Pros and Cons of Legalizing Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Pros and Cons of Legalizing Drugs - Essay Example The government starts experiencing constraints in sustaining its citizens and therefore is forced to result to heavy borrowing from other nations, non-governmental organizations, World Bank among other financial institutions. The resulting effect is a huge deficit in the balance of payments, which in turn leads to bad debts (Parks 2009). b) High costs incurred- The costs incurred by the government in following up and arresting drug traffickers are high. It involves the use of machines like vehicles and detectors, to track the criminals and this means expenditure has to be incurred. When these criminals have been arrested and prosecuted, they have to be retained in the cells and provided with the basic needs. If any of them falls sick, they have to be taken to the hospital by the government and it settles their medical bills. This all are extra costs incurred which should have otherwise been saved (Bean 2010). Many nations find it unreasonable nowadays to arrest and prosecute drug offenders as that is not helping in any way to reduce the vice and hence the urge to legalize drugs. The graph below compares the total number of people jailed for drug abusing in U.S.A and the total number of people arrested and jailed by the European Union for all offenses:Medical expenditure by the government increases since many fall vic tims of drug abuse. Many of them become addicted to the drugs to a point whereby they cannot do without them, and this means rehabilitation is the only solution to save their lives. The sensitization programs that the government may decide to organize to enlighten the people on the effects of drug abuse and ways of avoiding drug abuse are very costly. c) Increased mortality rate- Due to drug legalization, many drivers will be under the influence of drugs when driving. This increases road accidents hence leading to loss of lives of many civilians and traffic jams in the roads. In addition, since it is legal to use drugs, many people will result to abusing them. Drug abuse may lead to death of the victim at the end because the drugs have their side effects on human health. For example, many people have been abusing pharmaceutical products that are legal and this has resulted in the death of the individuals. These deaths reduce the population of a country, which should have provided the country with enough labor force to maximize output thus profits (Parks 2009). d) Increased war with other nations and terrorism- Many terrorists do abuse drugs so that they can stimulate their bodies for the plans ahead. Many of these drugs affect the reasoning capacity of an individual and

Strategic Initiatives Required of easyJet plc to maintain its Dominant Dissertation

Strategic Initiatives Required of easyJet plc to maintain its Dominant Market Share in the United Kingdom - Dissertation Example The venture failed, being squeezed out by the established airlines, but the concept remained and was revived in the 1980s, when deregulation in the airline industry in the U.S.A. witnessed Southwest airlines using this strategy to gain dominance in the domestic market. Liberalization in the airline market by the European Commission resulted in this concept reviving in the European sector in the 1990s. Consequently, â€Å"no frills airlines† sprung up by the mid-1990s in the United Kingdom and began dominating the European Market. easyJet came into being in 1995 as the brainchild of the Cypriot businessman Stelios Haji Ioannou, having a background steeped in the shipping industry. The early days of easyJet did not witness much success in proving to be a profitable venture. However, between the period 1998 to 2002 easyJet demonstrated the hunger and drive for larger market share and profitability through an impressive record of raising its 77 million pound turnover and 5.9 milli on pound profitability to 582 million pound turnover and 71.6 million pound profitability over this period. Strategic initiatives in the form of mergers and acquisitions of competitors and brand extension resulted in easyJet rising to a dominant market position in the United Kingdom market (Homer & Swarbrooke, 2004). ... Such a study would add to the body of knowledge of strategic management, providing insight into sustaining competitive advantage. 3. Literature Review easyJet has its headquarters in Luton England, providing direct employment to 7,300 people that include 1,900 pilots and 4,300 cabin crew. It has revolutionized the manner in which people in Europe travel for business or for pleasure. It has led the way in utilizing the Internet as means of providing convenience in ticketing and quick dissemination of information. It operates on more than 540 routes in Europe with its 196 aircraft. In 2010 it carried fifty million passengers. It has strong market positions in key markets in Europe. It holds the dominant position at Gatwick, Milan and Geneva and is a strong contender in Paris (easyJet plc, 2011). The business and financial highlights of easyJet for the year 2010 shows a total revenue of 2,973.1 million pounds, profit before tax of 154.0 million pounds, return on equity of 8.6% and retur n on capital of 8.8%. easyJet has demonstrated continuing growth, with passenger numbers up by 7.9% and total revenue per seat up by 5.1% (easyJet plc, 2011). With the passing of each year easyJet’s market position in the European short haul aviation sector has only grown stronger. In the first half of 2010 it increased its market share from 6.5% to 7.6% (easyJet plc, 2010). easyJet has demonstrated how to use the resource based model to attain competitive edge and success in the business world. In its initial days it imitated this business model used by Southwest Airlines of U.S.A. which was characterized by use of one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737; catering to short haul needs; no

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 8

Taxation - Essay Example The decision of the amount of public opinions pay to devour today and the amount to put something aside for future utilization is among the most essential financial choices. It can have suggestions not just for the prosperity of the family units taking the choices, additionally for the rate at which the economy contributes and develops, and consequently the prosperity of future eras. (Wildasin And Boadway, 1995) . Taxation is one of numerous arrangements that influence the level of reserve funds. Other huge ones incorporate the arrangement of social protection, particularly benefits, additionally wellbeing and inability protection, welfare administrations and instruction; exchanges of different sorts; and obligation approach (Hmrc.gov.uk, 2014). None the less, the standards by which sparing conduct reacts to these different approaches are fundamentally the same. In the UK, people had the tendency of having progressive saving. This ensured that there were cash reserves to take care of a rainy day. Nevertheless, today the culture of progressive saving is dying out; partly because on the tax that is imposed on saving. The culture of saving needs one to have the highest levels of self-control. The UK government has imposed a 10% rate tax for saving. This means that the government gets 10% of the money that you have saved and are continuing to save (Tax aid, 2010). The system that is in use on taxation of saving in the UK is not fair and entails a lot of detail. This is so much in the accounts that gain interests on their savings. Saving is both important in ensuring economic growth and personal monetary security. There are several purposes for saving taxation in the tax system. Tax is based on income and savings of an individual and the difference between these two is the way tax on savings is treated. Tax on savings is always equal to the

Excel based problems Essay Example for Free

Excel based problems Essay The fund-basis financial statements of Jefferson county have completed for the year 2012 and appear in the first tab of the excel spreadsheet provided with this exercise. The following information is also available: a. Capital Assets †¢ Capital assets purchased in previous years in governmental type funds totaled $752,000 (net of accumulated depreciation) as of January 1, 2012. †¢ Depreciation on capital assets used in governmental- type activities amounted to $79,500 for 2012 †¢ No capital assets were sold or disposed of in 2012 and all purchases are properly reflected in the fund-basis statements as capital expenditures. b. Long-term Debt †¢ There was no outstanding long-term debt associated with governmental- type funds as of January 1, 2012. †¢ April 1, 2012, 6 percent bonds with a face value of $ 700,000 were issued in the amount of $ 720, 000. Bond payments are made on October 1 and April 1 of each year. Interest is based on an annual rate of 6 percent and principal payments are $ 17, 500 each. The first payment (Interest and principal) was made in October 1. †¢ Amortization of the bond premium for the current year is $1,000. c. Deferred Revenues †¢ Deferred revenues (comprised solely of property taxes) are expected to be collected more than 60 days after year-ed. The balance of deferred taxes at the end of 2011 was $18,200 d. Transfers †¢ Transfers were between governmental-type funds. e. Internal Service Fund †¢ The (motor pool) internal service fund’s revenue is predominantly derived from departments classified as governmental-type activities †¢ There were no amounts due to the internal service fund from the General fund. The outstanding balance of â€Å"due to other funds† was with the Enterprise Fund and is not capital related. †¢ The enterprise fund provided a long-term advance to the internal service fund (not capital related). Required Use the excel template provided to complete the following requirement; a  separate tab is provided in Excel for each of these steps. 1. Prepare the journal entries necessary to convert the governmental fund financial statements to the accrual basis of accounting 2. Post the journal entries to the conversion worksheet provided 3. Prepare a governmental-wide Statement of Activities and statement of Net Assets for the year 2012. All of the governmental fund revenues are â€Å"general revenues.† This is an involved problem, requiring many steps. Here are some hints. a. Tab 1 is information to be used in the problem. you do not enter anything here b. After you make the journal entries (Tab2), post these to the worksheet to convert to the accrual basis. This worksheet is set up so that you enter Debit as positive numbers and credits as negative. After enter you post your entries, look at the numbers below the total credit Colum to see that debits equal credits. If not, you probably entered a credit as a positive number. c. Make sure that total debits equal total credits in the last column (balances for Government-wide statements ) d. When calculating Restricted Net Assets, recall that permanent fund principal is added to restricted fund balances.

The Stepford Wives Film Analysis

The Stepford Wives Film Analysis With the birth of Second Wave feminism in the 1960s women started to ask the questions of what their roles in life are. A generation of future housewives wondered that if they continued to keep doing the chores and giving their undivided attention to their husbands they would not be living a life they really wanted. The Stepford Wives (Forbes, 1975) addresses these concerns with a terrified and gloomy look at the perfect woman. The Stepford Wives (Forbes, 1975) portrays the feminine condition in a bourgeois, patriarchal society (Boruzkowski, 1987). In the film, liberated females who are equal to, if not more powerful than their husbands and hold on to their own sexuality are murdered and changed with supposedly superior copies who supposedly embody perfection. These robotic copies have the best figure, do chores, they are extremely maternal, and are willing to satisfy their husband sexually whenever he wants it. With women being forced into becoming domestic housewives being dominate d by men sexually, this essay will textually analyse the final ten minutes of the film in relation to these issues.   Sexuality and mans desires play an important part in the final ten minutes of The Stepford Wives (Forbes, 1975). The scene starts with the character of Joanna searching for her children in the Mens Association building. After having a conversation with the robotic wife creator Diz, in which he tries to persuade her that conforming to a male oppression is the right thing to do and she should embrace the male dominated is society, she then flees from him. The darkness does not allow the audience to clearly see her actions, but a room with a life-sized female replica is seen briefly. Finally she opens a door and is greeted by an exact replica of her bedroom, including Fred the dog she thought was dead. The existence of him can be read as a metaphor to what the men of Stepford want their wives to be like, mans best friend; to be well-trained, faithful, passive, and subservient, to want for nothing, and to always be there. The camera slowly pans to Joannas robotic double brushing her hair in a three-way mirror. As she turns we see that her eyes are completely black. This reiterates that this double is not a real person; she has no life in her eyes. When Joanna meets her replacement, we see her sitting at her dresser. As the robotic Joanna stands, we notice through her see-through clothes that she isnt an accurate representation of Joanna, but a new-fangled superior version. The double has clear skin, perfectly wavy hair, a fake smile and black robotic eyes. Joannas shock is revealed and soon the audience sees why; the camera reveals a shot the robot has perfect and significantly larger breasts, a narrower waist and fuller hips. The camera then pans back up to the human Joanna. Joanna stares in horror as the robot stands up with a pair of tights stretched tightly in her hands. The camera shows a close-up of a very satisfied Diz, distractingly petting Fred and watching the scene with genuine voyeuristic pleasure. The scene ends with a close-up of the tights stretched tightly between the robots hands and the see-through lingerie that reveals the perfect abdomen.  This scene clearly demonstrates to the audience that the robo tic females are not for any scientific method or anything other than to be used for the pleasure of men only. When Joanna is talking to Diz he explains this viewpoint; if the roles were reversed, wouldnt you like some perfect stud waiting on you around the house praising you, servicing you, whispering how your sagging flesh was beautiful no matter how you looked (Forbes, 1975). Desire is a main focal point for the scene between the real Joanna and the robotic Joanna created by Diz. Dizs creation falls into what MacKinnon would say is typical gender division and inequality. Male power takes the social form of what men as a gender want sexually, which centers on power itself, as socially defined woman is defined by what male desire requires for arousal and satisfaction (MacKinnon, 1991, p. 131). Diz creates what he believes to be the perfect woman, to meet his sexual desires and has marketed his product to all the men in Stepford. They believe the women have become too successful, powerful and independent , while the robots are the completely opposite to this, lacking ambition and are repressed and submissive . The fantasy that Diz creates is not meant to be woman but instead sexuality. When the robot is shown the focus is not on her mind or anything immediately beautiful, like the eyes or the smile, instead the focus is on her breasts and her stomach and her female body as a sexualized form. The object of desire is the artificial beauty man created. Artificial beauty is a theme that is recurrent throughout The Stepford Wives (Forbes, 1975), focusing on dolls or other subjects that relate to childhood innocence. The robotic domestic Joannas blatant sexuality reveals her submission to male desire. The camera emphasises the object of desire multiple times, lingering on the breasts, abdomen and full body. In the scene between the two Joannas, the liberated female must die in order for the domesticated female to exist. With womens liberation becoming more culturally excepted, the number of women who chose to stay at home was decreasing. Women were beginning to become less submissive to men. In the film this process had to be reversed so that in order for mans perfect creation to exist, the threat of womens liberation must die.   The final image in The Stepford Wives (Forbes, 1975) shows the robotic wives in their best dresses doing their shopping and talking to each other. The dress that the robotic women are wearing hides the sexuality she possesses. The women to be under complete control of the men need to be both sexual and in need of a man to be there. The robotic females have been programmed to please their husbands physically; they are vain and self-absorbed because of this. The robotic wife has become an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ isolated, glamorous, on display, sexualized property (Mulvey, 1975, p. 9). She is weak, hopeless, and unable to protect herself. However as she has been reprogrammed it could be argued she no longer has a self to protect. The ideal housewife is an ardent consumer who buys endlessly new things for the home, and gains satisfaction from doing so (Frieden, 1963, p. 206). In The Stepford Wives (Forbes, 1975), women shop systematically and neatly, discuss and consume products with devouring interest and gratification. The robotic wives are almost at one with the supermarket, the woman are merchandise available for any man, just like the products available for purchase on the shelves in the aisles and in there trolleys. In this clip from The Stepford Wives (Forbes, 1975) we see men forcing their dominance by creating new and improved versions of their wives in the shell of a robot. The robot serves as mans ultimate fantasy, a beautiful and subservient wife with the perfect figure and a sex drive constantly set to on. The fantasy doll created in Joannas image kills her competitor in an act of sexuality. The ending to the film is very negative. Women have lost both the battle of the sexes and a battle for their lives. What were once very educated women are now obedient consumerist automatons (Inness, 2003, p. 38) who all think the same, and are nothing but sexual objects for their husbands.

No Solutions Offered in There Are No Children Here :: There are No Children Here Essays

No Solutions Offered in There Are No Children Here  Ã‚  Ã‚      Does your home have a lock on your door, a telephone and working appliances and plumbing? Do you dodge bullets in your sleep, have 13 people living in one apartment or wash your dishes in the bathtub because the kitchen sink hasn’t worked for months? Do you wash your clothes in the bathtub because the laundry room is too dangerous to do your washing? Do you live in an environment with no role models, where the gangs control everything and you can’t trust anyone? You may think these are strange questions for people who live in America in the late 20th century, but some people’s answers to these questions may be very different from yours. Those people are the one’s living in the â€Å"other America†. Alex Kotlowitz tells us â€Å"the story of two boys growing up in the other America† in his book There Are No Children Here. The â€Å"other America† Kotlowitz describes in his book is the public housing complex at Henry Horner Homes in Chicago. By following the lives of two boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, we are exposed to the misfortunes, turmoil and death that their lives are filled with. Lafeyette and Pharoah are faced with many hardships in their day to day activities. Their apartment, the once beautiful complex, now has broken appliances, poor plumbing, horrible security and from the basement come smells that one housing manager described as â€Å"foul odors† that â€Å"no equipment presently in use by staff could be used to withstand the odor beyond a minute† (p. 240). The boys wake up every morning in this horrible public housing that would most likely be condemned if it was located in any decent neighborhood. Lafeyette and Pharoah get ready for school, usually putting on clothes which have been washed the night before in the bath tub, and then leave for school. Pharoah, who loves school, is always in a hurry to get there, leaving the apartment before anyone else. School is the one place for Pharoah to stand out and get away from the neighborhood for a while. He even attended a summer school program that was supported by the University of Illinois. Lafeyette, on the other hand, isn’t into school very much; which explains why he has such a large number of tardies. Both boys are always careful as they walk through the streets to school to be alert for gunfire, they don’t want to die young like so many friends of theirs.

Henry David Thoreau`s concept of government Essay

Thoreau is one of the most influential thinkers of the world. His Civil Disobedience theory has inspired many leaders who employed it to acquire freedom for their colonized countries. Mahatma Gandhi was inspired by this essay and put it to practice in his Civil Disobedience movement during Indian freedom struggle. This method proved to be stronger than war with weapons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thoreau’s motto is, ‘That government is best which governs least’. To him government is the ‘mode which the people have chosen to execute their will’. So people holding posts in the government need to reflect the choice of the people.   He hereby does not say that there is no need for a government but demands a better one which can reflect the needs of the people. He derides the kind of government that treats men like ‘movable forts and magazines at the service of some unscrupulous man in power’. Herein he is referring to soldiers at war who risk their lives against their conscience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thoreau describes the situation of the countries invaded by America   where ‘a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves’ and under the subjugation of foreign army. He speaks against invasion of foreign lands. Million are against this kind of war and acquisition but no one raises their voice against this. Some times he says that people petition or give up their ’cheap vote’. He questions the citizen giving up their conscience to the legislator. Thoreau ridicules parliamentary elections and proclaims that only those who vote for the abolishment of slavery are real voters. Thoreau finds fault with those who are not able to tolerate unjust laws but at the same time are contended with mere petitioning. A common citizen meets government in the form of tax collectors once in a year. Thoreau does not support taxation which is created without any subjectivity. He does not mind paying tax for essential utilities but he does not find logic in poll tax. He refuses to pay for those that his conscience does not permit. Consequently he is put in jail later to be released on account of someone else paying for him. Thoreau upholds freedom of every individual and criticizes the government for treating individual citizens as a herd. He adds that every individual should be allowed his choice in the welfare activities he wishes to do. He blames the State of collecting tax in the name of welfare activities and using it to invade other nations putting thousands of lives in danger. How can a government that is closing its eyes on the evil of slave trade be trusted in welfare activities? His solution to tackle this issue is Civil Disobedience movement. Instead of waiting for others to start a movement or stop with petitions, every individual should rise up to the occasion with resistance towards the Government. He says, ‘There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.’ Thoreau admits that to this kind of government he will willingly submit himself and cheerfully obey. There has been a good change from monarchy to democracy. Now the change needs to be extended to progress towards true respect for the individual. The Government needs to find ways to recognize and organize the rights of man. He also recommends that the legislators could take instruction from the New Testament to make his governance better. This thought from Thoreau has had great impact in the world history. Many nations were made and strengthened by following Civil Disobedience. He recommends what is called as Bloodless war and this war is more powerful than that which is fought with arm and ammunitions.