Discuss the ethical issues of using GM golden rice in the developing Essay

Discuss the ethical issues of using GM golden rice in the developing world - Essay Example Vitamin A is found in butter, milk, liver and kidney, green and yellow vegetables, but only very little in conventional rice. Today, much of Vitamin A can be supplied by the genetically modified rice that offers beta-carotene, a metabolic precursor to vitamin A. In year 2000, researchers in Zurich and in Freiburg, Germany succeeded in creating the yellow rice that has both beta carotene and iron content (GMO Compass). The GM rice research, which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation by $100 million, took 10 years to produce the genetic strain. It will take million dollars more and another decade of development at the International Rice Research Center before it can reach the fields of farmers. (Shiva, 2000) Genetic engineering is the deliberate, controlled manipulation of the genes in an organism with the intent of making that organism better in some way (What is.com). This is a thoroughly new technology that alters the characteristics of the living organisms by inserting genetic materials manipulated through artificial means. Union of Concerned Scientists said that advocacies of genetically modified food should proceed with care, alternatives examined, and case to case evaluation of genetic engineering applications be done. GM rice has been a source of complex issues. A group of 22 international scientists and experts, in 2009, questioned this issue in an open letter to Professor Russell at Tufts University School of Medicine, who is in charge of the clinical trials of GM Golden Rice testing to adults and children (GM Watch). This group asserted that â€Å"golden rice is inadequately described in terms of biological and biochemical makeup†¦has not been shown to be stable over time†¦.has never been through regulatory approvals process anywhere In the world†. Researchers from Ban GM food worry on the safety of GM rice as it has not been tested to animals. They argued that when pharmaceutical drugs are tested for safety, it should be first tes ted to animals. When no harmful effect is seen in the animal, it is only then that it should be tested to human volunteers. GM rice defenders said that it is intended for humans, so animal test is no longer needed. Same research group argued that since GM rice is engineered to overproduce beta carotene, they are worried that some retinoid derived from beta carotene are toxic and cause birth defects, as studies would show (GM food.org) As controversies grow, research findings conclude that there are many opinions on the negative effect of GM food, but lacks data to support the claim on the potential risks to health (Arpad, et al.) Potential harm of GM foods can be acute to the young, elderly and those suffering HIV, hepatitis or other viral diseases. Those suffering from gastrointestinal tract, allergies and other disorders are further advised not to consume GM food as there is possibility of unforeseen irreversible consequences. For this reason, GM food labeling should be mandatory, research suggested. The emergence of genetically produced crops has generated various policy reactions from different countries as well. Discussion has reached international level, particularly, the World Trade Organization (Nielson & Anderson). Accordingly, both exporters and importers of GM rice will be affected by the biotech policies of the countries within which they operate. Trade relations are affected by the consumer confidence

The Dangerous Danger That Dangers the Danger Essay Example for Free

The Dangerous Danger That Dangers the Danger Essay PURPOSE The purpose of this experiment is to determine if the elasticity of bubble gum affects the diameter of a bubble blown with the gum. HYPOTHESIS If the elasticity of the bubble gum is higher, then the diameter of the bubble blown will be significantly larger because the bubble will be able to stretch farther, therefore giving it a larger diameter. The independent variable is the elasticity of the gum. The dependent variable is the diameter of the bubble blown. The constants are the stopwatch used, environment tested in, and temperature outside. There was no control group. MATERIALS  · 3 tape measurers  · 1 piece of Bubble Yum Original gum  · 1 piece of Wrigley’s Extra bubble gum  · 1 piece of Orbit Spearmint gum  · 1 piece of Mentos Tropical Mix gum  · 1 piece of Trident Tropical Twist gum  · 8 strands of Big League Chew gum  · 4-6 test subjects to chew gum  · 6 data sheets  · 1 pen PROCEDURE Part 1: 1. Gather materials. 2. Take one piece of Orbit Spearmint gum. 3. Chew the gum for approximately three minutes (the exact time does not matter). 4. Take the chewed gum and begin to blow a bubble. 5. Use the tape measurer to measure the diameter of the bubble when the bubble is at its largest. 6. Record the diameter of the bubble blown onto data sheet. 7. Repeat steps 4-6 two more times. 8. Proceed to Part 2. 9.Repeat steps 2-8 for all the types of gum. Part 2: 1. Remove gum from mouth. 2. Place the wrapper on the ends of the gum and slowly pull it apart. 3. Measure the length of the gum while continuing to pull it apart until the gum breaks or sags to the ground. 4. Record the length the bubble gum stretched before breaking. 5. Analyze and draw conclusions. WRITTEN RESULTS AND ANALYSIS The data collected from this experiment shows that overall Big League Chew produced the largest bubble, and Bubble Yum had the largest elasticity. Orbit Spearmint and Trident Tropical Twist produced the two smallest average bubble diameters; also, both had the smallest elasticity. The remaining brands fell into the middle of the categories; Wrigley’s Extra had a bubble diameter average of 8 millimeters and an average elasticity of 3500 millimeters, and Mentos Tropical Mix had a bubble average of 5.7 millimeters and an average elasticity of 1200 millimeters. Bubble Yum Original had an average diameter of 72 millimeters and an average elasticity of 4000 millimeters, and Big League Chew had an average bubble diameter of 100 millimeters and an average elasticity of 1500 millimeters. Lastly, Orbit Spearmint had an average bubble diameter of 24 millimeters and an average elasticity of 800 mm, and Trident Tropical Mix had an average bubble diameter of 20 millimeters with an average e lasticity of 1050 millimeters. The largest bubbles with the greatest elasticity had significantly larger servings of gum than all of the other brands. The small bubble sizes and poor elasticity could be because of the small size. CONCLUSION The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the elasticity of bubble gum affects the size of its bubble. The hypothesis for the experiment was if the gum has a high elasticity, then it will blow a larger bubble because it would be able to stretch out more. The hypothesis was supported because the results of the experiment showed that the bubble gum with higher elasticity generally had higher bubble sizes. The bubble gum types that stretched the most and also had the largest diameters were Bubble Yum Original and Big League Chew. The bubble gums with the least elasticity and the smallest diameters were Orbit Spearmint and Trident Tropical Twist. The scientific explanation for the results is that the higher amounts of elasticity in the gum allowed it to expand and stretch more, giving it a larger diameter. Attempts to limit errors in this experiment included using three trials, testing with the same person per type of gum, using the same measuring devices, and the testing enviro nment. Some possible sources of error were the fact that there were different people chewing the gum, the measuring was not always always accurate, there was a time constraint forcing the experiment to be rushed, and the gum bubble sizes were dependent on the person chewing it. From this experiment, it is suggested that the elasticity of bubble gum does affect the bubble size. In future experiments, more types of gum could be used to get a better sense of the results. In the real world, this information can be applied so that people don’t chew gum with high elasticity in schools. If someone is chewing gum of high elasticity, it would make bigger bubbles, make a louder sound, disrupt the classroom, and be a big problem academically for the students.

Can Terrorism Be Defeated Only By Military Means Criminology Essay

Can Terrorism Be Defeated Only By Military Means Criminology Essay We blindly cant say that terrorism is the only option to reduce or stop terrorism without examining how terrorist groups end or fade out after some years. The governments in the other hand will have different options like military force, intelligence team, political negotiations and economic sanctions. The governments should prioritise their options on the terrorist organisations. According to a research, which examined more than 250 terrorist organisations from the period of 1965 to 2006, it found that many of the terrorist organisations ended because of the local police intervention like that of the Al-Umma organisation which carried out attack in Coimbatore during 1998. Many other organisations stopped their or dissolved their campaign due to intelligence or because of the settlements with the governments. It is to be noted here that military force did not have an adverse effect on the terrorist organisations to stop their violence against the non-combatants. United States stance on Al-Qaida proved wrong when the chief (Osama Bin Laden) was caught only by the intelligence force rather than the war on terror which lasted for more than a decade. Until the year 2006, there were around 648 terrorist groups and the research found that their survival for a longer term was due to the factors of economic condition, control type, their ideas, size and their goal. According to this research by Memorial for the prevention of Terrorism, it states that 268/648 groups ended within the year 2006, 136 groups fell apart because of difference in strategies and goals and the remaining 244 were active. The main reason for most of the terrorist organisations to quit terrorism was due to local police intervention and intelligence or a beneficial agreement with the governments to satisfy their needs for a particular group of people. Only very less terrorist organisations ended because of the military force. Military force was affective only when the terrorist groups were large and had the state-of-the art weapons to defend their goals and needs. The only place where military force turned out to be a good idea was in Sri Lanka when the government fought against the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE). This group demanded a separate land for Tamils in Sri Lanka which caused the biggest civil war in the history. Only in this case, governments action of using military force was beneficial because the opponent was well armed and had a large army to reach their goals. The research also found that the terrorist organisations which had some religious sentiments took longer time to stop their activities but rarely achieved their goals. Size of the group also determined their results. The example of a bigger group coming out victorious in terrorism was that of the army found by Mohammed, the founder of Islam which conquered Mecca in the Holy war or Jihad. The research also found that the terrorist from upper-income groups were nationalist and rarely were religiously motivated. COUNTERTERRORISM RATHER THAN WAR ON TERRORISM: After the September 11 attack by Al-Qaida on the World Trade Center, United States strategy to fight terrorism was mainly by the military action. They have also employed some non-military operations like reducing the foreign assistance and securing their states with more power. It was only during the Obamas regime, counter terrorism proved to be effective rather than the War on Terror Obama employed the intelligence squad to break in to or kill the al-Qaida chief in 2009. This initiative proved beneficial and the U.S killed their target in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. This made a way for many countries to withdraw the aspect of War on Terror and employ counterterrorism. As of 2008, the war on terrorism had not much effect on Al-Qaida as it remained strong and well organised. Its goal of uniting Muslims to fight the west remained strong and it continued to encourage terrorism to be employed in more places around the world. They conducted many such attacks without any problems when military attacks were employed on them. Military force only helped the governments to reduce some bigger attacks like that in New York or Mumbai. United States then decided to change their strategy to negotiate some political settlement with the Al-Qaida. As Al-Qaida was religious and fought the war against the west in the name of Allah, the negotiation strategy was not effective. So the governments should decide to abolish them by two strategies. They are: Governments should start to depend on intelligence and policing to destroy Al-Qaidas plans in attacking the non-combatants. Al-Qaida is a large group who are active around the world and commit some deadly acts only when a message is received from the head of the group. In order to track their moves and those peoples involved in the attacks, U.S has employed Central Intelligence Agency and FBI to track and demolish the terrorist activities with the help of foreign police and some intelligence agencies. The governments should also reduce their military personnel in the borders and promotes local forces to take charge as they had a greater understanding of the places. The main aim of this move is to promote counterterrorism as this proved to be effective than War on Terrorism in many countries who are fighting terrorism. This replacement in strategy also makes the terrorist think that they are criminals and not warriors who are fighting for the religious cause of Jihad. DEPENDING ON INTELLIGENCE: The U.S government should concentrate more on police forces and an intelligence agency at least after the Al-Qaida Chief was killed in the counter attack by the U.S Navy Seals. The governments should now focus on CIA, FBI and increase the budgets which specialises in counterterrorism. The military forces should have the same strategy for the groups involved in insurgencies and for large groups. According to Hoffman, he suggests the intelligence agencies to cooperate with the local police and the intelligence agencies in the countries where terrorism is prevailing to build more effective ways to combat them. Policing and intelligence are best suited to demolish the terrorist organisations like Al-Qaida because of their operation in many countries. These terrorist organisations are decentralised and receive funds and messages from a particular place to carry out a operation. The operations of these terrorist organisations are a little complex and have different nodes for operation. The se nodes can be easily identified and demolished only with the help of police and intelligence groups. The main drawback of this type of act is reducing the nodes of the terrorist organisation in many countries than in a single country. This method of counterterrorism is only possible only by the full support of the local police and the community unlike that in Pakistan. The terrorist organisations in the present days are easy to be demolished by the police and intelligence networks because of its structure. The terrorist organisations employ top-down or bottom-up approach to communicate between themselves. As the message needs to be passed by many people, it is easy for the intelligence agencies to track their location. These terrorist organisations dont get demolished if only the key members are caught or killed as in case of Al-Qaida. The terrorist organisations have a large network and can work without the commandments of the key leaders. These terrorist networks are active for long term because of its the presence of its hubs. The terrorist organisations get isolated if the hubs that send most messages are destroyed or demolished. These hubs are also easily isolated because it is considered as the information centre for the terrorist organisations. These hubs can be busted with good intelligence activities like tracking down the telephone lines, monitoring the email, couriers and fax facilities in countries like Pakistan. By these measures by the personnel, terrorist can be caught, arrested and enforced in the court of law. There are different steps involved in this kind of approach which include data analysis, capture of key leaders of terrorist organisations and amending the law in some special cases. For the list of above operations, police and intelligence agencies are best suited to do the acts. DATA ANALYSIS AND INFORMATION COLLECTION: Data collection and analysing the information proves to be one of the important aspects of intelligence bureau on terrorists. There are different ways in finding the terrorist activities. They are by human intelligence or by signal intelligence. The information got by the human network proves to be the most beneficial one. But it takes determination and patience to break up the human network of terrorists by recruiting the terrorists who are already in the terrorist groups. It is difficult to recruit the informants from the terrorist groups because of the faith and love for their friends and religion. According to an intelligence agency, it takes around 18 month for a terrorist to carry out any attack on the public. This period of establishment is the important period for the intelligence agencies to identify, arrest and reveal the plan of their action. Another source for the intelligence agencies could be from the fundamentalist mosques who oppose terrorism. They might prove to be useful recruits as they might provide some information on the relative or friends of some terrorist and their recent activities. Detaining some important individuals who are associated with the terrorist groups would make them less capable of launching some large attacks. If this case of detaining and arresting the individuals in a small terrorist organisation takes place, the other operator may lose confidence and become some mere criminals. Making these men mere criminals would be possible only with the help of media and the intelligence personnel and not with some counter attack by the military forces. Another difficulty that might be faced by international intelligence agencies is with the cooperation with the local police and intelligence agencies as they might have their internal security issues to be solved. The information got by human couriers wa s more beneficial than the signal intelligence. The top terrorist individual understood the drawbacks of using cell phones and internet to transmit some information to their hubs. So they decided to send the information through some trusted individuals who had been in the organisation for many years. Only by continuous monitoring by the intelligence agencies, the couriers can be caught and be beneficial. This was the case when the U.S Navy seals found out the whereabouts of the Al-Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden. The U.S intelligence agency spied on some couriers to find out and kill the chief. In this case open action by the U.S Navy was unavoidable because of the doubt he (Osama) tried to defend him by hiding behind his wife. Capture of Key Leaders: Another important way of counterterrorism is to capture their key leaders and punish them severely according to the law. The terrorist should be punished severely because they were involved in some deadly acts to kill the non-combatants in the particular country. The law should punish them in a way which should be as an example for the other criminal and terrorists in the country. This task also involves collection of evidence for some terrorists before producing the convict before the court of law. Producing an individual before the court of law for terrorism might not be easier as that of drug trafficking, it should have direct connection with the deadly acts. The capturing of terrorist in any position of their group hierarchy will reveal much important information about their future attacks. The communicating devices used by terrorist such as diaries, laptops and cell phones will provide some very sensitive information on the future attacks and the names of other group members. Fo r example, capture of Khan Muhammad with his laptop in 2004, revealed the plans of Al-Qaida to attack the gold mines in Pakistan and also some attacks on IMF and Citigroup buildings in United States. Another good example to prove this fact is that of capturing of Osama Bin Laden on May 2. In the recent news, it revealed that his diaries contained some very sensitive information about the Al-Qaidas links with other terrorist groups and their future plans to attack many places in the world. Other measures to combat terrorism: Other ways to stop terrorism is by the help of legal approvals. This process may involve accusing the acts of terrorist organisations such as recruiting members, buying of weapons from other countries. These legal procedures will help the intelligence agencies and the local police to stop the acts of terrorism by some means like freezing the bank accounts of the suspected terrorists, conduct searches by modern means and to interrogate suspects who pose a terrorist threat to the community as whole. Freezing the accounts of the terrorist organisations also help the intelligence agencies to get leads about their whereabouts. But nowadays, terrorist exchange the money to fund their operation through some third person in the place where the money should reach and this illegal activity is called hawala in Islamic terms. The money transferred by the hawala means is not recorded or taxed by the governments. Monitoring of the money movement from the terrorist organisation is a tedious task fo r the intelligence agencies.

War in Iraq :: essays research papers

Self-improvement. When I finished highscool in Ukraine, my mother taught me one very important lesson. She said: â€Å"Self-improvement is a key for your success†. In 1998 I got a bachelor degree in Child Education. I took me two years to complete a school program. During my school years I went through difficult times. There were moments when I wanted to drop out of school, but I always remembered my mother’s words about continual self-improvement. Now, after all, I am really proud of my achievements. I have accomplished my goal. But, I’ll never stop to better my education, because this is lifetime process for me. After I finished high school I had a dilemma. Whether to do ordinary, low paying work, or pick a major and further my education. One evening I had a long conversation with my mother. She explained to me that education is the only way to improve my life. Regular jobs would only allow me to survive, but if I wanted to improve my life I need to go to college. For that reason, I decided to make a plan of my further education. During my collage years, 1996 – 1998, I wanted to drop out of school many times. I had to complete a four-year program in two years. I had a very busy schedule. Monday through Friday I was in school form 8 am to 6 pm. After school I did my homework until 3 am in the morning. Even, on Saturdays and Sundays studied for 8 – 10 hours. Nevertheless, I graduated with good grades and award letter for my academic achievements Right after I had finished my studies; I felt a sense of relief and a great joy of self-achievement. . At that moment I wanted to relax for a while and then continue my education. My education didn’t stop after completion of the college program. During the summer of 1998 I went to my parent’s village for a short rest. Then I decided to continue my studies at Kyiv Pedagogic University. In fall 1998, I started an eighteen-month program. It was easy for me at this time, because I had a basic knowledge of the subject. Also I didn’t have to study until 2 – 3 in the morning. On top of that, during the weekends I was able to relax. In February 2000, I successfully graduated from Kiev Pedagogic University. I received a diploma for Child Care specialist.

Assess the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Functionalist Approach to Society Essay

Functionalism is seen as a macro-scale approach to society; it sees society as a whole rather than looking at parts of it. Due to this, functionalism sees society as a body (organic analogy), all the institutions work together to make society. This is particularly useful when observing society in order to understand the way in which it functions and the way in which all the institutions (organic analogy: organs within the body) work together to sustain society as a whole. Functionalism being a macro-scale approach is therefore seen as a strength as it allows functionalist sociologists to observe society, and its institutions, as a whole. Functionalism is also seen as a consensus theory, it sees society as fair and just, and it acknowledges that many societies, including the majority of western ones, have democracy and all individuals within a particular society share the same or similar norms and values. This could therefore be seen as a strength as it acknowledges that democracy does exist in many societies. However, as functionalism is a macro-scale approach and sees society as a whole, it could miss crucial factors/ groups which contribute to the functioning of society; these include small groups and tribes, such as gipsies. Not acknowledging these minority groups within society could lead to functionalist sociologists lacking crucial information about how society functions and how minority groups live within a large society. This could therefore be seen as a weakness of functionalism as it fails to acknowledge that there are minority groups within society. Also, as functionalism is a consensus theory where all individuals within a particular society share the same or similar norms and values and sees society as being fair and just; however, it fails to acknowledge that there are inequalities within society, these inequalities could be present amounts social class, gender or ethnicity. However, other approaches, such as Marxism and Feminism acknowledge that there are inequalities within society which raises the question as to whether functionalism is the most appropriate approach to use when studying society. This is therefore seen as a weakness of functionalism as society does have many inequalities which functionalism fails to acknowledge. Talcott Parsons, a functionalist sociologist who elaborated on Durkheim’s work about society and its functions, claimed that society is like an organism, in particular, the human body. He argued that all institutions, such as the family and the education system, within society function together to maintain society just as the organs within a human body work together to maintain life. In particular, Parsons identified three similarities between the human body and society; he claimed that they were both systems within themselves – all the parts of a body and the institutions within society fit together in fixed ways. He also identified that these ‘systems’ have needs – the human body needs nutrition to help it sustain life, whereas society needs adequate socialisation in order for society to continue functioning in the way that it does. Parsons also stated that both the human body and society have functions – the functions of the systems within the human body ensure that the body’s needs are meet thus maintaining life; whereas, in society, the economy functions to maintain the social system. As parsons’ analogy helps sociologists to better understand the way in which institutions in society work together to maintain a ‘healthy’ society, it can be seen as a strength of functionalism as it helps to structure sociologists’ perceptions about how society functions. Parsons also identified four needs of society and how they are met. He claimed that society needs adaptation, this is where the material needs of society are met; for example, individuals within society work in order to gain their wages which in turn provides for their material needs. He also argued that society needs goal attainment – society needs to set goals and achieve them; this need is met via the political – political leaders set goals for society to achieve and these goals help to improve society. Integration is another need which Parsons identified, this is where cohesion between the different institutions, such as the family and education system, is promoted; this is done to avoid chaos and conflict. Latency is also needed by society, this refers to the way in which individuals cope with problems in society – they may turn to religion to reduce the strain which has been put on them by society. These needs which Parsons identified can be seen as a strength of society as they help sociologists to understand what society needs in order to function adequately. However, functionalist sociologist, Merton disagreed with the needs which Parsons identified. Merton claims that Parsons ignored the fact that there are institutions within society that can be dysfunctional, for example, religion can form cohesion but can also cause divisions within society. According to Merton, Parsons failed to acknowledge this. Merton also argues that Parsons fails to differentiate between intended (manifest) and unintended (latent) functions within society and therefore, Parsons’ idea about the needs and functions of society are very simplistic. Merton also criticises Parsons’ idea about indispensability, he assumes that everything is necessary in the way that it is; for example, children can only be socialised adequately in a two parent, nuclear family, however, Merton rejects this claim as he argues that adequate socialisation can occur even within a single parent family. Due to Merton’s arguments, some aspects of functionalism, such as the needs and functions of society, are seen as a weakness of society. There are also other criticisms of functionalism; it’s argued that functionalism explains the effects before the causes. For example, functionalism claims that children need to socialised (this is the effect) and therefore the family exists (this is the cause). Due to this, may sociologists argue that the functionalism approach is not one which can be used to explain society properly. Also, Marxist sociologists argue that functionalism has failed to explain conflict and change within society; the approach claims that society is harmonious and built on consensus. However, Marxist and Feminist sociologists argue that exploitation and inequality do exist in many forms, such as social class and gender inequality; however, functionalism has failed to acknowledge this and is therefore considered to be an approach which has traditional ideology which is outdated. This therefore shows flaws to the functionalist approach and therefore points out the weaknesses within the functionalist approach. Overall, in conclusion, the functionalist approach has many strengths and weaknesses about the way in which society functions and the needs it requires. It strengths are seen in the way in which it explains the basic needs and function of society, these explanations can be used by other sociologists to improve and maintain an adequate society. However, other approaches, such as Marxism and Feminism have criticised functionalism due to its lack of acknowledgment of exploitation and inequality which occurs within society. However, overall, it is a balanced argument.

Democracy and Oligarchy in Classical Greece essays

Democracy and Oligarchy in Classical Greece essays The Classical Greece period in history ran from 480-323 B.E.C. Greece not only includes Athens as its territory but also consisted of many Greek city-states. These city-states were located throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Although, there was distance from the center of Athens to their territories they still exerted continual dominance and collected annual dues from subject states. Athens was an imperial power due to primitive democracy. To successfully control the states, have free open debate of issues, and benefit the commoners of Athens democracy was the better form of government in classical Greece not Oligarchy. In order for Athens to successfully control all states and collect tribute from their subjects, Athens needed to be a strong ruling authority. The Athenian democracy was well built and able to maintain an empire, although Cleon, a representative of Oligarchy, claimed: ... democracy is incapable of empire...your [Athens] empire is a despotism and your subjects disaffected conspirators, whose obedience is ensured not by your suicidal concessions, but by the superiority given you by your own strength and not their loyalty (Cleon, Peloponnesian War, Bk. III). Athenian history proves this statement false. The Athenians had an undefeatable military and men willing to fight for their city, as said by Pericles. Our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries. If then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart but without laborious training, and with courage which is gained by habit and not enforced by law (Pericles Funeral Oration). This speech of Pericles refutes Cleons statement. The people of Athens were loyal and willing to die for their city. Such is the city for whose sake these men nobly fought and died; they could not bear the thought that she [Athens] might be taken from them (Pericles Funeral Oration) ...