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Month: August 2017

Economic Terror: Market Manifestations of Terror Attacks

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In the recent past, we have paid painful witness to terrorism’s capacity to harm the United States financial sector. While the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and attempt on the Pentagon (9/11) are perhaps most commonly viewed as unprecedented physical terror attacks, they also exemplify an economic attack. Besides the immeasurable value of lives lost in the attack, there were also grave financial costs. The price of terrorism is something that is becoming more of an issue in a largely connected financial market. Where once, we worried about finance being used to support terrorism, there is now a clearer concern about the financial impact of terrorist attacks. The question is: if terrorists have noticed this, could they use this information to “doubledown” on the damage they cause?

A. FINANCING OF TERROR

The direct property damages of 9/11 are estimated at over $20 billion.The abstract cost, or opportunity cost, is estimated at around

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Illegal Sports Bookmakers

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Abstract

This paper provides an economic analysis of illegal sports bookmaking using detailed records from six bookmakers who operated in the 1990s. These operations are structured like standard firms and utilize incentive contracts to induce appropriate employee behavior. The bookmakers offer prices which closely follow the geographically separated legal market, but larger operations price discriminate based on individual betting patterns. Despite the availability of inexpensive hedging instruments, all operations take on substantial financial risk. This implies the bookmakers cannot be risk-averse and must hold large cash reserves. The risk-adjusted profit rate is lower than in legal financial markets. These results and behaviors are consistent with standard models of economic self interest

1 Introduction

Gambling is ubiquitous in the United States. Due to the spread of state lotteries and casinos, legalized gambling is currently available in all but two states. In 1998 sixty-eight percent of Americans reported gambling at least once, and in total they lost over $50 billion to legal gambling operations

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Policing Terrorists in the Community

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Abstract

This paper provides an economic analysis of illegal sports bookmaking using detailed records from six bookmakers who operated in the 1990s. These operations are structured like standard firms and utilize incentive contracts to induce appropriate employee behavior. The bookmakers offer prices which closely follow the geographically separated legal market, but larger operations price discriminate based on individual betting patterns. Despite the availability of inexpensive hedging instruments, all operations take on substantial financial risk. This implies the bookmakers cannot be risk-averse and must hold large cash reserves. The risk-adjusted profit rate is lower than in legal financial markets. These results and behaviors are consistent with standard models of economic self interest

1 Introduction

Gambling is ubiquitous in the United States. Due to the spread of state lotteries and casinos, legalized gambling is currently available in all but two states. In 1998 sixty-eight percent of Americans reported gambling at least once, and in total they lost over $50 billion to legal gambling operations

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Are Titles Of Books Copyright?

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Previous to the existing Copyright Act of 1909 the statutes required, as a prerequisite to obtaining copyright, the deposit of a printed title on or before publication of the work, and the copyright began to run from the date of recording the title. From the importance thus given to filing the title, it became, and still continues, not uncommon for lawyers as well as laymen to speak loosely of "copyrighting" the title of a work. But more than. this, we find in even so classic a treatise as George Ticknor Curtis' "Law of Copyright" the opinion expressed that if the registered title of a book is descriptive of its individuality, and if the effect of its subsequent adoption by another, even for a book wholly dissimilar in other respects, be to mislead the public in their purchases, "then there seems to be no good reason why it should not be regarded as an infringement of the copyright."'

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An Analysis of Fraud: Causes, Prevention, and Notable Cases

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I. Background

a. What is accounting and what role does financial reporting serve?

Accounting is often referred to as the language of business because it facilitates the communication of the financial position of a company in an easily comparable way that various users can understand. In simple terms, accounting involves setting up, maintaining, and reviewing the accounting records of a company in order to properly understand its financial position. There are many users, both internal and external, of the accounting records of an entity. Internal users typically refer to management, while external users refers to investors and lenders. Due to these various users, it is very important that the financial reporting provides a fair representation of the financial position of the company and that the company is disclosing all important financial information they are required to. Without strict oversight and regulations, stakeholders of public companies are susceptible to great risk. As stated in Objective 2 of FASB Concept

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The Commercial Monopoly in Sports Mega-Events

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[The world football governing body was] not driven by any selfless goal of global equity within FIFA, more by the entrepreneurial motivation and machiavellian global networking of FIFA’s bosses and their business allies … In such contexts and circumstances, global markets for sports business and for major sponsors have expanded with little or no reference to the wider constituencies of sport, or to the ruling forum of individual sports organisations. Benefits may have accrued to under-resourced areas of the football world, but such expansion has been driven by the commercial interests of an incestuous network of sports leaders, administrators and commercial entrepreneurs.

1 Introduction These are challenging times for those who roam the corridors of power in the highest echelons of international sport, with some international sports federations (notably the two biggest players, the International Olympic Committee and FIFA) having experienced crises of governance and well publicised allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the past decade or so. The Salt Lake City Olympic

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Collapse Simulation of RC High-Rise Building Induced by Extreme Earthquakes

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ABSTRACT

Collapse resistance of high-rise buildings has become a research focus due to frequent occurrence of strong earthquakes and terrorist attacks in recent years. Research development has demonstrated that numerical simulation is becoming one of the most powerful tools for collapse analysis in addition to the conventional laboratory model tests and post-earthquake investigations. In this paper, a finite element (FE) method based numerical model encompassing fiber-beam element model, multi-layer shell model and elemental deactivation technique is proposed to predict collapse process of high-rise buildings subjected to extreme earthquake. The potential collapse processes are simulated for a simple 10-story reinforced concrete (RC) frame and two existing RC high-rise buildings of 18-story and 20-story frame-core tube systems. The influences of different failure criteria used are discussed in some detail. The analysis results indicate that the proposed numerical model is capable of simulating collapse process of existing high-rise buildings by identifying potentially weak components of the structure that may induce collapse. The study outcome will be

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Subject: Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices: Multiple DOD Organizations are Developing Numerous Initiatives

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Subject: Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices: Multiple DOD Organizations are

Developing Numerous Initiatives

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are the enemy's weapon of choice (e.g., 16,500 IEDs were detonated or discovered being used against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2011) and, according to the Department of Defense (DOD) will probably be a mainstay in any present and future conflict given their low cost to develop coupled with their potential for strategic impact. Multiple DOD components, including the military services, have been pursuing counter-IED (C-IED) efforts leading up to June 2005 when DOD established the Joint IED Defeat Task Force followed in 2006 with the establishment of the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) to lead and coordinate all DOD actions to defeat IEDs. From fiscal years 2006 through 2011, JIEDDO has received over $18 billion in funding;2 however, DOD has funded other C-IED efforts outside of JIEDDO, including $40 billion for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

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Corruption in Law Enforcement: A Paradigm of Occupational Stress and Deviancy

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In the closed society of a law enforcement agency, factors such as the conspiracy of silence, authoritarian supervision, and police discretion contribute to corruption. This article describes various types of corrupt behavior by police officers, reports the incidence of corruption in law enforcement agencies, discusses psychiatric conditions that may arise from corruption and also contribute to further corruption, and reviews proposed remedies for corruption. It also suggests that an understanding of corruption in law enforcement might be helpful in understanding, correcting, and preventing corruption in other professions, including medicine

Police officers are both respected and suspected, hated and loved, feared and courted for favor, maligned and praised. They wield tremendous power and are capable of depriving others of their freedom, their reputations, and their lives.' Most of us assume, in our dealings with police officers, that they are all competent, honest, professional, and psychologically stable. This is true of the majority of officers, but there are also officers who are dishonest,

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Lies And Coercion: Why Psychiatrists Should Not Participate in Police and Intelligence Interrogations

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Police interrogators routinely use deceptive techniques to obtain confessions from criminal suspects. The United States Executive Branch has attempted to justify coercive interrogation techniques in which physical or mental pain and suffering may be used during intelligence interrogations of persons labeled unlawful combatants. It may be appropriate for law enforcement, military, or intelligence personnel who are not physicians to use such techniques. However, forensic psychiatry ethical practice requires honesty, striving for objectivity, and respect for persons. Deceptive and coercive interrogation techniques violate these moral values. When a psychiatrist directly uses, works with others who use, or trains others to use deceptive or coercive techniques to obtain information in police, military, or intelligence interrogations, the psychiatrist breaches basic principles of ethics.

Direct or indirect participation of a psychiatrist with police, military, or intelligence personnel when interrogators use deception or psychological or physical coercion violates basic principles of ethical forensic psychiatric practice. Such involvement leads our profession down the slippery slope of designing, endorsing, and participating in

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Behavioral Patterns among (Violent) Non-State Actors: A Study of Complementary Governance

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This article is part of a multi-year study of governance structures in the midst of insecurity and organized crime in fragile sub-state regions where, in the absence of a strong state, non-state actors (like insurgents, traffickers and tribal warlords) engage in political and socioeconomic governance. Building on our prior work on West Africa and the Afghanistan-Pakistan tribal belt, this paper focuses on the Andean borderlands, drawing on recent fieldwork in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. We explore patterns of behavior in which competition among violent non-state actors is not the norm. Instead, several instances were found in which violent non-state actors work collaboratively or have tacit non-interference agreements to provide public goods through arrangements we characterize as ‘complementary governance.’ We therefore argue that, to understand how illicit authority emerges, it is not sufficient to consider one armed non-state actor in isolation or in a dichotomy to the state. As we contend, we have to take into account the complex connections and interactions

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The History Of The Child Pornography Guidelines

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I. Introduction

The United States Sentencing Commission (“Commission”) was created by Congress to “establish sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system” that implement the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (“SRA”), including the purposes of sentencing enumerated at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2). In establishing such policies and practices, principally 2 through the promulgation of federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements, the Commission’s efforts are guided by the substantive and procedural requirements of the SRA and other congressional sentencing legislation. The SRA directs that the Commission “periodically shall review and revise, in consideration of comments and data coming to its attention, the guidelines.” To this end, the Commission has established a review of the child pornography guidelines as a policy priority for the guidelines amendment cycle ending May 1, 2010. This report is the first step in the Commission’s work on this priority. Congress has been particularly active over the last decade creating new offenses, increasing penalties,

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Teresa Sheehan Plaintiff-Appellant v. City And County Of San Francisco…

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I. Introduction

The United States Sentencing Commission (“Commission”) was created by Congress to “establish sentencing policies and practices for the Federal criminal justice system” that implement the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (“SRA”), including the purposes of sentencing enumerated at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2). In establishing such policies and practices, principally 2 through the promulgation of federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements, the Commission’s efforts are guided by the substantive and procedural requirements of the SRA and other congressional sentencing legislation. The SRA directs that the Commission “periodically shall review and revise, in consideration of comments and data coming to its attention, the guidelines.” To this end, the Commission has established a review of the child pornography guidelines as a policy priority for the guidelines amendment cycle ending May 1, 2010. This report is the first step in the Commission’s work on this priority. Congress has been particularly active over the last decade creating new offenses, increasing penalties,

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Law and Psychiatry Doing Forensic Work, III: Marketing your Practice

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“Marketing” refers to the entire process of bringing a product or service to the public and creating a demand for it. It is not simply advertising. There are good and bad ways to market one’s practice, and some that are distasteful or even unethical. The quality and credibility of your work are your most important marketing tools. Reputation and word-of-mouth among attorneys is the largest referral source for most private forensic practitioners. Your professional and business practices, the quality of your staff and their interactions with clients, and your day-to-day availability are all critical. The Internet is important for some practitioners. Practice websites are inexpensive, but they should be carefully constructed and avoid appearing sensational or overly self-serving. Research the basics of websites and website traffic, and don’t expect great results for the first year or so. A Web consultant may be helpful, but avoid those who charge lots of money or make grand promises. Paying for advertisements, listings, or brochures is

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The Changing Nature of State Sponsorship of Terrorism

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The U.S. approach toward state sponsorship of terrorism rests on a flawed understanding of the problem and an even more flawed policy response. The U.S. Department of State’s current formal list of state sponsors includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. But Cuba and North Korea have done almost nothing in this area in recent years, and Sudan has changed its ways enough that elsewhere the Bush administration credits Sudan as a “strong partner in the War on Terror.” Of those on the list, only Syria and Iran remain problems, and in both cases their involvement in traditional international terrorism is down considerably from their peaks in the 1980s. What seems like a brilliant policy success, however, is really an artifact of bad list management, because much of the problem of state sponsorship today involves countries that are not on the list at all. Pakistan has long aided a range of terrorist groups fighting against India in Kashmir and

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Administrative Discharge Procedures for Involuntary Civilly-Committed Mental Patients:An Alternative

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Historically, state practices governing institutionalization of mental patients have escaped serious challenge. Sparked, however, by a rising societal concern for individual rights' and an increasing recognition of the pervasiveness of mental illness,2 litigators and commentators are now demanding a more critical examination of the treatment of mental patients. In accord with these realizations, this note will focus on involuntary, civilly-committed patients in state mental hospials and will examine both highly protective systems recently enacted by some states as well as failures of discharge procedures in others. An alternative system, providing a second level of administrative review, with some improvements on judicial review, will be recommended for those states which currently maintain inadequate procedures and which realistically cannot or will not bear the cost of more protective systems.

IMPORTANCE OF ADEQUATE DISCHARGE PROCEDURES

Most litigation involving the rights of involuntary civil patients focuses on the lack of due process in commitment procedures and on deprivations and abuses occurring within institutions.' Discharge procedures

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