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Thor was much much better than I expected. I didn't know if they could
pull of the balance between the Norse mythology stuff and the real
world Marvel Universe. I should've known better because Marvel knows
their characters and knows what we want to see. Spider-Man set a new
standard for the superhero film genre back in the day. Iron Man upped
the ante. Thor takes the ball and runs with it and places that bar even
higher. I look forward to seeing it again and know it will do well
enough to be worthy of a sequel because word of mouth is going to be
great. Trust me when I say Thor REALLY IS as good as Iron Man and is
most worthy to be called one of the greatest adaptations ever.
Chris Hemsworth as the Norse god Thor, and Tom Hiddleston as his villainous brother Loki show they have the acting ability and star quality to become mega-marquee names in the future. Marvel found two absolute diamonds in the rough. Both actors make a HUGE impression and are wonderful on screen. You knew Acedemy Award winners Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman would bring it but these relative unkowns more than hold their own on screen. I know the script is written mostly for them but they carry it in a big way. From what I've read, Hemsworth and Hiddleston were cast almost a year in advance of filming the story so, they had time to get into shape and do character research. They certain did these long-time Marvel greats proud. Intelligent comic-book popcorn epics are rare and this one is definitely a cut above the usual fare.
The idea of a "classic" director like Kenneth Branagh making a
superhero film might initially sound strange, but in the case of Thor
that ended up being very appropriate, because the comic always used
Shakespearean drama and archaic language to tell the story of the God
of Thunder, the political/family conflicts in the Asgard kingdom and
its interaction with the universe of Marvel Comics. And Branagh's
competent direction, the excellent performances and the solid
screenplay make Thor to be a very entertaining movie.
I honestly had always preferred the character of Thor in small doses or as part of an ensemble, like he was on the beginnings of the comic The Avengers and in its modern reinterpretation The Ultimates. So, I did not have big expectations on a movie exclusively focused in that character; however, Chris Hemsworth brings a brilliant performance in that role, because he could perfectly combine the pompous and operatic "classic" Thor with the dynamic and unstable modern Thor. I do not know how the purist fans of the Kirby/Lee era will take that mash-up, but I think it was a very good decision, specially because Thor does not only work as an origin of that superhero, but also as an efficient preamble of the highly anticipated film The Avengers, which will be an unification point of Marvel's film universe.
For example, we also have the character of Agent Coulson conducting scientific investigations from S.H.I.E.L.D. with his accustomed astuteness and efficiency; we also have a cameo of one of my favorite Avengers (even though without his traditional uniform); and a post-credits scene where a few concepts we are surely going to see in that future movie are established. But well...it would not be fair to only consider Thor as an extra-large trailer of The Avengers. As I previously said, it is a very entertaining movie with various positive elements, like Branagh's efficient direction, which drives the movie at a perfect rhythm. As for the cast, besides of the previously mentioned Hemsworth, I think that the rest of the actors is also worthy of applause, starting by Natalie Portman, who can perfectly express her character's emotions. I also liked the work from Stellan Skarsgård; his participation is relatively short and it would seem irrelevant if it was not for the dramatic weight this actor brings to the character with his mere presence. And Kat Dennings is quite funny and credible as the comic relief.
As for the screenplay, it is very well written; the only thing I would say against it is that it makes a few "traps" which feel a bit forced. As for the action scenes, I found them to be well filmed, with the exception of a few excessive close-ups which made them occasionally confusing; I think that is the only thing I can say against Branagh's direction.
In conclusion, I took a very pleasant surprise with Thor, and I can recommend it as a very good re-invention of a difficult to handle superhero. It might not be a great film, but it definitely made me have a good time.
I watched this last night at a preview screening in London.
I prayed that Kenneth Branagh would learn from his mistakes with handling a big budget movie, namely his Frankeinstein. Thankfully, I am glad to say he learnt a great deal from those mistakes. Of course, this is no Henry V, this is just pure popcorn entertainment but a thoroughly enjoyable introduction to Thor for the big screen. Chris Hemsworth played the part with a lot of energy, charisma and I have to admit from a bloke's point of view, annoying good looks. Anthony Hopkins added much needed heavyweight presence as Odin but its a role he has quite frankly played a gazillion times but I never tire of it, so I'm not complaining. In a year long span of brilliantly playing vastly different roles from psychotic to swashbuckling heroine, Natalie Portman this time plays the sweet determined scientist girl who falls for the strangely mannered good looking guy. Nothing too taxing for any of them but they do give a re-assuring aura about them.
The visuals were quite spectacular, mainly, the sweeping canvas of Asgard. The action scenes were also good though I thought could have been executed better with lesser use of the fast cut edit style that is too often the norm in action film these days.
There is plenty of humour when Thor is on Earth but not in a put-off way as there is a suitable contrast of a serious tone with everything set in Asgard. Even though the storyline was somewhat predictable, it was still a riveting one.
For those like me, who were concerned about how Thor fits into the established Marvel connected universe set by the Iron Man films need not worry. That is just another thing that Branagh and crew pulls off very well. We can now fully embrace the forthcoming Avengers where a God, a man who transforms into a giant green beast, and a man who flies in a hi tech amour suit can share the same screen. So its all coming together nicely.
And make sure you stay for the end credit scenes. In case you did not know of this before, I urge you to go back to the previous films (Iron Man 1 & 2, Incredible Hulk) and watch the end of credit sequences if you haven't already. They tell a separate story strand that will culminate to a certain upcoming Marvel movie. The end credit sequence of Thor is the most fascinating yet as it actually takes a major plot development in the story strand ;) And it was the longest bloody end of credit sequence I've ever seen in any movie! One last thing, the film I saw was in 3d and once again, it practically nearly ruined all the action scenes for me. In the non action scenes, it was pretty useless and just simply made the film much darker.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Honestly, seeing that Branagh directed and J. Michael Straczynski wrote
the script is a large part of why I went to see the movie. Plus I'm
generally a big fan of Marvel and their movies.
Unfortunately it's one of the dumbest things I've seen in years, and is completely full of moronic clichés and the most superficial faux morals. Please do yourself a favour and spend your money on things that are more deserving of it, especially if you've worked hard to earn it.
Just in case you want to know what you'll be missing ---
* spoiler alert * (though really I'm giving this film a massive compliment by suggesting you could 'spoil' anything in it)
Thor's father takes his hammer away and sends him to earth for punishment. While there Thor literally changes overnight from being an arrogant, rash and violent idiot to a wise, humble and pacifist purveyor of all things noble, and the only possible reason for this that's presented in the movie is that he met Natalie Portman and was then told that his father died while he was gone. Once Thor the god of thunder completes this astonishing and instant transformation and sacrifices his life for others, his hammer flies back to him, revives him and he beats the bad guys with it.
If you really, really love Marvel movies and viking folklore (to the point where you don't mind these things being made a joke out of) and have 2.5 hours in which you'd otherwise be causing harm to humanity or this planet, go see it. Otherwise you might as well spare yourself from this glorious waste of time and brain cells.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Did professionals write this film? Did Antony really read the script or
did he just see the figures in the contract? I think Nat and Tony need
new agents, because you do not go from Silence of lamb and Black Swan
*respectively* to this utter junk.
I do not know what other people saw but there is nothing good or unique in this film. The special effects actually made me tired. And lets talk about the story? My Lord, where was it and when did it begin. I got the feeling that the script was written after the action sequences were planned. They therefore said we want this effect and this effect now lets write a film around that. We need to use up Nat so lets force a romance into the script. We want jokes, so lets force a few of those in there. So much dead space in the film that doesn't arch into anything.scenes seem random and disconnected, like writing in junk to get it to a feature length time. drifting focus, drifting priorities. And no great moments that saved the film.
Also it is an overnight transformation from utter arrgoance to humility. Does anyone identify with any characters here? Did you understand the brothers motives? Makes no real sense in the real world. Did the film introduce anything for anyone to attach themselves to emotionally? No. Characters appear in odd order without any development. Actually while I am here typing I just realized something : This film is below the dignity of critique. It is so poor, so badly directed and written that to even point out the weak character development or random script turns give too much credit to it. I will therefore cease to add speak about it for fear of giving someone the illusion that there is anything to actually speak about in terms of artistic critique.
In the pantheon of Marvel Superheroes, from my vantage point, Thor is a
second-tier player. Even amongst non-obsessive comic aficionados, such
as myself, Thor doesn't quite have the readership draw or the common
familiarity in the public that heroes such as Spider-Man, Batman,
Superman, etc., have. However, that doesn't mean that Marvel Studios,
the filmmaking wing of the company, feel inclined to give the filmic
adaptation of Thor short shrift. The cinematic entry for this
character, titled simply Thor, is among the better of the Marvel
adaptations of recent years, mixing a good sense of fun, strong acting,
and some Shakespearian level drama that makes for an especially
entertaining time at the movies.
Liberally adapting portions of Thor comic book lore to fit in a more modern comic book film reality, Thor introduces us to a centuries old war between the Asgardians, beings that live for long periods of time and can travel through space from their home realm of Asgard to various other worlds, such as Earth, via the Bi-Frost bridge, and the conflict centric Frost Giants, whom the Asgardians conquered some time back. Odin (Anthony Hopkins), ruler of the Asgardians, is preparing to abdicate his throne to his son, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), but on the eve of Thor's inauguration, agents of the Frost Giants infiltrate Asgard and attempt to steal back a device that is the key to their power, which had been taken by Odin at the end of their long struggle. When Thor disagrees with his father's desire to not to retaliate in order to not disturb the peace that currently exists between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants, he takes matters into his own hands, traveling to the Frost Giant's realm with his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and compatriots Sif (Jaimie Alexander), Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Hogun (Tadanobu Asano) and Fandral (Josh Dallas) in tow. When the encounter with the Frost Giants ends with tensions re-ignited between the two factions, Odin decides that his son is not prepared to lead his people, and exiles Thor, sans his powers, to Earth.
When he arrives on Earth, he is discovered by astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her associates Professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgaard) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), who are convinced that he isn't a random homeless vagabond that they found in the middle of the desert. Thor must attempt to locate his power hammer, Mjolnir, from the government agents that have captured it, and attempt to reclaim his place in Asgard. However, he finds that, without his super-human abilities, and surrounded by humans, perhaps some of his previous attitudes were incorrect, especially when he connects romantically with Jane. Meanwhile, Loki, who turns out to have some ulterior motives, seizes control of Asgard following the collapse of Odin from strain, and begins to hatch a grand scheme involving the Frost Giants.
Thor, much like Iron Man before it, proves that, in the right hands, a comic tale that appears silly on the surface can have hidden depths when properly plumbed. Sure, Thor has elements that, on the face of it, may lead a bit to some audience snickers (Thor's ability to pick himself up and fly and defeat attackers with little effort are a bit cheesy at times), but the creatives behind Thor, including director Kenneth Branagh, manage to develop a story for Thor that deals with elements of tragedy, pathos, selflessness and, perhaps even more surprisingly, involving character development. Thor is more about the lead characters at its core, again akin to Iron Man, than some other comic book films and this draws the audience into its tale.
When it was first announced that Kenneth Branagh would be taking the reins of Thor as a director, it seemed something of an unusual fit for someone best known for his cinematic adaptations of the works of Shakespeare, but the final results of Thor bare out that Branagh was just the right man for the job. Considering the larger-than-life origins of the Thor comic, involving beings with the power and appearance of Gods and the various machinations of their story, the material fits fairly well with Branagh's body of work to a great extent. Especially strong is the development of Loki, who proves to be less of a traditional mustache twirling villain, and more of a misguided soul, trapped between revelations he makes about himself and his past and his respect in his father, making him more of a tragic figure than a black and white comic book antagonist.
Thor benefits from strong acting from its leads, Hemsworth and Hiddleston. Hemsworth embodies Thor, first as the brash, acting-before- thinking hero, and later as a man faced with the reality that some of his choices and attitudes were not becoming of a king. Hemsworth really makes you empathize with Thor, and gives you a reason to root for the character throughout the film. Hiddleston, working with the somewhat subdued (at first) Loki eventually transforms him from a seeming weak, malleable person into one who's penchant for vengeance and control is revealed in layers, peeling back one by one through the development of the narrative.
Thor isn't without its weak points, however. The romance between Thor and Jane Foster is practically and afterthought, rushed into the narrative at light speed and then not given any room to breathe or develop, it plays more as a requirement of adapting the comic story than something that works organically in the film. Portman is fine in the role, but the screenplay doesn't give enough to this relationship for it to be more than a bump in the road of the film's story.
Once again, Marvel has managed to take one of their lesser known heroes and make them the subject of an entertaining film version, with energy and depth that is a bit unexpected. May they keep on making comic book films of this caliber.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Sorry, to all that have given this "movie" more than 1 out of 10. This
has to be one of the most sorry excuses for a movie I've ever seen.
Actually less interesting and more poorly written than Pokemon the
movie and even that was a new low for me... It cost me £10.00 to see
this (I had my own 3d glasses)!!! I'm considering asking for a refund.
What was the point of Natalie Portman or the other mortals presence and the 5 minutes we spent in their company?
This movie is nothing but a 2 and bit hour long trailer for the undoubted THOR 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 which will have all the drama and normally good content that Marvel based movies have (I can only hope).
More time is spent (nearly half) developing characters and giving us background information on how we've got to where we've got...rather than telling the story that we paid to see....
There's no depth of character, (Anthony Hopkins was the best actor in it and he spent most of his time in a coma, I'm guessing after he read the script !), there's no plot other than arrogant son, exiled to earth. He spends 5 minutes (yes 5 !) not understanding anything that's going on or how society works (despite him and his people being deified for at least 2,000 years) and then gets sucked back to his own "realm", there's little in the way of good dialogue, the special effects are Dr Who'esq and the 3D is forgettable.
There's no menace from any of the baddies, his "bad" half / non brother seems so nice that you think "ah it's all an act and something terrible is going to happen"... but no, he is quite a nice guy only really dabbles with naughtiness.....
This film was supposed to be in 3D yet I completely forgot that it was after the first 5 minutes and only at the end when I realised that I was wearing the stupid glasses did I remember!!
In a time where we have transformers, X-Men and the like, the special effects were weak and pretty poor. There's no humour no camping it up to rescue it either.
My worry is that if this is the best movie of the undoubted quadruology that we're about to be subjected to, then God help us.
I warn you we may have another Iron Man 2 (a movie I still haven't been able to stay awake all the way through yet!!) or Spiderman (anything other than 1) on our hands and can I bring myself to part with another £10 on the strength of that?... almost certainly not.
This could and should have been great, it wasn't and I'm left feeling cheated !
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Though I'm old and did read some comics in my time, Thor was never one of them. I do teach some Norse mythology, though, so that aspect interested me. There was an odd steampunk approach to the mythology, which was OK, I suppose. I really didn't expect this movie to be War and Peace, and I was certainly right on the money with that. It went for the snarky Iron Man approach more than I thought it would. It's hard to pull off without veteran snarkmeister Robert Downey, Jr., though. Chris Hemsworth is impossibly charming and good- looking in the title role, and does pretty well, considering some of the lines he had to say. Anthony Hopkins is a safe choice for his patented Older Mentor/Authority Figure performance (enjoy that check, Anthony), and Tom Hiddleston is somewhat intriguing as Loki. Stellan Skarsgard is completely wasted in a role that could have been phoned in. But you know who really stinks up the joint? Natalie Portman. It was DAMN hard to believe she was an astrophysicist, but it was even harder to believe that THOR (god of thunder, possessor of unspeakable power) would find her even remotely interesting. All she does is whine. The alleged falling in love is quite unbelievable, BTW. Yeesh. I hope the inevitable sequel loses her character.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Again we witness how you spoil a rather good movie. After 5 minutes I
was ready to stop it, and read a newspaper! WHY...please tell me WHY is
there Asians and Afro Americans in Asgard? I'm ABSOULTE NOT racist, but
I'm Danish, and when I watch a movie which should tell a story from the
Nordic mythology, It p..... me off that it has to be "sooo political
correct", no matter that it totally spoils the movie.
Could have been a rather good movie, but turned out trashy. No, I won't see no. 2-3-4-5-6 or 7 in the series. All this because Americans need to please the political crowd. That's just awful.
If toy want to make a movie like this, then please research, and cast as good as you can. This is just so wrong.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I had heard a lot of good things about this film before I eventually
saw it. I had decided that I wasn't going to go and pay loads of money
to sit in noisy cinemas and be bombarded with disappointing
blockbusters this summer, but I figured that this had enough good word
of mouth to be worth seeing. After watching it I browsed through the
user comments here of writers I generally trust and found that most of
them had loved it too; so why did I find it to be all a lot of fuss and
nonsense that ultimately amounts to very little?
I came to Thor with some worries despite the good word of mouth, I never cared for the character generally and he always seemed a little silly to me, with the Nordic god dialogue just making it worse. As a result I guess the script could have been worse because it would have been bogged down in this stuff but it never was, however this is not to say that it worked well. What it does is take us from point A to point B without ever really doing a huge amount of interest. It has enough humour in to stop it being too serious, but not enough to actually be light and fun. It has enough character in it to avoid it feeling wooden, but not enough to make one care. It has enough drama in it to set up the action, but not enough to provide actual tension or a sense of danger. To me it didn't seem to do anything in particular. I was looking for more sport to be made of this silly God once he was on earth but it didn't happen. In particular I was looking for Loki to be a more interesting "baddie" since he could have been a tragic, haunted character but we don't see this outside of his actions.
This all came together for me to limit my interest in what was going on. The stuff in the heavens was all too full of mock Shakespearean shouting but without dramatic substance, while the stuff on Earth was too fleeting and lacking fun and entertainment value. For sure the film provides spectacle but again I just found it to be rather hollow as I watched it, enjoying it for the noise but not much else. The cast are varied. Although limited, Hemsworth is well-cast because he has the body and big voice to fill the character. He needed a good opposite number though and in Hiddleston he doesn't have it he doesn't have the presence needed or the depth of character. Portman has almost nothing to do and it shows in her performance, she is here for the sake of it and you could have digitally removed her from this film and made no difference to it. Ditto Skarsgård at least Dennings provided some light relief. Hopkins adds a bit of gravitas to proceedings, while Elba has the frame and voice for his character. Like everyone else it surprises me still to think this was directed by Kenneth Branagh, but it is a smart career move for him to show he can do big budget effects movies if it does nothing else, it shows that.
Thor feels like a film that had to be made rather than one that was created on its own merits. Of course, as part of The Avengers, this is true but it is irritating that you feel that way while watching it. It has noise and spectacle for those looking for that, but it lacks too much in the way of character, danger, humour and good old fashioned entertainment. You know when you buy a new product and the first few days it is shiny and great but then, in using it you spot lots of gaps and think "why didn't they do this?" and "why did they not expand this function?" well Thor is that product, shiny and noisy but ultimately one is left wondering why the makers didn't do a lot more in some regards and a lot less in others. Not an awful film but just a bog-standard one with a massive effects budget.
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Herod Hall Auditorium
Feb. 16-17 - 7 p.m.
Feb. 18 - 2 p.m.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to start.
Contact Name: Kimberly Weast
Contact Phone: (580) 327-8462
Contact Email Address: firstname.lastname@example.com
Sponsoring Organization: Fine Arts-Theatre
MISSION STATEMENT: Northwestern Oklahoma State University provides quality educational and cultural opportunities to learners with diverse needs by cultivating ethical leadership and service, critical thinking and fiscal responsibility.

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Quality construction. True relaxation. Affordable price. That's what the Roadstar GT Sport is all about.
Quality construction. True relaxation. Off-road capabilities. Affordable price. That's what the Roadstar GT Sport Cross-Country is all about.
The distances are vast in Australia; a well-equipped, comfortable and reliable caravan is essential. That's where the GT Sport MkII comes in. It's a solid caravan built for the long haul.
Combining compact, multi-purpose features with semi offroad capabilities in an impressively lightweight and nimble design
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Combining style and semi offroad capabilities, this is the perfect caravan for exploring Australia's legendary landscapes.
All the comforts of a prestige caravan with the all-terrain capabilities needed to properly explore roads less travelled.
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An award-winning fully offroad caravan built to tackle Australia's toughest terrain.
Combining unparalleled luxury and style with rugged offroad capabilities, the Daintree is the ultimate home away from home.
To Infinity and Beyond
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Racean Thomas is no stranger to Tuscaloosa, Ala.
He has been to a handful of games this season and has maintained that Alabama remains his leader in recruiting despite several big-time offers from the SEC and beyond. Still, the four-star junior out of Oxford (Ala.) High continues to take in games at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
And there was no way he was missing the Iron Bowl against dreaded Auburn, another program the elite running back is considering. Thomas was one of a host of recruits hosted by Nick Saban and company for the storied rivalry and regular-season finale.
"It was pretty cool," said the 5-foot-11, 194-pounder of the experience during UA's 49-0 win over AU. "I sort of figured that (the result…)"
With so much build-up to the game and dozens of recruits looking to do what he has done several times – get some attention from the coaching staff – Thomas was okay with not being in the spotlight as much this time around.
"A little, there was just a lot of people in there," he said of how much he spoke to Saban's staff. "It was the usual…'Hey what's up? How am I doing…"
What the junior running back prospect was able to do this time around, was bond with fellow recruits, typically Ashville (Ala.) quarterback E.J. Moss – who also has a scholarship offer from Alabama. Each has been linked to 'Bama for a long time, so thoughts of playing together at the next level didn't come out of the blue.
"We talk about it, but I don't know how deep the conversations go," Thomas admitted with a laugh.
No matter how much the two talk about Alabama, or any other school, the feeling in Tuscaloosa is always the same for Thomas. He said nothing was particularly different about his latest unofficial visit to the campus, and that's not such a bad thing.
"It's like home," he said.
Thomas does not have a timetable for his commitment at this time.


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Ice Cube plays Channing Tatum and Ice Cube's boss in Friday's 21 Jump Street, and we caught up with the rapper-slash-actor at their recent junket in NYC. Ice Cube talked about the good times he spent on the set with Channing and Jonah, though he jokes that both actors would receive Fs for their work as cops. Ice recounted telling Channing and Jonah "war stories" from his old days with NWA, and spoke about where he'd go undercover if he had the chance. Check out our interview to find out what Ice Cube's pick would be.
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News Release
New Members Appointed to Human Research Protections national Advisory Committee
HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt has appointed seven new members to the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP).
"The expertise of these individuals will help HHS maintain the highest standards of ethical human research," Secretary Leavitt said. "Their contributions will strengthen and enhance the network of protections for all who take part in HHS-related research studies."
The 11-member committee, which meets three times a year, is composed of leaders in human subject protections and/or clinical research. Its members are appointed to four-year terms and provide recommendations to the Secretary on the responsible conduct of research involving human subjects.
They are responsible for reviewing and evaluating the activities of the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) and other offices/agencies within HHS which are responsible for human subject protection in both biomedical and behavioral research.
The SACHRP committee also offers advice and recommendations on policy and program development, program implementation, evaluation and other matters of significance to the human research-related mission and goals of HHS.
The new members are:
James M. Powell, M.D., serves as senior medical director and head of the clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetics department at Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals. In this capacity, his responsibility includes managing the company's global clinical pharmacokinetics programs and early human testing of new prescription pharmaceutical products. Dr. Powell also serves as a member of the Physician Investigator Certification Council for the American Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians.
Neil R. Powe, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University's school of Medicine, a professor of epidemiology and health policy and management in the school of public health, and holds a joint appointment in the school of nursing. He serves as director of the Welch Center for prevention, epidemiology and clinical research, a multidisciplinary research and training center at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions focused on clinical and population-based research.
Jeffrey Botkin, M.D., M.P.H., is a professor of pediatrics and medical ethics and associate vice president for research integrity at the University of Utah. Dr. Botkin is a fellow of the Hastings Center and chairperson of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics. He has written extensively on the ethical, legal and social implications of genetic testing and research at the pediatric and adult levels for more than 15 years. Dr. Botkin serves as a member of the SACHRP Subcommittee on Research Involving Children.
Myron Genel, M.D., serves as professor emeritus of pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine. A pediatrician with a subspecialty in endocrinology, Dr. Genel served for 19 years as the associate dean and director of the Yale University School of Medicine office of government and community affairs. Dr. Genel's clinical interests are general endocrinology, growth development, and disorders of sexual development. Dr. Genel is a former chair of the AAMC Council of Academic Societies and the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs.
Daniel K. Nelson, M.S., is associate professor of social medicine and pediatrics and director, office of human research ethics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Nelson has responsibility for providing global oversight for seven Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and approximately 400 research studies. His previous work experience includes faculty appointments at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Rochester, where he was director of research in a clinical unit and chair of a hospital IRB.
Francine C. Romero, Ph.D., M.P.H., an epidemiologist, serves as the director of the Northern Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center, Rapid City, S.D. This center focuses on collecting and reporting health data regarding the 42 Pacific Northwest tribes. Dr. Romero has both a personal and professional interest in Native American and Alaska Native health issues; she is a member of the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico. Dr. Romero serves as a member of several health boards and has been active in the Indian Health Service's Portland Area IRB.
Samuel Tilden, M.D., J.D., L.L.M., is professor of pediatrics, deputy provost for human subjects research and research compliance officer, University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Tilden, a pediatrician with subspecialties in pediatric pulmonology and critical care, has served on numerous national and institutional advisory panels and committees. He is an experienced clinical investigator in the conduct of clinical trials in children and licensed to practice law. Dr. Tilden has had advanced degree training in health law.
More information about the work of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP) is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sachrp/.
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
Last revised: July 19, 2006


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You have finally bought your very own private jet plane or you have chartered one. Now, you keep asking yourself if there are any etiquettes or guidelines that you should follow. Yes, there are. 1. Can I bring my pet/s with me aboard a private jet plane to an airport? Yes, but your pet should be well trained and behaved while in the plane so that it will not be a threat to you and to the cabin crew. However, it is still better to ask the charter company beforehand. In addition, should the company not allow pets roaming around the aircraft, bring a crate with you. 2. Am I allowed to smoke a cigarette or a tobacco while in the aircraft? It is permitted, but just to make sure, you should check first with the charter company if they permit smoking while on board the private craft.
Being able to board a private jet can turn a simple trip into one of extravagance. The problem is not everyone can purchase their own private jet; however, you always have the option of chartering a private jet toan airport to turn that trip into one of luxury. By chartering private planes for your traveling needs to eliminate waiting in the long lines at the airport and having to be sandwiched between other people. You will no longer be bumping into others trying to store your carry-on luggage in that tight overhead compartment. Instead, imagine boarding you own private jet that affords you a seat of your own, a seat with breathing room and room to stretch your legs out. Make traveling more enjoyable and charter a private jet today.
Those who are responsible for renting private jets for an employer or organization must make several considerations before committing to services. These include determining the amenities and features that will be most important to those who will travel in the jet. Some parties place a higher priority on privacy and having the ideal amenities than they do on receiving ample amounts of personalized attention during the flight to an airport. Many charter businesses pride themselves on being able to offer one on one attention to their guests. This may not be the ideal service feature for those parties who wish merely to travel in luxury, while indulging in the accommodations that have been provided in relative privacy. By listing the amenities that will be most desirable to the travelers that you are making arrangements for, you will be best equipped for seeking out the charter companies that cater specifically to the needs and desires of such individuals.
In spite of the fact that chartering a private jet plane can cost thousands of dollars, there are many advantages that come with it. First, when booking a private jet to an airport, the clients have complete control over the time and date he wish to depart since there are a ton of charter companies that offers their services 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. In addition, there is no need to wait for several hours at an airport anymore because there is no check-in time, and it is not necessary to go through security. Another advantage of renting a private jet is the luxury and comfort that comes with it. You even have the freedom to choose the food that you desire and even the cabin members! However, it is highly recommended to opt for a trusted charter company.
If you're interested in getting away for awhile, you may be interested in hiring a private jet. A private jet is optimal if you need to go a long distance but do not need to sit in a commercial plane. When flying on a private plane, you will also find that you are able to avoid some of the normal rules that are normally required by airports. This varies by airport, so be sure to check. When you are flying privately, you will also notice that you are more comfortable and relaxed, and you do not have anyone bothering you by loud music or with annoying children. If you're interested in booking a private jet to an airport you should ask your pilot how many years of experience they have, what they charge, and how long they expect the flight should be. If you're interested in hiring them again, you should also ask if they're available for repeat business. If you're interested in chartering a private jet, you should start your research today.
Many times it is necessary to use a private jet. It can be expensive, but for the individual who needs this service, it is worth the fee. A private jet is usually smaller then a commercial plane. They can hold anywhere from two to nineteen people. Sometimes they are converted commercial planes. Often food and beverages are available to the passengers whenever they want them. Not all private jets are considered luxury planes. Some of them are very standard and take passengers on short routes. Someone might need to fly into an airport that a larger plane can not get into. A smaller private plane can land on several different types of runways allowing someone to go to an isolated destination. No need to wait in a crowed airport for a late plane because private jets run on the schedule of the client. For many people this makes the perfect way to travel.
مواقع جنسيه مجنيه حيوانات, اجمل الصورالطياز, تحميل سكسي , قصص سيكس الارشيف, صورإباحيه للفنانين, كساس بزاز طياز, صور ذب رجال, مقاطع مباشرة على الجوال سكس, سكسي حيوانات مع نسا, صورعير يجب, جنس رجال معرجال, اسهل طريقة لصناعت زب صناعي, أشكال وأحجام الفرج سكس, مقاطع مجانى سكس الجوال, نيك ومص الطريقة , موسيقى اللي في المطار, طيران محج قلعة, المسافر للخارج والذ متعه لنيك, طيارات الي سالزبورغ, شيمبو, أرقام الطرق في ولاية أركنسو, صور مطار دالاس بولايه تكساس, فورت براج, مطار دالاس التنفيذي, الطائرة الخفيفة, كم عدد مقاعد falcon 900b, جزيرة بانجاسينان, فيرفيلد, افضل الطائرات التجارية الصغيرة, carbondale ولاية


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For the 12th year in a row, analyst firm Gartner has unveiled its rankings of the Top 25 Supply Chains in the world, and for the 12th consecutive year, we offer our own take on the rankings. (Full disclosure: I have been one of the "peer opinion" voters for quite a few years now, so I'm analyzing a process that I also participate in.)
As we've noted in the past, the notion that these 25 companies (actually, 27, as you'll discover) have the very best supply chains in the world is a flawed concept from the very get-go since there are so many exceptions to the rankings. For instance, only large, multi-national, public companies are part of the Top 25. Also, many of the companies you would immediately think of as being supply chain experts (UPS, FedEx, IBM, Disney, Google, et.al.) are omitted from consideration for one reason or another (but none of those reasons have ever struck me as being very compelling).
And there's also the unmistakable reality that these rankings, when you get right down to it, are mostly popularity contests. Yes, there are metrics involved, such as inventory turns and return on assets, but the opinions of the peer voters and Gartner's analysts account for 50% of the rankings.
There's also a new category for corporate social responsibility (CSR), which appears to be based as much on third-party input as it does on any measurable performance metrics. (The CSR scores immediately raise a flag when you discover that Amazon's score is 0.00, which probably cost the online retailer a chance to repeat as #1 this year, mostly because Amazon doesn't issue a CSR report as many other public companies do.)
As occurred last year, Gartner has also lifted Apple and Procter & Gamble out of the Top 25 rankings entirely, placing them in a Supply Chain Masters category. Thanks to that move, and Amazon's CSR score being so poor, we have a new # 1 on this year's list, which you'll discover at the very end of the rankings as we count them down from 25 to 1, just like Casey Kasem used to do. Also, we should note that, with several companies joining the rankings this year, that means a couple companies slipped out of the Top 25 in 2016. Those companies are Seagate Technology, Qualcomm, Cummins, Toyota and Home Depot.
The following gallery offers capsule descriptions of what makes each of the Top 25 (plus Apple and P&G) so good at supply chain management, and where appropriate we've included observations from Gartner's analysts—Stan Aronow, Michael Burkett, Kimberly Nilles and Jim Romona—as to how and why each company finished where it did on the list. You can check out the rankings from previous years here:
Top 25 Supply Chains of 2015
Top 25 Supply Chains, 2014 Edition
A Look at the Top 25 Supply Chains of 2013
Top 25 Healthcare Supply Chains of 2013
The Top 25 Supply Chains of 2012
The Top Supply Chains of 2011
The Top 25 Supply Chains of 2010
Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo continues to use its supply chain to good advantage as it integrates former IBM and Motorola products into a profitable business. According to Gartner's analysts, Lenovo recently created a customer social/digital platform for some of its key accounts customized by order status, new product information and technical support, with a supply chain team member assigned to each major account. This kind of intense attention to customer service illustrates Lenovo's disciplined approach to managing its supply chain.
Kimberly-Clark's Supply Chain Efficiency Fund initiative was singled out by Gartner's analysts, a cost-to-serve model that identifies a range of logistics services ranked by their efficiencies. The personal care and paper goods manufacturer is also focusing on packaging innovations that can make their products more direct-ship friendly.
GlaxoSmithKline had been missing from the Gartner Top 25 rankings for the past nine years, finally breaking back into the list thanks in part to solid return-on-asset numbers over the past three years.GlaxoSmithKline had been missing from the Gartner Top 25 rankings for the past nine years, finally breaking back into the list thanks in part to solid return-on-asset numbers over the past three years. One notable achievement for the pharmaceutical giant is its lean initiative, the GSK Production System, the company's spin on the well-known Toyota Production System. The GPS standardizes how the company works towards its goal of zero accidents, zero defects and zero waste. Through the GPS, GSK is able to apply the same standards to its manufacturing processes across all our supply chains.
Neither Toyota nor Ford made it into the Top 25 this year, which allowed another automotive OEM—German luxury automaker BMW—to appear on the list for the first time in 2016. Gartner's analysts point to the company's development of a risk filter as a singular supply chain achievement that allows BMW to identify location-specific and product specific risks and then use that information as it considers sourcing from new and existing suppliers. BMW also uses self-driving robots (a type of automated guided vehicle) to move up to one ton of auto parts throughout its plants.
Johnson & Johnson has managed to appear on the Gartner list every year since the rankings debuted a dozen years ago, despite having a rather checkered past of product recalls and other supply chain incidents. That pattern continues this year, as the company is praised by Gartner's analysts for deployment of digital technologies to improve supplier collaboration, while at the same time the company is under fire—and just lost a $55 million lawsuit—for claims that its talcum powder causes ovarian cancer. J&J's use of the Internet of Things, serialization and track-and-trace technologies will no doubt be put to good use as the company defends its products against mounting health claims.
Chemical companies rarely ever appear on Gartner's annual Top 25 list, but in 2016 BASF proves to be the exception. One initiative that intrigues Gartner's analysts is BASF's "lighthouse" project to digitize its logistics operation using prescriptive analytics that help the company in its daily decision-making and strategic planning. The company also earns high marks for its sustainability efforts, as well as it focus on delivery reliability excellence.
French cosmetics manufacturer L'Oreal has been focusing its supply chain efforts on demand forecasting and supply & demand matching, and according to Gartner's analysts, the efforts have paid off with 2% improvement in service levels while holding inventory constant. The company is also well regarded for its supplier management program as well as product innovation.
Energy and automation specialist Schneider Electric is another newcomer to the list, and Gartner's analysts singled out the company's move from a decentralized supply chain to one more closely aligned to its customers' specific requirements. Schneider's rapid rise in the rankings also is a result of the company's lean initiatives in its transportation and warehousing operations, as well as its focus on network optimization and on-time delivery.
High-tech manufacturer Hewlett-Packard last appeared on the list back in 2012, then dropped off for several years, reappearing in 2016, largely on the strength of its renewed focus on demand forecasting and perfect order fulfillment, as well as its efforts to be a player in the emerging 3-D printing marketplace. HP is also using artificial intelligence software to improve its order to fulfillment processes, Gartner's analysts note. The company is also known for its efforts in eliminating human trafficking in its supply chain. It will be interesting to see how HP does in the 2017 rankings, since the company split into two entities late in 2015, and Gartner will follow suit by considering HP Inc. (the PC and printer side of the business) and Hewlett-Packard Enterprises (the services side of the business) as two different companies.
Retail giant Walmart takes a backseat to no one in the impact its supply chain initiatives have had on the world, most notably in recent years in its efforts to mandate sustainability targets throughout its supplier base. The retailer also plans to use drones to check warehouse inventories, and it's developed a smartphone app that every in-store manager can use to alert staff to restock and replenish shelves in real-time. Walmart is also testing the use of for-hire driver services such as Uber or Lyft for last-mile delivery. And as Gartner notes, the retailer has also increased its sourcing from women-owned businesses.
PepsiCo's direct store delivery network operates in almost real-time and supports hyperlocal marketing that allows the food and beverage giant to target retail campaigns at the right store at the right time, points out Gartner's analysts. The company's supply chain efforts have also been focused lately on a portfolio optimization platform, with the aim of using data analysis to improve profitability. PepsiCo is also rolling out a standardized demand and supply planning platform that can be leveraged for emerging markets as well as mature markets.
Industrial conglomerate 3M uses the term "efficient growth" to describe its supply chain approach, which focuses on three things, according to Gartner's analysts: regionalizing its supply chains to reduce complexity, accelerating its use of disruptive technologies to create more innovative products, and aligning its inventory management with its global ERP platform.
Consumer packaged goods manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive reportedly has more than 10,000 projects focused on identifying cost savings opportunities and then reinvesting savings back into the company. According to Gartner's analysts, the company's supply chain has managed significant improvements in SKU productivity, and has implemented a supply chain control tower to improve demand sensing, inventory optimization and supply network planning.
Starbucks has never been just about the coffee. Although the company now has more than 20,000 locations, it still operates its supply chain with the goal of satisfying each and every patron, which lately has led to Starbucks testing a "green apron" logistics model that allows it to hand-deliver products to the 12,000 office workers employed in New York's Empire State Building. The company has also developed a click-and-collect app designed to speed up the ordering process for consumers. The company also aims to be socially conscious through its espousal of numerous political causes (which occasionally backfire, drawing criticism that Starbucks should stick to making coffee).
At apparel company Nike, product innovation is a key area for its supply chain initiatives, particularly when it comes to the use of new technologies in its manufacturing processes. Gartner's analysts also point out that Nike has invested heavily in its supply network design and product lifecycle management capabilities. Since the company relies on contract manufacturers for its products (largely in Third World countries), Nike has also invested in enabling visibility throughout its extended supply chain, as well as into the merchandising efforts of its retail customers.
Sometimes there can seem to be a disconnect between the Top 25 rankings and the actual performance of a company over the past year. The appearance of Nestlé in the top 10, and Gartner's claim that the company scored a perfect 10 out of 10 for corporate social responsibility, certainly is one of those head-scratching disconnects, as the food and beverage company made headlines in 2015 over accusations that one of the suppliers to its Purina cat food division is using slave labor. The company spent much of 2015 trying to dodge complaints that it was exploiting water supplies in California during that state's severe drought. Be that as it may, Gartner's analysts were impressed by Nestlé's use of predictive analytics for demand planning as well as the growth in the company's e-commerce business.
Beverage giant Coca-Cola has set itself a lofty goal of replenishing 100% of the water it uses in the manufacturing process by 2020, although it's still unclear whether that will have much of an impact, since that only accounts for 1% of the company's overall water use. It's one of those sustainability targets that is certainly a step in the right direction, but doesn't exactly represent a supply chain game-changer. Even so, Gartner's analysts applaud Coke's goal of lowering its carbon footprint, and also point to the company's innovative Freestyle smart delivery systems that can tailor supply chain solutions by market and segment.
Samsung Electronics is using its supply chain talent to expand its offerings into business-based product categories, such as hospitality, healthcare, finance and transportation, explains Gartner's analysts, in an effort to differentiate its products from that of chief rivals, such as Apple. Samsung is also focusing on improving its customer collaboration by using connected devices to learn more about user behavior.
Cisco Systems not only sells its concept of the Internet of Things but it uses it internally as well, particularly to improve product quality and energy efficiency. Gartner's analysts note that the networking equipment company has developed a cloud-based supplier collaboration platform that provides full demand visibility throughout the supply chain. The company is also using advanced technologies such as telematics and augmented reality in its warehouses to improve efficiency.
While the name "Inditex" is largely unknown to most U.S. consumers, the Spanish company is better known for its Zara brand, one of the most popular online fashion retailers. The secret to Zara's success is its focus on Big Data and analytics to identify and then capitalize on current design and fashion trends by converting voice-of-the-customer feedback into finished products in a go-to-market timeframe much shorter than traditional fashion retailers.
H&M, a Swedish fast-fashion retailer, has built its supply chain reputation on its ability to produce 80% of its products via a build-to-plan model, and the remaining 20% being adaptable to changes in fashion trends that allow products to go from design to delivery in a store in less than three weeks. Gartner's analysts also note the retailer is rapidly expanding its brick-and-mortar stores footprint, with 425 store openings planned for 2016, mostly in the U.S. and China.
Late last year chip manufacturer Intel completed its deal to acquire rival Altera, which will occupy much of its operational strategy this year as it expands into new markets. Also, Intel's supply chain is serving as a test bed for new products developed by its Internet of Things division, points out Gartner's analysts, where the goal is to improve the visibility of both inbound deliveries and outbound shipments.
Gartner omits airlines, package delivery companies and shipping companies from consideration for the Top 25 rankings, which leads to the obvious question: Should online retailer Amazon be dropped from the rankings? After all, Amazon is registered as an ocean freight forwarder, owns 30% of a cargo airline and is reportedly interested in buying an entire airport in Germany, offers an Uber-like Flex delivery service, and is developing the infrastructure to enable delivery drones. Many have speculated that Amazon, for all intents and purposes, is already more of a logistics company than a retailer. Be that as it may, there's no denying that Amazon has one of the most prominent—and dominant—supply chains in the world.
It's probably not fair to compare McDonald's proficiency with inventory turns against the other members of the Top 25; at 156.0, the hamburger retailer's next-closest competitor is Samsung (14.8). It is a bit of a surprise seeing McDonald's perched in the # 2 slot in the list, given how frequently the company has been written off by the national press as passé and out of touch with the Millennial generation, which is said to be more interested in locally sourced, farm-to-fork foods than the mass-produced burgers-and-fries served up by McDonald's. But the company leveraged its supply chain to expand its menu to include all-day breakfast items, and its collaboration with suppliers remains a key differentiator.
So how did Unilever end up grabbing the top spot on this year's Top 25 rankings? If you dig into the fine print of the metrics, a lot of it is because Gartner's analysts themselves were more impressed by Unilever than they were by any other company. The peer voters were clearly more impressed with Amazon (which garnered 3,356 points) than with Unilever (a distant second at 1,841 points). Also, Unilever scored a perfect 10 on the corporate social responsibility metric, a new category that Gartner just invented for this year's rankings, and an area where the company has clearly staked a claim for thought leadership, with far-reaching sustainability goals. Unilever also has invested in regional operational centers that support its customer order-to-cash process, which in turn is leading to significant cost savings.
Consumer packaged goods giant Procter & Gamble, like Apple, is no longer considered part of the Top 25, having reached the status of Supply Chain Master since it's proficiency and consistency place it in the pantheon of supply chain greatness (at least, as Gartner defines it). If you ever wonder how P&G has gotten so good at matching its products to consumer demand, consider that the company embeds sensors in some of its products (toothbrushes, air fresheners, etc.), and passes along this consumer usage data to its sales and design teams.
Apple has been at the top of the Top 25 rankings for so long that Gartner ended up just coming up with a new category called Supply Chain Masters (for which P&G also qualifies), just so there could be fresh blood at the top of the "regular" rankings. Interesting, for once Apple's status as top supply chain dog seems to, if not be outright threatened, at least be up for discussion as the high-tech company seems to be undergoing a bit of an identity crisis, with the much-rumored development of an Apple automobile either setting the company up for a huge debacle or possibly its biggest and brashest success yet. There's not much middle ground when it comes to Apple, which continues to rely on its supply chain proficiency to deliver both consumer gadgets and digital products in huge numbers.
Our look at the Top 25 (plus 2) Supply Chains of 2016 uncovers what the best companies in the world do, or are trying to do, to excel at managing their global supply chains.
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Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Centuryby Orville Schell, John Delury
Through a series of lively and absorbing portraits of iconic modern Chinese leaders and thinkers, two of today's foremost specialists on China provide a panoramic narrative of this country's rise to preeminence that is at once analytical and personal. How did a nation, after a long and painful period of dynastic decline, intellectual upheaval, foreign
Through a series of lively and absorbing portraits of iconic modern Chinese leaders and thinkers, two of today's foremost specialists on China provide a panoramic narrative of this country's rise to preeminence that is at once analytical and personal. How did a nation, after a long and painful period of dynastic decline, intellectual upheaval, foreign occupation, civil war, and revolution, manage to burst forth onto the world stage with such an impressive run of hyperdevelopment and wealth creation—culminating in the extraordinary dynamism of China today?
Wealth and Power answers this question by examining the lives of eleven influential officials, writers, activists, and leaders whose contributions helped create modern China. This fascinating survey begins in the lead-up to the first Opium War with Wei Yuan, the nineteenth-century scholar and reformer who was one of the first to urge China to borrow ideas from the West. It concludes in our time with human-rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, an outspoken opponent of single-party rule. Along the way, we meet such titans of Chinese history as the Empress Dowager Cixi, public intellectuals Feng Guifen, Liang Qichao, and Chen Duxiu, Nationalist stalwarts Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, and Communist Party leaders Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Zhu Rongji.
The common goal that unites all of these disparate figures is their determined pursuit of fuqiang, "wealth and power." This abiding quest for a restoration of national greatness in the face of a "century of humiliation" at the hands of the Great Powers came to define the modern Chinese character. It's what drove both Mao and Deng to embark on root-and-branch transformations of Chinese society, first by means of Marxism-Leninism, then by authoritarian capitalism. And this determined quest remains the key to understanding many of China's actions today.
By unwrapping the intellectual antecedents of today's resurgent China, Orville Schell and John Delury supply much-needed insight into the country's tortured progression from nineteenth-century decline to twenty-first-century boom. By looking backward into the past to understand forces at work for hundreds of years, they help us understand China today and the future that this singular country is helping shape for all of us.
"Superb . . . beautifully written and neatly structured."—Financial Times
"[An] engaging narrative of the intellectual and cultural origins of China's modern rise."—The New York Times Book Review
"Informative and insightful . . . a must-read for anyone with an interest in the world's fastest-rising superpower."—Slate
"It does a better job than most other books of answering a basic question the rest of the world naturally asks about China's recent rise: What does China want?"—The Atlantic
"The portraits are beautifully written and bring to life not only their subjects but also the mood and intellectual debates of the times in which they lived."—Foreign Affairs
"Excellent and erudite . . . [The authors] combine scholarly learning with a reportorial appreciation of colorful, revealing details."—The National Interest
Editorial Reviews
"[An] engaging narrative of the intellectual and cultural origins of China's modern rise."—The New York Times Book Review
"Informative and insightful . . . a must-read for anyone with an interest in the world's fastest-rising superpower."—Slate
"It does a better job than most other books of answering a basic question the rest of the world naturally asks about China's recent rise: What does China want?"—The Atlantic
"The portraits are beautifully written and bring to life not only their subjects but also the mood and intellectual debates of the times in which they lived."—Foreign Affairs
"Excellent and erudite . . . [The authors] combine scholarly learning with a reportorial appreciation of colorful, revealing details."—The National Interest
"I know there are lots of China history books these days, but this one is really well done. It tells the story with lots of interesting historical characters and deep insights into the country. Really worth reading."—Fareed Zakaria (Book of the Week)
"In a provocative new book whose ideas have already begun stirring debate among China watchers, Orville Schell and John Delury argue that the quest for national rejuvenation, or for wealth and power, has long been at the heart of modern Chinese political and intellectual thought."—The New York Times
"I highly recommend Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century, an excellent new book from Orville Schell and John Delury. The book goes a long way to explaining what drives the current leadership, and why betting against their resolve to reform may be risky in the medium to long term."—Bill Bishop, The New York Times
"Wealth and Power offers everything readers might expect from its two eminent authors. It is both sweeping and specific, authoritative and lively, sympathetic and critical, offering the perspective of both the hedgehog and the fox. The hardest challenge in writing about China, or finding things to read about it, is perceiving significant patterns while remaining aware of the chaos and contradictions. Orville Schell and John Delury meet that challenge in exemplary form. I only wish that they'd written the book years ago, so that (along with other readers) I could have been taking advantage of its insights all along."—James Fallows, national correspondent, The Atlantic
"Orville Schell and John Delury have delivered a brilliantly original and essential book: the road map to China's quest for national salvation. This is a story of ideas and the vibrant figures who shaped them: rebels, thinkers, and rivals, united by the quest for reinvention. It is required reading for anyone seeking to understand China's motives and the future of global competition, and is, quite simply, a pleasure to read. Vivid, literate, and brimming with insights, Wealth and Power deserves to become a classic."—Evan Osnos, China correspondent, The New Yorker
"In Wealth and Power, their crisp and comprehensive introduction to the history of modern China, historians Orville Schell and John Delury present us with the historical background we need to understand the driving mechanism that lies at the center of China today. By no longer presenting China's past two centuries as a record of recurrent failures and humiliations, they give us a portrait of a nation in the making, and of leaders with the skills and determination to redirect China's energies on a global scale. The change of perspective is valuable and challenging."—Jonathan D. Spence, author of The Search for Modern China
Product Details
- 9780679643470
- Publisher:
- Random House Publishing Group
- Publication date:
- 07/16/2013
- Pages:
- 496
- Product dimensions:
- 6.42(w) x 9.76(h) x 1.31(d)
Read an Excerpt
Wealth and Power
China's Long March to the Twenty-first Century
By Orville Schell, John Delury
Random House LLCCopyright © 2013 Orville Schell
All rights reserved.
Wealth and Power ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])
The Burden of Dreams
As the Chinese empire was unraveling at the beginning of the twentieth century under the combined pressures of internal decay and foreign assault, political essayist and reformer Liang Qichao began writing an unlikely novel, The Future of New China. Published serially in a popular journal, it was a strange blend of patriotic reverie and science fiction conjuring up what a rejuvenated China might look like sixty years hence—after it had reemerged as a strong, prosperous, and respected country once again. Although Liang, the most influential public intellectual of his generation, completed only a few chapters, his fictional exercise allowed his many readers, distraught by the Qing Dynasty's inability to adapt to modern times, to dream a little about what their benighted country might be like in an idealized future, circa 1962. As he imagined it then, the world's leading scholars, statesmen, and merchants would all clamor to visit and pay tribute both to China's modern present and its Confucian past at an international exposition to be held in Shanghai—strangely like the World Expo the city actually did hold in 2010. "I truly believe that this type of book can be a great help to China's future," Liang wrote.
The Future of New China was not exactly great literature, and Liang admitted as much, commenting self-deprecatingly that the work-in-progress made him "laugh at myself." But reading the novel's chapters today, when China is, in fact, ever more wealthy, powerful, and respected, imbues that long-ago moment with a triste sense of just how passionately Chinese then yearned to escape the bitter reality of their country's humiliating decline, even if only by projecting themselves for a moment into an imaginary future.
Such fantasies were an all too understandable antidote to China's century-long decline, and Liang was not the last to indulge in dreaming of remote triumphs. Four decades later, another well-known writer, Lin Yutang, contemplating a China largely occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army and steeped in even deeper misery, experienced a similar wishful prefiguration of the future. In his 1942 book Between Tears and Laughter, Lin described being visited by an "intuition," almost "mystic" in nature, which "blew like a whiff of clean air through the tortuous maze in which my will and my mind were imprisoned and paralyzed." He wrote defiantly how, even with backwardness and despair everywhere around him, he nonetheless "saw China growing strong." "I know that this nation of 450,000,000 people, united and awakened and purged by the war-fire, is coming up," he insisted against all evidence. "The strength lies in her and nothing the western nations can do can stop her or keep her down."
Such improbable dreams of a wealthy, strong, and proud China gave expression to widespread but frustrated yearnings for a revival of national greatness that arose in the nineteenth century, when for the first time in centuries Chinese could no longer think automatically and indisputably of their empire as Zhongguo ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), the "Central Kingdom." Today, however, after three decades of dynamic economic growth on a scale and speed beyond anything the modern world has ever known, the fantasies of Liang Qichao and Lin Yutang seem prophetic.
Such a starkly unexpected ending to modern China's torturous developmental story compels us to reexamine the narrative of endless modernization failure with which we have all grown up. How did China's modern history of relentless humiliation and backwardness, of failed reform and disastrous revolution—the curse of generation after generation of would-be activists trying to create a "new China"—suddenly morph into such a story of triumph? Was it really just a sudden post-Mao miracle conjured up by Deng Xiaoping, or were the seeds of the present planted long ago, only germinating so slowly that at the time it was difficult to see, or even imagine the shape of things to come ... except in a few fictional dreamscapes?
This is not another book heralding or bemoaning China's rise. Instead, we have chosen to engage in what is more of a historical reflection on the backstory to China's "economic miracle," an attempt to use history to find a new vantage point on its progress, emphasizing the perspectives of the Chinese themselves. In short, our goal has been to embark on a somewhat different kind of explanation for how, after over a century of decline, occupation, civil war, state repression, and socialist revolution, China finally did manage to catapult itself into an era of stunning dynamism and economic growth. To do this, we have chosen to primarily rely not on new archival material, but instead on preexisting scholarship—both the older classics in the field and some more recent research—works in which both of us have been immersed over our many collective decades of studying China's history. By standing on the shoulders of this collective body of work we hope to see a bit further toward the horizon of China's future, so bound up as it is with China's past. For it is these works that shaped, and continue to shape, our own thinking and understanding. And since both of us have also had long personal odysseys studying, living, and working in China, we have also drawn on some of these more immediate experiences that have also played an important role in helping us make sense out of how and why things have worked out as they have in this most singular of countries.
In reading through historical accounts of the lives, writings, and speeches of the diverse group of iconic political and intellectual figures presented in this book, a common chord rings through all their work—the abiding quest for fuqiang ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), "wealth and power." Our account of modern China is thus the story of how these national leaders marched their people down the long road to fuxing ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), rejuvenation, and, by doing so, made Chinese society finally more ready than ever before for the possibility of a more open and democratic future.
The couplet of characters fuqiang has most commonly been translated as "wealth and power," and as a result the term—a shorthand version of the ancient adage fuguo qiangbing ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), "enrich the state and strengthen its military power"—has thus worked its way into historical literature in the English language. The expression was coined during the Warring States Period more than two millennia ago, as when the Legalist philosopher Han Feizi explained bluntly, "If a wise ruler masters wealth and power, he can have whatever he desires." For Chinese reformers since the early nineteenth century, these two characters have repeatedly stood in for the profound desire among China's cognoscenti to see their country restored to the kind of greatness their ancestors had once taken for granted. Above all, these patriotic Chinese yearned for their nation to be able to defend itself against foreign incursion. Although in classical times these two characters conveyed a certain sense of aggressiveness, when the phrase was revived in the nineteenth century in a context of an empire in decline and struggling to maintain its territorial integrity, the subtext of "wealth and power" was self-defense rather than foreign conquest. A more fitting translation might actually have been: "prosperity and strength."
As China's humiliation deepened through each defeat by imperialist powers from the Opium War (1839–42) onward, the scramble to find the keys to China's lost "wealth and power" gained an almost unbearable urgency. The ardor with which successive generations of Chinese intellectual and political leaders pursued fuqiang—even though most of them ended up with very little to show for their efforts—ultimately proved a unique dynamo fueling the country's constant and fervent pursuit of self-reinvention and rejuvenation.
The obverse of the elusive dream of "wealth and power" was, of course, China's chronic reality of poverty, weakness, and ignominy. As the West and Japan encroached ever more on its territorial sovereignty and as its people began to lose confidence in the superiority of their Confucian system itself, first uncertainty, and finally debilitating doubt and self-disparagement infected the entire society. When China was defeated by Japan—a presumably inferior Asian power—in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, the shock was staggering. By the end of World War I, the notion of their country as a global victim had become an organic part of how Chinese looked at themselves and their place in the world, with variations on the theme of "humiliation" infecting every aspect of China's cultural, psychological, and political being. Confronting this narrative of prey versus predators, in which they were inevitably bested, Chinese reformers and leaders wrestled with the complex task of blaming the predatory great powers, while at the same time somehow absolving their own countrymen of too crippling a sense of inferiority and hopelessness. Myriad new slogans arose, and many have endured to this day, all emanating from a crushing sense of China's having fallen from a previous state of grace: "Restore the nation and erase the stain of humiliation!" "Endure humiliation to carry out our important task!" By the 1940s, Chinese were speaking regularly of "a century of humiliation" and had even established a National Humiliation Day. To this day, children are still exhorted to "never forget national humiliation and strengthen our national defense."
Modern Chinese intellectuals have continuously woven these grievances together into an ever more elaborate tapestry in which a weakened China is depicted as being unfairly pitted against a powerful, aggressive imperialist world. Within this frieze of history, our book examines how foreign exploitation and the ensuing humiliation that flowed from it became a deeply seductive, if painful, way of understanding their country's inescapable failures, how these failures also became organic parts of a new national identity (marked by what one scholar has described as the "sanctification of victimhood"), and finally how they paradoxically provided raw material for escaping the dilemma of perpetually being both stepped on and one step behind the great powers of the world. Foreign superiority may have been humiliating and shameful, but it also served as a sharp goad urging Chinese to sacrifice for all the various reform movements and revolutions that came to be launched as a way to remove the stigma of their shame. And nationalism, which reformers and revolutionaries alike turned to as a way to galvanize the populace against their ignominy, grew directly out of China's evolving consciousness of failure and weakness, its roots well irrigated by the aquifer of historical humiliation that had long been pooling beneath it.
In the nineteenth century, the effort to efface national humiliation and restore China to wealth, strength, and respect had been largely focused on the question of how the West's military technology and economic yong ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), "techniques," might be harnessed to China's own national ziqiang ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), "self-strengthening" effort. By the early twentieth century, however, the need for more far-reaching and radical approaches had become painfully apparent. It was in this period that Chinese thinkers first began seriously questioning the wisdom of maintaining the inner ti ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), or "core," of the country's traditional culture, fearing that China's backwardness and inability to adapt to the modern world was rooted in Confucian values themselves. Fin de siècle public intellectuals such as Liang Qichao and Yan Fu, for example, were ready to jettison the foundations of Chinese culture and import Western ideas in their place as part of a desperate effort to restore their country to greatness. "We have no time to ask whether this knowledge is Chinese or Western, whether it is old or new," Yan wrote imploringly. "If one course leads to ignorance and thus to poverty and weakness ... we must cast it aside. If another course is effective in overcoming ignorance and thus leads to a cure of our poverty and weakness, we must imitate it, even if it proceeds from barbarians."
Soon thereafter, even more radical skeptics had launched a cultural and intellectual uprising known as the New Culture Movement, calling for a wholesale repudiation of China's past and a new regimen of even more extensive foreign borrowing. For these activists, around whom much of twentieth-century Chinese history turned, the demolition of the country's ancient Confucian escutcheon became part of a sacred mission to "save the nation."
Unlike democratic political reform in the West, which developed out of a belief in certain universal values and human rights as derived from a "natural," if not God-given, source, and so were to be espoused regardless of their efficacy, the dominant tradition of reform in China evolved from a far more utilitarian source. Its primary focus was to return China to a position of strength, and any way that might help achieve this goal was thus worth considering. What "liberté, egalité, fraternité" meant to the French Revolution and to the making of modernity in the West, "wealth, strength, and honor" have meant to the forging of modern China. As a result, Chinese reformers tended to inhabit what looks to Western eyes like a pragmatic kingdom of means, rather than an idealistic world of ends. Reformers have been interested in democratic governance at various stages in China's tortuous path, not so much because it might enshrine sacred, inalienable political liberties but because it might make their nation more dynamic and thus stronger. "We cannot decide whether an idea is good or not without seeing it in practice" was the way Sun Yat-sen, "Father of the Nation," who helped bring republican government to China, once pragmatically observed. "If the idea is of practical value to us and to the world, it is good. If the idea is impractical, it is no good."
By this logic, since the liberal political philosophies and governmental systems of the West had been so effective in creating such extraordinary national strength, would it not be foolish of Chinese reformers not to also experiment with them? But the same held true for communism, fascism, and authoritarianism. If one kind of "borrowing" did not do the job, the inclination was to try another, and another ... until China could find a formula that worked. So in their relentless quest for wealth, strength, and finally greatness, successive generations of reformers bent their energies toward giving their country the equivalent of serial economic, intellectual, cultural, and political organ transplants.
Initially, conservative and sometimes xenophobic factions obstructed and inhibited this process, but over time, the scope of what might be acceptably imported from abroad kept growing. However, whatever means of borrowing were chosen, the goal was almost always the same: the "salvation" of the nation and its restoration to global preeminence. It was this pragmatic willingness to try anything that has given the drama of modern Chinese history its strangely disjointed quality, as if each succeeding act of borrowing had been imagined and written by a different playwright.
Alas, learning from foreign models turned out to have its own set of problems, for to borrow from elsewhere in such a wholesale way meant to deny the most organic aspect of being Chinese, namely, its own unique cultural tradition extending back thousands of years. Indeed, for more than a century and a half, the country found itself oscillating between attraction to and then repulsion from a culture that had for millennia served it well, yet now seemed the very cause of its weakness and failure. Finally, under Mao Zedong the project of destroying the old core of Chinese identity was carried to a grim conclusion with a violent and totalistic resolve. But, like a forest fire that clears the way for new growth, it may have ironically also helped prepare the way to usher in a spectacular new kind of economic growth under his successor, Deng Xiaoping.
Excerpted from Wealth and Power by Orville Schell, John Delury. Copyright © 2013 Orville Schell. Excerpted by permission of Random House LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Meet the Author
Orville Schell was educated at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of numerous books and articles on China. The former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Berkeley, he is presently the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York City.
John Delury received his Ph.D. in modern Chinese history at Yale University, where he wrote his dissertation on the Ming-Qing Confucian scholar Gu Yanwu. He taught at Brown, Columbia, and Peking University, and was associate director of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. He is currently an assistant professor of East Asian studies at Yonsei University in Seoul.
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This is a good overview of the major figures who have had an impact on China's history since the mid-19th century. Wei Yuan, Li Hongzhang, Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao, and a few others are described with the opinions of the authors on their signficance. While this is a very good book of biographies, it sometimes seems the authors are trying too hard to fit them into their themes of "wealth and power." Nevertheless, I definitely recommend this book.


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Come winter the temperatures plummet and you'll no doubt reach for a blanket or jumper to keep you warm indoors.
But spare a thought for the individuals who sleep rough on the streets and their doggy companions.
Knitters are now being urged to help "keep canines cosy" by making them their very own doggy jumper.
Dogs Trust is calling on crafty folk to help with its Hope Project, which distributes canine hampers, including bowls, tinned food, leads, collars and toys, to homeless mutts around the UK.
The scheme first began in 1994, offering free and subsidised veterinary treatment to dogs whose owners are living in temporary accommodation or are homeless.
Discussing this year's hopes, Clare Kivlehan, Hope Project manager, said: "The bond between any dog and owner is a strong one but for homeless people their dog can be their only friend.
"Each year we're delighted to be able to distribute these hampers to homeless hounds to help make Christmas happier for them and their owners."
Knitters can send their jumpers into the Dogs Trust Head Office in London before November 23rd, ready for them to be distributed in December to grateful dogs and owners.
Why not have a practice at some jumper patterns before then, or make up your own by measuring your dog at home? Remember to try different shapes and sizes to make sure they can accommodate a range of homeless canines.
Bold, bright colours or patterns can be especially uplifting, but most importantly you want to knit something that will be able to endure winter weather, helping to shield them against the elements.
As well as knitting doggy jumpers, the charity is asking people to contribute money to the hampers too, by buying toys and treat stockings to be placed in the boxes, ready to surprise the plucky pups this Christmas.
If this sounds like a project you would be interested in have a look at the Dogs Trust website for more details or pop into your nearest charity shop.


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