Important Info Concerning Politics In Portugal

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Posted on 24th July 2010 by Paul Stubbs in Politics

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Portuguese politics managed at several various levels. The particular constitution and the laws made the first level. This formal framework of government often seemed strict, legalistic, and impenetrable, especially to outsiders. Yet, these types of constitutional and legal structures had been more obvious and much more easily understood compared to other levels of the Portuguese system of government.

The second level consisted of political parties and interest groups. Because of the legalistic tradition, a strict parting existed within Portugal in between of the formal governmental system and the world associated with political parties and interest groups. Portuguese tended to adhere to their formal system of government but to degrade political parties and interest groups. As Portuguese democracy prospered from the 1980s, nevertheless, political parties and interest groups obtained higher acceptance as a fundamental element of the program of government.

Unlike these first couple of levels, the third level of Portuguese politics was largely unseen and ended up being one of the most tough to outsiders to penetrate and understand. This particular level consisted of the actual informal contacts, family relationships, interpersonal ties, kinships, and patronage networks which were so much the center of the Portuguese political system. Rarely been vocal of or described by the Portuguese, did these interactions allow the Portuguese system to function and to reduce through vast levels of red tape.

Most of the informal networks that had long steered Portuguese matters were severely interrupted through the Revolution of 1974 when many displaced their property as well as their positions. On the other hand, several systems had been regained in succeeding years, and others were formed through the making new of completely new political and financial affairs. Understanding of this particular third level of Portuguese politics was crucial for the complete understanding of the particular formal and also the informal dynamics within the Portuguese politics.

Since the formation on the democratic republic and its constitution in 1976, four main political parties surfaced; the PCP (Partida Comunista Portugus), PS (Partido Socialista), PPD/PSD (Partido Popular Democratico/Partido Social Democrtica) and CDS (Centro Democrtica Social). The PS and the PSD control the national and regional governments and also have related base politics, each with concentration on market economic system and pro- Europe. The President is actually chosen for five years, is actually the commander in chief of the armed forces, and may work two sequential terms. The other primary elements of the government would be the the Assembly of the Republic and Council of Ministers and the judiciary. The parliament includes 230 members who serve 4-year terms and are elected using a form of proportional representation. The two main independent zones of the Azores and Madeira have had their own legislative power and governments ever since 1976, and distribute legislative proposals to the Portuguese Parliament (Assembleia da Republica).

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The Ancient Chinese Lunar Calendar

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Posted on 28th February 2010 by Owen Jones in Politics

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Before their implementation of the Western solar calendar system, the Chinese almost exclusively followed their own lunar calendar for determining the times of planting and harvesting and festival days. Although people in China today use the Western calendar for almost all business, governmental and practical matters of daily life, the old method still serves as the basis for working out numerous recurring holidays. This coexistence of two calendar schemes has long been accepted by the people of China.

However, this does not only apply to China, it also happens in most other Eastern countries, like Thailand, and most Arabic countries.

A lunar month is determined by measuring the period of time required for the moon to finish its full cycle of 29 and a half days, a standard that makes the lunar year a full eleven days shorter than its solar counterpart. This disparity is made up every 19 years by the addition of seven lunar months.

The 12 lunar months are further divided into 24 solar divisions characterized by the four seasons and times of heat and cold, all of which bear a close relationship to the annual cycle of agricultural work.

The Chinese calendar – very much like the Hebrew calendar- is a combination of the solar and lunar calendars in that it attempts to have its years coincide with the tropical year and its months coincide with the synodic months. It is not surprising that a few similarities exist between the Chinese and the Hebrew calendar.

For instance, an ordinary year has 12 months, a leap year has 13 months. An ordinary year has 353, 354, or 355 days, a leap year has 383, 384, or 385 days. When determining what a Chinese year will be like, one needs to make a couple of astronomical calculations.

First of all, you have to work out the dates for the new moons. In these instances, a new Moon is the completely black Moon (that is to say, when the Moon is in conjunction with the Sun), not the first visible crescent, as is used in the Islamic and Hebrew calendars. The date of a new moon is then the first day of a new month.

The reason why the majority of countries which had their own calendars had to drop them in favour of the Western, Julian calendar that we use today, is business. First the British and then the Americans ran international business and they used the Gregorian calendar. Anyone who sought to work with them had to follow suit. This is why national policy often differs from local custom in Third World countries.

The government desires to deal on the International markets, but the ordinary family in the country can not. So, the government took up the Gregorian calendar but the people only pay lip service to it. I live in Thailand and people here do not even use the 24 hour day divided into two halves. Their day has four sections of six hours each and the first part starts at 6AM, not midnight. Therefore, they have four 4 o’clocks a day, for instance but no 7 o’clocks. They are also 543 years ahead of us, although this is more common, for instance in Muslim countries.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our web site now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Cuba Has Now Become Highly Interested In Religion

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Posted on 12th January 2010 by Aaron Maurette in Politics

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The once atheist communist government of Cuba has now taken a high interest in Religion. A Christmas message was read on National television by the Roman Catholic of Cuba – now second year running. The message that Cardinal Jaime Ortega conveyed in a past show was full of gratitude, as Cuban Americans were finally able to reunite with their families. This was due to President Barack Obama removing the restrictions that originally prohibited any connection with Cuba and America.

The complete message was aired on Cuba’s government controlled television. A spokesperson for Havana’s Conference of Bishops, Orlando Marquez confirmed that the authorities had planned to show a Christmas concert that took place at the National Cathedral.

A 67 year old retired mother Elisa Ramos, stated; for the first time in 12 years her son will spend Christmas in Cuba. It’s the greatest thing that has happened to them.

After Jaime Ortega’s broadcast, there have been some growing signs of some improvement between the relationship of the government and the church.

In November 2008, thousands of faith believers gathered for the beatification of Friar Jose Olallo Valdes in the city of Camaguey. Amazingly, President Raul Castro also took part in this.

Raul took over his brothers place Fidel Castro as president earlier in the year of 2008. His first diplomatic meeting was with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Pope Benedict XVI’s secretary of state. Bertone was commemorating the 10th Anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit in Cuba.

Religion in Cuba was affected in 1959, this was after Fidel Castro was designated as President of the Country. The government closed down religious institutions and expelled priests. However, changes were made in 1990 – all reference to “no religion” had been removed and people with different faiths were allowed to unite with the Communist Party. Later in the year, the condition changed when a visit from Pope John Paul II was made to Cuba.

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