Wall Street Journal Article - Summary Assignment

Wall Street Journal Article - Summary - Assignment Example Thought this timing of granting options cannot be termed as illegal, critics believe that providing such grants at the time of merging helps the parent companies acquire the target with low cost premium relative to other bidders. As discussed in Chapter 41, stock options were given to the employees of the company in order to provide them with motivation towards team success and organization improvement. But it could lead to ill effects as such the employees trying to do illegal activities like rewriting books in order to keep their options in a profit rate. The article proves as evidence to what was discussed about the illegal activities. The allowance of extra shares to executive officers during a pre-deal affects the value of share holders stocks in a large way. The grants of the shareholders are affected in two ways, one being positive to them, the other in a negative way. The shareholders can be deprived of their share value with the dilution of its cost by providing extra shares to officers. Or, they can benefit with the incentives that are obtained through the merging with other companies. The executive officers, due to the extensive revenue they get through takeover bids promote mergers and acquisitions in a large way. Examples of such merger acquisition done in the past two years include the taking over of Marvel pictures by Walt Disney, where the CEO reaped $34 millions in cash through selling stock options. The allowance of providing pre-deal options to executives is termed as a selfish act by critics and is compared in terms with another activity considered to be controversial, â€Å"SpringLoading†. Though the details were discussed with the SEC, they have declined to take any direct action against it except for ruling that the acquiring companies have to show their annual proxy statements. As the article suggests, the executives convert their options to shares as soon as the deal closes out. This was

Emergency Response Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Emergency Response Plan - Assignment Example The purpose of this program is to ensure that the emergency response is always efficient so as to manage the disasters. Conversely, the program aims at minimizing potential risks or danger to the individuals, staff, residents, visitors, and volunteers. Nonetheless, the purpose of this program is to ensure that all operations are in a state of continuity so as to effectively mitigate the risks. Moreover, an emergency response plan is never complete without clear objectives (Gandy et al., 2014). In this case, the response plan primarily aims at providing directions and outlining processes that are necessary for managing personnel, facilities, equipment and all resources during the emergency. Besides, the plan aims at minimizing the potential impacts of the disaster through maintenance of operational standards in readiness, preparedness, and awareness of the emergency situation. Though least important, the plan aims at laying the foundation for developing training programs relating to e mergency response management. The report in particular strives to develop an emergency response plan for severe storms or thunderstorms as one of the frequent disaster situations. Damages that tropical storms and tornadoes leave on the facilities they strike are enough to call for a detailed emergency response plan that can help in mitigating immediate and residual effects of such natural disasters.

Four Eras of Writing Essay Example for Free

Four Eras of Writing Essay History has evolved over the last two centuries. In the introduction to Interpretations of American History edited by Francis G. Couvares, et al., he states that the transition of the way history was interpreted has only â€Å"linked the past more strongly to the present† (Couvares 1). Before, historians –mostly white male- used to report only about â€Å"male† topics but since then, different issues have transformed the way history used to be. Over the last 400 years, the four different stages that have reshaped the writing of American history have been the providential, the rationalist, the nationalist, and the professional. Late- nineteenth-century historians, usually called â€Å"historicists† or â€Å"positivists† believed that history was like science and with practice it could be solved. According to Couvares, Croce believed that Positivists were faulty in their assumptions because history was perceived differently every time it was written down since no one thinks exactly alike. With so many different views, historians are usually adding more and more information to each other’s perceptions. Couvares says that â€Å"history is historiography, the study of history and its changing interpretations† (Couvares 3). When interpreting history, historians were influenced by their personal circumstances, beliefs, and environment. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, all through the Civil War, historians wrote a form of â€Å"providential history† (Couvares 4). Puritans – usually ministers, magistrates, and women- wished to â€Å"justify the ways of God to man, and vice-versa† (Couvares 4) in their history. They interpreted what was happening at the time as a sign of God wanting them to move forward which led them to believe that the Revolution was a win for â€Å"reformed† Christianity. With the European Enlightenment, came more of an intellectual and natural way of thinking. Couvares notes how the â€Å"rationalist historians†, greatly influenced by Newton and Locke, prospered along with the people who had been at the top of the colonies before. During this stage, the progress of reason (Couvares 5), as they called it, was their new belief. Most historians during this time were wealthy and with a high position in society, hence the style of their writing. Because of the way they thought of themselves, their history explained how the enlightened world was a success because of men like them. According to Couvares, Jeffersons Notes on the State of Virginia very much sums up the thought of the rationalists where they were the ones who achieved greatness, it wasnt God driven. However, the rationalists were not that far off from the providential its because their story still pointed upward (Couvares 6). As the nineteenth century went on, historians started to see America as the triumph of Anglo-Saxon people over inferior races (Couvares 6). They thought that because America had overcome other inferior races that they were better. Couvares explains how Bancroft organized Americas history around three themes: progress, liberty, and Anglo-Saxon destiny (Couvares 6). This is where the third stage comes in. Their idea that the Teutonic people were supposed to spread freedom across the globe was the start to their sense of pride, love, and nationalism. Not only were men, but also female historians hooked on this idea. Helen Hunt Jackson wrote about white-Indian relations, which at the time was a big obstacle to jump; while at the same time anthropologists beginning to study these relationships. Around the 1870s, though, Bancroft seemed like the past and the future possibilities were just around the corner. As universities started being built and education was more common among the middle class, history was becoming a profession. Practiced by the people who had access to advanced education, white men, they started concerning themselves with specialized training, research methodology, and educational credentials (Couvares 7). Adams and Turner both shared the belief of applying Darwins method to history. Adams argued that history was like physics and that it could be deciphered the same way. Even though Adams couldnt accomplish his goal, Turner did while at the same time seeming connected to the nationalists is sharing a little bit of their beliefs. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, another type of professionals emerged. These Progressive historians, unlike the Adams, saw history as politics and not as science. They believed that science was needed to produce usable facts, and art to persuade people to act on them (Couvares 9) but it was political action what they wanted to accomplish with it; which could be why Progressives could be classified as reformers. Basically, their point was that the function of history â€Å"was to uncover the economic basis of political ideas†¦and educate the citizenry† (Couvares 9). In the end, with the Great Depression going on and the Second World War, the question that was raised was whether or not if the history had prepared them. Nobody could have foreseen what was going to happen, and eventually history continues to be written everyday and like Couvares pointd out, â€Å"history is an act of interpretation† (Couvares 1).

Criminology Essays Crime, Punishment, and Life in Prison

Criminology Essays Crime, Punishment, and Life in Prison Crime, Punishment, and Life in Prison Definitions of prison: A place confinement of persons in lawful detention, especially persons convicted of crimes A place or condition of confinement or forcible restraint A state of imprisonment or captivity Get help with your essay from our expert essay writers Why do many people end up in a prison cell? There is no straight answer to this question. There are many reasons why there are so many prisoners in the world today, and to each crime there is a motive. This could be drug related, money related, gang related, marital breakdown or even from a person that has suffered mental and physical abuse in the past. The only person that knows why a crime is committed is the criminal him/her self. As much as we try to understand how a criminals mind works, we can never be sure, but mostly relates to violence, as Michel Foucault says: All human behavior is scheduled and programmed through rationality. There is a logic of institutions and in behavior and in political relations. In even the most violent ones there is a rationality. What is most dangerous in violence is its rationality. Of course violence itself is terrible. But the deepest root of violence and its permanence come out of the form of the rationality we use. The idea had been that if we live in the world of reason, we can get rid of violence. This is quite wrong. Between violence and rationality there is no incompatibility. He tries to explain that even though there is so much violence in world today, it can be removed. Example of how a criminal is infiltrated to be put behind bars An example of a motive would be the Mafia. Their motives to kill are to earn respect, to control areas, to become a major force in the world, and to own as much as they can. An example of how mafia are in prison is of Joseph Pistone AKA Donnie Brasco. Joseph Pistone was an undercover FBI agent that infiltrated the Mafia, which led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions. It also meant that even though his mission was over, Joe Pistone never again became Joe Pistone due to the $500,000 price tag that the inmates had put on his life(taken from the novel my life in the Mafia). Even behind bars, the Mafia inmates still have a powerful impact on society. There are many other organisations which have members behind bars that still manage to operate with the outside world. As money talks, this could have something to do with Police either being bribed, or too afraid for their lives. Our views on life in prison and injustice The way that society view life in prison is influenced through movies and through reality TV shows e.g. programmes on reality TV and bravo. Movies only show the viewer what they want to see. Many movies about prison have no care to show the viewer how prison is really like. For example The movie Mean machine. The movie shows that the life of a prisoner is not even punishment. Yes they are being watched everyday, but its shows that they have the liberty to do whatever they please. In some ways it does portray the life of criminal gangs i.e. Mafia. Triads etc, but it does not meant that every inmate lives like this. In some cases, the legal system really lets the victims down. An example of this would be the death of Jamie Bulger. 2 year old Jamie Bulger was kidnapped at a shopping mall by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both aged 10. they brutally murdered him. Even thought they were children, their sentencing was not a fair hearing. In prison, they have used around 2 million pounds of taxpayers money, enjoying the luxuries that many people cannot afford. They have had their names changed, education paid for etc. If this is the life of a criminal then that could be a reason there are so many prisoners- an easy life behind bars. Many prisoners do show some compassion. For example a paedophile or child killer does not usually get any sympathy from inmates. For example, Ian Huntley was too afraid to leave his cell due to the threats made to him about his crime. this led to attempted suicide. A prisoner longs for the things that he/she had on the outside, and sometimes the only way to achieve this is by joining a prison organisation and doing the things that change their lives. Quote by Eldridge cleaver â€Å"â€Å"In prison, those things withheld from and denied to the prisoner become precisely what he wants most of all.† There are many prisoners that write an autobiography of life in prison to tell the society today how prison life is and is it really as cool as the movies make it out to be e.g. Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams. Has the way that prisoners live their lives today behind bars made them less fearful of officials, causing many to carry on with crimes? I believe that a prisoner’s life has changed due to technology and due to the fact that they do not live like prisoners any more. 24 Surveillance means that prisoners are being watched throughout the day, but when a camera is not on them, anything happens. A prisoner only needs a few seconds to commit a crime, and most never get caught due to surveillance on other prisoners or distractions. This is mainly due to gang warfare, mainly between different races. In prison, gang leaders demand respect and will usually stop at nothing to get it. An example of Gang warfare would be the 6 major prison gangs that are nationally recognised in the USA: Neta-Puerto Rican/American/Hispanic gang Aryan Brotherhood- Caucasian gang Black Guerrilla Family- Black gang Mexican Mafia- Latin/Hispanic La Nuestra Familia- Mexican/American Texas Syndicate- Mexican American These gangs cause chaos among prisons in America. It is mainly race against race. An example of this is the breakout that happened on 14th February 2006, where a race riot broke out in a California prison involving more than 400 hundred inmates, with around 20,000 continuing in prisons around the country. These riots were controlled by a Mexican gang leader who ordered an attack on blacks. This shows what an impact one man can have on hundreds. It also shows that even though modern technology is being used, there is still a way around it. 1 inmate died and many hundred injured. However saying this, there is evidences which show that at least one gang leader had seen the error of his ways. This would be Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams. He was the Co-founder of the Crips gang La, and realised after 16 years on death row that prison life is no life. He set out to make youth understand what kind of life that crime leads up to and wrote a book about it called ‘Life in Prison’ which tells us of how he lives his life behind bars. His work to end gang warfare within youth earned him a Nobel peace prize. ‘My greatest hope is that the lessons the stories offer will help you make better choices than I did.’ These are words he uses to warn youth not to follow in his footsteps. He wrote numerous letters to youth, explaining to them not to turn their lives to crime but to, â€Å"Learn about computer technology, politics and the sciences.† He also made an apology to the youth of the United States and Africa for what the creating the gang saying that he was no longer â€Å"dys-educated (disease educated). I was his mission to warn and deter youth away from crime, and it earned him nominations for the Nobel peace prize, as well as a motion picture which was made about his life. Unfortunately, and against much protest, he was sadly executed by lethal injection in 2005. It shows that even though a man can influence so many lives for the good, he will always pay for his past. How is technology used by/for Criminals? Due to modern day technology, many criminals are using this technology to their advantage to commit sophisticated crimes. A technology related crime today would be the credit card scam; chat rooms, or receiving person’s details through the internet. The internet is a one of the most ways that crimes are committed. These are through chartrooms- where many paedophiles lure youth through lies and deceit, pornography, hacking into another’s computer and offensive emails to name some. A lot of work goes into protecting underage youth from being seduced in a chartroom by a paedophile. No matter how much can be tried, the problem never goes away due to the rapid development and progression of technology today. We are shown about prison life through movies, documentaries, and websites. These influence our lives on what prison life is really like, and that’s how close we will get to that unless we become criminals ourselves. Due to the modern day technology, a prisoner can be monitored 24 hours a day through surveillance. This makes it easier for the guards. It does however invades an inmates privacy, but to maintain order and any corruption, this has to be done. Many released prisoners have computer chips or electronic tags on them so that they are monitored and located all the time. I believe that this is a very good system, as it does not show leniency to those that have escaped prison, but no the punishment. I believe that through the ages and due to economic changes and technology, prison life has become too easy. Today, a prisoner is given too much leniency. The reason being is that while inside many prisoners would like to change their lives around, but many also use it as an advantage to live a life of luxury. I believe that this is wrong as there are so many honest people in the world that cannot afford to live the life that prisoners can afford to in the modern day which could be a reason why criminals believe that prison is not necessarily a terrible place it used to be. Bibliography www.crimelibrary.com The biography of Eldridge Cleaver www.tookie.com Redemption- Motion picture Michael Foucault- truth is the future www.cnn.com

The Coca Plant :: Botany

The Coca Plant Erythroxylum coca Lamark is a tropical shrub of the order Geraniales and the family Erythroxylaceae. Two tropical genera of the dicotyledons totaling approximately 250 species of trees and shrubs compose this family. Family characteristics are alternate, undivided, lobeless, toothless leaves, and small flowers in clusters from the leaf axils with persistent calyces with five lobes or sepals, five petals often with appendages, ten persistent stamens united at their bases, and three styles. The fruits are small drupes. (see Everett, 1981and Angiosperms in Brittanica Online) The name Erythroxylum comes from the Greek erythros, red, and xylon wood. Lamarck described the species E. coca in 1786. (Plowman,1982) Distribution Erythroxylum coca is cultivated in Africa, northern South America, southeast Asia, and Taiwan. It grows from 2-4m (8 feet) tall. The plants thrive best in hot, damp situations, such as the clearing of forests, but the leaves most preferred are obtained in drier locations, such as on the sides of hills. (Boucher) The Plants are found mainly in relatively small areas of Peru and Bolivia, the major producing countries. The upper Huallaga Valley, along a tributary of the Amazon in Peru, produces 60% of the world's coca. In Bolivia, the crop traditionally was grown on steep eastern slopes of the Yungas region of the Andes Mountains at elevations of 1000 to 2000 meters. However, in recent decades, the lower-elevation Chapare Valley overtook the Yungas in production, and cultivation is now expanding into lowland rain forests. (see "Coca" in Britannica Online) History & Traditional Uses Archaeological evidence indicates that coca was domesticated by 1500 BC. In pre-Columbian times, coca was a major element of the economy (Hastdorf, 1987). Andean peasants and miners traditionally have consumed coca by sucking wads of leaves, keeping them in their cheeks for hours at a time. Often the coca is combined with chalk or ash, which helps dissolve the alkaloids into saliva. Coca chewing reduces hunger pain, and workers say the leaves give them strength and endurance to work for many hours at high altitudes, often in extreme cold. Some of the healthiest and hardest-working Indians on the Colombian Amazon the Yukunas consume enormous amounts of coca leaves daily, but this not a problem as they have time to raise their crops, hunt, fish and supply their food. (Linales) Perhaps the most ancient use of coca in South America is its employment in various shaman practices and religious rituals.

Separating Political Conduct and Personal Morality in Niccolò Machiavel

Separating Political Conduct and Personal Morality in Niccolà ² Machiavelli's, The Prince Niccolà ² Machiavelli wrote, in his novel The Prince, that strong central political leadership was more important than anything else, including religion and moral behavior. Machiavelli, writing during a period of dramatic change known as the Italian Renaissance, displayed attitudes towards many issues, mostly political, which supported his belief that strong government was the most important element in society. These attitudes and ideas were very appropriate for the time because they stressed strong, centralized power, the only kind of leadership that seemed to be working throughout Europe, and which was the element Italy was lacking. Machiavelli understood that obtaining such a government could not be done without separating political conduct and personal morality, and suggested that the separation be made. The Prince, written to the Medici family over five hundred years ago contained many truths, so universal and accurate that they still influence politics today. To understand the writings of Niccolà ² Machiavelli, it is necessary to understand the world of Niccolà ² Machiavelli, Renaissance Italy. The region was not one nation as it is today, rather a collection of several city-states, which contained internal fighting between powerful families, fighting with each other. This era differed from the preceding middle ages in many respects, the pope's power was weakened, money controlled power instead of noble birth, and there was a revival of ancient Greek and Roman literature, architecture and art by a new breed of people, the humanists. These changes created the environment in which Machiavelli lived. He saw how the quarrelling was weakeni... ...he ideas in contained proved themselves to be very useful in the government of people. Niccolà ² Machiavelli was born into a world of drastic change, Renaissance Italy, that would cause his mind to conjure ideas about many political issues transferred into books that the entire world has profited from since. His ideas were incredibly relevant to his time, because they suggested harsh governments, the only kind of governments that seemed to be working. He proposed creating these harsh governments through a separation of personal morality and political behavior. His ideas were so relevant and so universal, that they still influence politics today. Niccolà ² Machiavelli proposed the creating of strong central government more powerful than anything else, including religion and morality. Works Cited Machiavelli, Niccolà ³. The Prince. New York: Penguin Classics, 1999.

Importance of accountability Essay

I have been tasked with writing this 1000 word essay on the importance of accountability of sensitive items within the military. The reason I have been assigned to do this task is due to my failure of being attentive and securing my weapon and having it with me at all time. I failed by leaving my M9 Berretta at home in my safe before I left in support of the Boston Marathon. I was told by certain individuals to leave it at home, but I failed as an NCO to ask my section leader on how to properly secure my weapon. I did what I thought was best and left it to at home limit the amount of time I traveled with it. In doing so was wrong, if anything would have happened to that weapon there would have be severe consequences that not only myself would have to face, but individuals in my command that would have been affected due to the negligence of my actions. This whole process is new to the unit and me on how to transport a weapon properly and safely from California to Massachusetts. I secu red my weapon in weapon case with and lock and a slide lock following JetBlue regulation and TSA regulations. Once I landed in Massachusetts I would secure my weapon in the 1st CST safe for safe keeping. A day prior to the Boston marathon I would be issued it again and along with 45 rounds of hollow point ammunition from the 1st. Once the Boston Marathon was over I would have the weapon remain with me until my departure back to home station. In AR 710-2 (Supply Policy below the National Level), AR 735-5 (Policies and Procedures for Property Accountability) and AR 190-13 (The Army Physical Security Program). All these Army Regulation cover the Army policy for property accountability. Some sensitive items are your weapon, military ID card, communication equipment, etcetera. Sensitive items are anything that can be used by opposing forces or the enemies to counter attack, weaken forces, and gain information, and so on. Throughout our lives we come across many things of value. Some things are more valuable than others, either because they cost more money or they hold a sentimental value that we keep close to our hearts. In the military regardless of what branch you are, it is instilled in our heads that our weapon is the most valuable thing you will ever have. You train with it, you eat with it, you sleep with it, you use is to protect yourself and your battle buddies and you take care of it like it was your child. In the end it becomes a part of you and you cannot foresee yourself without it. Your weapon is considered a sensitive item because if it ends up  in the enemies’ possession, it could possibly be used against you and your comrades. Keeping track of where your weapon is or having it on you at all times will help prevent any of that happening. An so I forget the value of my weapon and what it means to me. Always having your sensitive items is very important and I should have treated my weapon as one of those. Instead I chose to leave in my safe thinking it was just another items that I needed to bring. Compared to the active army side the very smallest punishment for misplacing a weapon, if it’s found within a reasonable amount of time, is a â€Å"Company Grade Article 15.† That means you can lose one grade of rank, a week of pay, and two weeks of extra duty. If that’s all you lost, you got off very, very lightly. More often, and especially if you lose your weapon in a combat zone, you’re looking at a â€Å"Field Grade Article 15† if your chain of command is feeling very generous. You would risk losing at least one or as many as three grades of rank (E-4 to E-1), one half of your base pay for two months, 60 days restriction, 45 days extra duty. That’s only for enlisted though. If you do the same as an officer, you won’t get the same slap on the wrists as a punishment. Your career is over. You may as well start looking around for a new job and hope you don’t get a bad discharge. So we check our sensitive items religiously. Normally I check to see if I have my sensitive equipment with me thru out the day or we do a check at the end of each exercise to make sure each one of us on our team is not missing valuable equipment. Most of the times our gear is either on your person, or locked up somewhere secure. Accountability and personal responsibility for your equipment is something the military takes so seriously it’s not even funny. Because if there’s a fight, and you don’t have your weapon, then you’re a huge liability to everyone. You also can’t be trusted to do certain thing due to fact of not being able to hand the responsibility. It is very important to know that my action don’t affect me but everyone around me. I now know that because my failure I will be always sure to get my proper information from senior leaders before making a decision or do my research more extensively. I don’t want to be a liability but an asset that everyone can rely on to get task or mission done, in a time and correct manner. I won’t make the mistakes like leaving my sensitive equipment at home or unsecure. I will also come to my section leaders first  in the event I have a serious question. I am sure they will be able to guide me in the right direction every time. From Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free, â€Å"It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.† and moving on is exactly what I am going to do from this experi ence.