For my first day of business I remember leaving early in the morning but not in any particular hurry, gathering my courage as I drove along to begin my first day of business.I was anxious being on my own but I knew I had to have courage after all what was the worst thing that could happen to me (other than getting thrown off the site ) I thought.

I arrived at my destination and stopped in what I thought was a good spot to start trading, parked up my catering van and proceeded to get out and start setting up for the day when two security guards came running over from the truck depot opposite to ask me " what are you doing here"

I said to them firmly "I'm trading and I've got permission to be here... from the landlords and pointed to the sign opposite which was displaying (just by chance) Industrial Units To let with a contact phone number. I explained to the security people that I'd called the number and asked the landlords for permission to trade on site and they agreed, So on Hearing this they backed of and walked away...

What will the future bring? What is in store for us?

My personal prediction is generally positive though it lacks certainty and confidence. My expectations are largely based upon my own readiness and willingness to work hard, to employ my creativity in all spheres. The basic apprehension of mine is the coming political and legislative permissiveness in Russia. In my understanding, the reason for such a pessimistic prediction is the absence of support from the government. The changes taking place in the upper circles prove the instability in the country and the possibility of the final mess in the society.

Development always brings something new but the innovations do not always lead to the better. Taking some particular case, I would like to share my concern for the future of our legal system. You may ask why I take this example. The answer is evident because the legal system defines the whole order of economic and political life in a country. It can be likened to a house footing.

The Civil Code is especially going to change. The Chart of the Conception of civil legislation modernization presupposes drastic and at times unaccountable amendments. The legislator has mapped out the essential changes to the text of the Code and these changes will affect nearly every article of the legal document. The adherents of the Chart are probably less aware of the outcomes the amendments will bring about. The civil circulation will become more complicated; some additional procedures (which in fact are dubious in its initial design) are introduced. For instance, they suggest the introduction of the obligatory notarially certified transactions as the supplementary verification of their legitimacy before the state registration of real estate. The valid question is about the purpose of the changes. Almost every lawyer would agree the national legislature should follow the line of simplification and easy administration but the current news refute this fair assumption.

Anyway, I would like to hope for the more favourable course of development. Our life is much more breathtaking in its unpredictability.

It is well-known that there are two sectors of economy – the private sector and the public sector. The difference between them is quite obvious. The private sector is the part of a country's economy that consists of privately owned enterprises. The public sector is the part of an economy that consists of state-owned institutions, including nationalized industries and services provided by local authorities.
The public sector usually deals with the activities that demand too much capital and are not very profitable, but that are very significant for population, or for the government. So, here one can mention such activities as building roads, maintaining the army, railroads, transportation.
The private service produces goods and services and its main aim is to get profit. So, here we cam name such profitable activities as running a shop, a cinema, a restaurant, a museum, a park, maintaining television and telecommunications.
One of the most dubious questions concerning private and public sectors of economy is “should health care be in the private or in the public sector?” If it is in the public one, it's free, if it's in the private sector – you'll have to pay for medical service. And here we come across certain controversial question – which variant is the best? There exists an opinion, that private health care is much better than public one, because if you want to get profit, you must be attractive for your clients and that's why you have to be helpful and reliable. That's why people tend to think that private medicine is safer and more effective. And it seems to be logical. But private health care will be unaffordable for poor people because it' too expensive for them. So, does it mean that they will get no medical help? Does it mean that health is only for those who have enough money for it? As you know, today there exist two kinds of medical service in our country – the public and the private ones. Can they exist together for a long period of time or may be soon one of them will oust out another one? And how will it influence the quality of medical service?

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According to TradingEconomics website, the inflation rate in Russia was last reported at 9.5 percent in March of 2011. The figure, hardly perceptible for well-paid consumers, produces a shock to the majority of the population. However, for a foreigner coming to Russia it would seem rather exaggerated to consider this percentage crucial. Indeed, have a look at the following statistics:

From 1991 until 2010, the average inflation rate in Russia was 175.36 percent reaching a historical high of 2333.3 percent in December of 1992 and a record low of 5.5 percent in July of 2010. Who ever claimed we would suffer from a 9.5 percent’s inflation rate? You’d rather say it’s unfair to look down on such a small figure. But what’s happening in fact? Let’s account for the situation.

Inflation rate refers to a general rise in prices measured against a standard level of purchasing power. The most well known measures of inflation are the CPI which measures consumer prices, and the GDP deflator, which measures inflation in the whole of the domestic economy. So what does it all stand for? The inflation rate is in itself a very relative index. It does not show the prices, nor does it reflect people’s average income. The inflation rate serves for indicating the factual gap between the cost of living and the ability to correspond to this cost. In its turn that means you can buy less than you could some time ago with the same amount of money.

However horrible it might seem, but inflation is typical of all countries and actually is one of the characteristic features of market economy. Deflation (which is the opposite for inflation) occurs so rarely that you can really count such cases with the fingers of one hand (probably the most shining example is the Soviet Union times). Economics suggests several reasons for inflation, among them is the increase in public expenditures which is paid off with the help of currency issue (for a better account read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation#Causes).

That is why the real purchasing power is decreasing and people can’t afford what they want. In general, salaries are typically adjusted annually in low inflation economies. In Russia, however, this adjustment system is not working effectively. A 30%-increase in a teacher’s salary won’t cover the 9.5% inflation rate because the prices are too high for a salary like this. One would say the government’s current policy has no operative tools to improve the economic situation, but we shouldn’t forget, improvement isn’t a matter of a few days (even not of a few decades in some cases) while going all to smash was popular in the early nineties.

My analysis is devoted to the topic "When and how to build a family”. The topic itself is very broad and probably that’s why the users left 76 answers. The whole discussion was narrowed actually to the notion of love and its importance while building a family. In the beginning some said that it’s very significant to have starting money before creating a family, but they were convinced by others that love is a key factor of any family. If there is love, then there is good future for the family.  Though the financial aspect should be taken into consideration, we can’t deny the way we treat our spouses, e.g. whether we feel something towards them or it’s just a matter of pure interest. Of course, I should tsay hat the main question claimed in the header remains unanswered, but still I repeat that this is a very broad topic.

Discussing the thing users would rather say that there are no ideal people than admitting their uncertain attitude to the question. It seems that the question 'how' was discussed quite thoroughly. The conclusion about the time of creating a family is the following – there should be nor rush in it definitely. Even if you marry at 30, there is nothing scaring – you have more than a half of your life ahead. Passion and love – this is what should in the center of any family. Those ones that are created by desire to get financially independent or to secure one’s future family life by material possessions seem to be sensible but not morally correct. Still such families are quite stable because its dependent element – the spouse that see some security while being with his/her partner – tries hard to keep the family together. Though there is no happiness, of course, in such families. What is more important – modern tendency makes many to behave in this a way.

Another issue that was discussed in the frames of this topic is when parents strongly recommend what their children should do when they create a family. Probably it’s a controversial issue, but as one participant of the discussion said – they should advise, but not decide. Parents certainly play a great role in one’s life and they wish only the best to their off-springs, but one shouldn’t forget that this is their own life and very often do not understand how important this or that decision for young is. Especially if we take marriage into account. In this situation it’d be very reasonable to take advice from your parents, but own feelings and situations assessment should definitely prevail.

And the last thing that was overviewed in the topic is an archaic tradition when parents decided upon who to marry and when to marry.  If forums existed at that time such a theme for a thread would never come to one’s head. Ok, if we give up being ironic, we should mention that frequently such marriages weren’t happy, but economically successful. That was the point, and still old times are old times, let’s get them aside. We live in modern world and should discuss things which are relevant in this setting.

So, to finish my essay I should say that the number of messages left is accounted for by the urgency of the topic and the extent to which users that are mostly young men and women regard this theme significant for them and worth discussing. The conclusion is the following – each one decides for himself when and how to build his family.  

The thread dedicated to the Esperanto language did not provoke a real heat of discussion but nevertheless it merits a great deal of attention. Since we are people who are more or less interested in languages and the way of their development, it is not surprising that the problem of one language for everyone does not let us remain indifferent.
The basic issue that lies at the bottom of this forum discussion is whether we need such kind of a language or not. Generally, the netters come to the conclusion that it is not so vital to have one language for all, but some of them admit that it would be beneficial for science to have it. The Esperanto language seems to be ideally created for this particular sphere of life. Since it is not as colorful and expressive as natural languages are, it perfectly meets the requirements of a scientific language – the words are simple, based on common Indo-European roots, and rich in derivatives, whereas grammar contains almost no exceptions and is based on a set of stable rules. However, Esperanto receives a lot of negative remarks being “a language with no future”, “the thing that hasn’t made much headway”, “an experiment that failed”, “unable to solve the pressing problem of language barrier”, “an artificial and dead language”.
Another point that is raised in this thread concerns the difference between a global and universal language. The forum users state it sounds reasonable to strive for attaining one global language, but a universal one is almost improbable. There is no doubt that national languages will never be wiped out no matter how simple and convenient a new made-up language turns out to be. It is accepted that a global language could serve the purpose of making communication easier and more successful, but it seems unbelievable that this language could comprise all the diversities of cultural phenomena, language clichés, speech patterns and etiquette.
On the whole, the idea of creating one global language (or of resuming the usage of Esperanto) verges on impossibility. The most frequent argument proposed is that we already have the English language as a means of international communication. The number of people who learn to speak English is amazing, though Chinese and Spanish exceed English in the amount of native speakers. This proves we already possess languages that are widespread and gaining more and more recognition. Then a logical question is brought into the foreground: what for do we need one more language to learn? Why not use the ones available? Do we need to waste our energy and efforts creating things that will be a priori destined for failure?
Perhaps, it is a bit early to draw foregone conclusions, especially now, in the epoch of new discoveries and unconventional decisions, but the general view on the problem is rather pessimistic. People do not believe that there will be times of complete mutual understanding and international peace. And it does not seem probable that even some of the ethnic conflicts will be solved with the help of one, almighty and unifying language which can destroy mental and cultural barriers between nations and countries. However, we’d better not be so critical about the actual state of events and moreover, we should not forebode the wistful future of the planet.

It is quite clear from the title that this thread deals with reading as a hobby. Actually, I was the thread-starter. I wanted to discuss reading with people who simply can’t do without it. I wanted to speak about beneficial effects of reading. And that is why I have called it "Advantages of reading as a hobby”. But as it usually happens in on-line communities, other people influence our intentions a lot. That is why I can’t say that the thread is dedicated to positive sides of reading. It is about reading, what, how much and how.
Not so many people have participated in the forum discussion. Only those ones who find reading a really special activity. For them (or, better to say, for us) reading is a wonderful escape from the routine, an adventure and a learning experience. We are sure that it provides an opportunity for quiet, peaceful time alone and is the perfect way to relax after a busy day and various pressures of the real world. It is an activity that can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere. It is also a fantastic way to keep the mind sharp and to continually absorb knowledge. Be it fiction or non-fiction, when we read, we cannot help but learn and gain insight into ourselves.
As for the genres we prefer, nothing definite can be said. We read very different books, from light novels and detective stories to philosophical and scientific works. Modern literature deserves special attention. That’s why we name Banana Yoshimoto, Haruki Murakami and Anna Gavalda among our beloved writers.

The next question I have raised is how much to read. As lovefootball) has asked, "is there any limit”? And here our opinions differ. Some of us (me included) claim that it is wonderful to read several books at one and the same period of time. These books are usually very different: their genres, the problems they solve and the language they are written in. Rina: "reading several books at the same time, you have a possibility to choose)))”. When reading several books, one gets a better, a deeper understanding of them all.
But some of the participants of this discussion seem to have quite an opposite opinion. They are convinced that reading several books at a time is impossible, because in this case you will not be able to keep everything in mind, you will simply forget things and lose track of plot-lines.
Different people have different lifestyles. Why not have different reading styles then? Let the problem of how much and what to read remain an open question.
You know, some people say, "I like to read but I do not have time for that!” Do not believe such great liars! We do manage to find time to satisfy our needs. Why not just once turn your TV-set and computer off? They steal our time! Take a book instead.
And if you really like reading, participate in our discussion! We will be very lucky to welcome you! I have noticed one peculiar feature of all people whose hobby is reading: they like to share impressions and emotions. The more people they can do it with, the better.
People, read whatever you want. But read! Read whenever you want. But don’t lose that great opportunity to dive into parallel worlds! Reading develops literacy, creativity and imagination. Reading can even make one a different person.
By the way, what is your beloved book? Write your answers HERE!!!!

Pets are always regarded as the next best man’s companions and of course they can change a lot of things in person’s life. But how they can change people? Animals have been a source of help and comfort to humans since history began and we have known for years that animals make people gentler and more relaxed. Pets can have a positive effect on our emotional well-being. It is true that having a pet at home doesn’t mean longer lifespan but animals can make our life more colorful and more interesting. It is pleasant to know that you have devoted friend. Pets deserve a lot of attention especially dogs and cats as they tend to get emotionally connected with their owner. One has to devote time from their daily schedules to keep their pets happy. Pets as many people do not know can easily identify their owners and their respective touch. They change their body direction to soothe and make themselves comfortable while cuddling in the arms of their owners. Today, there are many pets. And they generally become an integral part of our life.
More over animals are not only our good friends but also they can be perfect doctors. It is true that pet therapy is now being widely used and it is not a new idea. Today there are many pet therapy societies. This kind of treatment designed to stimulate people who are withdrawn or uncommunicative. It has given difficult children, lonely old people and even anti-social prisoners a completely new look on life. Such kind of therapy can help people who have lost an animal companion and are in need of support. More over animals can help us to cope not only with the problems of depression and loneliness but also with health problems. And I want to say about dolphin-child therapy. Dolphins can help children to cope with various development, physical and emotional disabilities. The therapy program includes many educational and motivational activities. "Swimming with dolphins is so much fun that this company uses it to motivate disabled kids to work on a variety of skills. For every task a child masters, he or she gets to pet, stroke or swim with one of five dolphins and a therapist in an enclosed lagoon. Swimming with dolphins feels magical by anyone’s account. For children, it goes beyond their wildest imagination". And of course animal’s therapy successfully works. Animals can heal us.
But it is also necessary to look more into the problem of cruelty to animals. It is true animals do not receive the same kind of attitude from people. Animal cruelty is a disturbing problem that still occurs today and is evident in many forms. For example it is well known that about 70 million animals are killed in laboratories every year. And purchasing cosmetics from companies who specify no animal testing is one small step that can be taken to prevent animal cruelty. Hunting is another unnecessary method of animal cruelty. And first of all we speak about hunting of exotic and rare wild animals such as elephants, tigers, leopards and etc. But in many countries people try to struggle with such unpleasant phenomenon. People organize different funds for animals.
And I think it is high time to change our minds towards animals and give them our love and care.

What means of communication do you know? Which of them play the most important role in modern society? These and other questions were discussed on the forum section “New Means of Communication Change us All”. Three threads concerning different aspects of modern communication were created. Let's take a brief look at each of them.
"New Means of Communication (Can they really change us?)” mostly deals with the question “How do modern means of communication change our life-perception?”. If we analyse the posts in this section we'll find out that all the participants of the discussion have agreed that humanity is influenced by modern means of communication, that people's mind is changing, adopting itself to the changes in communication styles (“Every new step of progress influences people's mentality", "You see, now the way we think differs from the one a hundred years ago. Our minds have so-to-say acquired a different structure", "These are new people with new mentality", "I think technologies really change our needs"). Another important question discussed is connected with the problem of the development of different means of communication. Answers given to this question let us regard this process as “everlasting”, “permanently developing”. So, the predictions are quite positive – the only future for different means of communication is... evolution and progress. Actually, the purpose of the section was to study the influence new means of communication exert on us and this aim was achieved.
The Variety of Means of Communication (What do you prefer?). "What means of communication do you prefer?” - this is the question the discussion in the section is based on. Users were able to choose among the list of possible variants (cell phones, ISQ, E-Mail, Social networks, scrolling chats and forums). Here are the results:

As you can see, the most popular means of communication is using cell phones. The users explain why they choose mobiles: “I prefer cell phones, it is small, useful, convenient”, “I prefer mobile phones because at least it imitates face-to-face communication”, “I can at least hear one's reaction immediately when calling him)) Moreover, it's easier to find someone just calling him (or sending sms)”. During the discussion other questions arose - “What are the advantages and disadvantages of social networks?”, “How do they reflect our reality?”. So, we can judge that the whole discussion was focused not only on the main theme, but a lot of sub-themes, which made the communication vivid, expressive and motivating.
Two sections mentioned above are somehow connected, while the third one stands a little bit aside. It is called “Strangers on the site... “ and deals with the question “Avatars and nicknames - what do we hind behind them?”. Actually, this section became the most popular and a great deal of replies were posted there. Why did the users pay their attention to this section? The answer is simple – it concerns their own views and preferences. In other sections they were supposed to share their opinion towards this or that problem and in many cases the answers didn't differ much, that created repetition of the ideas and it undoubtedly demotivated users. But in this case we come across the situation when EACH of them has his OWN explanation. And it's obviously more interesting to find out why your groupmate (or just a person you are acquainted with) chooses this or that nickname and avatar.
To conclude I can say that the section “New Means of Communication” is quite popular and interesting for users, because it deals with the problems we come across every day.

B.Shaw is a real sufficient observer of human nature. Remember the dialog between Eliza and Mr. Higgins in the fifth act:
"LIZA. Well, you have both of them on your gramophone and in your book of photographs. When you feel lonely without me, you can turn the machine on. It's got no feelings to hurt.
HIGGINS. I can't turn your soul on. Leave me those feelings; and you can take away the voice and the face. They are not you.
LIZA. Oh, you are a devil. You can twist the heart in a girl as easy as some could twist her arms to hurt her. Mrs.Pearce warned me. Time and again she has wanted to leave you; and you always got round her at the last minute. And you don't care a bit for her. And you don't care a bit for me."
Eliza is full of indignation, she wants Mr.Higgins to understand what is important for her, but she can't say: "I need you to be kind to me!" She uses hints to let him guess. Her phrases ("It's got no feelings to hurt" and "you don't care a bit for me") are full of unspoken protest against Mr.Higgins' indifference. She reproaches him for it, but at the same time she can't notice his reaction, can't understand his real attitude towards her. When Mr.Higgins says: "I can't turn your soul on", Eliza seems to be deaf. She can't even have an idea that Mr.Higgins could ever love her. And he can't say it openly either. They are like two little kids, each of them wanting to start a play but afraid to do it first. This situation creates some misunderstanding between the characters , that is, to my mind, one of the most important conflicts of the story.
I think that B.Shaw is a real sufficient observer of human nature, because he could show us emotions and feelings through one's speech, he could make us understand the two characters who have sunk in their misunderstanding.