Do rich countries have a moral duty to end global poverty Essay

Do rich countries have a moral duty to end global poverty - Essay Example Many a times, these benefits are gained by compromising upon the social and economic condition of a poorer country. An in-depth analysis of numerous aspects of the world economy reveals the fact that the consumption patterns of rich countries often offend the bounds of justice, thus making use of the labor, natural resources, land, and even political security of poorer countries to establish such a system of exchange wherein the rich countries keep getting considerable underserved and unearned benefits compared to the poor countries. For example, before 1964, oil companies based in the US purchased the Arabian crude oil for almost $2 a barrel which was sold at a price that gave the US two main subsidies (Corbett, 1993). First, oil companies along with their stockholders gained huge advantages consuming the only significant natural resource that the then powerless and traditionally poor countries had. Secondly, consumers in the US were subsidized to oil prices that were exceptionally cheap for their inefficient cars and other domestic and industrial needs. This happened as a direct subsidy of the poor countries. Today, the price of oil at the wellhead has risen 12 times and reflects more in the money consumers spend on energy than in the profits of the stockholders. Still, purchasing Arabian crude oil is deemed to be cheaper for the US than using her own oil. The subsidy continues in spite of being greatly reduced. The principle of ruling by power and lack of justice not only prevails across countries but is also observed in many areas within the same country. For example, the international corporations based in the US and a very tiny native elite owns major part of the land in Latin America that is used for the production of luxury crops while the indigenous inhabitants of this land have very limited access to the arable land and cannot freely grow crops for their own consumption. These poor inhabitants provide hunger as the subsidy for the luxury of the rich A mericans. It is frequently argued that rich countries have a moral obligation rooted in justice to the poor countries since their patterns of consumption offend the poor countries’ freedom rights. However, the establishment of justice requires stable expectations in reciprocity which although has some basis in the domestic sphere, yet there is no basis for it in the international sphere. This thesis is defended by a discussion of the aspects of justice that can be distinguished as reciprocity for the distribution of wealth across countries, followed by a criticism of the cosmopolitan view on the subject, and the possible implications of transfer of wealth and resources from the rich to the poor countries that make such a deal impracticable in the real world. When there is no institutional framework, a single act of benevolence even if becomes effective in helping the rich country attain its desired objective of helping out the poor country in some way, does not require a prac tice underlying it. In other words, when a rich country wants to do a good turn to a poor country, it may be achievable without any problem. But if the idea behind doing the good turn is that it deserves another in return, the rich countries have a reason to only do a good turn if they can make the poor countries believe that they also share this principle and will do their bit when the time comes. However, this proposition’s second part is unfounded as being true all across

IAS 36 and the Framework for the preperation and presentation of Essay

IAS 36 and the Framework for the preperation and presentation of financial statements - Essay Example The carrying amount can be defined as the amount at which an asset is recognized in the balance sheet less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. The recovery amount can be defined as the higher of an assets fair value less costs to sell (usually called net sales) and its value in use (homepage)2. The International Accounting Standards Board has prescribed the identification and conditions for assets to be impaired. Every reporting date at the end of an accounting period every organisation applying the rules of the IFRS should test if any asset is impaired. If any such asset shows that it is impaired then the organisation shall estimate the recovery amount of such asset. Other conditions attach to this test includes the test of for ``an intangible asset with an indefinite useful life or an intangible asset not yet available for use for impairment annually by comparing its carrying amount with its recoverable amount. This impairment test may be performed at any ti me during an annual period, provided it is performed at the same time every year. Different intangible assets may be tested for impairment at different times. However, if such an intangible asset was initially recognized during the current annual period, that intangible asset shall be tested for impairment before the end of the current annual period, test goodwill acquired in a business combination for impairment annually in accordance with paragraphs 80-99 ´Ã‚ ´3 (though the guidance on how to measure goodwill impairment should be included in Section 27, rather than referring to paragraphs 80-99 of IAS 36 Impairment of Assets)4. The IASB also add to the above rule that if an asset may be impaired by its recoverable amount should be estimated for the individual asset otherwise an organisation should determine the recoverable amount of the cash generating unit to the group where the asset belongs (the asset’s cash-generating unit)5. The measurement of the asset’s recovery amount

Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD)

Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD) Impact of Rapid Application Development ABSTRACT This report is submitted in context to a study that was performed to analyze the Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD) on the software industry using the context of the NASA weather forecasting system. The NASA existing weather forecasting system was studied for a new feature of exposing the NASA weather data to the other countries of the world using Rapid Application Development Platform. NASA is a world renowned organization that deals in space research and forecasting systems. NASA has an internal software system that collects weather data from the various NASA satellites and produce variety of forecasting reports for the next 24 hours that includes temperature, pressure, humidity , wind speed as the major reports. The other countries of the world has requested NASA to give them an API (Application programming Interface ) or a port from which they can import the weather data of NASA into XML format into their local servers after which they can use the it for their countries weather forecasting. The various system development methodologies including the popular Software Development Lifecycle method, Iterative method and Rapid Application Development methods were analyzed to choose the best methodology according to NASA requirements. During the course of the study it was observed that Rapid Application Development methodology works best when you have times and budgetary limitations as well as when you are assigned a limited but elite programming resources. The only thing that need to be maintained is that all the team members work together and there is We attached to the product/project development rather than I , because I word in these sort of small team can become a big danger of losing one or two good team members altogether. The report also includes the principles, realities and myth of the Rapid Application development Paradigms. It was observed that the timelines and the project deadlines can be achieved sooner in an efficient way by using Rapid Application development methodology and RAD project executed and implement at least the twice the speed and half the time taken by the regular Software development Life cycle. It was concluded from the study that Rapid Application Development will form the future backbone of software industry because of its effectiveness, less development and implementation time and more flexibility. Keywords:- Following is the list of important keywords and their definition which might be used through this report:- RAD :- Rapid application development SSADM :-Structured System Analysis and Design Method DSDM:- Dynamic System Development Method Waterfall Model Time Boxing Iterative Model UML :- Universal markup language OOP:- Object Oriented Paradigm/Programming UCD:- Use Case Diagram OOM:- Object Oriented Modeling GUI:- Graphical user Interface IDE:- Integrated development environment API:- Application Programming Interface NASA:-North Atlantic Space Association DLL:-Dynamic Linking Libraries. XML :- Extensible Markup Language Class Diagrams Sequential Diagrams Inroduction NASA or North Atlantic Space Association is a United States Government owned Space Research and Development Company. NASA has its own internal Weather forecasting department and specialized custom build weather forecasting software that connects to the US satellites receive various weather inputs from them and then calculates and forecasts the next 24 hour weather report that includes Temperature, Pressure, Humidity and Wind Speeds. During a recent United Nations Conference US government has accepted the proposal of other countries of the world to provide them weather forecasting data from NASA weather forecasting servers. Following are the project requirements that NASA has to fulfill:- The project development, testing and final implementation should not take more than 3 months. The project will only have the budget for 5 software developers. The project has to contain bare minimum only required important documentation and should not contain detail system specifications The first prototype for the other countries technical experts review has to be release withing15 days of project initialization. The rest of the project phases will work in iterative manner and based on client feedback. The feasibility study on various software development methodologies include software development Life Cycle (SDLC) and RAD was done , keeping in vision the product development cost and the stricter timelines and it was accepted to use Rapid Application Development or RAS as the software development methodology for the current system. LITERATURE REVIEW IMPACT OF RAD ON SOFTWARE INDUSTRY Before starting our discussion on RAD, let us take a closer look of what Agile Methodology is and a brief overview of its history and manifesto What is Agile Software Development? Agility is more attitude than process, more environment than methodology (Jigh Highsmith , April 6,2004 , Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Projects ) Agile Software Development is a set of software development Methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self organizing cross function team. According to (HighSmith, 2002) Agility is the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment. Agility is the ability to balance flexibility and stability. Agile Modeling is based on a collection of principles, derived from the principles of Agile Alliance, such as importance of assuming simplicity when you are modeling and embracing change when you are working, because requirements do change in future (Scott Ambler , 2002 , Agile Modeling: Effective practices for extreme programming and the unified process, Wiley) History and Manifesto of Agile software development The definition of the agile software development methodology started evolving in mid 1990s as a part of strong opposition against the already existing standard, micro managed use of Waterfall Model for development. There were heavy cost and time schedules escalations in Waterfall Model because of the freezing of design phase first and then starting up with the development and implementation phases. The time when product use to get ready to be deployed at the client side, it is already obsolete for use, because most of the time client requirements change during the product development phase. In 2001, some most important prominent figures in the field of Agile development came together in Utah to discuss the ways of creating software in a lighter, faster and more people centric way. It was then only the Agile software development and Agile methodology term gets coined. In the same meet, they create Agile manifesto that includes the canonical definition of the Agile Development and accompanying agile principles. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development ) Values and Principles of Agile Methodology:- As per the 2001 Agile Manifesto, following are stated as the values of the Agile methodologies:- Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools used. Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer Collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan Some of the principles envisioned behind Agile Manifesto are:- Customer satisfaction by rapid and continuous delivery of software system Working software is the principle measure of progress Even late changes in requirements are welcomed Close , Daily Cooperation between business people and developers Communication Simplicity Feedback Courage Humility

Phosphorous Nutrient Deficiency :: essays research papers fc

Phosphorous Nutrient Deficiency of Sunflowers, Helianthus annuus Abstract: The objective of this experiment was to determine whether or not a complete nutrient solution would have increased stem width, height, and leaf length compared to 25% phosphorous. My hypothesis was that sunflowers with a complete solution of nutrients would have the same growth compared to sunflowers with 25% phosphorous deficiency. The experiment was conducted by setting up two groups of sunflower seeds, control and treatment. Each group contained five seeds. The nutrients were added when the seeds had germinated. The controls were treated with a complete nutrient solution, whereas the treatment was treated with 25% phosphorous deficiency. Both groups were watered regularly with the nutrient solutions until harvest time. The measurements of both groups were taken periodically. During harvest time, the healthiest plant in each pot was measured for stem width (mm), height (cm), and leaf length (mm). The results indicated that there was no significant change in the controls a nd treatments because the p-values of all three types of measurements were greater than 0.05. Therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted. Despite the insignificant results, observations and measurements of growth in both groups of sunflowers in terms of stem widths, lengths, and leaf lengths suggested that the presence or absence of phosphorous did influence the plant growths. Introduction: The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of nutrient deficiency in sunflower, H. annuus. My null hypothesis was that sunflower plants that were treated with a complete nutrient solution would be the same as plants that were 25% deficient in phosphorous. My alternate hypothesis was that sunflower plants with a complete nutrient treatment would have increased growth compared to plants with phosphorous deficiency with respect to stem height, width, and leaf length. Phosphorous is an essential nutrient for root formation, flowering, fruiting and ripening (Gayle et al. 2001). Ten elements that are required for normal growth in plants are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and iron. The absence of any one of these elements causes plants to display characteristic abnormalities of growth known as deficiency symptoms. Often such plants do not reproduce normally (Raven et al. 1999). One reason why phosphorou s is essential in plants is because it is responsible for the general health and vigor of all plants. Some specific growth factors that have been associated with phosphorus are: stimulated root development, increased stalk and stem strength, improved flower formation and seed production, more uniform and earlier crop maturity, increased nitrogen N-fixing capacity of legumes, improvements in crop quality, and increased resistance to plant diseases (Webb 2002).

A Moment That Changed My Life Essay

This is my creative essay for the Film Program at NYU. The prompt was: â€Å"Introduce yourself. Describe an unforgettable event in your life and how it changed your perception of yourself or the view of someone close to you. This event can be dramatic and/or comedic. The assignment may be written as a short story in the first person or as an essay. † My one fear is that my essay is hard to understand. So any feedback on how it reads to other people would be a huge help. And also any gramatical errors or anything like that that you find would be a help as well. I’m probably mailing this out today so please, any advice would be much appriciated. Thanks. How did I get here? How did this happen. I sat staring through the open car door as it dangled there in front of my eyes. How had I not seen it before; how had it never caught my eye? It hit me so fast, like a wave that unexpectedly overtakes you as you walk along the beach. â€Å"It’s really happening,† I thought to myself. I am no longer a child. I am terrified. And it’s not fear that troubles me, it’s realization. It’s the realization that my life will simply just keeps moving along and I have no say in the matter. It’s the realization that I no longer have what seems like all the time in the world to figure out what I want to do with that life; what I want to be, what I want to leave behind after I’m gone. It’s finally time for me to stop thinking but rather go out and do the things I’ve dreamed of; the things I’ve only wondered at, baffled at, as I lay alone in my bed at night. It had never felt real until now. I stared at it as it hung there, as it hung unaware of the meaning it gave to me at this moment. Those few seconds stretched for hours, stretched to encompass the span of a lifetime in the flash of a blinking eye. And that’s what it all now felt like; a blink, a moment, a flash. Is that what it will feel like at the end? A flash? When I was a little girl, my father took me to the fair. He bought me a wristband so that I could go on all of the rides without having to fumble with tickets. He told me, â€Å"Darling, you can do anything you want here, just say the word. † To a young child, hearing those words was like being given the keys to the world; being given complete freedom. To me, freedom was a precious thing. I craved it; desired it above all else. But you see, in my eyes, freedom was simply having whatever you want, when you want, and not having to do anything you don’t want to get it. In my eyes, freedom was a perfect world, but only for me. Of course over time I was persuaded from these views by opening my eyes to the hard work and responsibility involved in having â€Å"freedom. † As I grew older I earned more privileges. I worked to make my own money, began driving, found myself a wonderful boy, and even began preparing for college; dreaming of going out on my own and making a name for myself in this wide world. And for a while the illusion was indeed convincing. I allowed myself to believe that over time I would gain more control in my life and that that control would one day become absolute. But it was still just an illusion, a dream; an idea of a perfect world, my perfect world. Eventually I would realize that the one thing which I thought could bring me my absolute freedom is the one thing that will forever hold it back. Time. Time is the one thing which binds everyone. Even the most wealthy, most powerful people in the world will die someday. Do you think they chose that for themselves? Do you think they wouldn’t change it if they could? You could have the whole world in the palm of your hand, but the reality remains; everyone is born, everyone grows older, and everyone will eventually die. Our time is limited. That can’t be changed, just accepted. So staring, I sat as it hung limply outside the open car door. How had I never seen it before? How had it never caught my eye? How had it all happened so fast? The lines, those small cracks, they hung loosely together over the weakened bone below. I sat staring, staring at my father’s aged hand that hung at his side as he stood outside the car conversing with someone who, at the moment, held no importance to me. Never before had I noticed those lines, those cracks, those wrinkles which spread out like ripples on the surface of a pond. Never before had I noticed how thin the skin appeared, how stretched, or even how loosely the veins spread underneath. For the first time I was looking at my father; a man in his fifties, hardened by years of ceaseless working. For the first time in a long time, I was seeing what was actually there and not just what my eyes were telling me to see based off of what they had previously known. For the first time, I realized I was growing up. For the first time, I felt the hold that time has on me. For the first time, I thought â€Å"I am almost eighteen years old. What have I done with that time? † What had I done? I hated the thought. I dreaded the question. That question to which my answer would speak of nothing of importance. At this time, what troubled me most was not the fact that I – and everyone around me – were getting older. At this time, what troubled me most was the fact that- in all that time of growth- the things which I had done served no greater purpose than to merely entertain; to entertain myself or the requests of others, teachers, my parents. I thought, â€Å"Has all this time been wasted? † Time goes by so fast; faster than even I can sometimes realize. The funny thing is, the older I get, as the years I have left steadily decrease, I can’t help feeling time’s steady increase. And this only leads me to further wonder; if these eighteen years have gone by so rapidly, as if they were nothing, will it not feel as though tomorrow I will find myself an old woman? Is it so unlikely? Is it so unlikely that, if the lifestyle I have I keep, I will wake up on that day and again have to question if the time I had been given had been squandered away in futile activity? A sad day it would be to lay in remembrance of your life and realize that the days you have spent held no purpose or meaning beyond to merely serve yourself and your own selfish comforts. A sad day it would be to realize that you have lived your life well and comfortably, yes, but never with purpose. And it was then, for a moment, that I was torn from my thoughts as my father at last settled back into the car and began to drive us home. I looked over at the man who had given me everything; my life, my childhood, and now this much needed revelation. Unbeknown to him, in an instant, he had changed my views of this world and of the life I was leading. In an instant, he had given me what was needed for me to stop waiting around, stop simply thinking of how my life will be, and start living, actually living. In that moment, in that rough weathered hand, I saw my future. I saw the effects that time would one day have on me. I saw the old age that would one day overtake me. I saw myself upon that final hour, laying, awaiting that final breath. But what I did not see was how I would greet that end. Would it be with peaceful acceptance or mournful detest? The real question is; when that final hour comes, when I take that final breathe, will the death that takes me be taking a soul that has truly lived? Will I have truly lived? I sit, looking at my father’s hand as he steers us home. I sit, not hoping for, but planning the things I am going to do, the things which I will do, today and tomorrow and all the days after. The things which will, in purpose, serve greater causes than to just simply allow me to go on drifting along in my life. For from now on I will do nothing but dream and create. I will do nothing but share with others my thoughts, my words, my ideas. I will do nothing but strive with all I have to make a difference in, if even in the smallest way, the life of another, the ways of a people, the turning of the world. From now on I will nothing but truly just live.

Jimmy Carter and Political Maxim Essay

Hardball by Chris Matthews is an interpretation of what many know as â€Å"hard-politics†. The book describes the skill of playing the game in Washington and how to be successful at it. The book is a guide that teaches a series of maxims that would be in favor of politicians to learn in order to be successful. The different tactics provided in the book hold a lot of knowledge that would make the life of anyone following these strategies much easier when trying to get ahead in life. Matthews describes a countless number of examples of successful politicians that rose to the top. Those politicians are the ones who learned how to play hardball in Washington. Matthews provides many of his observations over the years and describes them with quotes from various sources. Quoted by Chris Matthews, he states â€Å"JFK would call 5 or 6 †¦ LBJ would take 19 names and call them all. † The quote lies deep in the heart of the political maxim retail politics. Retail politics is the management of one-to-one communication among voters or other politicians. Lyndon B. Johnson was a mastermind of retail politics and embraced every moment of it. Johnson’s success came from his unique instinct to work at a man’s ego. While JFK was more of a wholesaler, Johnson worked retail politics like it was candy. That is exactly what the quote is symbolizing, the difference between a wholesaler and a retail politician. JFK was more widespread and focused more on voters than other politicians. Johnson had the patience and humility to work with every legislator one at a time and get that connection that he needed. This type of networking is what made LBJ successful in politics and it’s what made him stand out from an average politician. Another quote provided in the book Hardball was in Chapter 3. It stated, â€Å"He’s not going to win. It’s a Republican district. He’d be better for us is he loses. He’ll work for me. He’ll bring his organization with him. † This was a strategy that President Jimmy Carter used to benefit his campaign. Jimmy Carter played smart politics in this quote that is connected to the â€Å"it’s better to receive than to give maxim. † The maxim means to let others give to you because it makes them feel involved. Carter played this strategy to a tee. Carter knew that his best line of defense would come from those who had lost their elections and were looking for a job. The quote symbolizes the tactic Carter used and how his intelligence allowed him to take advantage of the situation. He knew that those individuals faced a tough race and when they lost, they would become his support because people like to be used and not ignored. Another quotes that is related to the â€Å"it’s better to give then to receive,† maxim is a quote I found to be very witty. The quotes states, â€Å"I’ve lived across the street from you for 18 years †¦ I shoveled your walk in winter. I cut your grass in summer†¦ I didn’t think I had to ask you for your vote. He never forgot her response. ‘Tom, I want you to know something: people like to be asked. † The lady knew Tip O’Neil and all he had done for her over the years, but out of respect she found that all he needed to do was ask. She wanted to make sure she was considered and thought about, so she wouldn’t be taken for granted. The main point from this quote is that people don’t mind being used, but they do mind being taken for granted. It’s important to know that asking favors only brings in more supporters. People want to invest in others and are often not critical of that person because they also have a lot invested in them. An important maxim that a politician can learn is â€Å"don’t get mad, don’t get even; get ahead. † The following quotes states, â€Å"Cry Baby†, screamed the headline of the New York Daily News above a picture of Newt in diapers. â€Å"Newt’s Tantrum: He closed down the government because Clinton made him sit at the back of the plane. I find this quote to be the funniest of the rest of the quotes. It clearly demonstrates the fallout of trying to get even with someone. It doesn’t work so ignore the revenge part and surpass your expectations. The political maxim â€Å"don’t get mad, don’t get even; get ahead,† means to maintain calm and concentrate all your power on progressing and becoming a success. Newt Gingrich didn’t apply the political maxim to his career which resulted in the quote above. His ego allowed a government shutdown to occur and the pressed slammed him in all newspapers. Gingrich forgot to concentrate on moving past the government shutdown, but instead played a game and lost the political game. My favorite political maxim in the book is â€Å"Leave no shot unanswered. † The following quote corresponds with the political maxim as it states, â€Å"The purpose of the war room was not just to respond to Republican attacks †¦ It was to respond to them fast, even before they were broadcasted or published, when the lead of the story was still rolling around in the reporter’s mind†¦ † Bill Clinton knew of that certain political maxim and he knew it well. Attacks to a candidate are harmful if left alone. They stick to you and become a reality if they are not disputed. Aided by George Stephanopoulos, Bill Clinton was alerted of the lethal combination of an unanswered shot. It was an important strategy because if a shot is unanswered, people start to believe that it is true which can sometimes ruin an entire campaign. The quote also makes you realize the necessity of responding to an attack. Clinton had to create an entire new room named, â€Å"the War Room† in order to fire back. That shows how much of an importance it is to leave no shot unanswered.