The Limitless Effects of Immigration in the United States

The effects that immigration has on the United States are limitless. There have been endless debates over these effects since as early as the colonial times. The economic, fiscal and demographic effects are three major topics that tend to rule these debates. Based on both positive and negative effects immigration has on the economical, fiscal, and demographic sides of the United States, one can conclude that immigration is good, but should be limited. The effect of immigration on the economy is a major topic discussed among much of the nation. It is said to have both positive and negative effects that cancel each other out. Many agree that immigration brings a gain to the economy. James Smith gives an explanation of how the immigrants increase the economy, yet still may have negative effects for some people: At the most basic level, immigrants increase the supply of labor and help produce new goods and services. But since they are paid less than the total value of these new goods and services, domestic workers as a group must gain. On the production side, immigration allows domestic workers to be used more productively, specializing in producing goods at which they are relatively more efficient. Specialization in consumption also yields gain. Even when the economy as a whole gains, however, there may be losers as well as gainers among different groups of United States residents. (4) Some argue that while immigrants help the growth of the United States economy, the effect is very small. According to David Lagesse, a recent study says â€Å"immigrants contribute as much as $10 billion in economic growth each year, largely because they help keep prices lower. But the effect is small on a United States economy that produces nearly $8 trillion† (1). It has also been argued that the poverty rate of the United States has been negatively effected by immigration. Peter Brimelow agrees, saying, â€Å"because many immigrants are relatively unskilled, their poverty rate is significantly higher at 18 percent, compared to the 12. 1 percent poverty rate for the native-born† (11). Immigrant workers also play a role in the economy. There has been a debate within the last few years involving the computer industry and immigrants. Many companies feel that there are not enough skilled people in the United States to fill the demand for computer programmers. They also argue that these companies do not give Americans the chance to work in these positions, and are unwilling to retrain older programmers. They want only people trained with the latest computer skills, and look to foreigners to fill these demands. Roy Beck explains that â€Å"industry officials counter that American programmers often don†t have the specific skill needed for a new task and that companies like to be able to scout the whole world for somebody who can step right in and do the job† (141). Beck also argues that for other businesses, â€Å"the preference for foreign workers is no accident; they are looking for people who will work for less money and put up with worse working conditions† (142). Only in areas with high concentrations of low-skilled, low-paid immigrants are state and local taxpayers paying more on average to support the publicly funded services that these immigrants use† (Lagesse). While the immigration of workers does have its downside, it mainly has a positive effect: The benefits of immigration however are manifold. Immigrants are highly entrepreneurial. Their rate of business start-ups and self employment tend to be higher than that of United States born citizens. Immigrants contribute to the global competitiveness of US corporations, particularly in high technology industries. Perhaps the most important benefit is that immigrants come to the United States with critically needed talents, energies that serve as an engine for economic progress (Kposowa 78). The benefits and downfalls of the immigration workers both play a big part in today†s debate over immigration. It is clear that each side of the debate has both good and bad points. A second aspect of immigration that has been debated is the fiscal effect of immigration on the United States. The fiscal effects of immigration vary widely, causing it to be another no-win debate. According to Smith, the difference between taxes from households of immigrants, and the cost of government services for that household help measure the fiscal results of immigration (8). The fiscal impact is different at each level. Normally, the fiscal impact is positive at the federal level, and negative at the state level. Because the negative state impacts are concentrated in the few states that receive the majority of immigrants, some states experience fiscal burdens from immigrants (Smith 12). The age of the children of immigrants plays a role in the fiscal impacts of immigrant households. Households headed by immigrants include the native-born school-age children of immigrants, who incur high costs of public education, but do not include the native-born children of immigrants, who have a positive fiscal impact. For this reason, current fiscal impacts estimated for immigrant-headed households are biased towards negative numbers† (Smith 352). â€Å"The long-term fiscal contributions that immigrants make, however, will vary depending on such factors as education and age of arrival to the United States. Immigrants with higher levels of education will pay more taxes in the long term because they have higher incomes. But immigrants who don't have high school educations and those who are age 50 or older on arrival may receive more benefits than they pay in taxes† (Lagesse). The fiscal impacts of immigration are obviously very dependent on several different factors, and hard to classify as either good or bad. The Demographics of the United States is a third point commonly discussed in the debate over immigration. With the continuation of immigration to the United States comes higher populations and changing of the percentage of different races within each city. This major change has caused major controversy within these cities. Immigrants are starting to settle in more and more states than before, and taking some towns by surprise. Some greet them with open arms, and welcome a new culture into their area. Others feel invaded and fight the sudden increase in population and race differences within their area. The sudden change in population within these cities has formed a need for bilingual teachers, policemen, and general servicemen (Bustos 1). While some see this as a threat, it can also be viewed as a positive step towards bringing down the boundaries between culture, race, and countries. One can see that limited immigration is good based on the good and bad results immigration has on the economical, fiscal, and demographic positions of the United States. The positive and negative effects that immigration in general and workers have on the economy cancel each other out. Many factors influence the United States† fiscal situation, including age, causing the federal fiscal level to generally be positive, while the state level is normally negative. The fact that so many factors influence the fiscal situation proves that one can never determine whether immigration has a good or bad effect on the United States. The increase in population caused by immigration is also causing both good and bad problems in the United States, causing some people to feel threatened, while others feel a sense of togetherness. Without immigration the United States would not be what it is today. Almost everything in life has both good and bad qualities, but with a little regulation and control they can turn out to be positive. Immigration is one of those instances in life where with a little regulation immigration can be a great push towards a better future.

A Master of Business Administration Degree Will Help to Start a New Career

The reason that earning a Master of Business Administration degree will help me to begin a new career is that it will reinforce formal education with my existing work experience thereby increasing my marketability and success potential. The degree will demonstrate my dedication to increasing my business knowledge and skills. The MBA degree is an important step to enhancing my credentials so that I can become a better job candidate. It will also help me develop and sharpen managerial skills to allow me to become an effective manager. I plan to use my MBA to move into a career in human resources management. With today’s job market my MBA will also provide job security because human resources management is a fast-growing career field with many opportunities stemming from its various aspects (MBA Career Opportunities: Career after MBA-Career Path, 2009). The benefits of earning an MBA outweigh the costs. The average cost of an MBA degree is $40,000. 00 to $60,000. 00 (MBA Programs); whereas the median offer for a MBA graduate in 2010 is $110,000. 00. This strongly shows how the hard work to obtain an MBA will reap rewards. I am personally very motivated because I want to exit the front line customer service level. I personally know of other individuals who are pursuing or already have their MBA, which leads me to believe that this degree is one of the most sought after and valued degrees. The Jungian Personality Assessment says that I am sociable, fun-loving, spontaneous, and very generous. It states that possible careers are an events coordinator, musician, ER nurse, fund raiser, or comedian. This assessment describes me very well in correlation to pursuing my MBA and focusing on human resources because I enjoy dealing with a variety of individuals daily. I have a very good memory, am also detail-oriented and very organized. Multi-tasking and working responsively breaks up the monotony of the day and this is very much appreciated in an office environment where assignments can become tedious. Taking charge of assignments and completing them gives me a sense of achievement. Remaining level headed in complicated situations takes skill and patience that I embody. I believe that I can make others feel relaxed in my presence because of my demeanor. I am practical and active, are realistic and self-confident. Action and initiative are two hallmarks of my work ethic. The observations in the Jungian Personality Assessment therefore relate closely to skills I possess that are necessary to be successful in the human resources management field such as organization, multi-tasking, discretion, business ethics, team orientation and dual focus (Schleifer, 2006). An MBA Program offers a range of benefits for the successful applicant, including: Business knowledge regarding business strategies and concepts and the use of that information in practical life and day-to-day business operations. The program will help me to develop better written and verbal communication skills. It will help me develop and enhance my leadership abilities because the MBA degree involves rigorous training, assignments, reports, presentations, and group projects, all of which provide the necessary abilities to handle real-life business situations. Networking with my classmates will create an association during the program that will allow me to have access to resources and be able to draw upon them in the future if necessary (United Network of Help with Masters of Business Administration). In closing I strongly believe that receiving my MBA will be a crucial component in creating a new career.

Shamel and Calcium

Part per million Total Dissolved Solid Membrane area Pressure in the feed, retentate and permeate streams 1. Introduction The concepts of â€Å"osmosis† and â€Å"reverse osmosis† have been known for many years. Studies on osmosis were carried out as early as 1748 by the French scientist Nollet. Many researches reported on reverse osmosis system and desalination of seawater, Most of them using hollow fiber or spiral wound membrane in their research [1].Effects of different operating parameters (feed water concentration, temperature, pressure and flow rate) on membrane performance were examined using RO system [2]. Sensitivity of different design parameters (internal diameter, total number of tubes) on the recovery ratio was also studied [3]. Besides predicting the performance of RO membrane, several models for mass transport in membrane have been developed such as solution-diffusion model, models from irreversible thermodynamics, etc. [4 and 5].Simulation and optimizati on of various RO membrane, study on concentration polarization in RO system and many case study on existing plant was reported. Although many studies were conducted on reverse osmosis membrane, tubular membrane was rarely investigated. This study is aimed at investigating the tubular RO module. The performance of this membrane on different operating parameters has been examined and the best operating condition of RO system with the best permeate quality were utilised to produce drinking water from seawater. 2. Chemicals and Methods The feed stock for reverse osmosis system is the seawater.

Server consolidation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Server consolidation - Essay Example At one hand this has increased the competition among various financial institutions and on the other hand it has also elevated the quality of service that a customer expects from the banking sector. This has led to many private and public sector banks going in for an increased focus towards IT deployment. Headquartered in New Delhi, the Alpha bank has more than 500 employees who focus on fund raising, credit lending, international operations, bank cards and intermediary business. As more foreign and local banks emerge to challenge its role in these fields, Alpha must strengthen its competitive advantages and find new ways to please its growing list of customers in the region. In order to do so, alpha decided to revamp its information technology (IT) infrastructure to support an ambitious program of new development. The company’s overall plan was to consolidate its core banking system, implement automatic deposits and withdrawals nationwide, and provide expanded banking service s to its customers through the deployment of new e-business applications. One of the first such applications was an e-banking system providing easy-to-use, 24x7 financial services to its customers via the Internet. This, along with other new e-business initiatives that would follow, needed the support of a highly reliable, available and scalable infrastructure. Alpha’s new revamped e-banking system--supported by a powerful server deployment and Linux platform deployed with the help of Company Alpha--enabled the company to extend traditional services to its customers in a new way.

The Palliative Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The Palliative Care - Essay Example Palliative care may be achieved by offering psychological, physical, and spiritual relief for the patient. In the United Kingdom, palliative care services are not only applied to the end of life patients but are also increasingly widely used in the management of incurable diseases alongside other medical procedures such as diagnosis and treatment. This is particularly attributed to the growing empirical evidence suggesting that the cost –efficacy of palliative care significantly outweighs attempts at disease cure, with regard to quality of life for both the patient and the family. The provision of palliative care is often affected by a number of external influences such as pathways, government policies and agendas and hospice availability as well as internal influences some of which may include psychological and physical aspects of the patients or their families. Other internal factors may also include the knowledge of the caregivers regarding the principles and practices of palliative care, attitudes of the caregiver on life and death and support from relatives and family members. This paper is based on a case study of Mrs. Janet, an end of life cancer patient who was admitted in a hospital in the United Kingdom 28 years after her initial diagnosis of cervical cancer (see Appendix A). The case study analysis attempts to highlight some of the potential external influences that may have directly influenced her end-of-life care, as well as the strategies applied by concerned practitioners in facilitating the delivery of palliative care services of the required quality. In addition, the present case analysis also seeks to critically evaluate the variable factors, including the social, physical, and psychological factors, together with their respective impacts on the experience of the client in relation to the provided palliative care. There exist a diverse number of factors that influence the end-of-life palliative care provided to patients with life-limiting health conditions. In the case study, Mrs. Janet’s end of life care is likely to be directly influenced by external factors such as such as cultural factors, care pathways, government policies and agendas and hospice availability.

Global Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Strategy - Essay Example These are ownership, location and internalization. Ownership is analogous to Porter's competitive advantages and is concerned with ownership of "such things as proprietary technology, superior marketing skills, economies of scale in production, superior management skills, and other firm-specific capabilities". Location is ability of a company to use location advantages in reducing manufacturing costs. Finally internalisation deals with whether activities are performed in the company or outside the company. This case study done by Liu, H. and Li, K. (2002) discusses Haier, a leading Chinese company specialising in home electronics. This company in its short time has grown from a small enterprise employing 600 people to its present status as a leading multinational enterprise (MNE) which is in the Fortune 500. Haier's path to internationalisation has been unique and highly effective. According to Liu, H. and Li, K. (2002) the analysis of its internationalisation strategy can be viewed in terms of the environment - strategy - performance framework. The environment being classified into two classes of positive factors collectively referred to as the impetus and the negative factors collectively referred to as constraints. The end of the cold war which came as a result of collapse of communism in Europe created an international environment with reduced polarisation. At the same time China was liberalising and opening its market in the 1990s. China has had the longest sustained economic growth since the 1980s. The annual average growth rate has been more than 8% for more than 20 years. Haier's history of growth started in 1984 with the appointment of current CEO Zhang Rulmin. At that time China's economy was drastically changing. Competition among the domestic producers of home appliances was hotting up. Liberalisation of the economy brought foreign players to compete in an already saturating market. The admittance of China into the World trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 opened the floodgates. Many companies from developed countries were rushing to enter the Chinese market. Not willing to compete using a price war Haier was forced to look outside China for further growth in its business. The external constraints on Haier in its internationalisation strategy were lack of financial resources. The company was under-equipped and under-financed. For the company to expand it had to develop innovative strategies for financing its overseas expansion. The Government was supportive of Haier and allowed them to form a bank and use it as a vehicle of financing its own expansion abroad. The Japanese firms which internationalised followed two generic paths as shown in the diagram below. Figure 1 Internationalization paths for Japanese Companies, Liu, H. and Li, K. (2002) The Type I path was popular as it allowed the company to use the ventures in developing countries to acquire skills for international operation. These skills are used to enter developed countries. This strategy also favors a low cost strategy where the lower costs of manufacturing in developing countries are used to service the market in developed countries. The Type II strategy which starts with entrance into developed markets and then expansion into

The different directions in Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The different directions in Judaism - Essay Example Most people translate the Halakha as a Jewish law, however, in the real sense, it means the path. That is the manner in which people ought to live. On this basis, most Jews who lived in the diaspora used the Halakha as a source of their religious and civil laws. In the contemporary and modern Jewish society, the personal and the family laws are always under the authority of the rabbi courts. On this basis, the family and personal values are always under the guidance of the Halakha. In interpreting the Halakha, there are three main Jewish directions, namely the Orthodox, the liberal, and the Hasidism directions. The Orthodox Jews believe in the Halakha as a religious system (Landesmann and Jones, 2012). They believe that the Halakha is a revelation of the will of God. Orthodox Jews believe that the Rabbis have a duty of interpreting the written Torah, where its provisions are not clear. However, they must only to do so with the regulations specified by Moses, at the mountain of Sinai. These regulations under consideration were transmitted orally, and they are clearly explained in the book of Talmud. Orthodox Jews believe that no rabbi has an authority to change the Jewish laws contained in the Talmud and the Torah, all they can do is to give an interpretation of these laws. However, their interpretations are subject to change, and reconsideration. According to the Orthodox Judaism, the role of a woman is dynamic and complex. Women under the Orthodox Judaism are allowed to engage in business, to observe the Sabbath, to engage in activities aimed for their personal development, and this includes academics, etc. The role of Jewish Orthodox women revolve around the mentioned areas. However, the Halakha does not identify the specific duties and roles of women amongst the Orthodox Jews; however, the orthodox Jews believe that the Halakha only provides guidance on how women should live. The orthodox Jews believe in the role of a

The Money Game Book Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Money Game Book Report - Essay Example I began considering to have a â€Å"budget† and decided to put off some planned but unnecessary purchases. I just opened a savings account with a passbook dedicated for future investment. The course affected me and I would like to answer the questions below with how I understood the subject except on some occasions that it will be best for understanding to lift something from the book. I believe it will best serve the purpose of this course to use my own words as much as possible and also for my better understanding, to conceptualize my answers as I understood it. B. Questions for Book Report 1. Why is the book called â€Å"The Money Game?† The book is called â€Å"The Money Game† because it teaches us to understand the dynamics of how to secure our future from a pragmatist perspective. When I said, pragmatist, it tackles the subject not merely from academic point view, but on its real life application. Moreso, when it also presented the perspective of the both s ides of the coin, the Wall Street view and the Main Street with the author being partial on us the consumers on how we could avoid the financial pitfalls and better secure our future by giving us a hindsight about the other side of the fence. The author has no pretension about the reality on how we should go about in handling our finances, especially in dealing with financial institutions inorder to be financially secured. In fact, a game plan was introduced called Big Dog Playbook II which details the play on we can better our financial position and get rid of debts. 2. Why do many Americans die before they ever have a chance to live? Many Americans die before they ever have a chance to live because they work all their lives and never had the chance to enjoy it. This is because of wrong mindset and priorities and being unprepared for the financial uncertainties and old age. During the most productive part of their lives, they worked so hard to acquire the â€Å"bling-blings† or facade of success and thus raising the standard of their lives but not the actual quality of their lives. They are so mired with work that they did not notice how good the â€Å"rose smell†. As they acquire, they fall to the trap of indulgence, living for today (and more often than not, beyond their means) and not preparing for tomorrow. Such that when financial uncertainty and/or retirement come upon them, many of them are caught unprepared and had to continue working despite retirement age. 3. Who are the three main characters in the book and what impact do they have on your finances? The Invisible Man- The Invisible Man represents the unaccounted expenses that we don’t usually notice because they are just small. But when they are totally accounted for, we will be surprise to learn how much they add up so quickly. The real danger about the Invisible Man is that we do not know that he is already taking toll on our resources. The Money Monster – The Money Mo nster represents our tendency to consume; our endless wants that could never be satisfied. This Money Monster is insatiable and will continue to eat our resources no matter how we much feed it. If we do not tame or put the Money on a diet, we will always be on spending binge without any savings with a mounting debt to surmount. The Precreditor- â€Å"The Precreditor has a growing appetite for our money and will influence law to keep the gravy train going. His hunger has manifested into hundreds of billions of dollars in opportunity cost for consumers

Food security issues in Brazil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Food security issues in Brazil - Essay Example Research proves Brazil to be a major agricultural and industrial country, factors that have made the country rank highest in Latin America with regard to economic growth. Despite the continuous improvement, there is a widespread poverty and evident financial inequalities with many concentrations of poverty in the rural areas. This has led to increased food insecurity. According to the World Health Organization website, The World Food Summit of 1996 sought to define food security, noting that it exists â€Å"when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life†. Brazil, like most of the developing countries faces a major challenge of hunger where more than six million citizens are facing starvation (The Economist 2009). Brazil is the largest country in South America with over 190 million citizens. As the fourth leading food exporter, a small population approximated to be 30% of the entire population was faced with constant food insecurity in 2009 (Government of Brazil 2010). Understanding the root causes of food insecurity will help to offer a solution to this problem. There is an urgent need to come up with policies that will boost the food production and also help prevent wastage of produce. Scholars have proved the extend to which Brazil government has made steps towards eradication of poverty as well as food insecurity. Despite the fact that Brazil is not leading in economic development, it has proved to outstrip leading economies like china and India. This success is highly attributed to pro-poor policies that the leaders of the country. The causes of food insecurity to most developing countries are mostly due to poor management and implementation of policies. In Brazil, poor methods of production have accelerated the problem of food insecurity. The poor production methods have been caused by poor quality land and

Iran-Contra affair Essay Example for Free

Iran-Contra affair Essay The United States became a child of the enlightenment with the birth of its diplomacy in the modern world with an exceptionalist self perception. Its diplomacy was reinforced with a moral force owing to its messianic tendencies during its initial visions. The goals of the nation were unambiguously articulated in the early works of the States and the Republic. These writings formed the foundation of United States identity, making it stands out among the other nations of the world. By the principles upon which the nation was founded, high levels of integrity were to be observed among its citizens and officials. As such, transparency and accountability were meant to be the guiding principles of all public office holders. The role of the leaders was to act in the interest of the subjects and the interest of the nation. According to Ryan, the fundamental to democratic theory is the idea that the legitimacy of a government is founded on the consent of the governed. Practically, this was not extended to all the governed, but to the citizens, to those who had stakes in society. Even then, issues concerning policy must be agreed upon by the citizens through their representatives. The strength of the basic principles upon which the United States were founded has been tested ever since the birth of the nation. There have been significant constructions that have remained potent forces throughout the United States policy making in the twentieth century. The development of collective memories and ideological assumptions that form the reference points in United States diplomacy is among these forces. Again, the basis of a sphere of influence approach to policy making and the way in which the various universal ambitions are influenced by practical necessity or the incapability to further the sphere unchallenged also remained a potent force in United States policy making. It therefore comes as a surprise that the very principles that form the basis of the American strength are blatantly abused by the very individuals and officials meant to protect them. The Iran-Contra Affair is an example of this gross violation of the American principles. Background The relationship between the United States and Iran has not been good since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. As such, the relations have been anything but poor. It therefore comes as a surprise if claims begin to circulate to the effect that the two countries are having some form of arms deal. A Lebanese weekly, on November 3, 1986, reported that the United States had made a secret arms sale to Iran. Reports that followed suggested that the aim of the sales was to secure the release of American citizens that had been taken captive in Lebanon. The reports were difficult to believe as the Reagan administrations policy on arms sale especially to the Government of Khomeini of Iran was only rivaled by a few on strictness. Initially, the United States government denied the reports. However, the truth of the claims was revealed later in the month just as had been stated by the weekly. The United States had indeed sold weapons to Iran so as to secure the release of American hostages in Lebanon. As much as the weapons were sold to Iran, the number of American hostages in Lebanon remained the same. Three hostages were released and three more were taken captive during the period of the sales. The fact of the sale was proved even further when the Attorney General announced on November 25 that the proceeds from the Iran arms sale will be channeled to the Nicaraguan resistance. This happed at a time when the United States military aid to the Contras was prohibited. Iran and Nicaragua were thus brought together in a credibility crisis that posed serious questions about the adherence of Reagans administration to the constitutional process of the government. During the 1980s, Iran and Nicaragua had posed serious challenges to the United States foreign policy. The propriety and legality of the actions taken by the staff of the National Security Council and other government officers with regard to the sale of the arms and the secret assistance to the Contras raised deep concerns among the members of the Public and Congress. The United States assistance to the Contras was not a new issue as the Congress and the President had engaged in serious debate concerning the proper course of United States policy with Congress resolving to bar support of Contra military operation for almost two years. Senior government officials had also reiterated the administrations willingness to abide by the law. The United States foreign policy and the democratic rule of law came to be faced by such serious implications by the Iran-Contra Affair that the 100th Congress rooted to undertake its own investigation of the Affair. Origin The Iran-Contra Affair can be traced in two unrelated revolutions in Iran and Nicaragua. In 1979, the government of General Debayle in Nicaragua was overthrown and replaced by a government controlled by Sandinista leftists. During the same year in Iran, the pro-Western government of Pahlavi was overthrown by Islamic fundamentalists let by Ayatollah Khomeini. The Khomeini government allegedly became a supporter of terrorism against the citizens of United States. Following the revolution in Nicaragua, the United States policy towards the Sandinista government was such as to encourage it to keep its pledges of pluralism and democracy. However, this government became increasingly autocratic and anti-American. Nicaraguan government begun aiding a leftist insurgency in El Salvador, turned toward the communist countries of Cuba and Soviet Union for political, military and economic assistance. The United States, by December 1981, had started to support the Nicaraguan Contras. The CIA was the United states government agency that assisted the Contras, arming, feeding and clothing them in accordance with presidential decisions and funds appropriated by Congress. However, the contras failed to win widespread support or military victories despite this support. As much as the United States president continued to favor support of Contras, the majority of the public were opposed to it. Those who did not support Contras feared that the involvement of the United States with the Contras might lead it to a similar situation experienced in Vietnam. Its supporters on the other hand feared that the Soviets would have a dangerous hold in Central America without United states involvement. In 1983, Congress prohibited aid to contra for the purpose of overthrowing the Sandinista government. In 1984, it further limited aid to the Contras. The Congress later cut off all funds to the Contras following a disclosure that the CIA was involved in mining of the Nicaragua harbor without notifying Congress. The president however still felt strongly for the Contras and was therefore focused on keeping them alive . With this regard, he ordered his staff to device a way of keeping the Contras together which led to the NSC becoming operational entity that saw the secret running of the contra assistance effort, and later the Iran initiative. Having been denied funding from by the Congress, the president turned to private sources and third world countries. The president, together with the NSC secretly raised money from other countries to support the Contras. The Flaws Iran-Contra has two illusions at its heart. The first was that Iran would be easy to handle; and the second was that the Nicaraguan contras would save the United States from Communism. Both the illusions were destroyed in ways that showed how fragile the policies were and this occurred within a month of each other. At the beginning of the October 1986, a supply aircraft carrying weapons to the contras was shot down by the Sandinistas. On November 3, a Lebanese weekly magazine carried the story of United States dealings with Iran. With this revelation, it did not appear ordinary that the United States government was involved in either operation. However, the truth of the matter was that the United States was directly involved in both the events. It cannot be denied that the common characteristic of the Iran and Contra policies were deception, secrecy and contempt of the law. There existed a small clique of senior officials who believed that they were the only individuals who knew what was right. They conceived knowledge of their actions by other individuals in the government as a threat to their objectives. The American people, the Congress and the Secretary of State were not enlightened on the actions of these people. The official documents were destroyed when there was a threat to expose their plans. Cabinet officials, elected representatives in congress and the public were told lies. Key facts were also hidden to the president. The United States constitution is particular on the process by which laws and policy are to be made and executed. The essence of the American democracy is the constitutional process, which is also the foundation of its strength. Experience and common sense have shown that flawed process leads to bad results. The departure of Reagans administration from democratic process established the conditions for policy failure which resulted in contradictions that undermined United States credibility. United States went after two contradictory foreign policies simultaneously, a public and a secret one. The public policy was opposed to making any concessions for the release of hostages for fear of such concessions encouraging more hostage taking. At the same time, the United states was secretly trading weapons to secure the release of the hostages. The public policy was meant to ban the shipment of arms to Iran and to exhort other governments to observe this embargo. At the same time, the United States was secretly selling sophisticated missiles to Iran. The public policy was also meant to improve relations with Iraq. The United States was on the other hand shared intelligence on Iraq with Iran secretly. The public policy was also to encourage all governments to punish terrorism and to support the refusal of Kuwait to set free the Dawa prisoners convicted of terrorist acts. Senior officials at the same time secretly endorsed a Second-Hakim plan to allow Iran to secure the release of the prisoners. The letter and spirit of the Boland Amendment that barred military and paramilitary assistance to the contras was to be observed by the public policy. The NSC staff was secretly directed and funded the military efforts of contra. The administration was also meant to consult with the Congressional oversight committee with regard to covert activities in a â€Å"a new spirit of frankness and cooperation† . The CIA and the White House were on the other hand secretly withheld all information about the Iran initiative and contra support network from the committees. Covert operations were to be conducted mainly through the CIA or other organs of the intelligence community authorized by the president. However, even though the NSC was not authorized, its staff secretly became operational and employed private, non-accountable agents to account in covert activities. All these contradictions in policy resulted in policy failure. Iran was armed by the United States, together with its most radical elements. However, the United States neither attained a new relationship with Iran nor reduced the number of American hostages in Lebanon. The sale of the arms did not result in the moderation of Iranian policies. Iran up to the present moment still sponsors actions that are directed against the United States in the Persian Gulf. The United states made itself vulnerable to blackmail by adversaries who were likely to reveal the secret arms sale. The credibility of the United States with allies and friends was undermined by its position of opposing arms sale to Iran while doing the same herself in secret. An illicit funding was sought by the United States for the contras through profits from secret arms sale with the considerable amount ending up in the personal bank accounts of the private individuals who executed the sales. The Iran-Contra Affair also indicates a serious flaw in policymaking process. The highest level of the United States government was marked by confusion and disarray. Under total misapprehension, McFarlane set on a dangerous trip to Tehran . He assumed that the Iranians had promised to secure the release of the American hostages before the delivery of arms while on the contrary, they had only promised to seek the release of the hostages after the arms had arrived. Initially, the president told the Tower Board that he had approved the first Israeli shipments. He then denied then finally said that he did not know whether he had approved the arms shipment as his top advisors were not in agreement on the issue. He also claimed that he did not recall signing a Finding approving the shipment to Iran. However, Poindexters testimony was on the contrary. The American public was incorrectly assured by the president that the NSC staff was adhering to the law and that there was no connection between the government of the United States and the Hasenfus airplane. His staff was on the other hand conducting a covert operation to support the Contras. Another striking feature of the Iran-Contra Affair was that it was marked by pervasive dishonesty and excessive secrecy. The Congress and the American people were constantly and repeatedly told lies about the contra covert action and Iran arms sales. North admitted to altering and destroying official documents. Conclusion Any public official must work on behalf of the state and thus, any action must be directed towards furthering the ideals of the state. As such, the public must be informed of the whatever is going on. Democracy dictates that the representatives of the people must be involved in the decision making process. The nations foreign policy makers act on behalf of the state. Even then, the citizens must be made known the implications and goals of certain actions that are being taken by the state. The Iran-Contra affair, in the contrary, operated against this principle. The affair would have fallen under the broad foreign policy, which was however not the case as it was carried out in secret. As much as policy makers have an interest in maintaining and advancing their domestic political positions, they must also seek to advance the interest of the state internationally. However, the Reagan administration locked policy makers out of the affair which may have led to its failure. The fact is that the administration well knew the consequences of their action and went ahead to carry it out secretly. The administration knew it would lose favor among the citizens if they went ahead and carried out the operations even after Congress was opposed to it. Given the desire for political survival, the administration pretended to be concerned with the domestic impact of the various options that it had. Behind the scenes, it went ahead with its initial plans with no regard for the congress and the public. This in itself was a mockery of democracy.

Communication Models: Overview and Analysis

Communication Models: Overview and Analysis Digging deeper into communication models, the research done by theorist and communication experts alike has helped the future generation to at least have a brief idea of what a communication model is. In this era, whereby the world is getting smaller coined the Global Village (Marshall McLuhan) communication has risen to new heights due to its importance. The understanding of communication would further enhance a mans understanding of how to communicate with efficiency and efficacy. The rise of the Internet has also changed how communication works whereby the former and commonly used type was direct communication (face-to-face) and it changed into communication that was based more on writing as more and more people are hooked to the Internet. A communication model would help with discovery of the difference in relationships between the different types of communication and how manipulative variables change efficiency, reach etc. A communication model would also clarify complex understanding of communication into a more disciplined, order and simple form of communication. Though models of communication has its advantages yet because of its simple nature could lead to oversimplifications, such as quoted There is no denying that much of the work in designing communication models illustrates the oft-repeated charge that anything in human affairs which can be modeled is by definition too superficial to be given serious consideration. Duhem (1954) thus a model may attempt to mirror real life information but in reality it is impossible to truly model real life communication. Therefore, communication models are generally divided into two, linear model and non-linear model, the former neglecting feedback of receivers, external factors etc. The linear model adapted a mathematical approach to communication based on codes that are decoded and encoded. The model dictates communication is possible only if two people share the same code whereby in this case is the same language. Language is the bridge that connects human thoughts into strings of sound, syllables and words and like any other computer in order to translate it requires the same code system. This means, an example if a person wants to transfer his/her thoughts it would be encoded into language then the message is delivered through a channel that is later on decoded by the receiver/recipient. Thus the introduction to the encode-decode model of communication, the linear model though revolutionary in communication introduced by Lasswell and later on enhanced by Shannon-Weaver model (Shannon, 1948) including noise into the communication. The main defect of these models are that it is linear and robotic, dictating that communication has  a beginning and ending while in reality communication does not have such limited specifications under communication. Linear models do not generally take into account how humans interpret meaningsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the encode-decode model assumes that meaning is objective and can be captured in a fixed correspondence between aspects of the world and some system of representation (Lund and Waterworth) Thus, Schramm introduced the circular model that acknowledges communication is not linear and that emphasizes the circular nature of human communication, in which the roles of source/encoder and receiver/decoder interchange. In furtherance of a nalysis, the sample used is the Circular/Interactive Model of Osgood and Schramm. Wilbur Schramm and Osgood introduced the Circular Model, 1954 were one of the first to alter the mathematical model of Shannon and Weaver. The reason behind Schramm coming up with the circular model was to overcome the limitations of linear models. In fact, it is misleading to think of the communication process as starting somewhere and ending somewhere. It is really endless. We are little switchboard centers handling and rerouting the great endless current of information.(Schramm W. (1954) quoted in McQuail Windahl (1981). All communication process starts with a person that has a thought or information to pass on to other people. In the interactive model, that thought would first go through an element called the encoder, which will change our thought into codes. Encoding is actually an act of translating specific thoughts into codes (message) that is then transferred to another person, which will decode the codes (message), and interpret the meaning. The second part of the communication, is the feedback/response of the person to the particular code (message) that goes through the process of encoding, and then delivered back to the original sender. The difference here is that the circular model acknowledges the circular nature of human communication that is endless. An enhancement of previous linear models whereby the sender and receiver vice versa changes role depending on the communication. This helps improve the understanding of communication between two people rather then a one way linear model that does not represent the nature of communication in real life. The Circular Model is a dynamic model that shows how a situation can change and that communication is not generally one sided. The Circular Model also raises the importance of redundancy and that it is an essential part of communication, due to the fact that communication moves in a circular manner. Another advantage of the model is that it does not separate between sender and receiver, both sender and receiver is the same person. A more active communication models rather then the linear model that assumes passive receivers. The Circular Model emphasizes on the feedback feature to be central of the communication model, where models before failed to incorporate. The Circular model is not free from defects; one being the most highly criticized is that it does not incorporate the noise feature included in Shannon-Weaver model (Shannon, 1948). Noise is anything that influences effective communication and the interpretation of the code (message). Noise may have profound effects on interpretation of communication but is usually overlooked. Noise can be divided into three categories, which are Semantic Noise, Psychological Noise (internal noise) and Physical Noise (external noise). Understanding noise is essential in improving further the communication models. External Noise is anything outside the person that may distract the efficiency of communication, such as sight, sound, smell, and environment such as crowded environment. Whiles Internal Noise is anything that influences thoughts, feelings during communication such as hunger, headaches and fatigue. The final one is Semantic Noise which encoding errors by the sender which is not understood by the receiver such as writings in articles by the use of jargons or unnecessary technical language. Application of the circular model would most probably mirror communication limited to only 2 people. The Circular model is limited to that specific use since it fails to incorporate context and the surrounding nature and growth development of the individual. Room for improvement of the Circular Model (1954) has been made through the Helical Model (1967) attempting to show that the growth of communication is forever evolving and limitless. The extent of its growth depending on the development of the individual throughout his life and including individual factors such as environment, economic and relations change over time. As communication moves forward so does the form of such communication, therefore it is a need to take into account of the different for such as the epidemic growth of social media changing the communication as there is more reliance of the things said rather then the non-verbal messages sent in the past with direct communication. Based on extended reading, improvements of the Circular model taking into account present communication settings. Macintosh HD:Users:syafeeqz:Desktop:College:COmm:Templatechart.jpg Based on the Communication Model above, it clearly looks similar to the Circular model. The difference is the enhancement of noise in the middle section of the model. Message is changed into distortion; to infer that noise plays a part in the message sent thus naming it distortion. What this model represents is a more suitable approach to real life communication, as it incorporates the underlying factors of intention, perception, relationship and the context of communication while acknowledging all three types of noise. First of all, intention of the communication does have significance as if the intention was transactional it is specifically goal-oriented thus would affect interaction to achieve such goals. On the other hand, if the intention were of socializing purposes and demonstrating social intimacy with the receiver/counter-initiator thus the distortion (message) would be interpreted differently. As an example, the differences of response to sellers as compared to friends and family. The attention span/level is also based on such intentions. Intentions can also recognized as inference. Inference in this sense means humans communicate far more meaning than they ever encode linguistically. A perfect example is the use of the word Its gone, the ambiguity of linguistics fail to define the complete meaning of intention in language and the interpretation is inferred by the receiver/counter-initiator. Next, the relationship between initiator and receiver also governs the communication model such as symmetric power relationship between to friends, both with equal rights to speak as compare to a asymmetrical power relationship between and employee and employer would change the distortion (message) taking into measure the authority of the employer. Furthermore, the context is a combination of both the intention and relationship mixed with the location, time and noise during the communication thus turns into a major influence as how distortion (message) is received and the response given. An example to display such context, is the comparison of initiators/rebound distortion (message) during at work with a colleague compared too the distortion at home with a family member, while in both cases explaining the accident that took place while on the way to work. The context changes so much that the variables are limitless, while at the office the explanation of such event may be more dramat ized and exaggerated since it just happened, and also the fact that the receiver/counter-initiator is a colleague while at home the explanation of the same event would be shorter due to the redundancy, fear of the family members response and so fourth. The nuclear signed used was to signify the limitless boundaries of such context and the different combinations that may occur combined with the different types of noise that play a subtle role in influencing communication. The model incorporates all three types of noise that is semantic, external and internal. What differs from other models is it also features other major factors such as perception outwards toward the each other and perception inward of oneself. Example, if we perceive of what we are listening too in the radio is false thus the whether it is true we tend to ignore the distortion (message) this is called selective perception. Schramms model though outdated and has been improved with numerous other models; it remains to be the cornerstone of communication models, with the model centered on the theory of feedback. Schramms model is of use in todays social media lifestyle since social media relies mainly on the two-way circular nature of communication.

UN Human Trafficking Prevention Protocol An Analysis

UN Human Trafficking Prevention Protocol An Analysis Human trafficking is an ever-growing global criminal concern and a prominent humanitarian crisis, with as many as an estimated twenty-seven million people being trafficked globally each year. Traditional approaches to combat this global phenomenon has been largely ineffective, as globalization has revolutionized the practices and process in which it is carried out. Trafficking at its core involves the objectification of persons into illicit market commodities – persons who, through deception, force or coercion, are transported and sold for the purpose of exploitation. In recent years, increasing awareness of this growing criminal trend throughout the international community has urged international bodies to take immediate action. As a response to this crisis, one critical document, titled the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, was drafted. Albeit being introduced only in 2000, this Protocol is a significant law enforcement accomplis hment, and is the first and only international agreement of its kind to provide many detailed provisions for the protection and assistance of victims of transnational crime. Despite this, the UN Trafficking Protocol has proven to have limited effectiveness in combating and controlling human trafficking and modern slavery, particularly in certain countries like Thailand. While it has enhanced transnational cooperation in tackling this issue, it fails to take into account, and thereby does not provide solutions for, non-compliance, a corrupt criminal justice system, as well as the reintegration of victims back into society. While the purpose of the Protocol is to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, protect and assist victims of trafficking, and to promote cooperation among State Parties, the provisions providing for the implementation and enforcement of these measures are weak. Each of these provisions begins with the permissive language that State Parties â€Å"shall adopt or establish†¦as may be necessary†, â€Å"shall endeavour to†, and â€Å"shall consider†¦in appropriate cases† implementing various protection or assistive measures for victims. For example, Article 7 requires State Parties only to consider providing temporary or permanent residence in its territory in appropriate cases. While this provides the flexibility to craft and implement policies and laws that best suit the needs of various State Parties, the lack of any hard obligation or enforcement measures could potentially undermine political commitment to the Protocol, since compliance is purely on a voluntary basis. This lack of obligation can be seen in Thailand – one of the signatories of the Protocol – where young girls deemed to be trafficking victims are not granted temporary legal documents in accordance to Thai law, and therefore are not allowed to leave the shelter grounds (Thrupkaew, 2009). This goes against Article 8.4 of the UN Trafficking Protocol, which mentions State Party shall agree to issue travel documents to victims of trafficking who is without proper documentation, to facilitate their travel to and re-enter its territory. Hence, this freedom and flexibility to interpret the Protocol has undermined its effectiveness in implementing and enforcing the provisions stated to provide assistance to the victims of trafficking. Similarly, the corruption of local law enforcement in countries like Thailand and Cambodia have hindered efforts to curb human trafficking, as they provide a system of protection and safe-haven for key stakeholders involved in the process. From petty bribery to large-scale misappropriation of funds, corruption is rife throughout the criminal justice process in many countries, and has serious implications both for the human rights of detainees and the efficient administration of justice. The Protocol, despite its concerted effort to counteract human trafficking, is nonetheless at the mercy of the local authorities to implement and enforce measures on the ground. As mentioned by Thrupkaew, the root cause of much of the suffering in the developing world is the failure of the criminal justice system to protect the poor from the violence and brutality that robs them of their basic subsistence and liberty. In Cambodia, the police are notorious for their involvement in trafficking, through extortion of protection money, assault and rape of sex workers and trafficking victims (Thrupkaew, 2009). In Thailand, the politicians do not take sex slavery seriously, and while there exist full and complete laws that forbid enslavement, trafficking and exploitation, they are not enforced (Bales, 1999, p.72). As such, although the Protocol does provide an international legislative framework and is very comprehensive in its scope of human trafficking, it is ineffective as local authorities are more concerned about their own personal well-being than national political concerns, and thus do not enforce these measures on the ground. Furthermore, while the Protocol provides the necessary provisions for the physical, psychological and social recovery of victims of trafficking as mentioned in Article 6.3, it is not implemented, and little is being done to help facilitate their reintegration into society. Many victims who are freed and taken to shelters are found to suffer from aggression, depression, and emotional instability. Yet, these shelters are merely surface attempts at abiding by the Protocol, and victims are robbed of the opportunity to overcome their trauma and recover from the physical and emotional damage they have suffered. This is especially prevalent in Thailand, where psychological counselling is effectively unknown, and little therapeutic work is done with girls freed from brothels (Bales, 1999, p.59). There is also a strong possibility of re-enslavement, especially if the girls rescued are foreigners who don’t speak the local language (Bales, 1999, p.66). This shows that the Protocol has fa iled in not only providing the necessary services for victims to recover from the emotional trauma that they have faced from this violence, but also the prevention of victims of trafficking from re-victimization, as stated in article 9.1.b of the Protocol. However, we cannot understate the effectiveness of the UN Trafficking Protocol, because it is the first universal instrument intended to advance the global movement against human exploitation through collective action. Consequently, it is a reflection of the political will of international governments to combat human trafficking, evidenced by the widespread ratification of 166 State Parties as a first step in the expression of that political commitment. Moreover, the Protocol’s definition of trafficking and what amounts to exploitation is universally accepted as the most comprehensive definition that has informed various international counter-trafficking legal frameworks. This has aided prosecutors worldwide in providing assistance, protection and advocating for the rights of trafficked persons. Despite this, coordination efforts on a national level are still grossly lacking, especially among various law enforcement agencies, criminal justice service providers and victim service providers. For example, the International Justice Mission (IJM), an evangelical Christian organization devoted to combating human rights abuse, collaborate with local counterparts in providing assistive services and protection to victims of slave labour and sexual abuse. However, because of the differences in policies and their view towards trafficking and prostitution, IJM has strained, and eventually severed, diplomatic relations with counter-trafficking efforts in Thailand. In addition, IJM failed to work closely with victim service providers, and have no idea how aftercare leads to the protection for minors, and neither do they track where they are sent after repatriation (Thrupkaew, 2009). As such, the lack of a national anti-trafficking coordinating body to promote better cooperation amongst local organizations and to monitor the implementation of national referral mechanisms has greatly hindered the effectiveness of the Protocol. Since trafficking in person by nature is a covert activity involving hidden populations on an international scale, it is difficult to analyse, measure and understand. In light of this, the Protocol could include the creation of a central repository of information on measures taken by States and organizations to combat human trafficking. This database would include national legislations, international criminal organizational structures, and information on global anti-trafficking projects. In the development of this repository, the UN could adapt from the Automated Donor Assistance Mechanism (ADAM) by UNODC, a web-based information sharing system designed to provide project transparency and coordination of technical assistance. Such a platform increases the accessibility and availability of information to State Parties, which would inarguably aid in the identification and prosecution of traffickers as well as their modus operandi, thereby enhancing global efforts against trafficking. Limited research has also been carried out on what trafficked persons want and need in terms of support, rehabilitation and their experience in the participation of the criminal justice process. As Thrupkaew mentions, â€Å"It didn’t cross anyone’s mind to work with sex workers on the law, and although we talk about the minimum standards of assistance, victims are not consulted in the creation of those standards†. As such, additional funding could be provided to NGO’s and social workers to encourage further research in this area, so as to provide useful insights to policy-makers and practitioners. In essence, the main compelling reason why the Trafficking Protocol is ineffective in reducing global human sex trafficking is due to UN’s inability to enforce compliance from Protocol signatories, and stronger monitoring provisions and tighter membership policies should be adopted. That being said, such reforms should proceed with caution, as ensuring compliance need not necessarily lead to revised laws being effective in that country, due to various factors such as their socio-political climate. How effective the Protocol is ultimately boils down on the onus of State Parties on their level of commitment to incorporate and enforce Protocol measures into their domestic law. Only then will we have the slightest chance in eradicating human trafficking. (Word Count: 1543 words) Reference Bales, K. B. (1999).  Disposable people: New slavery in the global economy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Thrupkaew, N. (2009, September 16). The crusade against sex trafficking. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from Crusade Against Sex Trafficking, https://www.thenation.com/article/crusade-against-sex-trafficking/ UNODC. (2009, October 6). ADAM (automated donor assistance mechanism). Retrieved February 9, 2017, from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/global-it-products/adam.html

Gender Roles and Socialization in Adolescence Essay -- Reviving Opheli

A Review of Mary Pipher†s â€Å"Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls†, Laura E. Berk's â€Å"Infants and Children: Prenatal Through Middle Childhood†, and Lina A. Ricciardelli's â€Å"Self-esteem and Negative Affect as Moderators of Sociocultural Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Strategies to Decrease Weight, and Strategies to Increase Muscles Among Adolescent Boys and Girls† Adolescence is one of the most difficult times for development. This difficulty is experienced very differently for boys and girls. This paper will examine how gender role socialization effects girls more specifically, the emergence of eating disorders and depression in adolescent girls. Mary Pipher, Ph.D. in her book â€Å"Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls†, discusses extensively the varied and difficult road that adolescent girls travel to adulthood. This book is a collection of Pipher’s experiences with clients, her daughter, and her own adolescence as well as a thought provoking social examination. The title refers to William Shakesphere’s character Ophelia, the young girl who drowned herself in a river after being shunned by Hamlet. Ophelia is the epitome of lost female youth. The transition that happens from girl to woman is quite difficult for most. Pipher examines the loss of self that most girls experience in their adolescence. She brings up the fact that preadolescent girls have the ability to be androgynous, as well as an interest in nearly everything. Gender roles are not limiting at this age, it is their time away from the female gender role. The onset of puberty changes most girls into very confused and ever changing creatures. They go from being carefree to careful of what their every move is. Most adolescent girls are hyper aware of themselves, over analytical of the reactions they receive from others, are critical of their bodies, and they â€Å"crash and burn in a social and developmental Bermuda Triangle†. The central question Pipher asks is â€Å"why are American adolescent girls falling prey to depression, eating disorders, and suicide attempts at an alarming rate?† There is no easy answer to Pipher’s question. Is the problem girls face a product of our culture? Or, is the problem that adolescent girls face a natural part of becoming an adult? Piphers answer is that the problem girls face is both culturally ... ... to behave in the same manner that their parents behave in within all situations? Girls are highly aware of the behavior of their parents, as well as the expectations of who they should become. Women are everywhere in advertisements, selling toothpaste, beer, auto insurance, and coffee. The concept of a ideal woman is one who is passive and yet strong, a caregiver who sacrifices all to provide for everybody else. That role is so terrifying to many that it is either rejected, mixed up, or deeply internalized. Anorexics may just be the reality of this perfect woman. Thin, in control, passive, and concerned with what others want of them physically the anorexic seems to embody all the qualities we attribute to perfection. Is that truly what one should aspire to become? The role of a woman is ever changing. Perhaps one day it will adapt to be more androgynous. Women and men should both strive to become more then just masculine and feminine counterparts. They should be free to rise above masculinity and femininity, to a more equal and blended place. Sources Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. Pipher, Mary P.h. D. Ballentine Books: Random House 1994.

Biased Fight Against Crime in Millers Essay, The Rush to Punish :: Criminal Justice

Biased Fight Against Crime in Miller's Essay, The Rush to Punish In the essay "The Rush to Punish", Jerome Miller discusses how the nation's fight against crime has been aimed at the poor and minorities. He argues that far too many people are in prison or have criminal records in this country. Miller's main claim is one of policy, which expresses that the nation's current criminal justice system needs to change. He writes, "I'm very pessimistic about where things are heading" (566). This essay discusses issues of racism, stereotypes, individual city systems, and family importance in order to appeal to its intended audience of taxpayers, lawmakers, law enforcement officials, and criminals. General audience members, a fraction of society, may be oblivious to their impact on the system. The warrant suggested by Miller is that society must change its biases and routines in order for the criminal justice system to change. This article is written in question-answer format and has been taken from an interview. This makes the author's opinion very clear and works well to show argument. Miller appears to be sarcastic is some of his answers. This may confuse the reader, therefore distorting his purpose a little. The first support claim the author makes is that the majority of people in prison are minorities. He uses statistics to prove that the percentages of blacks and Hispanics obtaining criminal records are dramatically increasing. A large portion of minority males has a violent label. Miller states, "Now when we talk about building more prisons, when we talk about longer sentences, when we talk about cracking down on violent offenders, everyone knows that we're talking about men of color" (566). This clearly shows that something must be changed about the number of minorities involved with crime and backs up the main claim nicely. The second support claim used by the author is that society has to change how it handles offenders. Average offenders are labeled as serious, violent, and savagelike, but people do not take the time to find out the details of the criminals' pasts and the reasoning behind their acts. Miller writes, "Those are the kinds of things we not only do not want to know but from which we run in fear - because if we were to hear them, we'd all feel a little bit guilty. It's much easier to start talking about people in genetic terms" (567). The author uses this support very wisely.

Financial Ratios for East Coast Yachts

Question 1: Financial ratios for East Coast Yachts: Current ratio| =| Current Assets| | | Debt-equity ratio| =| Total liabilities| | | Current Liabilities| | | | | Total equity| | =| $14,651,000 | | | | =| $19,539,000 + $33,735,000| | | $19,539,000 | | | | | $55,341,000 | | =| 0. 75| | | | =| 0. 96| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Quick ratio| =| Current Assets – Inventory| | | Equity multiplier| =| Total assets| | | Current Liabilities| | | | | Total equity| | =| $14,651,000 – $6,136,000| | | | =| $108,615,000 | | | $19,539,000 | | | | | $55,341,000 | | =| 0. 44| | | | =| 1. 96| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total asset turnover| =| Sales| | | Interest coverage| =| EBIT| | | Total Assets| | | | | Interest| | =| $167,310,000 | | | | =| $23,946,000 | | | $108,615,000 | | | | | $3,009,000 | | =| 1. 54| | | | =| 7. 96| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Inventory turnover| =| COGS| | | Profit margin| =| Net Income| | | Inventory| | | | | Sales| | =| $117,910,000 | | | | =| $1 2,562,200 | | | $6,136,000 | | | | | $167,310,000 | | =| 19. 22| | | | =| 7. 51%| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Receivables turnover| =| Sales| | | Return on assets| =| Net Income| | | Accounts receivable| | | | | Total assets| =| $167,310,000 | | | | =| $12,562,200 | | | $5,473,000 | | | | | $108,615,000 | | =| 30. 57| | | | =| 11. 57%| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Debt ratio| =| Total assets – Total equity| | | Return on equity| =| Net Income| | | Total assets| | | | | Total equity| | =| $108,615,000 – $55,341,000| | | | =| $12,562,200 | | | $108,615,000 | | | | | $55,341,000 | | =| 0. 49| | | | =| 22. 70%| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Question 2: | | East Coast Yachts| | Yacht Industry Ratios| | | | | Lower Quartile| Median| Upper Quartile| Current ratio| | 0. 75| | 0. 50| 1. 43| 1. 9| Quick ratio| | 0. 44| | 0. 21| 0. 38| 0. 62| Total asset turnover| | 1. 54| | 0. 68| 0. 85| 1. 38| Inventory turnover| | 19. 22| | 4. 89| 6. 15| 10. 89| Receivables turnover| | 30. 57| | 6. 27| 9. 82| 14. 11| Debt ratio| | 0. 49| | 0. 44| 0. 52| 0. 61| Debt-equity ratio| | 0. 96| | 0. 79| 1. 08| 1. 56| Equity multiplier| | 1. 96| | 1. 79| 2. 08| 2. 56| Interest coverage| | 7. 96| | 5. 18| 8. 06| 9. 83| Profit margin| | 7. 51%| | 4. 05%| 6. 98%| 9. 87%| Return on assets| | 11. 57%| | 6. 05%| 10. 53%| 13. 21%| Return on equity| | 22. 70%| | 9. 93%| 16. 54%| 26. 15%|The liquidity ratio shows that the company has less liquidity as compare to the whole industry. East Coast Yachts current ratio is below the median industry ratio and the quick ratio is positioned at the median industry ratio. This indicates that the company may access to short-term borrowing. Referring to the turnover ratio, all the three ratios, I. e. total asset turnover, inventory turnover and receivables turnover are higher than upper quartile industry ratio. This indicates that the company is more efficient among the whole industry in using its assets to generate sales.The financial levera ge ratios, which include the debt ratio, debt-equity ratio, equity multiplier and interest coverage, are all below the median industry ratio, but higher than the lower quartile. This shows that East Coast Yachts is having less debt than the other companies in the industry, but is still within the normal range. The profit margin, return on assets as well as return on equity of the company are higher than the industry median. This shows that the company’s profitability is performing well among the whole industry.As an overall, East Coast Yachts is performing well in the industry, while more concentration would only be required to be placed on the liquidity ratios. Question 3: Return on equity = 22. 70% Retention ratio (b)| =| Net income – Dividends| | | Net Income| | =| $12,562,200 – $7,537,320| | | $12,562,200 | | =| 40%| Sustainable growth rate (SGR) = Return on equity x Retention ratio = 22. 70% x 0. 4 = 9. 08% Increase in assets| =| Assets| x| ? Sales| | | Sal es| | | | =| $108,615,000 | x| (167,310,000 x 9. 08%)| | | $167,310,000 | | | | =| $9,862,242. 00 | | | | | | | |Increase in spontaneous liabilities| =| Spontaneous liabilities| x| ? Sales| | | Sales| | | | =| $6,461,000 | x| (167,310,000 x 9. 08%)| | | $167,310,000 | | | | =| $ 586,658. 80 | | | | | | | | Retention ratio (b)| =| Addition to RE| | | | | Net income| | | | =| $5,024,880 | | | | | $12,562,200 | | | | =| 40%| | | | | | | | Profit margin| =| Net income| | | | | Sales| | | | =| $12,562,200 | | | | | $167,310,000 | | | | =| 8%| | | | | | | | Increase in equity| =| PM x Projected sales x retention ratio| | =| 8% x ($167,310,000 x 1. 0908) x 0. 4| | =| $5,840,055. 94 | | | | | | | | External Funds Needed (EFN)| =| Increase in assets – Increase in spontaneous liabilities – Increase in equity| | =| $9,862,242. 00 – $586,658 – $5,840,056| | =| $3,435,527. 26 | | | | | | | | | | | | | East Coast Yachts| | | Pro forma Income Statement| | | Sales| | 182 ,501,748| | | Cost of goods sold| | 128,616,228| | | Other expenses| | 21,809,455| | | Depreciation| | 5,460,000| (Assume constant)| Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)| 26,616,065| | | Interest| | 3,009,000| (Assume constant)|Taxable income| | 23,607,065| | | Taxes (40%)| | 9,442,826| | | Net Income| | 14,164,239| | | Dividends| | 8,221,709| | | Addition to RE| | 5,481,139| | | | | | | | East Coast Yachts| | | Pro forma Balance Sheet| | | Assets| | | | | Current assets| | | | | Cash| | 3,318,214| | | Accounts receivable| | 5,969,948| | | Inventory| | 6,693,149| | | Total| | 15,981,311| | | Fixed assets| | | | | Net plant and equipment| | 102,495,931| | | | | | | | | | | | | Total assets| | 118,477,242| | | | | | | | Liabilities| | | | | Current liabilities| | | | | Accounts payable| | 7,047,659| | | Notes payable| | 14,265,482| | |Total| | 21,313,141| | | | | | | | Long term debt| | 33,735,000| | | | | | | | Shareholders' equity| | | | | Common stock| | 5,200,000| | | Retaine d earnings| | 54,693,803| | | Total equity| | 59,893,803| | | | | | | | Total liabilities and equity| | 114,941,944| | | | | | | | EFN| | 3,535,298| | | Current ratio| =| Current Assets| | Debt-equity ratio| =| Total liabilities| | | Current Liabilities| | | | Total equity| | =| $15,981,311 | | | =| $21,313,141 + $33,735,000| | | $21,313,141 | | | | 59,893,803 | | =| 0. 75| | | =| 0. 92| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Quick ratio| =| Current Assets – Inventory| | Equity multiplier| =| Total assets| | | Current Liabilities| | | | Total equity| | =| $15,981,311 – $6,693,149| | | =| $118,477,242 | | | $21,313,141 | | | | $59,893,803 | | =| 0. 44| | | =| 1. 98| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total asset turnover| =| Sales| | Interest coverage| =| EBIT| | | Total Assets| | | | Interest| | =| $182,501,748 | | | =| $26,616,065 | | | $118,477,242 | | | | $3,009,000 | | =| 1. 54| | | =| 8. 85| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Inventory turnover| =| COGS| | Profit margin| =| Net Income| | | Inventory| | | | Sales| =| $128,616,228 | | | =| $14,164,239 | | | $6,693,149 | | | | $182,501,748 | | =| 19. 22| | | =| 7. 76%| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Receivables turnover| =| Sales| | Return on assets| =| Net Income| | | Accounts receivable| | | | Total assets| | =| $182,501,748 | | | =| $14,164,239 | | | $5,969,948 | | | | $118,477,242 | | =| 30. 57| | | =| 11. 96%| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Debt ratio| =| Total assets – Total equity| | Return on equity| =| Net Income| | | Total assets| | | | Total equity| | =| $118,477,242 – $59,893,803| | | =| $14,164,239 | | | $118,477,242 | | | | $59,893,803 | | =| 0. 49| | | =| 23. 5%| | | East Coast Yachts| | | Original ratios| | Based on pro forma| Current ratio| | 0. 75| | 0. 75| Quick ratio| | 0. 44| | 0. 44| Total asset turnover| | 1. 54| | 1. 54| Inventory turnover| | 19. 22| | 19. 22| Receivables turnover| | 30. 57| | 30. 57| Debt ratio| | 0. 49| | 0. 49| Debt-equity ratio| | 0. 96| | 0. 92| Equity multiplier| | 1. 96| | 1. 98| Interest coverage| | 7. 96| | 8. 85| Profit margin| | 7. 51%| | 7. 76%| Return on assets| | 11. 57%| | 11. 96%| Return on equity| | 22. 70%| | 23. 65%| As noted from above, the liquidity and turnover ratio will remain constant assuming growth precisely at 9. 8%. Debt-equity ratio will decreased slightly while equity multiplier and interest coverage increased, assuming interest remain constant. Slight improvement also noted from profit margin, return on assets and return on equity. Question 4: Growth rate| | 20%| | | | | | | | Increase in assets| =| Assets| x| ? Sales| | | Sales| | | | =| $108,615,000 | x| (167,310,000 x 20%)| | | $167,310,000 | | | | =| 21,723,000. 00 | | | | | | | | Increase in spontaneous liabilities| =| Spontaneous liabilities| x| ? Sales| | | Sales| | | | =| $6,461,000 | x| (167,310,000 x 20%)| | $167,310,000 | | | | =| $1,292,200. 00 | | | | | | | | Retention ratio (b)| =| Addition to RE| | | | | Net income| | | | =| $5,024,880 | | | | | $12,562 ,200 | | | | =| 40%| | | | | | | | Profit margin| =| Net income| | | | | Sales| | | | =| $12,562,200 | | | | | $167,310,000 | | | | =| 8%| | | | | | | | Increase in equity| =| PM x Projected sales x retention ratio| | =| 8% x ($167,310,000 x 1. 2) x 0. 4| | | =| $6,424,704. 00| | | | | | | | External Funds Needed (EFN)| =| Increase in assets – Increase in spontaneous liabilities – Increase in equity| | =| $21,723,000. 0 – $1,292,200. 00 – $6,424,704. 00| | =| $14,006,096. 00| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | East Coast Yachts| | | Pro forma Income Statement| | | Sales| | 200,772,000| | | Cost of goods sold| | 141,492,000| | | Other expenses| | 23,992,800| | | Depreciation| | 5,460,000| (Assuming constant)| Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)| 29,827,200| | | Interest| | 3,009,000| (Assuming constant)| Taxable income| | 26,818,200| | | Taxes (40%)| | 10,727,280| | | Net Income| | 16,090,920| | | Dividends| | 9,044,784| | | Addition to RE| | 6,029,85 6| | | | | | | | East Coast Yachts| | |Pro forma Balance Sheet| | | Assets| | | | | Current assets| | | | | Cash| | 3,650,400| | | Accounts receivable| | 6,567,600| | | Inventory| | 7,363,200| | | Total| | 17,581,200| | | Fixed assets| | | | | Net plant and equipment| | 112,756,800| | | | | | | | | | | | | Total assets| | 130,338,000| | | | | | | | Liabilities| | | | | Current liabilities| | | | | Accounts payable| | 7,753,200| | | Notes payable| | 15,693,600| | | Total| | 23,446,800| | | | | | | | Long term debt| | 33,735,000| | | | | | | | Shareholders' equity| | | | | Common stock| | 5,200,000| | |Retained earnings| | 60,169,200| | | Total equity| | 65,369,200| | | | | | | | Total liabilities and equity| | 122,551,000| | | | | | | | EFN| | 7,787,000| | | | | East Coast Yachts| | | Original ratios| | Growth @9. 08%| | Growth @20%| Debt-equity ratio| | 0. 96| | 0. 92| | 0. 87| Equity multiplier| | 1. 96| | 1. 98| | 1. 99| Interest coverage| | 7. 96| | 8. 85| | 9. 91| Profit margin| | 7. 51%| | 7. 76%| | 8. 01%| Return on assets| | 11. 57%| | 11. 96%| | 12. 35%| Return on equity| | 22. 70%| | 23. 65%| | 24. 62%| The growth rate of 20% indicates that the EFN is $7,787,000.Debt-equity ratio will decrease by 0. 05. The profit margin, return on assets and return on equity shows improvement if the expansion plan was taken up, assuming interest and depreciation remain constant. The further expansion may be taken up as it will bring improvement to the company’s profitability. Also, debt-equity ratio is still below 1 hence there is room for the expansion to be taken up. Question 5: Depreciation rate| =| Depreciation| | | | | PPE| | | | =| $5,460,000 | | | | | $93,964,000 | | | | =| 5. 81%| | | | | | | | Cost of new line| | 30,000,000| | |New depreciation charged| | 1,743,220. 81| | | | | | | | | | | | | East Coast Yachts| | | Pro forma Income Statement| | | Sales| | 200,772,000| (Assuming growth rate 20%)| Cost of goods sold| | 141,492,000| (Assuming growth rat e 20%)| Other expenses| | 23,992,800| (Assuming growth rate 20%)| Depreciation| | 1,743,221| | | Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)| | 33,543,979| | | Interest| | 3,009,000| (Assuming constant)| Taxable income| | 30,534,979| | | Taxes (40%)| | 12,213,992| | | Net Income| | 18,320,988| | | Dividends| | 9,044,784| | | Addition to RE| | 6,029,856| | | | | | | East Coast Yachts| | | Pro forma Balance Sheet| | | Assets| | | | | Current assets| | | | | Cash| | 3,650,400| | | Accounts receivable| | 6,567,600| | | Inventory| | 7,363,200| | | Total| | 17,581,200| | | Fixed assets| | | | | Net plant and equipment| | 141,013,579| | | | | | | | Total assets| | 158,594,779| | | | | | | | Liabilities| | | | | Current liabilities| | | | | Accounts payable| | 7,753,200| | | Notes payable| | 15,693,600| | | Total| | 23,446,800| | | | | | | | Long term debt| | 33,735,000| | | | | | | | Shareholders' equity| | | | | Common stock| | 5,200,000| | |Retained earnings| | 60,169,200| | | Total equity | | 65,369,200| | | | | | | | Total liabilities and equity| | 122,551,000| | | | | | | | New EFN| | 36,043,779| | | Existing EFN| | 7,787,000| | | Additional EFN| | 28,256,779| | | Depreciation charged from increase in fixed assets at SGR of 20% was $1,743,220. 81. The new plant would cost $30,000,000. The additional EFN would be $28,256,779. The total EFN would become $36,043,779. This would imply that the capacity utilization would be lower next year, since the new plant would expand capacity much more than the required under SGR.

Microsoft’s monopoly Essay

The global market economy includes several market structures. One of these structures is the monopoly. Monopoly happens when only one firm provides a specific good or service to the consumers and generally dominates the whole industry by controlling the market. In this case, the dominant firm has the ability to set the price while there are no other rivals to force competitiveness. In order to keep their domination, firms are likely to grow a behaviour that prevents other potential companies from breaking in the industry (Krugman, P. R.et al, 2012). How firms will behave, especially in a monopoly market where the demand is inelastic, is a very significant factor for the public interest. For a firm having no rivals, consumers run the risks of high prices for low quality and quantity products as the dominant firm loses the incentive to satisfy them. Furthermore you will be provided with a brief description on how firms tend to behave in this market structure, together with some information of Microsoft’s behaviour against public interest. Monopoly is a very crucial position to be. A firm wants to maintain this position and keep controlling the market by using as barriers the advantages the monopolistic power offers. Due to their long existence, established monopolies afford to grow special skills that makes their production and marketing very efficient. Together with the good control of their finance and costs they come to great results and supernormal profit in the long-run. Part of this profit is usually spent researches, investments and generally for their further development. The huge amount of output they produce, gives them the opportunity to reduce their average costs and form a low, but profitable price. These factors make the entrance of new firms almost impossible. A new company has to invest gigantic amounts in order to break in, something that is very risky. Even if they do, the firm owning the monopoly position can start a price war or enormous advertising campaigns which will again bring the new firm in a very difficult position (Sloman, J. et al, 2013). Figure 1: (Riley, G. , College E. , 2006) â€Å"Differences between monopoly and perfect competition markets†. Through the diagram above, the main differences of a firm operating in a monopolistic market rather than a one with perfect competition are identified. As stated before, the dominant firms are able to regulate the price of its product according to its marginal revenue and costs as the market appears to be of inelastic demand. This gives them the ability to operate in a profit maximising point (MC=MR) of Pmon-Q2 rather than Pcomp-Q1. As a result, firms are pushed away from the demand supply equilibrium that might had been set if there was competition, creating inefficiency and consumer surplus is lost because less output is supplied in higher price. This brings the reduction of welfare which is likely to be purely transferred to the producer through higher profits, but part of the loss is never reassigned to any other economic agent, bringing the known as â€Å"deadweight welfare loss† which is equal to the area ABC (Riley, G. College, E. , 2006). Inappropriate use of this power can sometimes be considered as consumer’s exploitation and market abuse in general. In these cases, governmental policies are likely to intervene. These can be departments or organizations that enforce the consumer protection and competition law in order to adjust justice and equality in the market. A good example were the US Justice Department took action is in Microsoft’s case. Microsoft is the biggest software company in the planet holding the reins of the industry for many years. Microsoft afforded to have its operating system, MS-DOS, installed in more than 90% of the world’s computers. For more than the half of its lifetime, Microsoft was taken to the courts by the US Government for exploiting its monopolistic power and trying to obliterate all its rivals. â€Å"Microsoft attempted to collude with Netscape Communications to divide the Internet Browser market. Netscape Communications refused† (Sloman, J. et al, 2010:170). Then, using a series of illegal actions, Microsoft tried to force other computer manufactures to promote and use its web browser â€Å"Internet Explorer† rather than Netscape’s Internet navigator (CNN Money, 2002). Microsoft was also sued for illegally restricting the multimedia player market by bundling Windows Media Player with its operating system and making it mandatory for all clients using Windows. (European Commission, 2007). To defend itself, Microsoft pointed that these actions were part their effort further innovation and development of their product, actions that had nothing to do with market abuse and consumer’s exploitation. This excuse was never accepted by the law. It was in the early 2004 when this case finally and Microsoft was forced to pay a fine of 497 million dollars for abusing its monopoly position (Sloman, J. et al, 2010; Sloman, J. et al, 2013). The main consideration is how were consumers affected by these series of actions across the years, was it against or in the public interest? On the one hand, considering what Microsoft stated in the court, this can be deemed to be a good kind of monopoly operating positively for the consumer’s interest. The continuously process of product innovation through research and development offered the ability to the consumer to enjoy an improved and updated product at reliable prices and satisfying quantities. In a market where the demand is so high, and the technology is growing so rapid this is of great importance. On the other hand, some of these actions might considered to be against them. The way Microsoft tried to promote its product, not only left consumers with no alternative choice in the operating system’s market but also forced them to make use its substitute programs (e. g. Windows Media Player). As a result, the consumer was indirectly ‘locked in’ a one way road consuming specified products produced by a single firm. To sum up, as all market structures monopoly carries both advantages and disadvantages. Whether this structure is deemed to be for or against the public interest is in basis of how firms owning the monopolistic position will behave. As for the market outlined above, my opinion is that Microsoft’s behaviour had a good overall approach towards consumers and should be considered as a good kind of monopoly. Relatively low prices on products with excellent quality and performance I think is a fair treatment for them. Especially now, after the entrance and gradual growth of some new players in the industry such as iOs and Android, the market has reached a fair level for the public interest giving the opportunity to the consumers to choose through a wide range of products that still offer good qualities.

Digital Divide in US Essay

The Digital Divide in US seems to be decreasing due to increase in the use of internet and awareness about the benefits of the technology. Moreover the US government is providing internet access to poor areas of the countries. This can be asserted from the fact that there are 2 million new internet users each month in US. (Dickard, 2002, pg. 1) But at the same time the technological divide between the ethnic groups is still there. The internet access to blacks and Hispanics is half that of Whites and Asians. This is because Hispanics come from poor backgrounds with less income and less access to education. Therefore they lack the basic computer skills to take avail the opportunities of the technological age. However realizing the great potential market that Hispanics provide, marketers are now focusing their attention on this segment and this has resulted in high internet penetration among Hispanics. Yet, affordability and skills to use the technology still remains a problem for this segment. The level of education is also an important factor in US in distinguishing between digital haves and haves not. Only a few of the people from those who didn’t pass high school had internet access but nearly half of the graduates have the digital access and this figure increases with the levels of qualifications. The level on income also has an impact. According to a study only 25% of the poor US households are online compared to 80% of the rich households. (Whipp, 2005) Digital Divide in the World There is wide digital divide between rich and poor nations of the world. The western world including America, Europe and other northern states have wide access to information technology whereas this access is limited in southern regions of the world like Africa, India, Pakistan and other regions of South Asia. The reason for this digital divide among then nations is that the poor nations are already burdened with multiple economic and social problems like debt, hunger, poor health and education structure and therefore cannot benefit from the technological advancements. These countries cannot afford the high cost of investment in technology and its maintenance. Their already limited resources are spent in fulfilling their basic needs. (Ryder, 2003) However economic aspect is not the only cause of digital divide issue. The education levels and illiteracy is another explanation for the digital gap. Third world countries lack the skills to use the digital technology due to poor educational background. Majority of the people in this part of the world are illiterate and want easy solutions to their problems and often find the new technology too confusing and complex to use. (Rossi, 2007) The digital gap also exists because people do not take full advantage of the technology even if they can afford it and are literate enough to use it. They are simply not interested to use it. For example many people still prefer to go to physical stores for shopping even though online shopping option saves them money and time. (Nielsen, 2006) Bridging the Digital Divide One major solution to narrow down the digital gap is to reduce cost of technology which includes setup cost and maintenance costs and also the prices of PCs. This would result in more people having access to information and technology as they would be able to afford the access to internet. Another factor which is important is the development of technology skills and increasing technology literacy so that people know how to use the technology in right way even if they can afford it. But this can only be done if basic literacy is given through proper education structure. Another solution is providing content for users that are far away from technological access like Hispanics and South Asians. There is very little content online for many minority groups. Not only providing content for such users but also content that is in their local language. (Carvin, 2000) Many third world countries who are already struggling for basic needs do not welcome technology as they do not see it providing their basic needs and instead find it complex. To overcome this technology must be implemented so that it can help in their development and addresses their basic needs. Savishinsky, 2000) Overcoming this global digital gap is just not the role of one group. Public and Private organizations and NGOs need to work together to bridge the gap. Government needs to provide basic education structure to improve the literacy levels and also provide opportunities for technological investments. Private organizations and NGOs need to help in providing digital access to rural areas where people cannot afford the technology and are not mastered enough to use. They can do this by funding schools and households and proving basic technological skills. Role of IT Companies and Professionals IT companies and professionals can play an important role in bridging the digital gap. IT companies can focus on providing technology in low income and low literacy areas of their society. This can be done by providing technological devices at lower costs. Also IT professionals can train local people in using the technology and create high quality content that caters to the needs of the community. Conclusion Digital Divide is one of the greatest challenges faced by the governments of the world. On one side information and technology is helping the part of a society that afford digital access but on the other hand the other part of society is continuously being deprived of the benefits of technology. Digital Divide due to economic and educational divide seems to be widening. Therefore steps must be taken to narrow this gap so that everyone can utilize the benefits of the new digital age.

Causes of the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire

The fall of the Roman Empire was inevitable by A. D. 476. Christianity had weakened the bonds that had held it together, the people became corrupt, and it got too big. It was also because of the barbarian attacks. All empires eventually fall and Rome’s time had come to an end. When discussing the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire one has to see that this occurred over many years and had many different facets. Each issue has to be addressed independently with the understanding that they simultaneously combined to the dissension within the Empire and the falling of the borders that had been established during its height. By the end of the second century AD, the empire encompassed most of the Mediterranean, including Spain, France, most of Britain, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Egypt, and Northern Africa. The collapse of the Roman Empire was a calamity; it leads to the Dark (Middle) Ages. Seeing all the bad that came of it, the destruction of art, the collapse of great cities, the deterioration of the system of roads, the ruin of the Mediterranean trade, and the loss of European unity–it's difficult to imagine any good came of it. But some good did result. The break up of the empire led to the abolition of slavery in Europe. Of course, this, in turn, led to more poverty and the increase of latifundia because the poor people lost their land to the aristocrats. But the slaves were better off as peasants than as slaves. Christianity was a major cause of the fall of Rome. Although Rome had religious tolerance, Romans, especially Jews, didn’t accept Christianity. A lot of people converted to Christianity because they lost faith in the Romans. At first most Christians were Jews but less strict. Many values were different but they still followed Jewish dietary laws and shared many beliefs with the Jews. The early Christians also got circumcised. Even Jesus got circumcised because he was born a Jew. Then he thought he was God’s messenger but many other people during that time also thought that so most people started off not believing him. The Christians started adopting the values that they have today during the time that Saul/Paul was alive. At first he started off as a Jew who hated Jesus and hated the Christians but then he converted and traveled around spreading the thoughts of Christians but he said that Christians didn’t need to follow the Jewish dietary laws and they didn’t need to get circumcised. The Romans and the Jews didn’t like the message that Jesus was spreading so they crucified him. One impact that Jesus had was that more people didn’t want to join the military and they didn’t want to participate in the community. Since the people stopped participating in government and they didn’t join the army, the Roman army composed of the Barbarians from Germany. These Barbarians lead disorganized attacks and even attacked other Roman Barbarian groups. Because of these sloppy attacks, Rome’s army fell and it was no longer the military superpower it was before. Also, many of the lands that Rome had conquered wanted independence and broke free of the Roman Empire. Herbert J. Muller argues in his book Uses of the Past that Rome got rich by conquering new lands and because of trade with new markets and when the Barbarian attacks went unsuccessful they got no more land therefore losing their source of wealth. Edward Gibbon argues the opposite in his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He says that the Roman Empire fell because it was too widespread. He says that there was too much land for the government to govern and because of that the government lost money. By the end of the Roman Empire it was widespread and had many land. By conquering these lands they got many slaves from war and from these new lands. The abundance of slaves lead to the growth of latifundia, large estates owned by the rich. These slaves were willing to work hard for little pay so the rich got richer and the poor grew poorer. The poor coloni [farmers] lost their lands and the aristocrats bought them out. Then the poor farmers went to the city and became dependent on handouts from the government such as free grain. There were many causes for the fall of the Roman Empire. Some causes were the rise of Christianity, the fall of the army, the abundance of slaves and the size of the empire. Because of all these reasons and many more Rome couldn’t survive which lead to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman empire survived and became the Byzantine Empire. Rome’s fall lead to the Dark Ages but Rome has an impact in our everyday culture because they influenced the Greeks of whose culture we have copied in order to build our own culture.