The NAFTA Treaty Between the US and Mexico

The NAFTA Treaty Between the US and Mexico The NAFTA treaty, which was signed two decadesago, has immensely promoted trading relations between the US and Mexico. Prior to the NAFTA agreement, Mexico imposed high import tariffs and trade restrictions on American goods. Mexico’s protectionist policies changed during the late 80s when the country was hit by a severe economic crisis. Since then Mexico has ratified several free trade agreements with the EU, Japan, and most significantly the NAFTA treaty with Canada and the US.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The NAFTA Treaty Between the US and Mexico specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The 1994 NAFTA treaty between Mexico and the US phased out several taxes,particularly on the products traded between these countries.In addition, it called for elimination of other tariffs. Despite the fact that there have been calls, particularly from America’s labor unions such as Teamsters to suspend the treaty, it rem ains clear that both countries have greatly leaped more from open trading relations. This was evident when American officials defied conservative views that Mexican trucks’ presence in the US could lead to job losses and unwarranted competition between Mexicanand American truck drivers. For some time, the question of free movement of goods by road transport between these two countries was dominated by political battles despite the fact that two-thirds of cross-border trade between the US and Mexico goes by road. Shermanargues that according to the NAFTA treaty, â€Å"transport companies from both countries weresupposed to have unrestricted access to highways on border states by 1995 and full access to all American highways by January 2000† (Sherman). However, America’s Teamsters fiercely fought against this provision, arguing that Mexican trucks were unsafe and lacked the necessary pollution control gear. In addition, they claimed that Mexican drivers were ina dequately trained and unqualified to drive in American highways. American courts and the NAFTA dispute-resolution panel rejected these allegations claiming that they violated the NAFTA agreement. This forced the NAFTA dispute-resolution panel to give Mexico the green light to impose retaliatory tariffs. Nevertheless, Mexico decided to put the decision on holdto give the US time toappreciate its commitments. The grace period passed when US Congress â€Å"approved measures setting 22 new safety standards for Mexican trucks† (Sherman). After that the first Mexican truck recently crossed the border amid celebrations from both sides hence fulfilling a long-delayed provision of NAFTA, which had stalled for more than a decade because the US feared that Mexico could jeopardize its highway safety standards and put American jobs at risk. Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Mexican o fficials who attended the ceremony affirmed that the success of the treatylargely relied on the safety and efficiency of the project. Previously, Mexican trucks have transported raw materials and finished products to the interior of the US although that happened as part of a pilot project. This project had initially been hindered by policy concerns leading to its cancellation two years ago by Obamas administration. Mexico was angered by the USAs decision to suspend the project.Moreover,it increased tariffs on selected American goods such as â€Å"Christmas trees onions, apples, oranges, deodorants, sunglasses among others (Sherman). Nonetheless, after the US authorities allowed Mexican trucks to ply the US highways, Mexican authorities suspended the tariffs, but cautioned the US that the tariffs could be reinstated if they failed to follow the treaty. The move came after America’s Department of Transportation acknowledged that the all the safety concerns had been resolved. I t also added that electronic monitoring systems had been put in place to track operational hours when the trucks are on the roads. Additionally, US affirmed that it will screen all the drivers to ensure that they pass â€Å"safety reviews, drug tests, and assess their English proficiency† (Sherman). Work Cited Sherman, Christopher. Mexican Truck Is First in US under Delayed NAFTA Program. Associated Press. The Associated Press., 21Oct. 2011. Web.

Writing Prompts 60 Ideas You Can Use Today - Freewrite Store

Writing Prompts 60 Ideas You Can Use Today - Freewrite Store When I was in elementary school, I had a teacher who would have us freewrite to writing prompts he would write on the whiteboard. Every Monday morning,  we  would spend the first 10 minutes of class writing about dragons, time travel, or our weekends. I had stopped using writing prompts after that 4th grade English class.   This changed once I began writing thousands of words per day. Some days, I just didn’t know what to write about. Other days, I already had a topic in hand, but I couldn’t find the words.  Writing prompts have been a great tool to help me defeat writer’s block and swiftly put pen to paper. Related:Writer’s block: 13 Strategies That Work A writing prompt is a topic around which you start writing ideas. You’re free to stick to the subject or let your mind wander. Writing prompts have a few benefits:   1. Put pen to paper. Instead of thinking about what to write about, writing prompts give you a topic to start writing about immediately. 2. Practice makes perfect. Writing prompts help you build your writing â€Å"muscles†. This habit will help make it easier for you to start writing and will teach you to write longer. 3. Increase your creativity. Writing prompts can make you see the world in a new light, or a way you’ve never imagined. Maybe you want to buckle down and finish that novel. Or perhaps you needed to complete that blog post yesterday.  Ã‚  Regardless of your circumstance, prompts can be your ticket out of uncreative purgatory and back to the writing promised land.       Sometimes, it can be hard to think of what to write, so we put together a list of over60 writing promptsto give you some fresh ideas. 60 Writing Prompts To Spark Your Imagination 1. Your favorite childhood vacation. 2. The last words of your novel are, â€Å"As night became day, he started to understand the truth.† Now, go write the rest. 3. Turn one of the last texts you sent into a story. 4. Add an original scene to the last movie you watched. 5. Two friends have a disagreement. 6. Write about your favorite teacher. 7. Outside the window, you see something you can’t believe. 8. Write about the first time you held someone's hand. 9. Write about the last thing/person that made you smile. 10. Write about a time you were lost. 11. Write about your first job. 12. Write a letter to your 14-year old self. 13. Write about why you write. 14. Five years from now, I will be. 15. Write about your dream vacation. 16. Do you like to be alone or with company? 17. You have $300 and a Prius, describe the 2,800 mile road trip from NYC to LA. 18. Write about your biggest goal. 19. Write about your biggest fear. 20. A conversation you and a stranger have on a plane. 21. A time you or someone you love was scammed. 22. Turn the last song you listened to into a story. 23. Describe the life of your favorite singer. 24. Write about a piece of furniture in the room you’re in. 25. If I knew then what I know now. 26. If you could travel back in time, where would you go? 27. You have a billion dollars in your bank account. How did you make it? 28. You’ve discovered a new planet. Describe what you see. 29. If you could do anything for work, what would you do? 30. You live on an abandoned island, describe your morning routine. 31. You’re in a foreign country and don’t speak the native language. 32. Describe how you think your grandparents met. 33. Write about a time you failed. 34. You wake up today with the superpower of your choosing. 35. You’re a dog, describe your interaction with a human. 36. Write about someone you admire. 37. Go to Twitter or Facebook and write about the first post you see. 38. Write about a time you were uncomfortable. 39. She tried to forget him, but never could. 40. Just as your flight takes off, you discover a shocking note under your seat. 41. None of your friends remember you, describe yourself to them. 42. An island rose from the sea. 43. Out of the ashes, arose a hero. 44. The whales grew feet. 45. I open the last book on earth. 46. You knock louder and louder on the door, but nobody answers. 47. The door you had locked, is wide open. 48. Just as you fall asleep, the phone rings. 49. She had the perfect party planned, only to have it ruined by her ex. 50. She said her final words and left, there’s no turning back now. 51. A blind man falls in love, describe his feelings. 52. You have the power to stop time, what do you do? 53. The sun rose for the final time. 54. You discover that your partner is a robot. 55. You have 10 days to live. 56. How will cars look in 50 years? 57. This needs to be cleaned, the police will be here any minute. 58. For years, he carefully planned out this day. 59. The birds didn’t go south for the winter. 60. It’s June 13th, the snow won’t stop falling. Okay, so now you’ve found two months worth of writing prompts.  If you’re looking for more prompts, every Friday, we send thousands of writers just like you a writing prompt via email or text message. We call it Writing Time Fridays. WTF is a 30 minute block of time each Friday that the Astrohaus team spends freewriting. It started as an internal initiative, but now anyone can join us from around the world. It's free and there are no rules other than to write for 30 minutes. We'll send you a prompt but feel free to write about whatever you want. There are no requirements to share your writing and how you write is completely up to you. Clickhere to sign up for WTF and receive a writing prompt at noon every Friday. Would you like to share a writing prompt you’ve used in the past? Comment below, and we’ll add it to the list!    Carlton Clark loves to write about business, baseball, and popular culture. A writer, marketer, and entrepreneur. At the age of 14, he founded the media company  ballplayerplus.com. Currently, Carlton helps businesses share their stories through social media and blogging. When he’s not writing or creating content, Carlton coaches youth baseball at his local high school and plays guitar. You can find him online on Instagram @itscarltonclark, and on Twitter @carlton_mukasa

Reflective practice journal of Mental health Article

Reflective practice journal of Mental health - Article Example But what was disturbing to me was that any child should have to have coping strategies – the parents were either ill with bi-polar, schizophrenia or even alcoholism. Reading the comments like â€Å"Sometimes my mom’s up, sometimes my mom’s down, sometimes she’s normal. I’m always nervous† (1140) are really disturbing. But comments like this in Mordoch and Hall’s study are just a tiny representation of what children have to go through as a result of the government’s initiatives to move caring for the mentally ill in the community rather than in an institution. The lecture notes show the process of how the government went from providing full care for people diagnosed as having a mental health issue, to the now virtually non-existent level of services available. If we combine that with an overworked GP service, the cost and lack of accessibility so many people face with even trying to get some form of help, and the shambles as government decided to try and get most mentally ill patients into some form of work by denying them any financial help and it would seem that the government has totally forgotten that there are more people involved than just those diagnosed with an illness – there are family considerations that should be taken into account as well. Sawyer has completed an extensive literature review on the topic of mental health practices and the challenges of finding a system that works for everyone. Through a review of published articles she isolated what I think is the most important thing that has been ignored by government to date – â€Å"Methods too come under scrutiny here to critique the assumptions behind service evaluation and the way that statistics might blinker our view of the broad social causes of mental illness† (116). Some of those broader social issues could include the number of children who are going to need treatment themselves as adults because of the coping mechanisms they have had to adapt while