The Impact of Technology on Teenagers free essay sample

The Impact of Technology on Teenagers As technology advances, so do teenagers, and the rest of the people from all around the world. Technology has made a huge impact on today? s society and teens have shown to be the most interested on the topic. We live surrounded by technology, we can find it everywhere and in all shapes and sizes, these amazing gadgets seem to be changing constantly. Technology takes place in our daily life and also infers in the way we talk, the way we dress, what we listen and watch.It ahs a lot of positive impacts on today? s youth, because in some way it brings people together, it increases social activity with social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Skype and many others that connect us to the rest of the world. The internet offers young people a lot of great opportunities and access to an amazing amount of information, which is very useful because it helps, both, teachers and students to get a better education and information, also the process of sharing is faster and easier. We will write a custom essay sample on The Impact of Technology on Teenagers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Internet helps people to fasten openness, work on their self-confidence, and greater sense of ease, and comfort while dealing with others. On a teenager’s life music is a massive and really important factor, and the way you can carry your music wherever you go to, is simply amazing. Music is very influential, it can get people in a better mood and it’s a really clear thing that it’s also motivational, on the other hand you can notice that the some lyrics are very relatable to the modern teenager, and so tis creates a bond between you and society.Technology isn’t always that good. Teens spend almost the whole time on the Internet and this has created an overuse. Some people say Internet makes close people be apart, and the distant people get closer; I agree with this somehow, I think Internet is one of the greatest inventions that has hit our society, but it also breaks the whole experience of human intercourse.

Banking Industry Structure essay

Banking Industry Structure essay Banking Industry Structure essay Banking Industry Structure essayTwo regulations that had a particularly strong impact on the banking industry in the United States were the Glass-Steagall Act (GSA) passed in 1933 that prohibited banking organizations to get involved into both investment banking and commercial banking industry, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) passed in 1999 that repealed the prohibition of GSA to combine investment and commercial banking. The critics of the GLBA state that it was the cause of the banking industry crisis and financial recession in 2007-2009, and that repealing the GSA was a mistake. However, analysis shows that the key factors that caused the crisis were unaffected by the GLBA and that the passage of the GLBA in fact reduced the impact of crisis on the banking industry due to greater diversification of banking services and portfolios. So, repealing the Glass-Steagall act was not a mistake, but rather a correct and timely measure that made the banking industry more competitive an d helped alleviate the impact of the crisis to a small extent.In order to evaluate the consequences of repealing the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, it is necessary to consider the prerequisites of this legislation and the economic context that led to the creation of this Act. The considered time period is between 1927 and 1933 (Heakall, 2003). Initially, the Glass-Steagall Act was created to prevent banks from committing fraud and misusing public trust. The major events that shaped the economic context for the GSA were the economic boom in the 1920s followed by the Great Depression that started in 1929 (Heakall, 2003). One of key causes of the Great Depression was commercial speculation performed by banks – banks took huge risks to get rewards and used shady schemes to encourage their clients to invest into risky assets (Cftech.com, 1998).In 1933, commercial speculation was considered the major cause of the crisis. However, in several decades economists came to the conclusion th at the key factor of the recession was economic depression itself, while security speculation was only a minor catalyst of the financial decline (Cftech.com, 1998). Another supposed key cause of the Great Depression was the lack of nationwide banking system – banking operations in the 1920s were performed by unit banks within states (Cftech.com, 1998). Moreover, Senator Glass who was the main ideologist of the GSA 2 years later came to the conclusion that the GSA was an overregulation and attempted to have it repealed (Cftech.com, 1998). So, GSA regulations were excess and too strict from the very beginning. However, in 1956 Congress extended the GSA and created one more barrier between insurance and banking (Heakall, 2003). So, the banking industry was strongly regulated until 1999.It is also important to analyze the economic context in 1999 when the GLBA was enacted and the barriers created by the GSA were repealed. First of all, banking segment became more globalized as w ell as investment capital, so the barriers between national and foreign investments were blurred (Tatom, 2011). Furthermore, banking institutions used many ways of diversifying its trading portfolios outside the GSA regulations – for example, investment banks were allowed to trade and hold such risky assets as derivatives, debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities, etc. (Calabria, 2009).Large banking organizations emerged and gained power despite the presence of GSA regulations because of consolidation and integration processes going in the banking industry (Wallace, 2014). Therefore, the context in which the banking industry operated changed, and the GSA provisions made American banking system less diversified and less flexible compared to international players. Furthermore, the GLBA repealed only one section of the GSA – the prohibition to combine investment and commercial banking, so its impact on the whole development of the banking industry was not so â€Å"de regulatory† as the supporters of Occupy Wall Street movement claimed (Tatom, 2011).Finally, it is necessary to consider key causes of the financial recession that took place in 2007-2009 and the interrelationship of the GLBA with these factors. According to Brook Watkins (2012), the institutions that resorted to risky borrowing and investment practices were Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, AIG and Merrill Lynch; however, none of these organizations was influenced by the GSA repeal. Furthermore, those commercial banks the activities of which were expanded by the GLBA went into trouble due to investing into mortgage-backed securities and residential mortgages (Wallace, 2014). However, the GSA did not prohibit commercial banks to use the above-mentioned securities, so the repeal of the GSA did not contribute to the failure of commercial banking either. In addition, the number of financing holding companies that actually used the GLBA benefits and combine d commercial and investment banking was quite low in the pre-crisis years (Calabria, 2009).The research conducted by Collins, Kwag and Yildirim (2003) shows that the actual impact of the GSA repeal on the banking industry was the following. Banking organizations received more opportunities to diversify their portfolios, which allowed them to shift and diversify risks (Collins, Kwag Yildirim, 2003). As a result, banking industry became less risky both for stockhodlers and for regulators (Collins, Kwag Yildirim, 2003). At the same time, no significant wealth redistribution was noted, which means that the attractiveness of the considered financial sector did not increase compared to other sectors of financial industry. Collins, Kwag and Yildirim (2003) suggest that this fact can be explained by the long-term evolution of competition in the financial industry. In other words, the GLBA did not lead to excess wealth creation or commercial speculation, but instead it allowed to reduce sy stemic risks and therefore benefit both the customers and the organizations in the banking sphere.These conclusions are in line with the findings of Calabria (2009) who states that few financial holding organizations took advantage of the GLBA and combined investment and commercial banking. According to Calabria (2009), the repeal of the GSA might even have mitigated the consequences of the crisis for the banking system. In any case, repealing the GSA division between commercial and investment banking in 1999 was a timely and appropriate measure that corresponded to the demands of the economic environment.Despite the fact that there are numerous advantages of GLBA, it is important to note that there still might emerge conflicts of interest in banking involving commercial and investment banking, and it might be necessary to have proper regulation in place in order to identify such cases and to prevent speculation and fraud. However, the need for regulating potential conflicts of inte rest does not mean that banks should be prohibited to engage in commercial and investment banking as it was in the GSA times. Rather, it is necessary to pass more specified and more flexible regulations that would target conflicts of interest without affecting the ability of the banking sector to diversify portfolios.

The Tenor of a Metaphor, a Rhetorical Term

The Tenor of a Metaphor, a Rhetorical Term In a metaphor, the tenor is the principal subject illuminated by the vehicle (that is, the actual  figurative expression). The interaction of tenor and vehicle evokes the meaning of the metaphor. Another word for tenor is topic. For example, if you call a lively or outspoken person a firecracker (The guy was a real firecracker, determined to live life on his own terms), the aggressive person is the tenor and firecracker is the vehicle. The terms vehicle  and  tenor  were introduced by British  rhetorician  Ivor Armstrong Richards in  The Philosophy of Rhetoric  (1936). [V]ehicle and tenor in cooperation, said Richards, give a meaning of more varied powers than can be ascribed to either. Examples The main elements of metaphorical equations such as Life is a walking shadow are often referred to as tenor (thing we are talking about) and vehicle (that to which we are comparing it).   Ground . . . denotes the link between tenor and vehicle (i.e., common properties; Ullmann 1962: 213). Thus, in the metaphor  Ã‚  Life is a walking shadow, life represents the tenor, walking shadow the vehicle, and transience the ground.Alternative terminologies abound. Popular alternatives for tenor and vehicle are target domain and source domain, respectively.(Verena Haser,  Metaphor, Metonymy, and Experientialist Philosophy: Challenging Cognitive  Semantics. Walter de Gruyter, 2005)Tenor and Vehicle in William Staffords RecoilIn William Staffords poem Recoil, the first stanza is the vehicle and the second stanza is the tenor:The bow bent remembers home long,the years of its tree, the whineof wind all night conditioningit, and its answer Twang!To the people here who would fret me downtheir way and make me bend:By remembering hard I could startle for homeand be myself again. Tenor and Vehicle in Cowleys The WishIn the first stanza of Abraham Cowleys poem â€Å"The Wish,† the tenor is the city and the vehicle is a beehive:Well then! I now do plainly seeThis busy world and I shall neer agree.The very honey of all earthly joyDoes of all meats the soonest cloy;And they, methinks, deserve my pityWho for it can endure the stings,The crowd and buzz and murmurings,Of this great hive, the city. I.A. Richards on Tenor and Vehicle We need the word metaphor for the whole double unit, and to use it sometimes for one of the two components in separation from the other is as injudicious as that other trick by which we use the meaning here sometimes for the work that the whole double unit does and sometimes for the other componentthe tenor, as I am calling itthe underlying idea or principal subject which the vehicle or figure means. It is not surprising that the detailed analysis of metaphors, if we attempt it with such slippery terms as these, sometimes feels like extracting cube-roots in the head.​(I.A. Richards, The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford University Press, 1936)​[I.A. Richards] understood metaphor as a series of shifts, as borrowings back and forth, between tenor and vehicle. Hence, in 1936, his famous definition of metaphor as a transaction between contexts.Richards justified coining tenor, vehicle, and ground to clarify the terms of that transaction. . . . The two parts had been called by such loaded locutions as the original idea and the borrowed one; what is really being said or thought of and what it is compared to; the idea and the image; and the meaning and the metaphor. Some theorists refused to concede how much idea was imbedded in, drawn from the image. . . . With neutral terms a critic can proceed to study the relations between tenor and vehicle more objectively.(J. P. Russo, I.A. Richards: His Life and Work. Taylor, 1989) Pronunciation: TEN-er

Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Coursework - Essay Example This paper presents results from a research project aiming at developing an architecture supporting local mobility within hospital. The architecture is based on fieldwork and mostly on the knowledge derived from a large number of reliable sources. The fieldwork has emphasized the differences between remote mobility, where users travel over long distances, and local mobility, where users walk around within a fixed set of building. Based on an in depth study, I conclude that local mobility puts up three requirements for computer support;(i) it should integrate into the existing infrastructure (ii) it should support the use of various heterogeneous devices, and (iii) it should enable seamless application roaming between these devices. The paper describes how these requirements were realized in an architecture for local mobility, and how the architecture can be implemented in the health care domain and the costs involved in it and the various benefits gained from it.

Denial of service issues and solutions Dissertation

Denial of service issues and solutions - Dissertation Example (Chau) The real intent of those attacks is to shut down a site and not to penetrate it. Purpose may also be vandalism, extortion or social action including terrorism. (Crocker, 2007) 1.3 How DoS works The nature of DoS can be explained using Figure 1.1. In the figure, Bob is the authentic user of the system and he sends messages using the insecure Internet to the server. Darth, the attacker interfere the services offered by server and make the genuine user, Bob, invisible to server. In a normal connection, users transmit a message to the server to get authentication from the server. Then, the server returns a message to authenticate to the user as a genuine user of the system. Also, from the user side, the acknowledge message is sent back to approve the server and the connection between the user and the server is established. Figure 1.1 Denial of Service (Stallings, 2006) When a denial of service attack is taken place, the server receives several authentication requests, seemingly ca me from the authentic users, which have false return addresses. The server fails to successfully locate the user while trying to return the authentication acknowledgement. Then, the server waits so that it can authenticate the user before stopping the connection. In most DoS attacks, the attackers flood the servers with forged requests and make servers delayed. 1.4 Types and Generation of DoS Attacks Generally, there are three major classifications of DoS attacks depending on the victims targeted by attackers—users, hosts or networks though there are several types of DoS attack prevalent on Internet. US Cert advisory suggests that the three main types of DoS attacks are bandwidth, protocol and software vulnerability attacks. The major aspects that most DoS attacks are focusing on are bandwidth, CPU time and memory. Most common DoS attacks can be summarized as the following. 1.4.1 TCP SYN Flood Attack Flood type attacks are the first known form of a DoS attack and their attack ing mechanism of is quite simple – attackers send more traffic to a server than it can handle. (Georgieva, 2009) SYN Flood attack is a protocol type and exploits the weakness of TCP/IP protocol. US CERT advisory defines SYN flood as â€Å"an asymmetric resource starvation attack in which the attacker floods the victim with TCP SYN packets and the victim allocates resources to accept perceived incoming connections†. In TCP SYN flood attack, the legitimate users are ignored when the attacker initiates a TCP connection to the serve with a SYN. The victim server responds to the request with spoofed IP address and waits for ACK from the client side. Then, the connection table of the server is filled up and it neglects all new connections from legitimate users. This phenomenon can be clarified using Figure 1.2. Figure 1.2 Comparison of Normal TCP 3 ways Handshake and TCP SYN Flood attack demonstration (cisco.com) Flood type attacks are so common and powerful. Georgieva (2009 ) suggests that â€Å"even if a webmaster adds more bandwidth, this still is not a sufficient protection against a flood attack†. Because of the bandwidth insufficiency, even the normal volume of legitimate requests may appear as flood attacks. 1.4.2 Ping of Death Attack The Ping of Death or POD attack is another DoS attack with simple principle. It exploits software vulnerab

Media and Body Image - Essay Essay Example for Free

Media and Body Image Essay Essay How does the media influence our body image? In what forms, does the media influence our perceptions about our body? These were the two questions that I asked myself in order to do the research paper and the panel discussion. In my opinion, I would agree that the media does influence and promote women and men to believe that the cultures standards for body image are ideal. Hence, the phrases, thin is in and the perfect body are two examples of eye-catching headlines that I observed in many women magazines. I learned that the media influences us through television, fashion and health magazines, music videos, film, commercials, and various other advertisements. Sadly, as a result, this repeated exposure, the thin ideal, can lead many young girls in triggering eating disorders, depression, low self-esteem, stress, and suicide. After acquiring this relevant information, I decided to focus my research on what type of media influences elementary school children and the adolescent teenager. The three central types of media that I found that did indeed influence body image are: Fashion magazines, famous top-models and actresses, and teenage or young adult women in the music industry. According to the Seretean Center for Health Promotion, the term, body image has been coined to describe a persons inner sense of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the physical appearance of her/his body. (From The Wellness Column, April 1, 1996.) In my research, I found that many young girls are dissatisfied with their bodies and many strive to look like the waif-thin models or actresses one sees on television or in fashion magazines. There was a lot of information and facts on body and image that I found on the Internet. However, one website, Just Think Foundation, supported my belief that the media, magazines in particular, do indeed influence young girls to be thin in order to be popular and beautiful in our society. For example, I was in alarmed to learn that eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls diet; more than five million Americans suffer from eating disorders and ninety percent of those are adolescent and young adult women; the number one magic wish for young girls age 11-17 is to be thinner; and between elementary and high school, the percentage of girls in the U.S. who are happy with the way I am drops from 60% to 29%. (from Just Think Foundation) These facts were  from the JTFs Body Image Project compiled by Jean Holzgang that is an awareness campaign on body image. In fashion magazines, many young girls see waif-thin models like Kate Moss who is one of many top models that sadly represents the perfect body image that young girls are striving towards. Unfortunately, many teen girls do not understand that looking exactly like their favorite supermodel is unrealistic. In fact, as for the supermodel photos, many are retouched before they are printed out, the fashion clothes are often duct-taped to enhance fit, many blemishes are covered or altered, there is at least two inches removed from the thighs, and the average fashion model weighs 23-25% less than the average woman. All this in order to create that ideal or perfect body image everyone is striving for and sadly dying for. This compulsion to be thin has led many young girls to have a negative body image that dangerously paves the way to eating disorders, such as Anorexia and Bulimia, in order for them to achieve their desire for thinness. In television and movies, many teen girls watch and observe these actresses, such as Calista Flockhart, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Gweneth Paltrow, Lara Flynn Boyle, and many others who have seemed to have went from an average weight to a sickly, death look. This seems to be setting a dangerous trend for the American culture, particularly women and young girls. In fact, there are endless images of thin women on television, in movies, in women and mens magazines and in commercials. For instance, these Hollywood role models do have a great impact on young viewers and many parents are very worried that their daughters are trying to imitate their favorite stars. According to Adrienne Ressler, body-image specialist at the Renfrew Center in Coconut Creek, Fla., For adolescents, the ideal for the person they want to be when they grow up is either a movie star, TV actress or supermodel, and the emphasis is very much on external appearance. Our patients would die-and practically do-to look like Calista Flockhart. ( People, 10-18-99) In the music industry, the most popular media influence is the music video and the types of fashion trends the performer displays onstage. The most popular young adult performer is teen sensation Britney Spears. This pretty, young lady is only 17 years old and already has had a huge impact on the teen girls. For example, recently, Miss Spears was on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and she stirred up controversy when it appeared to look like the singer had  breast enhancements or simply, breast implants. (In all fairness, I did not have a chance to view that cover of Rolling Stone.) Miss Spears has denied the bre ast implant allegation and is quoted as saying; her mother would kill her if she had such a operation. However, I read that many fans believe that she does look different from her first video, Baby One More Time, with her latest, Sometimes, in that her breasts do look like they were surgically enhanced. This rumor has a great deal of parents worried that their own daughters might want to emulate the teen pop idol because she is promoting the ideal image of a young girls body. Another example of a music video image is Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) of the well-known Spice Girls. She was considered a head-turner because of her curvaceous good looks and designer clothes. So, know one would have thought of her as over-weight or too curvy, but at a recent Fashion party, many onlookers were stunned to see Beckhams jutting ribs and collarbones that fellow guests replied, She definitely looks like shes had a dramatic weight loss. (People, 10-18-99) These two examples plus the dozens of others I have read through my research, have allowed me to come to the conclusion that, many of Hollywoods mo st notable actresses and performers have become partners in the thin is in look in this industry. In my opinion, this is very disturbing and very dangerous for many young girls who look up to these women as Role models. In conclusion, I hope that T.V., magazines, music videos, commercials, retail stores and other mediums realize that there are women of all different shapes and sizes, there is a higher percentage of women that are usually an average size of 12 and there is evidence that a lesser percentage of women who are a size 2 to 4. Unfortunately, it is the size 2 to 4 women who are being recognized as the ideal body image in our society. Furthermore, I would rather have more women like Kate Winslet, Rosie ODonnell, Emme, and many other average women on the covers of popular magazines and in television. These are the true role models for me, the ones who promote healthy ways to lose weight, promote healthy ways to like yourself for who you are, and not promote the unhealthy body image that engrosses our mind

The Impact of the Internet on Schools :: Teaching Education Essays

The Impact of the Internet on Schools For this essay, I read an Article called: The Netgeneration: Internet as a classroom and community. After reading the article I came up with some very good points on how the internet has effected the way school are ran compared to the pre-computer and internet age. My conclusions are that the Internet has changed school classroom for the good by making information widely available and useable to even the poorest of schools. The internet has made it possible for teachers to communicate and learn what other teachers are doing in other countries by talking to colleagues in other countries and reading reports and research studies findings before they read the teaching methods books. The Internet also, gives teachers the ability to teach a class online so that their students will be able to stay on task when they are not able to come to class. The online class idea has also made it possible for the average person to get his or her degree with out having to go to a college campus physicall y. In total the Internet has not only increased the amount of learning possibilities in the classroom but it has created infinite amounts of learning opportunities for students and teachers. CLASSROOM Because of the Internet it is possible for schools to have access to books with out having them on the shelves of school libraries. New books and research studies are posted on the Internet daily for the world to read. In the past if you where from a poor school or a shelterd community that banded books from school libraries you may not be able to read some important infromantion. Making the student that had the oportunity to read and learn this new infromation better educated than a person whom did not have the same books in there school library shelves. The author of the article The internet as a classroom explains this fact when she says, "We have arrived at a new moment in history: a moment in which such terms as class, race, gender, sexuality, nationality and ideology are no longer useful" (Hendricks). This statement applies to education because information can be found on any subject on the web. If a school has a ban on reading a book a student can still find and read it online if he or she wants to. Censorship is not possible because of the technology called Internet.

American Agriculture

Analyze the ways in which technology, government policy, and economic conditions changed American agriculture in the period of 1865-1900. in your answer, evaluate farmers’ response. The period of 1865-1900 was one of the most crucial times in American history. It was a time period, in which America was mending, repairing, improving, reshaping, and reconstructing its society, economy, culture, and policies. Basically it was changing everything it stood for. This continual change can be seen in the following events that took place during this time. These events are both causes and effects of why America is what it is today. During the Civil War the economy in the North boomed — a continuation of the industrial advances from the 1840s. Technology was rapidly moving, economic conditions were rapidly changing, everything in the United States was booming—population, expansion, industries, etc. Technology was probably the most vital aspect of this time period. Railroads was/is the most influential thing that happened to the United States. If it wasn’t for railroads, America wouldn’t be what it is today. The railroads were a positive chain reaction. It changed American agriculture, delivering goods from state to state, sea to shining sea, etc. Railroads opened and expanded business in the Far West, where not much has been developed. There was much controversy concerning government policy and economic control. Individual enterprises fought diligently to dominate economic affairs but the government was obligated to intervene when unjust activity was apparent. It was unanimously believed, among businessmen, that the government should have very little say in economic issues, the basis for Laissez-Faire. Laissez-Faire was definitely incorporated in every issue concerning government policy. Many people are outraged with the political speakers. The people are saying that the political leaders have misled them. The Interstate Commerce Act was enacted to limit the freedom and wrongful capital gain of railways to benefit the people. The Senate passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, heavily influenced by the monopolies. The purpose of the act was to oppose the combination of entities that could potentially harm competition. Economic conditions during this time period were extreme. The Depression of 1893 was the most serious blow to the United States politics during the Gilded Age was the five-year depression that began in 1893. When the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad collapsed, a stock market panic ensued. Banks, railroads, & businesses closed, 20% unemployment; led to 1,400 labor strikes in 1894. Coxey’s Army in 1894 demanded government action to end the depression & job creation programs. Technology, government policy, and economic conditions changed American agriculture for better and for worse. Farmers had many problems during this time. Farmers were plagued by falling prices, high railroad & mortgage rates, & deflationary policies. Farmers usually lashed out at Eastern bankers, railroads, and U. S monetary policies, as well as the continued debate over gold and silver currency. Farmers were generally outraged about overproduction and how they don’t earn enough. There is a lot of supply, but the demand is very low. This time period was probably one of the most changing times in American History. American Agriculture Technology, government policy, and economic conditions changed American agriculture in the period of 1865-1900 in numerous ways. In the late 19th century, new farm machinery made a huge impact. It gave farmers the opportunity to produce more crops then they ever previously been able to produce. Railroads also had an effect on the agriculture. They charged farmers fees that they were barely ever were able to pay back. The industry played a role in which they created monopolies and gained immense amount of wealth which dominated the farmers. The monetary policy along with the steadily dropping prices of agricultural produce led farmers further into debt, eventually producing outcomes such as the crop-lien system and sharecropping. All of these tie into government policy, which, more often than not, favored the large and wealthy industries and monopolies over the farmers. Over the period of 1865-1900, Document A shows that agriculture was steadily declining. Wheat went from $2. 16 a bushel to $. 62. Cotton and corn both declined also, dropping from $. 83 to $. 10 a pound and $. 52 to $. 35 a bushel, respectively. Farmers were gradually losing profit from their produces. They thought they could compensate by producing more and more products, but this eventually caused overproduction and the prices hastily fell. Document A shows the trend of overproduction. Document G shows that all of the farmers’ difficulties could not just be blamed on overproduction alone. Railroad technology grew between 1870-1890 as Document B points out. As farmers exhausted soil in the eastern and central parts of the country, they had to continue spreading westward. As they expanded farther west, they reluctantly became more dependent on the railroads.

Rational Choice Theory Essay

A Significant theory to me will be the Rational Choice theory. This theory explains how people make decisions by seeking the most cost-effective means to achieve a specific goal without reflecting on the worthiness of that goal; to maximize personal advantage by weighing costs against benefits without moral or ethical values. It is a popular theory as it is an efficient system that explains and predicts a behavior of a person, and to larger extent, a collective group of people. Understanding this theory would allow a person to understand quickly how decisions are made, and the impact of the decisions on a society — how it functions and performs economically. Based on this theory, people’s measured decisions are often calculated based on financial benefits and costs. Singapore, by and large, has functioned on this theory, which has benefited from this tool of measurement and prospered since the days of nation building. However, this theory will work perfectly only if eve ryone in the society shares the same values, had perfect information, and the ability to make the most rational decisions at any point in time. People living in a society with homogenous values, such as Singapore, have similar behavioural patterns, which enable this theory to work. However, on a global scale, this theory will no longer work as peoples’ values are varied and culturally diverse. The most rational choice for one man might be an irrational choice for another. And when this occurs, there will be unpredictability and the results that follow can be disastrous. The Great Financial Crisis is a good example of the rational choice theory gone awry. Financial institutions’ goal is to maximize profits. To maximize profits, financial institutions have to find ways to create profits. One of these methods was to get creative with offering mortgage to people who wanted to own homes. Credit terms were made easy and the securities in place to safeguard the process were ignored. These consolidated loans were sold to big investment banks which resold them as securities offering high returns. Credit agencies working for these investment banks told investors’ that securities were safe. Selling a financial product based on a large group on loans was supposed to limit the risk if a few loans went bad. However, a large number of loans, later known as toxic, were borro wed by individuals with no financial means. Furthermore, many of these loans were offered in the form of adjustable rate mortgage, which started out with an initial period of low interest rate, and later ballooned up to three times the initial rate. All these borrowers were saddled with a monthly mortgage payment way beyond their monthly income. To make matters worse, the sprint to own a house on such easy terms had created a housing bubble, causing house prices to escalate astronomically. This phenomenon further pushed people to borrow way beyond their means. Consequently, millions of homeowners were unable to repay their mortgage loans. The financial institutions disregarded moral and ethical values to draw up shady credit schemes. Consolidated mortgages were bundled in with the toxic ones and resold for profits. Individuals felt the need to buy a house simply because everyone else was buying a house without the discretion of affordability and the hyper-inflated housing prices. Ea ch acted on imperfect knowledge to maximize personal benefits and disregard moral and ethical values. Rational choice theory can be an efficient method as a decision-making tool to attain goals, but it is definitely too simple an application on a macro context. To make a good decision, one has to balance cost-benefit analysis with moral and cultural factors.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Essay Example

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Essay Example The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Paper The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Paper In society, the standard for success is extremely high and sometimes overwhelming. Everyone has the same goals, but not everyone has the means or the opportunity to reach them. In high school, specifically, times are hard. Students are treated like kids but expected to make adult decisions about their lives. To most people, including myself, being successful is having money and power. But being successful is being happy. That’s because most young people are not happy with the stress and pressure put on them by adults to be successful. Success should not be defined by an admission to college or by numbers, it should be defined by whether the person really gained something of value. Society’s standards for success are illustrated through many different platforms such as literature, movies, and everyday interactions. In some parts of the world, the idea of success is only fantasy because the system instills that the poor will always be poor and the rich will get richer. Balram, from Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, describes the government system in India as â€Å"a . Joke† because of the strict caste system. He was born into a poor family in a town that was nicknamed, â€Å"the darkness of India,† where he was surrounded by people who truly believes that they will never amount to anything. Most people in his hometown have only one standard of success: money. Balram is different because getting out of â€Å"the darkness† is what he considers successful. He celebrates wearing a uniform, rather than his old, raggedy clothes, and having a bed to sleep in, rather than sleeping on the streets. Although his uniform is old, and his bed is bug infested and dirty, he remains grateful. Balram knows that the only way he can move up in his society is to do something drastic, like killing his employer. It is evident that everyone is not granted the same opportunities simply because of where they live, or their ethnicity. For many years, America’

Rod Rosenstein Biography

Rod Rosenstein Biography Rod Rosenstein (born Rod Jay Rosenstein on January 13, 1965) is an American attorney and former criminal prosecutor who investigated tax fraud and public corruption before being tapped by Republican President George W. Bush to serve in the Department of Justice as a U.S. attorney in Maryland. Rosenstein enjoyed support and respect from Republicans and Democrats alike and served as the second in command at the Department of Justice under Bushs two successors in the White House, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Rosensteins political legacy, though, will very likely center on his controversial move to appoint Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate Russias attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election. Fast Facts: Rod Rosenstein Full Name: Rod Jay RosensteinKnown For: Deputy U.S. attorney general who appointed and oversaw special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential electionBorn: Jan. 13, 1965, in Lower Moreland, near PhiladelphiaParents Names: Robert and Gerri RosensteinSpouses Name: Lisa BarsoomianChildrens Names: Julia and AllisonEducation: Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 1986 (B.S. in economics); Harvard Law School, 1989 (J.D.)Key Accomplishments: Winning respect from Republicans and Democrats alike in Washington as he became the longest-serving U.S. attorney in the country during the administration of President Donald Trump Early Years Rod Rosenstein was born and raised in Lower Moreland, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where his father operated a small business and his mother served on a local school board. It was there, he said at his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate, that he learned straightforward values. Work hard. Play by the rules. Question assumptions, but treat everyone with respect. Read widely, write coherently and speak thoughtfully. Expect nothing, and be grateful for everything. Remain gracious in times of defeat, and humble in moments of victory. And try to leave things better than you found them. Rosenstein attended public schools and graduated from Lower Moreland High School in 1982. He then entered the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied public policy, management, and economics. His interest in government led him to Harvard Law School after graduation. Rosenstein served as an intern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts, a position that had a lasting impact on his career as a public servant. Career in Law Rosensteins long career as a government attorney began in 1990, when he first joined the Department of Justice as a trial attorney with the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division. From there, he launched into decades of prosecuting drug dealers, white-collar criminals and public corruption. As the U.S. attorney for Maryland, Rosenstein pressed for longer sentences for felons and battled inner-city gangs. Among Rosensteins most high-profile cases were prosecutions of: Baltimores elite Gun Trace Task Force, whose mission was to get guns off the streets and violent criminals behind bars; eight of its nine members were alleged in 2017 to have abused their power by shaking city residents down for cash, drugs and jewelry. Some members of the squad confessed to robbing residents, planting drugs on innocent people and reselling the substances to others.A Baltimore man who shot and killed a 3-year-old toddler who was playing on her front porch in Baltimore in 2014; the case remained unsolved for about three years when Rosenstein in 2017 accused a 28-year-old gang member of firing the gun at a member of a rival faction. These cases do not solve themselves. They get solved because of extraordinary work by honorable, decent, diligent law enforcement officers, Rosenstein said at the time.Dozens of people in prison-corruption scandals at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover; employees there were accused of smuggling drugs, cigarettes, cellphones an d pornographic movies into the facility and selling them. Rosenstein also: Recommended the firing of FBI Director James Comey over his handling of the investigation into Democrat Hillary Clintons email servers.Appointed Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate Russias attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the case. Legal observers describe him as a tough, law-and-order prosecutor who is also fair-minded and nonpartisan. Heres a look at the various positions Rosenstein held prior to his time as deputy to Attorney General Sessions. 1993-94: Counsel to the deputy attorney general;1994-95: Special assistant to the Criminal Division’s assistant attorney general;1995-97: Associate independent counsel under Ken Starr, whose office investigated Bill and Hillary Clintons business and real-estate dealings in Arkansas.1997-2001: Assistant U.S. Attorney in Maryland.2001-05: Principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, supervising criminal sections and coordinating tax enforcement activities of the Tax Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Internal Revenue Service.2005-17: U.S. Attorney in Maryland, overseeing federal criminal and civil litigation.2017-Current: Deputy U.S. attorney general following President Donald J. Trumps nomination on Jan. 31, 2017, and Senate confirmation on April 25, 2017. Personal Life Rosenstein and his wife, Lisa Barsoomian, live in Maryland and have two children, Allison Liza and Julia Paige. Barsoomian worked as a government prosecutor and, later, as a lawyer for the National Institutes of Health. Important Quotes It is important to separate the role of politics in setting priorities and the decision to prosecute cases. And in the Justice Department that is what we do on a daily basis, that is how are trained. - Speaking to an ABC affiliate about his role as deputy attorney general.â€Å"The oath of office is an obligation. It requires me to support and defend the Constitution of the United States; to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution; and to well and faithfully discharge the duties of my office. I have taken that oath several times, and I have administered it many times. I know it by heart. I understand what it means, and I intend to follow it.† - Speaking at his confirmation hearing in 2017. Role in Trump Russia Investigation Rosenstein was a relatively unknown political figure outside of Maryland, even after being tapped as deputy attorney general and assuming oversight of Muellers investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. Rosenstein drew Trumps ire after appointing the special counsel, but threw his career into jeopardy by suggesting to colleagues he secretly record Trump in the White House to expose the chaos consuming the administration. Rosenstein also was said to have discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment, which allows for the forceful removal of a president outside of the constitutional impeachment process.  Rosenstein denied the reports. While Rosenstein held onto his job after that controversy, Trump passed him over for a promotion in late 2018 when Session was fired as attorney general. Rosenstein had been the heir apparent to the position because of the terms of the federal Attorney General Succession Act, which gives the deputy attorney general authority when the top position becomes vacant. Sources Davis, Julie Hirschfeld, and Rebecca R. Ruiz. â€Å"Caught in White House Chaos, Justice Dept. Official Seeks Neutral Ground.† The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 May 2017.â€Å"Meet the Deputy Attorney General.† The United States Department of Justice, 21 June 2017.â€Å"U.S. Attorney in Baltimore Is Trumps Pick to Be Deputy Attorney General.† The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Jan. 2017.Vignarajah, Thiru. â€Å"A Look at the Past Work of the Deputy AG Who Called for Comeys Firing.† Vox, Vox, 10 May 2017.

Basing Sentencing on Retributivist Principles is the Most Effective Essay

Basing Sentencing on Retributivist Principles is the Most Effective Means of Producing a Less Punitive Range of Outcomes - Essay Example Retributive principle has had both supporters and critics. Many believe that retributive justice is the way to go as it brings justice to the victim and punishes the offender. But its critics argue that it is based on negative emotions such as revenge and does not contribute positively. It is backward looking and not forward looking. This debate has been on for a long time and many scholars and researchers have tried to address this issue. One of the main arguments supporting retributive justice is that it helps in reducing similar offences and injustices in the future. This essay revolves around this idea. The author of this essay believes that basing sentencing on retributive principles is the most effective means of producing a less punitive range of outcomes. This essay is aimed at justifying this ideology. In order to effectively justify the above, it is first necessary to understand retributive justice. And then the author argues why it is an effective means of producing less p unitive range of outcomes. Retributive Justice Retributive Justice is based on a simple concept that the wrongdoers or criminals must be punished and the punishment should be proportional to the damage caused. In simple words, people must get what they deserve. This means that a labour who works hard deserves to be rewarded while those who break the rules deserve punishment. Also everybody has a choice in the way they treat others. Hence, people only deserve to be treated the way they choose to treat others. It is on these simple ideas that the retributive principles are based2. The simplicity of the idea behind retributive principles is what has lead to the confusion over retributive justice and has attracted criticism. The basic requirement of retributive justice is that punishment is proportional to the crime and cases that are similar must be treated in the same way. Wrongdoers inflict harm and cause damage and hence the punishment and blame that they deserve must be in direct p roportion to the damage and harm caused3. Criticism of Retributive Justice Retributive principles have been criticised by many. One of the main criticisms of retributive justice is that it is backward looking. The retributivist theory does not look into the future but is only concerned about the crime committed in the past. Punishment is only looked from the perspective of a victim or the aggrieved party. Punishment according to retributive principles is a response to the crime and not a way to bring about social good (to the offender or the society). Critics of retributive principles take utilitarian views to support their argument. Utilitarian justice is forward looking and punishment is looked at as a tool to bring in social benefits. The severity of the punishment is not proportional to the crime but is with a purpose to reduce such crimes or offences4. Failure to take various factors such as social, economical, etc into account during imposing a penalty is another argument that critics use against retributive principles. That is if an offender is awarded with a penalty only based on the factor that it is proportional to the crime committed, then it might not be an effective one. For example, if a millionaire and an unemployed offender are both awarded the same penalty or fine based on the crime committed, then it might create an unjust situation. For the unemployed offend