Net Censorship Essays - Pornography Law, Censorship,

Net Censorship Most of us have used it. Most of us find it useful, Some of us find it entertaining. Some of us find it offensive. ?It? is the Internet. The Internet has dramatically changed our society. It brings together people and their ideas from all around the world in a short amount of time. It is expanding daily to allow new ideas and thought s to be transmitted quickly and easily with the single click of a button. One can find information on almost any subject there. Yet many people are trying to censor it. The Internet contains racist thoughts, sexually explicit material and much more inappropriate material. But who is it inappropriate for and why should it be censored? In 1996 the Communications Decency Amendment was passed by congress. This amendment imposed a $100,000 fine or a 2-year jail term on anyone who used the Internet to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass anyone else. Pro-censors believed the act to be necessary in order to extend the standards of decency to the new telecommunications device. Anti-censors thought the amendment was acting like the ?thought police.? Recently though the Supreme Court overturned the Communications Decency Act in the civil case of Reno v. ACLU. This new law states that the Internet deserves the same level of speech protection as books or other printed material. Even with this new law in effect many people are still trying and some are succeeding at censoring the Internet. They are creating schemes to block and rate the net. A meeting recently took place at the White House about this subject. Several industry leaders and the government agreed to try to originate a variety of systems to block and regulate controversial online speech. Despite the Supreme Court these leaders are inching toward the dangerous and incorrect understanding that the Internet is like television and should be rated and/or censored. During this meeting many announcements took place. Netscape, a major online server, proclaimed their plans to join Microsoft, a major computer company, and adopt the Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS). PICS is a rating standard that established a consistent way to rate and block online content. IBM also had an announcement: They have decided to make a $100,000 grant to Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC), another rating system. They did this in hopes of encouraging it's use. Senator Patty Murray of New York announced of a proposed legislation that would tax civil and ultimately criminal penalties on those who mis-rate a website. What will be the result of all these actions? The Internet will become bland and homogenized. The major commercial sites will still be readily available but those who circulate quirky and idiosyncratic speech, those who create their own home pages or post to controversial news groups will be the first to be blocked by filters and made invisible by the search engines. They will still be there but available only to those with the know how and the tools. Does this material deserve to be censored anyway? Internet users know best what they are looking at. If it offends them, they should move on. The primary responsibility for determining what speech to access and what speech not to access should remain up to the Internet user not filters. Many parents have a problem with their children and the Internet. There are many suggestions and ideas for controlling what they are viewing. The parents should also have they computer in a room where they can look over the child's shoulders every once in a while to check up on them. The parents should put time restrictions on usage of the computer. There are many solutions to this problem. In conclusion the Internet is a quickly growing addition to our culture., It informs, entertains and can possible offend. But with the Supreme Court's ruling, no one should be allowed to censor it. The Internet is a never-ending worldwide conversation that deserves the highest protection from government intrusion.

Evidence Darwin Had for Evolution

Evidence Darwin Had for Evolution Imagine being the first person to discover and put together the pieces of an idea so big that it would change the entire spectrum of science forever. In this day and age with all of the technology available and all kinds of information right at our fingertips, this may not seem to be such a daunting task. What would it have been like back in a time where this previous knowledge that we take for granted had not yet been discovered and the equipment that is now commonplace in labs had not yet been invented? Even if you are able to discover something new, how do you publish this new and outlandish idea and then get scientists all over the world to buy into the hypothesis and help strengthen it? This is the world that Charles Darwin had to work in as he pieced together his Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection. There are many ideas that now seem like common sense to scientists and students that were unknown during his time. Yet, he still managed to use what was available to him to come up with such a profound and fundamental concept. So what exactly did Darwin know when he was coming up with the Theory of Evolution? 1.  Observational Data Obviously, Charles Darwins most influential piece of his Theory of Evolution puzzle is the strength of his own personal observational data. Most of this data came from his long voyage on the HMS Beagle to South America. Particularly, their stop at the Galapagos Islands proved to be a gold mine of information for Darwin in his collection of data on evolution. It was there that he studied the finches indigenous to the islands and how they differed from the South American mainland finches. Through drawings, dissections, and preserving specimens from stops along his voyage, Darwin was able to support his ideas that he had been forming about natural selection and evolution. Charles Darwin published several about his voyage and the information he collected. These all became important as he further pieced together his Theory of Evolution. 2.  Collaborators Data Whats even better than having data to back up your hypothesis? Having someone elses data to back up your hypothesis. That was another thing that Darwin knew as he was creating the Theory of Evolution. Alfred Russel Wallace had come up with the same ideas as Darwin as he traveled to Indonesia. They got in contact and collaborated on the project. In fact, the first public declaration of the Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection came as a joint presentation by Darwin and Wallace at the Linnaean Society of Londons annual meeting. With double the data from different parts of the world, the hypothesis seemed even stronger and more believable. In fact, without Wallaces original data, Darwin may never have been able to write and publish his most famous book On the Origin of Speices which outlined Darwins Theory of Evolution and the idea of Natural Selection. 3.  Previous Ideas The idea that species change over a period of time was not a brand new idea that came from Charles Darwins work. In fact, there were several scientists that came before Darwin that had hypothesized the exact same thing. However, none of them were taken as seriously because they did not have the data or know the mechanism for how species change over time. They only knew that it made sense from what they could observe and see in similar species. One such early scientist was actually the one that influenced Darwin the most. It was his own grandfather Erasmus Darwin. A doctor by trade, Erasmus Darwin was fascinated by nature and the animal and plant worlds. He instilled a love of nature in his grandson Charles who later recalled his grandfathers insistence that species were not static and in fact did change as time passed. 4.  Anatomical Evidence Almost all of Charles Darwins data was based on anatomical evidence of various species. For instance, with Darwins finches, he noticed the beak size and shape was indicative of what kind of food the finches ate. Identical in every other way, the birds were clearly closely related but had the anatomical differences in their beaks that made them different species. These physical changes were necessary for the survival of the finches. Darwin noticed the birds that did not have the right adaptations often died before they were able to reproduce. This led him to the idea of natural selection. Darwin also had access to the fossil record. While there were not as many fossils that had been discovered in that time as we have now, there was still plenty for Darwin to study and ponder over. The fossil record was able to clearly show how a species would change from an ancient form to a modern form through an accumulation of physical adaptations. 5.  Artificial Selection The one thing that escaped Charles Darwin was an explanation for how the adaptations happened. He knew that natural selection would decide if an adaptation was advantageous or not in the long run, but he was unsure of how those adaptations occurred in the first place. However, he did know that offspring inherited characteristics from their parents. He also knew that offspring were similar but still different than either parent. To help explain adaptations, Darwin turned to artificial selection as a way to experiment with his ideas of heredity. After he returned from his voyage on the HMS Beagle, Darwin went to work breeding pigeons. Using artificial selection, he chose which traits he wanted the baby pigeons to express and bred the parents that showed those traits. He was able to show that artificially selected offspring showed desired traits more often than the general population. He used this information to explain how natural selection worked.

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 10

International Business - Essay Example French government started paying much attention to the issue. For example, the president Jacque Chirac as well as prime minister Lionel Jospin always emphasized the necessity to introduce more effective methods directed at market regulation in the conditions of globalization. Jospin allowed foreign organizations to buy the parts of the French companies, which were owned by the state. Thus, the company Air France was partially sold in 1998. This testifies about many changes, which were happened to France. The government of France considers cultural diversity to be a positive phenomenon that should be supported, but in general the politics of the country is directed at slowing down the globalization. France is very much concerned about the influence the globalization imposes and is looking for various ways to regulate this influence (Globalization). The protest against globalization is so active in France that not only the government but also plain people take part in this protest. A perfect example is breaking a McDonald’s symbol by a sheep farmer Jose Bove in defense of French traditions. In the survey on the issue 45% of respondent approved his actions and only 4% were against (Gordon & Meunier, 2001). It is essential to mention that French citizens do not see any difference in â€Å"globalization† and â€Å"Americanization†. Really the phenomenon under consideration is associated with â€Å"Americanization† because of the influence the international English language, high economic development, liberal policies and the influence the development of American politics, economy, technology and values impose on other countries. It is possible to state that though France is fighting against globalization, at the same time it is adjusting to its influence and moreover, takes all possible benefits from it . Economic domain is a

Case in technical and ethical issue of financial accounting Study

In technical and ethical issue of financial accounting - Case Study Example A reflection of imperfect information on the financial records can affect the concurrent transactions and cost. Accountants are guided by a set code of ethics in their roles. Ethical behavior among accountants is vital to prevent fraudulent activities and gain public trust in the management of any business venture (CIMA, 2010). Professionals serving in the accounting department have a great responsibility to the public in general. Public trust emanates mostly on the information given to them by accountants. Based on the case of JINX Magazine Corporation, the operating manager persuades the accountant to fulfil his request by giving a contradicting financial statement. The conduct is against the norms and ethics that should be upheld by accounting professionals. Accountants have an ethical obligation not to present erroneous and conflicting statements intentionally. There is no justification in supported of professional accountants’ conduct that defies the rules of accounting. They should not do that irrespective of any compulsion from the authority or other parties. Furthermore, accoun tants should observe ethical conduct by maintaining records that are not falsified. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). (2010). Code of ethics. Retrieved April 3, 2015 from

Construction Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Construction Law - Essay Example The first will deal with actions Innocent can take in relation to the inferior materials under contract law and industry statute. The second section deals with standards to be used by Innocent’s architects to call for changes and review. Finally, this section will deal with the dampness problem that was discovered after the contract was rectified. Question (A) In this section, the position of Innocent in relation to their architects's findings are examined in relation to the principles of contract law, breach of contract and the common law doctrine of temporary disconformity. Rules The terms of a contract can be express by incorporation by the terms of reference or implied by relevant legal rues. Exclusion clauses cannot be applied in cases of negligence and major activities that are not done in good faith1. In this broad and general framework, the HGCRA states that the construction contract requires a contractor to build to specification2. The Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) a lthough is not statutory has a composition made up of various professional associations which set standards in the building industry. Traditionally a building's structures and diagrams are to be drawn by an architect and supervised by the same architect throughout the construction process3. The architect is not part of the contract but engaged by a party, usually the sponsor or employer in a separate contract. The architect is an independent party and an agent of the employer who must operate ethically and independently4. Express terms in contracts become conditions and when they are not followed and honoured, it can lead to an action for a breach of contract5. Quality standards and quality specifications in a building contract become a form of conditions which must be adhered to. Failure to adhere to these expressly agreed standards leads to a potential breach of contract. In English Common Law, a breach of implied or express term can authorise the aggrieved party to sue for a brea ch of collateral contract under tort or sue for quantum meruit for a breach of statutory duty6. Temporary disconformity could be fully reward if the contractor makes a timely request to change the parts in order to remedy an issue that is capable of being corrected7. In Surrey V Lovell8, it was held that new destruction that damages a property during the various construction stages creates different circumstances9. Rather, in a situation where a builder quickly moves to rectify the situation, an action for a breach of contract will not stand as long as the temporary disconformity is fixed in a timely manner. Application The JCT Design and Building Contract 2011 Edition gives Innocent the right to get the inferior materials fixed. All they need is to get their architects to provide a report and they can demand the modification of the materials by Handyman. Handyman has an option of fixing the defective parts and other aspects. If they are able to do it in a timely manner, they can cl aim temporary disconformity and prevent further actions. But if they refuse, Innocent can take the action further and sue for a breach of contract since the materials used clearly do not conform with the agreed materials and level of quality that is specified in the contract. Conclusion Innocent has the right to sue for a breach of contract. This is because the fundamental specifications that invoked the contract have not been followed to specification. Hence, they can move to get Handyman to fix it. If Handyman fixes it,

The Role Of Accountants In Todays Business Organizations Accounting Essay

The Role Of Accountants In Todays Business Organizations Accounting Essay In the past ten years, a significant amount of research attention was focused on recognizing, analyzing, contradicting, favoring, and critiquing the changing roles of accountants. In the past ten years, we witnessed accountants assuming additional tasks such as strategy formulation, systems development, organizational re-design and a whole lot more. In the 21st century, we have seen accountants devoting much less of their time to routine financial analysis, transaction processing, auditing and statutory reporting. The roles of accountants in the business environment have become business oriented.  [1]  These changes posed crisis for accountants as the professions credibility has been questioned.  [2]   In this paper, we look into the traditional roles of accountants and compare such to that of the roles of the modern accounting profession. I discuss some ethical concerns binding these roles and express my opinion regarding these changes. This discussion leads to the main point of this paper- the importance of accountants in todays business environment along with the demands for new roles of the accountants. Moreover, I also discuss various sources and types of information available to the accountants and the quality that this information should possess. Information, an increasingly important asset for all business organization, is necessary for accountants to satisfy these new demands for their expertise. The Roles of Accountants Accountants face dilemma as they face two contrasting roles at the same time. First, they are seen as watchdogs for top management while they are also seen as helpers of the management. However, the second role seemed to have increased its importance in the recent years and accounting systems was seen as impetus for organizations improvement.  [3]   Specifically, the traditional roles of accountants include: auditing, managerial accounting, and tax accounting. These roles are the most basic functions that accountants are trained for as early as undergraduate education. On the other hand, the additional or modern roles of accountants are financial planning, business analysis and strategy, technology planning and consulting. Within these roles, the accountants serve more specified tasks. These are usually assumed in the actual practice; hence skills are acquired in the actual practice. Auditing. This is theoretically, the basic and most important role of an independent accountant. The tasks of the accountant as an auditor are to check the organizations estimate is in accordance to formulas that are used consistently every year.  [4]  However, the importance of auditing as a business process has decreased recently. In a survey done among academicians, practitioners and students, audit preparation only received a moderate rank in terms of importance of this task by accountants.  [5]   Managerial Accounting. This is usually the role of in-house accountants who act as either controllers or internal auditors. The task of an in-house accountant is to give the most accurate picture of the economic status of the company and to respect the truth about the report.  [6]   Tax Accounting. This is the role of a book keeper or tax preparatory. The tasks of the book keeper include: determination and estimation of tax liabilities of the clients whether individual or corporate.  [7]   Financial Planning. This is a rising role for accountants. The demand for this new role is brought about by their knowledge and expertise on taxation laws and financial investment markets.  [8]  Additional tasks under this role include: performing due diligence, organizing share-holder meetings, supervising cash management and payroll handling.  [9]   Business Planning and Strategy. This is the role of accountants to translate raw financial numbers into usable business information. Project accounting and knowledge management are also additional tasks under this new role for accountants. Under this role, accountants guide managers and business owners to improve productivity and maximize profitability.  [10]   Technology Planning. With the automation of various business processes, accountants also become involved in development and implementation of new information systems. Now, owners and managers rely on accountants to choose the most suitable technology solutions for financial and business management.  [11]   Consulting. Accountants also become consultants for financial management, income distribution, accounting and auditing functions as well.  [12]   The Key Drivers of Role Changes It has been made clear in the literature that the roles of accounting have changed in the recent years and these changes are expected to continue. The roles of accounting shifted from information provision to extended information facilitation. Specifically, this shift in roles made accountants from book keeping, data analysis, and tax preparation into much wider range of duties in management.  [13]  This is to say that the roles of accountants shifted into business oriented or entrepreneurial roles. This shift is brought about by the following key drivers: changes in business market conditions, re-designing organization, new managerial philosophies, more complex business processes, systems development, innovations in management techniques, and human resource development.  [14]   Because of these key drivers, changes in the roles of accountants are more likely to continue in at least another ten years. No longer bounded by numbers and formulas, accountants can feel free and rely on their creative and strategic side. The Challenge for Accountants Accountants will always be as important to business enterprises today. While others argue that change in orientation of accountant is a blow to the credibility of the profession, I believe this is rather a challenge that accountants need to glorify. Business oriented or entrepreneurial roles for accountants call for additional skills in these fields. In order to achieve credibility again, as others claim that the profession has lost it, accountants should master these additional fields to be considered experts of the field. Hence, this does them not mere practitioners of these new fields but experts as well. This is a call to the accounting education research to dwell more on these additional fields so accountants may gain more in sights as to how these fields may be associated firmly with the traditional accounting practices. This is also a call to the academe to train the aspiring accountants to be flexible and well rounded ones in order to for them to satisfy the demands that awaits them in the actual practice. This is also a call for students to be open minded and be willing to accept these changing roles not as insults but rather a challenge and opportunity to become more significant in todays business environment. Lastly, this is a call for certified and practicing accountants to get out of numbers and formulas and be willing to use their creative minds to do more analysis and strategizing- and more opportunities that may prove that accountants can satisfy the demands of the present business environment to them; without sacrificing of course, the core ethics of the traditional acco unting profession. Accountants should hold on traditional ethics and values. It is the roles, skills, and practice that will change and re-oriented. Sources and Quality of Accounting Information Moreover, in order to satisfy the present demands for accountants, information is also a necessary. Now, information is a vital resource for the survival of all contemporary business organizations. It has become of the basic and most important resource for business intelligence and achievement of competitive advantage. In this section, I discuss the sources of information and the quality of this information needed by accountants. In everyday business, various types and quantities on information flow to decision makers and users to meet internal organizational needs. The sources of information for the accountant may come from any of the components of information flow system within an organization. These include top management sources, middle management sources, operations management sources and operations personnel sources. This information flow is an exchange of performance information, day-to-day operations information and budget information and instructions.  [15]   Moreover, in order to be useful, accounting information should have each of the following qualities at a minimum degree: Understandability. Accounting information should be comprehensive and understandable to users who have reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and economic information. This quality serves as a link between decision makers and the accounting information at hand. Decision Usefulness. Decision usefulness is also a qualitative characteristic needed to judge quality of accounting information. This is dependent on the availability of information and ability of the user to process the information for it to be used in decision making. Relevance. Accounting information should also be relevant in order to help the user of information analyze the outcomes of the past and present and predict the outcome of the future events according to prior expectations. In order to be relevant, the information must have predictive and feedback value and timeliness. Reliability. Accounting information will also be useful if it is reliable. This is to say that information must be free from error and bias; hence presenting faithfully what is intended to be presented. Verifiability. Accounting information must also be verifiable for measures to agree with the selected method without error or bias. Verification is useful in reducing measure bias because the same method can be used to repeat measurements to reduce intentional and unintentional errors. Comparability and Consistency. Lastly, accounting information must be comparable because information becomes more useful when compared with information from other companies. This allows accountants to identify and explain similarities and differences between two or more economic facts.  [16]  

Pride In Poetry :: essays research papers

â€Å"And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility† (Coleridge). Pride effects everyone and everything. It effects the way that we live, the way that we read and the way that we go about things. It hinders people and events. T.S. Eliot seems to have some experience with this word in context. In his two poems, â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† and â€Å"The Journey of the Magi†, there seems to be strong senses of pride and regret of an unfulfilled life. They each make a tour through points in their lives, which seem to have been hard times. Pride puts a bad outlook on life, just like it says in the quote by Coleridge. It is a big problem that drapes over the heads of human kind and seems to be a big thing in the eyes of the speakers in the poems. It is a hard thing to get past and it hurts you very easily. If you live your life in fear, it may end before you can do what you wanted to do with your life. If Eliot’s poems a re doing anything, they are telling people to get past their insecurities and go for it. Eliot could be using himself as an example as someone whom hung up his insecurities and succeeded. Pride is shown a lot in these poems, and it shows why someone should get past it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†, a dead man is going through his life that has been filled with regret. The poem is an ode to Dante’s book, The Divine Comedy, in particular the part entitled Inferno. This is shown in the epilogue of the poem. There is a quote that says, â€Å"If I thought my answer were to one who ever could return to the world, this flame should shake no more, but since none ever did return alive from this depth, if what I hear be true without fear of infamy I answer thee† (Manganiello 18). In Inferno, the speaker overcomes his initial reluctance to reveal his identity when he takes Dante for one of the damned like himself, confined to hell for eternity. The speaker believed that his story would never be told on earth. When he finally announces what it is that happened to him, the words express â€Å"a hidden pride for having once achieved earthly renown and an active desire to vindicate his reputation† ( 19).