Uses of Water Essay Example for Free

Uses of Water Essay 1. For drinking and for life processes. On an average, a man consumes about 60,000 to 80,000 litres of water in his lifetime. The body of an adult contains nearly 40 to 50 litres of water at any given time and water constitutes about 66% of the average body make up. Aqueous solutions fill the cells in the body. Nutrients, oxygen, and metabolic waste products are transported by blood, which is mostly water. Digested food is absorbed in the form of an aqueous solution. In plants too nutrients are transported in the form of aqueous solutions. 2. In agriculture Plants absorb their nutrients from the soil in the form of dilute aqueous solutions. Much of the worlds food crops are now grown under irrigation i.e. where regular water supply is diverted from dams, rivers, lakes etc. 3. In food industry Water is the common medium used all over the world to prepare various types of foods i.e., for cleaning of food, cooking with/in water: preservation (freezers, fridges etc.) washing and cleaning of utensils, hands etc. 4. In bathing, washing, cleaning, sanitation etc. 5. In industries Chemical industries are the greatest consumers of water; for instance, 170 litres of water is needed to manufacture just 1 kg of steel and about 144 tons of water is needed to produce one ton of paper. 6. For hydro-electric power production. 7. For transportation as well as recreation. Transportation by sea and recreation such as swimming, fishing, sailing and other water sports are the important means of using water. 1. For cooking food, for cleaning and drinking. 2. For cultivating food. 3. For transport and recreation. 4. For cleaning. 5. For plants and animals to live in. 6. For factories, industries and power stations Sources of water: Sources of fresh water Surface water Main article: Surface water Lake Chungarà ¡ and Parinacota volcano in northern Chile  Surface water is water in a river, lake or fresh water wetland. Surface water is naturally replenished by precipitation and naturally lost through discharge to the oceans, evaporation, evapotranspiration and sub-surface seepage. Although the only natural input to any surface water system is precipitation within its watershed, the total quantity of water in that system at any given time is also dependent on many other factors. These factors include storage capacity in lakes, wetlands and artificial reservoirs, the permeability of the soil beneath these storage bodies, the runoff characteristics of the land in the watershed, the timing of the precipitation and local evaporation rates. All of these factors also affect the proportions of water lost. Human activities can have a large and sometimes devastating impact on these factors. Humans often increase storage capacity by constructing reservoirs and decrease it by draining we tlands. Humans often increase runoff quantities and velocities by paving areas and channelizing stream flow. The total quantity of water available at any given time is an important consideration. Some human water users have an intermittent need for water. For example, many farms require large quantities of water in the spring, and no water at all in the winter. To supply such a farm with water, a surface water system may require a large storage capacity to collect water throughout the year and release it in a short period of time. Other users have a continuous need for water, such as a power plant that requires water for cooling. To supply such a power plant with water, a surface water system only needs enough storage capacity to fill in when average stream flow is below the power plants need. Nevertheless, over the long term the average rate of precipitation within a watershed is the upper bound for average consumption of natural surface water from that watershed. Natural surface water can be augmented by importing surface water from another watershed through a canal or pipeline. It can also be artificially augmented from any of the other sources listed  here, however in practice the quantities are negligible. Humans can also cause surface water to be lost (i.e. become unusable) through pollution. Brazil is the country estimated to have the largest supply of fresh water in the world, followed by Russia and Canada.[4] Under river flow Throughout the course of the river, the total volume of water transported downstream will often be a combination of the visible free water flow together with a substantial contribution flowing through sub-surface rocks and gravels that underlie the river and its floodplain called the hyporheic zone. For many rivers in large valleys, this unseen component of flow may greatly exceed the visible flow. The hyporheic zone often forms a dynamic interface between surface water and true ground-water receiving water from the ground water when aquifers are fully charged and contributing water to ground-water when ground waters are depleted. This is especially significant in karst areas where pot-holes and underground rivers are common. Ground water Main article: Groundwater Sub-Surface water travel time Shipot, a common water source in Ukrainian villages Sub-surface water, or groundwater, is fresh water located in the pore space of soil and rocks. It is also water that is flowing within aquifers below the water table. Sometimes it is useful to make a distinction between sub-surface water that is closely associated with surface water and deep sub-surface water in an aquifer (sometimes called fossil water). Sub-surface water can be thought of in the same terms as surface water: inputs, outputs and storage. The critical difference is that due to its slow rate of turnover, sub-surface water storage is generally much larger compared to inputs than it is for surface water. This difference makes it easy for humans to use sub-surface water unsustainably for a long time without severe consequences. Nevertheless, over the long term the average rate of seepage above a sub-surface water source is the upper bound for average consumption of water from that source. The natural input to  sub-surface water is seepage from surface water. The natural outputs from sub-surface water are springs and seepage to the oceans. If the surface water source is also subject to substantial evaporation, a sub-surface water source may become saline. This situation can occur naturally under endorheic bodies of water, or artificially under irrigated farmland. In coastal areas, human use of a sub-surface water source may cause the direction of seepage to ocean to reverse which can also cause soil salinization. Humans can also cause sub-surface water to be lost (i.e. become unusable) through pollution. Humans can increase the input to a sub-surface water source by building reservoirs or detention ponds. Desalination Main article: Desalination Desalination is an artificial process by which saline water (generally sea water) is converted to fresh water. The most common desalination processes are distillation and reverse osmosis. Desalination is currently expensive compared to most alternative sources of water, and only a very small fraction of total human use is satisfied by desalination. It is only economically practical for high-valued uses (such as household and industrial uses) in arid areas. The most extensive use is in the Persian Gulf. Frozen water An iceberg as seen from Newfoundland Several schemes have been proposed to make use of icebergs as a water source, however to date this has only been done for novelty purposes. Glacier runoff is considered to be surface water. The Himalayas, which are often called The Roof of the World, contain some of the most extensive and rough high altitude areas on Earth as well as the greatest area of glaciers and permafrost outside of the poles. Ten of Asia’s largest rivers flow from there, and more than a billion people’s livelihoods depend on them. To complicate matters, temperatures are rising more rapidly here than the global average. In Nepal the temperature has risen with 0.6 degree over the last decade, whereas the global warming has been around 0.7 over the last hundred years. Sources Of Water 1. Rainwater. 2. Springs. 3. Rivers and lakes. 4. Surface wells. 5. Deep or artesian wells. Rain water takes up the dust and gases from the air, and organic matter from the roofs over which it is collected. The long storing in a cistern gives bacteria opportunity to grow in large numbers, causing the water to be unsafe for drinking purposes. Springs are a source of pure water supply if they are not contaminated by passing through soil which is polluted. Rivers and lakes are a common source of water supply, but they may be made very unfit for drinking if the surface water and sewage from towns and cities is allowed to drain into them. Surface wells are a very unsafe source of drinking water supply, and the water should never be used when there are cesspools, drains, barnyards, or any other sources of contamination within a radius of 200 feet of them. Deep artesian wells furnish pure water as a rule, unless the piping is not tightly jointed, when impure water from a subsoil stream near the surface may enter the pipes. Ice Freezing has little effect upon bacteria except to lessen temporarily their vitality. When the ice melts, the bacteria may again become active. Ice made by artificial means from distilled water is the only pure ice. For cooling drinking water, the water should be placed on the ice and the ice should not be put into the water. Hard And Soft Water Soft water is water in which no mineral matter is dissolved. Hard water is water in which such minerals as lime, magnesium, and iron are dissolved. Boiling precipitates some of the mineral matter, thus tending to soften the water. This mineral deposit may be seen on the inside of a teakettle. Hard water that is to be used for cleansing purposes may be softened by the addition of washing soda, borax, ammonia, potash, or soda lye.

Environmental And Economic Impacts Of Green Architecture

Environmental And Economic Impacts Of Green Architecture Green buildings, also known as sustainable buildings, are structures that have revolutionized the way we live. These assemblies are designed, built, renovated, operated, or re-used in an ecological and resource efficient manner. Its sustainable development is helping maintain a balance between the human need to improve its lifestyle and feeling of well-being, while preserving natural resources and ecosystems. Green Architecture has the objective of using energy, water and other resources more efficiently and reducing the overall impact to the environment. It protects an occupants health, improves an employees productivity, and offers an optimal environmental and economic performance. Among its many economic benefits, it reduces operating costs, has marketing advantages, increases building valuations, and optimizes life-cycle performance costs. Its health and safety benefits include the enhancement of an occupants comfort and health. Its community benefits help minimize the strain on local infrastructures and improve the quality of life. (Ken 1) Green Architecture can be defined as the restructuring and creation of buildings that are beneficial and have a minimal impact on the environment. They are several approaches to green construction that involve the responsibility of recycling existing resources, along with the efficient use of environmentally friendly systems that will provide power and water services to sustainable buildings. Throughout the past century, more people have become concerned and aware of the proper use of the planets resources. This is why the fundamental concepts and objectives of green architecture have gained both societys interest and acceptance. (Tatum 1) A green architects mission is to design buildings that will provide the necessary functions, without posing a threat to the surrounding environment. This implies the use of building materials that are composed of organic compounds instead of synthetics. Some of these materials include the use of wood, stones, bricks, or other elements that are harvested from older buildings scheduled for demolition. These materials are generally joined with newer technologies creating structures that fit into the surrounding landscape. Some of these newer technologies refer to the instalment of solar panels and modern rainwater collection systems. This will make best use of the available resources for heating, cooling, cooking, and supplying water to the building. (Tatum 1) The quality of air is a crucial factor in any living or working environment, which is why it is easy to exclude pollution as only an outdoor problem. Nevertheless, it can still be quite problematic indoors due to poor ventilation systems that can be potentially hazardous to human health. Conventional building materials and furnishings emit formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals. Paints, solvents and household cleaning products emit volatile organic compounds and other fumes. Stoves and fireplaces emit carbon monoxide and smoke particulates. Most buildings contain natural biological pollutants such as dust mites and moulds. Product manufacturers in the construction and building industry have been able to introduce products that reduce these emissions of formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds and other potentially harmful chemicals. (Grey 1) Fresh air is a critical factor for optimal health. Homes in the colder climates have a closer structure that heats up the air and constantly recirculates the only air that leaks through the envelope providing fresh air. Heat recovery ventilation is a good insurance policy against build-up of indoor air problems without paying an energy penalty for direct fresh air ventilation. It uses stale indoor air while providing fresh air with only a small energy cost. Green buildings reduce IAQ problems by providing good ventilation allowing the natural flow of fresh air through the house. They have exhaust systems for radon gas; avoid wood products that contain formaldehyde, use less or no volatile organic compounds (VOC) interior paints, solvent-free-finishes, and solvent-free construction adhesives. (GreenBuilding 1) Green buildings seek to reduce our dependency on energy sources that come from non-renewable sources. Instead, they pursue to turn that reliance to sourcing energy from renewable sources and change our lifestyle of dependence. Certain programmes such as the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, like to emphasize the importance of householders in meeting several criteria in the property. It states that the entire loft space of the property must be insulated, have cavity wall insulation if the property has cavity walls. There should be basic controls on the home heating system that include a timer and a thermostat; and the installment of low energy light bulbs in all the appropriate light fittings. (Murray- White 1). In countries such as Canada, it is reported that municipal water systems leak up to a quarter of demand during distribution. Even though the infrastructure weakens, the use has increased by 26.7% since the 1980s as reported by the Eco-research team at the University of Victoria. However, there is enough renewable fresh rainwater to satisfy the needs of families with low resources. Rainwater lessens the dependency on municipal services and saves money, making it more than just sustainable. Organizations such as Health Canada have shown concerns regarding the safety and purity of the water source. This is why they have met with the challenge of building a sustainable water use system. Rainwater harvesting consists on collecting, storing and treating rainwater for watering exterior plants, toilet and laundry use, with potential portable use. The degree of treatment varies depending on its final use. (Hugh 1) Gathering water can come from hard surfaces, such as metal roofs, which is simpler than the capturing of water on vegetable roofs. For example, Lawn water can be collected from the surface or below grade using drainage piping which utilizes the earth for filtering. Regarding the maintenance or cleaning of water, other than removing the solids likes leaves; no special cleaning is required when the water is used for landscaping, swimming pools, laundry and toilets. However, ultraviolet is a safety measure used for killing bacteria which relies on the use of electricity. When water is intended for direct contact with humans, such as showers and sinks, additional treatments will always be necessary. (Hugh 1) Green architecture produces less waste by using renewable plant materials such as bamboo due to its rapid growth, lumber from forests certified to be sustainably managed, recycled stones and metals. It also uses other products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable, and/or recyclable; for example: sheep wool, adobe, baked earth, rammed earth, clay, cork, coconuts, wood fibre plates, flax linen, and others. The Canada Green Building Council suggests the use of recycled industrial goods, such as coal combustion products, foundry sand, and demolition debris in construction projects. For example, the use of polyurethane blocks reduces carbon emissions, provides more speed, cost less and is environmentally friendly. Building materials should be extracted and manufactured locally to the building site in order to minimize energy use through transportation. Building elements should be manufactured off-site and delivered to the building site, to maximise benefits of off-site manufacture incl uding minimizing waste, maximising recycling, high quality elements, better OHS (occupational health and safety) management, less noise and dust. (Environment 1) The most criticized issue about constructing green buildings is the price, claiming it to be too expensive to be considered economically possible. However, studies have shown that the costs of green buildings are not anymore higher than regular development projects. Higher construction costs can generally be avoided by the incorporation of green designs from the outset of the project. Green Value is the net additional value obtainable by a green building in the market. This study shows that green buildings can achieve greater value than their conventional equivalents. However, it was discovered that the green building industry and others may be failing to get the message across that the main beneficiaries are the occupants. For example, a lot of attention has been focused on energy savings making it easy to measure. However, these are usually less than 1% of business operating costs. By comparison, total annual real estate expenses are usually around 10% of such costs while staff cos ts can be high as 85%. This means that the biggest return on investments should arise when green buildings improve business productivity. (Green Value 2) Due to the high increase in fuel costs over recent years, more people are choosing to purchase green homes and business premises. Green homes have more effective insulation, take advantage of the suns solar power, minimise the effects of summer heat, and favour energy efficient appliances and water conservation features. Even though the costs of these items may take time to recoup, there are many available loans, grants and subsides that assist people in helping them go green. Certain known green building practices benefit its customers as well as the environment. They incorporate longer-lasting materials, careful construction assemblies and design features that can reduce maintenance and costs. Strict indoor air quality guidelines ensure a comfortable and healthy living and working environment. The overall result of green building and its economic impact is the enhanced value and better resale across the lifespan of a home and business. (Durham 1) Canada has been recognized as a global leader in the green building industry, with more than 770Â  certified green buildings in use across the entire country. Canadian companies have earned a worldwide reputation for their innovation and excellence in the construction, design and operation of green buildings. Helping the planet recover requires a firm commitment, and Green building will lessen the damage being caused to the environment making the world a healthier place for future generations. The essence and definition of green architecture is to build in a way that minimizes environmental impact and promote a healthier indoor environment for occupants. As energy prices continue to rise and more people become conscious of their personal impact on the environment, green building has become the mainstream of the construction industry. It has become a movement that will affect and influence builders, property owners, and insurers for many years to come. (Canada Mortgage HC. 1)

Global Crime Justice And Security Politics Essay

Global Crime Justice And Security Politics Essay Traditionally the state was not responsible for the provision of security and policing, but with the emergence of the modern state and modern policing, the state began to assume a more active role in this respect, and eventually became the sole provider of security. Indeed states possessed the legal monopoly of force over their own territory and their own citizens. With the emergence of globalisation, and the increase in interdependence among states, this approach was in need of reform. Increasingly states cooperated with each other in the field of policing and criminal justice. Interpol was established in 1923 to promote transnational police cooperation, and eventually Europol was created to promote cooperation within the euro zone in the 1990s. The reason being that criminals could more easily cross borders; therefore crime was also transcending national boundaries. In order To address this globalisation of crime, States envisaged a global response to global crimes, such as drugs t rafficking, money laundering, terrorism and the like. This transnational police cooperation transcended national borders, but nevertheless the interests of states were still at the heart of the operation, with national public police forces being the main actors in transnational policing. In recent years the role of the state has diminished and a gap in the security market opened up, leading to other actors taking the place of the state in the field of security and policing. The increase in private policing activity has led some to be concerned that policing is increasingly being taken away from nations and put into the hands of other public and private actors. In this essay, I will attempt to assess the significance of the increase in public and private policing activity and the effect it has both on nations and transnational policing. In order to do so, I will first look at policing and its development into the contemporary concept of transnational policing, before looking at the r ole of the state and the provision of security. Then I will turn to the public and private actors now involved in policing, in an attempt to establish whether they are indeed replacing the state as the main provider of security and policing. Finally, I will include an exception to the rule that the state is losing power by analysing the case of the USA, which remains powerful in the promotion of its interests, proving that the state is still important despite the increase in globalisation. I will conclude with a summary of the facts and my own perspective on the issue. Traditional policing (States services, armed forcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc) Radzinowicz (1956) and Ostreich (1982) trace the origins and functioning of police back to mid-sixteenth century Germany. Traditionally, policing was not seen as the direct responsibility of the State, rather it lay in local civil society. In the UK, policing was performed by privately funded watchmen until 1737, when King George II began paying some watchmen with tax money, thus commencing the movement to government controlled policing. In 1829, the Metropolitan Police Act was passed by Parliament, leading to the foundation of the London Metropolitan Police, currently the longest serving police force. This development granted the police a preventive role intended to deter urban crime and disorder. In this system, military organisations were to secure the nation state and its citizens from the external threats posed by invading armies and police organisations, were to protect the state from internal threats posed by acts of crime and disorder. Since their origin, the fundamental concept behind police forces has been the preservation of order in a community bound by rule of law (Ramsbotham and Woodhouse, 1999). The concepts of policing and governance have been heavily influenced by recent developments, namely globalisation, and by changing boundaries between public and private controls over police and security forces (Sheptycki, 2002). Globalization, a term introduced into common usage in the 1950s and 60s, brought with it a variety of innovations, such as the integration of societies and cultures and the exchange of information, making states more interdependent and reliant on each other economically, socially and politically. However, it also brought several problems to the fore, such as the increase in global threats. By which we mean those threats which transcend national boundaries and impact many, if not all, states. Examples of such threats include terrorism, drugs trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking and nuclear proliferation, to name but a few. The markedly international context, in which crimes such as these are committed, has the effect of encouraging co-operation between those states which share the desire to reduce the threat to their security. These new threats have the potential to impact more than one country, therefore a unilateral approach is no longer sufficient, and states must coope rate to effectively tackle these transnational issues. This can either mean that national police forces establish links to facilitate the sharing of information, or that policing forces (including the military) unite to intervene in conflict situations in other countries. The ease of movement of people and criminality across national boundaries have necessitated the exchange of criminal intelligence and of operational assistance between states and between national police forces (see Walker, 1993, Harris, 1973; Reiner, 1992). Globalisation has increased interdependence, therefore what happens in other countries can now have an effect on security at home also, making transnational policing in the interest of all states. What is transnational policing?(eg..?) The term transnational policing entered into use in the mid-1990s as a description for forms of policing that transcended the boundaries of the sovereign nation state (Sheptycki, 1995) It is a difficult concept to pin down, but generally speaking it applies to those forms for policing which transgress national borders, such as cross-border police cooperation and policing assistance to weak, failing or conflict-ridden states. As Walker and Loader put it, transnational policing has become an expanding, diverse and complex field of activity. From the outset, modern policing has maintained transnational elements, both professionally and politically. Professionally, police officers and institutions have always cultivated international contacts, due to the practicalities of law enforcement. Politically, transnational links are to facilitate arrangements to exchange information, support or liaison between police organisations and criminal justice systems. Police development-aid to failed or failing states is another form of transnational policing that has garnered attention. This form of transnational policing plays an increasingly important role in United Nations peacekeeping (Goldsmith and Sheptycki, 2007). Organised crime is another argument used to justify further police cooperation in Europe. This term is used in relation to different forms of serious crime such as drug trafficking, corruption or even terrorism. It rose on the agenda in the 1980s but combatting it remains central to encouraging transnational police cooperation. Up to now, transnational policing has been closely related to governmental law enforcement at the national level. Following Max Webers state theory, the monopoly on the use of force is a main characteristic of a state, yet today institutions coordinating the use of force at international levels exist without the formal framework of a state. Sheptycki (2002a) argues that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦policing is no longer a set of practices embedded in the sovereign nation-state, but rather has become trans-nationalised and greatly differentiated. Role of the State In the pre-globalisation world, the State was responsible for maintaining security, and indeed the people relied on the state to provide it. However, in a world where borders no longer retain the same significance they once did, is the role of the state diminishing? Some would say so (see Bauman, 1998; Hardt and Negri, 2000; Ohmae, 1990; Reich, 1991); these first-wave theorists perceive the nation-state as withering away, unable to resist the challenge posed by globalisation and the emerging global economy. Others, however, argue that the role of the state may be changing, but it is still important in the international system. Evidence of this can be noted through continued State involvement in conflicts across the globe, in the intensification of border controls and the expansion of state surveillance and bureaucracy  [1]  . Indeed, as Walker and Loader point out, The State, [] remains the principal if by no means any longer the sole institutional locus of efforts to subject s ecurity practices to forms of democratic steering, public scrutiny and human rights protection  [2]   Nevertheless, it is easy to see that the face of policing is changing somewhat, reflecting the gradual development of a new world order in which the state is no longer the unrivalled unit of political authority, but is challenged by new transnational or supranational regulatory regimes such as the UN, NAFTA and the EU. These new entities assert authority similar to that traditionally associated with state sovereignty. The declining powers of the nation state have been one of the most politically discussed aspects of globalisation. Privatisation of state functions and assets, and the increasing power of global corporations are seen as clear indications of the imminent decline of the state. (aas) Thatcherism and Reganism are sometimes brought into the debate over the changing role of the state: the rolling back of the state has led individuals to take more responsibility over their own safety and security, thus making security a commodity rather than a public good. In this view the state has maintained a regulatory role, but decreased its role in the provision of security services, leading to a rise in private endeavours taking over the reins.(ME) State power is being relinquished outwards, to the commercial sector and the private security industry, upwards to international bodies, and downwards to citizens, private organisations and municipalities. (walker and loader, 2001: 10) There is an increasing disconnect between policing and the nation state. This is due to the rise in private policing, but also to internationalisation and transnationalisation of policing. Police practices increasingly transcend national borders.(AAS) Deflem (2002) argues that the development has been enabled by a process in which international police agencies gradually gained bureaucratic independence from the state. Transnational policing is, therefore, both an extension of state powers and a move towards greater autonomy from the state. Public and private actors: The roll back of the state left a gap in the security field, due to its inability to provide the service required. This allowed room for other public and private actors to assume the role of main provider of security and policing solutions. This development, paired with the increase in global interdependence and cooperation between states has meant that non state actors are becoming more involved in transnational policing too. Eg: EU, UN, Europol, eurojust, private companies. Some private companies are mainly involved in military interventions in other states; others are so wide reaching that they are involved in a multitude of policing operations (such as prison security abroad, protection of foreign political figures, accompanying suspects from one state to another for the purpose of extradition, etc..). High profile individuals also have an impact in the policing agenda, as do police leaders. As David Last puts it, States are not the only international actors, nor is state sovereignty uncontested. Policing becomes more complex if we consider non-state and supra-state or international actors  [3]  . In this section of the essay I will examine the role of other public and private actors in transnational policing, to establish whether their interests are indeed superseding those of States. Private: Private Police forces are law enforcement bodies that are owned and/or controlled by non-governmental entities. Often they carry out functions similar to those of public police forces, but clearly their priorities are not based on the interests of the state, but on those of their private employer. Private security is part of the growing internationalisation of police. Evidence of the growth of private policing can be found in the fact that there are now three times as many private as public police in the United States and twice as many private security agents than public police officers in the UK. In addition the private security industry is growing faster than public policing. The dramatic growth in private security in the past several decades has reshaped the structure and function of modern policing. Private security is commonly thought to be a largely American phenomenon; however, increasingly it is to be found in one form or another in almost every developed country of the Western world (see Grabosky, 1977; Hovav and Amir, 1979; Heijboer, 1979). The concentration of private security in the hands of vast multinational corporations within a country raises questions as to the locus of sovereignty in that country, which has traditionally been associated with the maintenance of law and order. Furthermore, more often than not, these companies are under foreign ownership, raising further questions of state sovereignty. This also raised concerns as to the control the private company may have over the State and over policymaking within that state. There is a fundamental distinction between private and public policing: accountability. The police force is one of the most basic forms of public service. They are entrusted with particular powers because they are accountable to government, and the public. The private security industry, by contrast, is not accountable to the public, but to the clients who contract for its services. Private security companies are not only employed by private corporations, but they can also be contracted by governments. This was the case of Executive Outcomes, a private military company founded in South Africa in 1989. Executive Outcomes (EO) provided military support to governments such as that of Angola and Sierra Leone in the early 1990s, assisting the legitimate government in the conflict with rebel forces. This growth in private policing raises concerns as to whose interests are pursued in transnational policing? The state, which aims to protect its citizens; or private companies, who aim to protect the interests of their employer or contractor? There are also other actors who influence the decision-making for transnational policing including police leaders. High ranking police officers have played a central role for the political agenda setting and for the implementation of transnational policing. They set the groundwork which later led to international conventions, they played a dominant role in the setting up of Interpol, and they initiated a transnational police network by establishing contacts with foreign colleagues, even in those states which had been enemies not long before. Governments played the legislative role in the setting up of this structure, where as police officers were the initiators and the executors. This crucial role high ranking police officers played in the definition of the requirements for effective cross-border police work eventually led to the establishment of those European cooperation projects of the 1980s and the 1990s. Without the initiative of police officials, transnational cooperation may have assumed a very different aspect today. PUBLIC: Transnational policing is of course a complex and diverse concept, with many different actors involved. As mentioned previously, traditionally the main actor in policing was the State, but developments in the global order have led to the introduction of other players, such as private policing agencies, and high ranking individuals which indubitably have acted in such a way which reflects their owns interests. However, there are other fundamental players in the field of transnational policing which have yet to be addressed: public actors, by which we mean international or supranational organisations which are incredibly influential in international affairs more generally and transnational policing, specifically, depending on their function. Sheptycki, 2000a: inter-national policing still maintains the state as the focal point; trans-national policing is when the practice transcends the state system. Interpol is the perfect example of inter-national policing, as it is a truly internati onal police organisation (Walker 2003:117); it is still heavily dependent on nations and national resources, and legal systems. Therefore, here the interests of state are still central. Europol is more a trans-national policing body, which developed through the European Union, within the emerging structures of freedom, security and justice. Since 1999, and the Tampere summit, issues of internal security have become increasingly important leading to the creation of the European Arrest Warrant, Eurojust, a common European border control agency(frontex) and the police chiefs operational task force. These recent European developments have given the EU security field the semblance of a state-like function (Mathiesen, 2003) The field of transnational policing has been open to problems of accountability due to the lack of transparency and the plurality of networks and actors involved. (aas) New international legal norms and regimes are produced and managed by international institutions such as the EU and the UN. The limits of state sovereignty are therefore challenged by international law and the emerging forms of global governance, where state sovereignty becomes multiple, overlapping and shared (held, 1995) The International Criminal Police Commission, established in 1923, and its post-second world war successor, INTERPOL, were set up to facilitate communication between the participating national police organisations. Governmental intervention in these organisations remained minimal (Anderson, 1989:37). Today, INTERPOL has expanded significantly, both in terms of membership and in terms of activities and methods, nonetheless it still exists to facilitate cross-border police co-operation, and support and assist all organizations, authorities and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime  [4]  . However, it is no longer the pre-eminent player. Its influence has been lessened by two developments in particular: the internationalisation of the US law enforcement, and the creation and expansion of the European Union. The USA became more involved in matters of transnational law enforcement since the explosion of international drug trafficking in the 1960s. This led to an increase in federal law enforcement agencies and institutions abroad. The EU on the other hand, has been centred on various forms of cooperation since the outset. The Trevi organisation provided the first major initiative in the policing field in 1975, providing a forum for members to develop common measures against terrorism, drugs, organised crime, police training and technology and other matters. Another important step towards a European law enforcement capacity is the Schengen agreement (1990), which established a number of law enforcement measures, including the Schengen Information System and police cooperation in matters such as hot pursuit, cross border observation and controlled delivery of illegal goods. The signing of the Schengen Treaty, in 1992, formalized aspects of police information exchange across the territory of the European Union (Joubert and Bevers, 1996). While Trevi and Schengen are noteworthy advances in the Development of a European law enforcement capacity, Europol is the most ambitious yet. Maastricht saw Europol as a system of information exchange for the purpose of preventing and combating terrorism, drug trafficking and other serious crimes within the EU, and as a means of providing co-operation in aid of criminal investigations and analyses more generally. The European Home Affairs and Justice Council is a central actor for police cooperation in Europe. The European Commission and the European Parliament only play a marginal role. The EP repeatedly demands more democratic control of transnational policing. But European police cooperation has always been dominated by administrative bodies. These transnational actors are based on collaboration and cooperation; they are not able to act in the interests on one particular state, therefore there are worries that the interests of states are not reflected. Policing is still based for a major part on the concept of law enforcement, For this reason the national (and sub-national) level stays a central point of orientation for international cooperation regimes in this field. The politics and economics of global relations are inherently self-interested, and international policing therefore inevitably reflects only the particular interests of the contributors. International organisations and international law provide the frameworks for international policing and peacekeeping. International organisations are not autonomous actors, but are the handmaids to states interests. Typically, their decision-making bodies require the consent of member states, and resources for implementation are provided by member states. The UN, the OSCE, and large post-colonial groups like the Commonwealth and la francophonie are the principle international organisations which have been involved in peacekeeping and international policing. The USA The United States of America is possibly the exception to the rule regarding the loss of state power. After the Cold War, the USA became the sole global hegemon, leading the way in a variety of areas, from finance to fashion, from television to transnational policing. There are signs that the USA is losing its predominant position in the global order; nevertheless, it is still a powerful nations and capable of setting the agenda, imposing its views and acting in its own interests. Since the 1960s, when the USA began its war on drugs, the country has been taking the lead in transnational policing, so much so that the united states use of force has been compared to the imperial policing of the 19th century  [5]  , and described as the global police. Furthermore, the USA has effectively spread its law enforcement system across the globe, and become involved in issues in other states, when in its interest to do so. This proves that the state is still important in the maintenance of s ecurity and the pursuit of its interests in transnational policing. The internationalization of crime control is primarily the outcome of ambitious efforts by generations of Western powers to export their domestically derived definitions of crime. Not only political and economic interests but also moralizing impulses have determined these definitions and driven many of the most prominent international policing initiatives. Global prohibitions and international crime control priorities and practices would not be what they are today if different states with different values had dominated international society during the past two centuries. Nadelmann, (1993) noted that the USA was uniquely aggressive in promoting its own criminal justice norms in the transnational arena, expanding the scope of criminal law, methods of enforcement, the scope of criminal procedure and leading the way in extra-territorial policing practices. The world leader in this area, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has around 340 employees, agents and support staff, assigned to permanent overseas positions (Fowler, 2008, p. 111). The US Drug Enforcement Agency also has an extensive transnational policing capacity (with 78 offices in 58 countries), as does the US Treasury Department and the State Department Diplomatic Security Service. Today, U.S. federal law enforcement agents target a great array of crimes and criminals: the U.S. DEA is the principal nemesis of transnational drug traffickers; FBI agents abroad investigate terrorist attacks on U.S. citizens and interests as well as white-collar and organized crime. Customs agents focus on a wide variety of frauds against the customs laws. And attorneys in the Departments of State and Justice supervise the rendition of fugitives and the collection of evidence in criminal investigations. These are all State controlled agencies, and despite the highly globalised world in which they operate, these agencies, and agents, posted abroad, are tasked with representing the USA and her interests. This shows that while transnational policing is expanding, and more actors are becoming involved in the process and the setting of the agenda, there is still a place for the state to assert her interests without other public and private actors taking the helm.

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Kevin Mitnick Kevin Mitnick was born in 1963 in Los Angeles California. His parents divorced when he was young so he had a lonely life while his mother worked as a waitress to support them. He was unpopular until he discovered his aptitude for computer programming. His â€Å"career† began as a teenager when he learned to get free bus tickets, then progressed to a telephone phreaker, and ultimately to a notorious and elusive computer hacker. In his teens, he joined a local phone phreak gang who met regularly and planned pranks. As a telephone phreak he was able to overtake a phone a company switch to make personal calls and to eavesdrop on phone calls. In 1981, Mitnick was among a group of telephone phreakers who physically broke into Pacific Bell’s phone center; and they stole operating manuals for the phone company’s mainframe system, lists of computer passwords, and door lock combinations. Luckily for Mitnick, he was just 17 when he was arrested and only sentenced to three months in juvenile detention and one year of probation. In 1983, Mitnick used a computer at the University of Southern California to access ARPanet. ARPanet was the one of the first networks that used packet switching networks, the first network to implement TCP/IP and was the predecessor for what we now know as the Internet. Through his ARPanet access he was able to break into the Pentagon. Though he was legally an adult, for this offense, Mitnick received another light sentence of just six months at another juvenile prison. In 1987, Mitnick is again arrested and convicted for stealing software from the Santa Cruz Operation. He was sentenced to three years of probation without any jail time. Perhaps because Mitnick’s punishments were never severe, hi... ...how the combination of social engineering and social networking have made hacking, or in these cases, cracking, easier, â€Å"I can go into LinkedIn and search for network engineers and come up with a list of great spear-phishing targets because they usually have administrator rights over the network. Then I go onto Twitter or Facebook and trick them into doing something, and I have privileged access. If I know you love Angry Birds, maybe I would send you an e-mail purporting to be from Angry Birds with a new pro version. Once you download it, I could have complete access to everything on your phone.† (1) Mitnick’s crime’s may have seemed exceptional at the time, but the evolution of technology and social media since his 1999 conviction has increased the opportunities for more less skilled crackers with malicious intent to cause far more harm than Kevin Mitnick ever did.

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Introduction What is The Internet of Everything (IOE)? The IoE is a concept which is based on a connection between physical devices and the internet. The benefits of such a connection are convenience and satisfaction to the end user. On a lighter note it is bound to make the end user more of a couch potato. In today's technologically driven world, there are more things connected to the internet than there are people in the world. This fact shows that the internet is the future of doing business, learning as well as being a platform for innovation. This is where IoE steps into the picture as it is based on the concept of internet connected devices, and with the progress in terms of technology of everyday devices and objects, the possibilities are endless. IoE is starting to show glimpses of its potential to surround us with connectivity that skilfully responds to our needs and wants - which is called the Digital Sixth Sense. (Qualcomm) Key components of the IoE model are the smartphones we have become accustomed to using, cloud computing which has made remote storage and access a breeze, as well as wireless broadband networks which have been implemented in strategically viable locations for use by modern high broadband demanding devices. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology works hand in hand with this system. IoE is expected to be the fastest growing technological system within the next half decade. There are various many fields where IoE can be applied to and are listed below: †¢ E-Shopping †¢ Home Security Automation †¢ Socially interactive gadgets †¢ Emergency Response Systems †¢ Remote Management of physical objects Ethical and Legal issues of IoE Unlawful Surveillance There are a countless number of simple devices ... ...e implemented and these areas are; Environmental protection, agriculture, transportation as well as education. The future and prospects look exciting for China as it has the potential to achieve great things using this technology as it has the backing of its government as well as a good capital input from investors as the ROI is potentially great. It's becoming a household concept. (sciencemag) During October of last year, IT specialists visited Wuxi regarding the future of the 'Internet of Everything'. The prospects look promising as many good ideas were showcased. The advantage China has is that it takes a centralized approach rather than distributed one in terms of creation of application, which makes it easier for the various devices and applications to communicate and work hand-in-hand with each other thus creating a network of intelligent systems. (sciencemag)

Onganozation Development Essay

Q. Describe the implementation and evaluation feedback for the project. Ans. Alegent Health(AH) conducted six large interventions. USC’s researchers contracted to assess the impact of the interventions. They wanted to make an assessment to help the organization to learn how to leverage further change. The researchers described the perception of change and the employee involvement through the data they collected. Different people and executives were interviwed who were of the opinion that the change process was actually doing well. (Cummings & Worley, 2009, edition 9, p. 201) â€Å"Overall the majority of persons believed that the DAs were a great energizer for the organization, generated comprehensive strategies and catalyzed important changes. However the strengths of the DAs were mostly felt by top management while the perception of the DAs was weak in the middle of the organization. The absence of formal change management processes made important resource allocation decisions, trade-offs on technology, and coordination of quality processes across the systems more difficult. When the DA had more community participants, there were broader participation in the discussions, the debates were more intense, and the DA stayed on track. The results from the survey data revealed that the higher percentage of physicians the result was less comprehensive on the other hand when the DA had a high concentration of community participants, the vision was more comprehensive. Overall the DA affected a variety of changes in organization either directly or indirectly. †

French Existentialism Philosophers Essay

Part A: Gabriel Marcel’s Philosophy on Problem and Mystery Part B: Simone De Beauvoir’s Philosophy on why there is a moral obligation to overcome oppression (our own and that of others) and why is an existentialist ethics an ethics of freedom Part A: Gabriel Marcel is known to be one of the more religious philosophers who was a French Existentialist. He was a committed Catholic Philosopher and he believed that by being connected to others he will be connected to god. He believed that philosophy should be about hope and wanted to portray the more positive aspects of human characteristics through his writings and thoughts. Marcel has a belief that problems and mysteries were two separate ideas where problems exist outside and apart from ourselves and mysteries were unsolved queries that were more internal to one’s self. For example determining what a body is, is a problem and determining what my body is, is a mystery. He believes that we can use primary and secondary reflections in order to seek a solution to the problem or mystery being faced with. Primary reflections use analytical skills to separate the thinker from the problematic object in order to find a resolution. Separating the thinker from the problem is important in order to effectively reflect and create intellectual and moral means to a solution. Primary reflections use means of abstracting data and using it in order to manipulate the world and deal with the problem that is not always black and white or a right or wrong answer. Primary reflection approaches problems from an objective standpoint where the thinker is separate from the problem while the secondary reflection begins with the experience of existence within the problem and is used with reflection of a mystery. The secondary reflection is open to contemplation by looking at it as a unique presence. The existence within the world is not a problem that needs to be solved because humans and their bodies are intrinsically related to the world and they are in relation to each other, not objects or problems that can be manipulated. Marcel believed that Philosophy is a part of reflecting on a mystery and the mystery requires participation of the person reflecting because it is an experience of presence itself. A mystery involves you as an intrinsical part of the question wh ich is a question of yourself and requires a solution by secondary reflection. A question becomes a mystery when it takes itself into the subject. Marcel believes that humans are increasingly becoming defined by their problems which cause alienation of themselves from themselves and also causing separation from others. The questions of â€Å"being† and humans are mysteries within the Marcel philosophies. When something is recognized as â€Å"not being† it cannot be a mystery. As humans we have a need for â€Å"being† with â€Å"ontological exigence† which consumes â€Å"being† upsurges of joy, happiness, hopefulness, expectations and desires. â€Å"Being† as a human means existing and experiencing the world and the subjects within it. Having something means exercising power over that thing by possession and rights to those possessions. By having rights over a possession can also enables that person to have the ability of disposal of that subject as well. Having something is different from experiencing that thing, for example having a body is different form experiencing your body because you cannot rid yourself of your body without ceasing to be. Life is not identical to a person’s â€Å"being† because â€Å"being† is the whole self which is more than life and it is what a person aspires to be. Humans can only evoke the fullness of â€Å"being† by engaging with others and coming together as a community. Marcel promotes the idea of living I-Thou which opens up and enhances a person’s â€Å"being† which God being the ultimate Thou. The I-Thou idea requires a person to be open to the â€Å"being† of others within their lives and not living only for themselves. Marcel has an interesting stance on the subject of love and how it should be defined. He believes that love has to do with inner subjectivity and it is about seeking and experiencing the â€Å"being† of the other. Love is not about possession or having another person which is commonly thought to be the main definition of what love means. Marcel believes that a self does not love, but it is the self that is constituted by love. When we attach predicates to a thou we limit our love for another and it’s trust and faith which constitutes love in the â€Å"being† of the other. I always thought that love had to do with possessing and labeling a person or subject as yours. However, Marcel’s philosophy on love has changed my point of view into believing that love is about fully accepting a person as who they are instead of trying to possess them and changing them into being an object of your desire and control. Part B: In Simone Beauvoir’s writing of The Ethics of Ambiguity she begins to elaborate on ethics and the importance of a moral obligation to overcome oppression. Moral acts and willing one’s self free is an obligation of a person in order to become a moral person. With moral freedom a person is not free unless they can deal with free individuals. We all should strive for our freedom as well as the freedom of others and the freedom of all. The freedom to choose is shaped by social and political freedom of people. Beauvoir believes that in order to free all we must take a stand for justice especially in the political sense. We ought to respect freedom when it serves freedom, but not when freedom distances itself from itself. For example when freedom is used in the oppression and the abuse of others, we ought not to respect it in cases such as a dictatorship oppressing the freedom of its people. Oppressing an oppressor is justified even when it requires violence and in cases of people rising up and rebelling the person or the system that has been oppressing them it is justifiable. In such cases casualties of war with sacrifices is justified when fighting for freedom because it makes it a just war. Simone Beauvoir states â€Å"the truth is that if division and violence define war, the world has always been at war and will always be; if man is waiting for universal peace in order to establish his existence validly, he will wait indefinitely: there will never be any other future.† (Beauvoir ) With this she means that if the only reasons for war are for violence to annihilate the other opponent because of division then war will never end and people will never reach complete liberation. However, oppressing and oppressor should never be driven by blind faith. The actions must be considered fully well and deliberate over choice. Each circumstance should be considered on a case by case basis and analyzed by practical problems. Ethics emphasize physical and social interaction in relation to other human beings because of freedom. Authentic morality involves engagement with the world that is not abstract intellectualism. People who sit by and talk about the problems and the circumstances that accustom the world are not engaging with the world directly. Beauvoir stresses that in order to achieve authentic morality people must do something to engage with the world not intellectualize the problems within it. Humans have a moral commitment to liberate the oppressed individuals because it causes limited liberation of their own freedom. Oppressed individuals may not even know that they are being oppressed and this why it is important for others to enlighten them and help them become liberated from their situation. With an oppressed individual, their own judgment that they are oppressed is what counts and this is why it’s an obligation of others who recognize the oppression to give them knowledge of their situation. Oppressed people are cut off from the future without the power of liberation to decide what is next for them in their lives. With liberation a person must be able to question values and oppressed individuals are not able to do this. Being oppressed does not gain moral character because character is not built by suffering. A person cannot say that they are a strong person because they have been accepting oppression and the suffering that comes with it. A person is strong when they take a stand for their liberation and fight for their own values as well as the liberation of others. However, power is limited within liberation, Beauvoir enforces this by stating that â€Å"to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom.† (Beauvoir ) Power is a foundation of moral freedom and in order to engage the world a person must have power, but it is a limited power. Not only individuals of the world, but state also has an obligation to ensure that it’s people have a minimum level of well-being because this is necessary to freely act within the world. External help is needed in order to alleviate oppression and once an oppressed individual is placed within the presence of freedom they must pursue freedom for themselves and one cannot force freedom upon them or it would not be recognized as freedom at all. Works cited Beauvoir, S. D. The Works of Simone de Beauvoir. Zuubooks.com, 2010. Print. Marcel, Gabriel. A Gabriel Marcel Reader. 1st edition. St. Augustines Press, 2011. Print.