Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Energy Crisis - Hans Juan [Final]
Oil is required to create energy with the use of several power plants. Since these plants demand for a large amount of oil each time, the homes and commercial sites they distribute energy to also face the higher cost of energy. This also leads to the higher cost of producing commodities that are in demand, since machinery are powered from the energy they receive from power plants, or even run on the oil themselves, thus increasing their price. Since these commodities need to be moved from the production line to the area of demand, transportation, both local and international is required, which also leads to the fact that the transportation of commodities will become even more costly, since the means of transportation run on fuel that is derived from oil. This will lead to the higher cost of these necessary commodities which are continuously increasing in demand. In short, the cost of living for people who live in energy-hungry societies will rise. Virtually everything will rise in value.
Although the energy crisis continues to affect billions of lives, several means of averting the problem have been taken in action. Today, bio-diesel is slowly being used by some vehicles in the United States. Since this fuel can be harnessed from used vegetable oil or inedible animal parts, it does not require any crude oil. Solar power is also being used today. The sun is a valuable source of energy, since it can provide 10’000 times more energy than we need to completely power the planet, and we will never run out of this resource. Although solar panels can be quite costly in large quantities, it may well be the solution to the energy crisis. Another possible solution that is taking effect is the usage of modern wind mills that spin with the wind to generate electricity. Once a windmill or a wind farm is established, only the natural wind is required for the generation of energy. A rather old but clever method of gathering energy without the usage of oil is hydro power. Dams that intercept river flow can generate electricity using the constant flow of the river. Although this type of energy generation is rather old and has long been used, it has been very reliable. An example of clean, renewable, and most importantly, alternative use of hydro power is the Hoover Dam. This dam is completely powering the state of Nevada (in which Las Vegas is located in), the state of Arizona, and eleven locations in California, including Los Angeles. Lastly, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), an experimental fusion reactor now also being used to create energy derived from fusion, which too is derived from hydrogen that the fusion reactor heats until it reaches 100’000’000 degrees centigrade. In short, a fusion reactor mimics the fusion reaction that constantly occurs in the sun. With this type of source of energy, hydrogen would become the new means of energy, which is the most dominant element in our biosphere. Also, the hydrogen in a bathtub full of water can provide one man’s energy needs for 30 years. Lastly, the fusion reactor will provide cheap energy, making it easy to blend with the power-hungry world.
Now, on an international scale, I believe that all countries that can afford to use alternative sources of energy must do so as soon as possible. Probably, a solar panel, a windmill or a dam cannot produce sufficient amounts of energy by themselves, but when combined and heightened in number, they will be able to do so. By now, the world should stop using crude oil to convert to energy anymore, since it only worsens the energy crisis. To be more specific, a law must be implemented that diesel-powered vehicles should run on bio-diesel, and all gasoline-powered vehicles must be Ethanol-gasoline mix compatible and must use the said mix to lessen the amount of fuel derived from oil. Developed countries should face-out oil-powered power plants in order to further lessen the use of oil. If possible, these countries should begin a proposal of constructing a fusion reactor for clean and affordable alternative energy.
On a national scale on the Philippine situation, all families or citizens who live on their own must follow a limited number of vehicles law. Also, since most of the Philippine roads are not well maintained and are not very structured, a new integration of road mapping would make vehicles more fuel-efficient, thus decreasing the local demand for oil. Lastly, rail transits should be further looked upon, since it is currently a main type of transportation. Rails should be further extended into more places around the country, which may lessen land, air and sea traffic.
So what can an individual without any sort of political or financial power do to begin such projects or actions? Since energy is a commodity that is in high demand, starting off by any means of saving energy would surely decrease the overall demand. Now your question would be “What difference would one person make when there are billions of people who use energy?” This is where the dramatic changes begin. For example, a conventional light bulb consumes 60 watts of electricity per second. On the other hand, an energy saving bulb only consumes 12 watts of electricity per second. This results to an 80 percent decrease switching from conventional light bulbs to energy saving light bulbs. In general, the overall consumption of oil would greatly decrease if more people switch to energy saving light bulbs.
There are other small ways that everyone could manage to do to greatly conserve energy, such as switching the lights off in an unoccupied room, bicycling or walking to nearby places, regulate the usage of household water (since water pumps, powered by electricity, are usually required to pump water into faucets, showers and toilets), and even unplugging ordinary household materials when not in use, such as television sets, computers, and lamps, which can actually save up to 75 percent of energy. Even having trees around your own house can save another 50 percent of energy usage during the summer.
An individual taking action to conserve energy may be insignificant to the overall global energy crisis, but if most or all individuals take action, the saved energy will multiply at least 30 fold.
Energy Crisis[Draft]
In the Philippines, lady drifter Michelle Yeo Yu Lim does her own “cost savings.” She tries to plan very well the errands and meeting to save time and fuel. This being a good basis, since Miss Michelle is into one of the most extravagant hobbies around: drifting. This hobby’s pre-requisite is, of course, a car; a high end, tire-burning, engine-roaring, gas consuming car.
This given, even one of those who have such a hobby is doing something to change the crisis that we have right now. It is a given and sad fact that our country, as glorious our natural resources are, still acquires bio-fuels/oils/gasoline through purchase from other countries.
The undeniable fact that all around the globe, our natural resources are dwindling at a fast rate, to the point that we are now trying to look for alternative power/energy sources that could sustain and maintain our insatiable need for energy. There are other sources of natural energy like solar, geothermal, wind, and hydro power plants that convert nature’s natural forces into energy that we can use.
The only thing that is holding us back is the fact that we don’t know how strong the after-effect of our consuming of the natural deposits that our planet has. It won’t be long ‘till we feel the full force of the crisis before us. Slowly, some of the companies that provide jobs are dissolved because of the ever-increasing demand of energy throughout not only the market, but throughout economy and politics, too. Because those with government relations to other “first-world” countries can easily access oil at a much more viable rate.
In everything that I’ve known by reading texts, and by looking it up in the internet, this problem’s most prominent effects would be of the following:
Higher price for everything due to the ripple effect caused by our need for energy
An ever-increasing dependency on a slowly dwindling natural resource
Jobs are eliminated due to bankruptcy of companies due to several factors; one would be the shortage of our natural resources.
Loss of employees to other countries means less quality of products that our country produces AND exports.
With these facts stated, we should turn to renewable sources of energy, of which geothermal would be the most promising. There are scientist who are trying to perfect the process of converting geothermal energy into electricity, since it IS one of nature’s most destructive force, why not harness it for our use in every day lives?
Terrorism
One example is the 9/11 incident were Al-Qaeda initiated series of suicide attacks. Hijackers intentionally crashed two airplanes into the twin towers of the world trade center which is located in New York City. That incident caused both buildings to collapse and killed everyone on board and almost anyone that is on the building. The hijackers crashed the third airplane into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There are no known survivors from any of the flights.
Locally, We also have terrorist groups that performs violent attacks within the country. That group is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or the MILF. They want the government to just give them their region(Mindanao) and have their own government. But, the government does not want to grant their request because of their own reasons.
Some solutions had been made but is not enough to stop terrorists. Locally, I think the problem will be solved if the government would just give them Mindanao. If we are separated from Mindanao, we can assure that terrorist acts in our country will start to decrease. Internationally, we should just respect each others culture or beliefs. Most importantly, mind our own business so we can get rid conflicts with other countries.
Discrimination in the War on Terrorism [Final]
Most common definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear (terror) and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians). The word "terrorism" was first used in reference to the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Terrorism has been a major of chaos globally for decades already. There are a lot of causes of terrorism like; the MAFIA, suicide bombing, “world domination”, racism, etc.
Terrorism is a criminal act that influences an audience beyond the immediate victim. The strategy of terrorists is to commit acts of violence that draws the attention of the local populace, the government, and the world to their cause. The terrorists plan their attack to obtain the greatest publicity, choosing targets that symbolize what they oppose. The effectiveness of the terrorist act lies not in the act itself, but in the public’s or government’s reaction to the act. For example, in 1972 at the Munich Olympics, the Black September Organization killed 11 Israelis. The Israelis were the immediate victims. But the true target was the estimated 1 billion people watching the televised event.
Specifically, I want to focus on discrimination. Have you ever considered that maybe; several causes of terrorism are due to discrimination? We may say that most Muslims in the world are being discriminated due to terrorist attacks such as the 9/11, but are we sure that they are the ones behind such attacks? Many Muslim children and elders are being abused in the US because most Americans end up having the conclusion that all Muslims are enemies. The Muslim children are being harassed at school and some of the elderly are being run down by a car at the parking lot even though these people are innocent. If these stupid conclusion-makers just look at themselves in the mirror, they might even consider themselves terrorists. Then the effects of these events end up making the Muslims actually real rebels. If these events keep on going, will be there an end to terrorism?
Another example of this terrorism in discrimination is Adolph Hitler. Adolph Hitler gained the trust of the German people and made them feel safe. He was also able to manipulate their thoughts, and to brainwash them into thinking that they were of a superior race. He persuaded the Germans to join him in blaming the Jews for all of their countries problems. The result of this was devastating. Millions of innocent Jewish lives were lost. Outside of the blatant massacre of the Jewish population was the mistreatment they endured prior to their death. Now, do you still think that discrimination is just a simple racial problem?
There have been a lot of movements, laws and policies that was done in order to diminish discrimination. One anti-discriminatory movement or policy is the Civil Rights.
Laws guaranteeing civil rights may be written down, or derived from custom, or implied. In the United States and most continental European countries, civil rights laws are most often written. Examples of civil rights and liberties include the right to get redress if injured by another, the right to privacy, the right of peaceful protest, the right to a fair investigation and trial if suspected of a crime, and more generally-based constitutional rights such as the right to vote, the right to personal freedom, the right to freedom of movement and the right of equal protection. As civilizations emerged and formalized through written constitutions, some of the more important civil rights were granted to citizens. When those grants were later found inadequate, civil rights movements emerged as the vehicle for claiming more equal protection for all citizens and advocating new laws to restrict the effects of discrimination.
Then there are also a lot of anti-discriminatory acts and laws which were made. Anti-discrimination law refers to the law on people's right to be treated equally. Most developed countries mandate that in employment, in consumer transactions and in political participation people may be dealt with on an equal basis regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality and sometimes religion and political views.
I just can’t understand why there are so many actions that have been made but it seems that discrimination is so inevitable. My opinion is; it is because these acts and laws just end up (and still continuing) on discriminating the others. Then when some people get cracked-up and find that there is just no end to it, they end up by having the idea of just wiping off their enemies, thinking that they can be superior in this way. That’s how most terrorism ends up.
“After everything that has happened it is clear that violence, discrimination, hatred and nastiness isn’t the way to a peaceful world, but rather tolerance, acceptance and using intelligence is the better way to go. My faith in the human race will not be destroyed by a few. “ (Loves Bloc Party. 01 Jul 2007)
My suggestion is; let’s first put an effort to ourselves before we look at the other people. Let’s take a look of ourselves in the mirror. Think of what you see. You see a single human being that is no different from any other human being in the world. Then why hate them? Can’t you just love them as much as how you love yourself? If you put yourself in the shoes others who are being discriminated, can you bear it in your whole life? Sure, maybe they’ve done a lot of stupid and bad things in their life, but can’t at least you forgive them? Is death really the real solution? I don’t think that feeling superior to others really doesn’t make you anything near being a god.
I’ve met a lot of people from all over the world, and I really mean it literally. I’ve been with them and we’ve shared our thoughts about the different nationalities of the world to each other. I can really say that there is a world of peace out there if we just consider ourselves in the same genre. Some said that; “the blacks are “low-profiled” people and must be separated from us”. I won’t say from which country that person is but, I really think that it was a total nonsense. What’s the point on discriminating others? Yes, we can see the difference; white and black, blonde and dark, Christians and Muslims, and it just keeps on going. Can’t you just accept that they are also been made by the same powerful hands as the ones who made you? No matter how they are or how they live their life, they are still no different from you.
Against Terrorism [Final]
Terrorism today has become an international threat. It creates a worldwide buzz that affects many people. Many of these terrorists commit acts that threaten the lives of innocent civilians, and even the terrorists themselves, while the remaining others are operating behind-the-scenes. Some say terrorism was caused by the difference in religious beliefs. Some say it is because of the deprivation of resources. While others say it is caused by their nationalism. Whatever the cause, they still affect the world by instilling fear in the minds of the people.
Terrorism has affected the sectors of numerous countries. Society has been affected the most as terrorists, even accidentally, injure or kill numerous people in areas around the globe. Perhaps the most shocking of all the terrorist attacks was the attack on the
Even in our own nation, terrorism is still a big factor that affects society. The numerous threats posed by terrorist groups in the
There have been many attempts at stopping terrorism. One such way is by executing a preemptive strike. This has its benefits such as neutralizing unsuspecting terrorist groups. A problem that is presented to this solution is that if that certain terrorist group knows about their ‘preemptive strike’. It can make the plan a disaster. A type of ‘preemptive strike’ that can be useful is interrogation. This can reveal plots by questioning suspected terrorists. The only problem is if they get a wrong person. They end up questioning that person but later on they realize that that person is not really a terrorist, and they just wasted valuable time. Another way is by military intervention. Although the military has been known as a powerful force against terrorists, history proves it otherwise. In the past, the military has rarely been successful in preventing terrorism. In fact, it only makes terrorism worse, as it makes the popularity of the terrorist cause grow. Even the simplest solutions, such as tightening security in public places, can help minimize the threat. Although it is simple and effective in a small way, there still have been mistakes. Sometimes, the smallest detail they miss can lead to a nationwide disaster. Plus, the objects used to harm people are deceiving. So, even with all these countermeasures, terrorism still occurs.
What I propose for a solution to minimize, or even prevent terrorism is for the people to ‘walk in each other’s shoes’. The terrorists need to know and feel what happens to the lives of people when they commence attacks. In fact, they already feel a part of what happens, the fact that lives are lost with or without reason. Of course, I’m talking about the fact that there is a war going on in their homelands. There are terrorists held as captives, aren’t there? Why not make them feel the “terror” they’ve been causing, all of the wanton destruction and whatnot. Hopefully, they’ll change their ways and convince the others to change as well. In turn, we also have to know why these terrorists do these acts, or why they turned to terrorism. Even a glimpse of their lives might change our views on them. Try to live, even just a day, in the life of a ‘terrorist’, or to be more specific, try to ‘live’ in the environment of a ‘terrorist’. Hopefully, it will uncover the real reasons on why they do the things they do.
Terrorism: A porblem that MUST be solved, [Final]
That’s the belief of Richard Vague against terrorism. If force can’t terminate terrorism, then why still practice it? War is not a solution.
“Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion….Common definitions in terrorism are those acts which are intended to create fear (terror)" (Wikipedia, September 2008) “In terrorism, terrorist attack will have many direct and indirect victims.” (Dr. Mark Lerner,2006) As what people are introduced about terrorism, many will say that terrorism is present if there are bombings and killings by cutting their heads suicide bombers. Those are the things that will come out of many of the people’s mind if they hear the word. “Terrorism is recognizable by a following statement from the perpetrators:
a.) Violence
b.) Psychological impact and fear
c.) Deliberate targeting of non-combatants
d.) Disguisee.) Unlawful or illegitimacy” (Wikipedia,2008)
Dr. Stephen Younger, Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, recently lamented that too much effort has been placed on technological solutions to the war on terrorism, stating "this is not a technology problem" and asserting that "the single most important thing we can do to predict future acts of terrorism is to understand the causes of terrorism." Then what are the causes of Terrorism? Amy Zalman says, “There are two causes of terrorism: 1.) Social and Political Injustice: People choose terrorism when they are trying to right what they perceive to be a social or political or historical wrong—when they have been stripped of their land or rights, or denied these. 2.) The belief that violence or its threat will be effective, and usher in change. Another way of saying this is: the belief that violent means justify the ends. Many terrorists in history said sincerely that they chose violence after long deliberation, because they felt they had no choice.” Terrorism mostly become present because of terrorists attempts of putting down the government or the people who engages in ruling a country. In addition, one of the factors that causes terrorism was poverty.
To a research by Colonel Ahmad Al-Thagafi, Saudi Arabian National Guard, he state the economical, political, social, psychological, educational causes of terrorism. The outcomes are as follows:
Economic causes of terrorism:
“The shifting global economy greatly impacts the poorest communities and is one of the most important reasons for the growth of terrorism in the world.”
Political causes of terrorism:
“Two phenomena help explain the political motivation behind international
terrorism. First, there is a contradiction between the international political system’s charters (e.g., the UN Charter) which are based on values and ideals, and what is reflected in the actual behaviors of those actors in the system. Second, there is a clear lack of ability by the international community to respond to and stop irregularities, human rights violations, and other threats to security.”
Social Causes of Terrorism
Terrorists may be terrorized too, they may be terrorized when they’re still a child so they have come up terrorizing. Disrespect on one’s ideology may lead to terrorism. Varying of interpretations can be one of the causes in terrorism between two groups.
Psychological Causes of Terrorism
“There are numerous of psychological reasons leading to violence, terrorism and extremism that can be put into the following categories. First, there are inherent destructive psychological motivations. Second, the lack of self-control in individuals leads one to be manipulated and follow undesirable actions, ideologies, and leaders. Individuals who are manipulated may believe they are a symbol of strength, freedom and the ideals. Third, some individuals become frustrated when they are unable to achieve their goals, sense of belonging, their desires or position in life. This frustration leads to depression or low self worth in many young people. Fourth, megalomania is a mental disease where an individual is delusional in his belief about his own greatness and total disregard for human life. This delusion is not supported by any logic or reality. Adolf Hitler was a clear example of this character trait in his rise to power, the extermination of millions of Jews, gypsies, and other groups, and the administration of the war against his enemies. Fifth, the split personality is one of psychological factors in the recent emergence of violence, terrorism and extremism. This is the case of a person who is able to satisfactorily separate himself from facts, mistakenly underestimating conditions, and is devoid of feelings.”
Secretary of State for International Development of the UK, Hilary Benn (2005), argued that “terrorism can plant its roots in poverty. Corruption, poor governance, economic mismanagement and a lack of representative politics all can play a part in alienating and radicalizing poor people.”
Terrorism erodes at both individual and community level. Terrorism may result to once psychological trauma especially for the children who have been present on the attempt. It also may cause a Community to experience poverty because of their damaged properties like companies that pays much tax that helps a country. Terrorism can not only destroy ones property but also a country’s reputation among their neighbors because others may think that that country was not a peaceful country and they may be harmed when they visit that kind of country and so on. There are many things or effects of terrorism that people can think of. Nature too, can be destroyed by some terrorist attacks, some ideological type of terrorism may also be one of the reasons of Global warming that we are encountering as of today. Some of these terrorists tactics were killings of whales that is widely done in Japan also the arson can hurt our nature not only the people who owns that property. Those bombings cause Carbon Dioxide that is thinning the ozone layer and cause global warming. A bombing attempt on a day on one country is not only that country’s problem but will be a problem worldwide and may be hard to be resolved.
Terrorism causes a country terrible. It made people grieve and feel unsafe of their own country. Terrorism must be resolved because of those harmful effects on the people that have been in the incidents. So what does people thinking to terminate terrorism? Many said that it’s hard to stop terrorism so they proposed to stop it with full force. So, there comes Counter Terrorism that enables the military, police and others to catch or put into jail those suspected terrorists and have some kind of “war” against them. No proposed force did terminate terrorism because this world is too powerful that no one can destroy it unless we will unite and help each other against it stop it. “We can accomplish far more in the so-called Òwar on terrorÓ by building up than by tearing down.” (Richard Vague, May 27) A fight with forces, guns, bombs will be fought back by the same strategies. We should take the risk to talk to those people and dig upon them what causes them to terrorize and make a move through it. According also to Richard Vague, “we should focus this building up in places like Morocco, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Turkey--countries that are already on that tenuous path to political and economic democracy—because positive accomplishments in any Muslim nation will have good effect in all other Muslim nations.” If people want peace terribly then we should take risk on building up some friendly talk with them. It may be hard but it’s not bad to try.
Terrorism today has become an international threat. It creates a worldwide buzz that affects many people. Many of these terrorists commit acts that threaten the lives of innocent civilians, and even the terrorists themselves, while the remaining others are operating behind-the-scenes. Some say terrorism was caused by the difference in religious beliefs. Some say it is because of the deprivation of resources. While others say it is caused by their nationalism. Whatever the cause, they still affect the world by instilling fear in the minds of the people.
Terrorism has affected the sectors of numerous countries. Society has been affected the most as terrorists, even accidentally, injure or kill numerous people in areas around the globe. Perhaps the most shocking of all the terrorist attacks was the attack on the
Even in our own nation, terrorism is still a big factor that affects society. The numerous threats posed by terrorist groups in the
There have been many attempts at stopping terrorism. One such way is by executing a preemptive strike. This has its benefits such as neutralizing unsuspecting terrorist groups. A problem that is presented to this solution is that if that certain terrorist group knows about their ‘preemptive strike’. It can make the plan a disaster. A type of ‘preemptive strike’ that can be useful is interrogation. This can reveal plots by questioning suspected terrorists. The only problem is if they get a wrong person. They end up questioning that person but later on they realize that that person is not really a terrorist, and they just wasted valuable time. Another way is by military intervention. Although the military has been known as a powerful force against terrorists, history proves it otherwise. In the past, the military has rarely been successful in preventing terrorism. In fact, it only makes terrorism worse, as it makes the popularity of the terrorist cause grow. Even the simplest solutions, such as tightening security in public places, can help minimize the threat. Although it is simple and effective in a small way, there still have been mistakes. Sometimes, the smallest detail they miss can lead to a nationwide disaster. Plus, the objects used to harm people are deceiving. So, even with all these countermeasures, terrorism still occurs.
What I propose for a solution to minimize, or even prevent terrorism is for the people to ‘walk in each other’s shoes’. The terrorists need to know and feel what happens to the lives of people when they commence attacks. In fact, they already feel a part of what happens, the fact that lives are lost with or without reason. Of course, I’m talking about the fact that there is a war going on in their homelands. There are terrorists held as captives, aren’t there? Why not make them feel the “terror” they’ve been causing, all of the wanton destruction and whatnot. Hopefully, they’ll change their ways and convince the others to change as well. In turn, we also have to know why these terrorists do these acts, or why they turned to terrorism. Even a glimpse of their lives might change our views on them. Try to live, even just a day, in the life of a ‘terrorist’, or to be more specific, try to ‘live’ in the environment of a ‘terrorist’. Hopefully, it will uncover the real reasons on why they do the things they do.