Settlement in Southeast Asia Essay Example for Free

Settlement in Southeast Asia Essay An example of such a country is Singapore. There are also countries with some areas that are much more urbanized than other areas. The entire area is closely clustered with buildings. A good example of such a pattern can be seen from Bangkok in Thailand. Dominant settlement patterns of most major cities in the world with high population densities are likely to result in clustering of buildings due to constraints of land resources. Urban settlements tend to be clustered as people in urban settlements are mainly involved in activities like business and manufacturing. All these require transportation and services. Thus, having settlements clustered together enables them to have easy access to transportation. Population density here is usually higher than in rural settlements and the incomes of people in urban settlements are usually higher than those in rural settlements as well. 2. Linear Liner settlements can be found along main transport roads, railways, rivers or canals. Individual buildings are arranged in a linear pattern that takes after the structure of the transport road, making travelling easier for people living in the settlement. Such examples can be found in Philippines, along its main roads and in Vietnam, along its canal. Rural settlements tend to be linear and located along a river as rural settlements are mainly involved in activities such farming, fishing, growing of crops, etc. Population density in this area is low, with few amenities such as schools, clinics, public transports and etc. The living of people in this settlement is usually closely related to the settlement’s main function and physical environment. 3. Dispersed Dispersed settlements are created with individual buildings being scattered all over a wide area or large open spaces. Some examples are forests, farmlands, etc. This pattern happens usually due to limited natural resources or fertile soil, resulting in people being spread out to ensure enough land for agriculture functions and for obtaining resources from the ground. An example of where the dispersed pattern can be found is in Philippines. Dispersed settlement patterns are usually found in rural areas around the world due to small population sizes and low population densities in those areas. Patterns of settlements are very closely linked to the physical landscape, climate, location of water and resources and access to trade routes of the area. Historically, people settled close to trade routes, by which it is usually water routes, in areas of hospitable climates and terrain. This general pattern remains true today. The only difference is that humans of today are more adapted to harsher climates and more rugged terrains and trade is no longer the factor controlling settlement patterns. There are various factors that affect the location of settlements in the Southeast Asian region. However, the factor that plays the most important role is rivers. When Southeast Asia was first colonised by the Europeans, they set up trading ports beside rivers and seas. Thus, until today, extensive changes of dominated port cities have been established in countries such as Singapore. Sources also show that in both ancient and modern times, people have sought out all kinds of ways to settle alongside bodies of water, rivers in particular. They have historically been a draw to migrants in search of fresh water for drinking, cooking and food. In addition to providing an abundance source of fish, lakes and streams have long been desirable places to hunt animals coming to drink from them. For many cultures of the world, rivers have also had a spiritual significance, drawing people to visit, pray, celebrate and settle along their banks. Rivers are important as they are the main paths for water transport. Transport is vital for trade and trade is vital for the wealth of a country. In some Southeast Asia regions, water transport is generally faster and cheaper than most ways of travel on land. Water is also counted as a resource that is usually in good supplies and does not need any up keeping. An example of such a country is Vietnam. Vietnam is not as well-developed as some other countries and thus, water transport is still commonly used there. Rivers provide water for agriculture as well. Countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand do a lot of crop planting (wet agriculture), so they need plenty of water. Thus, settling along rivers allow them to be able to draw in water effortlessly as they have easy access to water.

Themes of American Culture

Themes of American Culture John Pollina Today I will be a guest speaker at an elemtary school in China to discuss some themes of American culture. I will examine a particular American film, television show, and lastly a genre of music that depicts the aspects of American culture. The movie Rocky, the television series The Sopranos, and rap music all represent various ideas of American culture that children of China has benefit from a great deal. The film that shows an important theme of American culture is the movie Rocky. Rocky was introduced in 1976 starring Sylvester Stallone. This American classic shows the true underdog story of what the American dream of open mobility is all about. Rocky starts off in the film as a young street thug earning money through illegal work and straying down a bad path. After meeting local boxing coach Mickey Golmill, Rocky begins to train under his guidance and become one of the most successful boxers. After winning some local fights Rocky works his way up and makes a name for himself. An agent reaches out and offers Rocky a once in a lifetime opportunity to fight against the heavyweight champion of the world named Apollo Creed. The idea behind this fight was to give an average Joe fighter a shot at the American dream by getting the opportunity to fight the best combatant. Moreover, the second half of this film focuses on Rocky training and working for the biggest opportunity of his life. What follows is a brilliant montage of Rocky training through the tough streets of Philadelphia and ends with Rocky on a run by the middle being followed by a few to an entire crowd at his back finishing up the museum steps raising his fists in victory. The film continues by building up to the anticipated fight for the heavyweight title of the world between the amateur Rocky Balboa and defending champion Apollo Creed. What was looked at to be a quick fight that would most likely end with Rocky being knocked out in the first round, turned out to be a shot for shot war of sorts in the ring. Rocky loses by decision in the first film but by the second gets a rematch and claims the belt. Overall, the film Rocky is all about American values and achieving the American dream. Rocky went from rags to riches showing that people in different social classes can move up in the world. Anyone who has the motivation to succeed, the determination and hard work to make it will indeed make it. Rocky first fought in the slums of Philidephia and worked hard to becomet he heavyweight champion. He truly represents the average American in this country that has built a name for itself as the land of opportunity. America is the place where big dreams and hard work could lead to countless oppurtunities to be successful. Apollo Creed in this film represents the golden road to success that every American opportunist strives for. With that road comes great struggle for what you wish to achieve, which is why this film is such a beautiful portrayal of what it means to dream big and accomplish that dream. Secondly, a great American television show that shows a strong portyal of American culture is the series called The Sopranos. This series features actor James Gandolfini who plays lead role and crime boss of North Jersey, Tony Soprano. Tony lives a very complex life juggling the difficult tasks of being boss of a mafia crime family life at home with his wife and children . he also faces a number of internal issues such as anxiety and panic attacks. One of the many ways The Sopranos portrays American culture and its ideals is through the form of greed. Greed is a constant theme on the show as well as in the history through current events of American culture. Although there is many ways to be successful in this country like earning an honest living, that is not always the case in our culture. The other way of being successful is through illegal revenue. This path pursues money through stealing and taking what you want through any means. Although an honest days living is clearly always the way to go, The Sopranos shows that our culture also appreciates a great storyline through crime that most certainly always ends up with drama. Another American culture aspect that we see during The Sopranos is money,sex, guns and violence. This culture sees these acts as a part of being successful accomplishing those aspects and being the dominant alpha of sorts. In The Sopranos we see consant competition to achieve that alpha status and to get that power every individual or even crime family combined will do whatever it takes to achieve that. Just like in American culture reguardless of it being the crime business or even the corporate business the fight to be number on never ceases to exist. You are what you make yourself in this culture that we call the land of oppurtinity. Overall, the most important theme of American culture in this televisous series is the idea of what the American dream happiness really means. Everyone believes that is is the American dream to have a big house, have nice cars, have children an help children achieve their goals will lead to a happy life. We see at the end of the seven year series that this is not what constitutes as being happy. The Sopranos had wealth, a successful business, and educated children however, they are shown not to be so happy evenr with all of this success. Disappointment is attached to such unattainable perfect standards. The characters seek so much happiness through material objects shaped by society. Through all the money and material wealth, these characters were never truly happy people. The perfect life doesn’t men you have to be rich or famous. Money makes things easier but it does not make you live a fulfilled life especially when you go through criminal means to obtain your goals. In addition, a genre of music that represents a theme of American culture is rap. Rap music has been apart of American tradition for some time featuring artists that come from a vast array of different cultures and backgrounds. Even though rap music ranges in many different tones and styles, tells us a story on the life of the artist rapping. The song and the background music is a way of self-expression for ones feelings.Rap songs in this culture are songs that people relate to for whatever situation or life path they are going through. Some songs might be about love others could be sex and the traditional style of guns and violence. The freedom of expression that we have in this country is very clear in the music that has been produced in the past and songs that will continue to be released in the future. In the American culture we do not see much of a filter of the rap songs that we listen to as opposed to other countries were it is not accepted to produce or even listen to profanity. A rapper that is well known in American culture is Marshal Mathers more known by his stage name as Eminem. Growing up through the tough streets of Detriot, Eminem faced the harsh realities that many underprivileged American children do. He dropped out of school at an early age and began working for minimum wage to support his family. The thing about American culture that Eminem clearly understood is that no matter what position you are in success can be right around the corner if you work torwards it. This culture sets the bar on how successful you are by the car you drive the amount of money you have and the home you live in. This is why most rap songs are about the underpriveliged life the rapper has gone through. They wear this on their sleeves showing that they made it out of that life to something better. When listening to Eminems music you get the sense of what kind of person he is. America can be a very tough place and people in this culture who become truly successful are never ones to look for a handout and hardly ever get one. Emeniem understood that as he was making his way up he when he was promised record deals, studio time, and oppurtunities to present his music to recording artists. Many people tried to cheat him and steal his hard work. However, after so much disappointment and failure trying to make his dreams become a reality, he knew that being a success was something he had to do on his own if he ever wanted to make it out of the poverty stricken town of Detriot he grew up in. Fast forwarding a few years and in 2030 a movie was written from a foreign prospective based on the movie Rocky. In Asian culture honor is a very important factor amongst the community. Therefore, the character who portrays Rocky treats others, especially elders, with more respect. This is different from the American viersion of Rocky since the American boxer has a more defiant attitude towards people especially torwards his future trainer Mickey who was much older in age. Another difference is the fighting style that the boxers take on. The American boxer has a different style compared to Asian fighting. Chinese fighting preparations are much different than in the U.S culture including training routines and the fighters diet that needs to be maintained. In the American Rocky a classic scene in all the movies is Rocky cracking raw eggs in a glass and drinking it for protein. However, in the Asian version we might see the Asian boxer eating a fish of some sort for protein since that i sa more traditional dish amongst that culture. Moreover, the sceneary of the film will be much different. In the American Rocky, he is training through the streets of Philidalphia passing historical American monuments that we in this culture would recognize. However, in the Chinese version we would see the fighter possibly training through the streets of China and finishing his training run up the great wall of China which would more appropriate in this version being that its something the Chinese viewers would know and understand. The music soundtrack from the Chinese version would be much different then the original soundtrack from the American Rocky. Chinese music is much different in terms of the tones and instruments played. The lyrics that we hear in the songs and the lyrics that are sang from the artists. Chinese music is also very highly censored so the music would most likely be in a very proper manner. Chinese culture and regulations from the government only allow things to be produced that bring positive reinforcement to the greater good of China so you might find some of the plot changed up and the messages given to viewers would differ as well. Lastly, the end scene will be different when we see Rocky raise his fists in victory at the end of the fight the Chinese Rocky might bow because that is a sign of honor in China. All in all, American culture has many beautiful tings to offer in terms of the films, television series and music. This country has shown time and time again we produce things that inspire the world. Although when reproduced in other countries there are some very different variations that we see. Every place in the world has their own ideals and messages that is viewed and perceived as a norm, but America has and will continue to produce things that inspire. There are many reasons as to why these specific medias are important and should be shared with the Chinese culture. China has so many censorships on all types of media. They refuse to display anything to their people that contain obscene and vulgar substances, murder, violence and even bloodiness for some examples. The Sorpanos and rap music by Eminem contain most of these contents that are prohibited by the Chinese government. However, they should be more open-minded about the messages that are being sent through such content. This is because even with violence and bloog and vulgar language, there is a lesson that is trying to be portayed and those messages are very important. The Sopranos continually showed that money does not make happiness and the theme of the movie Rocky and Eminimen’s music shows that those at the very bottom can make it in life with hard work and perserverence. Chinese culture respects hard work and education but they don’t see that what they dee m negative content can show the same ideals but in a different way. References http://www.indiewire.com/article/how-to-be-censored-in-china-a-brief-filmmaking-guide

Skew Detection of Devanagari Script Using Pixels

Skew Detection of Devanagari Script Using Pixels Skew Detection of Devanagari Script Using Pixels of Axes-Parallel Rectangle and Linear Regression Trupti A. Jundale Ravindra S. Hegadi Abstract—Skew detection and correction of handwritten data is one of the difficult tasks in pattern recognition area. Here we illustrate the method for skew detection and correction of Devanagari handwritten script. The proposed approach works for single skew. The input images for this research are collected from various writers and contain single/uniform skew words/lines. The proposed approach uses tangential pixels of axes parallel rectangle and linear regression method to calculate the skew of word/line. Finally rotation transformation is used for correction of skew of word/line which is calculated by linear regression. This technique achieves 89% accuracy to correct skew of word and achieves 93% accuracy to correct skew of line for handwritten Devanagari script. Index Terms—Preprocessing, Axes-parallel rectangle, Linear Regression, Skew detection, Skew correction I. Introduction The frequency of digital document extends to develop at a brisk rate in spite of the usage of paper based documents. As a result, the renovation of paper documents to its electronic version and its consequent image processing and understanding have been converted into a vital application area in computer vision and pattern recognition researches. With recent emergence and widespread application of multimedia technologies, there is an increasing demand to create a paperless environment, hence, document image processing in general and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in particular is playing an important role in transformation of the traditional paper based environment to truly paperless electronic environment[3]. Devanagari is one of the mainly used and espouses writing system in the world. The national/official language of India (Hindi) and Nepal (Nepali) uses Devanagari Script. Many other languages like Marathi (state language of Maharashtra), Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Bodo, Dogri etc. comes under Devanagari Script. As India’s national language uses Devanagari script, lot of official data is in written format before the era of digitization. So in the today’s world of digitization, it is needed to keep record of handwritten/printed data in digital form. To make this, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system is carried out. The detection and correction of skew is one of the essential steps in any character recognition or document processing system. Because of the writing genre of the Devanagari script, it is difficult to detect skew as compared to any other script. The writing style of every person may vary so there is presence of multiple skew in data. Skew is t he angle which diverges from x-axis. The successful skew detection and correction turns next process like analysis of character or OCR to be accurate. The document may contain three type of skew: single/uniform skew, multiple skew and non-uniform skew. Single/uniform skew is, when all text lines in a document have same orientation. Multiple skew is, when some text lines have different orientation than other and non-uniform skew is, when orientation changes within a line. There is lot of research available for skew detection of scanned document image but less work is available for skew detection of text/word. II. Devanagari script One of the main parts of Brahmic family is a Devanagari Script, which is belonging from Indo-Aryan languages. It is written from left to right. Unlike Latin script, concept of upper/lower case is absent in Devanagari script. It consists of 33 consonants and 14 vowels. Generally every word written in most of the Devanagari Script will have a header line on group of characters, called as ‘Shirorekha’ and this is considered as one word [7]. Vowels that can be written as separate characters or by using diacritic marks on below, upper, before or after consonants are called modifiers. In Devanagari script, two or three consonants can be written as a single character, which is known as compound character. Fig.1 shows different features of Devanagari script. Fig. 1. Devanagari Script Word The main characters of word are written in middle zone. Upper zone and lower zone are for modifiers and Shirorekha is drawn at header line. In Fig.1 two characters are combined to form a new shape of single character known as compound character. III. Related Work In the literature, algorithms that estimate the angle at which a text/document image is rotated are surveyed. The broad classes of technique are identified, which include methods that calculate skew from Hough transform, horizontal projection profile, Fourier transform, nearest-neighbour or principal component analysis. The basic method used by each class of technique is presented and the contributions of individual algorithms within each class are discussed. Hough Transform: One of the best feature extraction technique used in digital image processing and computer vision is Hough Transform. It is mainly used for detection of regular curves such as lines, ellipses, circles etc. The simplest case of Hough transform is the linear transform for detecting straight lines. The line in the image space is just a single point in the parameter space. [1] uses Hough transform method for detection of document skew. A novel skew correction algorithm is proposed focusing on boundary line that optimizes speed and accuracy by using Hough transform to get the skew corrected licences plate images in [2]. Fourier Transform: In this method first 2-D Fourier transform will be applied to the image plane. Then, coefficients of the power spectrum are calculated and stored in a spectrum. A directional criterion for each angle is then calculated. The angle that maximizes the directional criterion is assumed to give the skew angle of the image. Projection Profile: Projection Profile can be a horizontal projection profile or vertical projection profile. The horizontal/vertical projection profile is a histogram of the number of black pixels along horizontal/vertical scan lines. In projection profiles, histogram is created at each possible angle and a ‘cost function’ is applied to this histogram. The skew angle is the angle at which this cost function is maximized. Mostly horizontal projection profile method is used for scanned document skew detection. [6] exploits the unique property of the writing line of Arabic script and is based on connected component analysis and projection profiles. Skew detection of fabric images scheme based on morphological method and projection profile analysis is proposed in [8]. Nearest Neighbour: In Nearest Neighbour method histogram of the direction angle is computed. [5] uses a Focused Nearest Neighbour Clustering (FNNC) of interest points and the analysis of paragraphs/lines. Chains with a largest possible number of nearest neighbour pairs are selected and their slopes are computed to give the skew angle of document image. Other than these techniques, one-step skew and orientation detection method using a well-established geometric text-line model is used in [11]. The advantage of this method is that it combines accurate skew estimation with robust, resolution-independent orientation detection. [12] proposed a Rectangular Active Contour Model (RAC Model) for content region detection and skew angle calculation by imposing a rectangular shape constraint on the zero-level set in Chain-Vese Model (C-V Model) according to the rectangular feature of content regions in document images. B. V. Dhandra et.al, [13] uses image dilation and region labelling approach for binary document skew detection. Apart from this, fast and robust skew estimation techniques like a bilinear filtering model which is used to detect edges existing in the document, COG (Centre of Gravity) method are used in the literature. IV. Proposed Methodology This section illustrates the proposed methodology for skew detection and correction. Section A describes pre-processing step. Section B describes extraction of axes parallel rectangle pixels. Skew detection using linear regression is described in C. Section D describes skew correction technique and last section E describes steps of proposed algorithm. A. Pre-processing The input to the system is a word or a line of single/uniform skew of handwritten Devanagari script which is scanned by optical scanner or captured by digital camera. Acquired input is pre-processed for removing noise. Firstly input image is converted into gray scale image and then thresholding is applied over for converting given image into binary image containing only black and white pixels. In this binarized image, white pixels represent background and black pixels represent foreground. B. Axes-Parallel Rectangle This stage calculates the area of axes-parallel rectangle. The angle with the least area of the axes-parallel rectangle represents the skew angle. Outer tangential pixels of an input word/line are used to form an axes-parallel rectangle. Figure 2 shows tangential pixels of skewed one are embedded into an axes-parallel rectangle. Fig. 2 (a) Skewed rectangle fitted in an Axes-parallel rectangle (b) Rectangle with zero skew. C. Skew Detection After getting required pixels using axes-parallel rectangle, linear regression formula is used to detect skew of word/line. Regression analysis can be used to identify the line or curve which provides the best fit through a set of data points. Linear regression analyzes the relation between two variables, X and Y. The variables X and Y are known and the problem is to fit best straight line through X and Y. In general, the goal of linear regression is to find the line that best predicts Y from X. Linear regression does this by finding the line that minimizes the sum of the squares of the vertical distances of the points from line. Linear regression does not test whether the data are linear. It assumes that the data is linear, and finds the slope and intercept that make a straight line best fit the given data. The goal of linear regression is to adjust the values of slope and intercept to find the line that best predicts Y from X. Fig. 3 (a) Plot of data without best-fit line (b) Plot of data with best-fit line. This is the simple linear regression model where à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢0 and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢1 are unknown constants and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¥ is the residual error. To fit the regression line in the equation of the data (x1, y1), (x2, y2),..,(xn, yn) by finding best match between the line and the data. The best choice of à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢0+à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢1 will be chosen to minimize, This is called the least square fit. The equation (2) implies à ¯Ã†â€™Ã¢â‚¬ º After little algebra, get where and (4) Equation (3) gives slope of the regression line and Equation (4) gives the intercept. The slope of the line is nothing but the skew angle of our word/line. Fig.4 shows the slope and intercept of a best fit line. Fig. 4 Slope and intercept of a best fit line After calculating slope using linear regression, skew is calculated using the formula, This gives the required skew of word. D. Skew Correction After the skew angle of the word/line has been detected, the word/line must be rotated in order to correct this skew. Various methods used for skew correction are direct method, indirect method and contour-oriented method etc. The direct method uses rotation transformation in which corresponding pixels in the input image will be transformed to new location by using equation (1) (5) Where (x, y) are the co-ordinates of pixels belonging to the word for which skew has to be detected and (x’, y’) are the co-ordinates of pixels belonging to the word after correction. For a pixel (x’, y’) in the output image, the indirect method finds corresponding pixel in the input image and assigns a value of (x’, y’) to (x, y) using Equation (2). (6) We apply direct method for skew correction which simply rotate calculated skew angle to horizontal angle. The detected angle by linear regression is corrected by applying rotation transformation. The word/line is rotated with ÃŽ ¸ angle. The word/line is corrected by rotating at positive angle if the skew detection angle is negative and corrected by rotating at negative angle if skew detection angle is positive. E. Algorithm Step 1: Accept the input image which may be word or line. Step 2: Convert the given input into binary by using thresholding method. Step 3: Calculate the axes-parallel rectangle of binary image by finding minimum row and minimum column pixels. Step 4: Apply linear regression, Equation (3), to detect the skew of axes-parallel rectangle, which is the skew of original word/line. Step 5: Using Equation (6), correct the skew angle of word/line. V. Experimental Result We tested our algorithm for input images of handwritten document for Hindi and Marathi languages. The algorithm is tested on 500 words and 300 lines of Devanagari script. The accuracy rate for skew correction of word is 89% and accuracy rate for uniform skew correction of line is 93%.Mostly the word with single character or small size length does not give accurate result because of the lack of a sufficient number of minima points. Table I shows the sample results of words with skew detection of positive and negative angle and skew correction of all these. Results of word skew Figure 5 shows skew detection and correction of uniform skew line. We tested our algorithm for document with single/uniform skew and for skewed printed document also. For these kinds of input images, algorithm runs successfully. VI. Conclusion We have proposed a methodology for skew detection and correction of word and line of handwritten Devanagari script. The slope of best line fit using linear regression algorithm is used for skew detection and it is corrected by simply rotating word/line by calculated angle. This method is tested on handwritten data of Hindi and Marathi language. The word dataset is collected from various writers for testing purpose which contains 500 words and 300 lines. The proposed approach can be modified for future work to get higher accuracy and for detection of documents contain multiple or non-uniform skew text. Fig. 5 (a) Skewed line (b) Axes-parallel rectangle of skewed line (c) Skew correction of line VII. References Deepak Kumar, Dalwinder Singh, â€Å"Modified approach of Hough transform for skew detection and correction in documented images†, International Journal of Research in Computer Science, Vol. 2, Issue 3, pp. 37-40, April 2012. Arulmozhi K., Perumal S. A., Priyadarshini C.S.T., Nallaperumal K., â€Å"Image refinement using skew angle detection and correction for Indian licences plates†, Computational Intelligence Computing Research (ICCIC), IEEE, pp. 1-4, Dec. 2012. B.V.Dhandra, H.Mallikarjun, Ravindra Hegadi, V.S.Malemath, â€Å"Word-wise Script Identification from Bilingual Documents Based on Morphological Reconstruction†, Visual Information Engineering, IEEE, pp 389-395, 2006. Kleber, Florian, Markus Diem, Robert Sablatnig, Robust Skew Estimation of Handwritten and Printed Documents Based on Grayvalue Images, International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR), pp. 3020 – 3025, Aug. 2014. Ahmad Irfan, A Technique for Skew Detection of Printed Arabic Documents, Computer Graphics, Imaging and Visualization (CGIV), IEEE, pp. 62-67, Aug. 2013. Trupti A. Jundale, Ravindra S. Hegadi, â€Å"Skew Detection and Correction of Devanagari Script Using Hough Transform†, International Conference on Advanced Computing Technologies and Applications, Procedia of Computer Science, Journal of Elsevier, March2015, in press. Liu, Zhoufeng, Jie Huang, Chunlei Li, Skew detection of fabric images based on edge detection and projection profile analysis, Foundations of Intelligent Systems, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Vol. 122, pp 483-488, 2012. H. K. Kwag, S. H. Kim, S. H. Jeony and G. S. Lee, â€Å"Efficient skew estimation and correction algorithm for document images†, Image and vision Computing, Vol. 20, pp. 25-35, Jan. 2002. van Beusekom, Joost, Faisal Shafait, and Thomas M. Breuel, Combined orientation and skew detection using geometric text-line modeling, International Journal on Document Analysis and Recognition (IJDAR), Vol. 13, Issue 2, pp 79-92, June 2010. Fan, Huijie, Linlin Zhu, and Yandong Tang, Skew detection in document images based on rectangular active contour, International Journal on Document Analysis and Recognition (IJDAR), Vol. 13.4, pp 261-269, Dec. 2010. B. V. Dhandra, V. S. Malemath, H. Mallikarjun and R. Hegadi, â€Å"Skew detection in binary image documents based on image dilation and region labelling approach† International Conference on Pattern Recognition, IEEE, Vol. 2. pp 954-957, 2006.

DID Trojan War Exist :: essays research papers

Many have speculated about the Trojan War. It’s been written about in books like the Iliad and The Odyssey. A person could read in a book about this massive war between King Priam and Agamemnon, but did this massive war ever really happen? We have all heard of the mighty wooden horse in which the Greek forces broke into the mighty walls of Troy. The Trojan War did occur and can proven by skeletons, artifacts, and other findings from excavation sites. Historians speculate that the Trojan War could have been fought anywhere along the seaboard of the Mediterranean Sea. The City of Troy’s destination has been a mystery for hundreds of years until lately. Scientist now say that the mythological city of Troy existed on what is now called Turva. According to Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey, scientist dug at a location written about by Homer in his tales of The Iliad and The Odyssey. Excavating the site where the Trojan War was fought, has brought lots of evidence to the prove that there was in fact a Trojan War. The research team at Turva found an early settlement, that appears to be a gravesite that dates back to Trojan times. Calculations of this area were measured at around twenty hectares. At this site, scientists found a ditch that was used as a defensive barrier. This ditch was two meters deep and was easy for men surpass this obstacle. But horses weren’t able to get over this wall, and horses were considered a somewhat extraordinary tool in battle. Horses were very unlikely in Troy’s climate area and so they were a great commodity. Scientist that excavated this site believe that they have found the remains of human bones and skeletons of men who might have died in the Trojan War. These scientist found millions of bones since 1988 in the area where Homer says the Trojan War was fought. Like the skeleton bones found, many other artifacts were found. Ancient pottery has been found at the excavation site. This pottery was traced back to the times when many believe the Trojan War occurred. This shows that there was a city of Troy and it wasn’t just a battlefield.

Auditor Independence Essay -- Auditing

1. Introduction 1.1 The objectives of audit Under the regulatory, directors are required to produce financial statements annually which give a true and faire view of the affairs of the company and its profit and loss for the period and accountable to shareholders. Auditors have a responsibility to plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance to the shareholders and other stakeholders of a company on the financial statements. The objective of an audit of financial statements is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, thereby enabling the auditor to express an opinion on whether the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with an applicable financial reporting framework; and to report on the financial statements, and communicate as required by the HKSAs, in accordance with the auditor’s findings. (HKSA 200.11) In order to maintain the auditor’s integrity, objectivity, and independence, auditing standards have been issued for measuring of the quality of the auditor’s performance. Auditing standards are general guidelines to aid auditors in fulfilling their professional responsibilities in the audit of financial statements. They include consideration of professional qualities such as competence and independence, reporting requirements and evidence. (Soltani, 2007) 1.2 Code of ethics for auditor independence Audit independence is a very critical component if a business wishes to have an audit function that can add value to the organization. The audit report and opinion must be free of any bias or influence if the integrity of the audit process is to be valued and... ...to aid auditors in fraud detection and increase emphasis on professional skepticism. 4. Recommendations Since professional independence and skepticism are more important for an auditors on audit engagement. It is recommended that auditors should enhance professional skepticism to the financial statement audit. It includes increase the ability of auditor to detect fraud by training, enhancing ability through experience and paying more effort in audit plan. In order to enhance auditor independence, directors should disclose the audit and non-audit services fee to investors and let investors to evaluate the independence of the auditor. By separating of auditor duties for audit and non-audit services, it can be help to maintain auditor independence. By enhancing the internal control system and corporate governance, it can be help to reduce fraud risk.

Plato’s Objection to Poetry Essay

He was the first systemic critic who inquired into the nature of imaginative literature and put forward theories which are both illuminating and provocative. He was himself a great poet and his dialogues are full of his gifted dramatic quality. His Dialogues are the classic works of the world literature having dramatic, lyrical and fictional elements. According to him all arts are imitative or mimetic in nature. He wrote in The Republic that ‘ideas are the ultimate reality’. Things are conceived as ideas before they take practical shapes. So, idea is original and the thing is copy of that idea. Carpenter’s chair is the result of the idea of chair in his mind. Thus chair is once removed from reality. But painter’s chair is imitation of carpenter’s chair. So it is twice removed form reality. Thus artist/poet takes man away from reality rather than towards it. Thus artist deals in illusion. 1. Plato’s objection to Poetry from the point of view of Education: a. In ‘The Republic’ Book II – He condemns poetry as fostering evil habits and vices in children. Homer’s epics were part of studies. Heroes of epics were not examples of sound or ideal morality. They were lusty, cunning, and cruel – war mongers. Even Gods were no better. (Troy-Achilles beheding Apollo’s statue, oracles molested†¦ insults of Gods, Gods fight among themselves, they punish instead of forgiveness†¦Ahaliya-Indra, Kunti’s children, Narad’s obsession to marry, Hercules son of Zeus and Alcmene, Hera’s jealousy-snakes-fenzy to kill children†¦) b. Plato writes: â€Å"if we mean our future guardians to regard the habit of quarreling among themselves as of all things the basest, no word should be said to them of the wars in the heaven, or of the plots and fighting of the gods against one another, for they are not true†¦. If they would only believe as we would tell them that quarreling is unholy, and that never up to this time has there been any quarreling between citizens†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ these tales (of epics) must not be admitted into our State, whether they are supposed to have allegorical meaning or not.† c. Thus he objected on the ground that poetry does not cultivate good habits among children. 2. Objection from Philosophical point of view: a. In ‘The Republic’ Book X: Poetry does not lead to, but drives us away form the realization of the ultimate reality – the Truth. b. Philosophy is better than poetry because Philosophy deals with idea and poetry is twice removed from original idea. c. Plato says: â€Å"The imitator or maker of the image knows nothing of true existence; he knows appearance only †¦. The imitative art is an inferior who marries an inferior and has inferior offspring.†(Dorothea’s ideal in Middlemarch shattered, Kshtriya dharma – not to hit enemy without weapon, Tess’s providence, evil wins & God is silent, unrewarded virtue†¦) 3. Objection form the Moral point of view: a. In the same book in ‘The Republic’: Soul of man has higher principles of reason (which is the essence of its being) as well as lower constituted of baser impulses and emotions. Whatever encourages and strengthens the rational principle is good, and emotional is bad. b. Poetry waters and nourishes the baser impulses of men – emotional, sentimental and sorrowful. c. Plato says: â€Å"Then the imitative poet who aims at being popular is not by nature made, nor is his art intended, to please or to affect the rational principle in the soul; but he will prefer the passionate and fitful temper, which is easily limited †¦. And therefore we shall be right in refusing to admit him into a well-ordered state, because he awakens and nourishes and strengthen the feelings and impairs the reason †¦ Poetry feeds and waters the passion instead of drying them up; she lets them rule, although they ought to be controlled, if mankind are ever to increase in happiness and virtue Plato’s Objection to poetry Plato was the disciple of Socrates, a great poet, a mystic and a philosopher. He was not a professed critic but his objections are found in forms of speech and dialogues in The Ion, the Symposium & the Republic and the Laws. Plato’s three main objections to poetry are that poetry is not ethical, philosophical and pragmatic. (i) His Objection From Educational Point of View :- In ‘The Republic’ Plato condemns poetry (art) as cultivating evil habits and vices in children. As he thought that the description in the poetry is â€Å"Twice removed from Reality† and it is not dealing with real, practical world. So, he does not want his ‘future guardians’ to learn all such things that are mere imitation of imitation. (ii) Feedback to Educational Point of View :- Plato objected poetry on the basis of education, by saying that it cultivates evil habits and not practical. But it is not so about all the poems or all the arts. As at that time Homer’s epics were the part of studies and in them heroes were lusty, cunning and cruel dealing only with war and other things. Even the portrayal of Gods & Goddesses was imperfect as they were also depicted quarreling and fighting. So Plato objected arts (poetry). But he did not understand that poetry also has literal, allegorical or connoted meaning. (iii) Plato’s Disagreement on Philosophical Point of View :- Plato states that, â€Å"Philosophy deals with idea and poetry are twice removed from the original idea. So, Philosophy is better than poetry†. As it nurtures the rational impulses of human being and not the emotional, this is better than later one. He even says that, â€Å"The imitator or maker of the image knows nothing of true existence; he knows appearance only†¦ The imitative art is an inferior who marries an inferior and has inferior offspring.† In his Theory of Mimesis. (iv) Response to Philosophical Point of View :- Plato stated that poetry is away from reality and it is imitation only, but this imitation is not a slavish copy like a photocopy work, but a creative one. In response to Plato, R.A.Scott quotes that, â€Å"But though the poet creates something less than reality, he also creates something more.† This ‘more’ is intuition and perception which is essential to lead towards reality. (v) Plato’s claim of poetry against Morality :- In â€Å"The Republic† Plato said that, soul of man has higher rational and lower emotional impulses. Poetry waters and nourishes the lower impulses instead of drying them up. He calls it as â€Å"needless lamentation and ecstasies at the imaginary events of sorrow and happiness†. Plato being a moralist even objected male dominance and female exploitation. (vi) Reaction to Moral Point of View :- AS a moralist Plato says that poetry does not teach morality, but teaching is not the function of art or poetry. It is to deal with aesthetic pleasure only. Even by description of male dominance or female exploitation the poet has a good intention of provoking people against it and not to promote it. So, Plato opposed art in general and poetry in particular, but his most famous disciple, critic, scholar logician and practical philosopher- Aristotle and other critics and poets like R.A. Scott, David Daiches, etc. defended them on various other angles. Plato’s Objection to poetry Plato’s theory of Mimesis: The arts deal with illusion or they are imitation of an imitation. Twice removed from reality. ïÆ'Ëœ As a moralist Plato disapproves of poetry because it is immoral, as a philosopher he disapproves of it because it is based in falsehood. ïÆ'Ëœ Philosophy is better than poetry because philosopher deals with idea/truth, whereas poet deals with what appears to him/illusion. ïÆ'Ëœ He believed that truth of Philosophy was more important than pleasure of poetry. ïÆ'Ëœ Plato was the most distinguished disciple of Socrates. The 4th century of BC to which he belonged was can age of inquiry and as such Plato’s chief interest was Philosophical investigations which form the subject of his great works in form of Dialogues. He was not a professed critic of literature and his critical observations are not found in any single book. They lie scattered in seven of his dialogues more particularly in The Ion, The Republic and The Laws. He was the first systemic critic who inquired into the nature of imaginative literature and put forward theories which are both illuminating and provocative. He was himself a great poet and his dialogues are full of his gifted dramatic quality. His dialogues are the classic works of the world literature having dramatic, lyrical and fictional elements. According to him all arts are imitative or mimetic in nature. He wrote in The Republic that ‘ideas are the ultimate reality.’ Things are conceived as ideas before they take practical shapes. So, idea is original and the thing is copy of that idea. Carpenter’s chair is the result of the idea of chair in his mind. Thus chair is once removed from reality. But painter’s chair is imitation of carpenter’s chair. So, it is twice removed from reality. Thus, artist/ poet take man away from reality rather than towards it. Thus, artist deals in illusion. Plato’s three main objections to poetry are that poet ry is not ethical, Philosophical and pragmatic, in other words, he objected to poetry from the point of view of Education, from Philosophical point of view and moral point of view. It is not ethical because it promotes undesirable passions, it is not philosophical because it does not provide true knowledge, and it is inferior to the practical arts and therefore has no educational value. Plato then makes a challenge to poets to defend themselves against his criticisms. Ironically it was Plato’s most famous student, Aristotle, who was the first theorist to defend literature and poetry in his writing. Poetics: Throughout the Republic Plato condemns art in all forms including literature or poetry. Despite the fact that he wrote, Plato advocates the spoken word over. The written word, he ranks imitation on a lower plan than narrative, even though his own works read like dramatic scripts. (The Republic is written in dialogues form with characters doing all the talking).It appears as though his reasoning is that imitation of reality is not in itself bad, but imitation without understanding and reason is. Plato felt that poetry, like all forms of art, appeals to the inferior part of the soul, the irrational, and emotional cowardly part. The reader of poetry is seduced into feeling undesirable emotions. To Plato, an appreciation of poetry is incompatible with an appreciation of reason. Justice and the search for Truth. In the Ion, he suggests that poetry causes needless lamentation and ecstasies at the imaginary events of sorrow and happiness. It numbs the faculty of reason for the time being. Paralyses the balanced thought and encourages the weaker part of soul constituted of the baser impulses. Hence poetry has no healthy functions and it cannot be called good. To him drama is the most dangerous form of literature because the author is imitating things that he/she does not understand. Plato seemingly feels that no condemn drama from one source: a faculty understanding of reality. Miscommunication, confusion and ignorance were facets of a corrupted comprehension of what Plato always s trived for- Truth. Plato is, above all, a moralist. His primary objective in The Republic is come up with the most righteous, intelligent way to live one’s life and to convince others to live this way. Everything else should conform in order to achieve this perfect state. Plato considers poetry useful only as a means of achieving this state that is only useful if it helps one to become a better person and if it does not, it should be expelled from the community. Plato’s question in Book 10 is the intellectual status of literature. He states that the good poet cannot compose well unless he knows his subject and he who do not have this knowledge can never be a poet, Plato says of imitative poetry and Homer, a man is not to be reverenced more than the truth. Plato says this because he believes that Homer speaks of many things of which he has no knowledge, just as the painter who paints a picture of a chair does not necessarily know how to make a chair. His point is that in order to copy or imitate correctly, one must have k nowledge of the original. Plato says that imitation is twice removed from the truth. Stories that are untrue have no value as no untrue story should be told in the city. He states that nothing can be learned from imitative poetry. Plato’s commentary on poetry in The Republic is overwhelmingly negative. In Books 2 and 3 Plato’s main concern about poetry is that children’s minds are too impressionable to be reading false tales and misrepresentations of the truth. As stated in Book 2, for a young person cannot judge what is allegorical and what is literal; anything that he receives into his mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable, and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thought. He is essentially saying that children cannot tell the difference between fiction and reality and this compromises their ability to discern right from wrong. Thus, children should not be exposed to poetry so that later in life they will be able to seek the Truth without having a preconce ived or misrepresented view of reality. Plato reasons that literature that portrays the gods as behaving in immoral ways should be kept away from children, so that they will not be influenced to act the scene way. Another objection is that it is often viewed as portraying either male: dominance or female exploitation people argue that this should not be the way the world works; therefore, it is not the Truth. These claims sound much like the claims that Plato is trying to make when he asserts that certain poetry should be kept out of the hands of children. While the power of censorship can be abused, Plato seemed to believe that his stance is justified because he is trying to make children grow to be good, moral individuals. While Plato has some very negative views on the value of literature, he also states the procedures that he feels are necessary in order to change poetry and literature from something negative to something positive. He does feel that some literature can have redeeming values. Good, truthful literature can educate instead of corrupting children. In the city Plato would allow only hymns to the gods and praises to famous men. Plato does not want literature to corrupt the mind; he wants it do display images of beauty and grace. Plato’s view may be deemed narrow minded by today’s society, but one must remember that Plato lived over 2000 years ago. He probably wrote The Republic with the best intentions for the people of his time. While his views on censorship and poetry may even seem outland today, Plato’s goal was to state what he judged to be the guidelines for a better human existence. 1) Plato’s Objection to poetry from the point of view of Education: a) In the Republic Book 2- He condemns poetry as festering evil habits were in children. Homer’s epics were part of studies. Heroes of epics were not examples of sound or ideal morality. They were lusty, cunning, and cruel war mongers. Even Gods were no better (Troy- Achilles beheading Apollo’s statue, oracles molested†¦ insults of Gods, Gods fight among themselves, they punish instead of forgiveness†¦Ahalya- Indra, Kunti’s children, narad’s obsession to marry, Hercules son of Zeus and Almene, Hera’s jealousy- shakes-Frenzy to kill children†¦) b) Plato writes:† if we mean our future guardians to regard the habit of quarreling among themselves as of all things the bests, no word should be said to them of the wars in the heaven or of the plots and fighting of the gods against one another, for they are not true †¦If they would only believe as we would tell them that quarreling is unholy, and that never up to this time has there been any quarreling between citizen†¦.These tales (of epics) must not be admitted into our state, whether they are supposed to have allegorical meaning or not.† c) Thus, he objected on the ground that poetry does not cultivate good habits among children. 2) Objection from Philosophical point of view: a) In â€Å"The Republic† Book 10: poetry does not lead to, but derives us away from the realization of the ultimate reality- the Truth. b) Philosophy is better than poetry because Philosophy deals with idea and poetry is twice removed from original. c) Plato says:† The imitator or maker of the images knows nothing of true existence; he knows appearance only†¦ The imitative art is an inferior who marries an inferior has inferior offspring.†[Dorothea’s ideal in Middle march shattered, Kshtriya drama-not to hit enemy without weapon, Tess’s providence, evil wins and God is silent, unrewarded virtue†¦] 3) Objection from the Moral point of view: a) In the same book in â€Å"The Republic†: soul of man has higher principles of reason. (Which is the essence of its being) as well as lower constituted of baser impulses and strengthens the rational principle is good and emotional is bad. b) Poetry waters and nourishes the baser impulses of men emotional sentimental and sorrowful. c) Plato says: â€Å"Then the imitative poet who aims at being popular is not by nature made, nor is his art intended, to please or to affect the rational principle in the soul; but he will prefer the passionate and fitful temper, which is easily limited. And therefore we shall be right in refusing to admit him into a well-ordered state, because he awakens and nourishes and strengthen the feelings and impairs the reason†¦poetry feeds and waters the passion instead of drying them us; she lets them rule, although, if mankind are ever to increase in happiness and virtue. There are Plato’s principle charges on poetry and objection to it. Before we pass on any judgment, we should not forget to keep in view the time in which he lived. During his time: 1) Plato says that art being the imitation of the actual is removed from truth. It only gives the likeness of a thing in concrete and the likeness is always less than real. But Plato fails to understand that art also give something more which is absent in the actual. The artist does not simply reflect the real in the manner of a mirror. Art is not slavish imitation of reality. Literature is not the photographic reproduction of life in all its totality. It is the representation of selected events and characters necessary in a coherent action for the realization of artist’s purpose (Namesake: Jhumpa Lahiri and Mira Nair). He even exalts idealizes and imaginatively recreates a world which has its own meaning and beauty. These elements, present in art are absent in the raw and rough real. R.A Scott-James rightly observes:†but though he creates something less than that reality. He also creates something more. He puts an idea into it. He gives his intuition of certain distinctive and essential qualities. This ‘more’ this intuition and perception is the aim of the artist. Artistic creation cannot be fairly criticized on the ground that it is not the creation in concrete terms of things and beings. Thus, considered it does not take us away from the Truth but leads us to the essential reality of life. 2) Plato again says that art is bad because it does not inspire virtue, does not teach morality. But it teaching the function of the art? Is it the aim of the artist? The function of art is to provide aesthetic, express emotions and life. It should never be confused with the function of ethics which is simply. If he fails in doing so, he is a bad artist. There is no other criterion to judge his worth. R.A Scott-James observes: â€Å"Morality teaches art does not attempt to teach. It merely asserts it is thus or thus that life is perceived to be. That is my bit of reality, says the artist. Take it or leave it- drew any lessons you like from it- that is my account of things as they are- if it has any value to you as evidence or teaching, use it, but that is not my business: I have given you my rendering, my account, my vision, my dream, my illusion- call it what you will. If yours is any lesson in it, it is yours to draw, not mine to preach.† Similarly Plato’s charge that needless lamentations and ecstasies at the imaginary events of sorrow and happiness encourage weaker part of soul and numbs faculty of reason. This charge is defended by Aristotle in his Theory of Catharsis. David Daiches summarizes Aristotle’s views in reply to Plato’s charges in brief: â€Å"Tragedy gives new knowledge, yields aesthetic satisfaction and produces a better state of mind. 3) Plato judges poetry now from the educational standpoint, now from the philosophical one and then from the ethical one. But he does not care to consider it from its own unique standpoint. He does not define its aims. He forgets that everything should be judged in terms of its own aims and objective its own criteria of merit and demerits. We cannot fairly maintain that music is bad because it does not paint, or that painting is bad because it does not sing. Similarly, we can not say that poetry is bad because it does not teach philosophy of ethics. If poetry, philosophy and ethics had identical function, how could they be different subject? To denounce poetry because it is not philosophy or ideal is clearly absurd. 1) Plato’s Valuable Contribution to Literary Criticism: In spite of Plato’s prejudices against poetry and art in general he remains the first great philosopher of arts. His findings about the nature of imaginative literature and representational fine arts remain valid even today. He has laid the first foundation brick of systematic literary criticism. His valuable contributions are following: 1) According to Wimsalt and Brooks: In Ion, Plato has drawn our attention to two principles (1) being able to compose poetry is not the same as to give rational of it; (2) Poetry is not concerned with making scenic statements. 2) He is the first critic to point that literature represents in a refined version the raw material supplied by life itself. Poetry may be called imitation of recreation. But the basic fact is that it derives its subject from life itself and from the world. It cannot invent anything that is never observed. R.A Scott-James is quite right when he says: â€Å"To him we owe the first statement of the mimetic or imitation character of art.† 3) Plato also right in saying that the only aim of the poet is to please the people, though his disapproved and denounce of the poet on this account is not fair. 4) It was Plato’s insight that discovered for the first time that all the fine arts have common aims although they employ different media. Scott-James observes: â€Å"Having got thus far, we observe that he has discovered a real community between all the fine arts. A poet who makes a poem and a painter who points a picture are engaged in the same sort of activity. They do not us e4 the same medium, but otherwise they are engaged on the same task.† Thus, as a moralist, he made some errors but he gave some important starting points to judge literary art.

International Adoption

Tammy Joiner CFS 157, 6:00 PM 2 May 2012 International Adoption Offers Advantages and Disadvantages In April of 2010, an American single mother, Torry Hansen, put her foreign-adopted seven-year-old son on a plane back to Moscow—alone. She cited psychological and behavior issues as the reason for such a drastic measure, â€Å"After giving my best to this child, I am sorry to say that for the safety of my family, friends, and myself, I no longer wish to parent this child,† read the note accompanying the frightened Artyem Saviliev to the Russian Education of Ministries (Magee and Netter 2).Intercountry or international adoption is the process of establishing a permanent parent-child relationship with a child from another country through proper and legal channels (Intercountry Adoption). More Americans are opting for this means of adoption, some due to infertility but largely due to the media and celebrities bringing awareness to the mistreatment of children in foreign land s (Knox and Schacht 326-327). Although adopting abroad can be very rewarding for prospective parents, it can often result in startling challenges. Fulfilling AdvantagesThere are several benefits to international adoption. Around the world there are numerous orphaned children available to hopeful mothers and fathers. The U. S Department of State, Offices of Children’s Issues—Intercountry Adoption reports in 2011 there were over 9,300 foreign adoptions in the United States most of which were from China, Ethiopia, Russia, South Korea, and the Ukraine, respectively. With this type of adoption, parents have the option of selecting their preferences when it comes to the age (especially infants), gender, and nationality of the child.Transcontinental adoptions are usually handled by an adoption agency, the country’s adoption committee, or thorough an in-country visit (â€Å"Pros & Cons of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Another advantage and possibly the most important is the opportun ity to give a disadvantaged child a happy home. Unfortunately, young children often undergo global changes including poverty and war which may make it difficult for them to remain in their home country. For example, China’s one-child policy leaves infant girls open to abandonment.In that nation, parents would suffer harsh penalties for having an additional child; therefore they are inclined to desert any other children born into the household (â€Å"International Adoption†). Intercontinental adoption provides another way for children to receive the care, stability, and love that they need to succeed in the form of a permanent family. Indeed, this method of adoption offers an alternative for many potential parents desiring to build their families with children that are in need (Intercountry Adoption). Challenging DisadvantagesIn many cases of foreign adoption unexpected and surprising setbacks have occurred. Some of which are expensive fees, exploitation of children, an d behavior problems. Adoptive parents spend from $30,000 to $40,000 to bring their children home (Hannigan). It has been reported that due to the amount of money involved in these types of adoptions, children have been adopted fraudulently. These children are often stolen at gunpoint or the birthmother has been paid to place her child with an agency. Several adoptive parents have been awarded children that were not orphaned further complicating the process.Recently, due to like violations, the United States have suspended adoptions in Guatemala (Hannigan). These and other violations are under review from the Hague Adoption Convention—â€Å"an international agreement established to protect intercountry adoptions, preventing the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children† (â€Å"International Adoption†). Additionally, intercountry adoptive families may face unforeseen and major challenges dealing with behavior, health, and mental issues. Frequently, adoptive pare nts receive incomplete, or false information regarding the medical and background history of their children.This often leaves them unprepared to handle difficulties when they surface. In addition, there are virtually no post-adoptive services available, adding to the issue. Therefore, the adoptive parents contemplate returning the children as dependents of the State (Ruggiero). Conclusion Undisputedly, international adoption is one of the most admirable, life-changing, and rewarding experiences one can take on. I applaud those who are motivated by love to open their hearts and homes to children from any land, domestic or foreign.My grandmother was such a person; she adopted my mother when she was ten months old, after her biological mother abandoned her. Nonetheless, it is also one of the most difficult and weighty decisions one could ever make, as the outcome could have lasting and damaging effects for all involved. I fully support this form of adoption, hopefully, with global enfo rcement of regulations and policies intercountry adoption can continue; and succeed in protecting the adoptive parents, the birthparents, and most of all the children—like Artyem Saviliev. Works Cited Hannigan, Elizabeth. International Adoption Disadvantages. † Ehow Dot Com. N. p. www. ehow. com. Web. 24 Apr. 2012 â€Å"International Adoption. † Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale. 2010. N. p. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 13 Apr. 2012 Knox, David. , and Caroline Schacht. â€Å"Choices In Relationships: An Introduction To Marriage and the Family, Tenth Edition. † Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2010. Print Magee, Zoe and Sarah Netter. â€Å"Tennessee Mother Ships Adopted Son Back to Moscow Alone†. ABCNews Dot Com. 9 Apr. 2010. Pag. 1-3 www. abcnews. go. com. Web. 22 Apr. 012 â€Å"Pros & Cons of International Adoption. † Adoption Media LLC. 2012. N. p. www. international. adoption. com. Web. 13 A pr. 2012 Ruggiero, Josephine A. â€Å"Sometimes Adopted Children Must Be Returned to the State’sCare. † Child Custody. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. 2011. N. p. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. From â€Å"When Adoption Isn’t Easy. † Newsweek. 15 Apr. 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. United States, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Dept of State, Office of Children’s Issues. Intercountry Adoption. Oct 2011. N. p. State Adoption Agency. www. adoption. state. gov. Web. 20 Apr. 2012.