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So you've decided to build a boat. Maybe it's a sea kayak. Maybe it's a canoe. Maybe it's a skiff or sharpie. Congrats! Now here's how to ensure that you build the lightest, most durable boat you can, regardless of whether you're building a Dynamite Payson boat from a planset or a Chesapeake Light Craft kayak, canoe or sharpie from a kit.

Rule 1: Epoxy and Resin. Don't overdo it!

Limiting your epoxy and resin use is the best way to ensure that you build a lightweight boat. Epoy is easy to overuse. Here's how to ensure that you use only enough to seal and waterproof the wood and bind the fiberglass to the wood.

First, consider that if you overuse epoxy and resin (hereafter referred to as epoxy) - the most common error among first time boat builders - the fiberglass ends up floating on top of hull rather than adhering to it.

Second, not only does a too-thick layer of epoxy between fiberglass and wood add unnecessary weight, it compromises the strength and durability of your boat by lifting the fiberglass cloth away from the hull. You want your wooden hull to do its work of providing beauty and low weight; allow the epoxy and the fiberglass to do their work of providing strength and durability.

In short, as you apply epoxy to the fiberglass and hull, first wet out the hull with a squeegee or foam brush. Both tools drive the epoxy into the grain of the wood, sealing it. Then lay the fiberglass on top, which adheres the fiberglass to the hull. Then apply over the fiberglass with either foam brush, foam roller or autobody trowel just enough epoxy to render the fiberglass cloth transparent.

Finally, to ensure that the fiberglass lies in contact with the wood, dress the epoxy.

To dress epoxy, spread it over the fiberglass with an auto body applicator. In particular flatten and spread any epoxy pools which may have formed on flat surfaces.

Dressing saves weight, even more so when you apply the subsequent coats of epoxy wooden boat building requires come time to filling the weave of the fiberglass cloth. Take care to thin and smooth the second and third fill coats and you'll be reward with both a lighter boat and a easily sanded surface come time to paint or varnish.

Any areas you can't dress with the auto body applicator dress with a jabbing motion with the tip of a chip brush.

As you dress the epoxy, be to smooth and flatten any sags, drips, gobs, or ripples. You'll reduce, again, not only weight but the amount of sanding come time to pain or varnish your hull.

About the writer: sea kayaking guide Adam Bolonsky writes frequently for Sea Kayaking Dot Net and North American Kayak Fishing.

With the all Federal Reserve interest rate cuts lately — and with another expected at the end of April — it is no surprise that many people are wondering what interest rates have to do with things that affect their lives. One of these things is the stock market.

Interest rates and the stock market

It is true that interest rates do not have a direct effect on the stock market. Instead, they have an influence on the stock market. Interest rates influence the stock market in two main ways: through companies and through economic perception. The Federal Reserve sets interest rate policy regarding the rate at which banks lend money to each other. This is an important point to be made. When an interest rate cut is made, it has certain effects on the psyche of those involved.

Interest rates and their effects on companies. This is one of the ways interest rates affect the stock market. Companies can get loans at lower interest rates when a cut is made. When interest rates go up, it costs more to borrow money. This affects overhead costs. And it means that companies' profits are affected. So if interest rates go down, the thought is that companies will spend less money and therefore have higher profits. This invites investors to put their money in the stock market, and it raises the market values. Interest rate hikes, on the other hand, can have an opposite effect in some cases.

Interest rates and economic perception. Investors can get an idea of where the economy is headed due to interest rates. The perception is that when rates are cut, the economy is being stimulated and is likely to expand. In the case of the recent interest rate cuts, many perceived that the Fed was willing to do anything to help the stock market, and this meant that there were jumps in stock values directly following the rate cuts. On the other hand, interest rate hikes put a cap on economic expansion. They can also indicate inflation fears, and this can influence the stock market.

Obviously, though, interest rates are just one factor to consider in stock investing. Your decisions should not be based solely on interest rate cuts or hikes. There are many influences on the stock market, and sometimes perception can make the market behave in ways that are contrary to conventional knowledge. The stock market is unpredictable. But it is still possible to discern general trends.

Disclaimer: I am not an investment professional. This should not be construed as investment advice. All investment carries the risk of loss. Before investing, do your own research and/or consult with an investment professional.

Valentine's Day may be over, but one thing is for sure: the number of romantic movies never dcreases.

One movie in particular that really caught my attention is And Then Came Love. Many stories have single parents finding love after previous failed relationships. The woman in this story has a concieved a child through artficial insemination. Talk about different? After her son begins acting out and is suspected of having a learning disorder, she decides to find the donor (father of her child).

This movie is great for the nontraditional family. It includes some of the negative perceptions and pressures that society can unfairly place on a single-parent family. The question that seeks to be answered is will Julie (the main character) give in and do what society feels she should or will she do what's best for her and her son.

The cast includes Vanessa Williams, Ben Vereen, and Eartha Kitt, but this isn't one of the typical roles for Vanessa Williams. This unusual role makes for a good theatrical viewing.

Enjoy!

Any good Mormon knows that the followers of Joseph Smith inhabited Missouri until the extermination order of Governor Boggs forced them to flee the state. Despite the portray of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints of it being purely religious persecution, the saints were not wholly innocent. In the time the early followers of the movement spent in Jackson County, Missouri, the prophet declared that temple should be built on a certain spot - now known as the Temple Lot.

The land, now owned by the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) has been the site of several unsuccessful attempts to fulfill the prophecy issued by Joseph Smith back in the 19th Century. Smith himself may have laid down the first stone, bu the Mormons were forced out of Missouri shortly afterwards. After his assassination in Carthage, Illinois the newly formed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints broke off into several groups. The largest of these, the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) maintains own the temple in Navoo.

The question may be why the temple lot itself is important. Since Jackson County Missouri is, according to Mormon theology, a temple being built on this site would usher in the second coming. Although the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) owns the property, both the LDS, the CoC, and the Temple Lot group have filed various lawsuits over the years to prove which group really owns the property, so far it remains in the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) or Hendrickite hands.

Since 1844 various attempts to build such a temple on this site have been unsuccessful or met in disaster. The largest attempt to build a temple on the temple lot was ended when the Great Depression caused the backers to go bankrupt. The most recent attempt ended in the 1990s when a former member of the Hendrickites claimed he had received a revelation from God that war would soon come to the United States and burned the building down. Instead of starting a new building, the current owners of the lot simply planted trees, perhaps indicating that they do not think Jesus will be returning to the Earth any time soon.

The Temple Lot will likely remain an interesting, if little known part of Mormon lore for time to come. However, while the lot itself is empty all three factions have buildings and markers dedicated to the unique history of Jackson County, Missouri. Just remember killing Mormons has not been legal in the state since the 1970s.

Author's Note: If I have the details wrong, I will accept corrections in the comments.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Christ_(Temple_Lot)

http://www.dlmark.net/tindependence.htm

Urban sprawl is a common problem for modern cities. It is caused by the materials that are commonly used in road construction, building materials and other non-naturally occuring items. These items absorb a high amount of solar radiation from the sun and then reradiates them into the immediate area. This results in above average temperatures in city areas which can result in higher heat related illnesses. The following are a couple methods of measuring urban sprawl using GIS tools such as ArcGIS.

Confusion Matrix

For each city of research, a confusion matrix was constructed based on land use change frequencies for time periods 1971-1985 and 1985-1999. Fundamentally, the structure of these frequency tables is relatively simple. The cells going diagonally across the table from the upper left to the lower right represent no change of land use between two specified years. Values on either side of this diagonal line show the land use change. Rows display previous uses while the columns present the current use of a polygon. These frequency tables were converted into probability tables using the following formula:

Pij = Cij / Ti

Each cell value (C) was divided by the row total (T) to determine the probability (P) of change. This provides a basic model to predict future land use changes. To test for dependence and randomness the Chi-Squared (Χ2) test is used:

eij = Ri Cj/T

Χ2 =Σi Σj (Oij - eij)2/eij

The observed value (O) are taken from the confusion matrix while the expected values (e) is calculated by the Row (R) and Column (C) totals which are then divided by the total number of polygons (T).

Mean Center

Mean center is a way of tracking changes in distribution by taking the average coordinates of a point distribution and calculating the center location. The formulas used to calculate mean center are as follows:

Xmean = Σi Xi/N

YMean =Σi Yi/n

What the formulas do is add up all the point's x-coordinate (X) and y-coordinate (Y) values. Each sum is then divided by the total number of points (n) to create the mean values of all the points in the calculation. The mean center is the result of this mean x, y coordinate pair.

To apply this method to this project the data must first altered slightly. The land use layers provided by MassGIS don't contain points but rather polygons, or areas. Also, there are classes contained within the set are far more detailed then is needed. In actuality, tracking urbanization distribution only requires two classes: urban and non-urban. Urbanized areas were then selected by querying the newly formed class and exported into a separate file. The Feature-to-Point function was next used to take the polygon features of this new map and convert them into point data. Lastly, the mean center was finally calculated using the points. This was done over all time periods for each city. Maps showing the results of the mean center analysis can be viewed here at the end of the report.

The concepts of majority rule and minority rights are the keystone of our free governmental system. We vote for our representatives and the one with the most votes goes on to act for the majority; the majority being the collective people who voted for the representative. That representative speaks on behalf of the majority who voted him in and votes in such a way as to embody the will of that majority.

However, this system is not flawless. What about those who are not in the majority? This group is known as the minority. While the minority is not being indirectly represented by the politician like the majority, the minority still retains their basic rights and expects the majority to show consideration for those rights as well. The minority also knows that while they may not be in the majority at this time they will not always be in the minority on every issue. The minority accepts that in order for our government to work competently the will of the people, in the case the majority, must be fulfilled.

The framers of the Constitution insisted that an indirect democracy approach to government would be the best methodology in creating our new nation. To ensure that the will of all people would be carried out and that the minority would still maintain their basic rights a system of “checks and balances” was established and the right to free speech and assembly insured through the Constitution.

In Articles I, II, and III of the Constitution the duties of the three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, are all laid out by the framers. Each branch has its own specific set of obligations. For example, the judicial branch interprets laws. However, each branch cannot function without the other. For instance, while judicial branch interprets the laws, the legislative branch makes the laws. This is an example of the balance of power the framers of the Constitution enacted to keep things efficient and fair.

The framers also sanctioned the Bill of Rights, specifically, Amendment I which grants citizens their basic freedoms. Included in those freedoms are the freedom of speech and the right to assemble. These civil liberties are fundamental in that they ensure all elections will be rational. Public protests permit the minority a voice in political undertakings.

The notion of majority rule with respect for minority rights guarantees that no political power will ever be more dominant than the other. It also makes certain that while the majority may have the obvious power the will of the minority will also be considered. That is why this attitude toward government is so important.
There are several current examples of the concept of majority rule with respect to minority rights. The first topic that comes to mind is that of gun control. While it is the will of the majority (and a Constitutional right) that people be able to possess firearms, the laws concerning the control of those firearms were executed in respect for the rights of the minority to feel safe. 

Another subject that shows the majority respecting the rights of the minority is abortion. The majority feel that abortion should be a choice available to all women. Nevertheless, there are restrictions on how late in the pregnancy women can receive an abortion. 

A hot topic right now, the issue of same-sex marriages, is a perfect illustration of this model of government. The majority of the nation feels that same-sex marriages should not be permitted in the United States. However, in respect to the minority opinion (that same-sex marriages should be legal), many of the citizens in the majority group feel that same-sex couples should be allowed civil unions. 

The concept of majority rule with respect to minority rights boils down to one word: compromise. Without this concept and the resulting compromises our government would not be the model of efficiency it is today.

This article is one of a series called Spanish Tidbits for Beginners. Readers need a general working vocabulary base, as these lessons focus on specific grammar and vocabulary content.

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. If you have read “Nouns and Their Articles in Spanish,” you learned a few things about nouns in Spanish. An adjective is a word that describes a noun. In Spanish, any adjective used must agree with the noun it modifies in number and gender.

Here is a brief review of how nouns have both number and gender, then we'll talk about how to make adjectives agree with their nouns. We'll also give you a list of wonderful adjectives you can use to talk about people and other things.

Number and Gender of Nouns

Nouns are either masculine (m) or feminine (f) and singular (s) or plural (p), called gender and number, respectively. Whether a noun is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural is indicated by its definite article.

el (m,s)

la (f,s)

los (m,p)

las (f,p)

Adjectives Must Agree with Their Nouns

Adjectives must always agree with nouns in both number and in gender. In other words, if a noun is masculine singular, for example, the adjective modifying the noun must be masculine singular, too.

el carro rojo the red car

la verdura deliciosa the delicious vegetable

los carros rojos the red cars

las verduras deliciosas the delicious vegetables

Notice that the masculine singular noun carro is modified by the masculine singular adjective rojo. Rojo is red, a color. Colors are adjectives that almost always have obvious gender. I like to call adjectives like this gender appropriate.

Here is an easy formula:

If a gender appropriate adjective is masculine singular, it ends in -o.

If a gender appropriate adjective is feminine singular, it ends in -a.

If a gender appropriate adjective is masculine plural, it ends in -os.

If a gender appropriate adjective is feminine plural, it ends in -as.

If you are not sure what the gender of a noun is, you can look it up in a Spanish-English dictionary. It will say m. for masculine, and f. for feminine. If a noun you want to modify is plural, it will almost always end in -s.

How I Can Make Adjectives Agree?

Put the correct ending on the adjective so that it agrees with the noun. If the noun is masculine singular, put the masculine singular ending on the adjective, and so on. In the case of adjectives ending in -o or -a, it is easy to adjust the endings to make them agree with the nouns they modify.

Examples

masculine singular: contento

feminine singular: contenta

masculine plural: contentos

feminine plural: contentas

Neutral Adjectives

But some adjectives end in consonants or e. When an adjective ends in -e, do not change it for the singular, but add -s in the plural. When an adjective ends in a consonant, keep its ending in the singular and add -es in the plural.

Examples

masc. & fem. (neutral) singular: inteligente

masc. & fem. (neutral) plural: inteligentes

masc. & fem. (neutral) singular: azul

masc. & fem. (neutral) plural: azules

Some adjectives do end in -o but aren't masculine, or do end in -a but aren't feminine. Deportista meaning athletic is one like that. It is not automatically feminine. It is whatever gender is necessary to modify the noun. In that case, keep the -a, regardless of whether it is masculine or feminine,but add the -s in the plural, deportistas.

Examples

masculine singular: chico deportista athletic boy

feminine singular: chica deportista athletic girl

masculine plural: chicos deportista athletic boys

feminine plural: chicas deportista athletic girls

-dor or -dora

Some adjectives end in -dor or -dora. Adjectives that end in -dor are masculine singular; adjectives that end in -dora are feminine singular. The masculine plural ending is -dores; the feminine plural ending is -doras.

Remember - The best thing you can do to make sure the adjective agrees with the noun is to check the article of the noun.

Most of the time adjectives come after the nouns they modify.

el chico alto

las chicas bonitas

There are exceptions you will notice throughout your studies, but aren't discussed here.

A List of Personal Adjectives

Here's a helpful list of adjectives you can use to describe people, either what they're like or how they're feeling. The easy thing about using adjectives to modify people is that people are either masculine or feminine (man-woman, boy-girl, father-mother, etc.). So, keep the gender of the person in mind, then make sure you make the modifying adjective agree with him or her or them.

The first list are gender appropriate adjectives. The second list are neutral adjectives, but will still need to be singular or plural.

Gender Appropriate Adjectives

cansado, -a tired

ocupado, -a busy

enfermo, -a sick

aburrido, -a bored

contento, -a happy, content

nervioso, -a nervous

excitado, -a excited

perezoso, -a lazy

tacaño, -a greedy, stingy

generoso, -a generous

artístico, -a artistic

callado,-a quiet

ordenado,-a organized

desordenado,-a disorganized

atrevido,-a daring

alto, -a tall

bajo, -a short

pequeño, -a small

bonito, -a pretty

feo, -a ugly

simpático, -a nice

antipático, -a not nice

viejo, -a old

atractivo, -a attractive

cariñoso, -a dear

guapo, -a handsome

pelirrojo, -a redheaded

moreno, -a brunette

rubio, -a blond

Neutral or Semi-Neutral Adjectives

triste sad

trabajador, -a hard-working

paciente patient

impaciente impatient

deportista athletic

prudente cautious

inteligente intelligent

grande big

mayor older

menor younger

joven young

interesante interesting

Practice Exercise

Add an adjective that agrees with the noun given. For subject pronouns, review this lesson to determine number and gender. No specific answers are given here because you can use any from the list. The answer key will only tell the number and gender of the noun using the abbreviations ms, fs, mp, and fp.

1. El amigo

2. ella

3. La amiga

4. Los compañeros

5. ellas

6. La profesora

7. El profesor

8. Mamá

9. Los novios

10.Nosotros

11. Las hermanas

12. Nosotras

13. Papá

14. Los abuelos

Answers

1) ms; 2) fs; 3) fs; 4) mp; 5) fp; 6) fs; 7) ms; fs; 9) mp; 10) mp; 11) fp; 12) fp; 13) ms; 14) mp

As I have mentioned many times throughout the past several reviews, I am the Editor-in-Chief of Teen Trend Magazine. As Editor, I get all sorts of free schwag that I assign to writers to test and review. Since the companies that send us the items are so kind to send them to us in the first place, I do my best to find someone who likes the item to give it a review. A little biased, sure, but that's the magazine business.

When BeneFit Cosmetics offered to send a bunch of products for us to test for the Flavor of the Month column, the writers that new about it were thrilled. (Since I only get x amount of items, I only tell x amount of writers.) After all, BeneFit has an awesome reputation for high-end products.

The Zaparella line of acne products sounded as though it would be perfect for our readers. I kept the Wooosh! Facial Cleanser for myself and assigned Ka-Pow!, Boo-Boo Zap, Dr. Feelgood, Honey, Snap Out Of It and EyeCon to other writers. I was absolutely thrilled with the Wooosh! and thought about going to the mall to pick up the other products in that line. My skin had never looked better.

A couple days later, I received a phone call from Julie, who was given the Ka-Pow! to test out. She hated it. It dried out her skin very badly, and caused more redness than she could handle. Then again, Julie has extremely sensitive skin. I told her to bring it back to me, and I would give her a different product to try out.

Since Julie only used Ka-Pow! a couple of times, I decided to use it myself. After all, it received a negative comment from one writer… I figured I would give it a go and see what happened. I have much different skin than Julie does, and am prone to a large zit on my chin every now and again. Since I am on Provera (more on that later), my skin is breaking out a little more than usual.

Unfortunately, my skin type didn't matter. Julie was right in her initial assessment of Ka-Pow.

Ka-Pow is a little tube/stick that looks a lot like a tube of mascara. However, it is sold in a box much like that of Wooosh!. The box for Ka-Pow! is 5 inches tall and 1 inch square. It seems a little excessive for the small tube inside. Perhaps if they cut back on the packaging, it wouldn't be so expensive…

The tube idea is terrific. You see, the Ka-Pow! is actually inside the tube. You twist it, much like lipstick, and the cream comes through the top of the applicator. This prevents users from using their fingers (which contain germs and oil) to rub the Ka-Pow! onto their blemishes.

Unfortunately, the cream itself doesn't do anything positive to my blemishes. On every zit I have applied Ka-Pow! to, it has become red and inflamed. In some cases, it looks like I am trying to sprout another head. My skin has never been so bad. To make matters worse, the zit (that has now quadrubled in size, by the way), seems to stick around for days longer than it usually would.

For $20, this is a complete waste of money. The 2% Salicylic acid should work and destroy zits, but it doesn't. Stick with that $5 tube of Clearasil. You, your skin and your wallet will be much happier in the long run.

Recommended: No
Amount Paid (US$): 20.00
Skin Compatibility: Worsened my skin
Fragrance: Unscented

What are Bass Tabs

Bass tabs are a form of bass guitar notation that is popular on the Internet. It is different from standard musical notation, and does not require prior knowledge of scales, notes, or any other specialized symbol. Instead, it uses they keyboard's symbols to replicate the bass guitar neck, allowing beginner bass players the ability to play specialized riffs without even knowing what key it is in.

Bass tabs are inherently limited by their nature, but allow for experimentation with bass lines that would otherwise be beyond ones reach.

Bass tabs are essentially four horizontal lines that represent the four main strings of the bass guitar. Each is usually labeled with the standard tuning of the bass guitar, E, A, D and G. The E string is on the bottom, and the G string is on the top so that looking at the tab on the screen, or looking down at the bass's neck in your lap the perspective is the same.

G|——–|——–|——–|——–|
D|——–|——–|——–|——–|
A|——–|——–|——–|–1-3–|
E|——–|–0-1–|-1–3–|——–|

How to Read Bass Tabs

Reading bass tabs is pretty easy once you get a basic understanding of what everything you see means. To begin, you will notice that the majority of the tab is made of up lines. Horizontal ( - ) and vertical ( | ). The horizontal lines represent space, or nothing. They are simply there to fill in where you do not play. The vertical lines are representative of “bars”, typically a four count of 4/4 time. Most of the time, simply listening to the song will reveal the timing of the notes being played, so if you do not know how to find time signature of a song, do not worry.

Next, you will see a series of numbers on the bass tab. These numbers represent which fret the note is represented by. The number “0″ represents playing that string without any fretting, also known as an open string. The number “1″, for example, on the E string, would represent playing an “F”, and the number “3″, would then be an G.

The timing of the note being played is the most difficult part of bass tabs, as it is often inconsistent, and often wrong. The best way to learn the timing of the necessary notes is to listen to the song itself. However, some song tablature will give you hints to the rhythm. For example, if there there are 8 G notes played on the E string for the second and third bars, then this would mean that in one bar, you must play 8 times, or eighth notes.

Tips for Bass Tabs

For a lot of bass tabs, this is all the information that you need. There are more advanced forms of notation that are dependent on more complicated and complex rhythms. For example:

“h” - hammer on. Ex. 7h8
This would be where you would play the 7th fret normally, and then use another finger on the fretting hand to “hit” or “hammer” the next note by playing it only with that finger, not by strumming or plucking at the same time.

“p” - pull off. Ex. 8h7
This is similar to the hammer on, in that it is dependent only on the fretting hand. This time, after playing the 8th fret normally, you would release, or “pull off” the 8th fret while already holding the 7th.

“/” - slide up. Ex. 2/10
In this case, the second fret would be the initial note. After it was played, you would slide the fretting finger up the fret board until you reached the tenth fret.

“\” - slide down. Ex. 10\2
This is the same as the slide up, instead the direction of the slide would be reversed, from the tenth to the second fret.

One unexpected statistic that I ran across about Kuwait was the female to male ratio. “It is 1.57 males for every female and that the literacy rate among women is 77.50%.” Kuwaiti Info-Office ( 2004,Para) I think that is high to what I thought a Muslim Country would be in the Middle East in both cases. The men out numbering the women and the women in such a violent region life expectancy being 78.2 years didn't add up in my mind. Then I thought about more after I read more about Kuwait and how they are not a violent country and then the numbers made more since. Then I also read, “providing equal opportunity in the education of Kuwaiti females has been an important factor in liberalizing women traditional roles in Kuwait. Kuwaiti women are guaranteed a free public education through the university level as well as free health care.” (Kuwaiti info office, 2004) 

Amiri (Crown Prince) has made Decrees in this century forward from women suffrage to economic liberation. This peaceful climate was nothing like the Jihad against women and their rebelling express buy these words “We reject the reprobate! His God we repudiate! His religion we loathe and hate!” ( C Brooks, 1995). Now that we have some insight on Kuwaiti women lets look at Kuwait itself. 

The country of Kuwait located at the head of the Arabian Gulf sets between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait has a population of 2,274 million. There are 798,200 Kuwait nationals included. The majority of this population has visas to work in Kuwait. Kuwait is only 17,820 square kilometers in size. The country is small compared to its neighbors. As for the weather in Kuwait it is hot and dry with temperatures between 110 and 120 degrees with high humidity in August. Winters are short and somewhat cool and spring is pleasant. 

Many Kuwaitis are Sunni Muslims, 25%. By law people can practice Islam and Christianity in Kuwait, but they can't be citizens if they don't practice Islam. The country has no political parties. In recent History Sheik Jabber A-Ahmed Al-Sabah addressed as “His Highness” (CQ Press, 1979-Quarterly). 

Under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, Iraq sent his troops into Kuwait on the eve of August 2, 1990. The occupation united most of the International community; the other Arabs in Saudi Arabia didn't have much choice except united to some degree with the coalition forces to oust the Iraqis regime out of Kuwait. Never the less another issue today in 2004, which seems to be just as pressing to Kuwait's is women's right to vote. The Amir issued a decree granting women the right to vote and hold elected office in May 1999. That year in November, The National Assembly struck the decree down. This demonstrated to me how Kuwait is behind developed countries. 

Nonetheless women play a major role in the political arena. Women also played an important role in liberating Kuwait from Iraq during the Gulf-War. There are some prominent women in Kuwait. National women of the year for 1996-1997 Dr. Rasha A-Sabah Under-Secretary of Higher Education-a trusted advisor of the Amir. Now that we have explored some of the aspects of Kuwaiti politics I think focusing on the Holidays in Kuwait is adding substance to what Kuwait is all about. January 1st is New Years day, February 25th is Kuwait National Day and February 26th is Kuwaiti Liberation Day. Religious Holiday dates are set according to Hijra (Islamic) Calendar. One such holiday is Mohammad birthday. Who is the Muslims Prophet? Kuwaitis celebrate Hijra New Year. At the end of Ramadah most of the time a three day holiday they celebrate FOR Eid Al-Fitr, the “breaking of the feast.” Kuwait's day of independence is June 19, 1961. The constitution was approved and promulgates November 11, 1962. The Amir executive power through the council of ministers (the government), which was held by a priminister, the Amir chose himself, after a traditional constitution was evoked. The present Amir, Sheikh Jaber A-Amed A-jaber AL-Sabah since 1/31/1977 and the prime Minister is Sheikh Saad Abdullah Al-Salim AL-Sabah since 2/08/1978. 

The Judicial System is based on the Egyptian model, Amalgam of Islamic law, and English law, with an Ottoman civil code. The family and personal matters are handled under religious law. The religions' being gleaned is Christian, Sunni, and Shia. Although there are no political parties there are nominations and formal gatherings that back theses nominated individuals in the groups that are gathered. To me it is ironic that women can't vote although they have such a high level of education on an average. 

Iraq accepted a mutually accepted agreement boarder base on earlier agreements historically that were demarcated by the UN Commission in 1972. Iraq accepted the agreement in 1994. Kuwait being sandwiched between Iraq and Saudi Arabia Makes it even more venerable than other small countries in other locations. The protection from the UN and allies has kept the small country Kuwait independent. Kuwait is slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey. 

Through consultation with the ruling family the Amir chooses his successor. The government being nominal constitutional monarchy the successor (Crone Prince) must be confirmed by parliament. He becomes the head of state, yet his power is restricted because of the constitution. 

The economy is good. The Kuwaiti's control about 10% of the world's oil reserves-94 billion barrels. Kuwait's national budget is estimated to have produced 1,836 million barrels of oil each day for fiscal year 1999-2000. Since w World war 11oil has been the means of defining Kuwait's economy. This makes the public education and health care system thrive extensively, along with the other major source of income-overseas investment. That earns Kuwait more than the oil does. 

Culturally on the radio Arabic and English is on FM and AM frequencies. This made me think I was reading about a western country when the radio was portrayed as being so liberal. 

Once a prisoner of war in February 26, 1991, Kuwait then was liberated from its powerful neighbor who turns out to be an enemy Iraq. The occupation after set the stage for humanitarian efforts that has moved Kuwait to the center of the world stage and made it a model for progressive Middle Eastern countries I believe. The Semi-Democratization of Kuwait is evident; door-to-door political gatherings and rally's persist. 

Assembly's had been dissolved in 1976 then again in 1986 after a brief reconvening in 1981. After the Iraq occupation the Amir held elections fulfilling his promise. He held elections in 1996. 

Kuwait has come a long way since the beginning of it's modern day history of the eighteenth century, the time of the founding of Kuwait city by Anaiza tribe members the first settlers and founders who were from Najd (Central Arab). The settlers appointed a Sheik, Al Sabah, to administer the affairs of the Kuwaiti people and for security. They need leadership to “represent them in dealings with the Ottoman Empire,” as it states in our text (CQ Press). From the early dealings with the Ottoman Empire to the dealings in the ladder part of the 20th century Kuwait had with Iraq they have come a long way and have a bright future in the 21st century.