The Geats, sometimes called Goths, were a North Germanic tribe who inhabited Götaland in modern southern Sweden during the Middle Ages. They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes, along with Gutes; the name of the Geats lives on in the Swedish provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland, the Western and Eastern lands of the Geats, in many other toponyms. The earliest known surviving mention of the Geats appears in Ptolemy. In the 6th century, Jordanes writes of the Gautigoths and Ostrogoths and equates them with the Getae; the Norse Sagas know them as Gautar. The etymology of the name Geat is similar, although not identical, to that of Gutar; the names derive from different ablaut grades of the Proto-Germanic word *geutaną, meaning "to pour". They are accepted as having originated as heiti for "men", with the literal meaning "they who pour their seed"; the names could allude to watercourses in the land where they were living, but this is not accepted to be the case because that would mean that the names' similarity would be coincidental.

A more specific theory about the word Gautigoths is that it means the Goths who live near the river Gaut, today's Göta älv. It might have been a conflation of the word Gauti with a gloss of Goths. In the 17th century the name Göta älv,'River of the Geats', replaced the earlier names Götälven and Gautelfr; the etymology of the word Gaut derives from the Proto-Germanic word *geutan, the extended meaning of "to pour" is "flow, waterfall", which could refer to Trollhättan Falls or to the river itself. The short form of Gautigoths was the Old Norse Gautar, which referred to just the inhabitants of Västergötland, or the western parts of today's Götaland, a meaning, retained in some Icelandic sagas. Beowulf and the Norse sagas name several Geatish kings, but only Hygelac finds confirmation in Liber Monstrorum where he is referred to as "Rex Getarum" and in a copy of Historiae Francorum where he is called "Rege Gotorum"; these sources concern a raid into Frisia, ca 516, described in Beowulf. Some decades after the events related in this epic, Jordanes described the Geats as a nation, "bold, quick to engage in war".

Before the consolidation of Sweden, the Geats were politically independent of the Swedes or Svear, whose name was Sweonas in Old English. When written sources emerge, the Geatish lands are described as part of the still shaky Swedish kingdom, but the manner of their unification with the Swedes is a matter of much debate. Based on the lack of early medieval sources, the fact that the Geats were part of the kingdom of Sweden, traditional accounts assume a forceful incorporation by the Swedes, but the only surviving traditions which deal with Swedish-Geatish wars are of semi-legendary nature and found in Beowulf, Johannes Magnus, the like; the actual story in Beowulf, however, is. What historians today think is that this realm could just as well be the force behind the creation of the medieval kingdom of Sweden; the historians make a distinction between political history and the emergence of a common Swedish ethnicity. The, so far more or less imagined, Swedish invasion of Geatish lands has been explained as Geatish involvement in the Gothic wars in southern Europe, which brought a great deal of Roman gold to the people of Götaland, but naturally depleted their numbers.

The Hervarar saga is believed to contain such traditions handed down from the 4th century. According to that work, when the Hunnish Horde invaded the land of the Goths and the Gothic king Angantyr tried to marshal the defenses, it was the Geatish king Gizur who answered his call, though there is no actual evidence of a successful invasion. Today, historians believe that the medieval kingdom of Sweden was created as a union to oppose foreign forces the Danes, where the inland Västergötland was easier to defend and be protected in than in the coastal areas. According to Curt Weibull, the Geats would have been integrated in the Swedish kingdom c. 1000, but according to others, it most took place before the 9th century, as early as the 6th century. The fact that some sources are silent about the Geats indicates that any independent Geatish kingdom no longer existed in the 9th century. In Rimbert's account of Ansgar's missionary work, the Swedish king is the sole sovereign in the region and he has close connections not only with the king of the Danes but with the king of the Franks.

However, the oldest medieval Swedish sources present the Swedish kingdom as having remaining legal differences between Swedes and Geats for example in weights and measurements in miles, marks etc. They tell us that there were kings, ruling by the title of Rex Gothorum as late as in the 12th century, that one of those kings went on to become king of a united realm. In the Heimskringla, Snorri Sturluson writes about several battles between Geats, he wrote that in the 9th century, there were battles between the Geats and the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, during Harald Fairhair's campaign in Götaland, a war the Geats had to fight without the assistance

Baron Plunket, of Newtown in the County of Cork, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1827 for Whig politician William Plunket, he served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1830 and 1834 and again from 1835 to 1841. His eldest son, the second Baron, was Bishop of Tuam and Achonry between 1839 and 1866, he was succeeded by the third Baron. He was a barrister, his eldest son, the fourth Baron, served as Archbishop of Dublin between 1884 and 1897. He was succeeded by the fifth Baron, he was a diplomat and held office as Governor of New Zealand between 1904 and 1910. His grandson, the seventh Baron, was Equerry to both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Robin who died in 2013 and was in turn succeeded by his nephew, Tyrone, a Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II. Two other members of the family have gained distinction; the Hon. David Plunket, second son of the third Baron, was a Conservative politician and was created Baron Rathmore in 1895.

The Most Reverend the Hon. Benjamin Plunket, second son of the fourth Baron, was Bishop of Meath from 1919 to 1925; the seventh and eighth barons were related to the Marquesses of Londonderry. Their mother, wife of the sixth baron, was the illegitimate daughter of the actress Fannie Ward and The 7th Marquess of Londonderry. After the sixth baron and his wife were killed in an air accident in 1938, the three Plunket brothers were raised by an aunt and uncle. William Conyngham Plunket, 1st Baron Plunket Thomas Span Plunket, 2nd Baron Plunket John Span Plunket, 3rd Baron Plunket William Conyngham Plunket, 4th Baron Plunket William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket Terence Conyngham Plunket, 6th Baron Plunket Patrick Terence William Span Plunket, 7th Baron Plunket Robin Rathmore Plunket, 8th Baron Plunket Tyrone Shaun Terence Plunket, 9th Baron Plunket The heir apparent is the present holder's eldest son Hon. Rory Peter Robin Plunket. Baron Rathmore Kidd, Williamson, David. Debrett's Baronetage. New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages

The National Export Initiative is a strategy created by the Obama administration to double U. S. exports between 2010 and the end of 2014 and support 2 million domestic jobs through increased intergovernmental cooperation in export promotion. The initiative was created by Executive Order 13534 after President Barack Obama called for the doubling of U. S. exports in his 2010 State of the Union address. To further this initiative in its final months, President Obama signed Executive Order 13659 to streamline imports-exports. Among its requirements, the order created a timeline to change the U. S. trade data system from a paper to an electronic collection system. It is expected; the NEI established the Export Promotion Cabinet, to be made up of the heads of at least 14 executive branch departments and offices: Secretary of State Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of Agriculture Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Labor Director of the Office of Management and Budget. S. exports between 2010 and the end of 2014 is intended to be accomplished by addressing eight specific items: Increase export assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises Promote federal resources available to assist U.

S. companies In consultation with state and local government officials, as well as the private sector, lead trade missions to promote American exports Increase commercial advocacy by the federal government In partnership with the Export-Import Bank, increase access to financing for SMEs who are looking to export Macroeconomic rebalancing, by promoting balanced and strong growth in the world economy through international partnerships Reduce barriers to trade and improve market access for domestic producers, by opening new markets and enforcing trade agreements Create a framework to promote services trade