Joseph’s Story Essay

Joseph’s story is a common one of an unsuspected massive heart attack. Even though Joseph had numerous existing factors that put him at risk of heart conditions he continued to live with no fear, or ambition to make changes. While playing ball with his son in the park, Joseph experienced his worst case scenario, a massive heart attack. There were several elements that went into this clinical turn for the worst. Joseph’s heart could now have irreversible damage due to the advanced stage of the condition. When Joseph’s heart stopped working in the park the cells that make up the heart started to use up the remaining ATP that was left in the cells. Because there was no heart function to push oxygenated blood through the vessels the carbon dioxide levels started to increase and PH levels dropped within the cell. The heart was no longer providing blood flow with the rich oxygen and glucose to the mitochondria, which is needed for the production of ATP. Without ATP it was only a matter of a few moments before the active transport pumps in the plasma membrane had stopped. This seize of activity had now allowed for sodium to begin leaking out of the cells and potassium to leak in. Joseph’s lungs could no longer expel harmful carbon dioxide from his body, or bring important oxygen in. Cells were dying. As Joseph lay in the park his son was crying and calling for help. Lucky for them both, some people were nearby who ran to ran to their aid. As one person called for help, another person started CPR on Joseph’s heart. CPR allowed for fresh oxygen to reach his cells and with every chest compression more carbon dioxide was expelled from his body. However, Joseph’s cells were still unable to produce ATP and the structure of the cells were being compromised to say the least. The lack of ATP also meant that special calcium ATPases had stopped moving calcium from the cytosol into endoplasmic reticulum of his cardiac muscle cells. As the intracellular calcium levels rose within the cells, they caused proteases to spill into their interiors of the cell, attacking the cytoskeleton. Lysosomal enzymes as well as mitochondrial organelles are usually contained by membranes or vesicles. A lot of a cell does it contained within that membrane. When a cell starts to die the first to start seize is the membrane, exchanging nothing intentional, but leaking nutrients in and out. The instructions Joseph’s body needs to repair itself and his disposition for vascular disease are both contained within the cell, inside DNA, located in the nucleolus. As the intracellular calcium levels rose, they caused proteases to spill into the interior of the cell, attacking the cytoskeleton. Lysosmal enzymes normally bound safely inside vesicles began to digest the plasma membrane and the membranes of the organelles. Oxygen is required by cells to produce ATP, oxygen, and nutrients, multiple cellular processes affecting hemostasis. Joseph was not treating his body with the care it needed. As a result the cells in his body reacted in a damaging way. Health and disease are ultimately determined at the cellular level.

Bank Bailout 2008

Bank Bailout Outline I. Introduction II. Background III. Opposition’s point 1, refute, 1st support for thesis. a. Credit Card Act of 2009 b. No Change at all, Banks still operating the same way IV. Opposition’s point 2, refute, 2nd support for thesis. a. Creation of TARP b. $12. 2 trillion dollars of tax dollars were spent wrong c. TARP allowed many banks to allow credit again d. A majority of banks have paid back TARP money e. After TARP, Economy boosted V. Opposition’s point 3, refute, 3rd support for thesis a. Toxic assets cannot be removed easily b. Government takes more cost, then expects c.Economy will decline with removal of assets VI. 4th support for thesis a. Increased national debt b. Politicians were forced to sign this bill c. No solving of problems â€Å"Let’s hope we are all wealthy and retired by this house of cards falters† (Bloomberg, 2007). The credit crisis is known as the â€Å"House of Cards†, for years the banking indust ry has transformed many American lives, which has resulted in a troublesome economy. Many factors led to the credit crisis, such as the rise and fall of the housing market, and inaccurate credit ratings helped to create the sub-prime mortgage crisis (Issues & Controversies, 2010).Low interest rates developed easy credit, in which people could get a mortgage and credit cards based on inaccurate credit ratings with the creation of sub-prime mortgages. People have the ability to own a home, with no down payment or fixed income. In August of 2007, the United States began a loss of confidence in securitized mortgages, which resulted in the Federal Reserve injecting $20 trillion dollars into the financial markets to ease the situation (â€Å"Obama Sends Warning to Big Banks, 2010).The most important question to be answered in the decade is â€Å"How a loss of $500 billion dollars from the sub-prime mortgage resulted in a $20 trillion dollar loss in equity values and an entire shock to t he world’s financial system† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007). The United States government should not have given the financial institutions bailout money, because financial institutions using loop holes in the system to take advantage of their clients, financial institutions operations have stayed the same, and the government’s belief of a tree market economy goes against the bailout.The credit crisis is a â€Å"worldwide financial fiasco, which resulting from sub-prime mortgages, Collateralized Debit Obligations, Frozen credit markets, and credit default swaps† (Jarvis, 2009). The credit crisis brings two people together, people on Main Street and investors. The people on Main Street represent their mortgages or houses, while investors represent their money, which also represents big institutions such as pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds; sovereign funds (Jarvis, 2009). These groups brought through the financial system, composed of banks and bro kers on Wall Street.As a result of the September 11th attack, Chairman Allen Greenspan lowered interest rates only to 1%, to allow credit to flow; however, investors have a very low return on investment (Snow, 2008). By lowering interest rates, it allows for banks to only borrow money from the Federal Government for 1% plus the surpluses from the Asian and Middle East market, which makes borrowing money easy for banks and to allow leverage (Adding up the Government’s Total Bailout Tab, 2009). The definition of leverage is, â€Å"borrowing money to amplify the outcome of a deal† and is a major way banks make their money (Princeton University, 2010).Wall Street takes out a majority of loans and uses leverage to their advantage, and a heavy flow of capital comes in. In which return, they pay back their original investment. The investors notice that Wall Street is making money very fast, and they want to create a new product to sell to Wall Street. The mortgage connects th e home buyer with a mortgage lender on Wall Street who gives them a mortgage, which is great because housing prices throughout America have been rising (â€Å"Bailed out banks†, 2010).The mortgage lender gets a call from an investment banker who wants to buy the mortgage; and the lender sells it to him, and the investment brokers buys thousands of mortgages. Every month the investment banker gets the payments from all the mortgages that he purchased from the box and cuts the box into three slices â€Å"Safe, Ok and Risky†, and then he packs the slices into the box and calls it a Collateralized debt obligation or â€Å"CDO† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007).However, greed has risen to the investment banker and wants’ more mortgages; however, the lender does not have any more mortgages to sell, because everyone who has qualified for a mortgage already has one; and the birth of the sub-prime mortgage is born. With a standard loan, the homeowner had to prove his wor th of a home, such as a job, good standing citizen, and assets. However, with a subprime mortgage, it was basically like free money. The person did not have to state their income, nor prove that you had a job.The investment banker and the lender are taking a risk, because if a home owner defaults on their mortgage, the lender gets the house and sells the house for a profit because home values have been increasing (Issues & Controversies, 2010). While home values have been increasing, American incomes have been plummeting for years; and because of sub-prime mortgages, the person did not have to prove income, a person with a $30 thousand dollar income; could own a $300 thousand dollar home. Many people defaulted on their mortgages, and foreclosures have been on the rise. In the United States, foreclosures were up 81% in 2008 and up 225% from 206†, which equals out to 19 per 1,000 households (CBS News, 2008). Due to there was a huge increase in foreclosures, instead of housing pr ices increasing; the houses values decreased in value very quickly and resulted in more foreclosures. A $300 thousand dollar mortgages was now only worth $75 thousand dollars. So all the mortgages that was in the investment banker CDO, now are worthless, and no one wants’ to take the CDO, and now the CDO is acting like a bomb (Roney, 2007).The investment banker is now panicking because he borrowed millions of dollars to buy the mortgage, and now he cannot get rid of it; however he is not the only one. Thousands of investment bankers throughout the world have CDO’s on their hand (Bailed out banks, 2010). In result the world’s financial system has become frozen, and everyone starts going bankrupt. As a result of the failure, the United States government rolls out a new program called Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to prevent another bank failure.Under the bank bailout, creation of new legislation to protect the consumer has rapidly increased, and supporters of the bank bailout point to the Credit Card Act of 209. Not only were subprime mortgages affected, but due to the freeze in the credit market in the United States government needed a way to regulate the credit card industry, but also to stimulate spending. Under the Credit Card Act of 2009, they require the financial institutions to give the cardholders 45 day’s notice of any interest rate change and financial institutions are prohibited from using misleading terms such as â€Å"prime or fixed rate† (The White House, 2009).With this legislation in place, it protects the consumer from many of the scams that the mortgage industry used as bait to get clients into buying houses they could not afford, using the subprime mortgages (Roney, 2007). But also it allows for Congress to embrace new regulations placed on the financial institutions. The Credit Card Act of 2009 that has become part of the famous bank bailout, however, it has been shown to protect the consumer, and Co ngress will regulate the new rules placed on financial institutions.For example, â€Å"there is no cap on the interest rate the credit card companies can charge†, and while credit card companies cannot increase you interest rate but only if you are late on a payment, â€Å"However future purchases interest rates can be raised with no reason† (White, 2010). The credit card companies have the ability to raise the interest rate on any purchases, while they must still notify you of the higher interest rate, the ballooning of the interest rate can take place at any time.This is exactly the same measures the financial institutions have used to misinform their consumers and â€Å"kick them when they are down† and â€Å"corrupt the middle class of America† (White, 2010). How the subprime mortgage boomed, had to come from the terms that many of the average consumers cannot understand, and a major aftermath of the subprime/credit crisis, occurred when many people d efaulted on their homes and credit cards (Roney, 2007).Then the mortgage and home will not exist for the family any more, and the credit card companies will balloon their interest rate enough so that the card holders will not be able to pay their credit card/mortgage. In which then the financial institution hounds them and attacks them at their core roots and even calls other family members to alert them of the card holder financial problems because they cannot pay their bills. The banking and financial institution have not taken any actions to prevent another credit crisis from happening again.Supporters of the bank bailout, commonly referred to as TARP, argue that the bailout wiped all the bad toxic assets (CDO’s) which were collected as result of the credit crisis and prevented the assets from hurting the financial institutions. The major recipients were Freddie Mac; and Fannie Mae. Both were government owned enterprises which bought a majority of the sub-prime mortgages ( Roney, 2007). Removing the bad assets from the financial institutions will have a positive effect on the economy because it allows banks to start lending again and unfreeze the markets.Under TARP, some mortgages would require the government to rewrite some of the effected loans, effectively putting more Americans into homes that they will be able to afford and by rewriting the loans also increase the standard of living. John Douglas, general counsel at the FDIC, said, â€Å"It doesn’t make sense to give the authority to anybody else but the FDIC†; he goes on to say â€Å"That’s what the FDIC does, it takes the bad assets out of the banks and manages them and sells them† (Vekshin & Schmidt, 2009). However, the supporters of the bank bailout do not represent correct/valid points/facts.In a study by the IMF of the 124 banking crisis, they have concluded: Existing empirical research has shown that providing assistance to banks and their borrowers can be count erproductive, resulting in increased losses to banks, which often abuse forbearance to take unproductive risks at government expense. The typical result of forbearance is a deeper hole in the net worth of banks, crippling tax burdens to finance bank bailouts, and even more severe credit supply contraction and economic decline than would have occurred in the absence of forbearance. Valencia & Laeven, 2008) As a result of the IMF study, it has concluded that removing the bad toxic assets from the banks could actually hurt the financial institutions and a system as a whole could freeze the credit markets again with a result of an economic decline, instead of an economic incline. Also there is no definition of a troubled market or loan. If the government wants to rewrite troubled mortgages or loans, there are no set criteria to say whether a mortgage or loan should be taken by the government and given to the troubled family.Another point, as Steward said, â€Å"The only way for this pr ogram to work is for enough of the bad mortgages/loans to be purchased to connivance lenders that the problem mortgages cannot hurt the system, or to put in simple terms, the government has to purchase enough mortgages/loans to inspire intra- institution (Stewart, 2008) Furthermore, the institutions will sell the assets that will remain depressed in value; and â€Å"no one is going to sell a asset that has a higher chance of making the institution money (Obama Sends Warning to Big Banks, 2010). In result, under TARP the government has a high probability of taking a majority of the loss.With the bank bailout, the economy will decline, and the government will take a great loss of the bank bailout. Supporters of the bank bailout will say that if the government did not step in and inject $20 trillion dollars into the market, an economic collapse could have happened and set America into another Great Depression. A heavy incline of unemployment; foreclosures were through the roof, a majo r decline in incomes (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009). America was becoming a very sick nation, and the bank bailout would help the economy and stimulate the financial institutions to help start lending and unfreeze the credit market.As one writer wrote, â€Å"there was at no time better to inject the financial institutions at this time, if they collapse it may be the sign of the apocalypse† (Bailed out banks, 2010)/ If there was no bank bailout, there is a major chance that this will be a sign of the apocalypse because the United States drives the world and if the major financial institutions such as Bank of America or Merrill Lynch fails then the world economy could ultimately send the world in to another Great Depression.The major reason that the American government should not have passed the bank bailout was the cost to the government. Under the Bush administration, the national debit doubled to a record high $10 trillion dollars (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009) . There are more programs that the government has to pay for such as Social Security. Many economists call this the â€Å"polluter pays† which is defined as â€Å"polluters must pay for the cost of cleaning it up† (Princeton University, 2010).When the financial industry is bailed out of disasters, which a majority of the time throughout history, they have created those disasters. If the banking industry feels like they can be bailed out every time they make a major mistake, then the American people will pay because the bank bailout is directly connected to the taxpayer’s funds (Obama sends warning to Big Banks, 2010).A price tag of $700 billion dollar bailout has hidden costs which can go high as $3 trillion dollars, which can â€Å"be the shortfall between the economies potential output and its actual output from the crisis† (Issues & Controversies, 2010). Another factor in the bank bailout is the morality, because the banks do not pay the costs that are imposed on a world society, which the tax payers pay directly into the banks and then the banks pay back into the government. Also, the political had a major role in deciding to pass the bank bailout.A senator said, â€Å"We had no choice. We had a gun pointed at our heads. Without the bailout, things would have been even worse† (Woellert & Kopecki, 2007). While politicians did not have an actual gun to their head, figuratively speaking because they had a oversight on â€Å"saving the banks and shareholders† or â€Å"have saved the banks but let the bankers and shareholders go† because of the final tap that American tax payer will have to pay to the bailout the banks that created this mess (Solomon, Enrich, & Hilsenrath, 2009).The bank bailout was a major mistake in the evolution of the financial world because it did not solve any problems; people can still be charged higher interest rates on their credit cards/mortgages. With TARP, there is no true removal of the bad assets that caused the credit crisis to form the bank bailouts; it only hurts the government because it has to take on the debt. Truly, we have stroke the core of the American people with the credit crisis, but at the same time the financial world has been given more powers and in a free market enterprise, the credit crisis can happen again at any moment.

The Lost Duke of Wyndham Chapter Thirteen

Grace let Amelia set the pace, and as soon as they were across the room, Amelia began whispering urgently about the events of the morning, and then about Thomas having needed her assistance, and then something about her mother. Grace just nodded, her eyes constantly darting toward the door. Thomas would be there at any moment, and although she had no idea what she might do to prevent what would surely be a disastrous encounter, she could not possibly think of anything else. Meanwhile, Amelia kept on whispering. Grace had just enough presence of mind to catch the end, when Amelia said: â€Å"†¦I beg of you not to contradict.† â€Å"Of course not,† Grace said quickly, because surely Amelia had made the same request Thomas had minutes earlier. If not, then she had no idea what she was agreeing to when she added, â€Å"You have my word.† At that point, Grace wasn't sure she cared. They continued walking, lapsing into silence as they promenaded past Mr. Audley, who gave them a rather knowing nod and a smile as they went by. â€Å"Miss Eversleigh,† he murmured. â€Å"Lady Amelia.† â€Å"Mr. Audley,† Amelia returned. Grace managed the same, but her voice was unpleasant and croaky. Amelia began whispering again once they were well past Mr. Audley, but just then Grace heard heavy footsteps in the hall. She twisted about to see, but it was only a footman, passing by with a trunk. Grace swallowed. Oh, dear heavens, the dowager was already beginning to pack for their trip to Ireland, and Thomas did not even know of her plans. How could she have forgotten to tell him during their interview? And then she became aware of Amelia, whom she'd somehow managed to forget, even though their arms were linked. â€Å"Sorry,† she said quickly, since she suspected it was her turn to speak. â€Å"Did you say something?† Amelia shook her head and said, â€Å"No.† Grace was fairly certain this was a lie, but she was not inclined to argue. And then†¦more footsteps in the hall. â€Å"Excuse me,† Grace said, unable to bear the suspense for one moment longer. She pulled away and hurried to the open doorway. Several more servants were passing by, all clearly in preparations for the upcoming journey to Ireland. Grace returned to Amelia's side and once again took her arm. â€Å"It wasn't the duke.† â€Å"Is someone going somewhere?† Amelia asked, watching as two footmen passed the doorway, one with a trunk and another with a hatbox. â€Å"No,† Grace said. But she hated lying, and she was terrible at it, so she added, â€Å"Well, I suppose someone might be, but I do not know about it.† Which was also a lie. Wonderful. She looked at Amelia and tried to smile cheerfully. â€Å"Grace,† Amelia said quietly, looking terribly concerned, â€Å"are you all right?† â€Å"Oh, no†¦I mean, yes, I'm quite fine.† She tried for the cheerful smile again, and suspected she did a worse job of it than before. â€Å"Grace,† Amelia whispered, her voice taking on a new and rather unsettlingly sly tone, â€Å"are you in love with Mr. Audley?† â€Å"No!† Oh, good heavens, that was loud. Grace looked over at Mr. Audley. Not that she'd wanted to, but they'd just turned a corner and were facing him again, and she couldn't avoid it. His face was tilted slightly down, but she could see him looking up at her, rather bemused. â€Å"Mr. Audley,† she said, because with him watching her, it seemed she should acknowledge him, even if he was too far away to hear. But then, as soon as she had the opportunity, she turned back to Amelia, furiously whispering, â€Å"I've only just met him. Yesterday. No, the day before.† Oh, she was a ninny. She shook her head and looked firmly in front of her. â€Å"I can't recall.† â€Å"You've been meeting many intriguing gentlemen lately,† Amelia commented. Grace turned to her sharply. â€Å"Whatever can you mean?† â€Å"Mr. Audley†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Amelia teased. â€Å"The Italian highwayman.† â€Å"Amelia!† â€Å"Oh, that's right, you said he was Scottish. Or Irish. You weren't certain.† Amelia's brow scrunched in thought. â€Å"Where is Mr. Audley from? He has a bit of lilt as well.† â€Å"I do not know,† Grace ground out. Where was Thomas? She dreaded his arrival, but the anticipation of it was worse. And then Amelia – good heavens, why? – called out, â€Å"Mr. Audley!† Grace turned and looked at a wall. â€Å"Grace and I were wondering where you are from,† Amelia said. â€Å"Your accent is unfamiliar to me.† â€Å"Ireland, Lady Amelia, a bit north of Dublin.† â€Å"Ireland!† Amelia exclaimed. â€Å"My goodness, you are far afield.† They'd finished circling the room, but Grace remained standing even after Amelia had disengaged herself and sat down. Then Grace moved toward the door as subtly as she was able. â€Å"How are you enjoying Lincolnshire, Mr. Audley?† she heard Amelia ask. â€Å"I find it most surprising.† â€Å"Surprising?† Grace peered out into the hall, still half listening to the conversation behind her. â€Å"My visit here has not been what I expected,† Mr. Audley said, and Grace could well imagine his amused smile as he said that. â€Å"Really?† Amelia responded. â€Å"What did you expect? I assure you, we are quite civilized in this corner of England.† â€Å"Very much so,† he murmured. â€Å"More so than is my preference, as a matter of fact.† â€Å"Why, Mr. Audley,† Amelia responded, â€Å"whatever can that mean?† If he made a reply, Grace did not hear it. Just then she saw Thomas coming down the hall, all tidied up and looking like a duke again. â€Å"Oh,† she said, the word slipping from her lips. â€Å"Excuse me.† She hurried into the hall, waving madly toward Thomas so as not to alert Amelia and Mr. Audley to her distress. â€Å"Grace,† he said, moving forward with great purpose, â€Å"what is the meaning of this? Penrith told me that Amelia was here to see me?† He did not slow as he approached, and Grace realized he meant for her to fall in step beside him. â€Å"Thomas, wait,† she said with hushed urgency, and she grabbed his arm and yanked him to a halt. He turned to her, one of his brows rising into a haughty arch. â€Å"It's Mr. Audley,† she said, pulling him back even farther from the door. â€Å"He is in the drawing room.† Thomas glanced toward the drawing room and then back at Grace, clearly not comprehending. â€Å"With Amelia,† she practically hissed. All traces of his unflappable exterior vanished. â€Å"What the hell?† he cursed. He looked sharply back toward the drawing room, not that he could possibly have seen inside from his vantage point. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I don't know,† Grace said, her voice snapping with irritation. Why would she know why? â€Å"He was in there when I arrived. Amelia said she saw him walking by the doorway and thought he was you.† His body shuddered. Visibly. â€Å"What did he say?† â€Å"I don't know. I wasn't there. And then I couldn't very well interrogate her in his presence.† â€Å"No, of course not.† Grace waited in silence for him to say more. He was pinching the bridge of his nose, and he looked rather as if his head were aching. Trying to offer some sort of not unpleasant news, she said, â€Å"I'm quite sure that he did not reveal his†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Oh, good heavens. How was she to put it? â€Å"†¦identity to her,† she finished with a wince. Thomas gave her a thoroughly awful look. â€Å"It is not my fault, Thomas,† she retorted. â€Å"I did not say that it was.† His voice was stiff, and he did not offer any more words before stalking off to the drawing room. From the moment Grace rushed from the room, neither Jack nor Lady Amelia had uttered a word. It was as if they had reached an unspoken agreement; silence would prevail while they both tried to make out what was being said in the hall. Jack had always considered himself better than average in the art of eavesdropping, but he was unable to catch even the sound of their whispers. Still, he had a fair idea of what was being said. Grace was warning Wyndham that the evil Mr. Audley had got his claws into the lovely and innocent Lady Amelia. And then Wyndham would curse – under his breath, of course, as he would never be so crass as to do so in front of a lady – and demand to know what had been said. The whole thing would have been highly entertaining if not for her, and the morning. And the kiss. Grace. He wanted her back. He wanted the woman he'd held in his arms, not the one who'd stiffly walked the perimeter of the room with Lady Amelia, eyeing him as if he were going to steal the silver at any moment. He supposed it was amusing. Somehow. And he supposed he ought to congratulate himself. Whatever she felt for him, it was not disinterest. Which would have been the cruelest response of all. But for the first time, he was finding that his conquest of a lady was not a game to be played. He did not care about the thrill of the chase, about remaining one enjoyable and entertaining step ahead, about planning the seduction and then carrying it out with flair and flourish. He simply wanted her. Maybe even forever. He glanced over at Lady Amelia. She was leaning forward, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, as if to place her ear at the best possible angle. â€Å"You won't be able to hear them,† Jack said. The look she gave him was priceless. And completely false. â€Å"Oh, don't pretend you weren't trying,† he scolded. â€Å"I certainly was.† â€Å"Very well.† Lady Amelia waited for a moment, then asked, â€Å"What do you suppose they are talking about?† Ah, curiosity would always win out with this one. She was more intelligent than she let on at first acquaintance, he decided. He shrugged, feigning ignorance. â€Å"Difficult to say. I would never presume to understand the female mind, or that of our esteemed host.† She turned sharply in surprise. â€Å"You do not like the duke?† â€Å"I did not say that,† Jack replied. But of course they both knew that he had. â€Å"How long do you stay at Belgrave?† she asked. He smiled. â€Å"Eager to be rid of me, Lady Amelia?† â€Å"Of course not. I saw the servants moving trunks about. I thought perhaps they were yours.† He fought to keep his expression even. He did not know why he was surprised that the old biddy had already begun to pack. â€Å"I imagine they belong to the dowager,† he replied. â€Å"Is she going somewhere?† He almost laughed at the hopeful expression on her face. â€Å"Ireland,† he said absently, before it occurred to him that perhaps this woman of all people ought not to be let in on the plans. Or maybe she was the one person who truly ought to be told. She certainly deserved to know. She deserved a sainthood, in his opinion, if indeed she planned to go through with her marriage to Wyndham. He could not imagine anything less pleasant than spending one's life with such an arrogant prig. And then, as if summoned by his thoughts, the arrogant prig appeared. â€Å"Amelia.† Wyndham was standing in the doorway in all his ducal splendor. Save for the lovely eye, Jack thought with some satisfaction. It was even gorier than the evening before. â€Å"Your grace,† she replied. â€Å"How lovely to see you,† Wyndham said once he had joined them. â€Å"I see that you have met our guest.† â€Å"Yes,† Lady Amelia said, â€Å"Mr. Audley is quite diverting.† â€Å"Quite,† Wyndham said. Jack thought he looked as if he had just eaten a radish. Jack had always hated radishes. â€Å"I came to see Grace,† Lady Amelia said. â€Å"Yes, of course,† Wyndham replied. â€Å"Alas,† Jack put in, enjoying the awkwardness of the exchange, â€Å"I found her first.† Wyndham's response was pure icy disdain. Jack smiled in return, convinced that would irritate him far more than anything he could have said. â€Å"I found him, actually,† Lady Amelia said. â€Å"I saw him in the hall. I thought he was you.† â€Å"Astounding, isn't it?† Jack murmured. He turned to Lady Amelia. â€Å"We are nothing alike.† â€Å"No,† Wyndham said sharply, â€Å"we are not.† â€Å"What do you think, Miss Eversleigh?† Jack asked, rising to his feet. It seemed he was the only one who had noticed that she had entered the room. â€Å"Do the duke and I share any traits?† Grace's lips parted for a full second before she spoke. â€Å"I'm afraid I do not know you well enough to be an accurate judge.† â€Å"Well said, Miss Eversleigh,† he replied, offering her a nod of compliment. â€Å"May I infer, then, that you know the duke quite well?† â€Å"I have worked for his grandmother for five years. During that time I have been fortunate enough to learn something of his character.† â€Å"Lady Amelia,† Wyndham said, clearly eager to cut short the conversation, â€Å"may I escort you home?† â€Å"Of course,† she said. â€Å"So soon?† Jack murmured, just to make trouble. â€Å"My family will be expecting me,† Lady Amelia said, even though she had not made any indication of this before Wyndham had offered to remove her. â€Å"We will leave right now, then,† Wyndham said. His fiancee took his arm and stood. â€Å"Er, your grace!† Jack turned immediately at the sound of Grace's voice. â€Å"If I might have a word with you,† she said from her position near the door, â€Å"before you, er, depart. Please.† Wyndham excused himself and followed her into the hall. They were still visible from the drawing room, although it was difficult – indeed impossible – to glean their conversation. â€Å"Whatever can they be discussing?† Jack said to Lady Amelia. â€Å"I am sure I have no idea,† she bit off. â€Å"Nor I,† he said, keeping his voice light and breezy. Just for contrast. Life was infinitely more entertaining that way. And then they heard: â€Å"Ireland!† That was Wyndham, and rather loud, too. Jack leaned forward to get a better view, but the duke took Grace's arm and steered her out of sight. And earshot. â€Å"We have our answer,† Jack murmured. â€Å"He can't be upset that his grandmother is leaving the country,† Lady Amelia said. â€Å"I would think he'd be planning a celebration.† â€Å"I rather think Miss Eversleigh has informed him that his grandmother intends that he accompany her.† â€Å"To Ireland?† Amelia shook her head. â€Å"Oh, you must be mistaken.† He shrugged, feigning indifference. â€Å"Perhaps. I am but a newcomer here.† And then she launched into quite the most ambitious speech: â€Å"Aside from the fact that I cannot imagine why the dowager would wish to go to Ireland – not that I wouldn't like to see your beautiful country, but it does not seem in character for the dowager, whom I have heard speak disparagingly of Northumberland, the Lake District, and indeed all of Scotland†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused, presumably to breathe. â€Å"Ireland seems a bit of a stretch for her.† He nodded, since it seemed expected. â€Å"But really, it makes no sense that she would wish for his grace to accompany her. They do not care for each other's company.† â€Å"How politely said, Lady Amelia,† Jack commented. â€Å"Does anyone care for their company?† Her eyes widened in shock, and it occurred to him that perhaps he should have limited his insult to the dowager alone, but just then Wyndham strode back into the room, looking angry and arrogant. And almost certainly worthy of whatever sort of insult Jack might give to him. â€Å"Amelia,† he said with brisk indifference, â€Å"I am afraid I will not be able to see you home. I do apologize.† â€Å"Of course,† she said, as if she could possibly say anything else. â€Å"I shall make every arrangement for your comfort. Perhaps you would like to select a book from the library?† â€Å"Can you read in a coach?† Jack queried. â€Å"Can you not?† she returned. â€Å"I can,† he replied with great flair. â€Å"I can do almost anything in a coach. Or with a coach,† he added, with a smile toward Grace, who stood in the doorway. Wyndham glared at him and grabbed his fiancee's arm, hauling her rather unceremoniously to her feet. â€Å"It was lovely meeting you, Mr. Audley,† Lady Amelia said. â€Å"Yes,† he said lightly, â€Å"it does seem that you are leaving.† â€Å"Amelia,† the duke said, his voice even more abrupt than before. He led her from the room. Jack followed them to the doorway, looking for Grace, but she had disappeared. Ah well, perhaps that was for the best. He glanced toward the window. The skies had darkened, and it appeared that rain would be imminent. Time for that walk, he decided. The rain would be cold. And wet. And precisely what he needed.

Property Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Property Development - Essay Example With the help of a case example the paper will mainly highlight the merits of traditional residual valuation approach over other valuation methods. Property valuation and different property valuation techniques has been a subject of intense discussion between researchers, academicians and developers. Different approaches to property valuation have been widely contested between different stakeholders. The issue of property appraisal often takes socio-political color due to the range of stakeholders directly affected by the process. According to Williams and Ventolo (2001, p-65), market value means the most probable price which a property should bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, the buyer and seller each acting prudently and knowledgeably and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus. Though the theoretically property valuation is defined by some others Hamid (1996)"as means to interpret market without the personal bias, value, emotion and poor assumption", property appraisal is often looked from a personal perspectives of buyers and sellers. Kahr and Thomsett (2005; p-48) states that valuation is distinguished via attributes of properties and markets; further classification of value are based upon the priorities of investors or owners, including cash flow and potential rental income tax benefits or limitations and perception of future growth in market value. Principles that guide the valuation are: Progression: this principle implies that the value of property will increase due to market demand and better locality. Regression: this principle implies that opposite of above principle also holds true when the value of a property may decrease due to negative market sentiments. Conformity: The principle states that valuation of property tends to appreciate with the similar properties in a similar location. Substitution: This principle implies that a property's greatest potential market value is also limited by the valuation of similar properties in a similar locality. Change: This principle tells that all variables used for valuation tend to change resulting in changes in value of the property. Anticipation: This principle implies that valuation depends upon the expectation of future growth. Contribution: This principle states that the investment on an existing property may contribute in valuation, though it is not necessary that increase in valuation is equal to investment. Plottage: This principle implies that the consistency in ownership, zoning and usage of land tend to increase the value of land. Highest and best value: This principle states that the value of a land is maximum when the land is utilized in best possible manner. Competition: This principle implies that the valuation of a property varies according to supply and demand of properties in market. Property appraisal aims to determine different type of values such as market value, value in use, investment value, insurance and taxable value, and liquidation value, which gives rise to need of different valuation methods and standards. These valuation systems also vary in different countries according to their laws and economic practices. In, UK five valuation methods are used which are discussed in following sections whereas in US

Case study 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

1 - Case Study Example Many of her contributions are ignored and senses gender hierarchy segregation. Due to this, she starts questioning her own professional competence and how to apply her knowledge and skills when treating new clients. This angers Susan and makes her feel isolated. She decides to discuss her concerns with Daisy, who seems very close to the locals and agrees to mentor Susan. Introduction The society has been found to be highly in denial of the worrying trends. People believe in various myths, a reason why they could have opted not to talk to Susan. There are believes that people who talk about suicide are trying to get attention. People who contemplate on committing suicide after making the decision cannot be stopped from taking away their lives. The assumption that people who commit suicide are crazy and weak is wrong. Other people believe that those people who talks about suicide have the intention of manipulating others is not true. Most of the communities believe that the young peopl e do not think about suicide because they have the whole life to live. Research has revealed a worrying trend on the levels of suicide among the adolescents and young adults. Globally, youth have been found to be faced with a high risk of committing suicide than the old people and the children. The age of vigorous changes in the physiology of the youth and fear of maturity are a reason for this trend. Moreover, the various issues affecting them have been found to have adverse effects, yet more dangerous effects on them. Increased pressure from the society that includes expectations, dreams and ambitions also contribute to the high cases of risk among the youth. Recently, there has been a sharp rise in the number of suicides among the youth around the world. Startling statistics have been reported in various countries due to the sharp increase in cases of suicide. While a number of people have been unsuccessful in suicide attempts, others have successfully committed suicide. A lot of studies have been conducted to determine the risk factors that cause suicide among the adolescent people. One death can have a significant impact on the population health data due to low numbers of this population within the general Australian population context. However, in areas where Aboriginal communities reside, suicide figures are very high. Their lifestyles, the community and society beliefs have a major contribution to the high cases of suicide. This paper will look at the various causes of the increased cases of suicide among the youth in Aboriginal community and the various interventions of dealing with the cases of suicide. Literature Review Research based on population of young people has identified recognized risks for suicide attempts. They include gender, race or ethnicity, historical cases of depression, hopelessness, alcohol use and drug abuse, sexualisation and violence. Factors that are likely to trigger these risks are underlying psychological stress such as mar ginalization, isolation, and rejection. Among other factors, homosexuality has been suggested as a major contributor for suicide. Gay, lesbianism and bisexuality have not been proven to have successful influence on suicide. However, suicides related to gay youth have proved to be difficult due to the social stigma

UK Government Announced Expenditure Cuts- Consequences for Public Essay

UK Government Announced Expenditure Cuts- Consequences for Public Services - Essay Example This, as the general population has already in part voiced an opinion via the results of recent polls that have punished those in power for the spending cuts that were already instituted, via voters electing into office those who are opposed to the current government and its programs of austerity and expenditure cuts. Already the impacts of such expenditure cuts, moreover, have included sharp reductions in the payments made by government towards welfare, as well as deep cuts in the roster of employees in the public sector. The latter arguably may have both camps in the debate arguing about how such deep cuts in the employee count in the public sector impacts the provision of public services in the UK. Moreover, reduced spending for welfare directly strikes at the heart of what government intends to provide its citizens in terms of public services tied to welfare, as they pertain for instance to those who are unemployed, and as they pertain to the provision of vital health services es pecially for those sectors of British society unable to cover for their own healthcare needs without the benefit of welfare services provided by the UK government. ... 2010; Kane and Allen 2011). Discussion A. Expenditure Cuts At the time that the expenditure cuts were announced in 2010, they were deemed to be, taken together, the largest such cuts to be instituted in the expenditures of the UK government since the second world war, with the scale of the cuts cutting through vital public services, including welfare, and envisioned to pare down the government workforce by half a million civil servants, en route to balancing the budget, from yearly deficit estimated at 156 billion pounds in 2009. Then chief of Treasury George Osborne, referring to the magnitude of the public sector spending deficit, called the UK a â€Å"debt supertanker†, depicting the deficit problem in gargantuan imagery, in order to stress the point that the deficit situation was urgent, damaging, and threatening to the future viability of government, and therefore necessitated the cutbacks in expenditure. The short of it was that government deemed the then state of affair s of government spending as unsustainable in the long term. The non-sustainability of spending meant that government had to step in and try to rein in the spending. That was the gist of the plan, and government envisioned the cuts to be undertaken over a period of half a decade, gradually cutting back on spending through all of the government's different functions, departments, and agencies, with the goal of reversing the deficit spending and putting the government finances on an even keel, as a way of securing its long-term viability. The cuts in spending was estimated to reach 83 billion pounds by 2015, with the rest of the funding to wipe out the deficit to come from increases in taxation (The Associated Press 2010; Stringer 2012). Aside from the cuts in public sector

Companies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Companies - Research Paper Example I feel like I have very strong leadership qualities, and employees of this company frequently get opportunities to lead the teams independently. Hence, I would not only find the opportunity to expedite my skills and capabilities, but would also grow professionally. Being employed by this company, I would feel safe for I would be building my experience in one of the largest and most popular companies in Qatar, which would be good for me in the long run. I would like to work for Qatar Petroleum because this is a very old company. It was 1939 when the first well was drilled. Development sustained after the Second World War and the first crude exports took place in the year 1949. The fields of Maydan Mahzam and Idd Al-Shargi were discovered in the year 1960. After the discovery of Bul Hanine, the largest offshore in 1970, Qatar Petroleum was established in the year 1974 (â€Å"QP History†). Since the company has a strong international presence, I would have the opportunity to visit different countries and places as part of my job and also have international exposure. With such a large work setup and being equipped with the latest technology, Qatar Petroleum provides its employees with the opportunity to polish their intellectual and technical skills in a highly dynamic and challenging environment. Working with Qatar Petroleum is a privilege and a great and valuable addition to the CV in terms of experience. I would also feel very fortunate and happy if I ever get employed in the Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways provides wonderful opportunities of talent development to its employees. Employees of Qatar Airways are offered a range of benefits and perks in addition to salary. Besides, the company fosters such a culture that makes its employees feel like a family. The company promises its employees; â€Å"You will gain from the diverse culture, by interacting with more than one hundred and fifty nationalities in a fast-paced working environment.

Goodwill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Goodwill - Essay Example "Pooling of Interests" or "Purchase Accounting Method". Under the first method, the Goodwill acquired on account of merger and acquisitions use to get amortized in equal installments over a period of 40 years. Under the second method, the Goodwill was considered as a permanent asset, which would not reduce in value with the passing of years, thus enabling the companies to test the same for impairment on an annual basis in order to ensure that fair value of the Goodwill was equal to its book value. Apart from the annual review, the impairment could also be exercised in instances where it indicated that the carrying amount of Goodwill needs reassessment. The process of assessment of impairment consists of two steps. Firstly it involves comparison of the intrinsic value of a business with its carrying amount including the Goodwill. Incase the book value exceeds the fair value, then nothing needs has to be done. On the other hand, if the fair value is lesser than the book value, impairment would be carried out. Under the US GAAP, the fair value of Goodwill is calculated by allocating fair values to unit assets and liabilities. In the case of impairment of Goodwill, same should be charged to the Profit and Loss Account. The International Accounting Standards also followed the footsteps of US GAAP concept. The basic difference between the UK and the International Accounting Standards is that in the former the Companies were allowed to opt either of the two op

HISTORY OF ROCK & ROLL FINAL EXAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HISTORY OF ROCK & ROLL FINAL EXAM - Essay Example According to him, rock and roll lacked that. Mick’s assertion were reiterated by several rock and roll artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Swedish band- the Hellacopters, just to mention, but a few. There sentiments seemed to be a premonition of what was to come decades later. This is ascribed to the fact that fifty years down the line rock and roll is no more (Topping). It has slowly died and is soon being forgotten. In the year 2010, the number of rock music appearing in the chart fell to its lowest level in fifty years. This happened when only three songs managed to appear in the top one hundred best-selling hits in the United Kingdom. Additionally, the percentage of rock tracks plummeted from a sickening thirteen percent in 2009 to a terminal three percent in 2010. This was way far behind R n B/hip hop at forty seven percent, pop at forty percent and dance at ten percent, according to Music Week. Over time, rock had competed relatively with pop music in the singles chart. According to Music Week, in 2008, rock music acco unted for twenty seven of the one hundred best-selling singles; however, the number declined to three in 2010 (Topping). It is most likely that we are coming to an end of rock and roll. It is as if we have reached the limit of what bass, drums, keyboards, guitars and vocals can create; thus, music is slowly moving back to where it came from (being recycled). A post-modernism school of thought in the contemporary culture suggests that recent cultures are cannibalizing the past, and there is nothing new anymore; everything is same, but given a different look. Have a look at movies: Sequels, remakes, films and prequels based on TV shows (Topping). It is also a fact that the modern music appears stuck in the yesteryear groove since there are no scenes or movements coming from anti-establishment ideology. Rock and roll history is rebellion’s history. For instance, stories such as Elvis, King

Reflections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflections - Essay Example A good place to begin in this regard is with Carter's Three Step Integrity Model. To begin with step one: discerning what is right and what is wrong is not an innate behavior or characteristic; it is learned. Education is key to building up this moral faculty. This faculty is built up through experience and through principles. In a country as politically complicated and as diverse as the United States, this takes a lot of work. We can't shirk from hard work; we must embrace it. Step two: Sometimes integrity means acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost. In our society, one would call a person who discerns and acts on what they have witnessed or experienced a "snitch". Many times in the justice arena a person who has witnessed a crime or an altercation, definitely could inform at personal cost-whether jeopardizing their lives or the lives of loved ones. An example a little closer to home would be, to discern something about a colleague or family member. This would definitely put one in an awkward position, especially if they have to confront the issue or if the issue jeopardizes the integrity of a company or violates a family member(s) trust; all at personal cost to that person. This more than likely would cause animosity, fear, loss of friendship and even, cost them their job or division in the family. The choice is a hard one; turning to faith is the best way to find an answer. Step three involves saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right from wrong. Even if it costs you personally, it is important to be honest. You have to act on what you understand to be right and be honest with what knowledge you have. This too is part of integrity. 2. Interpersonal relations class. This class reminded me of a personal situation. When I was around 16 years old, the teacher in my class assigned all of us pen pals for the year. The pen pals were to be from the island of Malta, which is a small country in the Mediterranean near Sicily. I had never had a pen pal before. In fact I rarely wrote letters. It could be said that I was a shy child and did not have many friends. So I was a little bit nervous about having a pen pal as I didn't know how I felt about telling a stranger all about my life. My pen pal's name was Flavia and we soon began exchanging letters. While I might have been nervous at first, I soon began to really enjoy the experience. What I enjoyed most was getting to know another person in the way that I got to know Flavia. She was the same age as I was and with a lot of the same family background-the same amount of brother and sisters, for example-and from a similar socio-economic background. At first our letters simply introduced basic facts about our lives to one another. After a few letters doing this we began to talk about our routines-the sports we played, the kind of friends we had, the computer games we enjoyed. The more letters we exchanged, the closer I felt the two of us becoming. Soon we had graduated to begin to talk about what we thought about our lives, our societies, and cultures. We began to share personal details; this led to a bond that was built on trust. We both perceived each other as more fully formed people and began to understand what sort of stimuli influenced one another's perceptions and experiences of the world. Another important thing that made us feel closer together was the fact that over the months that