Enron Was The Largest Trader Of Electricity, Energy And...

Alessia Scolaro Accounting II Before its collapse, Enron was the largest trader of electricity, energy and natural gas in the world. Founded in 1985 by businessman Kenneth Lay, Enron quickly became one of the largest corporations in America. It was a company who claimed to valued itself on integrity and truthfulness and whose main goal was to try to change the way the world bought and sold energy. Unfortunately, greed and arrogance along with accounting fraud lead to its ultimate demise. The company’s first case of fraud was uncovered in 1987 after two rogue traders in Enron’s International Oil unit in Valhalla, NY began taking exceedingly risky gambles with company funds. In an otherwise risky market, Enron suspiciously seemed†¦show more content†¦The investigation unveiled the fact that Lay had actually been warned early on by auditors about the illegal actions of his employees. Fearing the loss of profits from firing his biggest money-makers, Lay had decided that it was in the company’s best interest to allow the illegal activities to continue. Both traders were eventually fired and one served a one year prison sentence. Jeffrey Skilling joined the Enron team as CEO shortly after. Under his leadership Enron adopted the accounting method mark-to-market which allowed the company to report potential future profits on the same day a deal was signed. No matter what their actual profits were, on paper, they could be whatever the company decided. This easily manipulative system contributed majorly to Enron’s eventual downfall. To the outside world, the company seemed prosperous. Stock prices rose dramatically and reported profits exceeded expectations yearly. Fortune magazine even called Enron the â€Å"country’s most innovative company.† In reality, it was all an elaborate illusion to hide the fact that Enron was drowning in debt. The chief financial officer, Andy Fastow was tasked with covering up Enron’s financial crisis. Fastow established hundreds of fake limited liability companies to create the illusion that Enron was earning profits by conducting business with these entities. They

Should Human Organs Be Traded or Sold Within the United...

Should Human Organs Be Traded or Sold Within the United States? What’s the Right Thing to Do? As NBC13.com news points out â€Å"everyday seventeen people die waiting for organ transplants.† These deaths could simply be prevented by having a system in place that could provide a service to these helpless individuals. According to this site, there are 120,000 people still waiting for organs, nationwide; 30,000 of them are African Americans. But when it comes down to the issue of free trade of human organs, the majority of American citizens will consider it a controversial and ethical issue. There could be a large group of people supporting each side of this argument. However, only those who want to sell their organs and those who need the†¦show more content†¦Let’s think of it this way, for someone who is waiting for kidney transplantation, it is important to clear his or her body from normal metabolic waste. Don’t forget that the kidney is not only responsible for filtering the metabolic waste and balancing fluid and electrolytes, but is also resp onsible for the secretion of hormones. These are erythropoietin which is responsible for red blood cell production and renin angiotensin aldosterone which is critical for maintaining the body’s sodium level. This in turn, controls the blood pressure. This process is being done without our knowledge hourly. (Lewis 667, 765, 766, 1139, 1207) But for those who have dysfunctional kidneys, this process must be done manually. For example, for clearing the body from metabolic waste, patients much go through a treatment called dialysis. This treatment could decrease the physical ability of the patients to go through the transplant surgery when they find the kidney. (Forbes) Now just imagine that you have found a perfect match of a kidney but the surgeon cannot transplant it because you are too physically weak to go through this surgery. If it was me, I would fight this current process so that I could save me or my loved one’s life. It is the core of our human nature. When we a re in trouble, that’s when we think of finding a solution to get us out of it. Unfortunately, sometimes this approach will have very seriousShow MoreRelatedHuman Trafficking Essay863 Words   |  4 PagesAfter the illegal drug-trade human trafficking is the fastest increasing criminal industry. Human trafficking is commonly referred to as modern-day slavery. This is the illegal trade of human beings for forced labor or for exploitation. Exploitation referring to the use of others for prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, or the removal of organs. Woman and young children living in poverty are the ones who usually fall in the trap of the traffickersRead MoreHuman Trafficking Essay871 Words   |  4 PagesAfter the illegal drug-trade human trafficking is the fastest increasing criminal industry. 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Cultural Evolution free essay sample

The concept of cultural evolution has had a problematic history because its initial usage became linked to 19th century efforts by Western societies to justify their dominance over other societies. Despite this initial misuse, however, cultural evolution remains an important mainstay of anthropological research. As currently used, the concept parallels biological evolution in the sense that societies frequently acquire and spread important traits as they adapt to the pressures confronting them.A very simple example might be a coastal society developing increasingly superior technologies for acquiring food from the ocean in response to the demands of a growing population for food or to the disappearance of land-based food resources. But such adaptations are found in social, political, and economic organization as well as to other facets of a society. Of course, not every cultural trait emerges as an adaptation. Many – such as the tail fins on cars or details of religious doctrine – arise because of the society’s history, the actions of specific individuals, and other factors which belong to the society itself and are not generally shared with others. We will write a custom essay sample on Cultural Evolution or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But many traits of central importance to a society are adaptations to the society’s problems. Furthermore, as different societies grow in size and complexity, they predictably encounter the same problems.The existence of these common problems creates the basis for the evolutionary â€Å"stages† or â€Å"types of society† described by Evans because generally human societies reshape themselves in fairly similar ways to solve these problems. 1. With what â€Å"modes† of sociocultural integration does Evans categorize pre-industrial societies (p. 23-5)? Subsistence, Economy, Territory, Population and settlement pattern, Community, Society, Politics, Religion 2. Clearly, the terms which Evans uses to label the â€Å"modes† of sociocultural integration are adjectives which describe social relationships among individuals in a society.So why does the table on p. 24-5 use information about â€Å"Territory† and â€Å"Population and settlement patterns† to classify societies into these categories? It is important to use these aspects to classify societies because â€Å"there is no evidence for unilinear evolution†(p. 23). Depending on the type of society the territory and settlement patterns do describe relationships among individuals in a society. For example, in the Egalitarian system bands may share a common area and know the various â€Å"rules† in which they use the area. 3. Which of the â€Å"modes† described by Evans seems closest to your own society?Politics and religion in the â€Å"Ranked† system are closest to our society. For the remaining modes, our society most closely resemble the â€Å"Stratified† system. 4. The â€Å"modes† as well as the â€Å"Types of society† given in Evans’s table are often described as â€Å"Levels of Complexity†. What evidence do you see in the table that Ranked Societies (Chiefdoms) really have a more complex organization than do Egalitarian Societies (Bands and Tribes)? There is evidence that the â€Å"Ranked† societies are more complex as there are more people and facets to this type of society.This system is farming and hunting, so there are enough people to hunt for those staying and farming. The economy experiences more complexity and diversity as there is less movement than the â€Å"Stratified† societies. Due to the size of the community in a â€Å"Ranked† system there is a need for leaders to specific positions to keep order to the chiefdoms. 5. How is a cultural evolutionary framework useful in understanding the differences between the religions found in tribal societies, chiefdoms, and states (p. 34)? Specifically, how does the role of religion differ in each kind of society?The â€Å"Egalitarian† societies kept the immediate group, plants and animals sacred. The â€Å"Ranked† societies focused religion on the crops they grew and the plants and animals they used in particular, and the most important family in the tribe were seen as the ones with â€Å"direct relationship to supernatural powers. † In the â€Å"Stratified† communities religion was sanctioned with specific rules and places for worship. 6. What is the principle of cultural ecology (p. 51)? How is it important to the study of cultural evolution? Cultural ecology is a feedback loop.Human interaction with the environment will produce positive or negative responses, which eventually affect humans. It is important to study cultural evolution because history has a way of repeating itself. 7. What is the culture core (p. 51)? What are its three basic components (margin note on p. 52)? Culture core is evaluating how cultures survived, or what they were missing that led to demise. It kind of reminds me of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but on a community or cultural level. The three basic components are Ideology, Organization, and Technology.

Marijuana is a substance that has become very much Essays - Cannabis

Marijuana is a substance that has become very much a part of American culture. Nearly 65 million Americans have either used it occasionally or regularly. The use of marijuana hit mainstream America about thirty years ago and it has been accepted by a large segment of society ever since (Rosenthal 16). The debate on whether this substance should be legalized or not remains a very hot topic today. Despite government efforts to isolate and eliminate its use, it is clear that the use of marijuana is still very popular. There is an obvious problem concerning marijuana today. Governments on all three levels: local, state, and federal are trying desperately to find an appropriate policy involving marijuana. National polls show that more than 70% of the American people, from both ends of the political spectrum, support controlled access to marijuana for medicinal purposes. Despite fierce opposition from the federal government, voters in California and Arizona passed ballot initiatives in the fall of 1996 favoring the legalization of medicinal marijuana (Randall 33). If support for marijuana at least as a medicinal remedy is so high, then why have only a few states taken steps to change their policy? There are several reasons why marijuana remains illegal. Mainly, it is a political issue kicked around by certain special interest groups. Some of these groups perceive marijuana as a threat to the home, tearing families apart and causing them to abandon traditional values. However these groups usually are not legitimate areas of legislation. The more powerful groups have other, more practical reasons for keeping marijuana illegal. Among the most powerful of these groups are the combined law enforcement-judiciary-penal systems. This group sees the elimination of marijuana laws as a threat to their jobs. Add to this group defense lawyers, who stand to make millions of dollars defending marijuana offenders. Consciously or not, they support anti-marijuana laws