Thursday, October 31, 2019
Developing a Christian Mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2
Developing a Christian Mind - Essay Example However, it also means, according to Strongs Concordance (Strong 7965), completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. Shalom is a blessing (The Refiners Fire). There are three levels of Christian relationship. We are called to be in relationship with God, with God’s creation, and with others (Lowe and Claiborne). Our relationship with God is the most basic and critical. That relationship was a gift to us, through Jesus, the life-giver. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he left us the Holy Spirit, so that his ministry is still alive, still dynamic, still with us. By tuning into the leading of the Holy Spirit, and responding to that leading, we can stay within God’s plan for our lives. In that way, God is not something far away and external to us, but is internal and immediate. This is the deepest source of peace, of wholeness, completeness, health, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. Shalom is God’s blessing. What that looks like, in operation, is that a Christian reads God’s Word, prays deeply, listens to the silence in which God speaks. The peace, Shalom, shows in action, in word, in expression, in patience, in gentleness, in modesty. It shows in a Christian’s embodiment of all the virtues that lead to the other levels. The next level is a Christian’s relationship to God’s creation. Loving God and feeling his love for us, leads us to a great respect for his creation. In the flight of each flamingo, in the wing pattern of each butterfly, in the purity of snow on a mountaintop, in the startle of lightening, in the reflection of creation in the still surface of a lake, in the mist from a thundering waterfall, in the paw of a squirrel, in the whir of the hummingbird, in the strength of an ant and the
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Carson Stanton Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Carson Stanton Case - Essay Example ollowing agenda for Stanton to follow – Improving Innovation, promotion from within, and managing all state agencies (excluding Education) within the reduced appropriations, which was 3 % in 2015, and 1 % in 2016. The fiscal year which started on July 1, 2013 and ends on June 30, 2014 saw a budget cut of 2 % when compared to the previous year. Considering that Hope comes in the lowest quadrant of student success in comparison to other states, the governor laid out his policy and budget agenda expecting the increase and improvement in the states education statistics along with decrease in Hope’s unemployment statistics which is 8.5 % when compared to the 6.7 % of other states due to the drop in hiring. The state is ranked 21st with a rate of 9.6 % in comparison to the low of 7.0 % and the high of 13.0 %. In 1986, the DOE of Hope was created with the mission to improve, protect and restore the quality of the natural resources air, land and water. It also propagated the advancement in smart growth along with promoting economies that could sustain and communities that were healthy and viable. The duties of the divisions within the department are the following: the redevelopment of resources, reducing health hazards, environmental protection, and improvement of existing safety measures and adequacy of air, water and land resources, promotion of clean energy and improving and advancing the level of customer service. It was also a dire necessity for the state to address its responsibility for the landfill management consisting of both hazardous and solid waste. Special approvals and permits were required for the disposal of various kinds of wastes. The previous DOE secretary Sharon Brooke had raked up an issue with the governor about the location and size of two particular landfills. She was more interested in outsourcing waste, rather than managing it within. Hope has 15 Superfund sites and in the year that followed, a problem with one waste disposal site would
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Unethical issues of AIG
Unethical issues of AIG Company history         American International Group, Inc is a company whose operation began back in 1919. It was established back then by Cornelius Vander Starr as an insurance agency in Shanghai, China. AIG left china in 1949 after Starr had established himself as the westerner the sell insurance to the Chinese people. AIG headquarters then shifted from china to New York City, which is still the headquarters up to date. It is from here that AIG began its expansion tapping into other markets such as the Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Europe through use of its subsidiaries.         It was in 1962 when Starr transferred management of AIG United states holdings to Maurice R. Greenberg. Greenberg introduced policies that made the company shift from its original personal insurance background to anew high market corporate targeted cover. The new management under Greenberg went on to focus mainly on selling AIGs insurance packages through independent brokers. This deviated from the initial system which made use of company agents thus eliminating the agents salaries. This move aimed at reducing the expenses of the company but it led to decreased sales in some of the companys products. Greenberg was named the successor to Starr in the year 1968. In the following year 1969 AIG first went public.         The start of problems facing AIG began during the tenure of Greenberg as AIGs CEO. It was during tenure that the company expanded from its initial line of insurance into other many complex lines of business and insuring risks that only a few other companies would consider handling. This led to the involvement of the company in businesses that it did not fully comprehend. AIG started investing in many different types of securities which included mortgage backed securities and also credit derivatives trading. AIG then went ahead to become a leading player in these markets, insuring other companys debt obligations against losses due to its excellent credit rating at the time.         It was AIGs Financial Product Unit (AIGFP) that brought about the fall of the company, due to its disastrous credit swaps product. AIGFP was founded in the year 1987 by three Drexel Burnham Lambert Traders who were led by a Howard Sosin, a finance scholar. They convinced Greenberg based on the companys AAA credit rating to create a division which focused on complex derivatives trade. Greenberg and Sosin signed an agreement in which 38 percent of money earned went to AIGFP while the remainder 62 percent went to AIG. If things had to go bad down the line it was AIG and not AIGFP that would be on the hook. AIGFP continued its expansion program opening branches in other countries such as London, Tokyo and even Paris. Despite the fact that AIGFP had never made even a single credit swap by the year 1998 the unit had revenue of over $500 million (Tpmckraker, 2009)..         It was in 1998 that AIG was approached by JP with a proposal to insure JP Morgans Complex corporate debt. It was stated by Gary Gorton, a Yale Business Professor that the chance of AIGFP not paying out these deals was almost 99.85 percent. This was based on the reasoning that for the unit to pay out these deals the economy would have to be in a full blown recession and that in this situation the counter parties would have already been wiped out. It was with this deal that AIGFP agreed for the first credit swap with Savage the then CEO signing the deal. Later in 1998 Cassano replaced Savage as CEO of the company. Although Cassano was not experienced in the complicated assessment of risks using computer models he was gifted in accounting and credit. It was through Cassanos strong desire to succeed that led to growth of the units revenue to 1 billion in a year and also led to a significant growth in the number of employees to 400 in 2005. AIG What went wrong? The start of problems facing AIG began during the tenure of Greenberg as AIGs CEO. It was during tenure that the company expanded from its initial line of insurance into other many complex lines of business and insuring risks that only a few other companies would consider handling. It was in the year 2002 that AIGFP was charged by the justice department for illegally helping PNC Financial Services to not correctly show their bad assts in their books. AIGFP did this by setting up a separate company special purpose entity to handle all the issues related to the assets of the PNC firm. By doing so AIGFP was alleged of breaking the securities law by setting up the company by the Feds that would invest in the firm making it appear real. It was until 2004 that AIG would fully settle the charges against it. It was asked to give back over $45 million in fees, a fine of $80 million and in addition give up all the interest it had earned on the deal. The unit was not formally sanctioned due to the incident but the justice department placed it on a short leash.         It was in March of 2005 that Greenberg stepped down as the CEO amidst investigations on allegations of accounting malpractices at the firm by the New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The issue under investigation by then was not directly related to AIGFP, but the effects of the dealings eventually affected the operations of the unit negatively. Following the departure of Greenberg at the helm of the company and in addition the investigations ongoing within the organization the credit ratings agencies downgraded the companys credit worth from AAA to AA. This reduction in AIGS credit rating led to provisions in some of AIGFPs credit default swaps. This made AIG to pay in collateral for the deals over $1 billion. This was the mark of many dark days for the unit.         It was until later in the year that Eugene Park an executive at AIGFP was named to closely look at the portfolio containing the firms credit default swaps. The evidence was alarming in that the unit had insured many CDOs that had large proportions of it as sub prime mortgages. This meant that in any situation where the housing market had to collapse the risk of default was too high. This coming up after the downgrading of the units credit ratings indicated an increased chance that AIGFP had to come up with collateral to pay out all the bets it had made in the past. After Cassano was informed of the report he put up a group of investment bank researchers whose prime job was to assess the risks posed by the sub prime mortgages. The credit default swaps were stopped later in 2005 but this came as a case of too little to late owing to the fact that Cassano could not avoid obligations to his unit of over $80 billion worth that was in the form of collateral ized debts that were inform of already made swaps in the books of AIGFP.         In the year 2007 with the collapse of the housing market and plummeting in value of sub prime assets AIG was supposed to pay a sum of $1.5 billion to Goldman Sachs based on the credit default swaps insured by AIG to cover the mortgage backed securities. During the same year AIG had to pay $2 billion to meet the demands of other firms that made collateral demands. It was during this year that the stock prices of AIG fell 25 percent and a reported loss of $1.1 billion in portfolio swaps in AIGFP. The problems facing AIG continued further with the company reporting a loss of $11.5 billion and in addition $5.3 billion posted as collateral in February of 2008.         AIG would get further shock as the credit rating agencies planned to further downgrade the companys credit ratings as at September of 2008. This would trigger needs for more collateral that the company would not handle. What was unethical about AIG?         What was unethical about AIG was that the company would hand out multi-million dollar a bonus to its over 450 employees operating in its six offices around the world. After handing out these bonuses AIG still had the guts to accept a government bail out plan, this was as the country underwent recession with most of its citizens unemployed and barely making ends meet. AIG also conducted some unethical behavior with its executives dealing in unethical financial reporting practices and illegal brokerage as uncovered during a recent investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (Cooper, 2006). AIG Whistleblower         Former AIG CEO Greenberg claimed that following his departure internal controls he had established during his 40 years at the helm of the company had been abandoned. This was made in comments written to the made House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In the comments Greenberg accused Robert Willumstad and Martin Sullivan who were both his successors as the CEO of AIG of being unable to execute enough oversight on AIGFPs division. And it was for this reason that the company faced a lot of troubles emanating from the divisions $500 billion portfolio. Greenberg claimed that the branch which was formed in 1987 was the company beginning to its downfall. Reports said that until this time AIG had lost $50 billion and made a $25.9 billion in mark to market losses. This was related to securities the company held in its investment portfolio and its CDS value.         Greenberg in his letter said that within the nine months a lot of credit collaterals default swaps had been made leading to increased obligations on the companys debt. This he said was different during his tenure and it was after he left office that most of the default swaps done by AIGFP were exposed to sub prime mortgages. . This led to the involvement of the company in businesses that it did not fully comprehend. AIG started investing in many different types of securities which included mortgage backed securities and also credit derivatives trading. AIG then went ahead to become a leading player in these markets, insuring other companys debt obligations against losses due to its excellent credit rating at the time. AIG today.         AIGs future is still not clear after facing years of problems. It is now a year since AIG was bailed out by the federal government and the company is still in a transition. The company is undergoing several transformations that include increased efforts to appoint a new chief executive officer, its initiative to sell most its non core assets tied to the firm and the increased anticipation take off of its new Chartis brand dealing with its commercial property operations. AIG is still faced with the responsibility of repaying federal loans handed to it by the government which amount to billions of dollars. This is further complicated by the fact that it is still unknown how much the governments patience will last. All the above reasons lead to the inability of experts to gauge the companys future (Time. The curious Capitalist, 2009).         The future of AIG is still dependent on the financial market stabilization. The companys policy holders are encouraged by the companys gradual rise from its problems. The process of redefining AIG i.e. prompted shifts in capacity has led to some of its clients having to reassess how they relate to the insurer. Most of the companys clients have chosen to remain loyal and appreciate the efforts made by the combine AIG and Chartis. Clients believe that the decision by the company to re brand its casualty operations was a step in the right direction. Although the Chartis spin off expected to be in the form of a public offering date has not been set, Chartis made a good start by explaining that it would take some time to its clients. AIG though slow in the process of disposing its noncore assts has made it clear that it would make sure that it gets the true value of its businesses through the process. The other looming question on AIGs future is its abilit y to repay the government bail out loans. References Top of Form Cooper, R. W. (2006) Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations Spitzers Allegations of Unethical/Illegal Behavior: Has the Insurance Industrys Ethical Environment Really Changed Dramatically? New York: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Mary, D. M., Irene, N. M. Victoria, S. (2006) AIG: Accounting and Ethical Lapses. New York: Emerald Group Publishing Limited Time. The curious Capitalist. (2009, Aug). AIG: Still a company. Retrieved October 5, 2009, from http://www.time.com/ AIG Still a company The Curious Capitalist TIME.com.htm
Friday, October 25, 2019
Moral Dilemma of Atticus in To Kill A Mocking Bird Essay examples -- e
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird the protagonist Scout face offenses by others because of her father's justice for defending an African American in court. Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem, and their father Atticus, in the sleepy town of Maycomb during the Great Depression. As Atticus, the father of the protagonist faces the moral dilemma in chapter 29-30 of the incident with Bob Ewell. Atticus moral dilemma will reveal his character and his beliefs. Bob Ewell attempted to hurt Atticus children in order to get revenge on Atticus for defending the African American who was accused of raping his daughter in court. Atticus has a hard time of choosing whether to tell the town that Bob Ewell died of an accident, or his son or Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell. Atticus is a famous lawyer in Maycomb and he believes in legal justice. Atticus learns what had really happened from Scout?s explanation of what she had seen, and heard when Bob Ewell attacked them while walking back from the school play. He understood that Bob Radley killed Bob Ewell in order to save Jem?s life. Atticus does not want to send Boo to court for the fact that Boo saved his children?s life. When Scout and Jem got their BB guns they wanted to shoot the mockingbird, when Atticus said, Well, It?d be sort of like shootin? a mockingbird, wouldn?t it He explains that it is a sin to shoot mockingbirds because they do not harm us. Boo Radley is just like the mockingbird he stays inside and does not harm others, instead he saves Atticus children. Sending Boo to court would be like shooting a mockingbird. That is a sad house? he always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did. Miss Maudie Said. When Jem and Scout talks about the reasons Boo is... ...Scout, I couldn?t go to church and worship God if I didn?t try to help that man. Atticus would help a man if it is the right thing to do, he does not consider what people think of him, he will only be bothered if does not help, then he is going against his moral beliefs. Atticus shows his beliefs, truthfulness, and justice. Atticus moral dilemma of weather Bob Ewell died by accident, or Boo killed him in order to save Jem?s life, or Jem killed Bob in self defense has became the decision that he must face in order to tell the town what had happened. Atticus must go against his moral belief to save his children and Boo Radley. Atticus real character will be soon through his dilemma. He loves his son and he does not want Boo to go to court for saving his son. In the sleepy town of Maycomb Atticus has immense dilemma that will follow him for the rest of his life.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Criminals are made or born Essay
An understanding of criminal behaviour has been attempted by psychologists through many different theories. The three theories I will discuss are: the biological theory, the psychological theory and the social theory of crime. Each theory provides a thorough explanation of why people carry out criminal behaviour, however, which theory offers the better explanation? Are criminals born or made? The biological theory of crime suggests that it is very likely that biological factors play a significant role in criminality due to the fact that criminal behaviour tends to run in families. Adoption studies provide psychologists with the information required in order for them to discover whether criminal behaviour patterns are the result of the child’s genes or their surrounding environment. For example, if a child’s behaviour resembles that of their adoptive parents then this could suggest that criminality is a product of the environment. Mednick et al. (1987) studied the criminal convictions of over 14,000 people who had been adopted and found greater evidence to suggest that biology had more influence over their behaviour. To further support this theory, Bohman (1996) replicated Mednick at al’s study by comparing the percentages of sons with a biological parent with a criminal record to boys with an adoptive parent with a criminal record. Bohman also found that genetic factors were more significant compared to environmental influences. The psychological theory of crime suggests that negative expectations cause certain individuals to behave towards others in a criminal way because their stereotypes alter their social interactions (self-fulfilling prophecy). This theory was supported by Jahoda’s (1954) study of names. Jahoda studied Ashanti people who give boys ‘soul names’ when they are born which supposedly alters their characters. For example, boys born on a Wednesday are called ‘Kwaku’ and are expected to behave in an aggressive, violent way. Jahoda discovered that 13. 5% of boys referred to court had ‘Wednesday’ names, yet they were responsible for 22% of violent crime. This implies that expectations of the boy’s behaviours due to stereotypes caused differential treatment and therefore they fulfilled the expectations caused by their names. The social theory of crime suggests that learning occurs when an individual (the learner) observes and copies another person (the model). Motivation to reproduce what the learner has observed from the model must be internal or external. Internal motivation may come from identification with the model, or external motivation can be obtained fro m direct or vicarious reinforcement. Children with criminal parents or who have other surrounding role models are very likely to be internally or externally motivated to copy behaviour, i. e. carry out criminal acts. Evidence to support this theory can be found using correlational data about exposure to media models and criminal acts. Eron et al. (1972) discovered a positive correlation between the violence level in television programmes watched by 7-8 years olds and their level of aggression. This violence was shown to progress (especially within males) as they became older. In my opinion, all three theories provide a valid approach and each are supported through evidence. I do not believe that one theory provides a significantly better argument than others, therefore, a combination (if possible) of each of the three theories would perhaps provide a more thorough answer to why people participate in criminal behaviour.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Essay
Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom Little, better known as Malcolm X were major figures in the civil rights movement in the United States. Despite fighting for the same cause, which is to see that all individuals in the United States are indeed equal regardless of race, both men take a different approach in furthering the cause. They both decried the injustice committed against the black people by the whites and wanted to see it come to an end. It was for this reason that the civil rights movement gained momentum in the 1960’s. The most obvious difference is the stance they took in pursuing their goal. Little, who became Malcolm X after converting to Islam, puts emphasis on self-empowerment among the black people, as well as other racial groups in the US for that matter; that they should use any means necessary to win their freedom and equality if society would continue to marginalize them. In trying to understand why Malcolm X was rather militant in his appraoch to the point of being â€Å"nationalistic,†one has to understand that he was born and raised in a ghetto where life was rough which resulted in the murder of his father and his mother committed to a mental institution. In as much as he deplored the racists, he also deplored whites who pretended to sympathize with them and pay lip service to their support of their cause. It is for this reason why he wanted thje blacks to empower themselves because he felt nobody will do it for them (Breitman, 1965, p. 26). King was brought up in a well-to-do family in spite of their race and he â€Å"borrowed†the approach taken by Mahatma Gandhi of nonviolent resistance as the means to accomplish their goal owing to his avocation as a minister who eschewed violence. King agreed with Gandhi’s principle that the oppressors need to see the evil they are committing to make them stop; for to fight back would make them further justify their actions. If Malcolm X were to have his way, he could have dragged America to another civil war, especially if he intended to use Islam as a vehicle to advance his cause, whereas King used a combination of Christian faith and Gandhi’s teachings which is compatible to the former (Vander Lei & Miller, 1999, pp. 84-85). Both men were assassinated for they were seen as a threat by their opponents. In the end, the civil rights movement was successful when the government passed a series of laws that once and for all ended segregation. The impact was not immediate and its effect was felt gradually through the passage of time and the proof that it was successful was evident with the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. And if one were to ask who would get the credit, the most likely answer would be Martin Luther King Jr. and his Gandhi-
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Heart of darkness 6
Heart of darkness 6 Comparative Essay between Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now The ties between Joseph Conrad's book, Heart of Darkness and Francis Coppola's movie, Apocalypse Now are unmistakable. Apocalypse Now's accuracy in following the story line of the Heart of Darkness is amazing although the settings of each story are from completely different location and time periods. From the jungle of the Congo in Africa to the Nung river in Vietnam, Joseph Conrad's ideals are not lost. In both the book and the movie, the ideas of good and evil, whiteness, darkness, and racism are apparent. Also, characterization in both the novel and the movie are very similar.Both The Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now examine the good and evil in humans. In The Heart of Darkness, Marlow speaks of Fresleven who was killed in a fight with some natives. The argument between Fresleven and the natives was over some chickens, and Fresleven felt he had been ripped off in the deal.James Hardie Jr. and wife, Rev. Willard (L OC)Marlow describes Fresleven as "the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs."(p. 13 Conrad) However, later in the same paragraph Marlow says,"he probably felt the need at last of asserting his self-respect in some way. Therefore he whacked the old nigger mercilessly."(p. 13 Conrad) Soldiers in combat are forced to bring the evil within themselves out every time they go into battle. The scene in Apocalypse Now where Captain Willard first meets Lt. Colonel Kilgore exhibits the power combat has in bringing out the dark side in humans. The attitude the soldiers have towards their enemy in the scene shows how evil humans can be. Kilgore demonstrates his dark side when he tosses the "death cards" on to the bodies of the dead Vietcong without showing any remorse over the death of fellow humans. The Vietcong...
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