THREATS SOLUTION FOR ENERGY CRISIS[FINAL]

Energy Crisis is a widespread problem and have been experiencing not only on a single country but almost all over the world. As the time goes by, this problem has getting worse and worse and time will come that it will come into worst if not given emphasis.

Energy crisis is simply defined as shortage, scarcity, lack and insufficiency of the energy resources that we have. We are lacking of those energy because we are depending on a single source of it and since that we are dependent of that single source, that resource is decreasing and decreasing until it gone and when it gone, it will be hard for the people to look for the other resources for the reason that they have been independent on that single resource. Many countries around the globe have been experiencing it since early 1970’s. US dependence on petroleum imports has grown steadily and commercial petroleum stocks to cope with an interruption in import matches the historic lows proceeding 1973 and 1979 energy crisis. Even here in our own country, Philippines is experiencing those bad effects of it for so many years.

Many case studies have proven and have come up a number of reasons why there is an existence of such serious problem. One of these major causes is the modernization related with the industrialization. The demand for energy rises as the technology improves since it is requiring more energy to generate different machines. Another cause is associated with high dependency on oil imports. We only have small and limited deposit of oil locally and internationally, and since that, it is possible that those deposits will be dried up.

There are so many bad effects of energy crisis that we might encounter. Some of these are: the global warming which includes the climate change, bad effects on economic, political and even social aspects, global famine, scarcity of energy supply, increase of illiteracy rate, emerging of many health related problems, being worthless of those hi-tech equipments, gadgets and other electronic devices and many other more. All those are terrible that we don’t want it to happen. Not only our government had the power to resolve this problem. Every individual have a significant role that can contribute to solve this problem. Not only those poor people but also those rich, not only those whites but also those blacks, not only those Christians but also those Muslims and not only those ordinary people but even those who are in government will badly suffer if not given emphasis fo it to solve.

Let us be awakened and stop our dependence on carbon fuels and other petroleum products. We still have other alternative energy resources. There are windmills generated by wind turbines, nuclear power plant, solar energy, hydropower energy from dams and rivers, bio-fuels and many other efficient energy resources that we can use instead of oils. We, people can do little ways that can contribute a big part for this matter. Conserving energy (so simple yet so hard to other people) like plugging out or turning off those electrical appliances when not in use. As a concerned citizen, we can walk or even ride a bike when going to a near places (instead of riding car) which will contribute not only to lessen the problem concerning oils, but as well as helping the environment as we lessen pollution and promote a healthy and physically fit lifestyle.

Energy crisis is a hard problem indeed that we can’t resolve it in just a snap. I understand that it's hard for everyone, but we'll have to draw lessons from the current crisis and now we'll have to work on overcoming it. Notice that as energy crisis arise, our environment also suffers. Environment has been devastating earlier than the birth of energy crisis. God made the earth not to be destroyed by the people but to be cared off. We, people are very blessed to have this kind of world that we are living in so in return, we should preserve its beauty for the other generation that will come. So let's all act as one, conserve energy, and maintain environmental beauty.

Terrorism[Final]

TERRORISM
“Great power comes with great responsibility” (Peter Parker, Spiderman). Terrorism is a crime that most people feared of because terrorists want POWER over the world. Terrorism includes only those acts which are intended to create fear or terror; we can also state that it is an unlawful use of violence to frighten people.

The main problem now is that many countries are having war as the solution for terrorism; the war between the different countries around us affects us. Of course we are affected because many people / places are being destroyed and maybe the terrorist are also planning to sabotage our country. Terrorism in the Philippines is being conducted by militant Islamic groups; they are killing people for them to fight for their religious beliefs. Based on the writings of their bible “The Quran” “it says there that Muslims should Strive hard against the unbelievers, and be firm against them.”(http://www.religioustolerance.org/) or terrorists just want to scare people out.

Suicide bombing is very common for terrorists and because of that, the military or the police investigators can‘t find an evidence whose group did that bombing .Hostage taking or kidnapping is also a common crime that the terrorist usually does because it really give terror to his/ her relatives or even in the people who is attached to the victim. Suicide bombing is the most sinful crime because they are not only killing themselves but everyone around them.

Many people today are suffering and dying because of those terrorists. They are so good; they plan all their tactics very well. Our government is being occupied with debates on how to stop terrorism, but still they can’t find the answer; even they found a solution still it doesn’t work well. In our economic world, businesses avoid places being targeted by terrorists so that they know that their business is safe.

In other countries, people have been finding some ways to solve terrorism. In United States they say that we have gadgets, we have technology, why don’t we use them, so that’s why anti-terrorist means eliminating all terrorists/ or fighting them because it’s the only way we could do. To fight them! The Department of Defense also suggests that we should eliminate collective social stress. No collective stress means no tension between the United States and other countries in terms of religious groups, and others. United states also recognize the most dangerous terrorists and they planned not to motivate them to find war as their only chance to spread their religion.

I believe that we can’t do anything to stop war, in and out of our country. The only way that I thought about how to stop terrorism is that there should be only one religion that we should believe in, because I thought that everybody can now understand everybody’s situation. But before we can have that one religion, there will be a great fight and those that are left behind will be the ones spreading that their religion will be the religion of all the people in this Earth. I know this is impossible, but it can be possible someday and it will be bloody (This solution is just playing on my mind; I’m not really proposing this solution). Our government should do something to prevent terrorism, I know they are doing their best, but their best wasn’t good enough. One of the solutions I thought about in bombing is that we need a scanner in all malls just like the ones we see in airports. It can detect guns, bombs and any gadget that can kill because inspection of bag is very disturbing and not 100% sure that a person has a gun or a bomb. What if that person hid his gun/bomb in the secret pocket of his bag and the security did not notice it. Many people will suffer and die. Hostage taking is very common nowadays so we need more protection. Even inside our house is not safe anymore. I got news from a friend that there is this family that is murdered inside their house. I blame the guard of their subdivision because he is not doing his responsibility. I suggest we need more trained security guards in every subdivision there is or for more protection. We need seminars for parents who are letting their children play outside their house because it’s not safe. Sometimes terror is also important to us because it serves us a wake up call and without it, how would we know if we need to act or do something to protect our family.

“Our war will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”p.24 (Time magazine, May 2003)

Energy Crisis [ Final ]

ENERGY CRISIS

The problem with energy hunts mankind like never before. Our dependence on petroleum products can be recounted several decades ago but the realization that the same commodity that was widely used as tool in the mobilization of modern technology will be the same tool that is affecting and hurting our present economy came quite late. Prices of all commodities from basic to luxury including services are now being dictated by the prices of petroleum products. It is because almost everything we use in our daily lives is being fueled by oil, and without the energy derived from petroleum products, needless to say that the world’s economy will be paralyzed.

Causes of our present energy crisis can be contributed to the relationship of our ancestors way back during the Bible times. Bible scholars and world historians alike, can attest that the strife between cousins, Arabs and the Israelite has something to do with this problem as 60% of oil are being produced in the Middle East while the United States of America known to be an ally of Israel and ranks only as the 11th oil producing country in the world consumes 25% of the worlds total oil production (What in the World Is Going On?, Dr. David Jeremiah, October 2008).

Another factor that cause energy crisis is the wastefulness of our lifestyle. It is undeniable that people are not realizing the need to conserve until that precious energy is almost gone. Figures shows that the world is consuming 1000 barrels of oil every second and while oil production had been reduced, the consumption had doubled in the recent years with no apparent evidence of slowing down especially on the European countries that consumed 14.59 million barrels a day followed by China (6.391 barrels/day) and Japan with 5.578 million barrels per day (What in the World Is Going On?, Dr. David Jeremiah, October 2008).
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One alarming truth about energy crisis is the fact that we are not prepared for this, or shall we say that we the Filipinos were far from being prepared to counter this problem head on without suffering the consequence of our lack of foresight in dealing with this issue. Unlike the United States that had waged war with the Arab countries and led the formation of petroleum alliances between countries, we on the other hand had been dependent on the importation of this product for our consumption while the natural gas extracted from our very own Malampaya Island in Palawan are being enjoyed by other countries because again, I believe is a result of unwise decision of our leaders or perhaps, a political view and business influence?

While bills had been passed to develop and enforce the use of alternative fuels such as LPG, Bio Fuel, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), the fact remains that this problem will affect us longer than we think. First, our sources and their capacity to supply are still in question. Second, our transportation equipments are dependent solely on petroleum products (Dubai Crude) and the technology to convert these equipments from using crude to other fuel was launched only recently and their performances are apparently can only be warranted but not guaranteed to last.

Energy crisis is real and its effects can be felt from the smallest fragment to the upper strata of our society. From the laborers to their employers, the farmers and their consumers, the ordinary citizens and their political leaders from the poorest to the most developed countries look at the prices of petroleum products as a gauge in determining the uptrend and downtrend of market stocks on Wall Street and on every trading floor around the world. The law of supply and demand on petroleum products is vital because the world demands it yet the Arab countries can control it and wealthy countries can hoard it.

Most people think that there is nothing much we can do to help ease this problem but every single person on this planet plays a vital role in its conservation. Being aware that this problem is serious and the need to come up with a long term and well thought solution to confront it without compromising the real deal with wrong motives and personal gain on the part of our leaders is the first step towards achieving positive results in the future.

As we watch the prices of petroleum products dictate the prices of other commodities in the market today, we can only hope to wake up one morning knowing that we have won our battle over this crisis. While we wait for the launching of our own source of solar energy, the exploration of our own petroleum, the explosion of the use of alternative fuel, we can help by conserving whatever little energy we have to prolong use of power it provides and enjoy the comfort we can afford while forgetting not that petroleum products are “black gold”, so precious, costly and very powerful that when it falls to the wrong hands, it can create chaos around the globe and those who have it wins.

Terrorism: A Worldwide Crisis[FINAL]

Terrorism is a problem that began since man formed leaders and his own beliefs. It has become a worldwide problem nowadays and still exists even on this generation and will surely exist in more generations to come.

People have different opinions and view points for terrorism; but what is the real meaning of that vague word? The dictionary has these groups of words as definitions for terrorism:
1. The use of terrorizing methods
2. The state of fear and submission so produced
3. terroristic methods of governing or of resisting a government

From these definitions, one can conclude that everyone has capabilities to do terrorizing acts or commit terrorism; but lately, people can see that terrorism has always been associated with religion, or so the media have said. The definition of terrorism in the dictionary did not mention anything with differences in their religions; but why terrorism nowadays has been always about Islam versus Christians? Does it have anything to do about differences in beliefs; or just plain evil of the human being?

Events worldwide that are caused by terrorism have always been connected with the Islam personalities like Osama Bin Laden and the group Al Qaeda. In the Philippines, we have MILF that truly resist government and want to lead Mindanao to claim as their own. Some events that happened in the history were the 9/11 bombing and some hostage takings worldwide. Others even happened on small scale in the community.

All problems have the same behavior, and terrorism has it too: A CAUSE.
Terrorism was born when people tend to have different beliefs and became more independent of what they think. One cause of terrorism is the different beliefs and/or religion. When people believed in to something thoroughly, it is very difficult to change their perceptions.

Islam and Christian were the two major religions in the world. Both have many similarities and equally many differences as well. Looking in the history, many acts of terrorism happened between Christians and Muslims. Bombing, hijacking, suicide bombings and “holy wars” are examples of these incidents.

Another cause of terrorism would be the people that go against the government. Examples of these are the MILF, which became active again for its recent activities. We can see that religion can be a factor again because majority (or all) of the people in the government are Christians and majority of the people resisting the administration in the Mindanao are Muslims.

Next in line are the people who resist change; again, influenced by their religious beliefs and cultures. Example of which is Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, where change is not welcomed by everybody. “Mahatma Gandhi was shot by a Hindu fanatic extremist while walking to his prayer meeting in the lawn of Birla House, New Delhi.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1948/jan/31/india.fromthearchive)

Last in the list of causes is the greed of power. This is the most common trait that humans have. This is also a major cause of terrorism because people tend to sacrifice other’s life for their own sake. Example of this is Vladimir III’s reign in Walachia where he killed thousands of people by impaling them on stakes, which is, a gruesome act of terrorism.


Terrorism affects many innocent people and is the cause of countless deaths. The effects of it are also very considerable. It affects us socially, politically and economically.

Socially, fear among citizens develops which cause traumatic effects especially on young members in the community. People become less trusting and more paranoid in the environment around him. This can be proven by people who witnessed terrorizing acts around him.

Politically, it affects the country by having political breakdowns and more opposition arise. People tend to blame the government for all the bad things happening to the country and execute or organize rallies that affect the government and the country itself. Most people are one-sided or do not have an open mind, these people are the ones who always hard-headed and listening is not in their choice of actions.

Economically, terrorism affects us too. Firms and business establishments tend to halt their operations due to fear and bankrupt as a result of terrorism. Example is bombing, which can end lives and businesses too. Another example is the fear it brought to tourists which affect us greatly economically. Recently, fewer tourists visit our country because of terrorism threats, which affect our national profit as a whole. Take our landmarks for example; one can be sure that fewer and fewer tourists visit the Philippines due to safety reasons.

Although terrorism became a major problem to us, different solutions have been done to control it. Worldwide, security has been heightened to protect important people like leaders. United Kingdom’s also helped countries that have been terrorized by sending troops to help. Example of which is US, which gave American soldiers to protect Filipinos from MILF in Mindanao. The advantage of this can be seen from the decreasing crimes linked on terrorism while the American troops are positioned. Like any other solution, it also has a disadvantage; after the troops went back, crimes associated to terrorism began to rise again. This solution is very similar to a Filipino game called ‘patintero’; because the terrorists only became dormant when the American troops were here and became increasingly active again, when American soldiers were withdrawn. Just like in the game, the player is only active when the defender or ‘taya’ in Filipino is disturbed or not looking at a moment. With this solution, one can clearly judge how greatly trained soldiers are here in the Philippines (sarcastically).

I read an article that MILF should not take ransom to its victims when they take hostages or kidnap people:

The home network of Drilon and the largest broadcasting network in the Philippines, ABS-CBN, follows a strict "no ransom" policy but has said in a statement that they cannot object if the families pay for the release of their loved ones.
I wish I could say that there should be a law against paying ransom to kidnappers. But put in that position, I would also choose to pay for the release of a kidnapped family member. (said the negotiator, http://www.nowpublic.com/world/kidnap-negotiator-lucrative-career-philippines)

I found this law or agreement funny. First, who would kidnap and put his life in danger without being insured of having some favorable benefits with it? Who would take an ordinary person and held it captive for no reason at all? This law, in other words, does not need to be implemented at all because it will not be followed anyway.

Not like this failed solutions, I thought of my own solutions too. First, a non-violent approach: show your love and respect to other people even to your enemies. Talk to them as much as possible in a friendly way. But just like any other solutions, this seems impossible to solve the problem. People always (and I mean always) tend to be hard-headed.

Another solution would be to set aside the differences. Even though we have different beliefs, we should respect all man as our family and friends. Do not let the differences in the religion be a wall that separates every man with different beliefs. This will not be effective at first, but a calm peaceful way will always be the answer. I personally don’t mind religion differences when talking to someone.

Lastly, LISTEN. Have an open mind at all times and consider others feeling. Be the one to understand. Everybody needs to adapt in order to be in peace. Resisting change and having a close-mind is the cause of all problems.

“One can wake up a sleeping man but how do you wake up a man who is pretending to sleep". (We can change someone who does not know what is happening; but we cannot change someone who does not want to be changed.)

Terrorism [Final]

Terrorism

What is TERRORISM? What are the different acts of terrorism that is happening around us and how does it affect us politically, socially and economically? What are the possible solutions that can be done to solve this problem?

Terrorism can be defined as criminal act that influences an audience beyond the immediate victim. The strategy of terrorists is to commit acts of violence that draws attention of the local populace, the government, and the world to their cause. It can also be define as giving terror to the people.

These are some examples of Acts of Terrorism and their effects. One of them is bombing; it is the most common type of terrorist attack in the world. One effect of this is that many of the government properties are being bombed. Another example is kidnapping and hostage taking; this kind of crime is common here in our country by the Abu-Sayyaf and the MILF. Because of this crime tourists coming to our country became less. If there are no tourists there are no investments. Lastly, is the merciless killing that is usually done in different communities especially in Mindanao. One of its effects is that the people living in Mindanao became afraid of the terrorist. They became very aware of the terrorists. They learn how to defend them selves in able to survive.

In general, terrorism has occurred throughout history, but today the world is experiencing a global rebirth of attacks. Today, it no longer affects only small societies, such as isolated third world countries who fell victim to regular terrorist attacks, but the whole world is becoming more familiar with Arab and Muslim names. Many innocent people around the world are beaten, enslaved and killed by these terrorists. The terrorist violence that is on the rise today has informed citizen all over the world about different types of terrorism, the Nation’s have been doing what they can to eliminate terrorism. We need to eliminate terrorism so that we can have world peace. So that people can live freely without the fear of being beaten, enslaved or even killed by the terrorist. Also, the governments will be more focused on the problems in the society. If there is no terrorism our world will be more productive and happy.


In the given acts of terrorism here are some of the solutions the government has done. In bombing, the government put more securities in different public places to inspect the bags of the people. But in this kind of inspection sometimes there are people who are not inspected. Another solution in this problem is that the government became more focused on the places where the terrorists might attack. They put many soldiers and bomb sniffing dogs to different public places. In kidnapping and hostage takings, the government tries to communicate with the terrorists and try to know what they want in able to get the hostages from them. Another solution the government has done is they put many soldiers in isolated places where the terrorists are active in kidnapping and hostage takings. Last is merciless killing, actually this crime is usually in communities the government doesn’t do anything about this. They just keep it to themselves so that people may not be afraid.

In my opinion, there might be better solutions than what the government is doing. In bombing, I think it’s better if they would be stricter by putting more trained bomb sniffing dogs in public places. Also, if they put more effective gadgets that detect bombs, for example x-ray machines just like the ones in the airports. In kidnapping, I think that the government must relocate the people living in the places where the terrorist are active and put them in a safer place. In merciless killing, I can’t think of any possible way to stop this. But the only thing that I could think of is that they must learn how to respect humanity.

In general, to defeat terrorism they must learn how to respect each others opinion. Both sides, the government either the terrorists should be open-minded. The terrorists should not focused only in their own opinions, they must be open-minded about what will be the effects of their crimes in the environment and especially to their victims. As for the government, they should know and understand what the terrorists been through, and see why they view this as their only plan of action.

The energy crisis is beginning to damage our Mother Nature and we might not have our home soon. It has grown to an alarming level and is more than just affecting the whole world. This crisis in our planet is caused by a multitude of things, from lifestyles that are dependent on oil to energy consumption. For one thing, we are very abusive of transportation. Most of us lead sedentary lifestyles and prefer driving short distances rather than walking or cycling to it. Even in the midst of crude oil price increase, we still insist on being sheltered by the comforts of our cars rather than save money and walk the way. We’re failing to see that our abundant forests and animals are beginning to decline and the things we are now able to enjoy in our current lifestyles may not be available anymore in the future.

A crisis could possibly emerge after infrastructure damage from severe weather—which brings us back again to our environmental problems. We have to rid ourselves of the addiction to crude oil, and must get accustomed to the utilization of renewable energy. Also, the periodic disruption of oil and gas production may create shortages and that won’t be very good for us. This will likely be ensued by a massive growth in global demand, which will only result in more problems. The majority of the people in the whole planet are dependent on the many uses of oil—trying to wean the whole world off it would be hard, but it is a task we should all be willing to partake. In addition, I think the world has to think about its overall stand on family planning. The world's population continues to grow at a quarter of a million per day, increasing the consumption of energy. Simply put, that just can’t be good for any of us.

The energy crisis can be connected to a lot of things in our lives. For example, as mentioned above, we have been using cars even for short distances when we could be using bicycles and path walks instead. Also, we consume too much LPG everyday when we could only use it once and use electric stoves or other alternatives. The energy crisis is keeping the prices high and just might put an end to the comfortable little luxuries that we have right now at our disposal. The rapid changes in weather brought about by mankind’s alterations in nature only worsen our situation. This calls for a solution because our world should not be thrown away like this. We should take care of it and make it the perfect place to be in for the children of our future.

This is why I think hydro energy is the best way to go. According to Kidzworld.com, hydropower is clean. It doesn't produce any greenhouse gases or other air pollution. It also doesn't generate any waste products that might need special handling or disposal. Because it's carbon-free energy, hydropower doesn't burn fossil fuels, which release the same amount of carbon dioxide as the annual exhaust of 62.2 million cars. Another good thing about hydropower is it's flexible and reliable. Hydropower can be turned on almost immediately to meet the fast growing electricity demands. Facilities can easily respond to emergency power situations and provide constant energy with water.

Energy Crisis - Bicycle-powered TV sets… [Final]

Justine Rae M. Guinto
ABCA

”An energy crisis occurs when prices rise in the supply of energy resources to a community, society or country. It most commonly refers to the shortage of oil and other natural resources. It may be referred to as an oil crisis, petroleum crisis, energy shortage, electricity shortage or electricity crisis.” (www.wikipedia.com)

The current problem with energy crisis today: prices keep on rising like a loaf of bread.

The cost of gasoline (petrol) and other oil products are teetering sky-high. People find it hard to control. Back in the day you could pay a small amount of money and still get almost a full tank; pay the same amount today and you get less than half. Other difficulties arising from the energy crisis is the environmental perils it causes due to our constant reliance on fossil fuels. Here’s hoping that a real Wall-E will be created by the time this happens.

Causes of energy crisis are numerous: one of this is over-consumption. The current population of earth is growing and growing, and with that many number of people, there will be more demands for energy. The more demands for energy there is, the more people rely on getting more and more, hence the rise of gasoline and oil prices.

As well as the upheaval of prices, it also affects the social, political and economic aspects of either the community, society or even the whole country. Conflicts over energy access are sure to happen, because all will surely want to play for keeps. The coming years could be marked by frequent resource wars as more countries try to top each other for control of the world’s hydrocarbons.

“Three such vectors, in particular, demand attention: a slowing in the growth of energy supplies at a time of accelerating worldwide demand; rising political instability provoked by geopolitical competition for those supplies; and mounting environmental woes produced by our continuing addiction to oil, natural gas, and coal.” (Klare, 2006)

Some of the effects of energy crisis are the reduction in number of businesses which are dependant on gasoline to be able to operate. Since people spend so much on fuel, they have less money for other things. This means they cannot spend money on consumer goods, restaurants, entertainment which are all seeing less traffic but earning less money. It also produces devastating results for other stores who do not sell on the internet, like eBay or Amazon do. More and more people buy their things online rather than paying for gas to drive to the mall. The newest fashion trend is just about a double-click and two scrolls away.

When it comes to gasoline and cars, why not rig every vehicle sold in the country to be flex-fuel compatible so that it can run on just about any blend of hydrocarbon-based fuels—like gasoline, ethanol, methanol, etc? Technology for this already exists, and the process is remarkably cheap.

Improving technology could also be of great help. We need a good alternative to fossil fuels; for example, like harnessing vast amounts of solar power. We also need green buildings that demand less energy for heating and cooling, and automobiles that get vastly more miles per gallon. If your workplace is not that far from home, why not use a car powered by an electric battery? Although it is much slower than your average car (which requires gas), it nevertheless proves to last longer than the latter. Watch Mythbusters if you want any more proof.

In our small community, some of us have purchased a product called the Superkalan. Basically, it’s just your average ihawan (which, of course, you have to operate the outside the house lest you want it to be full off and smell like smoke). But with the all the commotion of the continuing rise of gas prices (for the stove), we have decided to resort to what Mother Nature still has to offer, just like in the good old days. Instead of using the gas stove to cook meals 24/7, we now use this instead (except in the morning and other special occasions that need quick cooking). We also use wood for fuel instead of your usual coal. It is a great means of using up the spare wood lying around after a storm and saving money because of our lessening need for the gas needed for our stove. Saves nature, saves money.

Take a break from reality and just imagine how great it would be if people take action and solve the energy crisis.