Lafferty essays

Lafferty expositions In 1959 Petaluma bought Lafferty Ranch to give water to the residents, from the headwaters of Adobe Creek. 1992, the state, expressed the water, seismically unsound, and needed to retrofit it. At the point when that was going on we got our water from the Sonoma County Water Agency Russian River transmission framework. In 1962, Petaluma had a general intend to move Lafferty toward a recreation center site. The neighbors of Lafferty didnt like having an open gotten to stop in their patios so they restricted the arrangement. Dwindle Pfendler, a neighbor to Lafferty, was happy to trade his farm for Lafferty so they could open a recreation center. In 1996 there were two gatherings with petitions that were circling. Companions of Lafferty, who needed to keep Lafferty. In any case, their request was precluded in light of the fact that absence of open notification. The other gathering was the Committee for decision, and they had two petitions going around. One was the Lafferty/Moon trade, and the other was restricted free to Lafferty, which contained docent visit on three days of the year. Both of their petitions were precluded when the city representative saw that some of the marks were produced. After the produced marks, the city chamber chose to keep Lafferty, however they are contemplating the ecological effect of the recreation center. I think some about the experts of having the recreation center open is that individuals can get an opportunity to get outside air and investigate nature. I feel that a great deal of youngsters like to go climbing however dont need to drive that far, and Sonoma Mountain is a delightful spot, just if the open regard it. A portion of the cons of having the recreation center, is a few people dont care about regard so there will be litter in the recreation center. The drive to Lafferty isn't protected, there are heaps of turns and more often than not there is bunches of mist. In the event that more individuals drive to Lafferty, there is greater chance of getting injured. Individuals may be excessively uproarious, making neighbors whine. ... <!

British Petroleum Oil Spill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

English Petroleum Oil Spill - Essay Example Findingsâ 3.1 Summary of discoveries of your analysisâ 4. Conclusionâ 4.1 Discussion of discoveries in setting of hypothesis and earlier writing 5. References 1. Introductionâ 1.1 Theories utilized in the event that investigation The paper discusses the oil slick brought about by British Petroleum’s (BP) in 2010 that happened in the Mexican Gulf and made unsalvageable harm the earth and life in and around that region. It takes a gander at the company’s conduct post the oil slick and their response before the media and as communicated in their yearly reports. All the more explicitly, this paper takes a gander at how BP’s response post the terrible oil slick connects to the speculations about organization conduct. A few hypotheses utilized as reference for this paper incorporate the authenticity hypothesis, the partner hypothesis and the institutional hypothesis and so forth 2. The caseâ 2.1 Contextâ Background data about the caseâ British Petroleum ( BP) is the sixth biggest oil and gas organization around the world. BP is engaged with all stages including the extraction of oil to the retail of the last item (BP, 2012, p.1). In â€Å"2010† the organization confronted a ruinous emergency when the boring apparatus, Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010. This disastrous debacle brought about the executing of 11 people and basically injured numerous others (BP Annual Report, 2010, p.6). The spill proceeded for just about a quarter of a year, making this calamity the greatest catastrophe of its sort (Mason, 2010, p.1). The researchers who had been enthusiastically contemplating the potential repercussions were as yet not secure with the total degree of the natural harm much following an entire year had passed. Further research is as yet required to give an all encompassing point of interest on the issue in light of the fact that the pulverization brought about by the BP oil slick is excessively far coming to in a far re aching influence brought about by direct ecological harms. (Kinver, 2011, p.1). 2.2 Dataâ depiction of corporate divulgence vehicles picked for examination The yearly report for 2010 was profoundly intelligent of BP’s response to the calamity. O’Donovan (2002, p.344) says that organizations uncover data in the yearly reports just to pick up help from the general public and to hold their authenticity in the public arena. Organizations that end up in circumstances that BP ended up in regularly attempt to improve their picture by giving more data in their yearly reports that â€Å"concerns† morals and natural issues (Deegan et al., 2002, p.312). This data is utilized by the organization to tidy up the chaos it has by one way or another made in a calamity that has occurred on its watch (Deegan and Rankin, 1996, p.50). BP expanded extraordinarily the measure of condition related data in its yearly report under the law of authenticity and to counter the awful press it was getting in the outcome of th calamity. It held rehashing to the media how it would tidy up its chaos, repay the individuals and offer some kind of reparation for its error, in this manner ensuring that all partners, including the general public and the administration, kept on encouraging a positive picture of the organization, as clarified by the partner hypothesis again. These adjustments in the yearly report were helpful for the financial specialists, bookkeepers, controllers, ecological gatherings and the network since they gave these partners extra knowledge about the catastrophe and how BP proposed to proceed with the situation (Summerhays, 2011, p.3). BP’s response was auspicious, even â€Å"instantaneous† as indicated by the institutional â€Å"theory† (BP, 2010, p.1) anyway they were denounced by the legislature since they neglected to contain the spill before it arrived at the coast (Robertson

Dividend Policy With Reference To British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc - Free Essay Example

Dividends and the implication of dividend choices have been the subject of much debate, particularly in the recent economic crisis where investors and other stakeholders are becoming increasingly nervous about the financial standing of companies in which they have an interest. On a basic level, dividends also provide a regular income to investors and, as such, the choice of how much dividend to pay out is seen as a critical signal from the management team. Investors will often select certain companies, based on the possibility that they are likely to receive a regular dividend and any changes in the underlying policies can have a very detrimental impact on the perceptions of both current and prospective investors. Although some investors will invest in a company for capital growth, the dividend level is still seen as a strong signal; therefore, regular analysis of dividend policies and payout rates are likely to be undertaken. In this report, Sky (British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSY.L)) will be looked at, in terms of the way in which it has approached dividend payout in the last five years. Theory relating to dividend policy and the approaches taken will then be considered in order to determine whether Sky has complied with general theories, or whether it has deviated from what would be expected based on theory. Empirical data is contained in the appendices. Background to Sky Before going on to consider the dividend policies and how these have been applied by Sky, it is helpful to put the matter in context and to determine the way in which the company has been performing, in recent years, so that this can be correlated with any changes in dividend policy. The company was formed in its current standing, back in 1990, when there was a merger of British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television. This was an equal merger and created the company that we see today, Sky. Prior to the merger, both companies were sustaining heavy financial losses and it was found that by undertaking the merger, it was possible to gain economies of scale. It was also possible for the two companies to draw on each others strengths, for example, British Satellite Broadcasting had a range of solid advertisers, whereas Sky Television was renowned for having a wider range of channels. By pooling these two resources, it was possible for the company to go from strength to strength and it would be expected that this will be reflected in the financial performance of the company, from this point onwards. At the point of the merger, Sam Chisholm was the Chief Executive Officer and he remained in place, until 1997. He then handed over to Mark Booth; and, in 1999, Tony Ball went on to lead Sky during the period within which Sky Television was introduced. It was during this period that the company returned to profit and subscriber members rose at a substantial rate. As is the case with many large companies, Sky was not without its difficulties within the boardroom, particularly when James Murdoch was appointed, in 2003, as there were allegations of internal dealings from the shareholders and a general feeling of discontent, during this period. These difficulties rumbled on and in 2007 Rupert Murdoch, the father of James Murdoch, stepped down from his role as non-executive chairman, but was then replaced by his son who stepped down from the position of CEO, being replaced by Jeremy Darroch. During 2010, a takeover bid was made by News Corp where it attempted to gain control of the 61% of shares that it did not own, but were owned by other shareholders. The price offered was 700 pence per share; the shareholders rejected this offer, stating that they believed an offer of in excess of 800 pence per share would be necessary to make the deal appropriately valuable for the shareholders. It should be noted that, were this takeover to continue, it would be necessary to gain permission from both the European Commission and the Office of Fair Trading, due to anti-competitive dangers of having such a large player in one industry. Over the last 10 years, the profit within Sky has gone up and down with a particularly bad period being experienced during 2000 to 2002. Sky suffered a further drop in profit, in 2008, although this was largely attributed to the general financial crisis and individual inability to pay for what was perceived to be a luxury product. These difficulties and corporate movements are likely to have a direct impact on the perceptions of investors and are therefore relevant to the way in which management boards deal with dividend payouts. Maintaining confidence in the company is critically important and when there are period of difficulties, such as those experienced in 2008, the decisions relating to issues such as dividend become even more critical for the management board, which is likely to pay particular attention to the messages that it is sending out through its dividend decisions. Based on this, when the dividend payments are being considered and the policies looked at, it is important to bear in mind that there are underlying commercial issues that could have a direct bearing on the choices being made and the impact that these choices have on the company. Sky Dividend Approach Despite the variable performance of Sky (BSkyB, 2010), it has maintained a growth policy when it comes to dividends. This is indicated by the fact that, when looking at the discussion on dividends, during the last five years reports, there is an emphasis placed on management confidence and the decision to offer strong dividends, even when the profit levels are weak. Appendix 1 contains the earnings per share calculations, as well as the dividend per share calculations. Earnings per share reflect the amount of profit that can be attributed to each share. For example, in 2010, the calculation reflected profits before tax of 878 million divided by 1743 million shares, resulting in earnings per share of 50.4 pence. This earnings per share figure is the highest seen, in the last five years, with a figure in 2006 being 30.2 pence, dropping to a negative figure in 2008, before recovering, in 2009. Despite this dramatic fluctuation in the earnings per share, the company has maintained a consistent dividend policy because it had confidence in the strength of its position in the market. This consistent growth and confidence can be seen when looking at the dividend per share which is a reflection of the amount of equity dividends paid out per share. As would be expected, this is the highest in 2010; however, even in 2008, where the profit levels were negative, the dividend per share still increased on the 2007 figure. In fact, in every year of the last five y ears, the dividend per share figure has grown from the original figure of 12.2 pence per share, in 2006 to the current 19.4 pence per share. Essentially, these dividend per share figures show that the company has smoothed the negative impact of the downturn, in 2008. Appendix 2 shows the dividend cover and dividend yield within the company, in the last five years. Dividend cover effectively shows how many times the profit could have paid the dividends actually paid. This is a measure of the companys ability to pay its dividends and is a reflection of how realistic the dividend payments are. Interestingly, the coverage rate in 2010 is very similar to that in 2006, at 2.6 times and 2.5 times, respectively. This suggests that the financial health of the company, in terms of the dividend promised, has remained relatively consistent, over the five years. However, as indicated earlier, there was a substantial drop in 2008 and this is reflected in the fact that the coverage ratio shows that the profits did not cover the dividend payments, during this period. Although it recovered slightly, in 2009, with the coverage of 1.2 times, it was not until 2010 that recovery was seen on the ratio returned to 2.6. Again, this would be expected, given the fact that the dividend payment increased year-on-year, despite a substantial dip in profits, during 2008. It has, however, shown by the confidence displayed by the management team, in 2008, that recovery was imminent and this confidence was correctly placed with those investors that have stayed with the company for the previous five year s being rewarded by a higher dividend payment and higher share prices that they can now obtain for their shares. Finally, we shall now look at the dividend yield, i.e. the return an investor obtains on the capital, which involves taking the dividend per share and dividing it by the share price. Many investors see this as the key figure as it indicates the financial return that they are receiving on each share and this can be used in comparison with alternative investment that may be available to the investor, for example bank accounts. In this case, the dividend yield has fluctuated, in the last five years, reaching a high point in 2009, before dropping in 2010. It is not entirely unexpected, given the fact that, in 2009, the share prices were reasonably low after the poor performance of 2008 and the lack of general investor confidence and desirability of the shares. Despite this low share price that was in existence, in 2009, the dividends remained relatively high and therefore the return was naturally higher. As confidence increased in the shares, the share price would naturally rise, as there was a greater demand for shares in Sky and this will have the impact of reducing the dividend yield, as the dividends do not increase at the same rate. It should be noted, however, that the dividend yield is based on the share price in that given year and it is possible that investors who had purchased the shares, at an earlier date, when the prices were either higher or lower will find that there individual return is diffe rent. This supports the notion that those investors that have stayed with the company for the difficult period of 2008 and 2009 or alternatively those that chose to purchase shares during the troubled period will be gaining an increasing dividend yield, now the company is recovering. The approach taken by Sky will be considered in the context of wider dividend policy theories, in the following section. Dividend Policy Underlying Theories Given the importance of dividends to the investors in the companies, it is unsurprising that there is a range of different theories underlying the ways in which companies deal with the dividend policy. From the previous analysis, it can be seen that Sky has opted to maintain a policy of dividend growth, regardless of underlying profit levels, in order to maintain confidence in the company and, in this case, confidence has been well-placed due to the fact that there was a substantial recovery, in 2010, despite the weak performance, in 2008. However, alternative theories exist that could have been used in order to determine the appropriate dividend policy for Sky, during the previous five-year period. One theory which is often subscribed to is that of the residual policy. In accordance with this theory, a company will only pay dividends when it has residual earnings in place, for example, where it has taken advantage of all possible internal investment approaches. The argument in favour of this type of approach is that the shareholders will feel that the company is undertaking all possible action, in order to promote its long-term growth. By paying dividends when the company simply does not have the residual earnings to do so, there is an argument that the company is not putting itself in a good position for long-term growth. A secondary benefit from following this type of approach is that it refocuses the management team on ensuring that investment is undertaken and dividend policy becomes almost secondary. Furthermore, it reduces the chances of having to raise further equity by issuing new shares because any investment has been funded from the internal earnings; this can also ha ve a benefit to shareholders, as their own shareholding will not be diluted. This is not an approach that has been taken by Sky as, had it followed this type of approach, no dividend would have been paid, in 2008. Instead, the company prioritised a dividend growth theory and did not make investments a priority (Gordon, 1963). Another theory which has been developed by Modigliani and Miller (MM), back in the 1960s, is that which argued that dividend policy was irrelevant when all factors were pulled together (Baker, 2009). They argued that the way in which a firm divides its earnings pot between paying out to shareholders and retaining the funds, internally is, in essence, irrelevant in the long term. When developing the theory, MM relied on a range of assumptions including the notion that the way in which the company invests in growth is independent of its dividend decisions, and also that the company operates within a perfect capital market. For example, there are no transaction costs and no taxes and all investors have exactly the same information, at the same time. In theory, they argue that investors will act in a way that produces the correct level of dividend by either buying or selling shares, depending on how the company is performing. For example, if the company is not producing the level of divi dend that an investor requires, then it will simply purchase more shares to get more dividends and vice versa. This suggests that the dividend policy of Skys management team would be largely irrelevant, as investors would simply shift, in order to obtain the returns that suit their own needs. John Lintner (1962) also developed a dividend theory, namely the bird in the hand theory. The theory suggested that investors generally prefer to receive regular dividend payments, rather than reinvesting capital growth, in the future. This suggests that investors, on the whole, are risk-averse and prefer to receive dividend, in the current year, rather than potential growth in 5 to 10 years time. To a certain extent, Sky has followed this approach, because it recognises that providing a return to investors, on a year by year basis, is seen as preferable to promising long-term investment. Clearly, however, this type of theory will vary, depending on the needs of the individual investor. Some investors will be investing in shares with the view to long-term growth and therefore are less likely to pay attention to the dividend returns, on a year by year basis, (Frankfurter and Wood, 2002). Finally, and arguably the most influential theory, when it comes to the approach taken by Sky is that of the dividend signalling theory. It is argued that, contrary to the dividend irrelevant theory, the dividend value actually does have a dramatic impact on the share price, due to the fact that the choice of dividend policy gives a signalling effect as to how well the management team thinks the company will perform, in the future (Brittain, 1966). A change in the dividend payment, either upwards or downwards, has been argued to offer a signal to shareholders and investors, in terms of what the likely future earnings will be. For example, if the management team is positive about the future of the company as a whole and that they may maintain a high dividend. When dividend payment is reduced, this can often negative signal to the market and is therefore something that a company will often avoid, even where profit levels are low, as was seen in the case of Sky, in 2008. Summary and Conclusion By analysing the background commercial position of Sky, in the last five years, its financial performance in relation to dividends and also wider dividend policy theories, it is clear to see that Sky is following a dividend signalling approach, as well as the dividend growth theory, by increasing its dividend, year-on-year, regardless of the underlying position of the company. There are several concerns associated with this approach. Firstly, where dividends are being paid out at a high level in years where the income is simply not there to sustain this level, it is possible that the company is missing out on investment opportunities and therefore long-term growth may not be as rapid as it could be. Clearly, this depends on the underlying ethos of the company and whether or not investment is essential to sustain growth or whether it prefers to follow the bird in hand theory, which suggests that shareholders prefer to have immediate returns. Furthermore, paying out high levels of divi dend, even when there is no profit at all, is only sustainable for a certain period of time. Whilst, in this case, Sky returned to profit rapidly in 2009 and 2010 and therefore paying dividends in 2008 did not produce long-term financial difficulties for the company, had this not occurred, it is possible that the company would, ultimately, have suffered and run out of money to pay dividends. This may have required it to take out additional long-term loans, or to issue equity, which would eventually have had the impact of increasing costs and making the position within the company even more difficult to return to profit. In this case, however, the management team at Sky correctly assessed that the company was in a strong position and likely to grow, in the coming years and signalled as much to the shareholders through maintaining a high level of dividend. This, in turn, meant that the share prices increased and this has been reflected in the dividend yield dropping slightly, in 2010. Overall, Sky has followed a growth and signalling theory, which has resulted in positive trends of the company, but nonetheless, caution should be used when applying this type of approach, as it relies on recovery, in order to be sustainable.

Moral Issues and Decisions in George Orwells Shooting an...

Moral Issues and Decisions in Shooting an Elephant Throughout Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, he addresses his internal battle with the issues of morality and immorality. He writes of several situations that show his immoral doings. When George Orwell signed up for a five-year position as a British officer in Burma he was unaware of the moral struggle that he was going to face. Likewise, he has an internal clash between his moral conscious and his immoral actions. Therefore, Orwell becomes a puppet to the will of the Burmese by abandoning his thoughts of moral righteousness. This conflicts with the moral issue of relying upon others morals, rather than ones own conscience. During Orwells time in India he†¦show more content†¦Orwell next faces the moral dilemma of whether or not to shoot the elephant. At first, it is clear that he does not feel the internal urge to shoot the elephant: It seemed to me that it would be murder to shoot him (Orwell.525). However, Orwells virtue becomes dwarfed as the Burmeses two thousand wills [press him] forward(524) to kill the elephant. At this point there is an obvious role reversal as the Burmese begin to strongly influence Orwells decisions. Because he constantly dwells on what the crowd will think of him he shoots the elephant. Thus submitting to the will of the people and committing the immoral deed of abandoning ones own conscious because of the pressure of others. The reader sees a glimpse of Orwells moral conscious when he displays his feelings of unrest at his unethical decision. He writes, It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there, powerless to move and yet powerless to die(526). The elephant suffers a prolonged, agonizing death because Orwell did not have a hunters knowledge of how to kill the elephant; thus his shot penetrated the elephant in the wrong spot. As a result, the guilt grows and he could not stand it any longer(527) and left the site. Orwell realizes that he committed an atrocity. However he tries to defend his action. It seems that Orwell is trying to make himself feel better by justifying his wrongdoing. HeShow MoreRelatedEssay about Ethical Decision Making3074 Words   |  13 PagesEthical Decision Making We do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value--a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity., the famous poet T. S. Elliot once said. Ethics and conformity go hand in hand; it is hard to talk about one subject without involving the other. The past two weeks of this humanities course has been centered around the relationship

Rape And The Connection Of Feminist Criminology And...

The term rape is defined as an ‘unlawful sexual intercourse by force, and without legal or factual consent’ by Gennaro Vito, Jeffrey Maahs and Ronald Holmes (2006) in ‘Criminology: Theory, Research and Policy’ (Vito, Maahs, and Holmes, 2006: p. 280). Rape can be in the form of the penis penetrating the vagina, oral, anal and an assault using a foreign object. However, there have been many controversies of what is rape and the use of force that is required. Several researchers, practitioners, legal jurisdiction, as well as, a few rape statutes involving coercive rape rely on the use of force as part of evidence in their definition (Vito, Maahs, and Holmes, 2006: p. 280). Rape can occur both in men and women, however, most accounts of rape indicate that majority of men are perpetrators and women are the victims. This essay will discuss the gender differences of rape victims and the connection of feminist criminology and labelling theory, and stigmatisation; as followed with case studies that are relevant with both theories. Feminist criminologists states that rape is wrong, and sometimes it is ignored, legitimised and mischaracterised. Furthermore, feminist criminologists believe that there is difference in how the crime of rape is best acknowledgeable and how rape can be prevented both legally and socially (Whisnant, 2013). Feminist criminologists suggest that there are two approaches of rape per the liberal and radical feminists. Liberal feminist’s perspectives in regardsShow MoreRelatedLimitations of theories of sociology of deviance2475 Words   |  10 PagesTheories of Deviance are limited in their ability to explain deviant acts if one adopts the view that these theories are universal. There is no universal, right or wrong theory, rather each theory provides a different perspective which only fully makes sense when set within an appropriate societal context and values framework . The functionalist theories share a common structural explanation of causes of deviance . They assume that conformity in society is achieved through the existence of norms

In Search of the Real Bill Gates Essay Example For Students

In Search of the Real Bill Gates Essay Bill Gates, the wealthiest man in North America. Readers Digest did a well brought out biography the most well know man in the business today, but doesnt go into his role in Microsoft itself, but rather in his home life and how he got so smart at what he does. Everything between him as a child dreaming of the perfect computer system (and making his own) to his early stages to making Microsoft, including his family lift, his marriage to his wife and having his first child, Jennifer. His life started out quite the same as every other kids life started out until the age of about when he became less aware of his parents needs as a family. Gates spent most of his time in the basement where he did most of his thinking, fights would often arise due to the fact that Gates would not do anything around the house. Bill had reached grade ten, already fully knowledgeable about the computer industry as it was. Bill Gates was still fighting with his mother until a councilor told them it was useless to reason with him. This continued until Gates graduated from high school and went to university for a degree of business and computer science. The article also goes on to explain when Bill Gates planes to retire his position at Microsoft, which is in ten or so years and to switch back to a family life. His wife was a lot like his mother, he says the person you fight with is the one who is most like you, smart and independent as he describes her. There seems to be a lot of web sites today on the Internet that try to make Bill Gates seem like a bad person. Trying to undermine other companies like Netscape, Sun Microsystems and Apple computer, he says there is a lot of internet hate sites out there that have my name on it, it doesnt affect him in any way or his cutthroat instincts. But like other things, moves by other companies like Netscape or Sun Microsystems keep him awake at night and keep him on his toes. The article was well written, although television programs like AE Biography probably did a show on him. But where as the other people in the world wanted to know just a bit more about the infamous Bill Gates, this article will provide more than enough information about the richest man on this continent. May even the world. Even now, Bill Gates is already giving away a fair amount of his money to a charity fund somewhere. He has paid or given money for new universities and other learning facilities, by the time he dies; Bill Gates will have donated at least 95% of his funds to organizations around the world and still going. But right now, Bill Gates is more concerned with his daughter Jennifer and planes to run Microsoft as long as he has to, contently making sure that no one is trying to debunk him from his work. After all he is only holding it up for another ten years before he calls it a night.

Norah Jones- Feels Like Home free essay sample

Mellow and enchanting, Norah Jones second CD pulls listeners into a world of awe and peace. In 2002, â€Å"Come Away With Me† earned eight Grammys. The 2004 follow-up, believe it or not, is even better. Norah Jones, born in 1979, simply has a voice unlike any other. She possesses a rare talent to sing any type of music she wants and still retain her own sound. Unlike many, her music does not make your ears ache after a certain amount of time. Instead, her melodious voice carries listeners to a place of serenity, allowing anyone to relax. This CD is the perfect choice for winding down after a long day. Songs like â€Å"Humble Me† and â€Å"The Prettiest Thing† are so beautiful that you must simply stop what youre doing and listen. If youre not in a mellow mood but still want to hear amazing vocals and wonderful instrumentals, try â€Å"Sunrise† or â€Å"Toes. We will write a custom essay sample on Norah Jones Feels Like Home or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † No matter what, though, the beauty of Norah Jones is that anyone can find her sound smooth and serene. It almost hints at folk or blues music, and still remains mellow enough to put a smile on everyones face. Lyrically, Jones is captivating. She is the quintessence of â€Å"less is more,† for although she doesnt always sing long or detailed lyrics, she never fails to paint an image. Mellow and beautiful are simple words, but they accurately describe the music of Norah Jones.