Assignment 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Assignment 6 - Essay Example This wildfire also resulted in the death of 86 people. This wildfire was so devastating that it prompted the Congress to set aside funds to assist the National Forest Service prevent and fight wildfires. Despite the measures that have been put in place to prevent wildfires, the U.S. still, continue to suffer from the effects of wildfires. Causes of Wildfire Both human and nature are responsible for wildfires witnessed in the U.S. According to Hamilton (2010), about 90% of wildfires that burn the U.S. forests and lands are started by humans. Firstly, arson attack is responsible for most wildfires in the U.S. Arson attacks happen when an individual deliberately starts fire with the aim of destroying the land of a person perceived as an enemy. In 2010 alone, the U.S. fire department reportedly responded to about 260,000 wildfires intentionally started by arsonists (The National Fire Protection, 2013). These intentional fires resulted in at least 390 deaths, and left at least 1,340 peopl e with serious injuries. The fires also resulted in the destruction of property worth $1.2 billion. In fact, the wildfire that burnt more than 147,000 acres of land in Southern California in 2009 was caused by arson, according to the U.S. Forest Service report (CNN, 2009). This wildfire also destroyed many homes in the northern part of Los Angeles. Most wildfires in the U.S. are also caused by people burning debris. Most people in the U.S. have the habit of burning debris. However, sometimes the wind ends up blowing the debris to a dry grass and forest cover resulting in massive wildfires as has been the case in Michigan. The Michigan Fire department reveals that most wildfires in the state are caused by people burning debris (Hamilton, 2010). Smoking is also blamed for the rising incidences of wildfires in the U.S., according to Hamilton (2010). It has been observed that some wildfires are started by discarded burning cigarettes. When an individual discards a burning cigarette on a dry grass or forest, this sometimes ends up triggering a massive wildfire that result in the destruction of several acres of land. A small percentage of wildfires in the U.S. are caused by sparks from moving trains, vehicle exhaust, and heavy equipment. Some of the wildfires that burn the U.S. forests are caused by nature, such as lightning and lava. Silverstein, Silvertein, and Nunn (2009) reveal that whereas 90% of wildfires are caused by humans, the remaining 10% are caused by nature. Normally, when lightning occurs, electric currents are sent to the earth’s surface resulting in wildfires. For instance, report indicates that about half of all wildfires in Florida are stated by lightning. Lightning is also responsible for about 2% of all wildfires in Michigan. Volcanic eruption is also responsible for a significant number of wildfires in the U.S. When an eruption occurs, hot magma is through onto the earth’s surface that cools down to form lava. However, when the ho t lava encounters dry grass or leaves, this sometimes starts wildfires as noted by Silverstein, Silvertein, and Nunn (2009). The physical nature of wildfires The physical nature of wildfire is very complex and depends largely on fuel type, geographical location, humidity, moisture content, temperature of an area and topography. For a wildfire to occur, the necessary elements must be available. Firstly, an ignition source

The Takeovers Directive Is An Ineffective Piece Of Legislation Essay

The Takeovers Directive Is An Ineffective Piece Of Legislation Designed To Create An Unachievable Single Market For Takeover Activity - Essay Example More specifically, in the UK, a takeover refers to the purchase of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, contrary to the acquisition of a private business. The three main types of takeovers are friendly takeovers, hostile takeovers and reverse takeovers. A friendly takeover refers to the acquisition of a company, which has been approved by the management. In normal cases, a bidder notifies a company board of directors prior to making an offer for the target company. If the board concurs that accepting the offer would serve the interests of shareholders better than rejecting the offer, then it recommends that the shareholders accept the offer2. The friendly type of takeover is rather common in private companies in which the shareholders are usually the board of directors. In these cases, chances are always high that should shareholders accept a takeover offer, then the board is usually of the same opinion. If not, the board is always under the shareholders†™ orders accept the bid. It is noteworthy that this scenario is rather irrelevant to the UK’s idea of takeovers, which only regards a takeover as acquisition of a public company. The second type of takeover is the hostile takeover in which a bidder acquires a company despite the unwillingness of the company’s management. ... Usually, on being established, certain larger private companies would want to float themselves in stock exchanges without the expenses and time resources involved in initial public offers. In the UK, for instance, a reverse takeover refers to a one-year acquisition of a company, which causes fundamental changes in its business and board voting or control. Finally, backflip takeovers are takeovers in which the acquiring company becomes a subsidiary of the purchased company and is mostly seen when a larger but unknown company acquires a well-known struggling company. A business concept that has been closely associated with takeovers, especially in the European Union is corporate governance. Corporate governance refers to the set of rules, processes and practices that a company uses for control and direction. In essence, in entails the weighing and balancing of the various interests of stakeholders such as management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government, shareholders and the co mmunity. Corporate governance thus covers every aspect of management, including action plans, internal controls, performance measurement and corporate disclosure. In the modern business environment, it does not pay for a company to be merely profitable; more should be done to attain a high level of corporate governance or good corporate citizenship using good corporate practices, environmental awareness and ethical and professional conduct among other strategies. Excellent takeover policies, regulation and legislation are some of the mechanisms by which the EU Commission and Member States have applied to improve corporate governance. For instance, the EU Takeover Directive of 2004 was adopted with the