5 Steps to Write a Strong Position Paper

In a position paper assignment, your charge is to choose a side on a particular topic, sometimes controversial, and build up a case for your opinion or position. You will use facts, opinion, statistics, and other forms of evidence to convince your reader that your position is the best one. To do this, youll collect research for your position paper and craft an outline in order to create a well-constructed argument. Select a Topic for Your Paper Your position paper centers around a topic that is supported by research. Your topic and position have to hold up when challenged, so its helpful to research a few topics and pick the one you can best argue, even if it may not reflect your personal beliefs. In many cases, the subject matter and your topic are not as important as your ability to make a strong case. Your topic can be simple or complex, but your argument must be sound and logical. Conduct Preliminary Research Preliminary research is necessary to determine whether sufficient evidence is available to back up your stance. You don’t want to get too attached to a topic that falls apart under a challenge. Search a few reputable sites, like education (.edu) sites and government (.gov) sites, to find professional studies and statistics. If you come up with nothing after an hour of searching, or if you find that your position doesn’t stand up to the findings on reputable sites, choose another topic. This could save you from a lot of frustration later. Challenge Your Own Topic You must know the opposite view as well as you know your own stance when you take a position. Take the time to determine all the possible challenges that you might face as you support your view. Your position paper must address the opposing view and chip away at it with counter-evidence. Consider having friends, colleagues, or family debate the topic with you to get alternative points of view that you might not have readily considered yourself. When you find arguments for the other side of your position, you can address them in a fair manner, and then state why they are not sound. Another helpful exercise is to draw a line down the middle of a plain sheet of paper and list your points on one side and list opposing points on the other side. Which argument is really better? If it looks like your opposition might outnumber you with valid points, you should reconsider your topic or your stance on the topic. Continue to Collect Supporting Evidence Once you’ve determined that your position is supportable and the opposite position is (in your opinion) weaker than your own, you are ready to branch out with your research. Go to a library and conduct a search, or ask the reference librarian to help you find more sources. You can, of course, conduct online research as well, but its important to know how to properly vet the validity of the sources you use. Ensure that your articles are written by reputable sources, and be wary of singular sources that differ from the norm, as these are often subjective rather than factual in nature. Try to collect a variety of sources, and include both an expert’s opinion (doctor, lawyer, or professor, for example) and personal experience (from a friend or family member) that can add an emotional appeal to your topic. These statements should support your own position but should read differently than your own words. The point of these is to add depth to your argument or provide anecdotal support. Create an Outline A position paper can be arranged in the following format: 1. Introduce your topic with some basic background information. Build up to your thesis sentence, which asserts your position. Sample points: For decades, the FDA has required that warning labels should be placed on certain products that pose a threat to public health.Fast food restaurants are bad for our health.Fast food packages should contain warning labels. 2. Introduce possible objections to your position. Sample points: Such labels would affect the profits of major corporations.Many people would see this as overreaching government control.Whose job is it to determine which restaurants are bad? Who draws the line?The program would be costly. 3. Support and acknowledge the opposing points. Just be sure you arent discrediting your own views. Sample points: It would be difficult and expensive for any entity to determine which restaurants should adhere to the policy.Nobody wants to see the government overstepping its boundaries.Funding would fall on the shoulders of taxpayers. 4. Explain that your position is still the best one, despite the strength of counter-arguments. This is where you can work to discredit some of the counter-arguments and support your own. Sample points: The cost would be countered by the improvement of public health.Restaurants might improve the standards of food if warning labels were put into place.One role of the government is to keep citizens safe.The government already does this with drugs and cigarettes. 5. Summarize your argument and restate your position. End your paper focusing on your argument and avoid the counter-arguments. You want your audience to walk away with your view on the topic being one that resonates with them. When you write a position paper, write with confidence and state your opinion with authority. After all, your goal is to demonstrate that your position is the correct one.

Analysis Of George Berkeley s Philosophy - 1516 Words

George Berkeley is considered one the greatest modern philosophers, yet when he is studied he is seen as misguided and inaccurate. It seems that sometimes we study his errors more than his achievements. Many critiques of Berkeley are results of misunderstanding Berkeley’s philosophy. One very famous critique is from Samuel Johnson who lived around the same time as Berkeley. Johnson kicked a stone and said, â€Å"I refute it thus†. Why did Johnson believe he could refute Berkeley by kicking a stone? Did he misunderstand Berkeley, and if not what did he mean by this? To discover what Johnson meant we must first learn about what he was refuting. Berkeley has three main beliefs: 1. Idealism: the only things that exist are minds and their ideas; 2. Phenomenalism: Physicals objects are big collections of possible senses; and 3. Immaterialism: there is no such thing as a physical substance (something that exists independently). With Berkeley’s beliefs he has two motivations: 1. to oppose skepticism and 2. to promote religion, Berkeley was a bishop of the Anglican church so you can see why promoting religion was so important to him. Berkeley was an empiricist. Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense experiences. Some other famous empiricists are Thomas Locke and David Hume. Berkeley is thought to be the bridge between Locke and Hume. Locke believed that primary qualities such as length, shape, and motion existed in the world. While secondary qualities suchShow MoreRelatedAntecedents of Cognitive Psychology1680 Words   |  7 Pagespeople come to understand the world- such processes as memory, learning, comprehending language, problem solving, and creativity. 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As CarterRead MoreCognitive psychology  . Essay5542 Words   |  23 Pagesor to know. Fundamentally, cognitive psychology studies how people acquire and apply knowledge or information. It is closely related to the highly interdisciplinary cognitive science and influenced by artificial intelligence, computer science, philosophy, anthropology,  linguistics, biology, physics, and  neuroscience. ------------------------------------------------- History  [edit] Cognitive psychology in its modern form incorporates a remarkable set of new technologies in psychological science.Read MoreBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 PagesBranches of philosophy The following branches are the main areas of study: †¢ Metaphysics investigates the nature of being and the world. Traditional branches are cosmology and ontology. †¢ Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism and the relationships between truth, belief, and justification. †¢ Ethics, or moral philosophy, is concerned with questions of howRead MoreLiterature and Politics the Impact of Dostoevsky9582 Words   |  39 Pages1971, Pp. xviii. 263. $13.50.* ostoevskys great novels have spawned a vast library of critical 1/literature, a library which extends well beyond traditional literary criticism to cover the range of disciplines dealing with the human condition: philosophy, theology, psychology and sociology in particular. In this effusion of comment the real Dostoevsky is often buried under an avalanche of the commentators personal views, although few have been so forthright in recognizing this as Andre Gide, whoRead MoreAristotle And Plato s Influence On Western Philosophical Tradition2851 Words   |  12 PagesThroughout the history of philosophy, philosophers from all eras have tirelessly tried to explain the consciousness and being of man. Beginning with the Ancient Greek philosophers who played an important role in the shaping of western philosophical tradition, who eventually broke away from a mythological approach to explaining the world, and gave rise to an method based on reason and evidence with main concern of explainin g the entire cosmos. The Pre-Socratic philosophers strived to identify theRead MoreStri Bhrun Hatya Essay in Marathi4841 Words   |  20 PagesViews on capitalism: Analysis of modern Capitalism. Protestant Ethic and Emergence of Capitalism; Role of ideas and Values in social change. 02. Charles Horton Cooley Intellectual background Cooley’s thought on primary Group. The Characteristics of primary Group. Importance of Primary Group. Charles Cooley’s concept of looking Glass self communication. Social Process, Collective behaviour Cooley’s thought on sociological method. Cooley’s thought on institutional Analysis. References: 01

Cloud Based Application Solution for Car Tracking

Question: Discuss about theCloud Based Application Solution for Car Tracking. Answer: Introduction For the system development, the business needs to work on the new and the innovative solutions that includes the increased costs and the use of the different resources. The IoT is based on easy development and the deployment of changes with the different levels of connection. The cloud computing works on the enabling of the firms and the individuals to process and store the data at different locations. The economic scale development includes the sharing of the resources and the coherence for the on-demand business solutions. The setup is based on working for AB Pty. Ltd which focus on management and the monitoring of the fleet systems where the cars have been zoned to the cloud based applications. The work is based on the development of applications through the use of IBM BlueMix with the cloud based resources and services. (Kumar, 2016). Applications Designing There have been data acquisition processes where the data is important for the real-time patterns. Hence, for this, the work is on allowing the control over the configuration process with the easy and fast prototyping. The setup of the GSM units and the capability is then programmed mainly through the acceptance with the hold of data on the computer along with operating the specific locations for the car. The antennas have been connected to Arduino where there is a connection for the internal and the external patterns. The units includes the identification number of the vehicle and the parameters which are controlled through the airbags and the ABS with the clearing of the vehicle diagnostics trouble codes. (Tata et al., 2016). The connection for the GPS coordinates includes the vehicles which can move out of the designated zone and work on the installation process to assemble the different holding units. Through this, there is a possibility to include the latitude and the longitude patterns for the OBD-II interface. With this, the IBM BlueMix has been able to handle the configuration process of the API keys and work on different device events that have been holding the name and the events, through proper credentials. The entire focus has been on the IoT with the deployment of functions and the activation of the new flow. The BlueMix node red has been for the No-SQL DB where there have been demands to add the Node Red application and work on the information for the different database patterns. With this, there has been line dragging with IBM IoT Output node with the cloud input node structure. Solutions For the dashboard Warehouse menu, there is a need to set the login credentials with the analysis of the services that have been in the different cars. The default settings have been to add the services or the API which will be important for the real-time patterns and the services. With this, there has been a proper API-token that has been copied with the data analytics that is important for handling the data feeds into the application and working on the mobile phone applications. A proper use of the Mobile Phone with the sending of alert message to the other phone is considered to be the best solution. (Kozub et al., 2016). As per the analysis, it has been seen that the car tracker is not able to send the message to the phone or the alerts and so lack the ability for collecting the performance of the engine. There have been lack in the performance and the vehicle health data and so it also misses the major requirements which are important for the alert management process and the main tenance. The IBM BlueMix includes the integration of the deployment models with the freedom to approach for the public, dedicated and the local servers which fits in the approach to the private cloud delivery. The scalability of the apps and the APIs help in high abstraction to higher control, where the leverage exists in IT with proper development of the apps, data and process. With this, there is a possibility to easily work on the support of the programming language and the services. This will help in the DevOps development with properly running the open technology on soft layer infrastructure. The approach is based on handling the IBM source and working over the function as a service system. (Sandha et al., 2016). This has been equal to the allowing to call without any major resource management from the developer. The work has been done with the flows in BlueMix for the Node Red that is for the No-SQL DB where there are information and the other database for handling the information to st ore the sensors along with the vehicle health and the warning prompts for the services. The entire setup is based on IoT output node to the cloudant node. The configuration and the data capture needs to handle the streaming to the database with the dragging into the middle pane of the worksheet. Conclusion The paper is based on the different solutions for the IBM BlueMix which is based on handling the case study for the different IoT principle. The cars have also been zoned into North, East, South and West where there is a proper management and the efficiency approach. (Reinitz, 2015). The Arduino data logger has been set with the SIM capability that marks the functioning of the on-board computer to collect all the information based on the system performance. With this, there is a need to program the GSM and GPRS systems in an effective manner. Reference Kumar, P., 2016. Internet of Things (IoT) development platforms-A case of IBM Bluemix. Tata, S., Mohamed, M., Anya, O., Sakairi, T., Mandagere, N., Ludwig, H. and Baracaldo, N., 2016, June. Managing Service Quality at the Platform and Application Levels with rSLa. InEnabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (WETICE), 2016 IEEE 25th International Conference on(pp. 265-266). IEEE. Kozub, V. and Alexandrov, A., 2016. Application of ibm watson for the best speciality option prediction for prospective students. Sandha, S.S., Randhawa, S. and Srivastava, B., 2016. Blue Water: A Common Platform to Put Water Quality Data in India to Productive Use by Integrating Historical and Real-time Sensing Data. Reinitz, R., 2015. IBM Bluemix as a Dynamic Development Ecosystem.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers free essay sample

The polished sound of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers filled the starry sky at Great Woods recently. The two shows were the final ones of the summer concert series at Mansfields terrific, open-air arena. Petty was in high gear, in his own mellow way, as he pumped out almost all the tracks from the recently released album, Into the Great Wide Open. The blond-haired Wilbury also dug out all of the old hits and the crowd ate it up. Petty found a perfect blend of old and new. Just as expected, Petty put on a quality show that focused on the music and did not get caught up in gimmicks and tricks. The stage layout only consisted of a gigantic, petrified tree. It had two enormous branches that extended in either direction across the stage. A staircase ran up the front of the tree to a doorway at the top of its mid-section. We will write a custom essay sample on Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It was from this door that the psychedelic dragon came, carrying Toms harmonica for some down-home boogie. Although the volume wasnt really loud enough, the sound was still clear and crisp. The songs were just varied enough to make a strong live version, but not so that they didnt even resemble the studio cuts. There was a great balance of smash hits and the bands own favorites. During an intense performance of Dont Come Around Here No More, the strobe was turned on and three men in tuxedos, wearing masks of Reagan, Bush, and Nixon, came and chased the headliner around the stage. At last Petty escaped up the stairs to the doorway in the tree. He stepped inside for a split second and returned with a neon-red peace symbol. The former presidents turned and fled in fear at the sight of the huge sign. The crowd went nuts. It was the highlight of a great concert. Tom Petty proved once again that great music and talented, well-practiced musicians can still carry a show without using lasers, videos, or fireworks. The intensity was definitely visible, but the concert didnt become a bunch of screaming fans and psychotic band members. The music flowed through the crowd and gave Great Woods an incredibly calm atmosphere. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers did Great Woods justice by closing out its season with a powerful concert. The music lovers in the Boston area should be eagerly awaiting their return. n

The Medea Syndrome and How it Relates to Divorce in American Society

Table of Contents Background Love Trauma Divorced Couples Conclusion Works Cited In Euripedes’ Medea the main character was a woman scorned. She felt as if she is nothing but filth in the eyes of her husband Jason. But instead of merely feeling sorry for himself he concocted an elaborate scheme of revenge and because of her vile emotions and cunning she murdered Jason’s lover, Jason’s father-in-law, and the most sickening of all she also murdered her two sons from Jason.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Medea Syndrome and How it Relates to Divorce in American Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thousands of years after this piece of literature was written lovers still fight and husbands and wife separate. In the United States the rate of divorce is astounding but man and wife, just like Medea sometimes would not let go of the past and move on with their lives. They concoc t schemes to destroy the symbol of their marriage (Gunsberg Hyowitz 116). Today this phenomenon is known as the Medea Syndrome and the most affected members of the family are not the parents who went through divorce but the children who became the unwilling participants in the ongoing psychological warfare between former husband and wife. Background Medea fell in love with the charming but complicated Jason. In fact she had to do several undesirable things in order for their relationship to blossom. She had to trick the daughters of a powerful leader named Pelias and made them kill their father. She had to pay the price and be exiled in a foreign land. She had to turn her back from her relatives and family in order to be with Jason in Corinth. But her sacrifices and her devotion was never repaid in kind. Instead, Jason chose ambition over her. Jason wanted to have a bright future for himself and so he married the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth. The narrator of the story beautif ully summarized her feelings and desperation through the following words: †¦wasting away in tears ever  since she learnt that she was wronged by her husband, never lifting her eye nor raising her face from off the ground; and she lends as deaf an ear to her friend’s warning as if she were a rock or ocean billow, save when she turns her snow-white neck aside and softly to herself bemoans her father dear, her country and her home, which she gave up to come hither with the man who now holds her in dishonor (Euripides par. 1). Jason’s second mistake was to ignore her. His third mistake was to forget that this is the same woman who was cunning enough to destroy Pelias. He thought that she will just move on with her life and this was his terrible miscalculation.Advertising Looking for research paper on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In a scheme that no one understood and no one anticipated Mede a feigned agreement to the sin of Jason and to throw her opponents off-guard she even gave her rival a gift. No one knew it was poisoned. Her father panicked when he saw her daughter stricken by a powerful venom that consumed her body and when he tried to help her and therefore rubbing his bare flesh with the garment he too succumbed from the deadly substance present in the fibers. One could just imagine the sorrow felt by Jason. The ramifications of Medea’s actions to terrible to contemplate. The world will know that his bride was murdered by his ex-wife. It is an unbearable tragedy but Medea was just warming up and when she knew that the first stage of her plan was completed she went to her sons and murdered them. According to experts what Medea did was to destroy the symbol of marriage and thus the psychological and physical pain caused by warring spouses who are separated or divorced is now known as the Medea Syndrome (Rosse 88). It is a phenomenon that is not only affect ing man and woman but also their offspring. Love Trauma Clinicians made an interesting connection to Medea and the behavior of rejected lovers, quarreling spouses, and divorced couples and they wrote, â€Å"In the ‘Medea Syndrome,’ people who feel betrayed in a relationship seek revenge against the person who offended them by harming their joint offspring† (Rosse 88). They also added that the Medea Syndrome can occur in both men and women (Rose 88). Men are not immune to this problem. Another jarring fact was pointed out by clinicians who said that although in the myth Medea was able to escape, in real-life, women with acute manifestations of the Medea Syndrome do not only murder their children but they also commit suicide afterwards (Rose 88). It can be said that these are extreme cases this is because â€Å"People who are having Medea-like homicide fantasies usually are in considerable emotional distress and are always in need of psychiatric help† (Rosse 89). Most of the time the demonstration of the Medea Syndrome is seen through the use of psychological warfare between divorced couples and usually this involves their children.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Medea Syndrome and How it Relates to Divorce in American Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Divorced Couples Divorce happens when husband and wife decided that they cannot live anymore. This is merely the end result of a very long process, of conflicts that were never resolved. Sometimes the reason for divorce is similar to what happened to Medea and Jason – infidelity and too many unmet expectations. When former lovers decided to end their relationship the sweetness of their past engagement is replaced by bitterness and hate but sustained with the same passion as when they were still in love. Unfortunately, divorce comes at a time when husband and wife are not the only people th at comprise that particular family, most of the time children stand between two warring parties. In a disturbing twist one parent suddenly decides to follow the footsteps of Medea and exact revenge by harming both the minor and the adult. The manifestation of Medea Syndrome varies in each case. It can be argued that seeking revenge by killing the offspring of the marriage is the extreme form of this psychological problem. With regards to divorced couples the most common problem is not the murder of the innocents but by subjecting them to a life of emotional turmoil in a related phenomenon called Parental Alienation Syndrome or PAS. The classic expression of this syndrome is the refusal of a child to visit or see one parent. Usually it is the non-custodial parent who will become the target of parental alienation (Rohrbaugh 399). This problem can be fully understood after re-examining the story of Medea, the woman scorned, who used her tricks and schemes to let the husband share in he r desolation and pain. According to clinicians, children who suddenly develop PAS after the parents divorced is not an indication that the other parent is abusive and they added, â€Å"These children may have experienced pressure to form an angry alliance with the custodial parent that is designed to exclude, reject, and humiliate the other parent† (Rohrbaugh 399). Similar to what Medea did, parents with Medea-like problems use their cunning and their obsession to exact revenge by making their former partner suffer. But what they do not realize is that it is taking a toll on their children. Young children do not automatically become the willing pawn of an aggrieved parent. They have to be taught to behave this way. A therapist clarified the process by saying that a parent has to program or brainwash their children to do so (Rohrbaugh 400).Advertising Looking for research paper on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Clinicians also revealed that, â€Å"By ‘programming’ they mean a belief system designed to damage the child’s image of the target parent in terms of his or her moral, physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and educational qualities †¦ by brainwashing they mean the application of specific techniques to control and change the child’s thoughts and perceptions† (Rohrbaugh 400). Medea used poison to inflict deep emotional wounds on Jason but 21st century parents use their own children to do the dirty work for them. When Medea murdered her two sons she was not only depriving Jason of two children but she actually destroyed something else that is very important to Jason which is an heir. All of a sudden Jason had nothing worth living for. Medea took everything away from him, his two sons, his bride, and his political allies. In the modern age the aggrieved parent is driven to manipulate children and use them against another parent in order to des troy something special that existed between parent and child and it is the loving relationship that used to be the source of joy and contentment. By using a child against a parent one has created the most painful method of exacting revenge. The most powerful weapon in the alienating parent’s arsenal is what experts call as distortion, â€Å"A disturbed parent uses language to rationalize and to distort reality† (Gordon 48). For instance, â€Å"†¦a child adamantly refuses to visit the noncustodial parent, claiming that this parent is mean, abusive, uncaring, and otherwise unloving toward the child, often buttressed with false allegations of physical and/or sexual abuse aginst the noncustodial parent† (Gunsberg Hymowitz 115). The child is made to believe lies and successfully turning a child against a fater or a mother. There is only one problem with this method, â€Å"In doing so they severely damage and sometimes destroy the child’s psyche as wellà ¢â‚¬  (Gunsberg Hymowitz 116).One can just imagine the kind of psychological and emotional stress the child has to go through every time the alienating parent attempts to program or brainwash the child by distorting reality. Experts believe that when these children grow they soon will manifest behavioral problems as a result of their past experiences with distortion and the like (Gordon 49). Clearly there is no justification for using children as tools to deal with emotional and psychological issues. The alienating parent must seek help immediately. Conclusion Medea was a woman scorned and her reaction was something that no one anticipated. It was decisive and brutal the byproduct of her cunning and obsession. She knew really well where to hurt Jason and it is by taking away everything from him, not only his bride or his future but also his most treasured thing on earth – his children. In the modern age clinicians discovered that parents are susceptible to the same madness and they aptly label it as the Medea Syndrome. Although parents kill the symbol of their marriage as a form of retribution this is rarely the case when it comes to divorced couples. Instead, they destroy each other by programming or brainwashing their children to learn to hate the other parent. They may succeed in creating deep and lasting emotional pain to get back for what the other has done but they forget that their children will be scarred for life. This has to stop and it begins by spreading this information so that the alienating and disturbed parent will know the harm he or she is doing to the child. Works Cited Euripides. Medea. Trans. E. P. Coleridge. The Internet Classics Archive. Web. Gordon, Robert. An Expert Look at Love, Intimacy and Personal Growth. Allentown, PA: IAPT Press, 2006. Print. Gunzberg, Linda Paul Hymowitz. A Handbook of Divorce and Custody:  Forensic, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives . Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press, 2005. Print. Rorbaugh, Joanna. A Comprehensive Guide to Child Custody Evaluations.  New York, NY: Springer, 2008. Print. Rosse, Richard. The Love Trauma Syndrome: Free Yourself from the Pain  of a Broken Heart . Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 1999. Print. This research paper on The Medea Syndrome and How it Relates to Divorce in American Society was written and submitted by user Joshua Kane to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Fake profits Essay

Fake profits Essay Fake profits Essay PROFITS ARE WHAT businesses are supposed to be about. Shareholders start, build and continue to own businesses, in order to make profits. But all companies are not equal. Profit margins differ among industries and to a lesser extent among companies in the same industry. If margins are too low, the company is reliant on debt to expand. If margins are too high, it attracts competition. Importantly, if the profits are real, the company can pay cash dividends. While some shareholders may prefer that a company reinvest its earnings to create future wealth for shareholders, the sad reality, as noted by Benjamin Graham in The Intelligent Investor, is that few companies are able to reinvest such profits to earn the same rate of return as the existing business. Besides assuring shareholders of a minimum return on their investment, a cash dividend also serves as useful, albeit partial, proof that the company’s reported earnings are real. If the profits are real, the margins will also be similar to that of competitors – after all, with the same capital inputs, the same workforce, the same customers, and the same selling price, the profits must also be the same. Few companies are so unique that they have no competitors and can set any price they wish. So what happens if the profits are fake? Generally, if the profits are fake, it is because the reported profit margin is too high. This can be detected in a peer comparison with the company’s direct competitors, or similar businesses operating elsewhere in the world. Given today’s globalized economy, very few companies will leave a region alone if it is seen that a peer is making good profits there. Thus, excess profits are unlikely to persist, and over time profit margins go back to normal i.e. there is reversion to the mean. Because profits and losses from the income statement are reflected in the balance sheet, fake profits will also show up on the balance sheet, often in the form of imaginary cash balances. The problem here is that cash is a transparent and easily auditable item, which makes it a prime focus of auditors. Blatant fraudsters may of course collude with bank officials to produce fake statements to fool the auditors. However, even if the auditors are fooled, as cash apparently builds up on the balance sheet, it becomes increasingly more difficult to fend off minority shareholder demands for cash dividends, or at least a repayment of outstanding debt. One way to avoid having to show the cash to the auditors is to not collect it in the first place. This then causes the trade receivables account to swell. This topic was discussed 3 years ago in the June 2009 newsletter, so it will not be discussed further here. If one does pretend to collect the cash, then the logical progression is to use up the fake cash on items which are harder to evaluate than cash. Popular choices include inventory, machinery, supplier prepayments, intangible assets and even other companies. Inventory, specifically finished goods, can be a useful place to dump fake earnings, as finished goods comprise a mix of different costs such as raw materials, capital and labour. This creates more work for auditors, who are not interested in dissecting the business to figure out the true cost of finished goods. In a retail business, the stock is also scattered across hundreds if not thousands of stores. So a retail company can dump fake earnings here and be fairly confident that the auditors are not going to do a thorough stock-take. For example, Ports Design, a luxury apparel brand, has reported very high profit margins for the past 10 years. One would expect that Ports would then be sitting on a huge cash hoard. Instead, Ports has opted to plow much of its earnings back into inventory, to the extent that since the end of 2009, its inventory holdings have represented more than 18 months of sales. But apparel, by its nature, goes in and out of fashion. Therefore, stock

The American Experience Discussion Questions Essay

The American Experience Discussion Questions - Essay Example This legitimacy has been questioned over the years by various leaders such as Nelson Mandela who was quoted as saying "if there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America (Nagasaki and Hiroshima)"(Daily News, NY). The view of the role the U.S. has taken on has changed from positive to negative. The United States recently has taken on the role of hated and despised despite the fact that the U.S. has contributed billions in aid to other countries and sent in troops to support emerging democracies (Afghanistan and Iraq). There were many scientific advances made during World War II that affected the outcome of the war. By far medical care for wounded soldiers made tremendous leaps during the war. Medical care was designed to "conserve the strength and efficiency of the fighting forces so as to keep as many men at as many guns for as many days possible."(World War II Encyclopedia). Scientists created a better blood substitute called serum albumin and eventually science brought whole blood to the field or field hospitals to be given to wounded servicemen. With this advance more servicemen made it from the battlefield to the field hospitals and hospital ships for further life-saving care. Other advances such as treatments and preventives (DDT and Quinine) for malaria were developed.