habeus corpus essays

habeus corpus essays A Confederate Soldier, on leave from war, was captured, imprisoned and denied any right to a trial. Though summoned by the Chief of Justice of the United States of America, John Merryman, by right of Habeas Corpus was denied a trial (Britannia Sec.1). In 1679 the incorporation of Habeas Corpus was granted to all citizens, authorizing judges to review a court case for all imprisoned perpetrators. At the outbreak of the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln repealed the original writ of Habeas Corpus and suspended the right stating that it could be revoked in a case of rebellion or invasion if the public safety may require it(Britannia sec.1). Through years of examining the United States government in school, I never fully understood the proceedings and the rights to a fair trial. After reading Habeas Corpus, an article reviewing the changes of the writ, I realized what might seem fair and honest never truly is. This article stunned and intrigued me. I was able to connect Lincolns alter ation of this writ to that by President Roosevelt and in 1996 by President Bill Clinton (A.PA9). William Rehnquist, author of, All Lies But One, believes that Abraham Lincoln had an obligation to suspend the right of Habeas Corpus in 1861 at the offset of the Civil War, as did Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. I would have agreed with his [Lincoln] view as to suspending the writ of habeas corpus, I think, because that seemed to be a real threat to the union(Gergen 3). I both agree and disagree with Rehnquists statements and beliefs. Abraham Lincoln and Roosevelt had justifiable motives for suspending the law, but should have submitted the proposition to congress for final authorization. I believe President Bill Clinton enacted to same proposition, but altered the formality of it. The Death Penalty and Public Safety Act of 1996 was proposed by the congress and finalized by the president after...

The Role of the Plaza in Maya Festivals

The Role of the Plaza in Maya Festivals Like many pre-modern societies, the Classic period Maya (AD 250-900 AD) used ritual and ceremony performed by the rulers or elites to appease gods, repeat historical events, and prepare for the future. But not all ceremonies were secret rituals; in fact, many were public rituals, theatrical performances and dances played in public arenas to unite communities and express political power relationships. Recent investigations of public ceremonialism by University of Arizona archaeologist Takeshi Inomata reveal the importance of these public rituals, both in the architectural changes made in the Maya cities to accommodate the performances  and in the political structure which developed alongside the festival calendar. Mayan Civilization The Maya is a name given to a group of loosely associated but generally autonomous city-states, each led by a divine ruler. These small states were spread throughout the Yucatn peninsula, along the gulf coast, and into the highlands of Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. Like small city centers anywhere, the Maya centers were supported by a network of farmers who lived outside the cities but were held by allegiances to the centers. At sites such as Calakmul, Copn, Bonampak, Uaxactun, Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Caracol, Tikal, and Aguateca, festivals took place within the public view, bringing together the city residents and the farmers and reinforcing those allegiances. Festivals of the Maya Many of the Mayan festivals continued to be held into the Spanish colonial period, and some of the Spanish chroniclers such as Bishop Landa described festivals well into the 16th century. Three types of performances are cited in the Maya language: dance (okot), theatrical presentations (baldzamil) and illusionism (ezyah). Dances followed a calendar  and ranged from performances with humor and tricks to dances in preparation for war and dances mimicking (and sometimes including) sacrificial events. During the colonial period, thousands of people came from all around northern Yucatn to see and participate in the dances. Music was provided by rattles; small bells of copper, gold and clay; tinklers of shell or small stones. A vertical drum called the pax or zacatan was made of a hollowed tree trunk and covered with an animal skin; another u- or h-shaped drum was called the tunkul. Trumpets of wood, gourd, or conch shell, and clay flutes, reed pipes and whistles were also used. Elaborate costumes were part of the dances as well. Shell, feathers, backracks, headdresses, body plates transformed the dancers into historical figures, animals, and gods or other-worldly creatures. Some dances lasted all day, with food and drink brought to the participants who kept dancing. Historically, preparations for such dances were substantial, some rehearsal periods lasting for two or three months, organized by an officer known as a holpop. The holpop was a community leader, who set the key for the music, taught others and played an important role in festivals throughout the year. Audiences at Mayan Festivals In addition to Colonial period reports, murals, codices, and vases illustrating royal visits, court banquets, and preparations for dances have been the focus for archaeologists to understand the public ritual which predominated the classic period Maya. But in recent years, Takeshi Inomata has turned the study of ceremonialism at Maya centers on its head-considering not the performers or the performance but rather the audience for the theatrical productions. Where did these performances take place, what architectural properties were constructed to accommodate the audiences, what was the meaning of the performance for the audience? Inomatas study involves a closer look at a somewhat less-considered piece of monumental architecture at classic Maya sites: the plaza. Plazas are big open spaces, surrounded by temples or other important buildings, framed by steps, entered via causeways and elaborate doorways. Plazas in Maya sites have thrones and special platforms where performers acted, and stelae-rectangular stone statues such as those at Copn-representing past ceremonial activity are also found there. Plazas and Spectacles Plazas at Uxmal and Chichà ©n Itz include low square platforms; evidence has been found in the Great Plaza at Tikal for the construction of temporary scaffoldings. Lintels at Tikal illustrate rulers and other elites being carried on a palanquina platform on which a ruler sat on a throne and was carried by bearers. Wide stairways at plazas were used as stages for the presentations and dances. The plazas held thousands of people; Inomata reckons that for the smaller communities, nearly the entire population could be present at once in the central plaza. But at sites such as Tikal and Caracol, where over 50,000 people lived, the central plazas could not hold so many people. The history of these cities as traced by Inomata suggests that as the cities grew, their rulers made accommodations for the growing populations, tearing down buildings, commissioning new structures, adding causeways and building plazas exterior to the central city. These embellishments indicate what a crucial part performance for the audience was for the loosely structured Maya communities. While carnivals and festivals are known today throughout the world, their importance in defining the character and community of governmental centers is less considered. As the focal point for gathering people together, to celebrate, prepare for war, or watch sacrifices, the Maya spectacle created a cohesion that was necessary for the ruler and common people alike. Sources To get a look at what Inomata is talking about, Ive assembled a photo essay called Spectacles and Spectators: Maya Festivals and Maya Plazas, which illustrates some of the public spaces created by the Maya for this purpose. Dilberos, Sophia Pincemin. 2001. Music, dance, theater, and poetry. pp 504-508 in Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America, S.T. Evans and D.L. Webster, eds. Garland Publishing, Inc., New York. Inomata, Takeshi. 2006. Politics and theatricality in Mayan society. Pp 187-221 in Archaeology of Performance: Theaters of Power, Community and Politics, T. Inomata and L.S. Coben, eds. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, California. Inomata, Takeshi. 2006. Plazas, performers and spectators: Political theaters of the Classic Maya. Current Anthropology 47(5):805-842

America's Age of Imperialism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

America's Age of Imperialism - Assignment Example This policy was for their benefit. The Philippines –American war happened after American shoot down in the Spanish –American war of 1898, Spain surrendered its longstanding colony of Philippines to the united states in the treaty of paris.it reached a time when the US forces were serious in rejecting on enforcing American colonial control over issues such as islands, the first collides as an â€Å"insurrection† instead than accept the Filipinosargument that they were fighting to guard off any strange intruder. The solutions to these issues came when the United States started in the Philippines in 1900 leader being a future president William Howard Taft started a pacification movement that became popular as policy of attraction. This policy was designed to preside over the main elites and other Filipinos included who did not embrace Aguinaldo’s plans for the philipines,this policy allowed a kind of freedom of self-governance, started reforms for economic progress and in addition some social reforms. America opened Panama Canal which joined the two big oceans. This acted as a sign that America had emerged as a global power. America also wanted an easier route to their colonies. This was made possible by Bunau-Varilla who negotiated the Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty of 1903 which provided the US with a 10 mile piece of land which they built a canal .they did this through payment of 10$million and paid to Panama. Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe doctrine was a policy by President Theodore Roosevelt self-assertive to Latin America approach. The army was the most influential in this period because it had full training on how tackle any war that

IT & Entrepreneurship (A) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

IT & Entrepreneurship (A) - Coursework Example Workers have developed frequent absenteeism behavior whose impact has negatively affected business returns. Further, the management has witnessed massive customer complains on matters related to over-speeding and use of abusive language by drivers as well as other Company employees. Owing to the gravity of these problems, I opted to develop a business intelligence system that will track the entire business operations and send reports to the human resource department for action. The design was made by creating a link through which company workers would sign in whenever they report to work. I thought this would help monitor and curb late coming especially on the part of drivers. In order to manage the problem on work ethics among the drivers, I developed an intelligence tracking system to monitor over speeding and use of abusive language. The tracking system was fixed onto all vehicles in order to ensure that all conversations taking place inside the car is recorded and easily retrieve d whenever it was required. The data collected was useful in gathering and analyzing data that would be useful in undertaking major business decisions. I thought this was going to assist the executive make informed business decisions and better the company’s financial returns while enhancing sound behavior among its workforce. In order to store vital information that would guide decision making in future, I modified the system that would be in position to store knowledgeable information. This would help the management make reference should a similar problem arise in future. It was important for the developed system to keep and manage important information concerning daily business operations. This was particularly important in keeping information about potential competitors, customer problems, probable partners and internal business operations that would ensure effective decision making for improved returns. The system was designed in a manner that will integrate data about s trategies that might be taken by business competitors from which such decisions will be utilized to curb stiff competition will be made. Throughout the design process I made sure the system was able to incorporate upcoming technological innovations in order to remain updated all through. It also had the ability to not only gather the information but make good use of it. This was possible because the system could sift large volumes of data and process what was relevant translating it into useful information and knowledge from which pertinent actions could be carried based on the analysis. I made sure that this vital web based information resource combine the available resources under the disposal of Hope Taxi Company was utilized to give the company the best returns possible. Information collected throughout the journey could be collected and utilized immediately a complaint was launched by a customer. This fastened up cases involving abusive drivers as well as those who were fond of over-speeding while passengers were on transit. I was in a position to monitor the functionality and content of data collected more frequently whenever an alert showed up. The business intelligence system that I created resulted into operative excellence because it enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of business operations. In addition, the design enabled business flexibility to change by collecting and

Experiemental Psychology Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experiemental Psychology - Lab Report Example itled, Function of the left planum temporale in auditory and linguistic processing, researchers attempted to determine the extent to which processes affecting the left planum temporale are restricted to linguistic utterances, or can be extended to sound forms of right-handed individuals. The study indicated that varying degrees of sensory activation occurred in the planum temporale dependent upon the listener’s active engagement with the process, with the planum temporale being more active to tones when the listener was actively engaged. This is significant for the current study, as it indicates the level and type of word engagement affects the ultimate results regarding word recognition. When considering the implications, one could argue that the individual features of the study contributed to the results not being statistically significant. A possible example includes the uneven gender of the participants, as it’s possible that gender differences affect word recognition to differing degrees. Another reason is that the participants were all Junior level Psychology Students at Purchase. It’s possible that by limiting the study to this demographic, the results of the study were skewed. Another example concerns the difficulty of the word lists used in the study. Past studies have indicated that the right ear advantage was most consistently gained when the study was complex. For instance, in a 1974 study titled Right Ear Advantage for Speech Presented Monaurally D.B. Fry discusses results that indicate right ear advantage was only triggered when a threshold level of complexity was passed. He writes: †¦in a series of experiments with children in the age range 6-12 years†¦the speech materials used was series of digits or series of letter names and the measure of ear asymmetry used was correct recall of the series. While there was a trend towards REA (right ear advantage) for speech in the older children, the effect reached level of significance only for the

Retail Management Essay Example for Free

Retail Management Essay What can an independent retailer learn from this case? An independent retailer can pull several insights from this reading. First and foremost the market is becoming severely competitive which means that independent retailers will have to adapt to the environment. Adaptations such as; benchmarking other retailers, pinpointing customer needs wants, developing a long-term strategy for adaptation are to be made. It is imperative that retailers find ways to draw-in and maintain customers by changing with the market. Soft line specialty stores have found that the recent economic downturn has hurt the industry and in turn created intense competition for retailers to find new ways to get more sales from existing customers. Some good ideas for retailers to consider after reading this case are, repositioning old images, continuing to target the youth market, and creating a life cycle of retailing whereas, when a customer outgrows a particular brand, you have another brand for the consumer to grow into. There are also many ways that our ever-advancing technology can be incorporated into retailing to aid companies in increasing revenues.

A Letter From Prison Accounting Essay

A Letter From Prison Accounting Essay Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) is a software company which sells software products for business. In the case, according to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, revenues for the software licensing should be recognized once a contract was signed, the software was delivered, and payment was reasonably assured. In Computer Associates, when the revenue recognition principles were met, it recognized the whole value of the licensing revenues quarterly. However, from the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 1988 to the second quarter of the fiscal year 2001, Computer Associates has backdated some contracts and allows it accountants to record these contracts in the present financial statements. In accordance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, these contracts should be recognized in the next quarter. The future revenues which have recorded in the present financial statements lead to the higher profits and return on investments currently. What Computer Associ ates does is in the violation of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. What Computer Associates haves done is a kind of ethical elitism and ethical parochialism. Ethical elitism means that it is significant to maximize the interest of the top stratum or the elite no matter what to scarify and the ethical parochialism refers to that it is important to protect the interests of the individuals in-group. The executives of Computer Associates take their effort to recognize the revenues against the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in order to protect the reputation of the company and meet the analysts estimation and make the investors confident to the company. However, the investors and shareholders cannot make a good decision by using the improper financial statements. In the case, as the former senior manager of the Computer Associates, Richards try to defense against the crime which makes him in jail. Richards considers that Computer Associates lacks of the information to justify whether the accounting operation in Computer Associates is legal or not. As to him, it is not a big deal for doing this and it is just a timing issue in the revenue recognition. Nevertheless, the revenue recognition in Computer Associates is against the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Computer Associates recorded the future revenue in the current financial statements to make the company seems to be profitable. The main function of the financial statements is to show how the company operates and offer the information about the company to the managers and investors. The financial statements are the tools in helping the managers and investors to make the decision. Computer Associates cloud the investors and shareholders about its accurate sales revenues within the current quarter. By using the inaccurate financial statements, strategies and investment are made incorrectly. From the Exhibit 4 in the case, the percentages that properly recorded revenue was inflated by improperly accelerated revenue in every quarter from 2000 to 20001 were all above 10%. Moreover, there are large differences between the announced EPS and EPS without improperly recognized revenue in every quarter from 2000 to 2001. The announced EPS were much higher than the EPS without improperly recognized revenue. Comparing to the analyst EPS estimated, Computer Associates cannot reach the analyst EPS estimated without improperly recognized revenue which is mentioned before. In order to make the financial statements more profitable, Computer Associates use the improper recognized revenue method to make the company seem more profitable. It is unethical for Computer Associates to use allowed accounting flexibility for its revenue recognition. What is accounting flexibility? Accounting flexibility refers to the process that the accountants use their knowledge of accounting rules and standards to manipulate the figures in the financial statement in order to meet some specific purposes. It is about the transformation of the figures in the financial reports from actual figures to the figure which were needed by the preparers, by taking the advantages of the accounting rules and standards. (Naser, 1993). It can help the management to manage the reported figures to be higher or lower. Examples of accounting standards which can use accounting flexibility are as follow: The revaluation of the assets. While in estimation of the assets current value through the depreciation, the estimations are usually made inside the business. It is subjective for the company to estimate the value of the assets. The management has the opportunity to estimate the value on the side of caution or optimism. When doing the estimation in the value of the assets, it refers to the change of the assets, depreciation expenses and the impairment losses. Therefore, the measurement of the assets and income change. The fair value recognition of the plan asset. According to IASB, fair value is defined as the market-based value. It means that the fair value of the plan asset is on the basis of the market transaction. it can be manipulated. When changing the fair value of the plan asset, changes will be recorded in the financial statements. Q2. Richards mentions how difficult it is to operate in the grey areas of accounting and indicated that he might have benefitted from more guidance from senior management. Critically indicate who in a listed firm is responsible for the content of the final accounting reports. Corporate governance is the processes, structures and information which use for coordinating the relations in the management of the corporation. It guarantees the efficiency and the accountability for the mechanism in the corporation to protect the interests of the shareholders. Good corporate governance can help the company to create good corporation culture. The corporation culture creates through the process of the management practices and values which directly come from corporate governance. As in the company, the responsibilities of the major office holders are as follow: Implementing the strategy of the company to make the company operation in the healthy way. Advising the board about the structures of the company and making sure the quality and the quantity of the staff in the company. Providing the accurate information about the company to the board and making the proper prediction for the company. Preparing the accurate financial statements within the Generally Gccepted Accounting Principles In the company, the management should take the responsibility for the accounting reports which is in accordance with the IFRS adopted in Australia. The management should make sure the financial statements are fairly present the financial position and performances of the company. In addition, management must guarantee the financial statements with the accounting standards and prevent them to being fraud. In IFRS 8, management must consider that the most recent pronouncements of other standard setting bodies that use a similar conceptual framework to develop accounting standards, other accounting literature and accepted industry practices. Even though accountants prepare the financial statements in company, the management determines in what ways the financial position illustrate and whether make changes in the financial statements. In conclusion, the management is responsible for the content of the final accounting reports. In Computer Associates case, as a senior manager, Richards did not take his responsibilities to correct the manipulation of the revenues in the financial statements and applied to the sales-driven culture in Computer Associates. He paid more attention to the sales and the revenues in the company. Therefore, with the support of the management included Richards, the improper revenue recognition method was implemented in the company. As for me, possible alternatives can be taken as follow: Changing the accounting policies. The company can use the legal way to manipulate the revenues. For instance, Computer Associates can change the depreciation calculation and change the allocation of the research and development expenses within the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles to reduce the expenses so that the profits can be higher. Changing the time of the transactions. It is helpful for delaying the expenses and the anticipation of the income, which will avoid fighting against the law and the accounting standard. Changing the terms of manipulation. Within Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, some other terms relative to the profits of the company can be manipulated in legal ways. For example, the calculation of the doubtful debts and allowance for uncollectible accounts. Changing the closing date policy of the sales target. As it is mentioned in the case, the customers use delaying tactics to negotiate with Computer Associates to get the better deal. Large proportions of the contract are booked in the final week of the quarter. That makes Computer Associates hard to recognize these contract in the current period and it makes Computer Associates to backdate the contracts. Changing the closing date policy of the sales target is helpful. Computer Associates can short the period for the sales target. For example, it can be closed monthly so that the contracts can be recognized in time. Q3. Consider managements incentives and choices in their actions. What are Computer Associates motivations to manage earnings and the financial ratios as represented in the accounting statements? Internal motivations As Richards mentions in the letter, the company culture in the Computer Associates is a sales-driven culture. It means that the more you sell, the more commissions you can get. The culture leads the company to be aggressive in operation. The goal of the company is to make profit as it can so that it can maximize the shareholders benefits. In addition, the compensations of the executives are on the basis of the sales. The executives would have high compensations when sales associates have reached the goals. According to a study of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 by Healy, there is a high possibility for choosing and changing accounting procedures in a sales-driven culture with bonus schemes. It is easily to manipulate the accounting figures to maximize the bonus awards. The study also that it is high incidence of voluntary changes in accounting operations in years following the adoption or modification of the bonus reward plan. In Computer Associates, it is so attractive to get the high quantity of compensations by manipulated the revenues. What is more, in Computer Associates, performance in business is a vital criterion. Non-performance is not acceptable in the business. Performance in non-revenue areas should be paid less attentions. In order to perform well, it is reasonable for Computer Associates to manipulate the improper revenue. External motivations The main reason for Computer Associates to manipulate the revenues is to meet the expectations of the market. According to the study of Kasznik and McNichols, the consequences of not meeting the expectations lead to lower future earnings, lower share price, lower market premium and penalization of the markets. Therefore, for Computer Associates, the motivations in order to meet the expectations can be concluded as follows: Future earnings. It is about the stakeholders. The Computer Associates needs to enhance its reputation in their stakeholders, such as distributors and customers. High earnings in the financial reports make the stakeholders more confident for the company. Therefore, the stakeholders would like to do business with the company. Share prices. According to the study of Amat, Blake and Dowds, the accounting flexibility can help to boost the share prices of the company and make the company appeared to less risks for the investors. From the Exhibit 4, it is obvious to see that the EPS without improperly revenue recognition is much lower than the expectation. That means the market will decrease the share price for Computer Associates because of the low revenues. In order to change the situation, Computer Associates should manipulate the revenues to meet the expectations to maintain or increase the share price so that the confidence of the investors can be enhanced. The analysts. As it is mentioned in the case, investors gain information about investments from the analysts instead of the company. The main method which Analysts gather the information about the company is to analyze the financial reports. If the company fails to meet the expectation of the market, the analysts will doubt about the companys future earnings and the credibility. Computer Associates do not want to make the analysts feel doubtful about the companys development so that it tries to manipulate the revenues to meet the expectation of the markets. Q4. All issues related to revenue eventually affect the calculation and recognition of income. Making specific reference to the Comprehensive Income Project initiated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), carefully outline the concept of income that has been proposed by this project and the major issues highlighted. According to IASB, income refers to the increases in the benefits in the accounting period in the form of increases of the assets or the decreases of the liabilities which lead to the increase in equity. Comprehensive income is the changes in equity in a period of transactions and other events and circumstances from sources which are not owned by someone. All the changes in equity should be included in comprehensive income while the investment by owners and distributions to owners should be excluded. Comprehensive income is the sum of historic transaction income and unrealized fair value of the other items. For the historic transaction income, it refers to the entitys income during an accounting period which relative to the companys operation. In IFRS 13, fair value is the value which can be received when selling the assets or paying to transfer a liability in fairly transaction between knowledgeable and willingness parties. Fair value measurement defines as a market-based measuremen t and it is not an entity-specific measurement. Hard income refers to budgeted income that should be recognized during the operations and soft income is the actual income which recognized after the operation. In 2004, a Joint International Working Group on Performance Reporting was established (IASB 2004a). It is helpful in Comprehensive Income Project to establish the standards of the comprehensive income presentation in financial reports. (IASB 2005b) Comprehensive income requires the entity to present all the items relative to income and expense during the period. One single or two statements are accepted. When the Accounting Handbook 2009 was released, the definition of comprehensive income was published. However, income statement was still useful. Therefore, there is a confusion that as the income statement is useful, it seems the comprehensive income approach is quite inconsistent. The comprehensive income requires all the changes in the revenues and expenses and the disclosure items haven been changed. Q5. Critically review and provide an overview summary of a minimum of at least two (2) academic research papers that asses the price relevance of comprehensive income. Show how this research may have influenced subsequent releases and changes in focus by the IASB. In the study of Biddle and Choi, they focused on the debate about the fundamental definition in accounting, the comprehensive income and the consideration of IASB relative to the question. In order to justify those issues, information content, predictive ability and executive compensation contraction were used to examine. The study drew a conclusion that different definition of income makes different decisions and applications and disclosing separately comprehensive income components is useful for making decision. This study is the first study to examine this kind of issue. Another study which had done by Cahan, Courtenay, Gronewoller and Upton, suggested that, to some extent comprehensive income more value relevant than net income. Nevertheless, when doing the asset revaluation increments and foreign currency translation, the effect of comprehensive income was weak and there was no benefit in reporting the separate components of comprehensive income. In conclusion, as for the authors, in the comprehensive income approach, some information was useless, which lead to the comprehensive income did not really benefit the investors. As in a study of comprehensive income, Hanlon had the similar opinion with Cahan, Courtenay, Gronewoller and Upton. In Hanlons study, he mentioned the value relevance of mandated comprehensive income disclosures and discussed whether to choose reported in comprehensive income basis or reported in net income basis. He found that there is no evidence to support the value relevance which would be affected by the comprehensive income. Thus, he suggested that components of comprehensive income were not really value relevant after the controlling for the net income. From my point of view, after reading three essays above, IASB need to focus more on the uses of comprehensive income which IASB makes the entity to report. There are many differences between the different situations so that it leads to different adoptions. Revenue recognition is quite complex. IASB should do more researches to find out whether to use the comprehensive income approach or not when facing different situations.