Animal rights

One of the biggest debates in the world is over whether or not animals should have rights or be treated as the property of human beings. most people realize that animals feel pain and can be scared or stressed just like humans. However that does not stop most of the population from eating animals and also using products and medicines that have been tested on animals.

everyday human activities have a big effect on animals and many people do not even think about this. Many people wear leather shoes, visit burger bars, wear woollen jumpers, and go for a day out at the zoo or the circus, without thinking of the rights of the animals that have suffered to provide these products or entertainment. When we stop and think about these things in details, it raises the question – why should animals have rights? Many people and charities across the world believe that animals should and do have rights; and are speaking out against the abuse of animals. One example is PETA - The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which is a UK charity dedicated to protecting animals and making people aware of animal rights issues. They point out that animals are capable of suffering, just like us, and have the desire to live and lead their own lives.

In the past, people used to believe that all animals were dumb, could not understand anything and probably didn’t even feel pain or fear. Of course we now know this is not true. Also, scientists have carried out lots of research over the past few years which proves that many animals are even more intelligent than we thought, including , chicken and sheep.  Sheep were found to be able to ‘learn’ how to get food from differently colored buckets; and were able to do this just as well as monkeys. Sheep can also remember the faces of up to 50 other different sheep, which shows they can recognize their family just as we can. Chickens have been found to have better numeracy skills than young children and they are able to think, use logic and plan ahead. Sheep, pigs and chicken are three of the most abused and widely eaten animals on the planet.  The fact that they can think, suffer and feel pain just like us, means they must have rights and they must be treated with care and respect. 

Apart from being raised and killed for food, there are many other ways that animals are abused. One of the biggest forms of animal abuse is using them in scientific research and to test drugs on. Such animals, including rodents, monkeys and dogs, are kept in small cages and are poisoned, deprived of food and water, infected with diseases, have their brains damaged and are burned and gassed. Millions of animals go through this every year and an animal dies in a European laboratory every three seconds, in scientific experiments. This is a terrible life and death for the animals and 75% of the time, the results from animal testing does not match up with the human reaction – so it is largely a waste of time and the suffering is for nothing. As well as this, 92% of new drugs that have been tested on animals fail when used on humans. This is a massive ethical argument for stopping medical tests on animals.

One positive step for animal rights is that testing make up/cosmetics on animals was banned in Europe in 2009; and in 2013 cosmetics tested on animals anywhere in the world, cannot even be sold in Europe. This is a great move, but sadly not all countries are taking this action. The action in Europe came about because of public campaigns so all other countries need to do the same. Unfortunately some countries such as China are still demanding that cosmetics are tested on animals, so animals will still be suffering just so that someone can wear makeup.    

While we are becoming more aware of animal rights, for some animals it is too late. The wolf is now extinct in the UK, because it was hunted constantly until the point where the species died out altogether. The wolf was not hunted for food or entertainment though – it was a threat to human life and livestock, which meant that people were scared of this animal. However, wolves were simply following their natural instincts and doing what they had to do to survive. They died out due to the destruction of the forests they lived in, as well as being hunted and the last known wolves were thought to have survived in Scotland up until the 18^th century.    

In modern times, one strange fact is that many people have pets in their homes (such as dogs, cats, rabbits) or horses at a stable; and they love these animals and would certainly never harm them. However, the same people have no problem with sitting down and eating meat that comes from animals that in many ways are just the same as the pets they love. People do not mind paying the farmer, slaughter man and butcher to kill and provide this food for them. My take on this issue is that if all animals have the ability to suffer in the same way and to the same degree that humans do, then they must be given rights. They feel pain, fear, love for their own kind and others and can be lonely  just like us. Therefore, whenever we do anything that affects their lives or health, we must think carefully about what we are doing and make sure they are treated with kindness and compassion. 

References

animals that in many ways are just the same as the pets they love. People do not mind paying the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_hunting#Europe_and_Russia_2

http://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2013/jun/19/animals-know-more-than-you-think

http://www.peta.org.uk/

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2013-02-15/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/rights/rights_1.shtml

Indonesian Tsunami

On 26 December 2004 a tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean, causing terrible damage to the countries surrounding the Ocean and the islands around it. A tsunami is a series of huge waves which are caused by a volcano or earthquake occurring under the ocean. The effects of the earthquake on the ocean cause water to move on a huge amount which, when it reach the shore, has a huge effect on everything in its way. 

This tsunami caused by abduction occurring between two tectonic plates on the ocean floor. The Indio-Australian Plate below the Eurasian Plate sinks into the face of the earth. This caused the sea-floor to goes up and down, causing the earthquake with above 9 grades on earthquake scale and setting off a series of tsunamis along the coasts of all surrounding countries. The epicentre of the earthquake was between the island of Simulate and mainland Indonesia. The Indonesian tsunami is thought to be the 3rd biggest earthquake of all time, killing 280,000 people in 14 countries. The earthquake itself also had the longest duration time ever recorded, of between 8.3 and 10 minutes and it caused the entire planet to vibrate by around 1cm.

Of the fourteen countries affected Indonesia was the worst one with over 160,000 dead; followed by Sri Lanka with 35,000; India with 18,000 and Thailand over 8,000, moreover 1.6 million people were moved from their homes due to the huge damages happened. As well as local residents and tourists from abroad were also killed as many of the areas affected were very popular with tourists. Over 1,000 tourists from Germany and Sweden lost lives along with another 1100 plus from across the rest of the world.   

Many people have asked why there was little time to evacuate areas that were under threat, and why so few people in these areas knew what was happening until it was too late, even though there was a period of several hours following the earthquake, before the impact on land of the tsunami, almost all of the victims were totally unaware of what was coming. there were no tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean to detect any problems and therefore warn citizens that they needed to evacuate. While detecting tsunamis is not an easy science, it is possible, but it is expensive to set up the communication systems needed to warn people, especially in such a poor part of the world. Fortunately, following the disaster, the United Nations initiated the set up of an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System; and there is now a large network of graphic centers, national warning centers, agencies and deep-ocean stations in place across the Indian Ocean to detect any potential tsunamis and send out warnings to communities.

In the case of the Indonesian disaster, while the tsunami was in the open ocean the waves were less than one meter high which would not cause any alarm at all. However, by the time they had reached the coast, the waves had reached up to 30 meters in height and were travelling at speeds of up to 800 km per hour. It is easy to see why the waves caused such total mess, wiping over 140,000 homes and spreading 3km inland, carrying salt water with them. One of the most weirdest features of the tsunami is the fact that in the few minutes before the tsunami hits the coast and moves ashore (so some time after the earthquake), the sea often goes far out – like a receding tide – and leaves a large area of exposed beach. This happened in the Indonesian case, exposing around 2.5km of beach that would normally have been covered by the sea. Obviously this caused people, especially children, to go onto the beach and collect coral and fish. Sadly this was the most dangerous thing to do as the tsunami causes the sea to swell and rush back onto the coast without warning, almost always sweeping away anyone in its path. Very fortunately, on the island of Simulate which was very close to the epicenter, most of the islanders knew what was happening. This is because the ancestors of the citizens of the island had passed on their knowledge and told stories of a similar incident that had occurred in 1907. This meant that the local people recognized what the receding ocean meant; and moved to the safety of the inland areas. This factor shows that if people in all of the areas that were affected had been better educated in what can happen before a tsunami; and therefore knew the warning signs, perhaps more lives could have been saved.

However, not all tsunamis cause the sea to recede and different parts of the coast affected by the same tsunami may show different behaviors, so this is of course not the whole story. In some incidences there are no coastal warning signs at all and the sea will just swell and produce enormous waves with no retreat, meaning people have little time to flee to safety. Therefore my take on the issue is that the only factor that would have given people a chance to flee would have been a comprehensive early warning system. A full warning system under the ocean would have been able to detect the earthquake under the water and a proper communication system would have allowed the surrounding countries and communities to receive warnings to evacuate. The fact that there was a delay of several hours between the earthquake and the tsunami first striking the coast, means that most if not all of the people who were killed could have evacuated to safer areas. As it was known to be an area that could suffer from earthquakes or tsunamis, the fact that these systems were not in place can only be put down to economic reasons. Fortunately the early warning systems are now in place and hopefully this level of tragedy will not happen again.     

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/natural_hazards/tsunamis_rev2.shtml

www.thebcom.org/ourwork/reliefwork/96-the-boxing-day-tsunami-facts-and-figures.html?start=2

http://www.unisdr.org/archive/26170

Who owns your knowledge?

Who owns your knowledge?

Ken is a process engineer for Stardust Chemical Corp., and he has signed a secrecy agreement with the firm that prohibits his divulging information that the company considers proprietary. 

Stardust has developed an adaptation of a standard piece of equipment that makes it highly efficient for cooling a viscous plastics slurry. (Stardust decides not to patent the idea but to keep it as a trade secret.) 

Eventually, Ken leaves Stardust and goes to work for a candy-processing company that is not in any way in competition. He soon realises that a modification similar to Stardust's trade secret could be applied to a different machine used for cooling fudge and, at once, has the change made.

Has Ken acted unethically?

Definitely yes, no question about it, but in that particular case there were tempting factors which  pushed Ken to do what he did; the most important is it’s not a competitor company. In the real world such a lot of such things like this happen and no one knows even if the proprietary company knew thy will not be as mad as if it’s a competitor company; for example Apple will not be mad if Casio violates one of Apple’s patents but they will be mad as hell if Samsung attempts to.

So Ken may see it from that point of view. But it’s still unethical as he signed that secrecy agreement and then he violated it.

On 24 April 2013, an eight storey factory collapsed in Savar near Dhaka and 1,129 people were killed. The building was called the Rana Plaza and inside many different factories produced clothes for companies such as Primark. The day before the collapse, cracks had appeared on the building. However, the factory remained open and workers were ordered to attend work by managers. Many different people have been blamed for the incident. The government said that the Mayor should not have approved the building and also that the owner of the building was to blame because he built extra floors on top of the building to make room for more factories. Large generators were also put on the upper floors which made the building shake when they came on. There are many ethical issues behind this tragedy - the demand for cheap clothing by the West. The cheap fashion stores rely on 'slave labor' to produce clothes for very little money, which they can then sell in large amounts and make a big profit on. Moreover the environment in the workplace had major safety issues,such as the building wasn't strong enough to carry the heavy machinery used in business it was built without a permit and it's owned by Sohel Rana who is the famous political name who used his power to bypass some of the safety regulations and pressured the inspector to get the renewal   

In conclusion  the collapse happened because businesses want cheap clothing; and the factories that produce them do not provide good conditions for the workers. Since the tragedy, the families of many of the workers that died are still waiting for compensation. Only 7 of the 28 retailers that were connected with the factory, have paid into the compensation fund.  

Bibliography

wikipedia. (2013). 2013 savar building collapse. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Savar_building_collapse

theguardian. (December , 2013 02). Bangladeshi workers still missing eight months after rana plaza collapse. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/25/bangladesh-workers-missing-rana-plaza

bbc. (October , 2013 25). Bangladesh factory disaster: Primark to extend aid. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-24646264

Human rights

Human rights

The American Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains" That was the first sentence of Rousseau's "The Social Contract."

This was the concept of ‘the noble savage’.

Thomas Hobbes:

"In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, not culture of the earth, no navigation, nor the use of commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

Design, production & ethical issues

Aluminium cans

Approximately 1 billion are produced in the USA each year. The first can was designed in 1958 by Kaiser Aluminium. This metal proved ideal as it was a lightweight, flexible material that allowed manufacturing of the bottom & sides of the can from a single sheet, leaving the top to be added after the can was filled.

The first cans were opened with a separate opener but this was inconvenient so Ermal Fraze designed a small lever attached to the can which was removed as the can was opened.

The design was workable but after a while it created an ethical dilemma:

The ethical dilemma here is the consumer’s safety and the environment around them.to the consumers it can be hazards material, the discarded aluminum tabs on the top of the can, could easily led to bleeding or hurting your finger while opening, especially to the children. To environment, as it a sharp material a lot of people through it once they open it. 

So in 1976 Daniel F. Cudzik invented a simple, stay-attached opener of the sort familiar today.

As improvements were made in the design & production of aluminium cans, various  ethical problems arose concerning:

a.      Human safety:

The aluminum tab is open to a atmospheric air so it can be exposed to any type of pollution around so there is a change to transfer any harm substance to the liquid inside. Moreover this top part is sharp it can injured easily to whom  doesn't used it properly 

b.     Environmental pollution:

Aluminum could easily be the poster child for recycling. Reusing scrap aluminum to produce new aluminum requires only 5 percent of the energy needed to extract aluminum from bauxite ore. However, aluminum recycling, technically referred to as secondary aluminum production, is not without its environmental problem

c.      Convenience:

Canned food very preferable to a lot of customers its cheaper and easy to carry and cooked. But normally the have long expiry date which a lot of people may worry of what they eat and how they stored 

d.     Money:

Aluminum is a type of metal that does not lose any of its properties when it is recycled. Due to this, it is okay to recycle aluminum over and over, which makes it a popular material for many goods. Many people are interested in the current aluminum can recycling price to see how much their cans can get them at the recycling center. This price fluctuates almost daily depending on supply and

Grey area

A grey area is an ethical matter and moral issue but it's usually used in a situation in which the distinction between a right and wrong are not clear or when a word has two meanings and both fits the text.

From the first sight a grey areas looks an absolute crime, but if you see the other side of the coin you would think 10 times before you judge it.

For example the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak  was in that zone when the revolution started. Either to quit and leave the country to chaos or to confront  his people. He decided to quit and I am sure he regrets it now because he is in jail and there is a chance to be for the rest of his life in jail. That tells how confused you will be in if you are in that zone.

In my point of view I thought the Arabic spring at the beginning is the way to freedom and is a major step-up to civilize but after 3 years of all that I have seen I believe it was a major step-down and it left the Arab spring countries in complete chaos.

 I prefer to live in a peaceful and secure environment even though I don’t have the right of free speech!