...is such a giant corporation, it has encountered financial problems in the early 2000s. Under financial pressure and a lack of internal control, AIG have committed frauds resulting in several scandals. One of the accounting scandals was disclosed during 2005 which involved a material mis-statement due to false transactions during 2000. This scandal set to prelude leading the downfall of AIG in 2008. In this paper, I will analyze the cause, the transactions and finally effects of the scandal. The Accounting Scandal The Players The CEO of AIG was Maurice “Hank” Greenberg. Greenberg joined AIG in 1962 and led AIG for thirty eight years until his retirement in March 2005. Greenberg was not only the CEO, but also the chairman of the board of AIG. AIG also have several subsidiaries, which include National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh (NUFIC) and Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection (HSB). Their financial information are consolidated in AIG’s financial statements. The scandal also involves another corporation General Re Corporation. General Re is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., an investment group run by the billionaire Warren Buffet. General Re also has subsidiaries all over the world and together and it is one of the biggest reinsurance companies in the World. Reinsurance companies are entities that insure the insurance companies. They help insurance companies share risk by selling reinsurance plans that would help pay off a share of a claim from the...
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...”Sorry for Disturbing You” By Richard Knight A A common perception of our society is that friends come and go, but you will always have your family for better or worse. Sadly that does not count for all. In the short story, “Sorry for Disturbing You,” we meet one of those who are not as lucky as some of us are. The short story, “Sorry for Disturbing”, is written by Richard Knight. He is bringing men’s generally incompetence of showing their feelings and how we are handling these people and communication into focus. The composition is mainly chronological. It starts in medias res as Ian reflects over his meeting with Michael Phelps. This is the only place where there is a breach of the chronologically time line. The story spans over a couple of hours, from the moment Ian opens the door to when he returns home to his wife and daughter, Karen and Corinne. It is told by a third person limited narrator as we only get an insight view on Ian thoughts. This means that there is no outer description of Ian, but the reader is able to follow his inner life. It also means that the portrait of Michael is made based upon Ian’s perception of him and how he appears in the dialogue. Michael Phelps, the other narrator, suddenly shows up really drunk and confused at Ian’s doorstep – claiming to know the previous owners of the house, Edie and George Higham. Ian, the other main character of the story, finds this bothersome and wonders why Michael seeks for help when he could...
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...Sorry for the Loss “Sorry for the Loss” is a short story, written by English writer Bridget Keehan in 2008. It is written in third person, from the main character’s point of view. The main character is Evie, who works at a prison as a Catholic chaplain. The story starts in media res, with the sentence “Evie has to tell Victor his Nan is dead.” We get no background info about Evie or the prison; we just go straight into the story. As the title indicates, there is a loss in this story. The loss is an inmate’s (named Victor) Nan, who is dead. Victor is a young and good looking boy, and when Evie goes to his cell to tell him about his Nan, she immediately feels sorry for him. Compared to Evie, who is very religious, and likes to say prayers, whenever she has some spear time, Victor isn’t that into religion. Sure, he is a Catholic, but he is also interested in learning about other religions as well. The atmosphere in the prison intimidates Evie, and she doesn’t like to be there because of all the loud noises. She is a bit scared of the inmates, because she doesn’t understand how they can do such a thing, which has led them into prison. She has her religious morals, but they don’t. When Victor gets the news about his Nan’s death, he doesn’t seem to care. Instead he is looking at the pigeons flying around outside his window. They are politely making small talk, until Evie leaves. She doesn’t understand why he didn’t showed any emotions, when she told him about his Nan...
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...LSTD 207 Final Exam Answers Follow Below Link to Download Tutorial https://homeworklance.com/downloads/lstd-207-final-exam-answers/ For More Information Visit Our Website ( https://homeworklance.com/ ) Email us At: Support@homeworklance.com or lancehomework@gmail.com LSTD 207 Final Exam Part 1 of 1 – 100.0 Points Question 1 of 30 2.5 Points A defendant should always raise any objections to personal jurisdiction in the first response to the plaintiff’s complaint or the issue is waived and may not be reconsidered. True False Feedback: See pages 118, 120-121. A defendant must raise objections to venue, personal jurisdiction, and form and method of service of process in their first response to the complaint (pre-answer or answer) or the issue is waived and may not be reconsidered at a later time. Question 2 of 30 2.5 Points A defendant can remove a case from state court to federal court even if the federal court could not have heard the case initially. True False Feedback: See page 27- “FAQ”. Removal jurisdiction is available to defendants only in cases that the plaintiff could have commenced in federal court. Question 3 of 30 2.5 Points Is it possible for a defendant to file a motion to dismiss for personal jurisdiction and a motion for summary judgment simultaneously? A.Yes B.No Feedback: A motion to dismiss is asserted prior to the answer (as an alternative to an answer) or in...
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...Case Question 1 In his 2002 letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett referred to financial derivatives as the "financial weapons of mass destruction" and a ticking "time bomb" waiting to explode. His perspective may well be derived from his own experience with some derivative positions his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, inherited from the $22 billion purchase of General Reinsurance Corporation in 1998 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2002). Unable to find an agreeable counterparty to buy the General Reinsurance Securities, a subsidiary of General Reinsurance Corporation that deals with derivatives, Buffett decided to close it which required him to unwind the subsidiary's derivative positions. The complexity of the derivatives positions took him years to complete the unwinding and at a pretax loss of $173 million for General Reinsurance Corp in 2002 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2002) and $409 million in cumulative pretax loss as of 2008 (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2009). He likens the unwinding process to entering hell, stating that derivatives positions were "easy to enter and almost impossible to get exit" (Berkshire Hathaway Inc, 2004). In 2002, trades in derivatives were growing rapidly in recent years and they pose a "mega-catastrophic risk" that could harm not only their sellers and buyers, but the whole economic system for the following reasons: 1. Mark-to-market accounting (Investopedia 2011) is a legal form of accounting for a venture involved in buying and selling securities...
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...As stated, Hemingway illustrates a man, the Doctor’s, role in a family thus giving a portrait of and an insecure man, neither masculine nor able to stand up for himself and be comfortable in his own skin. The story is chronological and starts in medias res: “Dick Boulton came from the Indian camp to cut up logs for Nick’s father” (p. 11, l. 1-2). It can be divided into three different sections: the doctor´s argument with the Indians, the experience with his wife and in the end the experience with Nick. Firstly, we are introduced to Dick Boulton, his son Eddy, and Billy Tabeshaw who arrive on Nick's father's property to cut up logs for him. This section’s primary focus is on the parallels between the whites and the Indians. The logs Nick’s father wants to use were lost on the way to a mill years ago. The doctor assumes they are no longer needed for the mill, so he seems innocent in hiring Indians to make them into firewood. Dick makes a point about ownership's duration, showing that the wood still has an owner, but the doctor insists that he is not stealing. The Indian shows the doctor a White and McNally brand on the logs. Dick's accusation that he is stealing makes the doctor angry, because to him the logs should count as abandoned. His anger is clearly portrayed in his physically appearance and he also threatens Dick when he says: “if you call me Doc once again, I’ll knock your eye teeth down your throat” (p. 13, l. 8-9). Dick is a big man, and “he liked to get into fights”...
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...Delprøve 2 opgave B – How Lucky You Are The main theme I think that there is more than one theme in the story. There is the meeting with new cultures. Young people in the west have a lot more freedom than many others opportunities in other countries. They have the opportunity to get a education. They can literally do with their life, what they want. Another theme could be the teenage life. Max’ youth rebellion with the school and her mother, is typical for a life as a teenager. Max smokes, he truants from school, and he does not listen to his mom. The last theme in the story is young love. We see Max and Ishraqi fall in love. Although that we see some different themes in the story, I think the main theme is that we should appreciate the things we have. That is the change the main character Max discovers. In the beginning of the story, Max argues with his mother. ‘’Just that morning he’d a huge row with his mum. She drove him crazy (..)’’. (Linie 128, page 11). After Max meeting with Ishraqi, Max view changes. He realizes how lucky he is to even have his mother. ‘’He thought about Ishraqi not knowing if her parents were alive or dead and resolved not to argue with his mum for once [...]” (Linie 71, page 12). Max is a 16 year old, teenage boy. He is a typical teenager, tired of school, smoke cigarettes, has negative approach to school, wear tight jeans and a hoodie. He is studying on a special school, for creative kids. Max truants from...
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...March 2015 March 2015 How Lucky You Are When you live in a country, as privileged as either England or Denmark, it is easy to get caught up in the insignificant details of your everyday life. Being forced to get out of bed at 7AM every morning can feel like the purest form of torture. And losing your mobile phone, at a party last Friday, is certainly a close equivalent to the end of the world. It is very easy to forget how grateful we truly should be, just to have a place to call our home and this is exactly what Debi Alper illustrates in her short story “How Lucky You Are” from 2010. In the story we meet the rebellious 16-year-old by the name of Max, who is tired of being told what to do. Instead he spends his days ditching school to smoke cigarettes outside the UK Borders Agency Building, where he one day accidently bumps into the Iranian girl called Ishraqi. They end up spending an eye-opening day together, where they quickly grow quite fond of each other. Ishraqi is however ripped out of Max’s life, as quickly as she originally entered it, when she is deported from England leaving Max behind with nothing but a photo to remember her by. The end is the beginning of this particular short story, as its outcome is revealed to the reader in a reverse chronological order. Max is sitting in his bedroom looking at the photo of him and Ishraqi, unsure of whether she is just another “figment of his twisted imagination”. There is no way of knowing what events have transpired...
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...A ”Elephant” is a short story written by Polly Clark. The theme in the text is the desire to fulfill your dreams. However it’s not always as easy to succeed in the things you want the most. “Elephant” opens in medias res, as we’re being thrown into a world where William is sitting by his desk, surrounded by a pile of notes and facts. Already in the beginning of the text we’re able to see that William encounters problems with his writing. He states that the skill to being a good writer is commitment, and not inspiration. “This inability to write a word had gone on for weeks. His own adage that writing was 99 percent about commitment not inspiration had not helped him shift a single page in all that time” this also indicates that he may have lost the motivation to write. The reader also becomes more aware of the kind of depressing feeling in the house. “The house was quiet. It was early afternoon, drawing towards a shining evening. The closed curtains of his study glowed with brilliant sunshine. Writing was impossible for William if there was a view onto the garden…” . The short story is told by a third person narrator, but we also hear about William’s thoughts and therefor we relate to him. Whilst reading the story we feel sorry for him. William is not happy with what he writes a about. He writes biographies of pop singers, when all he really wants is writing about movie stars, but someone where quicker to get the job. “William wrote biographies of pop singers. Female,...
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...Res Judicata RES JUDICATA- the Latin term for "a matter [already] judged", and may refer to two things: in both civil law and common law legal systems, a case in which there has been a final judgment and is no longer subject to appeal.[1]; and the term is also used to refer to the legal doctrine meant to bar (or preclude) continued litigation of such cases between the same parties, which is different between the two legal systems. In this latter usage, the term is synonymous with"preclusion". Elements of Res Judicata 1. The former judgment must be final 2. Judgment must be on the merits of the case 3. The former decision is rendered by the court having jurisdiction over the subject. 4. There is similar identity of parties, subject matter and cause of action for both cases. Cause of action - defined as "an act or omission of second party in violation of the legal right or rights of the other, and its essential elements are legal right of the plaintiff, correlative obligation of the defendant, and act or omission of the defendant in violation of said legal right." TEST FOR APPLICATION OF RES JUDICATA In the application of the doctrine of res judicata, if it is doubtful whether a second action is for the same cause of action as the first, the test generally applied is to consider the Identity of facts essential to their maintenance, or whether the same evidence would sustain both. If the same facts or evidence would sustain both, the two actions...
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...Essay:”Low Visibility” The short story ”Low Visibility” involves Laura and her husband John. Laura is John submissive, and she has nothing to say at home. Before she met John, she was the kind of person who could make a room laugh; she had a good humor, lots of energy and a good spirit. But John changed her; from being full of life, he made her into a person who barely speaks at home out of fear. In the text it says “She wishes she could protest, but has forgotten how.” This clearly explains how submissive she has become, when she cannot stand up for herself anymore. When they watch television, one of his hands is on her lap, holding it tight - so hard that her thigh bruises. John is a very violent person, and at a time he moves his hand higher up her thigh and presses, this is his foreplay because he does not know romance. When the riots enter the apartment below theirs, John gets pissed and flings the door open, ready to fight. As he flings the door open, Laura says “Don’t” and she is surprised over her own act, because she has not spoken a word of command for four years. This shows that maybe she is beginning to find herself again – starting to be independent of John. In the end when John lies on the ground and “ask” for a hand, she turns around and walks away, meanwhile a window explodes behind her, she is not harmed though. Another proof of the fact that she has found out that she does not need John in her life. The riots in the street are very violent. The rebels throw...
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...story that contains no characteristics, and no proof of being an epic. But in this paper the characteristics of an epic will be explored through facts and examples from the text and from today’s present life and culture. The epic hero, Noah Hamilton in Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook states, “I am no one special, just a common man with common thoughts. I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me. And my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect, I've succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived (The Notebook).” Some examples of the characteristics in The Notebook that proves this is an epic would include vast settings, the story begins in medias res, the characters have epic digressions and that the hero embodies the values of the culture. Because of how the story starts, media res would be considered the first characteristic of an epic that can be noticed in The Notebook. Our story begins at a nursing home in the south where Allie is being looked after due to her dementia. The nurse is in her room, attempting to have Allie come out and go outside for a little while until a mysterious man shows up. Now, we don’t know who this man is that has just entered her room, and we’re not sure why he showed up in the first place, and we are left hanging until the nurse says to Allie, “this is Duke. He’s come to read to you (The Notebook).” And then we’re launched into the tale of Allie and Noah. Epic digression is one of the most common characteristics of an epic...
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...people know what is right and what is wrong, but in the hurry of a hectic everyday life, we tend to relax our morality and when in Rome do as the Romans do. For instance, we have all heard dozens of people preach on inner glory being most important, and still we are often declined to meet people with prejudices based on their looks. This is the case in Julia Darling’s short story Calling from Newcastle (2004) where a young woman, Gloria, because of her overweight is having a hard time winning people’s acceptance. The story takes place in the British city of Newcastle in northeastern England, and a reference to the new Gateshead Millenium Bridge tells us that the year is 2001 (p. 4, l. 115). It has a third person narrator and begins in medias res by introducing us to a telephone saleswoman, Gloria, who quickly turns out to be the main character of the story. Gloria has just finished high school and not only is she eighteen years old, she is also eighteen stone. Due to her weight, all of her job applications have been refused but at the call center where no one knows your size, she fits in perfectly (p. 1-2, ll. 22-33). At the call center she is met by colleagues who are all in similar positions. They are shy, they have neither been on top of the social nor the physical ladder but they are sweet voiced (p. 2, ll. 32-35). They are good persons who due to a lack of social skills (p. 2, ll. 47-48) sit in cubicles selling house insurances like captive animals. At first, Gloria is comfortable...
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...Critically comment on the transaction cost based theory of Construction procurement and evaluate its potential as a practical tool in the Selection of procurement systems Abstract This term paper will provide comprehensive reviews on the entire literature involving transaction cost economics (TCE) in construction procurement. It will also critically describe the transaction cost based theory of construction procurement and also give an evaluation of its potential as a critical tool in the selection of procurement systems. The paper will also explore how TCE has emerged from most economic roots to examine empirical phenomena in construction procurement. TCE has been increasingly applied not only to business-related fields such as finance, accounting, organizational theory and marketing but also to the construction industry. Most construction industries have recently moved to practice innovative working techniques that will involve great collaboration and interrelationships that has been in the past. While these benefits such as collaborative and improved ways of working are discussed, but so little is evident about their cost. Hence there proves to be a diverse evidence showing the cost of procurement and more competitive and traditional practices. The purpose of this term paper is to try and examine the transaction based theory of procurement that is used in construction industry. Introduction Ever since it emerged in the early 1970s (Williamson 1971) the new...
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...culture, and guanxi network is used to elaborate the information obtained from the company. Findings – This paper highlights that the belief of sincerity and trustworthiness has refined to the organization culture that supports the sustainability of Taiwanese guanxi network. Besides, the transaction cost theory, resource-based view, and specific relationship investment has become a hinder strategy for Taiwanese organization to maintain the business relationship. This paper introduces an interesting collaborative strategy between three parties, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplier, the machinery manufacturer, and the end-user (the branding). Although there is no direct business flows between the end-user and the machinery manufacturer, the specific relationship investment between these two parties are tight and cannot be separated. This has ensured the proper business flows between the OEM supplier and the end-user as well as the OEM supplier and the machinery manufacturer. Originality/value – This paper illustrates that a guanxi network is not sufficient to ensure a long-term business relationship to be established. Indeed, the organization culture as well as the consideration on the transaction cost and resources from each party does have a great impact on the collaboration relationship to be...
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