The American Congress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The American Congress - Essay Example This research paper aims to show the possible improvements within the public policy making process of the legislation under the condition when the federal legislative terms of the members of the Congress are limited. This study will first narrate a short background of the American Congress. It will discuss the specifications of the offices held by the members of the Congress – both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It will then discuss the positive and negative effects when the office terms of the members of the Congress are shortened. The American Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate The legislative branch of the American Federal government consists of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The legislation’s primary task is to create Congressional bills that are subject to executive review and Congressional votes – those of which pass as state laws afterwards. The legislature also has the power to approve executive de cisions through two-thirds vote of the chamber. Petitions for impeachment are deliberated by the House of Representatives which are then elevated for trials in the Senate. ... The Senate comprises of 100 members - two senators from each state, regardless of population (â€Å"Art & History†). The members of the House of Representatives are elected to serve for two years while the members of the Senate are elected to serve for six years (Smith, Roberts and Vander Wielen 87-121). The American Congress Under a Limited Federal Legislative Term Under the circumstance where the federal legislative terms of the members of the Congress are put to a limit, there are several positive and negative effects to the policy making process of the legislative branch as a whole. The positive aspect about limiting the terms of service of the members of the Congress is the sense of inevitable competitiveness of each of the newly elected individuals into office. The shorter the term of service of the politicians, the more determined they become to out-wit the previous legislative set. Indeed, a sense of competition is naturally established amongst every new set of congres smen/congresswomen. In light with this mentality, it can be assumed that the members of the Congress could produce better policies – policies that would garner the most satisfaction from their constituents and would put the public interest in the forefront. Efficiency in public service is also another positive effect under the condition of limited federal legislative term. Due to the influence of competitiveness, the newly elected sets of congressmen/congresswomen would be forced to produce a more efficient quality of service because they would want their short time in office to be remembered by their constituents. In this case, the American Congress would obviously become more aggressive in terms of

High School and Rizal Elementary School Essay Example for Free

High School and Rizal Elementary School Essay A week after celebrating the Day of Valor on the fourth month of the Roman calendar in the year of Rat, I was born one evening in a city called the financial capital of the country that was colonized by Spaniards for more than three hundred years after it was discovered by a famous Portuguese explorer. My first name Johanne is a variant of Johanna which means â€Å"God is gracious† and my second name Victoria means victory hope my life goes well as my name. My parents, Victorino and Wilma, were a hard working couple who works as an employee of a private company. They produced of our own kind six times in eleven years having five boys, leaving me no sister to have a bonding with. Since I’m the only girl, they call me Princess or sometimes Negneg, short for negra, because of my dark complexion. It’s not that dark like people in Africa but it’s the darkest complexion in my family but it’s alright because I have these black tantalizing eyes, a good set of teeth and a slim body that makes me look like a Filipina beauty queen. I spent my seventeen years of existence in a city known for being a major cultural entertainment hub in Metro Manila. I studied my first five years of my primary education in Nicanor Garcia Elementary School, Makati. After my hit-and-run 50-50 accident case when I was in fifth grade, God gave me my second chance to live and finished my elementary course in Rizal Elementary School in Laguna. I have to transfer because of the severe fracture in my right leg causing me to have a hard time going up stairs. I have recovered from what had happened and continued my secondary education in General Pio del Pilar National High School in Makati. In elementary, I always make my parents proud of me by giving them a numerous medals every end of the school year. I’ve been a consistent contestant in Mathematics Quiz Bee and I made my school proud after qualifying twice in Mathematics Trainer’s Guild, a program to train gifted Filipino kids for international competitions. Aside from Math, I’ve also been in various contests regarding Science and Journalism. Considering me as a dynamic student, I was fairly awarded at the end of the year. When I stepped high school, it was the most exciting part of my life. Having crushes, love team ups, courtships, prom night were the things that could really make you giggle. But the most remarkable incident that shaped my character now was improving my leadership skills. When I was in third year, I ran as the president of SMILE (Students Movement for the Improvement of Leadership and Empowerment) Party List for the upcoming Supreme Student Government election. I taught I’m going to win because I’m from the star section but I’m wrong. I lost. I’m so ashamed. Because of that, I don’t feel like going to that school again. But there was a Non-government organization that invites the students to go on camp in Iba, Zambales for free. Of course, I joined and that made me forgot the pain I felt. On the first night of the camping, everything has changed after the moment I received Jesus Christ as my personal savior. When I got back in school, God blessed me so much that He gave the Hi-Y Club (a high school based club of Young Men’s Christians Association) in my lead. From that happening, I really appreciated the quote: â€Å"After the storm, there’s a rainbow. † I taught the door of opportunity to explore more in leading has closed for me, not realizing He has opened the window for me to experience the chance I thought I lost. Because of this club, I learned to balance my mind, body and spiritual aspect of my life. Creating programs, helping community, serving others and volunteering were some of my experiences that really made my heart swollen and would like to share to others to inspire them. Aside of being a Y’er, I’m now a Christian and started serving Him like sharing the good news, being a part of dance and drama ministry, and helping other Christian to grow in their spiritual life. I feel over joy and satisfaction every time I see myself volunteering on the camp where I was saved. After the enjoyment of high school, I took one step forward in the reality of life. I face the truth that my life will rotate in complicated solutions, brain-whacking terms, millions of numbers, struggling calculators, statements to finish, stability of study, life-long practice, thick books to read, rushing late night work, ugly eye-bugs, unbalanced sums, financial reports, constant lack of sleep, accurate solutions, and heart-stopping result after deciding to take Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in the first polytechnic university in our country. I know I can make it through because I believe that â€Å"what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve†. I may not be the cream of the crop in our class but I will manage to pursue my dreams step by step because I cling to God’s promise: â€Å"For I know the plans I have for you,† declares the Lord. â€Å"Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future. †(Jeremiah 29:11).

FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship

FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship The capital structure of a firm has long been a much debated issue for academic studies and in the corporate finance world. It is the way a firm finances its assets through some combination of equity, debt, or hybrid securities the composition or structure of its liabilities. In reality, capital structure may be highly complex and include various sources. The question whether capital structure affects to the profitability of the firm or it is affected by profitability is crucial one. Profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. On the one hand profitability of firm is an important determinant of the capital structure, the other hand changes in capital structure changes affect underlying profits and risk of the firm. Traditionally it was believed that the debt is useful up to certain limit and afterwards it proves costly. There is an optimum level of capital structure exist up to that level increasing debt will improve profitability, beyond that it will reduce profitability. In 1945, Chudson carried out an extensive study that implies the possibility of a relationship between the capital structures practised by a firm with its profitability. The question he endeavours to answer was that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a firm reflect the kind of industry in it is engaged, its size and level of profitability?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. It states irrelevant of capital structure in a perfect market to its value, hence, how a firm is financed does not matter. The MM propositions forms the basis for modern thinking on capital structure, though it is generally viewed as a purely theoretical result since it is based on perfect market assumptions those are not prevailing in practice. The matter of capital structure has gained much interest and controversy, since the MM Propositions which assert that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. The hypothesis proposed by MM created tidal waves in the corporate finance academia. Different theory such as packing order theory and agency cost theory were proposed. Various aspects of capital structure have been put to test and researched by so many researchers. The question is if the capital structure is really irrelevant in a real market and whether a companys profitability and hence value is affected by the capital structure it employs? If not, why capital structure is relevant and which factors make the leverage matter? Apart from profitability, some other factors such as bankruptcy costs, agency costs, taxes, and information asymmetry are considered in determination of capital structure. This study aims and attempts to extend the knowledge of capital structure and profitability relationship in listed UK companies. This analysis can then be extended to look at whether there is in fact an optimal capital structure exist the one which maximizes profitability and hence the value of the firm. 1.1 Context and relevance of the Study The topic of capital structure has been widely explored, though the study is relevant in the different time period and different context to find out whether the evidence concerning the capital structure issue and its various aspects are relevant to a given set of companies in a given period. Given this significance, current study attempts to understand and research on capital structure and its effect on profitability, of large firms in UK in the present context for a period of five years (2005 -2010). Thus, this study attempts to contribute to the research on capital structure in the recent period for large publicly traded companies on FTSE 100. 1.2 Research Objectives The present study is aimed at achieving one main and two secondary objectives. The main objective is to scrutinise the relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the large publicly traded UK firms and to ascertain whether a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Secondly, this study would attempt and investigate to determine if any optimal capital structure exist among the sample of FTSE 100 listed companies. Third objective is to find out any trend of capital structure being exhibited by the UK companies. 1.3 Research Questions and Hypothesis The above objectives are translated in two research question. The main research question is that whether a firms profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Hypothesis The first questions can be presented as following hypothesis. The present study shall be undertaken to evaluate this hypothesis based on the tests of the null hypothesis. H1: The profitability of a company is significantly correlated to its capital structure. H0: The profitability of a company is not significantly correlated to its capital structure. The secondary objectives of this study are translated in the determinant question regarding the optimality and trend of capital structure. The second question, will be discussed descriptively is that, Is there an optimal capital structure exists among or any trend of capital structure being exhibited by FTSE 100 listed companies? 1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Study Scope This is an academic study that would shed some light on the matter of capital structure which has been discussed in various different perspectives since the MM propositions. The significance of this study is that it further enhances the research into capital structure of listed firms in UK. Profitability and Capital structure relationship is an ongoing issue and its relevance may change in different period because of the changes in macro and micro economic factors. For practitioners and corporate finance people such as finance executives, controllers and directors of listed firms, this study is relevant and of much interest to get insight of the capital structure and whether it has any effect on the profitability. Limitations The findings of this study will be limited from the following aspects: This study included only FTSE 100 listed firms on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Hence, its findings were not applicable for all the listed companies in UK. The sample of listed companies for this study included only firms with at least five years of financial data. Firms which are younger than five years or whose five year data could not be obtained will not be included in this study. The study excludes financial utility and other highly regulated industry to avoid any distortions in the result due to industry specific requirements. The cross sectional correlation and regression analysis will be performed using excel formula. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The various capital structure theories are developed by corporate finance academia for analysing how a firm could combine the securities to maximise its value. The Modigliani and Miller (MM) proposition (1958) were introduced under the perfect capital market assumptions. It refers to an ideal market where there are no taxes at both corporate and personal level, no transaction costs, no agency costs as and managers are rational. It further assumes that investors and firms can borrow at the same rate without restrictions and all participants have access to all relevant information. Thus it provides conditions under which the capital structure of a firm is irrelevant to total firm value. Most of studies focus on the determination of capital structure i.e. to what extent each of the assumptions in the MM model contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. Many theories such as the pecking order theory, the trade-off theory and the agency cost theory have been developed. Though much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact of the value of the firm. The value comes from the future cash flow i.e. profit of the firm. Thus capital structure affects value of the firm through the profitability and hence there is a direct relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the firm. Capital Structure The term capital structure can be defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s permanent long-term financing represented by debt, preferred stock, and common stock equity.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Van Horne Wachowicz, 2000, p.470) It can be defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of long-term sources of funds used by the firm. This is also called the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“capitalizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. The relative total (percentage) of each type of fund is emphasized.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Petty, Keown, Scott, and Martin, 2001, p.932) One of the exhaustive and inclusive description was given by Masulis (1988, pl): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Capital structure encompasses a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s publicly issued securities, private placements, bank debt, trade debt, leasing contracts, tax liabilities, pension liabilities, deferred compensation to management and employees, performance guarantees, product warranties, and other contingent liabilities. This list represents the major claims to a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assets. Increases or reductions in any of these claims represent a form of capital structure change.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? However in this study, for the sake of simplicity, the capital structure will be analysed in term of debt and equity in line with other prominent capital structure studies and theories restricted to the debt equity mix. Profitability The term profitability is a very common term in the business world. It refers to an all round measurement and indicator for a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success. Profitability can be defined as the ability of a firm to generate net income or profit on a consistent basis. It is often measured by price to earnings ratio. The accounting definition of profit can be given as the difference between the total revenue and the total costs incurred in bringing to market the product i.e. goods or service. Hence, profitability had come to mean different things for different people. It can be defined and measured in several ways depending on the purpose. It is a generic name for variables such as net income, return on total assets, earnings per share, etc. though the simplest and common meaning of profitability is the net income. 3.1 Early Study on Capital Structure by W A Chudson One of the earliest comprehensive researches into capital structure of business firms was done by Chudson Walter Alexander (1945) on a cross section of manufacturing, mining, trade, and construction companies in the US from the year 1931 to 1937. Although it has been more than two third of a century, that study is still relevant today as before due to the seven questions which he endeavoured to answer. Out of those questions the relevant to this study are as follows. In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a given concern reflect the kind of industry in which a concern is engaged, the concernà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s size and level of profitability? Are there any elements in the corporate balance sheet, either on the asset or the liability side, whose range of variation is so narrow that it is possible to speak of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“normalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? pattern of financial structure? The questions posed by Chudson could be interpreted into the research questions pertinent to this study which are the relationship between profitability and capital structure, the existence of an optimal capital structure, and also the trend of capital structure being practised by a sample of firms. Chudsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s research showed there were undisputable relationships between corporate financial structure and the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability. As far as this study is concerned, Chudson had successfully proved the relationship between the profitability of a company with various capital structure variables including debt and equity capital. 3.2 M M Propositions In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. Accordingly, the first Proposition holds that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. While the second proposition stats that when first proposition held, the cost of equity capital was a linear increasing function of the debt/equity ratio. As miller wrote subsequently these propositions implied that the weighted average of these costs of capital to a firm would remain the same no matter what combination of financing sources the firm actually chose. (Miller, 1988) In 1962, Barges tested and evaluated the MM propositions predominantly on the validity of the hypothesis that the cost of capital to the firms is unaffected by capital structure. According to Barges (p. 143): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“With respect to the empirical methods employed by MM it was found that, under very frequently encountered conditions, their methods will result in tests which are biased in favour of their propositions and biased against the traditional views.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Barges had empirically proved the existence of some weaknesses in the research design and methodology of Modigliani and Millerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s study and concluded that (p. 147) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Thus, on the basis of the evidence presented herein, the hypothesis of independence between average costs and capital structure appears untenable.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Subsequently many studies were conducted with focus on the determination of capital structure and many theories were presented. 3.3 Profitability and Leverage theories Since MM propositions presented, many studies were conducted by releasing MM assumptions focusing on the extent to which each of the assumptions contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. All these theories explains the relationship between leverage and the value of the firm and hence profitability of the firm. There are various theories in order to further explain this relationship. Nevertheless, these theories are actually based on asymmetric information (Myers, 1984), tax deductibility (Modigliani and Miller, 1963; Miller 1977), Bankruptcy costs (Stiglitz, 1972; Titman, 1984) and agency costs (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Myers, 1977). Two main theories are the pecking order theory and the trade off theory. Pecking Order Theory The Pecking Order Theory is based on information asymmetry between management and investors. So, the stock price of a firm may not reflect correct value of the firm. Myers and Majluf (1984) and Myers (1984) suggest that management issue the security which is overvalued and therefore, undervalued firms tend to avoid issuing equity. They argue that in imperfect capital markets, leverage increases with the extent of information asymmetry. They provided theoretical support to Donaldsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s (1961) findings that firms prefer to use internally generated funds as a financing source and resort to externals funds only if the need for funds was unavoidable. According to (Myers 1995), the dividend policy is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“stickyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and the firms prefer internal to external financing. Firms prefer using internal sources of financing first, then debt and finally external equity obtained by stock issues. Therefore, asymmetric information models seldom point towards a well-defined target debt ratio or optimal capital structure. All things being equal, the more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and therefore we should expect a negative relationship between leverage and profitability. The various studies such as Ross (1977), and Myers and Majluf (1984), Harris and Raviv, 1991; Rajan and Zingales, 1995; Booth et al., 2001have supported this relationship that is one of the most systematic findings in the empirical literature. Agency Costs Theory The Agency Costs Theory (Organizational Theory of Capital Structure) emphasize that capital structure was influenced by conflicts between shareholders and managers, and between debt holders and equity holders. Major study into this area was done by Jensen and Meckling (1976) that showed managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ natural tendency to extract too many perquisites and stresses on self-interested behaviour. Obviously, agency costs would increase as the managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ personal ownership stake in the firm decreases. This supplied an argument for debt financing and against à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"publicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ equity which was contributed by non management investors who cannot monitor management effectively. Fama and Miller (1972), using agency cost theory, proved that leverage was positively associated with firm value. Firms with longer credit histories would have lower cost of debt. The Trade of theory The trade-off theory is based on the considerations of benefits and the costs of debt. This theory argues that firms optimise their capital structure by trading the tax deductibility of interests, bankruptcy costs, and agency costs. This theory is consistent with traditional approach of capital structure. This theory leads to an opposite conclusion. Accordingly if the firms are profitable, they should prefer debt to benefit from the tax shield. Further as the past profitability is a good proxy for future profitability, profitable firms can borrow more because the likelihood of paying back the loans is greater. However after a certain level of leverage, the profitability and the value of the firm will reduce due to interaction of bankruptcy costs and agency costs. 3.4 Various Studies on Capital Structure As the issue of capital structure gained prominence and interest, a number of studies had been done over the years to explore the relationship between capital structure and a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s various characteristics e.g. growth opportunities, non-debt tax shields, firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s volatility, asset systematic risk, asset unique risk, internal funds availability, asset structure, profitability, industry classification, and firm size. This study is concerned particularly on the relationship between capital structure and profitability. Most of the studies had concluded that capital structure measured by debt/equity ratio had an inverse relationship with profitability measured by Return on Investment (ROI). Professor Myers of MIT had written in 1995 that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the strong negative correlation between profitability and financial leverageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is one of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"most striking facts about corporate financingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (p.303). It is worthy to mention here that the aforesaid studies were the most comprehensive ever carried out in the US. One significant research was conducted by Bradley, Jarrell and Rim (1984) using Ordinary Least Squares method to analyze the capital structure of 851 industrial firms over a period of 20 years (1962-81). They concluded that an optimal capital structure actually existed as proposed by finance theorists. Bradley, Jarrell and Kimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s findings were supported by El-Khouri in 1989 who studied a sample of 1,040 Companies in US from 27 different industries covering a period of 19 years (1968-86). El-Khourià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s major findings were that there exists an optimal capital structure, and profitability was significantly but negatively related to capital structure. 3.5 Rajan and Zingalesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Study Rajan and Zingales (1995), in their study of determinant of capital structure find that profitability is negatively or inversely related to gearing consistent with Toy et al. (1974), Kester (1986) and Titman and Wessles (1988). Given, however, that the analysis is effectively performed as an estimation of a reduced form, such a result masks the underlying demand and supply interaction which is likely to be taking place. More profitable firm will obviously need less borrowings, although on the supply-side such profitable firms would have better access to debt, and hence the demand for debt may be negatively related to profits. Most of such studies were conducted in US using local companies and hence represents financing and profitability relationship in US economy and might not be applicable in other countries around the globe. Some of the studies conducted in UK as well though changing business and economic environment and time period may have their impact on such capital structure and profitability relationship. Further as discussed earlier much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact on the profitability and hence the value of the firm. So understanding the effect of capital structure on the profitability and hence the value of the firm in the current economic and business environment is the main motivation for this study. CHAPTER 3 RESERCH FRAMEWORK I intend to use two major sets of variables (Ratios) i.e. Debt and Profitability to ascertain the relationship between the capital structure and profitability. The first set includes Gearing ratios Debt/Equity Ratio and Debt Ratio. The other set includes profitability ratios Return on Equity, and Return on Assets. The variables will be analyzed using the descriptive/time-series Correlation and regression technique. 2.1 Data Sample The data used for the empirical analysis will be derived from Hemscott database contains balance sheet, profit and loss and certain Key Ratio information for FTSE 100 companies in UK. For the purposes of this dissertation, I expect to utilise this data to obtain the required variables for all non-financial companies. 2.2 The Model and Research Methodology The following model outlines the framework for research. It consist two major components i.e. the profitability of a firm as the dependent variables and the capital structure of a firm as the independent variables. The arrow pointing to the right indicated the expected direction of causality. However profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. DEBT RATIO ROE DEBT/EQUITYRATIO ROA The model gave the foundation for analysis which was to explain the relationship among the two main groups of variables. In as much as possible, variables will be selected on the basis of the literature being reviewed. Thus, while this study is expected to give exciting results, there will be direct ties to earlier studies although may reflect the changing requirements of the time. One prominent issue here is the direction of the causality in the model. This research is based on the notion that the capital structure being practised by a firm would affect its profitability. This particular cause-and-effect relationship had been proved in various studies as found in the literature being reviewed. Though it should be kept in mind that there were a number of researchers who had argued that it was profitability which would influence the capital structure (Chudson 1945, Lamothe 1982, Bowen, Daley and Huber 1982). However, it is not within the scope of this study to determine the direction of causality in this particular relationship but rather to focus on the significance of such a relationship. 2.3 Variables In the first instance, great care was taken to define the dependent and independent variables to be used in the descriptive, co variance and regression analysis. As there are several alternative measures of profitability and gearing, only relevant measures are chosen for this cross-sectional analysis. Dependent Variable Profitability is dependent variable in this analysis and two measures of profitability employed in this analysis are Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA). ROE is the return on equity and is measured as earnings before tax (EBT) divided by ownersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ capital or equity. ROE = EBT/EQUITY ROA is return on assets and is measured as earnings before interest and tax divided by total assets (Titman and Wessels, 1998; Fama and French, 2002 and Flannery and Rangan, 2006). The ratio of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), to the book value of total assets (TA) ROA = EBITDA/TA Independent Variables Gearing Ratio represents capital structure. Therefore, in order to examine the sensitivity or otherwise of their cross-sectional results to the profitability following two ratios are used in this analysis and defined as: Debt to Total Assets: This is a simple ratio of total debt to total assets DEBT RATIO= TD/ TA Debt to Equity Capital: This is the ratio of total debt to capital, with the capital calculated as total debt plus equity, including preference shares. DEBT/EQUITY RATIO = TD / (TD + ECR + PS) PS the book value of preference shares. Research Plan and Implementation Schedule Research work starts from week beginning from October 4, 2010 and is expected to complete in 10 weeks time. The work is scheduled as follows. Research Plan Week Star Date : 04-10-2010 Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Background reading and literature review X X Research design and plan X Choice of methodology X Gathering data X X X Data analysis and refine X X X Writing up draft X X X Editing final document X X Produce final document X Document passed to supervisor to read X Resources I intend to use following resources Hemscott database for data collection. MS Excel for analysing data. University of Wales online library, internet, and some books on finance. FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship FTSEs Capital Structure and Profitability Relationship The capital structure of a firm has long been a much debated issue for academic studies and in the corporate finance world. It is the way a firm finances its assets through some combination of equity, debt, or hybrid securities the composition or structure of its liabilities. In reality, capital structure may be highly complex and include various sources. The question whether capital structure affects to the profitability of the firm or it is affected by profitability is crucial one. Profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. On the one hand profitability of firm is an important determinant of the capital structure, the other hand changes in capital structure changes affect underlying profits and risk of the firm. Traditionally it was believed that the debt is useful up to certain limit and afterwards it proves costly. There is an optimum level of capital structure exist up to that level increasing debt will improve profitability, beyond that it will reduce profitability. In 1945, Chudson carried out an extensive study that implies the possibility of a relationship between the capital structures practised by a firm with its profitability. The question he endeavours to answer was that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a firm reflect the kind of industry in it is engaged, its size and level of profitability?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. It states irrelevant of capital structure in a perfect market to its value, hence, how a firm is financed does not matter. The MM propositions forms the basis for modern thinking on capital structure, though it is generally viewed as a purely theoretical result since it is based on perfect market assumptions those are not prevailing in practice. The matter of capital structure has gained much interest and controversy, since the MM Propositions which assert that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. The hypothesis proposed by MM created tidal waves in the corporate finance academia. Different theory such as packing order theory and agency cost theory were proposed. Various aspects of capital structure have been put to test and researched by so many researchers. The question is if the capital structure is really irrelevant in a real market and whether a companys profitability and hence value is affected by the capital structure it employs? If not, why capital structure is relevant and which factors make the leverage matter? Apart from profitability, some other factors such as bankruptcy costs, agency costs, taxes, and information asymmetry are considered in determination of capital structure. This study aims and attempts to extend the knowledge of capital structure and profitability relationship in listed UK companies. This analysis can then be extended to look at whether there is in fact an optimal capital structure exist the one which maximizes profitability and hence the value of the firm. 1.1 Context and relevance of the Study The topic of capital structure has been widely explored, though the study is relevant in the different time period and different context to find out whether the evidence concerning the capital structure issue and its various aspects are relevant to a given set of companies in a given period. Given this significance, current study attempts to understand and research on capital structure and its effect on profitability, of large firms in UK in the present context for a period of five years (2005 -2010). Thus, this study attempts to contribute to the research on capital structure in the recent period for large publicly traded companies on FTSE 100. 1.2 Research Objectives The present study is aimed at achieving one main and two secondary objectives. The main objective is to scrutinise the relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the large publicly traded UK firms and to ascertain whether a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Secondly, this study would attempt and investigate to determine if any optimal capital structure exist among the sample of FTSE 100 listed companies. Third objective is to find out any trend of capital structure being exhibited by the UK companies. 1.3 Research Questions and Hypothesis The above objectives are translated in two research question. The main research question is that whether a firms profitability is related with its capital structure or not based on the empirical evidence generated. Hypothesis The first questions can be presented as following hypothesis. The present study shall be undertaken to evaluate this hypothesis based on the tests of the null hypothesis. H1: The profitability of a company is significantly correlated to its capital structure. H0: The profitability of a company is not significantly correlated to its capital structure. The secondary objectives of this study are translated in the determinant question regarding the optimality and trend of capital structure. The second question, will be discussed descriptively is that, Is there an optimal capital structure exists among or any trend of capital structure being exhibited by FTSE 100 listed companies? 1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Study Scope This is an academic study that would shed some light on the matter of capital structure which has been discussed in various different perspectives since the MM propositions. The significance of this study is that it further enhances the research into capital structure of listed firms in UK. Profitability and Capital structure relationship is an ongoing issue and its relevance may change in different period because of the changes in macro and micro economic factors. For practitioners and corporate finance people such as finance executives, controllers and directors of listed firms, this study is relevant and of much interest to get insight of the capital structure and whether it has any effect on the profitability. Limitations The findings of this study will be limited from the following aspects: This study included only FTSE 100 listed firms on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Hence, its findings were not applicable for all the listed companies in UK. The sample of listed companies for this study included only firms with at least five years of financial data. Firms which are younger than five years or whose five year data could not be obtained will not be included in this study. The study excludes financial utility and other highly regulated industry to avoid any distortions in the result due to industry specific requirements. The cross sectional correlation and regression analysis will be performed using excel formula. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The various capital structure theories are developed by corporate finance academia for analysing how a firm could combine the securities to maximise its value. The Modigliani and Miller (MM) proposition (1958) were introduced under the perfect capital market assumptions. It refers to an ideal market where there are no taxes at both corporate and personal level, no transaction costs, no agency costs as and managers are rational. It further assumes that investors and firms can borrow at the same rate without restrictions and all participants have access to all relevant information. Thus it provides conditions under which the capital structure of a firm is irrelevant to total firm value. Most of studies focus on the determination of capital structure i.e. to what extent each of the assumptions in the MM model contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. Many theories such as the pecking order theory, the trade-off theory and the agency cost theory have been developed. Though much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact of the value of the firm. The value comes from the future cash flow i.e. profit of the firm. Thus capital structure affects value of the firm through the profitability and hence there is a direct relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the firm. Capital Structure The term capital structure can be defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s permanent long-term financing represented by debt, preferred stock, and common stock equity.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Van Horne Wachowicz, 2000, p.470) It can be defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The mix of long-term sources of funds used by the firm. This is also called the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“capitalizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. The relative total (percentage) of each type of fund is emphasized.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Petty, Keown, Scott, and Martin, 2001, p.932) One of the exhaustive and inclusive description was given by Masulis (1988, pl): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Capital structure encompasses a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s publicly issued securities, private placements, bank debt, trade debt, leasing contracts, tax liabilities, pension liabilities, deferred compensation to management and employees, performance guarantees, product warranties, and other contingent liabilities. This list represents the major claims to a corporationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assets. Increases or reductions in any of these claims represent a form of capital structure change.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? However in this study, for the sake of simplicity, the capital structure will be analysed in term of debt and equity in line with other prominent capital structure studies and theories restricted to the debt equity mix. Profitability The term profitability is a very common term in the business world. It refers to an all round measurement and indicator for a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success. Profitability can be defined as the ability of a firm to generate net income or profit on a consistent basis. It is often measured by price to earnings ratio. The accounting definition of profit can be given as the difference between the total revenue and the total costs incurred in bringing to market the product i.e. goods or service. Hence, profitability had come to mean different things for different people. It can be defined and measured in several ways depending on the purpose. It is a generic name for variables such as net income, return on total assets, earnings per share, etc. though the simplest and common meaning of profitability is the net income. 3.1 Early Study on Capital Structure by W A Chudson One of the earliest comprehensive researches into capital structure of business firms was done by Chudson Walter Alexander (1945) on a cross section of manufacturing, mining, trade, and construction companies in the US from the year 1931 to 1937. Although it has been more than two third of a century, that study is still relevant today as before due to the seven questions which he endeavoured to answer. Out of those questions the relevant to this study are as follows. In what way does the structure of assets and liabilities of a given concern reflect the kind of industry in which a concern is engaged, the concernà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s size and level of profitability? Are there any elements in the corporate balance sheet, either on the asset or the liability side, whose range of variation is so narrow that it is possible to speak of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“normalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? pattern of financial structure? The questions posed by Chudson could be interpreted into the research questions pertinent to this study which are the relationship between profitability and capital structure, the existence of an optimal capital structure, and also the trend of capital structure being practised by a sample of firms. Chudsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s research showed there were undisputable relationships between corporate financial structure and the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability. As far as this study is concerned, Chudson had successfully proved the relationship between the profitability of a company with various capital structure variables including debt and equity capital. 3.2 M M Propositions In 1958 Merton Miller and Franco Modigliani in their famous Miller-Modigliani (MM) propositions put forward the net operating income approach of and demonstrated that the capital structure is irrelevant in a perfect market. Accordingly, the first Proposition holds that the value of a firm is independent of its capital structure. While the second proposition stats that when first proposition held, the cost of equity capital was a linear increasing function of the debt/equity ratio. As miller wrote subsequently these propositions implied that the weighted average of these costs of capital to a firm would remain the same no matter what combination of financing sources the firm actually chose. (Miller, 1988) In 1962, Barges tested and evaluated the MM propositions predominantly on the validity of the hypothesis that the cost of capital to the firms is unaffected by capital structure. According to Barges (p. 143): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“With respect to the empirical methods employed by MM it was found that, under very frequently encountered conditions, their methods will result in tests which are biased in favour of their propositions and biased against the traditional views.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Barges had empirically proved the existence of some weaknesses in the research design and methodology of Modigliani and Millerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s study and concluded that (p. 147) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Thus, on the basis of the evidence presented herein, the hypothesis of independence between average costs and capital structure appears untenable.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Subsequently many studies were conducted with focus on the determination of capital structure and many theories were presented. 3.3 Profitability and Leverage theories Since MM propositions presented, many studies were conducted by releasing MM assumptions focusing on the extent to which each of the assumptions contributes to the determination of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital structure. All these theories explains the relationship between leverage and the value of the firm and hence profitability of the firm. There are various theories in order to further explain this relationship. Nevertheless, these theories are actually based on asymmetric information (Myers, 1984), tax deductibility (Modigliani and Miller, 1963; Miller 1977), Bankruptcy costs (Stiglitz, 1972; Titman, 1984) and agency costs (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Myers, 1977). Two main theories are the pecking order theory and the trade off theory. Pecking Order Theory The Pecking Order Theory is based on information asymmetry between management and investors. So, the stock price of a firm may not reflect correct value of the firm. Myers and Majluf (1984) and Myers (1984) suggest that management issue the security which is overvalued and therefore, undervalued firms tend to avoid issuing equity. They argue that in imperfect capital markets, leverage increases with the extent of information asymmetry. They provided theoretical support to Donaldsonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s (1961) findings that firms prefer to use internally generated funds as a financing source and resort to externals funds only if the need for funds was unavoidable. According to (Myers 1995), the dividend policy is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“stickyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and the firms prefer internal to external financing. Firms prefer using internal sources of financing first, then debt and finally external equity obtained by stock issues. Therefore, asymmetric information models seldom point towards a well-defined target debt ratio or optimal capital structure. All things being equal, the more profitable the firms are, the more internal financing they will have, and therefore we should expect a negative relationship between leverage and profitability. The various studies such as Ross (1977), and Myers and Majluf (1984), Harris and Raviv, 1991; Rajan and Zingales, 1995; Booth et al., 2001have supported this relationship that is one of the most systematic findings in the empirical literature. Agency Costs Theory The Agency Costs Theory (Organizational Theory of Capital Structure) emphasize that capital structure was influenced by conflicts between shareholders and managers, and between debt holders and equity holders. Major study into this area was done by Jensen and Meckling (1976) that showed managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ natural tendency to extract too many perquisites and stresses on self-interested behaviour. Obviously, agency costs would increase as the managersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ personal ownership stake in the firm decreases. This supplied an argument for debt financing and against à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"publicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ equity which was contributed by non management investors who cannot monitor management effectively. Fama and Miller (1972), using agency cost theory, proved that leverage was positively associated with firm value. Firms with longer credit histories would have lower cost of debt. The Trade of theory The trade-off theory is based on the considerations of benefits and the costs of debt. This theory argues that firms optimise their capital structure by trading the tax deductibility of interests, bankruptcy costs, and agency costs. This theory is consistent with traditional approach of capital structure. This theory leads to an opposite conclusion. Accordingly if the firms are profitable, they should prefer debt to benefit from the tax shield. Further as the past profitability is a good proxy for future profitability, profitable firms can borrow more because the likelihood of paying back the loans is greater. However after a certain level of leverage, the profitability and the value of the firm will reduce due to interaction of bankruptcy costs and agency costs. 3.4 Various Studies on Capital Structure As the issue of capital structure gained prominence and interest, a number of studies had been done over the years to explore the relationship between capital structure and a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s various characteristics e.g. growth opportunities, non-debt tax shields, firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s volatility, asset systematic risk, asset unique risk, internal funds availability, asset structure, profitability, industry classification, and firm size. This study is concerned particularly on the relationship between capital structure and profitability. Most of the studies had concluded that capital structure measured by debt/equity ratio had an inverse relationship with profitability measured by Return on Investment (ROI). Professor Myers of MIT had written in 1995 that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the strong negative correlation between profitability and financial leverageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is one of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"most striking facts about corporate financingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (p.303). It is worthy to mention here that the aforesaid studies were the most comprehensive ever carried out in the US. One significant research was conducted by Bradley, Jarrell and Rim (1984) using Ordinary Least Squares method to analyze the capital structure of 851 industrial firms over a period of 20 years (1962-81). They concluded that an optimal capital structure actually existed as proposed by finance theorists. Bradley, Jarrell and Kimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s findings were supported by El-Khouri in 1989 who studied a sample of 1,040 Companies in US from 27 different industries covering a period of 19 years (1968-86). El-Khourià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s major findings were that there exists an optimal capital structure, and profitability was significantly but negatively related to capital structure. 3.5 Rajan and Zingalesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Study Rajan and Zingales (1995), in their study of determinant of capital structure find that profitability is negatively or inversely related to gearing consistent with Toy et al. (1974), Kester (1986) and Titman and Wessles (1988). Given, however, that the analysis is effectively performed as an estimation of a reduced form, such a result masks the underlying demand and supply interaction which is likely to be taking place. More profitable firm will obviously need less borrowings, although on the supply-side such profitable firms would have better access to debt, and hence the demand for debt may be negatively related to profits. Most of such studies were conducted in US using local companies and hence represents financing and profitability relationship in US economy and might not be applicable in other countries around the globe. Some of the studies conducted in UK as well though changing business and economic environment and time period may have their impact on such capital structure and profitability relationship. Further as discussed earlier much attention was not given to one major aspect of the capital structure, which is the impact on the profitability and hence the value of the firm. So understanding the effect of capital structure on the profitability and hence the value of the firm in the current economic and business environment is the main motivation for this study. CHAPTER 3 RESERCH FRAMEWORK I intend to use two major sets of variables (Ratios) i.e. Debt and Profitability to ascertain the relationship between the capital structure and profitability. The first set includes Gearing ratios Debt/Equity Ratio and Debt Ratio. The other set includes profitability ratios Return on Equity, and Return on Assets. The variables will be analyzed using the descriptive/time-series Correlation and regression technique. 2.1 Data Sample The data used for the empirical analysis will be derived from Hemscott database contains balance sheet, profit and loss and certain Key Ratio information for FTSE 100 companies in UK. For the purposes of this dissertation, I expect to utilise this data to obtain the required variables for all non-financial companies. 2.2 The Model and Research Methodology The following model outlines the framework for research. It consist two major components i.e. the profitability of a firm as the dependent variables and the capital structure of a firm as the independent variables. The arrow pointing to the right indicated the expected direction of causality. However profitability and capital structure relationship is a two way relationship. DEBT RATIO ROE DEBT/EQUITYRATIO ROA The model gave the foundation for analysis which was to explain the relationship among the two main groups of variables. In as much as possible, variables will be selected on the basis of the literature being reviewed. Thus, while this study is expected to give exciting results, there will be direct ties to earlier studies although may reflect the changing requirements of the time. One prominent issue here is the direction of the causality in the model. This research is based on the notion that the capital structure being practised by a firm would affect its profitability. This particular cause-and-effect relationship had been proved in various studies as found in the literature being reviewed. Though it should be kept in mind that there were a number of researchers who had argued that it was profitability which would influence the capital structure (Chudson 1945, Lamothe 1982, Bowen, Daley and Huber 1982). However, it is not within the scope of this study to determine the direction of causality in this particular relationship but rather to focus on the significance of such a relationship. 2.3 Variables In the first instance, great care was taken to define the dependent and independent variables to be used in the descriptive, co variance and regression analysis. As there are several alternative measures of profitability and gearing, only relevant measures are chosen for this cross-sectional analysis. Dependent Variable Profitability is dependent variable in this analysis and two measures of profitability employed in this analysis are Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA). ROE is the return on equity and is measured as earnings before tax (EBT) divided by ownersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ capital or equity. ROE = EBT/EQUITY ROA is return on assets and is measured as earnings before interest and tax divided by total assets (Titman and Wessels, 1998; Fama and French, 2002 and Flannery and Rangan, 2006). The ratio of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), to the book value of total assets (TA) ROA = EBITDA/TA Independent Variables Gearing Ratio represents capital structure. Therefore, in order to examine the sensitivity or otherwise of their cross-sectional results to the profitability following two ratios are used in this analysis and defined as: Debt to Total Assets: This is a simple ratio of total debt to total assets DEBT RATIO= TD/ TA Debt to Equity Capital: This is the ratio of total debt to capital, with the capital calculated as total debt plus equity, including preference shares. DEBT/EQUITY RATIO = TD / (TD + ECR + PS) PS the book value of preference shares. Research Plan and Implementation Schedule Research work starts from week beginning from October 4, 2010 and is expected to complete in 10 weeks time. The work is scheduled as follows. Research Plan Week Star Date : 04-10-2010 Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Background reading and literature review X X Research design and plan X Choice of methodology X Gathering data X X X Data analysis and refine X X X Writing up draft X X X Editing final document X X Produce final document X Document passed to supervisor to read X Resources I intend to use following resources Hemscott database for data collection. MS Excel for analysing data. University of Wales online library, internet, and some books on finance.

Flattery in Pride and Prejudice Essay example -- Pride and Prejudice

Flattery in Pride and Prejudice Since its composition in 1797, Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice has enjoyed two centuries of literary esteem not because of its witty dialogue or its tantalizing plot, but because of its universal themes that allow modern readers to identify with early Victorian life. Although the novel focuses on the etiquette of courtship, related social rituals are also prevalent throughout the story. William Collins, a rector in Pride and Prejudice, uses excessive flattery to persuade people to look upon him favorably. He even lavishly praises himself to enhance his self-esteem. While the sycophant's peculiar behavior is comical at first glance, its emphasis in the story portends a greater social meaning that is illuminated upon evaluation of his flattery with relevance to the plot. In Pride and Prejudice, Austin suggests through Collins' mannerisms that one flatters others to enlist their future support and one flatters oneself to ensure individual prosperity. Pertaining to others, Austin endows Collins with a motive of personal gain and later removes that objective, establishing a strong correlation between flattery and selfish advantage. As the legal heir to the Bennet family's estate once its patriarch dies, Collins offers unwarranted praise along with his hand in marriage to one of the daughters. Apart from flattering the family to marry one of its girls, his profuse compliments also extend to his wealthy benefactress and also, of course, to himself. However, Collins' compliments toward the family end after he fails to marry on... ...lattery may have academic influence, she allows Collins to smother praise on anything that might prove advantageous to his affluence, from which one may surmise that flattery contributes to personal prosperity in any form. This truth becomes readily apparent upon contrasting Collins' behavior in situations wherein he may or may not have something to gain through flattery. Of course, this mundane reiteration about flattery must be particularly monotonous to a reader who has already demonstrated a profound grasp of literature by deftly maneuvering through and deliberating upon mistakes previous to this point, so it is for that intelligent and sophisticated reader that this paper ends abruptly. Work Cited Austin, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Norwalk: The Easton Press, 1997.

Hamlet vs Gladiator essay Essay

When watching the movie Gladiator, one might notice how very similar this story is to the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. In Gladiator the main character seeks vengeance for the loss of his son and wife, as does Hamlet for the loss of his father. The vengeance sought out in Gladiator is a result of treachery involving loved ones as is the vengeance sought out in hamlet. Finally, both Hamlet and Gladiator are examples of dramatic tragedy where the main character ends up dying. Along with these similarities there are also many differences. There are the difference in characters, the difference in when these stories take place, and the difference in the endings. By comparing and contrasting a modern tragedy, Gladiator, with an ancient tragedy, Hamlet, it shows why dramatic tragedy has survived throughout the ages. In the beginning of Hamlet King Hamlet’s ghost pays a visit to Prince Hamlet. The ghost tells Hamlet that while â€Å"sleeping in [his] orchard, a serpent stung [him].† He then tells Hamlet â€Å"the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.† Hamlet, who already suspected his father’s death to be murder, is furious upon learning that it was not only murder, it was his father’s uncle that committed the act of treachery. In a rage of fury Hamlet swears to the ghost of his father that he will seek vengeance on Claudius, for his sake and that of his father’s. This is very similar in Gladiator when Commodus kills his father, the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Maximus, a Roman General, was very close with Marcus who told Maximus â€Å"he [was] the son [he] should have had†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and wanted Maximus to carry on as Emperor instead of his son Commodus. Maximus seeks vengeance on Commodus not only for murdering Marcus, but also because he murdered Maximum’s wife and eight-year-old son. In both cases Claudius and Commadus wanted to reign, to have power; in both cases they were not meant to have it. Hamlet was the â€Å"heir to the throne,† and Aurelius wanted Maximus to take his place as emperor. Both Claudius and Commadus wanted power so badly, that they killed in order to get what they wanted. ———————————————————————————————– These stories are both similar in treachery because the men that they had trusted and confided in had murdered them. Claudius betrayed his brother by poisoning him then marrying his wife; Commadus betrayed his father by suffocating him after learning Aurelius did not want his only son to rule. Another example of the similarities between these two stories is that Hamlet and Maximus both had to change themselves in order to seek their vengeance. They both went from being looked highly upon in society, to being looked down on. Hamlet fooled people by acting like he was crazy. This way his stepfather could not suspect Hamlet of knowing that he had murdered Hamlet’s father. Following the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Maximus finds himself an enemy of the new Emperor Commadus. He is reduced to the status of a slave and eventually falls into the hands of a gladiator trainer. He then begins to forge a new life for himself as a ruthless killing machine that entertains the fickle crowd, as the behind-the-scenes politics of second century Rome stand to make him a hero of the people. By fighting as a gladiator he seek revenge on the new Emperor of Rome. Hamlet and Maximus want to avenge those who have been killed so badly that they undergo obstacles with courage and their heads high as well as they both risking their lives for what they believe in. Throughout Hamlet, one might also notice they have taken similar ideas from â€Å"Hamlet† and used them to help make their story a (better one). Towards the beginning of the story before Aurelius is killed, Commadus tells the senators that â€Å"they’ll be pouring honey potion in people’s ears†¦Ã¢â‚¬  in order to make the country republic. What is similar is that Claudius poured â€Å"potion† into King Hamlet’s ear, in order to kill him. Another moment in Gladiator that makes you think of Hamlet is towards the end when Commodus tells his nephew, Lucius, about their ancestor Emperor Claudius. He tells Lucius that â€Å"[Claudius] was betrayed! By those closest to him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is similar to Hamlet because Gertrude betrays Claudius and Lucilla betrays Commodus. This is ironic because both Claudius and Commodus betrayed loved ones in order to gain power. Along with these similarities there are also many differences. For instance Hamlet was born a prince while Maximus was the general for Aurelius’s army. Also King Hamlet was killed by his brother and Aurelius was killed by his son, and Hamlet’s mother dies in the end while Commadus’ sister survives. The main difference, however, is in the end of these stories. In Hamlet, he never lets on to Claudius that he knows how his father died. Instead he acts as if he is crazy. It is not until a theatrical group re-enacts how King Hamlet was murdered that Claudius realises that Hamlet knows†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. In Gladiator, as soon as Maximus sees Commadus in the Coliseum he tells Commadus that he will kill him for the murders he has committed. In the end Maximus kills Commadus while all of Rome watches this form of â€Å"entertainment† take place. Maximus, badly wounded dies soon after giving the Empire to the senators to become republic. Even though these two stories have their differences, they are both dramatic tragedies. The emotion that a tragic character portrays helps us to relate and become more entranced with the story. Up until the heroes have died they have got to know that person. They have understood the character, their motivations, and reactions. When they die, they have died courageously for what they have believed in. In life we are always looking for an â€Å"idol† hero-worshipping. Our fascination for dramatic tragedy has survived throughout the years because man in his inadequate ways needs to have someone whom they can look up to, so to speak. Lets face it we are often intrigued by human suffering especially if it is for noble causes. People often carry the same beliefs as these leaders, and fully support them. These heroes are the epitome of what we believe in, willing to die for causes. We love to believe that someone is willing to go to that extent for our beliefs. Their deaths often accomplish what could not be done while they were alive. This is illustrated when Maximus says â€Å"what we do in life, echoes in eternity.† The similarities and differences in Hamlet and Gladiator are what help make dramatic tragedies survive through the ages. However, it is not only in movies or plays, it is also in real life. These heroes have died for what they believed in and have made a difference in our lives. It gives us strength to face the world we live in today, and it gives us understanding as to why these leaders are fighting. This is why dramatic tragedies have survived throughout the ages, and this is why they will continue to survive for years to come.

The Untouchables, a true taste of 1920s prohibition America Essays

The Untouchables, a true taste of 1920s prohibition America Essays The Untouchables, a true taste of 1920s prohibition America Paper The Untouchables, a true taste of 1920s prohibition America Paper as gangsters from rival gangs riddled each other with bullets, and deftly defied the law through slightly, less-than-honorable techniques, the 1930s were plagued with corruption on the municipal scale. Many bootleggers secured their business by bribing the authorities, namely federal agents and persons of high political status (Bowen, pg160). Many law enforcement agencies were brought into suspected areas of illegal alcoholic activity to put a stop on these banned doings. Director Brian De Palma portrayed one account of these actions in his 1987 movie, The Untouchables. The film centered on straight-arrowed cop Eliot Nesss obsession to end the infamous Capone crime syndicate in Chicago. Recruiting the help of a group of law enforcement officers who were unable to be bribed, and thus untouchable, Ness finally stopped the gangster boss on the grounds of income tax evasion. But was this movie as historically accurate as one would expect? By examining some of the elements of the movie, the true historical colors of the film might shine through. Through the use of cinematography, setting, as well as knowledge of actual events, the accuracy of this historical movie can fairly be judged. Brian De Palmas use of period specific sets really helps the viewer get the feeling they were there in the 1930s, this is achieved by filming on location and showing the eccentricity of 1920s and 1930s through architecture. One fantastic scene is where there is an overview shot of La Calle Street Canyon in Chicago when Sean Connerys character, Wallace, leads Kevin Costners character, Eliot Ness, to one of Capones booze cellars across the street. The scene displays huge, almost monolithic, buildings and rows of period cars. This was important in setting the stage of the film thus giving the viewer a sense of realism. Another important scene includes the descending of Al Capone and his men in the hotel that he considered being the headquarters of his gangster consortium. Almost everything in the scene has a golden aura to it, sharply contrasting to the prevalent power of Scarface himself. Overall, the amount of money they spent to surround the actors with scenes and memorabilia of the 1930s really paid off and made for a great film visually historic. When you see Capone leave the hotel, its almost like he was an iconic figure, the media gave him the attention as they would a movie star. Children would mimic him in the streets; many other gangsters and outlaws held this iconic status, mass murderers such as Billy the kid would also get similar media attention. Al Capone himself enjoyed a celebrity status in Chicago and was a master at public relations, Capone saw to it that the press was friendly to him and never missed a chance to play up his donations to a charitable group. To the people of Chicago he was a hero who saved them from the oppression of the people for prohibition. Al Capones popularity was incredible; this is because he was providing a banned alcohol for an alcohol hungry people, oblivious to the atrocities being caused by the underground mobs. Normal everyday people were becoming criminals, criminal groups organize around the steady source of income provided by laws against victimless crimes such as consuming alcohol (Thorton, 13). Because alcohol was no longer legally available, there was a sudden increase in crime, the public turned to gangsters to obtain alcohol, as a result the amount of money to be made caused massive rivalry between gangs, the Untouchables gives you great examples of this rivalry, by giving the viewer graphic scenes of gang violence. The profit motive caused over four hundred gang related murders a year in Chicago alone (Bowen, 175). One of the most gruesome and remembered gangster shoot-outs of all time occurred on Valentines Day, 1929, which was portrayed excellently in the film, because of business differences, Capone had his henchman, Machine Gun Jack McGurn plot the murder of the OBanions, led by Bugs Moran. McGurn staged a delivery of alcohol to Moran at a warehouse and had his gang members impersonate police officers and pretend to raid the transaction. With a sweep of machine gun fire, McGurn killed all that were inside. Capone had a solid alibi, being in Miami at the time, and no convictions were ever made. This event is an example of how prohibition fueled gang warfare and increased the crime rate in America (Bowen, 175). While the film is based on a real aspect of the hunt for Capone in Prohibition-era Chicago, the writer and director deviated from the subjects historical accuracy. While they got the major concepts of the untouchables correct, there were facts altered to benefit the storyline. First off, Eliot Ness is portrayed as a family man and didnt come from Chicago, whereas he was actually from Chicago and had no immediate family, yet both were key elements to Nesss character. Another important fact altered for the film was that Nesss original 10-man team of untouchables suffered no causalities and the fact that two of the most beloved men of the group were killed in the movie which adds to the idea of dramatizing history. Perhaps the biggest flaw of the film comes at the end. In the very climax of the film, after Nesss rooftop chase with gangster, Frank Nitti, Ness pushes Nitti over the edge of a building ending his life in another of De Palmas notoriously bloody scenes and, as expected, followed up by an aerial view of the impact. The flaw in this series of events is that Nitti was not killed by Ness. In fact, Nitti was Capones successor and lived a further 12 years as head of the illustrious crime organization. However there were also some almost unbelievable yet accurate historical events as well. One of the most famous and memorable scenes from The Untouchables was the baseball bat attack by Capone upon three suspected traitors, though slightly reworked, added to the portrayal of Capone as a dangerous criminal. So while some events were completely changed for Hollywood, some events were simply shown in their entirety adding to the historical authenticity of the film. If not totally accurate The Untouchables still gives the viewer a taste of America during Prohibition. The films convey through graphic scenes, the violence caused by prohibition and also the failings of prohibition, Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it was intended to solve (Thorton, pg15). The movie also gets across to the viewers the time period. Looking at De Palmas use of cinematography, setting, and the knowledge of actual events from The Untouchables lets viewers see the film in a new, more historically critical light.

The Magic Barrel essays

The Magic Barrel essays He found his characters in real Jewish community. That is why the tone and style of "The Magic Barrel" are so unmistakable and truthful. Through two main characters author involves us in a specific business going on between Leo Finkle, a lonely rabbinical student, and Pinye Salzman, a matchmaker. In order to get a good congregation Leo supposed to be married. How a man, who was studying for six years and who never was in a company of woman, easily can find a wife? The same way as his parents did. He went to the matchmaker. It was not so easy for Leo to appeal to Salzman, because he hoped to find the wife by himself. He wanted to be in love before he gets married. But he resorted to help. It was a firs time when he turned his mind over. Pine Salzman, the marriage broker, represented the old generation, and respected the old Jewish tradition. Marriage is a very important part of a Jew's life, and the family is more important than the girl herself is. He does not think about love. It is possible to imagine how Leo was disappointed when Salzmen introduced the girls to him. "Sophie P. Widow. Father promises eight thousand dollars. Has wonderful wholesale business. Also realestate." "Lily H. Regular. Father is successful dentist thirty-five years. Interested in professional man. Wonderful opportunity." Moreover, "She is a partikiler. She wants the best." Leo's interest to Lily was aroused, and he began seriously to consider calling on her. Finally they met. She provoked him to say the strange, but a very capacious and valuable phrase: "I think, that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not." But Lily didn't dream about him, she dreamed about an invented hero. After this date he turned his mind over again. He felt that he could not love a girl. Although Leo returned to his regular routine, he was in panic and depression from one thought: nobody loves him and he does not love anybody either. There was no br ...

King Richard I, the Lionheart, of England, Crusader

King Richard I, the Lionheart, of England, Crusader King Richard I, the Lionheart (September 8, 1157–April 6, 1199) was an English king and one of the leaders of the Third Crusade. He is known both for his military skill and the neglect of his realm because of his long absence. Fast Facts: Richard I the Lionheart Known For:  Helped lead the Third Crusade, monarch of England from 1189 to 1199Also Known As:  Richard CÅ“ur de Lion, Richard the Lionheart, Richard I of EnglandBorn:  September 8, 1157 in Oxford, EnglandParents: King Henry II of England and Eleanor of AquitaineDied:  April 6, 1199 in Chà ¢lus,  Duchy of AquitaineSpouse: Berengaria of NavarreNotable Quote: We, however, place the love of God and His honour above our own and above the acquisition of many regions. Early Life Born September 8, 1157, Richard the Lionheart was the third legitimate son of King Henry II of England. Often believed to have been the favorite son of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard had three older siblings, William (who died in infancy), Henry, and Matilda, as well as four younger: Geoffrey, Lenora, Joan, and John. As with many English rulers of the Plantagenet line, Richard was essentially French and his focus tended to lean toward the familys lands in France rather than England. Following the separation of his parents in 1167, Richard was invested duchy of Aquitaine. Revolt Against Henry II Well-educated and of dashing appearance, Richard quickly demonstrated skill in military matters and worked to enforce his fathers rule in the French lands. In 1174, encouraged by their mother, Richard and his brothers Henry (the Young King) and Geoffrey (Duke of Brittany) rebelled against their fathers rule. Responding quickly, Henry II was able to crush this revolt and captured Eleanor. With his brothers defeated, Richard submitted to his fathers will and asked for forgiveness. His greater ambitions checked, Richard turned his focus to maintaining his rule over Aquitaine and controlling his nobles. Shifting Alliances Ruling with an iron fist, Richard was forced to put down major revolts in 1179 and 1181–1182. During this time, tensions again rose between Richard and his father when the latter demanded that his son pay homage to his older brother Henry. Refusing, Richard was soon attacked by Henry the Young King and Geoffrey in 1183. Confronted by this invasion and a revolt of his own barons, Richard was able to skillfully turn back these attacks. Following the death of Henry the Young King in June 1183, Richards father King Henry II ordered John to continue the campaign. Seeking aid, Richard formed an alliance with King Philip II of France in 1187. In return for Philips assistance, Richard ceded his rights to Normandy and Anjou. That summer, upon hearing of the Christian defeat at the Battle of Hattin, Richard took the cross at Tours with other members of the French nobility. Victory and Becoming King In 1189, Richard and Philips forces united against Henry II and won a victory at Ballans in July. Meeting with Richard, Henry agreed to name him as his heir. Two days later, Henry died and Richard ascended to the English throne. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey in September 1189. Following his coronation, a rash of anti-Semitic violence swept through the country as Jews had been barred from the ceremony. Punishing the perpetrators, Richard immediately began making plans to go on a crusade to the Holy Land. Going to extremes to raise money for the army, he finally was able to assemble a force of around 8,000 men. After making preparations for the protection of his realm in his absence, Richard and his army departed in the summer of 1190. Dubbed the Third Crusade, Richard planned to campaign in conjunction with Philip II and Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire. The Crusade Begins Rendezvousing with Philip at Sicily, Richard aided in settling a succession dispute on the island, which involved his sister Joan, and conducted a brief campaign against Messina. During this time, he proclaimed his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, to be his heir, leading his brother John to start planning a revolt at home. Moving on, Richard landed in Cyprus to rescue his mother and his future bride, Berengaria of Navarre. Defeating the islands despot, Isaac Komnenos, he completed his conquest and married Berengaria on May 12, 1191. Pressing on, he landed in the Holy Land at Acre on June 8. Shifting Alliances in the Holy Land Arriving in the Holy Land, Richard gave his support to Guy of Lusignan, who was fighting a challenge from Conrad of Montferrat for the kingship of Jerusalem. Conrad was in turn backed by Philip and Duke Leopold V of Austria. Putting aside their differences, the Crusaders captured Acre that summer. After taking the city, problems again arose as Richard contested Leopolds place in the Crusade. Though not a king, Leopold had ascended to the command of Imperial forces in the Holy Land after the death of Frederick Barbarossa in 1190. After Richards men pulled down Leopolds banner at Acre, the Austrian departed and returned home in anger. Soon after, Richard and Philip began arguing in regard to the status of Cyprus and the kingship of Jerusalem. In poor health, Philip elected to return to France leaving Richard without allies to face Saladins Muslim forces. Battling Saladin Pushing south, Richard defeated Saladin at Arsuf on September 7, 1191, and then attempted to open peace negotiations. Initially rebuffed by Saladin, Richard spent the early months of 1192 refortifying Ascalon. As the year wore on, both Richard and Saladins positions began to weaken and the two men entered into negotiations. Knowing that he could not hold Jerusalem if he took it and that John and Philip were plotting against him at home, Richard agreed to raze walls at Ascalon in exchange for a three-year truce and Christian access to Jerusalem. After the agreement was signed on September 2, 1192, Richard departed for home. Returning to England Shipwrecked en route to England, Richard was forced to travel overland and was captured by Leopold in December. Imprisoned first in Dà ¼rnstein and then at Trifels Castle in the Palatinate, Richard was largely kept in comfortable captivity. For his release, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI demanded 150,000 marks. While Eleanor of Aquitaine worked to raise the money for his release, John and Philip offered Henry VI 80,000 marks to hold Richard until at least Michaelmas 1194. Refusing, the emperor accepted the ransom and released Richard on February 4, 1194. Returning to England, Richard quickly forced John to submit to his will but did name his brother as his heir, supplanting his nephew Arthur. With the situation in England in hand, Richard returned to France to deal with Philip. Death Constructing an alliance against his former friend, Richard won several victories over the French during the next five years. In March 1199, Richard laid siege to the small castle of Chalus-Chabrol. On the night of March 25, while walking along the siege lines, he was struck in the left shoulder by an arrow. Unable to remove it himself, he summoned a surgeon who took out the arrow but severely worsened the wound in the process. Shortly thereafter, gangrene set in and the king died in his mothers arms on April 6, 1199. Legacy Richard has a mixed legacy, as some historians point to his military skill and the daring necessary to go on crusade, while others emphasize his cruelty and neglect for his realm. Though king for 10 years, he only spent around six months in England and the remainder of his reign in his French lands or abroad. He was succeeded by his brother John. Sources Dafoe, Stephen. â€Å"King Richard I – The Lionheart.†Ã‚  TemplarHistory.com.â€Å"History - King Richard I.†Ã‚  BBC, BBC.â€Å"Medieval Sourcebook: Itinerarium Peregrinorum Et Gesta Regis Ricardi: Richard the Lionheart Makes Peace with Saladin, 1192.†Ã‚  Internet History Sourcebooks Project.

Authentic Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Authentic Assessment - Essay Example Introduction Despite some unquestionable achievements of the over-decade-long US anti-terrorist campaign, insofar as al-Qaeda’s terrorist network and the Taliban have suffered heavy blows with the loss of many key figures from their senior leadership, most notably Osama bin Laden, the terrorism – the Islamist extremist terrorism in particular – is neither vanquished nor eradicated. Moreover, following 9/11, there was a wave of terrorist acts worldwide, including such against US military personnel and civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, etc.; while the tightened security measures, along with the intensified vigilance of the police, FBI and the intelligence community as a whole, prevented many terrorist plots to develop into violence on US territory (Mueller, 2011). Tragic occurrences such as the shootings at Fort Hood, where 13 people were killed and 32 wounded, allegedly by a radicalized Army psychiatrist, appear more or less an exception (King and Thom pson, 2011). The terrorists’ bigger success abroad, measured in sheer number of both cases of materialized violence and, regrettably, American citizens being murdered or injured, infers that the overseas security efforts of the US government are hindered by certain inadequacies. The suicidal bomb attack on the residential area inhabited by service personnel of the US military base in Floola and their families, along with the attack on the USA’s embassy in Libya, which resulted in the US Ambassador being killed, is a fresh reminder of this painful fact. Terrorism – Trends, Tactics and Perpetrators As Chasdi (2012) points out, the Worldwide Incidents Tracking System /WITS/ of the US National Counterterrorism Center /NCTC/ has identified certain trends in the field of terrorism, emerging from global, regional and national developments (p. 67). The figures provided by WITS indicate that over 10Â  000 terrorist attacks occurred in 2011, which affected 70 countries w orldwide and resulted in over 12Â  500 deaths (National Counterterrorism Center /NCTC/, 2012). While the total number of attacks has fallen by 12 percent and 29 percent, as compared to 2010 and 2007 respectively, the main foci of terrorist activities remain the regions of South Asia and the Near East; taken together, the two locations experienced almost two-thirds of the high-casualty attacks in 2009 and over 75 percent of 2011 total (NCTC, 2010; NCTC, 2012). Afghanistan, along with Iraq and Pakistan, bore the brunt of the reported attacks for the third consecutive year, both in terms of attacks’ number and ensuing death toll (NCTC, 2009; NCTC, 2010, NCTC, 2011). The number of terrorist attacks in Africa and related fatalities, mainly associated with the turmoil in Somalia and Democratic Republic of Congo, oscillated between a rise of 140 percent (2 200 fatalities) in 2008, as compared to 2007, and a drop of more than 30 percent in 2010, as against 2009 – from over 3à ‚  200 fatalities to 2Â  131 respectively (NCTC, 2009; NCTC, 2011). The increase of 11.5 percent during 2011, however, is mainly attributable to the Nigeria-based group Boko Haram (NCTC, 2012). The situation in the Western Hemisphere could be also described as variable, insofar as the number of reported terrorist attacks fell by about 25 percent in 2008 and subsequently rose by 27 percent in 2009; while in 2010, both attacks and deaths declined by

Nursing art and science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Nursing art and science - Essay Example ernational and national health care systems and facilities is bound to facilitate a better and improved cooperation and communication amongst the varied human elements of health care, impressively bettering the standards of patient care, a systematic accumulation of data on the part of the nursing professionals to assure a better evaluation of the end results of nursing care, a greater adherence on the part of the nursing professionals to the agreed upon standards of nursing care and a realistic and satisfactory assessment of nursing care, thereby pragmatically and positively impacting the overall visibility of nursing at a national and global level (who 2006). A formal recognition of the contribution of the achievements and contributions of the nurses in the running and management of health care facilities and institutions will not only boost the morale of the nursing professionals, but could also be positively be expected to address the problem of a severe shortage of qualified and skilled nurses across the developed world. Recognition of the difference made by the nursing professionals in the cause of health care will accord a salubrious visibility to the nursing profession, thereby encouraging and stimulating the potential candidates to affiliate to the cause of health care and service. A formal recognition of the contribution of the nursing professionals in the health care systems is a subject that is not merely confined to verbal declarations and speeches, but is rather something that solicits a practical implementation and actions in the varied aspects of health care. It calls for a commitment on the part of national and international health care bodies and institutions towards the training and retention of nursing professionals, helping them develop the appropriate skill mix and abilities, applicable at all levels, be it at the level of primary health care or at state of the art, high speciality institutions (WHO 2011). This calls for the extension of

Land Law and Professional Advice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Land Law and Professional Advice - Essay Example Since the completion of the sale agreement, various concerns have been raised, which are fully addressed to in this report. First, Miss Horrock in a letter dated 23rd January 2012, claims that a neighbour, Fred Furnace found some gold coins in the property which appear to be Roman. This raises the possibility of a treasure as defined under section 1 of the Treasure Act 1996. For the purposes of the coins, section 1(1)(a)(ii) read together with section 3(4) requires that, for a coin to fall under this Act, it must be one, which when found, is one of at least two coins found together. It must be at least 300 years old and have a percentage of precious metal. Hence, it shall be necessary to establish these claims, which if true means that the coins found satisfies the requirements laid down in the Act and, therefore, amount to a treasure. With regards to ownership of treasure, section 4 and 5 apply. Section 4 states that the ownership of the treasure vests in the franchisee, if there is one, otherwise in the crown. Section 5 defines a franchisee and subsection 1(b) is relevant to this case. It includes in the definition as successor in title who would have been the franchisee of the crown in a right of treasure trove for the place where the treasure was found. Therefore, the gold coins should vest in Poppy, who is the successor in title to Victor Majelin. ... This raises the question of fixtures and chattels on land. It is trite law that fixtures are part of the land while chattels are not. It shall, however, be necessary to ascertain the terms of the sale agreement. If the agreement show that only land and nothing else are being bought and sold, the purchaser buys everything affixed to land such as buildings, fences and trees (Drake et al 2007). If the vendor does not intend to include a certain fixture in sale, this must be stated in the agreement. On the other hand, where purchaser intends to purchase chattels, the intended chattels must be listed in the sale agreement. To ascertain whether an item is a chattel or a fixture, one has to check at the purpose of the annexation. If the object stood affixed for the enhanced enjoyment of the land, the object is likely to be a fixture, but if it were intended to be placed there for a temporary purpose or so that the property can be better enjoyed; it is likely to be a chattel. An example incl udes; tapestries as held in Leigh V Taylor [1902] AC 157, or ornamental panelling as held in the case of Spyer V Philipson (1931) 2 Ch. 183. It is necessary to look at the degree of annexation in order to decipher the purpose. If the object cannot be removed without causing significant damage, it is more likely to be a fixture though this is not conclusive, (Drake et al 2009). In this case, it is clear that the garden water feature which was cemented forms part of the land. The same shall apply with regards to the old range cooker per the presumptions made under the 2nd schedule of the standard sale agreement. With regards to the removable pebbles and a sprout, they are also fixtures with regards to their degree of annexation. Consequently she has

An analysis of the security implication of immigration in the Essay

An analysis of the security implication of immigration in the Sultanate of Oman from 2009 till 2014 and its implication for future immigration policy - Essay Example Conversely, the immigrants have negatively affected Oman in a certain way, as unemployment has risen significantly in various sectors within the country. This is a result of lack of higher studies and presence of immigrant labours and others in the country. Furthermore, to tackle with the problems of high level of immigration in Oman, the government of the nation has emerged with the concept of ‘Omanization’ Policy in the year 19881. The policy was aimed at significantly reducing the number of immigrants in the country by replacing them with the nationals and to provide them with the opportunity to sustain and develop within the country. Furthermore, because of increased number of immigrants and a constant rise in the expatriate population in Oman, the government of the country has taken considerable steps to reduce inflow of foreign expatriates in the country and encourage the people at large. Furthermore, with an aim to reduce the range of problems faced by the nationals, government of Oman has taken action-oriented steps towards reformation of the existing laws, apart from engaging in bilateral trade agreements with the nations sending immigrants in Oman. Additionally, Oman government has also taken considerable strides towards protection of the migrants, dwelling from Oman2. With the information gathered from nationalists regarding the rising concerns about the illegal immigration in Oman, the government of the country has employed the use of restrictive policies towards the unlawful immigrations. The government of Oman introduced a temporary ban on the immigrants coming from the labour sending nations such as India and Bangladesh to deal with the issue. Furthermore, the government of Oman postponed the issuance of visa to the immigrants from the year 2012, when the country stopped issuing visa to Bangladeshi immigrants. Apart from these aspects the government of Oman and other Gulf nations, have invested high amount

Creating Web Presence Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Creating Web Presence - Case Study Example Although Wordpress is primarily considered as an authoring platform (Shamah), it has effectively exceeded this reputation and has extended the locus of its influence beyond blogs. Since its inception, Wordpress has continuously added to its arsenal of extremely useful tools and features. Wordpress allows integration of advanced features such as using shopping carts, mailing lists, and integration with social networking websites which helps generate and maintain traffic on a blog, which is essentially its lifeline. Another important factor that tipped the decision scale in Wordpress’ favor was the availability of widgets and plugins. Wordpress allows users to upload information in a very easy, simple and elegant way (Shamah). In a nutshell, these capabilities have allowed Wordpress to become a content management system. Another reason why Wordpress was preferable to other platforms is its multilingual capability as it is available in all the major and minor world languages including some of the archaic ones as well. However, the crucial factor that helped finalize Wordpress as the platform for my Web Presence was the fact that Wordpress is free and easy to set up. Wordpress software is readily available online and can be downloaded for installation on web host of our choice and this allowed me to finalize Wordpress as the platform of my choosing. The process of creation began with signing up for Wordpress and a URL https://yimingzeng.wordpress.com/ was selected. Blogs on Wordpress rely heavily on themes and pre-designed Hemingway theme was chosen. As required by assignment instructions, five pages were created namely Home, About Me, Pizza Hut, Making a Pizza and Exegesis. The theme was customized slightly to include a picture of my choice and to give the blog a Title.  Ã‚