Monday, September 30, 2019

Choicepoint and Sony, an Ethical Analysis Essay

Ethics refers to what comes off as right or wrong to an individual’s conscience .The internet age has brought about new ethical issues, not only for an individual but for the society as well as it has eased anonymous manipulation and distribution of information, creating new and easier paths for committing crimes like piracy, identity theft, infringement of an individual’s privacy etc. In this paper we will be analyzing the Choice-point case and the ‘Sony data breach ‘case from an ethical point of view. (Laudon &Laudon, 2010, p.128) Background: The ChoicePoint Data breach: On September 27 of 2004, ChoicePoint,a company that aggregates and stores personal information, suspected that some of its small business customers were involved in suspicious activities and informed the police. (Paine, Phillips, 2008)On February of 2005, ChoicePoint only notified those residents of California whose data had been leaked to the illegal customers, since a certain law in California requires it. A protest from the public, however, forced the company to notify the details of the breach to the other involved parties residing in the other states. The swindlers who scammed ChoicePoint had created over 50 accounts with previously stolen identities over the course of a year or even longer. (Pantesco, 2006) Look more:  the issues concerning identity theft essay Changes in business practices (Otto, Anton & Baumer, 2007): ChoicePoint made numerous changes after the 2004-2005 data breach. The company closed the 50 fake accounts and made a policy to refuse any faxed business licenses in the future .The Company formed a new policy, that all nongovernmental organizations need to be re-credentialed in order to do business with it, and increased its procedures in verifying the identity of the company. More stringent and better business policies in ensuring the safety of their customer’s data, for e.g. partial masking of social security numbers were employed. The company continued its investigations of its databases for further indications of foul play and brought in outsiders to assess and rectify their practices. The Sony Data Breach: The Sony data breach was a result of an intrusion from an outsider party, causing an outage in the PlayStation Network and Qriocity’s services between 17th April 2011 and 19th April, 2011.A confirmation from Sony revealed that pieces of personal information had been stolen from each and every 77 million accounts. This breach resulted in Sony shutting off the PlayStation Network for 23 days. (Hirai, 2011) Sony stated that the chairman of the company had submitted explanations wanted by United States House subcommittee regarding the attack and that they were taking some measures to prevent further breaches. When questioned about the delay in making the breach public, Sony explained that they’d sought help from outside officials to conduct an investigation in order to comprehend the nature and magnitude of the incident; and hence forensic analysis and investigation had caused the delay since they wanted to have all the necessary details before making the breach public. On May 14, 2011, Sony released a security patch called PlayStation 3 firmware version 3.61 requiring users to change their password upon signing into their account in the PlayStation Network. (Seybold, 2011) Compensation: In compensation for this outage, Sony announced hosting of special events for their users. Sony wanted to appreciate the loyalty of the customers who stuck to using Play Station network and didn’t look for other alternatives. Hence Sony announced an extension of free 30 days of its various services for its existing users. Also, few of their games in the PlayStation network were made free, though these games are available only in some regions or countries. In addition to that Sony also offered one year’s worth of â€Å"free identity theft protection’ to all of its customers. (Wesley, 2011) Ethical Analysis According to Culnan and Williams (2009, p.679),the two aspects of morality that are principal to the relationship between information aggregators and information providers are vulnerability and avoiding harm. Aspect of Vulnerability Analysis: Since the customer gives away his data in exchange for something in return, he loses control on how that information would be used in the future.(Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 681) The firm that is aggregating the data has the duty to exercise caution in protecting the consumer’s vulnerability, not only for the sake of the customer but also to build its own reputation. However, in the cases of both ChoicePoint and Sony breach, the consumers were vulnerable. Individuals whose data ChoicePoint and Sony stored lacked knowledge about the risks posed by – Choice Point’s credentialing procedures or the way personal information was stored by Sony. Aspect of â€Å"Do No Harm† Analysis: Most ethicists are of the opinion that data aggregators have the minimum duty of doing no harm whenever there is an issue concerning information privacy rights (DeGeorge 2006; Goodpaster 1987; Marcoux 2003; Valesquez 2003 as cited in Culnan& Williams, 2009), even more so when their treatment of the consumer’s sensitive personal information makes the consumers unnecessarily vulnerable. (Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 682) In both the cases of ChoicePoint and Sony Data breach however, the ‘DO NO Harm’ principle was violated and moral responsibility was clearly absent in the behavior of the officials of these firms. (Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 682)ChoicePoint’s questionable intentions in delaying the notification of the breach to the public and the fact that ChoicePoint only bothered to search records that were leaked within 15 months to the date of the search ,until pressurized, were criticized heavily.( Evers, 2005)Further investigations revealed that ChoicePoint had been subjected to a similar scam in 2002.( Paine, Phillips, 2008) The fact that ChoicePoint could be duped so easily within two years proved that ChoicePoint hadn’t done anything to improve its practices since the last breach. Similarly, Sony also had a delay in notifying the users of PlayStation network about the breach. The public disputed Sony’s reason for its delay by speculating that, if Sony judged the situation to be so grave that it felt the need to shut down its PlayStation network, then they should have warned the public without any delay as well. Moreover, Sony failed to give any concrete reports regarding the breach and merely stated that they cannot rule out the possibility of a ‘username or password ‘leak. One more thing to be noted is that the fiends could have possibly gotten information like email addresses and first names of the customers who had consented to receiving information about new deals or products from Sony or its partners.Now, there is a pretty good chance that the fiends might send emails in the format of a Sony webpage template and extract valuable information from those customers. Hence this breach indirectly paved the way for more unintentional breaches in the future. (Eddy, 2011) According to, (Laudon &Laudon, 2010,p.135),the basic Concepts of ethics are as follows: Responsibility: where the individual or the organization should accept the duties, costs and obligations for the decisions that it made. Accountability: where the organization should be aware of what decision is taken by whom. If it is impossible to find out who was responsible for what action then that organization is basically incapable of ethical analysis. Liability: this basically extends the concept of responsibility to legal actions where the affected individuals should be able to get compensation for their damages. Analysis : In my opinion, both ChoicePoint and Sony showed half-hearted ethics on these incidents as a whole. While Choicepoint did inform officials about the breach as soon as it found out, yet it only felt necessary to inform the public because of the California law. The people in the other states were notified because of public outcry. Also limiting the search results for leaked records to only 15 months prior to the date of the search just because it was necessary by the law was another mistake on ChoicePoint’s part. Thus ChoicePoint violated the ethical concepts of responsibility and accountability yet they seemed to have understood their mistake when they were making changes in their policies and practices after the 2004-2005 breach, and were willing to take corrective actions. But it is debatable whether ChoicePoint’s corrective measures were taken to save its own business or whether it genuinely cared for the affected individuals. Similarly, though Sony did do necessary investigations, it failed to concretely identify which parties had been affected or what kind of information have been stolen. Similar to ChoicePoint, there was a delay in notifying the public regarding the breach. Hence, there is a dearth of responsibility and accountability from Sony’s side as well .The compensations given can similarly be argued to be a ploy for keeping itself in the market. While, ChoicePoint and Sony offered free credit monitoring and free identity theft protection respectively for one year, they disregarded the possibility that the thieves might lie low and take advantage of the stolen information after the passage of a year. Hence these companies showed half-heartedness in being ethically liable as well.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 16

As I walked into my building after dropping Seth off, I was surprised to see the guy who staffed the front desk still working. He usually went home at dinnertime. A sheaf of papers in his hands indicated some sort of mandatory overtime. He brightened when he saw me. â€Å"Miss Kincaid! I have something for you.† I blanked for a moment, then remembered the daily Post-it reminders on my door. There'd been a total of three now. â€Å"Oh, yeah,† I said. â€Å"Sorry I haven't had a chance to pick it up yet. I keep forgetting.† He was already rustling around for something behind him on the other side of the window. I strolled over, just as he heaved a huge box up onto the counter. The printing on the side was upside down, but I could still make it out: Christmas Tree – Austrian Fir. â€Å"Oh, man,† I grumbled. â€Å"This is somebody's idea of a – â€Å" But the guy was busy hauling another box up to the counter, a smaller one with pictures on the side depicting the ‘pre-decorated fiber optic tree' inside. It was followed by another box, a bit smaller than the Austrian Fir, and a smaller one still that was about two-by-two feet. These last two boxes were wrapped in glittery green paper, with a wrapping job so perfect that only one being on earth could have managed it: Peter. The desk guy surveyed the boxes. â€Å"You must really like Christmas.† â€Å"I thought each of those notes was a reminder for the same package.† â€Å"Nope. New one each day. Want some help?† We hauled the trees up to my apartment and deposited them on the living room floor. I thanked him, and as soon as he left, Aubrey emerged and began stalking the boxes. â€Å"That's a lot of tannenbaum,† a voice behind me suddenly said. I jumped and turned around. Yasmine. â€Å"Don't do that. Carter does exactly the same thing.† â€Å"Sorry,† she said, looking sheepish. â€Å"Wasn't intentional. I just got here.† She walked over to the boxes, tilting her head to read them. She wore jeans and an LSU sweatshirt, her black hair pulled into the trademark ponytail that made her look seventeen. â€Å"What's up with all these?† I took off my coat and flounced onto the couch with a sigh. â€Å"My friend Peter started this whole buzz that I needed a Christmas tree after Carter burned mine down. So I guess everyone made good on it.† â€Å"Wait,† she said. â€Å"Did you say Carter burned down your Christmas tree?† â€Å"Yeah, it's a long story.† â€Å"He must feel bad.† She pointed to the little fiber optic tree, the one that was already decorated. Words were scrawled on the side of the box in spidery, nearly illegible writing: G – Figured you could handle this one. Ready and decorated! – C P.S. – And flame retardant. â€Å"Hmm,† I mused. â€Å"‘C' could be Cody too.† â€Å"Nah. I recognize the poor attempt at penmanship. It's Carter.† â€Å"Okay, so the angel repents. But who are the rest from?† We soon found out. The wrapping job on the two matching boxes had already given Peter away. The larger box contained a very beautiful, very expensive tree with ‘winter moss green' needles that were lightly dusted with silver glitter. The smaller box contained a matched set of lights and ornaments all done in purple and fuchsia. Peter apparently hadn't trusted me to decorate his gift myself. The Austrian Fir turned out to be from the bookstore staff. A card from Maddie read: Surprise! We all pitched in for it. Now you can't be a Scrooge. It was signed by other store workers, as well as Seth. I looked back and forth between the boxes. â€Å"It's a Christmas miracle. I had no tree. Now I have a forest.† â€Å"C'mon,† said Yasmine. â€Å"I'll help you set them up.† I looked at her in surprise. â€Å"Aren't you here to meet up with Vince or something?† She shook her head. â€Å"I'm here to talk to you.† Uh-oh. I didn't really want to set up the Christmas trees, but a being vastly more powerful than me did, so I set to it. Carter's tree was the easiest since all I had to do was plug it in. I placed it in a window sill, one with an outlet right underneath. The tree's fiber optic needles lit up to pale pink, then purple, then teal, then white. â€Å"Good God,† I said. â€Å"It's the Christmas tree equivalent of a lava lamp.† â€Å"I like it,† declared Yasmine. â€Å"It's got moxie.† She looked really excited. She could have been a kid on Christmas morning. You'd think after seeing so many Christmases (and trees) in her existence, they'd get kind of old. She pointed at Peter's tree. â€Å"Let's do the prissy one now.† We were stringing purple lights on the ‘winter moss green' tree when she finally started The Talk. â€Å"So. Vincent told me what happened.† She paused as she looped the lights over a branch. â€Å"I'm glad your guy is okay.† â€Å"Me too. He was lucky†¦if Vincent hadn't been there†¦Ã¢â‚¬  More silence. I didn't entirely know where Yasmine was going with this. My guess was that she was concerned I'd tell someone about Vincent. I felt absolutely certain, however, that she wasn't going to threaten to break my kneecaps or anything to keep me silent. In fact, I realized then that what she wanted was reassurance. It was a crazy and startling idea. She was an angel, after all. A being of hope and peace, a being that others prayed to for comfort. Yet, here she was, seeking it from me – a creature of Hell. â€Å"I meant it,† I told her. â€Å"What I said to him. I'm not going to tell anyone.† â€Å"I believe you,† she said, confusion all over her face. Angels knew when others were telling the truth. â€Å"But I don't understand it. Why? Why wouldn't you? You could get into big trouble if your superiors – if Jerome – found out you knew and weren't telling.† Vincent had said the same thing. It was true. â€Å"Your people tend to get pissed off over stuff like that.† â€Å"What, and yours don't? Would they be forgiving if they found out?† She looked away from me, diverting her attention to hanging a pink glass dove. â€Å"Look,† I said. â€Å"I work for Hell, but I don't, like, delight in others' suffering. Especially since I like both of you. I don't want to see you get into trouble. I don't even think what you're doing is wrong. Dangerous, maybe, but not wrong.† â€Å"Which part? The loving part or the nephilim part?† I shrugged. â€Å"It's all risky.† She smiled at me. â€Å"You talk about nephilim pretty calmly. Most people – in our circles – go running for the hills.† â€Å"I met one once. Dated him.† I hung a bejeweled purple orb on the tree. â€Å"He was scary as hell, yeah. Had this whole homicidal revenge thing going on, which kind of negated his sexiness a little. But at the end of the day†¦I don't know. He wasn't much of a monster. He couldn't help being born what he was.† I was glad to be free of Roman, glad he was somewhere far away from me. He'd posed too much of a threat to both me and those I loved. Still, there had been something in him I found appealing. It was why we'd connected before things literally blew up. I understood his weariness with the games Heaven and Hell played. He'd offered to take me away and free me from it all, and there were days I would still wake up and long for that. â€Å"No,† Yasmine agreed. â€Å"They can't help what they are. And it's not their fault. But their existence is a reminder of our faults†¦of our weaknesses.† She held her hands open in front of her, studying them as though they held answers. â€Å"None of us higher immortals want to be shown that we're weak. That's our hubris, I guess. Especially the angels. No one's perfect, but we like to play that we are.† She sighed and let her hands drop. â€Å"I should walk away from this. I should have a long time ago.† I jerked my head up. â€Å"But you love him.† â€Å"Sometimes loving someone means you have to do what's ultimately good. What you need instead of what you want.† â€Å"I suppose. But ending it seems so extreme. There must be a way to†¦I don't know, have it all.† The door opened, and Vincent walked in. He didn't look surprised to see either of us, but then, he would have sensed our auras. His eyes met Yasmine's, and it was like lightning crackling through the room. Both of them lit up, shining in a way that I doubted my succubus glamour could even begin to compete with. He expressed surprise over my Yuletide Forest but jumped in to help us, appearing just as excited as Yasmine over the activity. The two of them never touched, but I noticed the same thing that I had at breakfast: an intimacy in the way they interacted with each other. They didn't need to touch. Their relationship was obvious, and I wondered how it was possible none of the other angels had ever noticed this. Maybe it was like what Yasmine had mentioned about angels and hubris. Maybe angels always assumed they were perfect and were too blind to see flaws in each other, whereas someone like me – who exploited weakness – knew what to look for. We finished Peter's tree, and then I found my ornaments from last year – the ones that hadn't been destroyed in the fire – and used them on the bookstore's tree. When my woodland paradise was finally complete, Yasmine and Vincent made their farewells and left. I still had no idea what their divine mission in Seattle was, but I assumed it had universal consequences. I felt a little weird that it had been put on hold to decorate my home. As I cleaned up the boxes, I kept thinking about what Yasmine had said about needing versus wanting. In some ways, that was what Seth and I did. We wanted to have sex. We needed to avoid it. I also found myself recalling Andrew again, that annoyingly good priest who'd caused me so many headaches. I hadn't thought much about his story since last week, but as my body mindlessly completed chores, the images began replaying in my mind. Despite my best efforts, he'd remained a bastion of purity and willpower. While frustrating, it nonetheless continued to make the game fun. And although I didn't appreciate it as much back then as I did now, I sort of took pleasure in just hanging around him. He was good company, and he came to mean more to me than just a sexual conquest. It was obvious he cared about me too. It would figure that things went bad between us on a beautiful, sunny day. I remembered it distinctly. I had wandered over to the church he ministered out of and sat with him in the vegetable garden. I stayed clear of the dirt, conscious of the yellow silk dress my bishop had just had made for me. Andrew, less concerned, worked on his knees, unhesitatingly digging in – literally – and cultivating the church's small crop. â€Å"Don't you have other people who could do this for you?† Squinting up at me in the bright light, he smiled. â€Å"Nothing compares to the satisfaction of doing something yourself.† â€Å"If you say so.† He returned to his work, and I continued to sit quietly, watching him and the lazy vista of that golden afternoon. Not far away, the sounds of daily hustle and bustle carried over. I liked this town – it was a nice break from the large, busy cities I'd spent most of my succubus time in. Eventually, though, I knew I'd grow restless and move onto some place with a little more excitement. I turned back to Andrew. â€Å"Thomas Brewer just got back from Cadwell. He says they're all getting sick there.† Andrew nodded. â€Å"People are getting sick everywhere. There have been outbreaks in a lot of the western towns.† â€Å"Are you worried?† He shrugged. â€Å"What comes will come. None of us can change God's will.† I grimaced. I'd heard about this illness, what later generations would call the Black Death. The rapid onset. The blackened skin. The swollen lumps. Even if it couldn't technically hurt me, I didn't want to see it spread here. â€Å"I don't think God can be as merciful as you say in mass if He's inflicting something like that on his people.† â€Å"It's a test, Cecily. God is always testing us. It makes us stronger.† â€Å"Or dead.† He didn't respond. â€Å"What will you do if it comes?† I pushed. â€Å"Geoffrey says he'll leave. Will you go with him?† His dark eyebrows rose in surprise, like I'd asked if the sun would take tomorrow off. â€Å"Of course not. I mean, as bishop, I'm sure Geoffrey must†¦do what is necessary to continue fulfilling his duties, but me? I serve the people. I will continue to serve the people. If they're sick, I'll tend them.† My sarcasm gave way to shock, and I leapt to my feet, striding toward him. â€Å"You can't do that! Haven't you heard about this? People don't come back from it. The only thing to do is get out and let it run its course.† It was true. Call it cruel, but as I'd told Liam on our post-auction date, that was the way the world had dealt with epidemics for a lot of human history. Certainly, some people cared and ministered unto others, but when disease grew really terrible, with no clear answer in sight, ignorance and fear reigned supreme. Most people of that era saw the simplest solution as putting as much distance as possible between them and the illness. Andrew stood up as well, wearing an expression so annoyingly wise and serene as he faced me. â€Å"If that's what you must do, then you must do it. My place is here.† I didn't even have seduction on my mind when I reached out and grabbed his hands. He flinched with surprise but didn't let go. â€Å"It's stupid,† I told him earnestly. â€Å"You can't stop it. You'll die, and I – I can't watch that.† â€Å"Then go. Go with Geoffrey. Or go†¦out to the convent. It's isolated. You'd be safe there.† I scowled. â€Å"Not that again.† â€Å"I just want what's best for you, that's all.† One of his hands reached up and cupped my chin. â€Å"I don't want to see you suffer either.† It occurred to me then how close we stood. The heat building between our bodies rivaled that of the sunshine pounding down on us from above. Andrew, realizing this too, started and tried to pull away. I held on to his hand, anger flaring up in my chest. â€Å"So that's how you'll let it end then? You spend your whole life living in poverty and chastity, only to die in a pile of stinking corpses with oozing sores and rotting skin?† â€Å"If that's what God – â€Å" â€Å"Stop it,† I said, leaning forward. â€Å"Just stop it. Don't you get it? God doesn't care. He's not even paying attention.† â€Å"Cecily – â€Å" I didn't let him finish. Instead, I pressed my mouth against his mouth, molding my body to his. I don't know if he'd ever kissed anyone else before, but if not, he was a quick study. He didn't break from me. In fact I would have sworn there was an eagerness to his lips as they explored mine, willingly letting my tongue stroke and dance with his. And oh, God help me, he was so very good and noble that I tasted a sunburst of energy just from that kiss alone. It poured into me like honey, glorious and sweet. And surprisingly, it was me who finally broke the kiss, though I still stayed pressed against his body, my arms encircling him. â€Å"Don't you see how stupid it is?† I whispered, our lips so close we shared each other's breath. â€Å"Are you going to die without having lived? Without having tasted everything that's out there? Are you really just going to rush into death like that?† His eyes weighed me, his own hands resting on my waist. â€Å"I don't need fleshly pleasures to complete my life.† â€Å"You're lying,† I told him. â€Å"You want to.† â€Å"Wanting and needing are two different things.† He stepped away from me, and I suddenly felt incomplete without his body against mine. I had a fleeting flash of some connection bigger than both of us, and then it was gone. â€Å"A long life means nothing if it's empty and has no purpose. Better to live a short one filled with the things that are important to you.† â€Å"You're a fool,† I snapped. â€Å"I'm not going to stay and watch you die.† â€Å"Then go.† And I did.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

PM Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

PM Case Study - Essay Example During this time frame the activity where slack or float time is observed can be delayed by a certain extent without delaying the overall completion of the project (Chitkara, 2007). It is evident from figure 1 and 2 given above that float time or slack is associated with activity D and E. This indicates that activity D and E can be delayed by a definite extent without delaying the overall completion of the project. The float time for activity D is 140 weeks and that of activity E is 115 weeks. Therefore, the total float time for activity D and E is 255 weeks. Critical Path: The longest path in a project is referred to as the critic path (Clarke, 2008). The project related activities which falls within the critical path cannot be delayed by any means as delaying these activities would mean delaying the overall completion of the project (Crawford, Pollack and England, 2008). In figure one and two given above, the project based activities highlighted in red are the critical tasks. Taking into account the fact that there is a delay of 6 weeks in activity H, it can be seen that a delay of such scale and magnitude will certainly delay in the completion of the project. The major reason behind that is the fact that activity H is a critical task that falls within the critical path of the project and henceforth project managers cannot afford to let loose anything which might result in a delay in any of the critical tasks. However, a project is always associated with external factors and therefore uncertainty. There are various risk factors that can push the overall duration of a project. Therefore, it is the duty of the project managers to adopt appropriate counter measures in order to be prepared for any adverse scenarios which in turn will allow them to prevent the overall delay of the project. In this case a delay is noticed on activity H (user acceptance testing). Multiple courses of actions can be taken in order to prevent delay

Friday, September 27, 2019

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Project Management - Essay Example Although all the three methods aim at managing organizations’ projects efficiently, a closer look reveals a number of differences in the structural organization of functional projects and matrix projects. A functional organization structure involves a hierarchy where a single superior manages one employee, whereas the matrix organization structure may not necessarily have a hierarchy (Boyer & Verma, 2010). While the matrix project recognizes and values the authority of the project manager, the case is different with functional projects where there are multiple projects managers with each reporting to a higher authority, therefore, making the project cycle more complex. In the functional organization structures, communication tends to be lengthy as information requests have to pass through the hierarchy as opposed to the matrix organization structures where communication goes directly to the project manager. Lastly, but more importantly, the matrix project is divided into weak, medium, and strong depending on the authority of the project manager, while the functional organization structures do not have any subdivisions (Yagiz, 2006). Although the matrix project structure is more preferable, it has certain disadvantages despite its numerous advantages. The main advantages of the matrix project structure include the ability to retain the benefits of the functional organization and project team structures, a better coordination of resources for the efficiency in the resource use, and the ability of staff to retain their membership teams. However, the matrix project structure suffers certain disadvantages such as the presence of internal complexities, sometimes conflicts arise between the functional and project groups. Additionally, the matrix project structure has high maintenance costs due to increased managerial and administrative overheads (Yagiz, 2006). â€Å"You don’t inspect quality into a product; you have to build it in.† This statement has significant implications especially as far as project management is concerned. Quality is very important at all the levels of project management as all the project managers undertake various projects in order to come up with tangible and quality results. If a project turns out to be successful in terms of results and quality, both the project managers and their team will feel motivated to continue perfecting their work. Under normal circumstances, the inspection of quality comes after the project is complete so that the audit team can write a comprehensive audit report (Aubry et al., 2012). However, it is the duty of the project managers and all the staff involved in such projects to ensure that they perform quality work in order to have a project whose quality is impeccable. This means that whatever product that has to have quality must first undergo quality processes that from the onset include quality manufacturing and control (Aubry et al., 2012). The inspection merely come s after quality work has been done, and, therefore, the process of building of quality into a particular product determines the results of the inspection. This insight informs project managers to be diligent and meticulous as they coordinate project stages with their team members in order to produce quality products within their organizations. Although quality inspections for products are essential in quality control, it should not form the basis of determining the credibility and authenticity of the means used, but rather a confirmation of the due

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Regulatory Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Regulatory Issues - Essay Example A basic regulatory principle is that regulation should not be more restrictive than is necessary for public protection and regulation should not hamper the growth of the nursing profession. The focus of registered nurse regulation is public protection. This regulation assures the public that they are receiving safe and ethical care from competent, qualified registered nurses. It defines the practice and boundaries of the nursing profession, including the requirements and qualifications to practice. Boards fulfill their public protection mission by establishing, endorsing, and monitoring nursing education standards in programs leading to licensure and licensing qualified candidates who complete education programs and successfully pass a licensing examination that measures entry-level competency. Boards also monitor practice changes that impact scopes of practice and issue policy statements or support legislative passage of statutes or rules that support current practice needs and discipline or remove from practice those nurses who fail to meet standards. The public and agencies that educate, represent, or employ nurses are all considered customers of boards of nursing, and it is important that boards are responsive to their needs. Relationships that boards in turn rely on for reporting of violations to Nurse Practice Acts. Best practices related to discipline are vetted in guiding principles for nursing regulation: public protection, practitioner competence, ethical decision making, and due process based on our national standard that all who are accused have a right to a speedy hearing, shared accountability, strategic collaboration, evidence-based regulation, environment and marketplace responses in forming regulations, and ethical interactions within the global nursing arena. The public is best served when nurses are given the legislative mandate to regulate nursing in the

Plato's View of Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Plato's View of Democracy - Essay Example Many people were wondering how the ideal state could come about. It was argued that it could be a democracy, and this 'idealized world,' could, in name exist. Plato doubted this however. Other people caught onto Plato's ideas about the Greek state quickly. They even adopted them for their own philosophies about the world. In fact, "Jews used Plato's myth [about the demiurge in Timaeus] to imagine how the world could have gotten so out of shape when it was God's wisdom that had planned it." (Mack, 1995) Plato was talking not only about democracy, but about the creation of a polis: "Well, then, said I, is not the city you are founding to be a Greek city" (Hamilton, 2005) Plato insisted that Greeks would run a democratic city in a better fashion than barbarians or non-Greeks, and insisted upon this point with some alacrity. "They will not, being Greeks, ravage Greek territory nor burn habitations, and they will not admit that in any city all the population are their enemies, men, women, and children, but will say that only a few at any time are their foes, those, namely, who are to blame for the quarrel." (Hamilton, 2005) Plato insisted that Greeks would not harm their own land if they were to fight for it and, would indeed not pillage the land. "And on all these considerations they will not be willing to lay waste the soil, since the majority are their friends, nor to destroy the houses, but will carry the conflict only to the point of compelling the guilty to do justice by the pressure of the suffering of the innocent." (Hamilton, 2005) Plato considered that it would be an injustice towards Greek countrymen if Greeks were to commit their own savage acts of war on their own country in pursuit of democracy, saying, "if either party... The Plato's View on Democracy The problems Plato had with democracy were that: there was a fake quality about this notion, and that in fact in Greece not all men were equipped to become faciliators of the state; men needed an oligarchic state because no man was an island capable of helping himself; and that a society in which there is a hierarchy avoids justice, and includes a state which would dissolve into a tyranny because people would not know what would be the right thing to do. "While Plato and Aristotle founded their schools, the Academy and the Lyceum, before the beginning of the Hellenistic period, the Epicureans and the Stoics first appeared in the early decades of that period." (Koester, 1995) Plato does have a way of describing events, but he does so in a mentally rigorous process. "When Plato describes the universe [and how ordered a democracy should be], "he does so in almost entirely mythological terms; so too in his many discussions of the nature and destiny of the soul (Phaedo, Gorgias, Phaedrus, Republic, Laws)." (Tarnas, 1991) In that period, not every man was deemed equal in Plato's eyes. "In the middle period dialogues (Phaedo, Symposium, Republic), Plato set out the character of the ideal society and speculated on the nature of true reality as such. Plato had a very narrow view on democracy, and he can’t be blamed for that seeing as how the people of his time were at times unreliable.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Stat 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stat 2 - Assignment Example t decision making problems have multiple objectives that cannot be optimized simultaneously because of the conflicting nature of the objectives or goals. Goal programming is used to solve programming problems with several objective functions (goals) or constraints (Tanlamai, 2011). The linear problem below represents a goal programming problem, and also represents a non-linear programming problem whereby the program is defined by systems of equalities and inequalities (constraints) with real variables X1 and X2. Braaksma, A. J., Meesters, A. J., Klingenberg, W. W., & Hicks, C. C. (2012). A quantitative method for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. International Journal Of Production Research, 50(23), 6904-6917. Lo, Q., & Chai, K. (2012). Quantitative analysis of quality management literature published in total quality management and business excellence (1996–2010). Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 23(5/6),

Monday, September 23, 2019

Endangered African Wildlife Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Endangered African Wildlife - Research Paper Example There are so many factors that are causing wildlife extinction in the African continent. Rapid human population growth, unsustainable use of wildlife resources, lack of local support for conservation policies, inadequate government funds allocation for enforcement policies against illegal activities, commercialization, and so on are few of the reasons that are endangering African wildlife. So, the central issue of endangerment of wildlife species in the African environment and its causal factors is discussed. Furthermore, the impacts of habitat loss, over-exploitation, and poaching of the endangered species along with its conservation measures are also analyzed. Africa is a continent rich in biodiversity because it harbors thousands of species of flora and fauna. â€Å"Africa is home to some one quarter of the world’s 4,700 mammal species, including 79 species of antelope. It also has more than 2,000 species of birds – one fifth of the world’s total – and at least 2,000 species of fish, alongside 950 amphibian species†.1 The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has over 2 million km of protected eco-regions mainly for their biodiversity values. These eco-regions include the Savannah habitats, Ethiopian montane forests, Western Guinean lowland forests, the succulent Karoo and Bioko area. According to the Red List categorization of IUCN, some of the endangered species of Africa include the Giant Golden Mole, white-tailed Rat, Riverine Rabbit, African Wild Dog, and Mountain Zebra. Threats of wildlife species extinction continue to increase, despite global measures to reduce the impact of the external pressures. It is estimated that among â€Å"the 44,838 species included in the 2008 IUCN Red List database, about 17,000 (38%) are threatened with extinction†.2 Killing and exploitation of these wildlife species and importantly habitat loss are the major reasons for the increase in endangered species count. The

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Short Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Short Story - Essay Example Sarah ran ahead, and squeezed herself in because she wanted to sit by the window. Finally after much pushing and shoving everyone piled into the van and headed off for the beach. Without hesitation they all jumped into the warm, blue water and started splashing around. At first Sarah tried to see for how long she could hold her breath underwater, but soon gave up on that. She dug her toes deeper into the sand and just sat there watching her two younger brothers and cousins wrestling with each other. They repeatedly tried to dunk one another in, but quit when their mom scolded them. Soon, getting tired of the water, Sarah waded back to shore. The sand was extremely hot beneath her feet and she hurriedly skipped her way to her towel and plopped down. Her mom smiled at her warmly and gave her a piece of cucumber to chew on while lunch was getting ready. Sarah sprawled back on the ground, lazily munching away. Squinting against the sun, she peered up at the sky, trying to make shapes out of the few wisps of clouds that slowly made their way across. The call for lunch jogged Sarah out of her sky-gazing. The rest of the kids crowded around, dripping and laughing. Sarah spread out her pita bread and smeared loads of ketchup on it. After heaping little steak pieces on the bread, she rolled it up neatly. Now it was just the way she liked it. After everyone was well fed ( none of them could take in another bite, not even her brothers who were boasting about how much they could gobble down earlier on), they all made their way to the water again. It was much cooler now. The whole gang divided up into two groups and started playing volleyball. Sarah could hardly jump out of the water to reach for the ball, but it was fun nonetheless. No one bothered to keep score, they were all too busy laughing and pushing each other down. Sarah fell in so many times that her brain seemed to be swimming in salt water. Tired and all splashed out,

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Underlying Meanings of Superstitions Essay Example for Free

Underlying Meanings of Superstitions Essay Superstition is thought to be a belief that does not have clear scientific or reasonable evidence to support it. But some superstitions were taught from parents to children orally for a long time. Many superstitions have underlying meanings that contain useful knowledge, so they may be worth telling. One famous Japanese superstition is related to lightning. â€Å"The god of lightning likes humans’ navel, so when you hear thunder, hide your navel in case he steals it.† No one, except some children, believes that literally. Then is it just a silly expression? No, it’s not. I think it is formed for a lazy child who sleeps with their stomach naked. When it thunders, it often starts to rain, and the temperature goes down, so such a child is likely to catch a cold. That is, this phrase teaches lazy children to sleep with their shirt on in case they catch a cold. Another common superstition is â€Å"When removing belly button lint, you will have a stomachache.† This teaches about the stomach. Some studies show that the superstition is wrong, and the black grain is just dirt. It may be told so that children won’t scratch their navel violently. There is little muscle or fat around navel and important organs such as the bowels are just next to thin skin. If a child scratched it violently, a little injury would occur, and various kinds of minor germs would enter their body through the injury. As a result, they would suffer from a stomachache. The superstition may be told to prevent these problems. Finally, the last superstition is a little dirty, but also worthwhile. â€Å"Don’t urinate to earthworm, or your reproductive organ will puff.† I used to urinate on the street; however, I never experienced that my manly symbol puffed. It is also superstition that contains underlying meanings. The purpose of this superstition may be to advise against urinating on the street, because it may cause infection of the various kinds of minor germs, or humans have to express gratitude to earthworm, which gives nutrition to fields. In conclusion, there are a lot of superstitions in the world, but it is wrong to judge them as silly expressions just because they don’t have a clear scientific or reasonable basis. However, they often contain important underlying lessons. They are worthwhile to be taken over to next generation.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Prevention Of The Stock Market Crash Economics Essay

The Prevention Of The Stock Market Crash Economics Essay The Great Depression was an economic slump in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression the world had ever seen. What happened and how did the stock market crash occur? Could it have been avoided? Simply put, yes! There were numerous issues and oversights that were made during that time by all Americans. Obviously, it did not occur overnight. Where had the consumers, government, and/or businesses gone wrong? There is no doubt that we, as Americans, have become smarter in terms of our economic knowledge, but are we doomed to go through another Great Depression in the future? What have we done, or what can we do to avoid this from happening again? To understand the Great Depression we first must look back at the economy prior to that time. For most Americans the stock market crash of 1929 has become the symbol marking the beginning of the Great Depression. The economic boom of the 1920s was reflected in a stock market which rose from 60 in 1920 to its peak of 381 on September 3, 1929 (Tothero Crowley, 2008). After World War I, the soldiers returned home. They had money in their pockets and many new products to spend their money on. Prior to the war, many products on the market were considered a luxury, but with the onset of mass production, many of those items that were considered a luxury were now common. With the soldiers returning from the war, everyone having money in their pockets, and having products and services readily available, this put the world in a euphoric state, with the idea that everything was ideal. The Roaring Twenties, as they were referred to, was a time of great economic prosperity. This was mostly due t o the wide array of consumer goods that were available. New technologies, soaring business profits, and higher wages allowed more and more Americans to purchase a wide range of consumer goods. Prosperity also provided Americans with more leisure time (The Great Depression (1920-1940), 2009). Americans were purchasing more consumer products on credit such as automobiles. As the economy blossomed, suburbs were created, U.S. cities had drastically changed, radios began broadcasting news and music, and the aviation and motion picture industry had grown, as well. Times were good for the American people during the Roaring Twenties. The decade saw North America becoming the richest region on the earth, with industry aligned to mass production, and a society with a culture of consumerism (Roaring Twenties Economy of the 1920s, 2005). With so much growth in the economy at that time, the government did not feel that they were in jeopardy of a crash so they did not intervene. Since the war was over and all the men were home, there were goods and services being pumped into the economy and everyone had money to spend. People were borrowing and spending money without a care, and thought nothing could go wrong. By the time the government figured out there was a problem with the economy, it was already too late. Prior to the Great Depression, governments traditionally took little or no action in time of business downturn, relying instead on impersonal market forces to achieve the necessary economic correction. From one extreme to the other boom to bust. The magical prosperity vanished almost overnight as people lost confidence following the stock market crash (Nelson, ed., 2000). This could have possibly avoided the crash had the government had the foresight to be more strict with the financial institutions and their lending habits. Individuals should have been wiser with their spending. They should have saved money rather than buying things they did not nece ssarily need. During the early 1920s, federal spending grew three times larger than tax collections and when the government cut back spending to balance the budget, a severe recession was the result of those actions. The value of farmland fell 30-40 percent, and the middle class comprised about 15 to 20 percent of all Americans, while the richest one person owned 40 percent of the nations wealth. Between 1920 and 1929, individual worker productivity rose 43 percent and the number of people reporting half-million dollar incomes grew from 156 to 1,489 between this time period; a phenomenal rise compared to other decades, but still less than the one percent of all income-earners. In the early 1930s, more than half of all Americans were living below the minimum subsistence level and the annual per-capita income was $750; and $273 for farm people. Construction was down by $2 billion and then a recession began, approximately two months before the stock market crash. During this timeframe, production dec lined 20 percent, wholesale prices were at 7.5 percent and personal income was at 5 percent. Then, on October 24, the stock market crashed. Investors called October 29th Black Tuesday for the loss of $16 billion, which was a lot of money in those days. Also during this time, the gross domestic product (GDP) fell 9.4 percent from the year before and the unemployment rate rose from 3.2 to 8.7 percent. During this time there was absolute panic, no major legislations were passed addressing the depression, a second banking scare occurred in the spring, the GDP fell another 8.5 percent, and unemployment rose to 15.9 percent. The decline in the GDP, while dramatic, was not as spectacular as the explosion in the unemployment rate. Mainly because the unemployment rate represents what was not produced that could have been produced. Consumer purchasing somewhat fell, government purchases did not fall at all compared to 1929, but there was a dramatic collapse of investment purchases. Why did investment purchases collapse so dramatically? Because interest rates affect investments. The problem in the early 1930s was that the rate of inflation was negative, meaning there was deflation instead of inflation. This meant that borrowers were not paying back as much money as they borrowed. The table below shows the nominal interest rate was declining during this period, but because the rate of inflation was negative, the real interest rate was much higher than the nominal interest rate. YEAR PRICE INDEX RATE OF INFLATION % NOMINAL INTEREST RATE % REAL INTEREST RATE % 1929 13.12 5.85 1930 12.60 -3.96 3.59 7.87 1931 11.34 -10.00 2.64 14.04 1932 10.05 -11.38 2.73 15.92 1933 9.78 -2.96 1.73 4.54 In the years leading up to the stock market crash, the stock market had gained much popularity as a way of making money. Because stock prices had been on the rise, they gained the reputation of being a safe way to invest. Beginning in 1926 and ending with the crash in 1929, the market moved up nearly 400%. Many investors believed stocks were their ticket to riches (Valentine, 2009). Investors were talking up the idea of how much money could be made by investing in stock. With all the talk of the get rich quick scheme and the relaxed credit terms from banks, the buying frenzy began. Simply put, people were naive, greedy, and wanted a way to get rich quickly. American businesses and the people placed too much faith on what they did not fully understand, and they did not think of the long-term repercussions that could occur in the event of an economic crisis, such as a recession, or in this case, with the Great Depression. Problem one: People were too loose with their money. Rather than to save for their families, they placed their money in the stock market in hopes of receiving a nice return. People were purchasing stock on margin. What does this mean? They were only required to pay 10% down and borrow the other 90%. For example, if $10 worth of stock was purchased, the investor put in $1, while the mortgage broker put in the other $9. It was a good deal as long as stocks were gaining value. However, if the stock lost value, the stockbroker would issue a margin call requiring the investor to pay back the loan. In the example above, not only did the investor lose the $1 he invested, he also had to pay back the $9 hed borrowed (Valentine, 2009). As you can see from the example, stocks could go awry at any given time injuring the broker, but more specifically injuring the investor. People were disillusioned that stocks would always rise and never fall. Today, not all stocks and investors are eligible for a margin account. This is a great benefit in determining what stocks investors are safer using, such as a margin account, and may not be so prone to losing the funds that are invested. Do you recall the definition of a margin call? Money placed for the original purchase of a stock needed to be paid back by someone; the investor. The economy rapidly deteriorated as people sold their stocks to hold on to their hard earned money, and brokers wanted their borrowed money back. Resolution: In general, there is no resolution on how people should spent their money. We cannot tell another individual what they can or cannot buy. Some people save, while others do not. An option that is current in present times, but could have been an acceptable solution prior to the crash, could have been to have financial regulators increase their financial ratio requirements for banks so less money would have been borrowed. Banks would have had less of a money supply by doing as such. Perhaps by increasing the banks financial ratio requirements, Americans generally could have spent less and purchased less in stocks. The stock market crash devastated the American economy because not only had individual investors put their money into stocks, so did businesses. When the stock market crashed, businesses lost their money. Consumers lost their money too, because many banks had invested their money without their permission or knowledge (Valentine, 2009). Problem 2: There were no programs that would protect the consumers from having their money be used, without their permission, by banks to pay back debts for the stocks. As you can imagine, American consumers and businesses were losing money, which caused people to panic and pull their life savings from the banks to hold on to what they had left in order to feed their families. Resolution: Unfortunately, without the regulations in place, there were no regulatory rules on what could or could not be done by the banks. The financial institutions were stealing money from the American people without permission. Until the proper regulations were put into plac e, there was nothing that could have been done at that time. Resolution: Eventually, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was createdto regulate stocks, bonds, and other commissions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was also created to insure consumers deposits in FDIC-enrolled financial institutions. In addition, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) was created to insure crops planted by farmers (Valentine, 2009). Soon after Herbert Hoover became president, the stock market began to take a turn for the worst. In 1929, some of the larger investors realized the stock prices were artificially high as a result of the mass investments from speculative investors. So, those savvy investors started trading their stocks and consequently, stock prices began to fall. Then, brokers issued margin calls leading to further stock market drops (Valentine, 2009). Problem three: The way the stock market was handling the tracking of the volume of buying and selling of stocks. As stocks were traded and falling in price, investors started selling their shares over the course of several days, being Black Thursday through Black Tuesday, which caused the stock market to crash because millions of shares were being sold too rapidly. The technology then was not what it is today. This should have been taken into consideration when dealing with something of this magnitude. At one point the ticker tapes were nearly 90 minutes behind the market causing the market to drop by 33 points or 9% by the end of the day. Also, by Tuesday, the ticker tapes fell nearly 3 hours behind causing another 12 % drop in the market. Due to the issues with tracking most of the time investors were trading blind (Stock Market Crash of 1929, 2007). Knowing what we know today, regulations should have been put into plac e to help keep things under control. For example, today if the DOW drops by 10% before 2 p.m., trading will be halted for one hour. If the DOW drops by 20% before 2 p.m., trading will be halted for two hours. If the DOW drops 30% before 2 p.m., trading will be halted for one day and if another event such as September 11, 2001 occurs, they will either close early or not open at all to prevent panic (Little, 2009). Besides the issues of tracking, another subject to address is the relaxed credit terms. When stock prices began to drop, the market started changing. In turn, investors were requiring the loans to be paid in full. If the individual had their money in the bank, there was a good chance the bank had invested their money without their permission causing yet another loss of funds on top of the money they had already lost themselves in the stock market. Although President Hoover believed that the government should not intervene with the economy, he said families could turn the economy around if they continued to work hard and rely on themselves (Valentine, 2009). Of course, we all know hindsight is 20/20, but by creating the SEC, FDIC, and FCIC I believe that it helps the economy have a little assurance that the government is trying to help anyway that they can to prevent the stock market from crashing again. In conclusion, it takes more than the government, investments, and American people to change economic activity. It takes everyone in the U.S. to contribute, in one way or another, to the overall health of the economy. In regards to government involvement, money supplies and/or government spending can be increased or decreased, and/or taxes can be lowered or raised in order to assist in the health of an economy. Businesses can invest in new equipment or buildings, and/or construct new homes. We, as consumers, should find a happy medium, if applicable, to our spending habits. For instance, do not borrow more than you can pay back or afford. On the same note, do not spend more of your income on unwanted items and only spend on what is absolutely needed, such as food, clothing, bills, and leisurely activities. Unlike many Americans prior to the stock market crash, do the needed research prior to blindly committing and purchasing any good or service that is not 100% understood. It is best to financially access your individual needs based on your income. Take into consideration the chances of a potential layoff or the future health of a loved when considering a major purchase of something. It is best to plan for the future and to invest in something that is thoroughly researched and understood prior to placing your life, and that of your family, at stake. With all the more economic knowledge we know today, can we avoid another Great Depression? Only time will tell if lessons have been learned, but knowledge is the first step in understanding how to avoid disasters such as those that had occurred 80 years ago.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Degradation of the Character of Macbeth :: GCSE Coursework Macbeth Essays

The Degradation of the Character of Macbeth  Ã‚   Shakespeare's tragic play, Macbeth explores the decline of the central character, Macbeth from a respectable warrior to a murdering and lying fiend. This change in character is a direct result of Macbeth’s unbridled ambition and greed. In act 1 scene 2 Macbeth is described as "brave", "valiant" and "heroic" and everyone admires him. King Duncan and his court receive news from the wounded Captain that the battle against the traitor and the rebel MacDonwald and his army was evenly balanced until Macbeth and Banquo in acts of outstanding courage and ferocity destroyed him and his troops, like "sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion". But as this occurs , reinforcements from the King of Norway and the traitor, the Thane Of Cawdor, counterattack Macbeth and Banquo " but all's too weak; for brave Macbeth well he deserves that name". However these two are not at all dismayed; but as the Captain is taken away to tend to his wounds, the outcome is still unsure. The Thane Of Ross arrives to report that, through the fighting spirit of Macbeth, Duncan's army has won a great victory " The victory fell on us". Duncan declares that the "most disloyal traitor" the Thane Of Cawdor is to be executed which is very ironic "Go pronounce his present death" and Macbeth "O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!" is to receive his title and estates as a reward "Nobel Macbeth hath won". Although we haven't yet met Macbeth, whilst the battle is primitive and bloody the Captain's and Ross's descriptions emphasize an "heroic", even "epic" quality of Macbeth part of them. This is shown in the personifications such as "Disclaiming fortune", "valorous minion", and references such as "memorize another Golgotha". Duncan himself generously praises Macbeth, and the final epithet he gives is "noble". These quotes show that people and even the king have a very high opinion of Macbeth. The witches appear at the beginning and are highly ambiguous creatures- whether they are human it is debatable. The witches create a sense of mystery: they will meet when "the battles lost and won", which seems a contradiction. The fact that they are evil is show in their final couplet. According to them "Fair is foul, and foul is fair". Put another way this means: good is bad and bad is good. All of Act 1 scene 1 creates a very ominous atmosphere.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Queen Victoria Essay -- Alexandrina Victoria Royalty Essays

Queen Victoria   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is it Georgiana Charlotte Augusta Alexandrina Victoria or just Alexandrina Victoria? Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London on May 24, 1819. She was the only child of Edward, the fourth son of King George III, and Victoria Mary Louise, the daughter of a German Duke. It was planed that the duke and duchess were to name their daughter Georgiana Charlotte Augusta Alexandrina Victoria but Prince Regent refused to have his name (George) nor his daughters name (Charlotte Augusta) to be his god daughter’s name. She was known as Alexandrina Victoria but was nicknamed Drina, her mother always called her Victoria. All this happiness ended when her dad, the Duke of Kent, died only eight months after she was born. The reason was because he let a small fever turn into pneumonia. Only a week after the death, King George III died and Prince Regent became King George IV.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Princess Victoria was brought up in the Kensington Palace, London by he governess. Her mom was so afraid of Victoria getting murdered by her uncle, who wanted to next in line for the throne. Victoria was never left alone there were always people who kept an eye out for her. She was too overprotected; she couldn’t even walk up the stairs with out holding some ones hand. John Conroy, who was her mother’s comptroller, kept a close eye on Victoria and was responsible for her. German was her main language until she the age of three. She then learned English and could speak it with out an accent. She also learned Italian because she loved listening to opera. Her favorite subject in school was his but she never knew she was soon going to play a major part in it. At age eleven she saw a family tree and said, â€Å"I’m nearer to the throne then I thought.† In her teens she became ill from complications of tonsillitis. With this weakness Conroy t ried to take advantage of her and asked her to sign a document saying he would be her secretary when she became Queen. Victoria refused. Victoria was close to her older sister, Feodora. She would send Victoria letters to cheer her up. In the summer of 1836, her cousins, Ernest and Albert, came to visit. Her mother thought one of the boys would be a good match for Victoria. Their father the Duke of Saxe-Coberg-Gotha, didn’t like the idea. May 24, 1837, she celebrated her 18th birthday. Now the only person standing in the way of her and ... ... her daughters call him â€Å"Mama’s Lover†. People got used to seeing them together and there was not much talk about them anymore. He remained on her confident for twenty years. When John Brown Died in 1883, the queen wrote, â€Å"The shock-the blow, the blank, the constant missing at every turn of one strong, powerful reliable arm and head almost stunned me and I am, truly over whelmed.† His room, like Albert’s, became a shrine. A flower was placed on his pillow everyday until she died. Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, at the age of 81. This was forty years of widowhood. She left major instructions for her funeral. She wanted her sons to lift her in to her coffin; she would wear a white dress and her wedding veil. London was to be festooned in purple and white. She was buried next to Prince Albert in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum at Windsor Castle. Victoria had reigned for nearly 64 years-the longest reign in British History. A statue of the Queen made in 1862 was brought out of storage and placed next to her husband in the mausoleum. Victoria’s statue looks at Albert, her love, devotion, and sorrow at his early death and her long widowhood always will be captured in that stone.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

On-Screen Violence and Children Essay -- essays research papers

Helping our children be successful in school today can improve their success in the world of work tomorrow. There are many studies and programs developed to help children behave well in school. However, I believe that in order to understand the problems of children demeanor, we have to concentrate not on creating more programs to punish that kind of behavior, but rather understand the causes which contribute to having it on the first place. We need to look behind the problem and try to figure out, where it comes from. Thousand of researches have been made trying to understand why this generation experiences behavior difficulties. The most common conclusion they have reached was that screen violence, which include TV, radio, music, games, all the entertainment involving violence and course language, is harmful and is one of the reasons young generation fail to have good manners, and involves in aggressive activities. Johnathon L. Freedman is one of those academic researchers who try to provide scientific evidence to support the notion that media violence and its effect on aggression is crucial to young children. As taking his notion for true to many people, I would argue that there is no conclusive empirical support of proving such correlation exist and there is no evidence of harmful effect to the present and future actions of the children. The evidences which support that there is any correlation (between the aggression and bad influence of children due to media violence) have failed to consider the high number of children who watch violence, the acceptance of correlation as cause, and the historical evidence of aggression which may have affected the children long before violent entertainment came into play in their lif... ... institutional organization working well. First, make sure children do well in the earlier educational process and do not miss any important knowledge which will be essential in the future. Keep in eye on the friends, and the school progress of the child. If it appears that he/she has a minor behaviour problems try to resolve it as soon as possible because if a kid gets labeled from the society as being problematic, this impression is very difficult to change. Second, a child must learn how to participate in the system of employment. Having good recommendation letters, previous experience, and good academic record will help to get a well paid job. Last, once you get a nice working positions continue to educate in the sphere of your work. Being on the top of new technology and using it in the course of you job will help succeed in the world of capitalism.

Online Education Essay

Education is an important part of people’s lives; it will either make them or break them in the future depending on the careers they choose. Education is greatly diverse today in comparison to the 1950s because of advancements in teaching and other great inventions that provide easier techniques of teaching. One major issue that has been raised is distant learning courses and online education. Distant learning could be any format from VHS videos, DVDs, or internet courses online. Online education has been legal since 1993 and is a new way of teaching students of all ages. Online education has been gaining popularity through out the years because of the ease of the internet. The internet has made it easier for people to stay connected and has provided people with unlimited resources on the World Wide Web. Many educators have mixed feelings about online educating because there are so many pros and cons to the issue. Mary Kassop, author of â€Å"Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-to-Face Learning,† writes, â€Å"Can students learn as much and as well online as they do in F2F courses? Not only is the answer to these questions a resounding ? yes, ‘ but there are many ways that online courses may actually surpass traditional F2F classes in quality and rigor†(357). Kassop is a pro advocate of online education and she is correct on the issue because it can provide a good education to many people. Online courses provide a good teaching environment where the individual is on his or her own all in the comfort of their room. The convenience of online courses provide busy individuals a chance to get the equal amount of education as a student going to class and all that is needed to get started is a computer with internet access. One computer can open the gates to a whole new world of learning and excitement. To stimulate the experience there are many classes offered online by city and university colleges. Long Beach City College has a few to offer such as Psychology and Sociology which are equal to or even better then face to face classes. One example of a class that is better online rather than face to face is Sociology because they let the students observe human communication at public spaces without the teacher being there. The work that is done in the classes is also expected from someone who signs up for an online class. The online class materials are the same as the normal classes themselves, but the books used can be ordered from book stores online. Discussion on issues is done in chat rooms and forums where everybody writes their views on the issue. This is an advantage for foreigners who can not speak proper English correctly. Live video and sound can also be done with special equipment for a real time conversation with instructors and peers. Other features on the online courses are the learning aides that can be used while taking the course. Certain programs can be made such as flash cards and games which can increase the learning experience of the student. These learning aides can be done on the student’s time and does not require the teacher to be there. Time for a face to face class is very difficult if a person works 40 hours a week but an online course can put an ease on the time restriction because the person does the work at their own pace and time. It is also easier to sign up for an online class than a class at a college. Message boards are in use if the students need to leave a question or a comment about the subject their on. They also save time by not traveling to the college and trying to find a parking space. Rural areas where students have to travel a great distance to get to class can save time and money by doing online classes. For example, a child of a farmer can help the family out in the morning with the farming chores then go to an online class later on. Rural kids may also take additional educational classes online that their school does not provide. Children in the movie industry may also take online courses to keep up with their studies while on the road filming movies. Hillary Duff takes online course while she films. As the price of education continues to rise, the rate of students applying for online educational classes will continue to get greater. The price for a unit at Long Beach City College is $26 and the price per unit will continue to rise as long as there is a deficit in California’s budget. Online courses provide a cheaper alternative for schools that have a problem with their budget and actual classroom space. Teachers can also record themselves and the student can download the film if they miss the session. This gives a student the chance to catch up on a class session if he missed out on that day. In 2002, 12 of the 55 National Geographic Bees were homeschoolers meaning that courses than at home can provide a great teaching environment. Students do not have to put up with bad influences from regular schooling and help build their own identity without social pressures that traditional schooling may have. Some students may also earn their high school degree faster then their peers. While the pros are stated some cons are also involved with online classes such as the there is no real person to person interaction with an instructor. No face to face communication means there is no personal attention from an instructor. Some may also feel the accreditation from an online school is not the same as a real university classroom. Students do not get to feel the real situations of a traditional classroom or university causing them to be isolated or anti-social. There is no support from an instructor like a real class and everything is usually done by the student. Everything depends on his or her ability to understand the material and be ready for term papers and test. Some knowledge of computers is necessary if the student wants to be able to stay in the class as being computer illiterate is a big issue determining if the person will pass or fail because most of the work is done online. Many low-income students might be affected by the computer issue because desktops and laptops are expensive and many may not be able to afford such luxuries. Another problem is if a person always needs an extra push or reminder that a up coming report or test is coming because there is no instructor there to provide the push and it is all up to the student remind themselves. However, the cons stated above can also work to help the student become more responsive. The person to person interaction is not really needed because when they graduate some individuals will become office workers and they usually work in a cubical providing the same atmosphere that the online class provides. Also by the students doing everything by themselves in an online class they become more independent, teaching them that there is not always a person there to guide them in a problem, just like in life. As for the issue of the computer cost that some students can not afford they can use public resources to access the internet such as the library and so on. There are also loans, grants, and other forms of financial help they can get to provide them with the tools they need to get started in an online  class and with the computer training they must learn in an online class it can provide a leg up in the competitive job market. Online education could be the tool of the future to provide the young and the old with schooling and instruction. It provides a cheaper way of teaching while still giving the student the material necessary for the class. Students learn responsibility through online education and will give them a reason to work hard during the class. All in all online classes will help provide many students with the education they require.

Monday, September 16, 2019

History Paper 1877 – 1900

Over the years of 1877 to the 1900’s many changes were occurring. The Southern cities were changing faster than anyone could’ve imagined with new transportation, growing industries, and the end of slavery. Not to mention, the changing role of women. In the New South by the year 1880, steel and iron mills were progressing across the North. Railroad construction was fast paced in the 1880s. Comparing 1880 to 1890 the tracks had doubled with Texas and Georgia having the biggest growth. In 1886, an agreement was made to have a standardized width on the railroad tracks.This would help create a national transportation system. By creating this, the increasing demand of buying and selling goods would be fulfilled at a faster pace. Also, with this new transportation came new land for families to move into for work. The textile industry was growing significantly also because more people were traveling to the South. With immigrants and Southerners needing a steady form of income e ntrepreneurs took on the textile business not only to build good relationships with the people of the South but also to be less dependent on capital and manufactured products from the North.Tobacco was also a growing business with Virginia leading in the sales of chewing tobacco across the nation. When the discovery of bright-leaf tobacco was made, tobacco habits were changed into the form of cigarettes by James B. Duke. He had the first cigarette-making machine installed in his plant and by the year 1900, Duke’s tobacco company was controlling eighty percent of tobacco manufacturing in the United States. With these booming industries came low wages. The South experienced a downfall with the rise they were experiencing.Since the workers of the South were poorly paid they could not afford to buy much so the market in the South for manufactured goods was kept low as was the consumer demand. Low wages only brought in immigrants that were low-skilled so skilled laborers were more likely to go north and work complicated machinery to produce high-quality goods. The South had close to no capital reserves to expand leaving Northern financers to purchase the five major rail lines serving the South at a bargain after failing during a depression in the 1870s.Since the South was such a risk to invest in the textile industry stayed small-scale. On the other hand, the South’s largest industry, the lumber industry grew. Since it required little capital and provided unskilled laborers with a job, these raw materials were quickly produced. The tobacco industry unlike the textile industry avoided some turmoil. James B. Duke’s tobacco company was profitable enough to become its own bank. With enough capital to have the latest technologies on his plants, he was fortunate enough to buy out his competitors.In the late nineteenth century women began fighting to improve the status of women, sometimes by joining with men. Because women in the South were left with providing for their families when the South lost the war, some never wanting to depend on men again and others who dealt with Southern men who were shaken by defeat, they were not as motivated to campaign reform and threaten gender role changes. Despite such battles, southern women found opportunities in schools, and stores for example that expanded their social role twenty years after 1880.Women of the South, both black and white of the middle class, played important roles in civic work and reform. These middle class women began performing in activities ranging from lobbying for various causes, taking leadership on plenty of important issues and organizing clubs. Some of the first women’s clubs starting in the 1880s were self-improvement societies that did not care for reform. Women’s clubs grew and by 1890, most towns and cities had several women’s clubs. Some of the club’s and its members even began taking part in political issues.While both black and white women had their clubs, the activities of black women’s clubs were slightly different in comparison to the white women’s clubs. Black women’s clubs looked out for the women and children in their cities, supporting daycare facilities for working mothers and settlement houses in poor black neighborhoods. They also established homes for single black women so that they would not be an easy victim to sexual exploitation. Atlanta’s Neighborhood Union founded playgrounds, a health center and also received a grant to improve black education.These women also worked for woman suffrage. While both groups of women had strong beliefs and motives to speak their minds they rarely communicated with each other. Some white women would even use racial solidarity as a weapon to promote white women’s right to vote. They did this to prove the point that with white men and women’s votes combined they could further white interests. The black generation that ca me of age in this environment where blacks and whites could maintain cordial relations expected many privileges in society like the right to vote, work and attend school.Among these, they also wanted self-respect, dignity and to be considered equal to the white men and women. White southerners who came of age in this same environment saw blacks as the enemy. They wanted to preserve white purity and dominance. Because the tensions between blacks and whites continued to grow, not only on the view of equality but in jobs as well, violence against black people boomed in the 1890s. Some of these violent crimes included lynching. After two of the unspoken rules had been violated the lynchings started.White men began to see themselves as protectors of the weak, but it more importantly reinforced white solidarity and reminded the blacks that white supremacy ruled the South. When the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed freedmen the right to vote, poll taxes, literacy test, understanding clause an d grandfather clause were all some of the disfranchising legislation that began to prevent blacks from voting. Blacks began moving to cities in the South where they could be somewhat free from white surveillance after feeling like American democracy had hung a â€Å"whites only† sign.Blacks began to create their own rich communities and the businesses and institutions they built during Reconstruction began to grow and some even flourish. By the year 1900, black southerners had less political power than they had before and were far more isolated from white southerners. Despite every obstacle, they were successful in building a comfortable community life and a rising middle class, all while being in a restricted environment.The changes brought over the time frame of 1877 to the 1900’s were the framework for some of the opportunities we have today. The South had plenty going on over the years, from building and trying to keep industries, to men and women moving into the S outhern cities with new opportunity that their ancestors did not have and Blacks fighting for their rights when white solidarity was having such a heavy effect on their lifestyles. The South was fast growing but holding itself back with segregation, and black disfranchisement.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Leadership in Context

The â€Å"Ah Hal† moment is distributed leadership actually did happened in my past appointment as the Course Commander in the Engineer Training Institute (ET). Being selected in the appointment and the most senior in rank, I naturally assumed the position of the leader with my subordinates taking Instructions from me. However, for certain events such as organizing of unit's Chinese New Year event, managing of officer cadets' cohesion activities, and specific training packages, I delegated the planning to my team.Through the process, it was encouraging to see some of my instructors took the initiative to emerge as the assume leader to organize and successfully completed the task with minimum supervision. Despite being successful, I had also observed that my instructors' Kim-Yin Chain et al. , Military Leadership in the 21st Century Science and Practice, 1st edition (Singapore: Coinage Learning Asia, 2011). Peg 148 2 Leonard Wong, Paul Bellies, and Dennis McGuire, â€Å"Milita ry Leadership: A Context Specific Review,† US Army Research, January 1, 2003, http://adolescents. Nil. Due/ chrysanthemum/1 6. Peg 657-692. Reiterative in organizing the event could have been limited by my supervision at some point of time. Hence, It Is of my view that It Is Indeed possible that distributed leadership can be Implemented quite successfully In certain areas In SAFE. My post-action review Len- relation to the concept of Orpheus are being summarized in three points. Firstly, application of distributed leadership can be applied in military context particularly for a small group who had attained a certain level of military competencies.It provides opportunities for a rotational leadership role, allowing any individual to merge as leader and to realize the rich potential as a group. Secondly, the empowerment given to the Individual must be respected and trusted to reduce their authority and leadership through a shared vision, mission and purpose. The concept will all ow the group to generate greater passion and motivation to reach the desired outcome. Lastly, distributed leadership need to be carefully calibrated in a traditionally hierarchical organization to prevent the wrong impression of a laissez- fairer or no leadership approach.By planning forward, distributed leadership can be seed to enhanced specific core competencies skills 3 such as creative thinking, communicating to influence, decision making, develop people and team, developing the individual for success. Task 2: State the appointment that you are likely to be posted to after SC. Being a Combat Engineer by vocation, my next possible appointment might be taking over command in one of the battalion of Singapore Combat Engineer (SEE).I shall 3 SAFE-OLD Doctrine Directive 2/2004. SAFE Leadership Framework. 26 July 04. Provide my assessment and direction in accordance to â€Å"Circle† of the SAFE Leadership 417 Frameworks; mission and purpose, operating environment and desired o utcome, to strive forward and achieve a collective vision for my unit. Mission and Purpose. From the theory of core ideology by Jim Collins and Jerry Operas, the core values and core purpose of great organization does not change. The unit's mission and purpose in line with SAFE, in peacetime, is to safeguard our nation's security, thereby ensuring Singapore survival ultimately. I will work to ensure that the unit perform the function of raise, train and sustain, and continues to be ready to play its role in arrangement Singapore security during my tour and for the foreseeable future. I would consider adopting the leadership in Battle and Garrisons that was taught in LLC lesson 8 in achieving the mission under differing situational requirements.Understanding the flexibility of the competing values and behaviors will first allow me to place emphasis in maintaining relevant in fulfilling the â€Å"swift and decisive victory' part of the MINDED/SAFE mission and renewed the focus on the unit's hotter capability, so as to set in place the building blocks for our evolving role in the future operating environment. 4 SAFE-OLD Doctrine Directive 2/2004. SAFE Leadership Framework. 26 July 04. Jim Collins and Jerry I. Operas, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies 6 Reuben Gal and A.David Manageresses, Handbook of Military Psychology, 1 edition (Chester ; New York: Wiley, 1991). Peg. 411-429. 5 Operating Environment From LLC lesson 7 that organizational culture is important to the influence of leadership and vice versa. Edgar H. Scheme said † group growth and culture formation can be seen as two sides of the same coin, and both are the result of leadership activities and shared experiences†. 7 The operating environment of the unit is not Just being ready to handle any contingency but also being operationally proficient to carry out our security operations on a daily basis.Thus the unit needs to be operationally ready to face the continuous co mplex VI-CA environment. The unit will need to train the men to attain an approved level of technical competence on operating combat engineers' equipments and honing the analytical functions of the commanders to operating in the various operating conditions. The unit culture will be â€Å"a pattern of hared, basic taken-for-granted assumptions, the culture will manifest itself at the level of observable artifacts and shared espoused beliefs and values†. To meet the demand and influencing the culture, I will take on the leadership by example to be the source of beliefs and values to gradually build a shared assumptions among the commanders and men in the unit. Desired Outcome My desired outcome is to develop an operational, cohesive and discipline unit, which is capable of maintaining safety and achieving mission success in a wide spectrum of operations. The unit should comprises of committed soldiers who are highly proficient in their tasks and proud of their identity as Comb at Engineer soldiers.A few key factors to focus on to maintain high level of performance and competency are: (1) To display 7 Edgar H. Scheme, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition edition (San Francisco: Josses Bass, 2004). Peg 87-88 8 Ibid. Leadership by example. Leaders who â€Å"walks the talk† will enable his men and commanders to sense and be inspired by the actions and commitment. (2) To build quality relationships. I am also a firm believer of the Core Theory of Success 9, where laity results. (3) To instill a sense of purpose.Never â€Å"go through motion† and make clear of the purpose in the tasking so as to enable strong sense of ownership and foster a stronger commitment to the unit. Task 3: Identify and explain the key leadership requirements for my appointment. Values Figure 1 . SAFE 24-7 Leadership Frameworks Based on the SAFE 24-7 Leadership Framework (refer to Figure 1), a SAFE leader will need the four factors provided within the triangul ar block for effective leadership. First key requirement is values which is the basic foundation of the triangle.A strong set of 9 John Steersman, Organizational Learning at Work: Embracing the Challenges of the New Work place (Waltham, Mass: Pegasus Communications, 1998). 10 Adapted from SAFE-OLD Doctrine Directive 2/2004, â€Å"SAFE Leadership Framework†, dated 26 July 2004. Peg values that SAFE leaders derive their moral strength for influencing their soldiers. 11. The importance of values cannot be overstated and hence my values need to be aligned with the SAFE core values to remain firm in my convictions and actions. Leadership is the process of influencing people. 2 1 will lead by example and exemplify the SAFE core values to positively influence my commanders and men. With the consistent inculcation of values, it will be a guide for everyone to do the right things regardless whether one is being watched or not. Full-Range Leadership – Balancing between Transacti onal and Transformational Figure 2: Relationship of ELM in the Military Context The next key requirement is leadership styles. There is no single leadership style good enough for all situations and picking up three particular styles of leadership (I. E. Situational Leadership, Path-goal theory and Full Range model) from LLC lesson 5, it 11SEA-OLD Doctrine Directive 2/2004, â€Å"SAFE Leadership Framework†, dated 26 July 2004. Peg 3 13 Adapted from APP Chain, K. Y. , LACE-02-Slides_Overview_Concepts_Appropriateness DARPA-22 – for STUDENTS APP. Slide 49. Was understood that the styles of leadership were often dependent of the leader, the follower and situations. I believe the full range leadership model is best suited for my next appointment and I need to balance the range of styles between transactional and transformational so that I can effectively communicate and lead as a Officer Commanding (CO) of a Battalion.Reaching for transformational leadership Tyler will likel y to yield a positive and longer-lasting effects. Leadership, Management and Command Figure 2: Relationship of ELM in the Military Context Other than SAFE 24-7 Leadership Framework, I will want to look at the concept of Leadership, Management and Command (ELM) (refer to Figure 2) from LLC lesson 2 to be one of the key requirement. ELM are three distinct concepts but inseparable and intertwined†1 5. Taking over a command appointment makes me dwell deeper into the LLC 14 Adapted from APP Chain, K. Y. , LOCO 15 Chain et al. Military Leadership in the 21st Century Science and Practice. Peg 8-14 concept. Looking beyond peacetime tasking and operations, although the application of all three concept are equally important, I will focus more on leadership role to influence soldiers by providing the purpose, direction and motivation that required to achieved mission success. 16 Task 4: My leadership strengths and weaknesses? According to my MYSELF report and matching the result with the SAFE 24-7 Leadership Framework, I had clearly exhibited a value-based leadership and my strength in the core competency were mission, social and developmental.The results resonated well urine my appointment as Course Commander, with extremely tight training the end-of-course survey, highlighting areas like our instructors' role modeling, value inculcation, individual development and mission focus. The positive feedbacks were good indications that my instructors understood their roles well and they were given opportunities to develop and lead with my guidance. Socially, I had displayed good interpersonal effectiveness and able to communicate to influence my team well. With strengths, there is also weakness. One of my weakest factor reported was inflexibility of my leadership style.Previously as Course Commander, I was not deeply exposed to the various leadership styles as compared to now in GAS SC. Then, I adopted a more consistent leadership style towards my trainees and my team th inking that a more homogeneous outcome in the inculcation of the SAFE core values was better. 16 Ibid However, I realized this might not be the most effective method to motivate and lead the team. An effective leaders are those who can shift between transactional and transformational leadership styles as required by circumstances and the characteristics of followers†17.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Gambling Pros and Cons and Stages

Gambling is one of the many things that people do. A lot of people see no problem in gambling and others may see different. Gambling has many different cause and effects on certain people and different phases of getting there. Some people may get the better effects, and some may get the not so good effects from it. Gambling doesn’t always just affect the person doing it, but may affect the people around them. There are many pros but more cons to gambling. People may just go gamble just for a night out, others do it on a regular basis.The ones that may do it on regular basis, build their own life around it. Getting into gambling may be caused from stress, greed, and mental health problems. Depression is a big one. When depressed gambling can lift up someone’s mood, especially if he or she is winning all the time. When winning all the time a person becomes greedier with their money than before. Some just don’t know when to stop. Some people waste their winnings on trying to win more when they should’ve just walked away. Other people use gambling when he or she is stressed out about money.They think they win one time there going to win many more, and money problems will disappear. From many stories shared around most likely that won’t be the case more problems just start to occur. The effects from gambling can be something little to something big. There are many harmful effects such as, debt, family issues, pathway to other crimes, endangering ones job, and most likely a high increase in alcohol and drug use. In a study conducted by the United States, 2. 5 million adults suffer from gambling addiction, where 15 million people are under the risk of getting this addiction.Many people who have this addiction go out and gamble their life savings, risking that they might lose it all. Bill money gets spent, and that when one starts to get in debt. Gambling also increase the issues in a household. Increase of child abuse, and neglect of ten occur. He or she might lose a 5,000 dollar bet and take the anger out on the children at home. Many gamblers stop caring about everyone around them, and only think about themselves. There are different stages to having the gambling addiction. The beginning s ones â€Å"winning† stage. One occasionally gambles, gets a big win, and then starts making higher bets. Next the â€Å"losing† phase hits. Some may lose time from work, start borrowing money from others, and start becoming in debt, because of that winning streak. Next the â€Å"desperation† phase. When one is in a panic from all the money lost, and the beginning of doing illegal crimes to get money will begin. Finally, the â€Å"hopelessness† phase hits. Now there is nothing left and suicidal thoughts run threw some people head.The debt is too much to handle and they feel nothing they can do will get them in a stable environment. This is also when in a marriage a divorce might happen, and everyon e that was once there, may not be there anymore. Gambling is a horrible addiction. This addiction may be treatable, as long as the person wants to be treated. Gambling effects a lot more than just one person. It affects everyone around. A winning streak may just be a fluke, taking way too far and ruin one’s life and many more. There can be many pros and cons to gambling, but in the end the cons takes over.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Taxation - Essay Example 50,760.34 Salary - Tax - NIC Tax brackets Income 10% (starting rate for savings only) 0 - ?2,560 20% for basic rate 0 - ?35,000 40% for higher rate ?35,001 - ?150,000 50% for additional rate Over ?150,000 (HM revenue and Customs 480 (2011) The liability of income tax payable from the above computation is ?25,718.3. A deduction of personal allowance of 7,475 is made in the year 2011/2012 (Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee, 2011,103). This figure was increased by ?1000 (Budget, 2011, pp.1).The National insurance Contributions (NICs) are calculated under the annual brackets for directors. This is payable by the employer – Jumbo Company under the PAYE system on the payroll. The NICs is ?6,027.7. This is computed under the annual rate of the Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) of 12% of ?42484 minus ?7228 =Â  ?35256 and an addition of 2% of the amount exceeding this figure. The company is liable to pay this amount of ?6,027.7 to the tax authorities. Question 2 Value of taxable benefits in kind Car (see appendix) (10% * ?33,464.19) ?3,464.19 Fuel for car ?20,000 Accommodation (higher of 75,000 at the rate of 4.75%) (3,000,000- 75,000) * 4.75% (Malcolm, 2010, 435) ?138,937.5 House benefit ?15,000 Private health ?3,000 Use of furniture ?35,000 ?215,401.69 NICs Class 1A on benefits (13.8% * ?215,401.69) ?29, 725.4 Section 114, 149, 174 of HM revenue and customs in the United Kingdom explains that benefits in kind including cars for private use, incentives etc. given to directors are taxed at special rates. Although they do not qualify as individual employee’s salary, they are levied for tax purposes. They are levied for income tax at normal tax brackets rates and the deduction for NICs Class 1A is calculated at a higher rate of 13.8 % of the total value of benefits. Section 201(2) of HMRC gives a list of the benefits that are liable for tax purposes. House benefit is taken as the figure of rateable rent payable of that house or the an nual amount given. A car bought by the company is deemed as benefit for the employer when it is used for part or full time use by the director. In our case, the car is for fulltime use. The Co2 emission is 119g/km hence it is liable for a benefit of 10% of its cost according to HMRC tax regulations i.e. it lies under the category of less than 12og/km Co2 emissions. Fuel benefit is taken for the portion used for private purposes. An assumption is made at a figure of ?20,000 fuel usage. The whole amount is a benefit in kind liable for tax computation purposes. If the employer purchases the director’s house, the only allowable amount not liable for tax is a purchase price below ?75,000. The provision of accommodation benefit is taken at a rate of 4.75% of the figure above ?75,000. The cost of this house is ?3,000,000. The only amount liable is ?2,925,000 as an extra charge for accommodation. The total benefit is therefore ?138, 937.5. Use of furniture is gift or an extra benefit from the employer. The whole amount is liable for tax computation under section 201 (2) HMRC. This is an extra expense borne by the employer – Jumbo Company for the director. Contribution by the employer to private medical schemes for the director is a benefit in kind liable for taxation. It is taken as the whole amount paid to the scheme for the director. (House of Commons – Spending Review Committee, 2010, pp. 1) Income tax payable by Mr. Jedward for year 2011/2012 Salary ?89, 011 Total benefits in kind ?215,401.69 Income ?304,412.69