Discussing incentives to conserve marine biodiversity conservation Assignment - 1

Discussing incentives to conserve marine biodiversity conservation within the framework of impure public goods - Assignment Example e into limestone, the ability of the oceans to provide sustenance in the form of sea life to tens of millions around the globe, and the ability of these oceans to dissipate the heat that the sun emits forms an integral part of why the oceans and the marina diversity that is exhibited within them is of such extreme importance. Through such a level of understanding, the following discussion will be concentric upon defining what an impure public good is, the externalities associated with these impure public goods, the technology of public good supply, and the types of economic incentives that are created for impure public goods. Firstly, an impure public good is that which is represented to all members of society but one that dilutes the utility that an individual might otherwise gain from enjoying a completely and entirely â€Å"pure† public good. For instance, in the case of the world’s oceans and marine bio-diversity, an example of the impure public good would be the level of toxic waste that is dumped into these oceans each and every year. As this pollutes the environment and creates a hardship on the marine biodiversity that would otherwise be evidenced, the destruction to the environment decreases the utility that a person could stand to gain from this otherwise â€Å"pure† public good. The externalities to this are clear, food that is harvested from the world’s oceans then in turn is sickly and likely to diminish in overall quality; or at the worst – have high levels of toxins evidenced throughout their bodies. As a means of understanding the further nuances and dynamics of public goods, the weakest link rule denotes that the socially available amount equates to the minimum of the overall quantities that can individually be provided. By means of contrast and comparison, the â€Å"best shot† rule states that the socially available amount denotes the maximum individual quantity. Naturally, incentives, both positive and negative, can impact upon the

The Story of An Hour and In the Lake of the Woods Essay

The Story of An Hour and In the Lake of the Woods - Essay Example Art and protest are linked together, intrinsically. Even in ancient times when art would be about the glory of kings and religious verses, writers would manage to intersperse their lines with feelings of protest about social conditions that existed during a particular period of time. The importance of art in the success of certain social movements and in attaining for certain social ills the attention that they deserve cannot be stressed too much. Artists in every age have been the torchbearers of change and have managed to communicate the sentiment of the downtrodden in forms of protest, to the rulers of a community or nation. Forms of such protest can be directed against what an author feels is a social malaise-racial discrimination, discrimination based on gender, corruption, human trafficking and so on and so forth. The manner in which such issues are perceived by the world at large depends greatly upon the way in which they are represented in works of literature by an author. In In the Lake of the Woods, the author Tim O’Brien relates to the reader the story of a man named John Wade. The story revolves around the mystery of the murder of John’s wife and how he himself is suspected to have a hand in the murder of his wife. His wife, Kathy Wade, is found to be missing and the quest for the missing wife who is suspected to be dead forms a major part of the novel’s plot. Another important aspect of the novel’s plot is the political career of the protagonist. John Wade loses an election to the U.S. senate by a huge margin after his involvement in the massacre of an entire village is made public. This turns the tide of public sentiment against him. The issue of public perception is thus introduced at a very early stage in the novel. The novel also explores how the childhood of a person can influence the life of a person at every stage. John Wade is shown to have been very close to his father when he was a child despite his fatherâ₠¬â„¢s physically and emotionally abusive nature. His father’s death is shown to have been a major event in his life. His childhood sufferings led him to take refuge in an alter-ego, the â€Å"Sorcerer† (O’Brien, 1995). This helped him to escape the mundane sufferings of his life. Here, O’Brien makes his readers aware of the escapist attitudes of his protagonist Wade achieves this escape through a repression of his emotions. This aspect of his personality is very important from the novel’s point of view, especially on the thematic front. Later in his life, he is adept at hiding his emotions and feelings from other people, including his own wife. Many of the torments that John faces in his life are put down to the traumatic events that he had to face while he was a soldier in Vietnam. The incident where an entire village is wiped out is based on a true incident that happened during the Vietnam War where the residents of a village named My Lai were ma ssacred. Everybody, including women and children were killed in an inhumane assault that left the international community in shock. The people of Vietnam and the American soldiers who were a part of the operation were left scarred for life in an operation that was the result of a war that stretched on without an end in sight for either party. The tactics that the Vietnamese adopted made it difficult for the American army to pinpoint the enemy to a particular

Events in Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939 Essay Example for Free

Events in Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939 Essay Ultimately, the events in Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939 played a major role in contributing to the outbreak of world war 2 as it ended the appeasement policy and led to Britain’s realization that war was the only solution. However, the nazi soviet pact is also a factor as it gave germany the confidence to invade Poland, a move that guaranteed war. After the anschluss, Czechoslovakia was next on hitler’s list of expansion. The Czech government felt threatened, and sought support from Britain and france should Hitler invade Czechoslovakia, and both Britain and france felt bound to help them. On 15 september 1938, Hitler told chamberlain that he would risk war to bring the Sudeten germans into germany. Chamberlain found his demands reasonable, and decided that areas in which more than half the population was germans should be handed over to Hitler. However on 22 sep Hitler stepped his demands and asked for the whole of Sudetenland. Originally, chamberlain rejected his demands. Eventually, in an attempt to avoid war, he, along with Mussolini and the prime minister of france decided that Sudetenland would be given to germany. This was known as the munich agreement (29 sep). Czechoslovakia was not consulted, and it had felt betrayed. Following that, Hitler then assured chamberlain that he had no further claims in Europe. However, in march 1939, Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia, showing that he could not be trusted. Following that, Britain and france both abandoned the appeasement policy and announced that it would declare war on germany in event that Hitler invaded Poland. However, the nazi soviet pact was also an extremely important factor as it enabled Hitler to avoid a two frontwar, and allowed him to continue to provoke the western countries as stalin now secured his eastern border. Hence, Hitler could now channel all his resources to fighting the western front. Hitler learnt 2 important lessons from the First World War. Firstly, the importance of the involvement of Russia if a Slavic nation was attacked and next the strain of having to fight a war on two fronts. Therefore, the nazi soviet pact was signed on 23 august 1939 where communist Russia agreed to remain neutral if Poland was attacked. It also contained a secret protocol whereby germany and Russia agreed to carve up Poland between them, with germany getting the western parts and Russia getting the eastern parts along with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. With this, Hitler felt assured and proceeded to attack Poland, which unleashed the second world war. In analysis, the events in Czechoslovakia played an extremely significant role in contributing to the outbreak of war in 1939 as compared to the signing of the nazi soviet pact. The events in Czechoslovakia had laid the foundation for the outbreak of war, and it was after the invasion of Czech that led to Britain’s realization that hitler’s aims went way further than merely just redressing the wrongs of the Treaty of Versailles. It showed that Hitler aimed to dominate central Eastern Europe and British knew that war was the only solution in stopping him. Furthermore, the invasion of Czechoslovakia was so unjust that it gave Britain the high moral ground to â€Å"defend the right† without regard to self-interest. This was the point when Britain and France announced that they would declare war on Hitler were he to invade Poland. Although the nazi soviet pact did play a small role, it merely acted as the trigger for the invasion of Poland. Hitler’s invasion of Poland was inevitable, and the pact merely sped up the process. Rather, the decision of Britain and france to abandon appeasement and to defend Poland was made after the events in Czechoslovakia is 1938-1939, thus making it more crucial.

Protection Against Cyber Attacks

Protection Against Cyber Attacks Joshua Smeal Heres something to think about. It is reported that roughly 80 million to 90 million cyber-attacks occur each year, which breaks down to about 400 new attacks every single minute. The sad part of that statistic? Over 70% of these recurring attacks go unnoticed! People dont quite understand the risks that come along with using a computer in their daily lives. There are a lot of people that do use security measures to safely browse the internet, download files from the internet, etc. Although many people are safe, there are the few that do not use any precautions or countermeasures and inevitably fall into a trap and end up losing personal information, money, or worst case even their identity. It is important to know what Cyber Security is in a general perspective, the different kinds of attacks that are out there, and the best ways to secure yourself as well as others from the risks they encounter daily when using computers. To elaborate on the meaning of Cyber Security, It is in broad terms the security of the cyberspace. Cyberspace and its underlying infrastructure are vulnerable to a wide range of risk stemming from both physical cyber threats and hazards. Cyberspace is particularly difficult to secure due to a number of factions including the ability for malicious operators to operate anywhere in the world. What exactly is a cyber-attack? A cyber-attack is a deliberate exploitation of computer systems, technology-dependent enterprises or networks. Cyber-attacks use malicious code to change the code, resulting in disruptive actions that may compromise information and allow for a crime to begin. This oftentimes happens when a person will be downloading what looks to be an anti-virus program to get rid of a virus or malware he/she thinks they may have because their computer is very slow. Once that program is running it may allow for all the data on the computer to be compromised. Once that data is comp romised it will allow for a crime to be committed and it turns into a cyber-attack. To go into more detail about a cyber-attack, there are many, many different types of cyber attacks. One of the most common cyber-attacks is malware, which can be explained as malicious code that has a malicious intent which is often used to destroy something or used to steal personal information such as a persons credit card information or social security number. Another type of attack is a virus, which is used to make a PC sick which then hides within the computer file system. They can replicate themselves by attaching to other programs and or files. Theyre usually used to slow down computers to the point of no recovery and the user can no longer use the computer properly anymore. Spyware is another type of attack and is used to spy on its victim. These types of attacks usually hide, as a spy would do in real life. They can log a victims actions, and are capable of recording keystrokes, which means they can see passwords that the victim types into the computer through the keyboard. Similar to a virus, is a worm. It replicates itself but unlike a virus doesnt need to attach to a file and or program. Worms can live by themselves and can replicate across different computers or networks, such as a school network, computer to computer. On the other hand, there are password attacks focused on a different goal, to gain access to a secured system such as a database or admin account. The first method and most commonly used is a brute-force. This method is used to crack a password. Brute force is using all possible combos of letters, numbers, and symbols to enter a correct password. Another type of password attack is a dictionary attack, which is when an attacker uses a dictionary to crack a password. The most essentials words in the dictionary are used to guess the password of a users account. The last type of attack is to deny the service someone is using or currently owns. It is most commonly known as a DOS attack, or a denial of service attack. This is a special for m of attack to interrupt a network service which is able to be achieved by sending high volumes of packets, or traffic through the target until slowed down or stopped completely. There are much more that are not listed, but these are the most commonly known and used types of attacks used by cyber criminals. Additionally, everyone should know how to protect themselves from the different types of attacks listed above and know how to be safe when using computers in their everyday lives. People should not click unknown links in their emails, if it were to be legit you should be able to go to a website that it came from and verify that it is legit. Another safety tip includes not downloading attachments in emails received from retailers. Typically retailers do not include attachments, and if there is any doubt that it is not real you should call the company first. A big safety tip is Do not give out personal information over phone or computer. Social Engineering is a process used to trick people into doing something they would not normally do such as updating their password on a website or giving a security professional their passwords to make sure theyre account is not in harms way. Some basic safety guidelines are as follows: Set secure passwords, keep everything up to date, pay close atte ntions to URLs, be suspicious of any clickable links, and verify everything possible. Now for the more technical part, this would include having a great antivirus program. Antivirus programs usually well take care of virus quickly and efficiently. Although people can get antivirus programs, there are new viruss made daily and are not updated within the system instantly which are defined as rogue viruses which even the best scanners cant find them. A rogue virus is defined as an infection where it displays itself on the PC screen, pretending to be a virus cleaner, registry cleaner, or hard drive optimization tool. They can scare you into purchasing something to remove fake viruses or say your computer is in poor condition.

Communism In The U.S. Essay -- Communism Essays

Karl Marx, author of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, was the originator of the political and economic theory of Scientific Socialism (modern Communism). Communism, by definition, is the complete control of major resources and the means of production by government, initially in the form of autocracy. In theory, under this system all would be equal; all would share in both work, according to their ability, and profit, according to need. According to Marx, the proletariat, or working class, would revolt against the bourgeoisie, or wealthy capitalist class, because of the stark contrast prevalent between the wealthy and poor. The new economy, run by and for the people, would produce not for profit, but for the needs of the people. Thus, abundance would rule. Marx further predicted this revolution would occur in Western Europe, the most industrialized and capitalist portion of the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the late 1920’s up until World War II, the United States went through a period of severe economic depression, also called the â€Å"Great Depression†. Multitudes of Americans everywhere were inadequately clothed, nourished, and sheltered. As hunger and unemployment reached never before seen levels, despair reigned. During these times Labor Union enrollment dramatically increased and Americans were searching for a panacea to their social and economic problems. It was at this time that groups of citizens, jobless and hungry, looked upon Communism favorably. These individuals longed for what seemed to be a utopian society, which they viewed in the USSR, where everyone was employed and cared for. Communist political parties sprung up everywhere, literature and newspapers in support of Communism proliferated. More and more, seeing the success and the promises, the enrollment in Communist parties increased. Members of the American Communist party id ealized the leaders of the USSR, Lenin and Stalin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American politician Joseph McCarthy led a campaign against Communist subversion in the early 1950’s. McCarthy charged several high-ranking officials with subversive activities. Then, as chairman of the Senate subcommittee on investigations, McCarthy continued inquiry into subversive activities in the U.S. He created much controversy with his allegations, which were more like a modern day political â€Å"witch hunt†. American... ... If people are secure and happy with their lives it is harder to precipitate change than if they are afflicted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only in the U.S., but also worldwide we see this economic philosophy losing its appeal. This can be attributed to technological advancement, which has created an average level of affluence unknown to any previous time. The strength and aid of the non-Communist countries has persuaded developing nations to form capitalist, constitutional governments similar to those in place. Furthermore, in societies where Communism was attempted, there was a large degree of scarcity and inequality, not to mention the coercive nature of the governments attempting Communism. Finally, in all societies where Communism was attempted the preconditions that Marx set forth were not met. For example, Russia was not a largely industrial and capitalist society prior to the attempt at Communism; nor were they a highly intellectual or accomplished society. Rather, the society prior to the attempt was a feudalist government comprised of a Czar, much like a king, and nobility, not a capital ist upper class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Nihilism in Turgenovs Fathers and Sons :: Fathers and Sons Essays

Nihilism in Turgenov's Fathers and sons Turgenov’s Fathers and Sons has several characters who hold strong views of the world. Pavel believes that Russia needs structure from such things as institution, religion, and class hierarchy. Madame Odintsov views the world as simple so long as she keeps it systematic and free from interference. This essay will focus on perhaps the most interesting and complex character in Fathers and Sons: Bazarov. Vladimir Nabakov writes that "Turgenov takes his creature [B] out of a self-imposed pattern and places him in the the normal world of chance." By examining Bazarov this essay will make this statement more clear to the reader. Using nihilism as a starting point we shall look at Bazarov’s views and interpretations of science, government and institution. Next we will turn to the issue relationships. Finally we examine Bazarov’s death and the stunning truths it reveals. These issues combined with the theme of nihilism will prove that chance, or fate is a strong force wh ich cannot easily be negated. Nihilism as a concept is used throughout Fathers and Sons. To gain a better understanding of the ideas behind this term let’s look at what Bazarov says on the subject. "We base our conduct on what we recognize as useful... the most useful thing we can do is to repudiate – and so we repudiate" (123). The base concept of nihilism is to deny or negate, and as we learn later in the same paragraph, to negate everything. With this ‘destruction’ of everything from science to art there is no building for nihilists, as Bazarov says "That is not our affair" (126). Nihilists view the current structure of society as concerned with such trivialties as ‘art’ and ‘parliamentism’ while ignoring real life issues such as food, freedom, and equally. Nihilists are aware of these social woes and hence mentally deny to recognize any of the present authority or institutions which only serve to perpetuate a myth. Bazarov agr ees with the statement that nihilism "confine[s] [oneself] to abuse" (126). "... I don’t believe in anything: and what is science—science in the abstract? There are sciences as there are trades and professions, but abstract science just doesn’t exist" (98). For Bazarov anything that is not tangible and concrete doesn’t exist. Psychology, quantum mechanics, neurochemistry would be scoffed at by Bazarov. It seems peculiar that Bazarov would say, "... nowadays we laugh at medicine in general, and worship no one," (197) while at the same time he pursues a career as a doctor.

English Is Official Language In U.S. Essay

Half the countries in the world have an official language. The US is not one of them. Recently some attempts were made to designate English as the official language of the United States, though this country is widely known for being multinational and, correspondently, multilingual. Nevertheless, at the present there are twenty seven states out of fifty that are claiming English to be their official language either by adopting a law or in their state constitutions. Thus, English language de facto occupies a position of the official language in the United States, and there are many supporters of the idea to set it in documents, de jure. The question arises: is this so vital? Should it be done by all means and at any cost? Definitely, there are some clearly stated advantages, pertaining mainly to the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. Firstly, if English is designated as the official language, it will ensure that all the immigrants become more proficient in English, thus making communication and integration into the society much easier for all the parties. It is difficult to imagine any immigrant achieving the American dream without knowledge of English. This fact, though having little financial of physical impact, will incite people coming from other countries to learn English more zealously. Being forced to learn English, any immigrant will gain access to a full life of an American. Then, English as the default and official language will become a uniting factor for people from different parts of the world. They all came to America from divergent backgrounds, and English language is the tie that can bind them together. The last but not the least is the financial factor. Many states maintain language diversity thoroughly, which can not but call for extensive financial support. There are bilingual ballots, education, publications, and similar services provided at public expense. Massachusetts offers driver’s tests in more than two dozen foreign languages. Federal voting rights laws provide for ballots in multiple translations. Internal Revenue Service forms are printed in Spanish. Elimination of need to translate these from one language into another may save a lot of money. On the other hand, all these advantages can easily turn into disadvantages if regarded from the other point of view. Thus, immigrants coming from all parts of the world will have to abandon their native language and most traditions. Of course, as it has already been mentioned, this would benefit to their integration into the American society, but at the same time weakening of cultural and historical bonds may result in loss of national identity. Moreover, the idea of ‘English-only’ implies the feeling of linguistic superiority and somehow exclusivity. It can definitely and can be upsetting to people whose native language is not English.   Its misuse would be intended to provoke an emotional reaction and in a way irritate anyone who favors making English the US official language, as well as those who simply want to protect its role as the common language of the United States. Designating English as the official language will also give trouble to bilingual education which is nowadays very popular in many states. Bilingual education programs use both the student’s native language and English for instruction. It is emphasized that native language development has the positive influence on second language proficiency. Lack of first language development has been shown, in some cases, to inhibit the level of second language proficiency and cognitive academic development. Successful bilingual education programs actually result in faster acquisition of English. Content matter taught in the native language can be transferred to the second language. In the regular classroom, confronted with both concepts and language that are not comprehensible to them, limited English speakers learn neither the content nor the language. Language acquisition occurs only when incoming messages can be understood. Again, to be successful, citizens need to be open to learning multiple languages. Business leaders and Europeans do it. Knowing multiple languages is a great asset. In a global economy, it is the monolingual English speakers who are falling behind. Along with computer skills, a neat appearance and a work ethic, Americans more and more are finding that a second language is useful in getting a good job. What is the most important, everybody knows that English is the official language already, even if it was not designated to be one. Its declaration as the official tongue would be nothing but a mere symbol. No matter how hard the proponents of designation try to officially establish a language for the US, it is in vain; such a language already exists and is predominant. Correspondingly, efforts to strive for it can be applied to maintain the country’s multilingualism. Outline: question of designating English as the official language in the USA is a debatable one. The arguments â€Å"for† are that it would encourage immigrants to learn the language, helping them to integrate into the society and become citizens of the United States.   It would also help to save the money spent on translations. Nevertheless, the disadvantages of such a step prevail: loss of language and culture of immigrants, problems with bilingual education, limitation of possibility to acquire new languages.   Nevertheless, the crucial factor â€Å"against† the designation is that it would mean nothing, as most benefits from such the step are already existent.