Legal Underpinnings of Business Law Essay

The key to limiting liability exposure is to realize where your company might be vulnerable. It is important to be able to recognize possible situations that make a company vulnerable. Knowing all possible significant aspects of any liability associated to the type of business an owner wants to participate in is vital. A business owner should always understand and have working knowledge of all laws that apply to your business to prevent liabilities. Personal Business Venture My future personal business venture would a clothing line for curvy women. As a curvy woman, it is very difficult to find non-geometric, non-tent like, flower patterned, ugly business and casual clothing. The best business organizational form for this business would be an LLC. LLC’s are easy to set up. Chose a business name that incorporates LLC, file an article of organization, create an operating agreement, obtain licenses and permits, hire employees, and finally open the doors. I would have variety of partners from textiles, designers, clothing producers, managers, and finally marketing specialists. The personal liability exposure would be minimal. With an LLC if I messed up the partners would not be responsible. The consequences are not as bad is if I was in a corporation. The LLC is more flexible. The positives are less record keeping and more profit sharing. The state would have some say into my company so I would have to keep up with guidance regularly. The negative of this company is that once a member leaves, the entire company must complete their duties and responsibilities and then dissolve. Another down fall is that self-employment tax contributions towards Medicare and Social Security. â€Å"The net income of the LLC is subject to this tax. The federal government does not recognize LLC as a business entity for taxation purposes, all LLCs must file as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship tax return. Certain LLCs are automatically classified and taxed as a corporation by federal tax law. †

Controlling Pollution Through Taxation And Pollution Licenses Environmental Sciences Essay

It is presently really popular to recommend revenue enhancement and pollution licences as policy step to command pollution. However, both of these attacks bring with them significant troubles and, hence, should non be adopted † . How far do you hold with this statement? Let me get down by giving my ain definition of Environmental Management. Put merely, Environmental Management involves the development of schemes with the ultimate aim of modulating the impact of human activities ( those of industries and persons ) on the environment utilizing scientific discipline, policy and socio economic applications. It focuses on allowing engineering to germinate continuously while guaranting at the same clip that its inauspicious impact on natural ecosystems is increasingly limited or even eliminated ( where possible ) . The cardinal sentence here is â€Å" allowing engineering to germinate while guaranting at the same clip that its inauspicious impact on natural ecosystems is increasingly limited or even eliminated † . The environmental director appreciates the cardinal function that industries and their assorted engineerings play in the development of society and hence is non needfully against industrial activities. But he is besides cognizant of the effects and deduction of some of these engineerings on the environment: pollution. He hence is an advocator of the acceptance of environmentally friendly activities alongside economic and industrial activities. This is my attitude sing the topic of pollution control particularly in industries. The relevancy of this point will go clearer as one proceed in this topic of whether or non policy steps like revenue enhancement and pollution licenses be adopted. Taxs on pollution and pollution licences are pollution control steps which are aimed at industries, houses or companies whose activities pollute the environment. They are economic instruments whose underlining rule is that of cost internalisation, what is now known as the â€Å" Polluter Pays Principle † PPP adopted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) in 1972 ( Turner, 1992 ) . The basic thought behind this rule is that pollution of the environment has a cost which can be translated to a market monetary value and this cost should be paid for merely like other goods and services. In this instance pollution includes any activity that involves the use or consequences in the debasement of environmental resources. So a production procedure which has for case involved the use or debasement of environmental resources should reflect the cost on the environment in its overall cost. More by and large, the market monetary value of a good or service shoul d include and therefore reflect the cost of that good or service on the environment. By puting monetary value tickets on the environment ( including its waste assimilation capacity ) issues like pollution can be integrated into the economic domain and defilers can be therefore made to internalize the cost for fouling the environment. In kernel, because the external societal costs of environmental pollution are paid by the polluting agent ( industries, in this instance ) this internalizes those outwardnesss into market determinations. As before stated pollution revenue enhancements and pollution licences are economic instruments which follow the Polluter Pays Principle, wherein defilers are made to pay for fouling. In the system of Pollution revenue enhancement which is called a Charge policy, houses are given the freedom to bring forth as much pollution as they want but are required to pay a certain charge per unit of pollution. While the system of Pollution licences besides called movable discharge license, involves belongings rights which consists of a license to breathe pollutants. Each license entitles its holders to breathe as much pollution as is specified in the right. So if for illustration a defiler has bought 20 licenses, the defiler will be entitled to dispatch a upper limit of 20 units of the designated type of wastewater within a defined period of clip. What is alone about pollution licenses is that it is designed to work in a more decentralised manner i.e. the licenses are movable, they can be bough t and sold among participators in the license market, at whatever monetary value is agreed upon by the participants themselves. In both instances defilers are allowed to foul at a certain monetary value. Possibly the first inquiry that would come to mind so is ; how can the cost of pollution be accurately determined? Particularly when you have to see the multiplied and associated effects environmental pollution incidents normally convey? Or sing that different pollutants come with different economical costs? No uncertainty the complex nature and workings of the environment makes happening a monetary value for environmental pollution rather a complicated undertaking. Be that as it may, a sensible attack would be to get at an estimation that considers the cost of redress, compensation costs and other associated costs. Although an empirical appraisal of the harm impacts and their pecuniary equivalents will be far from exact, it will at least give something to work with and this is what the defiler pays rule does. Furthermore in my ain sentiment, the more of import inquiry should be ; how effectual is this rule as a pollution control step? The Pollution of Surface Waters Act ( PSWA ) enacted by the Dutch authorities in 1970, which placed pollution charges on emanations into Dutch waterways is possibly one of the best arrows to the efficaciousness of this attack as a pollution control step ( Field, 2002 ) . The consequence of this policy was that Industry was forced to cut down its one-year organic emanation from 33.0 million PE in 1969 to 8.8 million PE in 1990. Pollution was reduced by 70 % in a infinite of 20 old ages. Quite effectual you will hold. By puting monetary value on pollution which once was free, industry was made to plan engineerings that produced less pollution. No 1 would hold thought that to be possible. The success of this policy-approach in the above mentioned instance is that Industry was motivated to develop better environmentally friendly practises without the governments holding to follow a command-and-control scheme. The Polluter Pays Principle therefore is an economic inducement based attack wh ich can efficaciously actuate industries to come up with better environmentally friendly practises. It acts as an inducement to introduce. With the debut of pollution charges houses will hold the inducement to seek for ways to cut down their pollution emanations, possibly by modifying their production procedure, altering fuel input or adding certain intervention installations. Interestingly economic theories tend to back up this thought in some ways. Economic theoretical accounts suggests that there is an optimal degree of pollution where the fringy cost of cut downing pollution is equal to the fringy cost of the harm caused by such pollution. Puting charges on pollution would at least make an inducement for houses to cut down their pollution to this degree. Figure 1 Cost-Benefit Model ( Turner, 1992 ) The above diagram shows cost and benefits of fouling for a house that has to pay pollution charges per unit pollution, but its activity or production procedure entails production of waste ( pollution ) . Q represents its degree of activity and W represents the attach toing waste ( pollution ) . Qa represents the point below which waste generated can be assimilated by the Earth, therefore doing pollution of impermanent consequence. Any activity beyond Qb will bring forth waste that is beyond the assimilative capacity of the Earth. The Fringy Net Polluting Benefit ( MNPB ) is the benefit derived from altering its degree of activity by one unit while the Marginal External Cost is the value of harm done by the pollution produced alongside the activity. By holding to pay charges on pollution the house will be forced to be given towards Qa as it will non desire to pay so much. But for pollution charges the house would progressively be given towards Qb and likely travel on fouling beyond th e assimilative capacity of the Earth Wb. For optimum operation it has to work at a point of minimal pollution cost and maximal benefit. This is the point where MNPB and MEC meet i.e point X, known as the economic optimal degree of pollution. In kernel therefore the PPP tends to checkmate houses from runing with high pollution degrees. In add-on pollution charges are non based on a zero emanation mark as this is non even executable. Harmonizing to the theoretical account, there are degrees at which pollution is really acceptable. The pollution control policy is determined around this â€Å" socially acceptable † degree and related ambient quality provinces. Puting a general monetary value for all pollution will efficaciously ensue in any mark for the entire burden from all houses being achieved at the lowest possible sum of wastewater costs. The deduction therefore is that it will be possible to accomplish pollution control ( really touchable control since it covers a big spectrum of participants ) utilizing this policy. And in add-on to accomplishing pollution limits the policy tends to counterbalance the public assistance that was lost due to the pollution. Possibly it is of import at this point to observe that pollution every bit far as economic sciences is concerned occurs when physical pollution has res ulted in loss of public assistance. In other words they pay harm costs in add-on to command costs. Lets non bury besides that the policy is a cost allotment rule that raises money for authorities. With this money authorities can advance greenish enterprises or more environmentally friendly engineerings ( and this is really cardinal to long term pollution decrease ) . Firms will by and large be forced to be more cautious in their activities as they know that they will be apt for any injury they might do. So why should n't the policy be adopted? Granted that there are some troubles and disadvantages with the policy but what is the overall cost compared with the overall benefit? There is the statement that portion of the pollution charges are pushed to clients who end up paying. In other words its non wholly the defiler who pays. Well, that ‘s true but we will hold to be reminded that pollution revenue enhancements really returns the market system to the Pareto efficiency so that although few may profit no 1 is worse off. Ordinary revenue enhancement tends to falsify the market and displacements it off from the Pareto solution but pollution revenue enhancement does the antonym. So its bad on one side but good on the other. It is true besides that monetary value may travel up with such policy and this will hold a negative consequence on the hapless but on the other manus that will be a good development for markets with more environmentally friendly merchandises as their merchandises will sell better. That being said I do ubt that competitory force per unit area will let houses to increase monetary value without believing twice. One existent trouble with this policy I will acknowledge is the issue of pollution for which there was no cognition of inauspicious impact at the clip of happening. Bing a pupil of environmental engineering and direction I am cognizant that the consequence of certain actions particularly those that trade with chemicals can take clip to be known. Take for case the instance of CFC ‘s whose inauspicious consequence where merely discovered old ages after their industry. Even the ardent conservationists will hold that it is unjust to keep histrions apt for pollution caused at the clip when injury was non recognized. This I agree is one really cardinal trouble with the policy. Another trouble would be accurate and right designation of the defiler since there can be complications. On the whole I do back up the acceptance of pollution licenses and pollution revenue enhancements where it is deemed executable. There is ground to believe that it is possible to cut down emanations to a degree that is acceptable for the environment. What is required is the motive. Up until late, houses had cultivated an attitude of being less concerned about the impact of their activities on the environment even when and where it was non needfully expensive to be more cautious. Economic instruments like pollution licenses and revenue enhancements will decidedly be utile in commanding pollution by obliging houses to be cautious about their activities.

Evidence based in nursing Essay

Evidence based in nursing Introduction Literature search            The topic I searched on was management of brain injuries. The main purpose of this research was to ascertain what literature stated on how to monitor and treat a patient to curb post traumatic seizures, which are brought about due to limitation of amount of oxygen that goes to the brain. This causes excessive release of excitory neurotransmitters, thereby increasing the brain’s metabolic needs, that raises pressure within the intercranial space. Unfiltered Evidence            The unfiltered article that I came across had important information in it. It had three authors namely; James W. Y. Chen, Robert L. Ruff and Roland Eavey. It had 21 references in it, â€Å"Post traumatic epilepsy and treatment.† I found it in the Wiley online library database. It clearly defined the whole post traumatic epilepsy symptoms, diagnosis and physiotherapy practices involved in treating it. This article was very useful as it gave a clear highlight on how to go about the nursing process of post-traumatic seizures. However, this did not show the research and advances that have been made in diagnosing and treatment of the condition. Filtered Evidence            Filtering of articles was critically hectic and cumbersome. I discovered informative articles on post traumatic seizures diagnosis, treatment and care. However, most of them were obsolete and did not show clear progress in current research and health advances towards dealing with brain injury associated epilepsy. I succeeded in getting present day ideas when I used the online Harvey/ John Hay Whitney medical library tool. I got 20 results from the search. Despite most of them being outdated, I managed to find a relevant one which was talking about the advances and treatment administered to the epileptic patients. It had a broad variety of the whole process and it had a lot of information. The article I found was in synopsis form (Fulton, John F. and Ralph W. Gerard, 2014). Critically Appraised Topics            When I used the AHRQ database I collected 173 searches on head injury post traumatic seizures. It was very wide thus difficult to obtain the information required. It was comprised of all other neural based injuries like the spines making it difficult to come up with a clear article on post traumatic epilepsy. The nearest article that I came across was on â€Å"Nerve and Brain Conditions.† Systematic Reviews            It was the most effective tool that I used and its results were very easy to internalize. I found an article in the Pubmed database that showed the way forward in dealing with head injury traumas in a comprehensive context and I liked it a lot. I dealt with the symptoms, diagnosis and medications, and therapeutics used in dealing with the post trauma epilepsy. (Dalmady & Zasler, 2014) Useful Tip            In order for one to have a complete literature research, the most sufficient way to go about it as I learnt from this assignment, is by using more than one database when searching for a specific topic. Another way is that, with the higher you go the more broad the evidence you get in a distinct hierarchical order. References Dalmady-Israel, C., & Zasler, N. (n.d.). Post-traumatic seizures: A critical review. Brain Injury, 263-273. Retrieved December 9, 2014.Tsao, J. (2012). Traumatic brain injury a clinician’s guide to diagnosis, management, and rehabilitation. New York: Springer. Source document

Sampling Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sampling Methods - Assignment Example For a health based proposal such as the one the researcher is currently working on, the population shall be made up of respondents from a hospital setting where the researcher shall have access to both care givers and service users. In this case, the care givers shall be nurses whiles the service users shall be the patients who receive care from the selected hospital. For a hospital as a research population site, there are certainly going to be a very large number of respondents that the researcher cannot interact with straight away. For this reason, a sampling method shall be instituted to select a hand-full of respondents. The sampling technique to be used shall be a purposive sampling technique. Generally, a purposive sampling technique is suitable for qualitative research as it offers the researcher the opportunity to select only a specified group of people whose description meet the variables set (Wolcott, 1994). Using a purposive sampling technique would ensure that the researc her does not interact with people whose presence may not be very meaningful to the research. The purposive sampling method shall be use by using the hospital folder of patients in an identified ward to select the best group of patients who meet the variables that will be outlined for the study. Commonly, purposive sampling is criticized for not guaranteeing internal validity because the researcher shall have some levels of manipulation of the respondents and could adjust the selection process to suit the hypothesis set (Trochim, 2006). This shall however be addressed by ensuring that an empirical data analysis technique is used. Ethical issues may also arise when respondents are forced to be part of the sample size once they are selected by researcher. This shall be addressed by ensuring that it is only respondents who express willingness to be part of the study shall be included.

Case study Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case study Analysis - Essay Example This approach is associated with mass production, in which goods are produced and stored in warehouses and stocked by suppliers with the anticipation of increased prices. The first major difference between BTO and BTS is the specialization. Derived from the definition, BTO is founded on the needs of the customer, meaning that the products are developed to suit individual customer wants. Following the consumer placing an order with included specializations, the manufacturer engages in the production of the placed request. In BTS, the customer has little influence over the manufacture as well as specialization of the product. The product is developed to meet the market demand, and specialization of the product design is within manufacturers. BTO is more suited to individual needs and has a higher production cost footed by the consumer while BTS is more focused towards mass production thereby lowering the production cost. Inventory demand is different for both BTS and BTO approaches. The inventory in the BTO case is eliminated via committing the consumer to a product as opposed to accumulation of inventory by the BTS approach. The consumer has their product developed as per specifications provided in the BTO approach, meaning that the materials used are specific to the placed order. In addition, the inventory of the producer is comprised of partially and wholly sold products. BTS concentrates on increasing the amount of inventory, with the intention of meeting the demand in the market, and often engage in a lot of marketing and promotions to ensure the sale of the products. The market is faced with a low supply where BTO is involved, meaning that the customer cannot walk into a store and acquire a product immediately. Since orders are taken individually and filled to meet the customer’s needs, there is no product readily available for a free market. This concept may mean a loss in profits and employment as well

Behaviour in Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Behaviour in Organisations - Essay Example The purpose of this report is to analyze how organizational behavior will influence the innovation of the Australian consulting firm. The survey will focus on the process of creating and inventing new ideas into the marketplace as the products and the process in order, to flourish the consulting firm in the market. The innovation of any company lies on the power of ideas and individual initiative that expand the services of organizational to its customers. This will happen if the firm is willing to accept the opportunities and the challenges ideas that help organizational to develop new knowledge that meets emerging needs of the clients. Therefore, organizational behavior involves the study of persons and groups within the organizational, and the study of the internal process and practices as they affect the effectiveness of individuals and the organization. Therefore, organization behavior and innovation of the organizational processes go hand in hand in order to meet the interest o f workers and the executive managers. In general, it helps individuals working together in a difficult market system to create a new product and procedure or work process in organizational. This is ability of the individuals in the firm to access their weakness and the strength, set, and pursues professional and personal goals as well as balancing company work and personal life in order, to engage in new learning activities of well-being of the company. ... In general, it helps individuals working together in a difficult market system to create a new product and procedure or work process in organizational. The self-competency This is ability of the individuals in the firm to access their weakness and the strength, set, and pursues professional and personal goals as well as balancing company work and personal life in order, to engage in new learning activities of well being of the company. Stephen and Timothy (2010, p 224) stated that, for any company to innovate new ideas and products in the market, all individuals should have self-competency that involves abilities to be effective in doing the following: To attain the innovation of the consulting firm, the individuals should understand their own and the customers personalities and altitudes. The working team should understand their own motivations activities and the emotions in the organizational environment in order to respect others ideas. They should take responsibilities for managi ng their own work without any push from the top management. They should perceive, appraise, and interpret their ideas accurately in the organizational environment in order to put the new ideas into productive manner. The innovation of the consulting firm will be entirely on the assessment and the establishment of the workers personal life and the work-related goals. In general, self-competency helps in achievement of an underlying personal attributes that are needed for the successfully innovation of the organizational. The Careers Development The individuals in the organizational should aim at improvement of their careers in different fields so that they can develop new ideas in order to move up the ladder in the consulting organization. According to

Canopy Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Canopy Research - Essay Example To cater to this emerging problem, the need to research in forest canopy by identifying and mapping biodiversity in forest canopies, quantifying canopy-atmosphere and canopy-soil fluxes, and educating the public about both the economic and ecological aspects of forest conservation intensifies. Ecology education through canopy science can be fostered and this can be done via the Jason Project which includes the challenges of access and data collection in the treetops. Students can also learn about the complex linkages among biodiversity, biogeochemical cycling, and global environmental conditions through the Science curricula developed specifically for the canopies of Panama. In addition, Live broadcasts of researchers conducting canopy studies into classrooms throughout the world, provides a unique model that integrates research with ecology education. Canopy research has also created local economic incentives for conservation of forests through ecotourism. With the modern technology of creating a swaying bridge for instance, it allows the public to personally experience the treetops. While this may have slightly negative consequences to some wildlife, ecotourism does more good than harm by educating a new generation about the canopy.

The Ethics of Peta and The Death Penalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Ethics of Peta and The Death Penalty - Essay Example Another school of thought presents the fact that an individual who has performed such a heinous crime as murder has no right to live and will be a threat to other individuals if allowed to live. Christianity condemns the death penalty; Judaism approves it and Islam holds it permissible with giving rights to the victim's family to pardon. Human life executions are prevalent mostly following judicial proceedings unless they are extra judicial ones most established in countries of no or uncontrollable law. However, talk on the death penalty pertaining to human life overshadows equally important issues at times. Animals, like human beings have as much a right to live on Mother Earth as their more intelligent counterparts. PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It was founded in 1980 and came to public attention in 1981. PETA is the world's largest animal rights association consisting of more than 2.0 million members. It not only focuses on animal benefits and security issues but also rejects all forms of sufferings of animals. PETA works in the course of public learning, cruelty investigations, investigation, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity participation, and protest campaigns. If we focus our attentions

Science and Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Science and Law - Essay Example That is why the scientific theories and dogmas enjoy much higher levels of veracity and credibility as compared to other academic disciplines. So much so, that scientific approach towards research and experimentation has been incorporated within the ambit of other disciplines and fields of enquiry like sociology, history, economics, jurisprudence, psychology, etc. The fact is that science has infiltrated every aspect of life and human existence and today there exists practically no social institution or concern that is devoid of scientific methods and approaches. Especially in the realm of law, science has brought about an unprecedented change and revolution. In the 21st century, scientific evidence is legitimately welcomed and accommodated in all the courts of law and it holds a credibility and veracity about which there exists no doubt. The scientific community has also promptly responded to this new challenge and responsibility by developing new disciplines like forensics that spe cifically cater to the realm of law and the techniques like finger print evidence, DNA fingerprinting, etc hold an almost unchallenged recognition in the courts of law. With the digitization of the economies and scientific orientation of the means and ways of production, the courts of law are often required to contend with the litigations that require considerable amounts of scientific data and inputs. There is no denying the fact that the courts in the West have over the centuries, incorporated certain cardinal instruments within their frameworks and the jury is one such integral aspect of such legal frameworks. For good or for bad, the litigations requiring scientific data and discussion are not devoid of the decisive influence of juries and the concerned scientific evidence furnished in such cases is as much open to analysis by the jury as by judges, lawyers, litigants and other parties involved.The entrance of science in the courtrooms has given way to a plethora of questions, apprehensions and doubts. Infact this new trend has exposed the jury to attacks and aspersions from various quarters of the society and intelligentsia. Such pressure grou ps, while citing the complexity and intricacy involved in the conception and understanding of scientific evidence as a valid excuse claim that the contemporary system of assorting juries that seldom requires and asks for relevant qualifications and scientific knowhow, has literally rendered the institution of jury as totally obsolete, especially in the court cases that involve considerable amounts of scientific evidence and theoretical arguments and discussions.Such claims need to be qualified in the light of the basic objectives that led to the introduction of the institution of jury in the English legal system. It is imperative for the so called champions of science to understand that the jury is essentially a political institution and serves specific purposes in the democratic societies (Edmond and Mercer 331). Leaving the practical aspects of justice aside, a stiff opposition from the so called adherents of science is the biggest problem that the institution of jury faces in the 21st century. The reasons cited by such elements will be dealt with later on in this paper. First and foremost it is important to understand the political and democratic relevance of the jury in the Western legal

Climate Change and Global Warming Essay Example for Free

Climate Change and Global Warming Essay Cause Climatologists, who predict short and long-term climate trends, believe carbon dioxide and other emissions, mainly from industrial and commercial activity over the last two centuries, have altered the Earths atmosphere. This change has caused a greenhouse effect which is rapidly warming the planet. Effects The predicted effects of global warming include the melting of polar ice caps; a significant rise in sea levels; more extreme weather events; a reduction in agricultural land; water shortages; food shortages; loss of rain forests; and more species becoming extinct. Solutions Scientists believe all nations must take immediate and urgent action to dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Technological solutions have been proposed, ranging from carbon scrubbers that remove carbon from the atmosphere and reduce greenhouse gases to placing giant mirrors in space to reflect enough sunlight to cool down the planet. Controversy Although an overwhelming majority of scientists accept the man-made global warming theory, a minority have questioned this consensus. They suggest that mans impact on the climate is negligible and that global warming is wholly the result of natural cycles. David Kennedy, nd. Basic Causes of Global Warming Retrieved February 27, 2013 from http://www.ehow.com/about_5057613_basic-causes-global-warming.html Basic Causes of Global Warming Greenhouse Effect When sunlight hits the Earth some is absorbed but most is reflected. The greenhouse effect is when sunlight escaping back into space is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere and then reflected back onto the Earths surface. Most greenhouse gas is water vapor, but other gases that contribute to it include carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and other gases that have a less significant impact. Carbon Dioxide According to the U.S. Emissions Inventory 2004 Executive Summary, in 2002 around 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions were the result of burning coal for electricity. Around 93 percent of the electric utility industry burns coal. Carbon dioxide emissions also come from cars and other vehicles, airplanes and buildings. New technologies, like the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and hybrid electric vehicles, are some solutions for minimizing vehicle carbon dioxide emissions. Methane Methane is the second largest contributor to the greenhouse effect. Methane is a natural byproduct of living organisms and is produced by plants and bovine flatulence. Bacteria decomposing organic material also produce methane. According to the U.S. Emissions Inventory 2004 Executive Summary, methane levels have increased by 145 percent in the last 100 years. In the United States, all rice fields are grown in flooded areas which produce methane gases. Deforestation Deforestation is the process of clearing forests, either rainforest or temperate forests. The burning of forests is responsible for up to 25 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. This is the result of clearing and cutting nearly 34 million acres a year. Forests are also important because they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. So while carbon dioxide emissions increase, the lack of forests is making the number increase faster. Permafrost Permafrost is a layer of land and soil that has been frozen and kept at freezing temperatures or below. In many northern climates like Alaska, Canada and Siberia, the permafrost layer of soil holds vast amounts of carbon. What researchers and scientists fear is that the permafrost will warm up and microbes will decompose the soil and release carbon dioxide. Permafrost has absorbed carbon dioxide for thousands of years, but may release it back if thawed. Timothy Sexton,.nd. Global Warming Cause Effects retrieved February 27, 2013 from http://www.ehow.com/about_4744736_global-warming-cause-effects.html Global Warming Cause Effects Greenhouse Effect The overriding cause of global warming is an umbrella term known as the greenhouse effect. As the rays of the sun reach Earth, some of the heat is absorbed and some is radiated back into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere act similarly to a gigantic mirror and reflect warmth back to Earth that in the past would have continued being radiated into space. It is this reflection of heat back to Earth that is at the heart of the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse Gases These greenhouse gases that are responsible for reflecting back heat that would otherwise be lost include simple water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and the infamous ozone. Unfortunately, there is no way to know exactly which greenhouse gas is most responsible for the greenhouse effect. Cause of Increased Gases The problem of global warming has been caused by the addition of more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The gases responsible will rise into the air whether humans are here or not; the problem is that much of basic human activity in the 20th and 21st century produced greenhouse gas at a level never experienced before. Basically, any activity that produces one of the gases listed above is a cause of global warming; everything from driving a car to using electricity. Because trees act as a natural conversion plant to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, deforestation contributes to global warming because the fewer trees there are, the more carbon dioxide gets into the atmosphere. Effects The effects of global warming are potentially far-ranging. Increased temperatures means melting of glaciers, ice and snow around the poles, which means an increase in sea levels. Warming water will also increase the potential for hurricanes and typhoons so devastating that they will make Hurricane Katrina pale in comparison. That rise in sea levels could also mean that beachfront property will soon be found 10 to 50 miles inland from where beaches are now. Temperatures The average temperature on Earth has been steadily rising since the mid-1980s, and global warming is expected to continue this trend. In addition to longer and hotter summers, rising temperatures will affect agriculture. Indeed, the effect of a hotter Earth is already increasing the transmission of infectious bacteria that thrive under warm conditions. Hoax? There are still a great many people who believe that global warming is simply some kind of politically-created hoax. Those leading the charge against global warming tend to be industry with a vested interest. On the other hand, the list of scientific entities that have agreed on the reality of global warming include, among many others, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Royal Society of the UK.

Is Mass Surveillance Unethical?

Is Mass Surveillance Unethical? Surveillance is no different from the casual practice of people watching, but instead of being a casual practice that might occur at one park, or at one restaurant, mass surveillance is sustained over time, and is done on a significant number of people. This practice was put in place to pay attention not just to any random person that roams the streets, but to pay attention to a specific group of people and for a specified reason. This is what raises much controversy about the issue of mass surveillance. It does not have to involve watching, sometimes it can also be done by listening, smelling, or detective hardware. When a cellphone conversation is bugged, this is mass surveillance. When a dog is used to sniff out drugs at the border, this is mass surveillance. The ethics behind this issue have been debated time and again, but whichever point wins, it still remains to be seen that surveillance is a neutral activity whose application can be geared towards good or bad (Cohen, p25). Ye t most continue to argue over the morality of the issue. As we delve into this matter, there will be specific questions that logically need to be answered in order create a proper analysis that has the capability to be brought to a final conclusion and answer. Whose responsibility is it to spy on the masses? And under which circumstances is it right to listen is? Is mass surveillance right at all? These are the questions that thus paper will explore—analyzing the two sides to the sharp edged sword that is mass surveillance. The History of Mass Surveillance Ethics Jeremy Bentham came up with the idea of The Panopticon- an idea that was considered among the first to contribute to the ethical debate on mass surveillance (Bentham 1995). The proposed the concept of The Panopticon – a circular prison whose cells were adjacent to the outside walls and whose center had a tower that hosted the prison manager. The work of this manager would be to watch the inmates as they went about their daily business. It would be built in such a way that the supervisor would see the inmates, but the watched could not see this supervisor at any point in time. There would also be a means of communication that allowed the supervisor on top of the tower to shout out their demands to the prisoners. The principle of the system was that these prisoners would not know they were under surveillance, but seeing as the supervisor would somehow have access to all their secrets, they would, eventually, come to assume that they were being watched and listened to at all times (Cropf, Cropf & Bagwell, p65). This would, in turn, encourage them to behave in the required manner, and in case they had visitors over, these visitors would also be discouraged from committing crimes on the behalf of the inmates. The concept of the Panopticon does not end there. In his book, 1984, George Orwell takes this concept to a whole new level (Orwell 2004). Orwell magnified this concept to reach way beyond the inmates in Bentham’s idea. In 1984, the Panopticon took the shape of a two-way television that gave the government visual and audio access to the homes and work offices of its citizens. In the case of prisoners, these citizens would always be reminded that they were being watched. Orwell discusses both the reasons and the impact of doing something like this. Further exploring this issue is Michel Foucault in the book Discipline and Punish (Foucault 1991). The book explores the obvious use and abuse of power that is behind the idea of mass surveillance. He analyzes how prisons have grown from a means of punishment, to a way of punishing and disciplining offenders for their wrongs. With something like the Panopticon, Foucault argues that prisoners became like social experiments- denied their very basic freedoms in an attempt to punish and discipline them. These three references in history raised fundamental questions on the ethics of surveillance, and although their text mostly revolves around a prison setting, one cannot help but equate this concept to society such that the general population in a country become the prisoners, and the supervisor watching from the tower at the center of the Panopticon becomes the government. Modern Surveillance Surveillance has evolved from a primitive and a careless procedure to a carefully planned out scheme that involves more than a few parties. The technological advancements that the contemporary society so enjoys has become the very tool to be used against them. This realization has made people question the role of mass surveillance. This debate has spilled over to the field of academics where fields of study like Surveillance Studies have come up, brining jurists, sociologists, philosophers, and scientists together to examine the ethics, the science, and the reasons behind mass surveillance (Cropf, Cropf & Bagwell, p80). Today, thanks to technology, mass surveillance has become very complex, both as a social subject and as a science. Now, people can be watched with discreteness thanks to the mobility and small size of freshly invented mass surveillance devices. Surveillance is like a wide, wild wave from the ocean that no one ever sees coming. Take the instance of CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras. These devices are there to gaze and stare as people mover about daily. On the other side is an anonymous viewer that is slowly making conclusions about the way we walk, the way we talk, and the way we live. Unlike the centralized Panopticon, this type of mass surveillance is watching people on an unimaginable scale. The network behind this system transfers magnitude of information back and forth every passing minute (Fuchs, p46). The computerized society is practically exposing itself to be watched and followed around. But surveillance is here for two reasons- to stalk and probe into the private affairs of other people, or to bring forth justice. In some cases, surveillance has even been known to be accepted by the people being watched. This makes it a very ethnically neutral subject, and hence very hard to be explored. The only things left to be analyzed are the proportionality of surveillance, or the methods used to surveil, or the justification of the cause. With such concepts in mind, other smaller but equally significant issues like autonomy, trust and privacy come up in relation to ethics. Forms of Mass Surveillance CCTVs and databases are still used to monitor people today, but for the most part, mass surveillance is done on the internet. Communications are what are monitored these days, including the activity on our mobile devices and computers (Fuchs, p64). Phone spying is done by geography. People in a specific area using a specific cell tower are surveilled together. There are also some cases when the government can set up fake mobile base stations so as to listen in on all the communication ongoing in a specific area, for instance, during a riot that is likely to turn violent. The limitations of mass surveillance devices are virtually disappearing and the government can now access more information than ever. Cell phone conversations are saved by phone companies to be retrieved incase the government needs it. All this information comes with immense power. Even in our homes there is surveillance. The invention of smart devices enables companies to monitor our electricity usage, and smart cities track vehicles for miles on end using sensors and cameras (Babcock & Freivogel, p34). The legality of these devices has been documented, so the only thing that is left for us to debate on is their ethicality. What is the Problem of Mass Surveillance? Governments have tried to sugarcoat the situation by calling mass surveillance ‘bulk collection of communications’, but however it is phrased, it is still just mass surveillance.   The problem is that mass surveillance interferes with privacy. This point cannot be stressed enough because all surveillance devices are bent on one goal- record it all. They are created specifically to mine data, to exploit data, to draw conclusions from this data, and to try and create patters from the information if provides (Babcock & Freivogel, p53). Systems are made specifically to filter out suspicious words and to determine relationships between suspicious persons. Mass surveillance, at the very beginning, assumes that each and every person is a suspect. Slowly but surely, most of the population is eliminated from this bracket. People are correlated on the basis of what many be nothing more than a coincidence. Visiting the same website at the same time, or going to the same restaurant every morning for coffee- conclusions are made from the little connections that can be made. With the little details, patterns can be created and the government can have a whole idea of what an individual’s life is like. By listening to what they do, what they say, what they buy, what they eat, and where they go, law enforcement agencies can create 100 percent accurate profiled on people without these people ever knowing. With this kind of information, there is always risk. In as much as there might be very strong guidelines put in place to protect the information from abuse, there will always be the few cases that slip through the cracks (Babcock & Freivogel, p74). Mass surveillance therefore becomes a danger to the very people that it is meant to protect. Those who end up as victims of such abuses suffer the worst mistakes of mass surveillance as the attacker usually has all the personal information anyone would need to cause harm. This is called the ‘chilling effect’ of surveillance. Sure, it is meant to protect and it does protect, but generally, mass surveillance puts people on alert. There is a difference between being watched and not being watched, most people are just too used to it to even notice, but take mass surveillance away and people will be freer to commit all sorts of acts- not necessarily criminal acts, but acts nevertheless. Ultimately, we believe that mass surveillance is there to protect us, but before we can be protected, how much do we have to give up? Our innovation? Our free imagination and free speech? Do we have to succumb to conformity just to be safe? Do we have to stand something so unethical? The Ethics of Privacy, Autonomy and Trust Privacy is an important this to society- it makes us feel safe, makes us feel in control again, even if just for a while. Mass surveillance is a threat to this privacy, or at least that is what most people use to make their arguments against it. Especially at the individual level, privacy is an important thing. It is called the right to privacy for a reason- it is not in the place of anyone, not even the state, to take it away from people without their consent. This right is really a blanket policy that incorporates other minor rights within itself. There is a right to privacy of property, and there is a right to personal privacy. This right, apart from consisting of other sub-rights, does not stand on its own. The right to privacy, in this respect, ceases to be a distinct right at all. It is consisted of the right to autonomy, and other such rights. For instance, when a person disposes their diary, it is violation of their right to pick up this diary and read it. This is a violation of the right to dispose of property privately. Torturing a person so as to get certain information from them is a violation of their right not to be physically hurt (Baxi, McCrudden & Paliwala, p56).   Yet in both these examples, there is still a violation of privacy among other rights. The definition of the right to privacy is therefore not definite. Mass surveillance cannot violate something that is not even definitely explained in the first. We are therefore forced to come up with our own definition of this right so that we can survive with the idea that we are being watched and listened to at all moments of the day. Privacy gives us some control and some dignity. As we interact with other people, a large amount of our security and our confidence comes from our privacy. Even though we know nothing about the strangers we meet each day, we feel safe with the notion that these people don’t know anything about us. If strangers knew our weaknesses, then they might use them against us, so we feel safe knowing that no one knows anything about our private lives. But mass surveillance violates this safe zone. In mass surveillance, we are exposed to an all-seeing eye and in a way, we are made to feel as though our secrets are out in the open. But the public has a level of dependency on the government, and in this way, it becomes okay for the state to violate our privacy for the greater good. But the more surveillance is used as an excuse to violate the privacy of the public, the more that people lose their sense of autonomy(Baxi, McCrudden & Paliwala, p76). Mass surveillance makes it so that we are not as confidence to speak in public. It entices fear because we know that any and everything we do has severe consequences. Using mass surveillance to make sure people don’t commit any crimes is like forcing them to be good, and this just increases their need for rebellion. So if the population becomes better because they are being watched, it can be argued that these actions are only pretentious, and if the mass surveillance equipment is taken away, then the public will back to its true colors. In this way, the government is also dependent on mass surveillance, and therefore it becomes unethical in such a way that it is used as a crutch for the state to control the behavior of its citizens. Why Surveillance? So many people jump straight to the impact that mass surveillance has on people- no one ever really stops to ask why surveillance is installed all around them. It is a basic assumption that surveillance is for security purposes, and while this might be true, this question still needs to be explored is the ethical foundation of mass surveillance is to be determined   (Cohen, p37). Yet even as we jump to security reasons as the obvious answer this question, the degree of security devices around us is a bit too much. There is also the question of who is monitoring the footage that is recorded on all the cameras. Take the example of political insurgents- is surveilling them really going to improve the security of the state? The first thing we need to understand is that their more than a few forms of surveillance. This practice extends far beyond the CCTV cameras on our streets and in our offices- mass surveillance has roots in each and every sector of the country. But security is not the only reason for mass surveillance. Retail stores and other companies get information on the kinds of goods that customers buy from the information on their loyalty cards- this is also a form of mass surveillance. The customers, in exchange of some discount deals of similar promotions, gladly participate in such forms of surveillance (Cohen, p57). Is this to be considered unethical? How can it be unethical when the shopping experience of these customers will be improved through their participation? Looking at transportation, especially public transit, people can now use the subway even with no money on them. This is as a result of the invention of smart cards. Using these cards, a person’s spending can be tracked and if they get into some medical trouble when far away from home, the cards can be used to identify who they are and provide their medical history. If police officers need to establish the credibility of a suspect’s alibi, then they can simply track their credit card movements and build a profile from there. These forms of surveillance are not only beneficial, they can sometimes be essential to the well-being of people. This is in no way unethical. Mass surveillance can be used for individual needs as well. A financially unstable computer genius might decide to use their skills to hack into a credit card company server and steal the numbers, hence taking other people’s money (Cohen, p81). The hacker is unethical, but the credit card company is not unethical for monitoring the spending of their customers. This makes mass surveillance both ethical and unethical- it all depends on how the issue is approached. For personal reasons, people might choose to exploit the mass surveillance equipment already in place to invade the privacy of others. These systems have a lot of personal information about many different people, and for this reason, they are sensitive. If used for good, mass surveillance can benefit millions, but is allowed into the wrong hands, then an unlucky few will suffer for it. Is it ethical, therefore, to allow the few to suffer for the well-being of the many? This brings up a whole other division of ethics that will take time and research to explore, but mass surveillance is not a subject to be approached in black and white. There are issues of distribution- who gets to suffer and who gets to live if a specific instance of mass surveillance goes wrong? There is the issue of consent. Supermarket customers have to agree to participate in promotions that monitor their spending and the kind of goods they buy, but criminals being investigated are denied to right to consent to privacy intrusion, and the law has no obligation to them as long as they are suspects (Cohen, p87). There is a concept of the greater good involved here, and for the few that have to fall victim to the dark side of mass surveillance, one million others get to live. Is this justified? No. but neither is it unjustified. Who is in Charge? As the party being watched loses autonomy and power, the surveilling party gains more power and control. The information that most people would rather keep to themselves is known- it is out there in the public and the chances of it circulating even further are higher. There is a power imbalance between the masses and the people that are in charge of mass surveillance. In this context, surveillance becomes wrong, almost like a primitive form of intimidation. It becomes unethical and very dangerous for all the parties involved. Everyone, no matter how insignificant, is entitled to certain basic rights. These are such as the right to freely speak, the right to interact with other people, and the right to freely protest against that which one finds distasteful. These rights are law and are preached to all citizens every waking day, but with mass surveillance, they become less equated to human rights and become more equated to evidence (Pandey, p24). If there is a record of a person speaking freely for or against certain beliefs they have, then thus record can be used against them if they are ever suspected of committing a crime. People, therefore, decide to stay low and only speak in the shadows, for the state holds all the power. When it comes to a point when a person’s rights are no longer their own, then mass surveillance is considered to have crossed the ethical line. The simplest democratic practices are hindered by cameras and such monitoring devices. What is the point of giving away privileges only to use them against the very people that are supposed to be protected by these privileges? There is also the question of distance. The surveilling team is literally on the other side of the screen- adding to the power imbalance between the authorities and the masses (Pandey, p32). This gives a sense of two very different parties where one in pulling the strings and the other party has to adhere to all the rules or there will be consequences. People are spied upon, denied basic rights, and made to feel powerless. In this way, mass surveillance becomes unethical, even though it is used to protect these very people. Nothing to Hide There is a famous statement, â€Å"if you haven’t done anything wrong, then there is nothing to fear.† This statement has long been used to justify the ethics of surveillance. If the public has nothing to hide, then they have nothing to fear even if the government pricks and probes at the most private details of their lives. Looking at it carefully, however, it does make sense. Majority of the people have no criminal records, nor do they have any intention of committing any crimes in the future. In this sense, mass surveillance does not affect them in any way. Surveillance is only meant to catch the bad few and make the lives of others safer in the process. In this reasoning, the government has installed cameras, wiretaps, and record checks almost everywhere. Citizens are convinced that all this effort is for their own good, and once the terrorists have been eliminated, it will have been worth it. But the bad guys never quit, and every waking morning, the government finds new ways to get more information- both in quantity and in depth. It is true that mass surveillance makes it safer for the majority, but this does not make it ethical (Bishop, Miloslavskaya & Theocharidou,   p51). If the government mandated every citizen to walk around with a tracking device in an effort to advance mass surveillance, then it would make sense that anyone who refused to do so has something to hide and should be investigated further. But it can also be argued that such measures are simply wrong and in violation of most forms of privacy. So if most people refuse to willingly submit to the will of government and give themselves up to be examined, then it does not necessarily mean that these people are criminals, it just means that they value their privacy more than their security- or something like that. Yet, with the modern advancements in technology, the government can already track people even when they are not carrying any tracking devices on them. People can be tracked using their credit card actions, or using cameras that are lodged on every street corner(Bishop, Miloslavskaya & Theocharidou,   p74). These movements, however, can only be tracked to a certain extent. In this way, a person is able to be kept safe and they are also able to maintain their privacy. Yet this is not any better that if the government forcefully implemented a law that mandated everyone to carry around a tracking device. Both actions are invasive, and thus both actions are wrong, and just because one is more invasive than the other does not make the latter action any less unethical. There is also the issue of storage. After the information has been collected from the public, it is stored in archives that are vulnerable to hackers. There are people capable of accessing this information and using it to harm and not to protect. This puts the whole argument against the use of mass surveillance to watch the public. For instance, back in 2007, a worker from the Department of Commerce, Benjamin Robinson, accessed a government database and used the information within it to track the movements of his former girlfriend. He accessed this system at least 163 times before he was discovered, an if it had continued for any longer, then the girl that was being tracked could have ended up in real danger (Bishop, Miloslavskaya & Theocharidou,   p85). This man was unethical in his actions, but so was the government for collecting personal information and storing it in such a way that it could be accessed more than 100 times before any red flags were raised. When to use Mass Surveillance So when exactly is mass surveillance ethical? Would it be ethical when we are invaded and it is the only way that the invaders can be flushed out? Would it be ethical if the data collected in the devices is not used against the people that are supposed to be protected by the surveillance systems? There are lines that should not be crossed, the only problem is that these lines are not clear. According to M.I.T. Professor Gary Marx, there are a number of questions that need to be answered before mass surveillance can be implemented anywhere. Means The first issue that needs to be explored is the means of mass surveillance being used. Does it cause any sort of harm to the public, be it physical or psychological? Does the surveillance method have boundaries? The technique used should not be allowed to cross a certain line without consent of the party being surveilled. The techniques being used also needs to be trustworthy. The personal information of the people being surveilled should be kept safe and it should not be used against them. Is the method invasive to personal relationships? Lastly, the means used to enforce mass surveillance needs to produce results as they were- the results should be valid and not doctored in any way (Berleur & Whitehouse. P42). Context The second issue that has to be explored to justify mass surveillance is that of data collection context. Those being surveilled need to be aware that personal information is being collected on them, and they need to know who is collecting this information and why they are collecting it. These individuals need to agree to be surveilled- consent is a key issue. And then comes the golden rule- those that are responsible to setting up and implementing surveillance also need to be its subjects. In short, everyone, even government officials, need to agree to the same conditions that everyone else agrees to. Mass surveillance should indeed look out for the masses- no exceptions. For it to be ethically justifiable at all, then a certain principle of minimization needs to be enforced. Mass surveillance also has to be decided by the public. To come to the decision of setting up surveillance, a discussion has to be held publicly and people have to decide for or against it. If they decide to go through with it, then there needs to be a human review of the machines and the equipment that are to be used. The people that decide to be surveilled are also entitled to inspect the results of this surveillance and question how the results were created and how they are going to be used. They also have a right to challenge the records in case any obvious errors are made with the surveillance results (Berleur & Whitehouse. P62). Before mass surveillance can be allowed to function in society, then there needs to be a means of redress. In case any individual is treated unjustly because of surveillance, then there should be appropriate punishments in place for the perpetrator of the crime so as to phase out unethical surveillance behavior. The data collected needs to be protected adequately so as to avoid any unethical use of this information in the first place. Mass surveillance methods need to have very minimal negative effects, or preferable, no negative effects at all. Lastly, mass surveillance needs to be equal. The same methods used on the middle class need to be used on the upper class, and is there is a way of resisting mass surveillance, then the government needs to make sure that these methods are available to the privileged as well as to the less privileged (Berleur & Whitehouse. P69). If even one person can escape mass surveillance, then all the other members of the public have no business being watched by the government. Uses The final issue that has to be analyzed is that of the uses of the data that is collected from mass surveillance devices. Surveillance needs to have a certain goal- whether it is to improve the shopping experience of customers, or to reduce crime rate. The data collected needs to be useful in fulfilling this goal, otherwise, there is no point. In as much as the goal needs to be fulfilled, there also needs to be a perfect balance between fulfilling this goal and spending just the right amount of money- not too much for it to be wasteful, and not too little for the surveillance to bear worthless results. Before surveillance is implemented, the responsible party needs to make sure there is no other means that will cost less money and fulfill the same duties (Berleur & Whitehouse. P87). If it is too costly, then are there any consequences of not installing surveillance equipment, and if so, to what extent will these consequences affect society? How can the cost and the risk be minimized? The information collected needs to be used only for its intended purposes only and nothing more. Therefore, mass surveillance can be ethical, but it also has a large capacity to be unethical. Following this guideline, mass surveillance should be installed with no problems and with no major violations of any kind. However this issue is approached, there will always be a basic violation of privacy that is associated with surveillance, but the damage is controllable as long as the public consents to it. there needs to be appropriate measures and guidelines put in place before using any form of mass surveillance on a population, and these guidelines need to be adhered to by all the involved parties- be it the party surveilling, or the party being surveilled. How do we make Surveillance Ethical? There is a lot of fuss about mass surveillance. We should never stop discussing the underlying issues on mass surveillance, but we should also give the government a chance to prove that mass surveillance is truly for the good of the public and not just some scheme to keep citizens in check. Mass surveillance attempts to do the impossible- keep people safe while also maintaining an open and free society with people who are not afraid to express their views. Amidst all these issues, the question of how to make mass surveillance more ethical is often overlooked, but there is truly a way in which we can make sure that mass surveillance is justified and only in the best interest of the masses. For mass surveillance to be ethical, there needs to be a reason for it. Secretively spying on people without them knowing why or how is why surveillance is considered unethical, but approaching these people from a logical standpoint and explaining to them why mass surveillance is necessary is in every way ethical (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, p38). For surveillance to be ethical, there also needs to be transparency. This means that there should be integrity of motive- no secret agendas. Right from the way the data is collected to the way it is handled and used, there needs to complete honesty between the parties involved. The methods used need to be analyzed for proportionality, there must be laws put in place to protect the interests of those being surveilled, and lastly, there needs to be a clear prospect for success if mass surveillance is to be carried on for a long period of time (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, p78). Conclusion So, is mass surveillance unethical? Yes it is, and no, it is not. This is one of those issues that has to be examined in context. If a criminal hacks into the surveillance system of a particular government and uses it to commit a major crime, then this criminal is wrong, but this still does not make mass surveillance unethical. The justification and ethicality of mass surveillance are often treated as one subject, and in as much as they may overlap, they are quite different. For instance, it is justified for a government to put up cameras to protect the many while they focus on the few bad apples that are likely to commit crimes, but it is unethical that this same government is intruding the privacy of so many people just to catch a few criminals. In the same way, it is unethical to listen in on a cell phone conversation of a suspect in a criminal investigation, but if this person ends up being convicted because of the conversation, then it becomes justified, and to some extent, also ethical. If we go back to the basics, parents have to monitor their children in order for these infants to survive. In this context, the infants are viewed as powerless, helpless, and in need of constant care and attention. It is therefore the parent’s responsibility, both ethically and morally, to be there for their child. After these children grow, they become independent and are no longer in need of constant attention. These children start to pull away from their parents and seek out their own privacy. The same knowledge can be applied to the issue of mass surveillance. The public can be seen as children who have grown over time and earned the right to their own privacy, and yet the government persists on monitoring them constantly (Cohen, p85). In the public consents to this surveillance, then it becomes ethically justifiable for mass surveillance to continue, but without the public’s consent to surveillance, then it becomes wrong and an intrusion of privacy. Work cited Cropf, Robert A, Robert A Cropf, and Timothy C Bagwell. Ethical Issues And Citizen Rights In The Era Of Digital Government Surveillance. 1st ed. Print. Cohen, E.  Mass Surveillance And State Control. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Print. Gamino Garcia, Arkaitz et al.  Mass Surveillance. 1st ed. [Brussels]: [European Commission], 2015. Print. Pandey, Archit.  An Introduction To Mass Surveillance And International Law. 1st ed. Print. Baxi, Upendra, Christopher McCrudden, and Abdul Paliwala. Laws Ethical, Global And Theoretical Contexts. Essays In Honour Of William Twining. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Print. Babcock, William A, and William H Freivogel. The SAGE Guide To Key Issues In Mass Media Ethics And Law. 1st ed. Print. Berleur, J, and Diane Whitehouse. An Ethical Global Information Society. 1st ed. London: New York, 1997. Print. Laws Ethical, Global, And Theoretical Contexts. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press, 2015. Print. Bishop, Matt, Natalia Miloslavskaya, and Marianthi Theocharidou.  Information Security Education Across The Curriculum. 1st ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2015. Print. Duquenoy, Penny, Simon Jones, and Barry Blundell. Ethical, Legal And Professional Issues In Computing. 1st ed. Australia: Thomson, 2008. Print. Fuchs, Christian.  Internet And Surveillance: The Challenges Of Web 2.0 And Social Media. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print.

Study On Faith Seeking Understanding Theology

Study On Faith Seeking Understanding Theology Daniel L. Migliore in the book he authored, the 2nd edition of Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology, made an effort to strengthen the fullness of Trinitarian faith and its relational understanding of God, creation, reconciliation, and consummation. It is an expanded and updated version to the earlier edition which presents a foreword to Christian Theology that is both critically respectful of the classical theological tradition and critically open to the new voices and emphases of recent theology. As an introduction to Christian Theology, Faith Seeking Understanding contains fundamentally theological themes which are catholic in nature and critical of the beliefs and way of living of the faith community. Its basic coverage makes it suitable to first readers in theology and its criticism from the liberal theologians point of view recommends reflection to renew and rethink the beliefs and practices of traditionalists or of those who observe the beliefs and practices they had but have totally forgotten the core message of what they believe and practice. In line with the spirit of optimism, humility of heart and open-mindedness, the criticisms employed, having their respective criterion, entails a challenge to rediscover the journey of faith. Upon reviewing it, one was reminded that a believer in the true sense is a learner who constantly looks for the truth and searches for the way. As the impetus of various theological movements became obvious, the first edition of the Faith Seeking Understanding was born in the immediate context of the mainline Protestant church in North America. The authors reflections on the inseparability of faith and practice were formed in a small Presbyterian congregation in Pennsylvania. Unsatisfied with its inadequacy in the present human situation of widespread anxiety and insecurity, Migliore brought to existence these updated and expanded edition. This was done to respond to the need of the church especially in times of crisis where clarity of conviction and purpose is certainly necessary in this time of uncertainty. In order to obtain a better understanding of the values it points, one needs to notice where the author with his reflections is coming from. Three methods were utilized and influenced its contents in one way or another. First, theology was presented in a way that highlighted the Word of God posing questions to man. Second, theological questions were formulated by an analysis of the human situation in a given period as seen in its philosophy, literature, art, science, and social institutions. Lastly, praxis approach of liberation theology is apparent. Faith Seeking Understanding discusses the importance and purpose of the pursuit of faith for understanding. Here and now, faith sees only dimly and the questions of faith abound. There are events that will challenge our beliefs and practices which may, at the same time, open us up to a praxis that may overcome evil and suffering, violence and ambiguity. Faith seeks understanding not for the sake of obtaining knowledge but seeks wisdom that will illumine life and practice of Christian virtues. It is not speculative knowledge! Quoting various philosophers, theory without practice is empty, practice without theory is blind. When faith is rethought and understanding of it is sought, its purpose and meaning gains clarity. The author provides sources from which believers may claim to have knowledge of God in relation to human condition. It does not confirm what we already know about Him rather utterly surprises and disturbs a believer. God reveals himself but remains hidden. As Tersteegen states, A God comprehended is no God. Understanding of faith does not mean to know all the known and the unknown but the application of what was understood in service of God and his creation. Although man cant fully understand God or faith, the seeking is not a waste but leads one to become a better person with better understanding and better witnessing with an open mind and a humble heart. The Triune God revealed and celebrated in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit attested by the Sacred Scripture viewed through the eyes of those who are suffering and weak connects the main points. It tells the reader that the understanding of God is always an initiative of God! Mans is a response. The tradition of faith is interpreted from its center, in Jesus Christ, allowing Him to become a transforming power in human life. Faith seeks development not in theory but through personal encounter and witnessing of God sought through faith. This lays down the liberating love that creates a new community. In this time of crisis, in a world characterized by violence, nuclear threats, ecological crisis, spiritual confusion and what not, a right understanding of the confession of faith in God the Creator is perhaps more important today than ever before. A Christian faith that seeks understanding clearly emboldens, sharpens and makes patent its identity respecting the character of other religions. Understanding may be achieved through attentive and trustful reading and hearing of the witness of scripture in company with other members of the people of God. Faith Seeking Understanding truly captured its purpose of reexamining faith in order to appreciate it fully and become an active and responsible believer who consciously recognize our identity as we freely respond in faith and in joyful hope of discovering the truth of what was handed to us and what was hidden from us. This will help us posses a new perspective and a new criterion of understanding. There is so much to discover in faith thus the use of intelligence is essential to avoid reducing faith into a euphoric feeling. There is lot of things to learn about the Triune God thus we are in need to intensify our witnessing of charity. As Pope Benedict XVI states in his Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, Faith is choosing to stand with the Lord so as to live with him, this standing with Him points towards and understanding of the reasons for believing. Faiths real prize is not realized until its worth is examined. Faith Seeking Understanding by Daniel L. Migliore proves to be a timely response to the signs of the time as the world encounters crisis of ambiguity and precariousness. The honesty of the author is to be commended for there is no pretension as he acknowledges that some topics remain broken and incomplete. However, it is also just to subject the criticism of the author into criticism for he is also doomed to human condition. In addition, Catholic readers should remember the background of the author to reconsider the apparent biases towards Catholicism.

violence in tv Essay -- essays research papers

Violence in our Children’s Cartoons How Does Television Violence Affect Children’s Behavior Does television promote violence and crime among children? Although most people look at television as an entertaining and educational way to spend time, some people think there is too much violence in television and that is influencing our young into becoming aggressive in nature and to tolerate violence. Cartoons are the most violent programs on television (Johnson, 1999). Mostly all cartoons have consent fighting between hero and villains. Some cartoons have funny looking character torturing another character. Can violence on cartoons make a kid or a young adult to do some kind of violent act? Yes, in Ohio a five year-old boy set his house on fire that killed his little sister. The boy said he developed the idea by watching the cartoon Beavis and Butthead (Josephson, 1995). Other example of a child performing a violent act was a six year-old Jeremy Nezworski imitated an act of hanging himself like a ghost after he watch the act on the cartoon The Scooby Doo Show, and the boy killed himself (Josephson, 1995). Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles is thought of to be one of the most violent cartoons that ever appeared on television according to Terry Harrison, a preschool teacher (Brady 60). The sound of a three-year-old boy yelling "cowabunga" is a war cry that unleashes chaos in the classroom. "Suddenly we are faced with a little gang of ninja's trying to kick and punch each...

Colonists Identity Essay -- essays research papers

The colonies had developed a strong sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution. The Pre-Revolutionary Period showed how the English colonies buckled down and united. They grew into one major entity which was not going to be taken for a fool, especially not by England.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When England engaged in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the colonies and their mother country joined together to fight the French. The colonies used popular images to entice people to join the war effort. The colonies wanted to move westward into what was then French territory. When England won the war, the colonists were happy because now hey could move west. However, England drew a Proclamation Line which made West of the Appalachians for the use of the Indians. England wanted to tighten their control over the colonies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  England wanted more authority over the colonies. They needed to pay off their debts so they saw the colonies as a personal bank for their use. The colonists felt united because they believed that they did good fighting for the British. However, England was displeased with how the colonists had fought during the war. They continued to use their colony for their own gain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  England passed the stamp Act in 1765 as a way to get money from the colonies. This act placed a tax on stamps needed to make certain things official. The colonies reacted in united protests and riot...

Primary ethical considerations Essay

Ethical norms are the moral standards that help us judge good from bad or right from wrong and living morally. This involves articulating the good habits or character that we should have, the consequences of our behavior on us and others and the duties that we are supposed to follow. Ethical issues touch on the basis of an individual belief and they are bound to differ with individuals depending on cultural and social factors of the individual. McKinney (2004) explains that the primary ethical considerations for teachers in a K-8 education setting   is a form of applied ethics that evaluates ethical guidelines and moral issues that can come up in a classroom environment. The following section will highlight McKinney (2004) ten main principles which teachers in K-8 classes are supposed to follow and adhere to: Establish the significance of academic integrity Schools are committed to pursing integrity and truth; teachers in K-8 should confirm and reestablish the need for integrity and truth based on particular main values such as honest civility and diligence. Teachers need to show and encourage students to practice this. Promote love of learning Teachers in K-8 have an ethical duty to reinforce and foster better class environment for learning. Many children will succeed and thrive in an environment where learning and schooling is viewed as challenging, useful, pertinent and fair. Treat children as ends in teaching Teachers in K-8 should treat their students as being an end and not means children require personal attention and thoughtfulness. The students will in general respond through respecting what the teacher’s values and norms and be committed to academics Foster an atmosphere of trust within the classroom Many students are young and require and value an atmosphere where trust is freely earned as it is given. Enhance student accountability for integrity in academics Young students want to learn in schools where integrity justice and respect is adhered to, while dishonest is punished. With correct direction and leadership, students can cultivate strong accountability to assist in promoting and protecting high levels of integrity in academic work. Formulate just and appropriate assessment forms Students expect to be assessed with fairness using appropriate methods. Teachers in K-8 classes should use, and regularly modify forms of evaluation   and tests which need active thought and enhance learning activities for the students. Challenge any dishonest in learning when it happens Children see how teachers act and what values they hold. Teachers who overlook trivialized dishonest in academics, convey a message that, the teacher do not value core values of academic and that these core values are not worth following. In addition to this the teachers should: †¢ Assist in defining and supporting entire school academic integrity and honesty †¢ Limit chances for students to participate in dishonesty in class and school as a whole †¢ Clarify your expectations for class and students in particular Conclusion The classroom and teaching environment in general during the 21st century have become more complex and demanding. Consequently, the need for more ethical teaching behavior, actions and processes is increasing. As McKinney (2004) notes pressure has been mounted on the teachers in a K-8 to observe and improve their ethics through laws and refined public initiatives. The variety and extent of ethical issues in teaching shows the extent to which ethical values differ and need to be upheld.   Ã‚  This paper has outline several main ethical issues that teachers in K-8 will should follow to establish better values in their class room

Annotated Bibliography on Relationship between Social Media and Corporations Essay

This article highlights the importance of corporate social responsibility to companies and how they should put the interests of the customers first. In the event of a recession therefore dictates that the managers of companies change their CSR based on the customers’ diminished purchasing power as a result of recession. The companies thus adjust their communication strategies based on the prevailing economic conditions. Gruber, Daniel, Ryan Smerek, C Mellissa Thomas Hunt, and James Erika. â€Å"The real-time power of Twitter: Crisis management and leadership in an age of social media.† Business Horizon, 2014. This article addresses the leadership and crisis management by the top management of firms as regards to social media. The article provides a lot of information as regards to the importance of transparency and the power of social media. It highlights the role the different voices in the social media platform play in any organization and the role social media plays in a crisis situation. Analysis of twitter as a source of real-time news is analyzed and the effect it has on organizations response to crisis situations facing them. Reilly, Anne, and Katherine Hynan. â€Å"Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It’s not easy (really) being green.† Business Horizons, 2014. This piece of work is based on empirical research on several global corporations in various sectors and how they make use of social media platforms to pass their message on sustainability to the masses. The companies are ranked on their scope of their communication strategies on social media as regards to the sustainability initiatives and environmental sustainability. The report goes a long way in assisting companies to make better use of social media in the sustainability communication. Treem, Jeffrey W, and Paul Leonardi. â€Å"Social Media Use in Organizations:Exploring the Affordances of Visibility, Editability, Persistence, and Association.† Communication Yearbook, 2012. This article examines the increased use of social media platforms in the setting of organizations. The increased role it plays in the organization to the managers is acknowledged. It however seeks to determine how the use of social media is different from computer mediated communication. The increased role of social media in organization is thus further analyzed in the workplace. Turban, Efraim, Narasimha Bolloju, and Ting Peng Liang. â€Å"Social Commerce: An E-Commerce Perspective.† n.d. This article examines the spread of business initiatives on social media platforms. In the process of doing so, there has led to an improved business model that embraces social media as a result of this there has been an emergence of social media marketing. This article thus looks at social media from a commerce point of view and looks at the several issues involved in the use of technology in commerce. References   Green, Todd, and John Peloza. â€Å"How did the Recession Change the Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities?† Long Range Planning, 2014. Gruber, Daniel, Ryan Smerek, C Mellissa Thomas Hunt, and James Erika. â€Å"The real-time power of Twitter: Crisis management and leadership in an age of social media.† Business Horizon, 2014. Reilly, Anne, and Katherine Hynan. â€Å"Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It’s not easy (really) being green.† Business Horizons, 2014. Treem, Jeffrey W, and Paul Leonardi. â€Å"Social Media Use in Organizations:Exploring the Affordances of Visibility, Editability, Persistence, and Association.† Communication Yearbook, 2012. Turban, Efraim, Narasimha Bolloju, and Ting Peng Liang. â€Å"Social Commerce: An E-Commerce Perspective.† n.d. Wright , Donald, and Michelle Drifka Hinson. â€Å"Examining How Social and Emerging Media Have Been Used in Public Relations Between 2006 and 2012: A Longitudinal Analysis.† Public Relations Review, 2012. Source document

Boeing 777 Finance Case Study Essay

Boeing is currently operating with the majority market share of the commercial sector of aircraft manufacturing. Frank Shrontz, our CEO, has recently stated his goal to increase the company’s return on equity from its current average of 12%. The following summary will delve into the most appealing project for the future of this firm: the 777 aircraft. The purpose of this new product is to maintain our competitive advantage in commercial airline production by completing a family of Boeing airplanes. The following net present value analysis will be used to determine the potential profitability of the 777 project. Our analysts concluded that a levered equity beta of 1.2939 was appropriate for the commercial division of Boeing. The levered equity beta was important to use due to its representation of the capital structure of Boeing and its value to the WACC calculation. This equity beta was calculated by removing the financial risk of four similar defense-oriented benchmark companies (over half of all revenues from their respective defense divisions). The Value Line betas of Lockheed, Northrop, Grumman, and McDonnell-Douglas were unlevered using the following formula U = (L) / (1+(1-t)(D/E)). The betas of these firms are important because by using the pure play approach, we can calculate an accurate equity beta for Boeing. Several adjustments must be made however, and those are discussed in the remainder of this paragraph. Once averaged, the Value Line betas equaled 0.4758. The next step required unlevering the total Boeing beta, which was found at 1.00. The formula used to unlever Boeing’s beta U = (1.00) / (1+(.66*.018)) = 0.9883. With the two betas we have calculated, Boeing’s unlevered commercial beta could be found. We found that the percentage of revenues derived from the defense division was 26%. The following formula provided the answer to Boeing’s commercial beta: U = (U-Boeing – (% defense)(U-Defense)) / (%commercial) = (0.9883 – (.26*.4758))/(.74) = 1.1683. After obtaining the unlevered commercial beta, our analysts then levered it by using the debt to equity ratio of 14%. The D/E ratio of 14% was chosen over the current 4% D/E ratio due to the additional financing needs in the future if the project were accepted. This yielded a levered equity commercial beta of 1.2939. The cost of equity of the project was then found using the equation: RE = rf + (market risk premium). Our team of analysts chose to use the long-term yield on treasury bonds in 1990 (8.82%) because it was similar to our investment horizon. The market risk premium is 5.4%. When these values are plugged into the previously stated SML equation, the cost of equity is (0.0882 + 1.2939*(.054)) = 15.81%. The return on equity for all-equity financing would be 15.13%. The only difference in the formula would be the use of the unlevered commercial beta 1.1683 instead of the levered commercial beta of 1.2939. This discrepancy between the two RE calculations makes sense because levering up increases the cost of equity. The weighted average cost of capital is then calculated with this equation: WACC = [RD * (1-t) * WD] + (RE * WE). The only new unknown is the cost of debt, which was 9.73%. The average yield to maturity of a AA-rated debt with 5 years to maturity is 9.73%–the cost of debt used in our analysts’ WACC calculation. Furthermore, a 34% tax rate and 14% weight of debt were used. WACC = [9.73% * 0.66 * 0.14] + (15.81% * 0.86) = 14.49% With all of the pieces of information our analysts gathered, the net present value (NPV) of all future cash flows could be found. Boeing has estimated the selling price of each 777 will be $130 million and includes adjustments for inflation over the time horizon of the project. After calculating the NPV over the 35-year project horizon, our analysts found it to be $1,736.34 million. Against our hurdle rate, the Boeing 777 project is very attractive. The key to this project being economically attractive is that the return outperforms inflation to provide real value to the firm. The sensitivity analysis provided reveals several gambles made by Boeing. They include the use of the highest estimated selling price per plane, units per year, rate of price increases, and market size among others. Even with all of the risks and estimations, Boeing should launch the 777 in October 1990 because the firm must not only stay competitive but keep their market share in the future. While the 777 project represents a huge risk with high levels of capital, it is a necessary risk since other firms are also completing their full product lines of airplanes. Also, the introduction of a derivative after 10 years and reduction in R&D costs could provide additional sales revenue and further affect the NPV of the project. While this project was certainly a gamble for Boeing in 1990, hindsight shows they made the right decision in creating the new 777. In October of 1990, right after the project was implemented, United Airlines placed a $28 billion order therefore â€Å"cementing the program Boeing was close to scrapping.† By March of 1994 they were already loaded down with 147 firm orders and 108 options with expectations of quickly increasing numbers. In June of 2008 it became evident that this aircraft had the differentiating ability to beat out its competitors. Headlines read â€Å"Boeing under intense pressure to increase production of top-selling fuel thrifty 777-300 ER†¦as airlines struggle with the soaring price of fuel.† In November of 2007 production of the 777 was sold out through 2012 and just 6 months later all remaining 2012 and 2013 slots were filled; the next available date for a new order was in 2014. Boeing officials stated they were â€Å"experiencing unprecedented demand† and were â€Å"producing at a rate of 7 [aircraft] monthly.† In November of 2011 the 777 became one of Boeing’s best-selling models, and on March 5, 2012 United Arab Emirates, the largest operator of the 777 with a fleet of 102, purchased Boeing’s 1000th 777, surpassing the numbers they forecast back in 1990.

Chinese culture Essay

William Faulkner once said that â€Å"The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past† and he could have speaking about the history of porcelain painting in China. The history of this ancient art lives and breathes in every porcelain plate we touch and eat off of. It lives and breathes in the small villages in China which cling to the past as much as they want to move into the future. We reach the beautiful of city of Yi-xing in the early morning hours. Early enough that the streets were empty and the sun was just peaking through the rows and rows of tea leaves. The blend of organic green and sandy orange reminded me of the beaches of California I had visited at a child. The city of Yi-ing is the home of several tea plantations which stretch as far as the eye can see. During the day the rows of teas are cluttered with the presence of severals humans which look out of place in the purely green surroundings. If you head south through the beautiful mountains, which look more like hills to me, you reach a deep and clear lake. This lake, Lake Taihu, is where Lu Yu once lived when he wrote his now infamous book about the magic of tea and it’s role in Chinese culture. Tea porcelain are intimately linked in Chinese culture. Each competing with the other to see which is older and more valued. Upon a close examination of the history it is hard to separate the two. The Chinese Porcelain factory sits on the far edge of the city of Yi-ing and is a striking contrast to the hills and valleys that lay in front of it and beyond it. It is interesting to see the coupling of industrialization and farming in a country which in some places seems oddly untouched by civilization and in other devastated by the pollution from manufacturers and cars. The story of Chinese Porcelain is one of perseverance and beyond that of innovation. Chinese ceramic and porcelain reveal the resourcefulness of Chinese artisans. They demonstrate in their pieces, which are found enclosed in glass in the ‘lobby’ area of the factory, how they utilized the materials that they had and turned them into pieces of pottery that have with stood the test of time. In the Yuan and Mind dynasties, Chinese porcelain makers combined porcelain stone with kaolin however kaolin was extremely hard to work with. It was then that Chinese porcelain makers discovered that if you ground kaolin and then added water a malleable substance was created with could be kneaded into porcelain stone. This could easily be formed into pots and vases on the potter’s wheel. During the drying processes a knife is used to slice excess porcelain from the pottery which accounts for the delicate thinness of Chinese Porcelain. To my surprise once we went into the factory the very same techniques were being used. Centuries later modern Chinese artisans were paying homage to their centuries old mentors by building pottery in the same fashion. The twist is that the new pottery produced in these factories are brightly colored by hand with a small paint brush. The craftsmanship is perfect and the people here, who are obviously under paid and living in less then optimal condition, absolutely enjoy what they do. They take pride in every piece they make and are more then willing to share their skills with you. Our tour guide informed us that many of the kilns in use at the factory were hundreds of years old. Apparently once a large kiln is established it can be used for hundreds of years. The art of preparing clay and the process which follows is a craft which is passed down again and again from generation to generation. This is why visitors can find subtle differences in glazing processes as well as firing processes throughout the villages and cities in China. Porcelain is more then just a container used for tea or food stuff. The art displayed on pieces of Chinese Porcelain reveal the entire history of the Chinese people. From myths to fears, historic battles and even home comings. Pottery and porcelain pieces exported during these periods are an excellent source of research materials on the history of China’s communications, trade, and economic relations with other countries. My trip to city of Yi-ing was memorable for several reasons but most importantly I was reminded of the value of craft within a society. I will never forget the feel of Chinese Porcelain on my fingertips. The knowledge that something that delicate could last for centuries was truly symbolic of the struggle and political strife that the Chinese people have dealt with since it’s birth. Art is not merely for decoration, entertainment, or even functionality. It serves a much more important purpose. Through art we can see the evolution and development of not just a country like China but the spirit and souls of the people who make their homes and keep their families in those counties.