Asset

In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset. Simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset).

The balance sheet of a firm records the monetary value of the assets owned by the firm. It is money and other valuables belonging to an individual or business. Two major asset classes are tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets. Current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment.

Intangible assets are nonphysical resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the market place. Examples of intangible assets are goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, and financial assets, including such items as accounts receivable, bonds and stocks.

Relief

Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a flat surface of stone (relief sculpture) or wood (relief carving) is a lowering of the field, leaving the unsculpted parts seemingly raised. The technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise. On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round, especially one of a standing figure where the ankles are a potential weak point, especially in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mache the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, often abridged as Last Week Tonight, is an American late-night talk and news satire television program airing on Sundays on HBO in the United States and HBO Canada, and on Mondays (originally Tuesdays) on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom. The half-hour long show premiered on Sunday, April 27, 2014, and is hosted by comedian John Oliver. Last Week Tonight shares some similarities with Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where Oliver was previously featured as a correspondent and fill-in host, as it takes a satirical look at news, politics and current events on a weekly basis.

Oliver has said that he has full creative freedom, including free rein to criticize corporations. His initial contract with HBO was for two years with an option for extension. In February 2015, it was announced that the show has been renewed for two additional seasons of 35 episodes each. Oliver and HBO programming president Michael Lombardo have discussed extending the show from half an hour to a full hour and airing more than once a week after Oliver "gets his feet under him".

Anna Minton

Anna Minton is a British writer and journalist. Born 19 April 1970, educated at St.Paul's Girls' School, London and Queen's College Oxford. Minton has worked as a foreign correspondent, business reporter and social affairs writer and has won a number of national journalism awards. She is the author of Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the Twenty-First Century City (Penguin, 2009).

Work

After a decade in journalism, including a period spent as a staff member of the Financial Times, Minton began to focus on larger projects for various think tanks and policy organizations. She has written reports for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Demos, and Shelter amongst others and she is the author of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Viewpoint publication entitled ‘Why Are Fear and Distrust Spiralling in Twenty-First Century Britain?’ (2009).

Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the Twenty-First Century City (Penguin, 2009) is a book which looks at the ownership of various UK cities to investigate the effect and nature of public space.

Direct Relief

Direct Relief (formerly known as Direct Relief International) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a stated mission to “improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergency situations by mobilizing and providing essential medical resources needed for their care."

The organization is headed by a 31-member Board of Directors and President and CEO Thomas Tighe. Tighe came to Direct Relief from the Peace Corps, where he served as Chief-of-Staff and Chief Operating Officer from 1995-2000.

History

In 1945, William Zimdin, an Estonian immigrant and successful businessman in pre-war Europe, began sending thousands of relief parcels to relatives, friends, and former employees in the aftermath of World War II. In 1948, Zimdin formalized his efforts with the establishment of the William Zimdin Foundation. Dezso Karczag, a Hungarian immigrant assumed management of the foundation following Zimdin's death in 1951, changed the organizations name to 'Direct Relief Foundation' in 1957. The organization assumed the name "Direct Relief International" in 1982, and "Direct Relief" in 2013.