Should the use of cannabis be legalised?

Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United Kingdom. However, more and more people are campaigning to see it legalised. These people have many arguments that could give good reason for the drug to be legalised, but these are also arguments against it being legalised because it is dangerous in many ways. Either way, there is no way to decide who is right or wrong unless the deciding party is in full awareness of the benefits and disadvantages that legalising the drug could bring. In this essay I will be putting forward why cannabis should be legalised or why it shouldn't and then say my opinion on the matter. For the past year cannabis has frequently been in the news headlines in the UK, and it was recently announced that the legal status of the drug is to be reviewed. This may come as welcome news to the many people who use the drug either for medicinal or recreational reasons. The supply and possession of cannabis is illegal in the UK and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Even though the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, recently down-graded from cannabis from a ‘Class B' drug to a ‘Class C' drug. Some people believe that the legalisation of cannabis would lead to an increase in the usage of the drug among young people. They argue that if cannabis was legal, it would be easier to obtain and therefore more tempting to try. The graph above shows the percentage of cannabis use of young people around the UK in 2002. I believe this is the most reliable source for this information in 2002 as it was collected by the British Crime Survey taken by the Home Office. This chart shows the falling prices of cannabis between 1994-2004. Therefore if the prices keep on falling, more and more people will be able to buy this drug. Furthermore, If more and more people will buy and use cannabis, Most of the people will become addicted and at some point move on to stronger and more harmful drug, for example cocaine. This graph shows another reason why cannabis should be kept illegal. The graph shows just how dramatic the number of convictions there are per year and that police time could be put to better use if cannabis was legalised. I think this is a reliable source as it was published in the Home office annual statistics of 2000. Therefore, if cannabis would be legalised more people would obtain the drug and the number of cannabis offender's increase. There is also some short term effects of cannabis one of this includes Mood effects. Adverse mood effects can occur, particularly in inexperienced users (Users that do not take the drug often), after large doses of cannabis. These effects include panic, depression, delusions, and hallucinations. These effects normally disappear after a few hours after use. Some of the long term effects of cannabis include impact on the respiratory system. Cannabis smoke contains many of the same components as tobacco smoke. As much as four times the amount of tar can be deposited on the lungs of cannabis smokers as cigarette smokers. Cannabis cigarettes usually do not have filters and cannabis smokers usually develop a larger puff volume, inhale more deeply and hold their breath several times longer than tobacco smokers. This graph show, the long term effects on cannabis, which include: Your eyes, Central nervous system, respiratory system, circulatory system, stomach and intestines, pregnancy and babies and reproductive system of male and female. It also describes each one and shows some of the disadvantages of it in bullet points One of the reasons why cannabis should be legalised is that the money that is spent on attempting to decrease the number of people consuming cannabis illegally would be reduced , the police would be targeting more dangerous criminals, it would be easier for people to ask for help about their addiction because they wouldn't fear getting in trouble and also because people have the right to practise their religion ( Buddhism ) .It was reported on the BBC news website since The Netherlands legalised cannabis in the 1970 usage of heroin declined. This counters the argument that cannabis is the â€Å"gateway† to more dangerous drugs There has not been a reported death for which cannabis is directly responsible, whereas, there is always news and stories linking tobacco with cancer and high blood pressure. Yet cigarettes are available to buy to anyone in Britain over the legal age, while cannabis is a banned substance. The opportunity cost of not legalising cannabis is alcohol and cigarettes, which are consumed anyway. Alcohol is socially approved, even though people know the consequences of alcohol. Cannabis is not packed as tightly as a tobacco cigarette, and so the substances smoked is about half that in a tobacco cigarette. Also, tobacco smokers generally smoke a lot more cigarettes per day than do cannabis smokers. A question asked by many of the public is â€Å"alcohol causes more crime, abuse and costs to the NHS as well as society as a whole and it is legal, so why should cannabis be illegal?† The real answer is yet to be answered, but in my opinion, the reason why cannabis is still illegal is because people and the government are concerned that the users that will start taking cannabis and will move on to more dangerous drugs and therefore will become infected and diseased with various different diseases and illnesses. I believe cannabis shouldn't be legalised, if it was it would send the wrong message to people, that it's safe when it has negative long term effects. Also because from what I have seen people who consume cannabis, later begin to consume more dangerous drugs such as heroin. There are long term negative effects on the body from using cannabis. Buying cannabis also wastes money which could be spent on more worthwhile things such as education. There will be an increase in people using the drug so there will be more rehabilitation programs which taxpayers and the government will have to pay for. References: http://www.lca-uk.org/ http://www.drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk http://www.mapinc.org http://www.telegraph.co.uk http://www.uk.answers.yahoo.com http://www.rds.homeoffice.gov.uk RESEARCH * Even hardcore smokers can become anxious, panicky, suspicious or paranoid. * Cannabis affects your coordination, which is one of the reasons why drug driving is just as illegal as drink driving. * Some people think cannabis is harmless just because it's a plant – but it isn't harmless. Cannabis, like tobacco, has lots of chemical ‘nasties', which can cause lung disease and possibly cancer with long-term or heavy use, especially as it is often mixed with tobacco and smoked without a filter. It can also make asthma worse, and cause wheezing in non-asthma sufferers. * Cannabis itself can affect many different systems in the body, including the heart: It increases the heart rate and can affect blood pressure. * If you've a history of mental health problems, then taking cannabis is not a good idea: It can cause paranoia in the short term, but in those with a pre-existing psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia, it can contribute to relapse. * If you use cannabis and have a family background of mental illness, such as schizophrenia, you may be at increased risk of developing a psychotic illness. * It is reported that frequent use of cannabis can cut a man's sperm count, reduce sperm motility, and can suppress ovulation in women and so may affect fertility. * If you're pregnant, smoking cannabis frequently may have some association with the risk of the baby being born smaller than expected. * Regular, heavy use makes it difficult to learn and concentrate. Some people begin to feel tired all the time and can't seem to get motivated. * Some users may want to buy strong herbal cannabis to get ‘a bigger high' but unpleasant reactions can be more powerful when you use strong cannabis, and it is possible that using strong cannabis repeatedly could lead in time to more users experiencing harmful effects such as dependence or being more at risk of developing the mental health effects.

Black Market Drugs Essay

Barbiturate and amphetamine addiction continues to give cause for national concern. Each year hundreds of thousands of pills manage to slip into the black market and are sold illegally, often to young people. Some observers, including the head of a congressional crime committee that spent two years probing the problem of illegal drug trafficking,’ believe that the drug manufacturers cannot be blamed if their products are put to illegitimate use. Do drug manufacturers have any moral responsibility to ensure that their products are not put to such use? In this paper I am going to discuss the six different ethical theories, including utilitarianism, kantian ethics, natural law theory, virtue theory, care ethics, and symphonology. The first theory that will be discussed is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the moral doctrine that we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions. The basic principle of utilitarianism is The Principle of Utility or The Greatest Happiness Principle, Itht states that we ought to do that which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. In regard to the illegitimate use of prescription drugs, drug manufactures do have a moral responsibility to ensure that their products are not put to such use. Utilitarianism provides an objective way to resolve conflicts of self-interest and encourages a realistic and result oriented approach to moral decision making. Using the utilitarian theory, the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people, is a challenge. If you were simply listening to the general public which is filled with hundreds of thousands of users they would say that the drug manufacnturers have no right getting involved because they know that if drug manufacturer’s did get involved that would make it more difficult for the users to obtain these drugs. If you take a poll of drug users family members, close friends, and anyone who may have had a prescription drug problem they would say that the drug manufactures need to get involved to make it more difficult for the users, especially minors, to get their hands on these drugs. The greatest amount of good would come about only if the people who truly needed these drugs for the purpose in which they were designed used them and the drugs were not being sold on the black market. Drug manufacturer’s should get involved at some level to regulate this situation but they should be held responsible for what happens when they land on the shelves of the stores. At that point, it is the stores responsibility. The manufacturers and store owners both have a moral responsibility. Second is Kantian ethics. Kant believed that moral rules can, in principle, be known as a result of reason alone and are not based on observation. Kant held that only when we act from duty does our action have moral worth. Good will is the only thing that is good in itself. His categorical imperative states that an action is morally right if and only if we can will that the maxim (or principle) represented by our action be a universal law. There are three alternative formulations of the categorical imperative, the first two are the primary formulations. The first is that an act is right only if the actor would be willing to be so treated if the positions of the parties were reversed. The second is that one must always act so as to treat other people as ends, never merely as means. The third is the importance of motivation and of acting on principle, it is not enough to just do the right thing; an action has moral worth only if its done from a sense of duty that is, from a desire to do the right thing for its own sake. Kant’s ethics gives us firm standards that do not depend on results, it injects a humanistic element into moral decision making and stresses the importance of acting on principle and from a sense of duty. With regard to the fact that a congressional crime committee thinks that drug manufacturer’s cannot be blamed if their products are put to illegitimate use would be ridiculous. According to Kant, moral rules can be known as a result of reason alone and are not based on observation. The facts show that there is an ever growing problem with black market drugs and the drug manufactures need to do something to help stop this growing epidemic. Even though the drug manufacturer’s may not agree with what is happening with their drugs, all they see are dollars signs and the more people who abuse their drug equals more money for them. Kant would want them to act on the principle that their drug is harmful to people taking advantage of the high they can get from it. The drug manufacturer’s need to be held somewhat responsible for what is going on right in front of their eyes. Third is natural law theory. The essence of natural law theory is that we should further the inherent ends of human nature and not frustrate human fulfillment. There are 3 tenets in natural law theory. These tenets provide the meaning and the basis of the theory. ) moral law is accessible to human reason; 2) moral law is based on human nature; 3) moral law is universally applicable. In other words, natural moral law is knowable by human reason, applies to all human beings, and is grounded in human nature. Natural law theory is very appealing since it has objective moral values and it equates good with human flourishing. According to the natural law theory you should never interfere with human flourishing. Drug manufactures recognize tha t when used improperly their drugs can be very harmful, so they put warning labels on the bottles. Why then do they know that their drugs are being used illegitimately and do nothing about it? According to natural law theory you should not frustrate human fulfillment but in this situation you need to get in between the people who are addicts and not allow them to add to their addictive ways. If nothing is done by the drug manufactures there will be no human flourishing which is the main principle of the natural law theory. If people keep abusing these prescription drugs and the drug manufacturers don’t do anything these people will eventually die of an overdose or other drug related causes. Natural law theory has objective moral values and with this situation, the moral values should definitely come into play with the drug manufacturer’s and they need to take moral responsibility for what is happening. Fourth is virtue theory. Virtue theory describes the character of a moral agent as a driving force for ethical behavior, rather than rules, consequentialism, or social context, which derives rightness or wrongness from the outcome of the act itself rather than character. The virtue theory derives the golden mean which is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. Virtue ethics is all about the human character. The drug manufacturing companies need to realize that what is happening is unethical and is reflecting upon them. People are looking at them to make the corrections and to step in and change something so that this issue doesn’t progress into something bigger than it already is. Virtue ethics is about the human character, even though these companies aren’t human per say, they affect the lives of many humans and a lot of people are being harmed by what is going on behind the walls of drug manufacturers. The drug manufacturing companies should be held morally responsible for the illegitimate use of these drugs. I don’t believe that there is directly anything they can do to stop the illegitimate use of the drugs but they can step in and do something to make the drugs less readily available to purchase and consume how they were originally intended to be consumed. Fifth is care ethics, which provides a balance for the one-sided traditional ethics of the impersonal and the universal, for it promotes the connectedness of humans. With care ethics the primary moral obligation is to prevent harm and help people. It is concerned with relatedness. The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory often considered a type of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics emphasizes the importance of human relationships and emotion based virtues. With care ethics drug manufacturer’s definitely have a moral responsibility to ensue that their products are not put to illegitimate use. Care ethics is all about preventing harm and helping people, which is exactly what the drug manufacturer’s need to do. They need to step in and put their foot down. These actions cannot continue to happen, it is causing so much harm and it not helping anyone. These drugs were intended to be used in one way and the fact that they are being used in a completely different way is morally wrong in itself, but the fact that the manufacturer’s know that this is happening and nothing is being done is another issue. If they were to step in hopefully that would slow down and eventually stop this growing epidemic. They need to focus on the prevention of harm to people who abuse their product. Sixth is symphonology, which is based on the supposition that an agreement exists between all rational beings. These agreements are contingent upon the bioethical standards of fidelity, beneficence, objectivity, self-assertiveness, freedom and autonomy. Symphonology is based off of the bioethical standards which are, fidelity is adherence to the terms of the agreement. It means faithfulness or commitment or promise to uphold the agreement. Objectivity is a person’s capacity to be aware of things as they are and to be able to act on this awareness. Beneficence means to do good at least do no harm. Freedom means to act independently. It is a person’s capacity to take independent action based on his own evaluation of the situation. Self-Assertion or privacy is a person’s power to control his own time and effort, it is self-ownership. Autonomy is the essential character structure of an individual person. The drug manufacturing companies need to abide by the bioethical standards in order to take moral responsibility for the drug epidemic that is occurring in our nation today. Will they do that? Probably not. Symphonology states that an agreement exists between all rational beings, if the drug manufacturing companies don’t take moral responsibility for the drug problem going on there will never be an agreement between the people who know what is going on and want to do something about it and the addicts themselves. The theories that I believe best answer the dilemma are Kantian ethics and also care ethics. Kant’s ethics gives us firm standards that do not depend on results; it injects a humanistic element into moral decision making and stresses the importance of acting on principle and from a sense of duty. With regards the drug manufacturer’s being held morally responsible for the every growing illegitimate usage of the drugs using Kant’s ethics they would need to think more humanistic and make the morally right decision which would be to step in and take action with the drug problem. Even though they can’t completely stop the illegal usage of their drugs the manufacturer’s can set regulations so that only certain people can get their hands on the drugs. The second theory that best answers the dilemma is care ethics. Care ethics is all about preventing harm and helping people. That is exactly what the manufacturing companies need to be doing. There are so many different approaches that they could take to slow down and stop this problem. They could use different ingredients so that they don’t have the harmful affects on people or the addictive qualities. The congressional crime committee that said that the drug manufacturer’s cannot be blamed if their products are put to illegitimate use, is absurd. They should absolutely be held responsible. If these companies used care ethics they would be running a morally sound and ever growing drug manufacturing company, instead of being scrutinized because their drugs are being sold illegally on the black market and are very addictive. Even though these companies aren’t actual humans and they don’t have feelings or morals like a human will, they are run by people and it is up to those people to make the right decisions. With care ethics these people can guide their company in the right direction and abide by the care ethics standard which is to prevent harm and help people. I believe with care ethics and with Kantian ethics the companies should be held morally responsible and they will over achieve every obstacle put in their way and run a morally successful company.

Articles Relating to the Lack of an Internal Audit Department in a Article

Articles Relating to the Lack of an Internal Audit Department in a Company in the UAE - Article Example It also means that the individuals involved do not assess their individual work or even that of those that they are answerable to. There should be a disclosure of any possible or real conflicts of interest that appear to hamper a straightforward and impartial assessment. The internal audit resources have also seen expansion for the purposes of satisfying the increasing demand for the services to facilitate financial report and internal control’s executive certifications. In the future years, it might be expected of the internal auditors to broaden their role to responsibilities such as the improvement of risk management, reduction of organizational costs and complexity, and participation in the development of governance and strategic processes. For instance, the rules of Proxy Disclosure Enhancements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to reveal their governance measures, which include the structure of their board, the board’s supervision of risk man agement as well as its relationship with the executive practices and policies of compensation. The new proxy rules will actually exert pressure or compel the boards to show their role in the supervision of risk management, and further, this presents both opportunities and challenges for the CAEs (chief audit executives) and their teams of internal auditors. All companies that have the department of internal audit have had it very smooth in running their affairs. Their audit departments have helped in keeping track of where the money goes, and ensures that the money is put into good use, and not for the benefit of individuals. The departments have also helped the organizations in knowing if it is making or losing money. Internal audits helps companies in reviewing the processes’ efficiency together with the related international standards, shows commitment by the top management, offers scope of improvement, offers information for the management review meetings as well as helpi ng in the improvement of client confidence and satisfaction. The Importance of the Internal Audit Function in a Company by Jeffrey Thomas This article basically talks about the significance of the department of internal audit in an organization. According to the article, internal auditors carryout a range of activities which include helping their organizations in the prevention of fraud by evaluating and reviewing the effectiveness and adequacy of the system of their internal control, correspond with the level of a possible exposure within the company. The internal auditors should take the following into consideration when meeting their obligations: Examine the control environment’s aspects, carry out practical fraud investigations and audits, report fraud audits results and offer support for efforts of remediation. They might also own the hotline of whistleblower in some cases. They should also examine fraud risk assessment by the management, especially, their process for th e identification, assessment and testing of possible scenarios and schemes of misconduct and fraud, which include those involving contractors, suppliers and even some other parties. Moreover, they should examine the operating and design effectiveness of the controls that are fraud related; ensure that audit programs and plans tackle residual risk and include fraud

Letter to David Mitchell Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Letter to David Mitchell - Assignment Example I believe that boring teachers should reconsider their approaches of teaching. While teaching the same curriculum becomes boring, year in and year out, making the subject interesting is the challenge for the teacher. It becomes easier for the teacher to teach the same subject after each year passes by; and most teachers take the easy option. While it does become easier, it becomes more challenging in the way the teacher should approach the topic. Christine Gilbert by making the proposal of sacking boring teachers is jolting them awake and pushing the envelope further for these boring teachers. She is shocking them into action and I believe that it is high time someone did that. Did you know that high school dropout is increasing at an alarming pace and more than 50 percent of the students cite boring teachers and lack of interest in the subject taught at school as the primary reason for leaving school? In one sentence you suggest that that, "one of the reasons for this may be that th ey are bored themselves†. I agree that the teachers may become bored but this is no excuse against teaching boring lessons. The teacher can stimulate interest by involving students in the lesson. However, as I say all this I realize that teachers cannot do this all the time. They are pressed for resources and time. They have to teach so much in so little time with the principal hounding them to maintain discipline in class. Schools are becoming boring, it is not the teachers but the school that is becoming boring by being too rule oriented. Teachers, however, can change this by asking the school authorities to be more accommodating. Did you not have any teacher whose lessons you looked forward to? I know I have had such teachers. I also have had my share of boring and interesting teachers. Some teachers are boring because they have no interest in teaching. They take their job as just a job. They take a responsibility of teaching students and they just do that. However, there a re teachers who understand the essence of being a teacher. They engage us. I think boring teachers are only churning out students who are ill equipped to handle higher education such as colleges and universities. Even though I understand that teachers are not very highly paid, I do not think that I would want such teachers to be paid to teach me. I want teachers who are passionate about their jobs and are ready to accept the challenge of fighting the boredom of the same subject.. For me, the best teacher should have the following qualities: She should be passionate about her job; She should be able to communicate with the students on their level; and She should come up with lessons that activate the minds of the students. You state that Christine Gilbert's ideas ‘ignores the fact that some of the things children really ought to learn are boring...Are we going to phase out math in favour of more media studies and dance?’ Here again I disagree, Math is not boring. When yo u say that ‘quadratic equations are boring the first time’, it makes me wonder what boring teachers you have had. Some subjects are dry but they can be made more interesting in the way they are caught. Even media studies and dance can be made boring if the teacher focuses on too much technicality and theory. I understand that theory is boring and needs to be taught. But when a teacher focuses too much on theory and less of practical knowledge, students lose interest. You state that students

IPO underpricing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IPO underpricing - Essay Example Many companies have a tendency of having underpriced IPOs so that potential investors can be attracted into them. Investors find it easier to influence the shares’ price with low offering price as their intention is to obtain the windfall gain in the period of issuing. Low-priced shares generally have a lot of capacity for share increase of price on the basis of market demand forces. As a result, low offering price signifies considerable share underpricing. IPO underpricing has been explained with the offering size of a company for a long time, which is consistent with the ex ante uncertainty theory. This concept reflects in the works of Beatty and Ritter (1986) as well as in McGuinness (1992). Tu and TSE (2006), in their analysis of the Chinese A-share market, state the size of offering as a critical determinant of the IPO underpricing. A company’s offering size is calculated through multiplication of the offer price with the offered number of shares. The equation for this is, size of offering = number of offered shares x price of offering. There is a perception that companies having bigger offerings’ size have superior management and control and are more mature as compared to the companies having smaller offering magnitudes. Bigger companies derive their tendency to underprice their shares from the fact that their information flow is relatively better than that of the smaller companies, that are more influenced by the a symmetry of information. Data used in this project was retrieved from the official website of Shanghai Stock Exchange (available at http://www.sse.com.cn) and also from the GTA Database. Like discussed before, there are five groups of shares in the Chinese stock market. However, it is just the A-share stocks that are completely quoted in Yuan. Many companies have a preference for being included in the Shanghai Stock Exchange instead of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in spite of

Human Nutrition-Supersize Me Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Nutrition-Supersize Me - Movie Review Example This is so huge that it is only second to smoking as a leading, preventable cause of death. In 2007-2008 the estimated prevalence for the years 2007 – 2008, in US has been calculated at 33.8% meaning 33 people out of every hundred must lose weight (Flegal et al, 2010). In the movie another interesting concept had been put forward. American children know more about Ronald McDonald than the forefathers of USA which was shown in one of the scenes where Spurlock shows a couple of pictures to 1st grade children in Worcester, MA. This is due to variety of reasons. Strong media advertising campaign by the company which in 2001 amounted to 1.3 billion dollars. If Britney Spears and other celebrities campaigned for something healthy rather than for ‘Pepsi cola’, then parents would have a good chance in talking some sense into their children. Another interesting thing to note in this movie was a notion that children associated themselves with happy memories of the playhouses accompanying most of the McDonald outlets and later on in life whenever they saw the place, those thoughts are recalled and hence a perpetuation of the cycle of dining at the same place over and over again. Food programs have been shown to be deficient in most of the school s with less focus over fresh fruits and vegetables although costing the same. Physical activity needs of the children must be addressed appropriately in schools with more attention brought to the states who have the highest obesity rates like Mississippi. As part of my personal experience I remember visiting a McDonalds outlet in downtown Manhattan with my parents. I was a 1st grader at that time. I had time of my life that day and still the family album contains my photographs with Ronald McDonald and my happy meal toys. Though I remember losing some of the toys to another kid, still, it did not put me off enough to not think of this place when I am an adult. Those warm feelings come back to me

Are energy drinks safe' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Are energy drinks safe' - Essay Example III. Credibility (Speaker’s qualifications/expertise): after researching about this subject I have come to agree with the view that energy drinks are not safe because it contains too much caffeine, very expensive, and it has side effects. IV. Thesis (Transitional Preview): from the discussion with the audience many of you oppose the information I tried to provide, but I am requesting that you listen with open mind while we discuss the problems associated with energy drinks and how the drinks affects the human body. A. Food and drug administration report shows that in 2012 there were 40 cases of illness and 6 deaths resulting from monster energy alone and 15 illness and 5 lasting disabilities resulted from Rockstar Energy (Lee 2012). These reports are provided by patients, families and doctors, but they do not prove that the drinks cause the death but they believe that the death was caused by the drinks. Transition: having looked at the general problems associated with energy drinks; let us now go to the specific points that make energy drinks dangerous. These points are too much caffeine, more expensive than other drinks, and its side effects, I will start with too much caffeine (Lee 2012). C. Caffeine gives a quick boost and that is why many people take before exercise, but this is dangerous because exercise increases the heartbeat hence stimulations from caffeine can trigger hearth attack or stroke. E. Caffeine causes Adrenal Fatigue; this is a situation in which the body becomes tired after the consumption of caffeine. This will occur because the body adrenalin system will become overtaxed by continuous intake of caffeine. This will weaken the immune function of the body. F. They have negative effects on diabetes. It has been found that caffeine has the capability of decreasing the insulin sensitivity and makes it hard for people who are suffering from diabetes to control blood sugar in the

The law and the media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The law and the media - Essay Example When defamation is established, there is a legal presumption of deceptiveness (Defamation). A report by the Washington post related to a weight lifting coach, Mr. Bob Hoffman stated that the coach sold valueless protein supplements called Hoffman’s high protein tablets. The article also clearly depicted that Hoffman also drove a Rolls Royce car and many of his athletes were discovered later to be using the banned anabolic steroids. Hoffman sued the newspaper stating that the news gave an impression that he supplemented himself by selling the protein tablets. The newspaper made counterclaims that the statements they collected were from individuals and there is no case of defamation. The law of defamation fully states or recognizes that truth is a complete defense, but defamation cases which are not direct, as in the above case always smudge the line between truth and fabrication. An article which is factually correct will omit or may imply falsely a material fact that will make the article harmful like a truly false report. Even though the weight lifting coach sold p rotein enriched tablets to his athletes, the fact that it contained anabolic steroids had no evidential support. The newspaper had published the article without undergoing scientific trials to establish the truth of their claim. Therefore the article was truly a case of defamation. Even courts have struggled to give a clear and true verdict to this matter. The media cannot defend false statements as facts. It is also not possible to defend on the basis of an omitted fact. The case of defamation against Mr. Hoffman is a true case of defamation because the newspaper has published false statement that caused loss of name and reputation for the coach in front of the public. The media should not use its influence and coverage to gain undue weightage among its readers by publishing defamatory articles (Cohn). Privacy can

USB Banks Take $2 Million Hit, a Detrimental Impact Essay

USB Banks Take $2 Million Hit, a Detrimental Impact - Essay Example Since the Swiss and European banks operate in a different way, this new scenario poses new challenges for implementing controls. The economy in the past years has been weak to say the least. Banks have been defaulting in loans as creditors have failed to pay their loans. These trickled effects have been a domino effect internationally. When one bank is hit by a fraud, it has a dynamic impact throughout the banks in the international front. One of the major banks that recently was charged for dealing with unauthorized revenue was UBS. The bank already was mounted with numerous amounts of risks and troubles prior to this massive problem. The Wall Street Journal reports that UBS was charged $2 billion for conducting unauthorized trades. The news pretty much shocked the financial market as the UBS AG accumulated a hefty $2 billion in losses. The crisis slammed shares of UBS, which on Thursday fell nearly 11% in Swiss trading and 10% in New York Stock Exchange trading. The British Police arrested a man for committing fraud and playing with equities. The news that UBS lost $2 million took a big detrimental hit as the losses crippled the European economy. The Europeans have become increasingly uneasy about withdrawing equity from Euro Zone banks. The convicted felon was a man known as Kweku Adoboli, a London-based trader who worked in the exchange desk. The British police confirmed that they arrested an individual who was committing fraud but have not charged him yet. According to officials, Mr. Adoboli was certified to work in the securities business since March 2006. Mr. Adoboli’s past experience in trading enabled him to conduct this fraud in a very passive manner. The felon was under a different alias in the popular job site called LinkedIn. Authorities are still not aware whether he still works for that bank. The bank officials made the discovery late when the London police informed the administration. Around 3.30 at night, the police confirmed their arrest of the felon. However, some parts of the how Mr. Adoboli conducted this scheme seem vague to officials. The officials were also unable to determine the casualties since UBS operates in major countries including United Kingdom. In midst of all these things, UBS discovered the hefty losses that they incurred. The UBS bank is still working hard to assure that all the positions are closed. In addition, the bank took a deep hit as their reported revenue fell from $8.2 billion to a $2.7 billion loss. The new shock undoubtedly raised the p roblem of the internal management control that were lacking in the band. Additionally, the unawareness the managers possessed was shocking. The management internal controls lacked the adequate understanding of mitigating the risks as this felon was free to conduct trades at his own will. Clearly, the bank’s risk-management system had flaws since it had to write down $50 billion in securities exchange. Collins Stewart, a key analysis of financial markets depicts the demise of this situation as he states, â€Å""A loss of this magnitude will very likely have occurred in the [fixed-income, currencies and commodities] division, the very division UBS has been systematically rebuilding after shrinking it by 40% during the credit crisis.† Undoubtedly, this will trouble the foreign markets. In addition, it might hurt the currency exchange as the Euro rate will dip down. It will also cause collateral damage as other banks might default in their loans. This

Heros Of Today And Heros Of Yesterday Essay Example for Free

Heros Of Today And Heros Of Yesterday Essay Heroes by todays standards can be many things, such as firefighters, teachers, or cops. This wasnt always what the word hero was once intended to mean. What a hero is in present day is surprisingly different than what a hero once was. In ancient times one was only called a hero if they were the strongest, bravest, smartest and the most warlike. During the course of time, the definition of what a genuine hero is has changed and the role and form of a hero has been altered, but yet some things remain the same between the two known meanings of the word. Although there has been drastic changes to the meaning of a hero, deep down some qualities remain unaffected. Heroes of yesteryears and heroes of today still manifest, while not in the same physical forms but the same spiritual forms. Beowulf, Hercules, Achilles, and other heroes of past ages all have the same motives, drives, and characteristics. A great example of how a hero acted in ancient times is in the story Beowulf. In the story Beowulf hears that a friend of his fathers is in need of help, so he bravely went to his aide, it took his courage to help out the way he did. He fought Grendle with his godlike strength and after a great battle, prevailed. Being brave, strong, alert, determined, honest, bold, are all the things that made them heroes. Today, if you look at the men and women that are known for being heroes you will see a great similarity in their bravery, courage, and intelligence. In these ways they are greatly the same. The image of a hero that ancient stories and books told were slightly different than the heroes in our modern tales. An example of an ancient heros behavior that is not inhabited by modern heroes is again in Beowulf. In the story, Beowulf goes into Herot Hall, sits down and begins to boast and brag about his previous battles, as if to say he is better than everyone else. Another example is later on in the story when Beowulf kills Grendel and hangs his bloody arm over the Hall for everyone to see. Seeing how they had perfect physiques and were loud, cocky, and selfish, those things are not needed by todays heroes and some of these more barbaric qualities are even discouraged by todays society. In current time heroes neednt be  physically strong, nor have muscles and if they are cocky and brag and claim to be better than everyone else, they will be looked down upon. A hero in the public eye differs from my personal definition of a hero. I along with many others have a personal hero. My hero is my father, now I really doubt that anyone else would choose him as his or her hero, but I do. He does have a few qualities of a hero such as being strong, brave, and courageous, but the reasons I believe him to be a hero are different. He isnt like any other person, when I talk to him about problems and ask him questions he listens and actually helps me out and gives me answers and solutions that are acceptable to me, he helps understand answers instead of just giving me right ones. He tries to be a perfect father, which is an unattainable goal but I value his efforts and respect him for trying.

Relationship Between Asset Price and Monetary Policy

Relationship Between Asset Price and Monetary Policy With the development of capital market and the innovation of finance, asset prices have taken a more prominent role in financial economy. Meanwhile, financial crisis and economy turbulences arouse by abnormal assets price fluctuation appear in many countries. Currently, China is confronted with the reality of asset prices inflation. Asset prices rapidly fluctuation bought gigantic impact to monetary policy, therefore, study the relationship between asset price and monetary policy according to Chinas economy is significant. This dissertation applies correlation analysis, unit root test, cointegration test and Granger causality test in the empirical analysis of the relationship between asset price and monetary policy, from the data analysis, we could conclude that asset prices and monetary policy have a long-term relationship. The central bank should focus on the role of asset price on the transmit mechanism of monetary policy. 1. Introduction Motivation With the development of modern capital market and financial innovation, the world economy has into the financial economy era, and disappears increasingly capitalization, virtualization trends. It is no doubt that modern capital market has provided a powerful lever for economic growth, but its instability also cause macroeconomic fluctuations , and in particular the asset price bubbles, which is becoming a key factor for financial crisis and economic fluctuations. So far, the most developed Western countries have experienced a long period of rapid growth, concern is that global asset price has increased sharply in recent years. In the late 1980s, the stock market and real estate in Japan as the representative of asset prices have greatly increased ,which also caused Japanese economy into the bubble economy, the credit crunch and economic recession arising from the bubble economy have serious negative effects so far. In 2006, the Dow Jones industrial average index in USA was beyond the highest point of network technology bubble expansion from 2000, the stock market of many other developed and emerging market countries generally strongly increased and was beyond history records. In addition to the security market , the global real estate, gold and oil market are also very active. In 2001-2005, real estate prices have nearly doubled in many developed countries, meanwhile, real estate price in many developing countries has also generally increased . In May 2006, the international spot gold price reached USD per ounce 718 score in New York City market since 1980. In mid-July 2006, the International crude oil futures price GE exceeded the highest record to reach 75 USD/barrel. But, inevitably brought the more serious financial crisis in 2007, which has caused huge economic fluctuations to the economy from 2007. In China, securities market have established for ten years, the shares of negotiable securities in the structure of residents capital portfolios continued to be increasing, in 1992, the total value of Chinese stock market is 1048 billion yuan, accounting for only 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) ratio . But in 2007, the stock market value is 327141 billion yuan, the ratio of market value in GDP has being greatly rising to 130% , which is 312 times growth compared with the total stock market value in 1992 . Not only a huge amount, but also the fluctuations of asset prices have become more frequent and intense. In 2006-2007, Chinese economy under the driven of stock market and real estate market has a certain degree of asset price bubbles. While in the same time , Chinese economy is actually facing the reality of asset price falling from the top digit, shanghai security market falls rapidly from the peak position in 2007, the stock market bubbles receive the extrusion, the real est ate market similarly is also facing the similar situation, house price of major cities has falls obviously, the turnover falls into the valley. All of these financial crisis constantly are reminding people that the worldwide economic fluctuations are characterized by the financial instability , and economic cyclical fluctuations, instead of disappearing, and to be getting worse, cause considerable economic depression, frequent asset price volatility and financial crisis and economic recession arising from the asset market collapse, hence , the government should focus on the asset prices on the role of macroeconomic fluctuations and the central bank in the world have to consider the information from asset price fluctuations. The Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Bernanke concern much about monetary policy and asset price volatility. Alan Greenspan proposed central banks should be more concerned about the issue of asset price bubbles in the anniversary meeting celebrating the establishment of the Bank of England in 1994 . Chairman Bernanke is an internationally recognized as the founder of monetary policy and asset price researc h. At their encouragement , the international academic community and the national central banks have recent research and debate whether the monetary authorities should intervene directly in asset price fluctuations. These research and debates are from the different backgrounds in different countries, in accordance with their different assumptions and premises, provide some significance policy advice. Financial markets in particular capital market deepening and broad-based, and financial innovation enables financial institutions have diversity features. The boundaries of currency and other financial assets is blurring, money supply and real economic variables lost stability, the monetary policy impact on the real economy is no longer limited to traditional approaches, according to the traditional Keynesian theory, this impact on consumption and investment mainly through interest rate variable . But as the improvement of financial system and increase of financial assets stock , monetary policy can also use the wealth effect of asset prices and Tobin q to affect the consumption and investment, causing the changes of total demand, in stick price, the aggregate demand led to a change in the output , and cause the effect of the output changes on demand, if the aggregate demand exceeds the aggregate supply ,it can lead to inflation pressures. This series of transmission mechanism make t he role of asset market on the real economy become more prominent, asset price has become a major transmission channel of monetary policy . From the reality in China, the rapidly development of asset markets have a key role in our national economy, the impact of real estate market and stock market on economic and monetary policy are becoming increasingly apparent. In fact, the Chinese monetary authorities have also already begin to pay attention to the relationship of asset price and monetary policy . Xiaochuan, Zhou , as the Governor of Chinese central bank ,says that the central bank concerns about changes in asset prices and gives full attention to information from asset price when formulating and implementing monetary policy. Therefore, study the relationship between asset price and monetary policy in Chinese economy is significant. This dissertation analyze the relationship of asset price and monetary policy systematically, and will use econometric methodology to seek to explore the relationship between asset price and monetary policy in China by using quarterly statistics from 1998 to 2008. I will estimate the relationship between monetary policy variables and asset price variables , through correlation analysis, unit root test, cointergration test Granger Causality test to get the conclusion. This dissertation conclude the results that ¼Ã… ¡monetary policy and asset price have a long-term relationship, in a short time, the monetary policy aggravated the asset price fluctuations to some degree, the asset market appeared to be rapidly soared and shirked in a short period of time. The central bank should focus on the role of asset price on the transmit mechanism of monetary policy. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Empirical Studies from Western Economists The research from western economists on relationship of asset price fluctuations and monetary policy mainly reflects the two views. First, asset price and monetary policy do not exist the causal relationship on behavior , and the only relationship is on the information that reflects the present and future output growth. Another view on research of asset price fluctuation and monetary policy is that asset price can affect consumption and investment through wealth effects , the change of capital cost and asset price fluctuations affect consumption and investment respectively through wealth effects and Tobin q, thus affect the financial institutions status of assets and liabilities , further affect the stability of the financial system. It is evidently that asset price has become the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. Frank Smets (1997) is one of the economist who systematically analysis the optimal monetary policy that Central Bank should response on asset price change. He has proposed the following important viewpoint: how the central bank should respond to monetary policy reflecting the unexpected change of asset price, how this change affect the central banks inflation forecast. There are two factors affecting the central bank forecast inflation. First is that the effect of asset price on transmitting mechanism of monetary policy. Second is that the unique information on asset price. He established a simple macro-economic model that contains equation of Phillips curve, aggregate demand on financial asset prices (as represented by the stock price) , arbitrage and dividend , he uses this model to examine the variety of ways that change of financial assets price affect the real economy, and analysis the optimal monetary policy of central bank response to financial asset price movements. He demons trate that the optimal monetary policy of central bank response to financial asset price movements, that is, according to the structure of established model , weighted average of the short-term interest rate ( traditional intermediary target of monetary policy) and asset price as price index — monetary conditions index (MCI) , and regard this index as the target of monetary policy operations, therefore it can properly guide central bank make effectively response on monetary policy to change of financial assets price. Gunnarsson and Lindqvist (1997) have discussed the role of asset price on monetary policy from the wealth effect on change of asset price and the effect of inflation. They conclude that the monetary policy should be given more attention on the change of asset price, although it is very difficult to explain. They believe that the change of asset price affect monetary policy as long as this change is long-term change, and in recent years, the impact of this change of asset prices on the economic has been more and more important, so the central bank should spend more energy to analyze the relationship of asset prices and monetary policy, although this relationship is hard to explain but indeed existing. They believe that asset price as an indicator for monetary policy might contribute to the inflation forecast. B.Bemanke and M.Gcrtler (2000,2001) have provided that :In an particular assigned situation , the monetary policy respond to the change of asset price is determined by if existing of the inflation or the deflation pressure on real economy or not, if this change of asset price do not bring the inflation or the deflation pressure on the real economy, then the monetary policy does not need to respond to this kind change of asset price, but If this change of asset price indicates that it indeed brings the inflation or the deflation pressure on the real economy, then the monetary policy should make some response to alleviates this pressure. They propose the above policy seriously under the system frame of flexible currency inflation goal. Cecchetti, Genberg, Lipsky and Wadhwani (2000) have noted that how the central bank respond to asset price fluctuation mainly depends on the nature of the asset price fluctuation. When only have the shock of financial aspect on macro-economy, the central banks exchange rate policy should make an appropriate response, because doing so will avoid the financial shock on the stability of real economy . When the central banks target is to minimize the fluctuations of Inflation ratio and economic output gap to their target value , the central bank take possible action to eliminate the negative effects of financial volatility is a very good thing. 2.2 Empirical Studies from Chinese Scholars After the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the scholars in China have began to research the relationship between asset price and monetary policy. From a theoretical viewpoint, on the one hand, monetary policy have an impact on asset prices through the adopted operation tool, on the other hand, as a virtual asset relatively to physical asset , asset price fluctuations can also have some impact on peoples consumption and investment behaviour, hence, affect economic development through consumer and investment , further transmit monetary policy purpose to the real economy. Xiaoan Qian (1998) finds that change of asset price make a difficulty in monetary policy transmission mechanism, this will cause the certain effects on monetary quantity management, inflation control and financial risk avoidance. The increase of asset price has been made transmission role of the monetary policy in the currency market change and become a source of funds in the asset markets, causing short-term funds long-term occupation , so that the transmission mechanism of monetary policy to occur difficulty. Part of funds seperated from the bank system, directly to the virtual asset markets. Wenjun Xun (2000) believes that the development of capital market increase the number of the emerging non-bank organization such as superannuation fund, the mutual fund, the Insurance company and so on, the bank also participates in the competition of capital market , the effect of the capital market on the real economy gradually highlight, the transmitted mechanism of monetary policy increases, economic subject and its behavior are diversity, uncertainty about the economical movement increases, therefore the transmitted mechanism of monetary policy is more complex. They thinks that Central Banks monetary policy should control official interest rate through the market , thus indirectly influence the bond and the stock market price in capital market, further influence real economy, achieves the monetary policy goal. Qiang Qu (2001) has found that it is difficult to put asset prices as the goal of direct control of monetary policy in the monetary policy operations, the possibilities and accuracy of establishment of general asset price index is very small, asset prices can only be used as an indirect reference, in short, to concern on it , but not target on it. Gang Yi and Zhao Wang (2002) have considered that monetary policy have impact on financial asset prices (in particular the stock price), the relationship of currency quantity and inflation not only depends on the price of goods and services, and in a certain degree depends on the stock market. Tianyong Guo(2006) has affirmed the role of asset price fluctuation on real economy , financial stability and monetary policy through analysis, at the same time, he also points out that the asset price as regulatory targets exist difficulties. Chang Cui (2007) analysis the role of asset price on monetary policy through the model , in asset price inflation period, the central bank can take the measure of interest rate for a given period too control asset price fluctuation, and control the money supply when asset price bubbles exist will receive immediate effect. While in asset price downturn period , interest rate adjust asset price have obvious and relatively durable effect. Yuanquan Yu (2008) obtains through the empirical analysis: the asset price has a certain influence on macroeconomic , particularly the effect of house price is more obvious. Therefore, the Central Bank must give the appropriate attention and control on asset price in the implement of monetary policy . In an conclusion, the asset price fluctuations have an certain impact on the ultimate objective of monetary policy, we can not ignore the unique role of asset price on the transmission mechanism of monetary policy and the macro-economic activities. The central bank should concentrate on the effect of asset prices on monetary policy, particularly in asset prices fluctuations periods, the vast majority of economists believe that the central bank should take an certain monetary policy to address and reduce the negative effect of the economy. For most of research focuses on the study of asset price fluctuation and its relationship with monetary policy, the role of asset prices in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy , as well as the effect size issues ,this dissertation based on the domestic and foreign scholar research results , deeply analyzes the transmitted mechanism of monetary policy in asset price through the impact of monetary policy on asset price . 3. Data Description This dissertation focus on the relationship between asset price and monetary policy in China according to the quarterly statistics during the year of 1998 to 2008. This dissertation mainly use the stock price (index) and house price(hsp) as indicators of asset price , and use boarder money supply (m2), financial institution loan (loan), real rate (rate) as indicators of monetary policy for simplicity. Due to the amount of the data of these variables are really great, we take log of these variables to analyze. This dissertation get all needed data from China Economic Information Network, which is a professionals institution engage in the development of economic data resources and services, provide data support, data integration, and other business data analysis for government and research institutions. All the quarterly data we need from 1998 to 2008 is recorded in the China Economic Information Network. à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ 3.1 Indicators for asset price in China Asset prices generally including stock prices, bonds, prices, and even exchange rate, and other financial assets and house prices. However, the stock price and house price have a significant effect on real economy, and its fluctuations can have a key role in monetary policy decision-making, hence, in this dissertation , we will use the stock price and house price refer to the asset price. In particular, the Shanghai securities composite index is on behave of the stock price for data limitations, Shanghai securities composite index is established by the Shanghai stock market to reflect the Shanghai securities trading market overall trend. House price is on behave of the average house price in China. We can easily get these data from the China Economic Information Network. 3.2 Indicators for monetary policy in China Monetary policy refers to the Government or the Central Bank influence economic activity, especially by money supply control and regulation of interest rates. To achieve a specific goal or maintain target — for example, curbing inflation ,achieving full employment and economic growth, directly or indirectly through open market operations and setting the minimum reserve rate. There are many factors needed to be consider in implementing monetary policy, for data restrictions, in this dissertation ,we mainly consider the variable of boarder money supply, financial institution loan and real rate. First, boarder money supply (lnm2) indicates the change of aggregate supply and pressure condition of inflation in the future. In china, boarder money supply is narrow money supply plus the saving, foreign currency and fiduciary deposits of government, organizations, services, businesses and institutions in financial institution. Boarder money supply can be used as a medium and long-term equilibrium target to regulate of financial markets .It is usually the rate of boarder money supply increasing should be controlled at the sum rate of economic growth and price inflation, monetary movement. Second, financial institution loan have some disadvantage as a indicators of monetary policy. First, it is closely associated with the monetary policy objective. Currency circulation and deposit currency caused by loan, the Central Bank control the size of the loan, which also mean to control the money supply. Second, financial institution loan is an accuracy an endogenous variable , loan size is positive correlation with loan demand. As a policy variables, loan size and the demand also have a positive correlation. Furthermore, data of financial institution loan is easily accessible . Third, real rate refers to the real rate of interest return that the depositors and investors can get after eliminating of inflation rate, it is calculate as nominate rate minus CPI. Real rate can be used as the indicator of Central Banks monetary policy due to following reasons : (1) real rate reflect the supply of money and credit, and able to show the relative supply and demand, it is correlation with nominal interest rate ,High level of interest rate is thought to be a tight, low interest rate level of convergence are considered monetary relaxation. (2) real rate belongs to the Central Bank , the Central Bank can use this tools to increase or decrease in interest rates. Table 1: denotation for Variables denotation Variables Implication Lnindex Shanghai securities composite index Shanghai securities trading market overall trend Lnhsp House price Real estate price Lnloan Loan financial institution aggregation loan domestic Lnm2 M2 boarder money supply: M2+M1 Rate Real rate nominate rate minus CPI. 4. Economic Theory and Econometric Model The effectiveness of monetary policy depends not only on the sensitivity of economic subjects on policy signal , but also on numerous external factors of financial system. According to the traditional Keynesian theory, when implementing expansionary monetary policy, increase of money supply will lead to rate decline, i.e. capital costs decreasing, further increasing investment expenditure, hence increasing aggregate demand and aggregate output. Meanwhile, increase of money supply will lead to the bank reserve and deposit increase, thus enhanced bank to increase the loan quantity, the fund that the borrower attains increase, then the total quantity investment will increase, which also lead to the quantity of aggregate demand increase, hence, the total output also rise. We will use following econometric model to analyze the relationship of asset price and monetary policy. 4.1. Analyzing correlation coefficient The correlation coefficient is a measure of two variables relate to each other and their close degree of effective tools. Its absolute value is close to 1 description of relevance, the stronger between variables, the more its relevance with 0. If the correlation coefficient is positive, then the variables presented to changes in the relationship, with one variable with another variable changes. But if the correlation coefficient is negative, then the variables are changes in the relationship in the opposite direction. Using correlation coefficient can be better measured variables and between monetary policy and asset price correlation between Extent its positive and negative symbol can indicate the variable ask changes direction. Generally used to be associated matrix said. 4.2. Testing for Nonstationary In time series, stationary is a key concept, as it allows powerful techniques for modelling and forecasting to be developed. Stationary is generally regarded as some pattern of data stable or equilibrium. Stationary time series have constant mean and variance, but its covariance only determined by the time distance. However, when time series could not analyze as stationary, this types of time series always have a strong upwards or downward trend over time, we call it as nonstationary, and we can use differencing as an effective tool to transform a nonstationary time series into a stationary time series. Sometimes, Transforming a nonstationary time series into a stationary one needs more than once differencing operation. Generally speaking, if the differencing needs to be operated at least d times to achieve a stationary time series where d is the order of integration, then the time series is said to be integrated of order d, denoted by I(d). Hence, the I(1) time series also referred to have a unit root, while the I(0) time series are stationary. Dickey and Fuller (1979) provided an effective method to test a time series is stationary or nonstationy time series, which is also called as Dickey-Fuller (DF) test. The elementary object is to test the null hypothesis that the time series have a unit root or not. The model the Dickey-Fuller (DF) test involves bellows In this dissertation , indicates the variables on monetary policy and asset price at time t. ÃŽ ± denotes unknown parameter and denotes the trend. denotes the first difference which . Also, the t-statistic for testing the null hypothesis that H0: =0 against the alternative hypothesis H1: While the index and real rate variable we consider under the model H0: against H1: We also can identify the fittest lag k by running the ADF(k) test, choosing the fitted order k that gives the minimum AIC and BIC. 4.3 Cointegration Formally, Engle and Granger (1987) defined the cointegration as if there exists a linear combination of two or more I(d) time series which is I(d) with d In practice, we usually use cointegration test to exam the long-run relationship among variables in economics. If times series have relationship between variables, and the trend of the two time series has been common, and thus there will be a linear combination of these time series give us an stationary time series. In this dissertation , we test the long-run relationship between monetary policy variable and asset price variable by cointegration test .First, we consider the regression of two I (1) time series. The model is To test { } and { } are cointegrated, we need to exam that the residuals term { } is stationary .If the residuals term is I (1), then this two times series do not have a cointegration, otherwise , if the residuals term is I (o), then this two times series are cointegrated. Under this case, to test the residuals for unit root ,we can conduct DF/ADF-statistic test. In this paper, we denote that monetary policy variables as and we regress on a constant and one of the asset price variables as . 4.4. Causality Test Granger (1969) provided that Granger causality test can apply generally for testing the causal relationship on two time series.Granger causality means that if { } Granger causes{ } then { } have a predict power of { } , given any other variables. More formally, it is said that { } Granger causes { }; when the forecast of given data on { } and { } outperforms the forecast of given data on { }only. Granger causality is only related to the predictability of { } using { } and is not concerned as to whether{ }causes { }, it could be that { } Granger causes { } but { } is not causal for { },and vice versa. To test for Granger causality, we could estimate the regression by OLS In this dissertation , denotes an indicator of asset price, i.e. Shanghai composite index (lnindex) , house price ( lnhsp) , Also,denotes the indicator of monetary policy, i.e. financial institutions aggregate loan (lnloan), broad money (lnm2), real interest rate (rate) . Then conduct an F test on the null hypothesis against the alternative at least one of the is not zero. If we reject the null hypothesis, then { } has predictive power for { } and therefore, { } Granger causes { }, on the other hand, if we fail to reject the null hypothesis, then { } has no predictive power for { }, therefore, { } does not Granger causes { }.We usually test the two times series for Granger causality in pairs, that is, first test whether { } Granger causes { } and then test whether { } Granger causes { }.If two variables have Grange causality relationship in both directions, i.e. { } Granger causes { } and { } Granger causes { }, then we could regard these two varibles have causality relationship in both directions, that means these two variables are related. If two variables have Granger causality in one direction, e.g. { } Granger causes { } but { } does not Granger cause { }, then we can conclude that these two variable just have a one way causality relationship. 5. Presentation and Interpretation of Results 5.1. correlation coefficient between monetary policy variables and asset prices variables We analysis the correlation between monetary policy variables and stock prices variable according to the data provided by China Economic Information Network, and the correlation coefficients are presented in Table 2 and Table 3. Table 2 Correlation coefficient between lnindex and lnloan,lnm2,rate in 1998-2008 Lnindex Lnloan Lnm2 Rate Lnindex 1.000000 Lnloan 0.4829 1.000000 Lnm2 0.4867 0.9980 1.000000 Rate -0.4717 -0.9013 -0.9067 1.000000 As we can see, stock price (Lnindex) has correlation relationship with all monetary policy variables. With a higher stock price, loan and money supply will be increased, while real rate will be decreased. For monetary variables, loan and M2 have a strong positive correlation, and M2 have a strong negative correlaton with real rate. In conclusion , for the stock price variable, it has basically the positive correlation with the loan and money supply variables , and has negatively correlation with the real rate. Table 3 Correlation coefficient between lnhsp and lnloan,lnm2,rate in 1998-2008 Lnhsp Lnloan Lnm2 Rate Lnhsp 1.000000 Lnloan 0.9667 1.000000 Lnm2 0.9633 0.9980 1.000000 Rate -0.8453 -0.9013 -0.9067 1.000000 From table 3, we can see house price (Lnhsp) has correlation relationship with all monetary policy variables. With a higher house price, loan and money supply will be increased, while real rate still will be decreased. In conclusion ,for the house price variable, it has basically the strong positive correlation with the loan and money supply variables , and has strong negatively correlation with the real rate. 5.2.Results for unit root test We exam monetary policy variables and asset prices variables by Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) to test the stationary of time series. First ,we choose the AIC and BIC to determine the fitted lag it suggest that the optimal lag for time series is lag k =1,Then we run ADF to test stationary of time series. Results are below: Table 4 ¼Ã… ¡Augmented Dickey-Fuller Unit Root Test for Variables Series ADF Test critical values Results 5% 1% Lnhsp -1.685 -3.41 -3.96 have a unit root Lnindex -2.085 -2.86 -3.43 have a unit root Lnm2

The Foolish Mr. Keating of Dead Poets Society :: Dead Poets Society Essays

The Foolish Mr. Keating of Dead Poet's Society The Dead Poet's Society raises an interesting question: When educating teen-agers, is it better to use the school's policy of Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence or Mr. Keating's philosophy of carpe diam (seize the day)? Mr. Keating believed that people should "suck the marrow out of life" and live like a free thinking person even at the young age of seventeen. Centuries of teaching experience prove Mr. Keating is wrong and that tradition and discipline are the correct methods of educating. Our fledgling nation of only 200 years is a mental midget in this world. Why is it that we are 17th in the world in education. Is it that we are stupid? No, it is that we have diverged from the old world teaching methods of Europe and Asia. Japan is third is the world in education. The reason is simple. Although they manufacture most of the world's calculators, not one is used in the classroom. One really begins to understand math when taught by route memorization and physical punishment for incorrect answers. Anyone who has been "rapped on the knuckles" by a nun with a ruler can attest to this fact. The one thing that a student needs in life is structure. Without this, he or she cannot function in a school environment. When a bell rings, you must go to class. When a teacher assigns homework, you do it. No questions asked. No individual thought. The only marrow that should be sucked out of a students life is that of education. That, after all, is why they are in school. To learn and no other reason. In the end, it should be noted that although Mr. Keating's teaching philosophy was debunked, he made one good point.

Pantomime :: essays research papers fc

This paper is about pantomime, about it’s origin, it’s people, how it has evolved, and how wonderful it is. Pantomime is a dramatic performance in which a story is told or a theme developed through expressive bodily or facial movement. The origin of pantomime can be traced back to classical farce and the Italian Commedia Dell’arte. Not all pantomime is silent. The completely silent performance of pantomime was invented in Rome. Pantomime is sometimes used to worship. Mime is a short way of saying pantomime and also means someone who performs pantomime. A mime, if performing on the streets, will have a hat that is passed around for spectators to put money in. When doing pantomime, it should be noted that the imaginative performance skills are illusion and illustration. Also, you should â€Å"cultivate an understanding of the role that the body plays in suggesting an idea, an impression, a sensation, or a character.† Pantomime can be done solo, or in a group of any size. Before performing, a mime must do warm-up and relaxation exercises. Miming takes mental and physical strength. Perfect coordination of all parts of the body is essential for expressive movement and graceful poise in pantomime. A good mime must be very flexible. You must be fluid at changing posture to create a character. Facial expression changes everything while performing pantomime. You must be very relaxed when doing pantomime. People speak different languages, but most gestures mean the same thing. Animals, insects especially, have probably done pantomime before humans were even alive. For example, bees do pantomime when telling others where nectar is, and peacocks use pantomime to impress a mate. Prehistoric man was next, after animals, to do pantomime. Prehistoric men would do pantomime to try to influence nature to let them get a kill while hunting. Before language, prehistoric men told about a hunt with pantomime. Prehistoric men would use pantomime to tell the history of the tribe. A clown named Grock became a very successful mime. He started as an acrobatic clown at a very young age. Grock became famous because he succeeded in the circus and in the music hall. After years of successfully performing in circuses, he tried his clown routine in a theater in Berlin. Grock began to move away from broad comedy in the Grimaldi tradition, and towards Debureu’s type of performance. In his first performance in a theater, the audience did not respond. Grock realized that the type of performance required for the theater is different than that required by the circus. Grock began to use a clown as a pantomime character whose actions comment on life. Grock went on to become one of the greatest

Analysis of The World Bank’s Findings on Air Pollution Essay -- Pollut

Analysis of The World Bank’s Findings on Air Pollution (PM10 Concentration) in World Cities The World Bank is an international non-governmental organization with the goal of aiding developing countries throughout the world with financial and technical assistance. Besides the obvious concern of financial stability for the impoverished countries of the world, the World Bank also focuses on education, health, infrastructure, and communications. Our analysis deals with the environment and infrastructure aspects of the World Bank’s work. The World Bank provided us with the dataset entitled â€Å"Air Pollution in World Cities (PM10 Concentration).† â€Å"PM† stands for particulate matter pollution in the air. This dataset showed every major city in the world with a population of 100,000 or more and also every country’s PM concentration. The country-based portion of the dataset was used for this analysis. The primary determinants of PM concentrations are the scale and composition of economic activity, population, the energy mix, the strength of local p ollution regulation, and geographic and atmospheric conditions that affect pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere. (World Bank) Thanks to economic improvements throughout the world and technological advancements, PM10 concentration has increased at a very slow rate. The objective of this analysis was to determine the pollution concentration of several regions throughout the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America. Our original null hypothesis was that the ÃŽ ¼ of the pollution concentration of each region was equal. Conversely, the alternative hypothesis states that the ÃŽ ¼ of each region is not equal. We used se... ... show the discrepancy between region means, but it can also be physically observed when comparing the two extremes of Europe at 30.95 and Africa at 73.31 PM10 concentrations. It is obvious from the results of this analysis that the world has a wide range of pollution effects. Traditionally more advanced regions such as Europe and North America have pollution under control because of a stable economy and a wide array of technological resources. Other regions such as Africa and Central America are struggling with pollution, relative to more developed regions, improvements in technology and structural shifts (World Bank) in the world economy are helping these regions keep air pollution to a minimum. WORKS CITED 1. The World Bank http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20785646~pagePK:64214825~piPK:64214943~theSitePK:469382,00.html

James Fowler’s “Stages of Faith” Essay

In response to James Fowler’s â€Å"Stages of Faith†, I have to agree with a majority of these stages. With assumption that there are no social, physical or mental deficiencies, his stages are appropriate with life development. As I read his stages of life, I found myself giving him credit for a â€Å"rule of thumb† or â€Å"generally speaking† type of tone. Stage 0 is a predictable stage of life. â€Å"Primal or Undifferentiated† their faith is characterized by an early learning of the safety of their environment consisting of warmth, safety and secure vs. hurt, neglect and abuse. In all cultures and communities this is very common. As I read onto stage 1, this is where I started to not disagree, however extend the stages beyond his age interpretations. Stage 1 is a stage that does not just symbolize ages three to seven. Rather, their whole life in some say. Stage 1, â€Å"Intuitive-Projective†, can be developed into late adulthood until an image is created. Stage 2 seems to be the most fun we come across as parents. The name should really be called the â€Å"Imagination† stage. They imagine wild stories of consequences, illogical reality and really a misinterpreted way of life. However, their faith is fun and completely interesting to listen to how they filter messages. Stage 3 of â€Å"Synthetic-Conventional† I could not agree with more. At my stage in life, I find myself sitting pretty in Stage 4; â€Å"Individuative-Reflective† faith. This stage of faith is based off of experiences in life and how to best adapt and relate to each item. Unfortunately this stage is also distracted with the responsibilities of life. In stage 4 we are raising kids, starting careers, buying houses, and finding a harsh reality of life. While it very fun and exciting, faith can take a back seat and not a priority. Stage 5, the mid-life crisis is occurring more and more often. My father in law, after 33 years packed up and left this past thanksgiving for selfish reasons he admits to. There comes a point in life that after stage 4 is complete and your job, whether raising kids, paying off houses, cars or raising kids comes to an end, you can become confused on the controllables and uncontrollables life. This takes us to the final stages of life. Stage 6, or the

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 23~24

Chapter 23 Mom and Terrapin Pie â€Å"She's in town,† Jody said. â€Å"She's coming over in a few minutes.† Jody lowered the phone to its cradle. Tommy appeared in the bedroom doorway, Scott still dangling from his sleeve. â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"You're missing a cufflink,† Jody said. â€Å"I don't think he's going to let go. Do we have any scissors?† Jody took Tommy by the sleeve a few inches above where Scott was clamped. â€Å"You ready?† Tommy nodded and she ripped his sleeve off at the shoulder. Scott skulked into the bedroom, the sleeve still clamped in his jaws. â€Å"That was my best shirt,† Tommy said, looking at his bare arm. â€Å"Sorry, but we've got to clean this place up and get a story together.† â€Å"Where did she call from?† â€Å"She was at the Fairmont Hotel. We've got maybe ten minutes.† â€Å"So she won't be staying with us.† â€Å"Are you kidding? My mother under the same roof where people are living in sin? Not in this lifetime, turtleboy.† Tommy took the turtleboy shot in stride. This was an emergency and there was no time for hurt feelings. â€Å"Does you mother use phrases like ‘living in sin'?† â€Å"I think she has it embroidered on a sampler over the telephone so she won't forget to use it every month when I call.† Tommy shook his head. â€Å"We're doomed. Why didn't you call her this month? She said you always call her.† Jody was pacing now, trying to think. â€Å"Because I didn't get my reminder.† â€Å"What reminder?† â€Å"My period. I always call her when I get my period each month – just to get all the unpleasantness out of the way at one time.† â€Å"When was the last time you had a period?† Jody thought for a minute. It was before she had turned. â€Å"I don't know, eight, nine weeks. I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot.† Tommy went to the futon, sat down, and cradled his head in his hands. â€Å"What do we do now?† Jody sat next to him. â€Å"I don't suppose we have time to redecorate.† In the next ten minutes, while they cleaned up the loft, Jody tried to prepare Tommy for what he was about to experience. â€Å"She doesn't like men. My father left her for a younger woman when I was twelve, and Mother thinks all men are snakes. And she doesn't really like women either, since she was betrayed by one. She was one of the first women to graduate from Stanford, so she's a bit of a snob about that. She says that I broke her heart when I didn't go to Stanford. It's been downhill since then. She doesn't like that I live in the City and she has never approved of any of my jobs, my boyfriends, or the way I dress.† Tommy stopped in the middle of scrubbing the kitchen sink. â€Å"So what should I talk about?† â€Å"It would probably be best if you just sat quietly and looked repentant.† â€Å"That's how I always look.† Jody heard the stairwell door open. â€Å"She's here. Go change your shirt.† Tommy ran to the bedroom, stripping off his one-sleever as he went. I'm not ready for this, he thought. I have more work to do on myself before I'm ready for a presentation. Jody opened the door catching her mother poised to knock. â€Å"Mom!† Jody said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. â€Å"You look great.† Frances Evelyn Stroud stood on the landing looking at her youngest daughter with restrained disapproval. She was a short, stout woman dressed in layers of wool and silk under an eggshell cashmere coat. Her hair was a woven gray-blond, flared and lacquered to expose a pair of pearl earrings roughly the size of Ping-Pong balls. Her eyebrows had been plucked away and painted back, her cheekbones were high and highlighted, her lips lined, filled, and clamped tight. She had the same striking green eyes as her daughter, flecked now with sparks of judgment. She had been pretty once but was now passing into the limbo-land of the menopausal woman known as handsome. â€Å"May I come in,† she said. Jody, caught in the half-gesture of offering a hug, dropped her arms. â€Å"Of course,† she said, stepping aside. â€Å"It's good to see you,† she said, closing the door behind her mother. Tommy bounded from the bedroom into the kitchen and slid to a stop on stocking feet. â€Å"Hi,† he said. Jody put her hand on her mother's back. Frances flinched, ever so slightly, at the touch. â€Å"Mother, this is Thomas Flood. He's a writer. Tommy, this is my mother, Frances Stroud.† Tommy approached Frances and offered his hand. â€Å"Pleased to meet you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She clutched her Gucci bag tightly, then forced herself to take his hand. â€Å"Mrs. Stroud,† she said, trying to head off the unpleasantness of hearing her Christian name come out of Tommy's mouth. Jody broke the moment of discomfort so they could pass into the next one. â€Å"So, Mom, can I take your coat? Would you like to sit down?† Frances Stroud surrendered her coat to her daughter as if she were surrendering her credit cards to a mugger, as if she didn't want to know where it was going because she would never see it again. â€Å"Is this your couch?† she asked, nodding toward the futon. â€Å"Have a seat, Mother; we'll get you something to drink. We have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jody realized that she had no idea what they had. â€Å"Tommy, what do we have?† Tommy wasn't expecting the questions to start so soon. â€Å"I'll look,† he said, running to the kitchen and throwing open a cabinet. â€Å"We have coffee, regular and decaf.† He dug behind the coffee, the sugar, the powdered creamer. â€Å"We have Ovaltine, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He threw open the refrigerator. â€Å"Beer, milk, cranberry juice, and beer – a lot of beer – I mean, not a lot, but plenty, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He opened the chest freezer. Peary stared up at him through a gap between frozen dinners. Tommy slammed the lid.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ that's it. Nothing in there.† â€Å"Decaf, please,† said Mother Stroud. She turned to Jody, who was returning from balling up her mother's cashmere coat and throwing it in the corner of the closet. â€Å"So, you've left your job at Transamerica. Are you working, dear?† Jody sat in a wicker chair across the wicker coffee table from her mother. (Tommy had decided to decorate the loft in a Pier 1 Imports cheap-shit motif. As a result it was only a ceiling fan and a cockatoo away from looking like a Thai cathouse.) Jody said, â€Å"I've taken a job in marketing.† It sounded respectable. It sounded professional. It sounded like a lie. â€Å"You might have told me and saved me the embarrassment of calling Transamerica only to find out that you had been let go.† â€Å"I quit, Mother. I wasn't let go.† Tommy, trying to will himself invisible, bowed his way between them to deliver the decaf, which he had arranged on a wicker tray with cream and sugar. â€Å"And you, Mr. Flood, you're a writer? What do you write?† Tommy brightened. â€Å"I'm working on a short story about a little girl growing up in the South. Her father is on a chain gang.† â€Å"You're from the South, then?† â€Å"No, Indiana.† â€Å"Oh,† she said, as if he had just confessed to being raised by rats. â€Å"And where did you go to university?† â€Å"I, um, I'm sort of self-educated. I think experience is the best teacher.† Tommy realized that he was sweating. â€Å"I see,† she said. â€Å"And where might I read your work?† â€Å"I'm not published yet.† He squirmed. â€Å"I'm working on it, though,† he added quickly. â€Å"So you have another job. Are you in marketing as well?† Jody intervened. She could see steam rising off Tommy. â€Å"He manages the Marina Safeway, Mother.† It was a small lie, nothing compared to the tapestry of lies she had woven for her mother over the years. Mother Stroud turned a scalpel gaze on her daughter. â€Å"You know, Jody, it's not too late to apply to Stanford. You'd be a bit older than the other freshmen, but I could pull a few strings.† How does she do this? Jody wondered. How does she come into my home and within minutes make me feel like dirt on a stick? Why does she do it? â€Å"Mother, I think I'm beyond going back to school.† Mother Stroud picked up her cup as if to sip, then paused. â€Å"Of course, dear. You wouldn't want to neglect your career and family.† It was a verbal sucker punch delivered with polite, extended-pinky malice. Jody felt something drop inside her like cyanide pellets into acid. Her guilt dropped through the gallows' trap and jerked with broken-neck finality. She regretted only the ten thousand sentences she had started with, â€Å"I love my mother, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  You do that so people don't judge you cold and inhuman, Jody thought. Too late now. She said, â€Å"Perhaps you're right, Mother. Perhaps if I had gone to Stanford I would understand why I wasn't born with an innate knowledge of cooking and cleaning and child-rearing and managing a career and a relationship. I've always wondered if it's lack of education or genetic deficiency.† Mother Stroud was unshaken. â€Å"I can't speak for your father's genetic background, dear.† Tommy was grateful that Mother Stroud's attention had turned from him, but he could see Jody's gaze narrowing, going from hurt to anger. He wanted to come to her aid. He wanted to make peace. He wanted to hide in the corner. He wanted to wade in and kick ass. He weighed his polite upbringing against the anarchists, rebels, and iconoclasts who were his heroes. He could eat this woman alive. He was a writer and words were his weapons. She wouldn't have a chance. He'd destroy her. And he would have. He was taking a deep breath to prepare to light into her when he saw a swath of denim disappearing slowly under the frame of the futon: his dismembered shirt sleeve. He held his breath and looked at Jody. She was smiling, saying nothing. Mother Stroud said, â€Å"Your father was at Stanford on an athletic scholarship, you know. They would have never let him in otherwise.† â€Å"I'm sure you're right, Mother,† Jody said. She smiled politely, listening not to her mother, but to the melodic scraping of turtle claws on carpet. She focused on the sound and could hear the slow, cold lugging of Scott's heart. Mother Stroud sipped her decaf. Tommy waited. Jody said, â€Å"So how long will you be in the City?† â€Å"I just came up to do some shopping. I'm sponsoring a benefit for the Monterey Symphony and I wanted a new gown. Of course I could have found something in Carmel, but everyone would have seen it already. The bane of living in a small community.† Jody nodded as if she understood. She had no connection to this woman, not anymore. Frances Evelyn Stroud was a stranger, an unpleasant stranger. Jody felt more of a connection with the turtle under the futon. Under the futon, Scott spotted a pattern of scales on Mother Stroud's shoes. He'd never seen Italian faux-alligator pumps, but he knew scales. When you are lying peacefully buried in the muck at the bottom of a pond and you see scales, it means food. You bite. Frances Stroud shrieked and leaped to her feet, pulling her right foot free of her shoe as she fell into the wicker coffee table. Jody caught her mother by the shoulders and set her on her feet. Frances pushed her away and backed across the room as she watched the snapping turtle emerge from under the futon merrily chomping on the pump. â€Å"What is that? What is that thing? That thing is eating my shoe. Stop it! Kill it!† Tommy hurdled the futon and dived for the turtle, catching the heel of the shoe before it disappeared. Scott dug his claws into the carpet and backed off. Tommy came up with heel in hand. â€Å"I got part of it.† Jody went to her mother's side. â€Å"I meant to call the exterminator, Mother. If I'd had more notice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mother Stroud was breathing in outraged yips. â€Å"How can you live like this?† Tommy held the heel out to her. â€Å"I don't want that. Call me a cab.† Tommy paused, considered the opportunity, then let it pass and went to the phone. â€Å"You can't go out without shoes, Mother. I'll get you something to wear.† Jody went to the bedroom and came back with her rattiest pair of sneakers. â€Å"Here, Mom, these will get you back to the hotel.† Mother Stroud, afraid to sit down anywhere, leaned against the door and stepped into the sneakers. Jody tied them for her and slipped the uneaten pump into her mother's bag. â€Å"There you go.† She stepped back. â€Å"Now, what are we going to do for the holidays?† Mother Stroud, her gaze trained on Scott, just shook her head. The turtle had wedged himself between the legs of the coffee table and was dragging it around the loft. A cab pulled up outside and beeped the horn. Mother Stroud tore her gaze away from the turtle and looked at her daughter. â€Å"I'll be in Europe for the holidays. I have to go now.† She opened the door and backed out through it. â€Å"‘Bye, Mom,† Jody said. â€Å"Nice meeting you, Mrs. Stroud,† Tommy called after her. When the cab pulled away, Tommy turned to Jody and said, â€Å"Well, that went pretty well, didn't it? I think she likes me.† Jody was leaning against the door, staring at the floor. She looked up and began to giggle silently. Soon she was doubled over laughing. â€Å"What?† Tommy said. Jody looked up at him, tears streaming her face. â€Å"I think I'm ready to meet your folks, don't you?† â€Å"I don't know. They might be sort of upset that you're not a Methodist.† Chapter 24 The Return of Breakfast The Emperor lay spread-eagle on the end of a dock in the Saint Francis Yacht Club Marina, watching clouds pass over the bay. Bummer and Lazarus lay beside him, their feet in the air, dozing. The three might have been crucified there, if the dogs hadn't been smiling. â€Å"Men,† the Emperor said, â€Å"it seems to me now that there is, indeed, a point to that Otis Redding song about sitting on the dock of the bay. After a long night of vampire hunting, this is a most pleasant way to spend the day. Bummer, I believe a commendation is in order. When you led us down here, I thought you were wasting our time.† Bummer did not answer. He was dreaming of a park full of large trees and bite-sized mailmen. His legs twitched and he let out a sleepy ruff each time he crunched one of their tiny heads. In dreams, mailmen taste like chicken. The Emperor said, â€Å"But pleasant as this is, it tastes of guilt, of responsibility. Two months tracking this fiend, and we are no closer to finding him than when we started. Yet here we lay, enjoying the day. I can see the faces of the victims in these clouds.† Lazarus rolled over and licked the Emperor's hand. â€Å"You're right, Lazarus, without sleep we will not be fit for battle. Perhaps, in leading us here, Bummer was wiser than we thought.† The Emperor closed his eyes and let the sound of waves lapping against the piers lull him to sleep. Lying at anchor, a hundred yards away, was a hundred-foot motor yacht registered in the Netherlands. Belowdecks, in a watertight stainless steel vault, the vampire slept through the day. Tommy had been asleep for an hour when pounding on the door downstairs woke him. In the darkness of the bedroom he nudged Jody, but she was out for the day. He checked his watch: 7:30 A.M. The loft rocked with the pounding. He crawled out of bed and stumbled to the door in his underwear. The morning light spilling though the loft's windows temporarily blinded him and he barked his shin on the corner of the freezer on his way through the kitchen. â€Å"I'm coming,† he yelled. It sounded as if they were using a hammer on the door. He did a Quasimodo step and slid down the stairs, holding his damaged shin in one hand, and cracked the downstairs door. Simon peeked through the crack. Tommy could see a ball-peen hammer in his hand, poised for another pound. Simon said, â€Å"Pardner, we need to have us a sit-down.† â€Å"I'm sleeping, Sime. Jody's sleeping.† â€Å"Well, you're up now. Wake up the little woman, we need breakfast.† Tommy opened the door a little wider and saw Drew dazzling a stoned and goofy grin behind Simon. â€Å"Fearless Leader!† All the Animals were there, holding grocery bags, waiting. Tommy thought, This is how Anne Frank felt when the Gestapo came to the door. Simon pushed through the door, causing Tommy to hop back a step to avoid having his toes skinned. â€Å"Hey.† Simon looked at Tommy's erection-stretched jockey shorts. â€Å"That just a morning wood, or you in the middle of something?† â€Å"I told you, I was sleeping.† â€Å"You're young, it could still grow some. Don't feel bad.† Tommy looked down at his insulted member as Simon breezed past him up the stairs, followed by the rest of the Animals. Glint and Lash stopped and helped Tommy to his feet. â€Å"I was sleeping,† Tommy said pathetically. â€Å"It's my day off.† Lash patted Tommy's shoulder. â€Å"I'm cutting class today. We thought you needed moral support.† â€Å"For what? I'm fine.† â€Å"Cops came by the store last night looking for you. We wouldn't give them your address or anything.† â€Å"Cops?† Tommy was waking up now. He could hear beers being popped open in the loft. â€Å"What did the cops want with me?† â€Å"They wanted to see your time cards. They wanted to see if you were working on a bunch of nights. They wouldn't say why. Simon tried to distract them by accusing me of leading a black terrorist group.† â€Å"That was nice of him.† â€Å"Yeah, he's a sweetheart. He told that new cashier, Mara, that you were in love with her but were too shy to tell her.† â€Å"Forgive him,† Clint said piously. â€Å"He knows not what he does.† Simon popped out onto the landing. â€Å"Flood, did you drug this bitch? She won't wake up.† â€Å"Stay out of the bedroom!† Tommy shook off Lash and Clint and ran up the stairs. Cavuto chewed an unlit cigar. â€Å"I say we go to the kid's house and lean on him.† Rivera looked up from a stack of green-striped computer printout. â€Å"Why? He was working when all the murders happened.† â€Å"Because he's all we've got. What about the prints on the book; any thing?† â€Å"There were half a dozen good prints on the cover. Nothing the computer could match. Interesting thing is, none of the prints were the victim's. He never touched it.† â€Å"What about the kid; a match?† â€Å"No way to tell, he's never been printed. Let it go, Nick. That kid didn't kill these people.† Cavuto ran his hand over his bald head as if looking for a bump that would hold an answer. â€Å"Let's arrest him and print him.† â€Å"On what charges?† â€Å"We'll ask him. You know what the Chinese say, ‘Beat a kid every day; if you don't know why, the kid will.  » â€Å"You ever think about adopting, Nick?† Rivera flipped the last page of the printout and threw it into the wastebasket by his desk. â€Å"Justice doesn't have shit. All the unsolved murders with massive blood loss involve mutilation. No vampires here.† For two months they had avoided using the word. Now, here it was. Cavuto took out a wooden match, scraped it against the bottom of his shoe, and moved it around the tip of his cigar. â€Å"Rivera, we will not refer to this perp by the V-word again. You don't remember the Night Stalker. This fucking Whiplash Killer thing the press has picked up is bad enough.† â€Å"You shouldn't smoke in here,† said Rivera. â€Å"The sprout eaters will file a grievance.† â€Å"Fuck 'em. I can't think without smoking. Let's run sex offenders. Look for priors of rapes and assaults with blood draining. This guy might have just graduated to killing. Then let's run it with cross-dressers.† â€Å"Cross-dressers?† â€Å"Yeah, I want to put this thing with the redhead to bed. Having a lead is ruining our perfect record.† She woke to a miasma of smells that hit her like a sockful of sand: burned eggs, bacon grease, beer, maple syrup, stale pot smoke, whiskey, vomit and male sweat. The smells carried memories from before the change – memories of high school keggers and drunken surfers face-down in puddles of puke. Hangover memories. Coming as they did, right after a visit from her mother, they carried shame and loathing and the urge to fall back into bed and hide under the covers. She thought, I guess there's a few things about being human that I don't miss. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and one of Tommy's shirts and opened the bedroom door. It looked as if the good ship International Pancakes had run aground in the kitchen. Every horizontal surface was covered with breakfast jetsam. She stepped through the debris, careful not to kick any of the plates, frying pans, coffee cups, or beer cans that littered the floor. Beyond the freezer and the counter she spotted the shipwreck survivor. Tommy lay on the futon, limbs akimbo, an empty Bushmill's bottle by his head, snoring. She stood there for a moment running her options over in her head. On one hand, she wanted to fly into a rage; wake Tommy up and scream at him for violating the sanctity of their home. A justifiable tantrum was strongly tempting. On the other hand, until now Tommy had always been considerate. And he would clean everything up. Plus, the hangover he was about to experience would be more punishment than she could dole out in a week. Besides, she wasn't really that angry. It didn't seem to matter. It was just a mess. It was a tough decision. She thought, Oh heck, no harm, no foul. I'll just make him coffee and give him that â€Å"I'm-so-disappointed-in-you† look. â€Å"Tommy,† she said. She sat down on the edge of the futon and jostled him gently. â€Å"Sweetheart, wake up; you've destroyed the house and I need you to suffer for it.† Tommy opened one bloodshot eye and groaned. â€Å"Sick,† he said. Jody heard a convulsive sloshing in Tommy's stomach and before she could think about it she had caught him under the armpits and was dragging him across the room to the kitchen sink. â€Å"Oh my God!† Tommy cried, and if he was going to say anything else it was drowned out by the sound of his stomach emptying into the sink. Jody held him up, smiling to herself with the satisfaction of the self-righteously sober. After a few seconds of retching, he gasped and looked up at her. Tears streamed down his face. His nose dripped threads of slime. Cheerfully, Jody said, â€Å"Can I fix you a drink?† â€Å"Oh my God!† His head went back into the sink and the body-wrenching heaves began anew. Jody patted his back and said â€Å"Poor baby† until he came up for air again. â€Å"How about some breakfast?† she asked. He dived into the sink once again. After five minutes the heaves subsided and Tommy hung on the edge of the sink. Jody turned on the faucet and used the dish sprayer to hose off his face. â€Å"I guess you and the guys had a little party this morning, huh?† Tommy nodded, not looking up. â€Å"I tried to keep them out. I'm sorry. I'm scum.† â€Å"Yes, you are, sweetheart.† She ruffed his hair. â€Å"I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Yes, you will,† she said. â€Å"I'm really sorry.† â€Å"Yes, you are. Do we want to go back to the futon and sit down?† â€Å"Water,† Tommy said. She ran him a glass of water and steadied him while he drank, then aimed him into the sink when the water came back up. â€Å"Are you finished now?† she asked. He nodded. She dragged him into the bathroom and washed his face, rubbing a little too hard, like an angry mother administering an abrasive spit-bath to a chocolate-covered toddler. â€Å"Now you go sit down and I'll make you some coffee.† Tommy staggered back to the living room and fell onto the futon. Jody found the coffee filters in the cupboard and began to make the coffee. She opened the cupboard to look for a cup but the Animals had used them all. They were strewn around the loft, tipped over or half full of whisky diluted by melted ice. Ice? â€Å"Tommy!† He groaned and grabbed his head. â€Å"Don't yell.† â€Å"Tommy, did you guys use the ice from the freezer?† â€Å"I don't know. Simon was bartending.† Jody brushed the dishes and pans from the lid of the chest freezer and threw it open. The ice trays, the ones Tommy had bought for the drowning experiment, were empty and scattered around the inside of the freezer. Peary's frosty face stared up at her. She slammed the lid shut and stormed across the room to Tommy. â€Å"Dammit, Tommy, how could you be so careless?† â€Å"Don't yell. Please don't yell. I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Clean it up my ass. Someone was in the freezer. Someone saw the body.† â€Å"I think I'm going to be sick.† â€Å"Did they come into the bedroom while I was sleeping? Did they see me?† Tommy cradled his head as if it would crack at any moment and spill his brains onto the floor. â€Å"They had to get to the bathroom. It's okay; I covered you up so the light wouldn't get to you.† â€Å"You idiot!† She snatched up a coffee cup and prepared to throw it at him, then caught herself. She had to get out of here before she hurt him. She shook as she set the cup on the counter. â€Å"I'm going out, Tommy. Clean up this mess.† She turned and went to the bedroom to change. When she emerged, still shaking with anger, Tommy was standing in the kitchen looking repentant. â€Å"Will you be home before I leave for work?† She glared at him. â€Å"I don't know. I don't know when I'll be back. Why didn't you just put a sign on the door, ‘See the Vampire'? This is my life you're playing with, Tommy.† He didn't answer. She turned and walked out, slamming the door. â€Å"I'll feed your turtles for you,† he called after her.