Monday, December 30, 2019

Lehman Lynchs The Federal National Mortgage Association

1st April 2008, Bear Stearns is acquired by JP Morgan Chase. September 7th 2008 the Federal National Mortgage Association, â€Å"Fannie Mae† and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, â€Å"Freddie Mac† are acquired by the United States Federal Housing Finance Agency. September 14th 2008, Merrill Lynch is acquired by Bank of America. September 16th 2008, American International Group is acquired by the United States Federal Government. September 17th 2008, Lehman Brothers is acquired by Barclays. September 26th 2008, Washington Mutual is acquired by JP Morgan Chase. In a period of six months, seven of the most dominant financial institutions in the country crashed. Seven Goliaths were downed by stone shots right to the sweet spot but there were no Davids in this story, these were all self-inflicted wounds. Deep wounds that affected the nation as a whole, wounds that cut so deep that they crushed the American Dream for some with each passing day. In this essay I aim to address the decisions that led to the demise of these behemoths and the worst economic downturn since the infamous Great Depression of the early 20th century. The 1930s, the period of the Great Depression is perhaps the most unstable financial time in United States history. The decade where more than 40 percent of nation’s banks disappeared crippled the economy for years and caused the Senate to pass the Glass-Steagall Act (part of the U.S. Banking Act of 1933). The main purpose of the legislation was to separateShow MoreRelatedModern Banking19159 Words   |  77 Pages(leaving the deposit in the bank for an agreed period of time, such as 60 days or one year), the customer is paid a higher deposit rate. If the customer withdraws the money before then, an interest penalty is imposed. Likewise, if customers repay their mortgages early, they may be charged for the early redemption. Figure 1.1 does not allow for the other activities most modern banks undertake, such as off-balance sheet and fee for service business. However, the same principle applies. Figure 1.2 shows the

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Carpe Diem in Christopher Marlowe´s The Passionate...

Christopher Marlowe’s â€Å"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love† and Robert Herrick’s â€Å"To the Virgins, Make Much of Time† share the same common theme of Carpe Diem. They also have many differences such as the tone, and the type of poem. Marlowe’s is more of a romantic poem, a Shepherd expressing his love to a woman. Herrick’s is more of a preachy poem, the poet is telling these young virgins that they need to hurry up and get married because they do not have much time. Both Marlowe’s â€Å"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love† and Herrick’s â€Å"To the Virgins, Make Much of Time† Share the same common theme; Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem means seize the day. In both poems, the poets express that they have a short amount of time and that they need to live life†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals† (Marlowe) Robert Herrick’s poem â€Å"To the Virgins, Make Much of Time† is considered to be a preachy type of poem. The poet is telling young virgins that they need to hurry up and get married because they do not have much time. â€Å"Then be not coy, but use your time, and while ye may, go marry† (Herrick) The Tone of this poem is didactic, he is expressing his opinion. He is telling these young unmarried women to hurry up and get married, and stop wasting time. â€Å"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may: Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles to-day, To-morrow will be dying† (Herrick) The Rhyme Scheme for â€Å"To the Virgins, Make Much of Time† is the first and third of each stanza rhymes while the second and the fourth line rhyme. â€Å"The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun, The higher hes a-getting, the sooner will his race be run, and nearer hes to setting† (Herrick) In Conclusion â€Å"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love† and â€Å"To the Virgins, Make Much of Time† is similar in theme. The theme for both stories was Carpe Diem. Even though the Theme was similar, the difference in each poem was the Tone, Rhyme Scheme and the type of poem. The tone for Marlowe’s is optimistic and loving and the poem is pastoral. The Rhyme scheme for Marlowe’s poem is the first two lines rhyme and the last two lines in the

Friday, December 13, 2019

Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Free Essays

Do men and women view artistic pieces differently? When we consider numerous articles surrounding Antoni Gaudi’s architectural wonder Sagrada Familia, is there a difference between the way men and women view this piece of history. In the articles we are to analyze, we find that women are more subjectively critical than men who are somewhat more objective in the perceptions. In a architectural piece, the standpoints are unavoidable because they are readily visible to the public regardless of whether or not you want to see it. We will write a custom essay sample on Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia or any similar topic only for you Order Now Gaudi’s ostentatious Gothic facade has acquired admiration and criticism over the years and we discuss this criticism of his work with reference to various articles seen from the viewpoint of both genders in order to ascertain whether there is indeed a difference between the genders’ perceptions. â€Å"Heresy or Homage in Barcelona† was written by Margot Hornblower in TIME magazine and is dated 28 January 1991. Hornblower describes the Sagrada Familia as â€Å"sensual, spiritual, whimsical, exuberant† (Hornblower, 1991). In this description, she obviously spares no time in making the piece seem irresistible. Furthermore, she insists that the building ‘symbolizes’ the city of Barcelona in a way that few other buildings do (Hornblower, 1991). Hornblower is complimentary of the piece of architecture that at times has been seen as gauche and over-the-top, she explains that very style of the building is almost a mockery of modern architecture (Hornblower, 1991). Although this in itself is not complimentary of the presence it holds in Catalina, but the way Hornblower has written it, makes it seem awesome in its own way. She does, however make it known that the fact that the Sagrada Familia was never completed poses a problem for many critics. The problem it appears, according to Hornblower is: who will be seen as fit to complete the work considering the immense esteem in which Gaudi was held? (Hornblower, 1991). The article was written prior to the 1992 Olympic Games and dissention was caused surrounding the people chosen to complete the piece. Hornblower writes about the difference between art nouveau and the man Suribachs who was chosen to complete the building (Hornblower, 1991). You can read also  Similarities and Conflicts in † a Streetcar Named Desire† This is comparable to another female writer who in fact wrote about the completion of the Sagrada Familia and is written by a Spanish female writer by the name of Rosario Fontova who writes for the El Periodico de Catalunya and is dated 22 October 2000. She writes factually about the re-evaluation of Gaudi’s work and the subsequent reopening of the Sagrada Familia as a completed work. She is completely unbiased and writes objectively although at times slightly on the complimentary side: â€Å"Part of the scaffolding has been removed, revealing the â€Å"Gaudian† shape of the temple’s central nave as seen from the floor. (Fontova, 2000). From the other hand, male American writer for the New York Times also describes the Sagrada Familia in a complimentary fashion. Edward Schumacher writes for the New York Times Special on 1 January 1991 â€Å"Gaudi’s Church Still Divides Barcelona†. Similar to Hornblower’s article, Schumacher also explores the conflict that surrounds the famous building. Schumacher, while complimentary, he does draw attention to the aspect of incongruity that the building holds, that is, its ‘exaggerated’ appearance (Schumacher, 1991). In this case Schumacher uses the word ‘exaggerated’ with the word ‘glorious’ in the phrase â€Å"The Sagrada Familia (Holy Family), a soaring, gloriously exaggerated Art Nouveau church that is taller than St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, was only a quarter done when Gaudi was killed by a streetcar in 1926. †(Schumacher, 1991). Schumacher therefore obviously looks fondly upon the architectural piece. Schumacher writes in the sense that the Familia Sagrada is a challenge to the old norms expected in fine art architecture. He believes, or writes at least that Gaudi challenged the ‘tired revival styles’ and formed his own ‘eclectic’ approach to building (Schumacher, 1991). He calls Gaudi a ‘visionary’ and goes into quite a lot of depth surrounding architectural terminology. He speaks about angularity, architraves, columns and vaults, meaning that to some extent he is learned in the field of architecture (Schumacher, 1991). Schumacher also goes into detail about the history of the Sagrada Familia, stating that Gaudi had seen the work as a culmination of his life’s work (Shumacher). He also explains the controversy surrounding the commission and building of the Sagrada Familia especially in terms of its artistic revival (Schumacher, 1991). Hattie Hartmann is a female writer for the New York Times and wrote â€Å"Barcelona Celebrates its own Architectural Visionary† dated 19 August 2002. She writes, in contrast to our first female writer in a very factual manner. She does not write much about how she feels about the piece but relates the facts and history surrounding the building. She acts as a sounding-board for what others think. The proposed route of the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed train passes near the Sagrada Familia site, and some say that offers an ideal opportunity to take another look at the current plans for the cathedral in its urban context before it is too late. †(Hartmann, 2002). This example shows the willingness of Hartmann to allow other opinions is strongly objective. Her choice of subject, however, also reveals the need to question what others believe and also in a way to stand up against the changes that might detract from the beauty and stature of the building. She writes about Gaudi’s popularity, his following and his status but refrains form using her own opinion of him and uses no emotive words regarding to herself in this situation (Hartmann, 2002). The differences between male and female discourse in terms of Gaudi’s work do not display any particular traits with regards to the way in which it is viewed form on gender to the other. One female writer (Hornblower) writes subjectively with many emotive words used to fondly describe the Sagrada Familia while the male writer, Schumacher does the same. The writer from Spain who obviously is familiar with the work is more factual and intent on creating a news-flash rather than advertising the piece. Fontova does not speak badly of the piece but refrains from making a value judgment on the building. On the one hand we have an American woman gushing Gaudi’s praise and on the other hand we see a local Catalan woman writing about the building as if it were part of her daily life. Schumacher does use far more technical terms in his description of the building while Hartmann and Hornblower both write with little weight placed on the technical value of the architecture. Fontova probably has more access to information surrounding the building works and is therefore more attentive to the technicalities. In the case of Sagrada Familia we see that the only real difference in perception of the piece is that the male writer appears to see the technical value of the building. The Sagrada Familia itself is a profoundly ostentatious and decorative building with an almost Gothic facade. His work pushed many boundaries in terms of breaking with norms and created a thoroughly art nouveau impression of the original religious relic that is the form of a cathedral. Comparable to Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel we see a modernised version of an old religious ideal. The Sagrada Familia has different meaning for different people and this is essentially the crux of the matter. For the Catalan female writer, Sagrada Familia is a part of her daily life, something she sees almost daily. It is also part of the Barcelonian heritage which the American writers, both male and female do not see. It is recognised by them but not necessarily seen in the same light. The male alternative to the praise given Gaudi’d works, is seen more from a technical point of view but is still strongly emotive. The female American writer was obviously in praise of Gaudi’s work more in terms of its aesthetic value than for its technical parts. There is therefore a difference between the way a local sees the building and a foreigner. There is also a difference in the purposes of the writing: Hartmann was more documentary about the piece and did not place as much importance on her own opinion as she did on the facts. The meaning behind the writing was predominantly in terms of the controversy the alterations to the building has caused. There was very little difference between the way males and females viewed the artwork in this particular case. How to cite Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, Papers

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Gender Discrimination in Workplace free essay sample

Gender discrimination has become a common issue in the business world. It becomes a problem, which is hard to be solved because gender discrimination against women has been practiced for a long time ago. In some countries such as Indonesia, they are treated unfair, unfriendly, and underestimated. It becomes people’s stereotype that men are better than women. In Indonesia, women tend to be a housewife instead of working in a busy workplace. Working in business area is such men’s job, they tend to be the one who earn money, whereas women should stay at home and do the housework. The mindset of discriminating other sex is has to be stopped and people have to build up a new mindset that men and women are the same. The main content in this report is about the side effect of gender discrimination. 2. 0 Introduction â€Å"Sex discrimination is any practice or policy that results in differential treatment of an individual because of his or her sex. † (Bails, 1994). In this case, discriminating women has been practiced since kingdom era. The history of Indonesia brought the Indonesian people’s mindset for discriminating women. When Indonesia was still a country with kingdom, women will never be equal to men. Which means that women level is not the same as men. When Indonesia was under Dutch colonies’ control for 350 years, there was no school for women (Beck, 2007). They were not allowed to get any kind of formal education. They had been taught the Indonesian ladies to do the house work and taking care of the guy since they were child. The mindset of putting women’s level below men has become the major factor for this problem. These days, Indonesian women are starting to replaced men’s job. Indonesian women are allowed to get good education like what men do. The Indonesian government has set a policy for the entire resident to have a minimum of 9 years education (Indonesia. go. id, 2013). This makes their nature ability emanate. However, even though discrimination against women has been diminished, it is still rampant in the workplace. Fair Employment Council of Greater Washington (1992, cited in Bails, 1994) stated that â€Å"Sexual Harassment is not always an expression of sexuality or sexual desire, but an inappropriate use of power† People’s mindset of discriminating women is still on going. â€Å"While educated Indonesian women have access to a wide variety of career choices, they also face serious obstacles to upward mobility† (Crockett, 1993, p. 19). The Dutch colonies make it seems so difficult to change the thought of treating women unequally. 3. 0 CONTENT 3. 1Type of Gender Discrimination There are several types of gender discrimination. The first type of it is direct discrimination. It is a an act of treating someone less favorably because their actual sex. Second, indirect discrimination is also the other type of discrimination. This kind of discrimination is quite similar to the first one. The different because of there is a policy in the workplace for not discriminating or have to respect other workers. For example, there is a requirement for the job seekers to have a six feet tall body. This makes fewer women to be accepted because women tend to be shorter than men. They are also discriminated because of their physical appearance or clothing. The employer might prefer to hire women with an attractive physical appearance to the other candidates. It is believed that the attractive ones are more likely to bring more sales. In the other hand, it makes it harder for the women who are not as attractive ones to be accepted, even though they have better ability (Catalyst. org, 2013). Another type is sexual harassment. This type of discrimination is the most common one that women faced in the workplace. â€Å"Sexual harassment is when unwanted conduct related to sex has the purpose or effect of violating an individuals dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual† (Acas.org. uk, 2013). Finally, women are discriminated because they can be pregnant. This is also become the main reason of the employer for not accepting women in the workplace. it simply because if the women get pregnant they should take at least 12 days holiday, and it is not what the employer want. 3. 2 Effect of Gender Discrimination Gender discrimination in the workplace brings bad impacts to the employee psychology. The first impact can be seen from the employee’s decreasing productivity. Discriminating employee especially women in the workplace will only make them working not in a maximum productivity. Based on United Nations Entity for Gender Equity and the Empowerment of Women (2011) that when an employee is discriminated against, they will feel helpless and anxiety, and also a sudden feeling of lack interest on the job responsibilities. The other impact is financial for the business. If an employee quits to escape the discrimination, the employer must spend more money to make a replacement. Finally, there is also physical effect that the employee will face. Discrimination in the workplace will cause the employee to feel nervous and stress to appear in the workplace (Fernandez, 2011). These impacts are some example that discrimination against women in the workplace has no advantage, though it leads to some negative impacts towards the employee and the business it self. 3. 3 Ways to Stop Discrimination Against Women Victorian Equal Opportunity Human Rights Commission (2013) stated that there are several ways to stop gender discrimination in the workplace that already applied. First, giving zero tolerance for the discriminator. Secondly, make a baseline workplace standard for all employees. Giving high standard requirements will also lead a peaceful situation in the workplace. Finally, the employees personal thinking is have to be changed, and it all starts from them selves. 4. 0 Conclusion People’s mindset of discriminating other gender is has to be stopped. There is no benefit of judging others from personal perspective. Discrimination against women has been practiced since kingdom era in Indonesia. Followed by the Dutch colonies that were giving thought to the Indonesian to discriminate women. And as the time pass by, women level is become more equal to men’s. However, the mindset cannot be cleanly removed. Discriminating women is still rampant in the work place. There are several impacts of it. It can decreases employees productivity, it is also affecting employees’ physics, and finally, it is also affecting the business financial. All in all, the thought of underestimating women in the workplace is has to be stopped.