Saturday, September 7, 2019
10 years from now Essay Example for Free
10 years from now Essay My primary goal over the next ten years is to graduate from the University of Florida. I will major in advertising and possibly minor in business administration. I will graduate with a Masters of Advertising (M.Adv.). In order to get this degree, I have to complete at least one hundred and twenty-four hours of credits. Some of the classes I will need to take for my major are Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Advertising, Advertising campaigns, and Media Planning. To earn a Masters of Advertising, at least thirty-three credits are required excluding undergraduate courses throughout the university. There are eighteen core credits out of the thirty-three. Some Classes unique to my degree are Advertising Planning, Advertising Theory, and Creative Advertising Strategies. Electives such as International communication and Advanced Media Planning are also required. A Business Administration minor at the University of Florida provides an overview of the major practical elements of business for non-business UF undergraduates. This minor can be completed on line, at UF or through a study abroad program. To earn a Business Administration minor, twenty four credits must be completed while maintaining a 2.0 or higher GPA in the minor. Obtaining a masterââ¬â¢s degree would be beneficial in that a higher pay is earned and greater expertise in that subject is attained. The average tuition cost for undergraduates living either on or off campus at the University of Florida is $20,220. My schooling will be paid for by family savings and a Bright Futures scholarship. During my time at the Uni versity of Florida I would like to study abroad. My top locations are Madrid, London or Rome. Studying abroad would be a great experience. Through this program I could improve and increase my language skills, gain different perspectives on vital global issues, encounter new things and meet new people. The Department of Advertising at the University of Florida strongly encourages students to gain work experience through internships. Although internships are not required, they can have great benefit in the long run. Through internships, my interest, motivation and willingness to work hard could be noticed by future coworkers, clients and bosses. After completingà schooling and internships I hope to become a Director of Public Affairs in Tampa, Florida. Directors of public affairs are responsible for developing effective communication plans that strengthens brand promise, create and launch new media and marketing and to resolve public affairs issues. Qualifications for this position include a Bachelorââ¬â¢s degree in Communications, Public Relations or Journalism. Strong media relations skills and strong relationships with key media outlets such as print, television, bloggers and radio are preferred. The ability to multi task and to take initiative in a fast paced environment is favorable. The median pay for a Director of public affairs in Florida is $58,000. The tax rate for that income is $7,929 or 14.74%. A Director of Public affairs works with the management and assigns tasks to the staff. To ensure and maintain the companyââ¬â¢s good reputation, the Director of Public Affairs must supervise and review the activities of the staff. In ten years, my main form of transportation will be by car. One of the most important factors considered when buying a car is price. I lean towards bigger cars such as a GMC Tahoe or a Honda Pilot. The estimated average cost of either of these cars ranges from $18,000 to $30,000. One of the disadvantages of driving a larger car is the high cost of fueling. As a result of the low MPG, a larger sum of money will have to be budgeted for gas every month. Before I begin the search for a car, a target price should be determined. Itââ¬â¢s important to also consider how much the car can be sold or traded for in the future. Another factor to consider is whether the car will be new or used. New cars are favorable because the car wonââ¬â¢t have any unknown problems prior to purchasing it. Used cars are beneficial due to their lower prices and shorter financing periods. In my opinion, the benefits of a used car outweigh the disadvantages. The ability to travel will play a key role in my j ob selection. I would like to travel around the world to places Iââ¬â¢ve never been including places such as New Zealand, Australia, Italy, and Spain. I would also love to be able to go back to Scotland to see my family and visit parts of the country Iââ¬â¢ve never seen. Tampa, Florida would be my ideal city to live in. Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa. Living in a two bedroom apartment with aà roommate would make the most sense, financially, when I am starting my career. Bell Channelside is an upscale apartment community that would be suitable to both my needs and wants. The average cost for a two bedroom apartment at Bell Channelside ranges from $1442 to $1750 with a down payment of $300. These apartments have an impressive walk score of 82. The Tampa Aquarium, Channelside Bay Plaza, nightlife, dining and shopping are all in walking distance of Bell Channelside apartments. They are also conveniently close to the I-275 and the Crosstown Expressway. The crime rate in Downtown Tampa is less than 42% of the cities in Florida. Contrary to what many may assume about Downtown Tampa, it is safer than 77.9% of the neighborhoods in Tampa. ï ¿ ¼ In order to stay out of debt and to maintain my funds, I will have to budget my spending. Ten years from now, student loans will likely still need to be paid off. Falling into debt would add unnecessary stress and would delay paying off my student loans and prevent me from investing for the future. The average yearly pay of a Director of Public affairs is $58,000 which calculates to an estimated $4,833 every month. A minimum of $750 will be paid each month for rent. Monthly utilities usually arenââ¬â¢t included in the rent so at least $50 should be set aside for groceries and $65 to $90 for gas. The pie chart in the figure above breaks down the cost of living expenses in Tampa based on a monthly income of $4,000. I will also put money into long-term investments. Long term investing will aid future purchases and savings for houses, education and funds for traveling. If I stick to my budget and follow my plan, you will be able to find me living in Downtoan Tampa, working as a Direct or of Public Affairs, and driving a slightly used Honda Pilot in 2023.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Philosophy Communication Barriers Essay Example for Free
Philosophy Communication Barriers Essay (a) How does James think of my intending to say something? Does he think of it as a process in consciousness? James argues that our phrasing ââ¬Å"intended to sayâ⬠is an almost wrong explanation on a subconscious or even psychic thing that it happening within our minds. à The point is that we never consciously form the words in our minds or even draw upon our memory banks to call to mind images of the thing that we mean to say. Instead, it is an unconscious function of the mind that we hear something and choose to respond to it with some form of language. In the event that the language we choose is wrong, we often react with the phrase. ââ¬Å"What I meant to say wasâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ James argues that this happens when the precognition of our own mind fails to work rapidly enough to anticipate the reaction of the person we are speaking to and choose the proper words to convey to a thought stream to that specific person. On the most basic level, it means that our minds did not act quickly enough to substitute the proper word into a sentence. For example, imagine talking to your best friend about her sister. The intended sentence would be, ââ¬Å"Howââ¬â¢s she doing?â⬠As the speaker you would not have planned out the conversation or thought specifically about what to ask, but when you speak and say, ââ¬Å"Howââ¬â¢s he doing?â⬠the immediate response is to say, ââ¬ËI meant she. Howââ¬â¢s she doing?ââ¬â¢ there is never a point at which the conscious mind stops and chooses the words to use. This might therefore make an interesting discussion for linguists and psychologists to determine how speech actually happens. James argues that it is a subconscious thing, which implies then that speech is a learned ability you can train the subconscious mind. Take for example learning to speak another language fluently.à Teachers argue that you cannot speak another language fluently until you can think in that language. The premise is basically the same as what James has argues. If you are completely fluent in the language and someone asks,à ââ¬Å"Que es el nombre del gato?â⬠You will be responding with the catââ¬â¢s name before the image of the cat is even called to mind. If you are less than fluent, you will need to translate the question before you can answer, thus moving the response from the subconscious speech centers to the conscious mind. [(b) Can the arguments Wittgenstein employs against the idea that understanding words is a conscious process be adapted to show that intending or meaning to say words is not a conscious process that begins before I say them à à à à à à à à à à à Wittgenstein argues that the meaning of a word is defined as we use it, not by some memory flash card system begun when we are children.à This then would explain in English the tendency to crease euphemisms and phrases which cannot be translated literally based on the presumed meaning of the individual world. To use his argument, if language were a conscious thing, human speech patterns would always be precise and would never relay on simile, metaphor or any other form of literary device. Instead, in essence, he is arguing that because language to create imagery that is not a specific reflection of the exact meaning of what is said, it is a subconscious action. Likewise then, if the use of language is subconscious and not dependent on a specific meaning when a word is chosen, Wittgensteinââ¬â¢s argument can easily be developed to explain that the use of words or even the development of an answer is not necessarily a conscious thing. Think of it as a sort of language autopilot. Our subconscious mind understands what is being discussed and how to respond to it before the conscious mind has a chance to understand the nature of the question. Therefore, the subconscious mind can formulate a response and begin it before the conscious mind starts to speak. In the event that the conscious mind disrupts the process and inserts its own words, the subconscious mind can send it a message that says, ââ¬ËWhat I meant to say wasâ⬠¦.â⬠c) James claims that intending to say something is or provides an anticipation or premonition (=knowledge in advance) of the words I will say or think. Do Wittgensteinââ¬â¢s remarks in section. 187-192 show that James is laboring under some misunderstanding about this? Explain. Wittgensteinââ¬â¢s remarks indicate that James is misunderstanding the functioning of the mind by calling the natural process of communication between the conscious and subconscious premonition. He would argue that the act of speech is a sort of subconscious act, with only specific forms of speech coming from the conscious mind. If both parts of the mind are working in proper harmony, the subconscious can formulate and plan a response long before the conscious mind can even think about it. However, this is not a self-premonition or anything as supernatural as James might be implying. Instead, it is a factor of the understanding of the human brain and how it works. Since the body cannot, by definition, understand the workings of the subconscious, we simply must accept that these incidences occur when the subconscious works more rapidly than the conscious mind.à Wittgenstein argues that this is not a premonition, but simply evidence that the mind works much faster than we appreciate. 2.) P. F. Strawson writes: States or experiencesâ⬠¦owe their identity as particulars to the identity of the person whose states and experiences they are. From this it follows immediately that if they can be identified as particular states and experiences at all, they must be possessedâ⬠¦in such a way that it is logically impossible that a particular state or experience in fact possessed by someone should have been possessed by anyone else. The requirements of identity rule out logical transferability of ownership. [Individuals, p. 97] (a) Briefly describe Wittgensteinââ¬â¢s treatment of the idea that ââ¬Å"another person canââ¬â¢t have my painsâ⬠in Philosophical Investigations Section 253. (Describe the aims and strategy of his remarks.)[ Wittgenstein disagrees with Strawson, with a tongue-in-cheek sarcasm to illustrate that in the event of Siamese twins, two people could share the exact same pain. Ultimately, though his goal is to demonstrate that identity is not as important to the identification of pain as far as location and intensity. Whether a person has the exact same headache that you are having is not nearly as relevant as the fact that they have had a headache in the past and can therefore commiserate with the pain that you are feeling.à In essence, he is arguing that the sameness of the pain is also irrelevant. When discussing the human condition, it is more important to draw parallels between like circumstances than to throw up semi-rational boundaries such as the identifiers that Strawson used. While it may technically, maybe, be impossible for more than one other person to feel the exact same pain that you are feeling, in the human nature of inexact speech we often use the phrase ââ¬Å"same painâ⬠to indicate that we have been in similar circumstances. Drawing unnecessary barriers by pointing out that our individuality will affect the way that we feel pain does nothing to promote a greater understanding of pain, the nature of the individual, the nature of empathy or the human condition. If Strawson were attempting to define the uniqueness of the individual, his commentary might have been relevant, but in a discussion about the nature of pain, it is divisive and irrelevant. The point is to discuss the sameness of the human condition in that while we may have different understandings of pain, we can interrelate via the concept of pain. For example, two women with menstrual cramps may not be experiencing the same intensity of pain or even the same location, but they can relate based on the similar circumstance. (b) Do observations like those in his PhilosophicalRemarks *2 account for all the ways we use the expression (same) pain?] Wittgensteinââ¬â¢s examples via Philosophical Remarks perhaps do not go far enough in disavowing Strawsonââ¬â¢s claims, but he does make a good start. By arguing that the criteria of identifying the sameness of pain involves location and intensity as criteria rather than identity of the person feeling the pain, Wittgenstein effectively argues that Strawsonââ¬â¢s claim is false. What he fails to discuss are the non-physical sources of pain and whether they can be the same pain or if Strawson is closer to the mark when using inaccurate language to describe emotional trauma. But here too, if Wittgenstein had desired, he could argue that Strawsonââ¬â¢s claim is fundamentally flawed. Again, we go first to the example of identical twins that are raised together. Though there might be some differences in their emotional makeup, for the most part, they are going to feel emotional pain in the same way. But even if we forgo the genetic aspect ad simply discuss emotion as an end result of experience, it seems ludicrous to assume that each of the six billion people on the planet will have experienced life in a completely unique way and will therefore never have the same pain as another person. (c) Push Wittgensteinââ¬â¢s investigation one step further. We say things like this: ââ¬Å"I had two bad headaches today: one in the morning and one in the afternoonâ⬠. What are ââ¬Å"criteriaâ⬠for sameness and difference in such cases? The primary criteria for sameness and difference in this case would be the location of the headache and its intensity. For example, a tension headache might begin at the base of the spine and radiate upward, a sinus headache might begin just below the eyes and a migraine might be a throbbing in the temples. Each can be described as a bad headache depending on the severity and each is unique in its location. However, often people who are prone to headaches will have them in the same location and are given to saying, ââ¬Å"I had that same headache againâ⬠to indicate to the listeners that this is a recurring problem in the same location with the same intensity. When language is used precisely, this is an inexact statement, but if the primary purpose of language is to convey meaning to the listener, this can be a much simpler way of saying ââ¬Å"I have a headache again in the same spot as I did yesterday and it hurts the same amount.â⬠Much like with the other discussion, Wittgenstein seems to be challenging his fellow philosophers regarding their choice and use of the language. Because the language itself is inexact, making a claim simply based on the language usage is invalid. (d) Do these cases vindicate Strawson? I do not believe these issues vindicate Strawson at all. It appears that he was doing exact what Wittgenstein was trying to warn against: he was using an imprecise example of language to erect a barrier to human empathy that need not exist. Generally speaking, when a person uses the phrases, ââ¬Å"I feel your painâ⬠it is to indicate that I have been in a similar circumstance and have felt pain because of it. As such, I can empathize with your pain. However, people simply do not talk that way and to expect them to do so is illogical. Therefore, Wittgenstein rebukes Strawson, fairly gently, trying to make him understand that the same is not always the same.à It makes perfect sense when you consider the propensity in English to use the phrase ââ¬Å"exactly the sameâ⬠. Though sameness implies that two things are alike, we have learned to differentiate between things that are similar and thus the same in casual conversation and things that are identical.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Legislation and Regulation for Money Laundering
Legislation and Regulation for Money Laundering Finance and Investment Law ââ¬â Money Laundering Current Legislative and Regulatory Arrangements Money laundering is a menace. Tainted funds from drugs traffic and terrorism are the prime causes of the recent round of energetic legislation designed to make life more difficult for the launderers. The European Directive on Money Laundering has been followed in the UK by primary and delegated legislation. The aim is to deter laundering by well-focused use of the criminal law and, at the same time, to obstruct it by compelling banks and other persons and institutions in the financial services industry to ask more questions, keep more records and divulge more information. The money laundering legislation does not bear directly on the civil law, but, it will profoundly alter professional practices and is bound to filter back into the setting of standards which determine the incidence of civil liability. The huge profits of the drugs industry are gained ultimately from thousands of users who will never so much as contemplate recourse to the civil law. It is different in the case of theft, fraud and corruption. There the victims and their insurers have economic power, and the sums at stake are often large enough to justify a restitutionary campaign in the courts. Tracing is a weapon against laundering. It allows value held in one form at one place to be located later in other assets in another place. It lengthens the victims reach. Successful civil campaigns have been waged. The most notorious is the insurers recovery of assets derived from the Brinks Mat robbery. Often the defendants are not the principal rogues but others to whom the money has come or through whom it has passed. To the victim of a massive fraud, a bank or firm of lawyers or accountants will seem the most promising defendant, if the facts will only support a claim against them. This aggressive opportunism on the part of victims is a factor to be borne in mind as the law settles the conditions of the various restitutionary and restitution related liabilities which can be brought into play. In one recent case the plaintiff had been cheated of millions of dollars in Amsterdam. A sophisticated laundering operation had passed the money through many accounts in different names in different parts of the world. The plaintiff nonetheless traced a large part of it to a legitimate property development in London, and the development company had to make restitution. The same problems encountered in restitutionary campaigns after fraud are also met in more innocent contexts, as where money is paid away by mistake or on a basis which fails. Even in cases of the less disreputable kind the fact that the law will allow the value of one asset to be traced into another can confer great advantages. It will sometimes allow a plaintiff to extend a priority against an insolvent by enabling him to claim it, not against the asset with which he originally parted but against another to which its value can be traced. And it will sometimes allow a plaintiff to leapfrog the immediate recipient and claim against a third party who received, in different assets, value which proceeded from him. For all its utility tracing is one of the least perfectly understood areas of the law of restitution. It is caught on the horns of a dilemma. The longer its reach and therefore the greater its potency against fraud, the more difficult it is to describe exactly how it works; an d the more one insists on the need for an accurate and intelligible account of how it works, the greater the danger of shortening its reach. But there is no real doubt as to how this dilemma must be resolved. The law cannot tolerate figures which are beyond rational description. If there turn out to be limits to what can intelligibly be done by tracing, other weapons will have to be invoked. The law of tracing and claims contingent on tracing will soon settle down. Less stable in the medium term may be the law relating to or affected by restitutionary defenses. The introduction of the defense of change of position is already transforming the law of restitution. In one bound it has put the English law of unjust enrichment in closer touch with German law, and it may yet indirectly effect a civilian transformation of our approach to the cause of action itself. Festina lente may be the order of the day. The down to earth English approach may in fact be preferable. It is a great virtue of the English law of unjust enrichment that it talks in terms of very familiar reasons for restitution and does not go in for the metaphysics of causa and the absence thereof. Canada has succumbed to the temptation to start looking for sufficient juridical cause. The danger of that language is all the greater when it is not underpinned by mature civilian doctrine: it does not tell us why or wh en restitutionary rights arise but merely conceals the absence of an intelligible answer to those questions. Whatever larger changes it may portend, the new defense indubitably provides a new strategy for reconciling the interest in restitution with the interest in the security of receipts. As it takes over the protection of the latter it encourages a liberalization of the restrictive attitudes to the grounds of restitution. Those restrictions were previously the blunt instruments for the protection of that interest. The new focus on change of position also entails more attention to other defenses in its immediate vicinity. In this paper, bona fide purchase, ministerial receipt and passing on assert their independence. Counter-restitution impossible also declines to be absorbed into change of position but appears to be destined to have little future as an absolute defense. The Society of Public Teachers of Law once again stands in debt to those who gave up their time to attend these seminars and, especially, to the judges who were kind enough to take the chair. Lord Justice Millett chaired the seminar on tracing and Lord Goff chaired the seminar on defenses. We are most grateful both for their generous surrender of free time, if indeed a judge can these days be said to command any of that valuable commodity, and for the learning and wisdom with which they brought order to the discussion (United Kingdom Model Agreement, May 2003). Case Example In AGOSI v. United Kingdom the Court was faced with the question whether the imposition of a confiscation necessarily implies that the owners of the confiscated property should have been afforded the same rights as those granted to everyone in the determination of a criminal charge. The German company AGOSI had suffered a considerable economic loss when the UKs Customs Excise department had seized and eventually forfeited golden Krugerrands to a value of à £120,000 that had been illegally imported into the United Kingdom. Defendants X and Y were caught by UK Customs Excise officers as they attempted to smuggle into the United Kingdom on 2 August 1975 the golden Krugerrands they had bought on the same day from AGOSI in Germany (M2 Presswire, March 1, 2004). Because the cheque presented by them for payment had been drawn without provision, the sale contract was ab initio null and void and AGOSI had retained ownership of the Krugerrands. AGOSI initiated several procedures in the Unit ed Kingdom for restitution of the confiscated Krugerrands but was unsuccessful. AGOSI therefore took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, complaining that the confiscation amounted to a procedure for the determination of a criminal charge in which it had been denied the fair trial rights laid down in Article 6 of the European Convention. The Court responded that: The fact that measures consequential upon an act for which third parties were prosecuted affected in adverse manner the property rights of AGOSI cannot itself lead to the conclusion that, during the course of the procedures complained of, any criminal charge, for the purposes of Article 6, could be considered as having been brought against the applicant company. As a general statement this is undoubtedly true. The mere fact that persons own property that is being confiscated does in itself not necessarily imply that a criminal charge is being brought against them. When, for example, instrumentalities of an offence are being confiscated, that does not necessarily imply that a criminal charge should be brought against the owners who may very well have not been implicated in the offence in any way. Confiscation of proceeds from crime as a matter of fact often implies that the person who is being prosecuted is not the real owner. Nine years after AGOSI, the European Court of Human Rights arrived at a similar decision in Air Canada v. United Kingdom, which again involved a seizure by the UK Customs Excise, this time of an aircraft on board which drugs had been found on several occasions, including a few days earlier. The aircraft was only seized temporarily for a few hours until Air Canada paid a sum of à £50,000. 116 The European Court agreed with the English Court of Appeal that the case did not concern an in personam procedure but an in rem procedure and therefore did not require that mens rea of the owner or the possessor was established. This, as well as the fact that non-payment of the sum could not give rise to criminal prosecutions, unlike some out-of-court settlements (transactions) and that the procedure did not involve the intervention of criminal courts at any stage, induced the Court to reach the conclusion that the action of the UKs Customs Excise department did not amount to a criminal charge in the sense of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is submitted that this decision is flawed. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the applicability of Article 6 to confiscation procedures should be seen in close connection to its case law regarding the right to property, entrenched in Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. In AGOSI the Court held that an import prohibition on golden coins constituted a law necessary to control the use of property and that the seizure and confiscation of the Krugerrands were consequently measures taken in accordance with this prohibition and were therefore governed by the second paragraph of Article 1 of the First Protocol. The Court ruled in the same sense in Air Canada. The text of Article 1, however, prompts the question whether confiscation of proceeds from crime should not be considered a deprivation of property under the first paragraph of this provision: 1. Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided by law and by general principles of international law. 2. The preceding provisions shall not, however, in any way impair the right of a State to enforce such laws as it deems necessary to control the use of property in accordance with the general interest or to secure the payment of taxes or other contributions or penalties. This question was answered in the negative in Raimondo v. Italy, which concerned seizure and confiscation of real estate that was derived from mafia practices. It was held that although it involves deprivation of possessions, confiscation of property does not necessarily come within the scope of the second sentence of the first paragraph of Article 1 of Protocol No. 120 The Court referred to its prior judgments in AGOSI and Handyside, in which the Court seemed to have considered confiscation as a preventive measure. This was undoubtedly the case in Handyside where the Court held that the seizure, confiscation and destruction of obscene publications constitute a law necessary to control the use of property and were thus governed by the second paragraph of Article 1 of the First Protocol. These measures effectively prevented further distribution of the publication. It is, however, submitted that the confiscation of the illegally imported Krugerrands in AGOSI did not constitute a preventive measure as it did not pertain to the use of the property but only to certain economic-political goals that were set by the British Parliament. The (possession of) property was not unlawful per se at most; the confiscation dealt with derivative contraband, but not with per se contraband. An even more flagrant example is that of M v. Italy, a case decided by the European Commission of Human Rights, in which it was accepted that the confiscation of proceeds from crime under the Italian anti-mafia laws pursuant to a reversal of burden of proof did not fall foul of Article 6 of the Convention nor of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 as these confiscation measures were preventive and hence did not amount to a criminal penalty. Although all these cases differed from the earlier mentioned case of Welch v. UK (in which the Court did accept the criminal nature of the confiscation of drug trafficking proceeds) 124 in that the imposition of these confiscations did not require that the person was found guilty of a criminal offence, it is submitted that the punitive character of these confiscations could and should have been deduced from the possibility that the owner might avoid confiscation by demonstrating his innocence ââ¬â a possibility which was explicitly acknowledged by the European Commission and the Court of Human Rights. In this perspective, it is useful to refer to the line of reasoning adopted by the American Supreme Court which explicitly deduced the punitive nature of in rem confiscations from the fact that confiscation is excluded in case owners can demonstrate exceptional innocence. It inevitably follows from this line of reasoning that the confiscation in AGOSI amounted to a penalty, as it wa s at least in part based on guilt of the owner. In Air Canada the punitive nature of the seizure of the aircraft as an instrument of crime was even more blatant, as it was not the aircraft as such that constituted the contraband, but the drugs that had been found on it on earlier occasions. It should be equally clear that the confiscation of assets belonging to a mafia member and presumably derived from an illegal origin, though termed preventive, is in fact nothing else but a criminal penalty. Given the absence of a formal international legislator, it is not surprising that the influence of soft law has been especially notable on the international level. The contribution of international soft law instruments to the fight against money laundering is impressive. One of the earliest international initiatives undertaken in the field of money laundering was the Recommendation No. R (80) 10 adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 27 June 1980 entitled Measures against the transfer and safeguarding of the funds of criminal origin. The first international instrument to address the issue of money laundering specifically was the Basle Statement of Principles of 12 December 1988, issued by the Basle Committee on Banking Regulations and Supervisory Practices. The Basle Committee, which comprises the authorities charged with banking supervision of twelve western countries, thought it necessary to take action against money laundering lest public confidence, and hence the stability of banks, should be undermined by adverse publicity as a result of inadvertent association by banks with criminals. Regardless of the fact that the primary function of banking supervision is to maintain overall the financial stability of the banking system rather than to ensure that individual financial transactions are legitimate, the supervisors thought that they could not stay indifferent to the use made of banks by criminals. Money Laundering Regulations 2003 The new regulations replace the Money Laundering Regulations 1993 and 2001 and require any person who carries a relevant business to maintain certain anti money-laundering administrative and training procedures. In particular, the activity of dealing in goods by way of business whenever a transaction involves accepting a cash payment of 15,000 or more, will mean that the business needs to comply with the Regulations. Furthermore, records of identification evidence must be kept for at least five years following the end of the business relationship. Failure to maintain the necessary procedures is a criminal offence carrying a maximum penalty of two years` imprisonment and a fine. Research commissioned by BT and GB Group, has found two thirds (67 per cent) of top UK businesses are currently not compliant with new money laundering legislation that came into force on March 1, 2004, leaving their directors open to legal action and a possible two-year jail sentence. The Money Laundering Regulations 2003 require all UK businesses to prove the identity of their customers when handling cash transactions for goods of euro15,000 or more, and also to have adequate record-keeping procedures in place to demonstrate necessary checks have been undertaken. Furthermore, 40 per cent of companies that have implemented what they regard to be acceptable identity authentication processes feel they could still be victims of money laundering, and over half (53 per cent) of those with solutions in place fear that money laundering activity will increase over the next couple of years (The Daily Mail February 23, 2004). The new extended money laundering regulations make it a legal requirement for companies to have robust systems for customer validation and record keeping in place. However, research clearly highlights that organizations are confused about how to achieve compliance, and that there is a worrying lack of confidence in identity verification systems that are already in place. To help companies address this problem, BT has developed an online authentication service, called URU, in partnership with GB Group (Haynes, 2004). URU helps businesses protect themselves against the growing problem of identity fraud, and by helping them work towards achieving compliance with money laundering legislation it may even help keep directors out of jail. URU enables companies subscribing to the service to decide instantly whether to accept the identity claimed by an individual. It does this by asking a series of questions and comparing the information gathered to that held in the most comprehensive data se ts available in the UK, producing match or no match reports. The result is a faster, cheaper, secure and more convenient way to fight identity fraud. URU also provides businesses with an independent audit, thereby helping companies demonstrate compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2003. Other findings from the research include: A quarter of all respondents have no identity-checking process in place at all and have no plans to introduce one. Of those with defined and documented identity-checking processes in place, businesses remain confused about some of the basic terms of the legislation: o 34 per cent are unable to state the threshold value level of goods at which a money laundering check should be triggered o 10 per cent do not regularly ask for key identification documents such as a passport or drivers license. A quarter is unclear that directors are now personally liable for any breaches. There are marked variations in levels of compliance across different market sectors. Compliance is highest amongst financial services companies, with 62 per cent of stockbrokers and 55 per cent of Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) already compliant, compared to only three per cent of car dealers and 23 per cent of luxury good companies (Dale, 2001). More than one in four companies feel that the cost of compliance will mean certain transactions will have to be refused, and 13 per cent see it as a cost that will have to be passed on to customers. The different levels of understanding about the requirements of the Money Laundering Regulations are a problem not only for businesses that need to comply, but also for the regulators aiming to crack down on this serious crime. It is in the interests of both parties to stem the rise of money laundering as a crime. Our URU system, which is designed specifically to help companies make large numbers of identity checks quickly and cost effectively, also helps organizations to meet the requirements of the regulations. Surveyors, estate agents, accountants, lawyers, licensed conveyancers and sellers of high value goods will now have had exactly a year to get to grips with the Money Laundering Regulations 2003 (Money Management; July 1, 2004). They are all caught within the range of business activities included in the regulations, and have had to set up internal compliance regimes. These involve regulation by the relevant authorities, training to ensure staff are alert to possible money laundering, the appointment of a money laundering reporting officer, identification procedures to check the details of all clients within the regulated sector and records of all identification checks to be kept for six years. Conclusion The objective standard for the suspicion of money laundering essentially provides the rationale for the know your client/know your business requirements. Failure to report a suspicion of money laundering is judged on the standard of whether a reasonable IFA would have been suspicious in all the circumstances. So what should make an IFA suspicious? The following are examples and should not be taken as an exhaustive list of circumstances that may give rise to suspicion. The important element is understanding what suspicion actually means. At the most basic level an IFA should be cautious of a client introduced through a third party or intermediary based in a country where drug production and trafficking, or terrorism is prevalent. This is not to say that suspicion should automatically arise in this context. It is perhaps only the background against which the reasonable IFA may later find grounds for suspicion. A transaction may have the requisite quality of suspicion where, without logical explanation, funds are routed in and out of the jurisdiction or between different accounts or institutions, or a transaction leads to financial loss. The settlement or payment following any transaction may also be suspicious if a client requests an unusual form of settlement. The term unusual will depend on the usual circumstances, but a request for payments in cash, or to a third party, or through a series of payments from an account may be suspicious. Recognizing a warning signal is the first step to complying with anti money laundering laws. If an unusual or unpredictable circumstance does arise which gives an IFA cause for concern, then the next step is to ask more questions. The answers to those questions will either allay fears or provide a foundation for reasonable suspicion. Bear in mind that although drugs and terrorism are examples of the crimes where money laundering cash is likely to be an is sue, the new laws relate to any proceeds, however small, from any crime, however petty it may seem. In particular, the new laws cover proceeds from tax evasion and benefit fraud. Various regulatory bodies have issued guidance to assist with the interpretation of the new laws. The guidance is also important to note because a court will take account of the guidance issued in a particular industry when applying the objective test as to whether someone knew or suspected money laundering. Bibliography Money laundering regulations. M2 Presswire; March 1, 2004. New laundering clampdown. The Daily Mail (London, England); February 23, 2004. Taken to the cleaners. Money Management; July 1, 2004. Haynes, A., Recent Developments in Money Laundering Legislation in the United Kingdom, JIBI (2004), 58ââ¬â63. Dale, R., Reflections on the BCCI Affair: A United Kingdom Perspective, Intl Law (2001), 949ââ¬â62. United Kingdom Model Agreement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Relation to Drug Trafficking (May 2003), reprinted in Mitchell, Hinton and Taylor, Confiscation.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Essay -- Behavior Disor
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Imagine living in a world where sights, sounds, images and thoughts are constantly changing and shifting. Unable to focus on whatever task is at hand, your mind wanders from one activity or thought to the next. Sometimes you become so lost among all the thoughts and images that you don't even notice when someone is speaking to you. This is what it is like for many people who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. Once called hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction, ADHD is one of the most common mental disorders among children. It affects 3 to 5 percent of all children, and it is likely to occur two to three times more in boys than in girls. People who have ADHD may be unable to sit still, plan ahead, finish tasks, or be completely aware of what is going on in the world around them. However, on some occasions, they may appear "normal", leading others to believe that the person with ADHD can control such behaviors. As a result of this, ADHD can hinder the person's relationships and interactions with others in addition to disrupting their daily life and lowering self-esteem. To determine whether or not a person has ADHD, specialists must consider several questions: Do these behaviors occur more often than in other people of the same age? Are the behaviors an ongoing problem, not just a response to a [temporary] situation? Do the behaviors occur only in one specific place or in several different settings? In answering these questions, the person's behavior patterns are compared to a set of criteria and characteristics of ADHD. The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) presents this set of criteria. According to the DSM, there are three patterns of behavior that indicate ADHD: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. According to the DSM, signs of inattention include: becoming easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds; failing to pay attention to details and making careless mistakes; rarely following instructions carefully and/or completely; and constantly losing or forgetting things like books, pencils, tools, and such. Some signs of hyperactivity... ...ith accompanying conduct disorders control their impulsive, destructive behaviors. However, these drugs don't cure ADHD, they only temporarily control the symptoms. Many health professionals recommend that these medications be used in combination with some type of therapy, training, and/or support group. Such options include: psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, social skills training, parental skills training (for parents with ADHD children), and support groups. Although most people with ADHD don't "outgrow" it, they do learn how to adapt and live better, more fulfilling lives. With the proper combination of medicine, family, and emotional support, people who have ADHD can develop ways to better control their behavior. Through further studies, scientists are better understanding the nature of biological disorders. New research is allowing us to better understand how our minds and bodies work, along with new medicines and treatments that continue to be developed. Even though there is no immediate cure for ADHD, research continues to provide information, knowledge, and hope.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Essay --
Pedro Ventura Mary Cook English 1302.54 13 February 2014 E1. Analysis Literary Analysis of ââ¬Å"A Good Man is Hard to Findâ⬠- Worry about yourself instead of others!!! In todayââ¬â¢s society, people are so concerned about others people lifeââ¬â¢s that they lose the real meaning to theirs. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a great example of that. The short story was about a grandmother that lived her life pointing out other peopleââ¬â¢s defects but had not realized her own. The short story was first published in 1959, and it all started with a family planning a road trip to Florida. Although, the grandmother wanted to go to Tennessee, her son, Bailey insisted in going to Florida. As they were traveling to Florida, the grandmother started to talk about an old house that she thought was close by. As a result, it caused the family to deviate the road they were on due to a tantrum the kids made. The grandmother then realized that the house was in Tennessee and not in Georgia, as a result it caused Bailey to lose control of the car and crash. As they were checking if everyone were okay a car pulled over besides them, and 3 men got out all carrying guns. Quickly, the grandmother recognizes the driver as The Misfit, as a result it led to everyone dying in the hands of the driver with his two accomplices. What I got from the literature is that life is too short to live pointing out others defects. Before people point out others defects, they might want to take into consideration and examine their defects. For example, the grandmother was too concerned about others defects that she did not realize that her defects were just as bad since she was selfish, racist, and arrogant. The grandmother showed many bad characteristics like her being racist. Throughout th... ...ave begged for her son and grandchildren life instead of trying save her life. The type of literary element shown here is conflict. The type of conflict that is shown is man versus man because the grandmother is constantly trying to convince someone in doing something else. It also shows conflict because the grandmother was begging for her life, but at the end that did not work because she ended up getting killed either way. All in all, there will always be people that will judge every move everyone else does in life just like the grandmother did in the story. As a result, people will just have to learn how to deal with it because if others decide to judge them they are probably doing something right. However, if you decide to judge someone else before you do it turn the critical eye on yourself and judge your personal life and ask yourself how is your life doing? Essay -- Pedro Ventura Mary Cook English 1302.54 13 February 2014 E1. Analysis Literary Analysis of ââ¬Å"A Good Man is Hard to Findâ⬠- Worry about yourself instead of others!!! In todayââ¬â¢s society, people are so concerned about others people lifeââ¬â¢s that they lose the real meaning to theirs. A Good Man is Hard to Find is a great example of that. The short story was about a grandmother that lived her life pointing out other peopleââ¬â¢s defects but had not realized her own. The short story was first published in 1959, and it all started with a family planning a road trip to Florida. Although, the grandmother wanted to go to Tennessee, her son, Bailey insisted in going to Florida. As they were traveling to Florida, the grandmother started to talk about an old house that she thought was close by. As a result, it caused the family to deviate the road they were on due to a tantrum the kids made. The grandmother then realized that the house was in Tennessee and not in Georgia, as a result it caused Bailey to lose control of the car and crash. As they were checking if everyone were okay a car pulled over besides them, and 3 men got out all carrying guns. Quickly, the grandmother recognizes the driver as The Misfit, as a result it led to everyone dying in the hands of the driver with his two accomplices. What I got from the literature is that life is too short to live pointing out others defects. Before people point out others defects, they might want to take into consideration and examine their defects. For example, the grandmother was too concerned about others defects that she did not realize that her defects were just as bad since she was selfish, racist, and arrogant. The grandmother showed many bad characteristics like her being racist. Throughout th... ...ave begged for her son and grandchildren life instead of trying save her life. The type of literary element shown here is conflict. The type of conflict that is shown is man versus man because the grandmother is constantly trying to convince someone in doing something else. It also shows conflict because the grandmother was begging for her life, but at the end that did not work because she ended up getting killed either way. All in all, there will always be people that will judge every move everyone else does in life just like the grandmother did in the story. As a result, people will just have to learn how to deal with it because if others decide to judge them they are probably doing something right. However, if you decide to judge someone else before you do it turn the critical eye on yourself and judge your personal life and ask yourself how is your life doing?
Monday, September 2, 2019
Marcus Tullius Cicero :: Ancient Rome Roman History
Marcus Tullius Cicero "We are in bondage to the law in order that we may be set free" Marcus Tullius Cicero came into philosophical fame during the Roman Republic era. At a very young age, Cicero, who came from a modest home, made it his ambition to hold a high political position in Rome. Unfortunately, his middle class ancestry restricted his ability in achieving his goals. As a result he sought a military position to gain authority. Cicero proved to be an ineffective soldier, which gradually lead him to select a career in law. In 63 B.C. he moved up in the Roman oligarchy by acquainting himself with many politicians who aided him in obtaining the title of "consul", the highest Roman office. In three years an effective rebel occurred against the Republic from the First Triumvirate of Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. They seized control of the Senate and enforced the ideals of the Roman Empire. Cicero was meant to be included because of his influence, but he clung to the old Republic ideals, which lead to his exile, and he was forbidden to take part in politics. Dur ing his exile, Cicero furthered his studies in philosophy for a year. Cicero still dreamed of the reincarnation of the old Republic, and wrote about the republic and on laws. During this time, it is most likely that the above quote was uttered. Philosophy and jurisprudence were directly related in Cicero's studies. His studies included his despise of the Roman lifestyle, which consisted of low morals and disrespect for life. This lifestyle built the foundation for the laws that were set to keep Rome in order. Cicero's quote that in order to be truly content and limitless to the world, citizens must abide by the laws made by the Senate. "We are in bondage to the law..." suggests that as a group, the citizens of Rome were slaves to a greater influence, the laws that made Rome an exceptional kingdom. The laws made by the Senate were made to respect and protect the foundation of Rome and the interests of its people, "...in order that we may be set free." Cicero implies that, if the citizens of Rome follow the laws, they will be able to live their lives without being looked down upon by the rest of the citizens who follow the laws. In Cicero's political career, he held an important position in the Senate and was greatly respecte d.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Moment of Truth Essay
The crowd was deafening. A few drunken chants, a boo here and there was all I could make out over my asthma-like pants. I didnââ¬â¢t blame them though. For two rounds Iââ¬â¢ve been dodging, shifting, and shoving myself around the ring. I didnââ¬â¢t stand still, I couldnââ¬â¢t stand still. I wasnââ¬â¢t going to win this one. He was too big, too bulky, too mean looking. ââ¬Å"Thereââ¬â¢s no way heââ¬â¢s 76 kg, there must have been some sort of mistakeâ⬠I kept telling myself. I was a half expecting the referee to stop us saying ââ¬Å"Sorry gentlemen, there was a mistake in the matching, and Iââ¬â¢m gonna call a ââ¬ËNo Contestââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬ . But I knew that wasnââ¬â¢t the case, just a bit of wishful thinking to ease the pain. He came at me again, this time more aggressively. It was probably the frustration, or maybe he wanted the knockout. Either way, I was losing and I knew it. For a second, I thought of taking the fall just to give the crowd something to talk about. He tried his best to trap me, but I kept backing up and prolonging this dance of ours. ââ¬Å"Two minutes! Do somethingâ⬠I thought I heard my corner shout. I dashed back one more time, thatââ¬â¢s when I saw the slight buckle in his knees. He was tired, exhausted, spent, almost expired. His mass advantage worked against him when it came to endurance. Now is my shot, it was either hit or miss. But I wasnââ¬â¢t going to waste it on an offensive strike. It had to be a counter, or he would expect it. I planted myself, and like a fish to the bait he came for the trap and swung. I flung out my jab to deflect his and countered with a right straight while my eyes were closed. I felt the contact, opened my eyes, he wasnââ¬â¢t there. The referee pushed me to the opposite corner as he continued the count. Everytime he yelled a number, the crowd would repeat it more frantically. Yal Wahsh! â⬠I heard my roommate call from the corner. By the seven count, the referee realized all hope for the staggering beast were lost and declared me the winner. I was overwhelmed, I had one my first prize-fighting match and it felt like it should. ââ¬Å"I hate these things! Theyââ¬â¢re ridiculousâ⬠I complained to myself as I unwrapped my knuckle wrappings. The locker room was smaller than i was used to and it had this wet dog stench about it but my face still wore a smile. ââ¬Å"Hey! How are you? ok? â⬠I was startled by a deep voice echoing behind me. I turned to see a small figure of a man. An old man. He wore an unbuttoned shirt with a wife-beater underneath. An earring on the left ear, and a mountainous gut. ââ¬Å"Yeah Iââ¬â¢m good, thanks. â⬠I answered resuming what I was doing. ââ¬Å"Thatââ¬â¢s a good win out there, you know I used to be a boxer? â⬠He questioned rhetorically. ââ¬Å"Oh really? , What happened? â⬠I replied with a smug smirk on my face knowing the sarcasm went unnoticed. ââ¬Å"Youââ¬â¢re funny kid? eh? â⬠he replied with after a light chuckle. ââ¬Å"Everyone will grow old one day, this will never change. â⬠â⬠Trueâ⬠I nodded, extracting his ideas from his broken English. This is for you,â⬠he said while extending a hand lighting clutching a bulky envelope. ââ¬Å"Oh, arenââ¬â¢t I supposed to stop by the managerââ¬â¢s office to pick up my check? â⬠I asked bluntly. It was received with a laugh, ââ¬Å"This isnââ¬â¢t part of your prize, itââ¬â¢s just something extra from me. You made good money. Thirteen to one against you, I liked that and I won. So here, a tip eh? â⬠I blindly grabbed the envelope from him and thanked him, not knowing what I had started. A card slid out of the envelope and onto the ground. ââ¬Å"Anothony G. DeBatista ââ¬â White Arrow Barâ⬠was what I realized it said after picking it up. I recognized the place, I walked by it on my way to university every day, I just never really noticed it. Day after day, I found myself more drawn to the shady local bar. Everyday I didnââ¬â¢t go, I felt more inclined to do so the next day. It was as if I owed him something and I was putting it off. ââ¬Å"The least I could do is drop by, right? â⬠I convinced myself one time after class. I walked in, startled by the simultaneous bell but quickly realized what it was. There werenââ¬â¢t many people occupying the seats, I could see a group, much younger than I, sipping away at their ill-gotten delights and rambling on about how tough life was. In almost every sense of the word, it was shady, if not just plain out creepy. ââ¬Å"Come around, to the backâ⬠I heard a familiar deep voice bark at me from behind the bar. So I squeezed under the counter and entered the make-shift kitchen Tony was sitting in. We started a conversation of senseless formalities, almost as if he was checking up on me. I was curious about what he really wanted to talk about. I was also intrigued by the question of why a simple bar owner carried a business card. But all these speculations were put to rest when I eventually realized all he wanted to do was talk. Nearly every day after class, I would stop by at Tonyââ¬â¢s just for a casual chat. We would talk about sports, politics, anything that caught our mutual interest; we would find a way to discuss it, constantly reinforcing the age gap with our conflicting views on the same matters. Sometimes weââ¬â¢d play chess, sometimes he would send me out on errands he couldnââ¬â¢t find the time to do himself. I had to admit, I enjoyed that old manââ¬â¢s company. I felt that I could learn a lot from such wisdom. It wasnââ¬â¢t until I was approached by a fellow classmate that I disrupted this pattern. He had seen me constantly wandering off into the bar, and asked me who it belonged to. So i replied, ââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s Tonyââ¬â¢s Barâ⬠thinking it to be an inquisitive question. My classmate filled me in on everything I didnââ¬â¢t want to know about Tony. I didnââ¬â¢t want to know about how he owned 32 apartment complexes around Malta, had a significant amount of shares in the casino business, and was known to be a contact to the Sicilian crime family. I dismissed it all at first, thinking it too ridiculous to be true. ââ¬Å"Believe it or not man, it is what it is. â⬠he added when he saw my disbelief. Most people would cut ties after hearing something like that, ââ¬Å"nip it in the budâ⬠as they say. Not me though, I was still in a state of awe. To be honest, it was more of a state of intrigue than disbelief. There was something about that scenario that appealed to me. I had always loved mobster movies, everything from ââ¬Å"The Godfatherâ⬠to ââ¬Å"The Departedâ⬠. I kept going to Tonyââ¬â¢s bar, despite knowing who or what he was. Every time I walked through that door, I walked out a little more confident, a little more powerful, a little more corrupted. I was protected, and I acted like it. I really wish you luck, Omar, Iââ¬â¢ve got quite a number on you. â⬠Tony exclaimed before i entered the locker room. ââ¬Å"Money in the bank. â⬠I replied with a smug smile. I spoke too confidently, I couldnââ¬â¢t lose this. I bumped fists with my opponent and with the bell began my downfall. Punch after punch, I couldnââ¬â¢t see them coming anymore. He was faster than I thought. Every time that bell rang, I sat in the corner preaching myself new strategies, although I knew Iââ¬â¢ve already lost. I had to win this though, Tony was counting on me. What if he loses a fortune on this? What if I fall from grace? Would it upset him? Would he do something about it? My mind went into a spiral of pessimism and panic. It had just dawned on me how dire my situation had become. ââ¬Å"No worries,â⬠I told myself, ââ¬Å"I still have a round left, itââ¬â¢s not too late. I just have to take him down. â⬠The bell rang and I dashed for the offensive. I had gone in too fast, and extended my jab too early. Mere target practice for him, I was caught with a straight and a left hook to follow. Its a funny feeling, being knocked out. Your mind makes you believe youââ¬â¢re still awake while your body completely fails you. You end up staggering fully conscious in mind, telling the referee youââ¬â¢re still alright to fight while your knees are giving in. The referee called the match, I knew I had lost. ââ¬Å"God damn these wraps! â⬠I found myself saying again. The locker room was once again abandoned except for my sad self. The door was knocked and my heart along with it. I knew it was Tony. I just didnââ¬â¢t know what to expect. ââ¬Å"Come inâ⬠I answered hesitantly. ââ¬Å"Hey kid, quite a fight eh? â⬠he said not really expecting an answer. ââ¬Å"Iââ¬â¢m sorry, Tony, I donââ¬â¢t know what happenedâ⬠I shot back almost instantly. Sorry? I didnââ¬â¢t get hit, youââ¬â¢re the one who got hitâ⬠he replied jokingly, â⬠Why are you sorry? â⬠. ââ¬Å"Arenââ¬â¢t you pissed about the money? â⬠I asked half-heatedly. He burst out in a chuckle ââ¬Å"Malla, money is always coming and going my friend, youââ¬â¢ll do better next time, just train alright? â⬠With that, he walked out, leaving me to my own devices. I couldnââ¬â¢t believe how stupid I had been. Stupid enough to assume that fantasy role I had taken, a gangster, in all sense of the word. I was no gangster, and I certainly didnââ¬â¢t have the heart for it. I was a nine-teen year old kid with his whole life ahead of him, but that was a role I never wanted to be. Itââ¬â¢s almost poetic, when reality sets in and your eyes open up for the first time since birth. Thatââ¬â¢s when I became fully aware of my surroundings, truly appreciative of the things I was, and the things I wasnââ¬â¢t, and couldnââ¬â¢t be. I proclaimed this my rebirth, and it didnââ¬â¢t take a spiritual awakening or holy revelation to acquire it. All it took was one situation, one experience, and one hell of a scare to bring me back to reality. I never really saw Tony that much after that. Every time I passed that bar, Iââ¬â¢d just leave it to sulk in its own gloomy haze. Iââ¬â¢d remember how I sold out the memories, the laughter, the debates, the chess games, and the friendship to prejudge on reputation. Tony was a bad man, probably. In a way, though, Tony was a good man, at least to me. A friend when I needed him to be, a mentor at other times. No matter what the man had done in his past, I couldnââ¬â¢t deny him his wisdom. Eventually, I read in the paper that Tony was apprehended after a drug smuggling sting and sentenced to six years. He was out in three months. Like I was told, heââ¬â¢s connected.
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