Tuesday, August 6, 2019

The Underlying Benefits of a College Degree Essay Example for Free

The Underlying Benefits of a College Degree Essay We can all recognize the obvious benefits of obtaining a college degree job opportunities and higher earning potential. But oftentimes we overlook or under appreciate the underlying benefits of earning a college degree. However, if you take a closer look at the hidden benefits, you will likely realize that earning a college degree is not completely about financial enrichment. Earning a degree could potentially boost your self-esteem, allow you to make healthier choices, and create a better quality of life for your children. You know the feeling you get when you finally reach your lifelong goal? Priceless, right? Thats exactly what earning a college degree can do for you. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and self confidence that everyone strives for. Not only that, but you have accomplished something that will always be yours and that you will always be able to fall back on in tough economic times. In addition to the boost of confidence, you will likely be able to make more healthy choices than you would without a degree. Generally, this is due to an increase in income which then leads to an overall greater access to healthy food options and health care. Plus, with higher education comes the desire and ability to make healthier choices such as whether or not to smoke. Finally, the greatest benefit of getting a degree is knowing that your children will have a better quality of life and may even follow in their parents footsteps and choose to further their education as well. Even if your children don’t wish to go to college, they will be more motivated to reach for their goals just as you have. In a sense, you have set the standards for them by achieving your dream of obtaining a college degree. You have given them an example to follow by setting a goal and achieving it. Although financial stability is one of the main reasons people choose to obtain a degree, there are many other benefits. You better yourself through boosted self-esteem and improved decision-making ability, which also enhances the lives of your children.

Monday, August 5, 2019

The Reinsurance Expected Loss Cost Formula

The Reinsurance Expected Loss Cost Formula ELCF is the excess loss cost factor (as a percentage of total lost cost). PCP is the primary company/subject premium. PCPLR is the primary company permissible loss ratio (including any loss adjustment expenses covered as a part of loss) RCF is the rate correction factor which is the reinsurers adjustment for the estimated adequacy or inadequacy of the primary rate Given that the coverage of this treaty is per-occurrence, we must also weigh the manual difference rate for the clash exposure. In order to determine the reinsurers excess share the ALAE is added to each claim, and therefore claims from policy limits which are below the attachment point will be introduced into the excess layer. The reinsure may have own data that describe the bi-variate distribution of indemnity and ALAE, or such information can be obtained from ISO or similar organization outside of United States of America. With these data the reinsurer is able to construct the increased limits tables with ALAE added to the loss instead of residing in its entirety in the basic limits coverage. Another more simple alternative is to adjust the manual increased limits factors so that they to account for the addition of the ALAE to the loss. A basic way of doing this is to use the assumption that the ALAE for each and every claim is a deterministic function of indemnity amount for the claim, which means adding exactly ÃŽÂ ³% to each claim value for the range of claim sizes that are near the layer of interest. This ÃŽÂ ³ factor is smaller than the overall ratio of ALAE to ground-up indemnity loss, as much of the total ALAE relates to small claims or claims closed with no indemnity. Assumption: when ALAE is added to loss, every claim with indemnity greater than $300,000 = (1+ ÃŽÂ ³) enters the layer $1,400,000 excess of $600,000, and that the loss amount in the layer reaches $1,400,000 when the ground-up indemnity reaches $2,000,000 = (1+ ÃŽÂ ³). From this the standard increased limits factors can be modified to account for ALAE added to the loss. In this liability context, Formula for RELC can be used with PCP as the basic limit premium and PCPLR can be used as the primary company permissible basic limits loss ratio. Assumption: Given the clash exposure an overall loss loading of ÃŽÂ ´% is sufficient enough to adjust the loss cost for this layer predicted from the stand-alone policies. Then ELCF determines the excess loss in the layer $1,400,000 with excess of $600,000 which arises from each policy limit and plus its contribution to the clash losses as a percentage of the basic limits loss that arise from the same policy limit. The formula for ELCF which is evaluated at limit (Lim) is as follows: Formula : Liability ELCF for ALAE Added to Indemnity Loss ELCF(Lim) = 0 Where Attachment Point AP = $600,000 Reinsurance Limit RLim = $1,400,000 Clash loading ÃŽÂ ´ = 5% Excess ALAE loading ÃŽÂ ³ = 20% The table 2 displays this method for a part of Allstates exposure using the hypothetical increased limits factors to calculate the excess loss cost factors with both ALAE and risk load excluded. Table 2: Excess Loss Cost Factors with ALAE Added to Indemnity Loss at 20% add-on and a Clash Loading of 5% Table : Excess Loss Cost Factors with ALAE Added to Indemnity Loss at 20% add-on and a Clash Loading of 5% (1) Policy Limit in $ (2) ILF w/o risk load and w/o ALAE (3) ELCF 200,000 1.0000 0 500,000 1.2486 0 600,000 1.2942 0.0575 1,000,000 1.4094 0.2026 1,666,666 1.5273 0.3512 2,000,000 or more 1.5687 0.4033 Source: own calculation based on Patrik (2001) Using the Formula 4., the ELCF($600,000) = 1.20*1.05*(1.2942-1.2486) = 0.0575, and ELCF($2,000,000) =1.20*1.05*(1.5687-1.2486) = 0.4033. Assumption1: for this exposure the Allstates permissible basic limit loss ratio is PCPLR = 70%. Assumption2: reinsurers evaluation indicates that the cedants rates and offsets are sufficient and therefore RCF is 1.00. The reinsurer can now calculate the exposure rate RELC and the reinsurers undiscounted estimate of loss cost in the excess layer as can be seen in the table 3. Table 3: Reinsurance Expected Loss Cost (undiscounted) Table : Reinsurance Expected Loss Cost (undiscounted) (1) Policy Limit in $ (2) Estimated Subject Premium Year 2009 in $ (3) Manual ILF (4) Estimated Basic Limit Loss Cost 0.70x(2)/(3) (5) ELCF (6) RELC in $ (4)x(5) Below 600,000 2,000,000 1.10 (avg.) 1272727.27 0 0 600,000 2,000,000 1.35 1,037,037.04 0.0575 59,629.63 1,000,000 2,000,000 1.50 933,333.33 0.2026 189,093.33 2,000,000 or more 4,000,000 1.75 (avg.) 1,600,000.00 0.3512 562,920.00 Total 10,000,000 n.a. 4,843,197.64 n.a. 811,642.96 Source: own calculation based on Patrik (2001) An exposure loss cost can be estimated using probability models of the claim size distributions. This directly gives the reinsurer the claim count and the claim severity information which the reinsurer can use in the simple risk theoretic model for the aggregate loss. Assumption: the indemnity loss distribution underlying Table 2 is Pareto with q =1.1 and b =5,000. Then the simple model of adding the 20% ALAE to the indemnity per-occurrence changes the indemnity of a Pareto distribution to a new Pareto with q =1.1and b=5,000*1.20 = 6,000. The reinsurer has to adjust the layer severity for a clash and this can be done by multiplying with 1+ÃŽÂ ´ =1.05. The reinsurer can therefore calculate from each policy limit the excess expected claim sizes, after dividing the expected claim size by the RELC for each limit the reinsurer obtains the estimates of expected claim count. This is done in Table 4. The expected claim size can be calculated as follows: Firstly the expected excess claim severity over the attachment point d and subject to the reinsurance limit RLim for a policy limit ÃŽÂ » can has to be calculated. This can be done as follows: For ÃŽÂ »= 600,000 For ÃŽÂ »=1,000,000 For ÃŽÂ »=2,000,000 The reinsurer is now able to calculate the expected claim count, the estimation can be seen in the table 4: Table 4: Excess Expected Loss, Claim Severity and Claim Count Table : Excess Expected Loss, Claim Severity and Claim Count Policy Count in $ (2) RELC in $ (3) Expected Claim Size in $ (4) Expected Claim Count (2)/(3) 600,000 59,629.63 113,928 0.523 1,000,000 189,093.33 423,164 0.447 2,000,000 or more 562,920.00 819,557 0.687 Total 811,642.96 1,356,649 1.68 Source: own calculation based on Patrik (2001) The total excess expected claim size for this exposure is $1,356,649. If the independence of claim events across all of the exposures can be assumed, the reinsurer can also obtain total estimates of the overall excess expected occurrence (claim) size and the expected occurrence (claim) count. Now we are going to estimate the experience rating. Step 3: Gather and reconcile primary claims data segregated by major rating class groups. As in the Example of property quota share treaties, the reinsurer needs the claims data separated as the exposure data, and the reinsurer also wants some history of the individual large claims. The reinsurer usually receives information on all claims which are greater than one-half of the proposed attachment point, but it is important to receive as much data as possible. Assumption: a claims review has been performed and the reinsurer received a detailed history for each known claim larger than $100,000 occurring 2000-2010, which were evaluated 12/31/00, 12/31/01à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 12/31/09, and 6/30/10. Step 4: Filter the major catastrophic claims out of the claims data. The reinsurer wants to identify clash claims and the mass tort claims which are significant. By separating out the clash claims, the reinsurer can estimate their size and their frequency and how they relate to the non-clash claims. These statistics should be compared to the values that the reinsurer knows from other cedants and therefore is able to get a better approximation for the ÃŽÂ ´ loading. Step 5: Trend the claims data to the rating period. As with the example for the property-quota share treaties, the trending should be for the inflation and also for other changes in the exposure (e.g. higher policy limits) which may affect the loss potential, but unlike with the proportional coverage, this step cannot be skipped. The reason for this is the leveraged effect which has the inflation upon the excess claims. The constant inflation rate increases the aggregate loss beyond any attachment point and it increases faster than the aggregate loss below, as the claims grow into the excess layer, whereas their value below is stopped at the attachment point. Each ground-up claim value is trended at each evaluation, including ALAE, from year of occurrence to 2011. For example, consider the treatment of a 2003 claim in the table 5. Table 5: Trending an Accident Year 2003 Claim Table : Trending an Accident Year 2003 Claim (1) Evaluation Date (2) Value at Evaluation In $ (3) Trend factor (4) 2011 Level Value in 4 (5) Excess Amount in$ 12/31/03 0 1.62 0 0 12/31/04 0 1.62 0 0 12/31/05 250,000 1.62 405,000 0 12/31/06 250,000 1.62 405,000 0 12/31/07 300,000 1.62 486,000 0 12/31/08 400,000 1.62 648,000 48,000 12/31/09 400,000 1.62 648,000 48,000 06/30/10 400,000 1.62 648,000 48,000 Source: own calculation based on Patrik (2001) The reasoning for a single trend factor in this example is that the trend affects the claim values according to the accident date and not by an evaluation date. The trending of the policy limits is a delicate issue, because if a 2003 claim on a policy which has limit that is less than $500,000 inflates to above $600,000 ( plus ALAE), will be the policy limit that will be sold in the year 2011 greater than $500,000? It seems that over long periods of time, that the policy limits change with inflation. Therefore the reinsurer should over time, if possible, receive information on the Allstates policy limit distributions. Step 6: Develop the claims data to settlement values. The next step is to construct the historical accident year, thus we want to develop the year triangles for each type of a large claim from the data which was produced in column (5) of Table 5. Typically all claims should be combined together by major line of business. Afterwards the loss development factors should be estimated and applied on the excess claims data while using the standard methods. Also in order to check for reasonableness and comparable coverages we want to compare the development patterns that were estimated from Allstates data to our own expectations which have their basis in our own historical data. When considering the claim in Table 5 we see that only $48,000 is over the attachment point, and also only at the fifth development point Table 6: Trended Historical Claims in the Layer $1,400,000 Excess of $600,000 (in $1,000s) Table : Trended Historical Claims in the Layer $1,400,000 Excess of $600,000 (in $1,000s) Assumption: our triangle looks like the Table 6: Acc. Year Age 1 in $ Age 2 in $ Age 3 in $ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Age 9 in $ Age 10 in $ Age 10.5 in $ 2000 0 90 264 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 259 351 351 2001 0 0 154 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 763 798 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 2008 77 117 256 2009 0 0 2010 0 ATA 4.336 1.573 1.166 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 1,349 n.a. n.a. ATU 15.036 3.547 2.345 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 1.401 1.050 = tail Smoothed Lags 11.9% 28.7% 47.7% à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 93.1% 95.3% 96.7% Source: own calculation based on Patrik (2001) Where: ATA is Age-To-Age development factor ATU is Age-To-Ultimate development factor Lag(t) is the percentage of loss reported at time t The selection of the tail factor of 1.05 is based upon the general information about the development for this type of an exposure beyond ten years. By changing to the inverse for the point of view from the age-to-ultimate factors, the time lags of the claim dollar reporting, the loss reporting view is transformed to that of the cumulative distribution function (CDF) whose domain is [0,), this transformation gives a better outlook of the loss development pattern. It also allows considering and measuring the average (expected) lag and some other moments, that are comparable to the moments of loss development patterns from other exposures. Given the chaotic development of excess claims, it is a important to employ smoothing technique. If the smoothed factors are correctly estimated they should more credible loss development estimates which are more credible. They also allow to evaluate the function Lag( ) at every positive time. The smoothing which was introduced in the last row of Table 6 is based on a Gamma distribution with a mean of 4 (years) and a standard deviation of 3. It is also usually useful to analyze the large claim paid data, if possible, both to estimate the patterns of the excess claims payment and also to supplement the ultimate estimates which are based only on the reported claims that were used above. Sometimes the only data available are the data on aggregate excess claims, which would be the historical accident year per development year $1,400,000 excess of $600,000 aggregate loss triangle. Pricing without specific information about the large claims in such a situation, is very risky, but it is occasionally done. Step 7: Estimate the catastrophic loss potential. The mass tort claims such as pollution clean-up claims distort the historical data and therefore need special treatment. As with the property coverage, the analysis of Allstates exposures may allow us to predict some suitable loading for the future mass tort claim potential. As was said in the Step 4, the reinsurer needs to identify the clash claims. With the separation of the clash claims, for each claim, the various parts are then added together to be applied to the occurrence loss amount at the attachment point and at the reinsurance limit. If it is not possible to identify the clash claims, then the estimation of the experience of RELC has to include a clash loading which is based on judgment of the general type of exposure. Step 8: Adjust the historical exposures to the rating period. As in the example on the property quota-share treaties the historical exposure (premium) data has to be adjusted in such a manner that makes the data are reasonably relevant to the rating period, therefore the trending should be for the primary rate, for the underwriting changes and also for other changes in exposure that may affect the loss potential of the treaty.. Step 9: Estimate an experience expected loss cost, PVRELC, and, if desirable, a loss cost rate, PVRELC/PCP. Assumption: we have trended and developed excess losses for all classes of Allstates casualty exposure. The standard practice is to add the pieces up as seen in the table 7. Table 7: Allstate Insurance Company Casualty Business Table : Allstate Insurance Company Casualty Business (1) Accident Year (2) Onlevel PCP in $ (3) Trended and Developed Loss and Excess Loss (estimated RELC) in $ (4) Estimated Cost Rate in % (3)/(2) 2002 171,694 6,714 3.91 2003 175,906 9,288 5.28 2004 178,152 13,522 7.59 2005 185.894 10,820 5.82 2006 188,344 9,134 4.58 2007 191,348 6,658 3.48 2008 197122 8,536 4.33 2009 198,452 12,840 6.47 2010 99,500 2,826 2.84 Total 1,586,412 80,336 5.06 Total w/o 2010 1,486,912 77,510 5.21 Source: own calculation based on Patrik (2001) The average loss cost rate for eight years is 5.21%, where the data from the year 2010 was eliminated as it is too green (undeveloped) and there does not seem to be a particular trend from year to year. Table 7 gives us the experience-based estimate, RELC=PCP =5.21%, but this estimate has to be loaded for the existing mass tort exposure, and also for the clash claims if we had insufficient information on the clash claims in the claims data. Step 10: Estimate a credibility loss cost or loss cost rate from the exposure and experience loss costs or loss cost rates The experience loss cost rate has to be weighed against the exposure loss cost rate that we already calculated. If there is more than one answer with different various answers that cannot be further reconciled, the final answers for the $1.400, 000 excess of $600,000 claim count and for the severity may be based on the credibility balancing of these separate estimates. All the differences should however not be ignored, but should be included in the estimates of the parameter (and model) uncertainty, and therefore providing a rise to a more realistic measures of the variances, etc., and of the risk. Assumption: simple situation, where there are weighed together only the experience loss cost estimate and the exposure loss cost estimate. The six considerations for deciding on how much weight should be given to the exposure loss cost estimate are: The accuracy of the estimate of RCF, the primary rate correction factor, and thus the accuracy of the primary expected loss cost or loss ratio The accuracy of the predicted distribution of subject premium by line of business For excess coverage, the accuracy of the predicted distribution of subject premium by increased limits table for liability, by state for workers compensation, or by type of insured for property, within a line of business For excess coverage, the accuracy of the predicted distribution of subject premium by policy limit within increased limits table for liability, by hazard group for workers compensation, by amount insured for property For excess coverage, the accuracy of the excess loss cost factors for coverage above the attachment point For excess coverage, the degree of potential exposure not contemplated by the excess loss cost factors The credibility of the exposure loss cost estimation decreases if there are problems with any of these six items listed. Also the six considerations from which can be decided how much weight can be given to the experience loss cost estimate are: The accuracy of the estimates of claims cost inflation The accuracy of the estimates of loss development The accuracy of the subject premium on-level factors The stability of the loss cost, or loss cost rate, over time The possibility of changes in the underlying exposure over time For excess coverage, the possibility of changes in the distribution of policy limits over time The credibility of the experience loss cost estimate lessens with problems with any of the six items. Assumption: the credibility loss cost rate is RELC/PCP = 5.75%. For each of the exposure category a loss discount factor is estimated, which is based on the expected loss payment pattern for the exposure in the layer $1,400,000 excess of $600,000, and on a chosen investment yield. Most actuaries support the use of a risk-free yield, such as U.S. Treasuries for U.S. business, for the approximation of the maturity of the average claim payment lag. Discounting is significant only for longer tail business. On a practical base for a bond maturity which is between five to ten years it is better to use a single, constant fixed rate. Assumption: the overall discount factor for the loss cost rate of 5.75% is RDF= 75%, which gives PVRELC/PCP = RDF*RELC/PCP =0.75*5.75%= 4.31%, or PVRELC= 4.31% * $200,000,000 = $8,620,000. The steps 11 and 12 with this example are reversed. Step 12: Specify values for RCR, RIXL, and RTER Assumption: the standard guidelines for this size and type of a contract and this type of an exposure specify RIXL = 5% and RTER = 15%. The reinsurance pure premium RPP can be calculated as RPP = PVRLC/(1-RTER) = $8,620,000/0.85 = $10,141,176 with an expected profit as RPP PVRELC = $10,141,176 $8,620,000 = $1,521,176 for the risk transfer. As the RCR = 0% we can calculate the technical reinsurance premium of RP = RPP/(1-RIXL) = $10,141,176 /0.95 = $10,674,922. This technical premium is therefore above the maximum of $10,000,000 which was specified by the Allstate Insurance Company. If there is nothing wrong with technical calculations, then the reinsurer has two options. The first one is to accept the expected reinsurance premium of $10,000,000 at a rate of 5%, with the expected profit reduced to $10,000,000 $8,620,000 = $1,380,000 Or secondly the reinsurer can propose a variable rate contract, with the reinsurance rate varying due to the reinsurance loss experience, which in this case is a retrospectively rated contract. As the Allstate Insurance Company is asking for a retrospectively rated contract we select the second possibility. To construct a fair and balanced rating plan, the distribution of the reinsurance of an aggregate loss has to be estimated. Now we proceed with step 11. Step 11: Estimate the probability distribution of the aggregate reinsurance loss if desirable, and perhaps other distributions such as for claims payment timing. In this step the Gamma distribution approximation will be used. As our example is lower (excess) claim frequency situation, the standard risk theoretic model for aggregate losses will be used together with the first two moments of the claim count and the claim severity distributions to approximate the distribution of aggregate reinsurance loss. The aggregate loss in the standard model is written as the sum of the individual claims, as follows. Formula : Aggregate Loss L=X1 + X2 +à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦+ XN with L as a random variable (rv) for aggregate loss N as a rv for number of claims (events, occurrences) Xi as rv for the dollar size of the ith claim The N and Xi are referring to the amount of the ith claim and to the excess number of claims. To see how the standard risk theoretic model relates to the distributions of L, N and the Xis see Patrik (2001). We are working with the assumption that the Xis are both identically and independently distributed and also independent of N, further we assume that the kth moment of L is determined completely by the first k moments of N and the Xis. There is following relationships. Formula : First Two Central Moments of the Distribution of Aggregate Loss under the Standard Risk Theoretic Model E[L] = E[N] x E[X] Var[L] = E[N] x E[X2] + (Var[N] E[N]) x E[X]2 Assumption: the E[L] = RELC =5.75%*$200,000,000 = $11,500,000 (undiscounted). We assume simplistically independent and identical distribution of the excess claim sizes and also the independency of the excess claim (occurrence) count. Usually this is a reasonable assumption. For our layer $1,400,000 excess of $600,000, our modeling assumptions and results are shown in the formula below. Formula : Allstate $1,400,000 Excess of $600,000 Aggregate Loss Modeling Assumptions and Results

Sunday, August 4, 2019

The Suppression of the Indian Religion and Culture in the New World Ess

Thesis Statement: I believe that a profound effect on Indian religion practiced in the New World was caused by Columbus and the Age of Discovery. Historical evidence proves that, before there were Europeans on this continent, there were native peoples living in communion with their environment and, very often, each other. Their religious practices were interwoven with their daily lives and religion held a prominent, significant place within their culture. The intrusion by Europeans into this peaceful world had profound effects on the Indians, especially their religious practices. What had been a peaceful, harmonic lifestyle changed dramatically that fall of 1492. The Europeans entered the native people's world in search of a trade route to the Indies. They felt it their "duty" to save these poor creatures in the name of the King of Spain. "It wasn't so much that Europe discovered Americas as that it incorporated it and made it a part of its own special, long-held and recently ratified, view of nature."(Sale p. 75) This arrogance would have profound effects on these natives to last throughout all time, including the present. Let us begin our search for truth by asking ourselves this question: Why are native peoples in the Americas referred to as Indians? The naming of these peoples is credited to Columbus. It was "Columbus, who gave to the peaceable multitude of the islands the name, indios - because he considered their habitat to be "the Indies", of course, but perhaps also because he thought of them as living "in God". (Sanders p. 95) The Spanish word for God is "Dios". Columbu... ...bert F. Jr. The White Man's Indian. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978. Goodykoontz, Colin Brummitt. Home Missions On The American Frontier. New York: Octagon Books, 1971. Lunenfeld, Marvin. 1492 Discovery, Invasion, Encounter. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1991. Ronda, James P. and Axtell, James. Indian Missions. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978. Royal, Robert. Columbus On Trial: 1492 v. 1992. (Royal-01 ART and Royal-02 HIS). Sale, Kirkpatrick. The Conquest of Paradise. New York: Plume, 1991. Sanders, Ronald. Lost Tribes And Promised Lands. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. Shirk, Willis. Encounter With The New World: European Psyche Confronting Its Own Dragons. (Shirk-01 HIS). Usner, Daniel H. Jr., Indians, Settlers, & Slaves In A Frontier Exchange Economy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Web of Deceit in Shakespeares Othello Essay -- GCSE English Literatur

Web of Deceit in Othello Shakespeare’s Othello portrays a process through which pure evil has an effect on love and morality. The character of Iago twists Othello into killing his wife, and eventually himself, through manipulating Othello’s trust and loyalty. Iago uses the handkerchief as a symbol through which Othello is convinced of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. This handkerchief plays many roles throughout Othello. Because of the importance placed upon this object, the driving force of the play becomes centered on the particular qualities of this handkerchief. In its most important aspect, the handkerchief becomes associated with a kind of web set by Iago, in order to ensnare both Othello and Desdemona. At the beginning of Act II, Iago begins to formulate his plans to bring down Othello. As Cassio takes Desdemona’s hand and welcomes her, Iago says: He takes her by the palm. Ay, well said, whisper! With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do! I will gyve thee in thine own courtship.-You say true; ‘tis so, indeed! - If such tricks as these strip you out of you lieutenantry, it had been better you had not kissed your three fingers so oft...(II,i L.166-72) In this passage, Iago plans to use Cassio in his plan to destroy Othello. Rather than merely stating his desire to do this, Iago uses imagery based around a spider’s web. By doing so, ideas of creation, self utilization, and entrapment are brought into the plot concerning Othello. Iago likens himself to a spider, who spins a web from his own mind which will trap people, and cause them to serve his own needs. This passage shows the extent to which Iago foresees his own designs. Iago does not take an active role ... ...y, and painful reality. He can no longer trust what he believes, and must follow what he believes "Nature" has told him to do. Because Othello has strong feelings these are the only thing he is certain of feeling, and therefore follows them. This is not a man who remembers what the past has taught him. Othello now looks at the handkerchief as threads woven for the sole purpose of maligning his trust, and his life. He has lost sight of Iago’s manipulating words, in favor of action through anger and retribution. Iago has created a web of lies around Othello to accomplish two things. Othello becomes uprooted from any comfort and security gained from the past by Iago’s lies. After this has been accomplished, this web of lies gives Othello the support he desperately needs. This new dedication, however, orchestrates Othello’s downfall, and Iago’s momentary triumph. Web of Deceit in Shakespeare's Othello Essay -- GCSE English Literatur Web of Deceit in Othello Shakespeare’s Othello portrays a process through which pure evil has an effect on love and morality. The character of Iago twists Othello into killing his wife, and eventually himself, through manipulating Othello’s trust and loyalty. Iago uses the handkerchief as a symbol through which Othello is convinced of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. This handkerchief plays many roles throughout Othello. Because of the importance placed upon this object, the driving force of the play becomes centered on the particular qualities of this handkerchief. In its most important aspect, the handkerchief becomes associated with a kind of web set by Iago, in order to ensnare both Othello and Desdemona. At the beginning of Act II, Iago begins to formulate his plans to bring down Othello. As Cassio takes Desdemona’s hand and welcomes her, Iago says: He takes her by the palm. Ay, well said, whisper! With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do! I will gyve thee in thine own courtship.-You say true; ‘tis so, indeed! - If such tricks as these strip you out of you lieutenantry, it had been better you had not kissed your three fingers so oft...(II,i L.166-72) In this passage, Iago plans to use Cassio in his plan to destroy Othello. Rather than merely stating his desire to do this, Iago uses imagery based around a spider’s web. By doing so, ideas of creation, self utilization, and entrapment are brought into the plot concerning Othello. Iago likens himself to a spider, who spins a web from his own mind which will trap people, and cause them to serve his own needs. This passage shows the extent to which Iago foresees his own designs. Iago does not take an active role ... ...y, and painful reality. He can no longer trust what he believes, and must follow what he believes "Nature" has told him to do. Because Othello has strong feelings these are the only thing he is certain of feeling, and therefore follows them. This is not a man who remembers what the past has taught him. Othello now looks at the handkerchief as threads woven for the sole purpose of maligning his trust, and his life. He has lost sight of Iago’s manipulating words, in favor of action through anger and retribution. Iago has created a web of lies around Othello to accomplish two things. Othello becomes uprooted from any comfort and security gained from the past by Iago’s lies. After this has been accomplished, this web of lies gives Othello the support he desperately needs. This new dedication, however, orchestrates Othello’s downfall, and Iago’s momentary triumph.

Napster :: essays research papers

(1) English 11 Words: 1302 12/ 20/ 00 Napster : Right or Wrong ? "As an artist, there are so many ways that we can be taken advantage of. To have yet one more way to stip an artist of making an honest living is just to much. That's why I sued." ( Levy, 51 ) - Andre Young ( Dr. Dre) Rapper/Producer There are many ways that an artist can be stripped of making an honest living, Napster, one of the many 'Mp3' services online, is the latest. An Mp3 ( short for ISO-MPEG Audio Layer 3 ) is a digital compression of a music or video file so it's easier to send to one another over the internet ( Levy, 51 ). Napster is an online music source where you can search for a song and download it absolutely free, with just one click from your fingertips. The Napster program, created by 19 year-old college drop out Shawn Fanning, is the fastest growing site in history. It recently passed the 25 million mark in less than a year since it was released (Greenfeld, 62 ). His program allows you to download copyright music, and that's why he is being sued by a number of corporations. Napster is being sued by RIAA ( the Recording Industry Association of America ), record companies ( BMG, the holder of lables like: Arista, Bad Boy, RCA, LaFace ), and artists ( Rock band Metallica and Rapper/Producer Dr.Dre). "I'm down for a parallel business even if it's parasitic. Napster is the new radio. It's the most exciting thing since rap, disco and the Beatles." said rapper Chuck D, and it did it is ( Levy, 51 ). Napster is like a radio. You can listen to music and preview it for free. Some artists are actually for Napster like Chuck D. , Neil Young, and rock group Limp Bizkit, who headlined a free tour sponsored by Napster along with Cypress Hill. Napster is like a new radio. It's been said that people use Napster because they feel so (2) ripped off that compact disc prices are so high. They would rather just download the whole album online, then burn it on to a cd spending only three dollars for a burned cd instead of the seventeen dollars spent for buying the actual album. The generalized public that use Napster are young ( teenagers and college

Friday, August 2, 2019

Rwanda Genocide: Who Is to Blame

The Genocide in Rwanda: Who is to Blame? By Maria Chiara Billones Lucatello February 3, 2010 International Relations Mr. Conzemius â€Å"A small boy of 11 years, was curled up in a ball of fresh flesh and blood, in his eyes was a glance of lost hope, abandonment, and defeat. He was without vision; A little girl at nine years of age, was pinned up against a tree†¦her legs apart, and she was covered in things even hell can’t imagine; excrement, urine and blood . . . n her mouth was cold fresh meat, cut with a machete, that of her father†¦ near in a ditch with putrid water were four bodies, cut up in pieces, stacked up-their parents and older brothers. † When most people think of Rwanda today, the first thing that comes to mind is the 1994 genocide. Certainly, there are many other things that define Rwanda and Rwandans however, understandably, the genocide remains the most clear and dominant aspect of Rwandan life. Three years before independence from Belgium, in 1959 the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next couple of years, thousands of Tutsis were killed, and about 150,000 were driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, which we know now today as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), who nonetheless, began a civil war in 1990. These wars, along with several political and economic turmoil and ongoing ethnic tensions, had resulted in the April 1994 genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. This genocide happened only a few years ago, and it is still impacting the lives of many people. How can such crime against humanity be abandoned by the world? Humans run away from fear of believing the truth, people can’t accept and consider what was happening in the small nation of Rwanda, leaders failed to stand forth and stop the brutal monstrosity of the Rwandan Genocide. After 100 days when the genocide had finally reached an end, we cannot help but questions, who is to blame? And the main people to blame are none other than the United Nations (UN). What is Genocide? The word â€Å"genocide† did not exist before 1944. Nevertheless, in 1944, Raphael Lemkin- a Polish Jewish lawyer- formed this world after he sought to describe Nazi policies for the systematic murder, including the annihilation of the European Jews. He formed by combining geno- a Greek word for tribe, and cide- the Latin word for killing. The next year, the International military Tribunal charged top Nazis with â€Å"crimes against humanity†. On December 9, 1948, the remembrance of the Holocaust and Lemkin’s word, led the United Nations to approve the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Convention established â€Å"genocide† defined as: Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: a. Killing members of the group; b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. It was the first multilateral human rights treaty proposed by the UN for ratification. The United Nations knew that there was a genocide in Rwanda, they were first-handed witnesses during that time, but they failed to accept the reality of the genocide occurring. According to the convention, if there was a genocide taking place, the United Nations has to act and intervene to stop the genocide, nevertheless, they didnâ €™t want to believe there was genocide in Rwanda, however, it was bluntly obvious there was. (Lara, 1998) Another reason why the United Nations is to blame for the Rwanda Genocide is because the United Nations failed to keep peace in Rwanda. The United Nations main purpose is to keep peace among nations. Though this was a civil war, the United Nations still had to act in order for there not to be a war. Nevertheless, they failed to prevent this ridiculous genocide because of their lack of attempt and lack of effort to stop it. On the fourteenth-anniversary of the genocide, the UN’s thoughts go out to the victims who have been traumatized, hurt, or dead during Rwanda’s Genocide. Quote UN secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s message â€Å"It is often those who most need their rights protected, who also need to be informed that the Declaration exists — and that it exists for them. – This message was a little too late after hundreds of thousands of people have been brutally massacred in the genocide in Rwanda. Though the UN seemed to have convinced the people in Rwanda that they were doing their best to stop this, nevertheless, the UN is respectively responsible for their inability to keep peac e among the ethnic tribes (Hutus and Tutsis). (M2PressWIRE, 2008) The final reason why the United Nations is to blame for Rwanda’s Genocide is because of the fact that they ignored evidence of planned genocide and abandoned Rwandans in need of protection. The United Nations failed trying. The independent report, commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ( who was in charge at the time of the Rwandan Genocide), says the UN peacekeeping operation in Rwanda was hopeless from the start by an poor consent and destroyed by the Security Council's unwillingness to strengthen it once the slaughters, murders and rape began. UN officials, together with Annan and then-Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, were incapable, reluctant, or unwilling to act on information that mass slaughter was occurring. Even if there was uncertain means of genocide occurring in Rwanda, they should have known better and stopped the upcoming genocide that was going to happen. They could have destroyed or stopped all radio stations that were commanding the Hutus to â€Å"kill all the cockroaches’† meaning â€Å"Kill all Tutsis†, because at that time, the radio was broadcasting news among all Hutus to kill the Tutsis. It seemed pretty ridiculous at that time because you would ask yourself why you would listen to it the first time, nevertheless, the ongoing repetition and continuous orders given by the radio later on became of great influence among the people. The Hutus were surrounded by lies which they believed to be true, and out of fear of â€Å"the enemy† then began killing all Tutsis’ drastically. In 20-30 minutes, about 1,000 Tutsi’s were killed. The U. N knew they couldn’t intervene, yet they could have stopped the Radio from broadcasting horrible lies about the Tutsis’, but the U. N failed to do so. Another reason that supports what the U. N did to abandon the Rwandans is the inability to call for help in Rwanda. 2,000 personnel from several countries; France, United Kingdom, United States and Italy, had come to evacuate their refugees and thought they were tumbling on corpses, they did not hinder and ignored the catastrophe that was occurring. The United Nations did not try hard enough to call for help. It was the Council, especially its most powerful members that had failed the people of Rwanda in their deepest hour of need at the time. It was the United Nations fault that the international com munity’s culpability for its failure to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. (UN Failed To Prevent Genocide, Report Claims, 1999) In Conclusion, this drastic 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda’s Tutsis and Hutus could have been stopped by the U. N. The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people. In 1994, the UN has failed to do their job, and still today, the past cannot be erased. The UN is to blame for the Rwandan genocide because they ignored evidence of planned genocide and abandoned Rwandans in need of protection. There are many other countries and people to blame, but for the mass-slaughtering genocide, the United Nations could have and should have prevented this horrifying episode in history. Works Cited United Nations Has Moral Duty To Act On Lessons Of Rwanda, Says Secretary-General In Message To Mark Fourteenth Anniversary Of 1994 Genocide. † M2PressWIRE (2008): Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. Santoro, Lara. â€Å"One for the law books: In Africa, a UN court prosecutes genocide. (cover story). † Christian Science Monitor 13 Mar. 1998: 1. Newspape r Source. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. â€Å"Inquiry finds UN failure to halt 1994 genocide. † Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. Web. 01 Feb. 2010. . â€Å"UN Failed To Prevent Genocide, Report Claims. † UN Wire: Email News Covering the United Nations and the World. Web. 01 Feb. 2010.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Stefan’s Diaries: The Craving Chapter 26

â€Å"What are you doing here?† I demanded. Lexi raised a brow at me. â€Å"Same thing you are. Looking forward to a long, painful eternity together.† â€Å"No, I mean why didn't you run?† I asked, resisting the urge to take her by the shoulders and shake her. â€Å"Of course I ran, you idiot!† she snapped. â€Å"But I guess he expected I would†¦. I never even saw him come after me.† I could feel her shiver in the dark. â€Å"He appeared out of nowhere.† Her voice grew grim. â€Å"I wonder if that's how humans feel when they meet us. If we ever get out of this, I swear I am going to be nicer to them in the future. Humans, I mean. That vampire – now him I want to kill.† I put my hand on her forearm, softening. â€Å"I just pray we get that chance.† â€Å"Come, let's get out of here.† She turned and swung her leg, putting the heel of her boot smack into the middle of the doors. There was a resounding thud, but nothing budged. She delivered another roundhouse kick to the doors. And another. And another. Again, nothing happened. â€Å"Together!† she insisted. On the count of three we both kicked. â€Å"Maybe there's vervain in the stone†¦ ?† I suggested. Lexi looked grim. â€Å"Vervain doesn't make things indestructible. But there are other things that can be done to lock something up. Permanently. What about the walls?† For the next hour we ran our fingers over the white walls, ceilings, and floors, our highly sensitive skin picking out even the most minute gaps. We ripped open sarcophagi, ransacked the corpses for tools. â€Å"No knives, no diamond crosses, no silver-plate Bibles, no pennies for Charon, no lucky stone, no nothing,† I growled, throwing my hands up in frustration. â€Å"This doesn't look good,† was all Lexi said. Twenty-four hours later there was a service in the chapel. We could hear it with our Powers. It was a memorial to the Sutherlands, to the two brides who were killed, to the proud parents†¦ along with a biting invective against the young men who did it, running off with the dowry money. Murderers, thugs, con men, robbers†¦ The only accusation that didn't make the list was â€Å"demon.† But none of the insults stopped us from screaming. â€Å"Help!† I yelled. â€Å"In here! We're in here!† Lexi added her voice to mine, screeching in different high-pitched tones that nearly blew out my eardrums. At one point I could hear a hollow-voiced Hilda whisper, â€Å"Do you hear something?† And our hopes were raised. And then nothing. The service ended, people filed out, and once again we were completely, utterly alone. With sigh, Lexi gave me my ring back. â€Å"Many thanks for its loan,† she said quietly, slipping it on my finger. â€Å"But I don't think it will do me – or you – much good now.† I hugged her tight. â€Å"Don't give up yet,† I whispered in her ear. But the words echoed hollowly within the crypt, having nowhere else to go.