Does Media and Music Affect Our Lives

Critical Response The argument of whether or not music and media affect or influence our lives is a very complicated argument that divides people in their viewpoints. I personally believe that music and media will influence you only if you let it. Everything in life becomes only what you make of it and I think that some people in life hold music artists on a pedestal and go so far as to live their lives according to what they hear in their idols music. A song that truly depicts this concept in a disturbing, but yet believable way is the song â€Å"Stan†, by Eminem.This songs tells the story of a young man named Stan, that believes himself to be Eminem’s biggest fan that he goes so far as to live his life in away that imitates what he believes is how Eminem lives his. He confesses his devotion to Eminem through letters and by going to concerts and standing outside in the cold for hours just to get an autograph, but things go really bad when Stan doesn’t get a repl y from Eminem in a time span that he believes he should have.So Stan makes one last message for Eminem, which involves him being drunk, locking his girlfriend in the trunk and driving the car off a bridge. In the end Eminem writes Stan back with his concern of him trying to imitate his life, but then realizes what has happened. This song illustrates a perfect example of a crazed fan going to far. This guy is named Stan, which is Eminem’s â€Å"code† name, and in the music video he even dresses like him and goes so far as to make sure he has the same hairstyle and color.Everything else also is an attempt to imitate Eminem, from the pregnant girlfriend that he eventually ends up locking in the trunk and killing to have an absent father. But the thing is though is that everything he is trying to imitate in this song are not the real characteristics of Eminem, they are only based on songs Eminem has written, including one song where Eminem kills the mother of his baby and locks her in a trunk.I think that this song is a great example of how influential people can be, but I don’t think that all people are this influenced by music. I think that you are your own person and what you allow to influence you and affect you is your choice. This not only applies to music, but also to the media and news. Last week I had a very eye opening experience as a result to one of readings on the media and how much of the truth it tells and what it chooses to leave out. It made me ealize that sitting around and waiting for the truth to come to you, isn’t a logical approach and if you chose to live like that they you shouldn’t expect to receive the whole truth. The news and media also is very biased and can influence viewers to be the same. This has been very evident at least to me since 9/11, with how the media is so biased against Muslims and Arabs, and how they portray them all to be â€Å"the bad guys† and the ones to blame for the problem s that we are enduring now.But what us even more upsetting is that some Americans are letting the media influence them into believing this biased view point and instead of getting the whole story by going and getting other news sources, people just go along with what the media tells them. Even though a lot of people believe that the media and music is responsible for influencing the way people live their lives and the choices they make, I believe that how it influences you and to what extent is your choice.If you hear a song on the radio that talks about killing someone, doesn’t mean that you should go out and do it, but you ultimately are the one that makes that decision, not the song. The same thing applies with the news, if you hear on the news that the Muslims are the ones to blame for all of our problems, it is your choice to agree or disagree with that statement and it is your responsibility to go and look at other sources if you want to get a real stance on the problem that is not biased.

Moab

In 1868, a stone was uncovered in the biblical city of Dibon, on which were recorded victories over the Israelites by Mesha, king of Moab. The Mesha stele or the Moabite stone described how Moab was conquered by Omri, King of Israel, as the result of the anger of the god Kemosh. Mesha’s victories over Omri’s son, over the men of Gad at Ataroth and at Nebo and Jehaz. Also it described Mesha’s public buildings, restoring the fortifications of his strong places and building a palace and reservoirs for water The first few lines are dedicated to Mesha’s father, Kemosh. His influences to Mesha and how he helped him develop into the great warrior and conqueror that he was. It can be deduced from the text that Moab like most of early states was governed by king whose throne was passed to blood heirs. He particularly described Israel and its king and how he defeated them in a series of his exploits. For a long time, Israel through his king Omri and his successors oppressed Moab to which Moab through Mesha intercession of Kemosh, revolted successfully. Their successful revolt was followed by Mesha’s strong conviction to bring down Israel and conquer all the states under its control. It can be seen in the lines describing Mesha’s victory over Omri’s son and over the men of Gad at Ataroth, and at Nebo and Jehaz that Mesha was dedicated in conquering the states that fell under the control of Israel and adding those teritorries to Moab. As can be seen in the beginning of the text, lines in the inscription indicate that Mesha attributed his feats and victories to Kemosh.   In line three, it was said that Mesha made a high place for Kemosh, since Kemosh gave Mesha victory over his enemies. It can be seen in line nine that Mesha also believed that Kemosh gave Moab back her territory.   In several lines it can be seen that his actions were indeed greatly influenced by Kemosh as when Mesha slew the people of Ataroth to satisfy Kemosh and when Mesha dragged the altar-hearth of Ataroth before Kemosh. And when he answered to Kemosh’s direction to attack the town of Nebo and after his victory he devoted the inhabitants of Nebo to Kemosh. Also, the altar-hearths of Yahweh from Nebo were dragged before Kemosh. In line eighteen and nineteen, Mesha believed that it was Kemosh who drove the king of Israel out of Jahaz. Mesha also believed that it was Kemosh who directed him to fight against Horanaim in which battle Kemosh gave him victory over Horanaim. His strong belief on the great powers of Kemosh which helped him in his feats, it can be seen that they are no different to other early civilizations which are also centered to their deities and gods. Mesha through his success in conquering hundreds of territories which he appended to Moab was able to create a state so vast and rich under his control. Not only did he conquer territories he was passionate dedicated in the development and progress of his state. As can be seen in the inscriptions n the rest of the inscription , Mesha tells of restoring and fortifying cities that rightfully belonged to Moab, he built gates and towers in Qarcho ; of building a palace for himself; of constructing reservoirs for water; of building cisterns ; and of constructing a military road. His dedication in building for the progress of the state which he created is indication of his visionary plans for the state. To take a territory and not develop it would have meant dissatisfaction from the conquered, but Mesha made it a point that all that was appended to Moab were rightfully developed and maintained. As can be deduced from the inscriptions, Moab has been in constant feud with Israel. In the account of the stone, Mesha has unceasingly pursued Israel in vengeance for the oppression they have suffered under Israel. According contemporary accounts(MidEast Web, 2007), Palestine has been in conflict with Israel since the return of the Hebrews from Egypt during the time of Moses, in modern times this was repeated when British issued the Balfour Declaration, viewed by Jews and Arabs as promising a â€Å"National Home† for the Jews in Palestine. Reference: Mideast Web. 2007 Canaan/Palestine/Israel: A Brief Early History in Maps. 3 May 2007

Current Purchasing and Supply Chain Practices in E-procurement Essay

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Training and development 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Private and Public Entity Risk Management Essay

Private and Public Entity Risk Management - Essay Example Like many of it is counter-parts the Minnesota state government has largely ignored the vital role played by risk management in achieving both operational and strategic objectives. The trend was simultaneously aped by also other state affiliated entities such as quasi-government owned corporations and also city councils entities have embraced risk management. Less than 44% of aggregate public Only in recent times there has been an almost immediate and appreciation of risk management knowhow. Formerly traces of public entities embracing aspects of risk management were only evident in the national health insurance policies (personal risk) for their citizens. Recent times have seen public entities aware of other forms of risk currently and previously adopted by their private sector allies such as: †¢ Strategic risk. Enabling government entities to manage current and future threat while leveraging on opportunities embedded in their strategic goals and objectives †¢ Operational risk. Associated with the day to day running of government institutions such as efficiency and integration in core departments such as procurement, auditing and compliance. †¢ Reputational risk. Like in the private sector goodwill is highly valued, any damage to the state reputation will lead to significant decrease to net valuation of the entity. The causes have been more vital through the emergence of social media where information is transferred by the click of a button. Less than 44% of aggregate public of risk management knowhow.

Looking beyond the Irish Famine in OFlahertys Going to Exile Essay

Looking beyond the Irish Famine in OFlahertys Going to Exile - Essay Example According to Social Education (2000), the problems with the Irish potato crop were first reported in the Dublin Evening Post on September 9, 1845. During this time, the previously healthy green fields of potato plants turned black because potatoes were rotting underground. At first, the cause of the crop failure was unknown. It was later revealed that the blight was the result of a fungus known as Phytophethora infestans, which probably arrived in Europe from North America. There had been similar potato crop failures on the east coast of the United States in 1842 and 1843. The blight spread quickly through Holland and Belgium, arriving in Ireland in 1845, when it destroyed 30% of the potato crop. In 1846, 1848, and 1849, nearly the entire potato crop failed. Although the blight did not strike in 1847, people starved because they had eaten any unspoiled â€Å"seed potatoes† during the terrible winter of 1846-47. The British government decided not to provide replacement seed potatoes in 1847.The first official government response to the potato blight was to estimate damage to the crop. Police reported crop losses weekly. Experts also investigated the situation and suggested possible â€Å"remedies†, which were wishful thinking. At first, Br itish Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel purchased American Indian corn to help feed the hungry, and he set up small-scale public work relief projects. Later, the government and private charities set up food kitchens where they distributed soup, but such efforts were quickly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem. The situation for the Irish worsened when Peel and his supporters were replaced by a new government headed by Lord John Russell. Like most leading British thinkers and government officials at that time, he believed in laissez-faire economics. This theory held that government involvement in the economy (like aid to the hungry) would only increase problems like scarcity in the long run. Laissez-faire is a French phrase that means "leave it alone"; in other words, let market forces determine supply and price, with no government help or intervention. Thus, the British exported grain and livestock from Ireland to England (to pay for rent, tithing, and taxes) while the Irish pe ople were dying from hunger and famine-related diseases. There was also strong sentiment in England that Ireland was responsible for its own troubles and that local resources had to be used for relief ("A Brief History of the Potato in Ireland", 2000). As a result of the errors of the British Colonial Policies, the Feeney family had to make a choice to counteract the effect that the potato famine. Amidst the farewell party, however, the family masked to some degree the distress of the parents, who do not want their children to leave even though the parents realize that the departure of their children is a financial necessity. The father retreated to the barn for a time to hide his feelings, while the mother, to keep from crying, immerses herself in serving food and similar party necessities: The people were dancing, laughing and singing with a certain forced and boisterous gaiety that failed to hide from them the real cause of their being there, dancing, singing and laughing. For the dance was on account of Patrick Feeney's two children, Mary and

Have you had Your VSauce Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Political Science College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

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HR Planning Case Study Essay Example for Free

HR Planning Case Study Essay Xerox is a widely known firm worldwide, but it has been through numerous crises in the past decade. In fact, at one point several years ago, there were questions about Xerox surviving as a firm. But no longer. Under the leadership of Anne Mulcahy as CEO, Xerox has rebounded. Numerous strategic business and financial decisions had to be made, including reducing the workforce by 30,000. But Mulcahy also stressed that HR had to become a more strategic contributor. One of the actions taken was to consolidate a number of HR functions from different busi-ness units into a corporate HR Service Center. This center performs many administrative trans-actions, and has added Internet- based systems to make HR services more accessible to managers and employees. To track employees views on the company and HR, employee surveys on the company in-tranet have been used for several years. Areas at which lower scores were recorded have been addressed by HR staff and other managers. The survey results have led to another primary focus at Xerox: employee retention. With all of the reductions and organizational restructurings, keeping the remaining employees, especially high- potential ones, has been a continuing emphasis. Xerox has invested significant time and resources into training and development of its employees, an important retention factor. Greater use of e- learning, technology, and leadership development have paid off in reducing turnover and convincing employees that career opportunities exist at Xerox. Continuing com-petitive pressures are presenting new challenges for Xerox and its HR staff. The strategic importance of HR has been demonstrated in the past, and looks to be a part of the firms future.

Morality - Ethics Essay Example for Free

Morality Ethics Essay 1. What are the fundamental questions which ethics tries to resolve? Ethics seeks to resolve questions dealing with human morality—concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. 2. Distinguish a human act from act of man. The difference between human acts and man acts is that human acts are a free will decision. This includes knowledge, freedom and voluntarism When modifiers come into play, then it makes the act become the act of man. The elements are ignorance, passion, fear, violence and habits. You act simultaneously with your feelings. A human act is an action that is considered to be carried out voluntarily, whereas an act of man is an involuntary action. The distinctions and nuances between an act of man and a human act are often a focus of philosophical debate. 3. What is morality? Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good orright and those that are bad, evil or wrong. Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from a particular philosophy,religion, or culture, or it can derive from a standard that a person believes should be universal. 4. Distinguish moral, immoral, and amoral. Moral concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. Immoral actions or events: those areas of interest where moral categories do apply and of are such a kind as to be evil, sinful, or wrong according to some code or theory of ethics. Amoral actions or events: those areas of interest exhibiting indifference to and not abiding by the moral rules or codes of society. 5. How will you determine the goodness and badness of human act? An event which is caused solely by the effect of nature or natural causes and without any interference by humans whatsoever. 6. What qualities of human act have ethical in form? The qualities of human act that have ethical in form are the actions that are free and deliberate, those that proceeds from the free and conscious acts of man and the act that is always done for a purpose. 7. What are different connotations of the term moral? The term â€Å"morality† can be used either 1. descriptively to refer to some codes of conduct put forward by a society or, a. some other group, such as a religion, or b. accepted by an individual for her own behavior or 2.normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons. 8. Why is Ethics important? Ethics is a requirement for human life. It is our means of deciding a course of action. Without it, our actions would be random and aimless. There would be no way to work towards a goal because there would be no way to pick between a limitless number of goals. Even with an ethical standard, we may be unable to pursue our goals with the possibility of success. To the degree which a rational ethical standard is taken, we are able to correctly organize our goals and actions to accomplish our most important values. Any flaw in our ethics will reduce our ability to be successful in our endeavors. 9. Why should ethics always be treated a way of life? Ethics, sometimes known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophythat involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. The superfield within philosophy known as axiology includes both ethics and aesthetics and is unified by each sub-branchs concern with value. Philosophical ethics investigates what is the best way for humans to live, and what kinds of actions are right or wrong in particular circumstances. Ethics may be divided into three major areas of study. Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth values (if any) may be determined. Ethics seeks to resolve questions dealing with human morality—concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. 10. How is responsibilities entaill in a human act? Responsibility for own existence is grounded on self-awareness and personal freedom to make choices. By exercising freedom to choose man becomes totally responsible for himself. But his responsibility does not stop there; it extends to other people so that at the end it assumes the form of universal responsibility. There are at least three circles in the extension of our responsibility. The Individual responsibility, if existence precedes essence man is responsible for his own actions. Total Responsibility, If man is free to choose what he is going to make of himself, he is entirely responsible for what he is becoming. Universal Responsibility, If man is fully responsible for what he is presenting as the image of man, he is responsible for all men. 11. What are the different approaches in dealing with the problem of moral principles? ?The Utilitarian Approach Utilitarianism was conceived in the 19th century by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill to help legislators determine which laws were morally best. Both Bentham and Mill suggested that ethical actions are those that provide the greatest balance of good over evil. ?The Rights Approach The second important approach to ethics has its roots in the philosophy of the 18th-century thinker Immanuel Kant and others like him, who focused on the individuals right to choose for herself or himself. ?The Fairness or Justice Approach The fairness or justice approach to ethics has its roots in the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who said that equals should be treated equally and unequals unequally. ?The Common-Good Approach This approach to ethics assumes a society comprising individuals whose own good is inextricably linked to the good of the community. Community members are bound by the pursuit of common values and goals. ?The Virtue Approach The virtue approach to ethics assumes that there are certain ideals toward which we should strive, which provide for the full development of our humanity. These ideals are discovered through thoughtful reflection on what kind of people we have the potential to become. 12. Research on the following: a. The problem of Moral Principles Now, such principles come in two distinct forms: formal principles (i. e. moral principles without specific action-guiding content) and substantive principles (i. e. moral principles with specific action-guiding content). In what follows, I consider substantive principles first, then formal. Both forms of principles, I argue, are incapable of providing the sort of moral guidance necessary to achieve mature moral judgments (i. e.judgments that are appropriate to the situations they are judgments of). The problem is that such principles are unable to provide information about what actually would, in a given situation, uphold justice or maximize utility. That is, formal principles fail to provide moral agents with the tools necessary to evaluate the complex details particular situations confront them with, or to develop appropriate moral solutions. b. The problem of Scope Morality Scope of morality are moral concept which are mixed modes, are transparent, we cannot reduce the descriptions of our moral life, that is the descriptions using our moral vocabulary, to some substantial residue or some real objects. c. The problem of Moral Obligation Moral obligations are standards that do not merely advise or recommend our conformity, but demand it. Moral obligations come from the demands or expectations of society d. The problem of Freedom Freedom naturally occurs in nature, but only becomes an issue in the way that humans view themselves, their surroundings and others. Freedom grants one the right to behave without fear or punishment i. e. go anywhere they wish, do anything they wish or say anything they wish. Of course there are always limits imposed on freedom. We are all born free, but as we grow we learn the physical limits of our surroundings. We learn about the limits imposed on us by gravity or by our physical surroundings such as walls. The thing is, freedom can only exist if you recognize its existence and then exercise it while at the same time acknowledging and tolerating others freedom. e. The problem of Moral Practice Since cultures and individuals differ in certain moral practices, there are no objective moral values. Several objections can be made to this argument. First, the fact that people disagree about something does not mean there is no objective truth. If you and I disagree about whether or not the earth is round, for example, this is not proof that the earth has no shape. In moral discussion, the fact that a skinhead and I may disagree about whether we should treat people equally and fairly is not sufficient evidence to say that equality and fairness have no objective value. f. The problem of Casuistry. A bias is an unwarranted inclination or a special perspective that disposes us to mistaken or one-sided judgments. The potential for bias arises at each stage of a case method of reasoning including in describing, framing, selecting and comparing of cases and paradigms. A problem of bias occurs because to identify the relevant features for such purposes, we must use general views about what is relevant; but some of our general views are biased, both in the sense of being unwarranted inclinations and in the sense that they are one of many viable perspectives. 13. Is it right to say that â€Å"What is right for me to do is what I really want to do† and why? No,it’s not right to say it that way because you are only thinking about yourself. And sometimes even it is right for you its not what you really want to do because you’re also thinking about the others, what will be the effect of this to them and whatsoever. 14. What is basic substanceof the problem freedom. Freedom is one of those slippery words, difficult to define because it is an ambiguous and abstract man-made concept. It naturally occurs in nature, but only becomes an issue in the way that humans view themselves, their surroundings and others. Freedom is only an issue in the presence of oppression, and oppression only exists among humans as a result of their perceptions of the world around them. The thing is, freedom can only exist if you recognize its existence and then exercise it while at the same time acknowledging and tolerating others freedom. 15. Distinguish between moral principles and moral rules. Moral principle the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group; the Puritan ethic; a person with old-fashioned values. Moral Rules- they come out into the open only when the person is questioned. Very often one of the rules contradicts another, thus enabling the user to resort first to one and then to the other to suit his convenience or to accord with his pre-existing prejudices. These rules are usually those they have been taught to believe.

The Impact Of Digital Media On Ebay Information Technology Essay

The Impact Of Digital Media On Ebay Information Technology Essay eBay is known all over the world as the leading online Marketplace which came in to life in 1995,eBay Inc, was founded by Pierre M. Omidyarand its headquartered in San Jose, California, TM (2002). eBay created a special platform for the sales of goods and services by a passionate village of individuals and business. On days there are millions of items across thousand of categories for sale on eBay just like Half.com, eBays site dedicated to fixed price trading. eBay allows trade on a Local, National and International basis, with customize site in marketing all over the world. eBay, together with its sub-visions, bring online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services, online payment services, and online communication offerings to a diverse community of individual and business in the USA and Internationally. The company operates in three Intentions: eBay Marketplace, Payments, and Communications. The eBay Marketplaces: This platform provides infrastructure to enable online commerce in a variety of formats, including the traditional auction platform; and its other online platforms, such as Rent.com, Shopping.com, Kijiji, mobile.de, and Marktplaats.nl. Its services include trust and safety programs, reply forum, safe chanel program, eBay standard purchase protection program, customer support, tools and services. The Payments segment: Feeds a product for small businesses, online sellers, and individuals that enables them to send and receive payments online. Its services include joining the network, crosscheck of its PayPals account holders, withdrawing funds. The Communications segment: provide voice over Internet protocol calls between Skype subscribers, also provides connectivity to traditional fixed-line and handheld telephones. The company also provide online apartment rental services and comparison shopping resource service, as well as provides an Internet payment platform that allows merchants to process, and manage online payments. 2. MISSION STATEMENT OBJECTIVE eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity. eBay brings together millions of people every day on a local, national and international basis through variety of websites that focus on commerce, payments and communication. This has also help the company in various ways between their numerous customers worldwide. They have engaged in the method stated below. A Place to Buy. You can get almost anything item you need or want at very low deal better than you can find at any traditional brick and mortar, even online stores. But caution should be taken because of rotten or fake items deals on eBay. A Place to Sell. No matter the size of our product or services, eBay has various categories channels to sell items. eBays global reach can even move unusual items that are not in demand in our own neighborhood in to cash. A Place to Shop. Large variety of items can be found for sale on eBay, many members have discovered that eBay is one of the best place in the world to window or comparison shop. These items include photos, detailed descriptions, and owner experiences. Because you see lots of the same items side by side in various conditions and know what each one sold or selling for, eBay gives you insight into the real market value of most types of goods around the globe. A Website: With no physical building eBay store, Founded in San Jose but now carry out daily activities from various cities, eBays service exist basically online apart from the delivery of bought and sold items every other network of the business are handled through eBay website. Socially Responsible: eBay with its B2C way of handling business has lower the barriers to buying and selling, these bring a massive global awareness to it business. It also fosters new economic opportunities to developing areas and brings cultural understanding between different populations. This has made eBay one of the worlds most interesting and exciting trans-national ambassadors. 3. THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL MEDIA ON EBAY eBay is a cutting edge in commence by selling almost everything be it of what nature with its presence in every corners of the globe with no physical store, with limited staffs but satisfy it numerous customer worldwide. But how is this possible? Social Media Marketing: Recent addition to organizations plans. Integrated marketing communications is a practice organization follow to connect with their target markets. Integrated marketing communications coordinates promotional elements, advertising, personnel selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing and sale promotion. Increasingly viral marketing campaigns are also grouped into integrated marketing communications for eBay. The growth of social media has impacted the way organizations communicate, the internet provide set of idea which enable persons to develop social and business platform, share knowhow and collaborate on project online. Cell Phones: Usage has also become a benefit for eBay media marketing. Today many cell phones have social networking capabilities, individuals are notified of any happenings on social networking  sites through their cell phones in real-time. This constant connection to social networking sites means products and companies can constantly remind and update followers about their capabilities, uses, importance, etc. Since cell phones are connected to social networking sites, advertisements are always in sight. Computers: The use of computer has come to stay in our daily life be it at home, offices, school, this is one of the basic tools used by eMarketers worldwide, eBay uses the help of computer since they dont physical store to carry out their daily business and this is done by logging into their website by typing in the URL address with an access from ISP provider. Once logged in, you see various categorizes of product, prices, description of items and options of payment of items bought. Buying of items online and shipping to every part of the globe is an everyday activity at just by the use of a computer, Newsweek (2004) Internet Marketing: eBay use the internet known as digital marketing, web marketing, and online marketing is the marketing product and services over the internet. Internet marketing is considered to be broad in scope because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless  media. Digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management systems are also often grouped together under internet marketing. This market joins the vast idea and technical background of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales.  Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along many different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing on specific websites. 3.1 THE USE OF THE INTERNET BY eBay The internet as change the landscape of the world in every way things are done in every way things are done globally. Never before have people been able to interact in such a cost effective and comfortable way. The business world as seen a better new of doing its daily activity, business now are done in very short span of time even without the presence of both party at the same place or time. Now it is possible for you to establish your own company with a very small financial investment or in some cases even without any start-up capital. eBay use the internet in carrying of its daily business to meet target market and satisfy its customer at a very low cost and maximizing profit. Information: People worldwide are using the internet on a regular basis, with email and search engines as the most popular services. Information is power. People are able to influence, direct, convince, educate and manipulate others through one single tool: The distribution of information. Email and discussion forums allow people to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences with other people from all corners of the world. Within a relatively short period of time the Internet and its communication channels will be part of our daily lives as are running water and electricity. Cost Effectiveness: The internet is by far the most effective communication tool. If you want to send a letter via conventional or so-called slow mail, it will cost at least around $1 assuming you restrict yourself to two single sheets of paper. Sending the same amount of information via email will be up to 100 times cheaper with immediate delivery. In addition to this, email with its numbers of advantages over the slow mailing system of delivery of messages, sending and get a reply on the spot. Online Auction: In this massive marketplace, eBay rules the auction sites. According to the Nelison Rating, eBay is among the top ten most trafficked sites on the internet. eBay leads the online auction industry with a more than 60 percent share of the market, its closest competitors, Yahoo! Auctions, is only half its size followed by Amazon.com, all these are done with the help of the internet and makes eBay smile to the bank on daily basis. Low Cost Operation: Running business requires tons of capital no matter the size of the outfit, the business has to pay for rental shops, offices, motor vehicle, staffs, before it can think of making its profit which is the primary idea of the business, but doing online business you cut down your expenses to a very little amount of capital and that is the edge eBay is use to run its operations and has really help the business since it does not have physical presence anywhere, it does its business around the globe and sell lots of items to its customers worldwide. The internet helps eBay in an immeasurable way of cutting down cuts of operations and get to all part of the world without even being there in presence. 4. INTERNET AS A MARKETING PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS Public relations is defined as a management function which identifies, establishes and maintains mutually beneficial  relationships between an organization and the public upon which its success or failure depends. Whereas advertising is a  one-way communication from sender to the receiver, public relations considers multiple audiences and uses two way communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its messages and the organizations actions maximum benefit. The internet is used as a tool in Public Relations and has replaced the use of paper form of notifications and is carried out in method stated below. Tweeter: Social media is a great way to have a conversation with your market and manage connections with prospects, customer, bloggers. Even if you dont join Twitter you can monitor what people are saying company, trends, friends and products. This is quite useful from a marketing and PR standpoint. Tweeter has a search engine that let you post any information and can be linked to eBays platform. Facebook: Business firms states their URLs on cable Tv commercials, were friends and followers can join them on Facebook. This is sharp method way of internet PR, youre a startup entrepreneur, you could start a group to help entrepreneurs connect and exchange ideas. Search to make sure one doesnt exist already in your area. Your friends on your facebook will have first hand information of what is happening around you and your business and will also pass to from friends to friends if even they are not yours. eBay is linked to facebook which acts as an indirect form of PR, Instant message could also take form by chatting on both platform. Email: This is the fastest, stress less and cheapest form of PR and e-marketing with the use of the internet, when searching for information or to joint an organization like eBay, Amazon you go through a process of filling and providing certain information about yourself and your preference requirement, all these information is kept in their database and at the end you provide your e-mail. The organizations use their database information to communicate with you, through this medium you are updated with the latest information relating to previous request. As you change your preference change it is also updated in their database. eBay use this form of PR to promote their product to you and information is sent to you in respect of delivery of the item you paid for. Website Feedback: Various website use a page known as website feedback as a form PR tool to give a comments, complain or report on your experience you may have after buying a product or trial of certain items in other for them to know how their customer feel about product bought from them. 5. EBAY SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGHT: The Company use the advantage of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Both parties (Buyers and Sellers) subscribe with the company and information needed by eBay on dealers. This is known as Business2Consumer (B2C) of their business. With the strong customer and dealer relationships are based on Consumer2Consumer (C2C) business platform, where good business relationships occurs, where buyers and sellers interchange feedback for each other for the next transaction to take place. WEAKNESSES: Organizations works painfully to limit fraud. eBay platform of business is very open to fraudulent activities. But the company act with the issue very quickly. These includes inferior goods being marketed to unknown and suspecting eBayers. Other forms of theft could include redirection of stolen goods. Make it known that fraud and theft are problems with outsiders not eBay. The weakness is that mischievous individuals can exploit the C2C business platform. Many companies, systems breakdowns could disturb the trading transaction of eBay on daily bases. eBay and Paypal have suffered shutdowns and total breakdown. As technology improves for the better weakness will be less an issue. OPPORTUNITIES: Acquisitions bring new business strategy openings. eBay has into agreement to buy off online telephone company Skype Technologies with a deal reported of about worth $2.6 billion. PC users use Skype to have conversation with each other for no charges and make cut-price calls to handheld cell-phones and fixed landlines once you have subscribe to the services. This will bring in more customers to the business and also make profit to continue to grow. THRATS: The world Internet brands, success attract competition. Overseas competitors competing in their home markets have the technical experience that could give them a stronger advantage over eBay. It came to the notice of eBay that it has met with other USA home Internet providers when trading in other international country. Yahoo! stand out in the Asian market. Doing the same market is a threat, just like weaknesses stated above, the name is attacked by mischievous individuals. When e-mail sent to unknown eBayers disguards to come from eBay. Logos, and design of the pages looks just the same. However they are designed so that you input private information that the thieves can use to accesses to passwords and identifications. Not all costs can controlled by eBay, example shipping charges and credit card charges. With fuel prices to rise, the customer suffers the increment of delivery and postal charges. This affect the total cost of auctioned items very expensive. When provider of credit card merchants like Visa or Master-card decide a charge for online business transaction the total cost of the same items would increase with a negative effects on the final customer of the product and will make eBay loose some of its future consumer and will affect the profit and share value of the company. 6. CONCLUSION EBay is well aware that in order for the company to maintain its competitive advantage and make it sustainable in the long run, the company must take advantage of the changes at the corporate, organizational and business levels. EBay embraces the five building blocks which are applied randomly throughout eBays history: improvisation, co-adaption, regeneration, experimentation and time pacing as evident by the strategies discussed. The company also embraces the 10 principles of competing on the edge about strategy, organization and leadership. With all hands on deck EBay can go further if the managing, marketing department embrace more with its IT department by merging with more social media platform not just their website because social website break more distance with communities of friends of my friends. Security department should work more bringing down the risk of internet fraud, this is one area of online business transaction that turn people away from buying online, because nobody wants to their money to end up on the place after paying for an item or product.

Taking The Castle of Otranto as your example, outline the main conventi

Taking The Castle of Otranto as your example, outline the main conventions of the Gothic novel, and show how your knowledge of Taking The Castle of Otranto as your example, outline the main conventions of the Gothic novel, and show how your knowledge of these conventions affects your reading of Northanger Abbey. Is Northanger Abbey most accurately described as parody of the Gothic genre, or is there a more complicated relationship going on? Gothic novels purport to revive old stories and beliefs, exploring personal, psychical encounters with the taboo (Williams, 2000). The genre, as typified by The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, involves a beautiful innocent young woman who is held captive by an older, powerful, evil man in his large, ancient and gloomy residence for his own lustful purposes and who escapes, with the aid of supernatural manifestations, errors caused by â€Å"false surmises and conjectures based on partial narratives† (Hoeveler, 1995, p127) and a handsome young hero. Walpole's novel centers around the tyrant where the female writers in the genre, for example, Ann Radcliffe, focus more on the female victim and what she is thinking and feeling, exploring women’s anxieties about their lack of control of their feelings, their bodies, and their property, and their desire for something far more extraordinary and exciting than simply to be a domestic woman. The use of the supernatural by Walpole is so frequent and monstrous as to excite laughter rather than terror but for Radcliffe and Austen the supernatural is not visible but is an invisible hand that makes sure that good always triumphs and evil is always punished (Andriopoulos, 1999) . It is necessary to be aware of these Gothic conve... ...omy and the Gothic Novel.† ELH 66.3 (1999): 739-59. Austen, Jane. The Novels of Jane Austen. Ed. R.W. Chapman. 3rd edition. Oxford:OUP, 1933-69 Cudden, J.A. Dictionary of Literary Terms & Literary Theory. Penguin: London, 1999. Hoeveler, Diane. â€Å"Vindicating Northanger Abbey: Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, and Gothic Feminism.† Jane Austen and Discourses of Feminism. Ed. Devony Looser. Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan, 1995. 117-35 Jerinic, Maria. â€Å"In Defense of the Gothic: Rereading Northanger Abbey.† Jane Austen and Discourses of Feminism. Ed. Devoney Looser. Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillian, 1995. 137-49 Neill, Edward. â€Å"The Secret of Northanger Abbey.† Essays in Criticism 47 (1997): 13-32 Williams, Anne. â€Å"The Horror, the Horror: Recent Studies in Gothic Fiction.† Modern Fiction Studies 46.3 (2000): 789-99

School Vouchers are Against the Constitution :: Argumentative Persuasive Papers Education

School Vouchers are Against the Constitution One of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's recent education reforms is the two-year pilot program where education vouchers will be offered to poor kids from a district in New York City public schools. These students will be given on average $6,500 a year to pay for tuition at a private school (including religious ones). The money they receive will come from taxpayers. When the typical New Yorker dutifully gives Uncle Sam his hard-earned money every year, he is under the impression that his money will be used to fund government programs from which all will benefit. The reason public schools are free of charge is because the costs of running them have been paid through taxes. "Free education for all." Was that not one of the reasons immigrants flooded to America? Giuliani's program channels public money into private funds. He is indirectly endorsing private institutions with public money, and in 80 percent of the cases, these schools have religious affiliations. The last time I read the constitution, it declared a separation of church and state. In this situation, "state" would be the public schools, Giuliani, and tax-dollars. "Church" would be the private religious schools. Giuliani's plan fails to maintain this essential separation. Perhaps the mayor has forgotten that part. I mean, with all the jaywalkers that he has to keep track of, perhaps it would be unreasonable to expect him to institute a constitutional reform program. Legality aside, this Frankenstein remains riddled with flaws. Not all the poor students in New York City public schools are doing badly. That indicates something about the students who fail. I am a progeny of the New York City Public School system. From kindergarten to 12th grade my education has been a publicly funded affair. Ever since elementary school, I have seen many of my classmates flourish in the classroom while others have failed. The students of my elementary school were generally of the same economic and cultural (Italian) background, yet they varied in performance levels. I have found that some of my classmates just displayed no interest in school. Teachers and the system can only do so much. If a student does not care to learn, he or she will not learn no matter how good the education being given to him is. As to why the student is resistant to learning, that is an issue with little correlation to the quality of public schools. School Vouchers are Against the Constitution :: Argumentative Persuasive Papers Education School Vouchers are Against the Constitution One of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's recent education reforms is the two-year pilot program where education vouchers will be offered to poor kids from a district in New York City public schools. These students will be given on average $6,500 a year to pay for tuition at a private school (including religious ones). The money they receive will come from taxpayers. When the typical New Yorker dutifully gives Uncle Sam his hard-earned money every year, he is under the impression that his money will be used to fund government programs from which all will benefit. The reason public schools are free of charge is because the costs of running them have been paid through taxes. "Free education for all." Was that not one of the reasons immigrants flooded to America? Giuliani's program channels public money into private funds. He is indirectly endorsing private institutions with public money, and in 80 percent of the cases, these schools have religious affiliations. The last time I read the constitution, it declared a separation of church and state. In this situation, "state" would be the public schools, Giuliani, and tax-dollars. "Church" would be the private religious schools. Giuliani's plan fails to maintain this essential separation. Perhaps the mayor has forgotten that part. I mean, with all the jaywalkers that he has to keep track of, perhaps it would be unreasonable to expect him to institute a constitutional reform program. Legality aside, this Frankenstein remains riddled with flaws. Not all the poor students in New York City public schools are doing badly. That indicates something about the students who fail. I am a progeny of the New York City Public School system. From kindergarten to 12th grade my education has been a publicly funded affair. Ever since elementary school, I have seen many of my classmates flourish in the classroom while others have failed. The students of my elementary school were generally of the same economic and cultural (Italian) background, yet they varied in performance levels. I have found that some of my classmates just displayed no interest in school. Teachers and the system can only do so much. If a student does not care to learn, he or she will not learn no matter how good the education being given to him is. As to why the student is resistant to learning, that is an issue with little correlation to the quality of public schools.

Phonemic awareness Essay

Phonemic awareness has been defined as the ability to deal unequivocally and segmentally with sound units which are smaller than the syllable. Phonemes are the tiniest elements that make up the spoken language. Phonemic awareness thus is the ability that enables an individual to focus on and manipulate these phonemes in spoken language (National Reading Panel (NRP), 2010). It has been established that the term phonemic awareness became popular in 1990s when researchers were attempting to study the development of early literacy and reading disability. Having been defined as the ability of the language learner to manipulate the sounds of spoken words, phonemic awareness plays a crucial role in language development in children. This paper will explore the impacts of phonemic awareness on the child’s early development of reading and spelling skills. Phonemic skills: More often than not, the term phonemic awareness has been used interchangeably with phonological awareness. However, the two terms are very distinct considering that phonemic awareness concentrates on the phonemes which are the smallest units that make up the speech whereas phonological awareness focuses on both the small and the larger units as well including the syllables, onsets, and rhymes. A child who possesses the phonemic awareness skills will be able to segment sounds in words for instance, they are able to recognize and identify a word from the separate sounds in the word (International Reading Organization, 1998). Phonemic awareness can therefore be said to be the only aspect of reading that is highly crucial in children before they can start to learn reading. Phonemic awareness is therefore a pre-requisite for development of reading in children (Brummitt, 2007). Impacts of Phonemic Awareness: Phonemic awareness has great impacts on a child’s early development of reading and spelling skills. Phonemic skill like segmentation of words is very crucial in determining how the child will be able to master spoken language. The amount of sound information that children can handle at a time will determine the ability of the children to learn the phonological skills in language. Studies have shown that phonemically aware children are more capable of reading words in prose with minimum mistakes than those who are phonemically unaware. Children are known to learn the spelling skills in two ways which includes internalization of the orthographic patterns of written words through imitation, and by synthesizing their understanding of letters and letter clusters with how the word is said in an analogy process. Learning to spell unfamiliar words either by imitation or analogy with familiar words is usually â€Å"influenced by Knowledge of letter-sound mappings, the amount of complexity of orthographic information the kids can process, and their knowledge of word structures† (Munro, 2010, para 27). Definitely, there is a relationship between the awareness of sound segmentation in words and learning how to spell using the two techniques described above (Munro, 2010). Conclusion: Phonemic awareness is a very essential aspect of language development in children during their development stages.  Phonemic awareness can be responsible for positive development in IQ, vocabulary, listening, comprehension, and how well kids can learn to read, write, and spell. The children should also be able to express what is in their mind by the aid of phonemic awareness even when they had never seen the printed version of the word before. It is evident that by teaching the children how to manipulate the sounds in language improves their reading capabilities. In general, training in phonetic awareness positively impacts on the children’s language development in reading and spelling.

Emergence of a new nation In a multipolar world: Bangladesh Essay

Analysis of a long period (1947-1971) needed for the independence of Bangladesh is mainly depicted in this book. Analysis of why and how Bangladesh was emergent as a sovereign country in the world is also illustrated here. Number of both internal and external factor that led the liberation war of 1971 also plays a vital role in the analysis. The liberation war 1971 with its final achievements through the sacrifices has remained as a sacred and precious part in the history of Bangladesh. The nine month long a glorious war which was identified as a major land mark in the entire process of evaluation, analytical role of India, erstwhile Soviet Union, USA and China constitute the central content of the work. Internal developments stimulating the rise and consolidation of nationalism are analytically discussed. The focus however is on the international setting of Bangladesh in a relatively short time. The present revised and enlarged edition contains analysis of national and international developments since 1975,which was the cutoff point of this book when published in 1978.Three new chapters included in this enlarged edition dwell on Global, Regional and National changes and developments from 1975-2006.State building, Nation building and Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh and terrorism & national security. Read more: Essay About Liberation War of Bangladesh Chapter -1 It describes how the birth of a new state occurred in a polycentric world. The world of the nineteen seventies apparently multipolar can also be described as a ‘Pentarchy’ structure of two triangles in which five dominant power rules. The first triangle is Military, consisting of those states with dominant strength in arms, actual and potential, the United States, the Soviet Union and China. The second triangle consists of three leading powers in the world of economy and finances the United States, Western Europe and Japan. The triangles are asymmetrical and unstable for, while chinas Military power continues to rise, though slow and gradually, the economic position of the United Sates continues to decline relatively, if only proportionately, to those of Western Europe and Japan.The triangles are also complex and inter related. The Military triangle is composed of limited adversaries, whereas the economic triangle consists of limited alliances. The World System since the beginning of seventies has not only registered as marked integration of the cold war collisions but has also been featured by growing challenges to the competence and authority of nation state institutions. The challenges to the existing nation state institutions has been most strident in the so called Third world, where practically every government presides over a multi-ethnic,multi-linguistic and multi-cultural state. That Challenge was crowned with success in a spectacular fashion in the case of Bangladesh at the close of 1971 the caesarean birth of Bangladesh marked the success of the first armed separatist struggle in the post,1945 post-colonial third World. During 1953-1957 the United State was busily making collective security arrangements in an attempt to recruit ‘Allies’ for her confrontation with the communist camp. In south-east Asia the United State sponsor and encouraged the formation of SEATO (The South East Asian Treaty Organization) and CENTO (The Central Treaty Organization). The arrangement was originally viewed by the United States & Thailand as underpinning the inherently with Geneva agreement which recognized the communist-ruled North Vietnam. CENTO also began as a regional security grouping at the behest of Iraq and Britain, but the participation of those northern states of Asia sharing frontiers with the Soviet Union such as Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and the reinsurance, as it were, provided by the United Sates, made CENTO no less than SEATO, a US weapon against her Global adversary, Soviet Union. The birth of Bangladesh-the first state to be born in blood and fire in a polycentric world has been a unique case, as the following analysis shows. There is hypothesis that political factors, rather than economic, ethnic and cultural one, were catalyst of Bangladesh revolution. Chapter -2 From autonomy to secession 1. A brief history about the Muslim rules in India from the late 1200 century to 1957 is described here. Muslim separatism-British rule in India, in general ,was favorable to Hindus. In Bengal, the nineteenth century ,Bengali middle class with Calcutta as its economic, cultural and multi political Mecca, was a Hindu middle class.The Bengali muslim society, at this time, consisted of a thin aristocratic stratum, a small but gradually growing, English educated middle class and a vast, impoverished and illiterate peasantry. 2. Political history of mother tongue-from the beginning of the emergence of Pakistan that was cultural and linguistic discrimination between east and west Pakistan. The Awami Muslim League with other dissident political groups demanded the recognition of political and cultural rights of East Pakistan. When Pakistan tried to impose Urdu, a language as the only speech language of the country, the political parties of East Pakistan and several other organizations opposed these attempts through mass rallies, processions, meetings and demonstration during the period 1942-1952. A number of students lost their lives as a result of police firing on the procession. They became the first martyrs of Bengal for the cause of language, culture and autonomy. 3. Formation of united front government in 1954 and they demanded 21 points. Among other things the most important was full regional autonomy. 4. Proclaimed of martial law in 1958 – President Mirza proclaimed martial law in the country on 7th October’1958.On 27th October he himself was ousted by  General Ayub Khan, who proceeded to build a Unitarian, centralized, dictatorial system with the support and sanction of arm forces. Sheikh Mujib with his lieutenants came out openly in 1966, with their manifesto, called the 6th point program, which outlined a situation of maximum political, economic and administrative autonomy for East Bengal within a confederal Pakistan. 5. Politics under military resumes. 6. Civil world and secession from 25th March to Aug’1971. 7. Gaining of de-facto independence of Bangladesh.

Future MBA Cartoon Essay

Ambiguity: Friend or Foe Often times during our earlier years, we stumble upon ‘loopholes’ within our language. We then take these ‘loopholes’ and mend them to our advantage. These ‘loopholes’ that I am referring to are words that have many different meanings, however actions can also be grouped into this. Much like the cartoon, â€Å"Future MBA† illustrated by Mike Shapiro. In this cartoon you see two students sitting at their desks, both with paper and pencil on the desk. The teacher is standing in front of them and one can only be brought to the assumption that these children were either taking a test or doing an assignment that was meant to be finished solo. However, this cartoon depicts that these students did not follow those instructions by giving us the text, â€Å"We weren’t cheating. We were consulting.† With this text we are given that the children are looking for a way out of punishment by re-characterizing their obvious but ambiguous actions by altering what the teachers perception of it was with that of something that is not detestable, although rather questionable. Cheating is the sharing of answers or ideas that one person may have and is given to another. With the idea that there was no cheating or answer exchanging going on but rather discussing possible outcomes, or consulting in this case, these children are trying to po se the idea that they have done no wrong. This happens more often than you would think. Unfortunately, when these do occur it is not always in a less harmful situation such as a classroom setting over a test or assignment. This often happens in large business and even our government. Through the use of euphemisms you take a word that is particularly disliked and exchange it with a word that has more appeal. On the news for example when there are times of war and there are casualties. The word casualties take the place of saying â€Å"four women, seven children, and six men were killed’. It can be used in this scenario where emotions could get the better of the situation and cause an uproar. However, is this right? Has our language helped us or betrayed us by making it so easy to  cleverly deceive our minds from what is really going on? Then again, in situations it can help ease the pain of loosing a loved one, and explaining it to a child. For instance, instead of telling a child that their father was decapitated i n a car crash and is dead, we can tell the child that their father has passed away. In this case it is our ally. It is hard to determine whether something of this magnitude is beneficial or ultimately malicious. I can see both sides of this, but you cannot get rid of one without the other. They are two sides of the same coin. The only thing I can leave with you is that you cannot have the use of one without the other. However, I can tell you that you have to choose how to use this. Personally, I choose to use this for the greater good not to deceive others or try to confuse them about what is really going on. Works Cited Shapiro, Mike. â€Å"Future MBA† Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Pearson Education, Inc, 2008.

Accounting for leases Essay

Abstract This paper will provide an overview of lease accounting. It will present the history, current status, and future implications of the latest proposed standard, as jointly issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Furthermore, the paper will take into account relevant observations made by various proponents who are concerned about the standard, and conclude with a personal opinion on the standard and why it’s better than the current standard. Existing accounting standards between the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have allowed corporations to avoid reporting assets and liabilities via â€Å"operating leases.† Thus, it has become common practice for corporations to utilize these operating leases as a source of deceptive financing—by being able to materially mislead creditors and investors due to off balance sheet accounting. Lease accounting is a classic example (or phenomenon) that shows how people tend to exploit accounting standards in order to violate the â€Å"substance over form† accounting principle (where the economic reality can be distorted from the legal reality). The history of lease accounting is an interesting one. In 1976, FASB released Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 13 – Accounting for leases. Since then, the accounting standard allowed companies to report some leases as an asset and a liability (i.e. capital/finance leases), and other leases as a non-asset and non-liability (i.e. operating leases). However, since the FASB-IASB convergence project began (from the 2002 Norwalk Agreement), they have reached a general consensus with investors that in many instances, operating leases can be misleading and could cover up material amounts of credit risk of a given company. It is interesting to note that such an issue had already been acknowledged by the late 70s, shortly after FASB released SFAS 13 (Kieso, Warfield, & Weygandt, 2004, p.1119). The issue was momentarily brought up again during the early 90’s for resolution, but was sharply protested by corporate interests and subsequently dismissed (Norris, 2013). Only now, has there been serious reconsideration of the standard; and can demonstrate how long it can take for accounting standards to respond back to the needs of financial statement users. On June 16, 2005, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002, publically released â€Å"On Arrangements with Off-Balance Sheet Implications, Special Purpose Entities, and Transparency of Filings by Issuers.† This public statement proposed several important goals and recommendations, among them a proposal to improve accounting for leases. By July 2006, the FASB and IASB established a Work Plan, in order to improve the standard for lease accounting (â€Å"Work Plan for IFRS – Leases,† 2013). The project has yet to be completed. Details about its current status will be described next. On May 16, 2013, FASB-IASB has released their latest exposure draft on accounting for leases. Based on user feedback, this draft arose from earlier draft iterations that were released in March 2009 and August 2010 (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 1). If approved, the draft would supersede IFRS IAS 17 and FASB Topic 840 (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). As a result of this draft, FASB-IASB will also attempt to concurrently update revenue recognition standards accordingly, as the latest proposal intends to make sure the  accounting for revenues and expenses for both the lessor and lessee will be consistent with each other (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 1). Furthermore, there are still some minor differences that exist between the FASB and IASB drafts, among them being: revaluations, cash flow, disclosure, non-public entities, and measurement issues (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, pp. 4-5). The feedback deadline for this draft is September 13, 2013 (â₠¬Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013). As it turns out, this draft decided to take a much more prudent approach (compared to earlier proposals) towards lease accounting, allowing standards similar to SFAS 13 to remain applicable in practice for any leases that have terms of 12 months or less†¦ or if it is a â€Å"Type B† lease (which will all be further explained below) (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). In effect, this would allow lessors to continue to structure their lease terms accordingly, which allows lessees the ability to renew these short-term leases in order to continue to practice off balance sheet financing. So what’s the current proposal to account for lease terms that are more than 12 months? First, the exposure draft would require entities that enter such a leasing contract to recognize the â€Å"right of use† asset and its associated liability (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). Second, the draft requires the entities to recognize the underlying â€Å"nature† of the asset as being either: Type A (non-property) or Type B (property) (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). Third, the draft requires the lessee to assess how much economic benefit it reasonably expects to derive from the â€Å"right of use† asset (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). Furthermore, the draft has guidelines for both the lessee and the lessor. These accounting guidelines will be described next—first for the lessee, then for the lessor. For the lessee, if the lease is Type A, the lessee is required to recognize the associated Leased Asset and Lease Obligation on the Balance Sheet (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). The asset could be depreciated, and the respective portions of the Lease Obligation are to be listed under the Liability and Debt sections of the balance sheet, respectively. The asset and associated liability is to be initially measured by using the â€Å"present  value† method (where the initial account balances reflects the present value of the future amount) in order to account properly for Interest Expense payments made during the whole course of the Lease Obligation (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). The lessor is required to de-recognize the Leased Asset from the Balance Sheet. In its place, the lessor must recognize the Lease Receivable and Residual Asset (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). The assets are also initially measured using the same present value method , in order to account properly for the interest earned apart from the Lease Revenue throughout the whole term of the lease (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). If the lease is Type B, the exposure draft proposes that both the lessee and the lessor should account for the lease as an operating lease if the lessee is NOT â€Å"expected to consume more than an insignificant portion of the economic benefits embedded in the underlying asset† (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). Thus, the lessor would continue to recognize the underlying asset, while the lessee simply account for the annual lease expense (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 3). Again, this accounting treatment is the same for any leases that have terms of 12 months or less. Keep in mind however, that if the lessee were to consume a significant portion of the economic benefits under a Type B lease, the accounting treatment for both the lessee and lessor would be similar to a Type A lease (â€Å"Exposure Draft,† 2013, p. 2). In this case, the lessee would be required to recognize an asset and liability from the property lease. I believe such proposal was intended, as it allows companies to gradually adjust to the new treatment standards, whereby future amendments could someday require all short-term leases (and Type B leases) to be capitalized to better reflect the economic reality of â€Å"short-term† lessees. So, what do the proponents of the exposure draft think of the new standard and its impact on the future? As expected, there are some who agree with the draft and others who think otherwise. Dhaliwal, Lee, and Neamtiu (2011) did a quantitative and qualitative empirical study—of which evidence suggests â€Å"that lessees bear insufficient risk to treat the leasehold as an asset† (p. 193). This implies that the new proposal would not significantly increase the cost of capital for any firms that would have to start capitalizing  their operational leases. Cotton, McCarthy, and Schneider (2012) found that most firms under current lease accounting are able to combine associated obligations from their capitalized leases with other obligations (p. 118). This would not be allowed under the new proposal, thus improving transparency and quality of information to investors. Middelberg and Villiers (2013) did a similar study, of 40 JSE-listed (South Africa) companies. Interestingly, their findings within this study suggest that the cost of financing would increase for firms that would have to capitalize operating leases. Their findings suggest that companies should expect to experience the following changes to their financial ratios: Debt-to-equity to increase by 9%, Debt ratio to increase by 8%, and the Interest cover ratio to decrease by 8% (Middelberg & Villiers, 2013, p. 663). This implies that the new proposal would cause investors to see such companies as higher investment risks, thus increasing borrowing costs. Burton (2013) doesn’t believe in the new proposal, instead suggesting that the current standards be amended to address the areas that are vulnerable to exploitation. He thinks the FASB should consider revising the four criteria provided in SFAS 13 that determines if a lease should be capitalized. In particular, he encourages the FASB to change the 90% present value rule—which currently impose no such requirements for lessors to reveal the actual discount rate to the lessee. As a result, lessors are able to keep the leased asset on their books as a capital lease by using a low discount rate, while the lessee can use a higher, in-house discount rate in order to avoid the need for capitalizing the lease. Quah (2013) reasoned that the proposed changes could have a more significant effect on retailers, as they are known to have major property leases. In particular, she notes that as the liabilities increase from capitalizing such leases, it would have negative effects on debt, employee compensation, and tax balances. This could cause major implications, as retailers (department stores, discount chains, convenience stores) are key economic players in the economy. Similarly, it would effect other major industries—such as real-estate, major airlines, and shipping firms. Norris (2013) made a point that the new proposal could cause some revenue (income statement) challenges, as the present valuation methods would cause lessees to incur higher interest payments during the earlier years of the leased assets. This could especially be disappointing for early  business startups (that typically need to take out more loans) and for any firms needing to maintain a lower cost of capital (that they would have otherwise been able to receive under operational lease accounting). Taken all together, the aforementioned observations basically imply that the future impact of the new proposal on lease accounting would effect all the major players within the economy, especially the retail, real-estate, and tran sportation industries. Furthermore, there is likelihood that higher borrowing costs would result for some of these businesses, forcing them to possibly reduce employee benefits and/or compensation in order to better align their financials to changing budget forecasts. On the other hand, investors will have access to higher quality, transparent information—reducing uncertainty and risk to maintain lower interest rates. And as I mentioned earlier, the proposal still gives lessors and lessees the opportunity to restructure their lease terms for annual renewal, avoiding the need to capitalize such leases and to keep them â€Å"off the books.† But by doing so, it would imply higher legal costs for some of these lessors and lessees, and thus, act as a deterrent in support of the new standard for capitalizing leases. I feel the FASB-IASB is wise to have taken a more balanced approach for changing the requirements of lease accounting. By doing so, it allows the majority of companies to readjust their accounting policies to better reflect economic reality (instead of legal reality). Also, the more transparent and specific requirements stated in the proposal for reporting liabilities and debt in the financial statements will have a long-run, positive impact—as it ultimately helps reduce uncertainty between investors and management. I feel these benefits will outweigh the costs (including the transitional-related costs that entities would have to pay in order to update their accounting policies and methods). Besides, these new accounting costs will be reduced over time anyway, as firms become accustomed to the new standard. In summary, by forcing companies to report more honestly to investors, it induces management to better utilize their resources in order to maintain healthy margins, instead of resorting to fraudulent activities. Thus, I believe that the standard is a win-win for both internal and external parties, as it better forces them to manage their resources more responsibly, and prevents management from supporting an exploitative culture that had been taking place during the past 25+ years  with the old standard. References Burton, D. (2013, May 22). Lease-Accounting Rules: Tinker, Don’t Trash [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database. Cotton, B., McCarthy, M.G., & Schneider, D.K. (2012). A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR EXAMINING INFORMATION CONTENT OF PROPOSED LEASE ACCOUNTING RULE. Journal of Theoretical Accounting Research, Fall 2012, Vol. 8 Issue 1, 113-127. Dhaliwal, D., Lee, H.S., & Neamtiu, M. (2011, April). The Impact of Operating Leases on Firm Financial and Operating Risk. Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Vol. 26 Issue 2, 151-197. Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2013, May 16). Exposure Draft Leases (Topic 842) [PDF Document]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from http://www.fasb.org/cs/BlobServer?blobkey=id&blobnocache=true&blobwhere=1175826935767&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs Kieso, D.E., Warfield, T.D., & Weygandt, J.J. (2004). Intermediate Accounting 11e. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Middelberg, S.L., & Villiers, R.R. (2013, June). Determining The Impact Of Capitalising Long-Term Operating Leases On The Financial Ratios Of The Top 40 JSE-Listed Companies. International Business & Economics Research Journal. Jun2013, Vol. 12 Issue 6, 655-670. Norris, F. (2013, May 17). Accounting boards try again on leases; Revamped proposal for valuing assets would still be a radical change [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database. Norris, F. (2013, May 17). New Accounting Proposal on Leasing Portends Big Change [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database. Quah, M. (2013, May 18). New proposals on lease accounting under fire; Some say they are a compromise, while others feel they will raise costs for firms [News Article]. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from LexisNexis Academic database.

Analysis of the Continental Army, the Oneida People and Thomas Hutchinson

There is a clear difference between what the public thinks is necessary for unfortunate soldier and what the soldier needs to survive. The soldiers wanted to know how to use a voluntary donation to carry out a revolutionary war, so the masses wanted to know if a revolutionary war would lead to dictatorship. In 1783 George Washington demanded his officers to stop the rebellion in Newburgh. And it represents a big substitute for the mass demands for soldiers. This article contains simple information and information about the Great Army. What is the uniform of the Great Army? Definition of the Great Army: The Great Army was a regular US military founded at the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, and George Washington served as the Supreme Commander and was founded in the Boston area after the fight with Britain It was. In the battle of Lexington and the battle of Concord in 1775. Soldiers who formed the Great Army came from becoming 13 colonies of the United States. The Independence War was not at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War - each colony was dependent on a local militia composed of part-time soldiers. The outbreak of the American Revolutionary War meant that the Continental Congress needs to organize the troops of American soldiers as soon as possible to fight in the conflict with England. Thomas Hickey (interrupted on June 28, 1776) was a continent soldier of the American Revolutionary War and was the first person executed for rebellion, rebellion, and betrayal. Born in Ireland, he came to the United States as a British soldier and fought as Maj. William Johnson's private aide during the seven year war, but leaned to the other side when the revolution broke out. He became a member of Lifeguard and kept the salaries of General George Washington, its troops, and the Great Army. Greek genes were imprisoned through counterfeit currencies. He was tried and executed for rebellion and incitement and may have been involved in the assassination plan against George Washington in 1776. In April 1775, a group of settlers fought British troops in the battle between Lexington and Concord. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress decided to form a large army consisting of thirteen colonial citizens. George Washington was elected the Supreme Commander of the Army. The colony is ready to fight for his rights

Summit vs. State Supreme Court of Nevada (1985) Essay

Summit vs. State Supreme Court of Nevada (1985) - Essay Example This testimony was offered by the appellant by stating that the victim had previous knowledge of similar acts that formed a foundation for the current case. Summitt was convicted by the grand jury, and the current case is an appeal on grounds of the rape shield law under FRE 412. Issue The issue before the court in the current case is whether the rape shield law allowed the admission of prior sexual experience of the victim as evidence in the case. The court had to determine whether Summitt could introduce the prior sexual experience of his victim as a basis for his defense in the appeal of his conviction. Rule The rule in this case is defined by the Nevada Revised Statute Section 50.090.1, which limits the inquiry into the sexual history of a victim in a rape or sexual assault case. This rule reversed the common law statute of rape cases, where the morality of the victim could have led the assailant to infer consent for sexual acts. Analysis The rape shield law was designed to preve nt the introduction of irrelevant evidence in sexual assault cases, evidence that had the potential to prejudice a jury against a victim in the case. The evidence that is usually barred includes opinions or apparent previous reputations of the victim and prior sexual experience. In the case of Summitt v. The State Supreme Court of Nevada, the rape shield law was used to prevent the appellant from introducing a previous sexual assault on the victim as basis for defense. The appellant tried to claim that since the victim had been subjected to the same assault previously, the victim had prior independent knowledge of the present case. According to common law, a defendant has the right to present witnesses in a case, cross examine them and introduce any history that pertains to the case. But in the case of sexual assault, this history might have no bearing on the case and just prejudice the jury. Therefore, the rape shield law is used to shield the victim from unfair testimony. In this case, the defendant tried to prove that the prior sexual experience of the child could have been used to formulate the evidence in the current case, indicating that the rape shield law should not have been applied. In dissenting, Steffen, a judge, stated that the previous sexual experience of the victim could have been used to make up statements in the current case, and that the lesser court was wrong in excluding reference to the previous assault. Conclusion The decision in the case to reverse the prior ruling and remand the case for a new trial was based on the error by the district court in not admitting the prior sexual experience of the victim in the case. This means that the rape shield law can sometimes act unfavorably for the defendant, since the victim could have prior knowledge that might have bearing in the current case. Discussion The rule in this case impacts different rape and sexual cases. From the decision, it is seen that the rape shield law can be circumvented by a jury if it is evident that the defendant needs the prior sexual experience of the victim in his case. Question 2 Facts Martin Weil unexpectedly passed away, and on investigation, his doctors could not explain the cause of death or the cause of several medical complications that he experienced before his death. One