.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Legalization of Marijuana is Necessary :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays
         Marijuana has been unfairly villainized and prohibited in America. Legalization offers a practical, effective, and humane approach to dealing with marijuana use. In the following pages I will point out the inconsistency and hypocrisy of America’s marijuana laws, some of the problems with our current methods for controlling illegal drug use, and some of the possible advantages of legalization. It is unclear exactly why the recreational use of marijuana became of such concern to some people in the first place, but much of the information published and testimony made to Congress on the subject in the 1930’s was simply ludicrous. A 1936 article from the American Journal of Nursing claimed that a marijuana smoker â€Å"will suddenly turn with murderous violence upon whomever is nearest to him†(Bring Drugs 13). In 1937, Harry Anslinger, then head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Drug Enforcement Agency) testified before Congress that â€Å"Marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of mankind,†and that â€Å"Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes†(Bouril 4).          Some theorize that anxiety over the decline in size and power of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics after the 1933 repeal of Alcohol Prohibition is what caused Anslinger to push so hard for the prohibition of marijuana (4). The preposterous lies told about the effects of marijuana usage by people like Anslinger has led others to believe that there was a hidden agenda behind the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 - to eliminate hemp. In 1916 the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced, in Bulletin No. 404, that one acre of hemp would produce as much pulp as four acres of trees, and that if a machine for stripping hemp were developed it would be unnecessary to cut down forest to make paper (Bock 3). Shortly before the passage of the Act, state of the art stripping and pulping machines were available and a few were in use. An article written for Popular Mechanics entitled â€Å"New Billion-Dollar Crop†discussed how this new technology would make hemp â €Å"the most profitable and desirable crop that can be grown†(Bouril 5). Unfortunately, the article was not published until February of 1938 - a day late and a dollar short. There is considerable evidence that the
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Accounting Assignment Week 5
16-1, 16-2, 16-3, 16-5 Exercise 16-1Identifying cash inflows and outflows Indicate which of the following items will result in cash inflows and which will result in cash outflows. The first one is shown as an example. Initial investment |Outflow | |Salvage values |Inflow | |Recovery of working capital |Inflow | |Incremental expenses |Outflow | |Working capital commitments |Outflow | |Costsavings |Inflow | |Incremental revenue |Inflow |Exercise 16-2Determining the present value of a lump-sum future cash receipt Stan Sweeney turned 20 years old today. His grandfather established a trust fund that will pay Mr. Sweeney $80,000 on his next birthday. However, Stan needs money today to start his college education. His father is willing to help and has agreed to give Stan the present value of the future cash inflow, assuming a 10 percent rate of return. Required A. Use a present value table to determine the amount of cash that Stan Sweeney’s father should give him.Using the Present Va lue of $1 table, The factor for 1 year at 10% rate of return is 0. 90909 The PV of $80,000 after year 1 is PV = 80,000 * PV factor PV = 80000 * 0. 90909 PV = $72,727. 20 Based of The Present Value, Stan Sweeney's father should give him $72,727. 20 B. ) Use an algebraic formula to prove that the present value of the trust fund (the amount of cash computed in Requirement a) is equal to its $80,000 future value. Investment + (0. 90909 x Investment) = $80,000 $72,727 + (0. 12 x $72,727. 20) =$80,000 $72,727 + $7,273 = $80,000 $80,000 = $80,000Exercise 16-3Determining the present value of a lump-sum future cash receipt Marsha Bittner expects to receive a $600,000 cash benefit when she retires five years from today. Ms. Bittner’s employer has offered an early retirement incentive by agreeing to pay her $360,000 today if she agrees to retire immediately. Ms. Bittner desires to earn a rate of return of 12 percent. Required A. Assuming that the retirement benefit is the only considera tion in making the retirement deci- sion, should Ms. Bittner accept her employer’s offer? Ms. Bittner should not accept the her employers offer.B. Identify the factors that cause the present value of the retirement benefit to be less than $600,000 Inflation is one factor that could affect the present value of the retirement benefit. Taxes is another factor that could affect the present value of the retirement benefit. Exercise 16-5Determining net present value Metro Shuttle Inc. is considering investing in two new vans that are expected to generate com- bined cash inflows of $28,000 per year. The vans’ combined purchase price is $91,000. The ex- pected life and salvage value of each are four years and $21,000, respectively.Metro Shuttle has an average cost of capital of 14 percent Required a. Calculate the net present value of the investment opportunity. |Present Value |FV X PRESENT VALUE |=  Present Value Equivalent          | |Pe riod 1 |28,000  X              0. 877193    |$24,561 | |Period 2 |28,000  X              0. 769468    |21,545 | |Period 3 |28,000  X              0. 74972   |18,899 | |Period 4 |28,000  X              0. 592080    |16,578 | | |TOTAL |$ 81,583 | b. Indicate whether the investment opportunity is expected to earn a return that is above or below the cost of capital and whether it should be accepted. The investment opportunity is anticipated to earn a return that is below the cost of capital. The investment should not be accepted.
Friday, August 16, 2019
Alternate Dispute Resolution Tools
The ADR processes attempt to reconcile the differences that arise between commercial corporations. The services of a third party, which are in general voluntary, are employed for this purpose. This third party promotes negotiations, assists in resolving differences and formulates agreements that are agreeable to both the disputing parties. Arbitration and mediation constitute the principal tools of ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution Overview ).There are a number of advantages of resorting to the ADR mechanism. Some of these are that the cost is much less in comparison to the judicial system.In addition, ADR brings about a rapprochement between the disputing parties, which generally improves their relations. This is due to the fact that the ADR process concentrates on the requirements of the parties, unlike a formal judicial process that focuses on the legal position of the parties. Moreover, in the mediation process, the agreement is made by the parties themselves, which ensures gre ater commitment than a court order and the agreement is comparatively more accommodative. Further, adoption of the ADR process does not preclude the right to resort to the traditional legal procedures (Alternative Dispute Resolution Overview ).In the mediation process a third party that is neutral and adequately trained helps the parties to resolve their dispute. The aim of this third party is to shift the focus from legal positions to the actual interests, which are affected of the parties. The mediation process is bereft of rules of evidence and lawyers. The atmosphere is informal and conducive to dispute resolution. In addition, this process is absolutely confidential and there are no records of the meetings, moreover any notes taken down by the mediators during the process are destroyed.Furthermore, the process is speedy and inexpensive. This process is ideal if time available with the parties is limited, because resolution, in general, is achieved within a couple of sessions (A lternative Dispute Resolution Overview ). In the world of adjudication, the arbitration rules of London Court of International Arbitration, the London Maritime Arbitrator's Association Terms, the UNCITRAL and the ICC are well known. The alternative dispute resolution or ADR process suffers from the disadvantage that its decisions cannot be made sufficiently binding from the legal perspective.Such international agreements cannot be enforced by the authorities in the absence of a court decision, which would be disproportionate to the amount involved. This promotes repudiation of contracts by unscrupulous parties, because the cost of enforcing the contract would be exorbitant (Redfern & Hunter, 1999. Pp. 3 – 4). Conservative estimates of litigation costs in the US legal system estimate them to be around a hundred billion dollars per annum, whereas others consider this amount to be more than three times this estimated amount.Some of the direct expenses that constitute this huge a mount are legal fees, awards to the jury, expenditure incurred in copying and organizing, fees to be paid to expert witnesses. There are also a number of indirect expenses like loss of reputation that corporations have to endure and loss due to management having to curtail its business activities, in order to concentrate on the litigation. This has made ADR a very attractive alternative for many corporations in the US.If the participants in the process of the ADR approach their differences in a positive and fair manner, then this process can bring about dispute resolution that improves their commercial relations. However, if such an attitude is lacking, then the ADR process can prove to be no less time consuming and expensive in comparison to the usual judicial process for resolving commercial disputes (Netzley, December, 2001). American companies that perform in other countries generally resort to arbitration, in order to settle commercial disputes, because of the uncertainty assoc iated with the legal systems extant in those countries.The best environment for arbitration to succeed transpires when there are only two parties that are absolutely clear about their legal status. Arbitration agreements are enforced in totality by the courts. However, the rules pertaining to evidence are not strictly adhered to in such proceedings (Sido, Dec2005 ). Although, arbitration and litigation are expensive processes, the former is more expeditious, involves less expenditure and has the added advantage of confidentiality. However, arbitration involves charges for filing that are ever on the increase and there is no scope for appealing against an arbitral decision.Mediation on the other hand is extremely flexible and much more attractive in comparison to the arbitration process, because in an arbitration process it not clear as to which party would emerge victorious. There are no losers in a mediation process; there are only parties who have agreed to resolve their differenc es in an amicable manner (Sido, Dec2005 ). Arbitration is akin to the traditional litigation process in many respects, whereas mediation has the advantage of being confidential and informal.Moreover, in mediation there is no compulsion to adhere to a disagreeable decision (Packer, 2004). A number of US corporations have resorted to ADR in respect of disputes, because of the prolonged and expensive procedures of the normal court and international tribunal procedures. However, in the ADR process, arbitration process is not that attractive, because it entails decisions that cannot be appealed against and in addition it is quite similar to the regular court or tribunal process.The most popular process is that of mediation, because it is more of a consultative process and the principal objective is to arrive at an agreement that takes into account, the viewpoints and interests of the parties to the dispute. Moreover, there is no compulsion to implicitly follow the decision arrived at in this process. In addition, the cost involved is also comparatively much less. References Alternative Dispute Resolution Overview . (n. d. ). Retrieved November 8, 2007, from CADR: http://www. dot. gov/ost/ogc/CADR/overview. html Netzley, M. (December, 2001).Alternative Dispute Resolution: A Business (and) Communication Strategy . Business Communication Quarterly , Vol. 64, No. 4, Pp. 83 – 89. Packer, A. J. (2004). An interview with Bill Carter. Retrieved November 8, 2007, from Oregon State Bar. Elder Law Newsletter: http://www. osbar. org/_docs/sections/elder/newsletters/elder_spring04. pdf Redfern, A. , & Hunter, M. (1999. Pp. 3 – 4). Law and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration . London: 3rd ed, Sweet & Maxwell. Sido, K. (Dec2005 ). Avoiding the Courtroom Through Mediation or Arbitration . Consulting-Specifying Engineer , Vol. 38, Iss. 6, Pp. 65-66.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Listening To Music And Composing Essay
Listening to music and composing my own digital music is my favorite extra-curricular activity. Music makes me feel refreshed and even after a hectic day at work, five minutes of good music helps me relax my nerves instantly. The routine lifestyle rarely leaves much time for my extra-curricular activity. However, I always make sure to maintain a rich music library on my laptop as well as handheld devices so that I can listen to it whenever I feel. Moreover, I am also into composing music. I am a vocalist, I play the piano and I have a digital mixing console also. My room is a mini studio where I can record my own music. Composing new music or mixing up tracks requires utmost creativity and imagination. In a month, I make sure to publish three mixes after recording and digital reworking. When music is your extracurricular activity, the best part about it is that you can enjoy it indoors. Whatever the weather and climate outside, you can always be comfortable and enjoy it in your room. If you have a dolby surround system in your home, it would serve as the best way to listen to music. Playing a musical instrument is a bliss in itself. Whenever I play the piano, I feel connected to the nature and its energies. That is when your creativity blossoms and you can use your imagination to the fullest in composing new tunes. The best way to enjoy music is to relax on a couch or the bed with the earphones plugged in your ears and listening to it with closed eyes. You can then feel each instrument as it plays. Some people prefer loud music, but it isn’t always enjoyable. Dance music is ok when it comes to parties but it cannot be enjoyed always and when one is seeking relaxation.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Conserve and Preserve Essay
With today’s growing population, resource consumption is becoming a huge concern. It is important that humans realize what is best for both our present and future generation, and what is best for our planet. We must preserve certain areas from being destroyed to keep their natural beauty. We should also conserve resources, so they can continue to flourish, but also so we can continue to live our lives without depleting these resources. Every individual unit of the environment works together to maintain a balance that supports the cycle of life. Humans must co-exist in a positive way with these units. We should live in a way that does not exploit any part of nature. We should not only respect and sustain the environment for our own benefit and for future generations, but also because nature itself is good on its own. When looking at preservation and conservation, there is not one that is better the other. Like many other rules and sets of standards, there are exceptions. Preservation is the action of protecting a certain thing or area completely. Conservation is a form of preservation, where we can use a particular resource or portion of land, in this case, but it is used sparingly and sustainably. There are certain situations where preserving something is beneficial. Then there are other situations where conserving something would be better for a larger number of living things. It would be ideal to say that we should strive to preserve nature in all scenarios but that is not a practical approach because there are certain needs that we as human beings have to fulfill that we can only get from nature. Certain medicines that keep people alive can be found in nature. If for instance a plant has the ability to save someone’s life, then it would be acceptable to cut that plant down to help heal the patient. There are some exceptions to this of course. It would be wrong to cut down the plant if it was unable to be replaced. The plant should be plentiful and able to thrive as a species before we use it to help our own species. For the most part, humans are put on a higher scale than some other species. This is not to say that we should disregard those species or over-use them, but if it came down to a life or death situation for a person, using the plant would be ethical. There are other scenarios in which preservation would be a better approach. An example of this is mountaintop removal. It does not seem ethical to be destroying such a beautiful object that forms naturally just so that we can have access to coal seams. The coal extracted from the mountain is only beneficial for a certain amount of time but the negative consequences from the whole process will be felt a lot longer (Copeland). Even though the mountain itself since it is not a living, breathing organism, it is important to respect the natural beauty of the mountain. The animals and plants that may reside on the mountain are also affected by this, and that should be taken into consideration. Another example of a time when it is best to preserve is in the case of an endangered organism. Say for instance that a certain tree is being cut down at an alarming rate to make paper. The tree will cease to exist if we continue at the rate that we are going. Then we should stop all chopping down of that particular tree. We should preserve it and allow it to continue to live, not just so that in the future we still have that tree around to produce more paper, but because it is a living thing that has value on its own. Our population is growing, and we have to figure out the best way to use our resources. Garrett Hardin also recognizes this as a problem in his essay â€Å"Lifeboat Ethics†, but takes the stance that if we help the poor people; we are hurting them in the long run. He believes that the biggest factor for overpopulation is the fact that poor countries multiply and increase their population at a much faster rate than countries that are predominately rich. Because of this, the problems associated with too many people in one area will continue to grow larger. This is because rich countries have the resources to support their people more so than the poorer countries that cannot even begin to help their people (Hardin). Getting food is a major concern of many people who think that overpopulation is becoming a problem. Hardin also recognizes this as a problem, but takes the stance that if we help the poor people; we are hurting them in the long run. Conservation becomes important when taking the population into consideration. Overpopulation will have a large impact on the environment because there will obviously be more of a need for basic elements such as water, food, and shelter. With more people demanding food, more livestock will need to be bred; more fruits and vegetables will need to be grown. With more people demanding shelter, more land will need to be plowed in order to build houses. With more people on the earth demanding water, more freshwater sources will be dried up. Not only are the necessities factored into the problem but with more people, all the luxuries and small things will add up also. There will be a higher demand of medicines, paper, and other goods that we can get from nature. The increase of human life will create a huge blow for the environment. It is important that we prevent our world from becoming a commons open to everyone, where people use their resources foolishly and greedily. Since people are part of the whole equation that makes up the environment, we should care and respect others. However, in feeding the poor, they do not realize their problems and continue to reproduce, thus putting them and the country in a deeper hole. This too has an effect on the environment because in the search for food, people do things that do not support a sustainable cycle. An example of this is the fact that since there are more people and getting meat to them is a long process, factory farms have taken the place of actual farms. Animals are now bred to grow faster and jacked up with hormones in an attempt to get them to the slaughterhouse faster so that the demands of consumers can be met. Also in order to keep up with more people, that means that there must be more animals to begin with. Livestock are crowded into small cages where they are unable to turn around, they are not able to live with their young, they pick up diseases and many other problems arise from this. This affects the life of the livestock obviously, but also affects the life of the consumer who then eats the meat. It is understandable that individuals want to eat meat because they say it tastes good, it is high in protein, and it’s convenient as well. However, the way that humans do it is immoral and wrong. We do not give the animals any chance of survival or even a chance at life to begin with. It would be more justifiable for people to go out and hunt their meat like people used to do. Then the animals would be able to live a normal life up until they were killed. This would also cut down on the air pollution that comes from factory farms, reduce the amount of water that is needed to produce meat, reduce the amount of crop space that is needed to feed the livestock, and reduce the amount of drugs that the consumer also eats after the animals are fed them. This brings the argument back around to the fact that the population is growing and that there are starving people all around the world. If reduced their consumption meat, then there would not be as big of a need for livestock. Thus the crops that are grown to feed the cows could be fed to the people who need it. We could also stop cutting down trees and destroying forests that is normally needed in order to make room for all that food that needs to be produced. Around the world 756 million tons of grain is fed to livestock and almost half of the 225 million tons of soy that is produced yearly also goes to feed the animals that we eat (USDA). These crops could be used to feed people in starving countries. It could affect the lives of people right here in America. Our population is growing very quickly and resources are becoming scarcer every day. We should want to preserve and conserve the natural world around us. Whether a person believes that another living thing has rights or not, they should still treat it with respect and care. One person or a small group of people should not make the ultimate decisions on what is considered worthy of life or unworthy. If people took the time to consider the feelings and consideration of the living things in nature, the world would be a better place not just for us now, but for future generations.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Gun control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Gun control - Essay Example It is easy to deem this as a trigger happy syndrome but the fact remains to be very volatile and fearful. The statistics that have been formulated in regard to continuations of violence and the sources of the violent behavior have become staggering. In November 1998 a Japanese student new in California was shot dead when he tried to find a specific address from a middle aged resident at the middle of the night due to miscommunication and language problem. (King, 317) Such examples are abundant and this is the reason it is necessary to look into the matter of gun control policy. Furthermore, experts amidst researchers and policymakers should managed considerable thought toward understanding how short and long term influences of abuse, including drugs, alcohol, and other substance abuse along with mental health stress. The understanding of immediate affects abuse would have, how it relates to voluntary behaviors. The main objective of the research would to develop a form of argumentative system that would be instrumental in helping out the policymakers and enable them to lead a normal logical conclusion on the subject of gun control policy and life within the main stream of the society. (Lamb, 37) 2. 2. For this purpose it is needed to formulate a policy or practice that would enable the government to determine a policy to put restriction on the guns. It s important to include population from different walks of life and interview them for their views on the subject opposing the policy unrestricted access to firearms. The formulation of this research would be based on the surveys taken on the various government officials, general population and adolescents whereby it would be ascertained about the amount of agreement on the topic of gun control in the United States. Alongside a large amount of data would be collected to determine the detrimental affects of free ownership of guns in the mass population without government restrictions. This would also be accompanied by data regarding firearms related crimes in the United States and United Kingdoms. United Kingdoms would be taken into consideration to evaluate the effects of government regulation of firearms and the firearms rela ted crime rates of the two nations would be compared. A memorandum prepared in this process would be a vital part of the proposal to eradicate the policy unrestricted access to firearms.It is believed that the adolescents suffering from victimization goes through a huge psychological defoliation therefore it is important to address this case and the ultimate affect when some of them get free access to firearms. The government officials would be taken into consideration, specifically security and law enforcement officials, because these are the section that could convey the actual result of free access to firearms. Lastly, the general population would be considered because they are the main sufferers and it is important to incorporate their individual and social views. The main memorandum backed by the amount of research would certainly prove to be helpful while influencing the policymakers of the US authority. It is obvious that the policy of presenting well researched memorandum is viable to expose risk of unrestricted acce
Monday, August 12, 2019
Apple inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Apple inc - Essay Example res and distribute personal computers, cell phones, portable music digital players, software, computer peripherals, related services etc either through third party sellers or its own retail shops. In early 1990s, Apple Inc dominated the market for personal computer with Apple II and gained wider popularity and achieved strong brand reputation with the development of Macintosh. Apple inc employs more than 34,000 employees throughout its manufacturing plants, own retail stores, offices worldwide and offers wide ranges of technology products and services such as iPods, iPhone, 3G iPhone, iTune, iMusic, iTune, iLife etc. Apple Inc, especially among its major competitors such as Acer, Fujitsu, Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Nokia, Motorola Corp, etc, remains to possess higher competitive advantages since it thrives largely on innovation and has proved greater success with product differentiation in its concerned markets. It operates through more than 350 Apple’s stores worldwide and all of these stores are renowned for its very successful and unique marketing strategy of ‘Own-store retailing’. Apple’s stores continue to add advantages to company’s customer loyalty since these stores attract millions of customers to it as they are provided with customer services, technology-assistance, troubleshooting, fun, gaming, kids’ corner etc. In the first quarter of 2011, Apple reported a 23 percent increase in its total sales exhibiting the total revenues to be $26.74 billion and $ 3.38 billion as the net profit for the same quarter. Most companies become highly admired among its public due to the values that its customers perceive it to be of the highest quality and uniqueness. When it comes to Apple, the company always thrives on innovation, technology and product differentiation. The way Apple designed its products, they style it named them, the way they marketed as well attracted customers and created a positive marketing zeal among their minds. When hundreds of cell
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)