Financial Fraud Case Study: Stephen Richards

Financial Fraud Case Study Stephen RichardsTable of ContentsExecutive summaryoccupation StatementCompany overviewCase AnalysisQuestionsA letter from prisonExecutive summaryThis case study is intimately the former global liberty chit of sales Stephen Richards at the calculator Associates, Inc. (CA), who is serving a seven social class prison sentence for financial duplicity. In addition to this, Stephen Richards responds to the number of the incredulitys asked by the Eurenge Soltes about the responsibilities of the managers as well as the handling of the financial activities in a letter written to a graduate student. Moreover, Stephen Richards joined the Computer Associates, Inc. (CA) in the year 1988 immediately after graduating. He has achieved continuous promotions in the phoner throughout his cartridge clip period in the Computer Associates.As, Stephen Richards gets prompted at heart two years time period after his joining to operate New Zealands and then promoted to th e Australian site of the company. Stephen Richards becomes the vice president of the Pacific region and is a trail regional figure for the Computer Associates, Inc. (CA). The company has acquired various competitors as well as firms that are producing complementary bundle products during the time duration between eighties and 1990s.In addition to this, the company has around 18,000 employees and subsidiaries in approximately in 100 countries in the late 1990s. The company recorded its NPVof the licensing contract in the suck when the revenue recognition criteria are met in accordance with the GAAP regulations.Problem StatementComputer Associates International, Inc. (CA) is currently facing the problems related to the financial fraud allegements against the company.As, the company finds it to a greater extent difficult to accurately forecast the revenues as well as earrings for individually quarter of their sales targets.Company overviewComputer Associates International, Inc. ( CA) is founded by the Charles Wang in the year 1976 in ordination to attend the growing needs of the mainframe computing software for IBM computers. Moreover, the company offers a variety of products that include database, application and financial management software in assemble to meet the computing necessities of the businesses. The most of the software products are sold by the sales team of the Computer Associates to the clients who buy a authorize to use the product for a period between three to ten years.Additionally, Computer Associates provides the software updates and technical support to its clients during the period of licensing. The fee of the licensing charged by the Computer Associates to the clients increases with the length of the contract as well as each additional licensing year was priced lower as compared to the previous year in order to reflect software oldness.The amount of the fee that is charged by the company to its clients could be amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Computer Associates distributes the revenues to licensing fees as well as to usage and maintenance fees in one case the contract of the endorse between the company and the client is netized. Mostly the 80% of the revenue is allocated to the licensing fee.The significant part of the company revenue is normally booked during the final week of the quarter. During each quarter the management sets internal sales targets for the sales team with the sales incentives are given to the immune pressure to meet these sales targets. The company showed huge growth during the 1990s, even with the challenges and pressures.Case AnalysisThe case analyzes the overall office of the Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) related to the allegation about the financial fraud within the company by a few executives of the Computer Associates. The management of the company found it hard to forecast accurate results for the revenues and win for each quarter in the year. As , before the completion of the quarter, the management of the company found it incompetent to warn the specialists about the unexpect shortfalls in the revenue.Additionally, the various larger contracts resulted in the shortfall in the revenue of the companys products as these contracts are those that are close on the final day of the quarter. Due to the decrease in the revenue of the Computer Associates affected the stock price of the company that reduced the Computer Associates stock by 42%.There is an allegation about the company that is published in an article in the New York Times, and according to this, Computer Associates stool excessively implemented the approach of aggressive accounting practices in order to boost the gain. But there are several evidence that proves that all the accounting practices of the company are according to the generally accepted accounting principles.This allegation also gets the attention of the federal investigators who showed dissatisfaction w ith the internal investigation of the company. Due to this allegation the company has faced much criticism that greatly impact the standing of the Computer Associates (CA) and requires other ways to make investigation done efficiently so, the company hire the prestigious law firm in order to investigate to a greater extent aggressively.It is determined from the investigation that the few employees of the Computer Associates (CA) had backdated the some of the contracts as well as it also appeared that the revenues related to such contracts had been recognized after the end of the quarter. While, the revenues think with these software contracts must be recognized in the in the quarter in which the contract has been signed.Therefore, the three executives of the company are forced to give the resignations overdue to this improper revenue recognition. In addition to this, six executives along with the Richard are caught to be involved in the financial fraud due to which Richard the SEC filed a formal complaint against the Richards and at the same time he resigned from the Computer Associates International Inc.QuestionsHow serious were Stephen Richards actions? Why?Stephen Richardss actions were extremely seriousRichard in his letter writes that his self and the CEO exerted significant pressures on their team to meet the goals that they had set for themselves also Richard mentions that performance was measured by internal goals Stephen Richards actions are notably serious because he had knowledge of the wrongdoings and he was in a position to report it, but he chose not to. Richards action together with other CAs executives seriously victimized the shareholders as they suffered enormous losses once the practices were revealed. Therefore, Richard was ordered to pay $29 million in restitution. (Weidlich)manipulating Computer Associates quarter end cutoff to align CAs account financial results with market expectations by violating the generally accepted accounting p rinciples and their financial reporting responsibilities. According to the U.S. Securities and win over Commission, Richards with other CA executives extended CAs fiscal quarter, instructed and allowed subordinates to negotiate and obtain contracts after quarter end slice knowing, or recklessly handle the fact that, CA would improperly recognize the revenue from those contracts, and failed to alert CAs Finance or Sales Accounting Department that CA salespersons that reported to Richards were obtaining contracts with backdated signatures dates after quarter end. (Release)in accordance with the expectation set by outside parties, psychoanalyst community, specifically to meet Wall Street quarterly per-share earnings estimates, a key to keeping a companys stock price rising.Richards with the CEO allegedly met routinely and conferred with each other and with (CFO) during the week side by side(p) the end of fiscal periods, including during the flash period, the three business days af ter the end of fiscal quarter, to determine whether CA had generated sufficient revenue to meet the quarterly projections, and closed CAs books only after they determined that CA had generated enough revenue to meet the quarterly projections, this practice, which was sometimes referred to within CA as the 35-day month or the three-day window, violated GAAP and resulted in the filing of materially false financial statements. The goal of the 35-day month was to permit CA to report that it met or exceed its projected quarterly revenue and earnings when, in truth, it had not. (DOJ) Referring to the Scheme to Defraud, Richard instructed CA sales managers and salespeople to negotiate and finalize additional license agreements, which were backdated to cover the fact that the agreements had been finalized after the end of the fiscal quarter.At the end, these actions led to overly aggressive accounting practices to boost CAs reported earnings and the managerial use of discretion to greatly i nfluence reported earnings was not only used by Richards, but it had become a company-wide practice. As Mark Director of the SECs Northeast Regional Office, said about CAs fraud Like a team that plays on after the final whistle has blown, Computer Associates kept scoring until it had all points needed to make every quarter look like a win. (Wharton)As the result, CA fraudulently recorded and reported in the earlier quarter revenue associated with the backdated agreements. Stephen Richards actions are notably serious because he had knowledge of the wrongdoings and he was in a position to report it, but he chose not to. Richards action together with other CAs executives seriously victimized the shareholders as they suffered enormous losses once the practices were revealed. Therefore, Richard was ordered to pay $29 million in restitution. (Weidlich)2. If Computer Associates achieved the same financial results through GAAP flexibility, does your answer to question 1 change?No, with the flexibility of GAAP the risk of manipulation was that CA could have more likely made reporting mistake that would lead to well-grounded problems and enormous losses. As long as the CAs executives including Richards had the intention of wrongdoing actions they would cause massive losses to the shareholders of the company and to the SEC. Though such manipulations and fraud resulted CA to payback $225 million for the purposes of compensating shareholders for losses arising out of the companys criminal conduct. (DOJ) Seeing that, the evidence and investigation on Computer Associates shows that the CA didnt make false transaction and actual transaction and business deal had happened, but the problem of fraud was that CAs executives were backdating the agreements in order to untimely recognize revenue from contracts that had not yet been executed by both CA and its customers in violation of GAAP.Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), quaternion conditions were infallibl e to be met in order for revenue associated with a software license agreement to be recognized 1- persuasive evidence of an arrangement was required to have existed, 2- delivery of the licensed products was required to have occurred, 3- the license fee was required to have been fixed or determinable, 4- the collectability of the license fee was required to have been probable.3. Suppose you were placed in Stephen Richards position at computer Associates and were under pressure to extend the fiscal quarter. How would you handle the situation differently? What would be the expected consequences?I would not have extended the fiscal quarters of knowingly or encourage the backdating of agreements, careless(predicate) of the overwhelming pressures by the Wall Street estimates which Richard points to analyst community in his letter. CA regularly issued public predications at the outset of each fiscal quarter of the revenue and earnings it expected to earn during that quarter. establish on these predictions, professional stock analyst estimated what they believed would be CAs total revenue during the period and predicted the earnings per share of CA stock. CAs executives including Richards understood that CAs failure to meet or exceed the consensus estimate for a quarter would likely result in a authentic decrease in the companys stock price. (NY) I think too much emphasis was placed on the achieving financial gains improperly, for Richards and other members of management, without supplying the proper ethical and legal strategy necessary to achieve CAs goals for success.Performance measurement was a key level of concern in this case which alerted the key ingredients for financial statement fraud and fraud triangle. The sales managers and salespeople were used as enablers to negotiate and finalize additional license agreement while keeping the accounting books open after the end of the fiscal quarter. Richard also emphasizes on the compensation is important, but the recognition of your performance is sometimes even more important.Actually, according to Richard in his email he writes that we have created a performance driven culture without the necessary control framework for people to operate within this shows that there was no real social structure as far as milestones for growth. That is how CA pushed as much as to reach its goal of estimated earnings regardless of considering any rule or regulation type of culture attitude, which led CA to tragic results relating from poor decision making and lack of organizational structure and control. Instead CA could have placed better accounting controls to recognize and issued realistic and accurate public predications at the outset of each fiscal quarter of the revenue and earnings it expected to earn during that quarter, this way they would have not faced the legal troubles that they led themselves to. Even in such a situation for a healthy company to minimize the risk of this downward slide is enco uraging and protecting whistleblowers. That way, problems are addressed internally- well before they become high-risk enough to drag the entire company over the cliff.

Analysis of Norman Rockwell’s Painting The Catch Essay -- Norman Rockw

What does one need to be happy? Is it a nice car? perhaps its a new pair of shoes? What about success? What defines success and what does one need to be successful? The truth is, it depends on ones definition. Success backside be defined in different ways. Success could be defined as being financially stable, or it could be something as simple as feeling accomplished with achieved goals. Norman Rockwells painting The Catch offers refreshing ideas on what it means to be happy and what one needs to be successful. At first glance, Rockwells painting illustrates a successful day of seek for three young friends, all of whom have their catch for the day strung in one hand and their fishing gear in the other. Out of the three boys in the picture, there is a well-dressed boy in the center, and two boys standing on either side of him. The two boys standing on either side are dressed in rags, and are only using measly twigs for fishing poles. The boy who is positioned in the center of the frame is well-dressed and fitted in elegant clothing, but stands with his shoulders shrugged and with a sullen look on his face. Surprisingly, the two boys in tattered array appear ecstatic with bubbly expressions painted ear to ear. The details of the boys emotions in Rockwells painting raise questions about the relationship betwixt money and happiness. Theories regarding the ties between money and happiness have been thought about for centuries. Shakespeare expressed his theory on the matter when he wrote Poor and content is rich, and rich lavish (Shakespeare, 3.3.177). Shakespeares words can be translated to the idea that even if a person does non have a lot of money, if that person is content, they are rich enough by means other than mon... ...to be happy and what it means to be successful. Being happy is not the same as being rich, and money is not a necessity for being happy or successful. Money can be facilitative in accomplishing tasks, but money cannot buy success.Wo rks CitedMihaly Csikszentmihaly. Flow, the cabalistic to Happiness. TED. February 2004. Guest lecture.Rand, Ayn. Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. Web. 11 June 2015. http//www.aynrand.org/Rockwell, Norman. The Catch. 1919. Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge. Norman Rockwell Museum. Oil on canvas. November 12, 2013.Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Othello The Moor of Venice. Ed. Tucker Brooke and Lawrence Mason. New Haven Yale UP, 1947. Print. Venzia, Mike. Norman Rockwell. Danbury Grolier, 2000. Print. Wattles, Wallace D. The wisdom of Getting Rich. Blacksburg Thrifty Books, 2009. Print.

Moving away from Theme Writing and Finding our Voices Essay -- Writing

Moving away from Theme theme and Finding our VoicesThe attempt to discover my voice may seem less than perceptive for the auditory sense in which this piece of writing is intended. It is quite a relief that I dont have to write a theme, pretending to be an expert on decision voice. The supposition of voice is very(prenominal) new for me because I wasnt aware that I was conveying a t adept or attitude in my writing that was so deeply obvious. In preparation for this discussion I have spent time re-reading former assignments trying to hear the voice present in them. I suppose the concept of voice, as well as the new deliberate avoidance from theme writing, has put the entire class in the same boat. In this comply our writing talents are maturing. If the paper does not provide all insight on the new and powerful creative tool called voice, in the very to the lowest degree it will have benefitted me by helping me explore the voice in my writings. For that, each of you will have this opportunity to become familiar with me, the mortal and writer, finished voice. Long before I decided to become an English major, I had decided I was a good writer. If I had to use one countersignature to describe myself as a writer, it would be thrifty. I could whip off papers that I was asked to write, on topics which I generally knew cypher about. umteen of us could testify to the truth that we are conditioned to become theme writing specialists. It is almost as if we have been coerced to believe that writing of any otherwise kind will push creativity beyond its acceptable limits. I was continually praised for my writing thriftiness. No matter what the subject was, I was an expert. The lengthened use of latinate words in my work convinced the reader I knew exactly what I was talking about. I had ... ...ion, I would acquire that mass believe this because they werent comfortable with the limitations imposed on them that made creating good writing, seem like an imposs ibility. We all oppose to discover whether we are good writers, and we nip to our professors paper evaluations to determine this. The promising thing about this class, is that we get to serve as mentors for each other. For this one time, we may submit our work to a bigger earshot for evaluation. Our success in writing doesnt have to hinge on the personal preferences and standards of just one person, our professor. I am optimistic, because although I continue to struggle with writing in voice, I have one and therefore I know I will discover it. It will enrich my writing enough so that I know I am capable of more than mechanical theme writing. Now that you hear my voice, what is it that you hear? Moving away from Theme Writing and Finding our Voices Essay -- WritingMoving away from Theme Writing and Finding our VoicesThe attempt to discover my voice may seem less than insightful for the audience in which this paper is intended. It is quite a relief that I dont hav e to write a theme, pretending to be an expert on finding voice. The concept of voice is very new for me because I wasnt aware that I was conveying a tone or attitude in my writing that was so profoundly obvious. In preparation for this discussion I have spent time re-reading former assignments trying to hear the voice present in them. I think the concept of voice, as well as the new deliberate avoidance from theme writing, has put the entire class in the same boat. In this respect our writing talents are maturing. If the paper does not provide any insight on the new and powerful creative tool called voice, in the very least it will have benefitted me by helping me explore the voice in my writings. For that, each of you will have this opportunity to become familiar with me, the person and writer, through voice. Long before I decided to become an English major, I had decided I was a good writer. If I had to use one word to describe myself as a writer, it would be thrifty. I could whi p off papers that I was asked to write, on topics which I generally knew nothing about. Many of us could testify to the truth that we are conditioned to become theme writing specialists. It is almost as if we have been coerced to believe that writing of any other kind will push creativity beyond its acceptable limits. I was continually praised for my writing thriftiness. No matter what the subject was, I was an expert. The extensive use of latinate words in my work convinced the reader I knew exactly what I was talking about. I had ... ...ion, I would presume that people believe this because they werent comfortable with the limitations imposed on them that made creating good writing, seem like an impossibility. We all struggle to discover whether we are good writers, and we look to our professors paper evaluations to determine this. The promising thing about this class, is that we get to serve as mentors for each other. For this one time, we may submit our work to a larger audience for evaluation. Our success in writing doesnt have to hinge on the personal preferences and standards of just one person, our professor. I am optimistic, because although I continue to struggle with writing in voice, I have one and therefore I know I will discover it. It will enrich my writing enough so that I know I am capable of more than mechanical theme writing. Now that you hear my voice, what is it that you hear?

Essay on Social Expectations in Story of an Hour and Sorrowful Woman

Social Expectations and Marriagein The Story of an minute and A Sorrowful Woman Marriage does not ever so bring people happiness they expect. A number of people feel trapped in their have sums. Mrs. Mallard in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour and the unnamed protagonist in Gail Godwins A Sorrowful Woman are among those who experience such(prenominal) unfortunate. Only one hour in her marriage did Mrs. Mallard feel really happy that was, bizarrely, when she was told about her husbands death. For the female protagonist in A Sorrowful Woman, her marriage was a torment. alone the succession, she suffers from grief and sadness. Both of the women are imprisoned in their own marriages and even more so in their own minds, which eventually lead them to death. Successfully describing their of import characters developments of feelings, Kate Chopin and Gail Godwin, two authors from two different time periods, undoubtedly point out that the conflict between order and individuals is th e cause of the sadness and tragedy of marriage. First of all, done the settings of their stories, both of the authors suggested that social expectations be the real causes of their protagonists deaths. In A Sorrowful Woman, the unnamed protagonist has a desirable life. She has a durable, receptive, gentle husband and a tender golden three son (33)i. He was attuned to her he understood such things (33) indicates that her husband endlessly understood her. He is willing to sacrifice his time for her and their family. Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour is in a similar environment. Knowing that she has a boldness trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death (10). Her friends a... ...or them death is freedom. And only by death they are able to escape from their tragedy. The stories touch so much thought from people. Should a society be more generous to people? Should a society try to understand social groups, individuals, rela tionships, and set? If a society could do these, there would be less tragedy like such in Chopins The Story of an Hour and Godwins A Sorrowful Woman. WORKS CITED i All of the quotations using in this paper are from Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. fifth ed. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. Pages 10-12. Godwin, Gail. A Sorrowful Woman. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. fifth ed. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. Pages 33-37. Essay on Social Expectations in Story of an Hour and Sorrowful WomanSocial Expectations and Marriagein The Story of an Hour and A Sorrowful Woman Marriage does not always bring people happiness they expect. A number of people feel trapped in their own marriages. Mrs. Mallard in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour and the unnamed protagonist in Gail Godwins A Sorrowful Woman are among those who experience such unfortunate. Only one hour in her marriage d id Mrs. Mallard feel really happy that was, bizarrely, when she was told about her husbands death. For the female protagonist in A Sorrowful Woman, her marriage was a torment. All the time, she suffers from grief and sadness. Both of the women are imprisoned in their own marriages and even more so in their own minds, which eventually lead them to death. Successfully describing their main characters developments of feelings, Kate Chopin and Gail Godwin, two authors from two different time periods, undoubtedly point out that the conflict between society and individuals is the cause of the sadness and tragedy of marriage. First of all, through the settings of their stories, both of the authors suggested that social expectations be the real causes of their protagonists deaths. In A Sorrowful Woman, the unnamed protagonist has a desirable life. She has a durable, receptive, gentle husband and a tender golden three son (33)i. He was attuned to her he understood such things (33) indicates that her husband always understood her. He is willing to sacrifice his time for her and their family. Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour is in a similar environment. Knowing that she has a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death (10). Her friends a... ...or them death is freedom. And only through death they are able to escape from their tragedy. The stories invoke so much thought from people. Should a society be more generous to people? Should a society try to understand social groups, individuals, relationships, and values? If a society could do these, there would be less tragedy like such in Chopins The Story of an Hour and Godwins A Sorrowful Woman. WORKS CITED i All of the quotations using in this paper are from Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. 5th ed. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. Pages 10-12. Godwin, Gail. A Sorrowful Woman. The Bedford I ntroduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. 5th ed. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. Pages 33-37.

The History of Jewish Persecution Essay -- Essays Papers

The History of Judaic Persecution Every religious group has suffered a time when their religion was not considered to be popular or right. Out of all of these religious groups that have suffered, no one group has suffered so much as that of the Jewish religion. They have been exiled from almost every domain that they have ever inhabited, beginning with Israel, and leading all the was up to Germany, France, Spain, England, and Russia. Not only have they been exiled but as well as they have suffered through torture, punishment, and murder. Thus, because of the history of the religion, the Jewish people have become a very resilient people. They have survived thousands of years carrying their religion with them from one country to the next and never loosing their faith. They have traveled form Eastern Europe, to the United States and have finally managed today to settle comfortable all over trades union America. The Jewish religion has suffered tremendously throughout t he centuries, and unfortunately it did not become any easier for them during the twentieth century. The Jewish peoples problems began pine before the Common Era they were persecuted long ago by King Nebuchadnezzer. Because of the treaty that was signed with King Nebuchadnezzer the Jews were uprooted from their home in Jerusalem and were forced into exile in the city of Babylon. The Jews were not tough poorly, though they were bitter because of being taken away form their beloved Jerusalem. Due to this bitterness they became more intensely Jewish than ever before. (1) After seventy years of exile the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem. Most of them gave up this option and elected to stay in Babylon. Those who stay in Babylon became ... ...s problems in the past. Many religions would have travel and ceased to exist under this kind of persecution. To the Jewish believer this is perhaps because they are the chosen people. This religion continues to prove its strength and resilience even today and result continue to do so. Works Cited 1) Fast, Howard. The Jews. The Dial Press, Inc., New York1968. 2) Goldberg, David J. The Jewish People, A History and Their Religion. Viking, New York 87. 3) Kantor, Mattis. The Jewish Time Line Encyclopedia. Jason Aronson Inc., New Jersey 1992. 4) Perry, Marvin. western sandwich Civilization A Brief History (third edition). Houghton Mifflin Company, New York 1997. 5) Perry, Marvin. Peden, Joseph R. Von Laue, Theodore H. Sources of the Western Tradition third edition). Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston 1995.

Lions :: essays research papers

LionsPhysical CharacteristicsLions throw off relatively short-legged, long, muscular bodies and large heads. The male grows on average to 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.6 to 8.2 ft) long, not including the tail, which is 90 to 105 cm (36 to 41 in) in length. It stands 1.23 m (4 ft) higher(prenominal) at the shoulder, and it weighs 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb). The mane, which covers the head and neck, sometimes extends to the shoulders and belly. The mane will vary in color and length well-fed, healthy social king of beastss withdraw longer, fuller manes. Females argon smaller but equally muscular. Lions vary in color from golden to brown. The mane of a male lion will vary from black to yellow. some(prenominal) sexes have retractable claws to keep them sharp when they are needed. Lions have wide powerful jaws. The lions roar, which basis be heard by humans up to 9 (5.6 miles) kilometers away, is usually uttered before the animals hunt in the evening, after a successful hunt, and at one ti me more in the early morning. Habitat & Human ImpactLions once throw upd throughout Africa and from Europe to Iran and India. By 1900 lions were no longer found in Syria today Asiatic lions are limited to the Gr Sanctuary in India. Lions in addition roam Africa south of the Sahara, particularly the Serengeti National commonalty in Tanzania and the Kruger National Park in South Africa. This drastic reduction in range came about as humans and domestic make outstock spread into savanna lands. Because lions live in open areas, they are easily shot by hunters and herders.Lions fur coats are a highly prized possession by poachers, and are worth a lot. everywhere the last 200 years, over 90% of the world&8217s lion population has either been shot or killed as result of humans. Lions are also a very popular attraction for zoos and many lions live in captivity. Diet & Predatorial Behavior Lions are one of the world&8217s most noted predators. Their preys ranges from insects to giraffe s but they prefer large animals such as zebras and wildebeast. The lion will cautiously stalk its prey until it is within close range and it will dash reaching speeds about 50 to 60 km/h. The lion will usually take its prey down by the neck using its broad jaws and razor sharp claws. The female is the hunter and will have the first meat, soon after the male comes to share the meat.Lions essays research papers LionsPhysical CharacteristicsLions have relatively short-legged, long, muscular bodies and large heads. The male grows on average to 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.6 to 8.2 ft) long, not including the tail, which is 90 to 105 cm (36 to 41 in) in length. It stands 1.23 m (4 ft) high at the shoulder, and it weighs 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb). The mane, which covers the head and neck, sometimes extends to the shoulders and belly. The mane will vary in color and length well-fed, healthy lions have longer, fuller manes. Females are smaller but equally muscular. Lions vary in color from gold en to brown. The mane of a male lion will vary from black to yellow. Both sexes have retractable claws to keep them sharp when they are needed. Lions have wide powerful jaws. The lions roar, which can be heard by humans up to 9 (5.6 miles) kilometers away, is usually uttered before the animals hunt in the evening, after a successful hunt, and again in the early morning. Habitat & Human ImpactLions once ranged throughout Africa and from Europe to Iran and India. By 1900 lions were no longer found in Syria today Asiatic lions are limited to the Gr Sanctuary in India. Lions also roam Africa south of the Sahara, particularly the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the Kruger National Park in South Africa. This drastic reduction in range came about as humans and domestic livestock spread into savanna lands. Because lions live in open areas, they are easily shot by hunters and herders.Lions fur coats are a highly prized possession by poachers, and are worth a lot. Over the last 200 ye ars, over 90% of the world&8217s lion population has either been shot or killed as result of humans. Lions are also a very popular attraction for zoos and many lions live in captivity. Diet & Predatorial Behavior Lions are one of the world&8217s most famous predators. Their preys ranges from insects to giraffes but they prefer large animals such as zebras and wildebeast. The lion will cautiously stalk its prey until it is within close range and it will sprint reaching speeds about 50 to 60 km/h. The lion will usually take its prey down by the neck using its huge jaws and razor sharp claws. The female is the hunter and will have the first meat, soon after the male comes to share the meat.

Muhammad And The Beginnings Of Islam :: History Historical Islam Islamic muslim

Muhammad And The Beginnings Of Islam Muhammad, whose full name was Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibnAbd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, was born in Mecca around 570 AD aft(prenominal) thedeath of his father, Abd Allah. Muhammad was at first under the divvy upof his paternal granddaddy, Abd al-Muttalib. Because the climate ofMecca was considered to be unhealthful, he was given as an infant to awet toy with from a nomadic tribe and spent some time in the desert. Atsix, he lost his mother, Aminah of the clan of Zuhra, and at eight hisgrandfather. Though his grandfather had been head of the prestigiousHashem clan and was prominent in Mecca politics, he was probably not theleading man in Mecca as some sources suggest. Muhammad came under thecare of the new head of the clan, his uncle Abu Talib, and is reputed tohave accompanied him on trading journeys to Syria. About 595, on such ajourney, he was in charge of the merchandise of a rich woman, Khadijahof the clan of Asad, and so impressed her that she offered trades union. She is said to have been about 40, but she bore Muhammad at least twosons, who died young, and four daughters. The best cognize daughter wasFatimah, the wife of Muhammads cousin Ali who is regarded asMuhammads divinely ordained successor by the Shiah branch of Islam. Until Khadijahs death in 619, Muhammad took no other wife. Themarriage was a minuteing point in Muhammads living. By Arab custom, minorsdid not inherit, and therefore Muhammad had no share in the property ofhis father or grandfather. However, by his marriage he obtainedsufficient capital to engage in mercantile activity on a scalecommensurate with his abilities. Muhammad appears to have been of a reflective turn of mind and is saidto have adopted the habit of occasionally spending nights in a hill cavenear Mecca. The poverty and misfortunes of his early life doubtlessmade him aware of tensions in Meccan society. Mecca, inhabited by thetribe of Quraysh to which the Hashim clan belo nged, was a mercantilecenter formed around a sanctuary, the Kabah, which secure the safetyof those who came to trade at the fairs. In the later 6th century therewas extensive trade by camel caravan between the Yemen and theMediterranean voice (Gaza and Damascus), bringing goods from India andEthiopia to the Mediterranean. The great merchants of Mecca hadobtained monopoly control of this trade. Mecca was thus prosperous, butmost of the wealth was in a few hands.