FIGHTING DISCRIMINATION essays

FIGHTING DISCRIMINATION essays Discrimination is common in all of society. Weather it is intentional or not, people discriminates against each other. It is just a natural thing that humans do because that is the way we are. Discrimination begins in the mind and it is only when we intentionally base our decisions on these prejudices that are wrong. The fight against discrimination has been an ongoing process and in order for us to continue the battle against discrimination, we must understand the different types of discrimination that exists, what causes discrimination, and what can we do to stop it. Types of discrimination exist from your gender to ethnicity, from your status in a society to your preferences in dating. What all these types of discriminations have in common is that it segregates one group from another. You discriminate when you think of someone differently just because they are poorer than you, smarter than you, overweight, too short, looks gay, have different political beliefs. All these are forms of discrimination but the most widely publicized forms of discrimination are racial, ethnic, and gender. Racial discrimination has happened since that late 1800s with slavery. Issues of racial tension between blacks and whites are well known. Ethnic discrimination, for example, against Chinese and Native Americans, occurred there after when minorities immigrated to European lands. Mainly, the fight has always been against the dominant group which was whites. Gender discrimination also occurred when women wanted to be treated equal to men. In this case, the dominant g roup was mainly white men. Women wanted equal rights such that of being able to vote. Discrimination is associated with prejudice. Prejudices are caused when one group thinks they are better than another because they lack the qualities that are similar to a certain group. To feel prejudice and then to discriminate, that is wrong we would think that by now, in the 20th century, that...

Definition and History of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Definition and History of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the  linguistic theory that the semantic structure of a language shapes or limits the ways in which a speaker forms conceptions of the world. It came about in 1929. The theory is named after the American anthropological linguist Edward Sapir (1884–1939) and his student Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941). It is also known as the  theory of linguistic relativity, linguistic relativism, linguistic determinism, Whorfian hypothesis, and Whorfianism. History of the Theory The idea that a persons native language determines how he or she thinks was popular among behaviorists of the 1930s and on until cognitive psychology theories came about, beginning in the 1950s and increasing in influence in the 1960s. (Behaviorism taught that behavior is a result of external conditioning and doesnt take feelings, emotions, and thoughts into account as affecting behavior. Cognitive psychology studies mental processes such as creative thinking, problem-solving, and attention.) Author Lera Boroditsky gave some background on ideas about the connections between languages and thought: The question of whether languages shape the way we think goes back centuries; Charlemagne proclaimed that to have a second language is to have a second soul. But the idea went out of favor with scientists when  Noam Chomskys theories of language gained popularity in the 1960s and 70s. Dr. Chomsky proposed that there is a  universal grammar  for all human languages- essentially, that languages dont really differ from one another in significant ways....  (Lost in Translation. The Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2010) The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was taught in courses through the early 1970s and had become widely accepted as truth, but then it fell out of favor. By the 1990s, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was left for dead, author Steven Pinker wrote. The cognitive revolution in psychology, which made the study of pure thought possible, and a number of studies showing meager effects of language on concepts, appeared to kill the concept in the 1990s... But recently it has been resurrected, and neo-Whorfianism is now an active research topic in  psycholinguistics. (The Stuff of Thought. Viking, 2007) Neo-Whorfianism is essentially a weaker version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and says that language  influences  a speakers view of the world but does not inescapably determine it. The Theorys Flaws One big problem with the original Sapir-Whorf hypothesis stems from the idea that if a persons language has no word for a particular concept, then that person would not be able to understand that concept, which is untrue.  Language doesnt necessarily control humans ability to reason or have an emotional response to something or some idea. For example, take the German word  sturmfrei, which essentially is the feeling when you have the whole house to yourself because your parents or roommates are away. Just because English doesnt have a single word for the idea doesnt mean that Americans cant understand the concept. Theres also the chicken and egg problem with the theory. Languages, of course, are human creations, tools we invent and hone to suit our needs,  Boroditsky continued. Simply showing that speakers of different languages think differently doesnt tell us whether its language that shapes thought or the other way around.

Measuring Marketing Performance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Measuring Marketing Performance - Assignment Example There is not a single measure that is best for measuring marketing performance but three very famous measures of marketing performance are return on investment, comparison of marketing cost with result, and brand knowledge.Marketing Return on Sale:Marketing return on sale is an important measure of marketing performance and determines that how efficient the firm is. It provides the deeper understanding of impact that organization has on its profits due to marketing strategies. It is a percent of net sale attributable to the net marketing contribution. The higher marketing return on sale of current year as compare to prior year describe the positive performance of marketing (Ambler, Kokkinaki, &Puntoni, 2004).Compare the Cost of Marketing Activities with Results:Marketers use the revenues - that are the result of marketing program - as a measure of marketing performance. For example marketing programs like direct mailing and advertising develop contacts and some contacts has higher va lue as compare to others that depends on the number of responses. Marketing department compare the cost spent on each contact with the value of the result. If the marketing program results in increasing numbers of orders and generates greater revenue on per order then the marketing performance will be considered good (Srinivasan &Hanssens, 2009).Marketing department is liable to make people understand that why the brand exists in market, how it is different from others, and what values it can deliver.

Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Finance - Assignment Example joint venture. Sainsbury’s offers food and non-food items at its supermarkets and convenience stores along with that it also operate online grocery store and general merchandise operations. Sainsbury operates almost 1106 stores that includes 583 supermarkets and 523 convenience stores. Company also holds interest in freehold and long lease hold properties and also the properties that come under their joint venture agreements. In its financial services sectors it provides credit cards, insurance, loans and savings advices also relating to energy efficiency at customer homes. Sainsbury also provides selection of movies, music, books, games and other entertainment products (Yahoo, 2013). Sainsbury’s holds almost 18% share of the UK supermarket and is the second largest supermarket chain in the country. Despite the fact that Sainsbury is the UK’s second largest supermarket chain it is the returns that the company offers that would attract the investors and the share towards the company not the quality of the services or the size of company itself. In order to understand how much value is given or created by the Sainsbury to its shareholders and investors it is important that analysis of it’s incomes, returns that it offers, its operations, liquidity position and the growth that it offers in the future is thoroughly made. Thus to get the full understanding cash flow analysis along with its income statement is made to have idea about its liquidity position. Both inflow and outflow of cash in the company is assured through three different activities that the company goes through operating, investing and financing. All three activities of Sainsbury are discussed as follow. Over the past three years Sainsbury’s Plc. have been reporting net income however as analysis of its profit margins are done it is seen that in the current period its profit margins re lagging behind to that of the industry average. It can be said that the company is

Happiness Found in Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde Essay Example for Free

Happiness Found in Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde Essay Most heroism deals with promotion of virtue and reproach of vice. Sloughing off from such a hackneyed, yet widely used frame of thought, the novel ‘The Happy Prince’ (1888) by Oscar Wilde connects heroism with compassion. With a subconscious reminiscent between ‘courage’ and ‘hero’, compassion is generally not a primary association with a strong image of a hero. Oscar Wilde however, through utilization of ‘the happy prince’ as a mechanism, conveys the idea of compassion and sacrifice which consists of happiness and beauty under a plot of heroism. The compassion felt by the Happy Prince can be distinguished in two levels of analysis: on himself and on the poor. The Happy Prince, once a real prince who lived within absolute extravagance, had a life far from poverty, hunger or servility. Upon encountering the inferior reality of civilian faces after becoming a statue, the Happy Prince expresses his compassion on himself by saying: â€Å"My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. (5)This distinction indicates the realization of the Happy Prince on the difference between aesthetic happiness and materialistic pleasure. It also foreshadows the displacement of the Happy Prince’s compassion from his own past self to the poor, which causes heroic action by the Happy Prince. The jewels sent by the Happy Prince to the poor in the novel are not just simple sapphires or gold. Rather, they are ‘true’ jewels resulted from self compassion. Such open-mindedness of the Happy Prince allows him to be penitent for his past misdeeds and sacrifice himself to supplement such faults, which resulted in promotion of the common good. History tells us that those who are titled as ‘leaders’ sacrifice themselves for others. Regardless of how much sacrifice they burden, all leaders have a certain extent of private loss to yield common welfare. Similarly, the story ‘The Happy Prince’ also depicts heroism based on sacrifice. In the novel, the Happy Prince, having beauty as a single reason for its production, sacrifices himself to the non haves on the streets by distributing his jewels through the help of a sparrow. Since the purpose for its existence diminishes, the mayor of the city eventually destroys the statue of the Happy Prince. The point Oscar Wilde makes at this part is that action for others with sincerity and truthfulness overwhelms the loss one gets through such action. As Erich Fromm, a German philosopher wrote in his book, ‘To Have or To Be’, property without purpose loses the value of it and absence with a purpose is more valued than its presence. Having firm belief on his action, the Happy Prince was able to practice his heroism. Mother Theresa said she lived a happy life. Her ‘happy life’, Mother Theresa said, seems to overlap with the life the Happy Prince lived as a statue. They both gave everything they had for others and earned happiness as exchange. Compassion and sacrifice may be a true key to opening a treasure box full of happiness and beauty.

Baldwins Stepfather in Notes to a Native Son Essay -- James Baldwin

The Effects on a Narrative Son From His Stepfather In order to effectively analyze something, it is necessary to thoroughly examine and discuss the subject. James Baldwin does this in his essay â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† by describing his experiences growing up with his stepfather while weaving in discussion. Baldwin’s comments during these breaks in his stories draw conclusions and generalizations about himself, his relationship with his father, and its influence on James Baldwin. He uses this analysis to discover and help the audience understand how he was and is affected by his stepfather. Baldwin’s stepfather was very quiet and remote in his relationships with his children. In his essay, Baldwin presents many stories portraying examples of this which all appear early on in the essay. One of the most important stories about his childhood with his stepfather is when they walk back home from church and have their only meaningful conversation together. Baldwin writes that the opportunities in America are â€Å"thicker† than any other place and as a result of this â€Å"the generation has no time to talk to the first†(63). Unlike this observation by Baldwin, his stepfather didn’t avoid contact with the world because of the available opportunities. Instead, Baldwin’s stepfather kept himself away from his children and the world because of his immense anger and hatred. Baldwin remembers his father â€Å"sitting at the window, locked up in his terrors; hating and fearing every living soul including his children who had betrayed him, to o, by reaching towards the world which had despised him†(66). James Baldwin’s stepfather feels extremely rejected by the world and as a result hates everything in it and in contact with it. He feels betra... ...s to be hatred, as described in earlier passages but in this case Baldwin shows that they are ultimately caused by pride. Baldwin uses his narration and analysis to realize that although he ignored his father during his childhood, he could have benefitted by learning something from his warnings. In the final sentence of the essay Baldwin writes, â€Å"I wished that he had been beside me so that I could have searched his face for the answers which only the future would give me now† (84). Baldwin realizes that through similar experiences he and his stepfather have learned much about the world. He wishes that he could still learn from his stepfather but knows that he must now rely on his future experiences. Works Cited Baldwin, James. â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.

Financial Markets Test with Multiple Choice Questions Essay

Class Test 1 (Sample Items) Choose the most correct response. Record your answer on the mark sense sheet provided. Each answer is worth  ½ mark. QUESTION 1 All else equal, a binding price floor will cause less of a surplus if: (a)both supply and demand are inelastic (b)both supply and demand are elastic (c)supply is elastic, but demand is inelastic (d)supply is inelastic, but demand is elastic QUESTION 2 The figure shows the market for books before and after an excise tax is introduced. The tax on books is ________, buyers pay ______ of tax per book, and the governments tax revenue is ________ a week. (a) $0.40 a book; $0.40; $4 (b) $1.20 a book; $0.80; $128 (c) $0.80 a book; $1.20; $12 (d) $1.20 a book; $0.80; $12 QUESTION 3 If the minimum wage is set below the equilibrium wage rate, (a) a labour shortage occurs. (b) there is no change in the quantity of labour employed. (c) the short-run labour supply curve becomes more elastic. (d) a labour surplus occurs. QUESTION 4 If honey is measured on the vertical axis, and jam on the horizontal axis, the marginal rate of substitution: (a) is the rate at which the consumer has to give up honey if more jam is to be bought, given their relative prices. (b) is the rate at which the consumer has to give up jam if more honey is to be bought, given their relative prices. (c) is the rate at which the consumer is willing to give up honey in order to get more jam, and be as satisfied as he or she was before. (d) is the rate at which the consumer is willing to give up honey in order to get more jam and be better off than he or she was before. QUESTION 5 At the best affordable point: (a) the budget line intersects an indifference curve. (b) the marginal rate substitution of x for y is exactly equal to 1. (c) the marginal rate of substitution of x for y is equal to the relative price of x in terms of y (that is, ) (d) the difference between the marginal rate of substitution of x for y and the relative price of x is at a maximum. QUESTION 6 Stuart, who loves seafood, says, ‘I can’t really tell the difference between Sydney rock oysters and Pacific oysters. They taste equally delicious to me; I just buy a dozen of whichever is cheaper every week.’ In terms of marginal utility theory, Stuart thinks: (a) the marginal utility per dollar spent on Sydney rock oysters is equal to the marginal utility per dollar spent on Pacific oysters. (b) the marginal utility he gets from Sydney rock oysters is greater than that from Pacific oysters, but Pacific oysters are cheaper. (c) the marginal utility he gets from Pacific oysters is greater than that from Sydney rock oysters, but  Sydney rock oysters are cheaper. (d) the marginal utility he gets from Sydney rock oysters is equal to that from Pacific oysters, and so whichever oyster has a lower price gives him a higher marginal utility per dollar spent. QUESTION 7 According to the marginal utility theory of consumer choice, rational consumers will spend their money with the aim of: (a) maximizing the total utility they get from their limited income. (b) maximizing the marginal utility they get from each good. (c) equalizing the marginal utility they get from different goods. (d) maximizing the amount they save out of their limited income. QUESTION 8 A firm’s production function refers to: (a) the maximum quantity of output that it can produce within a given period. (b) the maximum revenue it can earn from various levels of output. (c) the maximum output that can be produced from various quantities of inputs. (d) the minimum cost of producing various levels of output. QUESTION 9 When marginal cost is rising, average total cost: (a) will necessarily be rising. (b) will necessarily be falling. (c) may be rising or falling, depending on whether marginal cost is greater or less than average total cost. (d) may be rising or falling, depending on whether marginal cost is greater or less than average variable cost. QUESTION 10 Which of the following reflects the law of diminishing marginal rate of substitution? As we continually increase labour one unit at a time, (a) the addition to output will become larger, if capital is held constant. (b) the addition to output will become smaller, if capital is held constant. (c) larger reductions in capital will be required to keep output constant. (d) smaller reductions in capital will be required to keep output constant. (e) larger increases in labour will be required to keep output constant. QUESTION 11 The least cost technique of producing a given output occurs where the marginal rate of substitution of labour for capital equals the (a) ratio of the quantity of labour used relative to the quantity of capital used. (b) ratio of the price of labour to the price of capital. (c) minimum point on the isoquant line. (d) marginal cost of capital (e) ratio of the marginal cost of capital to the marginal cost of labour. QUESTION 12 A perfectly competitive firm’s supply curve is the upward-sloping part of its (a) average product curve, at all points above the point of minimum average variable cost. (b) marginal cost curve, at all points above the point of minimum average fixed cost. (c) marginal revenue curve, at all points above the point of minimum average revenue. (d) marginal revenue curve, at all points above the point of minimum average total cost. (e) marginal cost curve, at all points above the point of minimum average variable cost. QUESTION 13 For the monopolist facing a downward sloping demand, the marginal revenue  never exceeds the price because (a) the producers of substitutes keep the price low. (b) the monopolist must lower the price in order to sell more during any given period of time. (c) the monopoly will be a large corporation with high fixed costs. (d) the monopoly must accept the marginal revenue set by the market as a whole. (e) the monopoly has low marginal cost relative to a competitive firm. QUESTION 14 The table gives the demand schedule for water bottled by Wanda’s Healthy Waters, a single-price monopoly. If the marginal cost is a constant $4 a bottle, Wanda’s will produce _______ a day and charge ____ a bottle. (a) 3 bottles; $7 (b) 4 bottles; $6 (c) 5 bottles; $5 (d) 1 bottle; $9 QUESTION 15 The table below gives the demand and supply schedule for biscuits. The government now levies a $3 tax on biscuit. As a result, the price of a packet of biscuits will increase to ____ and the tax revenue collected is ____. (a) $12; $160 a week (b) $12; $300 a week (c) $13; $160 a week (d) $13; $240 a week Price ($ per packet) Quantity demanded (packets / week) Quantity supplied (packets / week) QUESTION 16 Excess capacity in monopolistically competitive firms is described by the fact that (a) each firm faces a demand that is perfectly elastic. (b) each firms builds a huge plant. (c) the existence of slightly differentiated products serving almost the same purpose causes a waste of precious natural resources. (d) firms produce at an output that is less than the output associated with their minimum average total cost. (e) marginal cost is too high. QUESTION 17 When the economic profit is negative in an industry that is monopolistically competitive, then (a) firms will enter the industry and produce better products. (b) firms will exit the industry, and the demand will increase for the products of the firms that remain. (c) firms will exit the industry, and the demand will decrease for those firms that remain in the industry. (d) firms will enter the industry and the demand will become more elastic for those firms that were originally in the industry. (e) the industry will eventually disappear. QUESTION 18 If the electricity commission in Queensland practises perfect price discrimination: (a) its marginal cost curve and its demand curve are identical. (b) its marginal revenue curve and its demand curve are identical. (c) its marginal revenue curve lies below its demand curve. (d) its marginal revenue curve lies above its demand curve. (e) none of the above.

Sub Prime Crisis

imeContent Page Sub prime crisis http://banking. about. com/od/mortgages/a/mortgagecrisis. htm http://www. lewrockwell. com/rozeff/rozeff203. html http://www. slideshare. net/satanic/subprime-crisis-presentation-785636 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Causes_of_the_2007%E2%80%932012_global_financial_crisis http://www. investopedia. com/articles/economics/09/lehman-brothers-collapse. asp http://ezinearticles. com/? Merrill-Lynch-and-the-Subprime-Mortgage-Market&id=1600761 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=kb6g3S4scy4 http://moneymorning. com/2008/09/22/credit-default-swaps-2/ ttp://money. cnn. com/2008/09/16/news/companies/aig_questions/index. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Credit_rating_agencies_and_the_subprime_crisis Discuss the cause of the Sub-Prime crisis and the parties responsible for causing such a crisis. There were different complex factors that may have contributed to the Sub-prime crisis during 2008-2009. They were easily associated with the investment banks and governm ent sponsored enterprise, such as Fannie Mae, on how to have dealt with their liquidity issues and Subprime mortgage loans that got them back-fired.One of the largest contributors to the expansion of the high-risk-loans was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When majority of the banks first started off with low credit interest and easy conditions loans, property was seen as an appreciating asset. Banks offered adjustable-rate-mortgage (ARMs) and Subprime loans to all kind of people with good or bad credits scores as they wanted higher revenue when they resell the bundled subprime mortgages called the Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and Mortgages-backed securities (MBS) to the other Investors around the world.The subprime crisis had shaken Northern Rock bank so badly that they had a hard time seeking help to keep the business going. The British banks Lloyds TSB group Plc had bought over HBOS Plc whom is the largest mortgage loans lenders. Bradford & Bingley took control over by UK Go vernment while their branches were taken over by Spain’s Santander. Germany struggled to save Hypo Real Estate while Nomura Holdings Inc was being bought over by Lehman’s franchise in many countries such as Europe, Asia Pac, Japan and Australia.The Crisis caused shockwaves and sent panic to the other neighbouring countries causing shares to drop sharply over a short period of time. Commercial Banks, investment banks, investors and people suffered great losses resulting in certain foreclosure or even bankruptcy. Large amount of loan was also taken from hedge funds to assist banks that are falling apart. When banks fell from its former glory, tons of people lost their jobs and banks became more cautions when dealing with any loans to business, properties or even to other banks.Traditionally, banks would go deep into analysing every single loan applicant, from their credit scores, to their employment details, net disposable income and even to check their ability to pay of f their mortgage loans before financing the applicant with sufficient funds to purchase their desirable property. Thorough checks had to be done before granting them with the loans as some of the applicants that came forward may have high probabilities of defaulting their loan or would leave for other competitions for loan which would eventually cause a property downturn in the market.These methods were often the safest choice but banks were restricted to their growth. The traditional methods were soon discarded by the newer generations. Hence, the newer generation were willing to take higher risk loans for higher revenues. Assuming that prices for property continue to appreciate, they would be enjoying higher profits thus willingly offered larger amount of loans at low interest rates to the borrowers. Before subprime mortgage was implemented, prime mortgages were sold to banks investors which they would bundle them up as CDOs and sell it to outside investors after securitising it.S ecuritization became a demand as it provides the opportunity for rating agencies to rate, or in another words to repackage or beautify those poor credit score investment assets from the collateral pool into AAA grade credit score investment assets. Investors whom are not well versed with these bundled subprime mortgages called the CDO were exposed to high risk investment unknowingly as they assumed that what they were handling was a group of people who have good credit scores.As banks at wallstreets began to greed, mortgage underwriting standards de-proved during this period where the banks failed in these 3 sectors; Failure to examine if the borrowers is able to repay the amount, implemented automated loan approval (which allows users to get through even without proper documentations) and fabricating information or fraud by both banks and applicants. This simply showed how devious and irresponsible the banks were when they try to gain huge profits through the loopholes of the poor standard mortgage underwritings over a short period of time.Studies showed that the difference between normal prime mortgage interests declined greatly comparing to subprime mortgages as Subprime mortgages offer better returns than the normal prime mortgages. The rise of the property increase greatly until the subprime mortgages began to default; after repaying of the first two years, Federal interest rate rose and adjusted. Subprime loaners soon encounter difficulties in refinancing their houses due to ARMs, which eventually led to foreclosure after a few warning letters.As the bank investors included Subprime mortgages, which are defaulted, in the CDOs they are dealing to the outside investors. The outside investors soon suffer losses as the CDOs became worthless over a short period of time and U. S property’s prices dipped as more foreclosure occurred. Economy was affected as few of these U. S. banks such as e. g. Peter Lehman which was refused by the Federal government to be bail out; Bear Stearns, an investment bank, which was acquired by J. P. Morgan Chase lost US$1. billion; Washington Mutual was closed by the US Government their assets was bought over by J. P Morgan Chase. With reference to President Obama speech on his take on banks â€Å"Too big to fail†, â€Å"The American people who are already struggling in their own right were forced to rescue financial firms facing crisis largely of their own creation†. The actual meaning of such is that the tax payers have become the safety net of the financial institutions which went into crisis and the tax payers are paying off their debt on behalf of them.President Obama also states that banks should not use tax payer’s money to trade for profit or abuse the funds coming from the tax payers as subsidy for investment. It is unfair to those tax payers as it will cause conflict of interest between the bank’s and the customers. President Obama also said that the Americans have to cut down on their luxuries to help in this crisis. The parties that are responsible for the crisis are, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers Investment Bank, Merrill Lynch & Co and AIG. Bear Stearns used to be a conservative firm and see conservation as a defensive move.Eventually, they are discovered of risking the hedge funds for higher turn-over which they miscalculated investing huge amount (without setting aside a sum for event risk) in CDOs and insuring Credit default swaps (CDS) bonds in a short period of time and the cash back was too slow for them to have a turnover in time of crisis which brought them to their failure. To put it in a simpler way, they purchase CDOs that are deemed to be rated â€Å"AAA† by rating firms, sells them to investing banks (usually in bundles and at the cheaper rates) and then again sells them to investors.This allows the bank to free itself from the principles and interests they are getting for the borrowers gaining lump sum from the investor s, called Mortgage backed securities. The CDS bonds works with 3 parties which are the CDS buyer, the bond issuer and the CDS seller. Assuming that if bond defaults when the CDS issuer is unable to pay back the principle and the interests at the maturity date, the CDS buyer may pay a certain amount of interest to the CDS seller (for instances, Bear Stearns) to purchase a CDS as an insurance for the invested amount.Therefore, if the bond issuer is unable to pay up, the CDS buyer that made his purchase of CDS with the CDS seller will be compensated by the CDS Seller. This strategy is known as the absolute return strategy, if everything flows smoothly and economic continues to boom, which was not the case. Problem began to arise when the subprime mortgages didn’t work out and property value dipped tremendously. When the property price dipped, Bear Stearns managers realised that they do not have sufficient funds to protect the losses.It’s a domino effect when public was en lightened of Bear Stearns crisis. They started selling the bonds at lower price to fund their losses and more bonds are sold when they realise that the losses increase exponentially causing the price of the subprime bonds to drop tremendously and eventually led to the down fall of Bear Stearns. Soon after the downfall of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers filed the largest amount of debt throughout the history, debt of $619 Billion dollars. As the U.S government refuses to bail them out, Lehman Brother, one of the few largest banks in U. S. faces their downfall and sent 25,000 Americans jobless. This tremor caused by Bear Stearns directly result in the decreasing value of CDOs prices day by day. CDS bond causes banks to fail as more and more defaults are happening. Subsequently, it led to the bank liquidity issues and went into a credit crunch while being unable to sell their CDOs to sufficiently assist the losses they face.Lehman’s stocks plunged as investors pull out on them and their liquidity pool depletes. Lehman then tries to sell their firm to prevent further losses but potential partners turned them down as such, led to their bankruptcy. Right after the downfall of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers Investment Bank, Merrill Lynch & Co followed up, facing the crisis as they are into generating commissions, subprime loans, CDOs and such which are similar with what Bear Stearns and Lehman brother dealt with.On top with what they are dealing with, they took an extra path by providing loans to investors for the purchase of their bundle of CDOs right after they have been securitized. Some of the CDOs are even brought over from nonbank institutions and sent for a much risky asset backed securitization (ABS), before providing more loans to the investors for the purchase of the bond. This was also the reason why Merrill Lynch was able to survive as they are the most aggressive when dealing with subprime market.Merrill was the investment banks that make the high est amount of loans to any nonbanks as long as they sell the mortgages to Merrill eventually. Before Merrill falls, they actually tried to get Bear Stearns to pay them back the $850 million from the hedge funds which Bear loans hoping to make a turn over. However, the hedge funds collapsed and started the economic crisis. It was when Lehman brothers was still struggling, the government refuses to bail them out but instead requested The Bank of America to buy over Merrill Lynch as they see them both a potential assistance to the subprime crisis.Merging Merrill Lynch and Bank of American, it made them the ninth largest corporation in the world and presently called the Bank of American Merrill Lynch. American International Group Inc (AIG) was the largest insurance company that grew aggressively in U. S. The problems arise when AIG started to lose money in the investment they dealt with like CDOs, CDS, Pool of subprime mortgages and pool of Alt-A mortgages. Without a doubt they were ear ning a huge amount of premium incomes from their invested products, they came crashing when the prices of the properties falls.Increasing rate of foreclosure and amount of the loan pools it had insured cannot be leveraged and realized that their company do not have enough money for pay-outs. The Securities and Exchange Commission also found out that AIG had got low integrity as they shifted from the main balance sheet to the off balance sheet to cover up the problem. There weren’t transparency as the company tries to move or shift the amount that was supposed to be shown on the main balance sheet to the written off balance sheet, abusing the loopholes of the off balance sheet to beautify the main ones.They suffered the largest amount of losses when the rating firm’s such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings Inc lower the company’s rating. AIG was already on the edge of bankruptcy when all the counterparties started to d emand for their cash which they do not have. AIG was greedy and irresponsible and failed to assure that there was enough fund to pay-out all the insured parties. The U. S Government cannot let AIG fall as they are one of the largest insurance company, if they were to declare bankrupt, U.S will fall into a financial crisis and the insurance regulator will have to take over the firm and compensate the insured and it would create a tighter credit market for consumers and businesses trying to get loans. Thus, the U. S government cannot allow the economy to go down any further, they will have to use the tax payer’s money as a safety net to bail AIG out. Credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s (S&P) have been reprimanded as they are also one of the crucial groups of people that contributed to the subprime crisis.They handled complex securities such as the MBS and CDO which are from the loaners with bad credit scores and rated them highly so it could be sold to the i nvestors. The underrated MBS and CDOs that the investors purchase caused them to suffer great losses. It comes hand in hand, as without the rating agencies doing, the bank would not be able to resell the CDOs and MBS. It was ridiculous as a subprime loaner with a bad credit score can be securitized and rated as AAA ratings. It was also said that part of the revenue that the banks got from selling the CDOs and MBS are shared to the agencies.Competitions happened between different rating agencies as all of the wants to enjoy the high influx of revenue which eventually caused the rating standard to drop tremendously due to the conflict of interests. A source from (from where) also states that due to the low standardization in the ratings from the agencies, the AAA CDOs and MBS that went through securitizations doubled the amount as it used to be. As rating the CDOs and MBS is the rating agencies job, they are not held responsible for the compensations to the investors as ratings, was only a piece of advice from them to make references to.TO sum it up, investment banks was unable to rectify the illusion of how property value would climb continuously thus causing a domino effect that ultimately caused their downfall. When there is rise, there will always be a fall. As the bank did not foresee such circumstances affecting the prices of property, hence continued with the high-risk-loans to everyone and anyone that applies for a grant to purchase a property. It all falls into place when rating agencies started lowering their rating standard to compete with their competitions due to favouritism of their own interests.

What are the Factors Associated with Family Violence essayEssay Writing Service

What are the Factors Associated with Family Violence essayEssay Writing Service What are the Factors Associated with Family Violence essay What are the Factors Associated with Family Violence essayThe theme of family violence is closely linked to the conjugal relationship. Family violence is illegal. Marriage certificate this is not a license for violence. Moreover, criminal law is applicable to a family member in the same way as to any person who commits violent acts. Thus, the paper explores the factors associated with family violence and other characteristics of family violence because in this age of emancipation, feminization, democratization and other revolutionary achievements, we still meet with the hard facts as family violence in our society.Violence in the domestic sphere can take many forms and there exist specific factors associated with family violence. Boys are often victims of sexual and physical aggression. Weak and elderly family members are equally vulnerable to domestic violence. It happens that husbands suffer from coercive actions of their wives. However, according to Abrams, Belknap Melton (2001), the vast majority (over 70%) of victims of violence occurring in the context of family or intimate relationships are women and girls. Such a pronounced gender character of violence in the family, according to the staff of crisis centers and human rights organizations, is based one the fact that women of the whole world are experiencing violence because of the fact that they are women. Unfortunately, family violence exists in all social groups, regardless of income, education and status in society. Thus, the main aim of the assignment is to explore the factors associated with family violence.Unfortunately, the issue of equality between men and women has not lost its relevance still. Therefore, an important cause of family violence is based on social factors, social norms and values. Very often one spouse holds the position of a head of the family, and it is important to this person to â€Å"properly† realize the own power and establish control in the family. For instance, one way to create dominance in the family is to create conditions for the dependence of one partner from another. These conditions are economic (funds contributed to the family income) and psychological (e.g., wife thinks that in the case of divorce, she will suffer the most, and sometimes a woman just does not want to leave her husband â€Å"alone† and endure constant humiliation out of pity for her husband).One of the main features of domestic violence is that it is systematically repeated actions; this factor of frequency distinguishes domestic violence from the conflict or quarrel. Conflict usually is based on some specific problem that can be solved. Domestic violence occurs with the purpose of gaining full power and control over the victim. In addition, the second fundamental difference between family violence, compounding to the ordinary violence is that the offender and the victim are close people. This distinguishes family violence from other crimes because family viol ence comes from a spouse or partner, former spouse, parents, children, other relatives, groom, etc. The third feature of family violence is a gender-based character. Most often the victims of family violence are women.Family violence occurs throughout the world, in different cultures, regardless of ethnicity and religion, and affects people regardless of economic status and position in society. Dutton and Kropp (2000) demonstrated the research on the basic factors associated with family violence and mentioned â€Å"some key factors that are the part of many risk factor lists: factors related to the history of assaultive behavior; generally antisocial behaviors and attitudes; stability of relationships; stability of employment; mental health and personality disorder; childhood abuse; motivation for treatment; attitudes toward women†. The experience of the crisis centers shows that the first stage of violence is conditioned by psychological violence in the family, and than it c an be complemented by various severity, physical actions, and in some time it can escalate into physical or sexual abuse.It is important to say that from a legal point of view, such forms as psychological and economic violence are not considered. However, these forms of family violence are paid much attention in psychology. All forms of violence can be combined with each other and over time abuse can become more violent and perverted. For instance, such a factor as a lack of social support from both the state and non-governmental organizations leaves the family alone with their problems. Chronic stressful situations cause the parent frustration and helplessness, affecting the psychological climate of the family. As a child depends on the parents, then it is a high risk for a child to become a victim of family violence.Violence is always accompanied by a deterioration of women’s health (mental and physical). According to Davies, Lyon Monti-Catania (1998), sharp deterioration in health is accompanied by the need to withdraw immediately from the husband. However, the woman can not leave her husband because of several reasons, which strengthens the internal psychological discomfort. Experience of working with abused women and recent studies show that family violence should be treated as a set of separate acts of violence in the dynamics. This dynamic is similar to the situation with the use of imprisonment, torture, threats, or situation of a terrorist act or the taking of hostages. The difference lies in the fact that such a situation occurring in the family is not always properly interpreted by society. So, many women consider that even if the door is not locked, escape is impossible.To conclude, we have explored the main factors associated with family violence and used some examples to illustrate the presented facts. Moreover, we have also mentioned that psychological abuse is present in almost all cases of family violence. The more the victim is psycho logically dependent on the aggressor, the more likely that in the future a person will be the object of physical violence. In addition, psychological abuse is often underestimated, and the offender is rarely brought to justice. But the consequences of such violence can be expressed in serious psychological and emotional trauma, psychosomatic disorders, social isolation, exacerbation of chronic diseases, stress, and depression. Thus, violence is always violence, regardless of its degree of cruelty and regardless of whether it is legalized in a certain way (as in the case of corporal punishment) or illegal (as in the case of cruelty to children or wife intimidation).

Simple Établir (to Establish) Conjugations in French

Simple Établir (to Establish) Conjugations in French The French verb  Ãƒ ©tablir  means to establish. This is a relatively easy one to remember because it resembles the English word and the conjugations arent terribly difficult, either. Conjugating the French Verb Établir Verb conjugations are required when we want to change the tense. In English, we add -ed or -ing to do this, but its more complex in French. Thats because theres a new verb ending for ​every subject pronoun as well as every tense. Établir  is a  regular -IR verb  and it follows the verb conjugation rules of similar verbs like  convertir  (to convert),  chà ©rir  (to cherish), and many others. This makes learning each new verb a little easier than the last. To conjugate these verbs, we must first recognize the verb stem. For  Ãƒ ©tablir, that is  Ãƒ ©tabl-.  Then we need to add the appropriate ending. For instance, I establish is jà ©tablis and we will establish is nous à ©tablirons. Subject Present Future Imperfect j tablis tablirai tablissais tu tablis tabliras tablissais il tablit tablira tablissait nous tablissons tablirons tablissions vous tablissez tablirez tablissiez ils tablissent tabliront tablissaient The Present Participle of Établir Adding -ant  to the verb stem of  Ãƒ ©tablir  creates the  present participle  of  Ãƒ ©tablissant. This is a verb, yet it can also be used as an adjective, gerund, or noun in certain circumstances. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © The past tense established can be formed using either the imperfect or the  passà © composà ©. To construct the latter, begin with the subject pronoun, conjugate the  auxiliary verb  avoir  to match it, then add the past participle  Ãƒ ©tabli. It comes together quickly: I established is jai à ©tabli and we established is nous avons à ©tabli. You will notice that  ai  and  avons  are conjugates of  avoir  and that the past participle does not change. Apply these rules to other subjects as well. More Simple Établir  Conjugations Practicing all of the above forms of  Ãƒ ©tablir  should be the focus of your studies at first. When youre comfortable with those, consider adding the following to your vocabulary.  Even if you dont use them personally, its important to be able to recognize these and associate them with  Ãƒ ©tablir. When the act of establishing has some question or uncertainty to it, the subjunctive form or the conditional verb can be used. Its likely that you will only encounter the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive in formal writing.   Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive j tablisse tablirais tablis tablisse tu tablisses tablirais tablis tablisses il tablisse tablirait tablit tablt nous tablissions tablirions tablmes tablissions vous tablissiez tabliriez tabltes tablissiez ils tablissent tabliriez tablirent tablissent For short statements that directly request or demand something to be established, use the imperative verb form. When doing so, the subject pronoun is not required: use à ©tablis rather than tu à ©tablis. Imperative (tu) tablis (nous) tablissons (vous) tablissez

Parenting stratagies in Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parenting stratagies in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Families, or more specifically parents, have the greatest impact on children’s development and characters (Sanders, 2012). Methods of education differ according to differences in communities. Sumargurgi et al. (2013) studied an Indonesian community and they indicated that many Indonesian parents still use ineffective methods of dealing with their children, such as screaming. Developing countries tend to have high rates of behavioural and emotional problems in children (Mejia et al., 2012). My own philosophy about psychologists came from working in a parenting program in Saudi Arabia. It can be linked to Foucault’s philosophy, which focuses on parenting without using violence-based strategies because these are incompatible with learning. Some research is based on explaining the parenting methods used in Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and whether they using positive or negative strategies with children. A Saudi study indicated that 7% of parents were satisfied with their parenting performance and reported that did not need to know more about parenting techniques (â€Å"King Abdulaziz ...†, 2011). This essay aims to understand the parental methods used by Saudi parents with their children, to explain the education methods utilised by the Saudi community, and to identify whether those methods are effective or ineffective. It also assumes that there are differences in the parenting methods of Saudi parents, which are linked to Foucault’s concepts of an ethic of care, discipline and punishment, knowledge, governmentality, and pastoral power. An explanation is provided of how these concepts operate within my personal philosophy and professional philosophy of Altuwajery. From my perspective, Saudi families have strong relationships between children and parents, even after the children marry. There is a strong correlation at the relationship level between discipline and family cohesion. The relationship between Saudi families is closer than average

BU1010 Final Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

BU1010 Final Assessment - Essay Example And as result today the Central and Eastern European block and the Baltic States are knocking at the doors of European Union (IMF, 2000). The centrally planned economies existed in Soviet Union. The problem in the central economies was its inability to generate wealth and raise the living standard. The production and distribution would come from central government, deciding for the states, what to produce and how to distribute in what quantities. The workforce was assumed to be fully employed and salary was predetermined, regardless of the potential of the worker (Greenspan, 1997). In these economies there was no effective market clearing mechanism, the result was huge surplus of unwanted goods by population on one side and shortage of goods, which were in needed. This imbalance in demand and supply led to rationing the quota, as the quantity of the goods was limited. As production and planning was followed through state orders rather than by market demand, the finance had no control over the actions that were remotely planned by the center without following the market rules (Greenspan, 1997). In such economies, there was nothing like credit, interest or market values, as every thing belonged to the state. Due to the lack of a developed financial system, these economies as a consequence wasted their resources as much as much five to seven times more than Western European economies, yet without any productive result, which led to the dismemberment of Soviet Union and the rest of Eastern Bloc in early 1990s (Greenspan, 1997). The macroeconomic stabilization process after initial burst of high inflation stabilizes the inflation and allows the liberalization to take place, which keeps a tight control over the state budget and growth of money allowing the growth of progressive fiscal system to develop. These economies had no financial