Film (movie) analysis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Film (movie) analysis paper - Essay Example But because of the desperation of losing her job as a florist and being impregnated by boyfriend who hesitated to marry her, she took the risk and became a drug mule. The backdrop of the movie provides a broad understanding of the life in rural Colombia, where Maria spent her earlier life. The plot of the film gives a dark feel of the life in the rural environment which includes the overpopulated rural households that struggles to fend for themselves in a country where social mischief caused by drug trade has slumped economic progress. Poverty, socio-political injustice, and violence continue to play a significant role in shaping the social wellbeing of the small country and served as a justification why such a nice girl such as Maria is driven into the drug trade. In addition to the socio-cultural background of poverty that drives people into drug trade, Joshua Marston, the movie director also oriented the audience about the kind of environment Colombia has that induces people to part of the trade etiher as a pusher or a mule. It depicted the pervasiveness of the drug in the country that made the industry so accessible to anyone in despair. It provided the audience understanding that people are not really born drug mules or drug addicts but rather they are just induced and conditioned by their surrounding. Columbia has such an unhealthy environment that makes drug so common that the fear of the criminal and health consequence of being involved in the trade is dulled by its commonality. And this explains why Maria who is such a nice, smart and driven girl would go into the dangerous and illegal drug trade. In contrast, the film also showed the environment of New York to underscore how abject the environment of Colombia is. The greener pastures presented by New York City also inspired the young Colombians to engage in the perilous business, in the hope that one day they will

Impact of General Anti-Avoidance Rule in India

Impact of General Anti-Avoidance Rule in India Dr. Sanjiv Mittal, Dr. Sunil Kumar, Dr. Pradeep Agarwal, Dr. Mohinder Kumar Introduction General Anti-Avoidance Rule, most popularly known as GAAR Rules were introduced in India by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee the then Finance Minister in March 2012. This rule was introduced to stop the tax evaders or rather to reduce the transactions whose core motive is to evade taxes. The rule targeted, primarily, all the companies that were set up in Mauritius as Shell Companies. These companies had no motive of doing business in Mauritius. The core motive was to route investments into India, utilizing the tax friendly treaty signed between the two nations. Many domestic and foreign firms were doing so. According to data from various trusted sources, between April 2000 and April 2011, total FDI equity inflows from Mauritius to our country were 42 percent of total FDI equity flows. After introduction of GAAR rules, most of the investors domestic and foreign started criticizing it. Investors perception started taking a down turn. This decision was looked at as if the government is trying to demote FDI inflows and is not interested in foreign investments. Summary Due to all the criticism received by GAAR on its first proposal in The Direct Tax Code DTC, it was announced in the Finance Bill 2012 that it will be reintroduced with some changes which are required and will be in effect from 1st April 2014. An expert committee was set up to recommend the changes in the existing rules. According to the paper, GAAR was adopted from the South African Tax Laws. It was copied without paying much attention towards meaning. So, some words had different context in South Africa and different in India which resulted in misuse of the law at different stages. Main issues under the proposed anti-avoidance rules are as follows: Rules of tax avoidance are defined in a manner that they contain as many circumstances and instances of tax avoidance as possible. This leads to ambiguity and increased number of litigations. Anti-avoidance rules come in picture when the main purpose of a transaction is to get tax benefit. The meaning of main purpose is not defined and it is left in the hands of the court to decide the main purpose of ant transaction. Suppose the anti-avoidance rules are triggered while making a transaction. In such case, it is not certain as to the complete effect of the transaction will be given or not. Whether the double taxation would be completely avoided or not. Even in a case when the tax authorities do not have any proof against tax payer, it is his responsibility to prove to them that the main purpose of the transaction was not to avoid paying taxes. In case of any transaction, the provisions of this act are applicable at all times without there being any cut-off date. Due to which, past transactions create an impact in the regime of Direct Tax Code. So, it does not matter whether the tax officer authorises the transaction or not. After the announcement made by the Finance Minister in March 2012, there has been a significant decline in the investments made by foreign entities. There has been uncertainty over the impact of regulations on the foreign institutional investors. Indian equity markets showed higher deviations and instability after the announcement as the investors have become cautious in making their investments. In initial 3 months, markets showed good figures in terms of investment interest but not so well after the announcement as shown by the figures in the table below: MONTH GROSS PURCHASE (CR) GROSS SALE (CR) NET INVESTMENT (CR) CUMULATIVE INVESTMENT ($MN) January 2012 50,467.40 40,109.90 10,357.70 2,037.22 February 2012 79,898.60 54,686.60 25,212.10 5,127.67 March 2012 63,795.10 55,413.80 8,381.10 1,684.82 April 2012 41,091.90 42,200.50 -1,109.10 -205.53 May 2012 6,716.50 5,840.40 876.10 166.21 Source: http://www.indiainfoline.com In secondary market, most of the shares of the Indian companies are held by the Foreign Institutional Investors. Market pressures have increased in last few months and as a result these companies are struggling in their performance. Markets are expected to show volatility in the upcoming months also. Case Laws Case Law 1 (Vodafone Tax Case): In 2007, CGP investment based at Cayman Island was an intermediary company of Hutchinson of Hong Kong. This CGP companys investments had 67% shares of Hutch Essar India. Now when Vodafone bought CGP, they indirectly brought and became owner of Hutch Essar as well. The tax department was of the view that this transaction had the effect of indirect transfer of assets situated in India and thus tax liability arises for Vodafone. Bombay High Court ruled in favour of the Indian government but on further appeal by Vodafone to the Supreme Court, the decision turned in favour of Vodafone. Supreme Court concluded that the transfer of the share in CGP did not result in the transfer of a capital asset situated in India, and gains from such transfer could not be subject to Income tax. Finance Minister clarified in IT act 2012 that CGT will be payable outside India if its value is derived from Indian assets. Thus, GAAR was introduced in 2012 budget to stop all such tax avoiding instances. It had a retrospective clause which caused almost all corporates to oppose it. Case Law 2: A company transfers its property used in business to another related corporation for the purpose of deduction of non-capital losses of the related company. All of the shares of the two corporations have been owned by the same taxpayer during the period in which the losses were incurred. If transaction is with the law, then it is well and good. But, if it is done with the purpose of avoiding some tax laws then that is considered a misuse of the provisions of the Act and be subject to provisions of the Act. Thus, genuine corporate reorganization should not be affected. Case Law 3: A firm with a property which has an unrealized capital gain that it wishes to sell to a third party. A related corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary has a net capital loss. Instead of selling the property directly to the third party and realizing a capital gain, the company transfers the property by first selling it to a related corporation to reduce the net taxable capital gain by the amount of its net capital loss. The provisions of the act would not be triggered if cost to the company is considered in determining the cost to the related corporation. Thus, the transfer of property by parent company to its subsidiary company or vice versa under Indian regulations should not be impacted. Case Law 4: A taxable company has agreed to purchase all of the shares of an operating company, which is also a taxable Indian company. The purchaser forms a parent company which completes the transaction by borrowing money. Now both the parent company and subsidiary gets merged so that the interest on the borrowed capital could be deducted in computing the income from the business of the merged company. Under Section 14A, this can be considered as tax benefit and under the GAAR provisions. Applicability to Managerial Decisions and Companys Taxation GAAR will be applicable in India from April 2017, as per the latest announcement made by the government. This decision has its impact on the managerial decision making. As the companies will now have to be cautious and recheck before investing through foreign shell companies like from Mauritius. Due to the changes, the income earned through investments from FII and FDI will now be taxed. This increases companies total tax liabilities and they will have to revisit their investment plans. Government through this decision has provided lot of power to the tax authorities. They can take the tax benefit out of any transaction if they feel that its sole purpose is avoiding taxes. This may lead to harassment of honest investors. This thought has already led to some litigations on the government for taking this action without proper study. There will be a lot of expectations from the judiciary to maintain the perfect balance between the fair and unfair measures used in tax planning. However, managers who do a companys tax planning will have to take responsibility on themselves as to what is the acceptable measure and what is not. Because, at last it is the morals and ethics of a tax payer that guides the final decision. Owen L. Clarke Introduction In this paper, Owen L. Clarke talks about the taxation of corporate income and its effects with respect to the United States of America. It talks about local revenues and state revenues and how are they affected due to taxation. In U.S., corporates can be taxed by states only on the amount of transactions that they undertook within the boundaries of the state. Due to this, they are not able to get good amount of revenues from the economic corporate sector for carrying out the public services. Therefore, there is a probability of loss in revenues in the states. Reforms in taxation were again on top of the list of the U.S. federal government. As tax reforms may have different implication on as many people, here the paper talks about that part of reform which goes with distribution of profits to the corporate shareholders in both, the actual and the economic, sense of the word. It also talks about the consequences it leads to, in terms of taxes. Summary Taxes are an important part of the state revenue in U.S. Still, there is no focus on the current scenario of the states and also the costs incurred to the authorities while providing public services at a state and a local level. This would be the scenario if the recent proposals were brought to practice. The economic policy of the country suggests that the shareholder income and the corporate income should be integrated. So, interests of both the parties may not be in harmony. Many car manufacturers, who have global operations, compete with manufacturers from other nations and thus have to reduce effect of national. This concept of integration is not only complex but also not proper and not fair. State tax authorities looked like answering to general public demand i.e. to combine their corporate and personal tax regulations with the Internal Revenue Code. And many states adopted this, some partially and some completely. Later on, it had to be rechecked and changes had to be made in area of personal tax laws but not in the corporate tax laws. This may be because of the nature of the corporate tax. Massachusetts corporation tax laws were brought in because there was no integration in the corporate and personal taxes on income. This was because of pressure to meet with the payments of public services. Some may think that this integration is a new concept but that is not the case. Massachusetts has integrated both for over a hundred years in 18th and 19th century. Tax was charged in the hands of the shareholders of the company. But, even that was not able to collect enough amount from corporates for the purpose of providing public services. So, in 1863, they replaced it with the system where tax was charged in the hands of the corporates and they were supposed to pay the tax directly to the state authorities. There should be some differences in the logic in which the integration takes place at different levels i.e. at federal and at state level. The things which the state and local administrators provides the corporates and is not provided by the federal administrators. This should be looked upon because they are the only things on which state can demand tax from the corporates. All the tax authorities at the state level try their best to attract different industries in their purview. It should be noted that they provide most of the services directly to the corporates only and not to the shareholders. Therefore, companies should be the one who should pay taxes to the state. Therefore, if the federal administrators decide to enact some integration plans, then that would further increase the losses in revenues of the states which is already a problem. Federal government should look at the effects on the revenue of states and local authorities before accepting any proposal of integration. Because if some acts are changed at the state level then it would cause problems from the taxpayers to comply. The paper concludes that priority and importance should be given to the growth in the national economy rather than the state economy. Many things like capital generation, corporate financing, transfer of investments, etc. should be the focus of the federal authorities rather than different ways of collecting revenues. Author suggests that state tax authorities could deal with these problems of revenues without creating serious disturbances. This could happen if the congress, gives opportunity to the state authorities to draft and present an integration plan which satisfies the motives of both the state and the federal governments. Case Laws United States have many manufacturers and corporates having their operations throughout the world. In the international market, the companies have to compete with manufacturers and corporates from different countries where tax laws are different and thus the costs of the firm may be less. Now to stay competitive in the international markets and keep generating revenues from all over the world, the corporates should be charged less with the income taxes and such taxes should be charged in the hands of the shareholders for dividends that they receive. Applicability to Managerial Decisions and Companys Taxation If the federal government decides to collect income taxes not from the corporates but from the hands of the shareholders for the dividends that they earn from the corporate, then the managerial decision making will get changed in a certain way. Corporates will have to pay less taxes and the profits will increase with increase in revenues from the international markets. They will have more funds available to invest and as a result growth rate will improve. Also, it will reduce the costs incurred on planning to reduce that tax. However, it will increase a little burden on the individuals i.e. shareholders. This may not be good for revenue losses but it will be good for the country in long run. On the other hand, if the state starts collecting taxes directly from the corporates then firms will face though competition in the international markets. But the revenue problems of the states should get resolved. So, an integration plan should be proposed and enacted that resolves the issues of both the federal government and the state governments. References MITTAL, S., KUMAR, S., AGARWAL, P., KUMAR, M. (2013). IMPACT OF GAAR ON INDIAN EQUITY MARKET: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY. CLEAR International Journal of Research in Commerce Management, 4(10), 17-21. Clarke, O. L. (1975). THE TAXATION OF INCOME FROM CORPORATE SHAREHOLDING: STATE AND LOCAL VIEW. National Tax Journal, 28(3), 373-376. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/anti-avoidance-tax-rule-gaar-to-kick-in-from-april-2017/articleshow/56403421.cms http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/all-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-vodafone-tax-case/article5699526.ece https://www.usa.gov/taxes http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/education_materials/modules/Taxes_in_the_United_States.pdf http://www.immihelp.com/newcomer/united-states-taxes.html

Charles Dickens :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Charles Dickens Something about Charles Dickens and his ability to take his reader to unbelievable places with his imaginative powers allows him the honor of being the most popular English novelist of the 19th century. Dickens has thrilled his readers for many years with his down-to-earth stories about real people forced into real situations. Charles Dickens has the ability to tell his stories from personal experiences. He fine-tuned his ability to tell his own story through the life of another character or cast of characters. Born on the evening of February 7, 1812, Charles Dickens was the second child of his parents, John and Elizabeth Dickens.. Although he was a solitary child, Dickens was observant and good natured . Looking back on this period of his life, Dickens thought of it as the golden age (Carey 6). In the first novel that he wrote, The Pickwick Papers, Dickens tries to bring back the good old times as he remembers them with their picturesque nature. Gary Carey believes that this novel displays the happiness of innocence and the playful spirit of the youth during the time of Dickens's youthful days (7). Overtaken by financial difficulties, the Dickens family was forced to move into a shabby suburb of Camden Town. This move must have shown the family how good they had it back in Chatham. There Dickens was removed from school and forced to work degrading menial jobs in an effort to help his struggling father put food on the table. Dickens was put to work in a blackening factory among many rough and cruel employees, probably the worst job in town. Shortly after Dickens started working in the factory his father was thrown into jail for failure to pay his debts, only to be released three months later. This period of time affected Dickens greatly as he went into a period of depression. He felt abandoned and destroyed by this evil roller-coaster ride of life he was on. From this time period come many of the major themes of his more popular novels. Perhaps the most popular of these novels is David Copperfield. In this novel Dickens depicts a young man who grows up in a very similar way to that of his own (Allen 28).

A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-eight

Daenerys Wings shadowed her fever dreams. â€Å"You don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† She was walking down a long hall beneath high stone arches. She could not look behind her, must not look behind her. There was a door ahead of her, tiny with distance, but even from afar, she saw that it was painted red. She walked faster, and her bare feet left bloody footprints on the stone. â€Å"You don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† She saw sunlight on the Dothraki sea, the living plain, rich with the smells of earth and death. Wind stirred the grasses, and they rippled like water. Drogo held her in strong arms, and his hand stroked her sex and opened her and woke that sweet wetness that was his alone, and the stars smiled down on them, stars in a daylight sky. â€Å"Home,† she whispered as he entered her and filled her with his seed, but suddenly the stars were gone, and across the blue sky swept the great wings, and the world took flame. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† Ser Jorah's face was drawn and sorrowful. â€Å"Rhaegar was the last dragon,† he told her. He warmed translucent hands over a glowing brazier where stone eggs smouldered red as coals. One moment he was there and the next he was fading, his flesh colorless, less substantial than the wind. â€Å"The last dragon,† he whispered, thin as a wisp, and was gone. She felt the dark behind her, and the red door seemed farther away than ever. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† Viserys stood before her, screaming. â€Å"The dragon does not beg, slut. You do not command the dragon. I am the dragon, and I will be crowned.† The molten gold trickled down his face like wax, burning deep channels in his flesh. â€Å"I am the dragon and I will be crowned!† he shrieked, and his fingers snapped like snakes, biting at her nipples, pinching, twisting, even as his eyes burst and ran like jelly down seared and blackened cheeks. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon . . . â€Å" The red door was so far ahead of her, and she could feel the icy breath behind, sweeping up on her. If it caught her she would die a death that was more than death, howling forever alone in the darkness. She began to run. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon . . . â€Å" She could feel the heat inside her, a terrible burning in her womb. Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo's copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. And he smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash. She wept for her child, the promise of a sweet mouth on her breast, but her tears turned to steam as they touched her skin. † . . . want to wake the dragon . . . â€Å" Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. â€Å"Faster,† they cried, â€Å"faster, faster.† She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. â€Å"Faster!† the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew. † . . . wake the dragon . . . â€Å" The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings. She could smell home, she could see it, there, just beyond that door, green fields and great stone houses and arms to keep her warm, there. She threw open the door. † . . . the dragon . . . â€Å" And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. â€Å"The last dragon,† Ser Jorah's voice whispered faintly. â€Å"The last, the last.† Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own. After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars. She woke to the taste of ashes. â€Å"No,† she moaned, â€Å"no, please.† â€Å"Khaleesi?† Jhiqui hovered over her, a frightened doe. The tent was drenched in shadow, still and close. Flakes of ash drifted upward from a brazier, and Dany followed them with her eyes through the smoke hole above. Flying, she thought. I had wings, I was flying. But it was only a dream. â€Å"Help me,† she whispered, struggling to rise. â€Å"Bring me . . . † Her voice was raw as a wound, and she could not think what she wanted. Why did she hurt so much? It was as if her body had been torn to pieces and remade from the scraps. â€Å"I want . . . â€Å" â€Å"Yes, Khaleesi.† Quick as that Jhiqui was gone, bolting from the tent, shouting. Dany needed . . . something . . . someone . . . what? It was important, she knew. It was the only thing in the world that mattered. She rolled onto her side and got an elbow under her, fighting the blanket tangled about her legs. It was so hard to move. The world swam dizzily. I have to . . . They found her on the carpet, crawling toward her dragon eggs. Ser Jorah Mormont lifted her in his arms and carried her back to her sleeping silks, while she struggled feebly against him. Over his shoulder she saw her three handmaids, Jhogo with his little wisp of mustache, and the flat broad face of Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"I must,† she tried to tell them, â€Å"I have to . . . â€Å" † . . . sleep, Princess,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"No,† Dany said. â€Å"Please. Please.† â€Å"Yes.† He covered her with silk, though she was burning. â€Å"Sleep and grow strong again, Khaleesi. Come back to us.† And then Mirri Maz Duur was there, the maegi, tipping a cup against her lips. She tasted sour milk, and something else, something thick and bitter. Warm liquid ran down her chin. Somehow she swallowed. The tent grew dimmer, and sleep took her again. This time she did not dream. She floated, serene and at peace, on a black sea that knew no shore. After a time—a night, a day, a year, she could not say—she woke again. The tent was dark, its silken walls flapping like wings when the wind gusted outside. This time Dany did not attempt to rise. â€Å"Irri,† she called, â€Å"Jhiqui. Doreah.† They were there at once. â€Å"My throat is dry,† she said, â€Å"so dry,† and they brought her water. It was warm and flat, yet Dany drank it eagerly, and sent Jhiqui for more. Irri dampened a soft cloth and stroked her brow. â€Å"I have been sick,† Dany said. The Dothraki girl nodded. â€Å"How long?† The cloth was soothing, but Irri seemed so sad, it frightened her. â€Å"Long,† she whispered. When Jhiqui returned with more water, Mirri Maz Duur came with her, eyes heavy from sleep. â€Å"Drink,† she said, lifting Dany's head to the cup once more, but this time it was only wine. Sweet, sweet wine. Dany drank, and lay back, listening to the soft sound of her own breathing . She could feel the heaviness in her limbs, as sleep crept in to fill her up once more. â€Å"Bring me . . . † she murmured, her voice slurred and drowsy. â€Å"Bring . . . I want to hold . . . â€Å" â€Å"Yes?† the maegi asked. â€Å"What is it you wish, Khaleesi?† â€Å"Bring me . . . egg . . . dragon's egg . . . please . . . † Her lashes turned to lead, and she was too weary to hold them up. When she woke the third time, a shaft of golden sunlight was pouring through the smoke hole of the tent, and her arms were wrapped around a dragon's egg. It was the pale one, its scales the color of butter cream, veined with whorls of gold and bronze, and Dany could feel the heat of it. Beneath her bedsilks, a fine sheen of perspiration covered her bare skin. Dragondew, she thought. Her fingers trailed lightly across the surface of the shell, tracing the wisps of gold, and deep in the stone she felt something twist and stretch in response. It did not frighten her. All her fear was gone, burned away. Dany touched her brow. Under the film of sweat, her skin was cool to the touch, her fever gone. She made herself sit. There was a moment of dizziness, and the deep ache between her thighs. Yet she felt strong. Her maids came running at the sound of her voice. â€Å"Water,† she told them, â€Å"a flagon of water, cold as you can find it. And fruit, I think. Dates.† â€Å"As you say, Khaleesi.† â€Å"I want Ser Jorah,† she said, standing. Jhiqui brought a sandsilk robe and draped it over her shoulders. â€Å"And a warm bath, and Mirri Maz Duur, and . . . † Memory came back to her all at once, and she faltered. â€Å"Khal Drogo,† she forced herself to say, watching their faces with dread. â€Å"Is he&mdash?† â€Å"The khal lives,† Irri answered quietly . . . yet Dany saw a darkness in her eyes when she said the words, and no sooner had she spoken than she rushed away to fetch water. She turned to Doreah. â€Å"Tell me.† â€Å"I . . . I shall bring Ser Jorah,† the Lysene girl said, bowing her head and fleeing the tent. Jhiqui would have run as well, but Dany caught her by the wrist and held her captive. â€Å"What is it? I must know. Drogo . . . and my child.† Why had she not remembered the child until now? â€Å"My son . . . Rhaego . . . where is he? I want him.† Her handmaid lowered her eyes. â€Å"The boy . . . he did not live, Khaleesi.† Her voice was a frightened whisper. Dany released her wrist. My son is dead, she thought as Jhiqui left the tent. She had known somehow. She had known since she woke the first time to Jhiqui's tears. No, she had known before she woke. Her dream came back to her, sudden and vivid, and she remembered the tall man with the copper skin and long silver-gold braid, bursting into flame. She should weep, she knew, yet her eyes were dry as ash. She had wept in her dream, and the tears had turned to steam on her cheeks. All the grief has been burned out of me, she told herself. She felt sad, and yet . . . she could feel Rhaego receding from her, as if he had never been. Ser Jorah and Mirri Maz Duur entered a few moments later, and found Dany standing over the other dragon's eggs, the two still in their chest. It seemed to her that they felt as hot as the one she had slept with, which was passing strange. â€Å"Ser Jorah, come here,† she said. She took his hand and placed it on the black egg with the scarlet swirls. â€Å"What do you feel?† â€Å"Shell, hard as rock.† The knight was wary. â€Å"Scales.† â€Å"Heat?† â€Å"No. Cold stone.† He took his hand away. â€Å"Princess, are you well? Should you be up, weak as you are?† â€Å"Weak? I am strong, Jorah.† To please him, she reclined on a pile of cushions. â€Å"Tell me how my child died.† â€Å"He never lived, my princess. The women say . . . † He faltered, and Dany saw how the flesh hung loose on him, and the way he limped when he moved. â€Å"Tell me. Tell me what the women say.† He turned his face away. His eyes were haunted. â€Å"They say the child was . . . â€Å" She waited, but Ser Jorah could not say it. His face grew dark with shame. He looked half a corpse himself. â€Å"Monstrous,† Mirri Maz Duur finished for him. The knight was a powerful man, yet Dany understood in that moment that the maegi was stronger, and crueler, and infinitely more dangerous. â€Å"Twisted. I drew him forth myself. He was scaled like a lizard, blind, with the stub of a tail and small leather wings like the wings of a bat. When I touched him, the flesh sloughed off the bone, and inside he was full of graveworms and the stink of corruption. He had been dead for years.† Darkness, Dany thought. The terrible darkness sweeping up behind to devour her. If she looked back she was lost. â€Å"My son was alive and strong when Ser Jorah carried me into this tent,† she said. â€Å"I could feel him kicking, fighting to be born.† â€Å"That may be as it may be,† answered Mirri Maz Duur, â€Å"yet the creature that came forth from your womb was as I said. Death was in that tent, Khaleesi.† â€Å"Only shadows,† Ser Jorah husked, but Dany could hear the doubt in his voice. â€Å"I saw, maegi. I saw you, alone, dancing with the shadows. â€Å" â€Å"The grave casts long shadows, Iron Lord,† Mirri said. â€Å"Long and dark, and in the end no light can hold them back.† Ser Jorah had killed her son, Dany knew. He had done what he did for love and loyalty, yet he had carried her into a place no living man should go and fed her baby to the darkness. He knew it too; the grey face, the hollow eyes, the limp. â€Å"The shadows have touched you too, Ser Jorah,† she told him. The knight made no reply. Dany turned to the godswife. â€Å"You warned me that only death could pay for life. I thought you meant the horse.† â€Å"No,† Mirri Maz Duur said. â€Å"That was a lie you told yourself. You knew the price.† Had she? Had she? If I look back I am lost. â€Å"The price was paid,† Dany said. â€Å"The horse, my child, Quaro and Qotho, Haggo and Cohollo. The price was paid and paid and paid.† She rose from her cushions. â€Å"Where is Khal Drogo? Show him to me, godswife, maegi, bloodmage, whatever you are. Show me Khal Drogo. Show me what I bought with my son's life.† â€Å"As you command, Khaleesi,† the old woman said. â€Å"Come, I will take you to him.† Dany was weaker than she knew. Ser Jorah slipped an arm around her and helped her stand. â€Å"Time enough for this later, my princess,† he said quietly. â€Å"I would see him now, Ser Jorah.† After the dimness of the tent, the world outside was blinding bright. The sun burned like molten gold, and the land was seared and empty. Her handmaids waited with fruit and wine and water, and Jhogo moved close to help Ser Jorah support her. Aggo and Rakharo stood behind. The glare of sun on sand made it hard to see more, until Dany raised her hand to shade her eyes. She saw the ashes of a fire, a few score horses milling listlessly and searching for a bite of grass, a scattering of tents and bedrolls. A small crowd of children had gathered to watch her, and beyond she glimpsed women going about their work, and withered old men staring at the flat blue sky with tired eyes, swatting feebly at bloodflies. A count might show a hundred people, no more. Where the other forty thousand had made their camp, only the wind and dust lived now. â€Å"Drogo's khalasar is gone,† she said. â€Å"A khal who cannot ride is no khal,† said Jhogo. â€Å"The Dothraki follow only the strong,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"I am sorry, my princess. There was no way to hold them. Ko Pono left first, naming himself Khal Pono, and many followed him. Jhaqo was not long to do the same. The rest slipped away night by night, in large bands and small. There are a dozen new khalasars on the Dothraki sea, where once there was only Drogo's.† â€Å"The old remain,† said Aggo. â€Å"The frightened, the weak, and the sick. And we who swore. We remain.† â€Å"They took Khal Drogo's herds, Khaleesi,† Rakharo said. â€Å"We were too few to stop them. It is the right of the strong to take from the weak. They took many slaves as well, the khal's and yours, yet they left some few.† â€Å"Eroeh?† asked Dany, remembering the frightened child she had saved outside the city of the Lamb Men. â€Å"Mago seized her, who is Khal Jhaqo's bloodrider now,† said Jhogo. â€Å"He mounted her high and low and gave her to his khal, and Jhaqo gave her to his other bloodriders. They were six. When they were done with her, they cut her throat.† â€Å"It was her fate, Khaleesi,† said Aggo. If I look back I am lost. â€Å"It was a cruel fate,† Dany said, â€Å"yet not so cruel as Mago's will be. I promise you that, by the old gods and the new, by the lamb god and the horse god and every god that lives. I swear it by the Mother of Mountains and the Womb of the World. Before I am done with them, Mago and Ko Jhaqo will plead for the mercy they showed Eroeh.† The Dothraki exchanged uncertain glances. â€Å"Khaleesi, † the handmaid Irri explained, as if to a child, â€Å"Jhaqo is a khal now, with twenty thousand riders at his back.† She lifted her head. â€Å"And I am Daenerys Stormhorn, Daenerys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and Maegor the Cruel and old Valyria before them. I am the dragon's daughter, and I swear to you, these men will die screaming. Now bring me to Khal Drogo.† He was lying on the bare red earth, staring up at the sun. A dozen bloodflies had settled on his body, though he did not seem to feel them. Dany brushed them away and knelt beside him. His eyes were wide open but did not see, and she knew at once that he was blind. When she whispered his name, he did not seem to hear. The wound on his breast was as healed as it would ever be, the scar that covered it grey and red and hideous. â€Å"Why is he out here alone, in the sun?† she asked them. â€Å"He seems to like the warmth, Princess,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"His eyes follow the sun, though he does not see it. He can walk after a fashion. He will go where you lead him, but no farther. He will eat if you put food in his mouth, drink if you dribble water on his lips.† Dany kissed her sun-and-stars gently on the brow, and stood to face Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"Your spells are costly, maegi.† â€Å"He lives,† said Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"You asked for life. You paid for life.† â€Å"This is not life, for one who was as Drogo was. His life was laughter, and meat roasting over a firepit, and a horse between his legs. His life was an arakh in his hand and his bells ringing in his hair as he rode to meet an enemy. His life was his bloodriders, and me, and the son I was to give him.† Mirri Maz Duur made no reply. â€Å"When will he be as he was?† Dany demanded. â€Å"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,† said Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before.† Dany gestured at Ser Jorah and the others. â€Å"Leave us. I would speak with this maegi alone.† Mormont and the Dothraki withdrew. â€Å"You knew,† Dany said when they were gone. She ached, inside and out, but her fury gave her strength. â€Å"You knew what I was buying, and you knew the price, and yet you let me pay it.† â€Å"It was wrong of them to burn my temple,† the heavy, flat-nosed woman said placidly. â€Å"That angered the Great Shepherd.† â€Å"This was no god's work,† Dany said coldly. If I look back I am lost. â€Å"You cheated me. You murdered my child within me.† â€Å"The stallion who mounts the world will burn no cities now. His khalasar shall trample no nations into dust.† â€Å"I spoke for you,† she said, anguished. â€Å"I saved you.† â€Å"Saved me?† The Lhazareen woman spat. â€Å"Three riders had taken me, not as a man takes a woman but from behind, as a dog takes a bitch. The fourth was in me when you rode past. How then did you save me? I saw my god's house burn, where I had healed good men beyond counting. My home they burned as well, and in the street I saw piles of heads. I saw the head of a baker who made my bread. I saw the head of a boy I had saved from deadeye fever, only three moons past. I heard children crying as the riders drove them off with their whips. Tell me again what you saved.† â€Å"Your life.† Mirri Maz Duur laughed cruelly. â€Å"Look to your khal and see what life is worth, when all the rest is gone.† Dany called out for the men of her khas and bid them take Mirri Maz Duur and bind her hand and foot, but the maegi smiled at her as they carried her off, as if they shared a secret. A word, and Dany could have her head off . . . yet then what would she have? A head? If life was worthless, what was death? They led Khal Drogo back to her tent, and Dany commanded them to fill a tub, and this time there was no blood in the water. She bathed him herself, washing the dirt and the dust from his arms and chest, cleaning his face with a soft cloth, soaping his long black hair and combing the knots and tangles from it till it shone again as she remembered. It was well past dark before she was done, and Dany was exhausted. She stopped for drink and food, but it was all she could do to nibble at a fig and keep down a mouthful of water. Sleep would have been a release, but she had slept enough . . . too long, in truth. She owed this night to Drogo, for all the nights that had been, and yet might be. The memory of their first ride was with her when she led him out into the darkness, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky. She told herself that there were powers stronger than hatred, and spells older and truer than any the maegi had learned in Asshai. The night was black and moonless, but overhead a million stars burned bright. She took that for an omen. No soft blanket of grass welcomed them here, only the hard dusty ground, bare and strewn with stones. No trees stirred in the wind, and there was no stream to soothe her fears with the gentle music of water. Dany told herself that the stars would be enough. â€Å"Remember, Drogo,† she whispered. â€Å"Remember our first ride together, the day we wed. Remember the night we made Rhaego, with the khalasar all around us and your eyes on my face. Remember how cool and clean the water was in the Womb of the World. Remember, my sun-and-stars. Remember, and come back to me.† The birth had left her too raw and torn to take him inside of her, as she would have wanted, but Doreah had taught her other ways. Dany used her hands, her mouth, her breasts. She raked him with her nails and covered him with kisses and whispered and prayed and told him stories, and by the end she had bathed him with her tears. Yet Drogo did not feel, or speak, or rise. And when the bleak dawn broke over an empty horizon, Dany knew that he was truly lost to her. â€Å"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,† she said sadly. â€Å"When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When my womb quickens again, and I bear a living child. Then you will return, my sun-and-stars, and not before.† Never, the darkness cried, never never never. Inside the tent Dany found a cushion, soft silk stuffed with feathers. She clutched it to her breasts as she walked back out to Drogo, to her sun-and-stars. If I look back I am lost. It hurt even to walk, and she wanted to sleep, to sleep and not to dream. She knelt, kissed Drogo on the lips, and pressed the cushion down across his face.

Ntu Career

Score: 120 out of 120 points (100%) 1. award: 10 out of 10 points Which of the following valuation measures is often used to compare firms which have no earnings? Price-to-book ratio P/E ratio Price-to-cash flow ratio Price-to-sales ratio 2. award: 10 out of 10 points When Google's share price reached $475 per share Google had a P/E ratio of about 68 and an estimated market capitalization rate of 11. 5%. Google pays no dividends. What percentage of Google's stock price was represented by PVGO? 92% 87% 77% 64% 3. award: 10 out of 10 points A firm is expected to produce earnings next year of $3. 00 per share.It plans to reinvest 25% of its earnings at 20%. If the cost of equity if 11%, what should be the value of the stock? $27. 27 $50. 00 $66. 67 $70. 00 g = . 25 x . 20 = . 05; P = 3. 0/(. 11 – . 05) = 50. 00 4. award: 10 out of 10 points The free cash flow to the firm is reported as $198 million. The interest expense to the firm is $15 million. If the tax rate is 35% and the n et debt of the firm increased by $20 million, what is the market value of the firm if the FCFE grows at 3% and the cost of equity is 14%? $1,893 billion $1,893 billion $2,497 billion $2,585 billion $3,098 billion FCFE = 198 – 15(1 – . 35) + 20 = 208. 5. Value = 208. 25/(. 14 – . 03) = 1893. 5. award: 10 out of 10 points If a firm has a free cash flow equal to $50 million and that cash flow is expected to grow at 3% forever, what is the total firm value given a WACC of 9. 5%? $679 million $715 million $769 million $803 million Total value = 50/(. 095 – . 03) = 769. 23 6. award: 10 out of 10 points A firm has a stock price of $54. 75 per share. The firm's earnings are $75 million and the firm has 20 million shares outstanding. The firm has an ROE of 15% and a plowback of 65%. What is the firm's PEG ratio? 1. 50 1. 25 1. 10 1. 00 7. award: 10 out of 10 pointsAce Frisbee Corporation produces a good that is very mature in their product life cycles. Ace Frisbee Corporation is expected to pay a dividend in year 1 of $3. 00, a dividend in year 2 of $2. 00, and a dividend in year 3 of $1. 00. After year 3, dividends are expected to decline at the rate of 2% per year. An appropriate required return for the stock is 8%. Using the multistage DDM, the stock should be worth __________ today. $13. 07 $13. 58 $18. 25 $18. 78 8. award: 10 out of 10 points Caribou Gold Mining Corporation is expected to pay a dividend of $4 in the upcoming year. Dividends are expected to decline at the rate of 3% per year.The risk-free rate of return is 5% and the expected return on the market portfolio is 13%. The stock of Caribou Gold Mining Corporation has a beta of -0. 50. Using the CAPM, the return you should require on the stock is _________. 2% 5% 8% 9% 9. award: 10 out of 10 points You are considering acquiring a common share of Sahali Shopping Center Corporation that you would like to hold for one year. You expect to receive both $1. 25 in dividends and $35 f rom the sale of the share at the end of the year. The maximum price you would pay for a share today is __________ if you wanted to earn a 12% return. 31. 25 $32. 37 $38. 47 $41. 32 10. award: 10 out of 10 points Each of two stocks, A and B, are expected to pay a dividend of $7 in the upcoming year. The expected growth rate of dividends is 6% for both stocks. You require a return of 10% on stock A and a return of 12% on stock B. Using the constant growth DDM, the intrinsic value of stock A _________. will be higher than the intrinsic value of stock B will be the same as the intrinsic value of stock B will be less than the intrinsic value of stock B more information is necessary to answer this question award: 11. ward: 10 out of 10 points If a firm increases its plowback ratio this will probably result in a(n) _______ P/E ratio. higher lower unchanged unable to determine 12. award: 10 out of 10 points If a stock is correctly priced then you know that ____________. the dividend payout ratio is optimal the stock's required return is equal to the growth rate in earnings and dividends the sum of the stock's expected capital gain and dividend yield is equal to the stock's required rate of return the present value of growth opportunities is equal to the value of assets in place