Exemplum - Definition and Examples

Flogging a Dead Cow Can Be Profitable in Argentina

Latin America’s second biggest economy is regarding the arrival of unconventional oil and gas on the scene is regarded as an opportunity to reverse the steady decline the country has experienced in oil and gas production. Argentinian outlook appear to be looking up, industry insiders suggest that the prospects are certainly taking many of the right boxes. Nevertheless, there are problems such as the country’s energy policies, regular tree environment and energy markets, that make the country at first sight a challenging place to invest in. However, there has been a turnaround in government attitudes towards investors as the realisation that for Argentina to duplicate the American unconventional revolution. Already, there have been a number of policy and regulatory changes to reverse the past downward spiral in investment in exploration and production, that resulted in Argentina turning itself from a net energy exporter to a net energy importer, which although politicall y popular has put severe economic strains on its economy. Resources Argentina has some of the world’s biggest and best quality reserves of shale hydrocarbons states KPMG Shale Development: Global Update 7 October 2013. The US Energy Information Administration June 2013 report estimates suggest that Argentina could have reserves of at least 2732 TCF of shale gas of which 774 TCF is technically recoverable. In comparison with its neighbour Brazil which is thought to hold a potential 906 TCF of which 206 is

Deception Point Page 98 Free Essays

Jesus Christ. The controller looked back at the deck. Delta-Two still hung in the Triton’s claws, but now the sub was suspended over a gaping hole in the deck. We will write a custom essay sample on Deception Point Page 98 or any similar topic only for you Order Now His feet dangled over the void. All Tolland had to do was release the claws, and Delta-Two would be next. â€Å"Okay,† the controller barked into the CrypTalk. â€Å"Hold on. Just hold on!† Rachel stood below on the deck and stared up at the Kiowa. Even from this height the controller sensed the resolve in her eyes. Rachel raised the CrypTalk to her mouth. â€Å"You still think we’re bluffing?† she said. â€Å"Call the main switchboard at the NRO. Ask for Jim Samiljan. He’s in P A on the nightshift. I told him everything about the meteorite. He will confirm.† She’s giving me a specific name? This did not bode well. Rachel Sexton was no fool, and this was a bluff the controller could check in a matter of seconds. Although the controller knew of no one at the NRO named Jim Samiljan, the organization was enormous. Rachel could quite possibly be telling the truth. Before ordering the final kill, the controller had to confirm if this was a bluff-or not. Delta-One looked over his shoulder. â€Å"You want me to deactivate the jammer so you can call and check it out?† The controller peered down at Rachel and Tolland, both in plain view. If either of them made a move for a cellphone or radio, the controller knew Delta-One could always reactivate and cut them off. The risk was minimal. â€Å"Kill the jammer,† the controller said, pulling out a cellphone. â€Å"I’ll confirm Rachel’s lying. Then we’ll find a way to get Delta-Two and end this.† In Fairfax, the operator at the NRO’s central switchboard was getting impatient. â€Å"As I just told you, I see no Jim Samiljan in the Plans and Analysis Division.† The caller was insistent. â€Å"Have you tried multiple spellings? Have you tried other departments?† The operator had already checked, but she checked again. After several seconds, she said, â€Å"Nowhere on staff do we have a Jim Samiljan. Under any spelling.† The caller sounded oddly pleased by this. â€Å"So you are certain the NRO employs no Jim Samil-â€Å" A sudden flurry of activity erupted on the line. Someone yelled. The caller cursed aloud and promptly hung up. Onboard the Kiowa, Delta-One was screaming with rage as he scrambled to reactivate the jamming system. He had made the realization too late. In the huge array of lighted controls in the cockpit, a tiny LED meter indicated that a SATCOM data signal was being transmitted from the Goya. But how? Nobody left the deck! Before Delta-One could engage the jammer, the connection from the Goya terminated on its own accord. Inside the hydrolab, the fax machine beeped contentedly. CARRIER FOUND†¦ FAX SENT 121 Kill or be killed. Rachel had discovered a part of herself she never knew existed. Survival mode-a savage fortitude fueled by fear. â€Å"What was in that outbound fax?† the voice on the CrypTalk demanded. Rachel was relieved to hear confirmation that the fax had gone out as planned. â€Å"Leave the area,† she demanded, speaking into the CrypTalk and glaring up at the hovering chopper. â€Å"It’s over. Your secret is out.† Rachel informed their attackers of all the information she had just sent. A half dozen pages of images and text. Incontrovertible evidence that the meteorite was a fake. â€Å"Harming us will only make your situation worse.† There was a heavy pause. â€Å"Who did you send the fax to?† Rachel had no intention of answering that question. She and Tolland needed to buy as much time as possible. They had positioned themselves near the opening in the deck, on a direct line with the Triton, making it impossible for the chopper to shoot without hitting the soldier dangling in the sub’s claws. â€Å"William Pickering,† the voice guessed, sounding oddly hopeful. â€Å"You faxed Pickering.† Wrong, Rachel thought. Pickering would have been her first choice, but she had been forced to choose someone else for fear her attackers had already eliminated Pickering-a move whose boldness would be a chilling testimony to her enemy’s resolve. In a moment of desperate decision, Rachel had faxed the data to the only other fax number she knew by heart. Her father’s office. Senator Sexton’s office fax number had been painfully engraved into Rachel’s memory after her mother’s death when her father chose to work out many of the particulars of the estate without having to deal with Rachel in person. Rachel never imagined she would turn to her father in a time of need, but tonight the man possessed two critical qualities-all the correct political motivations to release the meteorite data without hesitation, and enough clout to call the White House and blackmail them into calling off this kill squad. Although her father was most certainly not in the office at this hour, Rachel knew he kept his office locked like a vault. Rachel had, in effect, faxed the data into a time-lock safe. Even if the attackers knew where she had sent it, chances were slim they could get through the tight federal security at the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building and break into a senator’s office without anyone noticing. â€Å"Wherever you sent the fax,† the voice from above said. â€Å"You’ve put that person in danger.† Rachel knew she had to speak from a position of power regardless of the fear she was feeling. She motioned to the soldier trapped in the Triton’s claws. His legs dangled over the abyss, dripping blood thirty feet to the ocean. â€Å"The only person in danger here is your agent,† she said into the CrypTalk. â€Å"It’s over. Back off. The data is gone. You’ve lost. Leave the area, or this man dies.† The voice on the CrypTalk fired back, â€Å"Ms. Sexton, you do not understand the importance-â€Å" â€Å"Understand?† Rachel exploded. â€Å"I understand that you killed innocent people! I understand that you lied about the meteorite! And I understand that you won’t get away with this! Even if you kill us all, it’s over!† There was a long pause. Finally the voice said, â€Å"I’m coming down.† Rachel felt her muscles tighten. Coming down? â€Å"I am unarmed,† the voice said. â€Å"Do not do anything rash. You and I need to talk face-to-face.† Before Rachel could react, the chopper dropped onto the Goya’s deck. The passenger door on the fuselage opened and a figure stepped out. He was a plain-looking man in a black coat and tie. For an instant, Rachel’s thoughts went totally blank. She was staring at William Pickering. William Pickering stood on the deck of the Goya and gazed with regret at Rachel Sexton. He had never imagined today would come to this. As he moved toward her, he could see the dangerous combination of emotions in his employee’s eyes. Shock, betrayal, confusion, rage. All understandable, he thought. There is so much she does not understand. For a moment, Pickering flashed on his daughter, Diana, wondering what emotions she had felt before she died. Both Diana and Rachel were casualties of the same war, a war Pickering had vowed to fight forever. Sometimes the casualties could be so cruel. â€Å"Rachel,† Pickering said. â€Å"We can still work this out. There’s a lot I need to explain.† Rachel Sexton looked aghast, nauseated almost. Tolland had the machine gun now and was aiming at Pickering’s chest. He too looked bewildered. â€Å"Stay back!† Tolland yelled. Pickering stopped five yards away, focusing on Rachel. â€Å"Your father is taking bribes, Rachel. Payoffs from private space companies. He plans to dismantle NASA and open space to the private sector. He had to be stopped, as a matter of national security.† Rachel’s expression was blank. How to cite Deception Point Page 98, Essay examples

Accounting Regulation free essay sample

Accounting Regulation With the recent accounting discrepancies that have taken place in some of America’s largest and well known corporations greater importance is being placed on the creation and monitoring of financial reports. Some of these organizations which regulate how financial reports and compiled are private, given a charter by a federal agency, others were born from the creation of new laws and regulations, some are state agencies, and many more are private organizations made up of academics and certified public accountants who altruistically want to improve ethics in one’s field of accountancy. These organizations include the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Companies which operate within the United States must compile financial reports within the guidelines set forth by the (SEC) and the (FASB); the (FASB) ensures that all companies focus on the characteristics of relevance and reliability when generating financial reports while staying within the guidelines of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We will write a custom essay sample on Accounting Regulation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When companies do not follow these guidelines they can be sanctioned by the (SEC) (Facts about FASB, 2009). The (PCAOB) was granted investigative and disciplinary power by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; this act was established as a result of major American corporations falsifying financial data in an attempt to make one’s company appear more profitable than it was. The (PCAOB’s) primary responsibility is to ensure that public accounting firms conduct regular audits of internal controls and to evaluate the consistency of published financial statements. The (IASB) is a global regulatory body which is an offshoot of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS); the (IFRS) sets standards for financial reporting for small to medium businesses which make up approximately 95% of the companies worldwide (IFRS for SMEs, 2009). The (IASB) has no enforceable power to discipline organizations who do not adhere to financial reporting guidelines, however, when violations are discovered the (IASB) reports all discrepancies to the (IFRS) which will make a determination as to the validity of the violation and take disciplinary action. While there are a number of federal and international accounting regulatory organizations, the foundation for good accounting ethics occurs at local or state levels. In he United States there are accountancy boards for every state which anyone wishing to become a certified public accountant (CPA) must register and pass a battery of exams in order to obtain a license to work as an accountant. The California Board of Accountancy (CBA) in addition to testing and licensing new accountants also provides people looking for an accountant a forum to check on the status of an accountant’s license, whether they are authorized to sign reports on attest engagements, ant to view any discip linary action taken against a particular accountant (Web License Status Lookup Information, 2009). The (CBA) is granted authority by the California Accountancy Act and works to protect the public interest by regulating the accountancy profession minimizing substandard practices, investigating complaints against accountants, and when necessary, taking legal action against those who do not follow proper (GAAP) guidelines. With all problems come opportunities, and with the discrepancies in financial reporting in recent history, an opportunity has arisen to reform accounting policies and procedures. There is currently a shift in most western countries for a set of international accounting standards for companies all around the world to abide by and in this age of global commerce and multinational corporations will only improve the accuracy of financial reports.