of kings. The principle of "cuius regio, eius religio" established at Westphalia and previously in the Peace of Augsburg set a precedent of noninterference in other states' internal affairs that was key in the evolution of the modern state. In Germany, the office of the Holy Roman Emperor, the most prominent symbol of lingering institutions of feudalism, was emasculated as a secular authority in favor of the constituent elements of the Holy Roman Empire. The modern state was born.

The state continued to develop as monarchs brought nobles and free towns into line and amassed spectacular resources and prestige. The growing numbers of civil servants eventually became known as the bureaucracy after the elevation of the Republican ideal.

Nearly a century and a half after the Peace of Westphalia, the state became fully modern through the French Revolution. Claiming 'national will' as its justification, Napoleon and the Grande Armee of France swept over Europe. In response, conquered and neighboring principalities discarded their old systems and adopted the new model of the nation state. The nation state has remained the dominant political entity all over the world ever since, even though the many ideologies of the 19th and 20th century have created numerous different ways of running the affairs of nation states, as well as numerous different forms of internal and external organization (see political system and economic system).

International point of view

The legal criteria for statehood are not obvious. A document that is often quoted on the matter is the Montevideo Convention from 1933, the first article of which states: :The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

Also, in article 3 it very clearly states that statehood is independent of recognition by other states. This is the declarative theory of statehood. While the Montevideo is a regional American convention and has no legal effect outside the Americas, some have nonetheless seen it as an accurate statement of customary international law.

On the other hand, article 3 of the convention is attacked by the advocates of the constitutive theory of statehood, where a state exists only insofar as it is recognized by other states. Which theory is correct is a controversial issue in international law. An example in practice was the collapse of central government in Somalia in the early 1990s: the Montevideo convention would imply that the state of Somalia no longer existed, and the subsequently declared republic of Somaliland (comprising part of the so-called "former" Somalia) may meet the criteria for statehood. However the self-declared republic has not achieved recognition by other states.

Article 1 of the convention is also attacked by those who claim that it fails to take into account the complicated situations of military occupation, territorial cession, and governments in exile. Richard W. Hartzell is a leading proponent of this view, and stresses that the four criteria of article 1 need to be expanded to nine. See [http://www.taiwanadvice.com/conventions/montconv.htm The Montevideo Convention and Military Occupation].

The domestic point of view

Looked at from the point of view of an individual nation, the state is a centralized organization of the whole country. Those studying this dimension emphasize the relationship between the state and its people. The English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes argued that in order to avoid a multi-sided civil war, in which life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short", individuals must necessarily surrender many of their " natural rights" -- including that of attacking each other -- to the "Leviathan", a unified and centralized state. In this tradition, Max Weber and Norbert Elias defined the state as an organization of people that has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force in a particular geographic area. Also in this tradition, the state differs from the " government": the latter refers to the group of people who make decisions for the state.

For Weber, this was an "ideal type", or model, or pure case of the state. Many institutions that have been called "states" do not live up to this definition. For example, in countries such as Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the central state has so far not succeeded in monopolizing the legitimate use of force, and must compete with various local warlords. These cases are sometimes called "failed states".

One of the most basic characteristics of a modern state is regulation of property rights, investment, trade and the commodity markets (in food, fuel, etc.) typically using its own currency. Although many states (by their own decision) increasingly cede these powers to trade bloc entities, e.g. North American Free Trade Agreement, European Union, it is always controversial to do so, and opens the question of whether these blocs are in fact simply larger states. The study of political economy, which evolved into the modern study of economics, deals with these specific questions in more detail.

However, although states are often influenced in their decisions and no longer hold an absolute jurisdiction over their internal affairs, they are nonetheless much stronger in relation to international organizations or to other states than lower (substate) political subdivisions normally are. But the trend at the moment is for the power of superstate levels of governance to increase, and there is no sign of this increase abating. Many (especially those who favour constitutional theories of international law) therefore reject as outdated the idea of sovereignty, and view the state as just the chief political subdivision of the planet.

Philosophies of the state

Different political philosophies have distinct opinions concerning the state as a domestic organization. In the modern era, these philosophies emerged with the rise of capitalism, which coincided with the (re)emergence of the state as a separate and centralized sector of society. Philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau pondered issues concerning the ideal and actual roles of the state. Recent philosophers like John Rawls and Robert Nozick were more concerned with distributive justice and the morality of exercising political power.

There are four theories about the origin (and indirectly the justification) of the state. They are:
- Supernatural or natural authority - In this view, the state is either ordained by a higher power (such as God for the " Divine right of kings") or arises naturally out of a presumed human need for order and authority.
- Natural rights - According to this theory, human beings have certain rights that are "natural" (the implications of this word may vary), and establish states for the protection of those rights.
- Social contract - This idea holds that the state is established by the people (i.e. through the consent of the governed) in order to provide for various collective needs that cannot be satisfied through individual efforts, such as national defense, public roads, education, "the general welfare", etc.
- Conflict - Perhaps the simplest of the theories, it holds that the state did not arise out of any conscious decision, but merely as the result of violent conflict. Various groups of people fought each other for control over land or other resources, and the winning side imposed its domination on the losing side.

These four theories can accommodate the full spectrum of political views. In practice, most people (and most political philosophies) subscribe to a combination of two or more of the above theories - arguing, for example, that different states have different origins. The conflict theory, in particular, is often combined with one of the other three in order to separate the illegitimate states (those created through conflict and subjugation) from the legitimate ones.

There are at least five major philosophies of the state today, the last four of which correspond to specific political ideologies: contractarianism, liberalism, Marxism, conservatism, and anarchism.

Contractarianism, as the name implies, is based on the social contract theory. It is also the only major philosophy of the state that does not fall within any single political ideology - perhaps because several different ideologies have adopted it as their own. Contractarianism is the foundation of modern democracy, as well as most forms of socialism and some types of liberalism. In contractarian thinking, the state should express the public interest, the interests of the whole society, and reconcile it with the separate interests of individuals. The state provides public goods and other kinds of collective consumption, while preventing individuals from free-riding (taking advantage of collective consumption without paying) by forcing them to pay taxes.

Liberalism, in the classical sense, is based mainly on the natural rights theory. In this view, some or even all "rights" exist naturally and are not created by the state. For example, John Locke believed that individual property rights existed prior to the creation of the state, while the state's main job should be to preserve those rights. Historically, liberals have been less concerned with determining what the state should do and far more interested in stipulating what the state shouldn't do. The liberal philosophy of the state holds that the powers of any state are restricted by natural rights that exist independently of the human mind and overrule any social contract. However, there has been considerable debate among liberals as to what these natural rights actually are. Critics argue that they do not exist at all, since they are not evident from any observations of nature.

On the other hand, there are also liberals who subscribe to the contractarian theory. In most cases, they fall on the left wing of liberalism, being social liberals ("New Deal" liberals; see American liberalism) and arguing for a welfare state. They stand in opposition to adherents of the natural rights theory, who tend to be libertarians, falling on the right wing of liberalism and arguing for a "minimal" state.

The Marxist philosophy of the state is based on the conflict theory - specifically, on the idea of class conflict. In this view, the primary role of the state in practice is to enforce the existing system of unequal property and personal rights, class domination, and exploitation. The state also mediates in all types of social conflicts, and supplies necessary social-infrastructural conditions for society as a whole. Under such systems as feudalism, the lords used their own military force to exploit their vassals. Under capitalism, on the other hand, the use of force is centralized in a specialized organization which protects the capitalists' class monopoly of ownership of the means of production, allowing the exploitation of those without such ownership. In modern Marxian theory, such class domination can coincide with other forms of domination (such as patriarchy and ethnic hierarchies).

Further, in Marxist theory, classes and other forms of exploitation should be abolished by establishing a socialist system, to be followed later by a communist one. Communism, the final goal, is a classless, propertyless and stateless society; however, socialism still preserves personal property and a (democratic) state. Thus, Marxism is opposed to the state (which it views as illegitimate, in accordance with the conflict theory), but does not wish to abolish the state immediately. As such, there is some overlap between Marxism and contractarianism: the socialist state that Marxists wish to establish as their short-term goal is to be based on a form of social contract. This state ought subsequently to slowly "wither away" as the representative democracy of socialism gradually transforms into the direct democracy of communism. Once the process is complete, the communist social order has been achieved and the state no longer exists as an entity separate from the people.

In conservative thinking, which is based on the theory of (super)natural authority, the existing structure of traditions and hierarchies (of class, patriarchy, ethnic dominance, etc.) is seen as benefiting society overall. Thus, in a way, conservatives accept some ideas from both the Marxist and the liberal schools of thought, but view them in a different light: the state forces people to accept class and other kinds of domination, but this is seen as being for their own good. This perspective posits that, in general, current traditions only exist because they have been demonstrably successful in the past. Further, as with the liberals, the state is seen as always existing and/or "natural". Many conservatives, especially in recent decades, have come out in favor of the liberal theory of natural rights.

Finally, in anarchist thinking, the state is nothing but an unnecessary and exploitative segment of society. Totally rejecting the Hobbesian notion that only a state can prevent chaos, anarchists argue that the state's monopoly of violence creates chaos. They believe that if the state and its restrictions on individual freedom were abolished, people could figure out how to work together peacefully and individual creativity would be unleashed. Contrary to the Marxist perspective, the anarchists see the state as an unnecessary evil, rather than a tool to be used in the class struggle.

See also

- Anarchy
- Country
- International relations
- Nation state
- Police state
- The purpose of government
- The justification of the state
- Social contract
- unitary state

References

-
-
-

External links

- Franz Oppenheimer; [http://www.opp.uni-wuppertal.de/oppenheimer/st/state0.htm The State. (1914/1922)]
- Franz Oppenheimer; [http://www.opp.uni-wuppertal.de/oppenheimer/fo27a.htm The Idolatry of the State. (1927)]

Category:International law

Category:International relations

Category:Social sciences

Category:Political geography simple:State

Risk

This article is about the concept of risk. There is also a popular board game named Risk (game), and Risk (album).

Risk is the potential harm that may arise from some present process or from some future event. In everyday usage, "risk" is often used synonymously with "probability", but in professional risk assessments, risk combines the probability of a negative event occurring with how harmful that event would be.

Definitions

Risk is often mapped to the probability of some event which is seen as undesirable. Usually the probability of that event and some assessment of its expected harm must be combined into a believable scenario (an outcome) which combines the set of risk, regret and reward probabilities into an expected value for that outcome. There are many informal methods which are used to assess (or to "measure" although it is not usually possible to directly measure) risk, and (for some applications) formal methods such as value at risk.

In scenario analysis "risk" is distinct from " threat." A threat is a very low-probability but serious event - which some analysts may be unable to assign a probability in a risk assessment because it has never occurred, and for which no effective preventive measure (a step taken to reduce the probability or impact of a possible future event) is available. The difference is most clearly illustrated by the precautionary principle which seeks to reduce threat by requiring it to be reduced to a set of well-defined risks before an action, project, innovation or experiment is allowed to proceed.

In information security a "risk" is defined as a function of three variables: the probability that there's a threat, the probability that there are any vulnerabilities, and the potential impact. If any of these variables approaches zero, the overall risk approaches zero. For example, human beings are completely vulnerable to the threat of mind control by aliens, which would have a fairly serious impact. But as we haven't yet met aliens, we can assume that they don't pose much of a threat, and the overall risk is almost zero.

Background

Scenario analysis matured during Cold War confrontations between major powers, notably the USA and USSR, but was not widespread in insurance circles until the 1970s when major oil tanker disasters forced a more comprehensive foresight. It entered finance until the 1980s when financial derivatives proliferated. It did not reach most professions in general until the 1990s when personal computers proliferated.

Governments are apparently only now learning to use sophisticated risk methods, most obviously to set standards for environmental regulation, e.g. " pathway analysis" as practiced by the US EPA.

Risk in business

See also insurance industry

Means of measuring and assessing risk vary widely across different professions--indeed, means of doing so may define different professions, e.g. a doctor manages medical risk, a civil engineer manages risk of structural failure, etc. A professional code of ethics is usually focused on risk assessment and mitigation (by the professional on behalf of client, public, society or life in general).

Risk-sensitive industries

Some industries manage risk in a highly-quantified and numerate way. These include the nuclear power and aircraft industries, where the possible failure of a complex series of engineered systems could result in highly undesirable outcomes.

The usual measure of risk for a class of events is then Risk = Probability (of the Event) times Consequence.

(The total risk is then the sum of the individual class-risks)

The risks are evaluated using Fault Tree/Event Tree techniques (see safety engineering). Where these risks are low they are normally considered to be 'Broadly Acceptable'. A higher level of risk (typically up to 10 to 100 times BA) has to be justified against the costs of reducing it further and the possible benefits that make it tolerable - these risks are described as 'Tolerable if ALARP'. Risks beyond this level are of course 'Intolerable'.

The level of risk deemed 'Broadly Acceptable' has been considered by Regulatory bodies in various countries - an early attempt by UK government regulator & academic F. R. Farmer used the example of hill-walking and similar activities which have definable risks that people appear to find acceptable. This resulted in the so-called Farmer Curve, of acceptable probability of an event versus its consequence.

The technique as a whole is usually refered to as Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), (or Probabilistic Safety Assessment, PSA). See WASH-1400 for an example of this approach.

Risk in finance

Risk in finance has no one definition, but some theorists, notably Ron Dembo, have defined quite general methods to assess risk as an expected after-the-fact level of regret. Such methods have been uniquely successful in limiting interest rate risk in financial markets. Financial markets are considered to be a proving ground for general methods of risk assessment.

However, these methods are also hard to understand. The mathematical difficulties interfere with other social goods such as disclosure, valuation and transparency.

In particular, it is often difficult to tell if such financial instruments are "hedging" (decreasing measurable risk by giving up certain windfall gains) or " gambling" (increasing measurable risk and exposing the investor to catastrophic loss in pursuit of very high windfalls that increase expected value).

As regret measures rarely reflect actual human risk-aversion, it is difficult to determine if the outcomes of such transactions will be satisfactory. Risk seeking describes an individual who has a positive second derivative of his/her utility function. Such an individual would willingly (actually pay a premium to) assume all risk in the economy and is hence not likely to exist.

In financial markets one may need to measure credit risk, information timing and source risk, probability model risk, and legal risk if there are regulatory or civil actions taken as a result of some "investor's regret".

Psychology of risk

Main articles: decision theory, prospect theory

Regret

Main article: regret theory

In decision theory, regret (and anticipation of regret) can play a significant part in decision-making, distinct from risk aversion (preferring the status quo in case one gets worse off).

Framing

Framing is a fundamental problem with all forms of risk assessment. In particular, because of bounded rationality (our brains get overloaded, so we take mental shortcuts) the risk of extreme events is discounted because the probability is too low to evaluate intuitively. As an example, one of the leading causes of death is road accidents caused by speeding - partly because any given driver frames the problem by largely or totally ignoring the risk of a serious or fatal accident.

The above examples: body, threat, price of life, professional ethics and regret show that the risk adjustor or assessor often faces serious conflict of interest. The assessor also faces cognitive bias and cultural bias, and cannot always be trusted to avoid all moral hazards. This represents a risk in itself, which grows as the assessor is less like the client.

For instance, an extremely disturbing event that all participants wish not to happen again may be ignored in analysis despite the fact it has occurred and has a nonzero probability. Or, an event that everyone agrees is inevitable may be ruled out of analysis due to greed or an unwillingness to admit that it is believed to be inevitable. These human tendencies to error and wishful thinking often affect even the most rigorous applications of the scientific method and are a major concern of the philosophy of science. But all decision-making under uncertainty must consider cognitive bias, cultural bias, and notational bias: No group of people assessing risk is immune to "groupthink": acceptance of obviously-wrong answers simply because it is socially painful to disagree.

One effective way to solve framing problems in risk assessment or measurement (although some argue that risk cannot be measured, only assessed) is to ensure that scenarios, as a strict rule, must include unpopular and perhaps unbelievable (to the group) high-impact low-probability threat" and/or "vision" events. This permits participants in risk assessment to raise others' fears or personal ideals by way of completeness, without others concluding that they have done so for any reason other than satisfying this formal requirement.

For example, an intelligence analyst with a scenario for an attack by hijacking might have been able to insert mitigation for this threat into the U.S. budget. It would be admitted as a formal risk with a nominal low probability. This would permit coping with threats even though the threats were dismissed by the analyst's superiors. Even small investments in diligence on this matter might have disrupted or prevented the attack-- or at least "hedged" against the risk that an Administration might be mistaken.

Fear as intuitive risk assessment?

For the time being, we must rely on our own fear and hesitation to keep us out of the most profoundly unknown circumstances.

In "The Gift of Fear", Gavin de Becker argues that "True fear is a gift." (from book jacket) "It is a survival signal that sounds only in the presence of danger. Yet unwarranted fear has assumed a power over us that it holds over no other creature on Earth. It need not be this way."

Risk could be said to be the way we collectively measure and share this "true fear" - a fusion of rational doubt, irrational fear, and a set of unquantified biases from our own experience.

The field of behavioral finance focuses on human risk-aversion, asymmetric regret, and other ways that human financial behavior varies from what analysts call "rational". Risk in that case is the degree of uncertainty associated with a return on an asset.

A recognition of, and respect for, the irrational influences on our decisions, may go far in itself to reduce disasters due to naive risk assessments that pretend to rationality but in fact merely fuse many shared biases together.

Two widely used antidotes for high risk

Diversification:
- Investing in more than one potential innovation lowers risk

Multiple approaches: #
- Pursue two or more possible paths to a single innovation simultaneously #
- Can only have one winner - Reduces risk but costs more (may reduce expected return) - Holton, Glyn A. (2004). [http://www.riskexpertise.com/papers/risk.pdf Defining Risk], <i>Financial Analysts Journal</i>, 60 (6), 19–25. A paper exploring the foundations of risk. (PDF file)<h3>Books</h3>A good example for a <i>risk-controlling</i>, yet utopian civilisation was written by Ian M. Banks in his science fiction Culture novels.

Magazines

- [http://www.riskandinsurance.com/ Risk and Insurance : Home]
- [http://www.actuary.net/ Actuary .NET Actuarial News and Risk Management Info: Home]
- [http://www.actuarialnews.org/ Actuarial News And Risk Management Resource : Home]

See also

- Cindynics
- Civil defense
- International Risk Governance Council
- Life-critical system
- RISKS Digest
- Safety engineering
- Financial risk
- Credit risk
- Interest rate risk
- Legal risk
- Liquidity risk
- Market risk
- Reinvestment risk
- Operational risk
- Risk homeostasis
- Systemic risk
- Value at risk
- Volatility risk
- Risk aversion

External links

- [http://www.risk-glossary.com/ Glossary]
- [http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Quotations/Whitehead.html Whitehead quotations]
- [http://www.gametheory.net/Mike/applets/Risk/ Certainty equivalents applet]

Category:Core issues in ethics

Category:Risk

Scarcity

Scarcity is a central concept in economics. In fact, neoclassical economics, the dominant school of economics today, defines its field as involving scarcity: following Lionel Robbins' definition, it is the study of the allocation of scarce goods among competing ends. Scarcity means not having sufficient resources to produce enough to fulfill unlimited subjective wants. Alternatively, scarcity implies that not all of society's goals can be attained at the same time, so that we must trade off one good against others.

"Resources scarcity" is defined as there being a difference between what people desire and the demand for a good. Thus, a good is scarce if people would consume more of it if it were free. Scarcity (S) can also be viewed as the difference between a person's desires (D) and his possessions (P). Mathematically, this can be expressed as S = D - P. If P > D, a state of negative scarcity exists which is abundance. For most people desire exceeds possession and this provides the spur to material success. In others an excess of desire over possession can also lead to conflict, crime and war.

Goods and services are scarce because of the limited availability of resources (the factors of production) along with the limits on our technology and our management skills. These determine the location of society's production possibilities frontier or curve (PPF). Inefficiencies in the use of resources (less than full employment or inappropriate employment of inputs like land and capital) may limit the amount produced so the economy operates below its PPF. It is difficult to abolish all inefficiencies, and some characterize institutional inefficiency as artificial scarcity.

Where goods are scarce it is necessary for society to make choices as to how they are allocated and used. Economists study (among other things) how societies perform the optimal allocation of these resources -- along with how societies often fail to attain this optimality and are instead inefficient.

For example, we may all want to own gold jewelry. However, the amount of gold available is limited, so it is necessary to make choices as to how it is allocated. In a market economy, this is achieved by trade. (Other ways to make this decision involve tradition, community democracy, and government top-down or centralized command.) In the market, individuals and organizations (such as corporations) trade resources amongst themselves, reallocating resources to where they are most wanted by those with purchasing power. In a smoothly operating market system, the rate of exchange between different resources, or price will adjust so that demand is equal to supply. One of the roles of the economist is to discover the relationship between demand and supply and to develop mechanisms (such as pricing, incentives, or penalties) to achieve an optimal outcome (in terms of consumer welfare).

Some see the above definition of scarcity as invalid, on the grounds that it assumes human wants are unlimited. "Unlimited wants" seems a product of indoctrination (say, by advertisers, way of life, conformity to an American lifestyle). The want to rise to a higher social position, some say, spurs a materialistic way of life. Alternatively, the infinitude of wants may be the result of the unsatisfying nature of work in a capitalist economy; the need resulting from noncreative work used to produce something that is of no interest (except to earn a wage) can be "solved" by buying unnecessary product. Thus in News from Nowhere, a somewhat Marxian utopian novel by William Morris, the existence of creative work for all helps to abolish the scarcity of products. However, most economists disagree with these critiques.

Certain intangible goods are likely to remain scarce by definition or by design; examples include awards generated by honours systems, fame, and membership of elites. These things are said to derive all or most of their value from their scarcity. But these are examples of artificial scarcity, reflecting societal institutions. That is, the resource cost of giving someone the title of "knight of the realm" is much less than the value that individuals attach to that title.

As informational goods can be copied at negligible cost, they do not need to be scarce. This is why copies of free software such as GNU/Linux are typically available for very little cost. However, proprietary software and many other products are kept artificially scarce by copyright and patent law.

Category:Economics

Scarcity simple:Scarcity

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress representing thirteen British colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. ( Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi/ Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and < New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded ¹ from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two " superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the " War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government” with the assistance of the Supreme Court ”has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the " necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature ( bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 ( 2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.'s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300  miles (500  kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports< in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans ( Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

Alcohol

In general usage, alcohol (from Arabic al-ghawl الغول) refers almost always to ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, and often to any beverage that contains ethanol (see alcoholic beverage). This sense underlies the term alcoholism ( addiction to alcohol). Other forms of alcohol are usually described with a clarifying adjective, as in isopropyl alcohol or by the suffix -ol, as in isopropanol. In chemistry, alcohol is a more general term, applied to any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (- O H) is bound to a carbon atom, which in turn is bound to other hydrogen and/or carbon atoms. The general formula for a simple acyclic alcohol is C_nH_2n+1OH. As a >drug, common alcohol (ethanol) is known to have a depressing effect that decreases the responses of the central nervous system.

Structure

central nervous system The functional group of an alcohol is a hydroxyl group bonded to an sp³ hybridized carbon. It can therefore be regarded as a derivative of water, with an alkyl group replacing one of the hydrogens. If an aryl group is present rather than an alkyl, the compound is generally called a phenol rather than an alcohol. The oxygen in an alcohol has a bond angle of around 109° (c.f. 104.5° in water), and two nonbonded electron pairs. The O-H bond in methanol (CH₃OH) is around 96 pico metres long.

Primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols

There are three major subsets of alcohols- 'primary' (1°), 'secondary' (2°) and 'tertiary' (3°), based upon the number of carbons the C-OH carbon (shown in red) is bonded to. Methanol is the simplest 'primary' alcohol. The simplest secondary alcohol is isopropanol (propan-2-ol), and a simple tertiary alcohol is tert- butanol (2-methylpropan-2-ol). butanol

Methanol & ethanol

The simplest and most commonly used alcohols are methanol and ethanol (common names methyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol, respectively), which have the structures shown above. Methanol was formerly obtained by the distillation of wood, and was called "wood alcohol". It is now a cheap commodity chemical produced by the high pressure reaction of carbon monoxide with hydrogen. In common usage, "alcohol" often refers simply to ethanol or "grain alcohol". Methylated spirits ("Meths"), also called "surgical spirits", is a form of ethanol rendered undrinkable by the addition of methanol. Aside from its major use in alcoholic beverages, ethanol is also used (though highly controlled) as an industrial solvent and raw material.

Uses

Alcohols are in wide use in industry and science as reagents, solvents, and fuels. Ethanol and methanol can be made to burn more cleanly than gasoline or diesel. Because of its low toxicity and ability to dissolve non-polar substances, ethanol is often used as a solvent in medical drugs, perfumes, and vegetable essences such as vanilla. In organic synthesis, alcohols frequently serve as versatile intermediates. Ethanol is also commonly used in beverages after fermentation to promote flavor or induce a euphoric intoxication commonly known as "drunkenness" or "being drunk". The use of ethanol for this purpose is illegal in some jurisdictions.

Sources

Many alcohols can be created by fermentation of fruits or grains with yeast, but only ethanol is commercially produced this way, chiefly for fuel and drink. Other alcohols are generally produced by synthetic routes from natural gas, petroleum, or coal feed stocks, for example via acid catalyzed hydration of alkenes. For more details see Chemistry of alcohols

Nomenclature

Systematic names

In the IUPAC system, the name of the alkane chain loses the terminal "e" and adds "ol", e.g. "methanol" and "ethanol". When necessary, the position of the hydroxyl group is indicated by a number between the alkane name and the "ol": propan-1-ol for CH₃CH₂CH₂OH, propan-2-ol for CH₃CH(OH)CH₃. Sometimes, the position number is written before the IUPAC name: 1-propanol and 2-propanol. If a higher priority group is present (such as an aldehyde, ketone or carboxylic acid), then it is necessary to use the prefix "hydroxy", for example: 1-hydroxy-2-propanol (CH₃COCH₂OH). Some examples of simple alcohols and how to name them: carboxylic acid Common names for alcohols usually take the name of the corresponding alkyl group and add the word "alcohol", e.g. methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol or tert-butyl alcohol. Propyl alcohol may be n-propyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol depending on whether the hydroxyl group is bonded to the 1st or 2nd carbon on the propane chain. Isopropyl alcohol is also occasionally called sec-propyl alcohol. As mentioned above alcohols are classified as primary (1°), secondary (2°) or tertiary (3°), and common names often indicate this in the alkyl group prefix. For example (CH₃)₃COH is a tertiary alcohol is commonly known as tert-butyl alcohol. This would be named 2-methylpropan-2-ol under IUPAC rules, indicating a propane chain with methyl and hydroxyl groups both attached to the middle (#2) carbon. An alcohol with two hydroxyl groups is commonly called a "glycol", e.g. HO-CH₂-CH₂-OH is ethylene glycol. The IUPAC name is ethane-1,2-diol, "diol" indicating two hydroxyl groups, and 1,2 indicating their bonding positions. Geminal glycols (with the two hydroxyls on the same carbon atom), such as ethane-1,1-diol, are generally unstable. For three or four groups, "triol" and "tetraol" are used.

Etymology

The word "alcohol" almost certainly comes from the Arabic language (the "al-" prefix being the Arabic definite article); however, the precise origin is unclear. It was introduced into Europe, together with the art of distillation and the substance itself, around the 12th century by various European authors who translated and popularized the discoveries of Islamic alchemists. A popular theory, found in many dictionaries, is that it comes from الكحل = ALKHL = al-kuhul, originally the name of very finely powdered antimony sulfide Sb₂ S₃ used as an antiseptic and eyeliner. The powder is prepared by sublimation of the natural mineral stibnite in a closed vessel. According to this theory, the meaning of alkuhul would have been first extended to distilled substances in general, and then narrowed to ethanol. This conjectured etymology has been circulating in England since 1672 at least ( OED). However, this derivation is suspicious since the current Arabic name for alcohol, الكحول = ALKHWL = al???, does not derive from al-kuhul. The Qur'an in verse 37:47 uses the word الغول = ALGhWL = al-ghawl — properly meaning "spirit" (" spiritual being") or " demon" — with the sense "the thing that gives the wine its headiness". The word al-ghawl also originated the English word "ghoul", and the name of the star Algol. This derivation would, of course, be consistent with the use of "spirit" or "spirit of wine" as synonymous of "alcohol" in most Western languages. (Incidentally, the etymology "alcohol" = "the devil" was used in the 1930s by the U.S. Temperance Movement for propaganda purposes.) According to the second theory, the popular etymology and the spelling "alcohol" would not be due to generalization of the meaning of ALKHL, but rather to Western alchemists and authors confusing the two words ALKHL and ALGhWL, which have indeed been transliterated in many different and overlapping ways.

Physical and chemical properties

The hydroxyl group generally makes the alcohol molecule polar. Those groups can form hydrogen bonds to one another and to other compounds. Two opposing solubility trends in alcohols are: the tendency of the polar OH to promote solubility in water, and of the carbon chain to resist it. Thus, methanol, ethanol, and propanol are miscible in water because the hydroxyl group wins out over the short carbon chain. Butanol, with a four-carbon chain, is moderately soluble because of a balance between the two trends. Alcohols of five or more carbons ( Pentanol and higher) are effectively insoluble because of the hydrocarbon chain's dominance. Because of hydrogen bonding, alcohols tend to have higher boiling points than comparable hydrocarbons and ethers. All simple alcohols are miscible in organic solvents. This hydrogen bonding means that alcohols can be used as protic solvents. The lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen of the hydroxyl group also makes alcohols nucleophiles. Alcohols, like water, can show either acidic or basic properties at the O-H group. With a pK_a of around 16-19 they are generally slightly weaker acids than water, but they are still able to react with strong bases such as sodium hydride or reactive metals such as sodium. The salts that result are called alkoxides, with the general formula RO^- M⁺. Meanwhile the oxygen atom has lone pairs of nonbonded electrons that render it weakly basic in the presence of strong acids such as sulfuric acid. For example, with methanol: sulfuric acid Alcohols can also undergo oxidation to give aldehydes, ketones or carboxylic acids, or they can be dehydrated to alkenes. They can react to form ester compounds, and they can (if activated first) undergo nucleophilic substitution reactions. For more details see the #Chemistry of alcohols section below.

Toxicity

Alcohols often have an odor described as 'biting' that 'hangs' in the nasal passages. Ethanol in the form of alcoholic beverages has been consumed by humans since pre-historic times, for a variety of hygienic, dietary, medicinal, religious, and recreational reasons. While infrequent consumption of ethanol in small quantities may be harmless or even beneficial, larger doses result in a state known as drunkenness or intoxication and, depending on the dose and regularity of use, can cause acute respiratory failure or death and with chronic use has medical repercussions. Other alcohols are substantially more poisonous than ethanol, partly because they take much longer to be metabolized, and often their metabolism produces even more toxic substances. Methanol, or wood alcohol, for instance, is oxidized by alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes in the liver to the poisonous formaldehyde, which can cause blindness or death. Interestingly, an effective treatment to prevent formaldehyde toxicity after methanol ingestion is to administer ethanol. This will bind to alcohol dehydrogenase, preventing methanol from binding and thus acting as a substrate. Any formaldehyde will be converted to formic acid and excreted before it causes damage.

Chemistry of alcohols

Preparation

Laboratory

There are three common methods:
- From alkyl halides: react with aqueous NaOH or KOH (mainly 1° alcohols). :R-Br + KOH → R-OH + KBr
- From aldehydes or ketones: reduction with sodium borohydride or lithium aluminium hydride. :R-CHO - [O] → R-OH
- From alkenes: an acid catalysed hydration reaction using concentrated sulfuric acid as a catalyst (gives usually 2° or 3° alcohols). :C₂H₄ + H₂SO₄ (l) → C₂H₅-HSO₄ :C₂H₅-HSO₄ + H₂O → C₂H₅OH + H₂SO₄ The formation of a secondary alcohol via the last two methods is shown: sulfuric acid

Industrial

- Fermentation: glucose produced from sugar from the hydrolysis of starch, in the presence of yeast and temperature of <37°C to produce ethanol. :C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ → C₆H₁₂O₆ + C₆H₁₂O₆ :Invertase → glucose + fructose :C₆H₁₂O₆ + H₂O → C₂H₅OH + CO₂ :Glucose → zymase + ethanol
- Direct hydration: using ethene or other alkenes from cracking of fractions of distilled crude oil. Uses a catalyst of phosphoric acid under high temperature and pressure.
- Methanol from water gas: It is manufactured from synthesis gas, where CO + 2 H₂ are combined to produce methanol using a Cu, ZnO and Al₂O₃ catalyst at 250°C and a pressure of 50-100 atm. :[CO + H₂] + H₂O (g) → CH₃OH

Reactions

See the physical and chemical properties section above for a general overview.

Deprotonation

Alcohols can behave as weak acids, undergoing deprotonation. The deprotonation reaction to produce an alkoxide salt is either performed with a strong base such as sodium hydride or n-butyllithium, or with sodium or potassium metal. : 2 R-OH + 2 NaH → 2 R-O^-Na⁺ + H₂↑ : 2 R-OH + 2Na → 2R-O⁻Na⁺ : e.g. 2 CH₃CH₂-OH + 2 Na → 2 CH₃-CH₂-O⁻Na⁺ Water is similar in pK_a to many alcohols, so with sodium hydroxide there is an equilibrium set up which usually lies to the left: : R-OH + NaOH <=> R-O^-Na⁺ + H₂O (equilibrium to the left)

Nucleophilic substitution

The OH group is not a good leaving group in nucleophilic substitution reactions, so neutral alcohols do not react in such reactions. However if the oxygen is first protonated to give R−OH₂⁺, the leaving group (water) is much more stable, and nucleophilic substitution can take place. For instance, tertiary alcohols react with hydrochloric acid to produce tertiary alkyl halides, where the hydroxyl group is replaced by a chlorine atom. If primary or secondary alcohols are to be reacted with hydrochloric acid, an activator such as zinc chloride is needed. Alternatively the conversion may be performed directly using thionyl chloride.^[1] thionyl chloride Alcohols may likewise be converted to alkyl bromides using hydrobromic acid or phosphorus tribromide, for example: : 3 R-OH + PBr₃ → 3 RBr + H₃PO₃ In the Barton-McCombie deoxygenation an alcohol is deoxygenated to an alkane with tributyltin hydride or a trimethylborane-water complex in a radical substitution reaction.

Dehydration

Alcohols are themselves nucleophilic, so R−OH₂⁺ can react with ROH to produce ethers and water, although this reaction is rarely used except in the manufacture of diethyl ether. More useful is the E1 elimination reaction of alcohols to produce alkenes. The reaction generally obeys Zaitsev's Rule, which states that the most stable (usually the most substituted) alkene is formed. Tertiary alcohols eliminate easily at just above room temperature, but primary alcohols requre a higher temperature.

Esterification

To form an ester from an alcohol and a carboxylic acid the reaction, known as "Fischer esterification", is usually performed at reflux with a catalyst of concentrated sulfuric acid: : R-OH + R'-COOH $\backslash Leftrightarrow$ R'-COOR + H₂O In order to drive the equilibrium to the right and produce a good yield of ester, water is usually removed, either by an excess of H₂SO₄ or by using a Dean-Stark apparatus. Esters may also be prepared by reaction of the alcohol with an acid chloride in the presence of a base such as pyridine. Other types of ester are prepared similarly- for example p-toluenesulfonate (tosylate) esters are made by reaction of the alcohol with p- toluenesulfonyl chloride in pyridine.

Oxidation

Primary alcohols generally give aldehydes or carboxylic acids upon oxidation, while secondary alcohols give ketones. Traditionally strong oxidants such as the dichromate ion or potassium permanganate are used, under acidic conditions, for example: :3 CH₃-CH(-OH)-CH₃ + K₂Cr₂O₇ + 4 H₂SO₄ → 3 CH₃-C(=O)-CH₃ + Cr₂(SO₄)₃ + K₂SO₄ + 7 H₂O Frequently in aldehyde preparations these reagents cause a problem of over-oxidation to the carboxylic acid. To avoid this, other reagents such as PCC, Dess-Martin periodinane, IBX acid, TPAP or methods such as Swern oxidation are now preferred. Alcohols with a methyl group attached to the alcohol carbon can also undergo a haloform reaction (such as the iodoform reaction) in the presence of the halogen and a base such as sodium hydroxide. Tertiary alcohols resist oxidation, but can be oxidised by reagents such as 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone.

See also

- alcohol as a fuel
- alcoholic beverage
- effects of alcohol on the body
- transesterification

External links

- [http://www.french-paradox.net/fpbksb1.html What Is Alcohol, Anyway?] Interesting information about alcohols. - Category:Drugs Category:Antiseptics Category:Arabic words Category:functional groups ja:アルコール simple:Alcohol

Mafia

The Mafia (or sometimes incorrectly written Maffia), also referred to in Italian as Cosa Nostra (lit. Our Thing), is the name for a secret criminal organization which evolved in mid- 19th century Sicily, and led to an offshoot on the East Coast of the United States, emerging during the late 19th century with the waves of Italian immigration to that country.

Background

The term "mafia" describes a specific secret society in Sicily and their descendants in the USA, yet the word itself has no pin-pointed historical birthplace. In the original Palermo dialect the word mafioso once meant 'beautiful', 'charismatic'- 'bold' or 'self-confident'. Anyone who was worthy of being described as a mafioso therefore had a certain something, an intangible attribute called 'mafia'. ' Cool' is about the closest modern English equivalent; a mafioso was someone who fancied himself. In fact it was the early Italian government which attached specific criminal connotations to the word and turned it into a subject of national debate. It was following the Prefect of Palermo, Filippo Gualterio's report to Rome in 1865, citing that "the so-called Mafia or criminal associations" had become more daring, that the word rapidly entered general usage connoting criminal activity. This ties in with the theory that the word 'mafia' in Palermo dialect, came from an Arabic word adopted during the Arab occupation of Sicily, "maafeyya" meaning exempted. Sometimes it's also been thought that it's an acronym - Morte Alla Francia Italia Anelia. Roughly translated means Death To France Italy Cries Today, a member of the Mafia is a "mafioso", a "manfias", or, Anglified, a "man of honor". The Mafia spread to the United States through immigration by the 20th century. Mafia power peaked in the United States in the mid-20th century, until a series of FBI investigations in the 1970s and 1980s somewhat curtailed the Mafia's influence. Despite the decline, the Mafia and its reputation have become entrenched in American popular culture, portrayed in movies, TV shows, and even product commercials. Today the Italian-American Mafia remains the most powerful criminal organization operating in the USA and uses this status to maintain control over the majority of both Chicago's and New York City's criminal enterprises. It also has links to the more established organization from which it sprung, the original Sicilian Mafia. Mafia power in Sicily is much more well established and complete. Corruption is widespread, and local government is almost an offshoot of the organization itself. Mafia influence in the national legislature has long been suspected, but never proven outright. The term "mafia" is often extended to refer to any large group of people engaged in organized crime (such as the Russian Mafia, the Polish Mafia, the Mexican Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, the Chinese Triads, and the allegedly extinct Indian Thuggee). When unqualified, however, 'Mafia' still usually refers to the original Sicilian and offshoot American organizations.

The Mafia in Italy

Contrary to popular legend, the Sicilian Mafia actually originated during the mid 19th century, at around the same time as the emergence of the new Italian state. Italy did not actually become a sovereign country until this time, and it was the industrialisation and trade that this event brought about that was the main driving force behind the development of the Sicilian Mafia. The Sicilian Mafia has always been at its strongest in the west of the island, and especially around the city of Palermo, its birthplace. Palermo was, and still is, the centre of trade, commerce and politics for the island of Sicily, and thus the Mafia made its base here, as opposed to the rural interior of the island which was backward and underdeveloped in economic terms. The main source of exports, and thus wealth of the island from which the Mafia sprung was the large estates of lemon and orange groves that rise from the walls of Palermo up into the hills surrounding the city. The Mafia was initially involved in the protection of these estates, the landowners needing the Mafia for protection, and the Mafia needing the landowners' political connections to operate freely. Indeed, according to some sources, members of the ruling aristocracy were also members of the ' Sect' (as the Mafia was known in the 19th century) Baron Turrisi Colonna among them, who wrote the first ever account of the organised criminality that was going on in Sicily during this time in 1864. During the Fascist period in Italy, Cesare Mori, prefect of Palermo, used special powers granted to him to prosecute the Mafia, forcing many Mafiosi to flee abroad or risk being jailed. Many of the Mafiosi who escaped fled to the United States, among them Joseph Bonanno, nicknamed Joe Bananas, who came to dominate the US branch of the Mafia. The Americans cynically took advantage of the circumstances and they utilised the Italian connection of the American Mafiosi during the invasion of Italy and Sicily in 1943. Lucky Luciano and other members of Mafia, who had been imprisoned during this time in USA, suddenly become valuable patriots and US military intelligence used Luciano's influence to ease the way for advancing American troops. An alleged additional benefit (from the American perspective) was that many of the Sicilian-Italian Mafiosi were hardline anti-communists, as the Mafia could not bear any other form of social organisation in its heartland of Sicily, being the monopolist of power and violence on the island. They were therefore seen as valuable allies by the anti- Communist Americans, who allegedly used them to root out socialist and communist elements in the American shipping industry, the wartime resistance movements, and in many postwar local and regional governments in areas where the Mafia held sway. According to drug trade expert Dr Alfred W. McCoy, Luciano was permitted to run his crime network from his jail cell in exchange for his assistance. After the war Luciano was rewarded by being deported to Italy, where he was able to continue his criminal career unhindered. He went to Sicily in 1946 to continue his activities and according to McCoy's landmark 1972 book The Politics of Heroin in South-East Asia, Luciano went on to forge a crucial alliance with the Corsican Mafia, leading to the development of a vast international heroin trafficking network, initially supplied from Turkey and based in Marseille — the so-called " French Connection". Later, when Turkey began to eliminate its opium production, he used his connections with the Corsicans to open a dialogue with expatriate Corsican mafiosi in South Vietnam. In collaboration with leading American mob bosses including Santo Trafficante Jr., Luciano and his successors, took advantage of the chaotic conditions of the Vietnam War to establish an unassailable supply and distribution base in the " Golden Triangle", which was soon funnelling huge amounts of Asian heroin into the United States, Australia and other countries via the U.S. military. Benito Mussolini ruthlessly suppressed the Mafia, imprisoning many men on mere suspicion of being a mafioso. The Mafia did not become powerful in Italy again until after the country's surrender in the Second World War. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, a series of internecine "gang wars" led to many prominent Mafia members being murdered, and a new generation of mafiosi has placed more emphasis on "white-collar" criminal activity as opposed to more traditional racketeering enterprises. In reaction to these developments, the Italian press has come up with the phrase La Cosa Nuova ("the new thing", a play on La Cosa Nostra) to refer to the revamped organization. The main split in the Sicilian Mafia at present is between those bosses who have been convicted and are now in jail, chiefly Salvatore 'Toto' Riina and Leoluca Bagarella, the capo di tutti capi from 1993 to 1995, and those such as Bernardo Provenzano, who are on the run, or who have not been indicted. The incarcerated bosses are currently subjected to harsh controls on their contact with the outside world, limiting their ability to run their operations from behind bars under the Italian law 41 bis. Antonio Giuffrè, a close confidant of Provenzano, turned Pentiti shortly after his capture in 2002. He now alleges that in 1993, Cosa Nostra had direct contact with representatives of Silvio Berlusconi while he was planning the birth of Forza Italia. The deal that was alleged to have been made was a repeal of 41 bis, among other anti-Mafia laws in return for electoral deliverances in Sicily. While Forza Italia currently holds all 61 Sicilian seats in Parliament, no one openly suggests a link between Berlusconi and Cosa Nostra directly. Even if the allegations are proved to be baseless, Cosa Nostra feels let down by a Government it imagines, rightly or wrongly, to contain elements sympathetic towards it. A banner was recently unfurled at a Palermo football match which read "We are united against 41 bis. Berlusconi has forgotten Sicily". These are worrying days for the Mafia's enemies, but whether Provenzano's restructuring efforts will succeed in appeasing or isolating the interned bosses, and thus uniting Cosa Nostra once again, remains to be seen.

Prominent Sicilian Mafiosi

- Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, former 'Superboss' of the Corleonesi and thus the entire Sicilian Mafia, now in jail. Succeeded by Bernardo Provenzano (see below).
- Tommaso Buscetta, the first Sicilian Mafioso to become an informant during the 1970s. Generally known as the 'Supergrass' whose evidence was used to great effect during the Maxi-Trials.
- Bernardo Provenzano, Current 'capo di tutti capi' or Boss of Bosses of the Sicilian Mafia, a fugitive from justice for over 40 years. He is said to have been recently spotted in a medical clinic in the south of France. The authorities have reportedly been 'close' to capturing him for the past 10 years, since he took over from Salvatore Riina.
- Giovanni 'lo scannacristiani' Brusca, who personally murdered Giovanni Falcone, the investigating judge who started the first and only real fightback against the Sicilian Mafia.

Other Criminal Organisations in Italy

The Sicilian Mafia is organized into cosche (clans) in Sicily; in other regions there exist other similar organisations: 'Ndrangheta in Calabria, Sacra corona unita in Apulia, Camorra in Naples and the Mala del Brenta in Veneto (an organisation whose members come from Southern Italy). Although the different crime empires do business with each other, these are separate and distinct organisations from the Sicilian Mafia, which is by far the most powerful. There are currently more clans from other countries who are trying to follow Italian Mafia's path

Mafia in the United States

Mafia groups in the United States first became influential in the Chicago area, gradually progressing from small neighborhood operations to citywide and eventually international organizations. After many turf wars, five families ended up dominating New York, named after prominent early members: the Bonanno family, the Colombo crime family, the Gambino family, the Genovese family, and the Lucchese family. Each family was ultimately controlled by a Don, who was insulated from actual operations by several layers of authority. According to popular belief, the Don's closest and most trusted advisor was referred to as the consigliere ("counselor" in Italian). In reality, the consigliere was meant to be something of a "hearing officer" who was charged with mediating intra-family disputes. He also takes care of the economic side of the "business". An underboss was possible as well. There were then a number of regimes with a varying number of soldati (lit. "soldiers"), or made-men, who conducted actual operations. Each regime was headed by a caporegime, who reported to the boss. When the boss made a decision, he never issued orders directly to the soldiers who would carry it out, but instead passed instructions down through the chain of command. In this way, the higher levels of the organization were effectively insulated from incrimination if a lower level member should be captured by law enforcement. This structure is immortalized in Mario Puzo's famous novel The Godfather. The Initiation ritual emerged in Sicily in the mid-19th century and has hardly changed to this day. The Chief of Police of Palermo in 1875 reported that the man of honour to be initiated would be led into the presence of a group of bosses and underbosses. One of these men would prick the initiate's arm or hand and tell him to smear the blood onto a sacred image, usually a saint. The oath of loyalty would be taken as the image was burned and scattered, thus symbolising the annihilation of traitors. A hit, or assassination, of a made man had to be preapproved by the leadership of his family, or retaliatory hits would be made, possibly inciting a war. In a state of war, families would go to the mattresses - rent vacant apartments and have a number of soldiers sleeping on mattresses on the floor in shifts, with the others ready at the windows to fire at members of rival families. The American Mafia eventually became more accommodating of non-Sicilian Italians among the sworn-in membership of 'made-men' and forged closer associations with gangsters of other nationalities, thus becoming distinct from the original organisation in Sicily.

Law enforcement and the Mafia

In Italy in particular, there has been a long history of police prosecutors and judges being murdered by the Mafia in an attempt to discourage vigorous policing. In the United States, murders of state authorities have been rare, largely out of fear of the backlash that would result. The mobster Dutch Schultz was reportedly killed by his peers out of fear that he would carry out a plan to kill New York City prosecutor Thomas Dewey. In the United States, the Mafia began a steep decline in the late- 1970s and early 1980s due in part to laws such as the RICO Act, which made it a crime to belong to an organization that performed illegal acts, and to programs such as the witness protection program. These factors combined with the gradual dissolution of the distinct Italian-American community through death, intermarriage, the lack of continued Italian migration, and cultural assimilation. In the mid-20th century, the Mafia was reputed to have infiltrated many labor unions in the United States, notably the Teamsters, whose president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared and is widely believed to have been killed by the Mafia. In the 1980s, the United States federal government made a determined effort to remove Mafia influence from labor unions. There is some evidence that in Italy law enforcement seems to be finally gaining the upper hand over the Mafia organisations, through stronger laws and the breaking down of the "code of silence". A huge help in fighting the military side of Mafia has been provided by many so-called pentiti (Mafia members who dissociated for a milder judicial treatment), like Tommaso Buscetta. The Mafia allegedly retains strong financial influence. Thus, recent investigations usually research the economic movements of suspected members. In recent decades, one of the most famous figures in Italy in the context of Mafia has been >Toto Riina, who supposedly ordered the murder of the judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Recently, former Italian Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti ( Democrazia Cristiana) stood judicially accused of relationships with Mafia, but was finally cleared because the trial was out of the prescription period. Suspicions, however, still remain. According to Selwyn Raab, author of "Five Families : The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires", after 9/11 the FBI has redirected most of its attention to finding terrorists, which led to a resurgence of Mafia in the U.S.

Mafia structure

Known as the Honored Society among Mafiosi, the chain of command is organized in a pyramid similar to a modern corporate structure. #Capo di Tutti Capi (The "Boss of Bosses", currently Bernardo "il trattore" Provenzano for the Sicilian Mafia; N/A for the National Crime Syndicate) #Capo di Capi Re (a title of respect given to a senior or retired member, equivalent to being a chairman emeritus.) #Capo Crimini (A "Super Boss" known as a Don or "Godfather" of a crime family) #Capo Bastone (Known as the "Underboss" is second in command to the Capo Crimini) #Consigliere (Advisor) #Contabile (Financial advisor) #Caporegime' or Capodecina (A Lieutenant who commands a "crew" of around ten Sgarrista or "soldiers") #Sgarrista or Soldati ("Made" members of the Mafia who serve primarily as foot soldiers) #Picciotto (A low ranking member of the Mafia who serve as "Enforcers" or "button men") #Giovane D'Onore (An associate member of the Mafia, usually a non-Italian or Sicilian)

Media portrayal of the Mafia

Caporegime
- The Godfather, novel by Mario Puzo; later made into films by Francis Ford Coppola which are probably the most influential depictions of the Mafia in American popular culture. The Corleone family is an amalgamation of several real life Mafia families.
- La Piovra, Italian TV series by Luigi Perelli after stories by Sandro Petraglia is the most vast and dramatic Italian series on the Mafia spawning over 9 series and 60 hours.
- Goodfellas, a film directed by Martin Scorsese based on the life of Henry Hill.
- Bugsy, a film about Bugsy Siegel starring Warren Beatty.
- Donnie Brasco, a film about the first FBI agent to infiltrate the Mafia.
- Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag, a comedy about a Mafia hit-man ( Joe Pesci), who accidentally exchanges his duffel bag with eight gangsters' heads inside with one that belonged to a family of tourists.
- Mafia! is a humorous spoof film of Mario Puzo's The Godfather.
- Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, a video game by Gathering of Developers and Illusion, portraying 8 years in the life of a gangster during the 30's. The game is set in the fictious city of Lost Heaven ( amalgamation of several real cities) and follows Tommy Angelo, a taxi driver who through certain circumstances becomes a part of the Salieri mafia family.
- The Untouchables, film portrayal of Eliot Ness and the Untouchables, a group of law enforcers organized to fight Al Capone's organization.
- Carlito's Way, 1993. Starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller. A Brian De Palma film. A film about Carlito Brigante (Pacino), a gangster who is saved from a possible heavy sentence by his lawyer Dave (Penn) to try and repent and leave criminal life, but unfortunately he is too immersed in it to easily get out.
- Hoodlum, a film about a little known Black gangster named Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson starring Lawrence Fishburne and Tim Roth.
- Casino, film portrayal of "Lefty" Rosenthal, general manager of a Las Vegas casino starring Robert De Niro and directed by Scorsese. "Lefty" was renamed as Sam "Ace" Rothstein in the film.
- Gotti, an HBO feature on the recently deceased former Gambino family chieftain.
- Road to Perdition, a film about a mob hitman ( Tom Hanks) whose family is killed. Hanks flees the city with his only surviving son, and tries to get revenge.
- The Sopranos, an HBO series featuring a Mafioso and his two families--his wife and kids and his crime family--starring James Gandolfini.
- General Hospital, a long-running hit ABC Daytime soap opera which as its title suggests, was originally a medical drama. However, the show began incorporating mafia characters into its storylines in the late 1970s and in 1993, the character of mafioso Sonny Corinthos ( Maurice Bernard) was introduced. In recent years, the vast majority of the shows storylines have centred around Sonny Corinthos, his right hand man Jason Morgan ( Steve Burton) and his mafia dealings to the point where some fans have dubbed the show daytime television's answer to The Sopranos (This is both a praise and criticism of the series as many fans wish the show would return to its roots as a medical drama).
- A Bronx Tale, story about a mob boss ( Chazz Palminteri) in the Bronx who befriends the son of a working class Italian father ( Robert De Niro).
- Raging Bull, true story about boxing great Jake LaMotta amidst an atmosphere of Mob influence, also starring Robert De Niro.
- Once Upon a Time in America, a film about the Jewish Mafia in America, from Italian director Sergio Leone.
- Analyze This, comedy starring Robert De Niro, and its sequel Analyze That also with Robert De Niro.
- The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, comedies with Bruce Willis.
- Ghost Dog, director Jim Jarmusch late 90's film on American mafia and 'button men'.
- A History of Violence is about an owner of a diner in Indiana who encounters mafia members who say he is an old "friend."
- Grand Theft Auto III ( VG), takes place in a city similar to New York. The main character must work for various mafia bosses as he works his way up the ladder and eventually takes over the city. See also: List of Mafia movies

References

-
- Dickie, John (2004). Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-82434-4

See also

- Organized crime
- National Crime Syndicate
- WikiProject Organized crime (proposed)

External links

- [http://www.gangrule.com GangRule.com]
- [http://glasgowcrew.tripod.com/index.html Kenny Torro's Mafia-International]
- [http://www.geocities.com/scottyyz/ The Tampa Mob: A story of the Trafficante crime family]
- [http://www.clevelandmob.com ClevelandMob.com]
- [http://www.organized-crime.de/revindex.htm www.organized-crime.de] Has reviews of various books on the Sicilian Mafia Category:Organized crime groups Category:Crime in Italy Category:Mafiosi ja:マフィア

Ne Win

Bo Ne Win (May 24, 1911 or July 10, 1910 – December 5, 2002), born Shu Maung was a Burmese military commander and 'strong man' of Burma from 1962 until 1988. Ne Win's exact date of birth is not known with certainty. The (English language publication) Who's Who in Burma (People's Literature House, Rangoon, 1961) stated that Ne Win was born on 24 May 1911. The late Dr Maung Maung (31 January 1925-2 July 1994) stated in the Burmese version of his book Burma and General Ne Win (the book has versions both in English and Burmese languages) that Ne Win or Shu Maung (his original name) was born on 14 May 1911. However, in a book written in Burmese entitled (in translation) The Thirty Comrades, the author Kyaw Nyein gave Ne Win's date of birth as '10 July 1910'. This is perhaps a more plausible date because (1) Kyaw Nyein had access to historical records and he interviewed many surviving members of the 'Thirty Comrades' when he wrote the book in the mid-to late 1990s. (Ne Win was one of the 'Thirty Comrades' which secretly went to take military training in Japanese occupied Hainan island in the early 1940s for the purpose of fighting the British who then ruled Burma. In his book published around 1998 Kyaw Nyein lists the names of the surviving members of the Thirty Comrades whom he had interviewed but Ne Win was not one of them.) (2) when Ne Win died on 5 December 2002, the Burmese language newspapers which were allowed to carry a paid obituary of Ne Win's death stated the age of 'U Ne Win' to be '93 years'. In Burmese custom or practice a person who actually has turned 92 (ie if a person reaches the age of 92) he or she is formally considered 93 years old. Since Ne Win turned 92 in July 2002 when he died in December 2002 he was considered to be '93 years old'. Most western newsagencies, based on the (ostensible) May 1911 birthdate of Ne Win, reported that Ne Win was '91 years old' when he died but it is of note that the actual obituary put up by his surviving relatives (most probably his children) stated that he was '93 years old' (ninety-two according to the general or Western way of calculating age).

Early years

Chinese Name (Xiu Ming, Chong)U Ne Win, whose name was originally Shu Maung, was born into an educated middle class Chinese family in Paungdale, which was about 200 miles north of Rangoon. He spent two years at Rangoon University beginning in 1929, and took biology as his main subject with hopes of becoming a doctor. However, he failed his university exams and left Rangoon in 1931. He worked as a postal clerk and in the 1930s he became a member of the anti-British nationalist group Dobama Asiayone (meaning 'We Burmans Association'). Other members of the group included Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi) and U Nu. In 1941 he was one of the so-called 'Thirty Comrades' who were chosen for military training by the Japanese forces. He was a member of the Burmese Independence Army (BIA). During military training at the then Japanese-occupied Hainan Island Shu Maung chose a new name, or nom de guerre, Bo ('Commander') Ne Win ('Radiant Sun'). In early 1942 the Japanese and the BIA entered Burma in the wake of the retreating British forces. Ne Win role in the campaign was to organize resistance forces behind the British lines. The Japanese actions in Burma worked to alienate the nationalists as well as many Burmese. Towards the end of the Second World War, on 27 March 1945 the Burma National Army (successor to the BIA) turned against the Japanese following the British re-invasion of Burma. Ne Win, as one of the BNA Commanders, was quick to establish links with the British - attending the Kandy meeting and heading the anti-Communist operations the Pyinmana area as commander of the 4th Burma Rifles after two Communist separate parites went undergound to fight against the government in October 1946 and 28 March 1948 respectively. Burma obtained independence on 4 January 1948 and for the first 14 years of independence it had a parliamentary and democratic government mainly under the then prime minister, U Nu, but the country was riven with political division. Even before independence, Aung San was assassinated on 19 July 1947; U Saw, a former prime minister and political rival of Aung San, was found guilty of the crime and executed. Following independence there were uprisings in the army and amongst minority ethnic groups. In late 1948, after a confrontation between army rivals, Ne Win was appointed second in command of the army and his rival took a portion of the army into rebellion. He immediately adopted a policy of creating socialist militia battalions called Sitwundan under his personal command. In early 1949, Ne Win was given total control of the army. He rebuilt and restructured the armed forces along socialist political lines, but the country was still split and the government was ineffective. Ne Win was asked to serve as interim prime minister from 27 October 1958 to 4 April 1960 by U Nu, when the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) led by then prime minister U Nu split into two and U Nu barely survived a motion of no-confidence against his government in parliament. Ne Win restored order during the period known as the 'Ne Win care-taker government'. Elections were held in February 1960 and Ne Win handed back power to U Nu on 4 April 1960.

Some of Ne Win's Actions as Dictator

However, less than two years later on 2 March 1962 Ne Win seized power this time through a military coup d'etat. He instituted a system involving elements of extreme nationalism, Marxism, and Buddhism. Part of his plan was to almost completely isolate the country from the rest of the world. For about ten years from 1962 foreigners could visit the country only for 24 hours to three days and in the early 1970s visas for foreigners were extended to one week. Fear of the West was high. The drastic political and economic measures taken by Ne Win and the Revolutionary Council that he headed were called the 'Burmese Way to Socialism' - the economy was nationalized, foreigners were expelled, political activists were imprisoned and ethnic and communist insurgencies were fought with massive military force. Since independence, the main ethnic problems arose in the south-eastern part of the country, where the British had made pre-independence promises of a separate Karen state or considerable autonomy for the ethnic Karens. Protests against his government were dealt with effectively and ruthlessly; for example, students' protests in Rangoon on 7 July 1962 led to dozens of students being shot dead and the historic Rangoon University Student Union (RUSU) building being dynamited on 8 July 1962. The RUSU was a center of anti-colonial struggles during the colonial days and many student leaders including Aung San and U Nu in the 1930s used the RUSU as a forum for discussions, protests and political activities against the British colonial government. After troops shot and killed up to about 100 students and after the historic RUSU building was dynamited around 5 am (local time, Burma Standard Time, BST) on 8 July 1962 Ne Win addressed the nation on radio around 8 pm (20:00 hours) BST. Ne Win's speech to the country lasted only about five minutes or less. The last phrase of his speech (in translation) was 'if these disturbances were made to challenge us, I have to declare that we will fight sword (in Burmese 'dah') with sword and spear (in Burmese 'hlan') with spear'. (Two different English translations of Ne Win's speech can be read in the front page of The [Rangoon] Nation and The [Rangoon] Guardian of 9 July 1962. Part of the title of The Nation's headline of 9 July 1962 reads ' General Ne Win States Give Us Time to work: Obstructionists are warned: Will Fight 'dah' with 'dah')'. This most infamous speech of his political career came to be known informally among the Burmese as 'sword with sword, spear with spear speech'. Ne Win spoke these insolent words about 30 hours after his troops shot and killed about 100 unarmed students and about 12 to 13 hours after the RUSU building was dynamited. Within less than a week after the shootings at Rangoon University and the destruction of the RUSU buidling Ne Win left for Austria, Switzerland and the United Kingdomn 'for a medical check up' on 13 July 1962. (News items of Ne Win's trip to these countries for 'medical check up' can be found in The Guardian and The Nation of 14 July 1962). Universities were closed for more than two years and were reopened only in September 1964. Sporadic student-led demonstrations against Ne Win's rule continued with demonstrations - at times followed by closure of Universities and Colleges after the demonstrations- in 1965, December 1969, December 1970, December 1974, June 1975 and September 1987. These demonstrations took place mainly in Universities and Colleges located in the cities of Rangoon, Mandalay and Moulmein. The student led demonstrations also occurred in March 1988 and June 1988 and in August to September 1988 it became a nation-wide uprsing against Ne Win's and BSPP rule in what is now known as the 'Four Eights Uprising'. Ne Win was married on five official occasions and had at least five children from these different marriages. The 1972 death of his 'favorite' wife, Khin May Than (alias) Kitty Ba Than, was a heavy blow to him. He was also noted for his interest in numerology. In September 1987 he ordered the Burmese currency the kyat to be issued in denominations of 15, 35, 45, 75 and 90 kyats, besides the existing 5 and 10 kyat notes. The efforts of Ne Win were, to put it mildly, not well-received in much of the country. His actions caused many in the educated work-force to migrate, and Myanmar is still feeling its effects today. During the period of 1962 to 1988 when Ne Win formally ruled the country the policy of isolation was particularly damaging to the economy. The black market and rampant smuggling supplied the needs of the people, while the central government slid slowly into bankruptcy. On 23 July 1988, with Burma one of the poorest countries in the world, having being formally assigned by the United Nations (UN) as a 'Least Developed Country' (LDC) in 1987, Ne Win resigned as chairman of the then sole and ruling Burma Socialist Programme Party. By 1988 he had been in a number of official positions. He was Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 2 March 1962 to 2 March 1974, Prime Minister of the Revolutionary Government from 2 March 1962 to 2 March 1974 and President of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma from 5 March 1974 to 9 November 1981. Most importantly, he established the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) and was its chairman for 26 years from 4 July 1962 until his nominal resignation on 23 July 1988 at the height of the uprising against one-Party rule. (From 23 March 1964 when all political parties were abolished by military decree of the Revolutionary Council, the BSPP was the sole political party in Burma.) In what he prophetically called what might be his 'last speech before a public gathering' on 23 July 1988 at the BSPP Party Congress Ne Win stated -more than 26 years after the tragic events of 7 and 8 July 1962- that he was not involved in 8 July 1962 dynamiting of the Rangoon University Student Union building and that it was his former deputy Brigadier Aung Gyi who was responsible. Ne Win also stated that after he learnt of the destruction of the RUSU as a 'revolutionary leader' he had to take 'responsibility' and gave the 'sword with sword and spear with spear' speech. In the same speech of 23 July 1988 - and using the same threatening words and tone- Ne Win also warned the potential demonstrators that if the protests and 'disturbances' continued the 'Army would have to be called and I would like to declare from here that if the Army shoots it has no tradition of shooting into the air. It would shoot straight to hit'.And he added that (when the Army shoots to hit) ' it won't be easy'(alternatively it could be translated as 'you won't be spared'.) (The English translation of Ne Win's speech could be found in 24 July 1988 issues of The [Rangoon] Guardian and The Working People's Daily). The Burmese troops which shot, killed and maimed hundreds if not up to 3000 or more demonstators in various places throughout Burma from the period of 8 August 1988 to 12 August 1988 and again on 18 September 1988 (a period known as the '8888' or 'Four Eights' Uprising) proved that Ne Win's 'promise' in his 'farewell' speech to the nation of 'shooting straight to hit' was kept with a vengeance. During the various protests and uprisings against one-party rule starting from March 1988 there were brief hopes for democracy before a military group, then under the virtual tutelage of Ne Win, seized power on 18 September 1988 and brutally crushed the people's uprising. It is widely believed that Ne Win, though in apparent 'retirement', organized from behind the scenes, the military take-over which crushed the uprising. For about ten years after the 18 September 1988 military coup Ne Win remained out of government but he was a shadowy figure exercising at least some influence on the military junta State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) whose name was later changed into State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on 15 November 1997. However from about 1998 his influence on the junta began to wane. In late September 2002 one of his sons-in-law (husband of his favorite daughter Sandar Win born to his third wife Kitty Ba Than) and three of his grandsons (born to Sandar Win) were sentenced to death by a tribunal for treason in that they were alleged to have planned to overthrow the SPDC. Earlier, when the alleged plot was uncovered Ne Win as well as Sandar Win were put under house arrest on 5 March 2002.

Death

After being put under house arrest, the 92-year-old Ne Win died at 7:30 am (Burma Standard Time) on December 5, 2002 at his lakeside house in Yangon. His death was not a noted event world-wide and no state funeral was held nor any of the SPDC members attended the funeral. Only about twenty-five to thirty persons were said to have attended his hastily-held funeral. His daughter Sandar Win was temporarily released from house-arrest to attend the funeral and cremation. His ashes were later dispersed into the Hlaing River by Sandar Win, who as of time of writing, is still under house arrest. Her husband and Ne Win's three grand-children who were earlier sentenced to death also continued to remain in a Burmese jail.

Prior | Tell us what you think | Next

Add to Your Social Bookmarks: Del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit Simpy Spurl Y! MyWeb - StumbleUpon