Criminal Orginizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Criminal Orginizations - Essay Example No wonder that the same device which socially is a help may bring about new social trouble when groups clash with groups, or when minor units, families, crowds, or neighborhoods run counter to the demands of the supreme unit, the state. It is not always easy to reconcile conflicting codes and loyalties. The reading suggests that organized crime can be explained as illegal activities aimed to gain financial profits with the help of unlawful actions of disciple; Ned groups of people. The code is acknowledged and the state sets its categorical claims aside. Again group loyalty is permitted to assume the first place. Organized crime group life and structure are subject to other forces which do not stand still. They are deeply affected by technological innovations, the machine age, the age of birth control, the age of ideologies. Through the medium of nascent and dying units all these basic factors of human development and reversion bear on criminal behavior. A group comes into existence when at least one other person enters into relations with a given individual. Organized crime life presupposes interaction. The contact should therefore be not completely ephemeral or one-sided. A passer-by who happens to be knocked down in a dark street does not form a unit with the robber. He may be d runk and scarcely aware of the aggressor. He may even fight back. In no case has a group been set up. Yet there can be beginnings of organized crime with the policeman on his regular beat, with the boss, with a teacher or a priest. Imaginary partners and a person's sincere belief may constitute a social unit, fanciful, it is true, but operative (Lunde and Morton 2004). In general, organized crime groups require some continuity, intimacy, and emotional content. There are certainly group relations between father and son, between two friends, two lovers. Hate and fear are not absolutely group-preventing when compulsive nearness in a prison, in an office, in a neighborhood establishes a contact that otherwise would be avoided. Such units, of course, by necessity live on compromises, private nonaggression pacts, and methods of cooperation. Yet they may have a bearing on both partners' behavior. The "good" prisoner and the warden often live for years in the interdependence of this relationship and act accordingly. Much more often we think of a plurality of persons when we speak of social units. But the simple aggregate is not yet a group sociologically. It does not matter that they meet by chance in a certain square or room. This is just a multitude. But as soon as they go into the streets to show their love or their hate for the same man or the same cau se a metamorphosis has taken place. For a short time at least they have fallen in line psychologically; among all the remaining disparities one identity has made its appearance, which takes command of the multitude and suddenly makes it one, "unum," an organized crime unit. The permanence of these groups does not mean that behind their rigid structure individuals do not come and go. Young people leave their families and set up their own homes. In a highly competitive world, Organized crime groups are designed to substitute for individual competition. The strength of the organized crime u

international business environment Legal considerations Essay Example for Free

international business environment Legal considerations Essay The legal aspects are important for the business choice. Laws are different in every country. Laws would regulate business practice, define the manner and set down the rights and obligations. This made business have to run within the border set by law and definitely affects the efficiency and profitability when running business in that country. The type of legal system. The legal system in Spain and Korea is based on civil law, while court precedents are not granted official status as law. The Spanish legal system is based on comprehensive legal codes and laws rooted in Roman law, as opposed to common law, which is based on precedent court rulings. Because Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945, the Korean legal system resembles the Japanese system. After the occupation however, there were attempts to adopt many aspects of the American legal system. It must be remembered that the first civilian government commenced only in 1992, and thereafter, increasingly more democratic reforms have taken place.1 Both countries use contracts and they are important for doing business in both countries. Neither Korea or Spain has advantage to the type of legal system. The protection of property right The definition of property right: In economics, property usually refers to ownership (rights to the proceeds of output generated) and control over the use of the means of production. They may be owned privately, by the state, by those who use it, or held in common by society.2 The world property right index 2012 shows the differences between the countries and the country’s world ranking. South Korea and Spain are both in the top 40 of the index. Spain ended this year on the 35th place and South Korea on the 40th place. The overall score off all the points together we can say that Spain compared with Korea is better in protection of property rights. In the figure on the next page we compare South Korea with Spain. The higher the score the better protection of property right. Property right is important for running a business because the better protect the better is the stability of the company. Overall score South Korea vs. Spain in the international world index 2012 The protection of intellectual property Intellectual property is a juridical concept which refers to creations of the mind for which exclusive rights are recognized. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property rights include copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and in some jurisdictions trade secrets. 4 South Korea has an government organization called KIPO. This is the governmental authority in charge of intellectual property in Korea. The mission of KIPO is to help Korea become an advanced country by providing legal and institutional administration for the creation and utilization of highly creative, value-added intellectual property and by promoting technological innovation and industrial development. In Spain the main law regulating intellectual property protection is the 1996 Int ellectual Property Law. With regard to industrial property, no single law covers all aspects. Instead, this is regulated by a package of different laws, including the Patent Law, trade mark law and the law on the legal protection of industrial designs5 In the international property right index, South Korea and Spain score exactly the same and ends on the 27th place. There are 130 countries in the index so the both are trustful countries. Corruption A country where corruption is low is a really important factor to choose for a country. Corruption costs a lot of money and affects the company negative. Korea has an independent commission against Corruption. The Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption is an independent commission that reports to the President in its fight against corruption and the consequent promotion of the clean administration of South Korea. In a coordinated  effort with other monitoring agencies, also known proverbially as watchdogs, the KICAC is involved in producing policies and orchestrating preventive activities.6 Spain has different organisations to fight against corruption. The Special Attorney General’s Office for the Repression of Economic Offences related with Corruption(ACPO) is the biggest and well known organisation in Spain. 7 According to the Corruption perception index Spain scores better than South Korea. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be. It is a composite index, drawing on corruption-related data from expert and business surveys carried out by a variety of independent and reputable institutions. The difference between the two countries is not that big but Spain would be a saver option. Labour law Spain and South Korea have both a minimum wage8. The minimum wage in Korea is lower than in Spain which is positive for the production costs. The maximum and average working hours in Spain are also lower than in South Korea. The maximum working hours in Spain are 40 hours a week and in South Korea 48. This is positive for the production because you can have longer days and the costs are lower as well. Forced labor and child labor are prohibited in both countries. In Korea children under the age of 18 may work under certain conditions. In spain the minimum age is 16. To do so, in Korea they require a special employment certificate from the Labor Ministry, which is rarely issued because education is compulsory until the age of 14. Children under the age of 18 who wish to work require written approval from their parents or guardians. Environmental law South Korea is connected with the AECEN. This is the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network and there is an agreement between 16 Asian countries dedicated to improving cooperation with environmental laws in Asia. The mission of the Ministry of Environment in South Korea is to protect the national territory from threats of environmental pollution and  to improve the quality of life for the public. This includes ensuring the people of South Korea can enjoy the natural environment, clean water and clear skies. Furthermore, the Ministry aims to contribute to the global efforts to protect the Earth. In February 2008, the Korea Meteorological Administration became an affiliate of the Ministry of Environment to facilitate countermeasures against climate change In Spain the central government represents Spain in the European Union and transposes European legislation into Spanish law. It is responsible for adopting national legislation on the basic and common aspects of the environment. Both countries take the environment more than serious because it can effect business and people. The better and stricter the environmental law in the country the better and more effective you can produce your products. Nowadays the mission of most companies is to be green and fight against global warming. The regulations in Europe / Spain are more strict than in Asia what can be a reason to choose for Spain. The investment in expensive machinery and products to produce is maybe higher at the start but with better machinery companies can produce more cleaner and more effective. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Spain http://www.korealaw.com/sub/information/boardView.asp?brdId=overviewbrdIdx=1gotopage=1search=search_string= http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Korea-South-WORKING-CONDITIONS.html

Cryptography: Theories, Functions and Strategies

Cryptography: Theories, Functions and Strategies Abstract Digital signing is a mechanism for certifying the origin and the integrity of electronically transmitted information. In the process of digitally signing, additional information called a digital signature is added to the given document, calculated using the contents of the document and some private key. At a later stage, this information can be used to check the origin of the signed document. The mathematical base of the digital signing of documents is public key cryptography. This work presents the theory behind digital signatures, signature schemes and attacks on signatures and provides a survey of application areas of the digital signing technology. Moreover, there are lab exercises developed in Mathlab, to reinforce the understanding of this technology. 1. Introduction The Concise Oxford Dictionary (2006) defines cryptography as the art of writing or solving codes, however modern cryptography does not met this definition. Therefore, this work starts with a literature review defining some key concepts, like what cryptography and cryptographic system are and the different types of cryptographic system are presented. The other interesting and preliminary concept is the notion of cryptosystem functions which are also discussed in the introductory section. Furthermore, it is stated that public-key encryption represents a revolution in the field of cryptography, and this work poses some basic definitions on this topic trying to explain the theory behind. The rest of the literature review is concentrated on public key cryptography and it focuses on the theory behind digital signatures, signature schemes and attacks on signatures. And finally, the literature review presents a survey of application areas on digital signatures. One part of the contribution of this work, is an overview of the secure hash standard (SHS) and implementation of the secure hash algorithm (SHA-1), required for use with digital signature algorithms. The main part though, is the implementation of AES and RSA by utilizing Mathlab. The code of all these implementations is thoroughly discussed and explained in this work. Moreover, a comparison is also presented subsequently. 2. Cryptography The Greek words â€Å"krypt ´os† standing for â€Å"hidden† and the word â€Å"l ´ogos† that means â€Å"word†, are in essence the base from where the word cryptology was derived. As these words denote, cryptology can be best explained by the meaning â€Å"hidden word†. In this context, the original purpose behind cryptology is hiding the meaning of some specific combination of words which in turn would insure secrecy and confidentiality. This is a very limited viewpoint in today’s perspective and a wide range of security applications and issues now come under the term of cryptology (rest of the portion of this section will clarify this point of view). As field of mathematical science, Cryptology includes the study of both cryptanalysis as well as cryptography. On one hand, cryptography is a very broad term and represents any process used for data protection. On the other hand, the study of security related issues and the probabilities of breaking the cryptographic systems and a technique is known as cryptanalysis. By making reference to (Shirey, 2000), the field cryptanalysis can be best described as the â€Å"mathematical science that deals with analysis of a cryptographic system in order to gain knowledge needed to break or circumvent the protection that the system is designed to provide.† In simple words, cryptanalyst can be regarded as the opponent of the cryptographer i.e. he/she has to get around the security which cryptographer devised on his/her part. (Buchmann, 2004) claims that a cryptographic system (or in short a cryptosystem) describes â€Å"a set of cryptographic algorithms together with the key management processes that support use of the algorithms in some application context.† This is a diverse explanation that includes all sorts of cryptographic algorithms as well as protocols. However, hidden parameters like cryptographic keys may or may not be used by a cryptographic system (Delfs, 2007). Similarly, participants of the undergoing communication may or may not share those secret parameters. Thus, cryptographic can be classified into following three types: a cryptographic system in which no secret parameters are employed (called an un-keyed cryptosystem); a cryptosystem which makes use of secret parameters and at the same time shares the parameters between the participants (known as a secret key cryptographic system); and a system that utilizes the secret parameters, but not sharing them with the participants (call ed a public key cryptographic system) (Shirey, 2000; Buchmann, 2004). Cryptography aims at designing and implementing cryptographic systems and utilizing such systems which are secure effectively. The first a formal definition about the term cryptography dates from relatively past time. Back then, the approach known by the name â€Å"security through obscurity† was being used (Dent, 2004). There are a lot of examples based on this approach by which security of the system was improved by keeping internal working and design secret. Majority of those systems do not serve the purpose and security may well be violated. The Kerckhoffs’ principle is a very famous cryptographic principle which states that (Kerckhoffs, 1883): â€Å"Except for parameters clearly defined to be secret, like the cryptographic keys, a cryptosystem must be designed in such a way as to be secure even with the case that the antagonist knows all details about the system†. However, it might be noted that one important aspect is that a cryptosystem is perfectly securing theoretically grounds, but it may not remain the same when implemented practically. Different possibilities of generating attacks on security of such systems can arise while having the practical implementation (Anderson, 1994). Attacks which make use of exploitation of side channel information are the examples of such attacks. If a cryptosystem is executed, it can result in the retrieval of side channel information with unspecified inputs and outputs (Anderson, 1994). In encryption systems, the input is plaintext message plus the key, while the specific output is the cipher text. Thus, there are chances on information leakage. Power consumption, timing characteristics along with the radiation of all types are some examples in this regard. On the other hand, side channel attacks are the types of network attacks which extract side channel information. Since the mid 1990s there were many di fferent possibilities have been found by the researchers in order to build up side channel attacks. A few examples in this regard are the differential power analysis (Bonehl, 1997), and fault analysis (Biham, 1997; Kocher, 1999) as well as the timing attacks (Kocher, 1996). It is a very practical statement that any computation performed on real computer systems represents some physical phenomena which can be examined and analyzed to provide information regarding the keying material being employed. Cryptography does not help to cope with this situation because of the inherent nature of this problem. 2.1 Cryptosystem functions Other than the usual random bit generators as well as the hash functions, there are no secret parameters that are used in cryptosystem functions. These are the junketed functions that characterize the cryptographic system functions. In cryptographic functions, the elements used are usually one-way and it is difficult or almost impossible to invert them. This follows that it is easy to compute a cryptographic function whereas it is hard to invert the functions and also to compute the results of the relationships (Kerckhoffs, 1883). It is difficult to apply any mathematical method for inverting the cryptographic system functions in a way that will be coherent and meaningful. For example, a cryptographic system functions such as F: X → Y is easy to comfortably use mathematical knowledge to compute while it is hard to use the same to invert (Buchmann, 2004; Shirey, 2000). There are many examples of one-way functions that we can use to demonstrate the meaning of the cryptosystems. In a situation where one has stored numbers on the cell phone, computation of the same is possible and easy due to the fact that the names are stored in an alphabetical manner (Garrett, 2001). If one inverts the relationship of these functions, it will be impossible to compute because the numbers are not arranged numerically in the storage phonebook. It is notable that a lot of other things that we do in daily life are comparable to cryptosystem function in the sense that you cannot invert or undo them. For example, if one breaks a glass, the process is one way because it is not possible for these pieces to be restored together again (Goldreich, 2004). Similarly, when one drops something into water, it is not practically possible to reverse the action of dropping this item (Mao, 2003). The English corresponding action would be to un-drop the item as opposed to picking it. Cry ptosystem functions cannot be demonstrated as purely one-way and this is the branching point between cryptosystem functions and the real world of things and circumstances. The only one-way functions in mathematics can be exemplified by discrete exponentiation, modular power and modular square functions. Public key cryptography uses these functions in its operations but it has not been well documented whether they are really one-way or not. There has been debate in practice whether one-way functions really exist in the first place or not (Garrett, 2001). In the recent day cryptographic discussions a lot of care should be applied when referring to the one-way functions so as not to interfere or make false claims to the functional attributes of these parameters. There is a need to look for extra information and knowledge concerning one-way functions so that efficient and meaningful inversions are possible and mathematically coherent. Therefore, functions such as F: X → Y is considered to be a one-way function (Koblitz, 1994; Schneier, 1996). This follows that if F can successfully and coherently inverted, the need for extra information is needed. This will hence bring the notion of the meaning of the other parameters in relation to F. Computer science uses the hash functions in its operations. This is because these functions are computable and generates output dependent on the input that was used (Katz, 2007; Koblitz, 1994). 3. Digital signatures The public-key encryption presents a revolution in the field of cryptography and until its invention the cryptographers had relied completely on common, secret keys in order to achieve confidential communication (Smart, 2003). On the contrary, the public-key techniques, allow for the parties to communicate privately without the requirement to decide on a secret key in advance. While the concept of private-key cryptography is presented as two parties agree on a secret keyk which can be used (by either party) for both encryption and decryption; public-key encryption is asymmetric in both these respects (Stinson, 2005). Namely, in public-key encryption: One party (the receiver) generates a pair of keys (pk, sk), where pk is called the public key and ps is the private key, The public key is used by a sender to encrypt a message for the receiver, and The receiver uses the private key to decrypt that message. There three parts of information form part of public key certificate: Some naming information A Public key Digital signatures (this can be one or more) Encryptions and digital signatures were introduced to make the web transactions secure and manageable. The use of cryptographic techniques was applied to enhance and provide security layer such that the encrypted information and files would remain secure and confidential. Very frequently, a digital signature is mistaken with the inverse of a public-key encryption, but this is not entirely true. In the history, a digital signature could be obtained by reversing, but today in the majority of the situations this process would be impossible to be performed. Basically, a digital signature is a form of a mathematical scheme for signifying the genuineness of a digital message. A valid digital signature would provide a proof to the person that receives the message or the document that these information is indeed created by a specified sender. Moreover, it would prove that message or the document was not altered during the transportation. Digital signatures are usually used for software distribution or mainly money transactions, where it is very important to detect the possibility of forgery. As a part of the field in asymmetric cryptography, it might be noted that a digital signature is somehow equivalent of the traditional handwritten signatures. On the other hand, in order to be effective, a digital signature should be correctly implemented. Another very important concept is the notion of non-repudiation. This means that if somebody signs a document by using a digital signature, they can not say that it was not signed by them, even though their private key remains as a secret. On the other hand, there is a time stamp, so that even if the private key of a sender is compromised in future, the digital signature will remain valid. Examples of such messages are: electronic mail contracts messages sent via some cryptographic protocol A digital signature usually is comprised of: An algorithm for producing a key. This algorithm would find a private key by chance from all the possible private keys available. Then it will output that private key with a matching public key. A signing algorithm that, given a message and a private key, produces a signature. A signature authenticating algorithm that, given a message, public key and a signature, it will accept or reject the message. Primary, a signature produced from a fixed message and a private key verifies that the genuineness of that message is ok, by means of the matching public key. Then, it has to be computationally infeasible to make an appropriate signature for a party that doesn’t have the private key 4. Algorithms 4.1. Introduction to SHS This section provides an overview of the secure hash standard (SHS) and implementation of the secure hash algorithm (SHA-1), required for use with digital signature algorithms. SHA-1 is used for computing a compressed version of a message or a data file. If that data has a length smaller than 264 buts, then the output will be 160-bit and is called a message digest. The message digest used for an input to the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA). This algorithm will verify the signature for the message. Signing the message digest instead of the originall message itself, might advance the effectiveness of the procedure. This is since the message digest is usually much slighter in size than the original message. Very important is that the same hash algorithm should be used by both the verifier and the digital signature creator. The usage of the SHA-1 with the DSA can be presented as follows: Interesting for SHA-1 is that it is computationally impossible to discover a message which matchs to a given digest. Moreover, it is also impossible to find two dissimilar messages which create an identical message digest. 4.2. Implementation of SHA-1 The following functions were implemented for the SHA-1 algorithm: Name of source file: secure_hash_algorithm.m. Function in the source file: secure_hash_algorithm (message). This function takes an input a string of characters. Example: Hello, How are you? How is it going on? Output is the message digest, the hash value of the message. Thus, the hash value of the above message is F418F52AE6DC208599F91191E6C40FA876F33754. Name of source file: arithematic_shift_operations.m. Function in the source file: arithematic_shift_operations (number, position, op). The inputs are: number: it is a hexadecimal large number of any size. The number is represented in base 16 and is stored as a string. Ex: ‘FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF’ position: the number of positions to be shifted by. It is a decimal number in base 10. Op: it is the type of operation done. Inputs are ‘SRA’ -> shift right arithematic and ‘SLA’ -> shift left arithematic. For example, the function: arithematic_shift_operations(‘FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF’, 3, ‘SRA’) would return ‘1FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF’, and arithematic_shift_operations(‘FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF’, 3, ‘SLA’) would return ‘FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF8’. Name of source file: bi2hex.m. Function in the source file: bi2hex (number). The input to this function is a vector of ones and zeros and the result is a hexadecimal output represented in string. For example, for the input â€Å"Number = [1 1 1 1]† bi2hex (Number) returns ‘F’ and for â€Å"Number = [1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 ]† bi2hex (Number) returns ‘F1’. Name of source file: hex2bi.m. Function in the source file: hex2bi (number). The input to this function is a number stored in form of a string in base 16 and the result is a vector containing the binary representation of input string. For example, for the input â€Å"Number = ‘F’ †, hex2bi (Number) returns â€Å"[1 1 1 1]† and for â€Å"Number = ‘F1’ â€Å", bi2hex (Number) returns â€Å"[1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1]†. Name of source file: hexadecimal_big_number_adder.m. Function in the source file: hexadecimal_big_number_adder (number_one, number_two). The inputs to this function are numbers stored in hexadecimal string format. Output is the result, a hexadecimal string and carry, a decimal number. After using this function, it has to be checked if the carry is generated, Incase if it is generated then the carry has to be appended in the beginning to the result. For example: Number_one = ‘FFFFFFFF’ Number_two = ‘EEEEEEEE’ [result, carry] = hexadecimal_big_number_adder (Number_one, Number_two) Result = ‘EEEEEEED’ , carry = 1; Hence the real sum is Result = strcat(dec2hex(0), Result); this results to ‘1EEEEEEED’ Name of source file: hexadecimal_big_number_subtractor.m. Function in the source file: hexadecimal_big_number_subtractor(number_one, number_two). The inputs to this function are numbers stored in hexadecimal string format. Output is the result, a hexadecimal string and sign, a decimal number. If sign is -1, then the result generated is a negative number else is a positive number. . For example: Number_one= ‘EEEEEEEE’ Number_two= ‘FFFFFFFF’ [result, sign] = hexadecimal_big_number_subtractor(Number_one, Number_two) Result = ‘11111111’ Sign = -1. Name of source file: hexadecimal_big_number_multiprecision_multiplication.m. Function in the source file: hexadecimal_big_number_multiprecision_multiplication(multiplicand, multiplier). The input is a multiplicand stored in string format is a hexadecimal number. And so is multiplier. The output is a result and is stored in form of a string. For example: multiplicand= ‘EEEEEEEE’ multiplier= ‘FFFFFFFF’ hexadecimal_big_number_multiprecision_multiplication(multiplicand, multiplier) result is ‘EEEEEEED11111112’ Name of source file: comparision_of.m. Function in the source file: comparision_of(number_one, number_two, index). This function compares two numbers in hexadecimal format stored in form of strings. Always input index as decimal 1. Therefore, it: Returns 1 if Number_one > Number_two, Returns 0 if Number_one = Number_two, and Returns -1 if Number_one For example, if Number_one= ‘EEEEEEEE’ Number_two= ‘FFFFFFFF’, the result would be: comparision_of(Number_one, Number_two, 1) returns -1. Name of source file: hexadecimal_big_number_modular_exponentiation.m. Function in the source file: hexadecimal_big_number_modular_exponentiation (base, exponent, modulus). This function calculates (power(base, exponent) % modulus). Here the input base, exponent and modulus are hexadecimal strings of any size. For example: Base = ‘FFF’ Exponent = ‘EEE’ Modulus = ‘AAAA’ hexadecimal_big_number_modular_exponentiation (Base, Exponent, Modulus) returns ‘8BAB’ Name of source file: hexadecimal_big_number_multiplicative_inverse.m. Function in the source file: Z = hexadecimal_big_number_multiplicative_inverse(number_one, number_two). This function returns multiplicative inverse of number_two modulo number_one. If az = 1 (mod m) then z is the multiplicative inverse of a mod m. Here â€Å"number_one = m†, â€Å"number_two = a†, â€Å"number_one = ‘FFFF’ †, â€Å"number_two = ‘1235’ â€Å" andresult is ‘634D’, which in turn is the multiplicative inverse of number_two.Hence : (result * number_two) mod number_one = 1 Name of source file: hexadecimal_big_number_test_for_primality.m. Function in the source file: hexadecimal_big_number_test_for_primality(number). The input to this function is an ODD number stored in hexadecimal format as a string. This function returns 1 if the input is a prime and returns -1 if input is composite. Name of source file: power_of_two_conversion_to_hexadecimal.m. Function in the source file: power_of_two_conversion_to_hexadecimal(power). The input is the number, the power to which two has to be raised to. It is a decimal number and the output is a hexadecimal number in form of string. For example, power_of_two_conversion_to_hexadecimal(4) returns ‘10’ i.e 16 in decimal system. Name of source file: hexadecimal_big_number_division.m. Function in the source file: hexadecimal_big_number_division (dividend, divisor). This function returns quotient and remainder both in hexadecimal string format. The inputs to this function are strings of hexadecimal format. This function uses other two functions in turn which are defined in source file Get_multiplier.m, multiplication_by_single_digit_multiplier.m. Name of source file: remove_leading_zeros.m. Function in the source file: remove_leading_zeros (number). This function takes number in hexadecimal string format as input and removes the leading zeros in the string and returns it. For example, if â€Å"Number = ‘000000012345’ â€Å", then the function returns ‘12345’. Some of the most prominent functions are presented in Appendix A. 4.3. Introduction to MD5 The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm is a extensively utilised in cryptographic hash functions. Basically this is the case for cryptographic hash functions with a 128-bit (16-byte) hash value. MD5 is used in many security applications, and in addition it is frequently used to check data integrity. An MD5 hash is typically expressed as a 32-digit hexadecimal number. The following figure represents a schematic view of the MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm. 4.4. Implementation of MD5 This algorithm would compute MD5 hash function for files. For example, if as input is given the d = md5(FileName), then the function md5() will computes the MD5 hash function of the file specified in the string FileName. This function will returns it as a 64-character array dwhere d is the digest. The following methodology that the MD5 algorithm was implemented: Initially, the function Digestis called. This function would read the whole file, and will make it uint32 vector FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt [Message,nBits] = readmessagefromfile(FileName); Then, it would append a bit in the last one that was read from that file: BytesInLastInt = mod(nBits,32)/8; if BytesInLastInt Message(end) = bitset(Message(end),BytesInLastInt*8+8); else Message = [Message; uint32(128)]; end Consequetly, it will append the zeros: nZeros = 16 mod(numel(Message)+2,16); Message = [Message; zeros(nZeros,1,uint32)]; And a bit length of the original message as uint64, such as the lower significant uint32 first: Lower32 = uint32(nBits); Upper32 = uint32(bitshift(uint64(nBits),-32)); Message = [Message; Lower32; Upper32]; The 64-element transformation array is: T = uint32(fix(4294967296*abs(sin(1:64)))); The 64-element array of number of bits for circular left shift: S = repmat([7 12 17 22; 5 9 14 20; 4 11 16 23; 6 10 15 21].,4,1); S = S(:).; Finally, the 64-element array of indices into X can be presented as: idxX = [0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 6 11 0 5 10 15 4 9 14 3 8 13 2 7 12 5 8 11 14 1 4 7 10 13 0 3 6 9 12 15 2 0 7 14 5 12 3 10 1 8 15 6 13 4 11 2 9] + 1; The initial state of the buffer is consisting of A, B, C and D. such as: A = uint32(hex2dec(67452301)); B = uint32(hex2dec(efcdab89)); C = uint32(hex2dec(98badcfe)); D = uint32(hex2dec(10325476)); The message is reshaped, such as: Message = reshape(Message,16,[]); The look between the blocks, such that X is an extraction of the next block: for iBlock = 1:size(Message,2) X = Message(:,iBlock); The buffer states are stored as: AA = A; BB = B; CC = C; DD = D; The buffer is transformed by utilizing the X block from above, and the parameters from S, T and idxX k = 0; for iRound = 1:4 for q = 1:4 A = Fun(iRound,A,B,C,D,X(idxX(k+1)),S(k+1),T(k+1)); D = Fun(iRound,D,A,B,C,X(idxX(k+2)),S(k+2),T(k+2)); C = Fun(iRound,C,D,A,B,X(idxX(k+3)),S(k+3),T(k+3)); B = Fun(iRound,B,C,D,A,X(idxX(k+4)),S(k+4),T(k+4)); k = k + 4; end end The old buffer state is also being added: A = bitadd32(A,AA); B = bitadd32(B,BB); C = bitadd32(C,CC); D = bitadd32(D,DD); end The message digest is being formed the following way: Str = lower(dec2hex([A;B;C;D])); Str = Str(:,[7 8 5 6 3 4 1 2]).; Digest = Str(:).; The subsequent functionality is performed by the following operations: function y = Fun(iRound,a,b,c,d,x,s,t) switch iRound case 1 q = bitor(bitand(b,c),bitand(bitcmp(b),d)); case 2 q = bitor(bitand(b,d),bitand(c,bitcmp(d))); case 3 q = bitxor(bitxor(b,c),d); case 4 q = bitxor(c,bitor(b,bitcmp(d))); end y = bitadd32(b,rotateleft32(bitadd32(a,q,x,t),s)); And the bits are rotated such as: function y = rotateleft32(x,s) y = bitor(bitshift(x,s),bitshift(x,s-32)); The sum function is presented as: function sum = bitadd32(varargin) sum = varargin{1}; for k = 2:nargin add = varargin{k}; carry = bitand(sum,add); sum = bitxor(sum,add); for q = 1:32 shift = bitshift(carry,1); carry = bitand(shift,sum); sum = bitxor(shift,sum); end end A message is being read frm a file, such as: function [Message,nBits] = readmessagefromfile(FileName) [hFile,ErrMsg] = fopen(FileName,r); error(ErrMsg); Message = fread(hFile,inf,ubit32=>uint32); fclose(hFile); d = dir(FileName); nBits = d.bytes*8; Lastly, the auto test function is the following: function md5autotest disp(Running md5 autotest); Messages{1} = ; Messages{2} = a; Messages{3} = abc; Messages{4} = message digest; Messages{5} = abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz; Messages{6} = ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789; Messages{7} = char(128:255); CorrectDigests{1} = d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e; CorrectDigests{2} = 0cc175b9c0f1b6a831c399e269772661; CorrectDigests{3} = 900150983cd24fb0d6963f7d28e17f72; CorrectDigests{4} = f96b697d7cb7938d525a2f31aaf161d0; CorrectDigests{5} = c3fcd3d76192e4007dfb496cca67e13b; CorrectDigests{6} = d174ab98d277d9f5a5611c2c9f419d9f; CorrectDigests{7} = 16f404156c0500ac48efa2d3abc5fbcf; TmpFile = tempname; for k=1:numel(Messages) [h,ErrMsg] = fopen(TmpFile,w); error(ErrMsg); fwrite(h,Messages{k},char); fclose(h); Digest = md5(TmpFile); fprintf(%d: %sn,k,Digest); if ~strcmp(Digest,CorrectDigests{k}) error(md5 autotest failed on the following string: %s,Messages{k}); end end delete(TmpFile); disp(md5 autotest passed!); 4.4.1 Results This algorithm is tested with the input: university of Portsmouth department of electronic and computer engineering. This was written on the file: â€Å"C://md5InputFile.txt†. The outpus results are as in the following fugures: Textual description of the output results follows: OUTPUT FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt Running md5 autotest FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt 1986621045 1769173605 1864399220 1867522150 1836282994 1752462703 1885692960 1836348001 544501349 1696622191 1952671084 1768845170 1851859043 1868767332 1953853549 1696625253 1852401518 1769104741 26478 1: 3129b41fa9e7159c2a03ad8c161a7424 FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt 1986621045 1769173605 1864399220 1867522150 1836282994 1752462703 1885692960 1836348001 544501349 1696622191 1952671084 1768845170 1851859043 1868767332 1953853549 1696625253 1852401518 1769104741 26478 2: 3129b41fa9e7159c2a03ad8c161a7424 FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt 1986621045 1769173605 1864399220 1867522150 1836282994 1752462703 1885692960 1836348001 544501349 1696622191 1952671084 1768845170 1851859043 1868767332 1953853549 1696625253 1852401518 1769104741 26478 3: 3129b41fa9e7159c2a03ad8c161a7424 FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt 1986621045 1769173605 1864399220 1867522150 1836282994 1752462703 1885692960 1836348001 544501349 1696622191 1952671084 1768845170 1851859043 1868767332 1953853549 1696625253 1852401518 1769104741 26478 4: 3129b41fa9e7159c2a03ad8c161a7424 FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt 1986621045 1769173605 1864399220 1867522150 1836282994 1752462703 1885692960 1836348001 544501349 1696622191 1952671084 1768845170 1851859043 1868767332 1953853549 1696625253 1852401518 1769104741 26478 5: 3129b41fa9e7159c2a03ad8c161a7424 FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt 1986621045 1769173605 1864399220 1867522150 1836282994 1752462703 1885692960 1836348001 544501349 1696622191 1952671084 1768845170 1851859043 1868767332 1953853549 1696625253 1852401518 1769104741 26478 6: 3129b41fa9e7159c2a03ad8c161a7424 FileName = C:\md5InputFile.txt 1986621045 1769173605 1864399220 1867522150 1836282994 1752462703 1885692960 1836348001 544501349 1696622191 1952671084 1768845170 1851859043 1868767332 1953853549 1696625253 1852401518 1769104741 26478 7: 3129b41fa9e7159c2a03ad8c161a7424 md5 autotest passed! 4.5. Introduction to Caesar cipher The Caesar cipher in cryptography, is in essence a shift cipher. It represents as one of the simplest and most widely known encryption methodologies. The Caesar cipher is a kind of substitution cipher. It means that each letter in a given plaintext is replaced by another letter. This is done due shifting by some fixed number of positions down the alphabet. Julius Caesar was the first to use this ci

The Great Depression and World War II Shaped My Grandmas Life Essay

The Great Depression and World War II Shaped My Grandma's Life My grandma, Alma Jean, was born in 1935 in Silo, Oklahoma, just outside of Durant. Her birth certificate says she was born in Durant because Silo was too small to be considered a real town. She lived there on a farm with her parents, Orval and Maggie Dale. It was the middle of the Great Depression, and they were a farming family at a time when it seemed like no one could make a living off the land. To supplement their income, Orval and his father worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). President Roosevelt set up the WPA the same year that my grandma was born (Divine 760). The WPA was similar to other work relief programs such as the CCC, PWA, CWA and NYA. All were established to provide jobs for the unemployed. However, the WPA was unique because it was the first program to also address the needs of artists, writers, and actors. These people were employed by the WPA to capture and portray the culture and events of the United States at that time (761). As a result of the Depression, Americans learned to be resourceful. People would make clothes out of flour sacks and homes out of cardboard and metal scraps (Conlin 686). They grew gardens and hunted for their food instead of buying it at the store. Some people even sold apples in the city streets to earn money (Current 731). One of the weirdest things about my grandma is that she likes to eat squirrel brains. But it makes sense. When she was little they didn't have money to buy meat, so her dad would go hunting all the time. He'd catch jackrabbits and squirrels and whatever else he could find, and that's what they ate. So my grandma grew up eating squirrels (and their brains). It was normal to h... ... of the war. The day the war ended she was in school. When they found out it was over, they let all the kids go home early. Everywhere she went, she said she could feel a sense of relief. Everyone was happy and excited. My grandma grew up and married Henry Fordge. They now have six grown children and a lifetime of wonderful memories. Her first memories, though, were shaped by two of the greatest events in American history: The Great Depression and World War Two. Works Cited Conlin, Joseph R. Our Land, Our Time: A History of the United States. Orlando: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1991. Current, Richard N., et al. American History: A Survey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983. Divine, Robert A., ed. America Past and Present. Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1987. Jordan, Killian, ed. Our Finest Hour. Time Inc. Home Entertainment. 2000.

Genetically Modified Foods †Friend or Foe Essay

In 1998 the first genetically modified (GM) food was approved for public consumption. Since then GM foods have become part of the world’s food supply and are produced in several countries. While horror stories in the 90s promised dire consequences for introducing GM foods to the populace most of those problems have failed to arise as promised. Some scientists say that GM foods are completely safe and the proof might be that we are all still here to debate the point. GM foods are not labeled in the United States and chances are that most Americans have already eaten GM foods. Still, how much is known about the GM foods that Americans are unknowingly feeding to their families? Is managing to survive the experiment the only yardstick we should use to measure risk? Genetically modified foods might be dangerous and more testing is desperately needed to avoid health hazards. While the FDA and their scientists say that GM foods are safe, the U. S. government is already aware that there have been problems with GM foods. Even before genetic modification became the industry it is today there were problems linked with hormonally enhanced foods. Small changes in our food supply can cause large results. Of course, the problems are just a small percentage of the whole. In 1998 Harvard Medical School released a study (as cited by Larsen, 1998, Â ¶ 1) showing evidence that a product known as Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) increased the chances of humans developing cancer. Bovine Somatotropin is a hormone produced by cattle which is also known as Bovine Growth Hormone. The Recombinant status means it was synthetically produced using recombinant DNA technology. The synthetic chemical is injected into cows to stimulate milk production. Milk cows in the United States and England were once treated with this chemical but England banned its use after the link between rBST and cancer was shown (Larsen, 1998). The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) says that the chemical is safe and not only approves of its use but does not allow labeling of the products that come from the cows that are injected with rBST (Epstein, 1996; FDA Consumer, 1999). Of secondary concern when dealing with rBST injected cattle is the worry of infection. The more milk a cow produces the more likely it becomes that she will suffer from udder inflammation. This inflammation is regularly treated with antibiotics to which the cows are developing a resistance to over time. Not only can this resistance be passed along to the humans who drink the milk but humans can also have allergic reactions to the antibiotic traces left in the milk (Epstein, 1996). In 1989 approximately 5000 individuals became suddenly ill. This illness was later traced back to a health food supplement that had been created using GM enhanced bacteria. Of those 5000 people, 37 later died and 1500 were permanently disabled. The toxin which caused the problem was present in only 0. 01% of the product. One percent is below the level that would have caused concern or a halt of production. In 1996 a company created a B2 vitamin to be sold with GM bacteria and the FDA approved it as long as any contaminants were not found at greater than 0. 01%. With that standard in place the 1989 toxin problem would not be detected even if it happened today (Antoniou, 1996, Â ¶ 5-6). While the FDA does set the standards there is very little actual oversight of the biotech companies. As of 1992 (as cited by Whitman, 2000) the FDA policy is that biotech companies may voluntarily ask for a consultation with the FDA. The consultation is not compulsory and even if used the company does not have to follow the FDA recommendations. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has the power to quarantine crops that are a danger but the biotech companies do not require a permit from the USDA as long as their product meets a short set of standards created to ensure the safety of the crop itself. To put it simply, the FDA is responsible for food safety and the USDA is responsible for plant and crop safety (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 32-35). The FDA sets the requirements that GM foods must meet to be declared safe. The main requirement for safety is that the modified food being judged is substantially equivalent to the original non-modified food (Physicians and Scientists for the Responsible Application of Science and Technology [PSRAST], 2006). For example, if a biomed modified potato is found to still be substantially equivalent to a regular potato then no further testing is needed. The theory is that being substantially equivalent gives them the same level of safety. For a food to be judged substantially equivalent it must be similar on several points, which are chosen by the manufacturers themselves. There must be no overt difference between the GM food and the non-GM food in regard to taste, appearance, and several points selected by the manufacturer in the areas of chemical composition and nutritional composition. The only other test required is to do an analysis looking for allergen markers. If the computers find no reason to believe that the product can cause allergies then the product is approved. Human testing is never required (PSRAST, 2006, Â ¶ 20-25). If genetically altering foods is an inherently safe procedure then the above tests are a perfectly logical way to test GM foods. If the foods are as unsafe as some claim then it is a dangerous policy for the biotech companies and the U. S. government to decide upon. In 1994 the FDA stated that modified foods were as safe as their non-modified counterparts and policy decisions have been based on that statement. The government believes so strongly in the safety of GM foods that they do not require labeling of any kind to differentiate GM foods from non-modified food sources (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 38-43). Since there is no way to differentiate GM from non-GM products there is no way for Americans to know if they are eating GM foods. In 2003 six countries produced 99% of the transgenic crops, also known as GM crops, sold in the world. Of these six countries the United States sold, by far, the largest percentage of these crops (James, 2003). The chart below lists the acreage of these crops by millions. Figure 1 Obviously, not all is doom and gloom when looking at the above figures. Although biotechnology can do harm it can also help the world, maybe. According to Raney, Pingali, T. R, & R. R. in 2007 a new variety of rice named Golden Rice was modified to produce beta-carotene. The rice was developed specifically to help the starving and poor in third world countries who become ill from vitamin A deficiencies (p. 108). Three servings of Golden Rice a day will provide an adult with 10% of their daily requirement of Vitamin A. While this does not seem earth shattering it shows a company attempting to use biotech to help others. Of course, even assuming the FDA is right and the problems caused by GM foods are an aberration there is the USDA’s bailiwick to ponder. Are the crops safe for the biosphere itself? That is a difficult question to answer, as well. Just like the food safety issue there are people on both sides of this argument who are convinced that they are right. On one side are the scientists who fully believe that the creation of GM foods cannot harm the biosphere and on the other are the scientists who believe that cross pollination will cause problems. According to the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University (2004) a list of recommended separation distances for GM crops was released by the USDA. According to the USDA if the separation distance is maintained and divider crops are planted then the risk for migration or cross pollination is minimal. Divider plants are tall plants that will block the flow of pollen from wind caused migration. With these precautions in place biosphere damage is supposed to be minimal. A photo taken by Percy Schmeiser and provided by The Nature Institute in 1994 shows that even if the worry of cross pollination or plant migration is overblown it is not an unproven phenomena. The field in the picture was planted with wheat in 1999. In the year 2000 they allowed it to lie fallow, in layman’s terms they did not plant anything so to regenerate the soil. They sprayed the soil twice with a weed killer known as Round Up but somehow an herbicide resistant strain of canola plants migrated into the field. The bushes in the below picture are all a GM crop that was never planted by the farmer. No one is sure how it appeared in the field (Holdrege, 2004, Â ¶ 11). Figure 2 Even discounting the possibility of seed migration via accident or wind there is always the chance of cross pollination. With cross pollination one plant can pollinate or breed another plant via insect help or wind that it was not scheduled to pollinate. In this way a plant type that was supposed to be non-GM can be infected with GM genes without the farmer or company being aware of the problem. This has happened before to rice crops that were sold to Europe from the U. S. and caused the temporary halt of rice exports to certain companies in Europe. The rice in question was not approved for human consumption and no one is sure how it appeared either in the field or the food supply (Vogel, 2006). Besides cross pollination and migration one other crop issue needs to be addressed. Monsanto has produced crop plants that either target the RNA in insects to kill off their larvae, are tolerant of herbicides like Round Up to kill off weeds, or produce pesticides of their own to kill predatory insects (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 4-5; Webb, 2007). While these functions are beneficial to farmers in that they save money and protect the crops, there are some concerns with these changes. There is always the possibility of cross breeding or cross contamination affecting a species for which these changes were not intended. There is also the chance that the insect killing modifications will kill off non-pest insects like butterflies. Lastly, there is a chance that plants that produce pesticides will be toxic to the humans or animals that ingest it (Whitman, 2000, Â ¶ 18-22). While opinions still vary on GM food safety, what becomes obvious is that there are more questions than answers. More testing and more rigorous safety and control laws are needed to protect the populace from unmeant harm. While GM foods can be a boon to the world they can just as easily become a curse. Disease, poisonings, and even dangers to the biosphere itself are just some of the risks we currently run. The best way to safeguard our future is to demand that congress takes our safety seriously. References Antoniou, M. (1996). Is GM food devoid of DNA safe. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from http://www. purefood. org/ge/noDNA. htm Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University. (2004). Concerns about current farming practices. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://cls. casa. colostate. edu/TransgenicCrops/croptocrop. html Epstein, Samuel S. (1996). Unlabeled milk from cows treated with biosynthetic growth hormones: a case of regulatory abdication. International Journal of Health Services, 26(1), 173-185. Holdrege, C. (2004). The trouble with genetically modified crops. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from http://www.natureinstitute. org/pub/ic/ic11/gmcrops. htm James, C. (2003). Preview: Global status of commercialized transgenic crops: 2003. Ithica,NY: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications [ISAAA]. Larsen, H. (1998). Milk and the cancer connection. Retrieved December 27, 2007, from http://www. vvv. com/healthnews/milk. html Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology [PSRAST]. (2006). Inadequate safety assessment of GE foods. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from http://www. psrast. org/subeqow. htm Raney, T. , Pingali, P. , T. R. , & P. P. (2007, September). Sowing a gene revolution. Scientific American, 297(3), 104-111. Retrieved December 7, 2007, from EBSCOhost database. Safety of rbST Milk Affirmed. (1999, May). FDA Consumer, 33(3), 4. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from EBSCOhost database. Vogel, G. (2006, September). Tracing the transatlantic spread of GM rice. Science, 313(5794), 1714. Webb, S. (2007, November 10). Silencing pests. Science News, 172(19), 292. Retrieved December 7, 2007, from EBSCOhost database. Whitman, B. (2000). Genetically modified foods: harmful or helpful. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www. csa. com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview. php.

Free Essays on William Moraley

William Moraley disembarked from the ship Bonetta in Philadelphia a week before Christmas, 1729. Like Benjamin Franklin who had arrived six years earlier, Moraley landed in the City of Brotherly Love as a poor man. While Franklin was a runaway apprentice, Moraley was a bound servant awaiting purchase. Wearing a dilapidated red coat, coarse checkered shirt, bad shoes, and a dirty wig, Moraley, like the similarly ill attired Franklin, bought bread with his last pennies, and then explored the town on foot. After that, the two men’s initial hours and days in the city diverged sharply. Franklin gave his leftover bread to a friendless woman and child, attended a Quaker meeting, and sought out a reputable inn for lodging; the following day he applied for work. On the other hand Moraley sold his clothes to buy rum and contemplated the wonders of Philadelphia. While the Bonetta docked on Market Wharf, at least forty more ships were docked along the Delaware River. In Philadelphia, the Bonetta unloaded its cargo of servants and coal, took on a shipment of flour, and in early January set sail for Lisbon. Other vessels were just clearing the port for Barbados, Madeira, Antigua, and the Isle of Man. This sea traffic formed the foundation for Philadelphia’s economy. The urban center was an epicenter through which European manufactured goods flowed to be sold throughout the Delaware Valley, while the region’s abundant grain and livestock products were carried into the city for shipment abroad. Most residents, directly or indirectly, depended on commerce with people scattered throughout the Atlantic World, from Native Americans in the backcountry, to small farmers and storekeepers in the neighboring countryside, to planters, manufacturers, and merchants operating from the West Indies to Portugal to Britain Housing construction like wise formed a vital component of the economy as carpenters and laborers built structures in response to the cityï ¿ ½... Free Essays on William Moraley Free Essays on William Moraley William Moraley disembarked from the ship Bonetta in Philadelphia a week before Christmas, 1729. Like Benjamin Franklin who had arrived six years earlier, Moraley landed in the City of Brotherly Love as a poor man. While Franklin was a runaway apprentice, Moraley was a bound servant awaiting purchase. Wearing a dilapidated red coat, coarse checkered shirt, bad shoes, and a dirty wig, Moraley, like the similarly ill attired Franklin, bought bread with his last pennies, and then explored the town on foot. After that, the two men’s initial hours and days in the city diverged sharply. Franklin gave his leftover bread to a friendless woman and child, attended a Quaker meeting, and sought out a reputable inn for lodging; the following day he applied for work. On the other hand Moraley sold his clothes to buy rum and contemplated the wonders of Philadelphia. While the Bonetta docked on Market Wharf, at least forty more ships were docked along the Delaware River. In Philadelphia, the Bonetta unloaded its cargo of servants and coal, took on a shipment of flour, and in early January set sail for Lisbon. Other vessels were just clearing the port for Barbados, Madeira, Antigua, and the Isle of Man. This sea traffic formed the foundation for Philadelphia’s economy. The urban center was an epicenter through which European manufactured goods flowed to be sold throughout the Delaware Valley, while the region’s abundant grain and livestock products were carried into the city for shipment abroad. Most residents, directly or indirectly, depended on commerce with people scattered throughout the Atlantic World, from Native Americans in the backcountry, to small farmers and storekeepers in the neighboring countryside, to planters, manufacturers, and merchants operating from the West Indies to Portugal to Britain Housing construction like wise formed a vital component of the economy as carpenters and laborers built structures in response to the cityï ¿ ½...

Beauty and the Beast Anorexia essays

Beauty and the Beast Anorexia essays It seemed to me that the older I got, the more obsessed people seemed about their bodies. Whether it was the diet soda boom of the 80's, or the fact everyone has always been unhappy with his or her natural bodies; it just took me a while to comprehend. It always seemed like there were diets here, diets there; these drugs can do this, or these herbs can do that... "Stop the insanity!" This paper is going to discuss anorexia nervosa, an alarming disease that is usually developed during puberty of both boys and girls. Like bulimia, in which the subject binges and then disposes of ingested food by purging or use of laxatives, those suffering anorexia nervosa have an obsession with the amount of fat on her body (although one of every ten suffering this disease are male, I will use the female pronoun since they are the majority). This results in the loss of appetite completely and dangerous weight loss. More than thirty years ago one of this century's major sex symbols sang, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President," on television. With her size fourteen to sixteen figure, it is doubtful that society's standards would approve Marilyn Monroe today. Back in those days men and women alike ate what tasted good or what the body needed and simply bought clothes that would hide any unwanted weight gain. Today the story is different. Psychologists that study the influence of television on children say that television is the most influential medium in our "visually orientated" society (Velette, 1988, p.3). With the influence of television and celebrity role models, children don't care that they see a variety of sizes outside of their home, what they care about are the majority of people shown on the television set, perfect. Teenagers have typically watched 15,000 hours of television in their lifetime (Valette, 1988, p.4), absorbing the opinions on the shows or the commercials burning into their retinas. The message transmitted: "To be successful, beautif...

Due Process essays

Due Process essays "A right to a fair trial". That statement seems so true at first glance, but when you analyze it, you will find the statement to be quite false at times. People are still treated unjustly and feeling uncomfortable with the criminal justice system. The United States Constitution declares us the "right to a fair trial", yet through the years, some U. S. citizens have not recovered that particular right. Because of mistakes like this, people lose faith in this Constitution. In the Constitution, a right to a free trial can be sum up in one method, "Due Process of Law". The 5th Amendment has the first reference of the term "Due Process of Law". At that time the United States was existing during the colonial ages. The country had just won the Revolutionary War and it was to become a new nation of freedom, truth and justice. When our founding fathers came together to build our nation and constitution, they regretted to include all of the people who were living in the U. S. These people that I speak about are slaves. They were not even considered to be citizens nor an integral part of the U. S. This idea started with the Dred Scott Case, which states that slaves were not U. S. citizens, therefore they were not allowed to have a fair trial. When the slaves became "free", for the next ten years they had all of the rights that were promised to them. Unfortunately, everything usually comes to an end. In 1875, a new President was in office and the Jim Crow laws spread all over the land. When this law began to spread, all of the rights of free slaves began to disappear and cast its ugly shadow over the country. You might think that I am being too dramatic, yet history has shown the extreme loss of rights of some Americans. Minority citizens, mainly African Americans, went through these hardships and tribulations. All of this was mainly due to the fact that "Due Process of Law" did not exist with the Jim Crow Laws. Af...

Assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

2 - Assignment Example This paper contains my comprehensive plan regarding my Spanish teaching sessions to a group of adult learners. In planning my session, I put in mind my students’ interest as beginner Spanish learners and the knowledge and skills they want to develop. My roles and responsibilities My responsibilities as a language teacher is to ensure that the activities used in the learning process are tailored towards achievement of the learning objectives. These responsibilities are related to the learning that range from advising my students on how to maximize effects of their learning styles to actual teaching of language concepts in class. It is also my responsibility to assess the level of understanding my students have developed through learning and safeguarding their data and information. I take the role of an educator; teaching my students language concepts. The other role is that of an education advisor, advising them on how to improve their learning, and that of an evaluator, evalua ting and assessing the level of knowledge they have developed during a learning session. However, it is not my responsibility to counsel student on their social and financial problems even though the issues might affect their learning process since the institution has employed specialist for those responsibilities. For example, students’ affair personnel counsel students on various non-academic issues affecting their academic life and accounting personnel deal with financial issues affecting our students. Therefore, when I spot a student who needs counseling in either issue, I normally refer them to the right personnel where they can get assistance. The context of the lessons The lessons will be taking place in the UK, which is a non-Spanish speaking nation. These will actually pose some challenges to the students, one of them being lack of Spanish speaking community to talk to outside classroom. Another challenge is that my students do not have any foundation in the Spanish language. This might make it difficult for them to understand difficult Spanish language concepts. I have critically looked at this issue and after evaluating some of the solution I can employ, I have to involve many sessions in which they practice their understanding of the language. This is because I understood that if I want my students to understand Spanish more easily despite their country of origin and the fact that they are in the UK, language practice will be essential. Under the UK laws, we have various legislations that are relevant to the context of teaching language. These are the equal opportunities, health, and safety at work, data protection, and CRB checks when you are working with vulnerable adults. In my teaching sessions, I will always be making sure that all my students have equal opportunities to participate in the learning session without any kind of discrimination. None of my students will be discriminated in my lesson regardless of age, gender, and race, coun try of origin or even learning capabilities. To ensure safety and health at work, I will design codes of conduct to be observed by all the parties involved in the learning sessions including the teacher. These codes will be relating to how the parties are supposed to behave during a learning session and how they should treat each other and each other’

What is culture Using examples, explain what socioligists mean when Essay

What is culture Using examples, explain what socioligists mean when they use the concept culture - Essay Example Hegel thought that the story of human history was the realization of certain ideals (freedom, the State, etc.) which had become universal to the human condition. It is that latter term which holds the greatest significance for any discussion of the meaning of culture: universal. Croce rightly saw the concept of ‘culture’ as being but the striving for the universal in the life of man. An individual’s culture is then the complete and absolute expression of all that is universal in his/her life. Croce also opined that ‘each true history is a contemporaneous one’ (Croce 1989, p. 14), the maxim for which he is famous. The implication here is that any perspective is greatly beholden to the epoch and place in which it is formulated. To apply his approach to historiography to his concept of culture requires no great leap of logic. Though culture strives for universality, it is still dependent on the individual in question: his/her language, faith, physical an d political milieu, and/or socialization. From Croce’s framing of culture, one can obtain an idea of its use in the general field of sociology. Though the meaning of ‘culture’ has altered over time from its Romanticist origins, it is surely one which, depending on the given sociologist, concerns the universal and uniform in the life of the individual, of which society is but a collection. Durkheim studied human culture through the nexus of what he referred to as the ‘collective conscience’. He conceptualised society and culture as being a sort of ‘collective psychology’ predicated upon understanding how and why values and beliefs were transmitted on a society-wide basis among individuals, regions, and generations. [Culture] is the ensemble of links which attach one individual to another and to society and which make of the mass of individuals a coherent aggregate. It is this [which] is the source of solidarity and which forces man to count himself among others, to base his

Link between ADHD and Criminal Behavior Research Paper

Link between ADHD and Criminal Behavior - Research Paper Example However, recent studies have indicated that there is a correlation between this disorder and criminal behavior. It is evident that ADHD leads to the onset and development of criminal activities. This paper discusses how ADHD causes criminal behavior. It analyzes the various aspects of ADHD that indicates and causes criminal behavior. It provides the premise that several ADHD related behaviors like drug abuse, bullying, poor self-control, personality disorders as well as depression and anxiety leads to criminality. The paper also evaluates the prevalence of ADHD induced criminality according to age and gender. In this regard, it explains concerning the prevalence of criminal behavior between males and females as well as between adults and youths. Introduction Unnever & Cornell (2003) indicate that Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurobehavioral childhood disorder. In addition, this disorder is the most common condition that mostly affects schoolch ildren. The major signs of ADHD comprise hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattentiveness. Moreover, it is evident that occurrence rates for ADHD in the general population of young teenagers and children range from 4% to 12%, with high rates for city areas, boys, and those from low Social economic backgrounds. Many researchers have indicated that there have been continued link between psychiatric disorders and antisocial disorders in children. Since ADHD starts early in children, there is the possibility of this condition extending into adult-hood and breed criminal behavior. Research has also termed this disorder as the developmental forerunner of later disruptive behavior and criminality. In addition, there is a connection between ADHD and conduct or personality disorders. It is evident that ADHD causes this personality and conduct disorders which later leads to criminality. For instance, recent studies performed on prisoners in western nations have indicated that approximately half of the inmates tested positive to the diagnoses of serious antisocial personality disorder or conduct disorder when imprisoned. In addition, enduring evaluation researches have established that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) merged with conduct disorder is a forerunner of later criminal behavior (Mordre et al., 2011). Connection of ADHD with Criminal Behavior Ghanizadeh et al. (2011) portray three major areas, which describe the clear connection of ADHD with criminal behavior. In the first premise, they claim that ADHD might lead to delinquent activities consequently attracting imprisonment. The second premise entails the relationship between ADHD and conduct disorder. In this regard, they note that there is a strong connection between the high rate of conduct behavior and the prevalence of ADHD. This means that most patients with ADHD show symptoms of conduct disorder, which primarily indicates the onset of criminal behavior. The third premise is that imprisonment and offender behavior may lead to ADHD and conduct disorder. Several researchers have established that there is a positive link between youths who have ADHD and criminal activities. This means that the young generation, mostly the children and teenagers are the most in danger of engaging in criminal activities due to ADHD. Considerable research has also indicated that prevalence of ADHD in teenagers might cause spontaneous, unconscious behavior that frequently overpowers an adolescent’s sense of self-control. This unconscious behavior makes the teenager to undertake some actions that are not right and without consciously knowing. This is because the teenager lacks the self-control to handle the situations surrounding him or her. However, since this disorder starts early in c

Summary of the National Standard Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Summary of the National Standard Project - Essay Example Therefore, informed decisions are made based on researches that present logical evidences. In regards to ASD, currently, several educational or behavioral treatments are accessible. However, the major differences in these interventions include consistency, quality, and quantity. The objectives of the National Standard Project as part of the National Autism Center initiative are to define skills, diagnosis, and age targeted for improvement of treatment options. It seeks to explore the current body research limitations on autism treatment. Also, it is concerned with strengthening of behavioral and educational treatments evidences that focus on ASD characteristics. Moreover, it aims supporting ASD evidence-based performance. The standards outlined by NSP will benefit service providers, caregivers, parents, and educators because they deserver to get easily accessible, reliable, and current information in order top make informed decisions on treatment. Financial considerations are approxi mated at 3.2 million dollars for each ASD individual. NSP is expected to reduce by 65% upon use of correct treatment. The National Autism Center is primarily concerned with availing trustworthy information, and endorsing best practices. Also it offers inclusive family, community, and practitioners with resources. It conducts researches and helps in reformulating policies related to ASD. Thus, the quality of life for people suffering from ASD and their relatives are enhanced by the National Autism Center professional Advisory Board. History of clinical Guidelines Medicine, education, psychology, and allied health are currently guided by evidence-based practice. The extent at which a research supports purported treatment for ASD should be taken into account by Decision makers. In regards to the educational interventions report published by the National Research Council Committee, there exists several limitations in the present clinical guidelines. These limitations include overdue of previous guidelines due to completion of reviews before 21swt century onset. Also, the report pointed out that a variety or broad range all behavioral and educational studies for ASD treatment were not included in those reviews. Emergence of evidence-based practice overruled previous guidelines that presented shallow details about each ASD treatment option. However, these limitations are addressed by NSP. NSP had published a thoroughly reviewed literature of behavioral and educational treatment that focused on associated ASD symptoms and Core characteristics between 1957 and 2007. Also, the project has availed information concerning effective treatment based on treatment targets, age, and diagnostic groups. In order to increase transparency, NSR has sought feedbacks at international and national conferences from professional and parents. Overview of the National Standard Project NSP was established to serve three major purposes. This include identification of the extent of behaviora l and educational interventions evidence available presently applied to the study group mainly comprised of individuals with ASD and less than 22 years. NSR notes that the interventions explore the major features of the disorder thus, helps in effective treatment section. Also, it is focused at helping service providers, educators, caregivers, and parents to comprehend how to infuse critical thinking in

Human resourse managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human resourse managment - Essay Example Every human resource has to be integrated in such a way that it can be accommodated by the main strategy of the business. The first level that he proposes is the fit, between the human resource policies and the overall business strategy. Every human resource department has its own policies to which they expect every employee to follow. These policies and rules are the ones that Guest maintains that should be in such a way that they can be accepted by the general business strategy. For example a policy which restricts workers from not working more than 56 hours a week might not be accommodated by a bossiness strategy which intends to complete a given task within a given time frame. Therefore the human resource department would have to adjust the policy so as to fit with the general business strategy. The principle of complementary is his second level that has to be taken by the human resource department in order to have success in the integration. He maintains the employment should be mutual between the employer and the employee in order for integration to be realized between the human resource and the general business strategy. When this is done then quality is increased and the functions of the human resource become coherent. If the terms of employment are not mutual so that one party feels that they are not given what they deserve from the deal then laxity will set in and reduce quality of the work that is done by members of the work force. Third he proposes internalization of the importance of the integration between human resource and the overall business strategy by the line managers. In simple terms it means that he proposes that the line managers are the ones who should be concerned with making sure that every person within the workforce understands fully the importance of integration and appreciate it to their very best. When this is done then the workforce is aware of what is

Explaining And Defending The Assigned Option Assignment

Explaining And Defending The Assigned Option - Assignment Example I believe the pricing option that I have chosen will be profitable for Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile Company will enter the market matching with prices offered by their competitors.   Ã‚  I also believe that their modern channel strategy and VirginXtras they will differentiate their products that will offer them a competitive gain in their target market. Given that the market is flooded, it is appropriate to let these features retain their product distinct and not saturate the population with totally new prices that may be difficult to understand.   Moreover, by matching competition and maintain their phones as post-paid, they can keep a low roil rate of 2 percent (McGovrn, 2015).   The rate will give Virgin Mobile the greatest chance of becoming even more profitable. If they opt for below competition option, they will create an entirely new price that might turn out to be risky. They may risk complicating a saturated market and raising churn rates. â€Å"Clone the industry Pri ces† options will be more profitable as it requires a small advertising budget. They can put their packaging so that they can pass their message to their customers without using salespersons. By using this option, their profits can be increased since there are reduced expenses for hiring salespeople.  Virgin Mobiles anticipates using approximately 60 million dollars less on advertisement compared to their competitors.  

Summary of the National Standard Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Summary of the National Standard Project - Essay Example Therefore, informed decisions are made based on researches that present logical evidences. In regards to ASD, currently, several educational or behavioral treatments are accessible. However, the major differences in these interventions include consistency, quality, and quantity. The objectives of the National Standard Project as part of the National Autism Center initiative are to define skills, diagnosis, and age targeted for improvement of treatment options. It seeks to explore the current body research limitations on autism treatment. Also, it is concerned with strengthening of behavioral and educational treatments evidences that focus on ASD characteristics. Moreover, it aims supporting ASD evidence-based performance. The standards outlined by NSP will benefit service providers, caregivers, parents, and educators because they deserver to get easily accessible, reliable, and current information in order top make informed decisions on treatment. Financial considerations are approxi mated at 3.2 million dollars for each ASD individual. NSP is expected to reduce by 65% upon use of correct treatment. The National Autism Center is primarily concerned with availing trustworthy information, and endorsing best practices. Also it offers inclusive family, community, and practitioners with resources. It conducts researches and helps in reformulating policies related to ASD. Thus, the quality of life for people suffering from ASD and their relatives are enhanced by the National Autism Center professional Advisory Board. History of clinical Guidelines Medicine, education, psychology, and allied health are currently guided by evidence-based practice. The extent at which a research supports purported treatment for ASD should be taken into account by Decision makers. In regards to the educational interventions report published by the National Research Council Committee, there exists several limitations in the present clinical guidelines. These limitations include overdue of previous guidelines due to completion of reviews before 21swt century onset. Also, the report pointed out that a variety or broad range all behavioral and educational studies for ASD treatment were not included in those reviews. Emergence of evidence-based practice overruled previous guidelines that presented shallow details about each ASD treatment option. However, these limitations are addressed by NSP. NSP had published a thoroughly reviewed literature of behavioral and educational treatment that focused on associated ASD symptoms and Core characteristics between 1957 and 2007. Also, the project has availed information concerning effective treatment based on treatment targets, age, and diagnostic groups. In order to increase transparency, NSR has sought feedbacks at international and national conferences from professional and parents. Overview of the National Standard Project NSP was established to serve three major purposes. This include identification of the extent of behaviora l and educational interventions evidence available presently applied to the study group mainly comprised of individuals with ASD and less than 22 years. NSR notes that the interventions explore the major features of the disorder thus, helps in effective treatment section. Also, it is focused at helping service providers, educators, caregivers, and parents to comprehend how to infuse critical thinking in

Explaining And Defending The Assigned Option Assignment

Explaining And Defending The Assigned Option - Assignment Example I believe the pricing option that I have chosen will be profitable for Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile Company will enter the market matching with prices offered by their competitors.   Ã‚  I also believe that their modern channel strategy and VirginXtras they will differentiate their products that will offer them a competitive gain in their target market. Given that the market is flooded, it is appropriate to let these features retain their product distinct and not saturate the population with totally new prices that may be difficult to understand.   Moreover, by matching competition and maintain their phones as post-paid, they can keep a low roil rate of 2 percent (McGovrn, 2015).   The rate will give Virgin Mobile the greatest chance of becoming even more profitable. If they opt for below competition option, they will create an entirely new price that might turn out to be risky. They may risk complicating a saturated market and raising churn rates. â€Å"Clone the industry Pri ces† options will be more profitable as it requires a small advertising budget. They can put their packaging so that they can pass their message to their customers without using salespersons. By using this option, their profits can be increased since there are reduced expenses for hiring salespeople.  Virgin Mobiles anticipates using approximately 60 million dollars less on advertisement compared to their competitors.  

Kant V. Mill Essay Example for Free

Kant V. Mill Essay Kantianism and Utilitarianism are two theories that attempt to answer the moral nature of human beings. Immanuel Kants moral system is based on a belief that reason is the final authority for morality. John Stuart Mills moral system is based on the theory known as utilitarianism, which is based upon utility, or doing what produces the greatest happiness. One of Kants lasting contributions to moral philosophy was his emphasis on the notion of respect for persons. He considers respect for persons (a. k. a the Kantian respect) to be the fundamental moral principle of ethical philosophy. His Kantianism premise is a deontological moral theory which claims that the right action in any given situation is determined by the categorical imperative, which he calls the Supreme Principle. This imperative is a command that applies to all rational beings independent of their desires. It is a command that reason tells us to follow no matter what (P. 31). Kant considers this an objective law of reason and because it applies to all of us, he calls it a universal practical law for all rational beings. The hypothetical imperative, on the contrary, is a conditional command, which we have reason to follow if (it) serve(s) some desire of ours (P. 31). For example, if you want X, then you will do Y, whereas with the categorical imperative, X has nothing to do with why you do Y. Kants categorical imperative is a tri-dynamic statement of philosophical thought. In order to determine the morality of the Hill case from Kants perspective, it is vital to understand the formulations that accompany the categorical imperative. Kant upheld systematic laws as the model of rational principles. A characteristic of systematic laws is that they are universal, such as the law that when heated, gas will expand. Kant thought that moral laws or principles must have universality to be rational. He derives the categorical imperative out of the notion that we should be willing to adopt those moral principle that can be universalized, that is, those which we can imagine that everyone could act upon or adopt as their principle. Thus, the first formulation of the categorical imperative is, Never act in such a way that I could not also will that my maxim should be a universal law (P.31). By maxim, he means the rule or principle on which you act. Consider the example Kant gives of giving a false promise. Making false promises is wrong and therefore could not be a universal law, because every rational being would not adopt this as a principle of action. In the Hill case, if Paul Hill kills the doctor than it is morally permissible for everyone else to kill someone they disagree with. Therefore, Hills actions were not justified, because killing cannot be a universal law. Kant also believes that human beings have unconditional worth. In his passage of, The Ultimate worth of Persons, he says: Now, I say, man and, in general, every rational being exists as an end in himself and not merely as a means to be arbitrarily used by this or that will. In all his actions, whether they are directed to himself or to other rational beings, he must always be regarded at the same time as an end. What we treat as having only a relative value as a means . . . are consequently called things. Rational beings, on the other hand, are called persons because their nature already marks them out as ends in themselves, that is, as something which ought not to be used merely as a means. Such a being is thus an object of respect and, so far, restricts all (arbitrary) choice. The practical imperative will therefore be as follows: Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own or in that of another, as an end and never as a means only (P. 32). According to Kant, as rational beings, we are self-directed beings. We experience ourselves and others as intrinsically valuable, as valuable as an end and not merely instrumentally valuable or valuable as a means to obtaining something. According to this second formulation of the categorical imperative, we should treat people with fundamental dignity and respect. For instance, it would be wrong to make false promises because we would be treating others as merely a means and not respecting them as persons with intrinsic value. In order to avoid misunderstanding Kant, it is crucial to distinguish between treating someone as a means to an end and treating them merely as a means to an end. In a complex network of social relationships, we use other people all the time as means to our ends without dehumanizing them. For instance, we use the services of certain people to deliver our newspapers, groceries, and mail. Students use professors as tools to become educated and earn degrees. By contrast, when you use someone merely as a means only, it is abusive and lacks respect for that person. The abuse of that person shows that you do not believe they have value apart from his or her immediate use. Kant believed that human beings occupy a special place in creation. Human beings have dignity, because they are rational agents, capable of making their own decisions and guiding their conduct by reason. Therefore, we have the duty of being good to all persons. In the Hill case, Paul cannot kill the doctor, because according to Kant, in virtue of being a person the doctor had rights, dignity, and intrinsic moral worth, as well as value. Hence, killing the doctor would be the wrong thing to do and through Kant that action is not morally justified, since the moral law demands that we treat others as ends in themselves, and never as mere means to other ends. In other words, you should always treat other rational beings (persons) as having absolute moral worth, or as the ultimate ends of action. ? This I will call the principle of autonomy of the will in contrast to all other principles which I accordingly count under heteronomy (P. 33). The moral will is the only truly autonomous will. Only by following the absolute dictates of reason (which is the source of will) do we arrive at the moral law, since will is a kind of reason, following the dictates of reason means following the dictates of will itself. Because we are subject only to the laws of our reason, he says, we are autonomous beings. And our autonomy gives us dignity and worth beyond all price. Due to our priceless dignity and worth, all persons are worthy of respect. An immoral will would not be autonomous since it would violate itself, the law it gives to itself. The immoral will is heteronomous. If you pursue ends that are not the ultimate ends (the absolute dignity of persons), your actions are ruled by something other than the true (rational) form of will. You might be ruled by passion, by desire, by the wish for happiness, etc. , but whatever it is, it is not self-rule by reason. Therefore, Paul cannot kill the doctor, because in doing so, he will be violating the inherent worth and dignity of persons. A rational being belongs to the realm of ends as a member when he gives universal laws in it while also himself subject to these laws? (P. 33) By this, I believe he means that Paul Hill cannot kill the doctor, because that will make him a hypocrite. He is strongly against abortion, which is the killing of the fetus who is a person from the moment of conception. Therefore, it is wrong for him to kill the doctor, because in doing so, he will be going against his own belief of taking life. Unlike Kant, John Stuart Mill believed in an ethical theory known as utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is another theory in which the main objective is to explain the nature of ethics and morality. There are many formulations to this theory. Utilitarianism is based upon utility, or doing what produces the greatest happiness. It states that the actions of a person should be based upon the greatest happiness principle. This principle states that ethical actions command the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Mills main point is that one should guide his or her judgments by what will give more pleasure. He believes that a person should always seek to gain pleasure and reject pain. So, the formulation is that the morality of an act can be held upright if the consequence produces the greatest overall utility for everyone who may be directly or indirectly affected by the action. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of an act rather than on the intrinsic nature of the act or the motives of the agent. So Hills killing of the doctor is morally justified based on it bringing Hill pleasure and eliminating the pain he inflicted on the fetuses. Mill states that some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others and that it would be absurd that while in estimating all other things, quality is considered as well as quantity, the estimation of pleasures should be supposed to depend on quantity alone. Therefore, if Paul kills the doctor, he only took away two lives (quantity), which is less than those that would have been lost if the doctor would have continued performing abortions (quantity). However, Mill states that doing ? as you would be done by and ? lov(ing) your neighbor as yourself constitute the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality. He also says that the thoughts of the most virtuous man need not on these occasions travel beyond the particular persons concerned, except so far as is necessary to assure himself that he is not violating the rights, this is the legitimate and authorized expectations, of anyone else. Both of these statements do not justify Hills actions because he should have loved the doctor and he should not have violated the doctors rights. Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism both attempt to explain how one can go about acting ethically, however they differ in how they measure morality and in the use of rules. Kantianism says that an act is deemed moral if it is done for the sake of duty and if its maxim can be willed as a universal law. Kantianism can therefore be seen as a rational and logical theory in which decisions can be made. Utilitarianism, on the other hand, would only see the act as morally permissible if the consequences of that action produce maximum utility and happiness for all involved. Utilitarianism has no universal set of rules on to which morality is based. In assessing the two moral theories, I believe that Kantianism provides a more plausible account of ethics. Kantianism is more consistent of a theory and can be universally applied to all beings. It is more plausible because even if the consequences of performing an action are not necessarily the best, the agent is still obligated to perform the action because it is there duty to do so. Therefore, ethically and morally they are doing the right thing. In conclusion, this paper has discussed two main theories regarding the ethical behavior of human beings. Kantianism is a theory based on duties, maxims, willing and the categorical imperative. Also, it focuses on the motivation of actions, has clear and distinct set of universal rules, and is morally logical. On the other hand, Utilitarianism is based on the concept that we ought to do whatever produces the greatest overall utility and this will be the morally right action. Furthermore, it relies on the consequences of an action, has no set universal laws as each action is assessed on an individual basis, and morality is based on the results of the assessment. Because of these reasons, I believe that Kantianism is the more ethically plausible theory of the two.

Impressionism And The Work Of Debussy

Impressionism And The Work Of Debussy Debussy was a tonal trailblazer; a musical pioneer who revolutionised not only French music at a time when it was stagnating and receding from the world stage, but the entire Western musical tradition as well. Almost all subsequent styles which followed were either directly or indirectly affected by his originality, for example jazz, atonality and minimalism. After Debussys significant contribution to the repertoire nothing, to iterate a clichà ©, was ever the same again in musical terms. Nevertheless, it is precisely his striking innovation which has rendered Debussy so difficult to categorise. Musicologists encounter no trouble in labelling Mozart a Classical composer or Liszt a Romantic, yet how to catalogue Debussys oeuvres has presented critics with a conundrum for many decades; and is one, as yet, without a universally accepted solution. The most widely-utilised term in reference to the composers compositions is without doubt Impressionism, and is widely accepted by those who do not study music, and also by some who do, as a sole definition of his works. But can this label really encompass a compositional career that spans so many different styles and innovations? This essay will endeavour to answer this question, and to prove that Impressionism alone is not a fair assessment of Debussys music; that he is, despite there being characteristics from a number of aesthetic movements found in his works, almost impossible to classify. Debussys second envoi de Rome precipitated the first ever appearance of the tag Impressionism regarding his works. In a criticism of his orchestral and vocal piece Printemps (1887), the Secretary to the Acadà ©mie des Beaux-Arts opined: One has the feeling of musical colour exaggerated to the point where it causes the composer to forget the importance of precise construction and form. It is to be strongly hoped that he will guard against this vague impressionism, which is one of the most dangerous enemies of truth in works of art. This was a gross misunderstanding and misreading of Debussys intentions, and one which has stuck tenaciously and erroneously ever since. Before the reasons why this is such a misnomer is discussed, it must be acknowledged that it is possible to describe some of Debussys music as Impressionistic. Impressionism was first applied to painting as a label as a consequence of Claude Monets painting Impression, soleil levant (1872). Impressionism was a subsidiary of the wider notion of Realism. Stefan Jarocinski encapsulates the movement impeccably, explaining that Impressionists were concerned with seizing the image of a reality which had not yet been deformed by the intervention of the intelligence and wanted to create a pure impression; that is, unblemished by the sphere of intellect. The Impressionists, in short, were purveyors of sensuality. It must be understood that labelling Debussy in such terms is not entirely invalid. Although he was composing largely after the heyday of the Impressionist painters (the 1860s, 70s and 80s), some of his compositions (namely La mer [1903-05] and Images [1904-08]) do display qualities and tendencies associated with this movement. Debussy himself wrote to the editor of the La revue musicale, Emile Vuillermoz, in 1916, saying: You do me a great honour by calling me a pupil of Claude Monet. It is true to say that a number of the composers artistic principles correspond to those expressed or implied by the Impressionists. For instance, during a rehearsal for the premiere of La mer (1903-05), in answer to conductor Chevillard who had expressed confusion at Debussys specified tempo differing from that of the previous day, the composer replied: but I dont feel music the same way every day. On a wider level, this statement can be interpreted as being compatible with the common Impressionist pr actice of painting the same scene at different times of the day (for example, Monets Water Lilies or Haystacks). Several painters of the movement in question were inspired by similar stimuli as Debussy. A prime example of this is their admiration of Japanese artist Hokusai, whose celebrated woodblock print appeared on the cover page of La mer (1903-5), as stipulated by Debussy. Like the Impressionist painters, again, he made frequent use of water as an inspiration for his compositions. See below a juxtaposition of Sisleys Watermill at the Bridge of Moret in Winter (Ex. 1, 1893) and an extract from Debussys Reflets dans leau from the first volume of Images (Ex. 2, 1905). Note how the rising and falling semitone figure is an evocation of the ebbing and flowing movement of the water. Ex. 1 Ex. 2 In summary, Stefan Jarocinski, despite disagreeing with the application of the term in reference to Debussy, hails Impressionism as the supremacy of musical colour over form and design, an assertion that could certainly describe his musical convictions of other elements subservience to tone colour and the rejection of accepted traditional forms and harmonic principles. Even his biographer, Louis Laloy, claims that Debussys music is a purely auditory music, just as Impressionist painting is entirely visual. However, even Debussys so-called Impressionist pieces cannot be described as exclusively affiliated with this movement. For instance La mer (1903-05), although its depiction of the sea is obvious in its music as well as its title, cannot merely be interpreted as an entirely visual sensory experience, without connotation. As pianist Paul Roberts writes, the sea has often been used to represent themes of love and femininity. The time at which it was written was one of emotional upheaval for Debussy, as he left his wife Lilly Texier for another, Emma Bardac. Equipped with this knowledge, it seems that La mer occupied a deeper, psychologically cathartic purpose that lies beyond the intentions of the Impressionist painters. The Acadà ©mies comments on Debussys Printemps, and by extension, his other works, is an inaccurate, reactionary and narrow evaluation based on musical conservatism. The label, as argued by E. Robert Schmitz, has been detrimental to status of the composers works ever since. He laments that it has resulted in innumerable flawed and misguided performances with use of excessive pedal. His compositions are in fact anything but vague; they are precise and fastidious. In addition, conversely to the common misconception that his piano pieces are indistinct and laden with pedal use, he actually utilises the piano in a masterly way which shows a deep understanding of the instrument and its parameters. In contradiction to the common misconception as outlined by Schmitz, his music is often percussive rather than vague, for example the opening bars of La sà ©rà ©nade interrompue (Ex. 3, from Prà ©ludes, Book 1, 1909-10), which imitates a Spanish guitar, emphatically staccato. Further analyse s of his works reveal the use of Golden Sections, displaying a precision and mathematical element to his compositions that is quite extraordinary. Ex. 3 It must also be noted that Debussy himself rejected the unfortunate label assigned to him, as expressed in a letter to his publishers in 1908: I am trying to do something different in a way, realities what the imbeciles call impressionism, a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by art critics. Regarding this, it could be interpreted that the composer disagreed with the label itself rather than the aesthetic, as reality is precisely what the Impressionists hoped to convey. However, one must concede that if the composer wasnt himself happy with the term, and if his music rarely displays qualities which are characteristic of the movement, then it is accurate to say that defining Debussy as an Impressionist is not a valid categorisation. Almost as commonly circulated a term in reference to Debussy is Symbolism. This is a much fairer assessment of his music. The movement, which has its origins in the writings of Charles Baudelaire, grew quickly in Paris during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In brief, Symbolism was a reaction against Realism, and can be seen as almost the antithesis of Impressionism. Its followers were concerned with externalising, through the means of art, the internal, and often infernal, world of the mind, dreams and the supernatural. There is unimpeachable evidence to align Claude Debussy with Symbolism. To begin with, it was a movement rooted in literary origins. Debussy, despite being largely uneducated in any discipline but music, was well-read and had a passion for literature that permeated through to his compositions. His strongest influences were words and writers rather than the visual arts (although Symbolism wasnt exclusively a literary movement; it existed in art too). Debussy gravitated towards Symbolist beliefs, and forged close friendships with notable figures associated with the movement, such as Paul Bourget and Stà ¨phane Mallarmà ©, whose literary salon he was a regular attendee of. Much of his music was overtly Symbolist in character. Prà ©lude à   laprà ¨s-midi dun faune (1892-94), the orchestral tone poem that took his recognition to a new level entirely, is based on a poem by Mallarmà ©. Its whimsical flute opening (Ex. 4) is tonally and rhythmically ambiguous, portraying the indistinct dreams of the eponymous faun; a central theme in Symbolist philosophy. Ex. 4 There is plenty of non-musical evidence to support Debussys affiliation with the Symbolist movement. In 1901 he began to write for a Symbolist periodical, La Revue blanche, and his Chansons de Bilitis (1897-8), as well as their words being written by Debussys close friend and Symbolist Pierre Louà ¿s, was published by Librairie de lart indà ©pendant, a Symbolist publisher. Mediaevalism, or to be more accurate, pseudo-Mediaevalism, a core Symbolist credence, is prevalent in many works. The imitation of monastic organum music (Ex. 5) in the opening bars of La cathà ©drale engloutie (From Prà ©ludes, Book 1, 1909-10) is a prime example, as is the fact that Pellà ©as et Mà ©lisande (1893-5), is set in Allemonde (literally Other World), an imagined Mediaeval setting. Ex. 5 Pellà ©as et Mà ©lisande (1893-5), Debussys only opera, based on a play by writer Maurice Maeterlinck, heralds the zenith of his association with the Symbolist movement. It makes frequent use of symbolism (for example hair to depict eroticism; light and shade to provide conceptual symbols of doomed love). Parallels can be drawn with Wagner, whom Symbolists admired ardently, and who influenced Debussy greatly in the earlier years of his compositional career. Both Wagners Tristan and Isolde (1875-9) and Pellà ©as are tragedies, use leitmotivs and have common themes of love and death. Debussy was as enthusiastic a supporter of his predecessor as any Symbolist, having visited Bayreuth in 1888 and 1889. However, his Wagnerism and Symbolism waned soon after the first performance of Pellà ©as. Furthermore, in 1893 he declared his intention to write an article entitled The Futility of Wagnerism which, although it never materialised, suggests a marked shift in his values. This is why it i s as invalid to describe Debussys music exclusively in terms of Symbolism as it is Impressionism. Both labels represent only a fraction of his artistic output and fail to acknowledge that between Pellà ©as and La mer, a change occurred in his music that was reliant on neither poets nor artists, which could suggest that his own unique voice was finally established after years of musical exploration. In 1889 Debussy had an experience which was to significantly alter the nature of his compositions. During a visit to the Universal Exposition he encountered the sound of the Javanese gamelan for the first time. The pentatonic tonality he heard was to be incorporated into some of his most celebrated compositions, for instance in Pagodes from the piano triptych Estampes (1903), whose blue and gold cover evoking Japan, as well as music exemplifies the Exoticism that the composer incorporated into so many of his pieces. Debussys love of Spain filters through in the second movement, Soirà ©e dans Grenade, in which a habanera rhythm underpins the piece (Ex. 6). As well as Exoticism, it can be interpreted that Debussys music contains elements of the Pre-Raphaelite movement (La damoiselle à ©lue, 1887-8, the text of which was written by Dante Gabriel Rossetti) and even the Romantics (there are sometimes common themes between their beliefs and ideas expressed in Debussys compositions, for e xample escaping by means of travel and antiquity). Ex. 6 Debussy himself christened all labels useful terms of abuse, recognising the arbitrary nature of inflicting any sort of category upon his works. As Paul Dukas wrote in 1901: his music is unclassifiable. Debussy was a radical who defies classification because he is so different to his predecessors and encompasses so many different styles and movements, which is why musicologist encounter such difficultly in trying to pigeonhole him. Beethoven is often described as being both Classical and Romantic. Debussy was also a giant amongst composers in this sense, constructing a bridge between tradition and modernity and liberating harmonic convention. He instigated a musical transition; pre-empted the future. His legacy is far too great to describe in such narrow a term as Impressionism.