Emerging Technology and Its Implications Essay

With the increasing attention being accorded to climate change in the mainstream media these days, there is also an increased attention being given to technological solutions to assist in combating the problem. While such solutions are admirable in that they go above and beyond the usual calls for recycling and the purchase of ‘green’ products – which have been proven to be of trivial impact upon the large scale flaws in systems of production and consumption that characterize industrial modernity – not all of them should embraced uncritically. It is only by subjecting every proposal to save the planet to scrutiny that we can determine a truly sustainable future. One of the ideas that has been receiving increasing currency in environmentalist discussions are large scale planetary ‘technofixes’ collectively referred to as geo-engineering or planetary engineering. These include mirrors in space designed to reflect excess amount of sunlight, artificial trees designed to suck carbon out of the atmosphere, and managed release of sulfates into the atmosphere, and many, many other epic plans to manipulate the ecological fabric of our planet.   Here’s the rub: The term geo engineering is a rather questionable one, as it implies that it has the same kind of empirical or mathematical certainty as engineering when it doesn’t. It smoothens over many of the bumps and curves that characterize our problems and demand creative solutions. In effect, planetary salvation becomes as easy as building a tunnel into a hill or a bridge across a river, when in fact our collective understanding of the systemic impacts is far less than the geo engineering promoters would have us believe. One might as well call it ‘planetary experimentation.’ While the potential benefits proposed are of an epic magnitude, this magnitude would also apply to the potential consequences. Take for example a proposal to suck carbon dioxide into the planet’s oceans by seeding it with iron deposits. Many, including the Scientific Steering Committee of the Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) have observed that this has the potential to worsen ocean acidification and lead to catastrophic results for marine ecology: â€Å"The oceans are complex, dynamic, unpredictable and already vulnerable †¦ We need   [to] build their resilience, not undermine it [not] quick fixes to this global problem that may [cause far more long-term harm] than good.† (Gjerde) Additionally, the historical track record of large scale intervention in the name of environmental concern has never been very good to begin with, asserts Alex Steffen of Worldchanging: â€Å"From damming rivers to fighting forest fires to eliminating pests †¦ efforts have †¦ in hindsight [been] so overrun with unintended consequences as to become full-blown disasters, often †¦ worse than the original problems †¦. [And the] cost of errors [increase] with the magnitude of the attempted solution.† (Steffen) Geo engineering is essentially a ‘silver bullet’ solution, one which reduces the political will to creatively retrofit our present lifestyles in such a manner as to be sustainable and environmentally sound, while still being able to enjoy the luxuries of post-industrial advancements. In essence, the tools for a greener world are already here and their downsides are negligible in the face of overwhelming benefits both environmental and societal. In any case, discussion over geo engineering merely provides a distraction from mustering the political will necessary to effect true change. It provides climate change skeptics a justification for political indifference to redressing our present way of life: Why opt for better designed cities, fuel efficient vehicles and profound infrastructural rethinking when we can merely ‘erase’ the effects of our problematic systems? One’s stance on geo engineering is not a question of whether you are a techno utopian or a complete Luddite. However, there is a major distinction to be made between technology that is transparent in agenda, collaborative in nature, and egalitarian in application as well as easy to remedy and technology that is centralized, expensive and difficult to reverse. Between â€Å"Star Wars† –   a missile defense system saddled with so much corruption that does nothing to provide for homeland security – and nuclear power – a promise of perpetual source of energy whose failures wreaked massive consequences – we ought to regard geo engineering with suspicion: dangerous until proven safe. Geo engineering is unnecessary. â€Å"Fixing† the planet in such a manner is turning a blind eye to the way we live: it shows a lack of innovation and political courage that is necessary to the bright green future.   Works Cited Stiles, Lori. â€Å"Space Sunshade Might Be Feasible In Global Warming Emergency.† NASA Earth Observatory. 3 November 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/2006/2006110323537.html Bentley, Molly. â€Å"Guns and sunshades to rescue climate.† BBC News. 2 March 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4762720.stm Gjerde, Kristina. â€Å"Hold back the geo-engineering tide.† BBC News. 11 December 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7133619.stm Romm, Joseph. â€Å"Rule three of offsets: No geo-engineering.† Grist Magazine Online. 27 July 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2008 from:   http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/7/27/144848/844

Chicago Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chicago - Essay Example In comedy, it started the improvational style of amusement, in architecture the prairie design, and a variety of contemporary music like the jazz, soul and romantic blues. The city has a deep rooted liking for the classical songs. The city also has contemporary music best known for its performing music moguls in the world. Apart from music, it hosts dance competitions which attracts performers from other states as a way of promoting its art in the city (Koval 66). Through the immigration of various ethnicities in the city like the Europeans, Asians, Africans among others; the city enjoys a mixture of different traditions from dishes to artistic works. The fine arts sector has been majorly boosted by a number of award winning artists through their paintings. The city has numerous theaters including the renowned Steppenwolf Theater for the performing plays. The city hosts annual theater awards for recognition of the contributors in the fine arts industry (Koval 111). From the historical beginning of the town, there is a strong tie in Christianity especially the Catholics. It was majorly contributed from the immigration of Europeans who later transformed the town in religion and civilization. Chicago has a number of ancient but unique delicacies in the food industry. The Maxwell hotdog is a unique hotdog which was just prepared by mere steaming or boiling with raw onions and mustard, and is still sold in many food joints. In sports, the city has a wide range of games but most notably in baseball and basketball games. The famous Michael Jordon contributed significantly in winning various titles for the Chicago Bulls (Koval 75). Chicago is the third largest state which contributes enormously for the US gross national product. According to business reports, it has been known to have the most balanced economic growth among the other states of America. This is because it has vast incomes from transportation,

The music business has changed radically. Can an employee whos been an Essay

The music business has changed radically. Can an employee whos been an Industry Legend Keep Up - Essay Example Helping business managers make rational decisions when faced with an ethical dilemma calls for determination and sophistication (McCullough and Faught, 2005). In the case study of Powerful Entertainment, the major ethical dilemma facing Noel Klein, the company’s CEO is on whether to lay Bob off or keep him. Noel argues that Bob has been in the company for so long as the sales managers although at present he is not selling anything. Despite the great changes in the industry within which Bob operates over the past 20 years, Bob has not changed at all (Guterman, 2010). He does not know anything about digital marketing although technology is moving towards this. Moreover he does not add to the sales of the company although he is the highest paid employee in the company. The CEO argues that Bob is taking up a vacancy for another sales person who would be able to achieve the targets. On the other hand, Bob has so much to offer to the company. Noel concedes that he has valuable inter personal skills. Bob is an icon in the company linking it to the past. Furthermore, he is the one responsible of keeping Mark Sender in the company. Mark Sender is an important figure in the company since he helps make almost 30 percent more revenues than other performers (Guterman, 2010). The other reason that makes it had for the CEO to decide on the way to handle Bob is given the fact that he is loved by most employees and therefore his exit may lead to loss of other critical employees or affect their effectiveness. He motivates other employees to work although this cannot be quantified. He is imaginative and adored by other workers and young employees have a lot to learn from him. Rita who has called upon by the CEO is expected to give her decision on the case of Bob Antice.... This research is the best example of comparison of the utilitarian, libertarian, deontological and virtue ethics perspective on the ethical dilemma facing Powerful Company. From an evaluation of the different ethical perspectives, the researcher proposes that Noel should adopt a combination of utilitarian and libertarian perspective to demystify the ethical dilemma facing the company. By employing the utilitarian perspective, the CEO would take time to evaluate the impacts of his actions. Utilitarian perspective like a social cost benefit analysis carries out any evaluation of the impacts of an action before it is implemented to help avoid costly mistakes in the process of making decisions. As such the CEO would be able to quantify the impacts of sacking Bob for not achieving the sales targets in relation to his benefits to the company. Since the perspective views the good of an individual as independent from their rights, it would be easy to conclude on whether to replace Bob or ret ain him in the organization. If his value in the organization does not match the pay, he should be replaced. From a libertarian perspective, Noel’s decision should be geared towards ensuring that maximum benefits to the shareholders of the company. In light of this statement, the decision adopted must ensure there will be maximum returns to the shareholders. From this perspective, it would be critical to evaluate the value of Bob to the company, does he actually motivate staff? Or does he help young guys to the company learn and how the two add value to company.

Earned Value & Forecasting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Earned Value & Forecasting - Essay Example The budgeted cost of work performed at end of period 8 comes out to be $868,000. The same is shown in Table 1. Cost Variance (CV) can be calculated as the difference between budgeted cost and actual cost of work performed which is equal to $(868,000-1,005,000) i.e. - $137,000. A negative cost variance here implies that the project is over-budget by the end of period 8. The Cost Performance Index (CPI) is given by the ratio of budgeted cost of work performed to the actual cost of work performed i.e. (868,000/1,005,000) which is equal to .86. As the Cost Performance Index is less than 1, it again implies that the project is over-budget. Schedule Variance (SV) can be found out as the difference between budgeted cost of work performed and the budgeted cost of work scheduled till the end of period 8 which is equal to $(868,000-955,000) i.e. - $87000. A negative schedule variance here implies that the project is behind schedule by the end of period 8. The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) i s given by the ratio of budgeted cost of work performed to the budgeted cost of work scheduled i.e. (868,000/955,000) which is equal to .91. As the Schedule Performance Index is less than 1, it gain implies that the project is behind schedule. ... 500000 1.3.2 60000 80 48000 1.4.1 120000 0 0 1.4.2 40000 50 0 1.4.3 75000 100 75000 1.5.2 15000 20 0 1.5.3 30000 0 0 1.6.1 45000 20 0 1.6.2 60000 50 0 1.6.3 30000 0 0 1.6.4 25000 0 0 Total 124500 (BAC) 868000 (BCWP/EV) The planned percentage of work completed can be calculated by dividing the planned work completed (in terms of number of periods) by the total work (in terms of number of periods). The total work periods can be calculated by adding the planned durations of each activity. This comes out as 26 periods. The planned work periods can be calculated by multiplying the planned percent of work completed for each activity by its planned duration. This is equal to 15. Hence, the planned percent of work completed is equal to 15/26 i.e. 57.7%. Similarly, the actual percent of work completed is computed as the ratio of actual work completed (in terms of number of periods) to the total work (in terms of number of periods). The actual work periods are calculated as 15.2 in the same fa shion as for planned work periods. The actual percent of work completed, therefore, comes out as 15.2/26 i.e. 58.46%. The percent cost completed is simply defined as the ratio of actual cost incurred till end of period 8 to the total planned cost of the project i.e. (1,005,000/1,245,000) which comes out as 80.72% Table 2: Calculating percent task completion Task Duration Actual Percentage of work completed at end of period 8 Actual work completed (in periods) at end of period 8 Planned percentage of work completed at end of period 8 Planned work completed (in periods) at end of period 8 1.2.1 3 100 3 100 3 1.2.2 1 100 1 100 1 1.2.3 2 100 2 100 2 1.3.1 3 100 3 100 3 1.3.2 2 80 1.6 100 2 1.4.1 3 0 0 66.66666667 2 1.4.2 1 50 0.5 0 0 1.4.3 3 100 3 66.66666667 2 1.5.2 1 20 0.2 0 0 1.5.3 2 0 0 0

Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21

Article Example The final step is direct action where people present themselves to present their cases. Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice is a valid statement because, for the realization of fair treatment of all people, the governing rules must apply to everyone. If there is no law and order, then people will do all types of crime and get away with such actions. The society would be a place where the powerful and strong have their way over the weak and poor if there is no law and order. Therefore, the law serves to place all citizens at equal and give everyone access to institutions that can protect people’s rights. Law and order in my community helps in giving protection to poor people from the rich taking their property or forcing the poor to work without proper compensation. The law, therefore, enhances justice. Unjust laws may also include situations where rich people use their influence to get laws passed allowing them to pay less tax in comparison to the poor. In addition to this, unjust law also includes a scenario where the majority passes laws, or objects the passing of laws that may affect the majority in a negative way while helping the marginalized groups. The best written paragraph is paragraph 17 because King provides a different approach to the understanding of a just law and unjust law. The difference is that he deviates from the traditional response that the law ought to respect human rights. In that paragraph, he voices the need for the majority to bind themselves by the laws they pass, and allow the minorities to participate in making laws. Tension is beneficial when applied correctly because it keeps authorities on their toes for fear of repercussions in case they make the wrong decision. The tension that King referred to was the tension of the fear of an outbreak of violence. King was termed as being an

Federal and State Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Federal and State Governance - Essay Example An analysis of the nature of the crimes in both states provides may provide insights to the differences in policies. The incidence of violent crimes as well as recidivism in California is higher while Texas shows lesser recidivism and significant higher prison population. According to Kaplan and associates (2002), Texas' law shows greater inflexibility in the use of incarceration as a penal measure citing that the nature of crime in the state historical justifies the application of such measures. Given that the United States follows a federal system of government, each state is given the privilege to formulate and implement its own legal codes which include criminal justice programs. This is meant to allow individual states to develop criminal and penal statutes that correspond to individual or unique crime trends that may greatly differ from state to state (see Appendix A). There are times that policies and perspectives used differ between states depending on the perspectives, policies or by the nature of the crime committed (Pillsbury, 1989). This is not to imply that crime is one state is more acceptable in another and only a variance in the manner by which the act is assessed and addressed (Jones and Newburn, 2005). In such a system, federal statu... sure that independent criminal justice programs do not impair constitutional rights, contravene federal legislation or create conditions that will prevent equitable application of the law (Peak, 2006). In effect, though state perspectives and policies on crime and punishment may differ significantly, there are criteria or range of acceptability for the policies that each state is to implement. This also reinforces the order in policies and subsequently order in society as well. It should be noted as well, that though the criminal justice programs in California and Texas may differ significantly, they have a common purpose of preventing crime and victimization, maintaining order and security and supporting federal objectives and policies. Conflicts or inconsistency with federal policies or that of other states are also not designed to undermine another state's authority but rather are individual trends or modes in that state or the federal government's criminal justice program (Hepburn, 1986). Furthermore, the availability of channels to mitigate and resolve conflicts, federal courts including the U.S. Supreme Court, signify that there is states are a part of a system that has established operations and procedures to establishing order and even harmonize policies. Community Policing Community policing initiatives have gained support in an effort to develop greater social participation in securing communities. In general there has been indication that efforts have had a measure of success but Matthews and Pitts (2000) point out that sustaining such this outcome requires the development of long-tern programs. These programs range from the development of operations and procedures, establishment of channels of command and responsibility and public education. In a similar

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING 2 - Essay Example Capital market players include, fund managers, commercial banks and investment banks etc. [4, Stella Fernley, Richard Brant and Vivien Beattie, 10 May, 2002] Answer no. 1: The Companies Act, 1989 brought in many significant changes in the regulatory framework in the United Kingdom with respect to financial reporting and auditing. In the year 1991, a new auditors’ regulatory system was also introduced according to which it is necessary for the auditors to hold a recognized qualification along with relevant experience proof. [1, Beattie and Fernley, 1994] Additionally, the work quality of the auditing firms also would be monitored frequently and the failure to meet the prescribed quality would lead to penalties and also may result in the license cancellation of the individuals or firms. [2, Beattie and Fernley, 1998] The dual roles of the professional bodies also lead to another change i.e. the setting up of ‘The Accountancy Foundation.’ The purpose of the setting up of The Accountancy Foundation is the independent supervision of both the regulatory standards and ethical standards of the accounting profession. Apart from this the foundation also sets auditing standards and also investigates public interest cases if accountants are involved in the case. [4, Stella Fernley, Richard Brant and Vivien Beattie, 10 May, 2002] Usually, a number of fundamental concepts of accounting are taken into consideration while preparing the financial statements of the company. Generally, it so happens that the figures in the financial statements vary from one statement to the other. This is because people who prepare those statements arrive at those stated figures based on their judgment in practical. This fact can be understood by considering the following examples: (b) (b) Others would say that this does not go far enough. If property prices are rising, not only should no depreciation be