Corporate Collapse - The demise of Enron Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate Collapse - The demise of Enron - Essay Example The duration of the project that was expected by the company was 10 years and the company expected that it will generate huge amount of profit from this project. But the reality is opposite to what Enron forecasted and it had to bear huge loss in terms of finance and social image (Ahmed, 2012). The project was considered as the largest direct foreign investment project in India’s history but it became debacle for Enron because many countries criticized Enron for its poor performance and fake promises (Bettauer, 2009). Enron’s liquefied natural gas power plant development project stated in 1992 in Maharashtra state of India. It was supposed to fulfill India’s energy need with more than 2000 megawatts of electricity (Ahmed, 2012). But due to various issues like dispute over prices between India’s government and Enron and criticism of Indians on this project turned the venture into an example of what can go wrong when two different cultures collide in a large scale development project (Bajaj, 2010). The project became debacle for Enron because it produced no electricity and in 2001 the company got bankrupted. Enron Corporation in 1992 proclaimed that it would develop a natural gas power plant worth of $3 billion in Dabhol western state of Maharashtra, India. The project was expected to be the poster child of India’s economic liberalization but unfortunately it became the symbol of project failure and people consider it as a human rights nightmare and an economic failure. The project was subject of criticism from the beginning. The company worked hand in hand with dishonest Indian bureaucrats and politicians in order to complete the project but Indian public interest group filed charges against Enron and in 1993 Indian Reliance Company bribed Indian petroleum minister to secure the contract (Leuz, & Schrand, 2009). Due to this bribery

Explain what is meant by globalisation Essay Example for Free

Explain what is meant by globalisation Essay Globalisation involves the increased interdependence/reliance of countries. It is the increasing integration of the world economy into a single international market due to the dynamics of trade in goods and services and flows of capital and technology.  Globalisation implies that goods are being manufactured abroad and that there is more prominent international trade. This is shown through the rise in exports and imports. For example, UK exports as a percentage of gross domestic product have more than doubled in the post-war period.   Globalisation welcomes new technology and means that countries are less inward looking. In general, globalisation increases as time goes on and develops along with changing objectives and advances in technology. It is not a new phenomenon.  Especially during the last 25 years, more and more areas of the world economy have been brought into the competitive market.  Globalisation, on the whole offers huge scope to improve the efficient allocation of resources and derive the benefits of international trade. It is fuelled by trade, movement of factors of production, the increasing number of Multi-National Corporations and the new technology. There are four main factors that have contributed to globalisation in recent years.  Firstly, there is the freer movement of goods and services between countries. This is known as free trade and theoretically each country should concentrate in the production of those products in which is has absolute advantages, the greatest comparative advantages or the least comparative disadvantages.  Free trade is promoted internationally and regionally by a number of trading blocs and organisations like so called world wide clubs and regional clubs. The most important and relevant one is probably the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The WTO has pushed along globalisation because it discusses trade issues, establishes agreed rules and takes appropriate measures when these rules have been broken. It has 130+ members and membership is conditional on the grounds that countries must follow trade policies of a broadly free trading nature. The other main trading bloc is the EU. It has helped globalisation because it enjoys a single currency that further unites and integrates the current 15 members. The EU allows the liberty of inter-member movement with goods, services and labour alike.  Free trade has lead to globalisation in recent years because countries can enjoy exports and imports of great quality and lower prices. Globalisation is also about improving current economic situations, and if consumers are satisfied then they tend of spend more, hence generating a larger amount of money in the economy which in turn inspires even more globalisation. Another factor which has led to the process of increased globalisation is the freer movement of the factors of production, i.e.: land, labour, capital, enterprise. If we first consider the physical capital like tools, infrastructure and raw materials; in the past it was more convenient for a country to just make use of its own resources. It was either extremely expensive or not allowed for these to move about. But since deregulation, freer movement of factors of production exists.  Deregulation is basically when the government removes rules and in effect removes barriers to entry, for example perhaps abolishing a tariff on certain imports. In terms of money capital, in the past there was the issue of exchange control, whereby there was a maximum on the amount of a currency you could carry about. This too has been deregulated, and this along with the decrease in bureaucracy and removal of red tape has enabled foreign investment to occur, spurring on globalisation. This freer movement of factors of production, which includes capital and labour mobility has led to globalisation as different countries resources has become open to the world market. The United Arab Emirates, for example, exports a large amount of aluminium and generates a massive sum of money from this. However, to do this is has to obtain bauxite (the raw material) and this is possible because of the freer movement of factors of production. The 3rd factor is the freer movement of firms; more specifically globalisation has been led by the growth of Multi-national Corporations (MNCs). They are such an integral part of globalisation that the sales of MNCs such as General Motors and Ford exceed the entire gross domestic product of many countries. A Multi-national corporation is a company that has significant production operations in at least two countries, e.g. Starbucks or Sony. These large firms exist because of economies of scale, marketing, and lots of political power.  MNCs help globalisation because without them there would be far less trade and innovation. MNCs have increased the amount of world output significantly and this has improved living standards throughout. MNCs create new jobs in other countries, giving rise to opportunity for the country they are operating in, and generating money for their own country. Multi-national corporations and globalisation is inevitably leading to a shifting in production from the First World to the Third World, where labour is cheaper. This is an example of globalisation as countries become more interdependent on each other.  Finally, the last main factor that has contributed to globalisation is the prominence of advancing technology. This includes communication, the Internet, computers, etc. Technology is tied in with the other factors that have led to globalisation. The dramatic improvement in communications during the second half of the twentieth century has especially helped globalisation and MNCs. Falling airfares, the Internet, the fax machine, digitalisation and computers especially have meant that the movement of people and the transmission of information and ideas is easier and more cost-effective than ever before. Technology has reaped massive economies of scale and efficiency benefits for firms today, particularly as we live in an era where many things are computerised. Technology has made it more convenient to manage large firms and permit the movement of factors of production and free trade. The significant reductions in constraints on the international movement of goods and capital emphasise the attitudes of people today evolving towards a more liberal outlook, and this in itself mirrors globalisation.

Mating and gender of the clownfish

Mating and gender of the clownfish The Clownfish belongs to the family Pomacentridae, with many species, many belonging to the genus Amphiprion while one belongs to the Premnas genus (Godwin 1994 p 556). The fish has many colors which depend on the species. A symbiotic relationship exists between the fish and the sea anemone that offers protection to the fish due to its stinging nature. On the other hand, the fish protects the sea anemone from harm that could be caused by hard undigested particles through feeding on them. The fish spawn on the sea anemone. A fully grown dominant female may grow to a total length of 11/2 feet, while the small adult Clownfish may be as small as 4 inches. The fish thrive in the warm waters of the tropics (Maddern 1990 p 36). They are mainly found in the salty waters of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The excretion from the fish is a major source of nourishment for the sea anemone that absorbs the nutrients emanating from fecal matter. More over, the movements of the Clownfish in the wa ter surrounding the sea anemone, especially when fanning the eggs are significant for water circulation, which is significant for the distribution of nutrients for the nourishment of the sea anemone (Drury 2008 p 63). The Clownfish is covered by a mucus coating around its body which as Wittenrich et al. (2007 p 93) observed are derived from sugars, which is one of the factors that prevents the stinging reaction of the sea anemone as the nematocysts are triggered by the presence of protein based substances in the surrounding. The fish dwell in one sea anemone as a group, which means that several sea anemones will host different groups of fish (Godwin 1994 p 561). In other words one sea anemone is the territory of one small group of fish. Clownfish is one of the aquatic organisms whose sex remains a subject of controversy. It is generally known that the fish is capable of switching its sex. This essay is a critique of the Clownfish mating process and gender changes that occur, as well as an exploration of the different species. Gender Changes The ability to switch sex is one of the aspects that make the fish unique especially the fact that this can happen to any adult fish. Kuwamora Nakashima (1998 p 126) observe that during hatching, the fish are usually one sex, i. e, all males. The dominant male that becomes larger than all the rest during adult stage develops in to a female. None other develops in to a female so long as the dominant female is alive. The fish that follows in terms of size becomes the dominant male, while the rest remain small inactive males (Godwin 1994 p 558). These phenomena lead to the questions as to why only one of them develops in to a female and assumes the normal role female fish. Questions also arise as to why the second largest male does not undergo the same process. However, these changes point at dominance as the major determinant of the sex change. The males that remain are usually inactive and remain at the bottom of the hierarchy that is headed by the dominant female followed by the dominant male. Another interesting phenomenon is in case the dominant female dies. The dominant male undergoes a sex reversal and assumes the role of the dominant female, which starts reproducing. The death of the dominant female leads to a rearrangement of the hierarchy since the largest male in the juvenile group develops in to the dominant male and begins mating. Godwin (1994 p 558) observe that the need to fill the gap left by the reproducing female triggers the degeneration of the male organs and the development of the ovaries from the female ovary cells that remain dormant when the fish is male. This is an indication that even if the Clownfish are hatched with the male sex, there are certain dormant ovarian cells that remain standby until when need arises. There seems to be an interconnection between the physiology of the fish and the social aspects of the group. The social gap created by the death of the female is filled by the mating male; leaving another gap whereby there lacks a dominant male, which on the other hand has to be filled by a male from a lower group of males in the hierarchy. Each group of Clownfish inhabiting a particular sea anemone has got its own hierarchy, and they do not mix. This is an indication of the social bond that exists within the groups whose stability is maintained by all members (Kuwamora Nakashima 1998 p 128). It means that if the reproducing female is alive and functional, no other male regardless of the size can develop in to a female. On the other hand, no fish in the lower group can change sex to become the dominant male while one already exists. In a way, one may infer that it is due to loyalty of the lower groups to the dominant male and female that they do not change their sex or grow to a large size to outdo the fish in the upper level of the hierarchy. This is because they have the capacity to become larger and change their sex, but they do not. Maddern (1990 p 36) notes that each fish has to ensure that its body mass remain lower by a quarter of the average weight of the dominant fish, or else it may be ejected out of the grou p. This has enabled the fish to avoid any impending conflicts that may arise between the dominant group and the lower group. However, the initial vigor of development from the larvae stage determines whether the larvae will develop in to one of the dominant fish in the group. The ones that develop at a high rate have a high chance of becoming dominant. The behavior of the fish generates interest to research on the reasons behind the unique behavior. One wonders why the social aspect of the group is largely connected to their physiology. More over, how the fish regulate their size to maintain a lower body mass than the dominant fish is an important issue that needs further research. It is important to understand how they are able to determine the amount of feeds and aggressiveness that helps in the maintenance of a small size, which can only be changed when there arises a vacant position created by the death of one of the dominant fish. In order for the fish to qualify for change of sex, they have to be mature, which Tullock (1998 p 54) argues should be more than one year of age and the environment needs to be favorable for the change of sex. The environment that determines the success of the fish in changing sex is that within the social group. A favorable environment means that there has to be an opportunity for the fish to join t he dominant group. Without the absence of the female, no change of sex can occur. On the other hand, there can be a dominant female but the group may lack a dominant male, necessitating the movement of one of the fish in the lower groups to the dominant group. Maddern (1990 p 33) further notes that even if two male clownfish were put together under controlled conditions, one of them that is more dominant than the other has to become the female, while the other becomes the mating male. On the other hand, Tullock (1998 p 67) further observes that a lone crown fish will develop in to a female if allowed to develop to a full grown fish. One can therefore infer that development in to a female is dependent of other larger and fast growing fish that are likely do dominate the group. However, this applies for the smaller fish since if one small fish is allowed to grow on its own in the absence of other fish; it develops in to a female. This means that all the Clownfish are bound to become females if there are no other fish to compete with for dominance (Kuwamora Nakashima 1998 p 128). Mating amongst the Clownfish Mating in the Clownfish is usually ceremonial, which leads to spawning of eggs and fertilization. The fish engage in courtship prior to spawning. The behavior of the males changes to aggressiveness, which rises as the male approaches the actual mating. Wittenrich et al. (2007 p 95) observes that the male usually turns its aggressiveness towards the substrate beneath the water. On the other hand, the female joins in there after, leaving both sexes charging towards the substrate. This is the period that is regarded as courtship (Wilkerson 2003 p 66). This aggressive behavior continues until the final days prior to mating when it becomes more intense. They even become aggressive towards other fish that come close to the mating area. The courtship, as Godwin (1994 p 551) observe is usually brief and involves certain pretentious behavior of the female to attract the male and vise versa. The sea anemone plays a significant role during mating and spawning of eggs. Both fish take part in the clearance of debris and any other solid particles that may interfere with the eggs. The female later lays the eggs on the selected side of the sea anemone. They usually find the softest substrate that is favorable for the delicate eggs. The fish usually pinch one of the tentacles of the sea anemone, which makes it retract as a reaction to the nip. The tentacle settles at the selected spawning area by the female. Before laying the eggs, the female makes certain that it is the most appropriate area to spawn by making some trials that are simi1ar to laying eggs but not real. The actual laying of eggs usually comes later after ensuring that the environment is favorable. Maddern (1990 p 39) observed that the eggs are usually sticky in nature, and that they can not float on water. They stick on the substrate and the male swims closely behind as the female lays the eggs. After completing spawning of eggs for a period of 2 hours, the male is usually ready to shed the sperms to fertilize them. The fertilized eggs remain stuck on the soft substrate, where both fish offer protection against intruders who might cause harm. With the exhaustion from spawning, the female gets to feeding while the male is left to shield the eggs fr om attack. Hoff (1996 p 86) observes that the male is usually highly aggressive in defending the nest. More over, the male is also involved in aerating the eggs through flapping its fins. It also selects and eats the infected eggs that may not have a chance to survive. Any matter that falls on the eggs is removed by the male. In other words, the male is usually very active through out mating and after the eggs have been laid to the time that the larvae will be hatched. The female can shed up to more than 2000 eggs in one spawning season. However, the number of eggs usually depends on the size of the reproducing female. The larger the female the more the eggs it can produce (Tullock 1998 p 63). This could also be another reason as to why the large males are the ones that change in to dominant females. The mating area is also a determinant of the survival of the eggs and the strength of the fry. Wilkerson (2003 p 68) observes that it is important for the aquaculture of Clown fish to be practiced carefully to avoid mixing the species in one area whereby they are likely to stress each other. Different species are unlikely to survive together since they will constantly fight injuring each other, which is likely to make them unable to lay eggs. In controlled conditions, the presence of a sea anemone makes the environment more like the natural environment, which facilitates spawning. The fish under go the normal process of mating, laying eggs and taking care of them as they would do in the wild. However, this would require an extra task of raising the sea anemone and maintaining it while on the other hand maintaining the fish. It may be a costly venture to undertake in aquaculture. However, it is not mandatory to have the sea anemone for the Clownfish to mate and spawn in controlled conditions. The fish can also spawn in rocks whose ruggedness offers hiding places. However, the same characteristic as in the wild whereby the fish cleans the substrate on the surfaces where the eggs are laid occurs during mating under controlled conditions. Hoff (1996 p 89) observes that the mature and ready to mate Clownfish usually tend to scrub rocks with the mouth as well as fins, in a similar way as the way they clean the substrate to have a clean ground for laying eggs. The eggs get stuck to the eggs where they get fertilized by the male that swims after the female. The fish that are satisfied with the artificial environment, i. e. that which is almost similar to the natural environment are likely to lay more healthy eggs (Wilkerson 2003 p 66). Species of Clownfish There are many fish species of Clownfish which differ mainly in color as well as in many other aspects such as the structure of the fins. For example, the Amphiprion percula is one of the species of Clownfish that has a characteristic extended level band at the central point of its body. The fish is also referred to as the anemone fish, which has a distinct orange color. It also possesses some black marks as well as white strips on the fins. The structure of the dorsal fin is one of the distinguishable characteristics as it possesses 10 spines (Maddern 1990 p 61). The species is known to reproduce through out the year since it inhabits the warmer regions that are favorab3le for breeding. The fish live in groups of 6, including the dormant males. The hierarchy of the group is that of the typical Clownfish, and it exhibits all the other characteristics of the Clownfish such as change of sex. The Amphiprion clarkii is also one of the hardy Clown fishes that are highly resistant to diseases. They come in diverse colors such as yellow, white, grey and brown. These colors are also diverse on the fins and the tail, while it is missing in others. The fish are recommended for aquariums due to their hardiness as they do not need specialized care. Amphiprion ocellaris is also one of the species with distinct characteristics such as black stripes on the fins as well as an elongated dorsal fin (Tullock 1998 p 65). Premnas biaculeatus has a reddish color on their body which tends to be more inclined towards brown in some fish within the species. They have white strips along their spine. These colors are distinct from most of the other fish species. Amphiprion frenatus is a species in which juveniles tend to be dark red and black as they develop in to adults. Amphiprion sandarcinos, Amphiprion perideraion, Amphiprion frenatus and Amphiprion melanopus are also among the many species o f Clownfish that can be differentiated especially through the color of their bodies (Wittenrich et al 2007 p 95). Conclusion Clownfish is one of the hardy fish species that inhabit the warm areas of sea, such as the Indian Ocean as well as the Pacific Ocean. They belong to the genus Amphiprion, and are greatly colored, which makes them good for ornamental aquaculture. In the wild, the fish usually live in groups that demonstrate a hierarchical association. The highest in the hierarchy is usually the reproducing female, which are the dominant and the largest fish in a group. The fish have a rare behavior of changing sex depending on need. The larvae are usually male, but they are capable of developing in to females. Only the dominant and largest male develops in to a female, while the second largest male in the group develops in to the mating males. The only time that there can be a change in the hierarchical structure is when the female is eliminated from the group through death, leading the mating male to become the female and the larger male in the lower level of the hierarchy to become the mating male ( Drury 2008 p 63). The mating of the Clownfish takes place without complications. The sea anemone is highly supportive to the existence of the Clownfish. It offers protection through its poisonous stings to the predators. The Clownfish is not taken as a predator by the sea anemone because of the mucus covering on its body that comprises of sugars. The relationship between the sea anemone and the Clownfish is usually symbiotic, whereby each derives some advantage from the other. There are many species of Clown fish that can be distinguished through their body color as well as the body structure. However, they exhibit a similar behavior (Maddern 1990 p 41).

AIDS and the Catholic Church :: HIV Religion Christianity Essays

AIDS and the Catholic Church As the AIDS epidemic in the United States advanced into the 1990s, it became clear that AIDS had a new target population. AIDS was no longer strictly a gay disease but was leaking into the general heterosexual population as well. Moreover, as the decade progressed, new cases of HIV infection were being increasingly identified in poor, minority communities. While the focus of the AIDS epidemic shifted from the high-profile male homosexual population to poor, minority communities, political activism and financial support for the fight against AIDS also began to decline. With the new limitations set by decreased public support and decreased financial resources, policy-makers, humanitarian organizations, and AIDS activists began to analyze how best to extend AIDS-related resources to these new target populations. The US Hispanic community is one such population for which new methods of AIDS programming is being sought. Hispanics comprise a rapidly growing portion of the US minority population but are still over-represented among new cases of HIV infection. According to the CDC, "In 2000, Hispanics represented 13% of the US population (including residents of Puerto Rico), but accounted for 19% of the total number of new US AIDS cases reported that year (8,173 of 42,156 cases)" (CDC 1). In contrast to the gay male communities of San Francisco and New York in the 1980s, Hispanics are lacking the financial resources to combat the spread of AIDS in their communities. As a matter of fact, the Hispanic poverty rate of 20% given by the US Census Bureau is about three times that of caucasians. Thus, it is likely that support for combating the spread of AIDS within the Hispanic population must come from an outside third party. Few institutions are in as ideal a position as the Catholic Church to address the AIDS epidemic in the US Hispanic community. A statistic from The Catholic Almanac says that 80% of US Hispanics are catholic, and hence the Catholic Church has a very influential presence in the Hispanic community. As a community-based institution with international backing, a catholic community church can draw on the resources of its arch-diocese to address community-specific issues. Therefore, an AIDS campaign disseminated through the catholic church would not necessarily rely on the financial support of those communities it benefits most -- namely poor, Hispanic communities. Such a campaign, the National Catholic AIDS Network, was established in 1989 as a resource for all catholic communities dealing with the struggle against AIDS.

psychology :: essays research papers

Psychology – study of behavior and the mind Dualism - the mind is spiritual and the body is physical and they are connected the mind can’t be studied Introspection – Wundt Observers report their reactions TO light, colors, and time perception Psychoanalysis – Freud’s theory of personality and method of psychotherapy, both of which assume the importance of the unconscious process. Behaviorism – scientific study of observable behavior Cognition – the mental process thinking, knowing, and remembering. Basic research – research that tests theories. Applied research – research to solve practical human problems Theory – describes predicts and explains a phenomenon. Hypothesis – testable prediction, usually derived from theory Laboratory research – in regulated environment and everything can be observed Field research – in the real world Self-report – asking people about their own thoughts and feelings Behavioral observation – a form of research based on firsthand observation of a subject’s behavior. Archival research – research that relies on preexisting records Statistics – math used to analyze research data Case studies – research that involves in depth personal observations Surveys – research method that interviews or questions large groups of people Epidemiology – study of distribution of an illness in a population Random sample – a method of selection in which everyone has an equal chance of being chosen Naturalistic observation – observation of behavior as it occurs naturally in real-world settings. Correlation – a statistical measure of the extent to which two variables are associated Scatterplot – a graph which has dots for X and Y and reveals direction and strength of their correlation. Experiment – research in which an investigator changes and keeps constant the variables on randomly assigned subjects. Independent variable – any variable that the researcher manipulates in an experiment Dependant variable – a variable that is being measured in an experiment Experimental group – the group that is exposed to the independent variable Control group – the group that isn’t exposed to the independent variable Random assignment – random assignments to an experiment Replication – the process of repeating an experiment to see if the results are reliable enough to be duplicated. Generalizability – the extent to which a finding relates to, such as a certain population. Meta-analysis – statistical procedures used to review a body of evidence by combining the results of individual studies. Deception – misleading subjects to the true purpose of a study. Informed consent – ethical requirement if one wants to participate in a study (of ones own free will) Evolutionary psychology – principles of evolution to understand human social behavior Behavioral genetics – genes and their affect on behavior

Connecting The Tempest, Of Cannibals, Eating Gifted Children, and Modest Proposal :: Tempest essays

Connection Between The Tempest, Of Cannibals, Eating Gifted Children, and Modest Proposal There are several, in-depth connections presented in The Tempest by William Shakespeare, "Of Cannibals" by Michel de Montaigne, "How to Raise Your I.Q. by Eating Gifted Children" by Lewis Frumkes, and "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. While all these stories feature civilization and the uncivilized coming into contact with one another, perhaps for the first time, they also feature a deeper connection. They feature a connection to each other that strikes to the very heart and structure of our civilizations today-just as it did when these works were written. That connection is the idea that the "noble savage" (if there is such a thing) is appalled at what we call civilization because of how unjust, uncaring, and unkind we are to one another. The works point out how the savage perhaps is just the innocent and we are the ones who ought to be called savages-not because of what our culture does, but what it does not do. We do not care for one another in today's society. The culture we've built ourselves is one where each man strives for his own good. Each person cares and looks out for Number One. In the end, as stated by the "savages" in Montaigne's essay, rich people can live in luxury on the same street where poverty takes lives. In today's society of computerized and/or instant everything, we look about at the social troubles that plague us and seek solutions similar to those we implement for mechanical problems. People who write laws do not care for the people they govern from the heart, but rather from the wallet. We implement measures that are "quick fixes". They fix the immediate problem at hand or in the public's eye because that's what will get the politician re-elected. The very structure of our social care system is a laughable joke. As Lewis Frumkes and Jonathan Swift point out in their respective satires, "How to Raise Your I.Q. by Eating Gifted Children" and "A Modest Proposal", this society is one which looks for "quickie" solutions to every surface problem without actually looking into the causes. What Frumkes and Swift propose are not so far off from the grossness which we ourselves would propose to deal with our social-economic problems. Do we not practice the eating of children for our individual gain in all but the literal sense?

Origin of Narcocorridos

In the book, â€Å"The Handbook of Texas† Dan Dickey writes that in the late 1940’s and 1950’s when â€Å"Tex-Mex† music became commercialized, so did the Music called â€Å"corridos†. Back then it became popular to hear songs about drug smuggling and violence. Music from the genre corridos which was about drugs and drug smuggling was called narcocorrido, which some would say is â€Å"Mexico’s style of gangsta rap†. An excellent example of narcocorrido would be â€Å"El Avion de la Muerte† (The Plane of Death) performed by Los Tigres del Norte, which is arguably one of the most popular corridos bands in history. Los Tigres del Norte have written and performed many songs throughout their career. This famous Mexican band started in 1968 and was made up of three brothers (Jorge, Raul and Hernan Hernandez) and their cousin (Oscar Lara). They started to play their grandparents’ instruments in bars, and like thousands of immigrants they crossed the border to make it in America. Their first hit came in 1970 and was a song about two rival drug dealers. However, in 1972, their song â€Å"Contrabando y Traicion† (â€Å"Contraband and Betrayal†) became a topic of controversy. Not only was it about drug smuggling but how a woman killed a man before he could abandon her. Why would the act of murder committed by a woman spark such controversy? Bataille’s tells us that, â€Å"Such a divinely violent manifestation of violence elevates the victim above the humdrum world where men live out their calculated lives. To the primitive consciousness, death can only be the result of an offence, a failure to obey† (Bataille, 82). Even before Los Tigres del Norte, there was Rosalino â€Å"Chalino† Sanchez, a renegade artist from Sinaloa, a state in the north of Mexico that is well known for its abundant marijuana fields. Hodgson writes, â€Å"When he was 15, Sanchez shot and killed a man who had raped his sister, and fled to California, where for a while he worked as a ‘coyote', smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs across the border. Only when he was arrested, and spent nearly a year in Tijuana prison, did he discover his skill at song writing. He began composing corridos for fellow inmates, and once outside, found his skills in demand from both dealers and legitimate immigrants. † While not the best singer, his incredible lyricism built his reputation quickly. Having earned his street credibility in jail, he soon afterwards was contacted by famous Mexican drug lords who would commission him to write songs about them and their criminal exploits. To shed some light on this fascination with death, we can turn to writer Margaret Atwood in her book Negotiating with the Dead: â€Å"All writing of the narrative kind, and perhaps all writing, is motivated, deep down, by a fear of and a fascination with mortality — by a desire to make the risky trip to the Underworld, and to bring something or someone back from the dead† (157). Chalino, in this way, had a sought-after ability to immortalize the Mexican drug lords. Chalino, himself, portrayed the brave image of the Mexican cowboy. After dealing with the narcotraf icantes, he acquired both powerful friends and enemies. According to an informer that talked to Martin Hodgson, â€Å"The cartels used the group’s music to lay out a code of conduct for its members: ‘Through the corridos comes the philosophy, how the members of the cartel have to behave. If you listen carefully, the songs tell you what they did wrong. You learn what you have to do so they don’t kill you. ’† At the same time, the death drug-lords became heroes through corridos. Some enjoyed their hero status while still alive, but most of them earned it after death. This returns us again to Becker’s introduction to Human Nature and the Heroic in his book The Denial of Death. He explains, â€Å"†¦ [T]he problem of heroics is the central one of human life, †¦ it goes deeper into human nature than anything else because it is based on organismic narcissism and on the child’s need for self-esteem as the condition of human life. Society itself is a codified hero system, which means that society everywhere is a living myth of the significance of human life, a defiant creation of meaning. † Hence, by commissioning corridistas to write about them, narcotraficantes could satisfy that narcissism and become heroes in their own right.