Free Essays on Censorship

can be found offensive to the point where they are censored or taken out of certain things such as TV shows, books and things of that nature. But why? Censorship is wrong and unconstitutional and should be discontinued as soon as possible. Many people say that things such as curses or obscene language need to be stopped. Censors, people who deem things â€Å"appropriate†, edit the content of music, TV, published writing and more to make sure that it is suitable to be viewed by people. What gives them the right to do so? In fact, by doing so, they are violating the constitution of The United States of America. The 1st amendment of the constitution clearly states, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.† The founding principles of America says that no law shall be made prohibiting the freedom of speech. This is clearly being done all of the time and needs to come to an immediate stop. The people of America should not have their constitutional rights taken away. Censorship is unnecessary for many reasons. One of those is that, cursing and obscene language are only offensive when they are made offensive by the people themselves. If cursing was never said to be a bad thing, people would not look at the same way. If the word â€Å"shit† was not deemed a bad word, it could be used with its real meaning and would not be offensive. Saying the word â€Å"shit† is the same as saying poop or feces but because Americans have made it seem so bad, it is deemed offensive, but why aren’t the other two treated the same way. What is the difference between saying â€Å"ass† and â€Å"butt†?... Free Essays on Censorship Free Essays on Censorship To some people actually sitting down and writing a letter with pen and paper seems prehistoric. Email seems to be the only way to communicate in today’s world. It is so common and easy even children are using computers to talk to friends as well as pen pals from across the globe. With so easy access and so many people using the Internet there are bound to be all types of information. As a result, there is a great deal of information that has been deemed â€Å"indecent†. Congress has attempted to censor this information with the federal â€Å"Communications Decency Act of 1996 a controversial piece of legislation signed into law by President Clinton on February 8, 1996 (www.fmew.com/archive/censor). There are many advocates to pass this law censoring the internet, claiming that there is much information that is immoral and indecent for children as well as adults to view. As with the saying that there are â€Å"two sides to every story†, and with this story there is also an opinion that the Internet should not be censored. The reasoning behind the opinion that the Internet should not be censored is because it is not Congress’s job to evaluate what is decent or immoral for what people; this is a personal individual decision. Also, censoring information on the Internet defeats the purpose for which it was created. To top it all off censoring the Internet is a violation of the First Amendment, which grants Freedom of Speech. First of all, Congress is the legislative body of the United States, which prepares and enacts our laws. No where in the job description of a congressman (congresswoman) does it say to decide what is indecent and/or immoral from one person to the next. This is a personal choice, one person may think that talking about sex on the Internet is immoral while another may consider it necessary to teach their children about sex and the precautions they may need to take in the future. Helpful information like this c... Free Essays on Censorship Do words like â€Å"shit† and â€Å"ass† offend you? Words like those offend many people everyday. These words can be found offensive to the point where they are censored or taken out of certain things such as TV shows, books and things of that nature. But why? Censorship is wrong and unconstitutional and should be discontinued as soon as possible. Many people say that things such as curses or obscene language need to be stopped. Censors, people who deem things â€Å"appropriate†, edit the content of music, TV, published writing and more to make sure that it is suitable to be viewed by people. What gives them the right to do so? In fact, by doing so, they are violating the constitution of The United States of America. The 1st amendment of the constitution clearly states, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.† The founding principles of America says that no law shall be made prohibiting the freedom of speech. This is clearly being done all of the time and needs to come to an immediate stop. The people of America should not have their constitutional rights taken away. Censorship is unnecessary for many reasons. One of those is that, cursing and obscene language are only offensive when they are made offensive by the people themselves. If cursing was never said to be a bad thing, people would not look at the same way. If the word â€Å"shit† was not deemed a bad word, it could be used with its real meaning and would not be offensive. Saying the word â€Å"shit† is the same as saying poop or feces but because Americans have made it seem so bad, it is deemed offensive, but why aren’t the other two treated the same way. What is the difference between saying â€Å"ass† and â€Å"butt†?... Free Essays on Censorship Censorship The main reason that censorship is bad because it’s hiding the truth from us. We are not eligible to know what’s really happening and we’re losing our right to know what is happening behind the little black dots that appear on posters and our television screens. The government is banning us from the real world and expect us to believe all they say is true. The further they go with censorship, the more we are losing our right to know, to express ourselves and we will all end up being controlled by whatever they say that presumes to be the TRUTH. They think that we don’t know what’s happening but the word of mouth will spread and will notify us. The more they censor stuff, the more we will wan to investigate what they have censored. It is in our human nature to discover what has been hidden. I think we should only censor materials that are bad for children’s education. We are all mature enough to read or to know what’s really going in the world and I’m sure it will help us acknowledge more things. We never know what might happen if censorship goes beyond belief and it might even cause more wars and we’ll be destroying ourselves. It is important to not to expose children to these inappropriate movies, but trying to do it by censoring them is ridiculous. It really is so that it is up to parents to do the censoring. But it is so stupid, that because movies are being censored, not even us mature audiences are allowed to see them. Censorship as an idea is an idea for a perfect world. The only problem is that we do not live in a so-called perfect world and by shutting our eyes does not make all bad things disappear. In conclusion, I think that some people had enough of censorship, it’s becoming like a law that not much people believe or obey to it. I think they should think about a better way of censorship, like the pg-listings that list what kind of audiences should watch the program being... Free Essays on Censorship Within hours of the September 11 tragedies, the music industry realized it needed to display some newfound sensitivity: Dave Matthews nixed plans to release "When the World Ends" as his next single, the Strokes removed "New York City Cops" from their recently released album, and Bush changed the title of their new single from "Speed Kills" to "The People That We Love." But the gesture that received the most attention was a rumored list of songs banned from radio, each containing literal or metaphorical references a bit too close to recent events. The list, containing more than 150 "lyrically questionable" songs, started as a grass-roots effort by local programmers, then was redistributed by a senior executive at ClearChannel, the largest owner of radio stations in the United States and owner of many Cleveland stations (including WTAM, WMMS, WMVX, WMJI and several others). Among the listed songs were "Fly," "Jet Airliner," "Head Like a Hole," "Only the Good Die Young," "Great Balls of Fire," "Crash Into Me," "It’s the End of the World as We Know It," and dozens more. When the story hit the mainstream press, most journalists got the story wrong. It was widely reported that ClearChannel overtly banned the songs to avoid consternation and controversy, which wasn’t true. ClearChannel correctly pointed out that the original e-mail didn’t order anyone to ban any songs, but was merely a call for programmers to exercise restraint. Despite ClearChannel’s intentions, many radio programmers did censor songs as a result of receiving that list, but that still isn’t the point. The real question is: what were they trying to restrain? While the list was mainly comprised of songs bearing lyrical references to burning, death and airplanes, it also advocated censure for "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens, John Lennon’s "Imagine," and all songs by Rage Against the Machine. What do these songs have to do with flying airplanes into buildings? A... Free Essays on Censorship Censorship Censorship in Music is not called for in most cases. The idea of censorship in music started in the early part of the twentieth century. Gregory Black said â€Å"When Fats Dominoes’ rendition of ‘60 minute man’ came out†¦ it left little to the imagination†¦ Later this type of music then became known as ‘race’ or ‘jungle’ music which was about racism, social injustice, hypocrisy, and other social issues that made older Americans extremely uncomfortable.† Soon after this happened the FBI spent millions of dollars investigating rock stars. They followed stars like John Lennon, Jim Morrison, and Elvis Presley then took more than two years to figure out if the Kingsman used the â€Å"F† word in â€Å"Louie, Louie.† Later a judge in Florida ruled that 2-Live Crew’s album â€Å"Nasty as they Wanna Be† was obscene and was banned for sale because they used the â€Å"F† word 226 times in the album. It was later overturned. I believe that the government goes to far sometimes in trying to censor the music of artists. The government has also made record companies start putting labels on the CD’s because there lyrics are to â€Å"obscene†. What gives someone the right to determine what words are too obscene for other people except for parents of young children. The ways the government censors artist is against the 1st amendment of the constitution which states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.†, However they have told the record companies to put a label on the cover of the records. In many more cases the government has censored musicians not just on their records but through the air waves, preventing them from being played to help sell records, due to what is known as â€Å"... Free Essays on Censorship Censorship S*@#s Censorship, so far as I see it, is like a law which prohibits swimming altogether because such a law will prevent someone from swimming in a sewer† (Brower 1). Here, in the twenty-first century, the banning of thoughts and ideas in humanities and media has become one of the most widely disputed issues facing this country. Though it is highly controversial, hazardous to literature, and unconstitutional, censorship is rampant in America. Censorship is defined as â€Å"Policy of restricting the public expression of ideas, opinions, conceptions, and impulses, which have or are believed to have the capacity to undermine the governing authority or the social and moral order which that authority considers itself bound to protect† (Abraham 357). There is said to be four different categories, which are referred to as political, religious, against obscenity, and censorship affecting academic freedom. All of these categories are equal in their destructiveness towards free speech. There are two different forms that censorship takes; prior, which refers to advance suppression and â€Å"post facto† which is suppression after it has Prasad 2 been published (Brower 5). Authorities since the beginning of the written word have used both of these forms of censorship. Throughout history, figures that don’t have the real power to censor resort to personal pressure tactics to intimidate those who have influence over, or in command of, channels of communication. The McCarthy era during the 1940’s and 1950’s is a compelling example of this. During this time there was blacklisting of controversial literary figures as well as performing artists, thus blocking their employment in certain media such as movies, radio, and television. By doing this they accomplished the task of preventing the public from seeing what they considered to be objectionable material (Dubin 27). There are many rationalizations that are used by people that ... Free Essays on Censorship No other democratic society in the world permits personal freedoms to the degree of the United States of America. The First Amendment clearly voices a great American respect toward the freedom of religion. It also prevents the government from "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Since the early history of our country, the protection of basic freedoms has been the highest priority to Americans. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a fictitious example of the evils of censorship in a world that is becoming illiterate. In this book, the government convinces the public that book reading is evil because it spreads harmful opinions and agitates people against the government. The vast majority of people accept this censorship of expression without question and are content to see and hear only the government's propaganda. Bradbury's hidden opposition to this form of censorship was apparent throughout the book and finally prevailed in the end when his main character rebelled against the practice of burning books. Freedom of speech is constantly being challenged as is evidenced in a recent court case where a Gloucester County school district censored reviews of two R-rated movies from a school newspaper. Superior Court Judge, Robert E. Francis ruled that the student's rights were violated under the state Constitution. I feel this is a major break through for students' rights because it limits editorial control of school newspapers by educators and allows students to print what they feel is important. A newly proposed bill (A-557) would prevent school officials from controlling the content of student publications. Critics of the bill feel that "student journalists may be too young to understand the responsibilities that come with free speech." This is a val...

Pause for commas - Emphasis

Pause for commas Pause for commas Compared with pondering the placement of the much less familiar semi-colon or the enigmatic apostrophe, the ubiquitous comma might seem hardly worth worrying about. Theyre ten a penny, arent they? Why not just sprinkle them at will or leave them out entirely? Unsurprisingly, we dont recommend doing either. They may seem a common or garden item of punctuation, but just like the elderly in society we can learn much from commas and should treat them with respect. So, use them: to denote a natural pause, such as if you were reading aloud Unfortunately, commas are often underrated. after a secondary clause thats been put at the beginning of a sentence Even though the comma had been left out of the speech, he paused for dramatic effect. to separate items in a list My job involves typing, proofreading, answering the phone and stocktaking commas. Im looking for a tall, dark, handsome lover of punctuation. to make it clear exactly how items are split (to avoid confusion, usually when the word and is involved in the list) The courses on offer were Introduction to colons, Intensive comma revision, Hyphens and dashes, and Figures and numbers. in pairs, for information additional to the main point (that could be lifted out to leave a sentence that still makes complete sense) The phone call, which lasted ten minutes, was mostly about Marys incorrect use of punctuation. However, the information contained by the two commas has to be non-defining (not vital to the overall gist of the sentence); if it is defining, you would use no commas at all: The phone call that was about Marys poor punctuating was full of awkward pauses. to introduce short quotes He said, Lets take a short break here. Changing sense Given the often ambiguous nature of our language, it is important to give pause to where you place your commas. Otherwise you may end up saying something other than you intended, or leaving your reader rather confused. Compare: However, you might feel the report is irrelevant [and we may take that into consideration] with However you might feel, the report is irrelevant [your opinion doesnt really matter]. Or I donated, myself, to that charity [I, like you, am a philanthropist] and I donated myself to that charity [not sure how much use theyll have for me]. Or even The Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we [thats why the Common is so tidy] and The Wombles of Wimbledon, common are we [cant move for wombles while watching the tennis]. Commas can make subtle distinctions too. Observe the nuances: Our boss, who is based in Basingstoke, will be at that business writing seminar and Our boss who is based in Basingstoke will be at that business writing seminar. In the first example, there is only one boss. He may be based in Basingstoke, but that is not vital information (it is non-defining). The main point is that hell be at the seminar. In the second example, there are presumably several bosses. But it is specifically the one lucky enough to be based in Basingstoke who will attend the seminar. Weve said it before and well say it again: punctuation matters. Particularly if you want your writing to end up meaning what you meant it to.

Assess the practical usefulness and the relevance of game theory in Essay - 1

Assess the practical usefulness and the relevance of game theory in light of the demanding assumptions behind the concept of the - Essay Example In addition, today game theory is used in a variety of behavioural relations and is extended to both human as well as non-humans. This theoretical framework first described zero-sum games where an individual’s gains are exactly equal to the net losses of other participant(s). This paper will assess the practical usefulness and the relevance of game theory in light of the demanding assumptions behind the concept of the Nash equilibrium. Game Theory The game theory is based on the fundamental concept of zero-sum games, and a game has elements such as players, actions, information, strategies, outcomes, payoffs, and equilibria. Game theory evaluates strategic interactions where the outcome of a player’s choices greatly depends on the choices of other players. Basically, for a situation to be a game, there should be at least two rational players who consider each other’s choices while framing strategies (QuickMBA). The game theory has two distinct branches namely coo perative and non cooperative game theory. Most of the cooperative games are expressed in the characteristic function whereas extensive and normal forms are used to illustrate non-cooperative games. Games are illustrated using trees (figure 1) under the extensive form and each node or vertex represents the point of choice of players participating (Fudenberg & Tirole, 1991, p. 67). Each rational player is particularly indicated by a number specified by the vertex. The participants’ possible actions are depicted by the lines projecting out of the vertex while bottom of the tree represents the payoffs (Ibid). The authors add that the extensive form can be termed as â€Å"a multi-player generalisations of a decision tree† (Ibid). (Source: Ross, 2012) Under the normal form or strategic form, a matrix representing players, strategies, and payoffs is used for illustration. A major assumption when the normal form is used to indicate a game is that each participant makes choices without actually knowing the choices or actions of others. When players’ actions are known to other participants, generally the extensive form is used to represent the game. The characteristic function form was developed by scholars like John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. The authors claim that when a union C appears, it begins to work against the fraction (N/C) as if two players were participating in a normal game. Nash Equilibrium Nash equilibrium is a complex concept associated with the game theory. As Osborne (1994, p. 9) clearly states, â€Å"Nash equilibrium is a steady state solution concept in which each player’s decision depends on knowledge of the equilibrium†. More precisely, under the Nash equilibrium, it is assumed that each player knows the equilibrium strategies of other participants and no player can gain anything by altering their own strategy. The concept of Nash equilibrium has a wide range of applications in connection with the game the ory. Game theorists widely use this solution concept to interpret the outcomes realised from several decision makers’ strategic interactions. It greatly assists analysts to predict what would happen if several players are forming decisions simultaneously and if the outcome depends on others’ decisions. Nash equilibrium is potential to analyse unpleasant situations like arms

Child Abuse Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Child Abuse - Case Study Example Also, please cite your references. The paper needs to be approximately 3 pages long. Child abuse is considered to be the mistreatment, abuse and violence towards children by a parent, close relative or guardian, which may have detrimental effects on the child's physical, emotional and psychological state(Bartholet, 2000). This paper will analyze the case study of a ten year old boy called Peter, who became the victim of child abuse. The overall goal of this paper is to understand the causes and factors associated with child abuse and neglect and its consequences in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. Research suggests that physical abuse is considered to be the abuse which involves intentional and purposeful acts of aggression and violent behavior that can damage and harm the child. Research also suggests the physical abuse takes place when adults are in the state of anger and are unable to control it. Therefore, they slap, punch, strike at the child (Briere & Bulkley, 2000). It is sad that children like Peter often become the target of physical violence. From research it is evident that unemployment, poverty, absence of father from the family, drug addiction are considered to be one of the main factors, which lead to physical child abuse. 4. Parental Causes of Child Abuse Child abuse is often associated with parents. Following are the parental causes that lead to child abuse: 1. Parents had themselves been victims of physical assault as children. There is a complete cycle of violence. Parents, who had been the victims, frequently assault and beat their children. 2. Research suggests that frequently unwanted pregnancy also leads to child abuse. A sick or disabled child also becomes the target of physical assault at the hands of the parent. 3. Parents often do not support their children, when they face problems in their academics or social life. Frequently, children are slapped and beaten as part of their disciplined training 4. Indistinct and unclear limitations, where the boundary and limitations between the child and the parent are not defined. In such cases, both roles are undefined and hence, physical violence takes place (Bartholet, 2000). 5. Physical assault also takes places, when the parent suffers from pyshcological disorder. In order to express his or her aggression, the parent resort to violence and beats his or her child in an attempt to calm down. 6. Research suggests that in some culture, children are awarded corporal punishments in order to discipline them Ecological

Ken from Whose Life Is It Anyway Persuading the Judge to Let Him Die Essay Example for Free

Ken from Whose Life Is It Anyway Persuading the Judge to Let Him Die Essay In this essay, I will be describing and analysing how Ken, from â€Å"whose life is it anyway†, used persuasive techniques to persuade the judge to let him die. Ken is trying to persuade the judge to let him die, and he persuades him with this quote â€Å"†¦and I find the hospital’s persistent effort to maintain this shadow of life an indignity and its humane. † this quote is clearly showing that he does not want to rely on other people. The word â€Å"maintain† stands for holding something like an object in your household. He does not want the hospital and the doctors to â€Å"maintain† his shadow of life because he thinks that he is â€Å"dead already†. In the quote â€Å"†¦but the dignity starts with their choice. If I chose to live, it would be appalling if society killed me. If I chose to die, its equally appalling if society keeps me alive. † This quote shows that he cares about other people not just himself. The word â€Å"society† is used because it shows that he thinks truly not only about himself. Also there is a word â€Å"choose†, this clearly shows that there is no modal verbs and it is more effective and emotive, as that word, it self, shows that he thought everything though what he actual said. I like the way Ken uses strong words like â€Å"appalling†, by saying this, he is exaggerating and by doing this, he is shocking. Ken doesn’t thing letting someone live although they’re against it is terrible, but the fact that they don’t get the choice. â€Å"The cruelty doesn’t reside on saving someone or allowing them to die. It resides in the fact that the choice is removed from the man concerned† this quote means exactly how ken feels at that moment. The choice is about to be taken from him, and that will make things even harder for him. The word â€Å"cruelty† is a very strong word. Using it, Ken, creates sympathy and it made the whole quote more persuasive and he was saying that people are cruel by taking the choice from him. Also I this quote, he is stating by using words like â€Å"is†, â€Å"fact†, â€Å"it resides†. All of these are modal verbs and show that he knows what he is talking about and is confident with what he thinks and knows. The author chose the techniques for a reason, and the reasons are that the whole fact about persuading the judge needs to be pointed out as it’s the most important bit in the story play, the judge will judge from whether to save the man or let him die as he wanted. It’s a life or death situation. Ken also uses rhetorical questions to make the judge think, â€Å"Is that surprising? † Ken said this on purpose as it is very effective persuasive technique like in the one. Rhetorical questions overall, start arguments and debates in which this story is all about. Overall I think that the judge did the right thing letting ken die. He would be suffering mentally and physically if he didn’t. This story has many different writing techniques and only very few I have analysed in this essay. I think they are very effective upon this story and the story wouldn’t make sense and so much drama if it didn’t.

Romanticism in Young Goodman Brown Essay example -- essays research pa

Romanticism and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Romanticism was a literary movement that occurred in the late eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth century which shifted the focus of literature from puritan works, to works which revolved around imagination, the beauty of nature, the individual, and the value of emotion over intellect. The ideas of the movement were quite revolutionary as earlier literature was inhibited by the need to focus on society and the rational world it effected. Romanticism allowed writers to be more creative with there stories and to explore an irrational world which before, would have been at the very least frowned upon if not outright rejected. The short story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an example of a romantic work because it showcases the individual over society, exalts emotion and intuition over reason, and keeps a strong focus on nature throughout the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A romantic work focuses on the individual and his inner struggles as well as his external conflict. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† accomplished this through the title character whose journey is followed over the course of the story. Though Young Goodman Brown meets many others on his trip, the focus never wavers from him and his internal struggle. For instance, when Goodman Brown witnesses the minister and deacon riding into the wilderness, the story immediately cuts to his reaction to them, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown caught hold...

FIN/370 Week 2 Team Essay

Starbucks’ Ethics and Compliance Paper Ethical behavior within a company is very important to its future and success. This type of behavior is not just important for the employees to follow, but for the entire company. In 2001, a failing company called Enron was involved in numerous unethical behaviors. For example, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer temporarily suspended their â€Å"code of ethics† not once, but twice in order to partake in personal financial gain. Enron’s actions eventually resulted in bankruptcy and assisted with the creation of a new set of guidelines for companies to follow. The so-called guidelines were called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. 2011). The SOX helped institute a set of rules for companies to follow, one being the creation and compliance of a code of ethics within every company. One company that seems to do a very good job with complying with the guidelines of SOX is Starbucks Corp. They have a strong program set in place to support their mission of making ethical decisions at work. The use of their program â€Å"Business Ethics and Compliance† might just be the very reason why their SEC filings show a relatively successful business. Financial Environment In regards to the finance environment, Starbucks plays an active role in ethics and compliance. Not only are their employees offered ways to voice concerns of unethical issues in the work place, but also Starbucks’ partners as well. Starbucks holds a meeting every year for their shareholders in order to review the yearly performance, vote on issues, and voice their concerns about the company. Starbucks’ ethics program is setup in a way that helps integrate and network ethical business practices on all levels of the company. For six years now, Starbucks has been named among the world’s most ethical companies and to this day is still going strong (Business Ethics and Compliance. 2012). Ethical Behavior Procedures * Starbucks vision and values business mission is to conduct themselves and strive to do what is ethically right for the business. The organization has a mission to protect its culture and help strive to keep a good reputation by providing resource programs to help its partners with making good ethical decisions. Starbucks organization has numerous procedures in place to ensure  ethical behavior in the work place. According to Starbucks (2011), â€Å"Our mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit~one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.† (para. 1). * When looking at Starbucks’ global responsibility report for 2011 on its goals and the process for the organization, it shows to be on track in several places. The report shows that to ensure ethical behaviors the company has implemented front-of-store recycling and developed an inclusive recycling solution on all paper products carried in their stores. Starbucks organization is also ensuring that their coffee is ethically sourced under the C.A.F.E at 100% by 2015 and reducing consumption of energy and water by 25% by 2015. Starbucks also ensures ethical behavior by purchasing renewable energy. Starbuck’s became a member of the Global Social Compliance Program in 2011. The program is Starbuck’s business motivation strength to promote on environmental improvement and help its working conditions of its global supply chains. The organizations goals and processes show behaviors for the company to be on track to be both ethically and environmental friendly. United States Financial Markets When operating a small business, running a large corporation, or when it comes to personal finance it is imperative to understand financial markets and how they operate within the United States. The term financial market is explained as a mechanism that allows people to easily buy and sell financial claims (Titman, Keown, & Martin, 2011) and there are many different ways to conduct these transactions within these markets. There are three principal sets of stakeholders within financial markets with the first being borrowers. Borrowers are individuals or companies that need money to better position themselves for example an individual getting a student loan or a small business getting a small business loan. Savers are the second of these three key stakeholders. Just like borrowers, savers can be either an individual or a company with the main point being that they have money to invest. Individuals who save typically save for a specific reason such as purchasing a new vehicle, a down payment on a house, or even to prepare for a difficult economy. When firms run a surplus and have extra cash they also save money and invest in things such as stocks and even other companies in a conglomerate merger. Financial institutions are the third key player  regarding financial markets. Financial institutions help bring borrowers and savers together in order to facilitate desired transactions. The most common financial institutions are banks and credit unions because while they accept deposits and credit an account for that deposit, they also provide services such as loans and that money has to come from somewhere (investors). The financial marketplace consists of commercial banks, finance companies, insurance companies, investment banks, and investment companies (Titman, Keown, & Martin, 2011). Within these entities another step is taken and can be broken down to be classified by the maturities of the securities traded in them. There are two main classifications with the first being the money market. Money markets are designed for short term debt instruments with the threshold period being one year or less. The second of these two classifications is the capitol market which is the exact opposite of the money market. Capitol markets are designed for long term debt instruments with a threshold period extending beyond one year. Complying With SEC Regulations The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a federal agency and was formed in 1934 to enforce federal securities laws and to regulate the securities industry. In order to effectively oversee and regulate the securities industry the SEC is broken down into five main divisions which are corporation finance, trading and markets, investment management, enforcement, and lastly risk, strategy, and financial innovation. The Starbucks Corporation falls into several of these categories and must implement and enforce their own set of controls and procedures within the company in order to be in compliance with the SEC. Starbucks Corporation has put in place disclosure procedures and controls in an effort to ensure that all reports that are filed and submitted are within SEC regulations. These controls and procedures were designed to â€Å"ensure that material information required to be disclosed in our periodic reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the â€Å"Exchange Act†), is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms (Starbucks, 2012). As with anything new an evaluation must occur and during the fourth quarter of the 2012 fiscal year Starbucks did exactly that with the participation and  supervision of senior management and concluded that these controls were effective and worthy of SEC regulations. Another control implemented by Starbucks is financial reporting internal controls. Financial internal controls are a very crucial element within any company due to the severity of repercussions of inaccurate reporting. Starbucks put these controls in place to â€Å"provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (Starbucks, 2012). Some of the duties that go along with these controls include maintaining records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect transactions, providing reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary for preparation of financial statements, providing reasonable assurance that receipts and expenditures are made in accordance with management authorization, and providing reasonable assurance that unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of company assets that could have a material effect on financial statements would be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Overall the Starbucks Corporation has many different controls and procedures that allow the company to comply with SEC regulations and the two examples in this paper are just a snap shot of what Starbucks must do and maintain in order to stay clear of punishment handed down by the SEC. Starbucks financial performance The financial performance for Starbucks for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 fiscal years have increased. In the 2011 year, they had the reportable operating segments which are the United States, International and Global Consumer (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept). In percentage, Starbucks total net revenue for the fiscal year were United States 69%, International 22%, Global Consumer 7% and other was 2%. The total net revenue for the 2011 year was at 11.7 billion while the 2012 year was increased by 14% to 13.3 billion. By The total revenues increased by 14% driven by global comparable store sales growth of 7% and a 50% increase in channel development revenue. The total equity for 2010 was 3,682.3 and 2011 was 4,387.3. At the end of the 2011 year, the return of equity was 29.26% and the end of the 2010 year was 28.87%. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept) Starbucks financial performance is increasing  from year to year. The following are ratios for 2010 and 2011 that shows Starbucks financial performance in 2010 and 2011. Current ratio: Current Assets/Current Liabilities 2011 3794.9million/2075.8 million = 1.83 times 2010 2756.4 million/1779.1 million = 1.55 times Debt ratio: Total Liabilities/Total Assets 2011 2973.1 million/7360.4 million = 40.4% 2010 2703.6 million/6385.9 million = 42.3% Return on equity: Net Income/Common Equity 2011 1245.7 million/4387.3 million = 29.26% 2010 945.6 million/3682.3 million = 28.87% Day’s receivable: Accounts Receivable/Annual Credit Sales/365 2011 386.5/ (11700.4/365) = 12.1 days 2010 302.7/ (10707.4/365) = 10.3 days Ratio Trends According to the trends of each financial ratio the Starbucks organization is in good health. Starting with the current ratio although it is a bit lower in 2011 the company is still doing well when it comes to current assets and liabilities. The debt ratio indicates how much assets were financed using current liabilities. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept) From 2010 to 2011 the debt ratio decreased by 1.9% which means the company financed fewer assets with the current plus long-term liabilities. The Return on Equity increased 2.7% from 2010 to 2011 which means the company received a higher return on their equity which is good for the company. The last ratio which is the Average Collection Period ratio measures how many days it takes a firm to collect its receivables. In 2011 the number of days increased slightly but with increased sales from 2010 to 2011 leads to future investments. (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Sept) According to these tren ds, it appears that Starbucks is growing strong and the organizations financial health is good. References Business Ethics and Compliance. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/business-ethics-and-compliance Starbucks. (2012). Goals & Progress: Ethical Sourcing. Retrieved

A time when I felt isolated or lonely

â€Å"Wow! A three days survival camp without a leader or teacher. Cool! Mum, can I join this camp?† I asked my mum eagerly. My mum, who was observing the book section, turned around and looked at the poster, â€Å"This?† â€Å"Yes,† I explained, â€Å"It's a three days hiking camp. I will hike with another two people from an over-sea scout team.† She examined the advertisement for a moment and said, â€Å"But there aren't any teachers following you.† â€Å"That's why I'm so keen to join this camp,† I exclaimed ardently. â€Å"This is the time when I can really use the skills I learnt in the past two months, surviving in the wild. And if I really have problems, I'm sure my amiable team mates can help me.† My mum studied the poster for a few more moments and finally said, â€Å"Well, if you're so willing to join this survival camp, I will let you.† I kept on telling my parents how happy I was like a parrot at dinner time, but my dad's facial expression stopped me from repeating. He had a small encouraging smile on his face, which looked pretty normal, however when I looked deep into his eyes, I could see that he's worried. â€Å"What's the matter, dad?† â€Å"Umm†¦nothing much. It's just that I had a dog's life the last time I had a survival camp, but I'm sure the one you joined is much better. Hope you have fun,† my dad hesitated strangely. I stared at him for a few seconds, figuring what's that statement about. Slowly and uneasily, I replied, â€Å"Course I will.† The field day was a warm sunny day that you could get plenty of wind, perfect for hiking. When I arrived to the starting point, the team leader approached to me and informed me about my team mates who are both French but speak fluent English. Around five minutes later, two teenagers were heading to this direction. They both wore the scout suits but I was more interested on their badges. From what I could see, they had at least three rock climbing prizes, which show that they are brilliant at climbing. The team leader went to them and said, â€Å"I assume you are Dominic (pointing at the taller one) and this is John (point at the fatter one),† they both nodded, â€Å"and this is your team mate Kelvin.† I put out a hand for shaking, but they just stared at me like a foreigner. The leader ignored their reaction, and continued on his speech, â€Å"Before you guys set off, I want to ask you a question, have you got your map with you? (We all nodded), good, do you know where you're going? (We all nodded), good, then I will leave and you may start now. Good luck.† During the next hour, I tried lots of ways to make friends with them but they just didn't respond and what annoyed me the most is their language. I remembered very clearly that they both spoke fluent English, but what I heard is French, pure French. They chatted to each other and laughed very often while I walked on my own. I tried to calm my anger by enjoying the view, but everytime I felt better, they laughed loudly and exclaimed a phrase in French. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I stomped to their side and asked, â€Å"Don't you guys speak English? I'm also your team mate and I don't understand one damn word you're saying. Can you please switch your channel to English and show me some team spirit?† Dominic and John gazed at me for a few seconds like I was a stranger who just interrupted their great conversation, then they went back to their talk. After another fifteen minutes, they started scowling at me, spoke a few sentences to each other, and started smirking. The smirk made me saw the handwriting on the wall but the only thing I could do was to be more careful. I kept observing them to find out what they're playing at but there's nothing wrong for an hour, so I stopped the observation and went back to luxuriate the view. All of a sudden, I heard a loud shivery scream from Dom then I descried a furry gigantic animal being thrown at me out of the blue. An animal I fear the most, spider. I quickly dodged away and screamed as loud as I could. Then, under my shriek, I could hear two people laughing; Dom and John were guffawing their head off. John said breathlessly, â€Å"Do you see how scared he is? That's the loudest scream I ever heard.† Dom nodded, went to the spider and picked it up. Was it my illusion or what? Did I just heard a language that I understand? And how came the spider didn't struggle when Dom picked it up? I thought of a second then everything just came together at once. It's true that they spoke English and I had just been tricked. The spider is fake! I looked at them disgustedly, rushing past them as quickly as I can. Their unbearable action just made me detest them more and didn't even want to look at them. For the rest of the day, I walked in front of them without saying a word or trying to revenge. I decided not to disturb them and desired they would not irritate me, but this never happened. They kept on insulting me on everything I do. I tried to sing quietly to relax, and they cried stop and emphasised what a bad voice I had. I wished to rest for a moment, and â€Å"suck† was the reply. I walked wearily until evening when they wanted to stop and started setting up the tent. The tent was quite big and needed at least three people to set it up, so even though Dom and John wanted me to do all the work, they helped. They got in first and blocked the entrance with their back-pack. â€Å"No filthy Chinks allow in this clean tent,† John yelled. I stood there, looking blankly at the tent, and then a wave of anger filled me like a tsunami. I kicked the tent fiercely and tried to turn it over, but this action didn't last long, John whirled out and grabbed me by my collar. â€Å"You're not welcome in this tent, you Chink,† John shouted and threw me to the ground. I stared up at him, terrified as he thumped back into the tent. I got up slowly, examined the environment, trying to find a place without too many rocks. After lots of effort, I found a place with little amount of rocks near to the tent, I put my mat on it and lied down. Though there's a mat, I could still feel the hardness of the floor, and the tiny sharp stones stinging my back. Small ants crawled on my right leg and bite, but I was too exhausted to scratch them. I looked at the dark blue sky, thinking about the horrible day I had just experienced, then my dad's word faded into my mind, â€Å"†¦I have a dog's life the last time I join a survival camp†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Although today was not as bad as a dog's life, it's not better. â€Å"I should listen to dad, he's always right. I wonder what he is doing now; maybe he's watching TV with mum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I thought of the cosy bed in my room that doesn't has any insects in it. I thought of my friends who respect me and never leave me alone. When I thought of my buddies, I could feel tears cascaded down my face. My friends and team mates were like angels and devils; two kind of extreme creatures. I kept on thinking of the good I had with my companions; how we laughed at each others' jokes and helped each other out, and slowly I dozed off with a smile on my face. Next morning, I walked in front of them as usual, staying quiet. Not for long, we arrived to a slope narrow rock wall. The wall is similar to every wall you can see in the wild but this one have a rope hanging from the top. â€Å"This must be the string to tie up my safety lock,† I thought as I open my back-pack and found the lock. Dom looked down his nose at me and teased, â€Å"You suck at everything. Why do we need a safety lock for a short wall?† I ignored him, and continued to find the lock. Dom and John jumped on the wall and started climbing. Five seconds later, I heard a shriek of help above me. I quickly looked up and the sight stunned me. About five metres up the mountain, John was trying to make a big leap. Unluckily, he missed for only a few inches, so he tried to clutch on something, but fail. Everything seemed to happen so quickly, he fell on the ground, hand first, then blood started dripping from his hand and knee. Dom slowly got to the floor and looked at his injury but did nothing about it. â€Å"Don't you know how to do first aid?† I questioned. They looked at each other shamefully and shook their head. I really wanted to laugh at them but I knew I should not. They didn't show me respect but that didn't mean I needed to do the same thing to them. I took out my bandage from my first aid box and wrapped it around John's injury arm. I also took out a bottle of ethanol and washed the wound with it. After first aiding, my team mates both looked at me thankfully, â€Å"Thank you†¦um†¦a†¦sorry about what happened yesterday. W†¦we don't mean it.† I put out a hand and say, â€Å"so can we be friends now?† They nodded and shook my hand. From then on, I didn't hear a single insulting word or French from them, and the rest of the journey continued to be remarkable, in a good way.

10 Facts Worth Knowing About Noah Webster

10 Facts Worth Knowing About Noah Webster Born in West Hartford, Connecticut on October 16, 1758, Noah Webster is best known today for his magnum opus, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). But as David Micklethwait reveals in Noah Webster and the American Dictionary (McFarland, 2005), lexicography wasnt Websters only great passion, and the dictionary wasnt even his best-selling book. By way of introduction, here are 10 facts worth knowing about the great American lexicographer Noah Webster. During his first career as a schoolteacher at the time of the American Revolution, Webster was concerned that most of his students textbooks came from England. So in 1783 he published his own American text, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language. The â€Å"Blue-Backed Speller,† as it was popularly known, went on to sell nearly 100 million copies over the next century.Webster subscribed to the biblical account of the origin of language, believing that all languages derived from Chaldee, an Aramaic dialect.Though he fought for a strong federal government, Webster opposed plans to include a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Liberty is never secured with such paper declarations, he wrote, nor lost for want of them.Even though he himself borrowed shamelessly from Thomas Dilworths New Guide to the English Tongue (1740) and Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of the English Language (1755), Webster fought vigorously to protect his own work from plagiarists. His efforts led to the c reation of the first federal copyright laws in 1790. In 1793 he founded one of New York Citys first daily newspapers, American Minerva, which he edited for four years.Websters Compendious Dictionary of the English Language (1806), a forerunner of An American Dictionary, sparked a war of the dictionaries with rival lexicographer Joseph Worcester. But Worcesters Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory English Dictionary didnt stand a chance. Websters work, with 5,000 words not included in British dictionaries and with definitions based on the usage of American writers, soon became the recognized authority.In 1810, he published a booklet on global warming titled â€Å"Are Our Winters Getting Warmer?†Although Webster is credited for introducing such distinctive American spellings as color, humor, and center (for British colour, humour, and centre), many of his innovative spellings (including masheen for machine and yung for young) failed to catch on. See Noah Websters Plan to Reform English Spelling.Webster was one of the principa l founders of Amherst College in Massachusetts. In 1833 he published his own edition of the Bible, updating the vocabulary of the King James Version and cleansing it of any words that he thought might be considered offensive, especially for females. In 1966, Websters restored birthplace and childhood home in West Hartford was reopened as a museum, which you can visit online at the Noah Webster House West Hartford Historical Society. After the tour, you may feel inspired to browse through the original edition of Websters American Dictionary of the English Language.

An Introduction to Akaikes Information Criterion (AIC)

An Introduction to Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) The Akaike Information Criterion (commonly referred to simply as AIC) is a criterion for selecting among nested statistical or  econometric models. The AIC is essentially an estimated measure of the quality of each of the available econometric models as they relate to one another for a certain set of data, making it an ideal method for model selection. Using AIC for Statistical and Econometric Model Selection The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was developed with a foundation in information theory. Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics concerning the quantification (the process of counting and measuring) of information. In using AIC to  attempt to measure the relative quality of econometric models for a given data set, AIC provides the researcher with an estimate of the information that would be lost if a particular model were to be employed to display the process that produced the data. As such, the AIC works to balance the trade-offs between the complexity of a given model and its goodness of fit, which is the statistical term to describe how well the model fits the data or set of observations. What AIC Will Not Do Because of what the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) can do with a set of statistical and econometric models and a given set of data, it is a useful tool in model selection. But even as a model selection tool, AIC has its limitations. For instance, AIC can only provide a relative test of model quality. That is to say that AIC does not and cannot provide a test of a model that results in information about the quality of the model in an absolute sense. So if each of the tested statistical models are equally unsatisfactory or ill-fit for the data, AIC would not provide any indication from the onset. AIC in Econometrics Terms The AIC is a number associated with each model: AICln (sm2) 2m/T Where m is the number of parameters in the model, and sm2  (in an AR(m) example) is the estimated residual variance: sm2 (sum of squared residuals for model m)/T. That is the average squared residual for model m. The criterion may be minimized over choices of m to form a trade-off between the fit of the model (which lowers the sum of squared residuals) and the models complexity, which is measured by m. Thus an AR(m) model versus an AR(m1) can be compared by this criterion for a given batch of data. An equivalent formulation is this one: AICT ln(RSS) 2K where K is the number of regressors, T the number of observations, and RSS the residual sum of squares; minimize over K to pick K. As such, provided a set of econometrics models, the preferred model in terms of relative quality will be the model with the minimum AIC value.

Cyperethics-copyrights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cyperethics-copyrights - Essay Example It is also immoral. Or is it? There is not a doubt that there are substantial harms that might come through the illegal downloading of music - for one, illegal downloading takes money out of the pocket of recording artists, and it might stifle innovation and growth in the industry. But, on the other hand, it is more morally complex and ambiguous than might be on the surface. It can be compared to white collar crime, in that there are diffuse victims, diffuse perpetrators, and it is difficult to know exactly who is being harmed by it. Also, illegally downloading music is not necessarily in violation of social norms, as so many people do it, therefore one basis for morality, social norms, is not necessarily a basis for the censure on illegal downloading. Finally, the record companies do not have clean hands, as they are known to take advantage of artists because of unequal bargaining power, such that some successful recording artists end up in bankruptcy court because the contract term s were so onerous that these artists got little out of it. Illegally downloading music might hurt the recording industry, but they hurt artists, so, in essence, illegally downloading music is giving them a taste of their own medicine. ... And, illegally downloading music has a lot in common with white collar crime, which might include extortion, false statements, fraud, tax evasion and the like. According to Green (2004), white collar crime does not necessarily have the same degree of moral unambiguity as do other crimes, such as robbery, rape and murder. The white collar crime might not be morally wrong, according to Green (2004), because the behavior that is conducted is considered to be more or less acceptable in the realm that it is performed, which means that these crimes have a certain level of moral ambiguity about them. In fact, there are ten factors which he states he associates with moral ambiguity, in the context of white collar crime. One is that there are cases which distinguish between criminality and merely aggressive behavior. For instance, some kind of alleged extortion might be considered to be hardball negotiating, and nothing more. Another is that there is morally ambiguity in inchoate offenses, wh ich means that there is liability for offenses that haven't quite been completed. There is also an issue of overcriminalization, according to Green (2004), and this, perhaps, is most pertinent to the issue of the illegal downloading of music. Overcriminalization refers to offenses that a great percentage of society does not necessarily see as wrong. Green (2004) argues that how a society views a certain offense matters – that society might think that certain things are unambiguous and worthy of censure, no matter the context – this would encompass things like stealing or rape or other kinds of crimes where people are hurt. But society, according to Green (2004) does not