Angels Demons Chapter 36-38

36 The Office of the Swiss Guard. Langdon stood in the doorway, surveying the collision of centuries before them. Mixed media. The room was a lushly adorned Renaissance library complete with inlaid bookshelves, oriental carpets, and colorful tapestries†¦ and yet the room bristled with high-tech gear – banks of computers, faxes, electronic maps of the Vatican complex, and televisions tuned to CNN. Men in colorful pantaloons typed feverishly on computers and listened intently in futuristic headphones. â€Å"Wait here,† the guard said. Langdon and Vittoria waited as the guard crossed the room to an exceptionally tall, wiry man in a dark blue military uniform. He was talking on a cellular phone and stood so straight he was almost bent backward. The guard said something to him, and the man shot a glance over at Langdon and Vittoria. He nodded, then turned his back on them and continued his phone call. The guard returned. â€Å"Commander Olivetti will be with you in a moment.† â€Å"Thank you.† The guard left and headed back up the stairs. Langdon studied Commander Olivetti across the room, realizing he was actually the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of an entire country. Vittoria and Langdon waited, observing the action before them. Brightly dressed guards bustled about yelling orders in Italian. â€Å"Continua cercando!† one yelled into a telephone. â€Å"Probasti il museo?† another asked. Langdon did not need fluent Italian to discern that the security center was currently in intense search mode. This was the good news. The bad news was that they obviously had not yet found the antimatter. â€Å"You okay?† Langdon asked Vittoria. She shrugged, offering a tired smile. When the commander finally clicked off his phone and approached across the room, he seemed to grow with each step. Langdon was tall himself and not accustomed to looking up at many people, but Commander Olivetti demanded it. Langdon sensed immediately that the commander was a man who had weathered tempests, his face hale and steeled. His dark hair was cropped in a military buzz cut, and his eyes burned with the kind of hardened determination only attainable through years of intense training. He moved with ramrod exactness, the earpiece hidden discreetly behind one ear making him look more like U.S. Secret Service than Swiss Guard. The commander addressed them in accented English. His voice was startlingly quiet for such a large man, barely a whisper. It bit with a tight, military efficiency. â€Å"Good afternoon,† he said. â€Å"I am Commander Olivetti – Comandante Principale of the Swiss Guard. I'm the one who called your director.† Vittoria gazed upward. â€Å"Thank you for seeing us, sir.† The commander did not respond. He motioned for them to follow and led them through the tangle of electronics to a door in the side wall of the chamber. â€Å"Enter,† he said, holding the door for them. Langdon and Vittoria walked through and found themselves in a darkened control room where a wall of video monitors was cycling lazily through a series of black-and-white images of the complex. A young guard sat watching the images intently. â€Å"Fuori,† Olivetti said. The guard packed up and left. Olivetti walked over to one of the screens and pointed to it. Then he turned toward his guests. â€Å"This image is from a remote camera hidden somewhere inside Vatican City. I'd like an explanation.† Langdon and Vittoria looked at the screen and inhaled in unison. The image was absolute. No doubt. It was CERN's antimatter canister. Inside, a shimmering droplet of metallic liquid hung ominously in the air, lit by the rhythmic blinking of the LED digital clock. Eerily, the area around the canister was almost entirely dark, as if the antimatter were in a closet or darkened room. At the top of the monitor flashed superimposed text: Live Feed – Camera #86. Vittoria looked at the time remaining on the flashing indicator on the canister. â€Å"Under six hours,† she whispered to Langdon, her face tense. Langdon checked his watch. â€Å"So we have until†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stopped, a knot tightening in his stomach. â€Å"Midnight,† Vittoria said, with a withering look. Midnight, Langdon thought. A flair for the dramatic. Apparently whoever stole the canister last night had timed it perfectly. A stark foreboding set in as he realized he was currently sitting at ground zero. Olivetti's whisper now sounded more like a hiss. â€Å"Does this object belong to your facility?† Vittoria nodded. â€Å"Yes, sir. It was stolen from us. It contains an extremely combustible substance called antimatter.† Olivetti looked unmoved. â€Å"I am quite familiar with incendiaries, Ms. Vetra. I have not heard of antimatter.† â€Å"It's new technology. We need to locate it immediately or evacuate Vatican City.† Olivetti closed his eyes slowly and reopened them, as if refocusing on Vittoria might change what he just heard. â€Å"Evacuate? Are you aware what is going on here this evening?† â€Å"Yes, sir. And the lives of your cardinals are in danger. We have about six hours. Have you made any headway locating the canister?† Olivetti shook his head. â€Å"We haven't started looking.† Vittoria choked. â€Å"What? But we expressly heard your guards talking about searching the – â€Å" â€Å"Searching, yes,† Olivetti said, â€Å"but not for your canister. My men are looking for something else that does not concern you.† Vittoria's voice cracked. â€Å"You haven't even begun looking for this canister?† Olivetti's pupils seemed to recede into his head. He had the passionless look of an insect. â€Å"Ms. Vetra, is it? Let me explain something to you. The director of your facility refused to share any details about this object with me over the phone except to say that I needed to find it immediately. We are exceptionally busy, and I do not have the luxury of dedicating manpower to a situation until I get some facts.† â€Å"There is only one relevant fact at this moment, sir,† Vittoria said, â€Å"that being that in six hours that device is going to vaporize this entire complex.† Olivetti stood motionless. â€Å"Ms. Vetra, there is something you need to know.† His tone hinted at patronizing. â€Å"Despite the archaic appearance of Vatican City, every single entrance, both public and private, is equipped with the most advanced sensing equipment known to man. If someone tried to enter with any sort of incendiary device it would be detected instantly. We have radioactive isotope scanners, olfactory filters designed by the American DEA to detect the faintest chemical signatures of combustibles and toxins. We also use the most advanced metal detectors and X-ray scanners available.† â€Å"Very impressive,† Vittoria said, matching Olivetti's cool. â€Å"Unfortunately, antimatter is nonradioactive, its chemical signature is that of pure hydrogen, and the canister is plastic. None of those devices would have detected it.† â€Å"But the device has an energy source,† Olivetti said, motioning to the blinking LED. â€Å"Even the smallest trace of nickel-cadmium would register as – â€Å" â€Å"The batteries are also plastic.† Olivetti's patience was clearly starting to wane. â€Å"Plastic batteries?† â€Å"Polymer gel electrolyte with Teflon.† Olivetti leaned toward her, as if to accentuate his height advantage. â€Å"Signorina, the Vatican is the target of dozens of bomb threats a month. I personally train every Swiss Guard in modern explosive technology. I am well aware that there is no substance on earth powerful enough to do what you are describing unless you are talking about a nuclear warhead with a fuel core the size of a baseball.† Vittoria framed him with a fervent stare. â€Å"Nature has many mysteries yet to unveil.† Olivetti leaned closer. â€Å"Might I ask exactly who you are? What is your position at CERN?† â€Å"I am a senior member of the research staff and appointed liaison to the Vatican for this crisis.† â€Å"Excuse me for being rude, but if this is indeed a crisis, why am I dealing with you and not your director? And what disrespect do you intend by coming into Vatican City in short pants?† Langdon groaned. He couldn't believe that under the circumstances the man was being a stickler for dress code. Then again, he realized, if stone penises could induce lustful thoughts in Vatican residents, Vittoria Vetra in shorts could certainly be a threat to national security. â€Å"Commander Olivetti,† Langdon intervened, trying to diffuse what looked like a second bomb about to explode. â€Å"My name is Robert Langdon. I'm a professor of religious studies in the U.S. and unaffiliated with CERN. I have seen an antimatter demonstration and will vouch for Ms. Vetra's claim that it is exceptionally dangerous. We have reason to believe it was placed inside your complex by an antireligious cult hoping to disrupt your conclave.† Olivetti turned, peering down at Langdon. â€Å"I have a woman in shorts telling me that a droplet of liquid is going to blow up Vatican City, and I have an American professor telling me we are being targeted by some antireligious cult. What exactly is it you expect me to do?† â€Å"Find the canister,† Vittoria said. â€Å"Right away.† â€Å"Impossible. That device could be anywhere. Vatican City is enormous.† â€Å"Your cameras don't have GPS locators on them?† â€Å"They are not generally stolen. This missing camera will take days to locate.† â€Å"We don't have days,† Vittoria said adamantly. â€Å"We have six hours.† â€Å"Six hours until what, Ms. Vetra?† Olivetti's voice grew louder suddenly. He pointed to the image on the screen. â€Å"Until these numbers count down? Until Vatican City disappears? Believe me, I do not take kindly to people tampering with my security system. Nor do I like mechanical contraptions appearing mysteriously inside my walls. I am concerned. It is my job to be concerned. But what you have told me here is unacceptable.† Langdon spoke before he could stop himself. â€Å"Have you heard of the Illuminati?† The commander's icy exterior cracked. His eyes went white, like a shark about to attack. â€Å"I am warning you. I do not have time for this.† â€Å"So you have heard of the Illuminati?† Olivetti's eyes stabbed like bayonets. â€Å"I am a sworn defendant of the Catholic Church. Of course I have heard of the Illuminati. They have been dead for decades.† Langdon reached in his pocket and pulled out the fax image of Leonardo Vetra's branded body. He handed it to Olivetti. â€Å"I am an Illuminati scholar,† Langdon said as Olivetti studied the picture. â€Å"I am having a difficult time accepting that the Illuminati are still active, and yet the appearance of this brand combined with the fact that the Illuminati have a well-known covenant against Vatican City has changed my mind.† â€Å"A computer-generated hoax.† Olivetti handed the fax back to Langdon. Langdon stared, incredulous. â€Å"Hoax? Look at the symmetry! You of all people should realize the authenticity of – â€Å" â€Å"Authenticity is precisely what you lack. Perhaps Ms. Vetra has not informed you, but CERN scientists have been criticizing Vatican policies for decades. They regularly petition us for retraction of Creationist theory, formal apologies for Galileo and Copernicus, repeal of our criticism against dangerous or immoral research. What scenario seems more likely to you – that a four-hundred-year-old satanic cult has resurfaced with an advanced weapon of mass destruction, or that some prankster at CERN is trying to disrupt a sacred Vatican event with a well-executed fraud?† â€Å"That photo,† Vittoria said, her voice like boiling lava, â€Å"is of my father. Murdered. You think this is my idea of a joke?† â€Å"I don't know, Ms. Vetra. But I do know until I get some answers that make sense, there is no way I will raise any sort of alarm. Vigilance and discretion are my duty†¦ such that spiritual matters can take place here with clarity of mind. Today of all days.† Langdon said, â€Å"At least postpone the event.† â€Å"Postpone?† Olivetti's jaw dropped. â€Å"Such arrogance! A conclave is not some American baseball game you call on account of rain. This is a sacred event with a strict code and process. Never mind that one billion Catholics in the world are waiting for a leader. Never mind that the world media is outside. The protocols for this event are holy – not subject to modification. Since 1179, conclaves have survived earthquakes, famines, and even the plague. Believe me, it is not about to be canceled on account of a murdered scientist and a droplet of God knows what.† â€Å"Take me to the person in charge,† Vittoria demanded. Olivetti glared. â€Å"You've got him.† â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"Someone in the clergy.† The veins on Olivetti's brow began to show. â€Å"The clergy has gone. With the exception of the Swiss Guard, the only ones present in Vatican City at this time are the College of Cardinals. And they are inside the Sistine Chapel.† â€Å"How about the chamberlain?† Langdon stated flatly. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"The late Pope's chamberlain.† Langdon repeated the word self-assuredly, praying his memory served him. He recalled reading once about the curious arrangement of Vatican authority following the death of a Pope. If Langdon was correct, during the interim between Popes, complete autonomous power shifted temporarily to the late Pope's personal assistant – his chamberlain – a secretarial underling who oversaw conclave until the cardinals chose the new Holy Father. â€Å"I believe the chamberlain is the man in charge at the moment.† â€Å"Il camerlegno?† Olivetti scowled. â€Å"The camerlegno is only a priest here. He is not even canonized. He is the late Pope's hand servant.† â€Å"But he is here. And you answer to him.† Olivetti crossed his arms. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, it is true that Vatican rule dictates the camerlegno assume chief executive office during conclave, but it is only because his lack of eligibility for the papacy ensures an unbiased election. It is as if your president died, and one of his aides temporarily sat in the oval office. The camerlegno is young, and his understanding of security, or anything else for that matter, is extremely limited. For all intents and purposes, I am in charge here.† â€Å"Take us to him,† Vittoria said. â€Å"Impossible. Conclave begins in forty minutes. The camerlegno is in the Office of the Pope preparing. I have no intention of disturbing him with matters of security.† Vittoria opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by a knocking at the door. Olivetti opened it. A guard in full regalia stood outside, pointing to his watch. â€Å"ee l'ora, comandante.† Olivetti checked his own watch and nodded. He turned back to Langdon and Vittoria like a judge pondering their fate. â€Å"Follow me.† He led them out of the monitoring room across the security center to a small clear cubicle against the rear wall. â€Å"My office.† Olivetti ushered them inside. The room was unspecial – a cluttered desk, file cabinets, folding chairs, a water cooler. â€Å"I will be back in ten minutes. I suggest you use the time to decide how you would like to proceed.† Vittoria wheeled. â€Å"You can't just leave! That canister is – â€Å" â€Å"I do not have time for this,† Olivetti seethed. â€Å"Perhaps I should detain you until after the conclave when I do have time.† â€Å"Signore,† the guard urged, pointing to his watch again. â€Å"Spazzare di capella.† Olivetti nodded and started to leave. â€Å"Spazzare di capella?† Vittoria demanded. â€Å"You're leaving to sweep the chapel?† Olivetti turned, his eyes boring through her. â€Å"We sweep for electronic bugs, Miss Vetra – a matter of discretion.† He motioned to her legs. â€Å"Not something I would expect you to understand.† With that he slammed the door, rattling the heavy glass. In one fluid motion he produced a key, inserted it, and twisted. A heavy deadbolt slid into place. â€Å"Idita!† Vittoria yelled. â€Å"You can't keep us in here!† Through the glass, Langdon could see Olivetti say something to the guard. The sentinel nodded. As Olivetti strode out of the room, the guard spun and faced them on the other side of the glass, arms crossed, a large sidearm visible on his hip. Perfect, Langdon thought. Just bloody perfect. 37 Vittoria glared at the Swiss Guard standing outside Olivetti's locked door. The sentinel glared back, his colorful costume belying his decidedly ominous air. â€Å"Che fiasco,† Vittoria thought. Held hostage by an armed man in pajamas. Langdon had fallen silent, and Vittoria hoped he was using that Harvard brain of his to think them out of this. She sensed, however, from the look on his face, that he was more in shock than in thought. She regretted getting him so involved. Vittoria's first instinct was to pull out her cell phone and call Kohler, but she knew it was foolish. First, the guard would probably walk in and take her phone. Second, if Kohler's episode ran its usual course, he was probably still incapacitated. Not that it mattered†¦ Olivetti seemed unlikely to take anybody's word on anything at the moment. Remember! she told herself. Remember the solution to this test! Remembrance was a Buddhist philosopher's trick. Rather than asking her mind to search for a solution to a potentially impossible challenge, Vittoria asked her mind simply to remember it. The presupposition that one once knew the answer created the mindset that the answer must exist†¦ thus eliminating the crippling conception of hopelessness. Vittoria often used the process to solve scientific quandaries†¦ those that most people thought had no solution. At the moment, however, her remembrance trick was drawing a major blank. So she measured her options†¦ her needs. She needed to warn someone. Someone at the Vatican needed to take her seriously. But who? The camerlegno? How? She was in a glass box with one exit. Tools, she told herself. There are always tools. Reevaluate your environment. Instinctively she lowered her shoulders, relaxed her eyes, and took three deep breaths into her lungs. She sensed her heart rate slow and her muscles soften. The chaotic panic in her mind dissolved. Okay, she thought, let your mind be free. What makes this situation positive? What are my assets? The analytical mind of Vittoria Vetra, once calmed, was a powerful force. Within seconds she realized their incarceration was actually their key to escape. â€Å"I'm making a phone call,† she said suddenly. Langdon looked up. â€Å"I was about to suggest you call Kohler, but – â€Å" â€Å"Not Kohler. Someone else.† â€Å"Who?† â€Å"The camerlegno.† Langdon looked totally lost. â€Å"You're calling the chamberlain? How?† â€Å"Olivetti said the camerlegno was in the Pope's office.† â€Å"Okay. You know the Pope's private number?† â€Å"No. But I'm not calling on my phone.† She nodded to a high-tech phone system on Olivetti's desk. It was riddled with speed dial buttons. â€Å"The head of security must have a direct line to the Pope's office.† â€Å"He also has a weight lifter with a gun planted six feet away.† â€Å"And we're locked in.† â€Å"I was actually aware of that.† â€Å"I mean the guard is locked out. This is Olivetti's private office. I doubt anyone else has a key.† Langdon looked out at the guard. â€Å"This is pretty thin glass, and that's a pretty big gun.† â€Å"What's he going to do, shoot me for using the phone?† â€Å"Who the hell knows! This is a pretty strange place, and the way things are going – â€Å" â€Å"Either that,† Vittoria said, â€Å"or we can spend the next five hours and forty-eight minutes in Vatican Prison. At least we'll have a front-row seat when the antimatter goes off.† Langdon paled. â€Å"But the guard will get Olivetti the second you pick up that phone. Besides, there are twenty buttons on there. And I don't see any identification. You going to try them all and hope to get lucky?† â€Å"Nope,† she said, striding to the phone. â€Å"Just one.† Vittoria picked up the phone and pressed the top button. â€Å"Number one. I bet you one of those Illuminati U.S. dollars you have in your pocket that this is the Pope's office. What else would take primary importance for a Swiss Guard commander?† Langdon did not have time to respond. The guard outside the door started rapping on the glass with the butt of his gun. He motioned for her to set down the phone. Vittoria winked at him. The guard seemed to inflate with rage. Langdon moved away from the door and turned back to Vittoria. â€Å"You damn well better be right, 'cause this guy does not look amused!† â€Å"Damn!† she said, listening to the receiver. â€Å"A recording.† â€Å"Recording?† Langdon demanded. â€Å"The Pope has an answering machine?† â€Å"It wasn't the Pope's office,† Vittoria said, hanging up. â€Å"It was the damn weekly menu for the Vatican commissary.† Langdon offered a weak smile to the guard outside who was now glaring angrily though the glass while he hailed Olivetti on his walkie-talkie. 38 The Vatican switchboard is located in the Ufficio di Communicazione behind the Vatican post office. It is a relatively small room containing an eight-line Corelco 141 switchboard. The office handles over 2,000 calls a day, most routed automatically to the recording information system. Tonight, the sole communications operator on duty sat quietly sipping a cup of caffeinated tea. He felt proud to be one of only a handful of employees still allowed inside Vatican City tonight. Of course the honor was tainted somewhat by the presence of the Swiss Guards hovering outside his door. An escort to the bathroom, the operator thought. Ah, the indignities we endure in the name of Holy Conclave. Fortunately, the calls this evening had been light. Or maybe it was not so fortunate, he thought. World interest in Vatican events seemed to have dwindled in the last few years. The number of press calls had thinned, and even the crazies weren't calling as often. The press office had hoped tonight's event would have more of a festive buzz about it. Sadly, though, despite St. Peter's Square being filled with press trucks, the vans looked to be mostly standard Italian and Euro press. Only a handful of global cover-all networks were there†¦ no doubt having sent their giornalisti secundari. The operator gripped his mug and wondered how long tonight would last. Midnight or so, he guessed. Nowadays, most insiders already knew who was favored to become Pope well before conclave convened, so the process was more of a three – or four-hour ritual than an actual election. Of course, last-minute dissension in the ranks could prolong the ceremony through dawn†¦ or beyond. The conclave of 1831 had lasted fifty-four days. Not tonight, he told himself; rumor was this conclave would be a â€Å"smoke-watch.† The operator's thoughts evaporated with the buzz of an inside line on his switchboard. He looked at the blinking red light and scratched his head. That's odd, he thought. The zero-line. Who on the inside would be calling operator information tonight? Who is even inside? â€Å"Citta del Vaticano, prego?† he said, picking up the phone. The voice on the line spoke in rapid Italian. The operator vaguely recognized the accent as that common to Swiss Guards – fluent Italian tainted by the Franco-Swiss influence. This caller, however, was most definitely not Swiss Guard. On hearing the woman's voice, the operator stood suddenly, almost spilling his tea. He shot a look back down at the line. He had not been mistaken. An internal extension. The call was from the inside. There must be some mistake! he thought. A woman inside Vatican City? Tonight? The woman was speaking fast and furiously. The operator had spent enough years on the phones to know when he was dealing with a pazzo. This woman did not sound crazy. She was urgent but rational. Calm and efficient. He listened to her request, bewildered. â€Å"Il camerlegno?† the operator said, still trying to figure out where the hell the call was coming from. â€Å"I cannot possibly connect†¦ yes, I am aware he is in the Pope's office but†¦ who are you again?†¦ and you want to warn him of†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He listened, more and more unnerved. Everyone is in danger? How? And where are you calling from? â€Å"Perhaps I should contact the Swiss†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The operator stopped short. â€Å"You say you're where? Where?† He listened in shock, then made a decision. â€Å"Hold, please,† he said, putting the woman on hold before she could respond. Then he called Commander Olivetti's direct line. There is no way that woman is really – The line picked up instantly. â€Å"Per l'amore di Dio!† a familiar woman's voice shouted at him. â€Å"Place the damn call!† The door of the Swiss Guards' security center hissed open. The guards parted as Commander Olivetti entered the room like a rocket. Turning the corner to his office, Olivetti confirmed what his guard on the walkie-talkie had just told him; Vittoria Vetra was standing at his desk talking on the commander's private telephone. Che coglioni che ha questa! he thought. The balls on this one! Livid, he strode to the door and rammed the key into the lock. He pulled open the door and demanded, â€Å"What are you doing?† Vittoria ignored him. â€Å"Yes,† she was saying into the phone. â€Å"And I must warn – â€Å" Olivetti ripped the receiver from her hand, and raised it to his ear. â€Å"Who the hell is this?† For the tiniest of an instant, Olivetti's inelastic posture slumped. â€Å"Yes, camerlegno†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said. â€Å"Correct, signore†¦ but questions of security demand†¦ of course not†¦ I am holding her here for†¦ certainly, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He listened. â€Å"Yes, sir,† he said finally. â€Å"I will bring them up immediately.†

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.

Annotated Bibliography for Journal of Economic Perspectives

Shiller, R.J., 2010. Speculative prices and popular models. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4(2), pp.55-65. The author provides the reader with rational expectations, especially in the economic revolution. People hold a lot of expectations for future economic variables, which influence their fundamental purchase behaviors. When prices drop, it is evident that demand in the market increases. Consumers will rush to satisfy their preferences with the affordable commodity at that time. When prices increase, demand decreases, as consumers tend to withdraw their constant purchase behaviors and only consume what is available and affordable at that time. This source highlights the rational expectations model, and the author emphasizes the importance of businesses to relate to gross oversimplification. Profitability will not increase when prices are increased, without considering the purchase ability of prospective consumers. This is a credible source, and the article goes ahead to highlight significance in understanding how the markets work, for the sake of making decisions based on speculations. Market dynamics should be studied and interpreted for business success. IMF. 2017. Supply and Demand: Why Markets Tick Retrieved from: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/suppdem.htm The source provides information in regards to the different forms of transactions which take place in the market. In most cases, buyer –seller relationships and availability dictate the market prices, as well as trends which affect the profitability of all market participants. This is a credible source as it explains the different competitive models in the market, such as perfect competition, oligopoly market features, monopolistic market and monopolies which dominate trade in the market. The author provides distinct information in regards to quantities, determining aspects of prices, and what suppliers are willing to offer a different price ranges in the markets. The main benefit of this source is that it complements all other research work in the same field, which makes it credible. This website source helps the reader to understand different price impacts on market demand. The market conditions always need to be safeguarded, not to oppress the small scale trader and at the same time, maintain optimal levels of competition. Connor, D. 2017. Why Falling Home Prices Could Be a Good Thing Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/upshot/popping-the-housing-bubbles-in-the-American-mind.html This magazine article helps a long way, in helping the reader to understand the market specifics and dynamics which help shape competition and efficient market structures. The author engages the reader in rhetoric. For example, the article begins by asking; supposing there was a way which can be used to pump up the economy, for the sake of reducing inequality, would this be of help in ending depression? This magazine article helps in the identification of the impact of lowering prices both for consumers and businesses. Homes have been used to symbolize the largest assets and the ones considered most significant by the citizens in the nation. While some of these are luxuries, some are necessities such as food and clothing. According to this source, businesses cannot just thrive through a reduction in prices of their commodities. For profitability to be realized, a lot of other strategies need to be combined with a price reduction, for the sake of success.   Batra, R.N. and Ullah, A., 2014. Competitive firm and the theory of input demand under price uncertainty. Journal of Political Economy, 82(3), pp.537-548. This journal article is a credible source of information. First, the behavior of the competitive business has been emphasized, as well as the problems facing the same analyzed. Making decisions under tight economic times has proven to be very difficult for most organizations. The input demand function is downward sloping, but this only happens when the production function is also at its best. This source is highly relevant and beneficial to use, considering the ability of the author to examine firm behavior. It also highlights contributions made by other theorists, which makes it entirely relevant. The question of demand, price, and profitability has been approached from different angles. The focus of this source is about the impact of a drop in prices, which may either lead to profitability or losses. Demand and supply functions are essential in determining the profitability of organizations in the competitive industry.   Economics. Supply- Demand Market Equilibrium. Retrieved from: https://thismatter.com/economics/market-equilibrium.htm After considerable review of this source, it is evident that it cannot be termed credible in the research process. The topic under consideration has been sufficiently addressed by the source. However, a lot of weaknesses are still evident hence making it less adequate for the process. For example, the source does not have an author who can claim responsibility for the material.   It is only website specific but does not have details on its day of publication, author, publisher or even its complementary sources. The source explains how price increases lead to a shortage of buyers, leading to decreased demand in the long run. The aspects of equilibrium quantity and price have also been addressed. There is a need to adhere to all relevant aspects which make a source credible.   Data provided in the source is adequate and correct, but cannot be considered peer reviewed. Shiller, R.J., 2010. Speculative prices and popular models. The Journal of Economic  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perspectives, 4(2), pp.55-65. IMF. 2017. Supply and Demand: Why Markets Tick. Retrieved from:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/suppdem.htm Conor, D. 2017. Why Falling Home Prices Could Be a Good Thing. Retrieved from:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/upshot/popping-the-housing-bubbles-in-the   American-mind.html Batra, R.N. and Ullah, A., 2014. Competitive firm and the theory of input demand under price  Ã‚  Ã‚   uncertainty. Journal of Political Economy, 82(3), pp.537-548. Economics. Supply- Demand Market Equilibrium. Retrieved from:   https://thismatter.com/economics/market-equilibrium.htm

Substance Abuse in the Work Place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Substance Abuse in the Work Place - Essay Example The first step is problem identification. Drug and alcohol abuse are the nation's number one health problem and the biggest detriment to productivity levels. Substance abuse is detrimental to both the employer and the employee. The cost of employees' substance abuse to business has been well documented. Drug and alcohol abuse is costing American business $39.1 billion annually in lost productivity; the human economic cost may well exceed $100 billion a year. The employer pays with lowered productivity, increased health care costs, increased accidents and absenteeism, and in many instances eventual loss of a valuable employee. The employee pays with the loss of his or her health, increased financial and family problems, loss of respect, and often his or her job (Ammerman 1999). According to some reports, about one fifth of the workforce may be affected by personal problems of one kind or another. Whether caused by substance abuse difficult working conditions, or personal problems at home, the effects of these problems on productivity can be high, and the costs to the employer can be great. Further, some kinds of "disabilities" may be protected by law from arbitrary employer reaction. Employee assistance programs have become increasingly common means for confronting these problems in a constructive, legal manner. There are a variety of issues, though, to be addressed if supervisors are to be able to take effective advantage of intervention programs. Risk Factors associated with Substance Abuse at Workplace The main risk factors associated with substance abuse at the workplace are injuries and safety concerns. On the one hand, alcohol abuse increases the risk of cancer at several sites. Most notably, abuse is responsible for 75 percent of the deaths from cancer of the esophagus and 50 percent of those from cancer of the larynx and the lip/oral cavity/pharynx. It also contributes to cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive system diseases and to fatal mental disorders. Not all alcohol-related injury deaths involve alcohol abusers; simple misuse is sometimes the culprit. Reviewing accidental deaths in New Jersey, Haberman found that although 53 percent of traffic fatalities and 47 percent of nontraffic fatalities showed evidence of alcohol use, that is the decedent had a Blood Alcohol Count (BAC) of 0.01 percent or greater, autopsies revealed that only 34 percent of the accident victims with positive BACs were alcoholics. Another interesting finding was that 29 percent of the accidentall y killed alcoholics had BACs of 0.00 percent--that is, they had not been drinking prior to their death. Yet their accidental death rate far exceeded that of nonalcoholics. Their physical and psychological characteristics, such as hangovers, seizures, visual disturbances, impulsiveness, distractability and aggressiveness, possibly make alcoholics more accident-prone even when sober. Roughly 20 percent of all alcohol-related deaths result from motor vehicle accidents (Ammerman 1999). Alcohol is also implicated in intentional injury deaths. That it has been demonstrated to increase aggression and induce depression partly explains its involvement in 46 percent of the homicides and 28 percent of the suicides, totalling 9,107 and 8,552 respective deaths. A

Finance and funding in travel and tourism sector Assignment

Finance and funding in travel and tourism sector - Assignment Example Such costs are therefore apportioned on the basis of any formula or any other mechanism. Such costs include administrative costs like janitorial services, utilities etc. Fixed Costs: These costs remain constant irrespective of the level of the activity. For instance, the machinery fuel consumption; this will not be reduced or increased with the level of production. Rather, the fuel expenses will be distributed over the units produced. Therefore, it is the behaviour of the fixed costs that they remain fixed in totality but reduce per unit as the production increases. Variable costs: Variable costs are such costs, which increase or decrease with respect to the level of the activity. For example, the labour cost for the production of the units of product will be nil in case the production halts and will be increased when the production starts. Such costs behave parallel to the level of the activity. Semi-variable costs: Semi-variable costs are such costs which consist of the features of variable costs also and that of the fixed costs. It implies that such costs are fixed up to a certain extent and then they get parallel to the level of the activity. Cost volumes are significant in decision-making process of the management. Things get managed when they get measured; this is the main reason why costs volumes are always monitored. Constraints are established for the costs levels so that they do not exceed the prescribed budget. Costs volumes analysis sets the direction for the controls to be applied on different components of the variable costs. In addition to this, once the cost volumes are established, they can be then compared with the costs of prior periods, competitors and other departments by way of benchmarking. Comparison with prior period assists in comparisons and variance analysis with respect to the previous years. The results of the previous year are

Land Law in Real Facts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Land Law in Real Facts - Essay Example Last year, Bentley and Damian too died of the accident leaving the property to Damian’s children because Bentley had left his property to his brother and Damian had left his shares of the property to his sons. Now Damian’s sons want the house and evict Alice. ‘A constructive trust comes into existence, regardless of any party’s intent, when the law imposes upon a party an obligation to holds the specific property for another. The person obligated becomes by force of law a constructive trustee towards the person to whom he owes performance of the obligation’ (Donovan waters, p378). The said property, despite the fact that the children of Damian had legally inherited the property from their father, Alice may be considered as the strong equity owner of the property. Alice has a strong estate and land interest in the property. This factor becomes significant when considering the question of unconscionability and applying the law of estoppel which primarily operates in the form of constructive trust. Therefore, it is important to know that Under (Law of Property Act 1925 s 199(1)(ii)(a)), the occupant(s) of the property has major interests ‘since it is implicit in Williams & Glyn’s Bank v Boland 1, Midland Bank v Dobson 2and Lloyds Bank v Rosset 3 that the beneficial interest (of the third parties) under this trust precedes the court order’ (Milney, 1997). It is an important consideration that belief involved in proprietary estoppel cases can be in any rights in and over the property. In the last 47 years of her life with her partner Bentley, Alice of assured that ‘he would do the right thing by her’ which was also seconded by Bentley’s brother, Damian, and co-owner of the house. The good intentions of the owners expressed verbally and the fact that she had been a resident of the house for more than 47 years, gave her the right to contest the will of Bentley and Damian. Â  

Buddist Text- The Heart of Understanding Thich Nhat Hanh Essay

Buddist Text- The Heart of Understanding Thich Nhat Hanh - Essay Example We may be able to see a figurative â€Å"sunshine† on the paper after a poet or a writer has written something that will move us but not the literal sunshine. The definition of the word interbeing in itself is confusing and in fact can even be contradictory in terms. Especially when Thich Nhat Hanh mentioned that â€Å"you cannot just be by yourself alone† (10). Dissecting the terms and their meaning of his text, he seemed to contradict himself of what he meant by being alone because by being alone is being without anyone else and how could I not be alone with myself when nobody is no longer around. Of course I am already alone by myself then. (b) Defend his argument by adding additional evidence or crafting an additional   logical proof   Thich Nhat Hanh’s  Interbeing has to be read in the greater context of the belief system of which it operates which is Buddhism. Reading it by itself without inferring to a greater context of which it has to serve a purpo se, the text will render the reader confused, with the author’s work becoming pointless because the texts cannot be understood as it is full of contradictions and stretched out connections. It will also be very difficult to understand because the allegory does not make any sense. In the text, Thich Nhat Hanh’s mentioned that it is just not possible that â€Å"you cannot just be by yourself alone† but I already am when nobody is around. And we cannot see the paper at the same time (Thich Nhat Hanh 9) because you are not here with me looking at the same text that I am reading. You may be looking at the same text but it would be another copy of the text, not the exact paper that I am reading. But in Thich Nhat Hanh’s perspective, we can actually be looking at the same paper even without your physical presence. To appreciate Thich Nhat Hanh text, we have to understand the theology of Bhavat Gita that motivated the meaning of Interbeing. While Bhagavad Gita is as common to the Buddhist as the Bible to the Christian, it is still a strange idea to a non-Buddhist especially if the reader’s perspective is oriented towards western philosophy and using it as a yardstick for understanding the text. The text is reflective Bhavat Gita’s concept of karma that everything is just a cycle and interrelated including life and death. This process of karma is ever continuing to improve one’s karma until enlightenment and vijnana is achieved. So everything in this world is in a continuum and nothing exists by itself because all is subjected to the law of karma which is cyclical and interrelated. When Thich Nhat Hanh mentioned that â€Å"you just cannot be alone by yourself† it was in fact logical when viewed with the perspective of a Buddhist. â€Å"To be† is to be â€Å"inter-be† because nature’s natural order of things is for us to be in commune with everything around us that there is no such thing as â⠂¬Å"just yourself†. To be â€Å"yourself† meant â€Å"to be with† because the natural order of the â€Å"self† is to serve karma which necessitates to be â€Å"inter-be†. Under this lens, seeing the parents of the logger or the sunshine on the paper is no longer improbable or illogical. For the paper is a part of the bigger scheme of things that are interrelated and came into being not only with the inputs of production of the

Nutrition Education Intervention Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nutrition Education Intervention - Assignment Example Only 58.9% had normal weight. The target audience include children and their parents because they both play a significant role in poor eating habits. Children are careless of their eating habits whereas parents fail to successfully discharge their parenting duties. Needs assessment will be carried out by use of questionnaires. The behavioural and/or cognitive changes targeted include children’s eating lifestyles, awareness about healthy eating habits and participation in physical exercises/activities. In order to attract attention of the target audience, fascinating videos and pictures will be incorporated in messages communicated through social media, specifically instagram. A special application supported by android/smart phones will be developed for this purpose. Such development stems from the increased ownership and usage of mobile phones. Promotions on televisions will also be pursued. Al Junaidi, A., Abdulle, A., Hag-Ali, M., and Nagelkerke, N. (2013). The Prevalence and potential determinants of obesity among school children and adolescents in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Obesity, 37, 68-

Final work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Final work - Assignment Example Underwriting of the common stock will provide a clear insurance issued by the underwriter to Khan Unlimited that the common stock offered to the public and shareholders will be subscribed in a full amount. Underwriting is also a perfect option since it ensures that Khan Unlimited in case the common stock offered by the company are not subscribed by public to the degree, the share balance will be taken by the company. Additionally, the alternative is perfect since, the underwriter will have a lower net worth and the total obligation of the writer will not exceed 20 times the net worth of the underwriter. Consequently, the company chose the option since the alternative will undertake in guaranteeing the whole or section of the issued common stock as the public will not take the common stock. Therefore, the company will be relieved from the pressure of security marketing and market uncertainty. The underwriting option will help Khan Unlimited to fulfill the statutory guidelines of reduc ed subscription. The underwriting alternative guarantees the capital adequacy and helps the organization to raise capital. Subsequently, most investors believe in issuing securities when guaranteed by established underwriters. The underwriting will assure that there is quick sale of common stocks in the market. The underwriter will stimulate the industrial development and subsequently create opportunities in the nation. This option relieves the organization the uncertainty and risk of marketing the common stock. The underwriters have a specialized knowledge in the market. The underwriters offer valuable advice to Khan Unlimited when preparing the prospectus, floatation time, and security prices. The experts also offer publicity services to the organization which they are in agreement with. This option also assists in financing the new enterprise and expanding the existing projects. Khan Unlimited used this alternative in building the confidence of investors when

The Impact of Postmodernism on Science Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Postmodernism on Science Essay Postmodernism has completely changed our vision of science. Against traditional beliefs, science is no longer based on rationality, but turns out to be a complex structure of subjective hypotheses, assumptions, and theses. Postmodernism has separated scientific beliefs from reason, and has significantly narrowed the scope of scientific ideas, which can only be used within limited cultural paradigms. The Impact of Postmodernism on Science Introduction With the rise of postmodern thought, science has ceased to be the source of rationality and reason in their traditional sense. Against our beliefs into the rationality and objectivity of science, postmodernism has changed this image, making science irrational, subjective, and almost mystic (Schick, 1999). The modern speed of technological advancement has created a completely new area of scientific discoveries, where ideas replace each other with the speed of light. However, while scientists are occupied with the need to cure humanity of cancer and AIDS, we are gradually losing the sense of rationality that was so characteristic of science in previous decades. Science has ceased to be rational, and this is the direct result of postmodernism’s impact on our scientific beliefs. From the viewpoint of postmodernism, we no longer believe in science as the source of universal and objective truths; rather, â€Å"science arrives at its truths in response to social forces both within and without the scientific community. Their periodic shifts in outlook come as a result of irrational conversions on the part of influential scientific leaders† (Grenz, 1996). Moreover, we no longer view science as rational: to be more exact, science is rational to the extent that is applicable within a given cultural paradigm (Appignanesi, 2002). Ultimately, postmodernism implies that scientific ideas and hypotheses cannot be objective, and vary from culture to culture; as a result, different cultural groups hold to different beliefs in regard to similar events and phenomena (e. g. we still lack unanimous agreement as for the origin of species and are torn between Christian beliefs and Darwin’s assumptions about the logic of evolution). Conclusion Postmodernism has completely changed our vision of science. Against traditional beliefs, science is no longer based on rationality, but turns out to be a complex structure of subjective hypotheses, assumptions, and theses. Postmodernism has separated scientific beliefs from reason, and has significantly narrowed the scope of scientific ideas, which can only be used within limited cultural paradigms. References Appignanesi, R. (2002). Postmodernism and big science. Totem Books. Grenz, S. J. (1996). A Primer on Postmodernism. Eerdman Publishing Company Schick, T. (1999). Readings in the philosophy of science: from positivism to postmodernism. McGraw-Hill Humanities.

The Democratic Peace Theory Politics Essay

The Democratic Peace Theory Politics Essay War, conflict, warmongering, and power balance are just a few concepts involved within a nations history. Along with many other concepts, War understood as an intentional armed conflict between communities in order to achieve political goals, has supported the public policy of many nations. In 1832 the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz (1832, p.5) defined War as an act of violence to compel our opponent to fulfill our will, demonstrating how fundamental War was for nations that time. Although there are many arguments to support the nations warmongering policies during the past decades there has been a discussion on how those policies might be necessary if some theorists have proven that Democracies dont fight Democracies (Rummel, 1999). This essay will examine the existing arguments on why democracies do not fight each other using The Democratic Peace Theory and will give conclusions on how effective could be this theory during the present days, where the concept of War has changed. The Democratic Peace Theory [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Ultimately, the best strategy to ensure our security and to build a durable peace is to support the advance of democracy elsewhere. Democracies dont attack each other, they make better trading partners and partners in diplomacy. William J. Clinton (January 1994) The Democratic Peace Theory also called Mutual Democratic Pacifism gives a possible explanation on why democracies do not to war with each other. Among others writers, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant outlined a first relevant idea in his essay Perpetual Peace (1795). Kants theory is based on a world with countries sharing a common a constitutional republic as political regime, where people would appeal for a continuous or perpetual peace as an ideal for living. The premise of Kants idea is that people will not decide to go on war unless to defend themselves and because of this there would be no aggressor nations and the war occurrences would end. For Kant, the reluctance of the people to support war and its related costs restrains democratic leaders from engaging conflicts with other nations. After Kant, this strain of thought, where democracies are reluctant to use violent means against other democracies or other forms of governments, was continued across the centuries. The Kantian Idea of a pacific union fostered by shared or common values, cosmopolitan rights and the right of nations based on a federation of free states, had a support after the First World War, when idea of the right of nations to self-determination inspired the creation of the League of Nations. Important academics like Small and Singer (1976), Rummel (1979), Doyle (1986), Bueno de Mezquita and Lalman (1986), Geva, DeRouren and Mintz (1993), Rummel (1997), Starr (1997) and Danilovic and Clare (2007) have contributed with their work to support this theory. Due to the multiple understandings of the basic elements of the Democratic Peace Theory is important to define the concepts of democracy and war. Rummel (1999, p.10) provides an interesting definition of democracy as democracies in its 20th century form means: regular elections for the most powerful government positions, competitive political parties, near universal franchise, secret balloting and civil liberties and political rights, in addition pre-20th democracies should be identified by periodic, competitive elections, that the powerful can be so kicked out of power, and that a body of citizens hold equal rights regardless of class or status. However, Rummel does not take in account the transparency as an important element for a democracy. Transparency, understood as the open possibility of observation and discussion of a Government decisions and policies is a requisite for a modern democracy and reduces the possibilities of the governments to abuse. Regarding to The concept of War, Most and Starr (1989) as cited in Starr (1997, p.154) defines war as a sustained violent conflict fought by organized armed forces which are directed by a governmental authority. Although this definition is comprehensive it is necessary to be actualized due to the changing components of modern war. Forsyth (2004, p.17) define war as an act of force by a nation-state, crime organization, terror group, drug cartel, revolutionary group, or coalition of states to compel an enemy to do ones will, accept a specific ideology, or prevent or allow unfettered criminal activity. The causes of war might include failures of diplomacy, communications, economic policies, or inadequate internal security. Wars should result in improved security for an affected nations citizens, but often result in degraded or deteriorated social conditions. Although the Democratic Peace Theory is quite controversial and has both weakness and strengths, its relative simplicity has challenged the predominant realist and neorealist theories of International Relations (IR) that have predominated in the international arena for several centuries. During the past decades, research undertaken in California (Bueno de Mesquita and Lalman, 1986), Texas (Geva, DeRouren and Mintz, 1993), (Geva and Mintz, 1993), Hawaii (Rummel, 1997) and Illinois (Danilovic and Clare, 2007) confirmed in some extent the veracity of the Democratic Peace Theory. These studies showed that statistically the probability of a war between two democratic states is very low and that the democratic leaders are less interested in using military force or violent actions against other democracies. The theory by itself and the results of these studies are deeply debated, but it is possible to derive some basic conclusions. First, the republican liberalism, as a theory of International Relations (IR) that supports the Democratic Peace Theory, might question the applicability of the realist theory of IR, which argues that the balance of power and common strategic goals are the main point of explanation for the stable and peaceful relations between democratic nations. The presented researches and arguments suggest that democratic sates are continuously motivated by the necessity of a peaceful coexistence with its neighbors using the same regulations that characterize their domestic policy. These nations expect that other democracies will solve misunderstandings using consideration and a nonviolent scheme, and that their leaders will continuously foster collaborative and peaceful relations with each other. A good example of this reasoning is the speech of United States President, G orge W. Bush, who in 1994 said And the reason why Im so strong on democracy is democracies dont go to war with each other. And the reason why the people of most societies is dont like war, and they understand what war means. Second, the Democratic Peace Theory might challenge the usefulness of other political ideas, different from democracy, in todays world. This thesis is supported by Rummel (1989, p.10) when states that Democracy is a general cure for political or collective violence of any kind it is a method of nonviolence. Since a significant number of academic works identify democracies as political system less susceptible to create and promote violent means of foreign policy, with a relatively unrestricted amount of civil rights and participation, it is possible to identify democracy as a more desirable political system when compared with totalitarian, fascist or communist regimes. Finally, political process such as transparency, cooperation, democratization, and integration could improve the relations among nations. Starr (1997, p.155) highlights the importance of these elements when suggest that the theories of integration stress the role of learning in the development of norms of cooperation and a sense of community, they stress the need for mutual benefits and the positive impact of the interdependence on the management of interdependent relations. However, it is important to point out the fact that unstable democracies or nations within a democratization process are not completely peaceful, and that might occur when the political institutions are not strong enough to support the system or when the country leading sectors are intimidated by the transition process. Two classic and different streams of thought, one structural and one normative, explain the Democratic Peace Theory. On the one hand, the structural variant maintain that the organizations or institutions are restricted to go on war due to the diverse economical, social and political costs for the government and the population, making war an undesirable option for the resolution of misunderstandings between nations. In addition, the importance of individual freedoms and free elections, maximize the leaders political responsibilities inasmuch as they might replaced if fail to maintain an adequate foreign policy. This view has been supported in the work of Geva, DeRouren and Mintz (1993, p.224) when concluding: the major reason why the use of force against other democracies is counterproductive from a political standpoint is because it is perceived by the public as a failure of foreign policy. Democratic institutions such as transparency, political pluralism, and legal rights, among ot hers, make it difficult for governments and its leaders to create false reasons to convince their population to declare war to other state. Transparency is an important factor when thinking about democratic dyads because it means that both states can look trough each other and know, or infer, their intentions. Starr (1997, p.157) states, such transparency means that each party has too much information about the other to create convincing enemy images, for either elite or masses. On the other hand, a normative variant, sometimes called cultural explanation, maintains that common liberal and democratic values explain the stability and peaceful relations between democratic states. According to this variant, the existent culture regarding to democratic political values and conflict resolution means, support truthful ties between states and its leaders. In addition, these leaders expect that their counterparts will also understand the necessity of solving the differences without violent methods. In this extent is very important to emphasize how the democratic perception of a certain state made by other, could modify the motivation for warmongering policies. Supporting this, Elman (1997) argues that political ideology, therefore, determines how democracies distinguish allies from adversaries: democracies that represent and act in their citizens interests are treated with respect and consideration, whereas non-democracies that use violence and oppression against th eir own people are regarded with mistrust and suspicion. Another explanation in addition to the structural and normative explanation of the Democratic Peace Theory is the Power Transition Theory formulated in 1958 by A.F.K. Organski. This theory presents the international politics arena as a hierarchy with 4 levels of power between the states (a dominant state, great powers, middle powers and small powers), analyzing the cyclic occurrence of wars and the effect of transition power in the occurrence of conflicts. Organski (1980, p.19) states that An even distribution of political, economic, and military capabilities between contending groups of nations is likely to increase the probability of war; peace is preserved best when there is an imbalance of national capabilities between disadvantaged and advantaged nations; the aggressor will come from a small group of dissatisfied strong countries; and it is the weaker, rather than the stronger; power that is most likely to be the aggressor. This work suggests, therefore, that democracies are sat isfied states that share strong economic goals and are less likely to fight about territory, in other words, peaceful means of discussion will prevail but not violent ones. Even though the Democratic Peace Theory provides a plausible explanation for the non-violent behavior between democratic states, a great amount of criticism exist among the academy. This criticism could be divided in two variants, first, one related to the methodology used to undertake the researches and analyze the empirical data. Several academics argue that there is always some degree of subjectivity regarding to the studies performed and the results are, in some extent, affected by this prejudices.