Producer Henry Salomon and the National Broadcasting Company introduced Victory at Sea in 1952. The classic television documentary ran for 26 half-hour episodes, chronicling American naval operations in World War II.

attention and morality should be given to children who deserves to be.

From the comfort of their plush offices and five to six figure salaries, self-appointed NGO's often denounce child labor as their employees rush from one five star hotel to another, 00 subnotebooks and PDA's in hand. The hairsplitting distinction made by the ILO between 'child work' and 'child labor' conveniently targets impoverished countries while letting its budget contributors - the developed ones - off-the-hook.

Reports regarding child labor surface periodically. Children crawling in mines, faces ashen, body deformed. The agile fingers of famished infants weaving soccer balls for their more privileged counterparts in the USA. Tiny figures huddled in sweatshops, toiling in unspeakable conditions. It is all heart-rending and it gave rise to a veritable not-so-cottage industry of activists, commentators, legal eagles, scholars, and opportunistically sympathetic politicians.

Ask the denizens of Thailand, sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, or Morocco and they will tell you how they regard this altruistic hyperactivity - with suspicion and resentment. Underneath the compelling arguments lurks an agenda of trade protectionism, they wholeheartedly believe. Stringent - and expensive - labor and environmental provisions in international treaties may well be a ploy to fend off imports based on cheap labor and the competition they wreak on well-ensconced domestic industries and their political stooges.

This is especially galling since the sanctimonious West has amassed its wealth on the broken backs of slaves and kids. The 1900 census in the USA found that 18 percent of all children - almost two million in all - were gainfully employed. The Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional laws banning child labor as late as 1916. This decision was overturned only in 1941.

The GAO published a report last week in which it criticized the Labor Department for paying insufficient attention to working conditions in manufacturing and mining in the USA, where many children are still employed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics pegs the number of working children between the ages of 15-17 in the USA at 3.7 million. One in 16 of these worked in factories and construction. More than 600 teens died of work-related accidents in the last ten years.

Child labor - let alone child prostitution, child soldiers, and child slavery - are phenomena best avoided. But they cannot and should not be tackled in isolation. Nor should underage labor be subjected to blanket castigation. Working in the gold mines or fisheries of the Philippines is hardly comparable to waiting on tables in a Nigerian or, for that matter, American restaurant.

There are gradations and hues of child labor. That children should not be exposed to hazardous conditions, long working hours, used as means of payment, physically punished, or serve as sex slaves is commonly agreed. That they should not help their parents plant and harvest may be more debatable.

As Miriam Wasserman observes in 'Eliminating Child Labor', published in the Federal Bank of Boston's 'Regional Review', second quarter of 2000, it depends on 'family income, education policy, production technologies, and cultural norms.' About a quarter of children under-14 throughout the world are regular workers. This statistic masks vast disparities between regions like Africa (42 percent) and Latin America (17 percent).

In many impoverished locales, child labor is all that stands between the family unit and all-pervasive, life threatening, destitution. Child labor declines markedly as income per capita grows. To deprive these bread-earners of the opportunity to lift themselves and their families incrementally above malnutrition, disease, and famine - is an apex of immoral hypocrisy.

Quoted by 'The Economist', a representative of the much decried Ecuador Banana Growers Association and Ecuador's Labor Minister, summed up the dilemma neatly: 'Just because they are under age doesn't mean we should reject them, they have a right to survive. You can't just say they can't work, you have to provide alternatives.'< Regrettably, the debate is so laden with emotions and self-serving arguments that the facts are often overlooked.

The outcry against soccer balls stitched by children in Pakistan led to the relocation of workshops ran by Nike and Reebok. Thousands lost their jobs, including countless women and 7000 of their progeny. The average family income - anyhow meager - fell by 20 percent. Economists Drusilla Brown, Alan Deardorif, and Robert Stern observe wryly:

'While Baden Sports can quite credibly claim that their soccer balls are not sewn by children, the relocation of their production facility undoubtedly did nothing for their former child workers and their families.'

Such examples abound. Manufacturers - fearing legal reprisals and 'reputation risks' (naming-and-shaming by overzealous NGO's) - engage in preemptive sacking. German garment workshops fired 50,000 children in Bangladesh in 1993 in anticipation of the American never-legislated Child Labor Deterrence Act.

Quoted by Wasserstein, former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, notes:

'Stopping child labor without doing anything else could leave children worse off. If they are working out of necessity, as most are, stopping them could force them into prostitution or other employment with greater personal dangers. The most important thing is that they be in school and receive the education to help them leave poverty.'

Contrary to hype, three quarters of all children work in agriculture and with their families. Less than 1 percent work in mining and another 2 percent in construction. Most of the rest work in retail outlets and services, including 'personal services' - a euphemism for prostitution. UNICEF and the ILO are in the throes of establishing school networks for child laborers and providing their parents with alternative employment.

But this is a drop in the sea of neglect. Poor countries rarely proffer education on a regular basis to more than two thirds of their eligible school-age children. This is especially true in rural areas where child labor is a widespread blight. Education - especially for women - is considered an unaffordable luxury by many hard-pressed parents. In many cultures, work is still considered to be indispensable in shaping the child's morality and strength of character and in teaching him or her a trade.

'The Economist' elaborates:

'In Africa children are generally treated as mini-adults; from an early age every child will have tasks to perform in the home, such as sweeping or fetching water. It is also common to see children working in shops or on the streets. Poor families will often send a child to a richer relation as a housemaid or houseboy, in the hope that he will get an education.'

A solution recently gaining steam is to provide families in poor countries with access to loans secured by the future earnings of their educated offspring. The idea - first proposed by Jean-Marie Baland of the University of Namur and James A. Robinson of the University of California at Berkeley - has now permeated the mainstream.

Even the World Bank has contributed a few studies, notably, in June, 'Child Labor: The Role of Income Variability and Access to Credit Across Countries' authored by Rajeev Dehejia of the NBER and Roberta Gatti of the Bank's Development Research Group.

Abusive child labor is abhorrent and should be banned and eradicated. All other forms should be phased out gradually. Developing countries already produce millions of unemployable graduates a year - 100,000 in Morocco alone. Unemployment is rife and reaches, in certain countries - such as Macedonia - more than one third of the workforce. Children at work may be harshly treated by their supervisors but at least they are kept off the far more menacing streets. Some kids even end up with a skill and are rendered employable.sc

The children of Liberia face a difficult future. They have all missed out on their education and growing up with their parents and families.a:1:{s:10:'video_meta';a:4:{s:10:'embed_code';s:720:'

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The Royal Logistics Corps is the arm of the British Army that deals with supply, rail and road haulage and distribution. The Army would be lost without adequate supplies, both in peace and wartime, and the Corps is their link to ammunition, essentials and medical supplies. The lorries that they and other specialists use are the backbone of any Army operation. We take a look at the vehicles some of the world's bravest lorry drivers use...

Close Support Tanker

Like many of the Army's vehicles and tanks, the Close support tanker does exactly what it says on the tin. Less a lorry than a tanker truck, it comes in three variants - none of which are your run of the mill road haulage vehicles: the 15,000-litre Tactical Air Refueller and the 18,000 and 20,000-litre Close Support Tanker (one for fuel and the other water). Other lorry drivers should take note not to mess with it if seen on the motorway - it sports enhanced, blast-proof armour and can be fitted with a 7.62mm machine gun.

All Terrain Mobility Platform

The All Terrain Mobility Platform, or ATMP, is the modern equivalent of the Second World War Bren Gun Carrier. Though it looks like a quad bike with more attitude, the ATMP is a front line logistics vehicle. Its' larger liquid, goods and road haulage brothers and sisters might be in danger of looking down their noses at the ATMP due to its diminutive size, but it excels at what it's designed for. It can carry deceptively heavy loads, is amphibious, and is most often used by light or airborne regiments in areas where lorries aren't practical. And like many army logistics vehicles, it isn't defenceless; it can be upgraded with the GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun) which fires 7.62mm rounds at a rate of 750 a minute. A small but very powerful haulage vehicle.

Motorcycles

You wouldn't think motorbikes would be used in the British Army, but they prove excellent for courier services and document delivery. But once again, these aren't the usual motorbikes. Specially modified Harley Davidson MT350Es and Honda R250s are used, increasing the load a bike can take as well as having a special pannier for the SA80 infantry rifle.

Heavy Equipment Transporter

The Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) is one of the largest available types of road haulage the Army employs.

Challenger II main battle tanks don't get to the war zone on their own, and the HET is the vehicle that moves them from place to place. They are also used as relocation and haulage transporters for immobilised tanks, taking them from the war zone to areas where the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers can re-track them and get them back into working order. The HET can move a huge amount of weight (72 tonnes in total) thanks to its Caterpillar C18 turbocharged diesel engine. It dwarfs all other forms of road haulage, and embodies the pride and might of the British Army and her logistics and engineering corps.

This is a research paper I wrote for a high school history class. I discuss the technology involved with World War 2.

 

"I give snatches; I describe episodes; I make-as it were-snapshots in time; I reflect personal recollections, thoughts, experiences, and views of specific individuals.." those are the words of Marius Broekmeyer the author of Stalin, the Russians, and Their War, 1941-1945. This line represents the main idea of the book and its thesis. The author is providing the reader with authentic memoirs and thoughts of people who lived through that horrible war and thus he is taking the reader closer to the battle field than ever.

This book was not written to show readers specific battles or military engagements of the Soviet Union in WWII, but it was meant to be a mirror of feelings experienced by Soviet people during long years of hunger and suffering. The author has collected more than a thousand actual official records written by almost five hundred persons in order to illustrate as vividly as possible horrifying impact which war had on ordinary Soviet people. Obviously such approach makes the book more believable, as the author himself is not a former Soviet Union citizen and thus cannot relate completely to their lives. Therefore personal accounts of participants and also spectators, although all people were a part of the bloody mess, give a more profound truthful and authentic idea of what was really happening behind the iron curtain.

The variety of viewpoints from people of different classes and occupations provides a deeper understanding of situation during war period. The fact that Broekmeyer left collected data without almost any interpretation offers a strong evidence and trustworthy source for investigation of war as the Soviets have seen it. The author relies basically on this information entirely and presents it to the reader in such a vague state that the reader has to interpret data individually. Clearly this technique has strong and week sides at the same time. People who are unfamiliar with the history of Soviet Union and war time would probably find it difficult to understand such collection of personal horrifying stories in terms of history that was being built at that time. Readers will be able to only relate to the emotional aspect of the book without support of historical facts that the author does not eagerly provide. It is important to note that Broekmeyer did not intend to write a purely historical work enumerating bold facts, but rather portray war from the point of view of Soviet nation. No other people in the world got to experience Nazism from their native government; this emotional despair that was present throughout military years was hanging over a huge country and caused more suffering than the Germans.

Unsystematic anthology of memoirs does not satisfy historical requirements and lacks a balanced and logical structure. This is a major weakness of the book, which however does not make it less appealing in a sense of genuine facts and their variety for those seeking opinions from "the other side". Although, as was already said, this works is short of perspective view and does not give an explanation of how this Soviet war impacted the rest of the world, it does submerge the reader into the realm of fears and hopelessness that were reality for Soviets as a separate nation. The pages of the book represent diary of a huge country in struggle with the Germans as well as Soviet doctrine. By writing in the language of emotion the author omits many important political facts that would be essential in a historical work. On the other hand, the possibility of seeing this war through eyes of witnesses leads to a more objective outlook on problems that Soviets were experiencing.

The initial idea of the author to show how horrible WWII was for the Soviet people is definitely well illustrated in the course of examination of first-hand accounts. On their basis he proves that WWII in other counties was completely different from that same war that was taking place on the territory of Eastern Europe. A great literary value of Stalin, the Russians, and Their War, 1941-1945 rests in the minds of common people as it was taken from real life. Historical events could only be guessed in personal tragic accounts but such was the ultimate goal of the book and the author did succeed in portraying WWII in his unique way.

Visit Ho Chi Minh City in your vacation is a good decision. But you need to know a little about Ho Chi Minh City before you come to here. This information will help you to have a good and safe trip in Ho Chi Minh City.

Visit Ho Chi Minh City in your vacation is a good decision. You will not have any regret when you come here. There are many interesting things are waiting for you. But you need to know a little about Ho Chi Minh City before you come to here. This information will help you to have a good and safe trip in Ho Chi Minh City.