Saturday, March 21, 2020
Heroism in Gattaca (Film)
Heroism in Gattaca (Film) Free Online Research Papers ââ¬Å"Identify and evaluate what human qualities Gattaca considers to be heroic. Do you agree with the filmââ¬â¢s views?â⬠Gattaca is a film that conveys many messages regarding what human qualities constitute heroism. Vincent Freeman is usually the character through which these qualities are highlighted and explored. It is often suggested that Vincentââ¬â¢s journey through Gattaca (both the film and the institution) qualify as heroic. Thus, it could be asserted that the qualities that Vincent exhibits throughout this journey are considered by the film to be heroic. A heroââ¬â¢s plight, as remembered by history and represented by Hollywood, seldom deviates from its clichà ©d formula: a self-sacrificing, determined, courageous, and possibly oppressed person who is, at first, not popularly expected to succeed, ultimately achieves their dreams and receives some form of reward ââ¬â often a woman. Vincentââ¬â¢s journey through Gattaca cannot be entirely seen through this filter of glowing commendability. Rather, Vincent is a character whose negative qualities conform to Greek mythologyââ¬â¢s definition of a hero: a person, often of divine descent, endowed with great courage and strength, and favoured by the gods. A Greek heroââ¬â¢s title can be maintained whilst they exhibit qualities such as; disobedience, anti-social tendencies, selfishness and arrogance. Vincentââ¬â¢s courage is demonstrated repeatedly in the film. His courage can be observed, at the widest level, through Vincentââ¬â¢s choice to cheat the system. The legal implications of Vincentââ¬â¢s path, although not specified, are suggested to be extreme ââ¬â thus his willingness to be subject to such imperilment underlines this aspect of his courage. Vincent is assured by his family and society, from a young age, that: ââ¬Å"â⬠¦the only way [he will]â⬠¦see the inside of a space shuttle is if [he is]â⬠¦cleaning it. This condemnation should discourage Vincent from aspiring to a better life, but it only seems to cement his ambition. For a person to stand up against an entire institution, and his own family, could be seen as courageous. However, it is through circumventing the system, that many of Vincentââ¬â¢s less commendable qualities are made explicit. It would be expected of a hero to challenge that which is unjust, rather than cheat it. Vincentââ¬â¢s aforementioned actions are considered by his society to be criminal, thus his heroic image would appear to be diminished. However, in the eyes of Greek mythology, these actions diminish his character no more than many Greek heroesââ¬â¢ flaws, for example; Odysseusââ¬â¢ hubris, Jasonââ¬â¢s unfaithfulness, Ballerophonââ¬â¢s murderous habits or Zeusââ¬â¢ promiscuity. This path of dishonesty, however, leaves Vincentââ¬â¢s character open to criticism once again, as it accounts for his more violent episodes. Vincent brutally beats an innocent police investigator, whose only crime was doing his job. Vincentââ¬â¢s actions, although reprehensible, are comparable to those committed by many Greek heroes. Heraclesââ¬â¢ more antisocial tendencies is one example of this. It is interesting to note that the name of our heroââ¬â¢s mother is Marie a variant of ââ¬Å"Maryâ⬠ââ¬â who was/is a pivotal figure of western ââ¬Å"mythologyâ⬠. A characteristic of a Greek hero is often divine decent thus Vincentââ¬â¢s divine ancestry is subtly alluded to. This quality in Vincent accounts for other qualities that are central to the profile of a Greek hero: being blessed with strength and favoured by the gods. The strength of Vincent can be observed through his courage, and his being endeared by the gods, in his ultimate success and his dreams being granted. Self sacrifice is considered by many to be a compulsory quality in a hero. However, Vincent is entirely self interested he acts only to further his own cause. Not once in the film does Vincent help anyone directly ââ¬â with his most selfless actions being the possible inspiring of Lamarââ¬â¢s son and supplying Eugene with ââ¬Å"closureâ⬠. This quality, again, has parallels in the characters of many Greek heroes. Arrogance is another ââ¬Å"unbecomingâ⬠quality that Vincent demonstrates near the end of the film, as he says: ââ¬Å"Just rememberâ⬠¦I was as good as any, and better than mostâ⬠Again, this quality is very common in Greek heroes. A protagonistââ¬â¢s background of oppression can often be the prelude of their path to heroism. Vincent does deal with much adversity with his society and family dooming him to a life of unattractive public service. This criterion of the heroic formula is common to both western and Greek mythological heroes. All of these heroic qualities present in Vincentââ¬â¢s character, serve to supply him with the title of a ââ¬Å"heroâ⬠. However, Gattaca is a film that deals with far more than heroism and its human application. Gattaca, for the most part, utilizes Vincent and his heroic qualities as a means of communicating its more central themes of; discrimination, identity, society, the human condition and eugenics. Vincent is a; victim of discrimination, a ââ¬Å"particularly detested segment of the populationâ⬠, a social outcast, and the medium through which the filmââ¬â¢s disdainful views on eugenics are conveyed. Without Vincent and his role as a hero, these themes would have been communicated to a far less convincing extent. Overall, Vincentââ¬â¢s heroic qualities serve to convey Gattacaââ¬â¢s unique view of heroism: that heroism can be constructed of an anachronistic conglomeration of heroic characteristics and qualities. 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Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Requerimientos de ingresos para patrocinar green card
Requerimientos de ingresos para patrocinar green card Si usted es ciudadano estadounidense o residente permanente legales y est en el proceso de solicitar una green card para uno o varios de susà familiares, tendr que demostrar recursos econà ³micos suficientes. Si no puede hacerlo, la peticià ³n ser denegada. Pero, à ¿quà © cantidad de dinero se considera suficiente? La respuesta viene fijada por la ley y va a depender de: nà ºmero de personas que conforman su familia, de dà ³nde se vive y tambià ©n de si se tiene la condicià ³n de militar en activo o no. En este artà culo se resuelven esas inquietudes. Adems, se informa sobre quà © se puede computar como ingresos para obtener la cantidad que se pide, en quà © momento hay que demostrar dichos ingresos y, por à ºltimo, quà © se puede hacer si no se ingresa la cantidad requerida. Requerimientos de ingresos para patrocinar la green card a un familiar Los requerimientos financierosà son distintos segà ºn las categorà as: Familia Militares Alaska Hawaii Resto estados y PR 1 $11,880 $18,550 $17,087.5 $14,850 2 $16,020 $25,025 $23,037.5 $20,025 3 $20,160 $31,500 $28,987.5 $25,200 4 $24,300 $37,975 $34,937.5 $30,375 5 $28,440 $44,450 $40,887.5 $35,550 6 $32,580 $50,935 $46,887.5 $40,725 7 $36,730 $57,300 $52,787.5 $45,912.5 8 $40,890 $63,900 $58,762.5 $51,112.5 Cà ³mo entender la tablaà Existe una categorà a para militares en activo que son miembros del Army, los Marines, la Guardia Costera, las Fuerzas Aà ©reas o la Navy deben tener ingresos que equivalen al 100 por 100 de la cantidad fijada como là nea à o umbral de la pobreza, que es una cantidad que fija cada aà ±o el gobierno. Y es la que aparece en la tabla superior en la columna que dice: militares. Las diferencias corresponde al nà ºmero de miembros de la familia del solicitante. Para los que no son militares aplican cantidades distintas segà ºn el lugar en el que se radique. Asà , los patrocinadores que residen en Alaska deben probar ingresos por al menos el 125 por ciento de la là nea de la pobreza para ese estado, que ya est calculada para este aà ±o y es la que aparece en la tabla superior bajo el nombre de ese estado. Los mismo aplica a los residentes de Hawaii. Por à ºltimo, los patrocinadores que ni son militares ni residen en Alaska o Hawaii deben probar ingresos superiores al 125 por ciento de la là nea de la pobreza fijada por ley para lo que se conoce como los 48 estados continuos. Adems, estoà aplica tambià ©n a Washington D.C. y al estado libre asociado de Puerto Rico. Son las cantidades que aparecen en la tabla superior en la columna bajo Resto de los estados y PR (Puerto Rico). à ¿Cà ³mo se computan los ingresos para decidir si se cumplen con los requerimientos financieros? La forma ms rpida de saber si se tienen ingresos suficientes para patrocinar a un familiar es verificar la declaracià ³n de impuestos à ºltima (tax returns). Si se llenà ³ la planilla 1040 o la 1040A, checar la là nea de gross income. Si se completà ³ el formulario 1040EZ, verificar la de adjusted gross income. Son ingresos aquellos que proceden del trabajo, negocios, dividendos de acciones, intereses, desempleo, compensatoria por matrimonio (alimony) y tambià ©n la pensià ³n alimenticia por nià ±os (child support) o beneficios como recibir vivienda gratis por parte del empleador. Sin embargo, no se pueden considerar ingresos los que proceden de programas del gobierno calificados como means-tested. Es decir, cupones de alimentos, Medicaid, Ingresos Complementarios de Seguridad (SSI), Asistencia Temporal para Familias en Necesidad (TANF) y CHIP, un seguro mà ©dico para nià ±os. Es importante destacar que sà se puede patrocinar a un familiar si se reciben uno o varios de esos beneficios calificados como means-tested. Lo que no se puede hacer es sumar esos ingresos al total de ingresos para asà obtener la cantidad mà nima que pide la ley para patrocinar. Es decir, dicha cantidad hay que obtenerla sin la suma de lo que se recibe por benefiicios means-tested. Con respecto a los beneficios means-tested conviene resaltar una caracterà stica ms. Y es que si el patrocinador los recibe y su peticià ³n es aprobada tiene que tener en cuenta que si el patrocinado se beneficia de los means-tested el gobierno va a reclamar al patrocinador que se le regresen esos pagos. Adems, en relacià ³n a los ingresos conviene saber cà ³moà afectan las deudas y el mal crà ©dito a los asuntos migratorios Si los ingresos no son suficientes, à ¿se pueden incluir otros bienes del patrocinado, como por ejemplo propiedades? La respuesta es sà , excepto en el caso de que el formulario que se emplee en la declaracià ³n de sostenimiento tambià ©n conocida como declaracià ³n jurada de patrocinio econà ³mico o por su nombre en inglà ©s deà affidavit of support, sea el I-864EZ. En todos los dems casos, sà se puede. Los bienes que pueden utilizarse son todos aquellos que pueden ser fcilmente vendidos y convertidos en dinero. Es decir, viviendas u otros inmuebles raà ces, bonos o acciones. Se considera la cantidad que resulta de su valor despuà ©s de restar cargos como, por ejemplo, hipotecas. En este caso hay reglas diferentes sobre el valor que deben alcanzar. En el caso de patrocinio de adoptados que adquirà an la ciudadanà a estadounidense al ingresar al paà s, se pide que el valor de los bienes sea igual a la diferencia que existe entre los ingresos del patrocinador y los que se le pide por ley segà ºn el tamaà ±o de la familia. Sin embargo, si se trata del patrocinio de un ciudadano a su cà ³nyuge o a un hijo soltero menor de 21 aà ±os, el valor de esos bienes debe ser al menos 3 veces superior a la cantidad que existen de diferencia entre los ingresos del patrocinador y la cantidad que deberà a ingresar segà ºn el tamaà ±o de su familia. Y, finalmente, en todos los dems casos, el valor de esos bienes debe ser al menos 5 veces ms que la diferencia entre lo que el patrocinador est ingresando y la cantidad que se le pide por ley. Y si no es suficiente, à ¿se pueden incluir bienes y/o ingresos de la persona patrocinada? La respuesta es sà , pero con importantes limitaciones que se deben tener en cuenta. En el caso de los ingresos, por ejemplo, porque la persona que se pide est trabajando, se pueden tener en cuenta siempre y cuando sea là ³gico esperar que una una vez que obtiene la green card continà ºa recibià ©ndolos de la misma fuente de ingresos. à Adems, en este caso, si la patrocinada es una persona es distinta al cà ³nyuge del patrocinador, debe estar en la actualidad residiendo en el mismo hogar. Por ejemplo, una ciudadana americana se casa con un maestro que est en Estados Unidos trabajando como maestro con una visa H-1B y decide patrocinarlo para la green card. En este caso, si los medios econà ³micos de la ciudadana no son suficientes para patrocinar puede contar los de su esposo, si se espera que seguir trabajando para la misma escuela una vez que se convierte en residente. Sin embargo un caso muy distinto serà a el de una ciudadana casada con un maestro que trabaja en Mà ©xico. Aquà no puede contar con esos ingresos del cà ³nyuge, porque una vez que el esposo obtenga la green card se mudarà a a Estados Unidos y dejarà a de tener esos ingresos. Por otro lado, sà es posible contabilizar los bienes, como por ejemplo, propiedades o acciones, que la persona pedida tiene en el extranjero si se cumplen todos de los siguientes requisitos: pueda convertirse en dinero en à un plazo mximo de 12 meses se pueda ingresar ese dinero en Estados Unidos. Algunos paà ses no permiten el envà o de divisas al extranjero o ponen là mites, por lo tanto esto hay que tenerlo en cuentay finalmente, el valor neto de esos bienes debe ser al menos cinco veces ms grande que la diferencia entre los ingresos de la persona que pide y lo que por ley debe ingresar para poder patrocinar.à Lo que no se puede contabilizar para esta cumplir con la obligacià ³n de demostrar ingresos suficientes para patrocinar es una oferta firme de empleo diciendo que una vez que el patrocinado se convierte en residente tendr un trabajo. Sin embargo, esta carta sà que puede ser interesante tenerla y mostrarla en el consulado no por la razà ³n de la que habla este artà culo sino para demostrar que no existe el problema de ser un riesgo de carga pà ºblica. Esto à ºltimo convierte a una persona en inadmisible y serà a causa de negar la green card. à ¿Existe la posibilidad de un co-patrocinador? En el caso en el que el patrocinador no puede cumplir con el requisito de ingreso puede buscar un co-patrocinador, à es lo que se conoce como joint sponsor. Esta persona tiene que saber claramente que asume responsabilidades legales al firmar como tal el affidavit of support. Adems, debe cumplir con una serie de requisitos: 18 aà ±os de edad o ms Ciudadano americano o residente permanente legal que tiene su domicilio habitual en uno de los 50 estados de los Estados Unidos o en sus territorios, como por ejemplo, el estado libre asociado de Puerto Rico.El co-patrocinador debe cumplir con el requisito de ingresos segà ºn el tamaà ±o de su familia Tambià ©n hay que destacar que el co-patrocinador no tiene que ser familiar ni del pedido ni de la persona que pide los papeles para su familiar. Y que incluso es posible tener ms de un co-patrocinador pero no ms de dos para el caso en los que se pide a un migrante con varios familiares incluidos en esa peticià ³n.à A tener muy en cuenta Segà ºn el tipo de peticià ³n, el momento de presentar el affidavit of support y la documentacià ³n de apoyo puede demorarse muchos aà ±os. Primero se aprueba el I-130 y luego tiene lugar una segunda fase, que puede ser un ajuste de estatus o un procedimiento consular. Es en esta segunda parte donde tiene que demostrarse que se cumple el requisito. No en la primera de peticià ³n mediante el I-130. Precisamente porque se tarda tanto en algunos tipos de peticiones, como muestra el boletà n de visas publicado por el Departamento de Estado, algunos patrocinadores pueden decidir desistir de la peticià ³n. Si se sigue adelante, es importante asesorarse con un abogado migratorio reputado si se tienen dudas sobre cà ³mo llenar las planillas del affidavit of support o cualquier otra. Y tener siempre presente que mentir en un formulario migratorio tiene consecuencias graves. Finalmente, es muy recomendable tomar este test de respuestas mà ºltiples sobre la green card porque aclara de forma sencilla dudas e inquietudes frecuentes sobre asuntos muy relacionados con la peticià ³n de la tarjeta de residencia y responsabilidades para mantenerla. Este artà culo es informativo. No es asesorà a legal.
Monday, February 17, 2020
Should it be lowered Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Should it be lowered - Essay Example During an interview by CBS News, John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College said that the drinking law was an abysmal failure in eliminating underage drinking, it drove the habit underground behind the scenes, into more risky and unmanageable settings. These settings included basements, fraternity houses and locked dormitories where minors hid from the law and adults. The law created a dangerous culture of irresponsible and reckless habits, unsupervised binge and excess drinking. For example, minors gulp bottles of beer in seconds trying to perfect the art of getting drunk quickly before they are discovered by adults (Johnson & Alex, 46). The irresponsible drinking behaviour endangers the lives of minors because they cannot access emergency medical care during their drinking sprees as they hide themselves. They also fear reporting alcohol related medical emergencies since it is breaking the law. The drinking age should be lowered because the current law is unworkable, difficult to enforce and doesnââ¬â¢t stop minors from drinking. The enforcement of this law is routinely avoided and results in two or three arrests out of thousands of violations. The police arenââ¬â¢t in apposition to stop all cases of underage drinking, they can only contain it. The police department admitted that the law is ineffective. The police tried different techniques to curb drinking by minors but only few techniques succeeded (Toomey & Rosenfeld, 57). For example, they would find a party where minors were drinking and seal the house. They would write tickets to all the minors coming from the house and report them to their parents. All these efforts only pushed underage drinking underground instead of eliminating the habit. Pushing the drinking habit underground is endangers lives of the minors because encourages irresponsible drinking extremes and other antisocial behaviour such as drug abuse and crime. According to Ellis Henican (author of
Monday, February 3, 2020
A Correlation between Unequal Power Relations and the Way Language is Assignment
A Correlation between Unequal Power Relations and the Way Language is Used - Assignment Example The second of the three stages is all the more important because it has a lot to do with oneââ¬â¢s spontaneity and judgment which ultimately become the major deciding factors in making the communication successful and effective. That is how the world draws the line of distinction between ââ¬Ëgreat orators/authorsââ¬â¢ and the mediocre and the bad. The choice of words, however, is a function of oneââ¬â¢s instincts, emotions, and needs. The desire to dominate, to control, to feel powerful is a universal instinct that defies the boundaries of time and space. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that this basic instinct, or rather a base instinct, successfully manages to creep into all human transactions and manifests itself, more noticeably in the process of verbal communication. But, at the same time, the need to ââ¬Ëget things doneââ¬â¢ is also a matter of uppermost concern, and its importance cannot be understated. It is this factor that has the power to suppress the urge to dominate; it makes one willing to subordinate himself in a transaction. In any given instance, it is either the urge to dominate or the need to subordinate that finally stays, and it is decided by the prevailing equation of power in the given context. It boils down to the conclusion that ââ¬Å"our words are never neutral; they carry the power that reflects the interests of those who speak or write.â⬠(John Fiske, 1994; Fowler, et. al., 1979) An interesting quality of dominant discourse is that it usually represents and reinforces the interests of the elite section of the society. Professor Sue L. T. McGregor, in Critical Discourse Analysis ââ¬â A Primer, says, ââ¬Å"One of the central attributes of dominant discourse is its power to interpret conditions, issues, and events in favor of the elite.â⬠Ã
Sunday, January 26, 2020
The Implication For Users Of Financial Statements Accounting Essay
The Implication For Users Of Financial Statements Accounting Essay Financial statements should be well understood by those who read it especially those individuals who have considerable knowledge of business and economic world and those ones willing to learn the information carefully. There are various users of financial statements. These users are classified into two broad categories. These users have different purposes for using these statements. The first category of these users is the internal users. The internal users refer to those individuals who have direct interest to the activities of the organization. They include: 1) Managers and owners need financial statements so as to make business decisions. They analyze the information provided by financial statements so as to obtain a clear position of the organization. Variable elements of financial reports such as the ratio of current debt to equity ratio is vital in making a decision on the amount of long run capital that needs to be available;2)employees form the second group of internal users of financial statements. Employees require this information especially when making joint collective bargains (Dyson, 1996). Such statements are of significant importance when discussing issues concerning promotion, salary increase and rankings. External users include: 1) institutional investors who use the financial reports to evaluate the financial capability of the business so as to make reasonable investment decisions; 2) Various financial institutions like banks and other loan bodies need to evaluate financial reports of businesses before lending them money; 3) the government also analyzes financial statement of different companies so as to prove if they paying taxes accurately ;4) the general public as well as the mass media may be interested in analyzing the statements of certain businesses. 1.2-What are the different aspects of legal and regulatory framework that relates to financial statements? There are different methods which can be followed when presenting financial statements. Rules-based accounting is made up of precise rules that must be observed during preparation of financial statements. Many accountants prefer the use of this method so that they reduce their liability in the event misjudgments. In situation whereby the management decides not to use rule-base accounting, it can choose to employ other accounting policies in preparing their financial statement (Guilding, 2002). However, this can be challenging because there are some policies which do conflict. Companies which need to included in stock exchange in more than a single country need to prepare their statements in accordance with GAAP. There are several reasons why it is necessary to have regulatory framework guiding financial reporting within countries and on international level. One of the reasons regard to irregular information (Moncarz and Portocarrero, 1986). Assume a scenario whereby the manager of th e company is the one responsible for preparation of financial reports. This responsibility gives the manager the opportunity to access financial information which other members of the organization do not. Managers can take advantage of this privilege to exploit the statements so as to favor their own personal interest. Therefore, there must be regulation on reporting to stop insiders from exploiting financial statements. Another important factor to be considered is reliability and relevance of financial statements. Access the implication for users of financial statements? The different aspects of legal and regulatory framework have significant implication for users of financial statements. Some of the users of financial statements have complained that some of the regulations add unimportant complexities. The basis behind their argument is that there are some rules which are extremely detailed, with standards extending to more than hundred pages. Others have argued that these rules provide loopholes for financial engineering and fail to provide a true and fair image of the business. It has also been noted that sometimes these rules fail to capture the details of targeted cases. Another negative phase of these rules is that they fail to provide solutions in the event of gaps (Kotas, 1999). Management can also choose to observe all those accounting treatments that favor their interests and avoid those that will define real position of the business. However, it is worth to acknowledge the fact that these rules play a major role in ensuring a fair competit ion of international businesses which operate in more than one national market. However, it is fairer to say that observance of these legal and regulatory frameworks significantly contribute to preparation of statements which portray a companys real performance. The different legal and regulatory frameworks should be flexible enough to accommodate new situations in the business. A relevant and reliable makes it easier for users of financial information to analyze those statements. Describe how different laws and regulations relate with accounting and reporting standards? (Pass P4) Provide the regulatory framework of any country other than UK and compare it with UK regulatory framework (Distinction 1) There are several accounting bodies which guide the accounting environment and significantly determine the success of a business. Security and exchange commission aimed at eliminating abusive stock market collision that had accumulated and resulted to instability in stock markets. Security and exchange commission ensures that publicly reporting business adhere with the generally agreed accounting principles. Financial accounting standards board (FASB) provides a plane set of standards to be observed when presenting financial statements to the public (Atkinson et al,1995). It aims at shielding the investors from fraud of business owners. Internal accounting standards board was founded to come up with comprehensible financial accounting reports (Messenger and Shaw, 1993). There is also the government accounting standards board (GASB) which aimed at establishing standards of helpful information that will aid users of reports to understand the reports in a much better way. On the second part of this question, the country of my choice is Kenya. In 1998, the council of Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya set IFRS (International financial reporting standards) as the accounting standard in Kenya. From then henceforth, all the companies were requested to prepare their financial statements in accordance with IFRS. However, in Kenya there is a significant gap that has been observed between applicable accounting standards and the real practice by companies. In 1969, the UK ICAEW issued the statement of intent on accounting standard. This statement made it clear that standards will be generated in future with four main goals. The first goal was to reduce the dissimilarities and diversity in accounting principles. Second, was to disclose the accounting foundations. Third, disclose the diversion from established standards and eventually explain the broad exposure for main new accounting proposals. There have been a number of committees which have been formed si nce then all with the aim of improving accounting disclosure. Requirement 2.1 The following is a trial balance from auto electrical ltd as at 31 March 2005 à £ à £ Ordinary shares of 50 p each 400,000 10% Redeemable Preference shares of à £1 each 200,000 Retained profits as at 1 April 2004 42,475 Office block (Land à £40,000) 170,000 Plant and machinery 730,000 Office equipment 110,000 Motor vehicles 200,000 Provision for depreciation Plant and Machinery 224,500 Office equipment 24,500 Motor vehicles 80,000 Accounts receivables/Payables 500,000 356,226 Provision for doubtful debts 1,000 Manufacturing wages 501,400 Inventory as at 1 April 2004 raw materials 70,000 Work in progress 126,000 Finished goods 250,000 Transport expenses 85,013 Returns inwards 15,106 Purchases of raw materials 518,600 Sales 2,600,147 Bank balance 60,020 Directors salaries 60,114 Maintenance of plan t 30,102 Rent 40,063 Advertising 190,048 Rates 50,171 Insurance 20,116 Office salaries 166,013 Light and heat 46,027 Factory power 30,014 Bank interest 7,070 Interim dividends on preference shares 10,000 General administration expenses 63,011 _________ 3,988,868 3,988,868 Further information is as follows: Depreciation is to be provided as follows: Plant and machinery 15% on cost. (Production expense) Office equipment 10% on cost (administration expense) Motor vehicles 25% on WDV (distribution cost) New office blocks 2% on cost (Administration expense). As at 31 March 2005 rates were prepaid by à £3,140 . Outstanding light and heat as at 31 march 05 is à £1,214 and rent is à £2,321 Rent, rates, light and heat and insurance are to be apportioned in the ratio of 5:1 in relation to factory and office expenses. The company makes a provision of 1% for doubtful debts on all accounts receivables. The production director is paid à £20,000. à £64,237 is included Office salaries à £100,000 is to be provided for corporation tax During the year 1,500 electrical equipments were transferred from the factory to the warehouse. Only 100 equipments were in hand at the end of the year. At 31 March 2005 Inventory was: Raw materials à £56,200. Work in progress à £47,190. Finished goods ? Classifying expenses by function Auto transmission Income Statement for the year ended 31/03/2005 à £ à £ Revenue 2,585,041 Cost of sales (1,586,692) Gross profit 998,349 Expenses Distribution expenses 373,298 Administration expenses 244,489 Finance costs 27,070 (644,857) Profit before tax 353,492 Income tax expense (100,000) Profit for the period 253,492 Classifying expenses by nature Auto Transmission à £ à £ Revenue 2,585,041 Expenses Raw materials consumed 532,40 Changes in finished goods and work in progress 233,332 Depreciation 153,100 Employee benefits 727,527 Other expenses 558,120 Finance costs 27,070 2,231,549 Profit before tax 353,492 Income tax expense (100,000) Profit for the period 253,492 Auto Transmission Balance sheet as at 31/03/2005 à £ à £ NON-CURRENT ASSETS Property, Plant and Equipment 727,900 CURRENT ASSETS Inventory 198,868 Accounts receivables 495,000 Prepayments 3,980 697,848 TOTAL ASSETS 1,425,748 EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Ordinary share capital 400,000 RESERVES Retained profits 295,967 Shareholders funds 695,967 NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES 10% Redeemable preference shares 200,000 CURRENT LIABILITIES Bank overdraft 60,020 Trade payables 356,226 Accruals 13,535 Current tax 100,000 529,781 Total Equity and Liabilities 1,425,748 Workings à £ Revenue 2,600,147 Less return inwards (15,106) 2,585,041 Cost of sales Opening inventory : Finished goods Cost of finished goods 250,000 1,682,170 Less: closing inventory of finished goods (95,478) 1,586,692 Factory cost of finished goods Manufacturing account à £ à £ Opening inventory : raw materials 70,000 Purchases of raw materials 518,600 588,600 Less: Closing stock inventory raw materials (56,200) Raw materials consumed 532,400 Direct labour: Manufacturing wages 501,400 PRIME COSTS 1,033,800 Factory overheads Directors salaries : Factory manager 20,000 Maintenance of plant 30,102 Rent 35,320 Rates 39,192.50 Insurance 16,063 Light and hear 39,376.50 Factory power 30,014 Depreciation on plant 109,500 319,560 Total cost of production 1,353,369 Add: Opening WIP 126,000 1,479,360 Less: Closing W.I.P 47,190 Factory cost of finished goods 1,42,170 Value of closing stock/finished goods: 1,432,170 x 100 = 95,478 =95,478 1500 Expenses Distribution Administration Finance costs Transport 85,013 Directors salaries 40,114 Rent 7,064 Advertising 190,048 Rates 7,838 Insurance 3,213 Office salaries 101,776 Light and heat 7,873 Bank interest 7,070 Preference dividends (redeemable) 20,000 Salesmen salaries 64,237 Increase in provision for bad debts 4,000 Depreciation on new office block 2,600 office equipment 11,00 motor vehicles 30,000 General administration expense ______ 63,011 _____ 373,298 244,489 27,070 Workings for classification by nature Changes in finished goods and W .I. P Finished goods Work in progress TOTAL à £ à £ à £ Closing inventory 95,478 47,190 142,668 Opening inventory (250,000) (126,000) (376,000) Increase (decrease) (154,522) (78,810) (233,332) An increase is treated as a saving while a decrease is an expense . Depreciation Plant and machinery 109,500 New office block 2,600 Office equipment 11,000 Motor vehicles 30,000 153,100 Employee benefits Manufacturing wages 501,400 Factory manger salary 20,000 Director salaries 40,114 Office salaries 101,776 Salesman salaries 64,237 727,527 Other expenses Transport 85,013 Rent 42,384 Advertising 190,048 Rates 47,031 Insurance 19,276 Ling and heat 47,241 Plant maintenance 30,102 Factor power 30,014 Provision for bad debts 4,000 Bank interest 7,070 General administration 63,011 558,120 Property, Plant and Equipment Cost Depreciation to date Net Book value Office block 170,000 2,600 167,400 Plant and machinery 730,000 334,000 396,000 Office equipment 110,000 35,500 74,500 Motor vehicles 200,000 110,000 90,000 727,900 Prepayments and Accruals Prepayments Accruals Rates 3,140 Light and heat 1,214 Insurance 840 Rent 2,321 ____ Dividend on redeemable preference shares 10,000 3,980 13,535 Retained profits Balance c/d 42,475 42,475 Profit for the period 253,492 Retained earnings 295,967 Gross profit margin profit/sales= 998,349/2585041=38.62% Net profit margin profit/sales= 295,967/2,585,041=11% Differential 38.62-11= 27.62 Requirement 2.2 Utah textile Incomes statement for the year ending 31 December 2009 Sh. Sh. revenue 476000 Expenses Advertising expense 14500 Supplies Expenses 31500 Rent expense 12000 Miscellaneous expense 5100 Salaries expense 78000 Utilities expense 2500 (143600) Profit before tax 332400 Net income 109450 Total income 441850 Income tax expense (132555) Profit for the period 309295 Distribution to owners (48100) retained earnings 261195 Balance sheet as at 31 december 2009 Non Current Assets Sh. Sh. buildings 512000 land 90000 Current assets supplies 4250 account Receivables 95000 Cash 63000 162250 TOTAL ASSETS 764250 Ordinary Share Capital 310300 Retained Profits 261195 Shareholders funds 571495 Non-Current Liabilities mortgage payable 423400 Current Liabilities Trade payables 74300 Current tax 132555 Proposed dividends 48100 265400 TOTAL EQUITY LIABILITIES 764250 Requirement 2.3 Below is the group financial statement for Albar machinery distributors ltd. On October 1997 Albar purchased stake in Nguo. Later this group bought stake in kipi. BELOW UU Income statements for the year ended 31 March 2000 for: Albar Ltd Nguo Ltd Kipi Ltd Sh.m Sh.m Sh.m Revenue 1,368 774 685 Cost of sales (810) (407) (355) Gross profit 558 367 330 Distribution costs (196) (64) (78) Administration expenses (112) (73) (72) Finance cost (50) (20) 0 Profit before tax 200 210 180 Income tax expense (60) (60) (50) Profit after tax 140 150 130 Proposed dividends (150) (100) (100) Retained profits for the year (10) 50 30 Retained profits brought forward 713 610 420 Retained profit carried forward 703 660 450 Balance sheet as at 31 March 2000 Albar Ltd Nguo Ltd Kipi Ltd Noncurrent assets sh.m sh.m sh.m Property, plant and equipment 853 415 495 Investment in Nguo 702 Investment in kipi 405 1555 820 495 Current assets Inventory 368 200 190 Trade receivables 380 230 240 Cash at bank 120 115 91 Total assets 2,423 1,365 1,016 Ordinary share capital 900 200 100 Retained profits 703 660 450 Shareholders funds 1,603 860 550 Noncurrent liabilities 10% loan stock 500 200 0 Current liabilities Trade and other payables 140 175 346 Current tax 30 30 20 Proposed Dividends 150 100 100 Total equity and liabilities 2,423 1,365 1,016 Albar and Its subsidiaries Consolidated Income statement for the year ended 31 March 2000 Sh. Sh. Revenue 2,507.00 Cost of Sales (1,322.00) Gross Profit 1,185.00 Expenses Distribution Costs 338.00 Administration Expenses 261.00 Goodwill impaired 55.00 Finance costs 60.00 (714.00) Profit before tax 471.00 Income tax expense (170.00) Profit for the period 301.00 Profit attributable to: Holding Company 228.60 Minority interest 72.40 301.00 Consolidated Balance sheet as at 31 March 2000 Non Current Assets Sh. Sh. Property, plant and equipment 1,755.00 Goodwill 55.00 1,810.00 Current assets Inventory 728.00 Trade Receivables 808.00 Cash at bank 326.00 1,862.00 TOTAL ASSETS 3,672.00 Ordinary Share Capital 900.00 Retained Profits 957.20 1,857.20 Minority Interest 330.80 Shareholders funds 2,188.00 Non-Current Liabilities 10% Loanstock 600.00 Current Liabilities Trade Other payables 609.00 Current tax 80.00 Proposed dividends 195.00 884.00 TOTAL EQUITY LIABILITIES 3,672.00 Statement of retained profits b/f Yr C/f Albar 713.00 (25.00) 688.00 Share in Nguo 96.00 100.00 196.00 Share in kipi 69.60 3.60 73.20 878.60 78.60 957.20 Workings Albar As per the accounts 713.00 (10.00) 703.00 Add Divs receivable 80.00 80.00 Interest receivable 10.00 10.00 Less UPPPE (50.00) (50.00) Less Goodwill Impaired (55.00) (55.00) 713.00 (25.00) 688.00 Share in Nguo As per the accounts 610.00 50.00 660.00 Less preacquisition (490.00) ____- (490.00) 120.00 50.00 170.00 Less UPCS (10.00) (10.00) Add excess depreciation 10.00 10.00 Add Divs Receivable _____- 75.00 75.00
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Mathematics in Cryptology
Cryptology is the procedure of writing by means of a variety of methods to keep messages secret and includes communications security and communications intelligence. The cryptologic (code making and code breaking) and intelligence services provide information to both tactical forces and Navy commanders. Shore-based intellect and cryptologic operations engage the compilation, handing out, analysis, and reporting of information from a lot of sources, from communications intelligence to human intelligence. This information is used to assess threats to the Navy and to the protection of the United States. Tactical intelligence, more often than not provided by ships, submarines, and aircraft, gives combat commanders indications and warning of impending opponent activity and assessments of ongoing hostile activity and capabilities.The start of the 21st century is a golden age for applications of mathematics in cryptology.à The early stages of this age can be traced to the work of Rejewsk i, Rozycki, and Zygalski on breaking mystery. Their employment was a breach in more than a few ways.à It made a marvelous realistic input to the conduct of Word War II.à At the same time, it represented a major increase in the sophistication of the mathematical tools that were used.à Ever since, mathematics has been playing a progressively more important role in cryptology.This has been the result of the dense relationships of mathematics, cryptology, and technology, relationships that have been developing for a long time. At the same time as codes and ciphers go back thousands of years, systematic study of them dates back only to the Renaissance.à Such study was stimulated by the rapid growth of written communications and the associated postal systems, as well as by the political fragmentation in Europe. In the 19th century, the electric telegraph provided an additional spur to the development of cryptology.The major impetus, despite the fact that, appears to have come with the appearance of radio communication at the beginning of the 20th century. This technical development led to growth of military, diplomatic, and commercial traffic that was open to non-intrusive interception by friend or foe alike.à The need to protect such traffic, from interception was obvious, and led to the search for improved codes and ciphers.à These, in turn, stimulated the development of cryptanalytic methods, which then led to development of better cryptosystems, in an endless cycle.à What systems were built has always depended on what was known about their security, and also on the technology that was available.Amid the two world wars, the need for encrypting and decrypting ever-greater volumes of information dependably and steadily, combined with the accessible electromechanical technology, led many cryptosystem designers towards rotor system.à Yet, as Rejewski, Rozycki, and Zygalski showed, the operations of rotor machines created enough regularities to enable effective cryptanalysis through mathematical techniques.à This was yet another instance of what Eugene Wigner has called the ââ¬Å"unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics,â⬠in which techniques developed for abstract purposes turn out to be surprisingly well-suited for real applications.The sophistication of mathematical techniques in cryptography continued increasing after World War II, when attention shifted to cryptosystems based on shift register sequences.à A quantum jump occurred in the 1970s, with the invention of public key cryptography. This invention was itself stimulated by technological developments, primarily the growth in information processing and transmission.à This growth was leading to explosive increases in the volume of electronic transactions, increases that show no signs of tapering off even today, a quarter century later.The large and assorted populations of users that were foreseen in developing civilian settings were leading to probl ems, such as key management and digital signatures that previously had not been as severe in smaller and more tightly controlled military and political communications.à At the same time, developments in technology were offering unprecedented possibilities for implementing complicated algorithms.à Mathematics again turned out to provide the tools that were used to meet the challenge.The public key schemes that were invented in the 1970s used primarily tools from classical number theory.à Yet as time went on, the range of applicable mathematics grew.à Technology continued improving, but in uneven ways.à For example, while general computing power of a personal computer grew explosively, there was also a proliferation of small, especially wireless devices, which continued to have stringent power and bandwidth limitations.à This put renewed emphasis on finding cryptosystems that were thrifty with both computation and transmission.At the same time, there was growth in th eoretical knowledge, which led to breaking of numerous systems, and required increases in key sizes of even well trusted schemes such as RSA. The outcome of the developments in technology and science is that today we are witnessing explosive growth in applications of sophisticated mathematics in cryptology.à This volume is a collection of both surveys and original research papers that illustrate well the interactions of public key cryptography and computational number theory.Some of the systems discussed here are based on algebra, others on lattices, yet others on combinatorial concepts.à There are also some number theoretic results that have not been applied to cryptography yet, but may be in the future.à The diversity of techniques and results in this volume does show that mathematics, even mathematics that was developed for its own sake, is helping solve important problems of our modern society.à At the same time, mathematics is drawing valuable inspiration from the p ractical problems that cryptology poses.The recent breakthrough discovery of public key cryptography has been one (but not the only) contributor to a dramatic increase in the sophistication and elegance of the mathematics used in cryptology. Coding theory enables the reliable transmission and storage of data. Thanks to coding theory, despite dramatic increases in the rates and volumes of bits transmitted and the number of bits stored in computers or household appliances, we are able to operate confidently under the assumption that every one of these bits is exactly what it is supposed to be. Often they are not, of course, and the errors would be catastrophic were it not for the superbly efficient detection and correction algorithms clever coding theorists have created.Although a number of incessant mathematics has been employed (notably, probability theory), the bulk of the mathematics involved is discrete mathematics. Nevertheless, in spite of the strong demonstration that cryptolo gy and coding theory provide, there is little understanding or recognition in the mainstream mathematics community of the importance of discrete mathematics to the information society. The core problems in applied mathematics after World War II (e.g., understanding shock waves) involved continuous mathematics, and the composition of most applied mathematics departments today reflects that legacy.The increasing role of discrete mathematics has affected even the bastions of the ââ¬Å"oldâ⬠applied mathematics, such as the aircraft manufacturers, where information systems that allow design engineers to work on a common electronic blueprint have had a dramatic effect on design cycles. In the meantime, mathematics departments seem insulated from the need to evolve their research program as they carry on providing service teaching of calculus to captive populations of engineering students.However, the needs of these students are changing. As mathematicians continue to work in narrow areas of specialization, they may be unaware of these trends and the appealing mathematical research topics that are most strongly connected to current needs arising from the explosion in information technology. Indeed, a great deal of important and interesting mathematics research is being done outside of mathematics departments. (This applies even to traditional applied mathematics, PDE's and the like, where, as just one example, modeling has been neglected.)In the history of cryptology and coding theory, mathematicians as well as mathematics have played an important role. Sometimes they have employed their considerable problem-solving skills in direct assaults on the problems, working so closely with engineers and computer scientists that it would be difficult to tell the subject matter origins apart. Sometimes mathematicians have formalized parts of the problem being worked, introducing new or classical mathematical frameworks to help understand and solve the problem.Sophistica ted theoretical treatments of these subjects (e.g., complexity theory in cryptology) have been very helpful in solving concrete problems. The probable for theory to have bottom-line impact seems even greater today. One panelist opined, ââ¬Å"This is a time that cries out for top academicians to join us in developing the theoretical foundations of the subject. We have lots of little results that seem to be part of a bigger pattern, and we need to understand the bigger picture in order to move forward.â⬠However, unfortunately, the present period is not one in which research mathematicians are breaking down doors to work on these problems.Mathematicians are without a doubt needed to generate mathematics. It is less clear that they are indispensable to its application. One panelist pointed out that there are many brilliant engineers and computer scientists who understand thoroughly not only the problems but also the mathematics and the mathematical analysis needed to solve them. ââ¬Å"It's up to the mathematics community,â⬠he continued, ââ¬Å"to choose whether it is going to try to play or whether it is going to exist on the scientific margins.The situation is similar to the boundary where physics and mathematics meet and mathematicians are scrambling to follow where Witten and Seiberg have led.â⬠Another panelist disagreed, believing it highly desirable, if not necessary, to interest research mathematicians in application problems. ââ¬Å"When we bring in (academic research) mathematicians as consultants to work on our problems, we don't expect them to have the same bottom-line impact as our permanent staff, because they will not have adequate knowledge of system issues.However, in their effort to understand our problems and apply to them the mathematics with which they are familiar, they often make some unusual attack on the problem or propose some use of a mathematical construct we had never considered. After several years and lots of honing of the mathematical construct by our ââ¬Ëapplied mathematicians,' we find ourselves in possession of a powerful and effective mathematical tool.â⬠During the late 1970s, a small group of bright educational cryptographers proposed a series of elegant schemes through which secret messages could be sent without relying on secret variables (key) shared by the encipherer and the decipherer, secrets the maintenance of which depended upon physical security, which in the past has been often compromised. Instead, in these ââ¬Å"public keyâ⬠schemes, the message recipient published for all to see a set of (public) variables to be used by the message sender in such a way that messages sent could be read only by the intended recipient. (At least, the public key cryptographers hoped that was the case!)It is no exaggeration to say that public key cryptography was a breakthrough ââ¬Å"of monumental proportions,â⬠as big a surprise to those who had relied on conventional cryptog raphy in the sixties as television was to the public in the fifties. Breaking these ââ¬Å"public keyâ⬠ciphers requires, or seems to require, solutions to well-formulated mathematical problems believed to be difficult to solve. One of the earliest popular schemes depended on the solution of a certain ââ¬Å"knapsackâ⬠problem (given a set of integers and a value, find a subset whose constituents sum to that value).This general problem was thought to be hard (known to be NP- complete), but a flurry of cryptanalytic activity discovered a way to bypass the NP-complete problem, take advantage of the special conditions of the cryptographic implementation and break the scheme, first by using H. Lenstra's integer programming algorithm, next using continued fractions, later and more effectively by utilizing a lattice basis reduction algorithm due to Lenstra, Lenstra and Lovasz.Although many instantiations of public key cryptographies have been proposed since their original discov ery, current cryptographic implementers seem to be placing many of their eggs in two baskets: one scheme (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman, RSA), whose solution is related to the conjectured difficulty of factoring integers, the second, (Diffie-Hellman, DH), which is related to the conjectured difficulty of solving the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) in a group. The discrete logarithm problem in a group G, analogous to the calculation of real logarithms, requires determination of n, given g and h in G , so that gn = h.Each of the past three decades has seen momentous improvements in attacking these schemes, although there has not yet been the massive breakthrough (as predicted in the movie ââ¬Å"Sneakersâ⬠) that would send cryptographers back to the drawing boards. The nature of these attacks leads some to suspect that we may have most of our eggs in one basket, as most improvements against RSA seems to correspond to an analogous idea that works against the most common instantiations of DH (when the group is the multiplicative group of a finite field or a large subgroup of prime order of the multiplicative group) and vice versa.Asymptotic costs to attack each scheme, although each has declined as a consequence of new algorithms, continue to be comparable. These innovative algorithms, along with improvements in computational power, have forced the use of larger and larger key sizes (with the credit for the increase split about equally linking mathematics and technology). As a result, the computations to implement RSA or DH securely have been steadily increasing.Recently, there has been interest in utilizing the elliptic curve group in schemes based on DLP, with the hope that the (index calculus) weaknesses that have been uncovered in the use of more traditional groups will not be found.It is believed, and widely marketed, that DLP in the group of points of non-super singular elliptic curves of genus one over finite fields does not allow a sub-exponential time solut ion. If this is true, DH in the elliptic curve group would provide security comparable to other schemes at a lower computational and communication overhead. It may be true, but it certainly has not yet been proven. There are connections between elliptic curve groups and class groups with consequences for the higher genus case and extension fields. In particular, Menezes, Okamoto and Vanstone showed how the Weil pairing gave a better method for solving DLP for a particular class of elliptic curves, the supersingular ones.These are curves of order p+1, and DLP is reduced to a similar problem in GF(p2), where it can be more effectively solved. Work continues in an effort to extend these results to the general curve group. A related problem in elliptic curve cryptography focuses attention on another possible exciting interplay between theoretical mathematics, computer science (algorithms) and practical implementation. Calculation of the order of the elliptic curve group is not straightf orward. Knowing the order of their group is very important to DH cryptographers, since short cut attacks exist if the order of the group factors into small primes.Current elliptic curve cryptosystem proposals often employ a small class of curves to circumvent the counting problem. Even less progress has been made on the more general problem of whether there exist any groups whose DLP is exponential and, if so, characterizing such groups. Another interesting problem is whether solving DLP is necessary as well as sufficient for breaking DH. There are some groups for which this is known to be true, but determining whether this is true for all groups, or characterizing those groups for which it is true, remains to be done. A third interesting general DH problem is ââ¬Å"diagnosisâ⬠of the DH group (when one has intercepted both ends of DH exchanges and does not know the group employed).For this reason, cryptology is a traditional subject that conventionally guaranteed (or sought t o undo the guarantee of) confidentiality and integrity of messages, but the information era has expanded the range of applications to consist of authentication, integrity and protocols for providing other information attributes, including timeliness, ease of use of service and protection of intellectual property. Cryptology has at all times been a charming and an exciting study, enjoyed by mathematicians and non-mathematicians the same.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
U.S. Organizations Operating in the Global Environment Free Essay Example, 2500 words
It is evidently clear from the discussion that organizations have the power to strategically influence their environment. One thing that comes to mind in understanding this point is the idea that every organization has the power to influence the environment because it has the relevant strength to implement strategies. In fact, the implementation of strategy can change the environment and this makes the latter a constant subject to change. Therefore, so many changes have taken place within the context of US organizations. These organizations are subjects of the cultural upbringing of the country. Many organizations in the US are trying to adhere to the ultimate culture of the US. The country s culture adheres to the value of competition. It brings individuals a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment when they become a cutting edge above the other as they try to compete individually. Common to this is the actual observation how each individual organization in the US tries to compete with the other key players particularly in their specific industry. Take the case of Apple Inc. for instance. The company is a firm believer in the idea that moving towards differentiation strategy will bring the organization to its competitive edge. We will write a custom essay sample on U.S. Organizations Operating in the Global Environment or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Apple Inc. sets the culture of competence, and remarkably it has all the vital energy necessary in order to compete. This has become the major contributing factor why there is an intense competition involved in its industry. Many organizations or companies alike try to mimic what Apple Inc. has just started. In fact, after Apple created the former and the latest model of smartphones, the industry is already flooded with various choices. This is an upshot on how Apple Inc. , an organization coming from the US, has influenced the whole world particularly in setting its industry under a tough spirit of competition. Also, take the case of Wal-Mart. The firm believes the idea that consideration of the scale will lead to its Big stores have the chance to avail of big discounts from suppliers and this means that they can give low prices for their customers.
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