In 2014, the 11th United States Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Chiquita Brands, a Cincinnati–based multinational marketer and distributor of food products—widely known for its Chiquita banana brand—which had been accused by 4000 Colombians of supporting paramilitary soldiers who had killed or tortured their relatives. The court ruled on technical grounds that the Colombians could not sue the company under the laws they had cited. “The Alien Tort Statute does not apply extraterritorially,” wrote Judge David Sentelle, and “the Torture Victim Protection Act only applies to actual people, not to corporations.”

The Colombians had sought $7.86 billion in damages, on the basis that Chiquita was responsible for the deaths of 393 victims at the hands of a paramilitary group called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia that Chiquita had funded through their payments. The lawsuits pointed specifically to a 1997 massacre in which 49 people were tortured, dismembered, and decapitated and another incident in 2000 in which 36 more people were killed.

The lawsuit was ironic, because Chiquita had originally made the payments to the paramilitary group to protect its Colombian employees from harm—not to put people at risk. However, once the payments had been made, Chiquita had no control over what the outlaw group did with the funds—which it had apparently used to terrorize other people in the community. “The principle upon which this lawsuit is brought,” said the Colombians’ attorney Jonathan Reiter, “is that when you put money into the hands of terrorists, when you put guns into the hands of terrorists, then you are legally responsible for the atrocities, the murders and the tortures that those terrorists commit.”

Chiquita’s problems began in the early 2000s, when the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia attempted to extort substantial payments from the company to help fund the group’s operations. The paramilitary group made it clear that if the company did not make the payments Chiquita’s employees would be at risk. The company’s managers took these threats seriously, because they were aware that in 1995 the paramilitary group had been responsible for bombing Chiquita’s operations and murdering 17 banana workers, who had been gunned down on a muddy soccer field.

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Chiquita’s mission emphasized a strong sense of ethical performance and social responsibility. It stated that it wanted “to help the world’s consumers broaden mindsets about nutrition and bring healthy, nutritious, and convenient foods that taste great and improve people’s lives.” Therefore, it was not surprising that Chiquita’s management also wanted to protect its employees and ensure their safety while working for the company. In a handwritten note, a Chiquita executive said that such payments were the “cost of doing business in Colombia.” The company agreed to make the payments demanded by the paramilitary group, but hid the payments through a series of questionable accounting actions. From 1997 through 2004 Chiquita paid monthly “protection payments” totaling more than $1.7 million.

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack in the United States, the U.S. Government declared the Colombian paramilitary group to be a terrorist organization. In February 2003, a Chiquita employee informed a senior Chiquita officer that the company’s protection payments were illegal under the new U.S. terrorism laws. Chiquita officials met with their attorneys in Washington, DC, and were advised to stop the payments to the terrorist group. Yet the company continued to make the protection payments, amounting to an additional $825,000.

In the minds of the Chiquita’s executives, stopping the payments would risk the lives of their employees. Chiquita’s executives also considered but rejected the option of withdrawing operations from Colombia. But in a surprising move in April 2003, Chiquita decided to disclose to the Department of Justice that the company was still making payments to the Colombian paramilitary group. The company told the government that the payments were made under the threat of violence against them and their employees.

The Justice Department informed Chiquita that these payments were illegal, yet the company continued to make the payments. In 2007 Chiquita Brands International pleaded guilty to one count of the criminal charge of engaging in transactions with a designated global terrorist group and agreed to pay a $25 million fine.

In explaining its actions, a company spokesperson stated that “Chiquita and its employees were victims and that the actions taken by the company were always motivated to protect the lives of our employees and their families.” He added, “Our company had been forced to make protection payments to safeguard our workforce. It is absolutely untrue for anyone to suggest that these payments were made for any other purpose.”

Sources: “Chiquita Brands International Pleads Guilty to Making Payments to a Designated Terrorist Organization and Agrees to Pay $25 Million Fine,” U.S. Department of Justice Press Release, March 19, 2007, www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/March/07_nsd_161.html; “Colombian Families’ Suit Says Chiquita Liable for Torture, Murder,” CNN.com, February 14, 2007, www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/11/14/chiquita.lawsuit; “Chiquita Sued Over Colombian Paramilitary Payments,” The Sacramento Bee, May 30, 2011, www.sacbeee.com; and “US Appeals Court Says Colombians Cannot Sue Chiquita,” BBC News, July 24, 2014, www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28469357.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you agree with the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that cleared Chiquita of any liability for the victims killed by the paramilitary group that Chiquita funded? Construct an ethical argument that supports your view.

2. Using each of the four methods of ethical reasoning (see Figure 5.6), was it ethical or not for Chiquita to pay the terrorist organization when payments were demanded in the early 2000s?

3. Should the U.S. ban against supporting terrorist groups, imposed after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, be applied in this situation? Why or why not?

4. Is there anything that Chiquita could have done to protect its employees adequately without paying the terrorists?

5. Should Chiquita be assessed a penalty that puts the firm out of business for their actions?

Prepare "T" Accounts in ACCRUAL and CASH basis the Income statement, Statement of Retained Earnings and Balance Sheet, after reading the following information below.

Richard Brandt graduated from York University with his BAS although he spent more time in the gym than in the classrooms and libraries. His parents and grandparents were very proud and happy of this achievement. As a graduation gift, Richard's Grandparents gave him $20,000 to start his own business.

So, on September 1, 2015, Richard started a small business called "Ricky Rock Wrestling for Fun". "Ricky Rock" offers a party package designed for active kids, teen and adults that want to learn and practice wrestling activities for fun by learning how to perform headlocks, leg scissors and other tricks.

As a student, he learned and practiced Greco-Roman wrestling and built an impressive body. Now graduated from university he has decided to continue with his passion of wrestling but added a spin to make money. In one tournament in 2013 Richard meet Linda who was competing for a US university team and she mentioned that she was working on girls birthday parties focused on wrestling. In June 2015 Richard contacted Linda and told her about his idea and Linda shared with him all documentation she has prepared in these years including: brochure to be distributed to potential customers, personal cards, party themes, parties activities, schedules and agendas, etc. During August Richard has completed his business plan and was ready to launch 'Ricky Rock Wresting for Fun' in the GTA.

The following is a list of transactions that occurred during the first month of operations:

September 1st Opened a business bank account with the $20,000 received as a gift from the Grandparents $20,000.

September 1st Signed 12 month commercial insurance contract for any liability that might emerge from the activity, $600 per month for 1 year.

September 2nd Purchase in cash costumes of famous wrestlers to wear at parties. The costumes can last one full year $600.

September 3rd Paid in cash the set up of the web site. It expects to last the whole life of this business $2,000.

September 4th Collected the brochures and presentation cards to be used in promoting the business. One third is paid in cash while the rest will be paid on October 5th $450.

September 5th First event organized and delivered. Birthday party for a 5 years old boy. Received the payment in cash $1,000.

September 6th Second event organized and delivered as part of a series of activities organized by a charity to raise funds. One third is paid in cash while the rest will be paid by the Charity Organization on October 5th $3,000.

September 8th Labour day, no events, no work so Richard goes to the gym and does a double routine (the rest of the days he just does a simple routine of 2.5 hours).

September 12th Third event organized and delivered. Birthday party for a 7 years old boy. Parents promise to pay in a few days $1,000.

September 15th Pays first 2 months of insurance $1,200.

September 19th & 20th Fourth event organized and delivered. Provided one of the activities of a corporate team building extravaganza weekend. The contract signed says the payment will be effective in 30 days with a cheque $2,000.

September 23rd Paid the gym membership for September, October, November and December $2,000.

September 24th Telephone bill for $200 was received for the month of September, payment due October 5th $200.

September 26th Fifth event organized and delivered. Birthday party for a 4 years old boy. Received payment in cash $1,000.

September 26th One of the parents at the birthday party for a 4 years old boy hires him for his son's birthday party on October 10th. Received payment in cash $500.

September 27th Sixth event organized and delivered. Birthday party for a 6 years old boy. Received payment in cash $1,000.

September 29th Received the payment for the birthday party for the 7 years old boy of September 12th $1,000.

September 30th Richard pays to his parents a rent for using the car for business purposes and to go and come back from the gym $200.

September 30th Richard promised to pay on October 6th to his parents the extra charge that comes in the insurance premium of their cars for having him as an additional driver (male under 25) $800.

Additional information: September 30th Inventory of brochures and cards showed that two thirds of them are still available (not used) $300.

ACCRUAL accounting:

CASH accounting:

Acme Development Company is considering building a twenty-five (25) unit apartment building near Catholic University due to the demand for off-campus student housing. Given the unique needs of the student population, Acme anticipates they will achieve 75% occupancy over the course of a year. Acme is basing their decision on the following assumptions:

 MARR:15%
 Land Acquisition:$150,000
 Construction Cost:$2,250,000
 Investment Period:20-years

Maintenance Expenses:Years 1 to 10: $500 per unit, Years 11 to 20: $1,000 per unit

 Property Taxes/Insurance:10% of total invested cost
Determine the break-even rent that should be charged per month for each apartment.

39/ Named perils coverage protects the home and any other structures on the property against

A.only those events named by the homeowner's policy

B.loss reported to law enforcement agencies

C.events except those that are specifically excluded by the homeowner's policy

D.loss from theft and disaster damage

41/ In​ general, insurance companies generate their profit from

A.overestimating the value of client claims and keeping the difference as profit.

B.only insuring people who are low risk to claim.

C.selling a lot of certain kinds of highly profitable insurance products.

D.investing the proceeds of premiums until the funds are needed to cover claims.

43/ The cash value is the

A.income stream for the policy owner.

B.insurance dash related expenses incurred by a life insurance company

C.investment option for beneficiaries.

D.portion of the premium that is invested by the insurance company on behalf of the policy owner

Describe the five steps in an ethical analysis. Below are the guidelines of answer. DO NOT use guidelines below as the answer of question. Please use your own answer with provide example with each step.

Five steps

1. Identify and describe clearly the facts. Find out who did what to whom, and where, when, and how. In many instances, you will be surprised at the errors in the initially reported facts, and often you will find that simply getting the facts straight helps define the solution. It also helps to get the opposing parties involved in an ethical dilemma to agree on the facts.

2. Define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher-order values involved. Ethical, social, and political issues always reference higher values. The parties to a dispute all claim to be pursuing higher values (e.g., freedom, privacy, protection of property, and the free enterprise system). Typically, an ethical issue involves a dilemma: two diametrically opposed courses of action that support worthwhile values. For example, the chapter-ending case study illustrates two competing values: the need to improve health care record keeping and the need to protect individual privacy.

3. Identify the stakeholders. Every ethical, social, and political issue has stakeholders: players in the game who have an interest in the outcome, who have invested in the situation, and usually who have vocal opinions. Find out the identity of these groups and what they want. This will be useful later when designing a solution.

4. Identify the options that you can reasonably take. You may find that none of the options satisfy all the interests involved, but that some options do a better job than others. Sometimes arriving at a good or ethical solution may not always be a balancing of consequences to stakeholders.

5. Identify the potential consequences of your options. Some options may be ethically correct but disastrous from other points of view. Other options may work in one instance but not in other similar instances. Always ask yourself, “What if I choose this option consistently over time?”

Achen and Bartels argue that the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic didn’t really affect the 1918 US election because there was no social consensus about how bad the epidemic was or who’s fault it was. Are either of these conditions present today, especially in the USA? Does the theory of Achen and Bartels tell us anything about the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic?

to answer this question, I feel that both of the conditions mentioned by Achen and Bartel may not be as relevant when speaking on the COVID-19 pandemic. With the rise of social media and public documentation of various crisis', it seems that people are aware of just how bad this problem is. While there are bound to be people who are ignorant of the facts and statistics surrounding COVID, for the most part, I feel the public has been aware and responded according to how severe of a problem it really is. The other condition seems to be answered as well to some extent, given that the cases originated in China and have been linked to various areas and possible means of spreading. What's interesting is to consider it's effect on the American election taking place this year. While a large number of people would argue that the response from the Republican party to the COVID pandemic has been sub-par, there are others that may take Donald Trump's apparent disdain for China as a sign of strength, a political battle cry, if you will. It's still a few months until we will really see the effects of the pandemic on this election, but I'm certain that for the most part, this pandemic has been mostly negative for the ruling party, in contrast to Canada where I feel that support for the Liberal government has grown as a result of their response to the pandemic.

give feedback to this answer.

Pick a current or past news event and offer different explanations for why it happened. Include the different theoretical perspectives presented in chapter one in your answer.

Psychoanalytic Theory, Behaviorism,Humanism, Cultural Psychology and Evolutionary Psychology ( This was what I wrote not understanding the question at that time).

Topic: Increasing Suicide Rate

Just In one week, two great celebrities took their own lives without any explainable reasons that we may know about, first the designer Kate Spade and then the chef and television host on CNN Anthony Bourdain, these are people in our society who we may not think can commit such an act. What is going on? This is an escalating crisis that needs an attention. According to the New York Times; the study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that some parts of the country have been hit especially hard, state like Montana has the highest rate in the nation, especially among veterans by 20 percent. They want us to believe that one of the main reason for suicide is because of non-gun control, but this is not about gun control, it is about people getting help when they need it. Our governments; federal, states, counties, and community leaders need to do more by getting involve in preventing this issue or else it will become an epidemic. According to Feud, People are fully aware of the forces affecting the behavior; (Weiten p. 7) the unconscious. It is because of the unconscious behavior of mankind, that’s why we have these problems and some people know that they need help mentally, but they can’t get it because of no resources.

Reference: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/us/suicide-rates-increasing-bourdain.html

Researchers in the corporate office of an airline wonder if there is a significant difference between the cost of a flight on Priceline.com vs. the airline's own website. A random sample of 24 flights were tracked on Priceline and the airline's website and the average difference between the vendors was $2.971 with a standard deviation of $9.9905. The 99% confidence paired-t interval for price (Priceline - Airline Site) was (-2.754, 8.696). Which of the following is the appropriate interpretation?

Question 4 options:

The Student Recreation Center wanted to determine what sort of physical activity was preferred by students. In a survey of 95 students, 62 indicated that they preferred outdoor exercise over exercising in a gym. When estimating the proportion of all students at the university who prefer outdoor exercise with 99% confidence, what is the margin of error?

Question 5 options:

To design a new advertising campaign, Ford Motor Company would like to estimate the proportion of drivers of the new Ford Fusion that are women. In a random sample of 93 Fusion owners, 51 of them were women. What is the 95% confidence interval estimating the proportion of all drivers who are women?

Question 6 options:

Price stability plus full employment are US Congress mandates to:

Group of answer choices

a. All of the above

b. The Fed or the US Central Bank

c. The White House

d. The US Treasury

QUESTION ONE

1. We add the demands of private goods horizontally but add the demands of public goods vertically when determining the associated marginal benefit to society. Why do we do this, and why are the procedures different for public and private goods?                              [6 Marks]
2. Individual A’s demand for Bread (a private good) is
   1. Q = 21 - 6P
   2. and Individual B’s demand is
   3. Q = 6 - 3P.
3. Write down an equation for the social marginal benefit of the of Bread consumption.
   1. [4 Marks]
4. Now suppose that Bread is a public good. Write down an equation for the social
   marginal benefit of Bread consumption.                                                              [4 Marks]
5. People in your neighbourhood pay annual dues to a neighbourhood association. This association refunds neighbourhood dues to selected home owners who do a particularly nice job of beautifying their yards. At the most recent home owners’ association meeting, home owners voted to end this practice because they felt that it was unfair that some people would not have to pay their share of the costs of maintaining the neighbourhood. What is likely to happen to the overall level of neighbourhood beautification? Explain.                    
   1. [6 Marks]
6. Consider the rival and excludable properties of public goods. To what degree is radio broadcasting a public good? To what degree is a highway a public good?              [5 Marks]