Policy argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Policy argument - Essay Example Accordingly, this paper would be divided into several categories wherein reasons for the cessation of troop deployment to the Iraqi and Afghan warzones would be in the best interest of all the stakeholders, including alternative policies currently undertaken and feasible proposals by respective governments. First and foremost however, a factual backdrop would be necessary regarding troop deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq. In February and March 2009, respectively, the Obama Administration declared its strategy to amplify troop deployment levels in Afghanistan, while providing for the decrease of troop deployment levels in Iraq. In Afghanistan, 30,000 more troops are deploying this year while in Iraq; troops will gradually decline to 35,000 to 50,000 by August 31, 2011 with all troops to be out of Iraq by December 31, 20111 (Belasco, 2009). The possibility of increase in troop deployment in the aforementioned warzones has been met with reluctance, and even expresses political disappro val by several of the stakeholders. Conversely, the counter-proposal of withdrawal is constantly gaining support, from the US and the invaded countries themselves. In the case of the United States of America, public support for the war has constantly waned. Both public opinion and government policy require the means to cease or at least lessen further war expenditure and troop deployment. Recent events relative to the conduct of the war continually depreciate popular support at home for the United States. US military causalities in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, and Operation Enduring Freedom total to 6049 soldiers killed in action, further fanning public outrage against the conflicts, apart from hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq2 Accordingly, the economy of the US is also one of the major concerns. The  financial cost of the war  for the US has reached almost $845 billion  to the U.S., while the entire cost to the U.S. economy is projected to amount to  $3 trillion, a majority of which to be shouldered by American taxpayers.3 The conflict has also disrupted Iraqi  oil  production, which has spawned energy security concerns such as significant increases in the price of oil, thus disrupting the world economy. 4 The conflicts also have had adverse effects for international political relations. These include the circumstances of the legality and morality of the invasion, including the refusal of the US to comply with UN Security Resolutions and international law. Public opinion of several countries and diplomatic relations with Middle Eastern countries and their allies has also been severely affected. The US has been portrayed as imperialists and hegemons, effecting to massive protests not only in the Middle East, but also in Europe and even the US itself, drawing comparisons of the war to the Vietnam War 5. With regard to Afghanistan, political analysts have asserted that the democratization and develo pment of the country has been obscured by a â€Å"lack of agreement on objectives, a lack of resources, lack of coordination, too much focus on the central government at the expense of local and provincial governments, and too much focus on

The Great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 Fires Essay

The Great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 Fires - Essay Example The essay "The Great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 Fires" discusses the factors that led to the great Pittsburgh and San Diego 2007 fires that took place on April 10th at 12 o’clock and their consequences. The Great Fire of Pittsburgh took place on April 10th at 12 o’clock. It broke up in some frame buildings that were located to the Southeast of Ferry and Second Street in Pittsburgh. Two weeks prior to the fire break out, the weather was dry with high winds prevailing to a great extent. When the fire was discovered, the winds were blowing fresh from several points north of west. Within a short time, the fire flames had spread to the square. The wind’s velocity increased leading to more buildings catching fire. In a very short period, a third of the city was engulfed and consumed by the fire. The fire further extended to the Ferry side of Third Street extending further to Kensington town and destroyed it too. The district that was burned comprised of many busines ses and valuable factories. The loss amounted to approximately, $8,000,000. The growth and spread of the fire were caused by strong dry winds that were blowing in the town. As such, the dry weather conditions coupled with strong raging winds subsequently led to the spread of the fire to other buildings. Additionally, Pittsburgh at that time had uncontrolled/haphazard development. This resulted in a patchwork of homes and rich businesses. These wealthy people intermingled with other peasants who were adjacent, and who lived in wooden structures.

Analyzing news paper articles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyzing news paper articles - Assignment Example Therefore, it is needed to stop and plan what exactly their policy should be and then adapt it into something that would be more economically practical, and not seek to equally modernize each leg in the nuclear triad. In this respect, the article gives certain suggestions: the â€Å"D5† submarine-launched ballistic missiles should not be produced and the fleet of nuclear-armed submarines should be decreased from fourteen to eight, keeping in mind that the reduction in number will not affect the potential or strength of this leg. Also, the present arsenal could be visibly reduced; consequently, money could be saved by closing down a few of the weapons-design labs. Moreover, spending can be reduced on missile defense, which is very superfluous. About 30 to 35 billion US$ can be saved over the next 10 years, the article states. These are good suggestions, albeit very tough, but politicians and the military have to realize that the country’s financial condition is going to become an actual security problem soon enough. In this editorial of the New York Times, President Obama’s executive order, and its rationale, is questioned. Even though this executive order puts an end to the rule that deprived groups from federal funding when and if they performed abortions or advised their patients with regard to the procedure, even if they did not use federal money to do this; however, the executive order did not undo the policy that places similar restrictions and bans on groups that use foreign aid money for abortions. Oddly enough, this rule applies even in current day war zones like Congo where rape is used as a weapon in the conflict, and even in cases of rape, even though such a policy is not ordered by any law. The article asserts that the 1973 Helms amendment, which restricts using foreign aid money to be used for abortion as a method of family planning, does not really include victims of rape or incest. It is, of course,

Find Wikipedia links related to Global economy Assignment

Find Wikipedia links related to Global economy - Assignment Example Therefore, this information needs to be enriched and updated. I have selected this as a Wikipedia search topic because it is an important element of the global economy. The growth of the world economy heavily relies on international trade, and I therefore find this aspect very important. In the modern globalized economy, the social and political impact of international trade cannot be underestimated. However, after reading the information on international trade on Wikipedia, little focus is given on key issues such as drivers of international trade, barriers and future prospects. In addition, the real impacts of international trade on various regions and countries are not fully highlighted. There is need to add more information on this topic focusing on the current drivers of international trade and the future prospects. As the world becomes a global village, economic globalization is a major driver of growth. Therefore, I have selected this topic since it directly affects our global economy. Wikipedia provides some information on the history and effects of economic globalization, but this information is not in detail. In particular, the impact of economic globalization on various regions and continents is not given. There is need to add more information on the past and emerging trends of economic globalization and their

Chinese and American Zombies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chinese and American Zombies - Essay Example The way people turn into Chinese or American zombies has certain similarities and differences. When it comes to American zombies, they were created by Voodoo spells. Thus, voodoo priests (through spells) could make the person their slave. Importantly, the concept of slavery has been very strong for Americans and it is the core of the idea of zombies. Another way of turning into a zombie is to be bitten by one. As far as Chinese zombies are concerned, they are created when a person commits a suicide, they are victims of premature burial or they were killed and want to revenge. The major feature of the concept of the Chinese zombie is their desire to â€Å"absorb life essence†. The difference between the two types of monsters is that American zombies eat flesh whereas Chinese zombies absorb souls of people. Major features of zombies also differ in the two cultures. Thus, American zombies walk slowly, they are almost deprived of the ability to think and they only strive to satisf y their hunger for human flesh. Their bodies often deteriorate or even disintegrate. As for Chinese zombies, they can look at living people if they turned into zombies shortly after their death or they can look like horrific monsters if they were dead for a while before becoming undead. Besides, these creatures’ hair and nails keep growing and they hop with their mouths wide open always ready to grasp a person’ soul (Bai 109). Chinese zombies hop and as the name suggests (stiff bodies) they do not move their limbs.

Comparison of Arguments in their Effectiveness Essay

Comparison of Arguments in their Effectiveness - Essay Example Men often seek uncomplicated solutions to problems as well as useful advice while women often try to institute intimacy by making a discussion of problems and getting concerned in order to strengthen connections. According to Macaulay and Rafelman, the styles of speech that men and women use to converse have been depicted as "debate vs. relate", "report vs. rapport, or "competitive vs. cooperative". In fact, Rafelman shows that men and women view the world very differently and this is because of not only their gender and physical characteristics, but also because of the way that they are raised. For a long time, it has been known that the two sexes think and make decisions differently and this is the reason why they are good at the diverse roles that they undertake, and this includes matters concerning language. What a man is good at doing and the way he does it is not the exact way that a woman would do it. There has been a lot of debate concerning this matter, with some, such as Ma caulay, believing that to believe that women see the world differently from men is being sexist. Rafelman on the other hand, believes otherwise, and they attribute these differences in attitude to the fact that men and women were created differently and these differences were meant to serve specific purposes. The fact that there are differences between the characteristics of men and women is an indication of the way in which they communicate with others within the society. Men and women have extremely different ways of dealing with speech especially in stressful situations and these show just how dissimilar their worldview is. Despite the fact that the circumstances leading to a stressful situation may be similar between the two sexes, the way the respond to it is often quite different and this is often manifested in the way that they communicate. For example, men tend to become moody and brood over the situations, and more often than not, they end up picking up fights with the peop le in their lives. Furthermore, men are more likely to prefer remaining alone until such a time as they feel better before needing any company. This is not the case with women who, when dealing with stressful situations, often seek the company of their friends and family with whom to converse so that they can help them deal with the situation. Therefore, it can be said that while men are often aggressive in their speech when in a stressful situation, preferring to be alone, women on the other hand prefer to deal with the situation with the help of the people they love. Men and women view the world differently through the use of new technology in the daily activities; one of the findings is that men use the internet more often on a daily basis as compared to the women. In reality, men prefer doing practical things like paying bills online instead of physically doing the payments. On the contrary, women will prefer handling bills physically, and when searching for something online, th ey are likely to view broad range of sources of information. Instead of searching information online using a variety of search engines, they would do the searching using the sources they trust would give them what they are looking for, these are often limited in number which is attributed to the fact that women have a less probability of trusting as compared to men when it comes to practical issues. Men would use the internet tools frequently for various

Genetically Engineered Foods Essay Example for Free

Genetically Engineered Foods Essay Genetically engineered or genetically modified foods are foods that are simply the result of alteration in the original genes of an organism such as a plant or an animal in order to blot out a characteristic or trait of the original organism. Because this involves the transfer of genes, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) are also known as transgenic organisms (Robert Sacerich-GMO, Genetically Modified Foods and Conspiracy Theories). GE foods can be contrasted with organic foods which are basically foods which undergo a ‘non-synthetic’ method of processing before distribution to the public. This issue holds immense global importance because it is considered to be an alternative to solving the World Hunger crisis by supplying GE foods to countries with an inadequate supply of food (Anup Shah GE Technologies will solve world hunger; Jeffrey Heit, MD-Genetically Engineered Foods ). In this paper, the relative advantages and disadvantages of distributing GE foods to the public will be discovered and weighed. The notion of GE technology being the sole alternative to solving World Hunger will also be investigated along with the prospect of using organic food instead of GE food. In the article, Is GE food safe?, Anup Shah argues that although there is a possibility the use of GE foods can be beneficial to the general public, it cannot be said that this will last forever. The importance of this dilemma is being measured by the fact that there is absolutely no scientific proof at the moment to predict the effects of these crops in the foreseeable future, though we might know a great deal about their initial benefits to health and industry. David C. Pack agrees with this point of view and states that man has tampered with the very core of our food supply as part of the continuing quest to â€Å"out-do† God. He goes on to talk about the ‘unpredictability’ of altering genes. Stating in an example that certain genes from a flounder—a fish—have been inserted into tomatoes in order to give them a longer shelf life and that splicing genetic segments of one species into the genes of another could never occur naturally, he goes on to measure the importance of this issue by comparing data from original research work that had been carried out to determine the relative advantages of ‘golden rice’ and ‘soybeans’ compared to the regular varieties available in the market (David C. Pack -Genetically Engineered Foods Why the Controversy?). Jeffrey Heit, MD, in Genetically Engineered Foods confirms that that the use of GE foods might entail a cheap and efficient industrial  system but the public might not benefit from it the way we think it will. For instance, the use of peanut genes in tomatoes might adversely affect people allergic to peanuts and tomatoes being irreplaceable ingredients in almost all kinds of curry based foods aggravate the situation. On the other hand, some authors like Amy Norton argue that Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness and, because it dampens immune system function, leaves children more vulnerable to becoming severely ill from infections. If all children in deprived areas were given enough vitamin A, up to 2.7 million deaths could be prevented each year according to statistics. Genetically engineered capsules rich in vitamin A could be provided to the children in the aforementioned deprived areas. UNICEF has a program to give young children vitamin A capsules twice a year (one capsule is good for a six-month supply of the vitamin). A range of foods naturally contain vitamin A or vitamin A precursors from liver, fish oil and eggs to spinach, carrots, mango and red peppers. But again, those foods may either be locally unavailable, depend on season, or be priced beyond what most families in developing nations can afford (Amy Norton- Genetically modified rice a good vitamin A source 14; Janice Jones- Advantages Disadvantages of Organic Foods). In another article the author, Bryan Walsh talks about the relationship between ‘humane eggs’ and the way the laying hens are brought up or bred. He hints at the possibility of there being something worse than genetic engineering at hand, which is the way animals are brought up in farms, more specifically chickens. Hence, if such a relationship exists then there seem to be more pressing matters at hand than just the apparent side-effects of GE foods (Bryan Walsh-Vital Farms: Raising the Ultra-Organic Egg). Christie Wilcox adopts a different approach by targeting some of the myths held by people in favor of organic farming as opposed to genetically engineered farming. She talks about how pesticides are used abundantly in organic farming, how organic food is not healthier than GE food and how it is not ideal for the environment; ideas that are common amongst the general public about organic food (Christie Wilcox Myth busting 101: Organic Farming Conventional Agriculture). Backing up the aspect that genetically engineered foods are unsafe and should not be distributed to the general public since their after effects have not yet been discovered, Anup Shah states in an article how worldwide polls indicate a high public demand of labeling GE food so as to  enable the public to choose their preference of food. She points out that any failure to do so implies that the public is ignorant. Is it ‘justified’ to keep the public in the dark just because we think the public is too ignorant to grasp the significance of GE food? On the other hand, is it okay to not label food as genetically engineered or not genetically engineered because of the growing apprehension that there will be competition between GE based and non GE based food companies? ( Anup Shah- Public Concerns and Protests on GE Food). While some believe that genetically engineered foods are generally regarded as safe. There has been no adequate testing, however, to ensure complete safety. There are no reports of illness or injury due to genetically engineered foods (Jeffrey Heit, MD- Genetically engineered foods). On the very other end, some people believe that genetically engineered technology is our only hope in abating the ongoing World Hunger problem. However, some people disagree. The idea that genetically engineered technologies can solve world hunger is ‘unreliable’. It might have the ‘potential’ to abet the ‘developing’ nations in fighting the food crisis but it is amongst the many other alternatives present. A significant number of people in the third world countries are unable to get food because it is expensive, not because it is unavailable. As we can see, the issue of a country’s economy is closely tied with the world hunger problem in this case (Anup Shah- GE Technologies will solve world hunger). There are various questions we need to ask ourselves if we want to determine the ‘safety’ GE food to human beings. In the event that this technology achieves its current aim, who will benefit more, people in need or the people who need more? If we are not able to predict the potential side effects of genetically engineered food, is it safe to miss this one chance to revert poverty or even world hunge r for that matter? If not, then will not taking the leap be worth it in the long run? One reason why GE technology is being given the go-ahead is that there is a lot of money and profit involved in this. Hence from a business perspective it is more favorable, for example to produce crops that can be resistant to your pesticides (so that you can apply more of them). Keeping this perspective in mind, is it moral to jeopardize the prospect of hunger free countries? Does the expression man tampering with nature also apply to scenarios in which Genetic engineering has helped the human race develop the food market? (David C. Pack-Genetically  Engineered Foods Why the Controversy? David C. Pack) The author mentions how the cross breeding of seeds needs to be prevented so as to prevent any food anomalies in the industry. Considering how different animals like cows and buffaloes are cross-bred, how justified is it to combine and merge the habits of different animals who are otherwise different in various aspects? Whereas the problem of â€Å"World Hunger† is concerned, if it cannot be solved by GE crops and is linked to poverty instead, will the eradication of poverty solve the predicament of world hunger? If hunger is an effect of poverty where poverty is a political and economic issue then politics influences how it is produced; who it is produced by and for what purposes it is produced. David C. Pack would also agree: â€Å"Even the problem of world hunger cannot be solved using this technology since the yield of GM crops is even lesser than that of natural (regular) crops† (David C. Pack -Genetically Engineered Foods Why the Controversy?). In conclusion, nothing can be said with absolute certainty about the pros and cons of using this kind of technology but what can be done in this field is research in order to determine the magnitude of change it is capable of delivering in the long run. References †¢Alexandra Sifferlin -California fails to pass genetically modified foods labeling initiative http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/07/california-fails-to-pass-gm-foods-labeling-initiative/ †¢Amy Norton Genetically modified rice a good vitamin A source http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_128308.html †¢Anup Shah -Is GE Food Safe? http://www.globalissues.org/article/189/is-ge-food-safe †¢Anup Shah -GE Technologies will solve world hunger http://www.globalissues.org/article/190/ge-technologies-will-solve-world-hunger †¢Anup Shah -Public Concerns and Protests on GE Food http://www.globalissues.org/article/196/a-huge-wave-of-public-concern †¢Bryan Walsh -Vital Farms: Raising the Ultra-Organic Egg http://science.time.com/2012/10/22/vital-farms-raising-the-ultra-organic-egg/