CASE 385 - American express

American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card, and traveler's cheque businesses. Amex cards account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions in the US, the highest of any card issuer.
BusinessWeek and Interbrand ranked American Express as the 22nd most valuable brand in the world, estimating the brand to be worth US$14.97 billion. Fortune listed Amex as one of the top 20 Most Admired Companies in the World. The company's mascot, adopted in 1958, is a Roman gladiator or centurion whose image appears on the company's travelers' cheques and charge cards. On June 22, 2010, it was revealed that American Express would sponsor English football team Brighton & Hove Albion's new stadium at Falmer. Commercially, the stadium is known as The American Express Community Stadium or the Amex stadium.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/trenches/2007/aug/07/american_express_coughs_5565_mil
http://boycottamericanexpress.blogspot.com/

American Express was started as an express mail business in Albany, New York, in 1850. It was founded as a joint stock corporation by the merger of the express companies owned by Henry Wells (Wells & Company), William Fargo (Livingston, Fargo & Company), and John Warren Butterfield (Wells, Butterfield & Company, the successor earlier in 1850 of Butterfield, Wasson & Company). The same founders also started Wells Fargo & Co. in 1852 when Butterfield and other directors objected to the proposal that American Express extend its operations to California. American Express first established its headquarters in a building at the intersection of Jay Street and Hudson Street in what was later called the TriBeCa section of Manhattan. For years it enjoyed a virtual monopoly on the movement of express shipments (goods, securities, currency, etc.) throughout New York State. In 1874, American Express moved its headquarters to 65 Broadway in what was becoming the Financial District of Manhattan, a location it was to retain through two buildings. American Express extended its reach nationwide by arranging affiliations with other express companies (including Wells Fargo – the replacement for the two former companies that merged to form American Express), railroads, and steamship companies.

During the 1980s, American Express embarked on an effort to become a financial services supercompany and made a number of acquisitions to create an investment banking arm. In mid-1981 it purchased Sanford I. Weill's Shearson Loeb Rhoades, the second largest securities firm in the United States to form Shearson/American Express.

After the purchase of Shearson, Weill was given the position of president of American Express in 1983. Weill grew increasingly unhappy with responsibilities within American Express and his conflicts with American Express' CEO James D. Robinson III. Weill soon realized that he was not positioned to be named CEO and left in August 1985. In 1984, American Express acquired the investment banking and trading firm, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, and added it to the Shearson family, creating Shearson Lehman/American Express. It was Lehman's CEO and former trader Lewis Glucksman who would next lead Shearson Lehman/American Express.
In 1984 Shearson/American Express purchased the 90-year old Investors Diversified Services, bringing with it a fleet of financial advisors and investment products. In 1988, Shearson Lehman acquired E.F. Hutton & Co., a brokerage firm founded in 1904, this was merged with the investment banking business and the investment banking arm was rename Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc.
However, when Harvey Golub became CEO of American Express in 1993, American express decided to get out of the investment banking business and negotiated the sale of Shearson's retail brokerage and asset management business to Primerica. The Shearson business was merged with Primerica's Smith Barney to create Smith Barney Shearson. Ultimately, the Shearson name was dropped in 1994.
In 1994, American Express spun off of the remaining investment banking and institutional businesses as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc which after almost fifteen years of independence would file for bankruptcy protection in 2008 as part of the Late-2000s financial crisis.

CASE 384 - Roche

Roche Diagnostics is a diagnostic division of Hoffmann-La Roche which manufactures equipment and reagents for research and medical diagnostic applications. Internally, it is organized into five major business areas: Roche Applied Science, Roche Professional Diagnostics, Roche Diabetes Care, Roche Molecular Diagnostics and Roche Tissue Diagnostics (Ventana).
All business areas except Roche Applied Science focus on health care applications, targeting either physicians, hospitals and clinics, or consumers. Applied Science targets research settings in academia and pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.



The founder of Roche, Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, was a pioneering entrepreneur who was convinced that the future belonged to branded pharmaceutical products. He was among the first to recognise that the industrial manufacture of standardised medicines would be a major advance in the fight against disease.
This led him to found F. Hoffmann-La Roche & Co. on October 1, 1896. From the very beginning, Fritz Hoffmann attached great importance to product information as the link between the pharmaceutical manufacturer and doctors, pharmacists and patients. Shortly after the foundation of the company in Basel, Switzerland, affiliates were opened in Germany, Italy, France, the US, Great Britain and Russia.
Since then, Roche has grown into one of the world's leading healthcare companies and one of the most important in Europe.



Roche Professional Diagnostics’ products support clinical decision making in a wide variety of indication fields, including oncology, virology, cardiovascular, inflammatory and infectious diseases.

CASE 383 - The history of Mongolia

Nomadic tribes that periodically plundered agriculturally based China from the west are recorded in Chinese history dating back more than 2,000 years. It was to protect China from these marauding peoples that the Great Wall was constructed around 200 B.C. The name Mongol comes from a small tribe whose leader, Ghengis Khan, began a conquest that would eventually encompass an enormous empire stretching from Asia to Europe, as far west as the Black Sea and as far south as India and the Himalayas. But by the 14th century, the kingdom was in serious decline, with invasions from a resurgent China and internecine warfare.

The State of Mongolia was formerly known as Outer Mongolia. It contains the original homeland of the historic Mongols, whose power reached its zenith during the 13th century under Kublai Khan. The area accepted Manchu rule in 1689, but after the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and the fall of the Manchus in 1912, the northern Mongol princes expelled the Chinese officials and declared independence under the Khutukhtu, or “Living Buddha.”



Mongolia lies in central Asia between Siberia on the north and China on the south. It is slightly larger than Alaska. It is the biggest country in the world that doesn't touch sea

The productive regions of Mongolia—a tableland ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 ft (914 to 1,524 m) in elevation—are in the north, which is well drained by numerous rivers, including the Hovd, Onon, Selenga, and Tula. Much of the Gobi Desert falls within Mongolia.

In 1921, Soviet troops entered the country and facilitated the establishment of a republic by Mongolian revolutionaries in 1924. China also made a claim to the region but was too weak to assert it. Under the 1945 Chinese-Russian Treaty, China agreed to give up Outer Mongolia, which, after a plebiscite, became a nominally independent country.

A 20-year treaty of friendship and cooperation, signed in 1966, entitled Mongolia to call on the USSR for military aid in the event of invasion. Thus allied with the USSR in a dispute with China, Mongolia began mobilizing troops along its borders in 1968 when the two powers became involved in border clashes on the Kazakh-Sinkiang frontier to the west and at the Amur and Ussuri rivers.




In 1989, the Mongolian democratic revolution began, led by Sanjaasurengiyn Zorig. Free elections held in Aug. 1990 produced a multiparty government, though it was still largely Communist. As a result, Mongolia has moved only gradually toward a market economy. With the collapse of the USSR, however, Mongolia was deprived of Soviet aid. Primarily in reaction to the economic turmoil, the Communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) won a significant majority in parliamentary elections in 1992. In 1996, however, the Democratic Alliance, an electoral coalition, defeated the MPRP, breaking with Communist rule for the first time since 1921. But in 1997, a former Communist and chairman of the People's Revolutionary Party, Natsagiyn Bagabandi, was elected president, further strengthening the hand of the antireformers. Then, in 1998, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, a pro-reform politician, became prime minister, but parliamentary cross-purposes led to his resignation, and a succession of prime ministers followed.

In 2005, Nambaryn Enkhbayar of the former Communist party MPRP became president, and Miyeegombo Enkhbold, also of the MPRP, was elected prime minister in 2006. Enkhbold resigned in Nov. 2007 after the MPRP ousted him as chairman of the party, citing his weakness as a leader. Sanj Bayar succeeded Enkhbold as both party chairman and prime minister.

Unprecedented violence and rioting followed June 2008's parliamentary elections, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. Five people were killed, hundreds were injured, and more than 700 people were detained. Preliminary results gave 45 seats to the governing MPRP and 28 seats to the opposition Democratic Party. International observers did not report any irregularities in the voting, but the Democratic Party accused the MPRP of fraud. Meanwhile, Mongolia continues to be plagued by poor economic growth, corruption, and inflation.

In presidential elections, former prime minister, Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj (opposition Democratic Party), defeated incumbent Nambaryn Enkhbayar Won (MPRP) in a 51% to 47% victory. Elbegdorj took office in June 2009. Prime Minister Bayar resigned in October 2009, citing health reasons. He was succeeded by Foreign Minister Sukhbaataryn Batbold.

CASE 382 - ACTA

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which was proposed in a private agreement between 39 governments and corporations in April of 2010 for the purpose of establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement. It would establish an international legal framework for countries to join voluntarily, and would create a governing body outside international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the United Nations. Negotiating countries have described it as a response "to the increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works." The scope of ACTA includes counterfeit goods, generic medicines and copyright infringement on the Internet.Groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) oppose ACTA, stating that civil society groups and developing countries were excluded from discussion during ACTA's development in an example of policy laundering.

The agreement was signed on 1 October 2011 by Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States. In January 2012, the European Union and 22 of its member states signed as well, bringing the total number of signatories to 31. After ratification by 6 states, the convention will come into force.
Supporting and negotiating countries have heralded the agreement as a response to "the increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works", while opponents have lambasted it for its potentially adverse effects on fundamental civil and digital rights, including freedom of expression and communication privacy. Others, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have derided the exclusion of civil society groups, developing countries and the general public from the agreement's negotiation process and have described it as policy laundering. The signature of the EU and many of its member states resulted in the resignation in protest of the European Parliament's appointed rapporteur, as well as widespread protests across Poland



Opponents have argued that the treaty will restrict fundamental civil and digital rights, including the freedom of expression and communication privacy."The bulk of the WTO's 153 members" have raised concerns that treaty could distort trade and goes beyond the existing Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Opponents also criticize ACTA's removal of "legal safeguards that protect Internet Service Providers from liability for the actions of their subscribers" in effect giving ISPs no option but to comply with privacy invasions. According to an analysis by the Free Software Foundation, ACTA would require that existing ISPs no longer host free software that can access copyrighted media, and DRM-protected media would not be legally playable with free or open source software.



Canada, the European Union and Switzerland joined the preliminary talks throughout 2006 and 2007. Official negotiations began in June 2008, with Australia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Singapore joining the talks. Apart from the participating governments, an advisory committee of large US-based multinational corporations was consulted on the content of the draft treaty, including the International Intellectual Property Alliance, (which includes the Business Software Alliance, Motion Picture Association of America, and Recording Industry Association of America) and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The treaty calls for the creation of an "ACTA committee" to make amendments, for which public or judicial review are not required. Industry representatives may have "consultatory input" to amendments. A 2009 Freedom of Information request showed that the following companies also received copies of the draft under a nondisclosure agreement: Google, eBay, Intel, Dell, News Corporation, Sony Pictures, Time Warner, and Verizon.



Similar cases to this
CASE 380 - SOPA
CASE 388 - PIPA

CASE 381 - Monsanto

The Monsanto Company is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed in the Roundup brand of herbicides, and in other brands. Monsanto is also the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed; it provides the technology in 90% of the genetically engineered seeds used in the US market. It is headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Agracetus, owned by Monsanto, exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. In 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, making it the world's largest conventional seed company.



Monsanto has recently begun to unleash the most dangerous threat to the health of world population -- genetically-engineered foods (also known as "frankenfoods"). Aspartame destroys the health only in those who use it. Because Monsanto's frankenfoods are unlabeled, they have the potential to cause health damage to nearly everyone. They are in the process of acquiring and patenting their newest technology, known as "Terminator Technology." This technology is currently the greatest threat to humanity. If it is used by Monsanto on a large-scale basis, it will inevitably lead to famine and starvation on a worldwide basis. Billions of people on the planet are supported by farmers who save seeds from the crops and replant these seeds the following year. Seeds are planted. The crop is harvested. And the seeds from the harvest are replanted the following year. Most farmers cannot afford to buy new seeds every year, so collecting and replanting seeds is a crucial part of the agricultural cycle. This is the way food has been grown successfully for thousands of years.



With Monsanto's terminator technology, they will sell seeds to farmers to plant crops. But these seeds have been genetically-engineered so that when the crops are harvested, all new seeds from these crops are sterile (e.g., dead, unusable). This forces farmers to pay Monsanto every year for new seeds if they want to grow their crops.



In less rich countries, hundreds of millions of people rely heavily on small farms which produce foods for the region. If these farms begin to use Monsanto's terminator technology, and cannot afford to buy new genetically engineered seeds from Monsanto the following year, many of the people in the region may starve. Under normal circumstances, food could be brought in from other regions. However, many of those other regions will likely have the same problems with famine due to Monsanto's terminator technology.

CASE 380 - SOPA

The Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA, also known as H.R. 3261, is a new proposed bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Now before the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.



The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for 10 such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.
Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites. They cite examples such as Google's $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice for its role in a scheme to target U.S. consumers with ads to buy illegal prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies.
Opponents say that it violates the First Amendment, is Internet censorship, will cripple the Internet, and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech. Opponents have initiated a number of protest actions, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation, and even proposed service blackouts by major Internet companies scheduled to coincide with the next Congressional hearing on the matter.

The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011. The Committee was scheduled to continue debate 24th January 2012

Opponents include Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, Roblox, Reddit, the Wikimedia Foundation, and human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU, and Human Rights Watch

The legislation has broad support from organizations that rely on copyright, including the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, Macmillan US, Viacom, and various other companies and unions in the cable, movie, and music industries. Supporters also include trademark-dependent companies such as Nike, L'Oréal, and Acushnet Company.
Both the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce support H.R. 3261, and many industries have also publicly praised the legislation.
In June 2011, former Bill Clinton press secretary Mike McCurry and former George W. Bush advisor Mark McKinnon, business partners in Public Strategies, Inc., started a campaign which echoed McCurry's earlier work in the network neutrality legislative fight. McCurry represented SOPA/PIPA in Politico as a way to combat theft on-line, drawing a favorable comment from the MPAA. On the 15th, McCurry and Arts + Labs co-chair McKinnon sponsored the "CREATE – A Forum on Creativity, Commerce, Copyright, Counterfeiting and Policy" conference with members of Congress, artists and information-business executives.
On September 22, 2011, a letter signed by over 350 businesses and organizations—including NBCUniversal, Pfizer, Ford Motor Company, Revlon, NBA, and Macmillan US—was sent to Congress encouraging the passage of the legislation. Fightonlinetheft.com, a website of The Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy (a project of the United States Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center, cites a long list of supporters including these and the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Governors Association, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Attorneys General, the Better Business Bureau, and the National Consumers League.



Misguided efforts to combat online privacy have been threatening to stifle innovation, suppress free speech, and even, in some cases, undermine national security. As of yesterday, though, there’s a lot less to worry about.Though the administration did [not] issue a formal veto threat, the White House’s opposition signaled the end of these bills, at least in their current form. A few hours later, Congress shelved SOPA, putting off action on the bill indefinitely. Too much money would be at stake, too many big companies paying lots and lots of tax

CASE 379 - Self sustainability - Part 4 (Water)

Water is not the endless resource we assume it to be. Less than 1% of the total volume of water on earth is drinkable and a further 4% is frozen. It seems insane that most of the water we user becomes sewage after use, and requires extensive treatment before it can be dumped into the sea. And so we have yet another unsustainable practice in our society today.



Going off-grid is still a radical and ambitious idea, but installing Greywater systems and Rainwater harvesting systems which preserve and prevent some of that waste are becoming much more popular with ordinary householders for both environmental and economic factors. It is heavily speculated that at some point in the near future, the price of water will exceed that of oil per barrel. As that day nears systems such as Rainwater harvesting and Greywater systems will become standard installations in every home.



Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting systems are becoming increasingly popular as a viable solution to sustainable living in the 21st century. New builds are increasingly utilising this method as it can have the shortest payback time of all eco-friendly systems, particularly for commercial use where roofs are large and quantity is required. Domestic systems can range in size from a large storage tank buried in your garden to flush your toilets and wash your car, to a water butt which can water your lawn, (particularly useful in a hose-pipe ban) economically and without high installation costs.

As with Solar and Wind harvesting, how much you can collect depends largely on your geographical location's general weather conditions, but most heavily populated areas have adequate rainfall. In some areas (such as tropical islands) rainwater harvesting is crucial for survival during the dry season, as it can provide all water needs for 6 months before rains begin to replenish the supply. Whilst rainwater is safe to drink, urban pollution makes it unwise to do so. It is most usefull in combination with recycled water for uses such as flushing toilets, for which greywater is unsuitable, so that a complete system can be installed which requires no ongoing effort.



Other cases like this 1

CASE 020 - Self sustainability - part 1 (introduction to self sustainability)
CASE 361 - Self sustainability - part 2 (Growing)
CASE 369 - Self sustainability - Part 3 (Poweringyour home)
CASE 379 - Self sustainability - Part 4 (Water)

CASE 378 - BP

BP p.l.c.or British petrolium is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". It is vertically-integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It also has major renewable energy activities, including in biofuels, hydrogen, solar and wind power.
BP has operations in over 80 countries, produces around 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 22,400 service stations worldwide. Its largest division is BP America, which is the biggest producer of oil and gas in the United States and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.As at 31 December 2010 BP had total proven commercial reserves of 18.07 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The name "BP" derives from the initials of one of the company's former legal names, British Petroleum.
BP's track record of corporate social responsibility has been mixed. The company has been involved in a number of major environmental and safety incidents and received criticism for its political influence. However, in 1997 it became the first major oil company to publicly acknowledge the need to take steps against climate change, and in that year established a company-wide target to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. BP currently invests over $1 billion per year in the development of renewable energy sources, and has committed to spend $8 billion on renewables in the 2005 to 2015 period.
BP's primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of December 2011, it was the 4th largest company on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of £87.1 billion. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.



Environmental record

A Gulf petrol station in Louisville, Kentucky using the previous BP prototype. BP purchased all Gulf stations in the southeastern United States in 1980s after Chevron, Inc. was forced to divest the stations by the United States Justice Department.
BP was named by Mother Jones Magazine, an investigative journal that "exposes the evils of the corporate world, the government, and the mainstream media", as one of the ten worst corporations in both 2001 and 2005 based on its environmental and human rights records. In 1991 BP was cited as the most polluting company in the US based on EPA toxic release data. BP has been charged with burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery (for which it was fined $1.7 million), and in July 2000 BP paid a $10 million fine to the EPA for its management of its US refineries. According to PIRG research, between January 1997 and March 1998, BP was responsible for 104 oil spills. BP patented the Dracone Barge to aid in oil spill clean-ups across the world.
As of 11 February 2007, BP announced that it would spend $8 billion over ten years to research alternative methods of fuel, including natural gas, hydrogen, solar, and wind. A $500 million grant to the University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to create an Energy Biosciences Institute has recently come under attack, over concerns about the global impacts of the research and privatisation of public universities.

BP's investment in green technologies peaked at 4% of its exploratory budget, but they have since closed their alternative energy headquarters in London. As such they invest more than other oil companies, but it has been called greenwashing due to the small proportion of the overall budget. BP was a nominee for the 2009 Greenwash Awards for deliberately exaggerating its environmental credentials. According to Greenpeace in 2008 BP invested $20 billion in fossil fuels, but only $1.5 billion in all alternative forms of energy.
In 2004, BP began marketing low-sulphur diesel fuel for industrial use.

Renewable energy

BP Solar is a leading producer of solar panels since its purchase of Lucas Energy Systems in 1980 and Solarex (as part of its acquisition of Amoco) in 2000. BP Solar had a 20% world market share in photovoltaic panels in 2004 when it had a capacity to produce 90 MW/year of panels. It has over 30 years' experience operating in over 160 countries with manufacturing facilities in the US, Spain, India and Australia, and has more than 2000 employees worldwide. BP has closed its US plants in Frederick, Maryland as part of a transition to manufacturing in China. This is due in part to China's upswing in solar use and the protectionist laws that require 85% of the materials to be produced in China. Through a series of acquisitions in the solar power industry BP Solar became the third largest producer of solar panels in the world. It was recently announced that BP has obtained a contract for a pilot project to provide on-site solar power to Wal-Mart stores.
Between 2005 and 2010, BP invested about $5 billion in its renewable energy business, mainly in biofuel and wind power projects. In 2011, BP plans to invest $1 billion in renewables, roughly the same amount it invested last year.
As of 2011, BP is planning to construct a biofuel refinery in the Southeastern US and has also acquired Verenium’s cellulosic biofuels business for $98 million. In Brazil, BP holds a 50 percent stake in Tropical BioEnergia and plans to operate two ethanol refineries. In the US BP has more than 1,200 megawatts (MW) of wind-powered electricity capacity and in July 2010 it began construction of the 250 MW Cedar Creek II Wind Farm in Colorado

CASE 377 - The history of Iceland

330 BC: Ultima Thule

330 BC An explorer named Pytheas sailed north from Marseilles (in modern France) to discover how far the world would reach in that direction. He navigated the British Isles and the northern seas and wrote about an island that he called Thule or Ultima Thule in his now lost work, On the Ocean. This island was six days north of Britain and one day from "the end of the world". The island he found is thought to have been Iceland.

874-930 AD: Irish Monks and the Settlement of Iceland

The first geographical document of the northern seas was written by an Irish monk named Dicuil, early in the 9th century. The geography book was called 'De mensura orbis terrae' (Concering the Measurement of the World) and in it he related his interviews with Irish priests, the 'Papas', who claimed to have sailed north to Thule and lived there from February to August each year. The Papas also confirmed Pytheas' story that after a day's journey north of the island they had come to 'frozen sea'. Dicuil was therefore the first man to document Thule as the uninhabitted island that had already been known to Irish monks in the latter part of the 8th century.

The settlement of Iceland by the Vikings started in 874 and was largely over by 930 AD. It was precipitated largely by internal struggles in Norway between the barbarian King Harald the Fairhaired and former rulers. King Harald won a major victory late in the 8th century, after which he drove his enemies to the Scottish Isles, which he then later conquered. Many of these people fled onwards to Iceland - which by then was well-known amongst the Vikings - either directly from Norway or from the Scottish Isles, in order to evade Harald's rule.

The Irish monks are believed to have left Iceland soon after the heathen Vikings arrived. It is possible, however, that they remained in Iceland, in which case they bore no influence on subsequent events in Iceland.

The main source of information about the settlement of Iceland is the Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), written in the 12th century, that gives a detailed account of the first settlers. According to the book, Ingólfur Arnarson was the first settler of Iceland. He was a chieftain from Norway, who arrived in Iceland with his family and dependants in 874. He started a farm in Reykjavik, which later became the country's capital. The years between 874 and 930 AD saw increasing numbers of Viking settlers (bringing with them Celtic women) who arrived from Scandinavia and claimed land in the inhabitable areas.

930 AD: Establishment of the Althing

The Althing, Iceland's present-day parliament, is the world's oldest existing national assembly. Founded at Thingvellir ('Parliament Plains') in 930 AD, the country's democratic system of government was completely unique in its day. In the year 930, at the end of the settlement of Iceland, a constitutional law code was written and the Althing parliament established. The judicial power of the Althing was distributed among four regional courts, together with a supreme court which convened annually at the national assembly at Thingvellir.


982 AD: Discovery of Greenland

Erik the Red (Eiríkur Rauði) discovers Greenland in approximately 982 AD. He left Iceland with 25 ships loaded with prospective settlers, of which only 14 made it to Greenland. Around 984 AD they established the Eastern and Western settlements in deep fjords near the southwestern tip, where they thrived for the next few centuries, and then disappeared completely after more than 450 years of habitation. When they were at their most numerous, the farms in the Norse colonies reached 300 in number. These had some 5000 inhabitants who, among other things, raised cattle, harvested the earth and hunted seals.



1262: Iceland comes under Norway

The first naval battle in Iceland took place in 1244 at Húnaflói, and has subsequently been called 'The Bay Battle'. This particular battle occurred near the end of a series of battles and bloody clashes, which raged more or less continuously between 1208 and 1258. By the early 13th century, the enlightened period of peace that had lasted 200 years had come to an end. The country then entered the infamous Sturlung Age, a turbulent era of political treachery and violence, dominated by Sturla Thurdason and his sons. The opportunistic Norwegian King Hákon Hákonarson promptly stepped in and Iceland became a Norwegian province.


1380: Iceland and Norway come under Denmark

The volcano Mt. Hekla erupted in 1300, 1341 and 1389, causing widespread death and destruction. Recurring epidemics also plagued the country, and the Black Death that struck Norway in 1349 effectively cut off trade and supplies.

At the end of the 14th century, Iceland was brought under Danish rule. Disputes between church and state resulted in the Reformation of 1550, and the imposing of Lutheranism as the country's religious doctrine. Throughout the next two centuries, Iceland was crippled by rampant Danish profiteering, beset by international pirates and subject to an increasing number of natural disasters. The eighteenth century marked the most tragic age in Iceland's history. In 1703, when the first complete census was taken, the population was approximately 50,000, of whom about 20% were beggars and dependants. From 1707 to 1709 the population sank to about 35,000 because of a devastating smallpox epidemic. Twice more the population declined below 40,000, both during the years 1752-57 and 1783-85, owing to a series of famines and natural disasters.





19th & 20th Centuries: Stepping-Stones Towards Independence

By the end of the 18th century the Althing had been dissolved and the old dioceses replaced by a bishop residing in Reykjavík. Due to the desperate plight of the population, the Danish trade monopoly was modified in 1783 and from then on all subjects of the Danish king were given the right to trade in Iceland. Denmark's grip on Iceland was broken in 1874 when Iceland drafted a constitution that gave it permission to handle its own domestic affairs.

In 1904 Home Rule came to Iceland with the appointment of the first Icelandic government minister. In 1918 Denmark recognised Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king. Denmark though retained responsibility for Iceland's defence and foreign affairs. In 1930 there were huge celebrations at Thingvellir in honour of a millennium since the establishment of the Althing parliament.

1944: Proclamation of the Republic of Iceland

After the Germans occupied Denmark in April 1940, Iceland took over its own foreign policy and proclaimed its neutrality. The island's vulnerability and strategic value became a matter of concern for the Allies who took the step of occupying Iceland in May 1940. Following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on June 17, 1944 even though Denmark was still occupied by Nazi Germany.

1950's to the Present

In 1951 Iceland agreed that the US should take responsibility for Iceland's defence and the US established a military base at Keflavik which remained there until 2006. Meanwhile in the 'Cod Wars' of the 1970's British warships clashed with Icelandic coastguards when the UK refused to recognise Iceland's expanded territorial fishing rights.

Since the mid 1990´s the economy has grown considerably following a policy of privatisation by successive right wing governments. In particular the banking sector has developed rapidly and Iceland is now one of the richest countries in the world. Areas of growth have been most obvious in aluminium smelting, information technology and tourism whilst the reliance on fishing has diminished. Thanks to a healthy economy, Icelanders are now looking forward to a brighter future for the 21st century.



http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2011/08/25/why-iceland-shold-be-in-the-news-but-is-not/

CASE 376 - Goldman sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients on the underground scene, there packaging bad AAA bundles off, betting against local authorities such as police or local councils, then helping them to go bankrupt, either way they win.



Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is headquartered at 200 West Street in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City, with additional offices in major international financial centers. The firm provides mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting services, asset management, and prime brokerage to its clients, which include corporations, governments and individuals. The firm also engages in proprietary trading and private equity deals, and is a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market.



Former employees include Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, respectively, as well as Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada since 2008, Mario Draghi, governor of the European Central Bank and Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister.
Goldman Sachs announced 1,000 layoffs in July 2011 in an effort to cut expenses up to $1.2 billion.



zero hedge

Zero Hedge is credited with bringing flash trading to public attention in 2009 with a series of posts alleging that Goldman Sachs had access to flash order information, allowing the firm to gain unfair profits. It used New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) data to detect Goldman's flash trading advantage. The blog contends that Goldman Sachs alumni are at the center of a powerful cabal and that the solution is "a purifying market crash that leads to the elimination of the big banks altogether and the reinstatement of genuine free-market capitalism" - "Dow Zero." The blog drew the attention of the mainstream financial media and became a source for reporters. Bloomberg News published stories based on Zero Hedge’s blog posts, such as “Goldman Sachs Loses Grip on Its Doomsday Machine,” by columnist Jonathan Weil. The New York Times ran a front-page story on the high-frequency trading, detailing how it translated into billions of dollars of profit for Goldman Sachs and hedge funds. The NYSE has since made a rule change and no longer releases the data used by Zero Hedge.
Matt Taibbi, author of Griftopia, cites Zero Hedge in the last chapter as accurately assessing the level of corruption in the banking industry and credits its inside advantage. He questions why the mainstream financial media did not earlier detect the corruption at Goldman Sachs. Taibbi writes:
“ Right around that same time, there were three media stories that helped focus a swirl of seriously negative attention on the bank. My piece was one, New York magazine's Joe Hagan wrote another, and the third was a series of stories by a heretofore little-known blogger who went by the nom de plume of "Tyler Durden" on a blog called Zero Hedge.
Durden's blog was written in an impenetrable Wall Street jargon, and the man himself – later outed by nosy reporters as an Eastern European trader who had been sanctioned by FINRA – was intimidating even to Wall Street insiders. "Zero Hedge, man, he makes my head hurt" was a typical comment from my Wall Street sources.
Beginning in early 2009 Durden had been on a jihad about Goldman, having sifted through trading data to make what he insisted was an airtight case proving that the bank's high-frequency or "flash" trading desk was engaged in some sort of large-scale manipulation of the New York Stock Exchange. Durden drew his conclusions by scrupulously analyzing trading data the NYSE released each week. So what happened? Naturally, the NYSE on June 24 changed its rules and stopped releasing the data, seemingly to protect Goldman from Zero Hedge's meddling.