Featured Post

Sexism is alive and well in the English language Essay

Sexism is fit as a fiddle in the English language - Essay Example Misogynist language can be purposeful, hidden or controlled. The purpos...

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Does Is Our Desire For Happiness - 946 Words

Does our desire for happiness ultimately lead to our destruction?: A Reflective Essay Younger generations have stumbled upon and whole-heartedly accepted the concept of impatience. The magnitude of people hooked on the unique satisfaction that comes from instant gratification is frightening. As society evolves to fit current-day wants and needs, we have modified ourselves to focus more on materialist goods. We are living in the age of instant gratification brought on by a surge of consumerism. The need people have for this instant happiness is not a new feeling. Our expectation and definition of â€Å"instant† has shifted into a faster and more efficient timeframe as a result of advancements in technology. â€Å"Once [people have received] some level of instant gratification, they will expect that same instantaneous response in future interaction† (Daly). Constantly achieving this â€Å"instant happiness† hard-wires our brains to expect speed as the norm. Waiting for anything more than a few seconds results in impatience, our time is precious and those moments become an eternity in our fast paced society. We’ve developed a false sense of entitlement and in doing so we have damned ourselves to a life of constantly chasing this ideal of perfect reality that we cannot be expected to execute. The hidden danger of this now-now-now culture is the imminent boredom that ensues as a result of overindulgence. Abandonment is directly correlated to impatience, as one rises the other follows. RashShow MoreRelatedHedonism and Desire Satisfaction Theory861 Words   |  4 Pages Hedonism and the desire-satisfaction theory Name Institution Introduction Hedonism and the desire-satisfaction theory of welfare are typically seen as archrivals in the contest over identifying what makes one’s life better. It is surprising, then, that the most plausible form of hedonism is desire satisfactionism. The hedonism theory focuses on pleasure/happiness while the desire-satisfaction theory elucidates the relevance of fulfilling our desires. Pleasure, in some points of view is the subjectiveRead MoreCan Money Buy Happiness?1324 Words   |  6 PagesCan money buy happiness? It’s a philosophical question that has been discussed for centuries and there is no simple answer. For example, Graham Hill in â€Å"Living with Less. A Lot Less† gives his input on this highly debated topic through a multitude of short anecdotes. She asked herself not if â€Å"Money can buy happiness,† but if money could â€Å"help buy happiness† (Rubin 293). She also brings up the idea of modest splurging and spending out as methods of using money to help one buy happiness. Rubin describesRead MoreAquinas View On Happiness1271 Words   |  6 PagesAquinas makes numerous claims regarding happiness. Specifically, Aquinas uses the term â€Å"happiness† in a sense of objective fulfillment, rather than subjective well-being. He asserts that human happiness does not consist in acquiring things such as money, honor, fame, power, goods of the body, or pleasure. He also claims that complete, i.e. perfect, happiness can only be achieved by contemplating God in the afterlife. I will discuss arguments for, arguments against, and my opinion for both claimsRead MoreEssay On Socrates On Happiness1594 Words   |  7 PagesThe pursuit of happiness is a timeless and ageless endeavor. Since the beginning of time people have searched far and wide for the source of happiness. Even the greatest minds attempt to discover the basis of all human contentment. The father of philosophy, Socrates, was one of those few that might have unea rthed the key to human happiness. His understanding shaped the way that the western world sees pleasure, joy, and happiness. His views on how to obtain them are still alive today. Socrates livedRead MoreEssay about John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism1313 Words   |  6 Pageseverything based on the ability to promote the greatest individual happiness. In other words Utilitarianism states that good is what brings the most happiness to the most people. John Stuart Mill based his utilitarian principle on the decisions that we make. He says the decisions should always benefit the most people as much as possible no matter what the consequences might be. Mill says that we should weigh the outcomes and make our decisions based on the outcome that benefits the majority of theRead MoreAll Great Minds Think Alike...Sometimes Essay1182 Words   |  5 Pagestheir common goal differed. Both Epicurus and Epictetus believe that it is in human nature to seek out pleasure and that happiness implicates serenity. However, Epicurus differs from Epictetus in that Epicurus does not believe that it is the virtues that bring about happiness, but rather, one’s own pleasu re. While both Epicurus and Epictetus confer their opinions on happiness, it is consequently apparent by juxtaposing these two philosophers that their views on how to achieve is different, this canRead MoreUtilitarianism : Utilitarianism And Philosophical Ideas1427 Words   |  6 Pagesdecisions based on the ability to promote the most happiness to them. Another way to say it would be that Utilitarianism states that a good decision is what brings the most happiness to the most people. Mill based his utilitarian theory on the decisions that people make. He says the decisions people make should always benefit the most people as much as possible no matter what the consequences might be. Mill says that we should balance the outcomes and make our decisions based on the outcome that is in theRead MoreMill’S Two Proofs For The Ultimate Norm Of Morality . In907 Words   |  4 Pagesmorality, Mill claims that the utilitarian must claim that happiness happens to be the one and only t hing that is desirable in itself. He also claims that the only proof of desirability is desire and goes ahead to give an argument that happiness happens to be the one and only thing that should be desired (Selling, 2016). Most importantly, Mill argues that an individual does desire his own happiness for its personal reasons and that makes happiness to be desired by and becomes desirable for its own sakeRead MoreMr. Wright s The Unnecessary Surgery1301 Words   |  6 Pageseveryone seeks out what will give them the most happiness. To be able to get the happiness that we seek in life, we often think of our own self-interest. According to Shafer-Landau (2010), â€Å"Psychological egoism, which tells us that there is only one thing that motivates human beings: self-interest,† (p86). To achieve this happiness we rely on our own desires, what makes us feel good, or we do as much good as we can to achieve our own version of happiness. In the case of the unnecessary surgery, weRead More The Soul According to Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine Essay1184 Words   |  5 PagesSoul According to Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine The soul can be defined as a perennial enigma that one may never understand. But many people rose to the challenge of effectively explaining just what the soul is about, along with outlining its desires. Three of these people are Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine. Even though all three had distinctive views, the similarities between their views are strikingly vivid. The soul indeed is an enigma to mankind and the only rational explanation of its being

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Case Study The Actuarial Control Cycle, Reputation Risk

Reputation Risk According to the Understanding Actuarial Management – The Actuarial Control Cycle, reputation risk is defined as the risk that negative publicity, whether true or not, causes a decline in the customer base, costly litigation and revenue deductions. The importance of reputation risk has grabbed attention of many world renowned companies and emerged as the top business risk in recent years. Case Study 1 – Toyota 2009-2010 Recalls Crisis On 28th August 2009, there was a highly publicizes fatal crash of Toyota Lexus which took the lives of four people in the US and the cause of the accidents was the stuck accelerator pedal which trapped by the floor mat. Consequently, Toyota recalled 3.8 million vehicles which affected by the floor mat issues on 2nd November 2009. However, Toyota’s recall was not ended yet. Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles due to another accelerator pedal problem on 21st January 2010 which Toyota claimed the recall was unrelated to the November 2009 recall. Impacts to Toyota’s key stakeholders Customers – Millions of customers were affected by the recalls. Furthermore, they would face more difficulty selling the used vehicles in the future as the potential buyers might worry about the safety issue. Shareholders – After the incident, Toyota’s share price fell around 20% in the one year period. Moreover, there were at least three lawsuits filed by Toyota investors as they accused Toyota gave false initial assurances that the unintendedShow MoreRelatedBvcvv56336 Words   |  226 Pagesdeath in service benefits provided by the scheme. These benefits are currently: A lump sum of five times the member s basic salary. A non-increasing spouse s pension equal to 75% of the member s prospective pension. (i) Set out the points you, as actuarial adviser to the company, would include in a letter to the finance director explaining why the premiums may have increased. [3] Suggest possible ways these premiums could be reduced. [4] [Total 7] (ii) 2 You are the actuary to a large definedRead MoreThe Risk Management Function Of A General Insurer9457 Words   |  38 PagesAssignment 1 You are the Head of the Risk Management Function of a general insurer. The insurer is currently reviewing its corporate strategy. The insurer has always distributed its products directly to customers, but it is now considering distributing its products via insurance brokers or even purchasing an insurance broker. Question As part of the strategic planning process, you have been asked by the Board to: †¢ Explain the contribution that risk management can make to an effective strategicRead MoreSolution to Auditing and Assurance Service: 1,12,B, 329605 Words   |  119 PagesSOLUTIONS FOR REVIEW CHECKPOINTS 1.1 Business risk is the collective risk faced by a company that engages in business. It encompasses all threats to and organization’s goals and objectives. It includes the chance that customers will buy from competitors, that product lines will become obsolete, that taxes will increase, that government contracts will be lost, or that employees will go on strike. 1.2 The conditions of complexity, remoteness, time-sensitivity, and consequences increase demandsRead MoreATHE Level 6 Management Specification2 Essay12420 Words   |  50 PagesMaking for Managers (QCF) ATHE Level 6 Award in Leading Organisational Equality and Diversity (QCF) ATHE Level 6 Award in Managing Finance in the Public Sector (QCF) ATHE Level 6 Award in Managing Stakeholder Engagement (QCF) ATHE Level 6 Award in Risk Management (QCF) ATHE Level 6 Certificate in Human Resource Management (QCF) ATHE Level 6 Certificate in Project Management (QCF) Level 6 Management, Nov 2011 v2  © ATHE Ltd 2011 About ATHE We are an Ofqual regulated awardingRead MoreAnnual Report Rolls-Royce78484 Words   |  314 Pagesindicators 26 Principal risks and uncertainties 28 Review of operations 28 civil aerospace 30 defence aerospace 32 marine 34 energy 36 engineering and technology 38 operations 40 Services 42 Sustainability 48 Finance Director’s review goVernAnce 56 56 58 58 59 62 63 63 64 67 78 80 81 81 Chairman’s introduction Board of directors The Group Executive The International Advisory Board Governance structure Audit committee report Nominations committee report Ethics committee report Risk committee report Directors’Read MoreHealth Care Management13705 Words   |  55 Pages45 Unit 6.2 Project Management ........................................................................................ 48 Unit 7.6 Programme Leadership ................................................................................... 52 Unit 6.4 Risk Management ............................................................................................ 56 Unit 7.7 Corporate Communication Strategies .............................................................. 59 Unit 7.9 Sustainable Business StrategyRead MorePepsi Prospectus112807 Words   |  452 PagesShares may be owned by any person or entity regardless of citizenship or nationality, subjec t to the nationality limits under Philippine law. See â€Å"Terms and Conditions of the Domestic Offer† and â€Å"Philippine Foreign Exchange and Foreign Ownership Controls.† The allocation of the Offer Shares between the Domestic Offer and the International Offer is subject to adjustment. In the event of an under-application in the International Offer and a corresponding over-application in the Domestic Offer, OfferRead MoreFinancial service11229 Words   |  45 Pagesfinancial service companies. This helps them to earn higher return as companies invests pooled funds in large amounts. Also these companies have specialist fund managers who can strategically earn higher returns and help the customer to mitigate the risk of investmemnt. What sources of advantages can financial services companies use to create value for customers? Financial service companies would like to go for gaining sustainable competitive advantage over others via different methodsRead MoreFinancial Analysis of General Electric98175 Words   |  393 PagesSP 500 Index. We outperformed the SP Financial and Industrial sectors— the â€Å"GE neighborhood†Ã¢â‚¬â€which declined by 18% and 3%, respectively, in 2011. Despite our growth, it was tough for GE to break away from investor concerns about macroeconomic risk. Investor anxiety is understandable. Europe took center stage as a source of instability. Daily headlines about Greece, Italy and the volatility of the European banks frayed nerves. And, U.S. politics and deï ¬ cit concerns worried investors in the secondRead MoreWaste Management33554 Words   |  135 Pages. . . . . . . . . . . Identifying Inherent Risk and Control Risk Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 119 127 137 Assessing the Control Environment and Evaluating Risk of Financial Statement Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Waste Management, Inc. 4.5 Xerox Corporation 4.6 Phar-Mor, Inc. Manipulating Accounting Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evaluating Risk of Financial Statement Fraud . . . . . . . .

Monday, December 9, 2019

Policies Procedures For Sony Cyber Attack-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss About The Policies Procedures For Sony Cyber Attack? Answer: Introduction A cyber attack was faced by the Sony PlayStation on 11th April in the year 2011. The data breach hacked all the personal details of at least seventy seven million users and their access was also lost (Garrie and Mann 2014). The personal details that were lost included the user name of the customers, their residential addresses, email addresses, date of births, passwords of PlayStation and their usernames. The profile data of PlayStation, their history of purchase and their billing addresses with all the security questions were also hacked. The worse situation was that Sony was not able to understand if the details of their customers credit cards were also breached or not. All the details of case is stated in this report. This report elaborates the details of the Sony PlayStation cyber attack. It gives a detail view on the scenario including the time line, the person mainly responsible for the data breach and the companys response related to the data breach. It also deals with the implications of the cyber security attack that was faced by Sony. The related policies and the procedures that can be initiated by the company to mitigate the attack on the cyber space of Sony PlayStation. And lastly a personal review is given what is cyber security about and a clear review on cyber security. Details of the Sony PlayStation Cyber Attack Scenario including timeline Six years before from now, in the year 2011 PlayStation Network of Sony Company faced a data breach which hacked all the personal details of at least seventy seven million users and their access was also lost (Shackelford, Fort and Charoen 2016). This data breach of hacking the data of PlayStation was considered as the largest hacking that was ever faced by the gamers in the world. The impact of the data breach that happened resulted in- as short term impact to stop access of all the online services of PlayStation for weeks and as long term impact Sony had to gain the trust of the customer back. The story began with the hacktivist group that was umbrella termed which made the attack on Sony PlayStation with DDOS (Distributed Denial of Services) attacks. The attack had made the PlayStation of Sony to come down to its knees several times in the year 2011, April to privacy breach (Kirsch 2014). The PlayStation 3 of Sony was hacked by George Hotz, an American developer on 2nd January 2011. Sony made unforgiveable legal actions against Hotz which made the anonymous very upset. The anonymous group said that the information which Hotz gave was very useful about how to run games that were pirated, way of running homebrew software. The anonymous group declared that they were stopping the attack as because their intension was not to attack the gamers of the Sony PlayStation (Prakash and Dasgupta 2016). Their main motive was only to attack Sony. But again on April 19 2011, PlayStation was again hit by the group of anonymous people. This time the attack was more dangerous. After two days of the attack, Sony got to know that the attack was done and declared the PlayStation as offline. On April 21, Sony tweeted to all its users that the PlayStation was facing some of the problems regarding the online network services and it will remain unavailable until further notice (Chatfield and Reddick 2017). They also said that their support teams were investigating the problem cause which included all the outside parties. Their engineers are trying to solve the problems as soon as possible and regain the services. After working for five days Sony declared that the PlayStation would not come online for three weeks more. The customers could not come online before 48 hours as was declared by Sony (Gupta, Vashisht and Singh 2016). The next day, on 24th April, Sony again apologized for the time it is taking to regain and declared that a severe problem has taken place and investigations are going on regarding its network. Sony has not confirmed that the personal data of their customers were at risk. A week after the accounting, Sony came to know the actual cause of the problem they were facing (Watkins et al. 2015). The engineers of Sony kept on working for hours and their customers were reassured continuously. On 26th April, Sony finally declared about the data breach that has actually taken place. They announced that the personal data, credit card number of millions of people were lost. Sony admitted that they were still investigating on the incident and are trying to resolve the problem as soon as possible. Responsible for occurrence data breach The personal details that were lost included the user name of the customers, their residential addresses, email addresses, date of births, passwords of PlayStation and their usernames (Rao, Chen and Dhillon 2014). The profile data of PlayStation, their history of purchase and their billing addresses with all the security questions were also hacked. The worse situation was that Sony was not able to understand if the details of their customers credit cards were also breached or not. Sony tweeted to their customers that the details of their credit cards may also be lost if they have provided them to the network site (Chaisiri, Ko and Niyato 2015). This made their customers more tensed about the data breach. Because all the systems of Sony failed they were not able to communicate with their customers. They could only aware the PlayStation users after one week of the attack that had taken place. All the posts that were posted on the chat logs by the hackers were all declared by Sony. The hackers insulted the outdated security of Sony (Carley and Morgan 2016). This was considered as the biggest security breach. Sony also had to give clarification about why it took a so much long time to inform its customers about the data breach that had taken place. On this regard the director of Sony Patrick Seybold explained there is a difference between the situation about when the company faced the intrusion and about when they got to learn that the details of the customers were at risk (Crimmins et al. 2015). On 19th April, the company came to know about the intrusion that had taken place and all the services were shut down immediately. Experts were bought from outside to look into that matter and declare the scope of incident. It took several days to analyze the situation and after all these investigations, it was known that the customers information were at risk. They shared the news of data breach as soon as they got to know with all their PlayStation customers. Sonys Response After Sony announced the occurrence of data breach, the user of PlayStation tried to change their passwords of their account. They were unavailable to change their passwords as because the servers were all closed. After the identification of data breach, first class action of lawsuit was filed in between 24 hours (Balushi, Ali and Rehman 2016). Analysts worked on how to regain the trust of the customers which was the huge task for Sony at that time. No users would trust Sony because of the data breach that had taken place. The PlayStations remained offline during those days when analysis was going on. The government of United Kingdom promised and weighed an investigation from the commissioners office. Head of Sony Company had posted an open letter seeking apology to the customers about the intrusion that has taken place. Till date, there was no information about the details of credit cards of users was stolen or not (Pournouri and Craven 2014). They were still working on that sector which made the users of PlayStation more worried. New strategies of maintaining the security of the cyber space was implemented by Sony on May 1st 2011. More apologies were also offered to the customers of PlayStation of Sony (Bradshaw 2015). On a compensation basis, the owners of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 were offered with two games free per systems with an additional offer of subscription of free PlayStation Plus for a month. Sony also promised to have a protection on identity theft free for a year. The offer pleased the customers to some extent. Implications that lies behind the attack of Sony PlayStation The data breach that took place in Sony PlayStation created a danger and a burden to the enterprises of America (Chamotra, Sehgal and Ror 2016). The previous data breaches, Home Depot and Target that took place were not such vulnerable as the data breach that took place in 2011. The attacks that took previously mainly related with less damage that was mainly related to repair the relationships with the harmed parties. A lawsuit was auctioned from the customers or the employees whose personal data was breached and the networks were strengthened to prevent the network from further attack (Mangla and Panda 2013). The data breach that took place in 2011 was very different from all the other data breaches that took place regarding the PlayStations of Sony. The user of PlayStation tried to change their passwords of their account (Deibert 2014). They were unavailable to change their passwords as because the servers were all closed. The impact of data beach lead to hacking of 77million PlayS tation, which lead to a loss of 171 million dollar and also the Sony PlayStation website, was down for almost a month. Out of the 77 million hacked accounts, 12 million users credit cards were encrypted. The impact of the hack lead to access of the full names, e-mails, home addresses, credit card numbers, PlayStation login details and the passwords of all the 77 million users. On 4th May, Sony reported on the Blog of PlayStation about all the queries that the customers were having (Bou-Harb, Debbabi and Assi 2014). They said that they were following four principles regarded to the data breach that has taken place in their PlayStations. The principles were Act with caution and care. The related and valid information were provided to customers after the verification of breach. Their obligations to their customers were Sonys responsibility. Work with the authorities of law enforcement. Explanation for Delaying in Giving Information The attack of data breach on the PlayStations of Sony happened 19th April, 2011. Sony posted a blog on 26th April explaining why it took such a long time to give their PlayStation users information about the data theft (Karanja 2017). They said that there is a difference between the situation about when the company faced the intrusion and about when they got to learn that the details of the customers were at risk. On 19th April, the company came to know about the intrusion that had taken place and all the services were shut down immediately. Experts were bought from outside to look into that matter and declare the scope of incident. It took several days to analyze the situation and after all these investigations, it was known that the customers information were at risk (Zarate 2015). They shared the news of data breach as soon as they got to know with all their PlayStation customers. Criticism faced by Sony As a conclusion, Sony had to face criticism in many sectors in regards the data breach that had taken place. Firstly Sony delayed in giving warning about the data breach that had taken place. Up to one week, they had no idea about what had actually happened. They came to know about the occurrence of data breach after one week it had already occurred. Even after that they had no clue about the credit card credentials of the customers. These lead to second criticism of the company (Dwyer 2015). The company was unable to detect about what number of details were actually lost in the data breach. The full names, e-mails, home addresses, PlayStation login details and the passwords of all the 77 million users were already stolen but they were not sure about the credit cards details of the PlayStation Users. Thirdly the British Information Commissioner Office also criticized Sony for not keeping the details of the users safe (Selznick and LaMacchia 2016). They said that if a company owns the personal details of their users, then it is the duty of the company to look at their security first and Make the security more prominent and strong. Compensation to the Users On a compensation basis, the owners of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 were offered with two games free per systems with an additional offer of subscription of free PlayStation Plus for a month. Sony also promised to have a protection on identity theft free for a year. The offer pleased the customers to some extent. Legal Action that was taken against Sony A lawsuit was proposed in regarded to the PlayStation data breach of Sony. Adequate encryption process and firewalls were suggested to use in the network system of Sony PlayStation (Trusky 2016). Legal actions were also taken against Sony for not keeping the details of the users safe. They said that if a company owns the personal details of their users, then it is the duty of the company to look at their security first and Make the security more prominent and strong. Cyber Security Policies and Procedures for Sony PlayStation Cyber Attack Cyber Security Policies The policies that can be considered to cover the gap of cyber security in Sony PlayStation have new sets of insurance products that can help to cover the risks. Companies are available that provide insurance policies to control the risk factor of related to cyber space in PlayStation of Sony. To fill the drawback that Sony have in regards with the security of their PlayStation user can be fulfilled by the insurers that provide policies of cyber risk (Marshall and Rimini 2015). The policies that are offered by the insurance companies are data compromise coverage, network risk, data coverage of the computer systems and also other cyber liabilities. Policy related to Network Protection and internet Liability are the standard policy that are promulgated by the company of insurance that provide security to the companies that needed insurance. The menu based policies that are included in the agreement of ISO are: Liability regarded with publishing website Liability that are regarded to network security Restoration and replacement of data Cyber extortion Expenses and incomes of the company Data breaches have become very common in this present digital world. To save the money and the valuable information of the customers of PlayStation, Sony should introduce some data breaches security. The impact of data beach lead to hacking of 77million PlayStation, which lead to a loss of 171 million dollar and also the Sony PlayStation website, was down for almost a month. Out of the 77 million hacked accounts, 12 million users credit cards were encrypted (Kelic et al. 2013). The impact of the hack lead to access of the full names, e-mails, home addresses, credit card numbers, PlayStation login details and the passwords of all the 77 million users. To save all these information, insurance companies should be hired so that the data can be kept safe. The policies that should be followed in maintaining the cyber space threats are: Getting started with the idea of policy The policy that is related with the cyber security of Sony PlayStation can range from a single sheet and can be extended up to a fifty page documentation that arise awareness of the users. The document should consist of all the policies from setting up of a secure network to maintenance of the network. If a robust plan is to be made to secure the network of Sony PlayStation, then the document explaining all the policies of the company should be clearly made (Bradshaw 2016). The institute on SANS provides templates to create such policies. The cyber security policy of the Sony should always be documented, maintained and reviewed on regular basis. All the important areas of Sony PlayStation that are related to network should be clearly mentioned in the policies. Compliance Taking help of the federal government gives a roadmap to develop the cyber security plan of Sony PlayStation. The company should work within the law of the government (Sree and Bhanu 2016). Such organizations known as the HIPAA security rule are used to implement and maintain the procedures and policies for protecting technology and data of Sony PlayStation. Infrastructure The company should have well maintained policy for maintain the infrastructure of the company. This provides Sony to create a safe guard against the security of the company. They must ensure their PlayStation users a safe and secure network data transfer. The information that is controlled by the policy of the cyber security is as: The types of security program that is to be implemented building of a secure and safe network. The layered security of the environment must be protected by using firewall, anti exploit software, anti malware and also antivirus. To put a limit a limit on the attack on the surface and to plug the vulnerabilities of the applications, patches and updates are to be applied by Sony PlayStation. Correct frequency should be set and other updates should be done that are enclosed in internet applications. All the data should be automatically backed up by some implemented software. Such software should be implemented by Sony to keep a backup of all the data of their users of PlayStation. The policies should clearly mention the responsibilities and the roles of the employees (Aviles 2015). The policies that are included are: the person who issued the policy and person who is responsible to maintain those policies, the person responsible for policy enforcement, the person responsible for giving training on awareness of security, the person responsible for resolving the incidents of security and the way to control them and lastly the person responsible to control and right of the admin. Cyber Security Controls The priority should be given to all the functions that are related to security control of Sony PlayStation. The targeted threats are increasing day by day in this present world of digitization. The security functions mainly emphasize on what to do to mitigate the control of cyber security that comes on Sony PlayStation (Wilkinson 2013). The SANS Institute provides security mitigation control to all such organization that needs the help of for mitigating the risk on cyber security. Such 20 areas are mentioned where controls for mitigating risks are needed by the SANS institute. They are as follows: For software and hardware secure configurations must be done on laptops, workstations, servers and mobile devices Unauthorized and Authorized Devices inventory Unauthorized and Authorized Software inventory Continuous Remediation and Assessment Vulnerability Security of Application Software Capability to Recover Data Malware Defenses Control on Wireless Access To Fill the Gaps Proper Training is given and Assessment for Security Skill is done Network Devices must have secure configurations such as Routers, Switches and Firewalls Administrative Privileges should be used in a controlled way Control and Limitation of Protocols, Network Ports and Services The need to know are based on Controlled Access Data Protection Management and Response of the Incident Penetration Tests and also Exercises of Red Team Engineering related to Secure Network Analysis, Monitoring and Maintenance of Audit Logs Controlled Access Boundary Defense Table: Critical Control by SANS Institute The Sony PlayStation should adopt all the 20 areas of mitigating the control risk so that the data breach does not take place in future. There are steps that are approached by SANS Institute to reduce risk with the control measures are stated as follows: Step 1: The assessment of initial gap is performed which determines what is to be implemented Step 2: A roadmap is developed that are used to select specific controls and implement all the phases. Step 3: Control of First phase is implemented that identifies the tools to repurpose and utilize fully. Step 4: Control must be integrated to operations that focuses mainly on mitigation and monitoring and also proposes new processes. Step 5: Manage and Report all the progress that is implemented against the roadmap that was developed in step 2. After that step 3 and step 5 are followed Table: Steps to Reduce the Risks Review on Cyber Security According to my aspect of view, cyber security is body of processes, designed practiced and the technologies that are needed to protect device programs, data and network from damage, unauthorized aspects and attack. Security of Information technology is refereed as cyber security. According to me, the Sony PlayStation cyber security data breach took place due to drawback of not using a correct policy and procedures for the security of data. Preventive methods, policies and procedures should have been taken to control the data breach. First of all a data breach took place was known to them after one week after the attack. They were not aware about their network security and the person who is responsible for the maintenance of security of the data of the users of PlayStation should be aware (Huso 2015). The types of security program that is to be implemented building of a secure and safe network should be implemented. The layered security of the environment must be protected by using f irewall, anti exploit software, anti malware and also antivirus. To put a limit a limit on the attack on the surface and to plug the vulnerabilities of the applications, patches and updates are to be applied by Sony PlayStation. Correct frequency should be set and other updates should be done that are enclosed in internet applications. All the data should be automatically backed up by some implemented software. Such software should be implemented by Sony to keep a backup of all the data of their users of PlayStation. The user of Sony PlayStation can to know about the data breach much after the occurrence of the data breach. Conclusion The case study deals with the data breach of Sony PlayStation that has occurred in April, 2011. The data breach that took place in Sony PlayStation created a danger and a burden to the enterprises of America. The previous data breaches, Home Depot and Target that took place were not such vulnerable as the data breach that took place in 2011. The attacks that took previously mainly related with less damage that was mainly related to repair the relationships with the harmed parties. A lawsuit was auctioned from the customers or the employees whose personal data was breached and the networks were strengthened to prevent the network from further attack. The data breach that took place in 2011 was very different from all the other data breaches that took place regarding the PlayStations of Sony. The user of PlayStation tried to change their passwords of their account. They were unavailable to change their passwords as because the servers were all closed. The impact of data beach lead to h acking of 77million PlayStation, which lead to a loss of 171 million dollar and also the Sony PlayStation website, was down for almost a month. Out of the 77 million hacked accounts, 12 million users credit cards were encrypted. The impact of the hack lead to access of the full names, e-mails, home addresses, credit card numbers, PlayStation login details and the passwords of all the 77 million users. This report sheds light on the details of the Sony PlayStation cyber attack. It gives a detail view on the scenario including the time line, the person mainly responsible for the data breach and the companys response related to the data breach. It also deals with the implications of the cyber security attack that was faced by Sony. The related policies and the procedures that can be initiated by the company to mitigate the attack on the cyber space of Sony PlayStation. And lastly a personal review is given what is cyber security about and a clear review on cyber security. To serve the user with secured network should be the main objective of company and to fulfill those all companies should take initiative. References Al Balushi, T., Ali, S. and Rehman, O., 2016. Economics of Cyber Security and the Way Forward.International Journal of Cyber Warfare and Terrorism (IJCWT),6(4), pp.41-57. Aviles, G., 2015.How US political and socio-economic trends promotes hacktivist activity(Doctoral dissertation, Utica College). Bou-Harb, E., Debbabi, M. and Assi, C., 2014. On fingerprinting probing activities.computers security,43, pp.35-48. Bradshaw, S., 2015. Combating Cyber Threats: CSIRTs and Fostering International Cooperation on Cybersecurity. Bradshaw, S., 2016. CHAPTER EIGHT: COMBATTING CYBER THREATS: CSIRTS AND FOSTERING.Cyber Security in a Volatile World, p.105. Carley, K.M. and Morgan, G.P., 2016. Inadvertent leaks: exploration via agent-based dynamic network simulation.Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory,22(3), pp.288-317. Chaisiri, S., Ko, R.K. and Niyato, D., 2015, August. A joint optimization approach to security-as-a-service allocation and cyber insurance management. InTrustcom/BigDataSE/ISPA, 2015 IEEE(Vol. 1, pp. 426-433). IEEE. Chamotra, S., Sehgal, R.K. and Ror, S., 2016. Honeypot Deployment in Broadband Networks. InInformation Systems Security(pp. 479-488). Springer International Publishing. Chatfield, A.T. and Reddick, C.G., 2017, June. Cybersecurity Innovation in Government: A Case Study of US Pentagon's Vulnerability Reward Program. InProceedings of the 18th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research(pp. 64-73). ACM. Crimmins, D., Falk, C., Fowler, S., Gravel, C., Kouremetis, M., Poremski, E., Sturgeon, R.S.N., Zhang, Y. and Liles, S., 2015, March. US Bank of Cyber. InProceedings of the 16th Annual Information Security Symposium(p. 30). CERIAS-Purdue University. Deibert, R.J., 2014. Bounding cyber power: Escalation and restraint in global cyberspace.Organized Chaos: Reimagining the Internet. Dwyer, T., 2015. Data Governance. InConvergent Media and Privacy(pp. 118-159). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Garrie, D. and Mann, M., 2014. Cyber-Security Insurance: Navigating the Landscape of a Growing Field, 31 J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. Privacy L. 379 (2014).J. Marshall J. Info. Tech. Privacy L.,31, p.i. Gupta, S., Vashisht, S. and Singh, D., 2016, February. A CANVASS on cyber security attacks and countermeasures. InInnovation and Challenges in Cyber Security (ICICCS-INBUSH), 2016 International Conference on(pp. 31-35). IEEE. Huso, C., 2015. To Show, or Not to Show-That Was the Question: A Discussion regarding the First Amendment Issues Implicated by the Sony Pictures Entertainment Cyberhack the Interview Debacle.J. Bus. Entrepreneurship L.,9, p.235. Karanja, E., 2017. The Role of the Chief Information Security Officer in the Management of IT Security.Information Computer Security,25(3). Kelic, A., Collier, Z.A., Brown, C., Beyeler, W.E., Outkin, A.V., Vargas, V.N., Ehlen, M.A., Judson, C., Zaidi, A., Leung, B. and Linkov, I., 2013. Decision framework for evaluating the macroeconomic risks and policy impacts of cyber attacks.Environment Systems and Decisions,33(4), pp.544-560. Kirsch, C., 2014. The Grey Hat Hacker: Reconciling Cyberspace Reality and the Law.N. Ky. L. Rev.,41, p.383. Mangla, V. and Panda, S.N., 2013. Spectrum of Cyber threats Available Control Mechanisms.International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering Technology (IJARCET),2(4), pp.pp-1439. Marshall, J.P. and da Rimini, F., 2015. Playstation, Demonoid and the orders and disorders of Pirarchy.Krisis: Journal for contemporary philosophy. Pournouri, S. and Craven, M., 2014. E-business, recent threats and security countermeasures.International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics,6(3), pp.169-184. Prakash, C. and Dasgupta, S., 2016, March. Cloud computing security analysis: Challenges and possible solutions. InElectrical, Electronics, and Optimization Techniques (ICEEOT), International Conference on(pp. 54-57). IEEE. Rao, A.A., Chen, L.F. and Dhillon, J.S., 2014, November. A preliminary study on online data privacy frameworks. InInformation Technology and Multimedia (ICIMU), 2014 International Conference on(pp. 15-20). IEEE. Selznick, L.F. and LaMacchia, C., 2016. Cybersecurity: Should the SEC Be Sticking Its Nose under This Tent.U. Ill. JL Tech. Pol'y, p.35. Shackelford, S.J., Fort, T.L. and Charoen, D., 2016. Sustainable Cybersecurity: Applying Lessons from the Green Movement to Managing Cyber Attacks.U. Ill. L. Rev., p.1995. Sree, T.R. and Bhanu, S.M.S., 2016. HADM: detection of HTTP GET flooding attacks by using Analytical hierarchical process and DempsterShafer theory with MapReduce.Security and Communication Networks,9(17), pp.4341-4357. Trusky, A.R., 2016.Friend or foe? The societal benefits and cyber risks of video games(Doctoral dissertation, Utica College). Watkins, L., Silberberg, K., Morales, J.A. and Robinson, W.H., 2015, October. Using inherent command and control vulnerabilities to halt DDoS attacks. InMalicious and Unwanted Software (MALWARE), 2015 10th International Conference on(pp. 3-10). IEEE. Wilkinson, C., 2013. CYBER RISKS: THE GROWING THREAT. Zarate, J.C., 2015. The Cyber Financial Wars on the Horizon.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Plato On Justice Essays - Socratic Dialogues, Dialogues Of Plato

Plato On Justice In my opinion, Socrates' analysis of the human natural is very true as it ultimately brings us his definition of Justice. I agree with his theory of the human natural but not his social-political theory. But In order to understand Plato's theory of human natural and his social-political theory. However, we must examine each one of them closely. Plato believed that no one is self ? sufficient enough to live individually. Human beings are not created equally; some of us are born wiser then the rest or some of us are just born stronger. For this reason, only the select few among us are supposed to know what is best for society and therefore becomes the ruler of everyone else. Our reasoning, sprite, and natural wants are all part of human natural. In the book 1 of The Republic, Plato had several detailed discussion of the nature of justice with other speakers in a dialogue form. In the process of discussion involves Socrates' questioning, arguing against various inadequate theory that attempts to define the true meaning of Justice. From the rich old man Cephalus, we learned that justice involves with telling the truth, and repaying one's debts. But Socrates points out that this definition of justice is inadequate because it cannot account for the instances of certain circumstances. The simple example of returning a borrowed weapon to an insane friends who demands the return of his weapon, would be an instance of following the rule but would not seem to be just. (331C) Then Polemarchus, Cephalus's son attempt to define justice by proposing that justice means " one should pay what is owed" Since the returning of refusing to return the borrowed weapon would clearly benefit one's friend. But Socrates said that harm our enemies is only likely to make them even more unjust than they already are. (335b-336a) After that, Thrasymachus came up with his own definition of justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger; those in positions of power use law to decide what is right. The kind of justice practices in anywhere depends on the type of government they have. Socrates does not disagree with the view if the facts about the society are as Thrasymachus says they are. However, he argues that sometimes rulers make mistakes, in that case obedience to the law may be leads to its own disadvantage, therefore Thrasymachus's definition is also in adequate. Furthermore, Socrates says that The best ruler must always know how to rule. They should rule for the art of ruling, but not their own interest alone. (342e) Later, Gloucon suggest that human beings--given an opportunity to do so without being caught and therefore without suffering any punishment or loss of good reputation--would naturally choose a life of injustice, in order to maximize their own interests. His definition of Justice is that its an equal contract, a mean between what is the best-doing injustice without paying the penalty and the worse-suffering injustice without being able to avenge one self. (359a) Adeimantus narrows the discussion further by pointing out that that to have a good reputation of justice is more important than justice is itself, whether or not that person really does. (363b) In an attempt to provide an adequate, satisfying definition of justice, Socrates tries to make an analogy between the justice of individual human beings and of an entire society or city. Since the crucial elements of justice may be easier to observe on the larger scale like a city than on one individual. The focus Socrates is a perfect city, because the city will represent human soul. (369a) He began with a detailed analysis of the formation, structure, and organization of this ideal city. He argues that since Individual human beings are not self-sufficient; no one working alone can acquire all of the necessities of life. In order to resolve this difficulty, we gather together into society for the mutual achievement of our common goals. If each of us specializes in the practice of a specific art, we can work more efficiently. To make this idea city healthy opposite of a feverish city, Socrates states that the fundamental needs of human beings in the society are food, shelter, and cloths. From such needs, some additional exigencies emerge that become necessary only because of the needs of the defense of the city against external attacks or internal disputes. He proposed additional class of citizens, the guardians who are responsible for guarding the city. In order to fulfill their proper functions, the guardian

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Health and safety legislation Essays

Health and safety legislation Essays Health and safety legislation Paper Health and safety legislation Paper Health and safety legislation in the contemporary world has reached new heights with governments and rule makers heaping on responsibility for their employees on their employers (Busse, 2005). It can be safe to say that such safety standards have never been as high at any time as they are today. Though the intentions of these lawmakers-which is to guarantee humane and peaceful working conditions for employees cannot be questioned-unfortunately the implementation can. Safety requirements today require an employer to offer protective gear to employees if they are managing dangerous machines, limits the number of hours and days that a worker can work requires workplaces to maintain a healthy temperature etc. Even then, accidents at workplace are all too common even in a developed country like the US. It is not the fault of the law makers but of the way rules in our society are implemented. Though external regulators regularly keep check on companies, it is not possible to monitor every manufacturer or company in the US. Furthermore, if employees regularly work overtime (such as lawyers in law firms), what can the external regulator do? Though not to such an extent as to be charged with ‘murder’, I completely agree that employers should be liable for their employees deaths, either by paying up substantial sums of damages to their families or promising to fulfill the health and education requirements of the dependents the deceased employee leaves behind. As to the question of whether safety standards should be raised, I don’t believe that that would be a plausible solution because these standards are already quite high and still accidents at the workplace are all too common. What should be raised is the level of enforcement and a better system for keeping checks that the employers are fulfilling their legal obligations should be bought in. Yes, there are some jobs which are too hazardous for people such as coal mining (where workers face dangerous work conditions) and diamond mining (especially in Africa where workers are made to work ridiculous hours) but these jobs cannot be done by machines alone. A better solution would be to insure workers against any mishap which happens at the workplace. References Book Busse, R. C. (2005). Your Rights At The Work Place. Sphinx Publishing.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Forming and Using the Perfect Infinitive in Spanish

Forming and Using the Perfect Infinitive in Spanish The perfect infinitive is called perfect not because its better than other infinitives, but because it uses the infinitive of the verb haber, which is used to form the perfect tenses. In Spanish, the perfect infinitive (infinitivo compuesto) is simply the word haber followed by the past participle of a verb. It is the equivalent of the English infinitive to have followed by a past participle and is used in basically the same way. Examples of the Perfect Infinitive in Spanish You can see the similarities of the two languages perfect infinitives in these examples: Haber llegado tan lejos fue memorable para nosotras. To have arrived so far away was memorable for us. Fue un error haber hecho todo. It was a mistake to have done everything. Espero haber sido de ayuda. I hope to have been of help. Querà ­a haber tenido ms tiempo. I wanted to have had more time. Mas vale haber amado y perdido que no haber amado nunca. Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. El 34% de los nià ±os aseguran haber visto a Pap Noel. Thirty-four percent of children claim to have seen Santa Claus. The Perfect Infinitive and English -ing Verbs When you use the English to have followed by a past participle you can almost always translate it to Spanish using the perfect infinitive, but the reverse often isnt true. One reason is that in Spanish only the infinitive form of the verb functions as a noun, but in English the -ing verb form can also function as a noun. So often the Spanish perfect infinitive is the equivalent of the English having followed by a past participle: à ­Quà © afortunada soy por haber conocido el verdadero amor! How fortunate am I for having known true love! Su pecado es haber nacido en Cuba. His sin is having been born in Cuba. Tengo la sensacià ³n de haber hecho todo lo posible. I have the feeling of having done everything possible. Fujimori niega haber conocido existencia del grupo Colina. Fujimori denies having known the existence of the group Colina. Imaginaba haber encontrado el dinero. He imagined having found the money. The Perfect Infinitive with Prepositions Since perfect infinitives usually function as nouns, they can serve as sentence subjects or objects. They frequently follow the prepositions de or por, although they can follow other prepositions as well. They are especially commonly used after por when expressing gratitude: Gracias por haber confiado en nosotros. Thank you for trusting in us. Gracias por haber llegado a mi vida. Thank you for coming into my life. The Perfect Infinitive with Pronouns When the perfect infinitive has an object, it is typically attached to haber:  ¡Cà ³mo desearà ­a no haberte conocido! How I wish I had never met you! Recuerdo haberle comprado dos cajas de cereal. I remember buying two boxes of cereal for him.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Rational Choice Theory Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rational Choice Theory - Term Paper Example In criminology, it is employed to explain the criminal behavior. It assumes that the state is responsible for the maintenance of order and for preserving the common good through legislation. The laws control human behavior through swiftness, severity, and certainty of punishments (Phillips, 2011,7). The theory consists of 3 core elements: a reasoning criminal, crime-specific focus and separate analysis of criminal involvement and criminal event (Phillips, 2011, 4). The reasoning criminal element postulates that criminals commit crimes in order to benefit themselves. The element proposes that criminals have specific goals and alternative ways to achieve these goals. In addition, they hold information that assists them in choosing the best alternative to implement their goals. The element on crime specific focus assumes that decision making differs with the nature of a crime, that is, decision making is different for each crime. For instance, the decision making to commit a robbery differs with the decision making to commit burglaries, while the decision making by a burglar to target wealthy neighborhood, differs with the one to target middle class and public housing. The last element addresses three issues: deciding to get involved in a crime, continuing to get involved once one has decided to get involved, and the decision to withdraw from the commission of the crime. On the other hand, criminal event implies the decision to get involved with a specific crime.  

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Tort review Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Tort review - Case Study Example Koz negligence, the prevailing comparative negligence guidelines and concept of swimmers’ legally supported to claim damages since their proportion of contribution was less than 50% 1. Under The New York modified comparative negligence rule, an injured party may recover damages only if he/she is less than 50% at fault for the injury or damages. However, the recovered amount may be reduced in proportion to the degree that the injured party was at fault. For instance, if the Peter Koz is determined to be 80% at fault and the group of swimmers is determined to be 20% at fault, the swimmers can collect for the damages because they were less than 50% at fault. However, Peter Koz insurance company might only offer to pay for 80% of your damages2. The injured party had upper hand in negotiating with the insurance company and a settlement was reached to compensate them. If the settlement could not be reached, the courts could make the final determination of comparative negligence4. The swimmers were entitled to damages as evidence indicated that there contribution to the case was 25% which is less than the 50% bar rule. Peter Koz will not prevail because his contribution is above 50% and will compensate the swimmers the damages as estimated at

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Theory And Methodology Essay Example for Free

Theory And Methodology Essay One of the primary ways in which social science is defined is in terms of its difference from the so-called ‘pure sciences’ such as physics, chemistry, biology etc. Its use of theory and methodology is, therefore, closely related to this distinction. Social scientists often emphasize what too many of us are utterly obvious, that there is no certainty in the study of social sciences. Unlike in any pure science where certain universal, everlasting rules influence what is to be expected of a situation (like say, under any circumstance 2 + 2 will always be 4) in social science nothing can be taken for absolute certain. This is because social science deals with humanity, which is inherently transient. Taking this element of transience into consideration social scientists have to use not just quantitative but also qualitative methods of study. A Qualitiative method of study differs from the usual quantitative methods (used in the study of pure sciences) in the sense that it tends to be far more subjective. This is in sharp contrast to the methods used in pure sciences which are exclusively objective. The research methods for social sciences are a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. An example of such a method is the Intelligence Quotient (or IQ) test which helps us quantify a certain non-specific capacity or quality of an individual. Being open to qualitative methods of study also allows social scientists to incorporate non-quantitative data (i.e. non-numerical data, such as words, images, gestures, impressions etc.) in their study. Since human beings tend to operate in terms of such data and not in terms of the terminology used in ordinary sciences this broader outlook is far more applicable in the study of social sciences. (Roberts, 2003) In keeping with the methodology employed in social science researches the theories too are formulated and used keeping in mind that they aren’t necessarily applicable to all conditions. Be it psychology, history, political science or economics human events are most likely to influence the rules which define the basic theories of a social science subject. Success in the field of social science researches can therefore be achieved if and only if it is understood that the subject has no space or opportunity for water-tight methodologies or theories. Reference: Roberts, O M; (2003); Creating Future: An Approach in Tomorrows Perspective; National Book Trust. 244

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Constrasting Characters Biddy and Estella from Great Expectations E

The Constrasting Characters Biddy and Estella from Great Expectations Dickens describes Biddy as an uncomplicated character He makes it seem that she is better suited to Pip. He uses phrases such as â€Å" a blessing† and â€Å" beautiful at heart.† Dickens uses almost pleasant words when describing Biddy, this makes the reader feel that she is the good character in this novel. On the other hand he describes Estella has â€Å"cruel and cold.† This makes her seem more and more patronising and inconsiderate. Obviously not the good character in this novel. Dickens creates these character under stereotypes of good and bad characters, as Biddy is said not to have a bad bone in her body whereas Estella is cruel but also described as â€Å"pretty and beautiful.† Victorian stereotypes follow that women with good looks can be manipulative, and Estella is a textbook fit into this stereotype. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Estella and Biddy’s relationship to Pip is key, Dickens makes Pip more driven towards Estella and away from Biddy. This is clever as h... The Constrasting Characters Biddy and Estella from Great Expectations E The Constrasting Characters Biddy and Estella from Great Expectations Dickens describes Biddy as an uncomplicated character He makes it seem that she is better suited to Pip. He uses phrases such as â€Å" a blessing† and â€Å" beautiful at heart.† Dickens uses almost pleasant words when describing Biddy, this makes the reader feel that she is the good character in this novel. On the other hand he describes Estella has â€Å"cruel and cold.† This makes her seem more and more patronising and inconsiderate. Obviously not the good character in this novel. Dickens creates these character under stereotypes of good and bad characters, as Biddy is said not to have a bad bone in her body whereas Estella is cruel but also described as â€Å"pretty and beautiful.† Victorian stereotypes follow that women with good looks can be manipulative, and Estella is a textbook fit into this stereotype. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Estella and Biddy’s relationship to Pip is key, Dickens makes Pip more driven towards Estella and away from Biddy. This is clever as h...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Purpose of satisfying the audience Essay

   On the other hand this is effective because it appeals to the audience and influences their views on Lohan, because it appeals to the audience making them envious of her. In the article from ‘Cosmopolitan’ Jennifer is more in control and has a more appropriate picture for her target audience which is women from 20-30 where as the picture from ‘sugar’ is suited for young adults from 13-17. The image of Jennifer is natural and has a sharp focus with a light background to make her stand out more. Jennifer looks like the glamorous one as she says that she no longer has to try hard to please others. This is because her hair is tied back just like herself tied away from the publicity. Her hair is tidy and neat like herself and it is unlike Lindsay’s hair. Lopez is also smiling at you being more welcoming and approachable whereas Lindsay looks rebellious and standoffish which gives â€Å"Cosmopolitan† readers a good impression. The article meets the purpose of entertaining the audience using imagery. The purpose of Lohan’s article is to introduce Lindsay and make the target audience who are teenagers, more drawn in and interested in Lindsay’s life t. The tag which is a piece of small text that tells you about the article, works in favour of promoting both celebrities. In Lindsay’s case; â€Å"†¦ an alleged love for booze and bad boys†¦ Lindsay’s not your average Hollywood A-lister†¦ â€Å". â€Å"Sugar† uses quick chatty informal language and the use of â€Å"booze† which is colloquial language. It also uses words like â€Å"nope† and â€Å"stuffin† helps to sell and promote her. When ‘sugar’ uses these types of phrases appeals to teenagers who tend to read quick easy and short texts. Whereas in Lopez’s article the use of formal words like â€Å"speculation† and â€Å"identifies† and longer sentences are appropriate to entertain and satisfy the audience which are adults. They are more effective to the target audience making them feel the magazine is made just for them, but advertising the celebrities at the same time. The articles are trying to publicize Jennifer and Lindsay by putting a positive light on them. Both the articles satisfy the audience because they tell you about an everyday situation and problem. For example the celebrity’s love life but it is more alluring because it is based and happening to a celebrity and it is easier to compare with our own lives. In Lindsay’s situation it’s all about her wanting a boyfriend, however in Lopez’s view it’s more about her former boyfriends and the fact that now she’s at the age where she doesn’t need men, which appeal to adults. The text is in favour of Lindsay, we can see this because the article talks about her life and the gossip talk that teenagers are interested in. â€Å"a reported fling with Fred durst (well who hasn’t? ) The article is talking about Lindsay’s relationship, they point the finger at Fred making it seem normal to go out with different boys, saying what Lindsay is doing is right. Which is a popular subject in teenage talk, appealing to the target audience? There is a great contradiction with her wanting to be normal. ‘Sugar’ says â€Å"Hollywood clones sport blonde hair, spray on tans and skinny bods†¦ And, well, normal figure† here sugar says that Lindsay stands out because she doesn’t look like other celebrities. She is no longer a red head or has a curvy figure but looks like a Hollywood clone. This is effective to the audience because the target audience are being entertained with this contradiction. She no longer stands out or is not normal in her figure and looks. The anchorage which is a small piece of text at the bottom of a page next to Lohan’s picture, gives an extra feature which supports the view of Lohan being important. â€Å"Apparently Colin Farrell turned down the lovely Lindsay when did he get so fussy† The anchorage is pointing the finger at Farrell, making him look bad but in my view it just makes Lindsay look more desperate and in need of promotion. Farrell is a celebrity known for his popularity for dating all girls. Whereas Jennifer Lopez doesn’t seem to need it, because she has so many years of experience in the celebrity light. The desperation of Lindsay Lohan is more apparent now because she looks like another Hollywood clone, she’s become skinny and blonde just like her friend Paris Hilton ( a popular super model) from looking healthy uniquely beautiful to skinny and blonde. In other words selling herself more then she needs to. She is contradicting herself because in the article when she’s asked about dieting she says â€Å"NO!†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ its sad how people have become so aware of how they look†, but now she’s completely changed herself. The two articles entertain, inform and sell the celebrities lives in a positive light and satisfy the audience using imagery and words appealing to the target audience. In Lohan’s case she is promoting herself to please her target audience using colloquial language and sorter text. Whereas in Lopez’s article, it refers to her love life and puts her in a positive light towards her target audience. Using longer words, formal language and text. The type of language and the length of the text suits and satisfies the different audiences.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Comparison of Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay

Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald are two widely known American authors who wrote great novels, but differ in many ways. They both wrote stories on life journeys, however; Twain used pre-adolescent characters to show how an individual should behave in society. Whereas, Fitzgerald uses adult characters to show how an individual is harmed by society. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters have many dreams in all TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s stories. On the other hand, FitzgeraldA? a‚ ¬a„? s older, adult characters who still have dreams allow the larger community to affect them from pursuing his or her aspirations. The community doesnA? a‚ ¬a„? t put a lot of pressure on TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters because most of them are just children. But on the contrary, F. Scott FitzgeraldA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters are expected to fit in and do whatever the crowd does. So in the long run, Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s characters benefit from society by pursuing their individual goals, and F. Scott Fitzgerald characters falter because they let society affect their dreams. Mark Twain was born on November 30, 1835. His birthplace was in Florida and he grew up in a relatively small town. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s original name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s father was John Marshall and his mother was Jane Lampton Clemens. Samuel’s father, John, was a judge. When little Samuel was four years of age he moved to Hannibal with his family. His parents enrolled him in a private school there. Samuel had many health problems as a child. Therefore, they had to keep him indoors for the first half of his childhood. Although, when he was around ten years he joined the rest of the town’s children outside. He grew up in a two-story house at 206 Hill Street. One of SamuelA? a‚ ¬a„? s major life events was when his father died of pneumonia. Because of his fatherA? a‚ ¬a„? s death, Samuel left school and became a printerA? a‚ ¬a„? s apprentice. Samuel found his first love of writing after two years as a printerA? a‚ ¬a„? s apprentice. He became an editorial assistant with his older brother and really found writing fascinating. When Samuel Clemens tuned 17 years old he left Hannibal. He found a printerA? a‚ ¬a„? s job in St. Louis. There, Clemens became a river pilot assistant and got his license in 1858. This was a very important time for Samuel because itA?  a‚ ¬a„? s where he got his writerA? a‚ ¬a„? s name, Mark Twain. In piloting the expression â€Å"Mark Twain† means that is safe to navigate. Many authors use other names when they write books and Samuel decided on Mark Twain because of his piloting experiences. Later in his life, Mark Twain began working as a newspaper reporter for several newspapers all over the United States. Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon in 1870. Together, they had four children. Unfortunately, one died as an infant and the others died in their 20A? a‚ ¬a„? s. Clara was their only child who lived a long life. She lived to be 88 years old and had one daughter. Mark TwainA? a‚ ¬a„? s first successful writing was â€Å"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County. † It gave him a lot of fame and the critics really liked it. Twain’s first book was â€Å"The Innocents Abroad,A? a‚ ¬A? and was published in 1869. The arch of his fame was probably when he wrote â€Å"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer† in 1876 and A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,A? a‚ ¬A? in 1885. He has a long list of stories, books, and newspaper article. He wrote 28 well know ones in all. Mark Twain passed away on April 21, 1910. He leaves a big legacy of childhood stories and many people still read his books. He is a very respectable American author and his books are brilliant. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24th, 1896. His father was Edward Fitzgerald. He grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a child he was brought up as a devote Catholic. The first School he attended was St. Paul Academy. When he graduated he went to Princeton and was part of the class of 1917. ScottA? a‚ ¬a„? s first engagement was to Zelda Sayre. She later broke their engagement. One of his major life events is when he went to St. Paul to write, A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"This Side of Paradise. A? a‚ ¬A? The critics loved this story and got many sales. Another major life event is when Zelda Sayre took him back and they got married. They took a trip to Europe where is wife had their first child. The first time he wrote something he was in a school newspaper club. The first thing that got published was the A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Romantic Egotist. A? a‚ ¬A? He had immediate success at the age of 24. The subject he wrote on was young love. His style was life journeys of adults. He wrote his journey stories with clarity, with color, and with music. His style changed a little when he started to drink in 1923. His best book got great reviews, but not many sales. The A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Great GatsbyA? a‚ ¬A? written in 1924 probably marked his arch of fame and all the critics fell in love with it. When Scott ran out of money he would write short stories. Most of his income came from his short stories because his novels didnA? a‚ ¬a„? t have many sales until after his death. Some of his most popular works were: A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Vegetable,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Offshore Piddle,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Bernice Bobs,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"Her Hair,A? a‚ ¬A? A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"May Day,A? a‚ ¬A? and A? a‚ ¬Aâ€Å"The Beautiful and Damned. A? a‚ ¬A? Many things influenced Scott Fitzgerald. Aspiration, literature, Princeton, Zelda Fitzgerald, and alcohol are some of them. All of these things explain why he writes more about adults and their journeys instead of children. Scott Fitzgerald leaves us a legacy of one of the greatest American authors in history. He was a great man who became friends with another great author, Hemmingway. In a strange way they fed off each otherA? a‚ ¬a„? s stories. Scott Fitzgerald pasted away on December 21st, 1940 of a heart attack.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

20 Evaluation Essay Topics Hot Issues Related to the Spatial Order in Human Visual Perception

20 Evaluation Essay Topics Hot Issues Related to the Spatial Order in Human Visual Perception Welcome to our second guide where we reveal 20 topics on the spatial order in human visual perception. These topics give you a head-start to aid in writing your essay quickly. We have also included a sample essay on the spatial order in human visual perception which will assist you in writing a better article. After reading this guide, we highly recommend that you follow up with our third piece, academic guide for evaluation essay on the spatial order in human visual perception, which states how to outline and write an evaluation essay properly. You can also revisit our first guide, 10 facts on the spatial order in human visual perception, to understand the concept better. Without further ado, here are 20 topics on the spatial order in human visual perception: How Visual Perception Works Effect of Drinking Water on the Human Eye The Ability and Significance of Perceived Depth of a Scene Why Doesn’t Our Retina Detect the Color Red Why Human Eyes Perceive an Upside Down Image Why the Retina is Front-Back Inverted How Photoreceptors Are Really Activated Why Is Peripheral Vision of the Human Eye Extremely Low Resolution What Makes a Human See So Little in Darkness Why Do Humans See Everything in â€Å"Blue† When it Is Dark Reasons Why the Brain Splits and Distorts a Visual Image in Half Is Everyone’s Visual Perception the Same or Is it Different? Why Each of Our Eyes Can’t See Different Things Simultaneously Real Benefits of Having a Pair of Eyes The Functional Architecture of Human Visual Perception The Perception of Human Spatial Order Correlation of Human Visual Perception with The Principles of Gestalt The Geometry of Human Visual Perception Order-Disorder Transition of Human Visual Perception Sensitivity of the Human Visual System to Natural Image’s Local Statistics We’ve written a sample evaluation essay on one of the above topics so you can borrow a few ideas to better carve out your essay. Spatial Order Essay Example: The Ability and Significance to Perceive Depth of a Scene Human eyes have developed the ability to see and become aware of the distance of an object – this phenomenon is known as depth perception. It starts to develop in a child who’s not more than two months old. However, it takes two eyes to develop this phenomenon. When both of these eyes look at an object, they create two images simultaneously, which are a little different from one another. Depth perception is also responsible to form an idea of length, width and height of an object. This premise functions on a subconscious level and so quickly that we are not aware of the fact that it is actually happening. However, people with one eye might find depth perception very problematic – the phenomenon works ideally in binocular disparity (two-eyed normal vision). Neurological studies, however, suggest that the human brain has the capacity to manipulate depth of a scene with monocular vision (one eyed vision) too. Depth perception is created by a process known as stereopsis. This process enables the brain to overlap two images created by our eyes that are processed with information given by parallax – an effect that creates a distinction between close and background objects by slowing down background objects rather than the objects closer to our eyes. Having monocular vision still let us experience parallax, but it’s not as good as binocular vision. Depth perception is very important to keep us safe. It is the only reason that lets us know the distance of an object or how far an object is from us. Without this phenomenon taking place in our lives, it becomes very hard to differentiate between far and close objects. For example, if a person doesn’t have proper depth perception and a car is coming in his/her direction at a velocity of 200 km/h, he/she wouldn’t know how to judge the speed of the oncoming car and how far or close it is from him/her. Poor depth perception can lead to confusion during such dire situations which leads to high fatality risks. However, since our brain can manipulate depth perception, we can train ourselves to create depth of a scene through specific exercises. Scientists actually believe that depth perception is nothing more than a pseudo-3D effect that enables us to determine length, width and height of an object; and let us know how far or close an object is to us. However, our eyes are not capable of perceiving actual three dimensions when viewing objects. If we had real 3D perception, we would have been able to see an entire 3D object at once. But having a depth perception, even if it’s a pseudo effect, is very important to performing day to day tasks without any hindrances or running into accidents. This is the end of our second guide. Next up, we have a third guide which explains how to write an evaluation essay properly – it assists you in writing the perfect evaluation essay which will no doubt be the subject of admiration by your professors. References: Paul King, 2016 â€Å"Visual Perception: What are some mind blowing facts about the human eye?† Quora  https://www.quora.com/Visual-Perception-What-are-some-mind-blowing-facts-about-the-human-eye Paul King, 2012 â€Å"Why can’t we each of our eyes to see different things simultaneously?† Quora  https://www.quora.com/Why-cant-we-control-each-of-our-eyes-to-see-different-things-simultaneously Paul King, 2016 â€Å"Why do we have two eyes?† Quora  https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-have-two-eyes Steven Bradley, 2004 â€Å"Design Principles: Visual Perception and The Principles of Gestalt† Smashing Magazine  https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/03/design-principles-visual-perception-and-the-principles-of-gestalt/ Ãâ€"ÄŸmen, H., Herzog, M. H. (2010). The Geometry of Visual Perception: Retinotopic and Non-retinotopic Representations in the Human Visual System. Proceedings of the IEEE. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 98(3), 479–492. http://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2009.2039028 Katkov, M., Harris, H., Sagi, D. (2015). Visual perception of order-disorder transition. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 734. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00734 Paul King, 2015 â€Å"How can we see images in our minds?† Quora  https://www.quora.com/How-can-we-see-images-in-our-minds

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Create an Effective Classroom Library

How to Create an Effective Classroom Library The greatest contribution that you as a teacher can make to the educational success of your students is to help them become proficient readers. You can do this by providing them with a classroom library. A classroom library will give them the easy access they need to read. A well-stocked, organized library will show students that you value books as well as value their education. How Your Library Should Function While your first thought of a classroom library may be a cozy little place in the corner of the room where students go to read quietly, you are only partially correct. While it is all of those things, it is also much more. An effectively designed classroom library should support reading inside and outside of school, help students learn about how to select appropriate reading materials, provide a place for students to read independently, as well as serve as a place to talk and discuss books. Lets dive into these functions a little bit further. It Should Support Reading This space should support learning both inside and outside of the classroom. It should include both fiction and nonfiction books that have different reading levels. It should also accommodate the different interests and abilities of all students. These books are going to be books that students can check out and take home with them. Help Children Learn About Literature The classroom library is a place where your students can learn about books. They can experience a variety of book genres and other reading materials like newspapers, comics, and magazines and more in a controlled, small environment. You can use your classroom library to teach students how to select books as well as how to take care of books. Provide Opportunities for Independent Reading The third purpose a classroom library should have is to provide children with the opportunity to read independently. It should be used as a resource to support daily reading where students can self-select books that meet their interest. Building Your Library The first thing that you will want to do when building your classroom library is to get books, a lot of books. You can do this by going to a garage sale, joining a book club like Scholastic, soliciting donations from Donorschose.org, or asking parents to donate. Once you have your books, follow these steps to building your library. 1. Choose an open corner in your classroom where you can fit bookcases, a carpet and a comfy chair or love seat. Choose leather or vinyl over fabric because its easier to keep clean and it doesnt carry too many germs. 2. Combine your books into categories and color code levels books so that they will be easy for students to decipher. Categories can be animals, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, folktales, etc. 3. Label every book that belongs to you. The easiest way to do this is to get a stamp and stamp the inside cover with your name on it. 4. Create a check-out and return system for when students want to bring a book home. Students should sign a book out by writing down the title, author and which bin they got the book from. Then, they should return it by the end of the following week. 5. When students return books you must show them how to put the book back where they found it. You even assign a student the job as book master. This person would collect the returned books from the bin every Friday and place them back in the correct bin. Make sure that you have strict consequences if books are misplaced or mistreated. For example, if someone forgot to return their book by the due date then they may not choose another book the following week to take home. Looking for more book-related information? Here are 20 book activities to try in your classroom.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Lawrence v. Texas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lawrence v. Texas - Essay Example Many other reasons were given for declaring the statute illegal, but the second main issue for doing so was the fact that should the â€Å"deviant sex† be taking place between two consenting adults, and not involving minor children, public conduct, and/or prostitution, then it was not for the Court to â€Å"define the meaning of the relationship or to set its boundaries absent injury to a person or abuse of an institution the law protects† (6). The majority went on to say that, for the most part, adults could be trusted to enter into relationships of their own free will, as well as to consent to the type of sexual activity that would take place in them. Though this was a decidedly main issue, it can be said that it goes back to the first main issue, which was that adults, as adults, had a right to do what they wanted in their own homes, free from fear of punishment.  Central to the majority opinion was a previous case, Bowers v. Hardwick, decided in the opposite manne r of Lawrence v. Texas. In Bowers v. Hardwick, the laws were upheld, and sodomy was declared to be an illegal act. The majority of Lawrence v. Texas declared that the reasoning behind the decision made to be flawed, as the Court did not â€Å"appreciate the extent of the liberty at stake† (6). What the Court failed to consider was that, again, the case was about consensual acts private to a relationship, again taking place in the privacy of a home, and not in public view. They also, again, did not involve minors. Therefore, according to the majority opinion.... Though this was a decidedly main issue, it can be said that it goes back to the first main issue, which was that adults, as adults, had a right to do what they wanted in their own homes, free from fear of punishment. Central to the majority opinion was a previous case, Bowers v. Hardwick, decided in the opposite manner of Lawrence v. Texas. In Bowers v. Hardwick, the laws were upheld, and sodomy was declared to be an illegal act. The majority of Lawrence v. Texas declared that the reasoning behind the decision made to be flawed, as the Court did not â€Å"appreciate the extent of the liberty at stake† (6). What the Court failed to consider was that, again, the case was about consensual acts private to a relationship, again taking place in the privacy of a home, and not in public view. They also, again, did not involve minors. Therefore, according to the majority opinion, Bowers v. Hardwick should not have been allowed to uphold the laws in the first place, as individual libert ies were being infringed upon. From the remarks made, it can be concluded that Lawrence v. Texas was simply correcting a wrong, and doing what Bowers v. Hardwick should have done in the first place, which was to declare sodomy the natural act of a relationship, and not something dirty and illegal. There were those on the Supreme Court that disagreed with the majority opinion, chief among them Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas. Their reasoning was separately made in their dissents, with Justice Scalia having the longer of the two. Justice Thomas kept it brief, mainly stating that while he concurred with the fact that the law was â€Å"uncommonly silly† as it was

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Sterotypes and Diversity in American Research Paper

Sterotypes and Diversity in American - Research Paper Example Stories related by friends and families, narratives handed down from generations to generations, information from books and magazines, and depictions in movies and television allow individuals to formulate generalizations. Majority of these stereotypical generalizations are logically correct, however, in almost all cases, humanity is resorting to bigotry by assigning labels and categorizations about a person merely rooted in a stereotype, devoid of real facts. Through stereotyping, suppositions are made on a person or group with some individuality. Stereotypical biases are oftentimes derived from secondhand information (Grobman, 1990). Extensive and continuous circulation of stereotypes causes uncertainty between realism and fallacy for both the subject and doer (Prell, 2009). At the time the United States was experiencing remarkable changes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from enormous immigrant arrivals; modernization and industrial ascension; and the inclusion of women, races, and minorities in the labor force, American civilization developed preoccupations with inflexible and often vindictive cultural stereotypes in the fields of literature, arts, and the media (Prell, 2009). As portrayed in the movie industry, African-Americans are negatively stereotyped as intellectually incapable, idle, or violent. Consequently, with this type of pigeonholed films, injustice in opposition to African-Americans is promoted. Another example of media stereotype is how women, the physically perfect in particular, are constantly presented as weak, unintelligent and sexually immoral (Grobman, 1990). Fashion icons, sports figures, television and movie personalities are glamorously represented by the media as models of perfection. However, ethnic, gendered, and culture-rooted stereotypes are oftentimes impossibly achievable resulting in a great divide between genders boasted in the media and the â€Å"ordinary† sexes of society. Moreover, with the current trend o f humanity’s fixation for excellence, society is confronted with socio-cultural threats and loss of identity and ethnicity (McConnell, 2008). The dilemma frequently comes up once the ‘label’ twists from being a classifier into an insulting position for the subject, especially if the individual formulating the stereotype is a person of authority. At that juncture, it is not simply the human perception of stereotypes but the person who commands power, creates labels and holds egotistic interests that is at fault. When a stereotype is used for maneuvering an individual’s manner of judgment, it has to be classified if it is an instrument or an obstruction in the user’s opinion (Stewart, n.d.). This paper will provide an explanation as to why stereotypes are made. Advantages and disadvantages of negative stereotyping will be laid out to raise awareness on how it affects the social wellbeing of a stigmatized individual. A treatment plan in combating negat ive stereotypes through active participation of individuals, the media and the educational system, will likewise be presented. The Reasons behind Stereotypes Nowadays, the term 'stereotype' is perceived as a form of maltreatment and exploitation. Diverse groups, predominantly the black outcasts, inferior-to-men women and discriminated gays, are stereotyped in the mass media and in the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Vodafone in India Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Vodafone in India - Research Paper Example The political situation in India is democratic and stable which means that the companies can work in India and perform their day-to-day business activities with ease (Bowhill 2008). Recently a single party has an own majority in the elections considered in the country which is a boon for Vodafone as a company as policy decisions are likely to be taken with ease which will help the company. For companies like Vodafone, this presents a huge opportunity and a wide market that it can explore in order to proliferate mobile subscriber base for its business. People in India are family loving and family oriented (Neild and Carol 2008). To take advantage of the situation Vodafone has introduced lower call rates to help stay connected with family members at low cost. Vodafone has been part of these technological changes and introduced advanced technologies in their operational processes. Considering Environmental factors Vodafone markets itself as one which takes care of the environment as thi s plays as a good sentimental advantage and helps the company in long run. There has been recent turmoil that has been witnessed in the telecom sector in India. The turmoil has been witnessed in the spectrum allocation and 2G license. Vodafone as a major telecom company abides by the rules and regulations set by the Supreme Court avoiding any disputes that may affect the brand image. Vodafone has researched on the Indian market and came up with plans to cater the needs of the Indian consumers.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Democratic Peace Theory and Georgia

Democratic Peace Theory and Georgia Georgias decision to launch an offensive attack against Russian personnel occupying the contested regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia seems to contradict the theoretical underpinnings of the Democratic Peace Theory. However, further analysis of Georgias and Russias regimes reveals some of the criticisms of the theory itself and their impact on the Intelligence Communitys (IC) ability to provide warning in the region. The Democratic Peace Theory states that democratic states do not go to war with each other, or at least, are much less likely to. The basis of this theory is two-fold: first, that democracies are like-minded in fiscal and political polices and that democratic political culture makes going to war less likely, and second, that political constraints on leaders of democratic states discourage the use of force as a foreign policy option.[1] In his book, Democracy and International Conflict: An Evaluation of the Democratic Peace Proposition, James Lee Ray further describes the cultural and structural explanations of democratic peace: Disputes between states do not escalate to war because the leaders expect, on a basis of common culture, to be able to work out their differences, and that greater decisional constraints [i.e., political structure] on a leader produce a lower probability that a dispute involving the state will escalate to war.[2] Additionally, studies have argued that when dem ocratic leaders do choose to escalate international crises, their threats are taken as highly credible, since there must be a relatively large public opinion for these actions.[3] In August 2008, Georgia and Russia, both democratic countries, went to war over two disputed regions within the borders of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, that had long been sources of conflict. South Ossetia and Abkhazia also have established, democratic governments, although Georgia does not recognize the government of South Ossetia as legitimate. Prior to the break-up of the Soviet Union, all had coexisted relatively peacefully under Soviet control. Conflict over the desire for independence by the territories and nationalism by Georgia had erupted after the break-up and had been simmering since then, with Russia quietly supporting the regimes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a covert attempt to assimilate first the population, then the territory into the Russian Federation.[4] The conflict impacts stability in the region, which has implications for the safety and control of major oil pipelines, roads and railways between Russia and Armenia and between Georgia and Russia through South Ossetia. Support to Georgia, as an emerging democracy in the region and a member of the coalition in Afghanistan, puts the U.S. at odds with Russia, which is counterproductive to stability in the region and even globally. Given the cultural and structural explanations of the Democratic Peace Theory, the conflict between two democratic states can be explained through criticisms of the theory. First, one of Dean Babsts four indicators of a democracy is the country must have been independent.[5] Georgia was part of the Soviet Union until gaining independence in 1991, and the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not agreed upon by the international community. Georgia, despite its independence, is still in the process of establishing state sovereignty within an ethnically divided nation. Next, the vulnerability of democracy is a criticism of the theory.[6] President Mikheil Saakashvilis election in 2008 was hotly contested, and it threatens to unhinge the real progress Georgia has made towards institutional, democratic and economic reform from 2004.[7] Additionally, the leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church has proposed a constitutional Monarchy to guarantee stability.[8] Therefore, Georgias infant dem ocracy, after it spent years under a communist regime, is far from security. Finally, Spencer Weart stated wars have never occurred between well-established democracies.[9] However, he does not delineate what constitutes a well-established democracy. Georgia has operated as a democracy for almost two decades and fulfills Babsts other three indicators of a democracy.[10] While Russia is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy, Freedom House lists Russia as not free based on the Kremlins stage-managed parliamentary election campaign, Putins move to Prime Minister after two terms as president, and an alarming increase in state power over civil society.[11],[12] The point at which Georgia and Russia can be considered democracies that will not go to war with each other is vague. Therefore, the United States and the IC cannot apply the Democratic Peace Theory to the conflict in Georgia. In order for the IC to assess the threats to U.S. interests in Georgia, analysts must predict Georgias willingness to resort to armed conflict with Russia over the disputed regions. Georgia has troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and they are politicking heavily to become part of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).[13] In this sense, they are striving to become part of the international democratic community. If Georgia is part of the EU and NATO, then any action they take against Russia would require support on the part of other member nations. The United States assisted Georgia in their efforts against Russia, specifically through airlift. However, U.S. combat and combat support forces did not deploy to the region due to undesirable outcomes from United States combating Russian forces. While Georgia continues to present itself as a U.S. ally, the IC needs to provide warning to U.S. policy makers of any impending conflict in the Russian occupied regions. President Obama needs to use other national instruments of power to resolve the dispute or stabilize relations between Georgia and Russia in order to avoid going to war with Russia over a civil conflict within a sovereign state. The Democratic Peace Theory seems to be well supported when applied to states which have both the cultural and structural aspects of democracy. However, it falls short of establishing criteria to consider a country truly democratic despite giving indications of democracy. Georgia and Russia, both newly democratic states, cannot be viewed through the lens of the theory, especially in light of the recent trend towards authoritarianism by Russia. With Russia occupying regions in Georgia and declaring them independent states, the IC must continue to analyze relations between the two states and provide warning to policy makers in the United States. References James Lee Ray, Democracy and International Conflict: An Evaluation of the Democratic Peace Proposition (Studies in International Relations), p. 30, Columbia: Univ Of South Carolina Pr, 1998. Ibid. Democratic Peace Theory , Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_peace_theory (accessed November 30, 2009). The Georgia-Russia conflict: lost territory, found nation, Open Democracy, http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/the-georgia-russia-conflict-lost-territory-found-nation (accessed November 30, 2009). Ray, Democracy and International Conflict, p. 12. Ray, Democracy and International Conflict, p. 204. Robert Parsons, Mikheil Saakashvilis bitter victory. Open Democracy (January 2008), http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/conflicts/mikheil_saakashvili_bitter_victory (accessed November 30, 2009). Giorgi Lomsadze Time for a King for Georgia? Eurasia Net (October 2007), http://www.eurasianet.net/departments/insight/articles/eav 101207a.shtml (accessed November 30, 2009). Ray, Democracy and International Conflict, p. 35 Ibid., p 12. Russia, Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia (accessed November 29, 2009). Freedom in the World Russia (2008), Freedom House, www.freedomhouse.org/inc/content/pubs/ fiw/inc_country_detail.cfm?year=2008country=7475pf (accessed November 30, 2009). Ambassador Batu Kutelia (lecture, National Defense Intelligence College, Washington, D.C., October 5, 2009)