War Prayer Response Essay Example for Free

War Prayer Response Essay God does not choose sides. The word, choose, is listed in the dictionary as â€Å"to pick by preference.† God has no preferences. He has an all knowing and understanding, compassionate heart, which is free of any illusory appeals. God only serves the beings on earth so as to teach them about themselves. Self-actualization is the only thing that can bring humans into full control over ourselves. Humans often do not understand what it is they hope for; if they were to fully understand the implications of it, they would be unable to continue to stand for the wrong doings they wished to be. This is observed in, Mark Twain’s, War Prayer. In the short story, War Prayer, a messenger of god is sent to explain exactly what a mass of people is praying. The people use euphemisms, seemingly unknowingly, in their chants to ask God for victory in the Philippines, during the Spanish American war. The hymns contained phrases such as â€Å" thunder thy clarion and lighting thy sword.† After the messenger speaks the true meaning of the words, the prayer becomes a romanticized and misrepresented portrayal of the true nature of war. At the very end of the messenger’s address, to the people, he asks them, â€Å"Ye have prayed it, if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the most high awaits.† The people respond, or rather lack there of, with silence. The messenger is later thought to be a lunatic. Though God tried to explain to them their actions, they failed to see the truth and benevolent power than enveloped the words. The one who knows, sees, and understands all granted the opportunity of a second chance, and the humans once again took the opportunity for granted. God does not choose sides; he gives those who he wishes to learn the opportunity to do so for themselves.

Asian Currency Crisis Causes and Effects

Asian Currency Crisis Causes and Effects Introduction One of the key characteristics of money is stability, however a currency crisis is said to occur when the value of a countrys currency becomes unstable and changes rapidly thereby undermining its ability to effectively serve as a medium of exchange. The Asian currency crisis was a period of financial meltdown which began in July 1997 and gripped the major proportion of East Asia. It remains one of the most talked about region-wide crisis in the 1990s, the sharpest to hit the developing countries, which resulted in a massive downward spiral of Asian economies hitherto seen as miracle economies and prompted the largest financial bailouts in history.(Radelet and Sachs 1998) This paper will examine the origin of the crisis, its impact on the economies of the countries involved and the measures that have been adopted to avoid a recurrence of a similar crisis. ORIGIN OF THE CRISIS Upon mutual agreement, based on the plaza accord (1985) between the US, Germany and Japan, the US dollar was devalued by about 60% to the Yen in real terms in order to alleviate the increasing US current account deficit. Japanese firms facing export competitiveness due to the appreciation of the Yen began to move production to south East Asian countries whose currencies were pegged to the dollar. This provided an ideal location for the Japanese firms in terms of international price competiveness. This inflow of investment from Japan to the South East Asian countries accelerated a pattern that led to large inflow of capital from other Asian and foreign countries into the East Asian countries. The fixed exchange rate system gave the south East Asian economies strong exports, low import prices and expected financial stability. For years, East Asian Countries were held up as economic icons. Their typical blend of high savings and investment rates, autocratic political systems, export-oriented businesses, restricted domestic markets, government capital allocation, and controlled financial systems were hailed as the ideal recipe for strong economic growth of developing countries (Shapiro 1999). Asian economies like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Thailand enjoyed overall average growth rates of 5.6 percent, 6.6 percent, 7 percent, 6.9 percent and 4.6 percent respectively for several decades. Indonesia and Malaysia too enjoyed good economic performance during most of the 1970s and 1980s. (Rao, 1998) However, these miracle economies were brought down in July 1997 when a brewing currency crisis started from Thailand. This seed of the Asian currency crisis of 1997 were actually sown during the previous decades when these countries were experiencing unprecedented economic growth. For long, exports had long been the engine of economic growth in these countries and as such many Asian states were regarded as Export Power Houses. The increased foreign capital inflow into these economies also propelled capital expenditure which led to an investment boom in commercial and residential properties, industrial assets and infrastructure. These capital expenditures were financed by heavy borrowings from banks which had excess liquidity but no strong regulatory frameworks. Thus, by the mid 1990s, South East Asia was experiencing an unprecedented investment boom, much of it financed with foreign investments and borrowings. The case was made worse as much of the foreign borrowings had been in US d ollars as opposed to local currencies. At the time, this had seemed like a smart move (i.e. regional local currencies were pegged to the dollar and interest rates on dollar borrowings were generally lower than rates on borrowings in domestic currency, and it made economic sense to borrow in dollars if the option was available); but, many of the investments made with these funds were on the basis of projections about future demand conditions that were unrealistic. Soon, there were indications of macroeconomic imbalances in the Thai economy; the real exchange rate had risen to an apparently unsustainable level and the current account was also in constant huge deficit. Rao (1998). Also, Asian Countries started to see their ballooned volume of investments during the 1990s declining significantly. Paul krugman (1999) stated the Asian countries attracted so much foreign capital that their economic growth was fuelled more by sheer volume of investment rather than by the productivity of those individual investments. Therefore the governments in the region could not maintain their dollar peg and their currencies started to depreciate against the dollar, this increased the size of the debt burden that needed to be serviced when measured in local currency. This started the debt boom. A final complicating factor was that by 1996, there became a slackening of export growth which was much noticeable in Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, while in Thailand there became a decline in the dollar value of exports. This decline in export did not stop growing import and this disparity saw many south Asian countries shifting strongly into the red during the mid 1990s. By 1995, Indonesia was running a current account deficit that was equivalent to 3.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Malaysias was 5.9% and Thailands was 8.1%. With deficits like these starting to pile up, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the governments of these countries to maintain the peg of their currencies against the U.S dollar. Thus by 1997, the first obvious indication of the crisis started with the Thai economy. Thailand could no longer defend their currency and therefore floated the baht on the 2nd of July 1997. (Rao, 1998). Prompted by these developments in Thailand, investors saw basically the same issues facing Thailand surfacing in other neighbouring countries. As a result, investors panicked; their fears were not allayed especially because of lack of transparency regarding issues such as the extent of government and private debt, the health of the financial sectors and no trust in the government to take pre-emptive corrective actions. This led to massive capital flight. The withdrawal of foreign currency led to dramatic depreciation in exchange rate and higher interest rates. This led to an increase in the number of non-performing loans, causing an erosion of the market value capital of most of the countries. Thus, the scene was now set for a potential rapid economic breakdown. There is no consensus on the exact origin of the currency crisis in East Asia; while some schools of thought believe that the crisis was caused by the initial financial turmoil in some Asian countries, followed by regional contagion (Radelet and Sachs, 1998; Marshall, 1998; and Chang and Velasco, 1999), others believe it occurred as a result of policy and structural distortions (Corsetti, Pensetti and Roubini; 1998). However, most of the East Asian economies were interdependent, hence it was only logical that a crisis in one would have a domino-effect and inadvertently cause a crisis in other East Asian Economies that were linked to it. Warning Signals during the 24 Months prior to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, Months of Lead Time, and Performance Measures. Number of Warning Signals and Months of Lead Time (in parenthesis) Optimal threshold percentile Indonesia Korea Malaysia Philippine Thailand Singapore Noise to signal ratio Conditional crisis probability (%) Share of crisis predicted (%) Overall Composite Index 88 7(11) 9(10) 13(13) 10(11) 10(10) 0(10) 0.137 77 83 Current Account 90 7(11) 11(16 13(13) 11(11) 16(16) 0(0) 0.136 77 83 Capital Account 90 1(23) 0(0) 2(3) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.288 62 63 Financial Sector 90 0(0) 0(0) 2(3) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.313 60 67 Real Sector 90 2(2) 9(14) 0(0) 2(10) 4(13) 0(0) 0.322 53 31 Global Economy 80 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.540 46 75 Fiscal Sector 87 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.540 46 46 Source: ERD Working Paper No.26 Using a Signalling approach based EWS model, it shows that persistent warning signals prior to the 1997 crisis was not just in a few but all of the five countries most affected by the crisis. The findings of this model supports the fact weaknesses in economic and financial fundamentals in these countries triggered the crisis. The Impact of the crisis on the Economics of the countries involved. As Thailand floated the baht on July 2 and allowed the currency to fall, wave after wave of speculation hit other Asian currencies, a de-facto devaluation of the Philippine Peso followed on July 11. Korean Won too lost. Malaysia let its currency, the ringgit float on July 14th 1997, as foreign exchange reserves had gone down to $ 28 billion. Singapore followed on July 17th and the Singapore dollar (S $) quickly dropped in value from $1 = S $ 1.495 prior to the devaluation to $1 = 2.68 a few days later. A month later on August 14, Indonesia floated the rupiah. This was the beginning of a precipitous decline in the value of the Indonesian currency as a fall was seen from $1 = 2,400 Rupiah in August 1997 to $1 = 10,000 Rupiah on January 6th, 1998, a loss of 75% (Rao, 1998). Source: DataStream The Chart (above) shows the monthly evolution of the currencies of the eight South-East Asian countries during the crisis from July 1997 to April 1998. The Five countries where the crisis where particularly serious (Figure 1A) saw more decline in their currencies than countries in Figure 1B even though all countries shown were affected.ÂÂ   The economy of Thailand where the crisis started from suffered a real sharp decline. Total export earnings declined and a trade deficit rose to $ 16 billion. With the deficit standing at over 8 percent of GDP and its financing largely coming from short term funds; the external debt of Thailand rose to $68.1 billion. The non-performing loans of banks and finance companies in Thailand were estimated to be around 12 percent of total loans in mid 1997. The Thailand economy was also plagued by a deteriorating external sector, a stock market decline (the stock market index fell from 1683 in 1993 to below 500 in1997) and most importantly dwindling forex reserves. A decline in investment saw the closure of investment houses which resulted in immediate unemployment rates of between 6 and 10 percent (Rao, 1998). The Indonesian economy also suffered a set-back which included growing current account deficits due to lack-luster export growth and mounting debt service. Loss of confidence in Indonesia led to a series of attacks on the currency. In the second half of 1997, the rupiah fell by 72 percent against the dollar which had an adverse effect on the Japanese, European and US banks that lent billions of dollars to Indonesian companies. According to Witcher (1998), the Indonesias financial system started to stagger under escalating bad loans. Indonesia sought help from the IMF, they agreed to provide them with loans estimated at $40billion and in return demanded that Indonesia keeps interest rates high and immediately close 16 banks. The news of bank closures led to panicked withdrawals by depositors and investors. As Stiglitz(1998) and Yellen(1998) discussed; due to limited information, investors were unable to distinguish which banks were healthy or not so they shied away from them all; this caused more havoc to the economy. The crisis quickly spread to the real sector. The real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 13% in 1998 and remained stagnant in 1999. Real output declined by approximately 14% in 1998. The Indonesian economy thus went into a recession with falling GDP in 1998. It also had a weak economy that was composed of falling domestic demand and company closures which meant rising poverty and unemployment. . Unemployment which was historically no more than 3 to 4 percent hit a 10 percent level in 1998 with around 8.7 million people jobless. The impact of the crisis on welfare and the economy as a whole was mostly reflected in the poverty rate which rose from 15% in 1997 to 33% in 1998. The contagion effect soon caught up with South Korea, a country whose economic performance was spectacular compared to other Asian countries. However, the won began to depreciate from late August 1997 and gathered momentum by October. From about 900 won to the dollar in early August, the exchange rate plummeted to about 1200 by the end of November. The ratio of debt reserves rose during 1992 1997 (Rao, 1998). In January 1997, Hanbo Steel collapsed under a $6 billion debt. This was the first Korean Chaebol to go bankrupt in 10 years (Chang,1998). In the wake of this, the Korean shares declined in value by 25.2% at the end of 1997. Balance in trade declined from a surplus of $7.6billion in 1987 to a deficit of $20.6billion in 1998. GDP per capita fell and Unemployment rate naturally rose to 5.9 percent in February 1998 and started to climb up from there (Rao, 1998). The Philippines Economy faced a significant currency crisis, the peso fell significantly from 26/US $ to even 55/US $. The GDP growth rate dropped from 5.1% in 1997 to -0.5% in 1998. GNP hovered at 0.1% in 1998 compared to 7.2% in 1996 and by the fourth quarter of 1998, growth of investments had declined to -23.9%. In Hong Kong, the economy saw the collapse of the Hong Kongs stock market (with a 40 percent loss in October). On October 27 1997, the market rout on Wall Street was preceded by a 5.8 percent plunge in the Hong Kong stock market which snowballed through the worlds developed and emerging stock markets. Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region tumbled in sympathy, with Australia down 3.4 percent and Tokyo down 1.9 percent. Below is a graph showing the evolution of the Asian stock markets during the financial crisis of 1997- 1998. Source: Morgan Stanley International Capital (MSCI). Figures 2A and 2B (above) show the monthly evolution of national stock price indices (expressed in US dollars) for these same eight countries and during the same period of time. The finding shows a consistent close relationship between exchange rate depreciations and stock returns during the crisis. (Bailey, Chan and Chung (2001).) Japan was also affected because its economy is prominent in the region. Asian countries usually run a trade deficit with Japan because the latters economy was more than twice the size of the rest of Asia together; about 40 percent of Japans export go to Asia. However, even with this, the Japanese was finally shaken as their yen fell to 147 when mass selling began; Also, with the collapse in the value of the Japanese stock market, the value of assets also plummeted, leaving the institutions with a diminished asset base and an increased portfolio of non-performing loans. The GDP real growth rate slowed dramatically in 1997, from 5% to 1.6% and even sank into recession in 1998. In a relatively short period of time, the crisis currency crisis shock was spread even beyond Asia. The USA market (the Dow Jones industrial) plunged 554 points or 7.2%. The New York Stock Exchange briefly suspended trading; this was accompanied by plunges of 15 percent in Brazil, 13.7 percent in Argentina and 13.3 percent in Mexico. Europe also had the impact of contagion effects, Markets like London fell 2.6 percent, while Germany, France and Italy all shed 2.8 percent. Smaller markets like Finland plunged 5.7 percent, while Spain skidded 4.1 percent. Russia became the major non-Asian victim of the financial contagion. By mid 1998, investors began to perceive systematic weaknesses of the Russian economy which was similar to Asia; therefore they began a steady withdrawal of their capital from the economy. By midsummer 1998, it became apparent that Russia was struggling to maintain an exchange of roughly 6 rubles to 1 dollar at the time. Their central bank reserves began to dwindle. Despite the loan package and the pro-market administration, the international investment community lost faith in Russia and rushed for the exits. On August 15th 1998, the rubble was allowed to float and the Russian stock market lost 25% of its value. The Measures that have since been adopted to avoid recurrence of a similar crisis. After the slow down of the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997, the regions former economic tigers had to mete out some conditions and policies towards a sustainable Asian economy that would be able to withstand any financial turmoil and consequently avoid the recurrence of a similar crisis. These regionss heavy weight also had to accept the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions in order to stay afloat although the IMF had never dealt with a crisis of this magnitude and was met with stiff hostilities; the IMF prescribed tough conditions and measures that contributed immensely to considerable long term gains for the Asian Economics (Lakhan, 2007) One of these conditions were policies involving the Macro-economy. The tightening of monetary policy (at different stages in different countries) was necessary to stem exchange fluctuation, to prevent currency depreciation from leading into a spiral of inflation and into the eventual collapse of the exchange rate. Some countries like Thailand, South Korea, Philippines and Indonesia switched to improved credible policies that involved their exchange rate system. These countries adopted the inflation targeting policy which implied greater transparency and accountability instead of exchange rate as an anchor for monetary policy. Inflation targeting also allowed for the attainment of stable development of their economy through the establishment of credible and reputable central bank; as these central banks set inflation targets and implemented monetary policies committed to the achievement of targets. They also made monetary policy decisions based on overall judgement of the economy by k eeping constant watch not only on immediate price movements but also on trends of demand and supply factors in the domestic economy, exchange rate movements and overall movement of the international economy. The effects from this policy adopted inflation targeting contributed largely to stabilizing the monetary and economic environment after the currency crisis (Tomoko, 2002). A typical example could be seen in South Korea. After the Crisis, South Korea revised the Bank of Korea act to introduce inflation targeting in 1998. Since its introduction, South Koreas inflation targeting has played an appreciable role in stabilizing the countrys economy. In particular, the introduction of inflation targeting has secured the independence of the Bank of Korea in monetary policy and drastically enhanced the transparency of monetary policy. Affected countries of the crisis also embarked on their financial system stabilization to avoid any similar recurrence of the debilitating financial crisis. These measures ventured into the areas of liquidity support for troubled banks in question, deposit protection measures through a deposit insurance co-operation to prevent systemic risk arising from the spread of credit uneasiness, boosting capital base through capital injections from public funds and prompt disposal of non-performing loans by a third party organization (Resolution and Collection Company in the case of Japan and asset management companies (AMC) in the case of Asian countries). The four countries where the financial crisis was particularly serious (Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia) injected public funds into financial institutions often with government assistance. They also went into the act of promoting the consolidation of financial institutions by closing or suspending operations of banks with do ubtful chances of survival, temporarily nationalizing them or merging them. They established an asset management company to purchase non-performing loans Thai Asset Management Corporation (TAMC) in Thailand, Danaharta in Malaysia, Korea Asset Management Company (KAMCO) in South Korea, and Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in Indonesia (Lindgren et al, 2000) Although the system of the companies or organizations varied from one country to another, they all similarly purchased non-performing loans at about market prices and disposed the assets selling by tender or by means of securitization. At present, they have disposed of about 50~70% of the assets. Thailand for example, had finance companies (non-banks) that had been suffering from business difficulties even before the currency crisis and the Thai government had been providing liquidity support to them. After the crisis, the government improved its classification standard for non-performing loans to conform to the international standard and strengthened write-off standards. It also nationalized commercial banks, injected capital and reorganized them. As a result, the number of commercial banks decreased. Thai commercial banks non-performing loan also later decreased dramatically due to agreements on debt restructuring as well as transfer of non-performing loans to the TAMC and write-of fs. As a result, the non-performing loan ratio dropped to 19.2% as of the end of March 2001 and capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.01% as of December 2000 (A ratio higher than the BIS standard) (Montes, 1998). Structural reforms were also adopted in the areas of banking supervision and regulation in order to forestall the kind of financial system instability caused by the crisis and to minimize the effect. These reforms were also necessary to address the weaknesses in the financial and corporate sector as these features had become impediments to growth such as monopolies, trade barriers and non transparent corporate practices. Based on this recognition, the IMF and the World Bank jointly began monitoring the international standardization and observance of standards to maintain the soundness of financial systems by introducing the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in 1999. Under FSAP, the IMF and the World Bank assess the observance of banking supervision and regulations implemented by each countrys financial supervisory authorities, promote observance of international standards, and recommend the best practices. These acts which have been entrenched in continue to globalize the A sian economy (Lindgren et al, 2000). Rehabilitative measures were also extended to private corporations and financial institutions in the Asian countries as these institutions were also hit by the currency crisis largely because they had a superficial understanding of the need for exchange risk hedge, as their currencies were virtually pegged to the dollar. It was for this reason that the debt burdens caused by the mismatch of currencies increased during the crisis, bringing a serious impact on the economy as a whole. Thus after the currency crisis, there was a shift to a floating exchange rate system and this pushed private corporations into recognizing the importance of hedging against exchange risks. In South Korea, the government conducted a campaign appealing for the need for exchange risk hedges. Some other countries established a financial supervision system to check if foreign currency-denominated debts are hedged against exchange risks. Thanks to these policy efforts, the number of private corporations hedging against exchange risks increased drastically and the response capabilities of the economy as a whole to exchange fluctuations have been strengthened (Lindgren et al, 2000). A stronger and unified Regional Financial and Multilateral Co-operation in East Asia was also adopted and this has proven to be an effective buffering against the occurrence of future crisis Although regional financial cooperation in East Asia did exist even before the crisis, such as Executives Meeting of East-Asia Pacific Central Banks(EMEAP), a forum of central banks and monetary authorities in the East Asia and Pacific region established in 1991; the event of the Asian currency crisis proved more glaring that the countries in East Asia had a much more economic interdependency than was previously realized. This forced a fostering of a much stronger regional financial and multilateral cooperation. This co-operation in Asia was promoted in various forms, such as the New Miyazawa Initiative incorporating a comprehensive support measures, including a 30 billion dollar financial support scheme, announced in October 1998; the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), a swap arrangement mechanism to support those countries in potential danger of a currency crisis and the Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI) to avoid high dependence on the external financial market and use regional resources more efficiently (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000) In addition to the development of a regional crisis-prevention mechanism, Asian countries started to co-operate especially in trade relations. This inadvertently resulted in a much more stable policy for exchange rates between the Asian currencies. With the increased unification that came as a result of the push for a stronger and unified regional financial and multilateral co-operation in East Asia, there became a rising sense of Asian identity culminating into the speculation of an introduction of a regional common currency in the future (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000). The finance ministers of China, Japan, and Korea agreed at the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers Meeting in 2006 to conduct joint research on monetary integration in East Asia. The motion put forward in 2006 helped to create grounds for the much talked about Chinas global strategy approach which started making head way in 2010. Now, China is beginning to emerge as the new and dominant world power, buttressing this, is the recent widespread awareness and circulation of the Chinese currency (renminbi). These co-operation measures adopted in Asia also extended as a forum for economic co-operation (such economic co-operation was seen to be displayed in the widely acceptance of the Chinese currency renminbi by the other Asian countries). This economic co-operation by these Asian countries arguably challenges the American hegemony. It also proves a strong force towards the elimination of any future financial crisis that might occur as the initiatives and discussions on intensifying monetary and fi nancial cooperation has reached a far end spectrum (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000). From 1996 2000, there have been a resurgence of economic growth across the Asian region. Countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines have averaged almost 5%. CHARTS SHOWING THE EFFECT ON THE AFFECTED COUNTRIES AFTER THE MEASURES HAVE BEEN ADOPTED. From the chart above, it can been seen that after the rehabilitative measures were meted out, corporate balance sheets in Asia improved as debt-to-equity ratios have been reduced sharply and foreign currency borrowing is no longer a large component of the corporate sources of funding. From the chart above, it can be seen that low loan-to-deposit ratios together with little off-balance-sheet financing, have helped banks avoid liquidity and funding stress in the current credit turmoil. Thus, Banks are stronger with current account surpluses and large foreign reserves. Compared to United States and many European countries, Asian economies have relative modest property price appreciation (see Chart 5). Asian countries have taken measures to cool property markets in recent years whenever prices threatened to become a bubble. As a result, property price crashes in the wake of slowing economic growth and financial market turmoil have been less of a risk. Conclusion: Although, the Asian currency crisis was fuelled by sheer weak economic and financial fundamentals including macro- economic imbalances, which created a contagion effect for the other countries involved. However, with the measures now adopted, it is obvious that the Asian economies have now been strengthened and would continue on that path.

juvenile delinquency :: essays research papers

Can more than one theory be used to explain crime? Absolutely. From a liberal viewpoint, there exist two fundamental theories to explain the causal factors behind juvenile delinquency. Those theories are Social Deviance Theory and Developmental Theory. Young people become socially deviant by non-conforming. They become juvenile delinquents, and turn against the very system that is trying to help them. Society has made many laws and many standards have been set. The social deviant does not follow those rules and regulations. He/she lives a life of crime instead. An overview of approaches explains deviant behavior. Social Deviance Theory can be further broken down into five theories including anomie, differential association, social control theory, conflict theory, and labeling theory. Social Deviance Theory is an important explanation in the theory of crime. Without this explanation, it would be impossible to explain a great deal of the factors involved in juvenile delinquency. Socia l Deviance Theory and Development Theories are the umbrellas under which other theories used to explain juvenile delinquency fall. Depending on the criminal and the type of crime committed, different theories are used. Youth violence in our country has risen dramatically in the past decade. The number of violent arrests of youth under the age 18 has increased dramtically: 36 percent between 1989 and 1993, more than 4 times the increased reported for adults. During that period, juvenile arrests for homicide increased by 45 percent, while adult homicide arrests increased by only 6 percent (FBI, Uniform Crime Reports, 1994). Among teenagers 15 to 19 years old, the escalation of gun violence is particulary alarming: one of every four deaths of a teenager is attributable to a firearm injury. The number of juvenile violent crime arrests will double by the year 2010 if current arrest and population trends continue. Can our communities bear another 260,000 such arrests each year?

Future of Policing Essay -- Police Crime Criminal Essays

Future of Policing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The future of policing is fairly clear in what direction it is heading. It has been slowly reforming to meet the needs of the people, reduce crime, and make policing more efficient. Some of the reforms that will probably take place in the future include, better educated police officers and police managers, consolidation of police departments to save on money and resources, upgraded technology, race and gender equality, better testing techniques to recruit and promote within the department, and improved proactive planning techniques. One of these proactive tools that will surely become more widely used and implemented better is community policing. It has been evolving since its first introduction into the police world and will see more reforms in the future. Compstat should also become more widely used by almost all police departments to make those in charge more accountable and for improved crime mapping.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Current economic and political trends will affect how, and if, certain reforms take place. Some trends like the increased costs for medical services will affect officer’s salaries and benefits, while the growth of inexpensive technology with instant communication through cell phones and personal computers will improve response time and distribution of information quickly and effectively. Changes population demographics, with the increase in the cultural and ethic diversity of the population will create more of need for career equality. This will also be pushed forward by the immigration of more highly educated professionals from third world countries. Increased multinational organized crime activity will create a bigger need for better communication between countries and joint efforts to stop it. Increased concerns with crimes committed by violent juveniles and individuals with modern weapons, terrorism and threats against our infrastructure will also shape the way policing reforms to solve these increased threats. Because of greater concern with terrorism, more resources will be allocated to homeland security. These are resources that could have helped domestic crimes and police management and will have to compensate for. Even smart credit cards, DNA identification and global positioning systems will all help shape the new policing model.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the main problems facing most police departments is using cost-eff... ...epend on them to find the individual or to crack down on the group. A great example of this is in Israel, with fighting militant groups like Hamas. Groups like this receive funds from other countries all around the world that support terrorism. An international police force could more easily gather information on the group and also serve as a barrier between the Israelis and Palestinians. This organization would be much like the United Nations, but instead of politics and an army it would be a world police force that could actually go in and arrest individuals and put them on trial in front of the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, the future of policing seems to already be headed in a good direction, focusing on improved communication between departments and with the public. The strong emphasis on community policing will help people feel more comfortable with the police and not as their own society. Some reforms need to be more focused on though, like the international police force, because of recent events like September 11th. Overall policing will seem to remain the same because the transition will be slow and gradually take effect, but it will always be improving in any way that it can.

Charles Manson Essay -- essays research papers fc

"Mr. Scott, Ms. Maddox? Here's your baby boy!" These were the first words that Kathleen Maddox heard when she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, to whom she would later give her maiden name. Charles Milles Manson, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 11, 1934 (FAQ's 1), seemed to be a normal child, when, in fact, he was trouble from the start. The two had not planned to have a child, and certainly did not expect him to end up being the most notorious killer of the 20th century. In the summer of 1969, Manson made the residents of California afraid to leave their homes (Fillmer 2). Charlie Manson committed grotesque crimes, controlled his trials, and now resides in the California State Prison (FAQ's 1). Manson had a rocky childhood and family life. Some experts say that he was a bad seed because of the fact that he did not know his father (Bugliosi 28). Kathleen Maddox was considered by some to be a teenage whore. About his mother, Manson says, "For Mom, life was filled with a never-ending list of denials†¦In her search for acceptance she may have fallen in love too easily and too often, but a whore at that time? No!†¦In later years, because of some hard knocks and tough times, she may have sold her body some†¦" Charlie lived with his mother until the age of 5, when she was arrested for armed robbery (FAQ's 1). She was released from prison in 1942. Manson, after living with various relatives, such as a religious aunt and a sadistic uncle who called him a sissy and made him wear girl's clothes on the first day of school ("Charles"), moved back in with his mother for five more years. At that time, she placed him at the Gibault School for Boys in Indiana. After escaping from the School, he committed several burglaries and was placed into the famous Boys Town in Nebraska (FAQ's 1). After being arrested several more times, one of which he was caught in a stolen car at a roadblock (Fillmer 2), he was married to Rosalie Willis in 1955. Lamb 2 Charles' marriage was only the beginning of his "family." Charlie tended to lure in young women, by saying he could "make them feel like they were on top of the world, like they were floating (Fillmer 3)." Manson used sleep deprivation, sex, food control, and drugs to gain complete control of his followers ("Charles"). The Family tended to ... ...ne, when asked what he would do if he ever got out of jail, he said, "I'm already out" (FAQ's 2). WORKS CITED Bardsley, Marilyn. "Charles Manson." http://www.crimelibrary.com/manson.htm (24 Jan. 2000). Bugliosi, Vincent, and C. Gentry. Helter Skelter. 16th ed. New York: Bantam Books, 1974. "Charles Milles Manson." <http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5321/manson.html> (13 Feb. 2000). "Charlie." <http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dreamworld/1681/charles.htm> (13 Feb. 2000). Fillmer, Deborah K. "Forensic Science and the Charles Manson Murders." < http://www.cris.com/ ~dfillmer/manson.htm > (20 Jan. 2000). "Frequently Asked Questions about Charles Manson." < http://www.atwa.com/faq.htm > (20 Jan. 2000). Gilmore, John, and Ron Kenner. The Garbage People. Los Angeles: Omega Press, 1971. Klinghoffer, David. "True Crime." National Review 5 April 1999: 56-57. Nelson, Bill. Manson Behind the Scenes. California: Pen Power Publications, 1997. Sanders, Edwin. The Family. 1st ed. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, and Company, 1971. Terry, Marcus. The Ultimate Evil. 2nd ed. New York: Bantam Books, 1989.

William Shakespeare

Begin with an interesting quotation related to your opinion about Shakespeare Mystery (You will need a transition here) – End the Intro paragraph with your thesis statement: Even though that william shakespeare is the author of all plays and sonnets published in his name. , William Shakespeare of Straford-upon-Avon is the man who wrote the play and sonnets because that all evidence correlates with william shakespeare being the author and all the plays that he wrote were credited to him and published in his name.Body Paragraph #1 Topic of the body thesis: that william shakespeare is the author of all plays and sonnets published in his name. – Find evidence – like facts, examples, quotations, or statistics that back it upor support the topic sentence of this paragraph. – Explain how your evidence supports the topic sentence Another example that shows that that william shakespeare is the author of all plays and sonnets published in his name. is†¦  œ Find more evidence – facts, examples, quotations, or statistics that back it up or support the topic sentence of this paragraph. Explain how this second piece of evidence supports the topic sentence. Body Paragraph #2 Even though that william shakespeare is the author of all plays and sonnets published in his name. , William Shakespeare of Straford-upon-Avon is the man who wrote the play and sonnets because that all evidence correlates with william shakespeare being the author. – Find evidence – like facts, examples, quotations, or statistics that back it upor support the topic sentence of this paragraph. – Explain how your evidence supports the topic sentenceAnother example that shows that that all evidence correlates with william shakespeare being the author is†¦ – Find more evidence – facts, examples, quotations, or statistics that back it up or support the topic sentence of this paragraph. – Explain how this second piece of evidence supports the topic sentence. Body Paragraph #3 The most important reason William Shakespeare of Straford-upon-Avon is the man who wrote the play and sonnets is because all the plays that he wrote were credited to him and published in his name. Find evidence – like facts, examples, quotations, or statistics that back it upor support the topic sentence of this paragraph. – Explain how your evidence supports the topic sentence Another example that shows that all the plays that he wrote were credited to him and published in his name is†¦ – Find more evidence – facts, examples, quotations, or statistics that back it up or support the topic sentence of this paragraph. – Explain how this second piece of evidence supports the topic sentence. ConclusionSo you can see that although that william shakespeare is the author of all plays and sonnets published in his name. , William Shakespeare of Straford-upon-Avon is the man who wrote the play and sonnets for two main reasons. First, that all evidence correlates with william shakespeare being the author. But most importantly, all the plays that he wrote were credited to him and published in his name. – Now you will return to your opening attention-getter from the introduction – Then end your essay with a powerful So What? statement. Do you want to print or copy and email this page? William Shakespeare In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, the good children are disowned by their fathers, but they do not stop loving their fathers and they eventually come back to rescue them from their misery. Shakespeare uses characterization of Cornelia and Edgar to show how true children will always love their parents even if they are sinned against. Cornelia is disowned by her father while Edgar is forced to disown himself. Eventually they forgive their fathers and aide in their recovery from insanity. Edger's and Cordillera's love for their fathers is so strong that they become the reason for their fathers' death.Cornelia is disowned by her father while Edgar disowns himself. Cornelia and Edgar are disowned in two different ways, yet there are many similarities. When Cornelia is asked to address her love for her father King Lear, she is unable to â€Å"heave† her heart into her mouth (1, 82-83). The imagery created shows how it is impossible to say how one truly feels. Lear is enr aged because his authority's at risk and therefore, disowns Cornelia: Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity, and property of blood, And as a stranger to my heart and me Hold thee from this for ever.The barbarous Scythian, Or he that makes his generation Messes to gorge his appetite, Shall be as well neighboring, pitied, and relieved As thou, my sometime daughter. (1 , 105-112) This passage from the play is rich in imagery. Lear compares him rejecting his daughter to barbarians who eat their own children for dinner. The metaphor shows to which extent Lear hates his own daughter because she can't express her love for him. Edgar is also disowned by his father but in a different manner. There is never a face-to-face conversation where Gloucester disowns Edgar.It happens through the circumstances created by Edmund. When Edmund tells his father that Edgar plans to kill him, at first Gloucester is in doubt. But Edmund manages to persuade his father with a fake letter. â€Å"Lo ve cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide, in cities mutinies, in countries discords, in palaces treason, and the bond cracked between son and father†(2, 104-107). In this speech, Gloucester mentions that Edgar is no longer his son. Later in the play when Edmund cuts himself and blames it on Edgar.Gloucester orders his men to find Edgar and kill him. Edgar hides in a tree and decides to disguise himself as a beggar. Edgar says: â€Å"Edgar I nothing am† (7, 186). This is a vital point because Edgar acknowledges the fact that he exists no more. It is Just like how King Lear disowned Cornelia, but Edgar disowns himself. He is no longer considers himself as the son of Gloucester; nor does Gloucester accept him as his son. Cornelia and Edgar forgive their parents even after they are betrayed and mistreated; they also, aide in their recovery.When Cornelia finds out that her sisters betrayed her father and he has gone insane, she invades Brittany with her husband's army , to find Lear: All blest secrets, All you unpublished virtues of the earth, Spring with my tears, be titan and remedial In the good man's distress! Seek, seek for him, Lest his ungoverned rage dissolve the life That wants the means to lead it. (18,17-21) The imagery created by Shakespeare shows how passionately Cornelia loves her father and she is willing to nourish the herbs with her tears so they can help her father recover.When Cornelia and Lear are finally reunited, Lear expresses his newfound humility and begs repentance. â€Å"l am a very foolish, fond old man† (21, 58), he tells her sadly, and he admits that she has â€Å"some cause† to hate him (21, 72). Cordillera's moving response, â€Å"No cause, no, cause† (21, 73), shows that love and reconvenes is embodied in Cornelia. When Gloucester goes to commit suicide, Edgar also saves his father from death. He pretends that his father Jumped from the cliff and acts as if he is astonished by his s survival. Thy life's a miracle†¦ /†¦ /Think that the clearest gods, who make them honors/ Of men's impossibilities, have preserved thee† (20, 55&73-74). Edgar convinces his father, Gloucester that God saved his life because he is not destined to die Just yet. Gloucester regains meaning to continue his life; therefore Edgar cures him from insanity. The difference between Edgar and Cornelia is that Edgar helps his father in disguise. He doesn't want his father to know it is him. â€Å"Never-?O father! -?reveal myself unto him† (24,189).Even when his father says, â€Å"Might I but live to see thee in my touch/led say I had eyes again† (15, 119-22), he doesn't reveal his identity. This is somewhat similar to how Cornelia and Lear were uncomfortable seeing each other due to not knowing how the other one would react. Edgar and Cornelia show their unconditional love by saving their fathers from insanity. Cornelia and Edgar are the cause of their fathers' deaths. The fam ilial love between father and child is so strong at the end of the play that Cornelia and Edgar re the reason for their fathers' death.When Edgar reveals his identity to his father, the Joy of meeting his son, his wish coming true, ultimately kills him: but his flawed heart-? Alack, too weak the conflict to support-? ‘Twixt two extremes of passion, Joy and grief, Burst smilingly. (24, 193-196) This is really ironic because Gloucester lives when he doesn't know Edgar if is still alive. He was in grief, when he was blinded and because he betrayed his son. But as soon as he finds out and meets his son, Edgar, he dies of Joyfulness. In contrast to Lear who experiences extreme sadness, and also passes away.Lear grief is caused by the death of his beloved daughter Cornelia: And my poor fool is hanged. No, no life. Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, And thou no breath at all? O, thou wilt come no more. Never, never, never. -?Pray you, undo This button. Thank you, star. O, O, O, O. (24, 300-304) Lear keeps questioning the death of his daughter and also shows sign of insanity again. He prays to God asking for her life back. He is struck by misery, more than ever before, and he dies. Gloucester not only experienced Joy but also grief. Gloucester grief is caused by not being able to see Edgar and because of regret.Ultimately, Lear and Gloucester die because of losing the one they love and also due to regretting the wrong they have done in the past. The characterization of Cornelia and Edgar shows how loyal children will unconditionally love their parents even if they are wronged by their parents. Cornelia is disowned by her father while Edgar is forced to disown himself. Edgar and Cornelia never stop loving their father and show forgiveness. They also go about curing their fathers from insanity. While Lear and Gloucester have true children that are willing to forgive any sin, their unfaithful children cause them to suffer.

Efficiency Ratios

Efficiency Ratios The efficiency ratio is an indicator of how well Johnson and Johnson (J&J) is run on an organizational wide basis. Efficiency ratios are also defined as asset turnover ratios (Finkler, Kovner & Jones, 2007). The asset turnover ratio measures how productive J&J is in managing all of its assets to generate Sales. This efficiency ratio is calculated by dividing sales by total assets by total revenue. For year 2010, J&J had an asset turnover of 0. 6. Comparing J&J’s asset ratio to the industry, it is the same (Key Financial Ratios: Financial Results – Johnson & Johnson,  2011). Thus J&J is as efficient in the use of its assets as its healthcare competitors in the industry. Revenue to assets = Total revenueTotal assets Total revenue $61,587. 0= 0. 598 or 0. 6 Asset turnover Total assets $102,908. 0| The days' receivables ratio is calculated by dividing the accounts receivable by the revenue per day. The days' receivables will indicate how long, on average, it takes for J&J to collect on its sales to customers on credit. This ratio is also known as the average collection period (ACP). The shorter the collection period, the sooner the organization can pay bills or invest to earn interest (Finkler, Kovner & Jones, 2007). A short ACP is more efficient for the organization. J&J had an ACP of 58 days in 2010. This is a slight increase from previous year’s ACP of 57 days. Revenue per day = Total revenue 365$61,857. 0 = $168. 731 365 days Day’s receivable = Accounts receivable Revenue per day AR $9774. 0 = 57. 92 days DR $168. 731/day| Reference Key financial ratios: financial results – johnson & johnson . (2011). Retrieved from http://moneycentral. msn. com/investor/invsub/results/compare. asp? Page=ManagementEfficiency&symbol=JNJ